My Review of MLP: Make Your Mark Chapter 4 Episode 1 Bridlewoodstock · 6:12pm February 10th
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 G5 episode review for you all today. This morning, I will be reviewing the first episode of Make Your Mark Chapter 4 entitled "Bridlewoodstock", a 45-minute special written by Gillian Berrow and Tony Fleecs. I can't honestly remember how I felt about this episode when I first watched it, so it would make sense for me to give it a full re-watch prior to writing this review. Now that I have seen this a second time, I have to say...it was pretty decent.
This story is about Lumi-Blooms blossoming in all their glory which Izzy herself showed to all her friends. Fascinated by this, Pipp decides to host an ambitious music festival right on that spot in Bridlewood, but Izzy warns her that making such loud music can attract the mythical Troggles who remove voices from their victims. Pipp doesn't believe this and continues with her plan until things get complicated.
To be blunt, I am not pleased with the fact that this is 45 minutes instead of the usual runtime (23 minutes) because this kind of story didn't need to have that much filler therein; while it is interesting to see some new characters for this chapter, I would've much preferred if they made these introductions with a much faster pace; the focus should've been more on the Troggles since they are the antagonistic threat of the episode.
Speaking of which, I feel like they weren't given the full attention they deserved. They are feared by all the unicorns in Bridlewood which is why singing loudly is a strict "jinxy" taboo. The moment they decided to reveal how threatening they are is by the end of the episode, and even there, they were given about 2 or 3 minutes of screen time and are easily vanquished by the rubies.
There should've been more lore behind them because who created them? Why do they exist? Why are they attracted to rubies? Why do they steal voices from people? How long have they existed? There is not enough information about them to justify their existence or their threat level. They're just random antagonistic ghosts who don't exactly add anything to the overall storyline.
On a more positive note, it was really cool to see Pipp get some character development in this special. From the way I see it, her arc serves as a perfect example of what not to do or say when we are dealing with people from another culture. In other words, she had to realize that if these people are telling you--and if one of your closest friends who is originally from that same place--that it's forbidden to do something that will lure some unwanted guests, then don't do it.
Cultural insensitivity is a real thing, and if we are not educated on how to speak or interact with people from different ways of life, it can cause some real problems--especially ones that can severely harm us in various ways. So I like how Pipp finally realized the ultimate lesson: always listen to Izzy. She may not be Pinkie Pie, but she still has her own instincts.
As for the other positives within this special, I will admit that the music is pretty good but not exactly memorable. It's only good once you watch along with the rest of the episode, but by themselves, they're not what I would call catchy, compelling, or impressionable.
And the new characters I mentioned earlier? They were a little cool, I guess. Minty, Electric Blue, and Ruby Jubilee were serviceable in terms of plot progression, but I don't necessarily care about them to be honest. Their personalities are somewhat basic, so there's not much to write home about no matter if it's positive or negative.
Lastly, the resolution was nice to see, but it had some questionable execution. Pipp's apology to the crowd felt sincere, and I love how it wasn't just to them but also to her friends. But after that, the unicorns actually did not want her to stop hosting the festival because now that the Troggles are gone, they're not afraid anymore. Then Pipp instantly felt happy again and resumed her work as if nothing happened. That kinda rubs me the wrong way since it felt like it undoes the lesson she had to learn.
To me, it seemed like the episode is saying to its young viewers that cultural insensitivity can be a good thing if it can ultimately help save the day. That kind of harmful message is not something you want to spread to people of significantly different backgrounds. With that said, they should've rewritten the conflict resolution in the following manner: have the Troggles actually survive at the end--showing the audience that while rubies can dispel them temporarily, they can still respawn at any given time.
Because it seems as if they're gone for good...judging from the implications they gave out. If they're permanently destroyed, then that's just incredibly lazy writing. There is so much you can do with these new threats, and you expand on their historical background since they seem to have some intriguing potential. You can't just throw them away like that and just move on. What was the point?
Back on topic, the unicorns should've thanked Pipp for her good intentions but let her know that something like that should never happen again for the safety of all the residents in Bridlewood; thus, Pipp's apology wouldn't be fruitless or pointless at the end.
In that way, kids watching this will learn that cultural insensitivity is never okay under any circumstance. If you make a mistake in that regard, learn from it and don't do it again. The ending that we got felt like it was right for Pipp to host the festival so that the music can lure them out in order to set up their defeat.
It's just bad writing if these background characters can just praise the main characters for any objectively bad thing they do all because they had a fun time. I won't stand for that, and we need to call out this sort of writing every now and then.
Aside from this however, this was a decent re-watch. Obviously, this could've been a whole lot better if the episode was much shorter and if the resolution wasn't sloppily executed and if the threat level was given more justice, but I can tolerate it. With that said, I'll give this a solid C+. Heavily flawed but still really neat to say the least.
Peace!
This special certainly is a visual feast. The animation software seemingly got a massive upgrade between Winter Wishday and this, as everything looks so much better and the characters move much more smoothly; Ruby Jubilee's musical number is a case in point with how smooth and dynamic her movements are. The luma-bloom and the festival visuals also look great; despite the name, the animators went for a distinct Summer of Love vibe for the scenery and character clothing (Sunny, for example, is wearing glasses reminiscent of those worn by John Lennon during the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in June 1967), and as somebody who is a fan of the aesthetics of the counter-culture this was right up my street on a visual front.
Whilst it was a shame the special doesn't have any 1960s-inspired music (especially given one episode of TYT has a Motown pastiche), the way musical eras are blended is great fun. I did a full musical analysis of Hooves Together on my YouTube channel; the cliff notes version is that the song blends 1980s sounds and vocals typical of classic Girl Group and glam rock with 1990s and 2000s rock and Pipp's 2020s pop vibes to capture the eras of My Little Pony (the special was made to mark 40 years of MLP).
The plot is a bit flat, and could have done with a few more runs through the editing room. For example, fans quickly noticed that Ruby Jubilee closely resembles Misty;
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This led to a fantheory that these two characters were related. If they'd gone with something like this, it could have allowed them to tie Ruby more closely into the plot (given how aggressively the character was pushed in the marketing).
Though, overall, this is a fun watch for the vibes and the music. And Iconic still frickin' slaps.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks these things regarding the Troggles. Even today, I still couldn't understand the point behind their incorporations, and had they been given a greater sense of relevance & exploration, then they wouldn't have felt like unnecessary baggage in the long run. It was like the snowstorm in "Winter Wishday" all over again!
That's another sentiment I similarly share. As a whole, the new characters weren't exactly the most noteworthy, and as the episode progressed...it seemed like they were mainly just some kind of sideshow.
EXACTLY!
What was the point behind Pipp ever learning anything or apologizing if the unicorns were gonna want the festival to keep going anyway?
Other than these things I listed, though...contrary to this review, I personally still think that "Bridlewoodstock" was an aggravating mess, particularly when it came to the story and characters.
The episode as a whole had wonky pacing, hardly any kind of emotional conflict ever occurred, it had subplots & plot aspects that were either underdeveloped or never given any kind of follow-through, and it was often both difficult to sit through & hard to follow. The entirety of it was also just a needless slice-of-life story that didn’t have anything to do with the rest of the show's narrative, so it really makes me wonder why it needed to be made in the first place.
The characters themselves, both new and old, weren't exactly the most engaging and tolerable to sit through. Heck, just like "The Traditional Unicorn Sleepover" did with Izzy Moonbow, and "Have You Seen this Dragon?" did with Hitch Trailblazer, "Bridlewoodstock" was the episode where I found myself having the last straw with Pipp Petals. To me, everything about the episode lived up to my belief that she's an intolerable and one-dimensional individual, and every time the show team tries to have Pipp learn something or admit to a mistake, everything suddenly turns around in her favor like she didn't need to learn anything or apologize for something after all. Not to mention every attempt to make her relatable and complex generally fell flat, and it became hard for me to ever recall who she is beyond a social media icon that likes to sing & look pretty.
Plus, while I do agree that one of the themes of "Bridlewoodstock" was on cultural insensitivity, I don't think they ever did a great job with how they both handled & executed it. The main reason is because the unicorns hardly had any reason for others to take them seriously, in that they go bonkers whenever they hear certain words, get scared of so many things to where it wouldn't be surprising if they were afraid of their own shadows, and so much more.