Obligatory Review of the 100th Episode (Spoilers) · 9:00pm Jun 14th, 2015
I finally watched it. It took some loading, a bag of tortilla chips, some cheese dip, and a big glass of strawberry milk, but I actually watched it. And, I'm proud to say, I managed to avoid spoilers for the most part. I was almost one hundred percent blind going in. And what did I think of it? Well, now that I've ceased my childish fangirling, I can give a calm, honest review.
My biggest fear when coming into this episode was how they were going to handle Dr. Whooves. I'm a "Dr. Who" fan (it's my favorite non-animated show), therefore you'd expect me to be excited. Thrilled, even. But in truth, I was worried they were going to go full-fanon on Time Turner (as I prefer to call him), making him out to be a Time Lord, married to Derpy, and everything else. I didn't want that to happen because I felt it just didn't fit with the show. "Dr. Who" is a completely different show and I like it that way, regardless of fanon. Sure, that little nod in "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" was nice, but it was just that....a nod. So I was surprised about the route they took. Specifically, making him out to be more of an eccentric scientist than a Time Lord. Even giving him a back story that (unless I've missed something) has nothing to do with The Doctor. Yes, there were little nods to our beloved Ninth Doctor, but those were just references to the fandom. Nothing huge.
Lyra and Bon-Bon. The ship I used to think was a half-baked pipe dream, then suddenly got on board after "Rainbow Rocks" practically confirmed it. Yes, I know they emphasized a friendship , but they couldn't exactly come out and say "THESE CHARACTERS ON OUR SHOW ARE LESBIANS!". You know how people overreact. It was ballsy in itself for them to even have that little scene in "Rainbow Rocks". And perhaps I've got my shipping goggles on, but Lyra and Bon-Bon seemed to be showing more than friendship in any case.
The return of Steven Magnet! Whom we will probably never see again. His bit was enjoyable nonetheless, especially his kindness to Cranky later in the episode. His mustache actually looks better as a wig than Cranky's usual hair.
Vinyl and Octavia's house. THEIR BUCKING HOUSE! I can't get over the design. It's absolutely perfect. And the jamming session was great. One question, though: Why didn't Vinyl talk? It can't be due to Nowacking. They had Octavia speak, even though her "official" voice actress in the fandom is EllieMonty.
Derpy spoke....and the world didn't explode twice! Well, it didn't explode in a bad way, like the last time our wall-eyed favorite opened her mouth. I was expecting Derpy to remain mute, but the episode surprised me again. There is no end to the things in this episode that threw me for a loop. It was surprise after surprise from start to finish.
M.A. Larson.... How can anyone hate the guy? First he appeared in two fan works (Ponies the Anthology III and Bronies React: Season 5 Premiere). Then he wrote this memorable gem. The guy deserves a round of applause.
So what didn't I like about the episode? Well, I've been praising the living crap out of it, but I have to admit that a great deal of it WAS pandering. Twilicane and Button Mash, for example. Does that mean it's terrible? It does lose a few points in my book, but at least it had a reason to pander. This episode was meant to celebrate the fandom that made the show what it is today and it did so wonderfully. It wasn't perfect, but it was good.
Conclusion: This was a good episode. Although, I have to admit, "Tanks for the Memories" still ranks higher for me. Regardless of the reason, this episode had A LOT of pandering and lacked some of that essential originality with the characters and their personalities. They could have done a lot more than just copy what the fans came up with. In a way, this almost felt like a fan episode, rather than an official release. I give it 8 out of 10 stars, though. It was good, but it could have been better. If they ever reach 200 episodes, hopefully they'll do this again, but make it more original.
I missed that one, then. The scarf was Fourth Doctor and "Allons-y" was Tenth Doctor. Not surprised I missed something; looks like I'll have to watch it again!
3150627 Oops xD I meant the Tenth Doctor. Numbers hate me, apparently. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there was a reference to the Ninth doctor as well.