Season Four Overview (Part One) · 1:23am Mar 23rd, 2016
In terms of writing and characterization, season three was slightly better than the seasons that came before it, but still kinda mediocre. Is season four any better? Let’s find out.
Episodes 1 & 2: Princess Twilight Sparkle, Parts 1 &2
In terms of continuing the story from the season three finale, this was not the best way to go about it. What is it with these writers and their inability to write a good, compelling two-parter?
Okay, to be fair, this episode did answer some of the questions we had about Twilight becoming a princess. Her home is still Ponyville, even though the first act of this episode makes it look as if she’s moved back to Canterlot. Furthermore, Twilight becoming a princess seems to have not affected her life at all. In fact, the only time it affects her life is when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna go missing. When they disappear, the guards ask Twilight what to do. Not only that, but the denizens of Canterlot are in a panic and asking her what’s going on and what should be done about it. About the only thing I don’t like about this scene is the fact that Spike is constantly fainting. Really, writers? You’re so lost as to what to do with this character that you’ve reduced him to basic comedy? Another thing I don’t like is the fact that Cadence is mentioned all of once and never brought up again. Yes, I know that I said I hated her, but the fact that she gets bored in the Crystal Empire, I would think that she would love the opportunity to get off her butt and actually do something. It’s no wonder she enjoyed that fight with that Tatzlwurm in “Three’s a Crowd.”
I know a lot of people loved the flashbacks in this premiere, but I didn’t. Granted, the animation is a wonder to behold, but it’s one of those things where seeing it is not as good as hearing about it. When you hear about something like Nightmare Moon being banished to the moon or the royal sisters using the Elements of Harmony to take down Discord, it creates a mythos in your mind around these events. When you show that, all we’re doing is looking at it. If looking at it is not as good as hearing about it, don’t do it, because it almost never lives up to when it’s actually presented. Also, these flashbacks are nothing but filler. You could literally skip them and the only thing you’d be missing out on is the Tree of Harmony, where the royal sisters found the Elements of Harmony. If you were to omit these scenes and show them to somebody with no context and without telling them that they came from an actual episode, they would probably assume that they were fan-made.
In the fight with the crocodile, it’s shown why Spike is rarely with the group on these adventures. He’s pretty much useless. Seriously, dude, you can melt metal locks with your flame breath, but you can’t defend yourself against a crocodile? It’s no wonder this guy is never invited on any of the adventures.
The other thing I hate about this episode is the way that Twilight is treated. After the gang are attacked by a crocodile, Applejack suggests Twilight go back to Ponyville and have them look for the Tree of Harmony without her. Twilight does just that, only to go back into the Everfree Forest literally (I timed this) a minute and a half later. When the Mane Five do get to the Tree of Harmony, they have absolutely no clue what to do, leaving it to Twilight to, once again, save the day. Okay, look, Twilight is my favorite character, but that doesn’t mean I want to see her as the only one with a brain among the group. It would have been nice had the others figured out how to save the tree on their own and then gone to Twilight to get her Element. Having Twilight step in to save them all shows the group to not have a brain between them. This makes them come off as incredibly stupid. Only Applejack and Rainbow Dash make a valiant effort to do anything, whereas the others don’t do squat.
This premiere matched the others in terms of writing quality. Here, they had another great idea, yet did nothing with it.
Episode 3: Castle Mania
Very much like “Rarity Investigates,” this episode brought me back to my childhood of watching Scooby-Doo. Here we have the Mane Six wandering into the castle of the two sisters and getting into alll sorts of crazy, fun shenanigans.
That’s a perfect way to describe this episode: fun. Sometimes you don’t need an epic adventure to make a show great; all you need is a fun idea and run with it.
This episode conjures up a lot of adorable mental pictures of Celestia and Luan playing in the castle when they were foals. It’s hinted that Celestia deliberately added in all of the traps and slides because Luna loved them so much. (For the record, I have read Journal of the Two Sisters, and I thought it sucked.) But that doesn’t mean that Celestia didn’t like them as well. It’s cute thinking of these two going around scaring the crap out of each other through trap doors and such.
Each of the group, minus Pinkie Pie, get to shine in this group. I really love the pairings that the writers went with: Applejack and Rainbow Dash in another one of their competitions; Fluttershy and Rarity hunting for new fabrics; and Twilight, Spike, and Angel Bunny hanging out doing research to see if they can find anything out about the mysterious chest that appeared at the end of the previous episode.
This is one of those episodes that was not only fun, but also incredibly funny, particularly the climax. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash bump into each other, causing all three of them to freak out. Rainbow Dash is literally bouncing off the walls (making pinball sound effects as she goes). Applejack is hopping around screaming about shadows. And Rarity is in tears as she sobs to herself underneath a tapestry. The only thing I didn’t like was how Fluttershy was treated. She spots what she thinks is Angel, only to see him supposedly get crushed by a humongous boulder. This is not funny. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: picking on a character like Fluttershy and making her go through this kind of crap is not funny!
However, I did love the callback to “Look Before You Sleep”, despite hating that episode, when Applejack says, “Nopony knows,” while doing the same motions she did when telling her scary story in the aforementioned episode.
With how fun and funny this episode was, this was definitely one of my favorite episodes of this season.
Episode 4: Daring Don’t
Whoever decided that Daring Do should be an actual character on the show needs to be smacked upside the head. Who’s bright idea was this? The reason why I hate this idea is the fact that Daring Do writes book under the pseudonym A.K. Yearling, which is a nice nod to J.K. Rowling. The comparison to Lara Croft is heightened by this reveal, as Miss Croft herself wrote books about the many adventures she’d had during her archaeological career. But the reason why this idea doesn’t work in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic universe is the fact that Daring Do’s entire existence and career hinges on the fact that her enemies don’t read books. I’m pretty sure that if Dr. Caballeron knew that Daring Do was writing about him (it’s implied in dialogue between Dash and Twilight that he was referenced in one of Yearling’s books), he would be wanting to sue her. Like Daring Do, Dr. Caballeron is an archaeologist. As an archaeologist, you have to read a lot of history books. (Just ask Lara Croft, Nathan Drake, or Indiana Jones. I’m sure they’ll tell you the same thing.)
But enough about the legal repercussions of writing about historical events actual people and writing it off as fiction. Let’s get to the good stuff. Right off the bat, I liked the idea of Rainbow Dash counting down the days to when the new Daring Do book was going to be released. It’s like the writers knew that this is something us bronies do and decided to incorporate it into the show. (Remember that the wait for this season was pretty long.) Another thing that I really liked was the fact that Rainbow Dash is fangirling over Daring Do throughout the whole episode, though I am confused as to how Twilight managed to get her address in the first place. It’s shown that A.K. Yearling lives quite a ways away from Ponyville or any kind of civilization, so she probably likes her privacy. Thus, it would almost impossible to get her address.
I love Daring Do herself in this episode. She does make a valid point. Given her life is all about secrets, she really can’t trust anyone. You never know who’s going to try to be your friend and then stab you in the back later on down the road. She and Ahuizotl have some great banter between them. Though, I have a hard time believing that Dr. Caballeron would be so stupid as to fall for Daring Do’s pathetic disguise.
I really like the climax of this episode too. I like that the Mane Six are helping out, keeping Ahuizotl distracted long enough for Daring Do and Rainbow Dash to get all of the rings removed. Ahuizotl kind of reminds me of Dr. Drakken. He’s kind of threatening, but not really. We’re able to laugh at him, yet not take him seriously at the same time. Given that this is a family-oriented show, of course the guy wasn’t killed off. There seems to be this ethnic code with heroes that they must not kill their enemies, even if they deserved it. I mean, Kim Possible, Batman, and Spider-Man never killed any of their arch rivals.
Episode 5: Flight to the Finish
I didn’t much care for this episode. This was mainly due to the fact that it reminded me of how bad things were for me at school. Like Fluttershy, I was very shy, and like Twilight, I was much more interested in reading books than making friends. On top of that, I was blind. (I wasn’t diagnosed as having autism until I was nineteen.) Besides which, I didn’t like this episode because of Scootaloo. Sorry, but she’s just not a very interesting character, at least not to me.
I really loved Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in this episode. They’ve shown in this episode that they will go to any lengths necessary to make it to the top, even if that means psychologically tormenting a pony they don’t like. I actually would have liked to see their routine. (I would’ve liked to see their performance back in “The Show Stoppers” too.)
Aside from Tiara and Spoon, the other character I really liked in this episode was Rainbow Dash. I really love the idea of her being a coach, though I must admit it was funny seeing her flip-flopping between her emotions and her professionalism. What I also love was the fact that she pretty much told Scootaloo, “Look, I don’t care if you can fly or not. I’m not going to stop being your big sister over something stupid as that.” I just love seeing how much these characters have grown since the series began. Considering that flying is pretty much Rainbow Dash’s life, that’s some huge character development.
I also really loved the song featured in this episode – “Hearts Stong as Horses.” It’s like the Chipettes if they could actually sing and you could understand them and they didn’t make my ears bleed. I really loved the reprise the song got at the end of the episode, especially the build-up to it.
The scene that I really didn’t like was the scene in which Tiara and Spoon mock Scootaloo for her flying disability. As I’ve said, I’m blind, so I got picked on a lot by my classmates. (My family isn’t above picking on me as well.) Needless to say, this scene made me more than a little uncomfortable.
Some people may give Apple Bloom crap for pretty much telling Scootaloo, “Screw you! We’re doing this routine with or without you!” Personally, I don’t see it as a problem. She made a good point when she said that the routine had become all about Scootaloo and her ability to fly; she was basically putting flying above her friends, so I can’t really fault Apple Bloom for getting pissed off at Scootaloo for essentially ditching them. Though, I find it annoying that Rainbow Dash had to be the one to talk them into going back to get Scootaloo.
Episode 6: Power Ponies
If there’s one plotline that I absolutely hate, it’s the superheroes plot. I hated it when Rugrats did it. I hated it when Brandy & Mr. Whiskers did it. And I hated it when Penguins of Madagascar did. I’ve never been a fan of this plot because I’ve just never found it interesting. And this episode is no exception.
I will say that I absolutely adored the opening to this episode. I’m one of those people who likes to see Twilight and Spike as having something of a mother–son relationship, but I can’t help seeing them as having a brother–sister relationship in this scene. (Cathy Weseluck and Lauren Faust have stated that this is the intended relationship between them.) I’m sure I’m not the only brony who’s experienced. You’re talking about this show to a family member or a friend and they have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about, but they’re at least listening. I do love the idea of Spike being into comics. (I myself do love the IDW comics.) I like to think that he might have acquired his life for them through Shining Armor. (This is implied in “The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows.”) However, Spike does agree to go to bed, only for Twilight to give him an extra two minutes.
Out of all the crazy crap that happens in this episode, the one thing that has me perplexed is why the Mane Six were fixing up Celestia and Luna’s old castle. What were they planning on having Twilight move in there or what? In any case, it was nice of Twilight to allow Spike to finish reading his comic, and even after they stopped to take a break, the others wanted to find him so he could join them.
The other thing that makes no sense to me is the fact that the Mane Six have trouble controlling their powers as the Power Ponies. Why? Rainbow Dash is the weather manager of Ponyville, yet she can’t summon lightning and instead summons a tornado? Applejack has been shown to handle a lasso very well, yet here she ends up getting herself tied up like she did in “Secret of My Excess.” This makes no sense.
What also doesn’t make sense is Spike’s dilemma here. He saved the Crystal Empire at least once. He helps Twilight on a daily basis. Why does he think he’s useless? All because his friends didn’t need his help fixing up the castle? And the lesson he learns in the end is that just because his friends don’t need his help all the time doesn’t mean he’s not useful. Um . . . excuse me if I’m wrong here, but wasn’t that the exact same lesson that he learned in “Owl’s Well That Ends Well?” Yes, there was the lesson that there’s plenty of love for friends and family, but with these aesops, there’s a big one and two little ones thrown in for good measure.
Spike’s dilemma aside, I liked the design of the Mane-iac. She’s basically what you would get if you combined Doc Ock from Spider-Man, The Joker and Poison Ivy from Batman, and Medusa from The Powerpuff Girls. Like Dr. Drakken, she has a tendency to gloat for a little too long, thus giving the heroes more than enough time to make their escape.
As much as I don’t like this storyline, I will say that it was nice seeing the Mane Six working together to take down the villain. Fluttershy transforming into a huge, muscle-bound creature ala The Incredible Hulk was hilarious, though I noticed that as she yelled, “Really?!” the voice that came out was clearly Pinkie Pie. This understandable, seeing as how both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are voiced by Andrea Libman. Slips like this are bound to happen from time to time. While some people may not be bothered by that, it bothers the crap out of me. (This mistake happened in “Castle Mane-ia” and also in “Crusaders of the Lost Mark.”) Yes, I know that this mistake cannot be helped from time to time, but the reason why this is a problem for me is that obvious slip-ups like this completely take me out of the immersion of the episode.
As far as “characters turning into superheroes” plotlines go, this episode was just okay. No doubt it spawned a thousand or more fanfics.
Episode 7: Bats
This is without a doubt one of the worst episodes of this season, if not the whole damn series. Here, we once again have an episode where Applejack gets royally screwed over by her friends and has to apologize for it. (Remember what I said back in my review of “The Last Round-Up?” See. I was right.)
Let’s start with the biggest proble of this episode. Fluttershy and Applejack have a dispute over what should be done about the vampire bats. Applejack's notion is that they should be gotten rid of as soon as possible. Fluttershy suggests maybe letting the vampire fruit bats have part of the orchard. This argument leads into a very catchy and well done musical number. But the problem is that the animators change the lighting whenever it cuts to Fluttershy to make it seem as if she’s right, whereas during Applejack's parts, the color is noticeably darkened.
For starters, she makes multiple claims that neither she nor the audience has any way of knowing to be true. For example, she claims that the vampire fruit bats will help Applejack's orchard. She claims that the apple trees will grow bigger and stronger thanks to the vampire fruit bats. Okay, first of all, let me make something perfectly clear: Fluttershy has never encountered these creatures before. She can’t even understand them. So, she’s basically making up bullshit lies here. Fluttershy even admits in the episode itself that she has no firsthand experience with the vampire fruit bats. So, Fluttershy is thoroughly wrong on more than just one level here. Take it from someone who take agriculture classes in high school (and whose brother was a part of FFA). In real life, fruit bats are very destructive, capable of completely destroying whole orchards, with no long-term benefits to be had.
But even put all of that aside, let’s assume for the sake of argument that Fluttershy is right. Her suggestion is still completely impracticable. She’s thinking of the long-term instead of the short-term. It has been thoroughly established within the show that Sweet Apple Acres relies on all available revenue, to the point where even a fractional decrease in cider sales could potentially put them under financially. Therefore, Applejack can’t afford to give up part of her orchard to the vampire fruit bats. Furthermore, Applejack is not illiterate. As a farmer, reading up on pests is part of the job of running a farm, so she’s probably read how destructive these vampire fruit bats can be. Not only that, but she has a secondhand account from Granny Smith about the devastation that these vampire fruit bats can cause.
Thankfully, Applejack isn’t swayed by Fluttershy’s protests, not that anyone would be in the first place. She and the others go along with Applejack's plans to get rid of the vampire fruit bats. This wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that this is Fluttershy they’re all yelling at. Seeing them march around her and belting out, “Stop the bats! Stop the bats! Make them go and not come back!” is extremely creepy, especially since this is Fluttershy this is happening. Twilight doesn’t even bother to suggest maybe coming to a compromise. She just goes along with Applejack's plan because it’s more sensible. Great leadership skills there, Twilight.
Fluttershy’s bullshit aside, I will admit that this was a very well-presented and believable rift between the Mane Six. This could have been a great turmoil to present in a family show. But, no. This plot is completely done away with by magic. Twilight basically brainwashes the bats into no longer wanting the apples, thereby completely doing away with a significant part of their being. As I said in “Swarm of the Century,” if this spell didn’t work then, what made Twilight think that it was going to work now? But it does in fact work. Is it just me or am I the only one who finds this very unethical? I want to repeat that: what was presented as a balanced argument about how to treat the bats at the beginning of the episode, which causes a rift between the Mane Six, is resolved by brainwashing them. Again, am I the only one who sees this as unethical?
What follows this is an extremely boring twelve minutes of Fluttershy flying back and forth, back and forth. Granted, the design of Flutterbat was awesome, but was this really necessary? I mean, really, writers? You had to go and turn Fluttershy into a bat just so she would learn the lesson of not giving into peer pressure? Going back to my arguments from “Bridle Gossip” and “Look Before You Sleep,” doesn’t this seem more suited for a Cutie Mark Crusader episode? You could have Sweetie Belle discover her talent in competitive eating, so her friends pressure her into eating as much as possible and putting on as much weight as possible in order to train her. . . . I really need to stop inserting ideas for fanfics into these reviews. But the still stands. This idea could have easily been saved for a Cutie Mark Crusader episode.
Sorry, but a Tim Burton-esque song and a cool character design aren’t enough to save this episode. Also, what did Applejack do with that gigantic apple afterward? Well, not much else to do with it. It might as well go into her stomach.
Episode 8: Rarity Takes Manehattan
This was the first of the first episodes that used the chest as a means of advancing the story. It’s in this episode that Rarity finds her key.
One of the things that I really don’t like about this episode was the fact that Spike is once again treated as Equestria’s personal chew toy. This is in spite of the fact that Spike was much more than that in “Power Ponies.” I don’t understand why the writers reverted back treating him like dirt. Rarity at least treated him nicely in this episode. She bought him something to eat to reward him for his efforts. (It’s just too bad that stupid bird took off with it. Seriously, writers? Spike isn’t even allowed to have something to eat as a reward for his hard work? That’s not funny, that’s just mean-spirited.) Not only that, but when she shows the others the tickets she got them, there are seven tickets, meaning that she wanted Spike to see the show as well.
The funniest thing in this episode was Rainbow Dash and Applejack's reactions when Rarity starts singing, especially since she does this right after Rainbow Dash says, “Ponies bursting into song at the drop of a hat? Who does that?” Their expressions pretty much scream, “What the hell?!”
Suri Polomare is an excellent foil to Rarity in this episode. She’s very much like Diamond Tiara; she’ll do whatever it takes to make it to the top, even if that means stabbing a best friend in the back. It’s implied in dialogue that these two used to be friends. They probably grew up together and were part of some sort of knitting club back in Ponyville before Suri moved to Manehattan to make it back as a fashion designer. The comparison to Diamond Tiara is increased when we see that she has an assistant named Coco Pommel, whom she treats very badly. Diamond Tiara, one could argue, doesn’t treat Silver Spoon like a friend. (This is shown to be true in both “Twilight Time” and “Crusaders of the Lost Mark.”) As far as Suri is concerned, Coco is only good for two things: working for her and getting her coffee. I actually find this funny seeing as how this is, at least to my recollection, the first mention of coffee within the show. So, I guess we can all agree that ponies drinking coffee is now canon. I guess it makes sense. I mean, that mare and her coltfriend that we saw in “A Canterlot Wedding” were clearly seated outside a coffeehouse. At least I think so.
Once again, Tabitha St. Germain is able to load up on the hammy like the big ham she is when Rarity admits that Suri stole her fabric. Rarity is practically hyperventilating at this point, but Tabitha’s performance comes off as so over-the-top that you can’t help but laugh at it.
Some people like to get onto Rarity’s case for how she treated her friends in this episode. Like Twilight said, her friends know her better than that. She was acting that way only due to stress and nothing more. After all, her fashion line had just been stolen and she only had a few hours to create a new one from scratch. Anybody would be flying off the handle in a circumstance like that. What’s more, Rarity was right to feel bad for how she treated her friends, but they forgave her in the end because they wouldn’t let one instance of her losing her cool get to them, thus make them stop being friends with her.
A lot of people seem to love Coco Pommel, so much so that some have even started calling her “the new Fluttershy.” Yes, she’s adorable, but I don’t like her as much as I do the Mane Cast. I am glad that she’s made some appearances here and there. I couldn’t relate to her predicament due to never having a job before and thus, not having to put up with a cruel boss. I’m pretty sure that’s probably why she’s so popular, because so many viewers could relate to her plight. I, however, couldn’t. Though, that doesn’t make her a bad character. Just unrelatable, as far as I’m concerned. From what I hear, she may be making an appearance again in season six, which I wouldn’t mind. After all, it’s implied that the Cutie Mark Crusaders are supposed to go to Manehattan and meet up with Babs, so it’s possible we’ll see her again.
The moral for this episode was a good one as well. Yes, there are some people out there who will try to take advantage of your generosity, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give up your generous spirit. This episode left me looking forward to the rest of the episodes where the others discovered their keys.
Episode 9: Pinkie Apple Pie
As much as I don’t like Pinkie Pie, I will say that this is probably one of my favorite episodes featuring her. After it’s discovered that she’s related to the Apple family, the Apples take a road trip to Goldie Delicious’ place to find it if it’s true.
Rarely do I ever find Pinkie Pie funny. She was funny in this episode. At the beginning when she shows up at the library, Twilight screams. Pinkie screams right along with her. When she finds out that she’s related to the Apple family, she immediately goes to Applejack, calls her “cousin”, and gives her a big hug, all while Applejack has an expression on her face that says, “What the hell?” This is not only very funny, but also very heartwarming.
“Heartwarming” is the perfect way to describe this episode. The Apples accept Pinkie into the family without question. Apple Bloom is just ecstatic at the prospect of having another sister, though Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could technically be counted as her other sisters. The dance that she and Pinkie do is also pretty funny, especially given the expressions on their faces.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention “Apples to the Core.” When this song was shown at Comic Con, it took the group literally seconds to begin clapping in time with the music. That’s how catchy this song is. Not only is it incredibly catchy, but it’s also incredibly heartwarming. Everyone singing in this song does a spectacular job, especially Michelle Creber and Asheligh Ball, but that’s no surprise since they’re both professionally trained singers. But even Shannon Chan-Kent, who voices Silver Spoon, does an exceptional job singing her. Pinkie’s verse is particularly heatwarming, as she declares the Apples to be more fun than all of her favorite things. (“You’re more fun than the color pink, or balloons flying over your favorite drink.”)
I especially like Pinkie and Big Mac in this episode. As I said in “Secret of My Excess,” I love seeing scenes where characters who rarely interact together get a chance to, well, interact. We only get the tail-end of their discussion, but from the sounds of it, it sounds as if Big Mac was giving Pinkie a very deep lecture on the meaning of life. What’s also great about these two interacting is that at the end when Applejack says that Pinkie Pie is “an apple to the core,” Big Mac agrees with her with a very proud, hearty, ‘Eeyup!” He just sounds so proud to have Pinkie Pie as his sister.
Also of particular note is “the scariest cave in all of Equestria.” I’m pretty sure plenty of fanfics have been written about this cave, especially seeing as how we didn’t get to see what inhabits it. Whatever it is must have been terrifying, however, as you can hear all four members of the Apple family screaming in terror at the top of their lungs, while Pinkie Pie doesn’t seem affected by it at all. There’s even a creature that, as Pinkie puts it, is “unidentifiable.” That alone opens itself up to a ton of fanart.
I really like how the Apples acted in this episode too. We don’t see them getting along as usual. Instead they’re shown as being pretty hostile towards each other, which in complete contrast to the way we’ve seen them interacting before. Just compare this episode to “Apple Family Reunion.” I know this is odd, especially coming from me, but I do like the fact that the writers took the opportunity to show that not every family gets along well all the time. There’s going to be times where you’re going to want to strangle your family members. Even going through all the hell they went through just to get to Goldie Delicious’, they still made it together. They started out as one unit and they ended the journey as one unit.
The moral in this episode, while a predictable one, is also a very strong one: the lesson that your friends can very much be like your family, which I think speaks true of the Mane Six. I, for one, have always found this group of friends to be very much like a family. It’s pretty much impossible to separate them and anytime they are shown to be apart, they’re shown to be pretty miserable. They celebrate birthdays together. They celebrate holidays, victories, failures, and life’s ups and downs together. Even Twilight became a princess, the others didn’t leave her side. Hell, she’s shown trotting alongside them during the “Life in Equestria” musical number at the end of the episode.
This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of this season, if not the whole series.
Episode 10: Rainbow Falls
This episode had a pretty bad reputation when I first sat down to watch it and it did not disappoint. Very much like “The Mysterious Mare Do Well,” in order for the plot to work, all of the characters, sans perhaps the Mane Five, have to be flanderized in order for the plot to work. Seriously, every single character, except for maybe Twilight and Derpy, were either awful or they were flanderized beyond belief. Even Pinkie Pie wasn’t funny in this episode. She just came off as annoying more than anything else. I’m even including Rainbow Dash here, who was just awful in this episode. She’s the Element of Loyalty, yet she decides, right in front of Twilight no less, that she should ditch the Ponyville team and go with the Wonderbolts, simply because the latter has a better chance of qualifying for the Equestria Games. Fluttershy even states outright that whatever medals Ponyville wins, she’ll give to Rainbow Dash because she knows how much Rainbow Dash likes to win. This is going back to “The Cutie Mark Chronicles,” where Rainbow Dash says, and I quote, “But the only thing I liked more than flying fast . . . was winning!” Writers, just because she likes to win doesn’t mean she’s going to ditch her team just to get placed on a team that’s more likely to win. This is in complete to Rainbow Dash’s behavior in the past and even in an episode later on down the line. Yes, Rainbow Dash does like to win, but she’s not above screwing over her friends just to win a race. There have been plenty of moments where Rainbow Dash has humbly admitted defeat.
But, for me, the worst characters in this episode were the Wonderbolts and their treatment of one of their teammates, Soarin. After he injures his wing (this leads to a bit of redundant dialogue from Fluttershy afterwards), they pretty say, “Screw you!” They don’t bother to make sure if he’ll be okay in time for the qualifying rounds; they ditch him in favor of a potentially better flier. Soarin’s dialogue even implies that they didn’t even bother to visit him in the hospital. Not even so much as a fan visited him. Poor guy. Maybe Applejack should’ve stuffed him with some apple pie to make him feel better. I’m sure he would’ve loved that. Yes, they, particularly Spitfire, seemed to learn their lesson in the end, but after this little scheme they cooked up, I wouldn’t have blamed Rainbow Dash or Soarin if they’d both said, “Fuck you guys,” and vowed never to have anything to do with them ever again.
Honestly, the only good thing that can be said about this episode is Derpy’s triumphant return, and I also liked seeing Applejack stuffing Rainbow Dash with some Apple Brown Betty.
Episode 11: Three’s a Crowd
Like “What About Discord?” episodes like this have me worried about whether or not reforming Discord was for the better. He comes off as more annoying than anything else.
My biggest problem with this episode is the fact that there was all this build-up to it, but that build-up never paid off because it didn’t go anywhere. When I heard that this episode going to be featuring Twilight and Cadence spending some time together, I remember getting really excited. “Finally,” I thought, “we’re going to get some more background on Cadence and maybe she’ll get some character development.” But, I was disappointed when I found that this wasn’t the route that the writers took. Instead, they decided to shoehorn in Discord, for whatever reason.
When Discord mentioned the plant at the edge of Equestria, I figured that he might have ulterior motives. Maybe it had some hidden power that he wanted. Again, I was left to be disappointed. After a pretty awesome fight scene between Cadence, Twilight, and a Tatzlwurm we get the reveal that Discord was faking this whole time. This makes no sense. It goes against Discord’s character. In the past, there was a rhyme and reason behind Discord’s behavior. In “The Return of Harmony”, he wanted to break up the fellowship between Twilight and her friends. In “Keep Calm and Flutter On”, he wanted to free himself. Hell, even in “Princess Twilight Sparkle”, he wanted to teach Twilight an important lesson about friendship. (The way he goes about this makes it seem as if he took a page out of Celestia’s playbook.) Here? He did it just to be a dick and ruin Twilight and Cadence’s day. This fact paints this scheme as being extremely childish and pointless.
This episode is not without its strong points, however. While I didn’t particularly like “Glass of Water”, I did love it for its imagery. (I especially love the Harry Potter reference.) Alas, this song pinpoints exactly why I have a problem with Discord being reformed. As I said in “What About Disocrd”, my problem with Discord being reformed is that the writers basically use him as an excuse to shoehorn in as many pop culture references as possible. There’s references to Pinocchio, Aladdin, Star Wars, Flashdance, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, among others. While some people may find these references interesting and fun to catch, to me they’re just eye-rolling.
Episode 12: Pinkie Pride
I’m probably going to get a lot of flack for this, but I would be very dishonest if I said that I enjoyed this episode. Just the fact that this episode featured a guest star that I know little to nothing about doesn’t help matters.
So, this episode was about a new party pony by the name of Cheese Sandiwch coming into Ponyville. Rainbow Dash is celebrating her birtheversary (her birthday and the anniversary of when she moved to Ponyville). He accidentally ends up upstaging Pinkie Pie, causing the party pony to question whether or not she should even be planning parties.
For the character development that this episode gave Pinkie and for the song “Pinkie’s Lament”, I give this episode some points. Like “Too Many Pinkie Pies”, this episode showed us that Pinkie Pie has a lot of depth.
I wish I could say the same about Cheese Sandwich. He basically seems to be a male version of Pinkie Pie, with a backstory that’s very similar to Fluttershy’s. He was very shy when he was younger. However, he arrived in Ponyville to see a party being held by Pinkie Pie. This is what inspired him to become a party planner. The only thing that I really liked about this scene was seeing Cheerilee give Cheese Sandwich something to eat after he arrives in Ponyville. Even when she was a filly, Cheerilee was a kindhearted soul.
I would comment on the other songs that inhabited this episode, but honestly, they’re so forgettable that I can’t recall any of them at the moment.
Not were the songs completely forgettable, but the imagery used throughout them was just insane. This is something that I don’t like. It’s also one of the reasons why I detest the Looney Tunes cartoons. There’s too much going on at once. Because of this, it becomes a chore to keep track of everything that’s going on, and I hate it when cartoons use that method because it’s very disorienting and distracting.
Not much else to say other than I thought that this was a very weak episode. Again, I give this episode some props for its story, character development, and one and only good song, but that’s not enough to save this episode.
Episode 13: Simple Ways
This episode felt like a repeat of “Look Before You Sleep.” As much as I didn’t like that episode, I will say that it was at least funny. (And, by extension, the same can be said about “Bridle Gossip.”) When a traveling writer that Rarity has a crush on comes into Ponyville, she does everything she can to sway him. To her dismay, however, he’s fallen in love with Applejack. Is it just me or did the animators really put effort into making Applejack look as sexy as possible. And this is a show that’s supposed to be intended for families? Really?
Rarity, in an effort to sway Trenderhoof, decides to change the theme. She’s no longer than the prim and proper pony that we all know and love; she’s now become a stereotypical farmer, complete with raggy overalls and straw hat. She even gets the accent down, for the most part. Seeing as how Rarity is acting so silly over a guy, Applejack decides to one-up her by beautifying herself, and, boy, oh, boy, does she look downright gorgeous! This episode proved that Applejack can look extremely attractive when she puts some actual effort into her appearance. I especially love the dress she wears. I also love the fact that she shakes her rump at the camera as she sauntering up and down the catwalk.
The moral for this episode is especially good: the lesson that you shouldn’t change yourself just to be liked. If someone doesn’t like you for who you are, it’s their loss. I really love this moral because this is sadly a lesson that is missing in most shows targeted at young girls. Most shows aimed at this demographic make girls think that if they’re not as skinny as possible, then they’re a fat, ugly monster. (Just look at some Special K commercials.)
Honestly, I didn’t mind this episode involving romance. In fact, I actually really liked it. If all of the other romance-based stories from this show are like this from now on, then I wholeheartedly say, “Bring ‘em on!”
Actually, I think this episode was the perfect followup to "Magical Mystery Cure", it was just the sort of reassurance that they could work with alicorn Twilight, and that they could role with the changes made at the end of Season 3. Also, this episode didn't introduce a new antagonist, which is good considering Meghan McCarthy isn't the greatest at coming up with new villans, she's usually better at working with pre-established ones.
The rest of the mane six were wrong for the right reasons. They didn't want to risk the possibility of Twilight getting injured or killed in case they failed to find the tree or Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Sure, they probably shouldn't have sent her away, but as Kung Fu Panda 3 put it "Sometimes, we do the wrong thing, for the right reasons."
From what I've heard, it seems like it tried too hard to fill in some worldbuilding gaps, but the ideas presented raised more questions than they answered. Perhaps they should've consulted with Lauren, she may not be the best writer out there, but she's really good at coming up with creative worlds. She's kind of like George Lucas (she can create incredible worlds, but she needs others to help her tell stories in those worlds).
I think Daring Do being real works surprisingly well, because it's much better than the typical "recluse author" story plot, and it was nice to see one of the mane six teach somepony else a lesson about friendship. It's a way of pushing that they're maturing and becoming teachers in their own ways. Plus, you can't deny that Daring DoxAhuizotl makes for an excellent crack ship, especially with that gem of a tease from Daring Do herself.
Really? Well, I kind of felt the same way until about two to three years ago. Fanfiction really helped me see that Scootaloo can actually be a fun character to write, I legtimately enjoy writing her, though it helps that she's stopped being obessed with Rainbow Dash so much. At this point, I just want to know why the writers haven't said anything about her parents, there's no way she could be an orphan given everything we've seen.
Agreed, this is when Rainbow Dash really started to become more likeable as a character, more in line with how she was in Season 1 and late Season 2. She can still have her ego and be a bit hot headed, but there's no need to keep displaying that every chance she gets, she can let down her guard and show some emotion. I actually now like her better than Applejack because of her outstanding growth in Season 5, whereas Applejack has pretty much become stale as a leading character. She's great when she has someone to play off of, but when she's thrust into the spotlight on her own it seems like she can't hold an episode.
Personally, I prefer mother-son, it works better given what we've seen and what we've been told.
Are you talking about Fluttershy sounding like Pinkie Pie, because I don't really remember that being the case in either episode. Fluttershy sounding like Pinkie Pie has been a thing since Season 1, her famous inhale before her yay at the start of "Sonic Rainboom" was actually Pinkie Pie's gasp from the first episode, but reversed.
The only one she is forced to apologize to is Fluttershy, simply because she was forced to be in the wrong even though her arguements had more evidence supporting them. "Bats!" has actually been called "The strawman is right" by some fans.
Fluttershy's arguement, from what I've heard, is called "The Broken Window" arguement. It claims that if you break a window, the person who owns the building with the broken window will take out money to hire people to fix the window, thus creating jobs. But the arguement does not account for what the person would've done with the money had the window not been broken (maybe they would've invested in something that would've hired more people permantely than would temporarily have work fixing the window).
Yeah, this bugged me as well, Twilight of all ponies should've been netural. The only one who would've had any reason to side with Applejack was Rainbow Dash because of the cider, and even then I hate that they made that a running gag in this episode and a few other episodes, it's not funny and they cannot make it funny!
Yeah, that part is probably a result of "Unfortunate Implications". It's wrong to change what makes an animal what they are, just because it will benefit you. It's wrong to mess with nature in that way.
Yes, you should. I know you like fat ponies, but not everyone is going to feel the same way. Also, I don't really see how this episode could've been a CMC episode, this episode could've worked fine as a Fluttershy episode if Merriweather had spent a little more time on it. Now, a certain Fluttershy episode later on this season, that should've been a CMC episode. Heck, I rewrote the episode with that idea in mind because the premise sounds like it was made for Sweetie Belle, and really should've been given to Sweetie Belle.
The funny thing is, Suri is also voiced by Tabitha St. Germain. So I guess Suri's status as the Anti-Rarity is firmly established.
I do like Coco, but not enough to where she should replace Fluttershy. That just seems to me like fans apparently want Fluttershy to stay how she is so they can protect her, and that is wrong and unhealthy. Being that protective of someone is harmful.
I actually think Pinkie Pie's appearance made sense, and was in character for her. Plus, I commend this episode for remembering Fluttershy's character growth, by having her try out for a major sporting event. That's the kind of Fluttershy I like to see, somepony who's willing to step out of her protective bubble and try new things, and isn't afraid to make herself seen and heard. Rainbow Dash, it's kind of hard to say if she's in character or not, because she's plagued by bad writing. Twilight never once mentions the real reasons why Rainbow Dash should stick with Ponyville, but at the same time the episode already went to painstaking degrees to make it look like Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps weren't cut out for it. It's kind of hard to say whether or not Rainbow Dash was wrong for considering not flying with them.
Not above screwing over her friends means that she would do so if she really had to. I think what you meant to say was "she'd never resort to screwing over her friends just to win a race" or "she'd never stoop so low as to screw over her friends just to win a race".
Personally, I feel like the events of "Rainbow Falls" were a secret test of character, since if Soarin was really injured so badly what's to stop Spitfire and Fleetfoot from contacting Wonderbolt HQ and requesting one of the other bolts to take his place? But I feel like they have an unfair advantage, being the pony equivalent of highly trained army soliders competeing in the Olypmics, they're a bit overqualified to say the least.
Yeah, this episode, like Ed Valentine's other episode, had an 11 minute set up and a rushed climax. And unfortunately, the filler material we had for this set up took way too long, wasn't funny or enjoyable (especially when it had the nerve to distract Pinkie Pie with a balloon, that in and of itself is spitting in the face of her character), and was a pain to watch. It also just seemed to confirm that the mane six minus Fluttershy don't care at all about trying to get to know Discord, they just expect him to do as they say and change who he is or they won't be his friends anymore. But the problem with that is, they could no longer hide behind the Elements of Harmony to justify this behavior, and neither did they have any reason to be so skeptical of him as opposed to "Princess Twilight Sparkle" where it was at least understandable why they thought he might be up to something. If there was anything "What About Discord?" even remotely got right, it was the rest of the mane six were willing to get to know Discord and didn't automatically think he was evil. But because of "protagonist centered morality" Twilight had to be right!
You know, I never thought about that until now, but you're right. This is a complete betrayal of Discord's character, he had no reason to mess with Twilight other than because he knew it would upset her, and he could've done that at any time. It's even worse in "What About Discord?" when protagonist centered morality had him do it just for the heck of it, and then when he got caught he hastily tried to make it look like he was teaching her a lesson in jealousy. "Make New Friends, But Keep Discord" understood that in order for Discord to work as a character, you can't just rehash his "Princess Twilight" behavior all the time, and you can't just shoehorn in references and jokes to make up for lack of a story. I don't watch MLP just for the references, if I did I'd still be watching "Family Guy" since at least they don't try to hide the fact that they're referencing something. But considering "Robot Chicken" and "Mad" already understand the art of the parody, there's no reason for me to watch a show that only offers references and nothing else.
I find it somewhat odd that you wouldn't at least have heard of Weird Al Yankovic, since he is primarily a parody artist (he does occasionally do his own original songs such as "Everything You Know Is Wrong" and "Dare To Be Stupid", but his parodies are what he's most known for). And I think Cheese Sandwich has enough personality to where he doesn't feel like Weird Al ponyfied and nothing else. Besides, CheesePie is an insanely cute ship. Cheese Sandwich seems like the most suitable candidate for a romantic partner for Pinkie Pie, even Party Favor wouldn't be able to keep up with her energy. I just wish the fandom would stop painting either Cheese Sandwich or Party Favor as the bad guy in the shipping wars, either one of them would be willing to let Pinkie Pie be with the other if it made her hapy. I can easily see Cheese Sandwich being a good sport, but telling Party Favor to treat Pinkie Pie well for his sake.
I agree wholeheartedly. This episode is pretty funny, though I can see why some people may not like it. But the moral it teaches is a really important one, and the sooner you learn that lesson the better you can become. When we make up sterotypes and ideals about how people should be, we end up losing sight of reality and force people to confirm to standards they often can't compare to.
I think the episode "Bats" was written around Flutterbat. That they got the idea and wrote an episode around her.
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My problem with the book is that it came off as sounding too much like a fanfic. Literally, it reads like something you'd find on here.
Yeah, that snarky comment was funny, though it wouldn't be too hard to believe that Dr. Caballeron is a jilted ex-lover of Daring Do and is basically acting as her competition to get back at her.
Her obsession with Rainbow Dash has led to the two of them being paired up as a romantic couple. No. Just . . . no.
Maybe in season six?
Agreed. This is why I hate a majority of the Applejack-centered episodes. Is it any wonder why this character is so unpopular in the U.S.? She's extremely popular in Japan, though.
Really? Well, that's interesting.
Agreed. They're basically playing Dash's addiction to cider for laughs. She should really get some help for that.
It could have easily been a CMC episode. They could have had one of Scootaloo's classmates peer pressure her into stealing something and the rest of the episode could have been the guilt consuming her to the point where she can't even sleep.
I'm always up for some more Sweetie Belle!
Good point and, admittedly, that's another problem with the episode, because it seems to contradict what we know about these characters for the sake of a plot. Bulk Biceps was shown to be a decent enough flyer to make it into the Wonderbolts Academy, whereas Fluttershy has been shown to be an exceptionally good flyer when the situation really calls for it.
When you make a commitment to your team, you stick with it; you don't ditch them and get with a somewhat better team just because you're afraid you might lose. At the very least, Rainbow Dash could have said that she had fun at the tryouts even though her team didn't qualify, and she would have still gotten to go to see the games.
Agreed. That's pretty much the only thing I liked about that episode. It was nice seeing the Mane Six and Discord getting along, and at least Twilight got called out for her dumbassery in the episode. Not to mention that Applejack's line near the end was particularly funny.
I liked 'Make New Friends But Keep Discord" for the same reason, and you summed up why I hate reformed Discord so much. It's like the writers basically use him to shoehorn in as many pop culture references as they can, which is why "Glass of Water" is one of my least favorite sequences in the entire show. It's like they just wrote to show how many pop culture references they could cram into a two and a half minute song.
I have heard of him. I'm just not too familiar with his work.
3822192 Yeah. I guess they thought making Fluttershy the Hulk expy in "Power Ponies" was too obvious, and using her as a plot device to directly reference the greatest lipsyncing scandal of all time (why you'd want to do that is beyond me) wasn't enough and they had to do something really unexpected.
3991029 Could you enlighten me here? Are you referring to the Twilight series, and what's with the ending comments? Given her anger issues, I think having Fkuttershy as the Hulk was to be expected. I mean, long before "Power Ponies" aired, fans were making those kind of jokes. As much as I hated "Flutterbat" I will admit her design was cool and scary.
3822192 Yeah, that's generally how writing works. You come up with an idea and write a story around it. I'd expect a writer such as yourself to know that.
3991325 I'm referring to "Filli Vanilli", which is a direct reference in title and plot to Manilli Vanilli, an aceplla group that was exposed for lip syncing in what was a very serious popular music scandal. Why anyone would want to directly reference such a thing is beyond me, it seems like one of those things you'd want to stay away from even if the target audience may not necessarily realize the reference.
3991394 I don't see it as a big deal. Honestly, I really don't think anyone in this day and age would care.
3991402 Well, it's more an oddity that they would go all out with a reference like that, yet not do anything with a reference to a relatively harmless video game franchise.
3991409 "Call of the Cutie" was changed thusly because Hasbro didn't want the writers making a reference to a M-rated video game franchise, which is understandable.
3991415 Really? I don't think the episode was ever planned as a direct reference to the game franchise, despite it's enormous popularity.
3991436 From what I've heard, the original title was "Call of Cutie" before it was changed to "Call of the Cutie."
3991439 Any sources that confirm this, or is this just speculation from a few individuals?
3991444 From the show's "What Could Have Been" subpage on TV Tropes: