Zero Blogs: Growing the Beard · 6:22pm Nov 22nd, 2015
TV Tropes defines Growing the Beard as when a series finally gets its act together or makes a marked improvement in quality. Sometimes it's when the exposition ends and the actual plot begins. Other times, it's when the conflict is firmly established. Or it could just be when the audience realizes just how high the stakes really are.
I'd say every writer goes through this at some point, and I am no exception. If I asked any of you where I grew the beard when writing Shine, most of you would point to A Lost Light. That was the chapter that finally deviated the story from the canon path of Rainbow Rocks, showed some real progression in Sunset's redemption plot, started the actual conflict of the story, and began the tone shift for the rest of the Shineverse. And I take a lot of pride in that chapter. In a sense by shifting to a more original plotline, it let me show you what I could really do.
With regard to MLP itself, the beard growth came in increments instead of all at once. Probably because I watched the episodes out of order. The first episode I saw of the show was the Return of Harmony two-parter, and that was just to satisfy my mind-control fetish. The episode that first caught my interest was Green isn't Your Color. Sure jealousy plots have been done to death normally; but in an interesting twist, Rarity actually REALIZED that she was jealous and felt bad for feeling like that. And at the same time, Flutters didn't want to be a model but kept doing so to make Rarity happy. It didn't hook me completely, but it gave me the idea that there was something more.
That being said, the episode that finally DID get me hooked was Sisterhooves Social. A conflict between siblings portrayed realistically, some great development for both of them, and the lengths Rarity went to to make amends let me really feel for the characters.
If you guys are interested enough, I'll talk about some other beard growing shows too. Like Doctor Who, Steven Universe, and Star Wars Rebels.
Do tell more about these Beard Growing shows, please.
I think this ties in with this little video: