Spice Up Your Life · 5:07pm Jun 11th, 2016
Friendship is Magic first impressions
Spice Up Your Life, S06e12
by Obake
(SPOILERS!)
There's not a whole lot to say on this one.
Rarity and Pinkie team up once again to battle a friendship problem, this time in Canterlot. For whatever reason, the friendship problem is helping a dying restaurant succeed. This feels startlingly similar to both Gift of the Maud Pie and Saddle Row and Rec, with both having to save a business and the Rarity and Pinkie team up. Not that it is bad. I mostly enjoyed this episode despite its setbacks.
The restaurant in need is called The Tasty Treat, and is Indian themed. The owners are a father and daughter Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala. Their relationship is the highlight of the episode. Coriander's an aged cynic, Saffron still has faith in keeping the business open; they bicker and fight, yet at the end of the day they still love one another.
Then there's Canterlot's own food critic, Zesty Gourmand. She is the worst thing about the episode. Do you remember that food critic from Ratatouille? Imagine him but without any charm or buildup. Zesty is yet another complete *&^%^%^&* character who openly insults those she deems of "lower culture", in front of their faces. I don't usually mind these type of characters in other shows, but in the MLP universe they just feel so off.
I don't know. Perhaps I'm being too harsh. The first half of the episode is definitely fun, then the second half hits and it loses momentum. The song number with Indian-styled instrumentation sounds okay, but goes on a little long. I don't see why Rarity would redecorate the entire restaurant to impress Zesty. Changing the food and menu items perhaps, but going so far to change all of the decor?
I was on the verge of calling this episode meh, but with the strong enough first half, and the nice little character moments from Saffron and Coriander, I'm going to say it is good.
Extras:
-Was anyone else reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry visits the Pakastani restaurant? I wonder if the writer's drew inspiration from that. XD
-The title is a reference to a Spice Girls song, according to Mlp Wiki.
-The citizens of Canterlot are so frickin' picky. Not even daring to set foot in restaurants without a rating by Zesty? And Zesty herself is such a snob, you wonder why anyone would listen to her.
-Pinkie briefly wears her piggy-outfit from Baby Cakes during the song. I'm not sure why.
-I do like that the other restaurant owners decide to stop following Zesty's orders at the end, and decide to make food the way they like. And that these restaurant owners are down-to-earth types who just wanted a little taste of success.