My Episode Review/Rant on My Little Pony: Make Your Mark-Ali-Conned · 3:14pm April 11th
Greetings and salutations, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for my 75th episode analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark's "Ali-Conned".
Here's the rundown of it:
In the midst of trying to get Earth Ponies interested in a new community garden, Sunny Starscout discovers that the only time she seems to get everyone's attention is when she transforms into an Alicorn; even if her magic shows itself unintentionally. With her popularity as an Alicorn growing, Opaline Arcana sees this as the perfect opportunity to somehow corrupt Sunny in the hopes of recruiting her.
Meanwhile, Pipp Petals has noticed that her popularity on social media has been waning. Desperate to get back on top, Pipp decides to investigate how one of Equestria's newest social media sensations was able to gain his success. The figure in question being Sparky Sparkeroni.
After completing my review on "Portrait of a Princess", I decided that I wouldn't waste any time in doing an analysis of "Ali-Conned". The main reasons are because Sunny mentioned her plans for a community garden in the last episode, and the ending of it teased Opaline's intentions to pose as Sunny's reflection in the compact mirror. Basically, I got right into making this review for continuity reasons.
Ladies and gentleman, after seeing "Ali-Conned" two more times this year, I'm gonna come clean about this:
"Ali-Conned" was another instance of why My Little Pony's 5th generation falls incredibly short of...well, everything.
Similar to the last 4 episodes, much of the reason for why I found "Ali-Conned" to be openly lackluster revolved around the story, which is written by Lynne D'Angelo. Since this is also the first episode to have a credited director, the direction by Randi Rodrigues is also to blame.
First order of business, I'd like to talk about the subplot revolving around Pipp babysitting Sparky just to discover what makes him so popular on social media. All to see how she could regain her own popularity.
In its entirety, the subplot was unnecessary. All it did was completely distract from the intended focus on Sunny, and as I thought about it more, it seemed like the subplot was there simply for the sake of putting this episode on the usual 22-minute runtime. Not to mention the overall incorporation of it made "Ali-Conned” feel like it had two stories crammed into one, and the comedy that ensued between Pipp & Sparky was generally flat and childish.
On top of this, I wasn't able to understand what the subplot's overall moral was. Most people will probably say that the lesson is simply another "Be Yourself" kind of thing, but I couldn't see how that was actually the case.
For me, Pipp's situation throughout the episode was the right opportunity for teaching this:
Whenever a product isn't catching the interest or attention needed to be successful, you should take the time to learn how you can improve for the future and create something better than the last.
Instead, we end up with Pipp constantly making a fool of herself, until near the very end, she finds that her unflattering moments and mishaps are skyrocketing her back to popularity. This would ultimately make her conclude that she just needs to make videos that don't always portray her as a "perfect" individual.
What was it that "Ali-Conned" was ultimately trying to teach with this? And how was it saying that you should be "true to yourself"?
In regard to Pipp herself, she was relatively uninteresting in "Ali-Conned". Despite her saying that she learned something from her experience in this venture, Pipp was sorely lacking in character development. She was neither engaging or relatable, and her shenanigans throughout were irritable. With Sparky also being involved, I may as well mention that he wasn't particularly enjoyable to watch in this episode either.
But, enough of that. Let's move onto the main story about Sunny, shall we?
From the beginning, it was clear that the intentions were to delve into Sunny's Alicorn powers and address how they worked, and the ending does a decent job at explaining those things. Even so, D'Angelo and Rodrigues weren't doing enough with the Alicorn-power exploration, which isn't surprising because most of their focus was on Sunny in her newfound celebrity status while trying to promote interest in the community garden.
Speaking of Sunny being famous, D'Angelo and Rodrigues never did much with that side of her story either.
The main thing they frequently addressed was that, outside of her real friends, Sunny constantly got praise and attention whenever her Alicorn powers appeared. Seashell, Glory, and Peach Fizz constantly wanted to serve Sunny and please her when it happened; a social media group known as the Filly Four wanted to hang out with Sunny whenever she was an Alicorn; and, Sunny was getting more respect and attention when in her Alicorn form too.
Considering the fact that G5 ponies seem very keen on following authority figures, especially to where they're treating them like gods, it's not surprising that the majority of Maretime Bay's residents and beyond would behave around Sunny the way they did. Heck, despite Queen Haven's phony flying being exposed in "My Little Pony: A New Generation" and becoming a wanted criminal for a time, ponies were still wanting to follow her. Crazy, right?
Case in point, though, I thought D'Angelo and Rodrigues did a fine job using this plot point for teaching that a real friend is someone who loves you as an actual individual, not for your heritage or background. It's a lesson that should always be taken to heart, and the ending gave some good weight to further empathize that.
However, the main thing I couldn't help but wish was that D'Angelo and Rodrigues went further with the "Sunny being famous" concept by having the fame change Sunny for the worse. In this case, have the fame of being an Alicorn and the influence she had on others go to Sunny's head, causing her to become egotistical and prideful. It may not sound good, but it would've encouraged growth and development for Sunny. Instead, D'Angelo and Rodrigues play it safe by having Sunny just be the same modest pony she was always being, having little sense of change throughout the story.
Let me clarify with an example:
In SpongeBob SquarePants' "Porous Pockets", SpongeBob became rich with millions of dollars after a volleyball court owner/pawnbroker offers a "small fortune" for a pearl he and Patrick found. Afterwards, things were going well between SpongeBob and Patrick. But, SpongeBob later let the fact that he was extremely wealthy go to his head. It caused him to carelessly give his money away to strangers and forget that Patrick was his real friend, and the revelation of his mistakes particularly hits home when he discovers that he's broke.
I'm not sure how popular "Porous Pockets" is as a SpongeBob episode, but I thought the show team behind it did a brilliant job portraying what happens when people let their positions as famous, influential, and wealthy individuals negatively affect them. It helped SpongeBob grow as a character, and enforce a great lesson by the end.
In the long run, the point I'm trying to make is that it would've been interesting if Sunny went through a similar experience. D'Angelo and Rodrigues provided the perfect story for such a situation, and for teaching the kind of lesson I mentioned, but they never did. Because of this, the story's potential was entirely undermined, and so was Sunny's character arc in this episode.
Speaking of undermined potential, D'Angelo and Rodrigues rarely did anything with Opaline and Misty in this episode. They had roles with purpose, yet they weren't fulfilled.
As hinted by the ending of "Portrait of a Princess", Opaline's intentions were to pose as Sunny's reflection in her new compact mirror from "Izzy Does It" and serve as Sunny's "inner voice". All with the intention of manipulating Sunny into becoming a potential ally!
But you know what?
Despite presenting an interesting idea, "Ali-Conned" barely made any use of that plot detail! The episode provided only two scenes featuring Sunny and Opaline interacting, and nothing significant happened. Opaline hardly did any manipulating, and Sunny isn't the least bit impacted by her words.
Likewise, Misty was supposedly part of this story because Opaline assigned her to get close to Sunny and aid in the manipulation. For some openly unexplained reason, she's part of the Filly Four, who are equally given no explanation as to how they've become so popular and why they're considered influential; especially on such short notice.
Quite the plot holes, wouldn't you say?
Plot holes revolving around Misty and the Filly Four aside, very little was done with the "Misty manipulating Sunny" aspect of the story. This is the first episode where Misty interacts with a member of the original five, and nothing fruitful ever happens between her and Sunny! Just like Opaline, Misty barely did any manipulating or motivated any change in Sunny, and no sense of chemistry or relationship developed between the two characters. With so little interaction shared between Misty and Sunny, it really makes me wonder why Misty ever needed to be there. Had D'Angelo and Rodrigues used a completely new and original character to be part of the Filly Four instead of Misty, there wouldn't be so many plot deficiencies revolving around the group itself. It would've been just fine.
On the subject of the other three members of the Filly Four, who are all entirely new characters, they were never my cup of tea. They were forgettable to where I couldn't remember their names no matter how much I'd try, and I was annoyed by them even when they just talked! Plus, if they were excluded from the episode entirely, they wouldn't be missed.
As for Sunny's overall character in "Ali-Conned"...well, she was more of a bore in this episode than anything else.
Like I've been stating numerous times already, Sunny was relatively one-dimensional. She never went through any kind of change or development as a character, and because she pretty much remained the same as always, it didn't seem like she learned anything either. These revelations in question made Sunny a less than relatable individual, and they live up to why she's not one of my favorite MLP characters in the first place.
Call me crazy, but as I began to think more about the fact that Sunny becomes an Alicorn simply because she's happy, is passionate about something, wants to help others, or feels encouraged and trusted by her friends to where they believe in her...I can't help but question how she's worthy of such power. In my head, it was basically saying that Sunny can transform into an Alicorn simply whenever she feels good about herself and her own self-esteem is intact, which makes the whole thing seem like it's a result of selfishness. An interpretation that's equally supported by her powers disappearing whenever Sunny started to feel down in the dumps or if things weren't going her way.
In conclusion, "Ali-Conned" is another one of the most boring and poorly-done installments of the My Little Pony franchise. It had potential that was ultimately squandered, the characters were one-dimensional, etc.
So, I rate "Ali-Conned" a solid one out of five stars.
Okay I will admit this episode wasn't really good as I said before it was basically like putting your hoof down 2.0 especially how the town's Pony were acting so badly to Sunny and after What She Done to bring back Magic they sort of treat her back in the new generation but when she was in her Alicorn mode they listen for some odd reason I mean it's cool and all but then when she doesn't have it they don't care like what like you got to be kidding me with that this episode would have been good if that did it happen how the town's Pony were acting and I hope they don't do that again
Well, I see how. Pipp wants to be popular and intentionally acts in a way that is supposed to bring the most popularity. But nothing works and then she becomes popular by accident. The lesson is that popularity magically comes to those who don't try to achieve it through conscious actions. Or, at least, this is the cliche. I might not remember if the episode had deviated from it at any point.
My problem with this is also that the episode keeps the idea of popularity abstract. You have probably seen my entire paragraph on the nature of art under under your review of "Izzy Does It" (and also in my blog). Here is the same issue. Pipp's usual ways to connect with her audience are songs, fashion and maybe something else. This is how she usually expresses herself. But catering to the people who want to laugh at you? Like, the real you, not some imaginary character you play in a comedy sketch. Is such popularity worth anything?
In this episode actual relationships with actual people have been substituted with numbers of likes and views, and chasing these numbers while ignoring the nuances of their meaning is presented as normal. Any attepts at "be yourself" kind of moral are destroyed by this fact. Whatever Pipp does to make the number go up is done to make the number go up. Not to make people like her, not to get influence over them, and absolutely not to express something she actually cares about.
"Friendship is Magic" also has a similar episode, "Sweet and Smoky" in season 9. But it at least provides Garble a reason make a fool out of himself, however magical and useless in reality it may be. Meanwhile, in "Ali-Conned" there are no excuses, no greater goals. Only this abstract popularity.
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Yay. I think that’s pretty much a reason for why I’ve questioned the morality of the subplot. It just seems…meaningless.
Once again, I disagree with yet another review of yours. I thought this was a really good episode.
What I particularly love about Sunny is how she doesn’t favor her privilege of alicorn-hood as something she should be worshipped for. All she ever wants to do is genuinely help ponies such as making Maretime Bay a more healthy environment like how she advocated for magically growing fruits & vegetables instead of just eating junk food.
That’s such a relatable and practical lesson someone like her can propose…unlike Twilight’s unrealistic idea of raising a school of friendship. Yuck…
I think I can relate to Sunny a lot more than with Twilight because the former is more…down-to-earth as opposed to the “Princess of Friendship” who annoyingly shoves friendship lessons to people’s faces all the time.
But that’s just my opinion.
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Ironically, what you said about Twilight is exactly how I feel about Sunny. She goes on and on about how important it is for ponies to be working together in unity and friendship, as well as how great magic is, and she’s always being incredibly in the face about it.
Heck, in the very first episode, it is shown that she didn’t want to accept Posey Bloom not coming around to magic or how angry she was over the fact that Earth Ponies couldn’t use magic. She also commented that somehow, someway, she was gonna convince Posey that magic was great.
But see, that right there’s the problem!
No matter what happened throughout this entire episode, Sunny basically remained the same as always and kept her mind on her goals. She doesn’t change as a pony, go through anything that remotely encourages character growth, nothing! She’s just this…alicorn super-powered Earth Pony mare with zero personal flaws and no relatable aspects, not even making so much as a mistake.
Why do you think I generally consider Sunny a one-dimensional Mary Sue compared to Twilight? At least she had personal flaws and qualities, and she’s made mistakes that actually help her grow as a character.
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You’re right about that.
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You know, after this review of yours I realized that Sunny's assertiveness is the right way for the "you're just like me" line Opaline tries on her in Chapter 6 (instead "you want power too because friendship is power"). They both have a strong desire to reshape the world while being largely inconsiderate about others' preferences and opinions. This same similarity might also have been the way for Opaline to manipulate Sunny, but instead we had this giant waste of a plotline.
Opaline in this episode continues to be a joke. She doesn't even try to pretend to be Sunny. She only looks like her, but speaks like Opaline, despite spying on Sunny through magic pool before contacting her. Opaline even falls out of her role of Sunny's inner self by being surprised about Sunny's goals and that doesn't expose her immediately. The only thing that saved her was Sunny's emotional state which clouded her thinking (though I doubt that the writers actually delved this deep). After this I don't believe that the twist in Chapter 6 with Opaline intentionally abusing Misty to make her switch sides and bring unity magic into the castle was actually planned. In this episode Opaline has been established as a bad actress.
Also, in my opinion the whole thing with Opaline pretending to be Sunny is kinda lame because it can be checked by asking the mirror something only Sunny knows. And the idea to make Sunny switch sides also doesn't sound like Opaline, because Opaline is not a noble alicorn supremacist: she doesn't fight for the good of all alicorns or something like that, only for her personal power. So, upon seeing a hostile alicorn, she would consider them a serious threat rather than a potential ally. Especially if she is smart enough to question the specifics of Sunny's power and her strong link to the crystals: like, would Sunny have her power after deconverting from her unity beliefs?
I think that this plotline could have been saved by following:
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EXACTLY!
Everything about the concept held so much potential, and it even offered the perfect chance for Sunny to establish herself as a three-dimensional character, but instead…it was completely wasted. All the potential went down the drain faster than a stream, and we’re basically left with a villain who continually proves herself to be a joke and a protagonist who’s as one-dimensional as a cardboard.
It felt like the subplot of Optimus Prime getting corrupted by Quintessa in “Transformers: The Last Knight” all over again, but much worse!