Season One Overview (Part Two) · 11:58pm Jan 25th, 2016
Episode 14: Suited for Success
This is one of those episodes that is so perfect that I have nothing to complain about. Really. The story was great. The characters were all wonderful. The moral was a very solid one. This was a Rarity episode and since its conception, there hasn’t been a single Rarity episode that I’ve outright hated.
We get introduced to a new character in Hoity Toity, who is one of the few male characters on this show to be portrayed as being either gay or a selfish jerk. He at first seems like your typical stuck-up Canterlot pony until he decides to give Rarity a second chance to redeem herself, which turned out to be a blessing on her part, as she got the chance to show him what she’s really made of.
Rarity was really great in this episode as well. She puts her friends’ feelings above her own. After all, the customer is always right, don’t you know? Her friends don’t like the first order of dresses that she made them. She wants them to be completely one hundred percent satisfied, so she doesn’t hesitate to redo them, all to her friends’ specific instructions. What’s interesting is the fact that each of the Mane Six represent a different executive in the business world. For example, Fluttershy is the executive who knows what she’s talking about when it comes to fashion, but not enough to where she could put that knowledge into action. Applejack is the executive who puts style over functionality. And Rainbow Dash is the executive who is extremely vague on what they want.
Speaking of Rainbow Dash, there is an obvious audio slip-up during the reprise of “Art of the Dress.” When Rarity looks at her, Rainbow Dash asks, “What?” The problem here is the way in which the question is pronounced. The way it’s pronounced makes Rainbow Dash sound as if she’s asking, “What did you say?” instead of “What do you want?” Really, though, that’s the only thing I can come up with to complain about regarding this episode.
Rarity’s nervous breakdown after the first fashion show was humorous and would be a character trait that would stay with the character long after this episode aired. Rarity has a tendency to be a drama queen, which is a good thing because this gives Tabitha St. Germain the chance to ham it up like mad during these scenes, which is always a joy to listen to, particularly in “Rarity Takes Manehattan.”
This episode had a great song, some wonderful character moments, and it showcased why Rarity is my third favorite of the Mane Six.
Episode 15: Feeling Pinkie Keen
When the creator of this show has to publicly apologize for an episode, you know that this episode is going to be bad. No, I’m not kidding. This episode was so reviled among the brony fandom that Lauren Faust actually had to give a public apology for how poorly it was received. Is the hatred for this episode warranted? After watching it, I believe so.
Now this is an episode I can sink my critical claws into. For starters, we learn that Pinkie has this thing called a Pinkie Sense, a involuntary bodily convulsion that allows her to predict the future. A twitchy tail means that something is going to fall. Sometimes these convulsions come in combinations. For example, an ear flap, wobbly knees, and an eye flutter all mean to watch out for opening doors.
So, what does Twilight decide to do with this information? Does she study Pinkie for several months, writing down every single bodily convulsion and combination and see what they mean, and then maybe hooking Pinkie up to examine her for scientific data? Does she even extract some DNA from Pinkie and have it sent to some scientific research facility in Canterlot? Of course not. That’s what an actual scientist would do. Instead, she dismisses the Pinkie Sense completely, saying that it’s not scientifically possible because it’s completely random. I’m sorry, what? Most of what your body does, such as breathing, heart rate, blood flow, etc, is controlled by your brain. It’s completely involuntary. You can’t choose when these actions happen. Does that mean that your body doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do simply because that these things are out of your control?
No. The Pinkie Sense is not random. Pinkie’s tail twitches. That means that something is going to fall. That’s a perfectly valid hypothesis. If Twilight was as smart as she says she is, she would have known that. She attempts to take a scientific approach to the situation, but she goes about it all wrong. As soon as she can’t prove Pinkie wrong, she decides to give up on the experiment. Yes, because that’s staying true to the Scientific Method. But even so, Twilight still didn’t deserve to get sent to the hospital just because she was trying to understand Pinkie’s abilities.
What makes this episode ever worse is the ending. First of all, the hydra. Okay, so let me see if I can understand this. Fluttershy can talk down a dragon, a manticore, and a cockatrice, but when it comes to a hydra, she can’t do anything. And this is all for the sake of the plot, so that Twilight will learn some lesson in the end.
Speaking of the lesson, that’s the second problem that I have with this episode. What exactly was wrong with making the hydra the doozy Pinkie was talking about? Why did the doozy have to be Twilight accepting the idea that Pinkie’s abilities might be true? It would have been better had Twilight come to appreciate Pinkie’s abilities rather than accept them on blind faith. Having her just accept Pinkie Sense without any further investigation is such a giant leap in logic that it’s just baffling to me. Not helping is the moral, which was badly worded. The moral is the idea that you should accept something as true even if it doesn’t make sense, which is a horrible lesson to be teaching kids. So you’re telling me that it’s a good idea to just take something like the Bible on its word alone without questioning it or doing any research on it to find out if what you’re reading is true or not? Atheists already have a bad reputation of thinking that Christians are stupid morons who live their lives on blind faith. Crap like this is not helping! But let’s not even get started on the science v. religion aspect of this episode. After all, that’s the whole reason why Faust had to apologize for this episode in the first place.
Finally, and probably most problematic of all, is the fact that after this episode, Twilight doesn’t proceed to conduct any further investigations on the Pinkie Sense. It’s never going to be brought up again. Nopony’s ever going to ask questions about. It’s never going to be expanded upon or applied usefully in other episodes. Very rarely is it ever referenced, such as in episodes like “The Mysterious Mare Do-Well” and “Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 1.”
A terrible moral, bad writing, and bad characterization makes this one of the worst episodes this season, if not one of the worst episodes of the entire series. Like many episodes, I like to pretend as if this episode doesn’t even exist. I hate it that much.
Episode 16: Sonic Rainboom
“Sonic Rainboom” is probably one of the more entertaining episodes this season. Not only was this episode entertaining, but it was also pretty funny as well. For starters, there’s the opening. We’re not given any context as to what Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are talking about throughout this exchange:
Rainbow Dash: Now, what have we learned?
Fluttershy: Loss of control.
Rainbow Dash: Good.
Fluttershy: Screaming and hollering.
Rainbow Dash: Yes, and most importantly?
Fluttershy: Passion.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear they were talking about sex. But, this is a family-oriented show, so of course the writers wouldn’t go that route. Instead, they’re talking about the elements of a good cheer, which Fluttershy constantly fails to live up to. Instead of cheering loud and proud like any normal pony would, she instead chooses to give out a barely audible, “Yay”, and proceeds to do that throughout Rainbow Dash’s training.
What I love about this episode is how heartwarming it is. Rarity doesn’t hesitate to suggest that she and the others go to Cloudsdale to cheer Rainbow Dash on at the Best Young Fliers Competition. Unfortunately, the spell Twilight finds is too complicated to be doable more than once, leaving her and the others to use a cloud walking spell. While the spell Twilight cast on Rarity lasts for at least three days, it’s unknown how long the cloud walking spell lasts.
Fluttershy was great in this episode. While past episodes had portrayed her as being a pansy and a pushover, she really shines in this episode as she stands up to Hoops and Dumbbell. However, her meekness towards them also makes it kind of awkward and they still laughed at her, but it’s still a badass moment for her.
It’s in this episode that we learn a lot about Rainbow Dash. Like Fluttershy, she was probably picked on while at flight camp. She probably earned the nickname “Rainbow Crash” due to the fact that she was crashing all the time. It seems she was also a bit of a class clown as well, as it’s implied that she may have gotten kicked out of flight camp due to not following the rules and regulations. However, as “Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3” taught us, Rainbow Dash isn’t very good at studying. She has a hard time staying focused and can’t be bothered to concentrate on anything for very long. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Rainbow Dash has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I may do a blog post about any mental disorders Rainbow Dash may have, as well as for the others.
To me, it seems as if Rainbow Dash’s ego is a front, a facade to cover up possible emotional insecurities that she has about herself. I say this because whenever nopony isn’t paying attention to her and are instead paying attention to Rarity, Rainbow Dash begins very emotionally upset. Only Twilight picks up on this. Meanwhile, the others are so busy admiring Rarity’s wings that they couldn’t be bothered to give a second thought to Rainbow Dash. Again, only Twilight is concerned about Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash herself gets a badass moment as she swoops down to save Rarity once her wings have evaporated into thin air. Not only does she succeed in saving Rarity and the Wonderbolts, but she also succeeds in pulling off a Sonic Rainboom, something that many ponies had thought of as “an old mare’s tale.” The Sonic Rainboom is the coolest and one of the most beautiful things featured on this show. Thankfully, this wasn’t the last we saw of the Sonic Rainboom, as it’s a popular stunt in Rainbow Dash’s tricktionary. We’ve seen her pull off the Sonic Rainboom multiple times throughout the series, and I look forward to seeing it more often as the series progresses.
Episode 17: Stare Master
This was the first episode to feature the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As far as Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes go, I consider this one to be one of the best.
What I love about the Cutie Mark Crusaders is the fact that they act and talk like actual kids. One of the things that really annoys the piss out of me is when writers will attempt to make kid characters “cool” and “hip” in an attempt to appeal to the modern audience. This always makes me groan as it doesn’t come off as anything but cringe-worthy. The writers of this show know how to write kid characters and write them well. I don’t know if the voice actresses of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had anything to do with this. The Cutie Mark Crusaders act and talk like normal kids would. For example, when they’re in Fluttershy’s cottage, they’re running around, laughing, yelling, touching stuff, and being a nuisance. This is the way most normal kids act. Furthermore, when Fluttershy attempts to get them settled down by advising that they play a quiet game, the three of them lose interest literally seconds into the game before running off to do something else.
Like their sisterly counterparts, the Cutie Mark Crusaders have a very strong bond. When Scootaloo and Apple Bloom show up at Carousel Boutique, Sweetie Belle instantly brightens up from her gloomy mood. Later, when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are having an argument in the Everfree Forest, they laugh about it and move on.
This episode showed us just how much Sweetie Belle idolizes Rarity. When she’s showing off some capes that she made for herself and her friends, she quotes Rarity line by line. My only question is, how did she manage to make those capes in such a short amount of time? Also worthy of note is Rarity herself. When she finds out that Sweetie Belle accidentally ruined the gold silk, she doesn’t yell or threaten Sweetie Belle. In fact, she doesn’t discipline Sweetie at all. If this were real life, Sweetie would have gotten cussed at, followed by getting her ass busted, but seeing as how this is a family-oriented show, no beatings are allowed to be shown. Rarity just realizes that the setback is going to cause her to fall behind and so she’s forced to cancel the sleep over, much to the Crusaders’ dismay. I’m wondering why in Equestria Rarity is trying to fulfill an order at the last minute, and only within a few hours.
Sweetie was also funny in this episode. Her singing of “Hush Now, Quiet Now” was so over-the-top that I couldn’t help but laugh, just as her singing was in “Sleepless in Ponyville.” Like the latter, this may have been a joke on the production staff’s part, because Claire Cortlett can sing exceptionally well, as can Michelle Creber. I really do hope these lovely ladies go somewhere far in their career. I would love it if they did an album because I would buy it in a heartbeat. Coincidentally, this is the first time we’ve heard Fluttershy sing as well, and I was taken aback at just how beautiful Andrea Libman’s singing voice for Fluttershy was. Like Sweetie Belle and Zoe Trent, it’s one of those singing voices that I could listen to all day and never get tired of. Personally, I prefer Fluttershy’s version of “Hush Now, Quiet Now”, though I’m sure Sweetie Belle’s version would sound just as lovely if she were to sing it properly.
Once again, I have to give mention to Fluttershy, who once again has an awesome moment. Without hesitation, she gives the cockatrice a stern talking to, demanding that it turn Twilight back to normal, and she does this all while she herself is being turned to stone. I don’t think she even noticed. As “Dragonshy” did beforehand, this episode showcased Fluttershy’s way with animals and her power over them. Unfortunately, the Stare hasn’t been utilized very often. I think the only other time it was used was in “Bats,” a Fluttershy episode that I hated.
Many people believe that after how horrid “Boast Busters” was, Chris Savino never wrote another episode for the show. This was the second episode he wrote for the show and I personally consider his second outing far superior to his first. It just goes to show you that a bad writer can write something good, and a good writer can write something terrible. Not all of us can be the next Stephen King.
Episode 18: The Show Stoppers
It’s in this episode where we get introduced to the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which would become a setting of sorts for future episodes featuring these three. Despite having no prior training in the ways of carpentry, Apple Bloom manages to fix the clubhouse up to where it looks brand new. We also learn that Scootaloo is quite agile on that scooter of hers, and Sweetie Belle gets to showcase her beautiful singing voice, as well as talent for songwriting. So, with all of these talents, you would expect them to use them in the talent show at school, right? Well, because these are kids, they don’t think that way.
Instead of singing, Sweetie Belle designs the sets, costumes, and handles the props. Instead of doing the choreography for the dance that the Cutie Mark Crusaders are going to perform, Scootaloo decides to sing instead. Finally, Apple Bloom decides to do the choreography instead of designing the sets, costumes, and handling the props. It goes about as well as you’d expect. Mishap after mishap takes place, but the dedication of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is one to be admired.
What makes this episode frustrating for some is knowing what the special talents of the Cutie Mark Crusaders are and wondering how long it will take them to realize that their special talents are right in front of them. Regarding as to where they get these special talents from, I’m guessing Sweetie’s talent for singing/songwriting comes from her upbringing. As “Filli Vanilli” showed us, Rarity has a talent for singing, and maybe playing music as well. Their mother seems to be the type to enjoy singing as well, so that could be where her daughters got their mutual love of music. Apple Bloom’s talent for carpentry could have either come from any one of her siblings or her father. Scootaloo’s talent for pulling off awesome tricks on her scooter simply comes from years of practice and hard work.
I like the little montage in the middle of this episode where the Cutie Mark Crusaders go about Ponyville trying to earn their cutie marks. According to William Anderson, the piece of music that plays throughout this montage is one that he hates, for some odd reason. I don’t know why. It’s bouncy. It’s catchy. It’s certainly something that’s pleasing to listen to. Anyway, I’m actually surprised that the Cakes and Rarity don’t have an issue with letting the Cutie Mark Crusaders going into their stores and trying to get their cutie marks that way. Wouldn’t having them there be damaging for their businesses? Knowing these three little rascals, I’m guessing they sneaked into Twilight’s library while nopony was there and attempted to get their cutie marks that way, leading to Spike walking in on the mess they made, prompting him to reassure Twilight that he had nothing to do with it.
Mishaps with their performance aside, the Cutie Mark Crusaders performing their theme song for all of Ponyville was so funny that I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that they were still going despite all of the misfortune that was going on. Halfway through the song, Apple Bloom gets her foot stuck in one of the props and spends the rest of the performance hopping around trying to get her foot out. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle is falling all over herself trying to manage the props, and Scootaloo is practically screaming the lyrics to the song at the top of her lungs. Like Sweetie’s performance in “Stare Master”, how bad this performance was might have been a joke on the side of the production staff. The song was clearly written to be so bad, it’s good, while Scootaloo’s singing was meant to be so bad, it’s funny. In fact, the whole performance can be summed up that way: it’s so bad that it’s funny. The fact that some people were hoping that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were killed as all of that debris fell on them utterly horrifies me. How anyone can hate these three adorable little fillies is beyond me. As far as Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes go, this is still one of my favorites, special talents given away at the beginning of the episode aside.
If I did have anything to complain about, it would be that the moral was a little weak. The moral seems to be, “Don't ever try new things and don’t work to improve yourself. If something doesn’t come easily at first, you aren’t meant to do it.” And to me, that’s a sickening moral. Of course, I could be wrong, though.
Episode 19: A Dog and Pony Show
This is the episode where Spike’s crush on Rarity started to come into play. Being a huge supporter of SpikeBelle, I never understood this pairing. I don’t buy that “love at first sight” nonsense. As far as Spike pairings go, I prefer SpikeBelle to Sparity. Not only do the two of them make an adorable couple, but it also makes sense from an age perspective. After all, Spike is a baby dragon, so that would make him pretty close to Sweetie’s age. Regardless of how I feel about Sparity, how does the episode hold up?
Honestly, the Diamond Dogs have got to be the weakest villains I’ve ever come across in any form of animation. Seriously, these guys kidnap Rarity for the sole purpose of having her collect gems for them, but as soon as she starts being a nuisance, they start getting annoyed. Eventually, they decide to put up with it. I was honestly shocked that the animators managed to get away with showing one of the Diamond Dogs literally smacking Rarity on the ass. (I can just imagine the cloppers having a field day with this by writing fanfics where Rarity has an erotic spanking fetish and is into BDSM.) Furthermore, the Diamond Dogs are portrayed as being extremely stupid. How would they know that Rarity would have friends who would come after her? I say this because when the gang arrives to rescue Rarity, there are a series of holes. After a scene of the gang playing whack-a-Diamond-Dog, the Diamond Dogs decide to start filling up the holes so that they can’t get through. Even Rainbow Dash isn’t fast enough to get through without getting a faceful of dirt, literally. This just doesn’t seem like a precaution that the Diamond Dogs would be smart enough to take. And at the end, when the gang finally does manage to rescue Rarity, she’s left them begging for the Mane Six to take her, along with all of the gems she found for them. Worst villains ever.
Ineffectual, harmless villains aside, Rarity was funny in this episode. While some people may find her whining annoying, I found it funny. Again, this is Tabitha St. Germain hamming it up like mad and it’s hilarious. I imagine these kinds of scenes are a lot of fun for her to do, and probably some of her favorite scenes to record. I can just see the voice director in stitches as she’s recording these lines. The way Rarity acts in the fantasy sequences is humorous as well, as she reacts as a stereotypical teenage girl would. Yes, Rarity doesn’t like getting dirty, but I really don’t think she’d be having a nervous breakdown over dirt.
In Spike’s fantasy, he imagines himself as a very big, strong, muscular knight bashing the Diamond Dogs’ heads in as he races to save his love. Of course, it’s Rarity he’s saving, but in my mind, it’s Sweetie Belle. I’m sorry. I can’t get over how cute these two are together! Anyway, Spike’s fantasy was both funny and exciting. I honestly can’t blame the little guy for imagining himself this way. I’m sure we’ve all done that, imagined ourselves as being someone else because we’re not happy with our body image. Hmm, come to think of it, does Spike have body image issues? That could be a possibility. At the end of the fantasy, Spike is just about to kiss Applejack before she gently turns him down. The seductive grin she gives him at the end makes me think that she might have actually secretly wanted him to kiss her. Perhaps this is where the Applejack X Spike pairing came from?
Despite the villains being terrible in this episode, Rarity and Spike are what make this episode so enjoyable, the former especially.
Episode 20: Green Isn’t Your Color
For whatever reason, everybody says that Photo Finish is a pony version of Lady Gaga. She’s not. She doesn’t even sound like Lady Gaga, nor does she dress like her. She’s a pony version of the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, right down to the appearance and voice. Thankfully, no celebrities were hurt in the making of this episode.
The only problem that I have with this episode was Pinkie Pie. She felt shoehorned into this episode just for the sake of adding some comedy, which is fine if it’s warranted. It’s not warranted here. This is a dramatic story with a lot emotional tension and adding comedy to the mix just seems to take away the emotional investment that we’re supposed to have for these two characters. Also, she’s the one who created this problem in the first place. If she hadn’t told Twilight that breaking a promise is the worst thing you can do to a friend, then the conflict could have been solved much more quickly. Granted, Twilight did promise both Rarity and Fluttershy not to tell the other about how they were feeling. If you come to a decision of whether to tell a friend how another friend is feeling, or don’t say anything to not break your promise and risk their happiness, I think it would be a good choice to choose the former, promise be damned.
It’s episodes like this that really give Rarity and Fluttershy some much needed character depth. Rarity’s dream is to break out into the fashion world, to open up a boutique in Canterlot. Meanwhile, Fluttershy doesn’t like attention. She hates being in the spotlight. She’s much more content to be ignored than fawned over. But, because she’s doing this for Rarity, she can’t bring herself to tell her friend how she really feels about being a model. Likewise, Rarity won’t say anything about her being jealous because she thinks she’s being a bad friend by being jealous of Fluttershy’s success. In the end, the two of them learn to be honest with their feelings towards each other.
Despite her best efforts, Twilight ends up revealing that Spike has a crush on Rarity. Granted, it was only to Photo Finish, who probably didn’t care, much less knew who Spike was, but she told nonetheless. Needless to say, Spike is visibly upset about this, but he gets over it quickly. If Spike does have a crush on Rarity, she apparently isn’t aware of it. Or, if she is, then she’s merely toying with his emotions, using his feelings for her as a means of getting him to do what she wants. And that’s just sickening.
Episode 21: Over a Barrel
I’m not a very big fan of this episode. It’s basically the old tale of, “who’s the savage”, a story that has been done countless times in movies and TV shows. Even Avatar (the James Cameron film, not the cartoon that is one hundred kinds of awesome) had this exact same plot. It was basically Pocahontas meets Dances with Wolves, except with blue pussies instead of Native Americans. (Don’t laugh, you immature perverts!)
And that sums up my problem with this episode. This episode is nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s two sides fighting over some land. Both sides refuse to come to a compromise, thus resulting in a war.
Some parts of this episode had me confused. For example, at the beginning, Rarity says that Applejack is sleeping with Bloomberg. (Not what you think, you perverts, though I’m sure there’s a fanfic about Applejack being in love with Bloomberg and “doing things” to him.) However, when Spike goes to sleep with Bloomberg because the girls are talking too much, Applejack is nowhere to be seen. In fact, after the opening, she doesn’t pop up again until after Bloomberg has been stolen by the buffalo. Where was she? She literally poops up out of nowhere. Also, between Bloomberg and Spike getting stolen and the gang arriving at Appleloosa, Pinkie Pie somehow goes missing. Where did she go? What, did she jump out of the train to go after Rainbow Dash and Spike? I know Pinkie’s a bit stupid, but even I don’t think she’d be stupid enough to jump out of a speeding train.
I think the only thing that surprised me was Pinkie Pie, who dresses up in a hooker outfit that you see in Westerns. No, I’m not kidding. How the animators were able to get away with this is beyond me. This scene carries with it the infamous “wing boner” incident, where Rainbow Dash’s wings are flat before Pinkie shows up, then are spread throughout Pinkie’s performance. I honestly don’t think that this was intentional; I think it might have been an animation error. This show is animated using Flash, after all, and you can find loads of animation errors from the show on YouTube.
This isn’t a bad episode, per se. It’s just not one of my favorites.
Episode 22: A Bird in the Hoof
The writers of this show seems to have an obsession with kidnapping, as this is the third episode to deal with it. This time, it’s Celestia’s pet bird Philomenia that gets kidnapped by, who else, Fluttershy. Granted, she was only trying her best to make sure that Philomenia was all right.
In this episode, we learn that Applejack has a big appetite. (This will get a callback in “Apple Family Reunion.”) She may or may not have binge eating disorder, as she seems to be nervous about eating in front of Princess Celestia. It’s only after Celestia leaves that she proceeds to eat something, but Mr. Cake takes the food away before she can get a bite to eat. Not to fear, though, as she walks out of the bakery with a mountain of food, somehow balancing it all on her nose. I’d like to make a special mention to one food item that is in front of Applejack. You can clearly see a ham sandwich in front of her. This brings about the question as to whether or not ponies in this universe eat meat. Given that Pinkie Pie brought up hot dogs at one point in “Fall Weather Friends”, it’s hard to distinguish whether or not ponies are omnivores in this universe. With the fact that they’re capable of eating sweets without any problems, it’s possible.
But getting back to Fluttershy and the bird that looks like somepony should just put it out of its misery, Fluttershy tries everything she can think of to make sure that Philomenia gets well. All of her efforts prove futile. When Twilight stops by, her immediate action is to take Phiomenia back to Princess Celestia, but due to the guards looking for the bird, they have to be sneaky. Cue the Benny Hill chase sequence music.
It turns out that all of this was a joke on Philomenia’s end. When she bursts into flames and falls to the ground in a pile of ashes, Princess Celestia very lightheartedly tells her to knock it off and stop fooling around. That’s it. Philomenia was basically playing a prank on Fluttershy.
Why so many people find this episode funny is beyond me. Trying to make sure someone gets well and watching all of your techniques make them worse is not funny; it’s horrifying. The fact that this happens to Fluttershy makes it even worse. In “Griffon the Brush-Off” Pinkie didn’t want to so much as squirt Fluttershy because she was afraid that it would hurt Fluttershy’s feelings, but it’s perfectly okay for Philomenia to make Fluttershy go through hell trying to nurse her back to health? If this were Twilight going through this, this probably wouldn’t have pissed me off so much, but because it’s Fluttershy being put through this torture, I can’t help but get a little angry at the sadistic writer who thought it would be funny making Fluttershy go through this.
This is just one of those episodes that I don’t care to watch again.
Episode 23: The Cutie Mark Chronicles
This episode took a while to get here. After being introduced to cutie marks in “Call of the Cutie” (I’m sure fans of previous generations of My Little Pony knew what they were), I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who was curious as to how the Mane Six got their cutie marks. This episode takes that idea and runs with it, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders asking each of them just how they got their cutie marks. When they first come up with this idea, Scootaloo brings up the coolest pony in Ponyville and both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle immediately bring up their respective sisters, which is a nice touching moment.
As long-time fans of Friendship is Magic know, this episode was used brilliantly in the season five finale, where the writers ask themselves, “What would have happened had the Mane Six not gotten their cutie marks?” That finale makes episodes like this and all of the premieres and finales much more terrifying in hindsight because according to that episode, the Mane Six are basically the only things keeping Equestria safe from harm.
The Mane Six each got their cutie marks due to the Sonic Rainboom, which is a nice callback to the episode of the same name. The grin that Pinkie pulls off when she gets hers is particularly funny. I don’t know why, but I find characters giving off big exaggerated grins funny. (Same thing with the expressions of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in “Hearts and Hooves Day.”) Twilight’s flashback is humorous as well, as she’s merrily hopping around yelling, “Yes!” In present-day, she’s doing the same thing, annoying Scootaloo in the process, and causing some passersby to ask her if she’s okay.
I know that I said that a lot of the things that happened in the pilot were contrived, so you’re probably thinking that’s the way I felt about the Mane Six being connected via the Sonic Rainboom, owing their cutie marks to her. No, there’s a difference. Contrived is defined as something that comes about out of the blue for the sake of the story that makes little to no sense. The Mane Six being connected thanks to the Sonic Rainboom is not contrived; I imagine that something like the Sonic Rainboom has very powerful magical energy.
One of the things that I like about this episode is how it makes fun of typical girly stereotypes. When the Mane Six are hugging, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom envelope Scootaloo in a hug, much to her chagrin. Then, to her horror, Fluttershy suggests that they sing a song. At the very end of the episode, Twilight talks about the possibility of all of one’s future best friends looking at the same rainbow, prompting Spike to retch and ask Twilight when she got so cheesy. I love it when a show can make fun of itself.
Episode 24: Owl’s Well That Ends Well
“Owl’s Well That Ends Well” is one of the worst episodes of this season. I mean, it’s awful. I mean, it. Is. Bad. I mean, this needs to be shown in creative writing classes as what not to do with a supporting character. You might be able to find worst episodes out there if you look really, really hard, but this one is bad in a special way. It wasn’t just bad because the episode sucked. It was bad because it set a bad precedent for future Spike episodes to come. I mean, who would have thought that one of the worst episodes of season one would lead to even more bad Spike-centered episodes? Anyway, you get my point. Moving on.
First of all, it was nice to see the little guy getting some appreciation from the others at the beginning of the episode. There’s a reason why he’s Twilight's number one assistant, because he works so hard for her, getting her whatever she needs, cooking her meals, cleaning up after her, etc. This is especially nice considering that we haven’t really seen these two interacting much aside from her telling him what to do. Given that she didn’t know much about friendship before she moved to Ponyville, I’m guessing she didn’t treat him as nicely as she should have. She probably treated him as little more than a servant and that’s it. It was also nice to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle join in on the festivities for the evening, though I am saddened to say that Spike didn’t exactly interact with them, which would have been nice to see. And just think about how Luna must have felt knowing that her subjects were staying up late to watch a spectacle in the sky that she was putting on for them. Unfortunately, this is where the compliments for the episode stop.
Everything goes downhill as soon as Owlowiscious is introduced. For starters, I am not a very big fan of stories that involve jealousy because none of them are done well, and this one especially isn’t done well. I say this because Spike’s feelings regarding Owlowisicious are never taken into account. All of the compliments that Spike received earlier are given to Owlowiscious. What’s worse is that Rarity, Spike’s crush, who had given Spike what appeared to be a heartfelt gift the night before, gives Owlowisicious an exact replica of the same gift that she gave him. Did I mention that she does that after literally meeting Owlowisciouss for the first time? I can’t imagine how Spike must have felt about that, but given his reaction, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t happy. Meanwhile, the others continue to shower Owlowiscious with praise and admiration.
Only Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy show concern for Spike’s feelings. They point out the possibility that Spike might be jealous of Owlowiscious or that he feels threatened. Does Twilight take Spike’s feelings into consideration and maybe talk to Spike about how he feels about Owlowiscious? No, of course not, because if she did that, we wouldn’t have a plot for the episode. Likewise, you would expect Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash to talk to Spike about how he feels about Owlowiscious, which could have been a very touching, heartwarming scene. But instead, Spike’s concerns are put on the back burner, as Twilight makes the point that Spike knows that he can’t be replaced. She apparently doesn’t know Spike as well as she thinks she does, because there was plenty of evidence to suggest that Spike was very resentful of Owlowiscious, but Twilight doesn’t bother to take that into consideration. Instead, when he tries to frame Owlowiscious for a crime, which is a clear sign of him being jealous of the owl, she scolds him instead of talking to him about how he feels.
We then get to what I consider to be the worst scene in this episode. Earlier in the episode, Spike accidentally burned one of Twilight's books. Now a smart character would have just come clean about it, but because Spike seems to be scared stiff of how Twilight will react, he doesn’t bother to tell her. Naturally, this comes back to bite him in the ass when Twilight finds the burned book and begins scolding him. Yes, it was wrong of him to not tell her about it, but she is just as wrong as he is. She doesn’t bother to give him a chance to explain himself. When he does, she outright accuses him of lying, then proceeds to tell him, “I don’t know who you are anymore”, leaving Spike there by himself, feeling as if she doesn’t love him anymore. Gee, what could go wrong?
So as you’d expect, Spike decides to run away. He comes upon a cave that houses a fully grown dragon who tries to kill Spike. Luckily, Twilight and Owlowiscious are there to save him. I’ll admit that I liked that Twilight apologized for being insensitive towards him, but what about the others? They pushed Spike aside and didn’t care about how he felt about Owlowiscious? Only two of them showed any concern for him and even then, they didn’t bother to talk to him. They were just as insensitive, so they should have apologized. Did they even bother to look for him when Twilight noticed that he was missing? It was still daytime by the time Spike left. That would give the group plenty of time to figure out that Spike’s missing and go look for him. What makes this worse is the fact that once he’s found, nobody tries to make him feel better.
I’m not saying that the moral is bad. For the lesson that this episode is trying to teach, it’s a good moral: that all of your friends should get an equal amount of love and attention, but this moral doesn’t work when the writers go out of their way to make it seem as if Spike isn’t getting his fair share of love and attention from Twilight. We’ve heard her say how much she loves her friends (for example, the ending to “Slice of Life”), but I can’t recall one instance where she ever said, “I love you” to Spike. This implication of Spike being seen as nothing more than a servant in Twilight’s eyes makes this episode even worse. The way this moral was executed was so poorly done that I feel very safe in saying that this one of the worst episodes of season one. The only things that were good about this episode were the first act and Spike’s belly bump near the end of the episode.
Episode 25: Party of One
I never liked Pinkie Pie much as a character and episodes like this one do not help make me like her any more in the slightest.
Let’s start with the premise itself: Pinkie throws a birthday party for Gummy, which all of her friends are more than happy to attend. A offhanded comment from Twilight (“We should do this again soon,”) prompts Pinkie to throw a party the very next day. Unfortunately, all of her friends give off flimsy excuses as to why they can’t attend. Right off the bat this is what irritates me about the episode. What was wrong with the Mane Six simply saying that they couldn’t attend the party because they were busy planning a surprise for Pinkie.
This is why I consider this episode to be one of the worst Pinkie Pie episodes. Yes, we all love surprise parties. However, if you’re planning to throw a surprise party for someone, it shouldn’t be so heavily guarded in secrecy that the person getting the surprise party feels as if they’re no longer wanted by their friends and family. The others, particularly Rainbow Dash, looked as if they were fearing for their lives in trying to keep their secret from a homicidal-looking Pinkie Pie. Even Mrs. Cake was being very secretive, to the point where Pinkie had to use a can to hear what she and Twilight was talking about.
Even Spike isn’t innocent in all of this. When Pinkie orders him to tell her that her friends are all lying to her and avoiding her because they don’t like her parties and they don’t want to be her friends anymore, Spike tells her just that. He instead should have said, “What are you talking about, Pinkie?” If not that, then he should have at least asked Pinkie what she felt this way. Instead, he proceeds to fulfill Pinkie’s request, and then proceeds to gorge himself on jewels, completely ignoring a clearly depressed Pinkie Pie.
This episode wouldn’t be so bad if the others apologized for how they made Pinkie feel, but everything that happened fell on Pinkie’s shoulders. Fluttershy’s line, “I thougth she’d be more excited” makes it hard to sympathize with them when they looked like they were running for their lives in trying to keep the party a secret. Not one character even remotely considered the possibility that maybe Pinkie was so angry and frustrated was because of the way they were behaving. I’m all for character development, but not when it’s done in such a heart-wrenchingly, frustrating way.
And that is one thing that I did like about the episode. It did give Pinkie Pie the character development she so desperately needed. Regardless, this episode really calls Pinkie’s mental state into question. She seems to think that the only reason her friends like her is because of the parties she throws. Nobody can be cheerful all the time, but no stable person does what Pinkie did in this episode. She doesn’t seem hurt or frustrated as much as homicidal. It seems as if the staff put real effort into making Pinkie Pie look like she’d truly gone insane, from the background music, the reflection of Applejack in her eyes, the backgrounds of splotches of paint during her mental breakdown, to the way she was behaving as if the inanimate objects were actually alive. Like “Lesson Zero,” these kind of character changes are not only not funny and unamsuing, but they’re downright disturbing. It’s no wonder this episode reminded so many people of “Cupcakes.”
What makes this episode worse is the moral, which seems to be that you should always expect the best out of your friends and never assume the worst, to trust that your friends always have your best interests at heart. This isn’t exactly a very appropriate moral for this episode, at least not from what I’ve seen. Given Pinkie’s obnoxious behavior at Gummy’s birthday party and the fact that she wanted to throw him another party the very next day, the moral could have easily been, “Sometimes your friends need a break from you and you need to be more considerate. However, they still like you.”
Episode 26: The Best Night Ever
For some fans of this show, future season finales have dampened their enjoyment of this episode. What’s funny about this episode is the fact that the lesson taught here is that you shouldn’t set your expectations so high that you end up getting disappointed, and that’s what happened when people watched this episode. People were expecting an action-packed season finale, but what they got was an ordinary slice of life episode.
I thought that this finale was great. Unlike the other season finale, this finale isn’t riddled with plot holes, at least none that I can detect. Well, there is one.
Like I said in “The Ticket Master,” Prince Blueblood is Princess Celestia’s nephew. I don’t know about anyone else, but this has left me confused. How does Princess Celestia have a nephew? I highly doubt that Luna could have had a child while on the moon unless she got impregnated by some alien. The only explanation that I can come up with is that Princess Celestia has a brother that we don’t know about.
Like the previous episodes this season, all of the Mane Six get a chance to shine in this episode. They each have their own story going on throughout the Gala, and all of their expectations are completely shattered as a result. Given that this group is a rowdy bunch, chaos of course ensues when they decide to take matters into their own hooves. Much to their surprise, Princess Celestia enjoyed it, saying that that Grand Galloping Gala is always awful. But, wait, isn’t she the one who plans it? If so, then why doesn’t she do something to liven things up, like have an eating contest or spend the night exploring other ponies’ fetishes? Or, she could just invite the Mane Six to liven things up? This is a kids’ show after all.
Because this finale doesn’t have much problems in way of its story, characters, or plots, it’s still one of my favorites and it left me looking forward to more in season two.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As far as first seasons go, this show’s first season was a bit of a mixed bag. In total, there were thirteen episodes that I outright hated, whereas there were some episodes that didn’t leave much of an impression on me, and there were some episodes that I regard as some of my favorite episodes of all-time. Regardless of the poor writing this season, it did leave me hungering for more. Despite how bad some episodes were, there were still some humorous moments to keep me entertained, and the characters were endearing and lovable enough to where I could sit through the episodes that I hated regardless.
It is only my hope that season two will be better than this season was. Things can only get better from here, right? . . . . R-right?
Pretty interesting, but I have to disagree with you on some things here. First off, Spike may be a baby in dragon years, but we don't know how old that is in comparison to pony years. After all, one dog year is equal to seven human years. So Spike could be old enough to be at the legal age of consent for Rarity, it's ambigous enough to where it could be that.
Actually, the intended moral was suppose to be about agreeing to disagree, they just didn't word it the right way. If they had used better termonolgy instead of "Choose to believe" it probably wouldn't have been so controversial. And honestly, the humor in this episode feels like a harp back to the slapstick comedy of the old Looney Tunes cartoons from the 30's and 40's, the pioneer of animation and the founder of "cartoon logic".
Well, that seems to have only been made up for the sake of that episode, and hasn't been brought up ever again. If anything, Twilight and Rarity seem to more typically display signs of OCD, though Rarity seems to have a far more milder case compared to Twilight.
I would like this episode more if the CMC were actually concerned about their safety, but they aren't, they don't even care when Fluttershy finds them. And they only listen to her because of "The Stare", not because they actually respect her or realize that she is concerned about their well being. Twilight is also really shoehorned in here, it feels a tad bit contrived for her to be ambushed by a cockatrice going to Zecora's.
Whoa, that's way too extreme of a punishment for any child to recieve simply for borrowing a few fabrics. That sort of thing would be if you caught a child playing with matches or a gun, you know, something that's actually dangerous and could cause someone to get hurt or killed.
It really sucks that Chris never returned to the show at any point, not even now. But I guess he only joined because of Lauren Faust, and apparently the episodes of "Powerpuff Girls" that he wrote weren't well recieved either, or so I've heard. I believe bad people can make good art and vice versa, but writers like Chris and Neal seem to take every wrong step with writing and probably should consider a different career.
The whole episode suffers from the CMC being "Too dumb to live". Kids are NOT stupid, they're a lot smarter than most adults give them credit for, they can pick up on things that adults may think they wouldn't understand. They just don't always see things from the same perspective as adults. But the CMC act so incredibly thickheaded by not realizing what is right in front of them, and to make matters worse this episode is pointless in the long run because the talents hinted at here are not what get them their cutie marks in "Crusaders of The Lost Mark", though Sweetie Belle seems to have overcome the stage fright she had in this episode, and I hope she can share the secret of her success with Fluttershy.
40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8x48ulys31r76lino1_500.jpg But I think the weakest villans of the entire show are Flim and Flam, they only become antagonists in their first appearance because the Apples don't tell them why they need more money from cider season and lack any sense of business. In their second appearance, they're just really petty, they have nothing better to do than con ponies out of their hard earned bits, and then they run away the moment they're exposed as liars. I don't see why they had to have a bad future with them in charge, they would never be able to take over Equestria, no matter how smart they might seem. And their human counterparts are so horribly executed because of unfunny jokes, they could've easily just made it a misunderstanding and had it so that Applejack legitmately only had her word to back up the claim that the base was hers, but they had to have a villan for that short, and the humane five actually had to threaten to beat Flim and Flam up to get them to cooperate, even though I'm pretty sure Flim and Flam could've easily had them arrested for assualt if that happened.
Twilight's really the one who's shoe horned in here, because once again she was the only one who could learn the lesson with the way they framed it. And that meant they had to drag out the episode to justify Twilight's presence. Secrets exisit for a reason, sometimes people will get the wrong idea about something or not understand and blow up at someone for something. "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows" took this episode's concept and did it better, though I still can't really wrap my head around the premise there. Some secrets are worth keeping, but others aren't, and someone should never ask you to keep a secret if you really can't keep it, though that doesn't mean you should just blurt it out in public. Also, Pinkie Pie would never threaten someone with murder, and even she would have to realize the benefit of revealing the secrets to each other. And on top of that, Rarity shouldn't be trying to live her dreams through Fluttershy. If you can't live your dreams on your own, don't insist that others do it for you, they have lives too.
I think Rarity is aware of the crush, and isn't toying with Spike, she just hasn't sorted out her feelings for him yet. And she's also concerned about what this could mean for her career, and what it would mean for Spike if she were to start dating him (we saw how gossip travels in Equestria).
Yeah, that's pretty much the same problem I have with this episode, we've seen it numerous times before, and this is hardly anything new. But it's really sickening that both sides go to war for the most pathetic of reasons and without even "trying" to talk it out. On top of that, this episode seems to feel like a stoner comedy, and I don't see the appeal of that. If you have to be high or drunk to enjoy something, then you're clearly doing something wrong. I also hate how Pinkie Pie is treated like the village idiot here, getting her absolute worst Season 1 potrayal here. She even gets the lyrics to her song stolen at the end.
I don't see anything that suggests that, she's just afraid to do something that will be seen as rude or offensive in front of the princess. President George H.W. Bush actually threw up at a banquet with Japanese leaders, and spawned a new Japanese word as a result, I can only imagine how embarassing that situation must've been. I'm just glad the Japanese took it in stride and didn't get mad at him for it, if that were a nation like North Korea that probably would've been grounds for war.
This episode tried to be a gross-out feast, but the animation played it way too safe for it to work, and the climax was ripped straight from "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets", they didn't even try to hide it.
Really? Even "Toy Story", which is what most jealousy stories rip off isn't good? Woody actually has to face the fact that he's jealous, but you can't help but feel a little sympathy for him since he's outright neglected by his owner in favor of a new toy after he's been Andy's favorite for years. It's hard not to feel a little bit jealous, especially when all the other toys wouldn't stop fawning over Buzz. Granted, he could've said something sooner, instead of trying to paint Buzz as a bad guy, but still.
I think you're being way too hard on this episode, it's one of Pinkie Pie's best, and probably one of the best episodes of all time. This episode took a concept that I've seen be done to death in so many other stories, and did something new with it. Usually, in these types of stories, the character who has a birthday feels like everyone has forgotten about it when in reality they are planning a surprise party. But here, Pinkie Pie is the one who forgets. Granted, one of the mane six (probably Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy) could've spent time at Gummy's after party so that Pinkie Pie would be occupied, but Pinkie Pie is the one who made all the assumptions about her friends, they had no way of knowing what she was thinking. Although, considering the way Pinkie Pie was occasionally treated in Season 1, I can't blame her for thinking that the rest of the mane six perhaps didn't actually like her and were going to kick her out of the group, there were a lot of times where it seemed like they weren't making an effort to understand Pinkie Pie at all. Thankfully, by Season 4 they seem to know her pretty well, only forgetting her insecurites briefly in "Pinkie Pride", and even then Pinkie Pie admits she was more in the wrong for trying to prove a point and should've let Cheese Sandwich enjoy his time in the spotlight. And then Cheese Sandwich revealed he never even intended to take her place, he just wanted to impress her (and thus probably didn't notice the entire town was fawning over him instead of his idol).
I think the biggest problem for this episode was the fact that "Party of One" was so mind blowing and unexpected, and there was no way it could top that on such short notice. But even without that, I feel like they didn't try hard enough to fit all the stories into the alotted runtime. They even had to give Pinkie Pie some sort of motivation because she had practically zero reason for wanting to go to the gala other than because it was there. And Twilight could've spoken to Celestia at any point prior to or after the gala, because she's the princess' student, meaning Celestia could easily set aside to talk to her if Twilight asked. I could buy Rarity learning her prince charming is anything but, that's an important lesson to teach little girls early on, don't spend all your life waiting for a "prince charming" to come and save you, because in real life that sort of thing doesn't happen, you have to work for your happy ending yourself. But Rainbow Dash and Applejack kind of deserved to have their dreams come true, and it feels a bit sudden for Fluttershy to be in a situation that is opposite of what she's normally in.
I still think that even now, Season 1 was a good start for the show, but it has improved greatly in many aspects since Lauren Faust left. It's always nice to go back to Season 1 from time to time though, to see how things have changed. I'm actually kind of surprised the show staffers haven't considered going back to some of those early episodes, and making some improvements or doing things they couldn't do before. For example they could probably convey the passage of time better in "Dragonshy" now that the animation has improved significantly since Season 1 (they seemed to have perfected it since the beginning of Season 3, but they occasionally show off a new trick).
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To be fair, the CMC are just kids. Most of the time when kids do something stupid, like trying to bike down a steep hill, their personal safety is the last thing on their mind. Regarding Fluttershy, I think they do respect her. At the end of the episode, all Fluttershy has to do is call them and they instantly run over to her. Granted, this could be because she threatened to use the Stare on them, but I hardly doubt Fluttershy was being serious. Finally, Twilight is probably still getting used to the Everfree Forest, so she may not be entirely familiar with all of the creatures in it. So, it makes sense to me that she could have easily been ambushed by the cockatrice.
You and i clearly come from different upbringings.
I honestly didn't have a problem with that. Kids like trying things new. For example, I may enjoy creative writing, but I may want to dabble in music and art as well. Like you said, kids don't always see things from the same perspective as adults. Kids are thickheaded; that's a fact. They're not always going to see what's right in front of them. It may take an adult or two for them to realize what their real passion is. While the episode may hint at talents that the CMC have, remember that a pony can have a variety of talents. Just because a pony is talented in one area doesn't mean they can't be talented in another. Furthermore, we don't know what the future holds for these characters. Apple Bloom could go on to work as a carpenter. Sweetie Belle could go on to develop a career in singing/songwriting. And Scootaloo could become an athlete ala Tony Hawk.
I think she's aware of his crush as well, as "Secret of My Excess" showed us, but she doesn't seen to return his feelings. She seems to enjoy having the knowledge that she can get him to do anything for her just by flirting with him, as "Castle Sweet Castle" showed us. Not only is that extremely mean and rude, but it can also be emotionally and mentally damaging to a person. You don't toy with someone's feelings like that. I'm honestly surprised Spike isn't suffering from serious psychological issues, because in relation to not being allowed to have anything go right in his life, he also has a crush on a pony who doesn't return his feelings. Again, this kind of crap can really mess you up psychologically-speaking, and that's why this is such a problem for me. Rarity doesn't seem to care that she's hurting Spike by toying with his emotions as long as it means getting him to do whatever she wants him to. Rarity may be my third favorite pony, but when she pulls that kind of crap, I can completely understand why people consider her to be a bitch. That, and she hasn't exactly treated Sweetie Belle very well in the past either.
To me, making a pig out of yourself (one of the major symptoms of BED is uncontrollable binge eating) wouldn't necessarily be rude or offensive, but it would be embarrassing.
I have always hated gross-out humor, which is why I've never cared for shows like Ren & Stimpy. I do agree that the ending was stolen from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets/ Is it any wonder why I see Celestia in the role of Dumbledore and Twilight in the role of Harry Potter? I swear, these two characters were used for inspiration for Celestia and Twilight. On a related note, I'm currently rereading Chamber of Secrets.
I forgot about Toy Story. That's the only jealousy story that I can think of where it was done well. Thankfully, the writers didn't have the entire film focus on Woody's jealousy. The jealousy bit only lasts for one act and the rest of the film is Woody and Buzz attempting to get back to Andy. (Why does every Toy Story film have this plotline?)
Pinkie was clearly frustrated and angry, but the way the animators made it look, she looked more homicidal than frustrated or angry. I don't understand why the others had to be this secretive about it. They could have easily just told her that they all had plans instead of coming up with some lame excuse. Pinkie may not be my favorite pony, but I still couldn't help but feel sorry for her in this episode. Her friends seem to enjoy treating her like she's less of an equal, from badmouthing her to her face in "Swarm of the Century" to not bothering to take her feelings into consideration in this episode. I think that's why I had such a big problem with this episode, because the others didn't stop to think about how their sneaking around and lying to her would make her feel. Like I said, a surprise party should not be so heavily guarded that it makes the person getting the surprise feel as if they're not wanted.
As someone who's been writing for the past fifteen years, I don't fault the writers for the flimsy way the stories were edited into this episode. They only have twenty-two minutes to get all of this done, after all. I do agree that Pinkie Pie had a very bad reason for wanting to go to the Gala, as did Rainbow Dash and Rarity. As "The Ticket Master" showed us, if Twilight were to give away both tickets, she would have given them to both Applejack and Fluttershy. I'm not saying that Rainbow Dash didn't deserve to have her dreams come true, but to me it just seemed as if she was going to the Gala just to show off (as usual). I didn't mind Fluttershy's dilemma because she's probably not used to dealing with nocturnal creatures, as she's in bed at the time most nocturnal creatures are active.
Season one was a good start, but comparing it and season two to the future seasons kind of makes them pale by comparison, especially in terms of the writing and characterization. Granted, comparing the future seasons to the older seasons makes the show feel like a completely different show, but I think that's a good thing.
They did that in season five with episodes like "Amending Fences" and "The Cutie Re-mark." I love that they're taking old episodes and creating new stories with them. I hope they do this in the future. For example, I'd like to see the interactions between Big Mac and Spike that we missed out on in the season five premiere. Or maybe have a CMC episode with Spike and maybe Sweetie Belle develops a crush on Spike as a result. That would be cute.
The passage of time was never a problem for me with "Dragonshy." I will say that one of the delights with the new seasons is seeing how well the animation improves. For example, the opening of the season four premiere where the Mane Six are admiring Twilight's stain-glassed window really blew me away with how well the lighting was done.
3714268 I don't think Rarity is toying with Spike's affections, I just blame the newer writers in "Castle, Sweet Castle" for thinking their relationship worked that way. In every other Spike and Rarity appearance as of the past season, Rarity has never really flirted with Spike, though they seemed insistant in one episode on emphasizing the whole "friends" angle.
Also, do you mean to tell me your parents were overly harsh on you as a child, punishing greately for minor offenses?
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In "Simple Ways," Rarity didn't seem at all aware of Spike's affections for her. It may have been a set-up for a fourth wall joke, I don't know. This is why I prefer SpkeBelle.
My dad and stepdad are like that. My mom, to an extent. Unfortunately, I let this influence how I wrote Applejack's dialogue in Apple Bloom's subplot in the second draft of A Mother's Touch. I made her sound way too bitchy and mean. I'll need to correct this before I upload the chapters.