Episode Re-Review: The Show Stoppers · 6:03pm Feb 6th, 2021
Well, by quirk of the scheduling or something the show decided to have two CMC episodes back to back. The difference being that this one would feature the Crusaders directly with no one else sharing the spotlight with them. Cindy Morrow was tapped to write this episode and her track record had been just above average at best. So was this episode able to make the CMC look better and prove that Hasbro was right not to pick up their planned spin-off? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins with Applejack taking the CMC to a spot in the orchard, revealing a clubhouse that has seen better days. She claims that it used to be hers and she's now gifting it to the CMC who aren't exactly impressed. Applejack then suggests that despite its run down state the Crusaders can fix up the place and maybe get their cutie marks in the process. You'd think that would be what the episode would be about, but nope, this has no connection at all to the actual plot. We instead cut abruptly to after the CMC have the clubhouse all fixed up, and we spend time watching Scootaloo cruise through town while narrowly avoiding pedestrians.
We also see that Scootaloo can use her wings while airborne, albeit only because she jumps off her scooter first (so I suspect her problem is that she doesn't have the means to achieve lift, if she could find a reliable launching method she could probably fly for short bursts). She then skids to a halt as we learn that Apple Bloom replaced all the rotten old wood in the clubhouse, and then after Scootaloo gets praised for her scooter skills she and Apple Bloom hear Sweetie Belle singing while using her tail as a broom. She gets praised for this, and all this does is make the audience realize what the CMC's special talents are supposed to be and the CMC themselves look like idiots for not noticing.
From there we're treated to a montage of the Crusaders going around town and doing random things to try and get their cutie marks. Just like I said last time, just watching them do random and stupid things because "Gotta Get Our Cutie Marks" isn't funny or even enjoyable, especially not when you've shown what it is that they're good at. The intent was to go for dramatic irony, but all it does here is make the CMC look incredibly stupid. Plus, all this just serves to highlight that the episode doesn't have a clue about what it wants to do, it's just wasting time. It's only once Cheerilee comes by the library that we get to the actual plot of importance, a school talent contest. The CMC decide to enter it and end up borrowing some supplies from Rarity even before they know what they wanna do with what they've got.
The CMC start to realize what they're good at but refuse to do so. Sweetie Belle is forgivable, she doesn't want to sing because she has stage fright and would rather design costumes like her big sister. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom however have no excuse besides just "I don't wanna". Scootaloo could dance pretty good but instead she wants to do a rock ballad, and Apple Bloom isn't interested in wood working since she wants to dance. Except instead of dancing she decides to just work in some martial arts skills, probably meant to be the same ones she learned from Rainbow Dash.
But then the episode spends time showing how bad each of the CMC are at what they want to do, and yet even while they're giving each other pointers they don't think to maybe swap roles. The whole point of a talent contest is to try and win, so you'd think they would want to do their best instead of their worst. But nope, they're too dumb to realize what's right in front of them. You could literally spell it out for them and the CMC wouldn't understand. You know how bad it's going to be when Applejack shows up and witnesses the display, only able to cringe. Yet the CMC take her shocked silence as a sign that she likes it.
As the talent show gets under way we have exposition about how in show business it's better to say break a leg than good luck since actually saying good luck is jinxing it (all kinds of performance related professions apparently tend to be superstituious). Then Twilight shows up for no real reason other than to just react to how bad the CMC look (their designs are apparently meant to be a reference to KISS but I could be wrong). Then we get into the song which is basically called "The Cutie Mark Crusaders Theme Song". And the thing is, they intentionally made it as bad as possible, thinking that it would equal "So bad it's good". Don't believe me? It turns out that the fan being turned on is because Madeline Peters started laughing at how bad she was being forced to sing and they had to find a way to cover it up. But here's the thing, intentionally bad is still bad.
Everyone starts laughing at the performance as the CMC walk off the stage in shame. However, because of this they end up getting an award for best comedic performance. Twilight then decides this is a good time to ask the CMC if they've learned their lesson. They say they have, they should stick to what they're good at. And what do they think they're good at? Comedy because of a performance that they didn't even intend to be comedic.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? I hate to quote Mr.Enter from his Season 1 overview video but: "They can NOT be this stupid!". Again, I get it, kids can be pretty thickheaded and don't always realize things adults do. But kids are not dumb. People just write them as dumb when they don't know how to write kid characters. This whole episode thinks that if it intentionally tries to be as bad as possible it'll make everything funny, but that's not something to want to strive for. Trying to go for intentionally bad can more often than not backfire. And thinking that if you just make something bad on purpose it'll be funny is just a sign of laziness in comedy, you can't just put something there and say it's funny. Putting any intentions aside, this episode wastes probably the first half on completely pointless and unrelated filler scenes of the CMC just doing random things. All that really changes for the talent show is that they're doing what they do for some kind of purpose. As great as it was that they got an episode all to themselves and their stupidity only affects them and no one else, it really doesn't make them look good. The fact that the special talents elluded to here are not what the Crusaders would get their cutie marks in only means that the time spent showing them here is wasted.
As for the moral, if you thought "Feeling Pinkie Keen"'s moral was riddled with unfortunate implications then oh boy is this ever a bad moral! The moral seems to imply that you should stick to what you're good at because that's what you're going to be doing for the rest of your life! Oh, you wanna maybe try something else and see if it interests you? Well too bad, whatever you're good at is what you're meant to be doing with your life and anything else is a waste of time! But ask anyone and they'll probably tell you that something they thought they were good at or in isn't necessarily what they ended up doing as a profession. Plus, imagine if you told kids they could make a career out of playing video games. It sounds great at first, doesn't it? Well ask any professional gamer on any kind of channel and they'll you how frustrating it is to be dependent on ad revenue or sponsors to make ends meet. So this episode gets a D as well, regardless of intentions it still is a cringe fest to watch.
Well, we're going to thankfully have a breath of fresh air with the next episode "A Dog and Pony Show". After all, it's the episode where Rarity goes ham.
This is honestly one of my favorite episodes of the season. I find it hilarious, and even though their talents shown here aren't the ones they get their marks for, I don't mind it, since the series makes it clear that ponies can be good at different things even besides the one they get their marks for.
And I unironically love the CMC theme song, to the point that it's actually my favorite of the season.
For all of Stare Master's problems, at least that had Fluttershy to serve as a straight man to the CMC's antics.