Aug
13th
2017
S7E14: "Fame and Misfortune" · 7:46pm Aug 13th, 2017
I'm a bit surprised this one has stirred up so much controversy. I didn't really think it was any more startling on the "digs at certain parts of the fandom" front than "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" last year. More importantly, it was also heaps of fun, even (especially!) when one or two of the jabs cut a little close to home. The song was okay, with a good message but a meh melody. The episode's ending was a bit unfocused, but oh well. Also, Fluttershy. And Rarity. ★★★/★★★★, leaning four.
Gasp! Someone agrees with me? :O
4633317
I'm not the only one by any means! I didn't realise mine was a controversial view until I started reading comments. I guess the friendship lesson I take from this is: never read comments.
I can't help but wonder if airing this during the weekend of Bronycon was deliberate. As if to say, "Consider the contrast. On the one hand, we have the fandom coming together to celebrate and build. On the other, we see it deride and degrade."
Or it was pure coincidence. Either way, fun and strikingly resonant episode, even if it really could've used a tighter resolution.
I enjoyed the episode, but I'm left feeling like it doesn't really belong with the main canon of the show. MLP is ultra sincere. This feels more snarky. I'm good with the humor, but it doesn't feel to me like Twilight and her friends learning something. It feels more like the show writers wanting to communicate. I didn't feel like it was mean-spirited or anything like that. I just felt like it didn't mesh with the other episodes all that well, even with the continuity call-backs. It just felt... off.
4633607
I'm hazy on how BronyCon does these things, but I'm assuming they showed the episode live there? Seeing this one at a con would have been quite the interesting experience!
4633850
Yes; as I said elsewhere, this was a fun one-off, but not something I'd like to see become a template for other episodes of the show. I suppose in that sense it's more like a snarkier "Slice of Life" than anything else.
4634179
Nope. There were zero considerations made for the new episode. Had to watch it on my phone Saturday night. There were people gathered before a tablet on Sunday morning like Arctic explorers huddled around a guttering campfire.
4634203
What he said.
4634203 4634513
Yeah, I've now heard from someone else who was there that Discovery Family didn't seem to be interested in co-operating. They really don't have the relationship with the fandom that The Hub used to, sadly.