Thoughts on Season 2 Episodes

So, after my piece on Season 1 and the wonderful lack of commentary on it, I shall now go onward to Season 2 and things I thought about each episode. They're not necessarily reviews, I don't consider myself a good critic, but just random opinions and likely focusing on random stuff in each piece. Some may match up with popular opinion and some might be different.

Here we go!

The Return of Harmony
~ The first episode that I actually watched the premiere of! And can I just say, Discord was a glorious villain, an absolute joy to watch even though he was doing terrible stuff to the Mane Six! Me, my sisters, and my cousin all still get a kick out of the exploding chocolate milk. If nothing else, I just enjoy watching insanity unfold... as long as it's a good story. I think this is a good story.

Lesson Zero
~ I was not prepared for Twilight going insane. I really wasn't. Usually when I get stressed about a deadline I break down into tears, I don't go wacko and hypnotize a whole town.

So, it was a creepy episode... but, then again, I enjoy watching creepy cartoons for some reason. Even as a small child, I did.

Luna Eclipsed
~ I've... always found this episode underwhelming. Oh, hey, Luna's back... woohoo? Well, she got a makeover, and it does look really cool, but this episode just feels generally boring to me. And I usually love Halloween episodes, because the atmosphere gets so fascinatingly dark and seeing the characters in scary situations is exciting. But this... bleh. Nice to know that Celestia's sister still exists, but still...

Sisterhooves Social
~ Appropriate that when I first watched this episode, my sister was sitting right next to me. This episode was so sweet.

The Cutie Pox
~ I think I've forgotten about half of this episode.

May the Best Pet Win!
~ A noticeable amount of focus is put on that tortoise, even though it's not exactly a pet that you'd expect Rainbow to pick? Everypony go home, we all know who the winner's gonna be. At least the little guy's kind of cute, and the competition is kind of fun to watch.

And... please don't kill me, but the "Find a Pet" song is too unbearably cutesy for me to handle.

The Mysterious Mare Do Well
~ I remember back in the day when this was the episode that everyone ragged on and hated on with wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then there was me, in my little corner, just shrugging and just thinking, "Well, it's not that great of an episode, but it doesn't really push any of my buttons". All I did was just find it a little off and a little irritating, but I still don't see anything to rage about. The episodes that I do rage about come later.

Sweet and Elite
~ Zzzzzz... I'm sorry, I fell asleep. Watching Rarity hang out with stereotypical rich snobs and doing stereotypical rich snob things is utterly boring. I'd rather just skip forward to Twilight's birthday party, because that's where it gets funny.

Secret of My Excess
~ I have this weird thing for transformation stories, and this fits my bill just nicely. Because... holy cow, seeing Spike turn from cute little baby dragon to rampaging greed monster is heart-pounding and I love it! Yeah, I'm aware of the implications that were caused by this episode, but, I guess I'm thankful that Season 8's Molt Down cleared that up.

Family Appreciation Day
~ I used to have this headcanon that Rainbow got her mane because her mom ate Zap Apple Jam when she was pregnant. The reveal of her parents soured this for me. I liked that headcanon.

Oh, right, this is an Apple episode. A nice and funny romp this is. Though, it did sprout this ongoing thing that Granny Smith is a century or two old or more because of a line from Winter Wrap-Up. As for me, I say that Granny is normal old person age (I'm leaning toward eighties, because she kind of reminds me of my grandma), and that the WWU line means that Ponyville wasn't the only town that was built there... past towns were just destroyed by whatever.

Baby Cakes
~ I'm not easily irritated by babies crying, so this episode is all right for me. The beady-eyed look does get a bit of getting used to; although, after Flurry Heart showed up, I do prefer drawing babies with the big expressive eyes more.

Hearth's Warming Eve
~ Eh? I guess it's all right, it's a fine story for Pony Christmas. Though, I always found it odd that as she was arguing with Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane suddenly says, "Earth Ponies are numbskulls!" Dude... you were just arguing with a unicorn. INSULT THE UNICORNS FIRST, INSULTING EARTH PONIES WHEN YOU WEREN'T TALKING TO PUDDINGHEAD IS JUST WEIRD.

I also really hate the ending song. It's just the generic Christmas Choir singing about friendship and it makes me want to barf.

The Last Roundup
~ I remember when first watching this episode that I was really surprised that they actually used "Derpy" for that one background pony that the fandom loves. I always thought the controversy was silly, it was just a cute little nod to the fans.

But, anyway, I liked this episode well enough. Though, what stuck out to me was Angry Pinkie, because... she scary.

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
~ The only song that I bother to remember from the Flim Flam brothers, because dang, is it catchy. Otherwise, this is simply a pony vs. machine kind of story that's admittedly entertaining to watch, even if you sometimes wonder what they're thinking.

Read It and Weep
~ Remember when we all though Daring Do was fictional in-universe? I still kind of think she should have remained so.

But who know that watching a pony getting into reading would be a fun episode? And, well, that barking pony had me laughing.

Hearts and Hooves Day
~ I have never cringed so much at stupid lovey-dovey talk.

A Friend in Deed
~ The Smile Song is one of the best songs of the series, enough that I put it in my personal playlist. That said, the rest of the episode does not compare. It had its moments, like Pinkie thinking in felt (that was cute), but... I don't know, Pinkie just happening to know Matilda is weird and just so convenient enough that Cranky finally smiles like Pinkie wanted. At least it looks like she does leave him alone during future episodes, so... she learned her lesson? I think?

Putting Your Hoof Down
~While the episode's a little subpar to me overall... I don't hate it. Don't love it, but I don't hate it.

First off, Angel is the worst little brat I've ever seen, and I wanted to cook him into rabbit soup for overreacting to the lack of cherry. It's just a cherry... make like Elsa and just let it go...

Second... Iron Will is just ridiculous in a good way. The show could tell me he's a bad guy all it wants, but his over the top machoness, his stupid rhyming advice, and the fact that he sounds like Hercule from Dragon Ball Z just makes him too enjoyable to watch. Kind of wish I wrote him more in Brotherly Bonding Time, but I had remember my priorities for that story.

It's About Time
~ I always found this episode to be a little dull. Only the hindsight of a certain someone escaping a certain place during this time only makes this episode a little more interesting...

Dragon Quest
~ Probably the first episode of the show that actually made me mad. Not bored, not merely annoyed, but honestly angry. Talk about wasted potential to find out more about the dragon species, only to get a bunch of stupid fratboys. Not to mention learning about the implications of ponies=girls and dragons=boys makes this a lot worse, especially given how Spike is apparently only good because he was raised by ponies.

I always hated the boys vs. girls episodes of cartoons from when I was a kid, because it was always the same song and dance of hyper-competent girls defeating blithering idiotic boys whatever arbitrary competition was in the episode, and that somehow meant that they were equal (keep in mind that I'm a girl). Yeah, I always saw it as "girls are better than boys", which given how many talented boys I knew, was blatantly untrue. Not to mention, thinking over it as an adult, it suggests that girls can only be exceptional when the boys around them are morons, wimps, jerks, or all three--that's not empowering for girls, that's insulting to both genders.

And saying, "well men used to handle female characters poorly/have like one or two of them in cartoon casts, so it's only fair" is just a pathetic excuse. I like watching shows where both boys and girls are well-rounded characters and work together to solve problems (Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teen Titans, two of my favorite cartoons, come to mind).

This was honestly a pet peeve of mine for this show. I love having well-rounded female characters, but abusing the males doesn't make them look good; it took the show staff a while to correct that flaw and balance things with more good, interesting male characters. Why do you think my first instinct in creating an OC for this show was to create a stallion?

But, I've ranted enough, let's move on.

Hurricane Fluttershy
~ At least this was a really good episode, washing out the bad taste from the last one. Seeing Fluttershy only make a minuscule improvement was painful, especially after her hard work montage, but seeing the end where her small contribution made all the difference made up for that.

Ponyville Confidential
~ Aw, come on, why does the name "Gabby Gums" make me want to chew something? Also, gossip articles are the worst, I don't understand why I should care about what so-and-so celebrity is doing when there's a cool thing about national parks, some natural disaster happening somewhere, or a comic strip I can look at.

As for the shunning scene... well, I'm mixed on that. While I do understand that they're hurt and I would want my space if that happened to me, it kind of feels a little too mean to do that to fillies (especially Rainbow Dash with the raincloud, sheesh!). So... I'm just mixed.

MMMystery on the Friendship Express
~ Is it weird of me for not realizing who were the culprits before the reveal? I had thought Pinkie had slept-ate it, but no, she didn't--good on her for being the responsible one! I like it when Pinkie's responsible, it gives a good message about how one can be responsible but still fun-loving. Though boo on half her friends for not respecting her efforts to get that cake to Canterlot in one piece.

And time is weird here. Since when was it an overnight trip to Canterlot?

A Canterlot Wedding
~ I remember first reading the synopsis on this and being utterly baffled at the existence of Twilight's brother. Nopony said anything about her having a brother! There was no brother in that flashback! Granted, he could have been in some military academy at the time, so, at least he has a better excuse for not appearing in that flashback than Maud Pie, who in Season 4 was FORCIBLY SHOVED IN AS PINKIE'S FAVORITE SISTER WHEN SHE DIDN'T EXIST IN--

--ahem. So, I'm more lenient on Shining Armor than I am for Maud, even if Twilight's sudden Big Brother Best Friend Forever was jarring.

Also, that villain plot twist, am I right? Dang, those changelings came out of nowhere, and yet everyone loved them. For something we had assumed was just some wedding between two characters we just met, it got epic really fast. I did wonder what the heck Cadence did as an alicorn princess, given Celestia and Luna's roles with the sun and moon, but at least Season 3 gave her a thing to do.

And lastly... I hate those fixfics that popped up after the episodes regarding the whole "fallout" thing.
A lot of them get too dark and brooding and think that Twilight should just remain angry at them for not listening.
There could have been a conversation about it, but it's fine that they forgave each other, nopony had all the pieces.
I can't believe people had been writing those fics about it for years...

And there's Season 2. Well, it was definitely better than the first, that's for sure.

So, join me next time for Season 3! Well, that season's shorter, so it should be easier on me.

Comments

[Dashie04]

My favorite episode in this season is either Return of Harmony, Lesson Zero, or MMMMystery on the Friendship Express.

Also, am I the only one who wouldn’t say Smile Song is the best song in the pony MLP canon? It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but IMHO ‘Flawless’, ‘A Kirin Tale’, ‘Friendship Bound’, and ‘I’m the Friend You Need’ are better.