Episode Analysis - Season 4, Episode 11 - Three's A Crowd · 1:29am Feb 4th, 2014
Three's A Crowd marks the fourth appearance of Discord, and the fourth real appearance of Princess Cadance. The first time I watched the episode, I didn't really enjoy it all that much at all; however, the second and third times I watched it, I found it considerably more enjoyable. What caused this? Why did I not like it at first, and then had a lot of fun with it later?
I think the key lies in what the episode was. My primary draw to the show is the characters and a certain sort of tonal feel, and a great deal of this episode - especially the second half - felt rather markedly different from the way the show normally is. Discord is a major disruptive influence and sticks out like a sore thumb; in his initial appearance, he did a lot of fairly clever things, but in season 4 he has been much more like Genie from Disney's Aladdin - a treasure trove of pop culture references and zaniness. Indeed, he even lampshaded it by rubbing the lamp from Aladdin in a very brief bit of his song. It wasn't that the references weren't amusing... but they felt very out of place in the show, and were much more in your face than they usually are. They're the sort of thing where a nod and a wink is cute, but putting them too in your face really distracts me. There are shows that were enjoyable for such things, but the show has sort of created its own world - pop-culture references thus feel very weird and out of place.
Cadance, on the other hand, has little actual personality - or rather, she has a personality, but it is terribly bland. The trouble with characterization in fiction is that subtle characterization often feels like no characterization at all, because we spend so little time with the character - by exaggerating a character's characteristics, we actually end up coming to grasp their character. This is why all of the characters in My Little Pony tend to be so exaggerated - they aren't "realistic" characters, but we bond with them because they have strong personalities and speech patterns which really shine through. Cadance lacks these; she's a fairly ordinary person. And that means she seems like she has no personality. She has one, though; it just is very subdued, and this episode did help develop her character a little bit, though she still feels dull in such a vibrant world.
Pinkie Pie, too, pulled me out of the episode in places. This is actually an ongoing issue with her, but back in the earlier seasons, Pinkie Pie, while very eccentric, was also loyal to her friends in her own special sort of way. Sure, she enjoyed the chocolate rain, but it was never at the expense of others. This season she has been much more all over the place, and it feels like the writers have forgotten how to write her - she is the eccentric one, but she has utterly contrasting character traits being used. Her being distracted by the balloons and wandering off in this episode was like the frosting joke in Princess Twilight Sparkle - it felt terribly out of character, because while she is distractible in a sense, she was always rather obsessively focused on her friends. Here, it feels like the writers see her as eccentric so give her random character traits, when originally, it wasn't the point at all.
Thus when I watched it the first time, I very much focused on these things. Discord's referential barrage just pulled on my attention too much, Cadance's continued lack of a vibrant persona disappointed me, and Pinkie Pie's character changing randomly (indeed, within seconds) annoyed me.
Thing is, though, this episode wasn't really about that. The episode was about the flow of things, and in that department, the episode actually did quite well. The episode had a somewhat unusual flow to it, but on the other hand it worked just fine for Discord, who really was at the center of the episode, as while it was chaotic, it wasn't random - the flow was going straight where Discord wanted it to the whole episode.
The flow of the episode also did something else which the show has been having trouble with in season four, which is actually making good use of the whole cast. The episode started out with Twilight being excited about Princess Cadance visiting, which was very cute, along with Fluttershy being excited about the Breezies and Pinkie Pie being excited about used patio furniture. Fluttershy went off to visit said magical creatures in an adorable little explorer's outfit, thus conveniently writing her out of the rest of the episode. Cadance shows up in her crystal train of doom:
Clearly the crystal ponies had no idea how to build trains, so sort of imagined what a terrifying beast of steel that moved along tracks should look like and built that instead.
So the scene was set for Discord, and set well. Indeed, the episode really was quite deceptive on this point; it looked like the episode was going to be about the other four ponies doing their best to keep Discord away from Twilight and Cadance, but it wasn't, as they were pushed away one by one so that Discord could cause his desired mischief - messing up Twilight's visit with Cadance, and weakening bonds between ponies.
The intro sequence, up through Discord getting rid of the rest of the mane six, actually did a good job of showing off the character of the mane six; Rainbow Dash is aggressive, brash, and in his face, and clearly not buying it, and when he says that he wants her to take care of him, calls not it and flies off - a nice little bit of Rainbow Dash. While Pinkie Pie was weak in this sequence in places, she also was strong in others; racing after Fluttershy and saying they would never forget her was a nice callback to Wonderbolts Academy, while her eventually being the most helpful towards Discord was a nice touch.
Then we had Applejack and Rarity, who weren't buying it at all, and who Discord more or less played on their general understanding of responsibility (and of keeping Discord away from their friend). There was a cute fainting couch reference, which was a nice callback, and both Rarity and Applejack worked very well here. I was actually briefly very excited as I thought for a moment it was going to be "Rarity and Applejack working together to keep Discord away from Twilight and Cadance" for the bulk of the episode... but then Discord gets rid of them, too, though their appearance at the end of the episode was very cute (and Rarity playing off of Applejack there was quite good). I suspect my disappointment that the episode wasn't going to feature Rarity and Applejack together again may also have colored my initial perception of it, and it makes me wonder what that episode might have been like, and if it would have been better - I feel like the rest of the episode isn't quite as strong as the start.
Why not? The first problem is, as I noted, the song was very referential - as I noted above, Discord really stuck out as "not being in the show" here. He was fine at the festival, and his line about inadequate hoof and claw washing was cute, but while the song was certainly entertaining and funny, it didn't feel right in the context of the show, and it wasn't the strongest thing musically. But at least I was entertained.
This was probably the apex; while amusing, it felt very out of place, even in the sequence.
This is then followed up by an action sequence - the bit where they're going up north is a bit bland, but it is alright as it is a natural dip in the intensity of the episode setting up for the next high point, but the high point of the episode is an action sequence. And unfortunately it is here we see the problem with action sequences in this show - the monster was actually kind of neat, an original beastie that we had no idea about, some sort of flying worm/plant thing. The problem is, the solution to the problem is... Twilight and Cadance blasting it with magical laser beams. Really? What is this, GI Joe?
The trouble is that this is very characterless; action should complement character, not exclude it. This is a common issue in tabletop roleplaying games as well - frequently, characters lose all their character when actually fighting, and just become, well, whatever class they are, only regaining their character once the battle is done. But really, action should incorporate characterization - someone should resolve conflicts in ways that are congruent with their character or which expose new aspects of them. When Rarity kicked the manticore in the face in the second episode of the show, it showed that Rarity wasn't just a prim and proper lady - she was willing to get down and dirty. But the others confronted it in their own ways, and Fluttershy solved the problem with her animal empathy.
When Twilight has been called upon in such sequences, she frequently wins via using her mind to use her magic in clever ways, her primary character traits. So when she confronted Nightmare Moon, she tricked her into charging her so she could teleport past her to get to the Elements of Harmony. In Boast Busters, she combined her magic in clever ways to subdue the monster rather than beating it down with magic laser beams; the same was true in Magic Duel. Magic laser beams are the least interesting way of fighting the show has, and just blasting something with magic rather than having them outhink the critter or otherwise use their primary character traits to overcome it is weak. Indeed, this would have been the perfect opportunity to show Cadance getting excited and actually wanting to really actively confront it because that would be FUN and EXCITING and not boring. Instead, it was just some lame action with some even lamer lines - "Let go of my sister-in-law" sounds horrifically awkward, and is a case of LUS in actual dialogue! It sounds awkward as heck, is very weak, and doesn't sound like something they would say.
Finally, the truth is revealed after the beastie is driven back - Discord was faking it the whole time (though it had been fairly obvious from the get-go) and Twilight becomes quite irate as Discord both mocks her eagerness for tests and rubs in how he ruined her day... cue Cadance saying that it didn't ruin her day at all because her life is normally boring, and going on an adventure with Twilight was fun. This is alright, but should have been more heavily foreshadowed beforehand, as her rather bland personality didn't really show it well.
The beastie shows back up, sneezes on Discord to make him sick in a karmic twist (or perhaps he is just faking it again, though he seems much more actively miserable in the ending - though he still mocks them anyway) and perhaps further proving his lack of omnipotence. Rarity and Applejack return for a few more lines, and Discord ends the episode by asking for a glass of water again, a cute way to end the episode as it recalls his song.
On the whole, I have to say that the episode was entertaining, and that it entertained me - while there were several things in it which pulled from it, in the end the flow, the humor, and the overall delivery made it work, and while it wasn't the best episode of the series, it was fun to watch - and that's really important, as if it isn't, nothing else really matters.
One final note: This season has possessed a surprisingly large amount of foreshadowing and continuity, and at this point I'd be unsurprised if Discord ends up being the big bad of the season finale, seeing as we've had a huge amount of setup both in terms of the rainbow stuff (presumably the keys to the box) and Discord. Indeed, the show has been gaining more and more continuity as time has gone on, and right now, there are at least five major overhanging plots (Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts, Discord's "reformation", the box and the keys, the Equestria Games, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders' marks) which is far more than has ever been floating around before. Arguably, Scootaloo not being able to fly is another hanging plot point, and it may well be addressed later on judging by some tweets by the staff. This was also one of the very few times in the series we've had foreshadowing for just regular old episodes - while MA Larson did it a bit in his episodes historically (for instance, Sonic Rainboom and Cutie Mark Chronicles), this episode mentioned the Breezies, who are going to (presumably) be showing up in about five episodes judging by the episode title.
Best quote of the blog.
You have a bad habit of getting really repetitive with some elements; this time it is your view that Discord doesn't fit the theme of the show. I agree with that view, but you kind of beat the point over the reader's head with:
I think reformatting this to a "here is my view, here are examples of how this view applies" scheme would work better than restating your view with each example.
I like the G.I.Joe reference. Fitting for an ep where the main "strength" of the humor is all the references.
This episodes marks the third time we've seen Alicorns fighting (second this season alone), and you're right it is pretty bland. Celestia and Luna battling in the flashback was mostly interesting due to context more than the action. Celestia vs Chrysallis (semi-alicorn-ish) in ACW was pretty reviled by nearly everyone I've ever talked to. It is the first time we've seen alicorns fighting something other than each other though.
Still, I agree, Twilight in particular really should have had some kind of neat combination of magical effects, teleporting, and mind-control to defeat the foe. Those are her go-to/knee-jerk reactions to conflict. S4 is generally dumbing her down.
On the whole though, I'm enjoying the season far more ever since RTM. I'm enjoying the continuity and wordbuilding going on. It feels a lot to me like this season is finding it's own merit, while fleshing out the world in preperation for S5 and beyond. I'm predicting that perhaps we'll start seeing a lot more of Equestria outside of Ponyville in the future. The Crystal Empire, Manehatten, and Appleoosa offer very different locations to do stuff in than our more familiar small town of Ponyville and occasional Royalty/high society-laden Canterlot. Rainbow Falls should also prove to be an interesting location if we can get more of a feel of what kind of community it is.
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Thanks for the feedback, and yeah, I need to work on editing these more before I post them. I do have a tendency to blather on about the same thing if I'm not careful.