), I do love fussing over stats where anything of interest is concerned, Fimfic included. Happily, I’m not alone (because duh 
): Recommendsday blogger, fic writer and all-around awesome chap TCC56 does too, and in his latestMini Re-Reviews: "Hearts and Hooves Day" - Season 2 Episode 17 · 8:56pm Mar 18th, 2020
CHEERILEE: "Don't get me wrong, I do love my students, but it's so hard finding ways to dispose of the overblown gifts they sometimes give me. I mean, what am I supposed to do, keep that thing in my tiny house? Not happening. Hey, don't judge me, at least I keep their gifts long enough for them to forget before I dispose of them."
DISCORD: "Hmm... wonder if I could set up a stand selling bottomless saddle bags for storage. Not that I need the money, of course, but it's always fun to find new ways to help ponies out. As long as there's ample chaos along the way, of course."
Three times makes a tradition, as they say, and so on the backs of totally-not-Halloween in "Luna Eclipsed" and absolutely-not-Christmas in "Hearth's Warming Eve", now we have "positively-not-Valentines-Day" in "Hearts and Hooves Day." Fair enough; though a part of me wouldn't say no to an Equestrian version of St. Patrick's Day (I'm sure any American would instead vouch for Independence Day), it's reasonable for them to stick to holidays celebrated pretty much the world over, and also ones that are different enough from each other as to actually allow for interesting stories. And while this premise is interesting, it's also worrying: romantic episodes of non-romantic shows are tough to do, and doubly so for a kid's show, given how kids themselves can barely grasp the surface-level basics of adults loving one another.
Well, it generally handled itself really well on that front, largely by never really focusing on the romance and keeping the POV-focus of the episode on the Crusaders and the eventual lesson of not meddling in or creating relationships for others. The episode hits that sweet spot of having just enough moments from the adults' perspective (mostly of Cheerilee admitting she knows exactly what the CMC are up to and suggesting to Big MAc that they play along for a moment more), but still viewing it through a kids-eye viewpoint. As it should; we already have plenty of episodes from the adults' standpoints, if we are to have Cutie Mark Crusaders' episodes, better to have them zone in on their viewpoint. Surprisingly, for the second CMC episode in a row (depending on whether you count "Family appreciation Day" as a CMC episode, which I personally don't, it's far more of an Apple episode,), there's no Crusading to be seen in sight, which is worth welcoming; it is an important part of their character, but the show staff wisely keep the trio form being typical one-trait kids by only doing that for some of their episodes.
Cheerilee is one of those characters that's worth liking but whom there isn't a whole lot to, given her usual role in the show of the nice generic elementary school teacher. Here, she gets plenty of fun moments simply by virtue of her deadpan reactions to the CMC's antics throughout, both verbal and visual. Some of them seem to underscore that she's well used to this kind of "you DON'T have somepony?" reactions, and the loose implication is that she's content for now to remain single. Judging by Big Mac's content "Nope" reply to whether he has plans, he's equally content. This episode doesn't really expand his intentional vocabulary, as all his extra saying are while under the influence of the love poison, but it's nice to simply see the guy.
Sweetie Belle is very much leading the show this episode: she dominates the early song, "The Perfect Stallion", and leads most of the setups alongside reading the book on both occasions (it must be said that Twilight's distracted naivety in handing it over so gullibly doesn't reflect very well on her). Speaking of which, the extrapolation of the love potion being a love poison was a genius idea, given most love potions in archetypal fairytales and stories act far more like, simulating endless infatuation. Helps to alleviate that this is the second CMC episode this season, after "The Cutie Pox", where a potion has been the catalyst for the episode's main problematic conflict.
I find myself light on stuff to talk about with this episode: it avoids the problems that can hit a fair shade of CMC episodes while not doing enough to reach the top-tier of the show's classics, but that's no sin. It's an consistently entertaining episode with no major quibbles (if a bit padded; the sleek pacing of the opening segments is appreciated, but it does leave the love-posion-induced moments to go on longer they they really should). Also, with Twilight appearing in the episode for all of 40 seconds, this is the closest yet we have to an episode totally devoid of the Mane 6/7. "Hearts and Hooves Day" is a solid 8/10m and more proof Meghan McCarthy, in these early days, always carried a basic level of high competence with her.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- This episode is very similar to a late-Season-4 episode of the Powerpuff Girls, "Keen on Keane", where the Girls set up Professor Utonium and their teacher Ms. Keane. The plot specifics in the second half are rather different, but the early goings-ons feel very similar, excepting the tonal and stylistic differences of the two series, of course. That episode was one of the last episode Craig McCracken (and also Lauren Faust) worked on before they left the show to set up Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends (and one of the few post-movie episodes to involve the pair), so it's a suitable ancestor for this one. Helps that it has the edge and style the rest of Season 5/6 in that show lack, despite sharing their visual style.
- The moment where Sweetie Belle leans back into frame to turn on the record player to "set the mood" is visually interesting, as they could have easily widened the show to show her fully, but instead slightly zoom in so she is barely seen. It's an unusual layout choice that nonetheless is a solid winner.
- Perhaps intentionally, Nicole Oliver's more natural voice slipped into Cheerilee's "...that's an apple tree" when the CMC fake-summoned her. I like to think they left it in as a person's voice often drops for deadpan statements like that. Worked for me!
- The randomness of the moment where the CMC sucked the rainbow colours off the rainbow, though. I missed that sense of "what the...!" gags the show used to indulge in.
- Even with Rarity nowhere to be seen, they get in some gags on her behalf with the fainting couch and the kitchen sink. Gotta love fashion horse's taste in dramatics.
The reason I think this episode is so good is because the "couple" being so cheesy was hilarious and the moral was really amazing.