Season 5 Review Part 1

Season five, huh? This show is long past the point where it needs an introduction, and the same goes for the characters. Now that Twilight is officially a ruler of Equestria, the writers have a chance to take things to new heights

The Cutie Mark Map: We’ve got a…bit of a Dream Team here for the three writers of this episode. Meghan Mccarthy, who wrote the actual story, and is probably the most schizophrenic writer on the staff, given that the quality of her writing is all over the place. From the great like “Sweet and Elite” to the good like “Lesson Zero” or “Party of One”, to the bad like “Crystal Empire” to the soul crushingly awful “Canterlot Wedding”. Then there’s M.A. Larson, who usually writes good episodes, but also is responsible for “Magic Duel”. Finally, we have Scott Sonneborn whose only two episodes have been rather one-note gag episodes that don’t really live up the usual standards of this show. Now, as for the episode itself? Well, it gets off to a good start, with a smattering of humorous moments, and some solid characterization. I do find it rather…convenient, that the map appeared on its own when all of the Mane 6 sat down, but given the show, I suppose “magic” is as good an explanation as any. At first I thought Spike was sleeping in Rarity’s chair, but then it turned out he has his own chair, which was a nice touch, and it was next to Twilight’s to boot. Pinkie was immediately suspicious of the ponies in town, but unlike in “Mmmystery on the Friendship express” she actually has a good reason for this, as someone who specializes in making others smile she WOULD know a real smile from a fake one. Plus unlike in other episodes, such as the aforementioned express episode, she isn’t over the top about it. While there were one or two moments where she might have gone over the top, the others quickly stop her, showing they, and the writers here, know to keep her restrained in situations like this. The rest of the group was well characterized as well, as Twilight was polite but not naïve, Rainbow was rude, but not TOO rude, etc. Although I do think it was unfair of Fluttershyto say Applejack is “Almost as bad as Rainbow Dash”, but that was a small moment, and I’d still say Fluttershy was the standout character here. Given her passive nature, it actually makes sense she wouldn’t be suspicious of nice ponies, and would be reluctant to take action. It would have been way too easy to have her be The Load by delaying an actual solution through pure unwillingness to act, but nope! Despite her hesitation, and an actually rather funny gag where she realizes she’s made only gone about a foot, she still swallowed her uncertainty for one simple reason: Her friends needed her. THAT’S the Fluttershy I know and love! This is a huge improvement over “Magic Duel” where she was a jerk for no good reason and refused to be of any help to her friends. The second part of the episode slowed down a bit, but still manages to keep the plot moving. I have to admit, I like how this Season Premiere was a more mundane threat than usual, as you can only have the Mane 6 defeat so many World Crushing Tyrants before it starts getting old. I do question how simply having your Cutie Mark removed takes away your special talent period, but I guess that was part of Starlight Glimmer’s ability, and “magic” usually works as an explanation to this series. I can’t really ignore the complaint that losing one’s Cutie Mark works differently than in “Mystery Magical Cure” but I guess it can be argued there were different types of magic at work. I also know I’m not the only one who thought Starlight actually kind of had a point, as some individuals DO use their Special Talent as an excuse to act like they’re better than everyone else (Trixie, I’m looking at YOU here) and this could even be a hint to her having a Freudian Excuse for what she was doing (Maybe she met Trixie before?) decent pacing, good characterization, and fairly good humor, and the threat being mundane is balanced out by the implications that this is one of a series of events, leading to something bigger. If this episode has any real flaws, it’s that Starlight Glimmer’s reasons for what she’s doing are never explored, as unlike previous mustache twirling villains, her dialogue implies she has a motive for doing this. Plus, the previous Big Bads had clearly displayed motives. Nightmare Moon is the corrupted version of Luna and is acting on that, Discord lives for Chaos and Disharmony, and heck even Sombra might have just been mad with power. We get nothing from Starlight, making her a bit forgettable as a villain, but only a bit, as she IS good at what she does. Anyway, while not stellar, I’d call this a Good episode, even if on the lower half.

Castle Sweet Castle: I’m not really sure what to think about this one. The criticism about the pointlessness of the middle part is actually valid, and it feels like it’s just there to make the episode longer. There really wasn’t a good reason for it. The start was good, as Twilight’s behavior motivates the other characters into starting the story, and all the characters are likable, and there were no out-of-character moments. The ending is good too, as it’s very sweet with a good moral about forming new memories. The problem is the middle part, as there really wasn’t a good reason for them to base Twilight’s home on their own décor, since it is TWILIGHT’S home, not there’s. That being said, the understandable infighting is quickly stopped, preventing any of the characters from being unlikable. I’ll admit, when they used their own taste to decorate the place, I thought they were trying to make the castle look like Ponyville, since Ponyville IS Twilight’s home despite her not being born there. I also think it was a nice touch that Twilight pointed out that SPIKE lost his home as well. Whether you like the “Too many chefs” plot or not is a matter of personal taste, but it being pointless and there not being a reason for it is a valid writing criticism. That being said, it’s not a huge deal as the Mane 5 manage to stay likable, quickly realizing their mistakes, acknowledging any hypocrisy, and focusing on doing this for Twilight’s sake. It’s a harmless, reasonably charming episode that loses points for what was basically filler, but not bad filler. I do want to express discontent with the fandom however, for their reaction to Angel Bunny getting kicked in the mud. For a self-proclaimed “fandom of love and tolerance”, the Brony community is hateful, spiteful, and petty, in my eyes. Angel did nothing to deserve mistreatment here, so if the writers DID do this as a “Take That, Scrappy” moment, it was unnecessary and unprovoked, encouraging hateful behavior in a show that should be encouraging forgiveness, not spite. Plus, I thought Angel Bunny was RESCUED from the Scrappy Heap back in “Hurricane Fluttershy”, and hasn’t done anything terrible since, so why is the self-proclaimed “fandom of love and tolerance” being so spiteful? Heck, Angel didn’t really even suffer, he was more mildly inconvenienced. Home may be where the heart is, but this episode had a pretty fair amount of heart, with its only real problems being pretty harmless, so I’ll call this a Good episode, even if on the lower end of the scale.

Bloom and Gloom: This one got off to an interesting start, with the Crusaders actually discussing what will become the conflict, but after that it goes downhill. I understand that the nightmares represented Apple Bloom’s fears, but each dream sequence quickly got off track, diverting from the actual issue. For example, in the first nightmare, she was worried about getting a Cutie Mark she didn’t like, so her suddenly wanting the Cutie Mark but not having it confuses the actual issue, as not having her talent when she needs it wasn’t something she ever expressed or even hinted at concern over. In addition to getting off track, the nightmares quickly became silly and hard to take seriously. Particularly problematic was Scootaloo’s nightmare which was more confusing then scary. Scootaloo doesn’t have a fear of riding a giant mixer by mistake, her fear would be Rainbow thinking she’s not cool. This episode was trying to be symbolic but kept getting off track, preventing any real momentum in the actual point the writers were trying to make. I generally try to find something positive in each episode, but when only one thing happens, and it was done wrong, it’s hard to be complimentary. Still, Luna was well portrayed, as she usually is, and the problems are only kind of irritating, though they do make it hard to take seriously despite the serious subject matter. Also, is Luna ONLY ever going to play a role where dreams are concerned? Are we never going to see her role in the waking world? They’ve done this before, and done it better, so it feels like they’re just taking the easy way and not really exploring the character. I wish I had more good things to say, but the episode was on a repeating loop the whole time, each loop defeating the intended purpose, which causes the whole episode to fail. It wasn’t the worst episode ever, but I’d still say it was a Bad episode, Celestia knows I was feeling gloom after watching it.

Tanks for the memories: Rainbow Dash focused episodes can be either good, like “Wonderbolts Academy”, or cringe worthy, like “Rainbow Falls”. This one seems to fall more in the middle. While Rainbow is certainly sympathetic here in that she doesn’t want to be separated from a loved one, her reaction was so over the top it actually kills the mood. See, while this could be considered an allegory for the death of a loved one, it doesn’t work because we KNOW, and Rainbow knows, it’ll only be a few months. She was less worked up over the idea of losing Twilight forever in “Lesson Zero”. I do understand where the episode is coming from, but the two situations are really different, so it kind of falls flat. It’s funny how Twilight had a reputation for making a mountain out of a molehill, even though it’s easy to see where she’s coming from at least half the time, when Rainbow actually IS. While Rainbow DOES cause a major disaster in the Weather Factory, I can’t condemn her TOO badly, considering it was completely accidental, and the look on her face clearly indicates this was NOT what she wanted. While the lack of remorse of in-character for her, this combined with a lack of comeuppance is a problem. I can deal with a character not being punished for their actions if there is clear and sincere remorse on their part (Like Twilight in “Lesson Zero”) since the guilt and remorse can be a pretty big punishment as is. I don’t really condemn Dash over this since it WAS clearly an accident, but she DID cause a lot of problems with no real acknowledgement on her part, and no one even called her out on it. Just because I don’t condemn her doesn’t mean I don’t acknowledge the lack of consequences or remorse as poor writing. On a side note, I’m surprised people note that Applejack “of all ponies” being stunned by how blunt Fluttershy was toward Dash. To my knowledge, Applejack has never been the “blunt” for of honest (That’s Rainbow Dash) and that is one of the reasons I like AJ. I’ve always been irritated that people think Dash is the Honest one just because she doesn’t sugarcoat the truth. Dash can lie through her teeth and cheat with no problem, so being blunt doesn’t make her honest, just rude. AJ, along with Twilight, can be truthful and straightforward without being rude, showing that being Honest doesn’t require you to be a jerk, There’s really not a whole lot to say about this episode, as it’s mostly Dash freaking out, being sympathetic but not as much as the writers intended, causing a disaster and not showing remorse or facing consequences for it, and then finally coming to terms with the situation. The rest of the characters were MOSTLY in character (Really, Fluttershy wasn’t THAT blunt, and it was with the intent of helping Dash come to terms with her feelings) other than Twilight forcing Applejack to talk to Rainbow (Twilight normally would be the first to try and help). Rainbow’s level of deserved sympathy hurt the first part, followed by the lack of remorse or consequences in the middle part, so despite reasonably good characterization, the few problems with this episode stretched out for too long, and there wasn’t anything special to make up for it. It wasn’t really bad, just problematic with nothing to divert attention from the issues. I can’t really be thankful for the memories of this rather Meh episode.

Appleoosa’s Most Wanted:Ugh, this is one of those episodes where I really am not sure what to think. There are signs of good writing, such as having Trouble Shoes apologizing and facing consequences even after the truth comes out and he’s forgiven, not to mention that while it can seem kind of stupid of the Crusaders to go out looking for Trouble Shoes, I can give them credit for only wanting to FIND him, not capture him, and report his location to the adults. It was honestly kind of predictable that Braeburn would fall asleep looking after the kids, but at least he knows he screwed up. While this episode does pull the old “Not now, kiddo” cliché, at least it’s justified by the fact that the adults were frantic and ticked off, leaving them in exactly the state of mind to NOT listen. Not to mention they ARE kids, so being kind of lacking in common sense is understandable, and I’ve seen adult characters even in this show act FAR more stupid than this. (EVERYONE except Twilight in Canterlot Wedding, for example? No, I won’t let go of that.) Also, we have SHerrif Silver Star actually willing to give Trouble Shoes the benefit of a doubt instead of instantly jumping to the wrong conclusion. Still, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again now. A few moments of good writing do not necessarily make a good episode, and while I can definitely give the writers credit for tackling the idea of having a skill you may not necessarily want, there is still the plot hole of his Cutie Mark appearing at random, instead of when he actually discovers his talent. Trouble Shoes is likable and sympathetic enough, sure, and credit for a less over the top clumsy character, as has been pointed out. Overall, it’s not that the episode is badly written or anything, there’s just not really a whole lot to talk about. There’s no real character development and we learn nothing knew, and the conflict really wasn’t that engaging. It’s not a bad episode, the main problem is that is just isn’t very memorable. I want to like this episode, but given the lack of anything really special or noteworthy, I can only give this one a Meh rating.

Make new friends but Discord:As someone who has always been opposed to the “Discord as a Good Guy” concept, I was rather impressed with how well this episode turned out. Not to say there weren’t notable problems but we’ll get to that in a bit. First off, Discord’s behavior actually does make sense. Not that he was right to behave the way he did, but that’s kind of the point they were going for. Discord admits that never having had friends before, he didn’t understand that making more friends doesn’t reduce the importance of the bonds you already have, and he’s actually correct on that. It’s one thing for a character to defend their actions with excuses, but another to actually have a point, and where he was coming from was clear even before he said that. Plus, Discord does have the tendency to be petty, so this is pretty in-character for him anyway. Just because he’s in the wrong for his actual behavior, doesn’t mean his motives weren’t understandable, and the episode itself portrays his actions as unacceptable despite sympathetic motives. Really, that’s something that Discord fans should have realized BEFORE his Heel-Face turn, that having sympathetic motives is not an excuse for horrid behavior. The difference here is that Discord actually ACKOWLEDGES wrong-doing on his part, and apologizes SINCERELY. Plus he does so far more sincerely than the “apologies” in Canterlot Wedding. Then we have Fluttershy, she was downright awesome in this episode. She was likable the whole episode, and then when Discord tried to lay the blame on her and make excuses, she took NONE of his crap and stood (Okay, hovered) firm and got Discord to realize where he was at fault, not unlike in the “Breezies” episode, which, incidentally was written by the same writer as THIS episode. Speaking of the Breezies, I was going to say that for once I liked the Ensemble Darkhorse of the episode, but then I remembered that I liked Seabreeze from the Breezies episode. Every scene Tree Hugger is in makes me like her even more, and I also like that she didn’t just instantly forgive Discord, but needed a moment to calm her emotions. Maud was in this episode too, but luckily she doesn’t get much screen time. I don’t mind Discord’s lame jokes since it’s clear the failed jokes were the point, and the humor comes from his awkwardness. So between Fluttershy, Tree Hugger, and even Discord, we have a pretty solid episode, but unfortunately, now we get to the not so great parts. First off, we have The Smooze, who is NOTHING like his original incarnation. Appearance, ability, personality, NOTHING is the same. Some think we should be happy one of the most iconic MLP villains ever even got a mention, but I think that if you can’t do a reference with proper respect, the reference shouldn’t be done at all. The “Smooze” in this episode has none of the traits that made people like the original Smooze, so what was the point? It’s like keeping character traits consistent between episodes. Be accurate to who they are, or don’t include them at all. I know of one fanfiction writer who doesn’t include Twilight Sparkle in his stories specifically because he can never capture her humble, friendly personality, and she comes off snobby instead. It was another point in the episodes favor that Discord DID apologize to Smooze, but we can’t ignore the plot hole of how Smooze just appears out of nowhere, and we’re expected to believe he was around the whole time, sort of like Cadance in “Canterlot Wedding”. Discord claims he and Smooze are really close, which seems like a plot hole, but given his motives, I’m willing to believe he was lying, like mentioning college since Discord OBVIOUSLY wouldn’t have gone to college, but it still raises the question of how they even met. I can buy Tirek being in Tartarus, since he was destroyed, but how has Smooze been around this whole time, when he was destroyed originally? HE wasn’t in Tartarus, and Discord hasn’t been around in 1,000 years, long before Smooze was created in the original mythology. Yeah, the inconsistencies with the original character are pretty blatant. That being said, the worst part of this episode was how Celestia was portrayed, with there being two notable scenes. The lesser of the two being her “Actually Pretty Funny” reaction to Discord’s shot at Twilight. Aside from that being a pretty mean-spirited shot against her beloved student and daughter figure, the joke doesn’t even make sense. Twilight has not been a bad flier since the Equestria Girls movie, she’s been fine since then, so this doesn’t even apply any more. It’s like saying Rainbow can’t read. She might not be the absolute best at it, but she’s far from so bad that it’s even worth making a joke about. Heck, Twilight was flying just fine this particular episode, so where is he even coming from? Far worse, however was how nonchalant she was about one of her subjects nearly being sent to another dimension! Given that Fluttershy, Twilight, and even Tree Hugger treat this as being a pretty big deal, this isn’t something Celestia should just shrug off, when in fact threatening ANY of her subjects is a good way to make her go medieval on your flank. Before anyone says she’s bad at that, the ONLY evidence we have is “Canterlot Wedding”, and I wouldn’t use that episode as evidence for ANYTHING other than a How-To guide on how NOT to write an episode.Someone nearly being sent to another dimension isn’t something that ANYBODY should be so nonchalant about, ESPECIALLY not Celestia when the victim is one of her subjects. This kind of callousness was COMPLETELY out-of-character for Celestia. So between Smooze and Celestia…it’s not bad enough to drop this episode a whole rank, but Celestia, just about the kindest character in the series, gets so much underserved hate that give ammunition to her haters is UNNACEPTABLE. So I haven to penalize this episode for that harsher than I normally would, which drops this otherwise really solid episode to a Meh rating, and it’s a shame, because otherwise, Natasha Levinger would be 3 for 3 on episodes I thought where good.

The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone: Oh look! Another Friendship is Magic Redemption episode! How much did Shadowwing hate this one? Well, I didn’t hate it, and it’s better than the last two…but I still can’t say I cared for this one. While the opening scene with Pinkie and Gummy was reasonably entertaining, the next scene, where Pinkie joins Rainbow and Twilight, is uncomfortable given that Rainbow comes off as kind of racist. She expresses a dislike of Griffons simply because of the only Griffon she’s ever met, and Rainbow is old enough to not have that kind of attitude, and worse, Twilight doesn’t call her out on it. I get this going over Pinkie’s head as she’s kind of “out there”, but you’d think the more grounded Twilight would say something. The brief history of the Griffons relies on “Always Chaotic Evil”, thus revealing that Gilda’s behavior is pretty standard for Griffons, until they were changed by a magical artifact. For all that this episode was about Gilda, she didn’t get much focus, less so than Trixie and Discord did, that’s for sure. I really thought we’d meet some Griffons and learn more about their culture, but nope, and I thought Gilda would join them, giving the writers room to really flesh out her past with Dash, and maybe explore her emotions. Thing is, Rainbow and Gilda’s former friendship didn’t get any attention until the last couple of minutes, and instead of taking the time to have Gilda reflect on the situation, she just has a flashback and then instantly turns good. I guess I was expecting it to be more gradual, seeing her soften throughout the episode until how much she cares for Dash finally overcomes her pride, but nope! It’s like: “We’re not friends! Well, we used to be…okay we’re friends again!” This was a problem with “Putting your Hoof down” as there was no transition between Fluttershy being reasonably firm, and being an outright jerk. Most of this episode was nothing of any real sustenance, and the actual redemption being REALLY rushed, without actually taking any real time to focus on the relevant situation. I personally would have had Gilda accompany Dash and Pinkie, giving her some depth by showing how much she cares for her homeland, from about the 1/3 mark into the episode and spend the journey with Dash and Gilda each expressing their side of the story, and maybe Pinkie acting as a(n admittedly goofy) mediator before Gilda finally admits she knew she was wrong, but was too prideful and embarrassed to admit it at the time, and rather than use that as an excuse, admit she should have taken responsibility for her own actions. Also, since she was timid in flight school, reveal she turned out the way she did to emulate Dash, but neglected to follow Dash’s positive qualities. Maybe also, instead of revealing her as a terrible chef who Pinkie needs to correct, reveal she’s a great chef, and have her bond with Pinkie over that, giving Pinkie something that Gilda thinks is “cool”. Overall, this episode was wasted potential, with the content being mostly filler, including a Griffon who leaves Pinkie to die but faces no comeuppance, and resolving the “redemption” in less than a minute, with absolutely no buildup. Still, to the episode’s credit, Gilda’s apology was for something SHE was at fault for, unlike Trixie who got to look good by apologizing for something that she did under the influence of dark magic, while not doing the same for something she did of her own free will. She was also notably more sincere than Applejack was in “Canterlot Wedding”, and no, I’m not letting go of that unless McCarthy herself either A) Admits fault, or B) Proves me wrong. This wasn’t a bad episode, just one where most of what happened was irrelevant to what the episode meant to build up to, but without an actual buildup, seeing as the treasure itself ended up being of no importance. I think I would have had the Griffons be a proud race that fell into ruin when their treasure, a symbol of their pride went missing, and showing them to be more bitter than greedy and selfish. Overall, I’d say this was merely a Meh episode.

Slice of Life: Wow, one hundred episodes of Friendship is Magic, huh? Pretty cool! As a special treat, the writers decided to write this one as a tribute to the fans by throwing in a bunch of background characters that the fans have been obsessed with giving personalities and backstories to. The results are…Base breaking, as some fans seem to really like this episode, others seem to really dislike it. Honestly, this one is tricky to review because it’s kind of…all over the place. It starts with Cranky and Mathilda talking about their wedding…which is today, thanks to a mix up with the invitations, oops. Then it starts featuring a ton of minor characters, with no real focus or plot coherence. Supposedly, this is about Cranky and Mathilda getting married, but they barely get any screen time, and truthfully, neither do the background characters, since there are so many of them! Let’s take a look at the characters themselves: Derpy Hooves, long considered the fandom mascot, is actually voiced again! She’s likable enough, especially given her guilt over the mix up, but that’s her only role in the entire episode, other than to be goofy around Doctor Whoves, and then she never contributes to solving the problem. As for Doctor Whoves himself, he probably has the most memorable personality in the episode…problem is, his personality is shown the most during a scene which really has nothing to do with the episode itself and does nothing to forward the plot, and then he’s out of focus the rest of the episode. Lewboski gets a couple minutes of screen time, but his personality is flatter than the bowling lanes, and he contributes nothing to the plot, other than to delay Doctor Whoves from possibly contributing to the plot. Then we have Lyra and Bon Bon, the closest thing to a gay couple in the show, despite that being ambiguous at best even in THIS episode. Problem is, the way they talk about their friendship is heavy-handed (Nope, not making any hoof jokes here, this episode doesn’t deserve it) and in a normal interaction, would be uncalled for. I know it’s in recognition to the fans, but it’s possible to have characters mention their friendship while still having it make sense in context. Imagine if you and a friend were sitting around, and then out of nowhere started talking about how well your friendship works…wouldn’t it feel a little…redundant? It honestly feels like, say “Trade Ya!” where Rarity and Applejack just start talking about what good friends they are for no reason, as opposed to say “Lesson Zero” where Rarity mentions their friendship with Twilight as a reason they should have stood by her, thus making the statement relevant in context. Bon Bon being a secret agent comes completely out of nowhere, and as much as some fans like that, it’s way too jarring and contributes NOTHING to the plot, other than to give her and Lyra unnecessary conflict, which makes both of them seem unpleasant. Vinyl Scratch / DJ Pon3 also comes off as unlikable seeing as she doesn’t bother to remove her headphones when someone is talking to her. I know this is meant to be funny, but it just makes her look like a jerk, I know it’s hard to give a character personality when you’re not allowed to give them dialogue, but after showing things from Vinyl’s point of view, they could have had her get Doctor Whoves to where he needed to go, revealing that she can lip-read, which would have been an interesting addition, plus demonstrating she can multi-task. It IS possible to give a non-speaking character personality, it just takes some actual EFFORT. While Octavia’s prim and dignified personality made for probably one of the more interesting characters, she’s still too one-note for this to be satisfying. Credit where it’s due, however, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch’s duet was actually pretty good. The Flower Sisters are back, and while their “The horror!” gag was actually kind of funny the first time, they overplay it, and since extending the scene to do that gag a second time, they overstay their welcome, one against showing no real personality. I know I keep criticizing the lack of personality these characters have, but that’s because it’s a mistake the writers keep making in this episode. For a character with an actually MEMORABLE personality, we have Steven Magnet! For all that he’s probably one of the most memorable parts of the episode, and it was cool seeing a sea serpent in town and no one batting an eye, the way he tells Mathilda straight to her face that her marriage (How she’ll spend the rest of her life) is less important than the actual wedding (The event attended by those who will having very little impact on the rest of her life) just kills his likability, although he redeems himself a LITTLE by using part of his mustache for Cranky’s toupee, and using his own scale was a nice call back.. The spa Sisters are back, but arguably have LESS personality than in any previous episode they appeared in.

Apparently the pony Mathilda asked to plan the wedding was Amethyst Star, who despite her role among the fandom, does not interact with Derpy or Dinky this episode. I also have to ask, are the planning the wedding right now, or was everything pre-planned, and they just had to move everything up? I would hope that unlike Canterlot Wedding, they had the sense to plan things ahead of time. Anyway, while I’ll admit it was a nice touch for Amethyst Star’s personality that she be a good planner, second to Twilight apparently, it’s an Informed Ability as we don’t SEE her planning anything! Apparently this episode was originally supposed to be Twilight giving a tour, with interactions with the background characters. I think this would have worked better, as the plot would have progressed at a smoother pace, with focus on the actual plot. Heck, they could have gone the Just for Sidekicks / Games Ponies Play route and had two separate episodes happening at the same time, each one focusing on three members of the Mane Six plus some of the background characters. More time could have been devoted to each personality as a result, prevent the flat personalities so prevalent here. Oh, and Shining Armor is in this one as well, and it’s getting kind of entertaining to see the new and creative ways Hasbro can come up with to completely FAIL at making him likable or sympathetic. Notice how his sister is absent from the wedding and he doesn’t seem to notice or care? Notice how he’s crying harder at the wedding of a random stranger than his OWN WEDDING or his sister’s coronation? Not to mention his crying being more grating than funny or heartwarming. Congratulations Shining Armor, it takes REAL talent to be so terrible a character than not a single writer on the staff can save you, but you deliver every time. So I think that’s all the minor characters, now to get to the part that is outright offensive: The treatment of the major characters, specifically, the Mane Six plus Celestia and Luna. The Mane Six are COMPLETELY shoved to the side here, spending the ENTIRE episode fighting the Bugbear. Now, I’m well aware that the point was to get the Mane Six out of the picture to devote time to the minor characters but I have to ask: Did the Mane Six really need to look like a bunch of incompetent boobs? Seriously, it takes all six of them the ENTIRE EPISODE to deal with one beast who isn’t even presented as being anything more than a nuisance (as opposed to an actual threat). Given how powerful she is, you’d think Twilight could have beaten the beast easily, so this is Badass Decay on par with Magic Duel which incidentally was written by the same guy who did this one: M.A. Larson, normally known for writing GOOD episodes. That’s not even mentioning Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and to a lesser degree, Pinkie Pie. Even Fluttershy and Rarity come off as less capable than normal. This was…well…lazy. Give the World Saviors an actual crisis to deal with, not a mild annoyance, they deserve better than this. Then we have Celestia and Luna, who are uncharacteristically aggressive and impatient with each other, and thus, Out Of Character. I know Luna is a bit on the short tempered side, but she’s better than THIS, and Celestia is possibly the most patient character in the show. This isn’t funny, it’s jarring, and if they’re showing even sisters / siblings can disagree and have fights, they’ve done that before with Rarity / Sweetie Belle, Applejack / Apple Bloom, and Twilight / Spike (I’m not counting Twilight / Shining Armor because that who situation was mishandled to begin with). It’s too Out of Character and jarring to be funny, and it was for a petty reason to boot. Then we have the Mane Six getting locked out of the wedding. Personally, I don’t blame Derpy for that, but the WRITERS allowed it to happen, and that was, as my colleague put it, a slap in the face. Bit more of a minor note, why didn’t Twilight or Rarity use their magic to unlock the door…come to think of it, WAS the door even locked? Why didn’t they draw attention to themselves? Most likely because of the Mayor’s speech about how we’re all the hero of our own story, and that the background characters are just as important as the main characters. Wow, I know what they were trying to do, but where do I begin? First off, the speech was really heavy-handed and blatant, easily the most heavy-handed speech in the series. Second, it’s a complete and utter load of bilge. Did Derpy save the world via Friendship? No. Did Doctor Whoves deliver a heartfelt and believable message? No. Did Vinyl Scratch win the hearts of audiences with her three-dimensional personality? No. These characters did not make the show, Twilight and her fellow Element Bearers did, THEY were the ones whose likable, relatable, and interesting personalities caused the viewers to stick around to even see the background characters to begin with, and not only that, the only reason the background characters were given importance in the first place is BECAUSE of their popularity with fans…which would not have been possible had the Mane Six not drawn viewers in to begin with! To top things off, the Mayor’s speech was…hypocritical. It says the background characters are just as important as the main characters…except the Main Characters of this very show were utterly treated like crap. Between the Mane Six suffering Badass Decay AND getting locked out of the wedding, and Celestia and Luna being Out-Of-Character, the major characters were treated with far less respect than the background characters despite supposedly being just as important. Phew, I think I got everything, and thank goodness because I honestly feel kind of bad criticizing this one, as it WAS meant as a tribute to the fans, to show the appreciation the staff has for us, the audience, specifically the adult fanbase whose loyal support contributed to the success of this show to begin with. However, objectively speaking, that doesn’t give the writers a pass for lackluster writing, when this episode lacked the intelligence or fleshed out personalities that drew adult viewers to begin with. One time for Christmas, a member of my roommate’s family gave me an Anime DVD because she knows I like Anime. Trouble is, she didn’t try to distinguish my tastes to figure out what KIND of Anime I’d like. This gesture followed the letter of the thought, but not the spirit, it was the lowest common denominator of effort. Same thing with the episode, I’m impressed the writers aren’t completely fed up with this fanbase being so unpleasable, and I’m touched to they wanted to give us a tribute…but once again, this episode lacked the qualities that drew us in to begin with. I feel bad doing this, but I need to be objective and honest. Between the main plot getting no focus, the secondary plot being completely unfocused, the flat uninteresting characters, and the poor treatment of the main cast, plus no real redeeming qualities, I have to agree with my colleague and, with regret, do something I almost never do and give this episode an Atrocious rating.

Princess Spike: I think I was off my game while watching this episode, as while didn’t like it, I couldn’t really say I hated it. I had to look at other people’s comments, including the thoughts of my associate who didn’t want to review this season, to really get perspective. While I don’t agree with EVERY criticism, there is certainly enough wrong here to view this episode on the negative side. The episode starts off okay, with Twilight wanting Spike to be acknowledged, and Twilight is clearly fitting well into her role as a princess. Unfortunately, someone decides to interrupt Spike, even AFTER the princess he claims to love asks that Spike be allowed to speak. Then we have Cadance asking Spike to guard Twilight, which, as has been pointed out, really doesn’t make sense, as wouldn’t they have, you know, the GUARDS be the one to guard her? While her hitting Spike with the door was clearly an accident, she could and should have apologized. Also, if someone needs to speak to Twilight, couldn’t they be directed to one of the other princesses? Yeah, this episode is based on a poor premise…two actually, as it’s YET ANOTHER “Spike spends all day screwing up”. Remember the earlier seasons, when Spike was allowed to be competent? Yeah. I will say that at least no one in this episode was unlikable. Even though the ponies were mad, they did have reason to be, and while Twilight did make Spike apologize, this WAS the result of his actions, and Spike himself claims he went mad with power. She was asleep the whole time and doesn’t have context. Kind of like with the Crusaders back in “Twilight Time”, if Spike SAYS he was completely wrong, how is Twilight to know otherwise? The main problem is that Spike has to admit he spent the whole episode being drunk on power as opposed to doing this for Twilight’s sake….problem is, he actually WAS doing this for Twilight’s sake, and while he did get carried away, it was only for a couple of scenes that were only a few seconds long, if even that. He did make some bad decisions, mostly out of panic because things kept going wrong, but to have him “admit” he spent the whole time abusing his power when in fact that was in the vast MINORITY? He gets no credit for the fact that he was honestly TRYING to help? You know, as annoyed as I can get with the Spike Fanatics, who seem to view this entire show as a Villain Origin Story for Spike, episodes like this one really do feel like the writers are out to get the poor guy. Heaven forbid Spike actually be allowed to SUCCEED for once. Thank goodness for “Power Ponies”, where Spike got to win in the end, and “Equestria Games” where what went wrong wasn’t actually Spike’s fault, and he was treated with SYMPATHY. There is supposedly poor planning with the construction going on now, but it’s not like they could have predicted Twilight would need sleep now, and those might only have become issues around this time, so they might not have NEEDED to be dealt with before. Anyway, as far as Spike dealing with the bird, he’s a good guy at heart but this show has proven it is NOT above having the characters act like jerks out of nowhere. Fortunately, Spike was more true to his character and asked NICELY for the bird to leave, though even I thought of simply giving Twilight earplugs. I’m not saying this isn’t a poorly done episode, I’m just saying it has redeeming qualities, kind of like “Putting Your Hoof Down”. Again, this isn’t a good episode, but Spike’s mistakes are more believable than “Spike at your Service”, and the characters are actually likable, unlike say “Just for Sidekicks”, making this episode almost WATCHABLE compared to those two. I wouldn’t even call this the worst episode of the season, let alone one of the worst episodes ever, but it’s nowhere near good, that much is true. The episode is based around two poorly thought out premises (Spike screw up, and the wrong character for the job), Spike is forced to admit fault for something that happened only momentarily and caused no real harm (The disasters were the results of well-intentioned but poorly thought out decisions, NOT malicious power grubbing) and getting NO credit for his honestly good intentions. This episode had a message, but the behavior from the focus character didn’t match that. Then we have the Dragonsneeze trees and…the last time I saw that forced an attempt at humor was the Ghostbusters 2016 trailer. The ending could have been worse, as everyone forgave Spike and helped him rebuild the statue instead of standing there and making him do the whole thing himself. Problem is, we then get that forced joke at the end with the return of the Dragonsneeze…and just HOW nonfunctional does your brain have to be to give a DRAGON a plant named DRAGONSNEEZE. Also, bit of trivia: Creative Supervisor Brian Lenard made a jab against fans who complain that Spike is a Cosmic Plaything with a (fake) ending where everyone takes back their forgiveness after Spike’s sneeze blows down the statue a second time. Never mind that this is a LEGITIMATE COMPLAINT as Spike is not nearly unsympathetic enough for this to be funny or enjoyable. You know who else takes jabs at criticism leveled against their show? The writers for Teen Titans Go!, and the post-Season 3 writers for Spongebob. Calling out invalid complaints is one thing, but making fun of legitimate criticism without addressing their actual point? Fortunately, Director Jim Miller was more mature, acknowledging that they hit Spike too hard. Overall, the concept was poor AND unoriginal, and required bad decisions that couldn’t be explained by suspension of disbelief, and the message fell flat due to the focus character suffering from Informed Wrongness. On the other hand, at least the characters were likable for most of the episode, sans the two who were arguing over who gets to use the hall for their speech, and to a lesser degree, Fancy Pants for expecting the nobles to get special treatment, which luckily Twilight calls him out on. Now, I still think this episode was a step up from “Spike at your Service” or “Just for Sidekicks”, but this still was not exactly the royal treatment, so I’m going to have to call this one a Bad episode.

Party Pooped: Insert immature joke about the episode title here, but now onto the episode itself, which gets off to an interesting start, introducing a new species in the Yaks of YakYakistan, with whom Twilight must impress in a diplomatic meeting. I liked the Yaks right away, with the way they declared they were looking forward to a new friendship…while speaking in gruff, angry voices for a hilarious contrast. Then within thirty seconds, all likability went out the window. Exploding and getting mad over every. Little. Thing. Some people find their over the top behavior to be funny for the reason that it is that….over the top. However! The complaints against them are legitimate, and their ingratitude and violence justifies considering them unlikable. I know that’s the joke, but how is it funny? The Mane Six were too likable for the audience to enjoy seeing them put through this, and the gross ingratitude of the yaks makes them too difficult to like. It’s hard to talk TOO much about the plot of this episode, since it’s really just the same thing over and over again, the ponies try to do something nice, ONE LITTLE THING is slightly off, the yaks blow their stacks and destroy everything, making our likable main characters miserable for the pettiest of reasons. Lots of fans would have liked to see a war between YakYakistan and Equestria, so they could see the Mane Six / The Royal Sisters / maybe Discord stomp the yaks as a result. I WAS going to say that a war is a bit much just for being rude…then I remembered the yaks were the ones who declared war in the first place, and my objections ceased. However, given Hasbro’s apparent opposition to Celestia / Twilight / The Mane Five actually being competent, I somehow doubt Equestria would have won.

Now, an interesting comparison has been made to the yaks always getting mad if things aren’t perfect…to the fanbase of MLP:FiM. Now, was this INTENTIONAL on the part of the writers? Who can say? I certainly can’t, as I’m not a mind-reader. What I can do is determine how fair a comparison it is based on the context.If the writers are the ponies who only ever make minor, inconsequential mistakes, and the yaks are the fans who lose their temper over said minor mistakes…then no, this is too one-sided an argument to make. While it is true that many a brony has been far too aggravated over minor things, this by far does NOT apply to the fandom as a whole, as other people in the fandom have expressed their disgust for this behavior. Tara Strong herself nearly gave up on conventions because she got fed up with dealing with the more…hasty…members of the fans, but she received reassurance from the sane ones, for example. Also, keep in mind the writers HAVE pulled some major crap. “Feeling Pinkie Keen” and “Canterlot Wedding” both come to mind as “What in the WORLD were you thinking, numbskulls!?” moments. Take “Fillie Vanilli”, while it is true that DEATH THREATS were completely uncalled for, Pinkie’s behavior that episode was legitimately horrible. Overreact they may, the fanbase HAS had good points about some of the inappropriate stuff the writers have done, and while this may be a good chunk of the fandom, it is not all. This comparison would have made more sense had there been other yaks who called out Rutherford and his attendants for their behavior, or at least expressed disapproval, and the writers aren’t as innocent as the Mane Six were here, so no, while I can see where the comparison comes from, it is not accurate or fair. On a more positive note, Pinkie’s portrayal here was really likable, and true to who she’s meant to be, with the revelation that she keeps files on what everyone in town. Some find this creepy and stalkerish, but I personally do not. Give how often she throws parties, it makes sense for her to have picked up on those kinds of details, her main purpose is making others happy, so OF COURSE she would be observant about what anyone likes or does not like in a party. It’s not like she’s breaking into their homes, checking their closets and reading their diaries, all she has to do is be observant in her interactions with them, and what works and what doesn’t. Though I will say the quesadillas joke make absolutely no sense. I know the joke is that the badass warrior mage is afraid of something so harmless, but that only works on relatable fears, like snakes and spiders, and THAT gag was done with Twilight WAY back in Season 1. Simply being grossed out is one thing, but quesadillas are not a relatable fear, since there aren’t several species of venomous quesadillas. Anyway, the “humor” of this episode takes up most of the episode and is too mean-spirited to be funny, but at least Pinkie was likable, so I’d called this Meh episode.

Amending Fences: This episode…I feel really strongly about, and I have a lot to say, so I’m doing a separate review on this one.

Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep: That opening was…actually kind of silly, and had me worried about the rest of the episode, but to my relief it was only a dream. Something I need to get out of the way before I really begin: I heard that this episode addressed the issue of depression, a VERY serious issue, and handled it too casually for such serious subject matter. I’m rather confused by this claim, as nothing relating to depression was mentioned; this was about guilt, an entirely different, and less serious, topic. Yeah, what I’ve heard doesn’t really mesh with what I saw, as while Luna was overwhelmed with guilt, there was no mention or even hint about depression. It’s revealed that Luna has been trying to atone for her acts as Nightmare Moon, and to do so, created the Tantubus, which causes Nightmares. Okay! Interesting, we actually get to see some depth from one of the Princesses! Now if only they could do something like this for Celestia instead of leaving her on Cause Conflict through Incompetence Duty. The episode starts off well with the Mane Six hanging out together without anything related to their duties, and there was some harmless slapstick for humor, which actually connected to the main plot, so that’s a good start! There were another couple of quick gag that worked well, like Pinkie rambling about how she wasn’t going to be able to sleep before passing out. I’ve seen this gag before, but it’s rare enough that it works. She falls asleep in the same bed as Applejack, but despite people claiming Les Yay, I think it’s more likely Applejack was just too tired to switch to another bed. Anyway, the nightmares themselves were fairly creative, especially Pinkie, I was getting dizzy watching her jumping from scene to scene,but it’s a nice visual gag on her random thought process. In hindsight, the nightmares were really more Faux Horrific, rather than actually scary. While this makes for some good visual gags, it doesn’t fit with the plot point of the Tantubus being an actual nightmare. While I enjoy the visual humor, it would have fit the theme more had those dreams been legitimately scary. In particular, Twilight’s nightmare was especially unimpressive, as was she, as yes, Twilight suffers Badass Decay once again. Even worse, once the citizens of Ponyville are pulled into the nightmare, one of them even points out to Twilight they don’t have her magic. This is being said while Twilight is showing roughly a FRACTION of what she’s been capable of in the past, instead of Rarity being on par with her (Seriously, since when can Rarity shoot lasers?). Seeing fandom memes was amusing, and normally might have been pointless, but they actually fit it into the main plot, by having those memes as the citizens dreams, and bringing those dreams forth to fight the Tantubus. The biggest problem with this episode is probably how quickly it was resolved, and to my relief, I’m not the only one who thinks this would have benefitted from being a Two-Parter, where they would have had more time to gradually reduce Luna’s guilt, instead of having one quick speech at the end fix everything. Credit to where it’s due, it was a pretty decent speech, it just should have started the change, instead of changing instantly. So yeah, interesting concept, creative, fun, and having actual emotional development. On the downside, it was silly where it should have been more serious, the Mane Six could have stood to be a TAD more effective, especially Twilight, and the ending should have been more gradual instead of instant. Not a bad episode, really, just one that needed some polish, and making it a Two-Parter would have helped a lot. While not really a dream come true, I’d put this on the higher end of Meh, again, a good concept with fairly decent execution, just needed to be polished up a bit. Hey, it’s a HUGE improvement over “Amending Fences”.

Anyway, there is where I should talk about “Canterlot Boutique”. The thing is…I’m taking a break from this show. This season hasn’t really been stellar, but it’s been tolerable. Then I saw “Amending Fences”, and the sheer disrespect for the source material and characters just BROKE me. So I need some time away from this show to review something else, I’m way behind on taking up the request to review “Spongebob Squarepants.” I just wanted to have seen half the season, which is why I waited for my break until after “Do Princesses dream of Magic Sheep”.