Oilyvalves reviews S6 E1&2 · 3:59pm Mar 27th, 2016
Unimaginative blog titles are unimaginative.
We're out of the hiatus! Hours and hours of new pony will be with us in the coming months, and I'm very happy about this. And I'll be sharing my thoughts on here for each episode, because why not?
Despite being spoiled on more details about this episode than any other for a long time (all the stuff about Flurry Heart), I never-the-less went into this opener not really knowing what to expect. It's safe to say my passion for the show comes from the slice-of-life style episodes; my favourite one involves school-age fillies singing in a playground for Pete's sake. So the adventure-style premiers or finales rarely leave much of an impression on me.
So what did we actually end up with? Well on first viewing, this episode made me smile, gasp in surprise, chuckle, "aww", and left me with a contented grin. So all-in-all, a not-to shabby effort if you ask me. I'd say this is about on par with The Cutie Map at least, with Princess Twilighy Sparkle remaining my favourite premier.
If I had to describe this episode in one word it would be 'interesting' (in a good way mind you).. A lot of stuff to take away from it; the establishment of Starlight as Twi's pupil, the introduction of Flurry Heart and the parenthood of Cadence and Shininh Armor, the introduction of a very intriguing character in Sunburst, the revelation that all previous alicorns were not born that way, and finally some last-second teasers of a changing.
Some very welcome laughs came from tired Shining, some crazy faces from Twi, Pinkie etc, and some well executed slapstick involving Starlight and a broom cupboard.
Flurry Heart's disturbing magical ability kept my attention hooked for most of the episode. Blasting a hole through the castle from a sneeze and obliterating the crystal heart certainly took me by surprise. However I'm a bit worried now she's been dulled down by the Crystalling ceremony, there's not much left but a cute looking baby with wings.
Officially the most adorable moment of season 6 so far; Fluttershy giving Rainbow a pat on the head after she face-hoofs from dealing with the crystal public.
I'm optimistic about Starlight's role in the coming season. Although I was initially a bit skeptical, I came to realise during my second viewing this morning that she's bringing something fresh and new. Her and Sunburst actually remind me of Rey and Finn from The Force Awakens; new blood to mix in with the old and shake things up a bit.
Speaking of old blood, I was very pleased with the mane 5 and Spike this time round. All seamed very in-character, and played their parts accordingly without getting in the way. And honestly, one of the best Spike performances we've ever had.
To sum up, I enjoyed this episode for what it was, but I'm also looking forward to returning to 'regular' pony next weekend.
Good points there. Especially about Spike -- he had his best episode for ages, I thought.