Hard to Say Anything

Friendship is Magic first impressions review: Hard to Say Anything (s07e08)
by Obake

(SPOILERS!)

*Note: the video I watched the episode from had questionable sound quality, so I will reevaluate my criticisms on the songs when I find a better version.

This episode is a disaster, and not just because of the leery Justin Bieber pony.

The Crusader's secretly hitch a ride in a wagon to spy on Big Mac, curious as to why he's so happy delivering apples to Starlight's old village. They find out he has a crush there, a baker named Sugar Belle. She's ordered apples nearly every day just so he would visit. The one part of the episode that works is learning that Sugar Belle, who used to bake only muffins during Starlight's reign, now revels in the freedom to cook anything. Her only wish is to have a bigger display counter.

I'm not that much of a stickler for continuity in this show, but this episode hits the wrong notes fast. Just a few episodes ago, we saw the Crusader's at their most mature, having grown from little fillies to young adults. Here, they are back to their most childish, going undercover in obvious disguises to spy on Big Mac, and (again) concoct schemes to hook him up with a date. If the execution were better, I may not mind, but this episode is way too poor.

Big Mac, this time knowing the Crusader's intentions, goes along with their plans, despite all of them being horrible. Having Scootaloo steal Sugar Belle's purse, so Big Mac can retrieve it and be a hero? Kissing Sugar Belle while she's asleep, so she'll wake up like Sleeping Beauty? The first is technically illegal, and the second, given the circumstances, may be as well. I know it's a cartoon, but I simply don't buy Big Mac or the Crusader's stooping to these levels so fast.

Big Mac's thunder is consistently stolen by the Bieber pony, named Feather Bangs (voiced by Vincent Tong). The climax is an impromptu singing competition between the two, where they end up destroying Sugar Belle's display counter. She snaps, rightfully calling them out for their stalker-like behavior.

Big Mac eventually patches things up by building Sugar a new, bigger display case. Feather, still sad, turns to the Crusader's for advice. They point him to three valley girls who have swooned over him since the beginning of the episode, but he's apparently too shy to talk to women. Except, he was talking fine to Sugar throughout the episode. Perhaps Feather's known her long enough to have a relationship, but the episode never establishes that, so it just comes off confusing.

That is Hard to Say Anything, and it's been a chore writing this review. The episode is not funny enough to get away with its level of hijinks. Seeing Big Mac and the Crusaders embarrass poor Sugar Belle is honestly difficult to sit through, though not as bad as the awful, awful song numbers.

Extras:
-This episode is a case of characters caring about things that should be none of their business. In Hearts and Hooves Day, the reason they brought Cherilee and Big Mac together was because they felt bad for Cherilee not having a special somepony, and they decided Big Mac was the best fit. The two took the situation with good humor, and things only escalated once the Crusader's gave them the love poison. That, and the Crusaders were more believable kids. No such reasons in Hard to Say Anything. Big Mac has a crush, so they coerce him into doing terrible things to impress said crush. Speaking of Cherilee…
-I honestly don't care that the episode ditches the Cherilee and Big Mac romance. What I do care about is that it seems to imply Big Mac and Cherilee never had any sort of relationship, which is not true. At the end of Hearts and Hooves Day, they are implied to be on a date. A casual one, sure, but a date nonetheless. In fairness, Cherilee and Big Mac were partly messing with the CMC.
-I do complement the episode on avoiding the cliche of the character who has a crush not admitting it.
-I thought no songs would be worse than the one in All Bottled Up, but this episode proves me wrong. Feather Bang's pop ballad/Big Mac's country song are intentionally bad, but certainly not meant to be so unsettling. All of the lyrics, the singing, the poses Feather makes, Feather leaning back in a chair and getting covered in cheese fondue, ugh. And seeing poor Sugar Belle pushed around and forced to dance is not fun. That's the problem with the songs, and the episode in general: it thinks its being funny, but its just obnoxious.
-The Crusaders show a little maturity from brief swooning over Feather, showing they are growing up. I like Scootaloo's line about him having a good mane, though it would have been a funny callback if Sweetie said it.
-The valley girls are supposedly references to characters from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
-This is the first episode since The Carts Before the Ponies where I've had almost nothing postitive to say. I just hope the next Spike episode isn't as botched.