Thoughts on S9 Part 11: The Right Amount of a Good Thing

Welcome to the end game. Just seven episodes to go until G4 wraps up and...I'm excited. Sad. Exsaded. I may be getting ahead of myself a bit but, there's a real chance this final run could end up being the longest streak of good episodes in the show. For me the record currently stands at 9 in a row (S5's midseason, Amending Fences to Hearthbreakers), going into these we're sitting at 4 with a maximum run of 11 available. I'm hopeful, I'm ready to talk about two more episodes, and I'm sure not ready for the 3-part finale. Especially considering I'll be at UK Ponycon when it airs. Well, that's for then, these are for now!

Something something unmarked spoilers, you know the drill by now.

Episode 20 - A Horse Shoe-In:

I'll admit, I was a little worried about this one beforehand. Aside from taking a full nine episodes to finally give Starlight another speaking role (and almost certainly being her final spotlight ep to boot) and the fact it's laying out where she'll be at the end of the show, this is the last episode to have a brand new writer. No pressure on Ariel Shepherd-Oppenheim then.

I'm going to get the big sticking point out of the way first...Trixie. Over the years we've seen that her ego has four settings: Lovably arrogant, Frustratingly self-centred, Possessed evil, and Gratingly narcissistic. This though...This was something else. Trixie, you know Starlight needs actual help to keep her nerves in check. Heck, you've been the one giving it on more than one occasion. How can she straight up be told 'You're not doing enough to help me and get the vice-headmare role' and still assume she'll be carried on nepotism? The sheer ignorance of reality and ego boosting managed to create a fifth setting so ridiculously above the others I can only label it 'Eric Cartman'. It may not be your worst showing, Trix, but it's definitely down there. You deserved nearly every word of Starlight's venting. And Starlight, to use your own words regarding your response after, I really think you're being too hard on yourself.

It's a shame because I really enjoyed this otherwise. Starlight and Phyllis were a fun duo (and I don't blame her, if I'd become a main character only for the final season to have less appearances than in S6, I'd be talking to plants too), some extra development for Octavia and Doctor Hooves is always welcome, Trixie still had some positive moments (like being more of a parent to Gallus than anyone ever) and Twilight continues to show she's finally getting the hang of this leadership thing. Plus we got a surprise conclusion to Sunburst's story when he got the vice-headstallion position in the end.

All in all, there have been far worse first episodes. Aside from Trixie being far too Trixie, this was a fun one and it's nice to see Starlight going out on a positive note (bar any appearance in the finale, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't...). Even now it manages to surprise, finally managing to get an episode ranking in between the two premiere eps. Thank you Ariel, and thank you best pony.

Episode 21 - Daring Doubt:

And the surprises continue. I certainly didn't call getting one last Daring Do episode AND it being a Rainbow/Fluttershy ep to boot. The Daring Do arc has been something of a canyon in terms of quality. Read it and Weep and Daring Don't were both enjoyable, Stranger Than Fan Fiction is still the only episode of the show I'd say I hated and while not great, Daring Done was a definite step up. So does this one complete the metaphor and mark a rise back to the original levels of quality? For the most part...Yes.

This was an interesting case of turning the whole arc into a case of grey and grey morality. Caballeron's backstory (if true) paints his rivalry with Daring Do as righteous treasure hunter who stockpiles relics they find VS underhanded treasure hunter that puts relics to good use. It's actually interesting to think about and makes Caballeron's redemption one of the best for some time. Of course he needed Fluttershy hanging out with him to get there (though it is kind of weird she completely trusted the word of somepony she's actually fought against in the past over Rainbow Dash) but it paid off. Seeing him and Daring actually working cohesively and teaming up for their next book was a satisfying way to bring their arc to a close...Almost.

Last episode showcased us not having enough of a good thing (Starlight in that case), here we have too much of a good thing. Namely, redemptions. It's as if Nicole Dubuc climbed the tree of character closure, managed to pick Caballeron near flawlessly, then reached for Ahuizotl and fell off the ladder. Yeap, apparently he was never evil and was just doing his job to protect the relics of the Tenochtitlan Basin, and is now a bestseller author telling his side of the story too.........What? I have a pretty good suspension of disbelief for this show, but that was just too far for me. Telling me that the same vehement beast that was basically willing to destroy the basin under centuries of sun fire was just doing his job...I'm sorry, I just can't buy it. I don't normally do this, but I can't help but feel a better ending would have been if the team had escaped Ahuizotl's clutches, Daring and Caballeron had settled their rivalry and agreed to work together to keep Ahuizotl's dangerous reach from expanding beyond the Tenochtitlan Basin. Same amount of closure and a better sense of where the characters are going once the show ends.

It's a real shame it reached that bit too far too. This was setting up to easily be a top 5 episode for the season. It's still far from a bad episode. The positives outweigh the negative, up the streak to 6 episodes and it still ranks pretty high for the season. It just feels like with a little more restraint, it could have been so much better. Still, I'm largely satisfied with what we got. Here's hoping the remaining few episodes can keep the train of closure and quality going.

Episode Rankings:

1 - The Summer Sun Setback
2 - Frenemies
3 - The Last Crusade
4 - Sparkle's Seven
5 - A Trivial Pursuit
6 - She's All Yak
7 - The Beginning of the End, Part 2
8 - Daring Doubt
9 - A Horse Shoe-In
10 - The Beginning of the End, Part 1
11 - Dragon Dropped
12 - The Last Laugh
13 - Between Dark and Dawn
14 - Student Counsel
15 - She Talks to Angel
16 - Common Ground
17 - The Point of No Return
18 - Sweet and Smoky
19 - Uprooted
20 - 2, 4, 6, Greaaat
21 - Going to Seed

S9 Bingo: 10/25

New writer rankings:
1 - Ariel Shepherd-Oppenheim (I kind of wish she'd shown up earlier, she could have done some outstanding episodes with more time)
2 - Gail Simone (Didn't do anything wrong, but perhaps wrote a bit too much like an older season)