Bloomception

Again my titles ain't the greatest, but at least I'm getting to this sooner than usual! Let's talk about the latest episode, Bloom and Gloom. As usual there's things I dig about it, and things I don't, but overall I think this was a good one. And although I didn't say it the last couple of times, there's going to be spoilers here, so read at your discretion.

First things first, what does this mean for Babs Seed? Now that she's got her cutie mark, it's not likely she'll return in any great capacity. What would they do with her? I'm sure she'll show up, but that's about it. Quite honestly, there wasn't much that could even be done with Babs Seed in the first place. The entirety of her character development was established in One Bad Apple, she was only a side character in Apple Family Reunion for Applebloom to express her discontent to, and Friends Forever #13 was generally dull. And maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but where's the Babs Seed fanfics, or artwork, or plushies, or cosplays? What I'm saying is that Babs was a one-off character to both the writers and the fans. At least, I think so... so feel free to show me any fan stuff of Babs! I'm actually curious.

The plot of this one totally belonged in the last season. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had their time with Luna, and they're only now just getting around to Applebloom? What's the deal? They could've worked this one in somewhere. Did we really need It Ain't Easy Being Breezies? Yeah, I know the answer is "Yes, because the Breezies are toyetic and Hasbro's gotta make sales," but I'm talking about the story here. This was just a loose thread that could've been knotted up long ago.

Finally I can talk about the positive stuff and wrap things up now! The reasons I do actually like this episode are simple and straightforward. I'm a complete sucker for trippy stuff and dream sequences. Even though I knew the first time she woke up that her nightmare wasn't actually over, I wanted to see what was coming next. And it totally delivered! If you're a fan of mind-altering substances, legal or otherwise, this is probably a good one to watch while under the influence. Secondly, this episode fits somewhere between The Cutie Map and Castle Sweet Castle in terms of its mood. It's not as dark or as heavy as The Cutie Map, and it wasn't sappy or phoned-in like Castle Sweet Castle. Bloom and Gloom is officially the benchmark for what we should really expect from this season. And I sure hope I'm right on that.