The Times, They Are A-Changeling

Good, this one, if a tad predictable. A blend of fine characterisation and solid plotting made the episode more than tolerable. On the other hand, it was a little generic, which rather limits what I can say about it.

First of all, the music was good: not too intrusive during the dialogue, and very pleasant during the montage of Spike introducing 'Crystal Hoof' to the Crystal Ponies (though it seems to have been inserted so that ponies could be seen laughing at Thorax's wit without the writer going to the trouble of finding him anything funny to say). As soon as it became apparent that a song was approaching, I started to feel dubious, but a catchy tune, a lovely bit of singing and (Shock!) half-decent lyrics convinced me that this time it was worth it.

Thorax himself was an appealing fellow. The story, though, was, as I say, predictable. I could pretty much tell how it would play out from Thorax's first scene. This is a shame, as I often have my expectations subverted by My Little Pony - largely because I seem to have a much lower opinion of it than it deserves. At least the moral wasn't violently shoved down our throats: a definite improvement on last week's abomination, then. The only other thing I noticed was that the guards had different-coloured helmet plumes, but that didn't seem to have any impact on rank. Very confusing.

So, an enjoyable story, but not interesting enough for me to find much to say about it, to everyone's relief.