Viva Las Pegasus

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic first impressions

S06e20 Viva Las Pegasus

by Obake

(SPOILERS!)

Now here is a strange episode. I cannot fault Viva Las Pegasus for its simpleminded resolution. The episode has enough imagination to balance out the missteps.

Applejack and Fluttershy are called by the map to Las Pegasus, a take on Las Vegas. Being that this is a children's show, the neon-bathed streets and seedy casinos are simplified into an upscale carnival, with party games, lavish hotels, and even a giant roller coaster. This is what a child might imagine Vegas as being, and the episode gets credit for that. At the hotel Applejack and Fluttershy go to, they meet the manager, Mr. Gladmane, a genteel type who loves giving tours. Seeing that he speaks with a charismatic drawl, it is almost certain he will turn out to be a bad guy. More on that later.

Gladmane knows who Applejack and Fluttershy are at first sight, having heard of them from fellow bigwigs who have met Princess Twilight. AJ is somewhat apprehensive at first, but calms after hearing testimony from various performers that Gladmane is a great guy. Two not so great guys also happen to be staying the hotel, brothers Flim and Flam. Unlike their usual selves, they are at each others throats. Fluttershy is sure the map was calling them to fix the rift between Flim and Flam, but Applejack wants nothing to do with them.

Applejack goes searching on her own for friendship problems, and finds the performers from earlier fighting with one another. Each believe their fellow stars went behind their back. The two Mane 6 realize Gladmane has been spreading lies to keep his stars from getting along and therefore going on tour. I understand what the show is trying to do with this, making Gladmane a master manipulator against friendships. But his plans do not make much sense when applied to the real world. Vegas hotel managers want big stars to perform at their venues, of course, but I assume they rotate their lineups often. Seeing the same performers do repeat acts gets stale. Though this is not necessarily a problem of the episode. What is a problem is Gladmane's methods. Surely instead of keeping his stars at his hotel, their bickering would lead to the acts breaking off entirely. There could have been a reason why the stars would be unable to split, perhaps having signed deceptive contracts, or something. But nothing of the sort is mentioned. Gladmane is simply evil. Which in terms of just the episode works well enough.

The two Mane 6 and Flim and Flam join forces to expose Gladmane's seedy nature, in what the brothers term a high-roller hustle. They want him to feel his livelihood is threatened, so Fluttershy dons a disguise as Ms. Impossibly Rich, an entrepreneur looking to build her own hotels. Their plan is for Gladmane to admit his misdeeds over a microphone. Things seem to work until he pulls the rug from under their hooves, explaining he saw through their ruse from the beginning. Applejack and Fluttershy visit Gladmane in his office, where he goes into a self-congratulatory speech about being a villain. Only he's been made a fool, as Flutters held down the loudspeaker button. Gladmane loses his hotel and his reputation.

I do like this episode, even with its problems. I feel more could have been done with Gladmane. The lies he spreads are so simple, amounting to “your fellow star called you this.” Not that those type of lies are ineffective, but they can be mixed in with more devious actions. Doing so would have made Gladmane feel more like a real manipulator, and less like a schoolyard bully. A great aspect of the episode is how it utilizes the characters. For once, Applejack's stubbornness not only makes sense in context of the story, but drives the plot forward. It even saves the day. As Fluttershy explains, Applejack's unwillingness to help Flim and Flam is what leads her to finding the other performer's bickering, leading to the investigation into Gladmane's actions. Fluttershy is the epitome of her element here, willing to help even Flim and Flam. She also gets to use her talent of talking to animals to gain information. Last to compliment is Las Pegasus itself. It is unlike any city seen in the show thus far, so full of energy and vigor.

Extras:
-The episode title is a play on Viva Las Vegas, a 1964 film starring Elvis and Ann-Margaret.
-One of the pairs of performers is a send up of Siegfried and Roy, complete with their own colony of pink prairie dogs. Though one is white with pink stripes. I wonder what that could represent...
-Applejack and Fluttershy are not types for the boisterous and hyperactive "city of parties." It adds a layer of urgency to their situation, as they do not want to stay there any longer needed.
-The gambling and whiskey shots of Vegas are replaced with family friendly carnival games and arcades. Some look a little like slot machines, though they spew out prize tickets. And there is a Dance Dance Revolution clone. Weird.
-Not many country analogies to speak of from AJ. I like her saying that finding a friendship problem in Las Pegasus is like "finding a needle in a stack of...needles.”
-Despite how cliched it is for microphones/intercoms being used to expose bad guy's intentions, I must give the episode credit: I did not expect the first attempt being a ruse.
-The first half of the episode is the strongest, especially before Gladmane's bad side is revealed. I almost wish he was just a good guy. But with that accent, he has no real choice. Speaking of which, Jim Byrnes does a great job voicing him.