28 Pranks Later and The Times They Are a Changeling · 10:45pm Aug 20th, 2016
So, the last two weeks of the show have been interesting haven't they? I mean we got a prank/zombie episode and then we got a changeling episode. It's a pretty big time for the show with new lessons to learn and all. Or not.
28 Pranks Later reestablishes the fact that Rainbow Dash is kind of dumb. It's been awhile but if we look back on any major lesson she's learned it has required extreme ( or in the case of the 90s kids XTREME!!!!!!!) measures. Don't believe me? In order to learn not to be an egotistical douche bag (Well less of one. She still acts like it from time to time.) her friends had to fabricate a superhero to steal her thunder. In order for her to learn that reading is fun she had to break her wing, lose the ball she was bouncing and then force herself to open the book. Then when she liked it she pulls a B & E to try and steal it from the hospital instead of ... you know... going to a book store or the library and getting it there.
Not convinced yet? Okay, how about the fact that in order for her to learn simple history her love of reading didn't play into it. It literally took the entire town to teach her what was in the book by shouting at her from the ground as she flew along even though we know she's capable of remembering what she's read. She also briefly traded one of her supposed best friends for a book before realizing that it wasn't such a hot idea. It kind of goes on from there.
Therefore Rainbow Dash not having a clue that her pranks are irritating everyone makes sense. She's was told in the past by Pinkie Pie (the true prank master) that the one pony you don't prank is Fluttershy because she would just get upset. Well, to nobody's surprise Rainbow Dash forgot that lesson and went and did it. Then went on to prank the rest of town by essentially breaking the law and wrecking a lot of private property. The fact that the rest of the town got sick of it and resorted to extreme measures after telling her to knock it off made sense. It's the only way she really learns.
Truth be told I liked this episode. It made sense with what we know of how Rainbow Dash processes information. It's a shame that she can't pick up anything subtly and you basically have to beat her about the head and neck until it sinks in but, it's a least consistent. Heck even the pacing was good. That can't be said about the newest episode The Times They are a Changeling.
Now to be fair the episode is reasonably fun. It ultimately doesn't make much sense but, it's fun. On the plus side it was nice to see a Spike episode that wasn't about how he screws everything up or misunderstands something. Dragon Quest also showcased that and worked out pretty well too. Unfortunately this episode is also a horrible mess.
The pacing is way too rushed. This is a multiple episode story arch crammed into one episode. It's kind of funny but everything is really crammed in to make the 21-22 minute time limit of the episode. The entire crew needed time to adjust to the idea that it's possible that not all changelings are going to hypnotize you and steal your love, mind, wallet, whatever.
Thorax needed time to actually develop into something other than a socially awkward dude. He needed a bit more in the backstory, a bit more in the pretending to be what he's not area. Heck, you could have had a bit in there where Chrysalis removes a changeling who thinks similarly to him. It doesn't have to be graphic just have the dude hauled off.
Spike and Thorax needed more time together to truly develop their friendship and have it be believable. Then when forced by outside forces to split it means something. However, one of the biggest issues is the lesson. The lesson that people can change, in this case they say a changeling, doesn't fit at all.
Thorax always wanted to be and have friends. Going on what he says in the episode he followed the orders of his leader/mother/queen because he wanted to feed on some love much like the rest did because that's what they eat. He wasn't really into it and in fact would have preferred to do things differently. The fact is Thorax never changed who he was he just quit pretending he was something he wasn't once others accepted him for who he was (with a little help from a Spike song). If anybody changed it was the royal family and the ponies of the Crystal Empire.
The truth is Thorax is an outlier. He's the Kenny the White Tiger of changelings. He's friendly, non-aggressive and by the end everyone just adores him. He does not represent what the majority of changelings actually are. If they keep his recollection as accurate the vast majority of changelings are naturally born wicked and their behavior is encouraged by the queen. Thorax might want to teach other changelings to be more like him but, that would be nearly impossible when both nature and nurture indicate you should be something else.
I know I'm in the minority on this one but I think 28 Pranks Later was a better overall episode. It was much more consistent, better paced and honestly fell in line with what the nature of the main character. The sad thing is The Times They are a Changeling could have been really special, if an appropriate amount of time had been allotted to its story. As it stands though it's just sort of a fun little mess that could have been awesome and fell short.
28 Pranks Later stats: 0 dead bodies, 0 breasts (duh), hanging pegasus and alligator, rainbow covered mouths, zombie fu, "gotcha" fu.
Shout outs:
Pinkie Pie for proving she's the prank master.
Harry the Bear for doing the, "I'm watching you," thing.
Rainbow Dash for having head trauma and consistently not getting the message.
The Times They are a Changeling Stats: 0 dead bodies, 0 breasts, Gratuitous ponies who have no reason to be there, montage fu, flashback fu, gratuitous singing.
Shout outs:
Spike for not screwing up
The guards for providing some of the better humor
Shining Armor for being rightly skeptical of Thorax
Thorax for being the Kenny the White Tiger of changelings
Those previews are nice and all... but this would have been a better song... in pretty much any episode.
I don't care if it's been posted before.
4162324 Yes yes! All the laughter! Ha. Mwa ha. MWA HAHAHAHAHA!
OMG, I've never seen that unicorn song before. MY LIFE IS NEW AND BEAUTIFUL AND I AM ENLIGHTEEEEEENED!!!
As much as I want to disagree with you on the basis of Times They Are A Changeling striking me firmly in the d'aww, I think you make a good argument... 28 Pranks was probably the better and more sensical episode. It disappoints me to see how terribly dumb Dash still is after all this time, though I guess we saw AJ suffer from similar boneheadedness earlier in the season. I dunno, it just bothers me to see these otherwise vibrant characters suddenly regressing harder than a kid who pees their pants because they don't want to go to kindergarten today. (Now where did I get that one from...)
It's like Rarity is the only one of the Mane 6 that they're allowing to grow, change, and succeed in life, apart from Twi, who kind of had greatness thrust upon her. (Flutters and Ponk are somewhat frozen in their own respective states of equilibrium, which seems to work for their characters without being obtrusive; they're not aspiring for anything significantly new in life, because they've already attained some of their biggest goals.)
My other nitpick is that Changeling was, in some ways, little more than ascended fanfic; it canonizes things that have been done on FimFic time and time again, and I wonder if that's going to end up doing more to suppress new and interesting stories about changelings in the long run. But thankfully Spike got some serious wind in his wings from this. That song was dynamite.
...Dang man, when did I get all grumpy?
I guess I found S5 to be strong overall, and I find that S6 seems to be a lot more scattered between really good and frustratingly problematic.
4167384 Well, the changes and growth for the characters vary. Fluttershy is much less shy than she used to be. So on a personal level she's grown but, on a career level she's set unless there's like a major flood and she has to build a huge boat for her animal friends. Rainbow Dash is now a full fledged Wonderbolt but she's still a blockhead. Rarity has a successful string of stores but, is still the typical drama queen. Twilight Sparkle has become a princess and has a student but, on the other hand doesn't feel quite so special anymore and much like her teacher takes a backseat to let others figure stuff out. Applejack's career is set and she's happy with it. She's less stubborn than she used to be and will ask for help from others. Where she gets into trouble is she can still get set in her ways but, she's more flexible about changing them now too. Pinkie Pie is a bundle of energy. Technically she's still learning to be a baker but, she's mostly a party planner so her career is set. Personally she may still seem random but, generally she's also grown more observant over the years too. Like with rare exception she is able to step back a bit and does periodically do some really kind things for folks.
So I guess what I'm saying is they've either grown personally or professionally but not really both.
Also, sir if you're going to say that a song was dynamite... you have to say it right. Here let me help you:
I just wish that his song had made some sense and that this type of episode had been given a better treatment than it did. I honestly get the feeling there were too many cooks in the kitchen on this one and not enough time devoted to actually fleshing this out as well as they could have.
Do I think this could suppress future changeling stories? If folks let it do so then yeah it will. Sometimes though, you just have to write the story you want and give the implied finger to the rest of the world. It may not fit in but, I'd rather just have something I enjoyed first and foremost.