Another day, another episode…

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And it’s #16, “Stare Master.”

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TECHNICAL SPECS:

Season: 1
Episode: 17
Written By: Chris Savino
First Aired: February 25, 2011

SUMMARY:

Rarity is in a panic; not only does she have a massive order of cloaks that are due in Trottingham tomorrow, but her little sister, Sweetie Belle, has decided to “help,” and ended up thrashing the entire shop by mistake. While in the middle of her work, Fluttershy arrives with Opalescence, having finished her grooming. This feat amazes Rarity – Opal has a tendency to slash at anypony who gets close to her – and wonders if Fluttershy used “The Stare” on her, which the Pegasus denies.

Just then, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo arrive for a Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover at Rarity’s. Sweetie has even made them some capes to celebrate the event. Unfortunately, the capes were made out of the gold silk Rarity needed for her own order, and the only way she can make enough silk to finish the job is to cancel the sleepover. Fluttershy swoops in to save the day, and despite Rarity’s warnings that the kids are a lot to handle, our friendly Pegasus is certain her ability to handle animals will translate perfectly into taking care of foals. Reluctantly, Rarity agrees, and the kids run off to the cottage, Fluttershy following behind. On the way, they run into Twilight, who’s going to visit Zecora for some tea.

That night, the four have made it to the cottage, but Fluttershy soon finds herself out of her league. The fillies are obsessed with crusading for their marks, knocking everything over and scaring all her animals in the process. When they try to go out into the Everfree Forest, however, Fluttershy puts her hoof down…just long enough for them to start playing Cutie Mark Crusader Creature Catchers, which ends with a table being broken. And when they try to fix it, all they do is turn it into some kind of surreal art masterpiece. They even manage to outsmart Fluttershy when she tries to play the quiet game with them.

Finally, Fluttershy has had enough, and orders the three up to bed. When she tries to sing them a lullaby, however, Sweetie interjects and turns the song into a gospel number, which is loud enough to frighten the chickens in the chicken coop. The fillies rush out to corral the fowl, but Fluttershy finally tells them to stop and gives the chickens a soul-piercing glare – the eponymous Stare. The chickens, now terrified, back away into the coop, and the fillies go back to bed…for five seconds. While planning their next crusade, they notice that one of the chickens escaped into the Everfree Forest, and sneak out of the cottage to rescue it.

The sudden quiet alerts Fluttershy to their disappearance, and when she notices the chicken, Elizabeak, is missing, she realizes that all four are now in the Everfree Forest. While trying to track down the quarreling fillies, she runs into Twilight…who’s now a statue. Panicking, she manages to find the fillies and warns them that a Cockatrice, a creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake, is on the loose. Her words fall on deaf ears, however, and the Crusaders find the chicken…followed by another. Elizabeak escapes for a moment…but then the other chicken reveals itself to be the Cockatrice right before turning the chicken to stone. The fillies run off, but then trip over Twilight, and start screaming and running in blind terror.

As the Cockatrice approaches, Fluttershy finally tells the fillies to get behind her, and just as the creature reaches the group, Fluttershy unleashes “The Stare” on it, all while lecturing it and threatening to tell its mother what it has been up to. The Cockatrice tries to counter by turning Fluttershy to stone, but no matter how hard she gets, her stare does not break. Finally, the Cockatrice gives up and turns Fluttershy, Twilight and Elizabeak back to normal before flying. The fillies celebrate Fluttershy as “The Stare Master,” and they all go back to the cottage.

The next morning, the fillies are running around and playing while Fluttershy and Twilight are enjoying some tea. Twilight says that Fluttershy has proven herself capable of handling the kids, but she admits that she was really out of her league, and just because she was good at handling animals doesn’t mean she can automatically take care of kids. Just then, Rarity arrives, having barely delivered her order, and soon has trouble getting the CMC back together to go home. Fortunately, they now respect Fluttershy enough to immediately listen, and Rarity admits amazement at this…right before asking for help getting Opalescence off of her.

REVIEW:

This episode starts with an earth-shattering revelation: Rarity has a sister! Yes, this was the first time Sweetie Belle was confirmed to be Rarity’s little sister. It’s also the first appearance of the CMC since “Call of the Cutie.” So yes, welcome to another Season One Cutie Mark Crusader episode. In any case, the opening prologue and the start of the first act set up the general relationship between Rarity and Sweetie; the latter wants to be helpful, but only creates bigger messes, thereby driving the former to a quiet rage. The destruction of Rarity’s workroom is a good sign of this, especially since Sweetie Belle managed to pull it off with just a single bolt of ribbon. And then there’s her sad little face as Rarity admonishes her as a “complication.” It’s just a shame that we have to wait until “Sisterhooves Social” before we delve into this topic again.

This was also the episode that cemented my belief that Rarity’s accent was faked. Not only does Sweetie Belle not have an accent of her own, but when Fluttershy rings the doorbell, her voice slips.

This is also when we’re introduced to the concept of “The Stare,” Fluttershy’s ultimate technique. We’ve already seen something similar in use back in “Dragonshy,” where she managed to make a full-grown dragon cry. Here, however, we learn that it’s an ability Fluttershy cannot control; it just comes and goes as the situation demands. We also learn that Opalescence is a jerk of a cat, but considering the crap she has to put up with from Rarity, it’s a miracle she hasn’t clawed her to death in her sleep yet. She also seems to have fun trolling with Sweetie Belle; just watch that smile when she claws off part of her mane (which magically regrows between shots).

We also learn that Sweetie isn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the shed. She takes “Biting off more than I can chew” literally, has trouble coming up with a follow-up to everypony else’s declarations, and when they try to play Creature Catchers later on, she has to think for a moment before she realizes what’s going on and reacts. She’s not stupid by any means, but she does seem to be very slow on the uptake. This becomes evident when we get to the topic of the gold silk, but that’s for another paragraph.

While “Call of the Cutie” was the first actual CMC episode, this is the one that feels the most like a pilot for the discarded spinoff. We get a musical motif for all three, a catchphrase (which amounts to “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS (insert something here), YAY!”), and even some capes. Unfortunately, this is also a bit of a plot hole, since Sweetie Belle lined the capes with a gold silk she got from Rarity. The same gold silk Rarity had just shown Fluttershy, which now has three huge holes cut into it. Uh…huh.

Naturally, this leads to Rarity calling off the sleepover, both so she can get the work done and because Sweetie pretty much stole her supplies without asking and ruined her work. The scene with Rarity trying to tell Fluttershy how much of a handful the fillies are is basically the standard speech you give anyone who’s never had kids before you dump them off, especially when they’re as high-maintenance as the CMC are. This is also where Fluttershy’s doom is set up, as she equates her ability to take care of animals to being able to look after a trio of hyperactive fillies. I also love their innocent little smiles and halos here. Just a word of warning to anyone out there: if a kid ever smiles like that, you know they’ve done – or will do – something truly horrendous.

Twilight’s scene is mostly there to justify her existence at the end, and to be honest, I…have some qualms with the dialogue. Both she and Fluttershy seem to be speaking purely in exposition; Twilight’s line about going to Zecora’s is especially awkward, and she repeats the same plot point Rarity had brought up, only this time in a stilted manner. We even get the CMC smiling evilly again. Seriously, don’t trust that look. Ever. On the plus side, though, we get some more foreshadowing for how this particular night will be ruined for Fluttershy; she expects a quiet little sleepover, where the fillies will enjoy tea parties and braiding each other’s tails. Such a shame she’s one generation too late for that.

Finally, after…I guess a whole day of walking around, they get to the cottage. And here is where Fluttershy immediately finds herself in over her head. Like all little kids, the CMC’s first reactions are to touch everything, stick their heads into birdhouses, and just run about and cause a ruckus. And when she tries to bring up the idea of just doing something quiet, the three decide to go crusading in the Everfree Forest. When Fluttershy reminds them that said forest is full of monsters, they recommend that she help them capture some of them…before slipping off to play “Creature Catchers.”

Honestly, I’m not too much of a fan of that part of the scene, but I do like the two bits that come after. In the midst of their carousing, the fillies break one of Fluttershy’s tables. She’s very understanding (far more than Rarity would probably be, at any rate), but then the fillies decide to become Cutie Mark Crusader Carpenters. And like all Carpenters, they dress up like doctors, grab some hammers, and somehow manage to make saw and jackhammer sounds before turning the broken table into a piece of art. It’s a pretty basic gag, but it works. I also like that little look Apple Bloom makes when Sweeties asks who would want a picture of a hammer on their flank; throw in what happens next episode, and it seems that one pony might…

And next comes the “quiet game,” or “Shhh,” as the episode calls it. I know many a person who’s tried to do this, but this episode highlights the severe flaw in the scheme: kids aren’t dumb enough to fall for it. I love Fluttershy’s little squee here, as well as just how quickly the three forfeit the game so they can become Cutie Mark Crusader Coal Miners…in a chimney. Okay…

Finally, Fluttershy has enough, and tries to get the three to bed. Strangely enough, she seems to just have the one bed in her house; the kids are all sleeping together, while she takes the couch. Nopony brought any sleeping bags or bedrolls or anything? In any case, the lullaby is just a hilarious moment. Fluttershy’s rendition is very soft and dull, but when Sweetie Belle gets ahold of it, the fun begins…

The chicken ranching scene is very basic, but has two things I have to point out. First, Sweetie’s tone when asking about the chickens implies that she knew what caused it, and is just actively trolling Fluttershy so they can keep crusading. Second, we finally get to see the Stare in all its glory. With just a glare, Fluttershy can break the very souls of everything around her, forcing them to do her bidding. It actually goes with her character perfectly; she’s a shy, quiet, motherly pony, so naturally she has a defensive ability to make others obey her commands without having to raise her voice too much.

And so the CMC go back to bed…for about ten seconds, at which point they continue their quests to be incredibly annoying morons and head off into the Everfree Forest alone to get Elizabeak. I love Fluttershy sleeping on the couch here, as well as how she realizes something’s wrong when she doesn’t hear anything. This is also the point where she finally admits that she bit off more than she could chew with this sleepover.

When we get back to the Crusaders, they’re arguing over how to call a chicken, which ends with them trying to get a Cutie Mark in arguing. It’s kind of odd to see Sweetie Belle in a position of command here, seeing as Apple Bloom seems to be the de facto leader of the group. But the real reason anyone remembers this is for giving us that stupid joke that will never, ever, ever die: Scootaloo is called a chicken. And thus, everyone now calls her a chicken. I hate that meme.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy’s scenes are actually advancing the plot, as she runs into Twilight…who is now a statue. This is amazingly chilling on multiple levels. Is she dead? If not, is she still aware of what’s going on around her? Nevermind that Fluttershy knocks her over beforehand; it’s a good thing she didn’t break, or we’d have a real mess on our hands. Right after this, however, is where we get to the creature of the week: the Cockatrice. Naturally, the fillies take this creature’s description as a joke, even making yet another innocent, yet utterly depraved line:

And then we meet the Cockatrice, and…it’s pretty silly, all things considered. Compared to the dragons and manticores we’ve had on the show so far, this really isn’t all that frightening. Still, it has the ability to turn things into stone, which is a pretty grim fate for all the reasons I highlighted above. Even worse is when the fillies run away and trip over Twilight’s statue, which now has a snail oozing its way over her eye. Naturally, the sight is enough to scare them even more, sending them running around like…well, chickens with their heads cut off.

And thus we get to the whole reason the episode has its title. Fluttershy staring down the Cockatrice while reprimanding it like a bad schoolboy is funny enough on its own, but when you add that her body’s slowly turning to stone in the process, it just becomes downright awesome. There is, however, one teensy-weensy little problem: this is pretty much a complete rehash of the ending of “Dragonshy,” only without any of that episode’s dramatic backing to make this significant. Still, this display of awesomeness is all it takes to win the respect of the fillies, and they finally agree to listen to her, if only to avoid having to feel every ounce of pain they’ve inflicted on others at once.

And so the episode ends with a restored Twilight praising Fluttershy on handling the girls, only for the Pegasus to tell her that she really was in over her head, and has learned not to bite off more than she can chew. While Twilight does write a letter in this scene, we never hear what it says, other than that it’s a report on all that had just transpired. Rarity also shows up, if only to confirm that she finished her order and still sucks at getting kids to listen, while Fluttershy gets them to follow her orders without question. And we finally end with yet another “Opalescence is mean” joke, which is humorous in a cartoony way.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, this episode was mostly just okay. Here were some really good jokes here, and I love “The Stare,” but it ends like a typical Fluttershy episode. The CMC are annoying as always, almost getting themselves killed so they could get some Cutie Marks, and while I like the dark turn the episode takes towards the end, the Cockatrice isn’t exactly filling me with dread. So overall, an average episode.

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Well, that was fun. Let’s see what’s next…

…I think you guys will like it. See you then.