Season 5, Episode 21 Thoughts and Review · 1:27am Nov 2nd, 2015
Spoilers abound for those who haven't seen the episode! Which, I gotta give you props, since the episode was leaked over a month ago.
Wow! I really loved this episode! I mean, I had parts of it spoiled for me, but to actually get to see the full episode was really something! What a good lesson! Alright, so onto the episode!
On Nightmare Night, Fluttershy closes her curtains and boards up her windows as she does every year. Under Fluttershy's bed, Harry the bear has prepared a hiding place for Fluttershy to wait out the night. Fluttershy is relieved that she won't have to go outside until the next morning, but Angel is out of carrots and won't accept anything else to eat. To Fluttershy's horror, she will have to go out and get food on her most feared holiday of all.
There's a joke about cultural appropriation here that I was gonna make, but in what world is that shit funny.
As the rest of Ponyville prepares for Nightmare Night, Fluttershy makes her way through town, passing scary decorations and ponies indulging in the holiday's fun horrors. She runs into Big MacIntosh and Granny Smith, who are collecting hay for the Apple family haunted corn maze. When Granny Smith frightens Fluttershy with some of the maze's planned attractions, Fluttershy runs off in fear.
Also... If Granny knew that Shy being out during Nightmare Night wasn't necessarily a good thing for Shy, then why did she decide to scare her so badly? She knows Shy, so why would she scare her? I am so glad that Mac noticed that and rolled his eyes when Granny asked what scared Shy so much.
Moving on with the story, Fluttershy's search for food for Angel leads her to Twilight Sparkle's castle, where she meets Spike dressed in a two-headed dragon costume.
HER FAAAAAACE.
Spike mentions how Fluttershy spends every Nightmare Night holed up in her cottage and that she should spend the holiday with her friends for a change. In the castle library, Twilight and her friends joyfully scare each other with spooky stories. When Fluttershy enters and announces that she's decided to join in Nightmare Night with them, they are overjoyed.
Also, can we just appreciate this? I mean, the show might have trouble with continuity at different times, but can I just take a moment to talk about this right here? This is a random screenshot from the episode, and it's kinda cute because this season has shown Pinkie and AJ being close with one another. Yes, they shouldn't have aired the Christmas episode before this one, but it's hella cute nonetheless to see them being close together.
Then, Rarity takes Fluttershy to Carousel Boutique to pick out a costume for her, and Fluttershy eventually settles on a simple black dress. The rest of the Mane Six appear in their costumes as well: Pinkie Pie as an 80s roller disco dancer, Twilight as a Greek soldier, Rainbow Dash as an astronaut, and Applejack as a lion.
Later, the ponies play various Nightmare Night games at Sugarcube Corner, but Fluttershy's irrational fears prevent her from having any fun. When she feels ashamed for being so scared and taking all the fun out of the evening, Twilight suggests that she do the scaring herself. Fluttershy is surprisingly pleased with the idea, and she leaves to make preparations at her cottage.
An hour later, Twilight and her friends go to Fluttershy's cottage to see what scary events she put together. Unfortunately, it's merely an inconveniencing and awkward tea party with unimpressive decorations.
...Is this show even fucking real anymore.
Also, Fluttershy’s plan to scare everypony is to put them in an awkward social situation and make them hyper aware of everything that’s going wrong and to be honest that’s just too real.
Another thing...
I'll see myself out... Later, after I finish this review.
Though Fluttershy's friends appreciate her efforts, they aren't scared at all. Fluttershy realizes that she just isn't cut out for Nightmare Night and tells her friends to go have fun without her. As the other ponies leave the cottage, Fluttershy is ready to spend the evening like she does every year, but Angel convinces her to try again. She asks him for his advice, and he puts on a wicked grin.
"I've been taking baby steps! I think it's time for grown up ones!"
-the thing that made me smile.
Ponies travel to the Apple family's haunted corn maze, and Twilight and her friends are among the first ones to enter.
OK, BUT FOR REAL, IS THIS SHOW EVEN REAL ANYMORE?
They have fun at first but soon realize they're being followed. Suddenly, they encounter glowing ghosts who chase them up and down the maze. They soon stumble into a hollow tunnel at the base of a tree and become trapped inside.
...I dunno what to say about this. I had something witty and then I lost it.
After discovering a skeleton in a rocking chair made to resemble Granny Smith, Applejack admits that she has no idea what's going on—these developments weren't what she and her family had planned for the maze. Just then, a monstrous scaly creature appears and chases the ponies through the tunnel. They briefly become caught in a sticky spider web, but Twilight frees them with teleportation, and they escape from the monster.
The ponies reach the end of the tunnel and end up on a cliff near the maze, where they encounter Flutterbat. When Flutterbat notices how terrified the ponies are, Fluttershy drops the charade and apologizes for scaring them. The ponies are amazed that Fluttershy put together such a scary display, and Fluttershy says she had some help from her various animal friends.
Though Fluttershy has found a way to participate in Nightmare Night, she confesses that she doesn't like seeing her friends in danger, even if the danger is fake. Nightmare Night just isn't Fluttershy's cup of tea, and her friends accept that. Fluttershy returns to her cottage and contentedly spends Nightmare Night in the hiding place under her bed as previously planned.
The life of an introvert.
So, my thoughts on this episode? Hella awesome. Not the best episode, and sure, Shy being scared and shy about something is hardly groundbreaking, but the lesson was a good one. As someone who suffers from anxiety, I oftentimes struggle with doing things because of my own inhibitions. I love Halloween to death, so I didn't really connect with Shy's initial fear of Equestria's version of the holiday, but I did connect with her fear over things.
Was I bit annoyed that the writers made her seem to over-analyze everything and freak out about the silliest thing? A bit, since it was played off in a humorous manner. But, in all actuality? That's kinda how anxiety works. Especially if it's something that you're still scared of and struggling with getting over, you're not just going to be open to everything immediately. She was constantly questioning things about what could possibly do her harm and she even brings up the fact that she's probably overreacting for no good reason herself.
This is something that people with anxiety do a LOT. We get anxious, start to freak out about things that might not be a big deal to other people (just like how the Mane Six reacted to Shy's behavior), and then we feel bad about it because we KNOW it's not a big deal and that we SHOULDN'T be freaking out, but we literally can't help it. So, when everyone starts to tell us that it's not a big deal how we're acting or that it's OK, we feel even worse about it.
So, to hear Shy tell her friends, "This isn't my cup of tea," and to see her friends ACCEPT that was so GREAT. TV shows and movies love to show introverts in them, but they almost always end up making the character be "cured" of that trait and act like it was something that they needed to get rid of. But, in this episode, it's addressed that some friends just don't have to do everything together and that it's FINE. She was respectful towards her friends, but she put her hoof down and told them that she didn't like the holiday. Like, hell yeah, go Fluttershy.
Also, I know we haven't gotten a Shy episode in a bit, but I gotta say, I appreciated Shy's ability to be honest with her friends. Back in Dragonshy, she struggled with telling them her reason for not wanting to come and the Mane Six kinda looked like jerks for not listening to her when she was trying her best to talk to them. Granted, this was back when they were just getting used to being around each other, and was trying to figure out how each other worked. (Although Dash had no reason to be so mean to Shy, I mean, she knows how sensitive she is and she was just so blatantly mean to her, like wtf)
But, season by season, she's been showing her backbone more and more, all while being respectful and courteous. Sure, she backslides, but come on, do you seriously expect someone to be on top of everything all the time? I know Shy gets a lot of hate because her episodes always have the same moral of overcoming fears and such, but that's a lesson that people usually have to relearn. And I saw that people were getting so annoyed because they said that this episode goes against her character because of her acts in saving Equestria. I mean... a firefighter who is afraid of fire can still be scared of spiders, and you mean to tell me that one of the heroes of Equestria isn't allowed to be scared of social interaction?
I liked this episode. I really did. I'm glad this show showed this issue to kids in a relatable manner through colorful ponies.
Now, onto next week's episode!
Season 5, Episode 22: What About Discord (?)
Twilight returns from Canterlot to discover that her friends have developed an inexplicably deep bond with Discord. Puzzled by how they became so close in her absence, she starts to suspect that Discord is up to something sinister.
...SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH. DISCORD? HE'S COMING BACK?? YES??? Honestly, I'm so glad, I've missed my little noodle... Also, Twi gets an episode! Yaaaaaasss.
Someone give me some more Fluttercord moments, please. My thirst has not been sated.
(P.S. It's also two weeks from that episode that's going to have the "I Am Just A Pony" song and I literally cannot wait, like holy crap, I love that song so much)
Personally, I think Granny Smith was just being insensitive, not a jerk. She thought Fluttershy was trying something new, and maybe trying to set her up for success in the maze, though this is unlikely. Perhaps Granny doesn't know her as well as she thinks she does. I mean, how well does your best friend's grandma know you?
3514483 Eeyup, and she does tend to forget.
I thought the episode was a nice one, minus a few things here and there.
Oh so very YES.
Does this help?