Scare Master Review · 5:04pm Oct 31st, 2015
Well, you know what today is, right?
And to celebrate, we've got a Halloween themed episode. The third such episode of the whole series (fourth if you count "Castle Mane-ia"). Before we go any further, yes, I know this episode was leaked in advance. But I always prefer to wait and watch episodes when they air if I can help it.
So, we've got a Fluttershy episode, and it's written by Natsha Levinger who wrote "Pinkie Apple Pie" and "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" in Season 4, as well as "Make New Friends But Keep Discord" earlier this season. You may want to remember the latter two for me, because they're going to come back to haunt this episode. But we'll get to that when we get to that.
We begin with Fluttershy preparing to hide away for all of Nightmare Night. Well, that didn't take long at all! Remember how much I've been saying that Fluttershy is a compelling character when she remembers her growth, and how much I've been praising her for growing a backbone in Season 5, well this episode completely throws that out the window in favor of having Fluttershy be scared and controlled by her fears yet again. Natsha Levinger, you wrote the episode that started this trend back in Season 4, even if took a while. You have no excuse for throwing away the character growth that you started!
Anyway, back to the story. Fluttershy finds out that she doesn't have any carrots for Angel Bunny, and realizes that she'll have to go out on Nightmare Night to get some. Of course, since she's a completely scardy cat again, that's easier said than done. After running into Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, who are preparing a haunted corn maze, Fluttershy is terrified and runs to Twilight's castle to hopefully borrow some lettuce. Open entering, she meets Spike, who's dressed up like a two headed dragon for some reason. And Spike plants the idea in Fluttershy's head to join in on the festiviaties of Nightmare Night, and Fluttershy agrees. Already, it seems like this episode can't decide what it wants its focus to be, and this is exactly the same problem that plaugged "Princess Spike".
(Seriously writers, stop switching stories midway through. Pick one, and stick to it! If your story can't fill 22 minutes of screen time, then go back to the drawing board and try again! I know writing for a t.v. show isn't easy, but you have frequently proven you can properly write in the alotted amount of time without difficulty! There's no shame in admitting your idea just doesn't work. You can always come back to it at a later date.)
I apologize for the ranting, and I mean no disrespect to the DHX staff, but this sort of stuff is exactly what hurts the show. It's always recieved praise for its impressive writing. Rant aside, Fluttershy announces to her friends her intent to join in on the fun of Nightmare Night, and we get a callback to "Filli Vanilli". But at Carousel Boutique, Fluttershy constantly lets her fears control her (while we learn that the CMC enjoy toilet papering) to the point where she refuses to wear anything other than a black cape because of absurd possibilites that make it sound like she doesn't trust her friends not to watch out for her.
At a Nightmare Night party at Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy continues to not participate in any of the fun because of her fears, but the episode doesn't want to address that issue. Instead, it has Twilight suggest that Fluttershy scare her friends, so they can all have fun. Considering who Fluttershy is friends with though, maybe that's not such a good idea.
Upon arriving at Fluttershy's cottage, the rest of the mane six (Rarity's dressed up as a mermaid, Pinkie Pie as a professional roller derby player, Rainbow Dash as a space pony with an echoy helmet, Twilight as a royal guard, and Applejack as a lion and not a cowardly one) are treated to a subpar scary tea party. I give Fluttershy points for trying to play mind games, but the scares clearly don't work. Then again, mind games are Discord's speciality, and it's probably best Fluttershy not try to copy him.
After her friends leave, Angel Bunny forces Fluttershy to realize that she's been taking baby steps to solving her problem, and I appreciate Natasha addressing my grievance with the moral of Filli Vanilli. I'm fine with someone taking baby steps, as long as they actually continuly make an effort to overcome a problem or addiction. If someone refuses to change, then they are beyond hope. And I always hate characters who know they have a problem, yet never make an effort to solve or overcome it no matter what.
So Fluttershy turns to Angel Bunny in the hopes of learning how to properly scare her friends.
Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity enter the corn maze, where they fail to really be scared of Mummy Big Macintosh and tree branches painted like bones. But before long, they're chased by ghosts, during which point we see Derpy dressed up like Twilight with a toilet paper roll for a horn. It's a good thing one of those ghosts isn't a certain Sayian.
The ghosts chase the girls into a hole by a tree, and they end up trapped below the maze. Then, they encounter a strange looking monster, and almost get tangled in a web. When they finally escape through a tunnel to a hill overlooking the maze, they encounter Flutterbat.
After Spike's extra head is ripped off, Fluttershy reveals that she's using fake fangs and the cape from Rarity to pose as a batpony, while Angel served as the shadowy figure that stalked her friends in the maze. Her bird friends were the ghosts, her spider friend made the sticky web, and Harry the Bear was the monster. But Fluttershy feels bad for scaring her friends, despite them clearly enjoying it. And she decides she doesn't want to participate in Nightmare Night ever again, and the moral is that friends don't have to do everything together to have fun. It's a very good moral, but this is not something optional like taking a friend on a roller coaster. Nightmare Night is something Fluttershy will have to face every year, but she refuses to accept this fact and overcome her fear of it. Which is exactly the same problem that plaugged her in "Filli Vanilli" and in much of Season 4.
The episode ends with Fluttershy, Harry, and Angel spending Nightmare Night under her bed. With Fluttershy reading them a story.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, I can appreciate its moral, and some of the humor is good. The animators once again clearly enjoyed themselves, but this episode is hurt by two things. One is the pacing and switching of the story rather jarringly, and the second and more glaring is hitting the reset button on Fluttershy's character growth for the sake of the story. I'm sorry, but I hate seeing Fluttershy when she's acting like she's still stuck in her Season 1 mindset, and sees everything as a threat. I get that she's cute, but I have greater respect for her when she's strong and has a backbone that allows her to stand up for herself. In real life, you sadly cannot hide yourself away and refuse to deal with your problems. Like it or not, you've got to at least not let your fears control you. Because of this, I give it a borderline B+/A-, putting it above "Princess Spike" which was a sligthly bigger and more disappointing letdown, but below "Bloom and Gloom" which at least knew what it wanted to do, and just needed to trim the third dream and address a question or two about the Babs Seed bombshell. Considering my opinions of both "Luna Eclipsed" and "Bats!" I'm guessing Halloween is just not a good holiday for the show, it understands why it exists, but it always does something to hurt the story when it takes place on the show's equivalent of the holiday.
Next week, we have "What About Discord?" in which Twilight suspects something when her friends start spending all their time with Discord, and she suspects they may have been brainwashed. I'm hoping there's more to the episode than that snyposis, or else you can plan on seeing that and this episode popping up in my third rewrite series once the show wraps up. But for now, let's celebrate Halloween while we still can.
For me, there were a few nice nods with the costume designs and one or two references I spotted, but it doesn't save it from bring the third worst episode of Season 5. However, in terms of the plot alone, this is the worst episode Natasha has written.
The next episode doesn't sound promising either, based on all of the Discord-related episodes we've had.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!
As for this episode? ...Fluttershy seriously needs to see a doctor. Living on your fears, especially under the bed at the age of a grown-up isn't cute, it's unhealthy.
The next episode doesn't sound promising. Since Twilight accepted that the CMC's bully had turned over a new leaf, the fact that she can't do that for Discord after five episodes with him makes her seem like an absolute hypocrite and gives her role as the 'Princess of Friendship' a bad name.
I actually rather enjoyed this episode.
Granted, a good junk of that is because of Rainbow's reactions to everything Fluttershy does.
I also think Fluttershy's decision made sense, seeing as participating in it is not something that ponies have to do.
Is it one of the best episodes of the season? No.
But, I do enjoy it a lot more than a few others, which are:
Made in Manehatten, which is just felt really dull.
Princess Spike, which, I'll acknowledge IS one of the weaker episodes, but I still found it pretty funny.
The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, which just felt oddly unpleasant. And Gilda's reformation felt rushed.
Appleoosa's Most Wanted, which, despite it being an important CMC episode, was also really dull. And its importance was mostly added in hindsight.
3510254 I agree. But at this point, I'm questioning if a doctor of any sort could help Fluttershy. Sometimes, you can't help someone if they refuse to help themselves. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it, and is a sign that you aren't too far gone. But when you either deny or try to ignore your problem, that's usually a sign that all the help in the world may not be enough.
Even Diamond Tiara was at least aware she had a problem. She just never had anyone to tell her she didn't have to keep putting up with it.
I'll give the episode some credit, it did get a few laughs for me. The third act was reasonably the best part but in the end this episode is just retreading on Fluttershy's character growth over again which was already accomplished in other episodes like Dragonshy or Hurricane Fluttershy. Just stick with what she's already learned with, that's all.
This episode gets an 7.8/10.
While I did like this episode, Fluttershy being a pansy just for the sake of the plot really got on my nerves. I agree that it would have been better had she had a backbone instead of letting her fears get the best of her. Regardless, this episode was fun and I enjoyed it. For the record, I didn't much care for "Bats" or "Luna Eclipsed" either.
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Admittedly, I'm worried about this episode myself. The premise alone doesn't sound very promising. You mean to tell me after all they've been through, Twilight still doesn't trust Discord or consider him a friend? Really?
3518591 I agree. And for her to believe something is up just because her friends are spending time with Discord while she's away sounds really selfish of her, and makes the moral Discord learned in "Make New Friends But Keep Discord" seem hypocritical. Do you seriously mean to tell me that the Princess of Friendship can pick and choose who to be friends with, and still lecture Discord about how to be a good friend? I mean really, the moral about how you can have more than one friend applies just as much to Twilight as it does to Discord.
I'm really, REALLY hoping they won't go that route, or this could be her worst character outing since "Feeling Pinkie Keen" back in Season 1.
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What route is that? And, oh, God, that episode! Ugh! Horrible episode?
3518714 That route involves making Twilight pretentious and having her believe that she is always right, and that if she doesn't like something she has to devote her entire life to complaining about it. No one but her took offense to the 'Pinkie Sense', and she was the only one to complain at all about something that was completely harmless. Avatar The Last Airbender tackled the moral of Scientific Thinking v.s. Religious/Spirtual Thinking better, by claiming that you should be careful what you choose to believe in, and that different people can interpret the same event differently depending on their perspective.
3518739 I think "Feeling Pinkie Keen" would have fared a lot better had the moral from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" been incorporated. I get what you're saying. Twilight doesn't really seem to like Discord. She was the only one who had a problem with him bringing the Smoozee to the Gala. No one else had a problem with it. She even said, "This is night is very important to me, Discord. Keep it under control." I get that she's a princess and everything, but that doesn't mean that everything revolves around her. I can see why some people have a problem with Twilight being an alicorn. She appears to come off as feeling entitled to have everything her way. Like in "Made In Manehattan" where she was complaining about having nothing to do despite having the opportunity to go to Canterlot to visit Minuette and her other Canterlot friends. She had the opportunity to go out and get to know Lyra on a personal level, but didn't do it, instead opting to read one of Spike's comic books. Really? You're THAT bored? Come on!
3518751 Agreed, though I could understand her talking to Discord about keeping the Smooze from acting up, considering the trouble the Smooze caused when Discord wasn't watching. She could've worded it better, but she was running the gala, and she didn't blow up at Discord for ruining it because of the Smooze.
I'm just really hoping it's not a repeat of "Three's A Crowd". In that episode, Twilight and everyone but Fluttershy didn't care at all that Discord might actually be sick (yes, he was faking it, but does that mean his so called "friends" should've been treating him like the plague and giving him the cold shoulder?), and Twilight outright lied to Cadence about how she treated Discord, just to save face. Tirek had a point in "Twilight's Kingdom Part 2", Discord's "friends" with the exception of Fluttershy never trusted him. They constantly talked bad about him, even saying he was worse now that he was reformed. And it irks me, because they have literally have no way to keep Discord from rebelling if he feels unloved. Without the Elements of Harmony, they can no longer tell Discord "Do as we say or we're not friends anymore and you go back to being trapped in stone!", they have to legtimately get to know him, if they don't want him to betray all of Equestria again. If you only see the bad in someone, and refuse to give them a chance, you shouldn't be surprised when they become the bad guy.
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I haven't seen the episode in a while. What exactly did she say?
If I'm not mistaken, all they said was that he was more annoying now than before he was reformed.
Oh, God, I completely agree! This is why I had such a problem with the way Slytherin House was treated in the Harry Potter series. For example, when Voldemort says that if they hand Harry over to him, no one will be hurt. Right after this, Pansy Parkinson immediately jumps at the idea of handing Harry over. Now I want to point that it's only this one member of Slytherin that said this, but the way the scene plays out, you'd swear that the whole Slytherin House said it. Instead of giving them a chance to stand with their classmates, which could have been a really cool scene and a great way for Slytherin House to show their classmates that they're not all a bunch of monsters, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor all form a wall between Harry and Slytherin House with their wands drawn, despite the fact that no one at Slytherin House, including Pansy herself, was attacking Harry. This is the equivalent of all of their classmates taking loaded guns and pointing them at them. And this is all because ONE person made a swift decision out of panic. I want to also point out that these are essentially middle and high schoolers--i.e. kids. Of course they're going to decide to live instead of being faced with death. This scene wouldn't have been so bad had McGonagall stood by Slytherin and told her students to give them the benefit of the doubt, to prove themselves loyal to Dumbledore and Hogwarts. But, no. They're sent to the dungeons because McGonagall and the other students are afraid that Slyherin will betray them. Why not have McGonagall tell them, "If you're for us, fight with us, but if you want to back out, now's the time?" Is it any wonder why there wasn't a wizard in Slytherin who didn't go bad? By vilifying them the way the staff and students of Hogwarts do, they're basically asking them to become bad wizards. Just pisses me off to no end!!
3510284 This is the best and most honest review of this Animated Atrocity of a episode ever. This was the wrong situation to have that moral because it felt like a Anti Intervention or Anti Help From Your Friends message and it encouraged Fluttershy not to conquer her unhealthy fears.
3510175 Yes this is the worst episode that Natasha Levinger has ever written and I am now extremely frightened of what the writers are going to throw at us now
3510254 I agree. It is unhealthy and abnormal to hide under your bed because you are still scared of ponies in costumes. Fluttershy clearly has a severe mental problem.
3521901 I agree. What they wanted to teach was good. But I feel like this is a moral better suited to Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. How they executed it made this episode suffer the same curse as "Filli Vanilli" making it look like an excuse for Fluttershy to backpedal because it's more convenient than rewriting her episodes to reflect her growth.
3522173 What makes this episode actually very insidious is that it treats a serious issue like mental health as something trivial as not liking the same movie your friends like. The moral would have been better off in a Pinkie Pie x Maud Pie episode but not a Fluttershy Conquering Her Fears episode like this one. Seriously is a not normal for a grown mare like Fluttershy who is in her 20s and may be the oldest member of the Mane 6 to be scared of mostly fillies in costumes. I bet even the Cake Twins are braver than Fluttershy in Nightmare Night. Realistically this video is going to be Fluttershy's future if she does not get help that she needs
3523022 I think the problem is, lots of the mane six have serious mental health issues that should be professionally addressed. But for the sake of the show, they won't do so. Twilight clearly suffers from OCD, and Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash may suffer from ADHD. Rarity could also suffer from OCD, though if she does, it does not appear to be as bad as Twilight's. Applejack might be repressing some mental tramua, since her parents are most likely dead, and she had to grow up at an earlier than normal age. And Fluttershy is likely suffering from some type of anxiety brought on through bullying and a hometown that taunted her mercilessly for not being able to fly.
Cadence taught Twilight a deep breathing technique, but that only works so well, and certainly can't take the place of professional help.
3523042 Speaking of Applejack I bet she is going to have issues from what happened in that episode. For a few minute she thought that Granny Smith was dead and I am sure that Applejack has already have issues due to the fact that Granny Smith will eventually die and the premature deaths of her parents. If you think about it having Applejack thinking that something killed Granny Smith is pretty cruel
3523067 Yeah, that was a bit of dark humor that was kind of in poor taste if you think about it. It's as bad as Rainbow Dash saying "There's something wrong with the baby! She's not cheering for everypony's favorite hero, Rainbow Dash!" Some jokes can be funny, but some can be in very poor taste.
3523259 Surely the Element of Kindness Fluttershy should have at least considered that the joke may be going to far for Applejack's sake.
I personally hate this episode. We already had Fluttershy being mean and kinda out of character in Putting Your Down, but the thing is she already learned her lesson from that experience. I have read reviews on this episode and people give a free pass just it a Halloween based episode. If Putting Your Down doesn't get a free pass neither does this episode.
3599048 I personally don't like this episode because it's exactly the same problem as "Filli Vanilli". Fluttershy should have moved past this story by now. The same pony who exposed Starlight Glimmer for the liar she was, was unafraid to tell Rainbow Dash her winter would be petless, stood up to Discord when he threatened to send Tree Hugger to another dimension, and called Twilight out on her refusal to trust Discord, should not need to cower under her bed during Nightmare Night. So what if she doesn't like the fesitivites, she can just give out candy to anyone who comes to her door, she doesn't have to hide under her bed.
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I'd say this clip perfectly describes Fluttershy's characterization in this episode.