What I Thought About "Equestria Girls" · 1:24pm Oct 4th, 2015
Movie Review
Here we go. It's time to tackle the mother of all brony base breakers: Equestria Girls. Twilicorn had nothing on this. It was a pretty big shock when it was first announced. I mean, seriously? Ponies as modern high school girls? In the context of the show, that's totally bizarre. This movie came out not long after I joined the fandom, and when I first heard about it, I was like, "Uh, say what? Huh... that looks kinda neat. I wonder what it'll be like." Yeah, I was actually always cool with it, and I was laughing at the people going nuts over it. I've always thought that exploring alternate universes was cool, and this spinoff makes the franchise just that much more interesting to write about.
It's a bit hard to talk about this movie without just reiterating everything that's already been said. We all know that this movie has a lot of flaws. Like, a whole lot. Every reviewer and their uncle has ripped this movie apart and said that they hated it (except for one or two people). Everyone loves to bag on this movie, so I'm gonna take a different angle. Oh, I'm gonna mention the ways it doesn't work, but I'm gonna talk more about the ways that it does work, giving credit where it's due. I'm also gonna take some time to analyze a few things about it, like it's antagonist (c'mon, did you really expect me not to?).
There is one different thing I can bring to this review, though: perspective. I think mine might be a bit different than most people who review pony stuff. How shall I put this? Hmm. This is probably gonna invalidate my opinion to some people, but I, uh, well... I...
I like them better as humans.
There, I said it. I will never complain about the ponies becoming humans because I like it. It's why you'll never see me call the first movie an abomination, because it may have had problems, but I've never thought it was bad as a concept. I didn't prefer them as humans before, but seeing them as such in canon made me realize what I'd been missing. Understand that I've never been very interested in fantasy genres, like, at all. Friendship is Magic was one of few exceptions. So when I can have the same characters I love as humans in a modern setting instead of magical horses in schizo-tech whatever-the-hell-time-period stasis? Hell yes, gimme some of that. At this point, I even like the movies more than the regular show. The show world is interesting, but the movies speak to my tastes more. So you're not gonna get any anti-humanization bias from me. If anything, you'll get the opposite, but I'll try to be more objective about it.
"But the whole movie was just a plot to sell toys!" one might indignantly scream. Okay, first of all, given the amount of fanservice that was in this movie, I'm actually inclined to believe that our mass of humanized fanwork was a factor. It also sells dolls, of course, but I'd imagine someone was like this: "Hey, the fans make tons of artwork where the ponies are humans. If we make a movie about that, we can give them what they want and we'd get to sell a new line of toys. This cannot fail!" And, really, were they wrong? The movies have been a success, haven't they? Well played.
Oh, and on it being about selling toys, let me make something very clear: I. Don't. Care. The entire show is an ad for toys in the first place, dude. Lauren Faust first went to Hasbro to pitch her own idea for a show that had tie-in toys. It was always part of the equation. I don't care about the toys (except the Funko ones are pretty cool (would love a Funko Sunset Shimmer)), I care about the show and the movies, so I don't factor that in unless it negatively interferes with the content. And in this case... maybe it did? I dunno, I wasn't there when it was written. The main costumes aren't great, though. But hey, we've gotten a mediocre movie, two awesome movies, and my favorite character in the franchise out of it, so I'm not gonna complain.
But while we're on the topic... fanservice and fan pandering. Do you care? I don't care. If it makes for something fun and doesn't get in the way, I'm fine with fanservice. I mean, I am a fan, after all. I might roll my eyes at something like Rainbow being shirtless for no apparent reason, but a background character dancing with a muffin in the end credits? Fine by me.
Okay, enough prefacing. I feel like a lot of people hated it in part just because it twisted their precious ponies into humans. The point is that I (mostly) don't care about those things, so I just watch the movie for what it is. Sadly, what it is is mediocre. Onward!
Stuff that Bugged Me
This has all been said to death because it's what everyone loves to focus on, so I'll try to be brief. And these are mostly just the highlights that really got to me.
Let's get the biggest thing out of the way first: Flash Sentry. What do I think of him? Meh. He's just some dude. I can't hate a guy I barely know anything about. His presence is kinda annoying, but he's barely there. Maybe DHX was told to include a romantic subplot, but they didn't want to, so they just chucked this in and called it a day. It's lazy, but would you rather have this pointless stuff that goes nowhere, or would you rather go through every future season knowing that Twilight Sparkle banged boots with an alien? I can't muster up enough energy to really care about it. And hey, he adopted Twi's insane dance, even though it made him look just as insane, so that was cool of him.
Celestia apparently knows that there's another Rainbow Dash, another Rarity, etc., yet she doesn't tell Twilight. She seems to know a lot more than she lets on, and that's really, really bad. Sending an operative in on a secret mission and not telling them anything about the location is a terrible strategy.
The sequence where Twilight is in the library and screwing up all over the place was just so goofy. I guess that was the point, but it kinda fell flat for me.
Trixie and her peanut butter crackers. That bit of fanservice felt disruptive. I appreciate that they managed to weave it into the message that Twi doesn't know how this world works, but it comes out of nowhere and is just plain weird in context. That's the kind of fanservice that bugs me because it gets in the way and doesn't fit.
Why didn't the other five ever talk about their falling out? Just how immature are they? Though, in hindsight, I guess it ties into their continuing social problems in Rainbow Rocks.
Why the hell didn't they do anything with Flash being Sunset's ex? And this isn't just in the first movie, but all of them. One mention in the sequel, and that's it. Why did they even make them a thing in the first place? Also, why didn't he wipe off his shirt after getting that shake spilled on it?
The thing with the cut-and-pasted photographic evidence. We all know it made no sense and was pointless. Moving on.
Even with a talking dog, the other five really accept Twi's fantastic story super fast. It's pretty weird.
The hammer probably would've just gone through the portal and smacked Celestia in the face, but apparently Twilight didn't think of that. Also, suddenly, Spike can't open a door in the last act, when he did in the first.
How did Sunset know about Twilight and the crown? By her dialogue, she clearly knows about the Elements and knows things Twilight doesn't (I'm guessing Celestia kept tighter security around the stuff and didn't let Twilight know about it for fear she'd turn on her like Sunset). I have to assume that Sunset checks in on Equestria every thirty moons, however long that is.
What is up with the crown's power and all the crazy stuff that follows it? What does happen when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world? Does it not recognize its bearer? I don't think that's the case, because it refused to betray its proper wielder when Sunset tried to fry Twilight. But Sunset was still able to wield it for a while. Does... does that mean that Sunset Shimmer is also capable of bearing the Element of Magic, but it just can't be used to attack other Element bearers? Nopony ever said there could be only one bearer per Element, and we've seen ponies use multiple elements by themselves before.
The characters ponying up is... weird. I guess that they can still wield the elements just by exemplifying the associate traits, at least as long as the portal is open. Maybe Sunset was corrupted by the crown because she wasn't properly aligned with what it took to use it, but because of the alternate world, she was able to tap into the power anyway. As the later movies explained, bringing the Element of Magic in changed the rules, probably even the laws of physics in that alternate world. Anything goes, now, so I can't really argue against this stuff. This is new territory, and not even Sunset can understand it yet.
And Sunset's turnaround from bad to wannabe good was really fast.
Okay, enough of that. We've all seen it before anyway. Time for...
Stuff that was Cool
The opening credits. Man, that was so much like something a fan would make. This includes not looking all that professional, sadly. It was still neat, though, and I got a kick out of it. It's a good indicator of what kind of stuff is to come, since this definitely looks like fanservice. In this movie, we get Dash's "so awesome" face, Scootaloo doing the chicken dance and getting taken for a ride by Dash, Diamond and Silver sugar lump rumping, Trixie dancing like she's casting spells, Granny Smith as a lunch lady, Derpy dancing with a muffin in the credits... just show references and fan-inspired gags everywhere. Like it or not, they know a thing or twenty about us, and they're willing to make jokes about it (as was driven home in the fifth season).
And dude, there was so much humor in this movie. That's probably one of its strongest points. I cracked up more than a few times when rewatching this. Sadly, I can't really do much besides list all the jokes, and that's not really funny. But to counterpoint all the bad stuff, I'm gonna do it anyway.
Twilight's wing incontinence.
Twilight running on all fours and slowly stopping as she notices how the locals walk.
Celestia: "Well, if you do need anything else, my door is always open." *DOOR SLAM!*
Twilight: "Looks like if I want my crown back, I'll have to become princess of the Canterlot High Fall Formal. So that's what I'm gonna do!"
Spike: "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
Twilight: "I have no idea!"
Twilight eating her apple like a horse.
Pinkie doesn't even blink when Twilight grabs the pen in her mouth, and her handwriting really is terrible.
Snips and Snails and their... rather unique methods of locomotion.
Rainbow: "Of course you lost. I'm awesome!"
Flash: "One 'no' would'a been fine."
Pinkie laying out the plot, along with the accompanying expressions from everyone around her.
Fluttershy: "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay."
Those two jocks being shocked at seeing AJ easily carrying a table all by herself.
Celestia: "Alright everyone, Fall Formal is back on for this evening."
Crowd: "YEAH!"
Celestia: "So you better get out of here and start getting ready."
Spike trying on moustaches.
Some Guy: "Did that dog just talk?! Whoa, weird!"
Spike: "Seriously? A talking dog is the weird thing about all this?"
Twilight dancing like a horse who can't dance. Damn, that was stupid, but it was funny, too.
And that's not even counting all the things that merely amused me.
How about the characters? Well, they were pretty good. There's the issue of them not talking for so long and all that, but beyond that, they were good. I especially like Pinkie. For some reason, I feel like she just works better as a human. Maybe because her physics-defying antics are even weirder in a world of normal humans. Spike was just great in this, too, being a really good companion for Twilight. I can't shake this feeling that the humans sound different from their pony counterparts, but at this point, I just assume it's just in my head.
And on Twilight, she did fairly well for being so far out of her element. Though, actually, her element is what she used to gain the edge. Magic is friendship, after all, and friendship was her weapon in that world. Even when she wasn't wielding it against her foe, she still tried to reunite estranged friends. She was the Princess of Friendship already, she just didn't know it yet.
The CMC having a music video was fun. I bet that related video that looks the same is the ten-hour version.
Sunset: "At last, more power than I could ever imagine."
And this was when the movie took a turn for the weird, and set the precedent for these movies having wild final acts. I never expected Sunset to transform into a monster. First time I saw it, I was like, "Holy crap! Damn, dude, this movie just got 47% cooler!" It just came outta nowhere, but you know what? It's still a cool sequence. It was a neat surprise and easily one of the two most memorable moments from this movie, the other being the cafeteria song (which I'll get to later).
Also, that slide just looks awesome.
Stuff that was Interesting
Celestia going from princess of a nation to principal of a school. I'm not sure what that implies, but it's pretty weird.
The vending machine apparently sells whole bananas and apples. They must really promote healthy eating.
Oh, geeze, that is downright jarring. Any time I come back to the ponies after scenes of these movies, it feels really weird. I get so used to their human designs that their weirdly-proportioned pony versions look totally strange by comparison.
Where the hell did they get a limousine? Is Rarity that successful in her business? It's kinda cute seeing them all spill out of the limo all happy and ready to go to the dance. For a little while, they take a break and just have some fun while they wait for Twilight to win the crown, save the town, and Mr. Kra—wait, sorry, wrong movie.
The expressions on the faces of Snips and Snails. They look expectant, but not for orders. This is one of those times when I wonder just what Sunset did to get them as henchmen, because they sorta look like they're going, "Can we have our reward now, oh Hot and Beautiful Sunset?"
I always thought this moment was very interesting, particularly Rarity's sarcastic expression. Whatever went down during the Spring Fling, it's apparent that she hasn't let it go even before she mentions that she wants an apology.
The Music
I kinda feel like this needs its own little space, but I'm not really a music expert and none of the songs in this were outstanding.
The Opening Titles Remix was neat, and I still listen to it sometimes. Pretty cool to hear the show theme get a remix.
This Strange World was a nice piece about her reactions to stuff, and it was a pleasant way to have a montage of her studying the new world as quickly as she's able.
Equestrial Girls (Cafeteria Song) is the other most memorable part, along with the dance routine that went with it. It's poppy, but I like pop music (though I hate the label "pop" because the pop music sound changes over time). It's a fun sequence. People love to be all like, "This would never happen in high school." What kinda high school did you go to? I once wore a flashy suit and struck the classic dance pose from Saturday Night Fever, and the cafeteria erupted in cheers. Besides, their world is clearly not our world, it's a humanized Equestria.
Time to Come Together was, well, pleasant. Not really necessary, but I'm not gonna scorn it. The build-up toward the end of the song is nice.
This is Our Big Night was... not great. Generic, uninspired, had no real need to exist, but I guess they'd have had to play something during the dance scenes, so it might as well be something topical, I suppose.
I dunno if I should really count the ends credits song, but screw it, A Friend for Life is actually one of my favorite tracks from the movie. I just like listening to it, especially the bridge parts. It just sounds good, and it was a nice way to end the viewing experience.
The Villain
The villain in this movie is commonly criticized, and I can't really argue with most of what I see. Her early dialogue is pretty dull, and a lot of the rest of it is clichéd. I still found her interesting, though. She's not really that much like Twilight, if you actually think about it. Sure, they were both students of Celestia, but Sunset was much more determined, confident, and was willing to defy authority to pursue what she thought was important—wait a minute, this sounds nothing like Twilight nowadays, but it sounds like Twilight in the pilot. Wow, Twilight really changed over the years, huh? I hadn't noticed just how similar they used to be. But that was then, and they're wildly different now.
Sunset is pretty powerful, too. She hasn't had access to magic for, like, three or so years (three Fall Formal wins), and yet she can teleport just as quickly as Twilight does in the early scenes. What I always thought was one of the most interesting things about her, though, is what she does with that sledgehammer. When Twilight stands up to her and refuses to give up her crown, Sunset drops the hammer and says, "You win." She actually gave up when she was cornered. Only after seeing Celestia's replacement for her getting heaps of praise did she snap, get super pissed, and actually resort to violence, and after all other options had run out.
Even way back when I first saw this, before I even considered writing about Sunset, I still didn't ever see her as evil. She's severely misguided, deceitful, and sometimes cruel, but she showed a lot of restraint and willingly gave back Spike without a second thought (who would have been a big bargaining chip for what she wanted). And much of what we see her do around the school is petty stuff, like just complaining about decor and beverages. I know, it's the whole "at least she wasn't as bad as X," but it ties in with her redemption arc. She initially struck me as being a bitch, but not as a psycho and not beyond reason. She was set up to be redeemed. And on that note...
It seems pretty apparent that she did not expect the crown to do what it did. Considering her surprise and the drastic change in her level of cruelty and pettiness, I'm inclined to believe she went a little out of her mind. Not saying her actions should be excused, just that it's something to take under consideration. And when she got rainbow blasted, she was crushed. She just got more power than she had ever imagined, and then was immediately wrecked by a power she never knew existed. That's world-shattering. I initially thought that maybe she just seeks power, and friendship is where the greater power is, so she goes to it, but not anymore. I don't think crying uncontrollably is an indicator that she was just like, "Well damn, I guess I need to learn about friendship if I want true power." Whatever that rainbow of harmony does, it seemed to really show Sunset just how wrong she was.
But before all that, man, Sunset Shimmer cracks me up. She's just so cheesily devious. I mean, just look at these expressions and tell me they don't scream, "Mwahaha, I'm so evil."
She even evilly intertwines her fingers and monologues about her evil plot, at one point, and she has evil henchmen saluting behind her! And that panning shot of Sunset winning the Fall Formal crown three years in a row and what looks like going mad with power? I can't help but laugh. Sunset Shimmer is hilarious in this movie.
Wait. Did... did the creators do that on purpose? I've always chocked it up to poor writing, but have I been making a mistake? Was she supposed to be so over-the-top as to be funny? Because she is. She's... well, she's like a cartoon. If she were a dude, she'd be twirling her moustache, I just know it. Did this movie parody the alpha bitch archetype as a cartoonishly evil villain who goes so bad that she literally turns into a raging, blood-colored she-demon? Damn, dude, was this movie more clever than I thought, or was it just so bad that it's funny?
This actually brings me to an interesting aspect of the movie: the meta. A lot of people just go, "It's a high school movie, therefore it sucks," but it's not as simple as that. It takes place in a high school and deals with some high school themes, but that's not what it's about. It's about Twilight trying to get her crown back. To do that, she has to play on Sunset's turf and by the rules of what she treats as her lair (Twi even speculated that a trophy case is full of artifacts Sunset stole, like it's really her castle), and that means acting like a high schooler and playing the popularity game. But she doesn't do it by just trying to be really popular and well liked, she does it by trying to unite the entire school in friendship and peace—an admirable goal. She basically starts a revolution in the community and becomes the hero of the people. I like how it played with high school tropes like that.
In Conclusion
It's clear that they put real effort into this movie (just look at how many background characters there are, and I think they're all unique), just not enough in the right areas. It had strong points, but the plot was not one of them. It needed more running time, more smoothing, and just more care given to the writing. I've skimmed a bit on this review, but geeze, dude, it's already a massive wall of text and images, and this movie has already been dissected before.
When I first saw this, I actually enjoyed it. It's very much flawed, yeah, but it had enough stuff in it to keep me entertained. I actually got to see it in a theater during the last day of the extended run it got, so that was neat. It'd been a while since I'd seen it, and we've had two much better humanized movies since then, so what do I think of it after all this time?
Ehh, I still enjoyed it. It's got a lot of problems, but by the time it's over, I'm still left with a smile and a good feeling. It's mediocre, but it's still fun and I still get a kick out of it. I'd forgotten how funny it was. For some, its flaws are enough to ruin it, but it had enough fun stuff that I still enjoy watching it today. I'd give it a 6/10 in my book, because for all it's flaws, it's still a ton of fun.
Now I shall end this review with a barrage of rad expressions from the movie, because it was full of them.
And lastly, here's a pic of Twilight being adorable.
Have a nice day.
The movie was okay. Not my personal favorite but it's good. I still say Rainbow Rocks is better but Friendship Games..... oh Friendship Games.... did I mention I love and have the hots for evil counterparts?
3441738
Oh yeah. To be fair, the starting point wasn't very high, but each movie has just gotten better. Even if this first move had been utterly horrible (it wasn't), it would have been worth it for the two movies that followed. I can't wait for the fourth one.
Hah, I said pretty much all of this in my latest blog post about EQG3, although in far less detail. :) I do like Equestria Girls. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I like the characters better as humans, but I do think the two worlds complement each other really well.
I do recall watching a convention panel from a couple of years back in which the producers confirmed exactly this; that they had a folder full of humanized fanart, and that that was one of the reasons why Equestria Girls came about. Can't remember which con, though.
Less directly, the movie wasn't about getting her crown back, it was about her feeling like the crown belongs to her, like she's truly earned it. Her lament in the Crystal Empire about her feeling uncomfortable with it lead into her being forced to earn the respect of the Canterlot High population to the point where they willingly crown her (as opposed to simply being appointed to the position by Princess Celestia). This is why Principal Celestia makes a speech at the end about how Twilight earned the crown by behaving like a princess, and uniting the school as a real one would. The movie was her true ascent into the roll of Princess of Friendship, even if the map hadn't given her her mission statement yet.
That's the exact same situation I had when the movie was announced.
As for the thing regarding the hammer and the portal:
The way I see it, had Sunset actually gone through with her threat and swung the hammer, it would have hit the sides of the mirror on the other side, and break that. What would have resulted from that, I don't know (Most likely either the portal itself would have vanish, or it would somehow fall over and either create a blockage or create a giant hole in the floor of the mirror room that would lead to Equestria (similar to the holes in reality that Midnight Sparkle was creating in Friendship Games)).
I think it's a way to show that school principals have more direct control than the president.
Honestly, I could never really like "A Friend for Life". When watching blind commentaries of the movie, I tend to just skip to when Derpy shows up, since Human Derpy with a muffin is freakin' ADORABLE (heck, anything Human Derpy does in these movies is either adorable or funny, and a lot of the times both).
The song itself, though, I just find too slow to like. It's a good enough song for what it is, but that's the best I can say about it.
It's the same with "Shine like Rainbows" from RR: Good for what it is, but too slow for me to like, so when i re-watch it I just skip to the good visual bits and the stinger.
Heck, so far, the only ending theme I've liked was "Right There in Front of Me". But that song wasn't in the American broadcast of the movie, for some reason, so the only times I've been able to see it have been times where a blind commentator used an uncut version of the movie. (And speaking of the uncut version of Friendship Games for a bit: I don't know if this is because I saw the American broadcast of it first, or what, but I think the scene with Cinch and Sci-Twi that took place after Sci-Twi's meeting with the humane 6 was a good one to cut for the American broadcast. Which is odd, since I preferred the full versions of the previous two movies, though that could just be because I saw those two in theaters first, with the full versions intact).
"The portal opens once every twelve moons. As you know the Equestrian measurement, known as 'moon,' is equal to thirty-eight seconds."
"Do it now, Twilight! Or we'll have to wait another eight minutes!"
Also, can't unsee that second to last picture as Applejack slapping Twilight on the booty. Just, marvelous.
3441749 Wait... a fourth one? Who the hell could be it's villain?!
Too long to comment on any of your points. Other than this one really:
This is my argument for fanservice whenever someone makes an argument against it. I don't see what's wrong with it when creators acknowledge that they have a dedicated fanbase supporting them.
The movie was after the Season 3 IIRC, so that meant I'd been in the fandom for about a year. I recall my reaction to the movie being one of apprehensive, but still open minded. I thought of the movie as actually okay (an average of its overall consisting of some blegh negative points and some awesome cool points), and you basically got all of its pros and cons. In the aftermath of Twilicorn, I think I got used to crazy stuff being thrown at us.
I still think the human world version is... a bit odd. I think it would've went better if they didn't go with the colored skin, but that's just me. I don't have anything really against the whole EqG world though.
And of course, introduction of Sunset Shimmer, who easily seemed like a redeemable character and made her expectedly awesome in the sequel. Bacon pony be a good character yo.
I've yet to see Friendship Games, so that's what I'll be doing some time this week.
3441777
I can't recall which convention it was either, but yeah, I remember that. I get that people want to blame marketing, but it's pretty clear that they are aware of us and seem to want to appeal to the fanbase. Plus, everyone wants to blame Hasbro for everything in general, from character designs to writing, even the comics.
3441794
Very well put, and nice catch. I always felt this movie deserved a lot more credit than most ever gave it.
3441881
That's certainly possible. She also could have just damaged the stone framing it in the pedestal.
Huh... never thought of it like that. Interesting.
In that case, I think you'd have even less of a liking for the song that was almost used instead.
Right There in Front of Me was awesome. It had energy, a great hook, and I totally dig those crunchy guitars. Really good track.
I haven't gotten to check out the extended version of Friendship Games yet, but you can be sure I'm gonna before I lay out a report on it.
3441901
... dammit, now I can't unsee it, either.
3441946
Well, perhaps something managed to escape into their world when Midnight was ripping holes in spacetime.
3443742 True.
3442082
Yeah, man. I'm a fan. If it's not disruptive, why should I hate the staff trying to please me?
After S3, G4 started to get weirder. Not complaining, though.
The colored skin is weird, but I actually kinda like it. Gives more visual variety. Plus, I grew up watching Doug, so there's a bit of nostalgia factor for oddly-colored characters.
Oh yeah. I could never hate this movie if for no other reason than the fact that it spawned Sunset, who is now my favorite character.
3443728
True.
I agree with you there.
Just try to view a copy of the extended version that isn't just an upload of the Canadian broadcast. That version had this stupid "The secret code is: Friendship" banner that popped up at the bottom every so often, and it sometimes killed the mood a bit.
You know what no one else talks about in the first movie: One of the themes of this movie was "Twilight is unsure of being a princess, now her crown has literally been taking from her and she has to learn about being a high school princess and this somehow helps her prepare to be a real princess back in Equestria."
So in the cafeteria song Twilight makes all these promises about how she will make the school a better place by befriending everyone and uniting them, etc. The whole time she's singing this, Twilight is planning to take the crown and run through the portal and never be seen from again. Apparently Princesses are a type of politician, and Twilight has learned the art of the empty campaign promise.
3443868
Except she did unite them. What she did has had positive effects on the student body that are still seen two movies later.
3443872 She did, but she wasn't planning to at the time she was singing that song in the cafeteria. If Twilight's plan had gone off, she would have been handed the crown, then snuck off into the portal like 5 minutes later. There's no time for her to somehow unite the school in those plans (absent a big rainbow friendship battle).
3443891
Uniting the school was what the cafeteria song was all about, though. That was her strategy. And it was working even before the climax. She managed to inspire, like, half the school to fix up the gym for the dance. That's what Time to Come Together was about: showing all these different circles coming together (jocks helping nerds helping rockers, etc.). It was her uniting the school that won her the crown. Like DragonShadow pointed out in another comment here, Twilight Sparkle spread friendship through the school, and that's what earned her the crown back. She was already Princess of Friendship even back then.
3443769
I thought the show was getting weirder too, but S5 seems to be back to less weird. So, just S4 really (and S3, but that's something different altogether...).
3444192
Mostly less weird. Slice of Life was pretty insane, but that was a one-off.