MLP FIM Season 1 Episode 3 Review "The Ticket Master" · 7:26pm May 12th, 2019
Wow, I’m actually uploading something in reasonable time? That’s pretty shocking. I definitely didn’t have the first several reviews done before I even uploaded the first review...not...at..all ...anyway, today I’ll be reviewing the first real episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. I say this is the first real MLP episode because it’s the first episode that feels like the rest of the show. There are occasional adventure episodes, but we all know the main focus of the show is slice of life. And this episode introduces that concept to us quite well. But here’s not the place for that. So without further ado, this is my review of The Ticket Master.
Scale of Ratings
1 - Absolutely Terrible; so disgustingly bad it made me want to stop watching the show
2 - Really Horrible
3 - Awful
4 - Very Bad
5 - Bad
6 - Below Average
7 - Average/OK
8 - Good
9 - Great
10 - Amazing
Story
The basic plot of this episode is very simple. Twilight gets tickets for her and one guest to go to a the Grand Galloping Gala (the biggest party of the year), her friends give reasons why they should be the guest, they do favors for her that make it harder for her to decide, then they finally stop and she decides to send both tickets back to Celestia, who then sends 6 (I mean 7) tickets to help Twilight.
I like the story of this episode overall. It’s pretty simple, but fun. It’s nice seeing more of the Mane 6’s personalities. But I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s for later. The Ticket Master’s basic story is a text-book plot for kids shows. It’s so basic, that I’m sure everyone has watched an episode with an identical plot at some point. But that doesn’t mean the story’s bad. It’s sufficient, because this episode is more character-driven than it is story-driven. What makes the episode good is the classic fun characters and dialogue that MLP is known for. That’s kind of the appeal of MLP in general, which is why I called this the first real MLP episode in the beginning. There’s really not much more to say. On its own, the story is mediocre, and would get a 7 rating, if not for the fact that the execution was solid. It’s not extraordinary, just like with the first episode, but the dialogue and pacing are good enough for me to bump the rating up (and yes, I do count those as part of story, even if they’re not technically plot elements).
8/10 - Good
Characters
Now for the part of the episode that it’s really all about: the characters.
In this episode, we get to learn a bit more about what the Mane 6 are like, past their basic archetypes. That is, except for Twilight. I feel like that’s true for basically all of Season 1. She’s not so much a character at first as she is the thing kind of meant to represent us, if that makes any sense. She is the most realistic and relatable character, but we really don’t get to see much of her personality. She’s just there to react to situations and be the deliverer of themes. But that’s not so much a problem of the episode as it is of the season. Her actual characterization in the episode is good. Like usual, she’s interesting because of how she reacts to situations with such realism, and because of her funny reactions to the ridiculosity of everything around her. We do get to see a little of her personality because of her struggle to decide to give the tickets to, but she doesn’t have any unique thoughts. She thinks in the way any cartoon character would react, not thinking of any clever way to decide, basically just being static in her struggle until the problem gets solved for her. It’s satisfactory though, and pretty average for her Season 1 performance.
Don’t worry about this review being too negative. After all, the rest of the characters were written quite well. Rarity probably made the biggest improvement out of all of them from the first episode. In the premier, she was the most stereotypical high-society fashion obsessed character ever. The only real saving grace was her kicking the manticore and her generosity moment. Here, though, we see a glimpse of her great personality. She’s still pretty cliche, but she’s saved by her over-the-top performance (and I do mean performance) in the way she does basically everything. It could seem annoying at first, but it really grows on you. And in current viewings, it’s quite charming. And though she is selfish sometimes, she was good in this episode and gave up the ticket despite how badly she wanted it.
Rainbow on the other hand, was fun because she didn’t do that. I’m gonna be honest. Though in the past, she was one of my favourite of the Mane 6, I think she’s my 4th or 5th favourite now. But that’s not saying much, because I love the characters of this show so much. And the reason I love Rainbow’s character is mostly because of the ways she’s somewhat similar to Rarity. Not in terms of personality, that’s for sure, but in the way she acts. She’s pretty showy and brags a lot. Not in quite the same way as Rarity, but close. And she’s the living embodiment of tomboyishness. Except when she’s not, I guess. But in this episode, she certainly is. And she had the single greatest moment in the episode. The part where she celebrates about getting the ticket. Again, like with Rarity, she could be taken as annoying because of her selfishness and brashness, but I like that trait of hers (at least as a character).
Fluttershy didn’t really have a strong presence in this episode. She was displaying her usual quietness and kindness as usual. Not much else to say. But that moment when she asked Angel about her own motivations for helping Twilight and then saying it was just for the ticket was pretty funny.
Applejack. She’s my least favourite of The Mane 6. But that definitely doesn’t mean I don’t like her. It’s just because she’s the most plain of the characters generally. At least to me. And that is a part of her character in this episode. She’s fun with her competitiveness with Rainbow, but otherwise, she’s just mostly reasonable and level headed. That shows in her being the first to give up the ticket. She did try to manipulate Twilight earlier, but that’s only because that was the plot of the episode. But I guess you can count it. I didn’t dislike her here, but she wasn’t great.
And finally, Pinkie Pie. Like always, she’s funny and cute. It so fits her to burst into a cheerful song about her desire to go to the Gala, and accidentally reveal Twilight’s possession of the tickets. And it’s cool to see her element drive her desire to give up her ticket (“It’s no fun upsetting your friends”).
Well, I know I said finally, but I guess it was more like the final one for the Mane 6. Because Spike does exist. We get to see a little bit of Spike’s personality here, with how he acted at the restaurant, having a bit of an attitude, but mostly, he was still just there for Twilight to have someone to talk to. And he wasn’t much help. Character foils are all well and good, but if their only purpose is to be a foil, it starts to become a problem. And that’s the case with Spike here, even if what we did see of him wasn’t that bad.
I know it probably seems like I feel this episode has rather lacklustre characterization, but that’s just because I’m comparing it to the high standard of most of the show. It’s pretty much a given that the characters wouldn’t be amazingly written in the second episode of a show like this. But I still thought they were fun and added some spice to the otherwise average plot.
8/10 - Good
Themes
You know, I’m honestly not too sure what I think of this episode’s themes. On the one hand, teaching kids to stick to their friends and to do things together is sweet, but on the other, it kinda seems like it’s wasting her friends’ sacrifices by making it so no one could go. There was probably a better way to do it. In real life, it’s not likely for someone to replace tickets with more tickets. So while in-universe, the moral is sweet and idealistic; as a practical lesson, it doesn’t work quite as well. I suppose it depends on your viewpoint. If you abandoned going to a certain event with one person, you could instead do something with all your friends, but if it was something really special, while it would be extremely difficult, I think it’d be better to allow at least 1 of your friends to enjoy the magical experience. I suppose your friends could get jealous and it could cause conflict, but that’s just life sometimes. Sorry if it sounds cynical, but that’s just how it is. I suppose to avoid conflict like that, if someone really wanted to, they could just do a random luck-based game to decide. Anything really other than this extremely cliche resolution would be better...well, not ANYTHING, but most things.
Still, though, as I like to remain positive (most of the time), I’m gonna think of it another way. It was still a sweet moment, and as much as I hate to bring it up, this is a little kids show, and so sometimes lessons like these are bound to happen. If not because of the writers, it could be because of some higher ups. But I guess that doesn’t really make the themes better, it just gives the writers an excuse....hmm…(sigh) I don’t like being predictable, but I think I’m gonna settle on the same score as I gave the other two categories.
8/10 - Good
Misc.
The animation in this episode was really good. It had a lot of really cool effects and special animations and was generally really engaging to watch. And like with the first episode, the emotions were conveyed perfectly through expressions and other things like that. Though it was a Season 1 episode, meaning the animation wasn’t quite as active as in later seasons. But I still really liked this episode’s animation and there were a lot of cool shots. Here are a few examples.
Unlike last time, I don’t have much to say about the music here. I think it’s good, but it’s not all that memorable. I honestly can’t remember a single bit of BGM in this episode (other than the music playing when Twilight and Spike were running from all the ponies), but I do get the impression that it was good. However, something I just noticed upon multiple viewings for this review is that the bird sound effects in the opening scenes really adds life to them. Moving on, the two Pinkie songs are fun and sound decent. However, they’re still nothing special. Just like with her first performance, the lyrics are mediocre, and they doesn’t really have any meaning to them. But that’s okay, as I feel these songs are just meant as a way to convey Pinkie’s feelings about the Gala in a way that fits her personality. We really see how she feels about the Gala with all the color and games filling her fantasy world. As just a song, it’s okay, but as a musical number, it’s pretty effective.
I think the voice acting here was decent, but some of the deliveries of lines felt slightly stilted and awkward. It’s not a big problem, just something I noticed. And (though I hate to keep bringing up Season 1 like this, as if I hate it with passion) that’s kinda something I feel is true throughout early MLP, especially the first season. The voice acting is still good, and it feels like the voice actor’s are somewhat getting used to their characters, but it’s still not quite there. The only stand out voice actor (or actress) was Rarity. I love Tabitha St. Germain’s exaggerated voice acting. It’s not especially good for her, but in general, I think Rarity has some of the most consistently amazing voice acting. And certainly in this episode, Rarity’s voice acting was the best.
In terms of aging, this episode is okay. It’s always entertaining enough on repeated viewings, but it doesn’t really get better. It’s a part of all of (oh god, here it comes again) Season 1, and some of Seasons 2 and 3. I just feel like everything about it seems to get worse with age. The dialogue, animation, voice acting, etc., just gets so much better as time goes on, that this seems average in comparison. But it always meets the bare minimum of being entertaining, so it gets a pass.
Conversely, how I felt about it at first was much more positive. When I was younger, the little things like weird sound effects and over-the-top animations were a lot funnier. While I still find it funny now, it pales in comparison to the joy I felt from watching this back in the day (huh, I say that like I’m some decrepit old man, even though I’m just a teenager).
So, while it pains me to say this, even the misc. part of this episode isn’t particularly strong overall.
8/10 - Good
Conclusion
Story - 8/10
Characters - 8/10
Themes - 8/10
Misc. 8/10
Overall - 32/40 - Good
As I thought it would from the start, this episode gets a good rating. And I’m sure you know what that means for the personal rating.
Personal Rating - 8/10 - Good
Overall, I think this is a good episode. It’s not amazing, and not bad. It kind of just set the standard for the average MLP episode, if not at the same level of quality as the rest. This episode is very consistent in all its qualities, which is a good thing, but unfortunately it’s not consistently high. The biggest thing about it to me that screams 8/10 is that it’s entertaining, but not really memorable overall. It’s not an episode that I’d ever rewatch if not for the purpose of critiquing or because I’m rewatching the whole show.
I am grateful to it though, for setting up all the tropes of MLP, from its fun slice-of-life scenarios, to the snappy dialogue, to the silly characters, etc. Even if this episode isn't the best in any way, it paved the way for success.
