My Review of MLP: FIM season 8 episode 10 The Break Up Break Down · 10:55pm Sep 9th, 2023
Grading Scale:
A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)
Greetings, folks. This is Mr. J back with another MLP episode review for today. This evening, I will be reviewing the tenth episode of season 8 entitled: "The Break Up Break Down". To be honest with you guys...this was really hard to re-watch in preparation for this review. I forgot just how cringeworthy it is for the most part, but I still managed to sit through the whole episode for a second time. Now, this was far from being terrible or unwatchable, but it is still a subpar episode that carries no relevance to the season's theme nor does it possess the ability to not succumb to one of the worst subplots in the history of this show.
The episode starts with Big Mac and Spike impatiently waiting for the former's pie to quickly warm up in the oven. They call for Discord for assistance but only through the pretense of getting ready for Ogres and Oubliettes. He begrudgingly complies and heats up the pie with some magic trick. Well, it is certainly nice to see Discord again--making his first appearance for season 8. I do wonder how he's gonna ruin someone's day with his wacky shenanigans.
Anyway, Big Mac reveals he's making plans for his girlfriend Sugar Belle on Hearts and Hooves' Day, but Discord doesn't take it seriously because he views the notion of love as nonexistent and a waste of time. This made Spike want to prove to Discord that love is real and wants to show him all around Ponyville how love is in the air.
Honestly, it kinda makes sense Discord would act like this as he is a being of pure chaos; he doesn't have time for all the mushy stuff many people dedicate their time and effort for. Despite his strong feelings for Fluttershy, I can see him as an aromantic character. And I'm really glad they didn't go any further with the friendship between him and Fluttershy because being friends is more than enough for them.
But back on topic, Big Mac takes the pie he wrapped up in a package to be shipped to Sugar Belle. However, Derpy accidently smears the shipping label that had the sugar & bell pictures and had it delivered right at the barn where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were.
Once they unwrap the pie, they notice that the picture was smeared except for the bell one. Sweetie Belle thinks that the pie was made for her (since she and Sugar both have Belle as part of their names) and believes she has a secret admirer. Oh, dear Lord, this is where I started to cringe so hard... First of all, aren't these fillies a little too young to consider having a boyfriend? The show never tells us the age of these characters, but I'm assuming the CMCs are around 10-11 years old. That's way too young; they need to wait until they are in their late teens to consider ever going on a date.
Before I could re-focus on the main plot, I need to finish my thoughts on this terrible subplot. The girls then decide to go around town and search for Sweetie's "secret admirer"--figure out who sent her the pie. So they ask different colts around town, but it turns out none of them sent her anything at all. Later on, they return back to the barn with no success and said that they asked every stallion in Ponyville. I'm sorry...…..WHAT???!!! EVERY STALLION??
It should have been, "every colt" which means young male horses/foals! That implies they've been asking grown ass men if any of them have been interested in sending a romantic gift for an underaged girl. How in the fuck did the writer mess that up?? That's just incredibly uncomfortable to think about, and it amazes me how one line of dialogue could taint this whole episode into a cringefest.
The bottom line is that they didn't need to be in this episode; if some random mare (who happens to also have the "Belle" name) were to fill in Sweetie Belle's role of being the one who accidentally received the pie and the invitation, it would have made no difference whatsoever. Remove the CMCs, and it would've made this episode a lot better. But apparently, the writer simply wanted more CMC filler just for the sake of it. Alright, I'm done with this subplot. Let's finish off the main plot.
Big Mac overhears the conversation between Sugar Belle and Mrs. Cake and heard her say certain harsh words taken out of context. Thinking she intends to break up with him, he cries in emotional pain. Discord and Spike try to cheer him up in their own unique ways but in vain. But then later on, Discord sows some seeds of division--advising him that he needs to really break her heart to set the record straight. So he does so, and Sugar Belle is heartbroken.
I am...not sure if I should be mad at Discord or be impressed with his manipulation skills. Or probably both. Regardless, I do like the fact that he made up for his mistake afterwards in making Sugar Belle's wagon break down so that Big Mac can help her build it back up--symbolizing their breakdown situation.
So as we see here, we learn that communication is important for a healthy relationship; we should never make baseless assumptions on anyone or anything until we hear the whole story. So I am glad Big Mac and Sugar Belle got back together again...right at the end of the episode. Come on, guys, did you really think they would truly be separated after that whole "we need to talk" fiasco? I knew they were gonna get together again, so this whole drama pretty much has no weight whatsoever.
And like I said, this has no relevance to this season at all, so I would've liked it if this was made in season 7. It makes more sense to me since that season had the Feather Bangs thing going on. But in conclusion, this episode wasn't that great due to its pacing and storyline being derailed by a genuinely awful subplot. Not to mention I kept rolling my eyes every time there's characters saying all this mushy stuff about a special someone and all that horseshit. Yes, I am that kind of guy. I do believe in love but not in stupid, embarrassing ways like this. This gets a D+.
Peace.
Couldn't have put it better myself, especially with the Crusaders.
I have unfortunately not seen Seasons 8 & 9, but I can recall this not being good and had expected the grade.
For me, my least favorite part came during the montage featuring Big Mac seeing all those romantic couples, where Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon give each other gifts. I severely hated that little scene, because with this being a “Hearts & Hooves Day” episode, it basically gave an unnecessary confirmation that the two were a couple.
I’ve hated the LyraBon pairing for as long as I can remember due to how cringeworthy it was, and the fact that “The Big Mac Question” depicted them proposing to each other with rings and getting married in “The Last Problem” only made me all-the-more enraged. It was for these reasons that Lyra and Bon Bon became some of my least favorite MLP characters, on top of how bland and overrated they always were.
As for the rest of the episode…I agree that it would’ve worked better as something that takes place during Season 7, and it honestly didn’t stand out to me much because of the overall writing.