The Road to Friendship Review · 4:56pm Sep 1st, 2018
Well, thanks to scheduling quirks, early releases, whatever you wanna blame, a whole bunch of countries will be airing (or have already aired) the Season 8 finale before Discovery Family gets a chance to do so.
Anyway, the spoiler tag is still here for those who've been waiting until now to see the episodes (largely because Hasbro still seems intent on nuking early releases, only a few clips and one or two PAL audio uploads have been allowed to stand). It's a StarlightxTrixie episode and after Season 7 treated us to "All Bottled Up" which put poor Starlight through the ringer while making Trixie an ego-maniac who couldn't take a hint, and then "To Change a Changeling" where Trixie only seemed to care about using Starlight to build herself up, and Starlight in turn thought it would be great to manufacture a conflict to force Phyrnx and Thorax to get along, I was not really eager to see them be paired up once again. The knowledge that it would be a trip to Saddle Arabia didn't help, as it just felt like it was giving them special treatment (why not Las Pegasus or Yakyakistan, so that way at least it feels natural instead of special?). But with Josh Haber writing solo for this episode after previously writing "Molt Down" one of the better episodes of Season 8 so far, is it possible he was able to put the two in the limelight without screwing it up? Well, let's find out.
We open up with Trixie and Starlight doing a magic show outside Twilight's castle, which is mostly noticeable for the fact that Cadence and Flurry Heart are in the audience (but not Shining Armor, thus meaning that unless something changes in the next few episodes this will be the first season in which he doesn't appear at all). Trixie appears to have mastered teleportation now as she can get out of a locked up box without trouble.
Twilight and Cadence show off their special dance and claim that Starlight and Trixie are as close as they are (which isn't the greatest comparison when Twilight and Cadence have interacted sparingly on-screen). Also, Granny Smith ends up in the box instead of Trixie, and somehow it's perfectly acceptable to just abduct ponies from the audience and rope them into a magic stunt without their permission. Anyway, the real story begins when a traveling Saddle Arabian pony shows up with his own wagon, initially hoping to make a trade with Trixie for her wagon. She refuses of course, because her wagon isn't just a wagon. She stops short of outright saying it's a home, but considering some other details that have been mentioned about it it's abundantly clear that's the case (though I guess this also means Trixie has been living in Ponyville since at least "Uncommon Bond").
Trixie goes to see Starlight in her office, and claims that Starlight is her counselor. It seems like Starlight's counselor position is becoming more popular than she might have imagined.
She decides she'll go with Trixie to Saddle Arabia, but first she needs to find someone to cover her counselor duties (and it's not known who she got, I'm just going to assume she asked Twilight or Spike to fill the role since they're the only ones really qualified to handle it). It soon turns out that Trixie's wagon is quite cramped, but Trixie is able to clear enough space to set up two hammocks. Starlight is confident they'll be able to sleep at some inns along the way, and the road trip starts off pretty well. We get a weird jump cut to a song though after Starlight makes a meta joke about how Twilight and the others would sing a song. The song is "Friendship Bound" and it's actually pretty good, Starlight and Trixie sing well together (not sure if Kelly Sherdian and Kathleen Barr sang in their character voices or if other VAs were hired as singing doubles) and the lyrics are kind of catchy. There's also a line about seasons and Trixie mentions "At least nine" which fans have interpreted to be Hasbro's way of saying the show ends next season (we know Season Nine is in the works). But notice that Trixie says "At least nine" not "Exactly nine" or something like that. The writers don't know for sure Season Nine will be the last season, and I suspect Hasbro might still be contemplating something after Season Nine (at the least maybe another special or even just a digital exclusive tenth season). Fans have also drawn parallels to the song and the numerous "Road To" episodes from Family Guy, and it's easy to see the similarities.
Eventually they reach Somnambula's village in Southern Equestria and decide to make camp for the night. The only problem is, Starlight goes and blows some bits on street food, leaving Trixie with only enough bits to buy haycakes and some unspecified juice. The line is really long, and then all the inns are full for the night, including the Get On Inn.
With nowhere else to go, the two decide to sleep in the wagon. But Starlight snores really loudly (and has been doing so for years) and Trixie rehearses her performances in her sleep. The two end up sleep deprived and consume the last of their supplies before the show, and although they manage to perform the trick (this time the apple cart merchant ends up in the trunk) their tempers start to flare and the audience is noticeably not as impressed. The next night, Trixie decides to sleep out under the stars (why she or Starlight never thought to do that in the first place considering how cramped the wagon was, I have no idea. Of course if they had thought to do that and take turns, there wouldn't be an episode), and next morning she comes back to find out that Starlight traded her wagon away! Yes, that's right, somehow Starlight can just trade away something that isn't hers and she has no claim to, without even needing to consult Trixie (who is the wagon's rightful owner). The episode even points out this fact later on.
Furious at this, Trixie parts ways with Starlight and leaves her with the new wagon. She then lies down in the road to stop her wagon from going away (after hauling all her supplies with chains). Meanwhile, Starlight struggles to make it back along the road to Ponyville with the new wagon, and eventually she has a change of heart. The Saddle Arabian pony still refuses to undo the trade though, unless Starlight and Trixie can prove that they're best friends. They attempt to do so with a hastily made-up chant, which the Saddle Arabian sees right through. But he decides it's good enough and undoes the trade, then tells the two they need to go back to Ponyville, claiming Saddle Arabia isn't quite ready for their show just yet. I know it's more about the journey than the destination, but if Saddle Arabia was never going to be shown then why tease us with that idea? You could have this journey be to Las Pegasus or Yakyakistan and with only a little bit of changing the same thing would happen. The Saddle Arabian pony could still be there on a visit.
The two go back to Ponyville and make up, saying that they're glad they embarked on the journey so they know not to do it again. But then the episode ends with the revelation that the merchant is still in the trunk, meaning they'll need to at least go back to Somnambula's village to return him. But hey, at least he's still alive, so that shouldn't be as big an issue.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well the premise is nothing new, it's something that's been seen in just about every road trip buddy comedy ever. But of course the challenge isn't so much finding something that's never been done before (because if you really think about it just about everything has already been done at some point) but finding a way to put your own spin on it. And that's just what this episode does. After Season 7 dragged their friendship through the mud and turned it into an abusive one, this episode more than redeemed the StarlightxTrixie dynamic and made it seem like something other than a toxic friendship. The only things that really drag down this episode are Starlight somehow being able to trade away Trixie's wagon (done solely to amp up tensions for the climax) and Saddle Arabia being teased to hype up this episode even though we never get to see it (like I said you could change the destination and the story would only need to be slightly tweaked). I also think Starlight loses some sympathy points for trading Trixie's wagon seeing as she should know more than anypony how important the wagon is to Trixie. Trixie ends up surprisingly looking likeable for the first time in a long while, this episode understands that she's spent her life on the road and thus she knows how to live off of so little. In the end, I give this episode an A, putting it above even "The Maud Couple" which felt padded in spots (and also at times felt like it was pushing Pinkie's faults beyond what was necessary) but below "Surf and/or Turf" which despite having a weak story and conflict, was great from a world building and character standpoint.
Next week we have "The Washouts" in which Scootaloo becomes enthralled with a traveling group of stunt ponies, but Rainbow begins to worry for the kid's safety and fears her days as Scootaloo's number one fan are over. Without spoiling too much I can say that unfortunately, Scootaloo's aunts do not appear in the episode, but somepony else does. And hopefully it will handle the conflict of being concerned for someone's safety better than "Somepony to Watch Over Me" (not that it would take much to do better than that).
This is my third favorite episode of the entire series, with only Crusaders of the Lost Mark and Parent Map being above it.
It also pushed Trixie from among my top 15 characters right into 8th place.
The song has dethroned The Pony I Want to Be for the title of my favorite song.
4929642 You mean song, right? "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" was the episode and "The Pony I Wanna Be" was one of the songs in said episode.
I think you're going to be very happy with "The Washouts", I know I was.
4929650
Yeah, I meant song.
Fixed
Out of all the Trixie episodes (Outside of Boast Busters), this one is probably the least bad. Though it still has a whole series of problems.
I thought Starlight was the one who said "For nine, at least." I'm gonna have to watch it again. XD
But overall to me, this episode wasn't really good. It had a "To Change a Changeling" feeling to the episode, and it just felt again, repetitive. 😅
4929692 Such as? I can imagine Starlight's selling Trixie's wagon and Saddle Arabia being teased without actually seeing it are two problems, but what others are there?
4929890
One is that it suffers from 'Show, don't tell'. The whole first half is nothing but Starlight, Trixie and other characters glorifying their friendship saying the two have such great chemistry without actually showing what makes them friends. And the song is horrible because it tells us more than show us. And Trixie's voice should not be put to music...like...at all.
Two, I get what the episode's trying to say, that even the best of friendship can have it's problems, not everything is peachy keen. But the thing is, Starlight and Trixie have had problems with their friendship since they met. If anything, this is another episode that shows exactly why they SHOULDN'T be friends. The same reason people hate Beth and Jerry from Rick And Morty.
4929899 I think this episode suffers more from what we saw before it. If "All Bottled Up" and "To Change a Changeling" had never been written (and "No Second Prances" had tried harder not to make Trixie into the antagonist in the third act for the sake of the conflict) it'd be easier to see what the episode wants us to see.
I respectfully disagree on Trixie's singing though, it's not award winning by any means but it sounds just fine for the character. I'm actually kind of surprised we've never heard Trixie sing before, even just a little. You'd think that her being a showmare, singing would be something she would do often to draw a crowd.
4929901
Wait, that happened?
Didn't she already sing in Rainbow Rocks?
4929906
I agree, I haven’t cringed so much since All Bottled Up and No Second Prances...
4929906 Her human counterpart did. Also, I meant to say "No Second Prances".
I liked that fourth wall breaking joke. Considering how terrible these past few seasons have been, I hope to God that season nine is the last season that this show has. If they do in fact doing a tenth season (and I don't see why they would), putting it on a service like Hulu would be a terrible idea since not everybody has Internet. But, given how bad this season has been in particular, I may not even bother with the eighth season.
4929652 I know I wasn't.
4930487 This season has actually been better than most people give it credit for, all things considered. It's just had way too many filler episodes and most of the episodes focused directly on the school have sucked.
4930489 Is it because Lightning Dust isn't reformed and almost gets Scootaloo killed, or because Scootaloo's aunts don't appear?
4930561 That's true of every season.
I'm actually glad Lightning Dust wasn't reformed. I hope they go the same way with Queen Chrysalis. But while this was a golden opportunity to have her aunts appear on-screen, this episode was nothing but Rainbow Dash being an asshole once again. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as her portrayal in "Secrets and Pies."
4930634 How was she an a-hole when Lightning Dust is the one who tried to make Scootaloo do something reckless and dangerous despite Scootaloo's objections? Maybe Rainbow Dash took her initial objections a little far, but considering Lightning Dust's later behavior I'd say she had every right to be concerned.
4929652
I wasn't asking you, Mr. Stick-In-The-Mud.