My Thoughts On "Slice of Life" · 4:51pm Jun 14th, 2015
A tad late, but only because I was on vacation. Now that I have returned, I'm free to give you my thoughts on Slice of Life. And, oh boy, do I have some thoughts on this one.
Spoilers. You have been warned.
This episode is probably going to be my favorite of the season, and maybe of the entire series. I had high hopes, but also a few reservations. I was afraid that my expectations were too high, and that the episode would never be able to reach them. Not only did they reach, exceed, and flat-out decimated my expectations, it did it in ways I never expected.
Let's back up a bit. Slice of Life is, for all intents and purposes, pure fan-service. The Mane Six get about forty seconds of cumulative screen time, and the rest is devoted to the background characters. And when I say "background characters", I mean waaaaaaay in the background. Button Mash. Jelly Guy. Aloe and Lotus. Steven Frigging Magnet! They were just pulling characters from way back when, and they all felt right. Nothing seemed forced (except for the Doctor. I'll get to him in a sec). It was super sweet to watch, even if I don't much care for Cranky.
So, in this episode, Derpy (surprise, surprise!) screws up. But, in her defense, she was trying her best, and she was just trying to make Cranky happy by getting him the invitations for cheap. A fair bit of the episode revolves around her trying to help in whatever way she can, and, ultimately, she makes the wedding absolutely perfect. Woo-hoo!
As one could wager, she's friends with Doctor Whooves, who perfectly mimics the real Doctor. He even says "Allons-y!" at some point, which was awesome for me. Most of the Doctor's time on screen seemed to be a set up for some Doctor Who reference, and they were always fun to watch (if you're like me and live, sleep, piss, and breath Doctor Who). The only thing to really rustled my jimmies was that thing he kept saying. "Great whickering stallions"! What the hell does that mean? He said it so many times that I'm starting to feel like I'm missing the joke.
As I stated before, this episode was fan service galore. Case in point; Vinyl Scratch and Octavia/Lyra and Special Agent Sweetie Drops. Another easy guess is that Vinyl and Tavi are roomies. Their house, which is freaking sick, by the way, is split right down the middle. One half is dedicated to Octavia's classical style, while the other is for the DJ's techno-dubstep-party swag. They play a little song together, which is cool, and I appreciate that they did not make Vinyl speak. I was already upset with Octavia's voice (though she is growing on me), and I know at least three people personally that would've burned down Hasbro's HQ if Vinyl opened her mouth and it wasn't Nowacking speaking. They definitely played it safe.
Now, I expected most of that. I don't think anyone who read the episode synopsis doubted that they would work in Derpy, Doc, Vinyl, and Octi. What did surprise me, though, was Lyra and Bon-Bon. Not because they were there, but because of what transpired. Apparently, Bon-Bon is actually a special agent for some sort of Equestrian approximation of the CIA. I honestly thought that was a joke, but as she kept going, it all started to make sense. The confusion with her name is resolved (her real name is Sweetie Drops, Bon-Bon is a cover story), and it could potentially explain her various voices. It was, in a word, bizarre, but it was also highly entertaining.
And holy sh*t, speaking of bizarre, Gummy's internal monologue threw me for a loop. It was so dark and grim and serious and unexpected. I always joked about Gummy knowing and thinking more than he lets on, but I never thought it would go anywhere. It was insane! He started talking about marching towards your unseen destiny, which is waaaay to real to be in this show. That's probably why I loved it.
Now, these next three things are probably super insignificant, but they really caught my eye. First was Celestia and Luna. Their bickering was so amusing to me, and it really made them seem more real. They may be goddesses, but they are also sisters. Therefore, they argue over stupid things, like who was supposed to bring the present. Although, honestly, couldn't one of them just teleport to the castle, grab the present, and teleport back?
Next up is Cadence and Shining. The only significance they bear is their presence. I wasn't aware they even knew about Cranky and Matilda, let alone care enough to come all the way from the Crystal Empire for the wedding. And, unsurprisingly, Shining was bawling his eyes out like a baby. Cadance almost looked embarrassed. I wonder if Shining bursts into tears at home like that, like, in the bedroom or whatever? That must be unsettling the first time.
Finally, and this is probably the biggest one, there was a f*cking Changeling at the wedding! What could this mean? Why did nopony react? Have they seen Changelings start to return? Does this mean that Chrysie is coming back? What the hell was a Changeling drone doing at the wedding? So many unanswered questions!
Overall, I rate this episode at a perfect 10 out of 10. It was funny, it was cute, in answered some questions, and raised even more! And bonus points for the Mane Six not being in it! I have a weird thing for shows that use an episode to explore the not-main characters. It's charming to me.
Anywho, those are just my thoughts. If you have some of your own, share them below, and I'll be back next week (next week? Yeah, next week), with my thoughts on the episode Princess Spike
I have little words to add to this. Though yeah, sweetie drops thing was like "whoa, is it April fools again, is this real?"
But it was awesome, I really didn't expect it. I almost lost it when Octavia was starting to mix with Viynl on the wedding music. But then it just...happened. And it was like "WTF" but enjoyable at the same time. Victory from the jaws of wftery.