Mar
28th
2018
Season 8, Eps 1 & 2 (SPOILERS!) · 3:19pm Mar 28th, 2018
Just watched Episodes 1 & 2 of Season 8 of MLP:FiM. Nice change to the series, so I'm going to list the positives and negatives of what I just watched.
SPOILERS! DON'T READ UNTIL YOU'VE WATCHED THE PREMIERE!
What I liked:
- Seeing the show (of course!)
- Hypogriffs and Changlings return!
- TEMPEST SHADOW MENTIONED!!! HOLY CHEESE STRINGS!!!
- QUEEN NOVO MENTIONED!!!
- Villian was cool. Hope to see him again soon.
- Storyline was different.
- Songs were good.
- Fight scene with the critters and students was awesome!
- Starlight wasn't annoying this time (unlike Seasons 6 & 7)
What I didn't like:
- At some points, the characters felt "off-key".
- Twilight still hasn't learned that she can't always get her own way.
- Rainbow Dash on the "egghead" thing. I feel that the quote has lost its feel.
- The whole "ditching class" was quite shocking to see in a children's TV show. I thought that wouldn't be allowed, to show "skiving", but I may be wrong.
OVERALL RATING: 7/10
My hopes for Season 8:
- Chrysalis doesn't get reformed
- We get to meet Tempest and the rest of the movie cast in the show
- More songs
- Awesome villains and battle scenes!
That's my review people! Next one will be about Episode 3!
I personally really liked the episode myself. I may even go as far to say that it's my favourite two parter episode since The Cutie Map. It was certainly a better opener for me than Celestial Advice, that's for sure. One thing I noticed about it that I found quite shocking were some underlying themes about it. I don't know if it was just me, but it felt like the episode had a bit to say about racism, considering how creatures were pointing at each other, for example, blaming Thorax for everything going wrong purely because he's a changeling. I also like how it tackled the very serious subject that the current school education system doesn't work for all kids, and some kids will learn better with more interactive and hands on experience. I know that's how I learn better.
Also, yeah, I loved Starlight in the episode, and it's stuff like this why I love her character. "I'm not here to cheer you up, I'm just here to tell you what you did wrong."
I also quite liked the references to the movie, cause I feel like it essentially gives the message that this episode happens right after the events of the movie.
I think the biggest issue I had was the song. I thought the song was okay in terms of that it was important to the episode, it progressed the plot, and something would be missing without it. Having that said, the song itself I just found really generic, and unless there are some excellent fan made covers on YouTube, it's not one that's to get stuck in my head anytime soon, and I honestly forgot the melody the minute it ended. By MLP standards, I just thought the song was really weak, and was especially a step down from 'Flawless' which is still stuck in my head to this day.
I can agree on that completely. Seasons 6 & 7's premiers were both disappointing for me, which was a shame because I those have been the seasons that I've been watching with everyone else. So Season 8 has certainly brought me back into the fandom and has managed to spice the show up a little bit. A positive change at last!
The episode did relate to minor racism, so I feel the writers are trying to involve in order to attract older viewers. And as you mentioned, focusing on the education system (I don't know about Canadian/American education, as I only studied in Germany and UK) showed the struggles and problems that students and teachers have, especially when the song was about how the students weren't enjoying what they were learning about. And yes, I guess it depends on opinions. I did say the songs were "good" but not amazing. Disappointing in a way, yes. Nowhere near as good as previous scores from the show.
I guess it depends on opinions and different tastes. But thanks anyway for giving your review; it's interesting to hear from another brony's point of view. Enjoy the rest of the day! Hope to hear from you soon!
Here is a twist Tirek returns and he gets reformed.
4828548
Nòoooooooooooo! Too many reformed villains! I disgrace it!
4829149
Someone's getting reformed it's a show about friendship after all.
4829552
True
I really adored the Season 8 premire! A big step-up from the Season 7 premire which I didn't enjoy as much.
I agree that hearing the movie characters mentioned was exciting. I thought the movie was good and it's fun to hear call-backs to it. However, I doubt any movie characters will actually make an appearance due to the Hollywood actors needing more pay than the usual ones.
Chancellor Neighsay is one of the most interesting "villains" to me. In my opinion, he added to the conflict very well and seeing him return is something I'm open-minded about.
I loved the new characters too! I write about them in my upcoming fanfic projects all the time since they're so interesting and fun to characterize. It's so difficult to choose a favorite out of the six.
I did LIKE the song, but it's definitely not going to be one of my favorites. The tune is forgettable to me and as a fan who likes to learn all of the songs in MLP, this one is harder for me to learn just like most of the Season 6 songs.
I've never had anything against Starlight Glimmer and she's never come across as annoying to me. Starlight's character is great and I wish fans would stop comparing her to Twilight and Sunset Shimmer. I feel like Starlight Glimmer has a more dominant personality than the other two.
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by the characters being "off-key". Did they seem out of character to you at some points? If so, which ones?
I feel like Twilight didn't really WANT to follow the book. I believe she felt more that she felt obligated to by Princess Celestia and Neighsay. One of the character traits that stands out most to me in Twilight is that she has a tendency to panic in pressurizing situations like in the movie where she couldn't think rationly and only saw two options: steal the pearl or let the Storm King take over Equestria.
I guess I didn't really think much about the ditching class part, but I think it plays a part in the storyline moving along smoothly.
I love discussing the show with other fans like me, so if you're reading this, thanks for taking the time to read!
4843220
Nice to see a highly positive review on this. Again, I guess it depends on opinions and expectations. For me, Starlight is one of my least favourite characters. However, what I loved was how the show is connecting in with the movie. Like, when Tempest Shadow and Queen Novo were mentioned. The character who were "off-key" were probably Rarity and Celestia, but then again, they were still good. I didn't hate the episode, it just was a little bit strange at some points. I don't know what I'm talking about anymore. Have a nice day, stay awesome!
Thanks for your comment!
4843814
Thanks for replying! And thanks for the follow too! I appreciate it!
4843917
You're welcome!