Rock Solid Friendship · 9:39pm Apr 29th, 2017
Friendship is Magic first impressions review: Rock Solid Friendship (s07e04)
By Obake
(SPOILERS!)
Coming off of last week's surprisingly good babysitting episode is a surprisingly bad Maud episode. I've always had a soft spot for Maud Pie, Pinkie's less-than-exuberant sister. Even if her schtick of being obsessed with rocks wears thin, episodes usually give her something to work with. Not much here, unfortunately.
I don't remember any episode where Pinkie is this obnoxious. Sure, she's been annoying and oblivious at times. A case like A Friend in Deed, where she pesters the cantankerous Cranky Doodle is just an example*. But note that Cranky is indeed cranky, and reacts in kind to her antics. When Pinkie is hyper around Maud, there's nothing to play off of; Maud is too monotone to have any reaction besides 'meh'. Same goes with Starlight Glimmer.
The premise is that Maud is moving, and is deciding between Ponyville and Ghastly Gorge. Pinkie desperately wants Maud to choose the former, which is understandable. Pinkie has always had a distant family (both geographically and metaphorically.) She takes it upon herself to prove to Maud that Ponyville is the right place. They tour a local gem cave and visit the Crystal Castle (anything to do with rocks), but Maud is still indecisive.
Outside the castle is where they meet Starlight, and the episode makes a bizarre twist, in flashback. It turns out, at the time the town Starlight would enslave was being built, Maud was out studying rocks. Starlight approached her and asked if she knew where to find, and I quote, a “super powerful stone that can store the cutie mark magic of, I don't know, an entire village?” To which Maud points out a particular cave. So Maud helped start Starlight's regime…I understand this is supposed to be a joke, but it's more perplexing than funny, and creepy when you consider how many ponies suffered because of it. Not to mention it begs the question of how Maud would know what the magic stone could do (to be fair, she does have a sixth sense with rocks), or why or how Starlight knew such a thing existed, etc. The episode treats it as a joke, but Maud and Starlight's reactions are too blasé to make much out of it.
The episode continues on, with Maud and Starlight getting to know each other, and Pinkie intruding. Maud and Starlight's bonding are the episode's high points. They are both quiet, introspective characters with habits that unintentionally push others away. Starlight even shares her love of kite flying with Maud, which is a nice callback to Starlight's childhood with Sunburst. Unfortunately, most of these scenes are cut short by Pinkie, who does everything in her grasp to “make” Maud and Starlight friends, even trapping them in a cave just to give them more time to bond. I understand the moral of the episode is that one does not always understood their own family as well as they believe, but Pinkie is bombastic at every moment. Toning her down now and then would have provided a needed break.
Ignoring Maud and Starlight's time together, the episode does not have much going for it. It is rather dry, in my opinion, kind of like Magnesium rich Basalt. Only louder.
*I do remember that episode as well, but that is for another time.
Extras:
-The episode begins with Maud's graduation into becoming a “valedrocktorian” (a geologist.) There are a lot of things wrong with this scene, number one being Pinkie's shouting. It is a textbook case of show, don't tell. Pinkie is wearing foam fingers and jumping with glee, in sharp contrast to her stalwart, silent siblings. Everything we need to know about their emotions is perfectly conveyed without the need of much, if any, dialogue. There are also a lot of rock puns, which is nothing new for the show, but by this point it expected whenever Maud is around. The one thing I like about the scene is when Pinkie's mother tries holding off tears, and receives reassurance from her husband. It is a hint of warmth within the Pie family's usually reserved parents.
-While Maud and Starlight are exploring a cave, they stumble across a secret cavern filled with beautiful waterfalls and a lake. This is where Maud decides to move to in the end. I mention this not only because it officially moves Maud closer to Ponyville, but also because of how strange it is. I get they needed Maud to find someplace special, but the setup is out of nowhere.
-I know Pinkie has been obnoxious at times, long before this episode. But Rock Solid Friendship takes the cake, I feel. I usually enjoy Pinkie, and adding Maud to the mix makes things better. This one is simply a misstep.
