Magical Mystery Cure - My Thoughts (Spoilers)

Every brony and their crazy aunt has done their thoughts on this episode, so I figure that I might as well throw my opinion on the episode and the season as a whole out there.

Part 1 - The Episode Itself

It ... was better than I thought that it would be. The premise was good, the songs were catchy, and the animation was good, as usual. But ... did they have to make Twilight an alicorn? In my opinion, the episode could have ended at the 12 minute mark and it would have been fine. Twilight figures out how to fix the problem, she changes everything back to normal, day saved, right? NOPE, she has to become an alicorn. The Twilicorn thing really should have been saved for the series finale, and doing it now really just makes it feel like the show just jumped the shark.

Next, the songs. As I was saying, the songs were good as usual. But once again, something that shouldn't have happened until the series finale showed up - Celestia singing. This should have been the most epic song of the show. And it would have been - if it had been saved for the series finale. JUST LIKE TWILICORN! Once again, the shark hath been jumped.

And then, the feels. With Pinkie and Rainbow normally living happy lifestyles, seeing them sad makes me sad as a result. And Fluttershy being sad automatically means feels. But the ending just doesn't get the emotional response it should have gotten, because IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE GODDAMN SEASON FINALE! This could have been this big, triumphant ending that would have wrapped up the show perfectly. But due to the fact that shark jumping is a trend now, they have to do it.

As I was saying, I didn't hate the episode. However, it just didn't feel like a proper season finale. This was something that had probably been developed as a series finale right from the start, and just having it happen now just makes it seem like we lost a payoff that should have been. Overall, I give the episode a C minus.

Part 2 - The Season As A Whole

It was just a rushed season. In a good portion of the episodes, the resolution comes in the last 3 minutes completely out of the blue, the biggest example being "Keep Calm & Flutter On." For the season that took the longest to put out, the episodes really are rushed.

There were quite a few bright spots, though. "Sleepless In Ponyville" is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, "Too Many Pinkie Pies," "One Bad Apple," and "Apple Family Reunion" are more episodes I watch constantly, and heck, "Keep Calm & Flutter On," despite its rushed ending, I still like due to Discord simply being Discord. The Disney references do help, though.

But even then, we got an episode that really should not have been there. "Magic Duel." I know a lot of people like this episode, and it did have its moments, but I just think that it's the most overrated episode of the show. It all focuses on fanservice and a plot device, which the writers really should have known to avoid.

But my biggest problem with this season is that it seems like Hasbro interfered way too much. It's like every decision was made just for marketing concerns. Especially with the Twilicorn ending, which just had to be pushed to the season finale instead of a series finale just so they can sell some goddamn toys. It's like Hasbro has forgotten what made the show popular with more than just the target audience to begin with. I really want to know what it was like in the meetings, because I'm sure that there was at least one writer who felt like choking the executives. If it was me behind the show, I would have made "Keep Calm & Flutter On" a two-parter and put "Just For Sidekicks" and "Equestria Games" first. But that's just me.

Part 3 - The Conclusion

In my opinion, "Magical Mystery Cure" was a rushed ending to a rushed season that really should have been saved for a series finale. Let's hope that season 4, "Equestria Girls," and the rumored movie are better.