Hearth's Warming Club

Friendship is Magic episode review by Obake

(SPOILERS!)

This is one of the better episodes of season 08, at least until the ending. There are no pacing issues or poor editing. It is the writing (like usual) that lets it down.

The Young Six are eager for a two-week break at home for the holidays. All except one, who decides to sabotage the Hearth Warming tree in the school lobby by pouring goo powder all over it. When Twilight, Dash, and Spike deduce that it was one of the Young Six, they interrogate them while the rest clean up the mess. If none confess, they will all have to stay at school over the break.

I give credit to the episode for subtly cluing the audience in on the culprit. Subtlety has not been the show's strength this season. That said, the humor in Hearth's Warming Club is often quite repetitive.

While cleaning up the lobby, the students reminiscence on their holiday traditions. Ocellus explains how she and her family took Twilight's instructions on celebrating Hearth's Warming literally, hanging a tree over their heads, "building" a fire, and singing the word "carols" over and over. Yona's family smashes stuff (they are yaks, get it?) The most interesting is Smolder's, who explains that dragons get together and tell stories in a competition. The story that won last year was about a once homeless dragon usurping power over a kind Dragon Lord and forcing him out of his home. I like how unabashedly cruel it is, though the way it is presented in episode is not really funny.

The most depressing is Gallus, who tells how even during holidays, griffins are still jerks. Gallus does not have a family to go home to (Grandpa Gruff is simply a name, not a relation), which is why Gallus poured goo all over the lobby. He wanted to spend a little more time with his friends before going home, but the plan backfired. He apologizes, and accepts that he will have to stay at school during the holidays. Then the rest of the Young Six decide to forgo the break and spend the two weeks with him. Um? What about the families you all waxed on about? I guess they do not matter anymore.

The ending is forced in an otherwise okay mystery episode.

Extras:

• Some of Twilight and Rainbow's dialogue is stupid. After having purple goo poured all over herself and the room, Rainbow chimes "I don't think it was an accident." No duh.
• Twilight and Dash follow the hooded culprit to the students quarters, which is how they know it is one of the Young Six. If they were more reasonable, they would have known immediately that it could not have been Yona, as a yak would be too big to have escaped from the rafters and out of the windows. Though to be fair, they later explain that they had a hunch it was Gallus all along.
• I don't buy changelings taking Twilight's instructions literally, especially Ocellus, who is supposed to be well read. It is not like the instructions are cryptic.
• Silverstream's story of hippogriff holidays is done in different animation, but is sadly not well done. It just looks choppy and unprofessional. It needs more style to make it pop out.
• Complaints aside, Hearth's Warming Club is not terrible. The ending is dumb, but the rest is passable.