Doctor Perseus Reviews: "Power Ponies" *SPOILERS*/Some Doctor Whooves Info · 4:24am Dec 22nd, 2013
In this week's episode of MLP, Spike and the Mane 6 are pulled into Spike's enchanted comic book and find themselves transformed into the comic book's heroines: the Power Ponies (with Spike taking the place of sidekick Humdrum). In order to get back home, Spike and the Power Pony Mane 6 will have to defeat the Mane-iac while Spike realizes his usefulness.
When I first saw the preview of this episode several months back, I was curious but also slightly nervous. I mean, an MLP superhero episode sounded interesting but also had the potential to go very wrong. However, after seeing the episode, I can say that it was a fun episode. Definitely not one of the greatest episodes of the series but an entertaining one nonetheless.
I liked the various homages to superheros such as the Avengers, X-Men, and DC heros and the episode did a good job at parodying the silver age of comics with the all-too-often-seen _______ OF DOOM coupled with the the cliched villain monologue. Speaking of the villain, the Mane-iac proved to be a fitting antagonist for this episode. Sure, she got annoying at times but I think that was the point of her character. She was meant to be annoying because she was basically a conglomeration of several old comic book villain cliches. I also liked how her origin story was a homage to that of the Joker and her abilities reflected that of Dr. Octopus.
Now let's talk about the Power Ponies. I have to admit that their costumes had pretty awesome designs and I liked how the Power Ponies's powers reflected that of traits and skills that the Mane 6 have (Zap controlling the weather, Fili-Second with super speed, etc). I also took a liking to Spike's arc during the episode of him finding his worth amongst the group. It was pretty interesting how this arc and Spike's role as Humdrum sort of reflected how some Bronies view Spike: just comic relief and useless when compared to the others (which I disagree with as I am a Spike fan). It was satisfying to see Spike stand up, save his friends, and prove himself to be more than just the comic relief sidekick. My favorite scene in this episode had to be when Fluttershy went all hulk on the Mane-iac. It was built up throughout the episode and the ultimate payoff was worth it.
Now on to the negatives. As I stated earlier, this isn't a spectacular episode. It's enjoyable but it's not going to end up on many Bronies' top 10 lists (especially with the negative to mixed to somewhat positive reception this episode has gotten). And while I thought the explanation to the comic book's magic was interesting, I wish it had been explored further. I'm hoping that we get a further look into this later but I have a feeling that this is a one-shot deal. Also, the references to superheros and comics will go over the heads of anyone not familiar with the material and will make it a less enjoyable episode for them.
Overall, in my opinion, Power Ponies was a fun episode. It's not that truly spectacular Spike episode that I've been waiting for but it's enjoyable enough and I wouldn't mind watching it a few more times in the future.
Now, for those of you who are fans of my Doctor Whooves series, I've decided to go ahead and give a few tidbits of info about the near future of the main series.
Before I get into that, though, I want to address my one-shot turned two-shot story Ponds, Crusaders, and a Doctor. I plan to finish that story once I've finished the "first season" of Doctor Whooves. Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to the interesting stuff.
Firstly, here's some info about the rest of "season 1". After The Rifts, there are four episodes left in this season which includes a three-part finale. And, just as a heads up, things are going to get fairly dark in this finale (though that probably doesn't surprise that many of you as I've gone dark in the past). And I promise you all that season 1 is going to have a very interesting finale. Origin stories will be told, various plot points from this season will come back to rear their heads, and...let's just say that some characters will be seeing the closing of their stories during this finale (you may begin speculating now).
Now here's a little bit of info about what's to come in season 2. While season 1 basically has one huge arc, the Dimensional Rifts, season 2 is going to have three arcs that transition into each other; thus season 2 is going to be longer than season 1. The last bit of info I'm going to give about the season 2 arcs is that I've dubbed the first arc as "Going Home" (and, no, that's not a reference to Once Upon a Time).
And there you have it. I hope I've gotten you all interested and a bit excited for what the future holds in Doctor Whooves because I'm certainly excited about what's to come!
Well, I see we are in agreement over "Power Ponies" although I think my review was funnier.
I'm glad to hear where your main Doctor Whooves series will be going as its 1st season comes to an end. I have no problem with a dark finale.
I have a question though, I notice that first chapter of the next episode of Doctor Whooves was uploaded on Fanfiction.net but it's not up here yet. Why is that?
1634817
Yeah, your review was funnier.
The reason the first chapter of the next DW is up on fanfiction.net and not here is because when I tried to upload it here it got rejected due to "not being related enough to the MLP FiM universe". Once I get the next chapter in (which will include Twilight, Derpy, etc.) I'm sure it'll be approved.
1635012 Oh I see. I'll wait then.
Somepony's gonna die in the finale aren't they?
