I'm Gonna Row & Rec It [episode spoilers!] · 4:42pm May 21st, 2016
Man. Watching A Hearth's Warming Tail is like watching Magic Duel for the first time: so many awesome things I always wanted (even if I never knew I did!), I can't help but feel pandered to. And Trixie's not even in it!
Let me talk about the music for a minute. I finally got around to ranking them, but in all honesty, none of these songs are bad (for all that "once" should have been taken out of "Hearth's Warming Eve Is Here Once Again"s slower refrains). "Pinkie's Present" isn't quite as singable as the others, which is probably why it ended up at the bottom, I still love that Dixieland swing jazz sound, something that fits Pinkie surprisingly well (and I notice on a second watch how much it shows up as a motif in the background music; so great!) Compare it to "Out on My Own", the only other song we've gotten so far this year; also not a bad song, but very bland in comparison, falling neatly into the category of "pony music" with no real outstanding qualities. It's indicative of what Ingram's been turning out for at least the last three years, pretty consistently: upbeat pop music that leaves the ear as soon as it's entered it. Meanwhile, "Luna's Future" is the kind of song we really haven't gotten since season three at best. It's one of the absolute top songs in the show, and this coming from an episode that already had a fantastic villain song by that point! :D (I cannot get over the line "the future is a cold nightmare". Fuckkkkkk.)
Ghhhh, I just love this episode to death. (Apparently I'm the only person in the fandom who's not randomly tired of A Christmas Carol???) Joke if you wish about capitalism, I think the message is more "don't harsh on other people's fun". I wish I knew why I loved Starlight tiptoeing up those books so much. Spike apparently never knows what he's saying; good thing Twilight's there to put words in his mouth! :V (Okay, but Appleghost was giving Snowfall some serious bedroom eyes.) I still can't get over old-timey Vinyl Scratch. Remember that Twilight was singing all those songs while doing impressions of her friends. :V Even in old-time storybook cameos, Rainbow Dash doesn't get cider. And remember: Granny Claus kills foals. :V
As for this week, oh look! Another boring episode set in Manehattan! At least they did something about that weirdass title (which I am referencing in the title of this journal).
Okay, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't as bad as The Gift of Maud Pie or even Made in Manehattan. The "story told by each character to a journalist" framing device was interesting by itself. I like the design of the raccoons. I really appreciate that it wasn't an episode about everyone fucking everything up because they're stupid. I mean, it ends up being pretty much the exact opposite of that! For all that I drew a comparison to Newbie Dash (Rainbow trying to be everyone vs. everyone trying to be Rarity), it wasn't that bad. And hey, early season continuity!
But it was just okay. It's not an episode I'm really going to think about or remember beyond a few individual gags.
I mean, what's with that Mirror Pool reference? c.c WTF. The pushy Russian landlord was amusing, but his daughter? What in the everloving crap? The faces continue to be goofy as hell, though I was very much amused by Rainbow mantra of "You're not actually writing all this down, are you?" I like the potential assistants (holy shit, that one's cheekbones could give Ms. Harshwhinny and Prim Hemline a run for their money!)
But yeah. Just okay. Not offensive, which I would definitely prefer to the alternative. NEXT
A Hearth's Warming Tail
Gauntlet of Fire
No Second Prances
The Crystalling
The Saddle Row Review
On Your Marks
The Gift of the Maud Pie
Newbie Dash
Luna's Future
Say Goodbye to the Holiday
Seeds of the Past
Hearth's Warming Eve Is Here Once Again
Pinkie's Present
Out on My Own
Personally, I thought it was one of the most genuinely funny episodes in a while. The jokes were in character and on point and not relying on sight gags, so it gets extra credit in my book for that.
Ma, I really liked this one. There were so many cute moments, and letting every character shine was a nice touch, succeeding by her own talents instead of screwing up by them. Twilight buzzing her wings to knock the dust off? And begging to organize? The only notpicks I could come up with were these:
Rainbow was instructed to hire one pony. At least I presume she was, since that's the task she set before herself. So if she hired all three, can Rarity afford to pay them all? Rarity didn't seem troubled by it, so I guess so?
I didn't mind Pinkie's mirror pool reference at all, but they way they played it, Rarity didn't catch what she meant, yet Rarity had been there for that, so she would know..
Other that those two things, this was a cavalcade of great character moments for me. Plus I love Rarity, so I've liked almost every Rarity-centric episode anyway. This is one of my favorites of the season.
Get out.
I officially don't know what you want out of this show anymore, man.
The whole cast was present and fantastically on point, the format was novel and well-paced, and everything resolved naturally and with consideration to each character's personality. This one's honestly in the 8-9 range out of 10 for me, and I can't really suss out what you thought was boring about it.
I guess it's weird to disagree strongly with a "meh" rating, but that's where I'm at right now.
I really enjoyed this one and Gift of Maud PIe. In fact, I think all the episodes set in Manehattan have been pretty good. Maybe it's because I enjoy Rarity.
I think the interview framing device was nice and gave each of the girls something to contribute. But again.... Where's Spike? You expect us to believe he wouldn't come along to help?
3961454
Someone has to babysit Starlight Glimmer.
3961465 Well, without him she's likely to open a door that opens into open air and fall to her death. We can't have that happen.
Wait, never mind, she can fly.
3961246 Seconded. This is what I'd like to see more of from MLP. That episode was a delight.
No. I love that story, and was delighted to see MLP tackle it -- and even more delighted that it produced such a great episode.
Weirdly, that's actually the one I've found myself singing the most from that episode. :P
No idea, but the second Pinkie is -- in my almost certainly soon-to-be-exploded headcanon -- not a misplaced clone, but the changeling we saw at the very end of the season premiere. :P
3961319
I want good stories that challenge the characters and show me something new about them.
This was a fairly dull story about the characters being dumb until they stop being dumb and figure shit out. And Rarity opens another boutique. Hooray?
This episode was great. The framing was innovative and it was setting everything up for 'Incoming colossal failure' only to do a lovely inversion of it. Nopony was DUMB, the key is they all were operating off How would Rarity want this?' first which I mean, all of us do from time to time when doing someone a favor - 'How would they do it?!' rather than 'How can I solve it?'
I was pretty happy with this one, in that even if there weren't huge real challenges for the characters, they basically handled things all right and the jokes mostly landed. That said, there were problems too, but mostly not things that greatly affected my enjoyment of the episode. Having only one day strikes me as a highly artificial obstacle, and I don't know why the setup was handled this way in Manehattan rather than similarly to that in Canterlot, especially since it looked like the space had been deserted rather than trashed. The cleaning itself should have taken next to no time: Twilight should be able to handle it without the whole process of actually sweeping. Rainbow's deal ended up being really nothing, since she had three apparently qualified applicants and no others. And after hearing from 3961454, yeah, Spike should have been there. Then there's ultimately the issue that this didn't end up being Rarity's boutique, did it, just a boutique that sells her fashions, since her actual input to the store was limited to the window display. On the whole I liked the framing device, but it makes me wonder why, if they all decided the next day what they told the reporter was a bad idea, they thought it was something they should do at the time. And not just Pinkie and Rainbow, either. And, of course, the landlord's daughter.
But yeah, no dead air, I thought the comedy worked, and (despite the episode featuring Pinkie) the only grating character was the one clearly meant to be so. I thought that despite the holes it introduced, the framing built tension nicely, as well as being an added layer of humor where Rarity was concerned. I think I'd put it in my top four of the season so far, maybe even top three.
3961247 Rarity can afford to run three stores, one of which she explicitly pays rent on, is the biggest and newest name in fashion, could probably call in a million-bit favor from Fancy Pants with a flick of the tail, and has saved the world multiple times.
I think she can handle paying a few extra wages. Honestly, for a blooming fashion empire she's hideously understaffed.
3961913
Then I honestly think you have unrealistic expectations of media in general. I'm not even limiting that sentiment to just this show--this show's always been great about developing its characters, uncommonly so compared to its peers in the genre. But we're six seasons in at this point, and even if we weren't, earth-shaking changes can't and really shouldn't happen every single week. As it is now, the show's done so _much_ advancement of its cast that it's natural to have their growth slow down a couple ticks at this point, and moreover FiM's always leaned more towards slice-of-life over the occasional adventure, all the way back to Season 1.
I also feel like pointing out that out of the last two episodes before today's, you hated the one that did a great deal to challenge a main character with a new situation and loved the one that ultimately did nothing of the sort, but I feel like that's getting too petty.
3962078
I actually wondered about the same budgetary issue that Pascoite did on my first watch, but your point is probably a good one too. Suppose Coco might help out later too.
3962217
Well, I'm obviously wrong, since everyone else considers this to be one of the best of the season. I just don't see it.
3961246
Yeah, I was giggling the whole way through.
3962331 I don't see it either really. It was a solid episode, but those do not excite me. It did have some of the most gorgeous shots of Fluttershy which helped redeem it. But I am probably a poor judge of what other people want in an episode. To me there is "Hey it's Luna!" and "Hey it's Nightmare Moon!" and then there is everything else.
Oh PP, you missed the bestest song from the episode. And you call yourself a reviewer... for shame!
3965018
It wasn't even catchy. :B
3961913
We're six seasons into a TV-Y show that was originally intended to be cancelled after season 3. Good luck finding a new aspect of one or more main character every episode.
3965388
God, it should've been
But seriously, if five seasons on, they can produce amazing shit like Amending Fences, why can't we get that all the time? Or at least more often than not.