Our Collab Review of Pony Meets World Season 2 · 2:59pm Jan 10th, 2021
10/10: Perfect season! Amazing and flawless!
9/10: Awesome season. It has minor flaws but has more positives than negatives.
8/10: Great season. It has several problems but not enough to ruin it.
7/10: It’s actually good. It has a lot of issues although mildly entertaining.
6/10: It’s decent enough to be passable.
5/10: It’s meh; neither terrible nor great.
4/10: Nah, it’s really bad.
3/10: What’s that mediocre smell?
2/10: Something is on fire! It’s a dumpster fire!
1/10: Mayday! Mayday! The season is rotting away!
Hey, folks, welcome back to ScorchingFlamesInc. In case you remember, my good friend TheClownPrinceofCrime did a review on Pony Meets World Season 1... which I helped with. And since we've been collaborating on this series, we've agreed that if he'd be posting the season 1 review and stating the pros, that's what my job would be for season 2. And since I stated the season 1 cons, he'll be doing that job here. If you haven't seen the season 1 review, go check it out!
With that, let's get started...
1. First off, the story. Now, the story for this season is different than in the first. While season 1 was about things like our main characters getting used to the ponies, Joey-O trying to bring Twilight and her friends back, and especially Joey trying to save Jared's life. Instead, the series starts with Joey and Jared being put in the situation where they have to stop a villain, then takes a slice-of-life turn similar to the regular MLP show, and then delves back into that high-stakes storyline where things are worse off than before. It's a very interesting way for things to go, and shows how Equestria and Earth being linked can have greater impact. And for the slice-of-life stuff... it works. It's only two episodes, but it works, and the fact that the ponies were soon able to come and go as they please eased the tension and let the viewers sit back and relax a bit. However, the situation of Equestria and Earth actually being in danger is a great set-up, and serves as a great start and a great ending as well. I have some thoughts on the final episode that I'll discuss later.
2. Now, the characters. Of course, we have Joey-O and his friend Jared (who I like more than Mr. J does. I find his personality sometimes funny in my opinion. Joey-O is still a hard 1st for me). We also have Dustin, another season 1 character, and who could forget Twilight and her friends? We do end up getting introduced to two new secondary characters: Roilan, and Raidel. Both are... interesting, to say the least. Roilan is Joey's brother, but what's more interesting is how he's been a Brony even before the link to Equestria and Earth was set. I like Roilan, and the concept of being a Brony even before the events of this series is a good trait to put in a character. For Raidel, he's someone that Joey knew six years ago in the past, and also someone Joey definitely did not want to see again. He's also the reason that Rarity was absent for a large portion of Season 1, because he kidnapped her to help him grow his cheeseburger trees (yes, really). I like Raidel as well, and in my opinion, he is a good example of a very oddball character, and someone from the main character's past (though the backstory part isn't really important to the series... it's more of a reference to one of Joey's previous projects, Joey-O-Underground).
3. Again, the ponies are handled very well with decent to moderate green-screen effects. And once again, we get more original animation and voice acting in the finale, along with a dose of it in the start. Luna is, sadly, sidelined along with the spirit world, but I'm not too bothered by that. It just further solidifies the shift in tone. I like how fitting some of the scenes are, such as Rarity's complaining from the Diamond Dogs episode being reused for Raidel, and it works. Nothing can top the original animation and voice acting, but it's still better than nothing.
4. Now, let's talk about the villain of the season: Discord! He's been important to this series from the first episode. He hid in the shadows in season 1, making a cameo appearance, before going all-out in season 2. The premiere reveals that he's the reason why the ponies can come to Earth. He was easily defeated when the first episode ended, but he ended up breaking out and coming back in a very unique way. The way they handled Discord's character at the end was clever and efficient, because when Discord returned again at the end of the season, he was *spoiler alert* split in two: a good Discord, which was Discord but mute, and the evil Discord... that was human, and possibly more evil than original Discord. It was a very great way to treat the character, and the acting was very well done.
5. Before I hand the cons over to Mr. J, I'm going to toss in some extra stuff. The humor? It worked at times. I loved how they made fun of Donald Trump (because this was made when he was becoming president). This was how they said it... at some point, they mentioned Donald Trump's election victory. Not even a minute later, Joey said "This guy's gonna ruin us all!" And Jared said "Who? Trump or Discord?" That joke could not have been more perfect at a time like this! Other jokes made me grin as well. I'm also going to mention that the finale was amazing! Some other members/former members of the fandom took small parts, such as Wubcake or LittleshyFiM. Also, Joey was briefly a pony. And I loved that part a lot.
So, before my final verdict, let's hear from Mr. J about the cons. He'll be highlighted in purple. Take it away!
Alright. Well, Leo made some great points about the characters and the story in a positive light. However, there were a few things in the season that not only rubbed me the wrong way but also didn’t really make any sense. Here are the following:
1). After Joey gets into Equestria with Twilight and the others, he again groans over the fact that the walk to Canterlot Castle is very far. Umm, why didn’t he just asked Twilight to teleport them both to the city? Twilight can teleport, right? Wouldn’t that save plenty of time to do that? Or maybe he was in a rush and couldn’t remember that small detail. Either way, he could’ve just asked her. I know, it’s a minor issue, but I couldn’t help but notice that.
2). While the acting was mostly well done and well directed, there were moments where Jared, Dustin, and Joey had quite a lot of cringeworthy moments. It may not be that big of a deal, but I didn’t particularly like some of the awkward or cringey moments they had such as Raidel going crazy over cheeseburgers not having any meat or meat and the other guys interacting with Maud Pie. Speaking of which, I felt like that episode with Maud was just a rehash of her debut episode from season 4 of the actual show, but then again, it could also serve as a callback to the episode. With that said, I can’t complain much about that.
3). How exactly did Discord free himself from stone imprisonment and changed into a human? It was never explained how or why he was like that at the end of the series or why his kind, shy, and mute counterpart was... well, existing. Maybe he was a draconequus version of Fluttershy or something. Either way, those plot points felt out of nowhere.
4). Additionally, we never see Joey try to solve the Discord problem during those “three months” it showcased in which he’s been seeing him around lately. So during those three months, he’s been going crazy after trying to... find him?? How exactly?
5). Speaking of time skips, there are WAY too many time jumps and transition cards taken from Spongebob. In my opinion, it takes away the focus of the story and immediately becomes an unfunny gimmick for laughs. Once in a while is enough. If you keep adding too many time transition cards from Spongebob just for the laughs and to hasten the plot, it becomes annoying really fast.
6). We see Scootaloo and many ponies suddenly in one episode and then we don’t see them again afterwards. Just as Leo already pointed out in our previous collab review for season 1, the series is meant to focus on Joey, his buddies, and the Mane Six. Having that many ponies would be very “chaotic” for the human characters. Ha, “chaotic”... because Discord—
7). Anyway, those are the main issues I have with the season, but there are still plenty of good things that can easily overshadow them. Once you focus on the enjoyment, the interaction between characters, and the wonderful comedy of those episodes, you will have a great experience in watching this season and the entire series as a whole.
Now, unto Leo to give the final verdict of the season.
Thanks Mr. J. Overall, this season had its flaws like the first, but it again does not disappoint. Those flaws, like in season 1, are ignored by all the good things in this season. With some decent humor, more characters, a great story, higher stakes, and especially a bigger and more epic season as a whole, this is worthy of a 9/10.
With the combined score of the show being 18/20 and simplified, that gives the grand total of the series a 9/10 as well. And although a sequel series was being made, it was cancelled on the last episode due to, as Mr. J said in the season 1 review, COVID-19 and mainly fandom toxicity. Which was a bummer, too. I really loved the sequel series just as much as this, and I wanted to see it end. But I do respect Joey's decision, and I plan on checking out his non-pony works. It's time to move on.
Anyways, thank you all for checking out our collab reviews! I hope that, when you watch the series, you enjoy it just as much as we do! You'd be surprised on how much it impacted this fandom... it inspired a decent amount of bronies. With that said, we'll see you all next time.
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There is one question I have in this series, and that is *SPOILERS* Did they actually get Morgan Freeman for the Season 2 premier?
5433267
I... think so. Although the comments are disabled (for good reason), I think Joey said they did. Not 100% sure, but I’m leaning to yes.
5433270
Also, I finished the series and I have to say, I didn't like the ending in my opinion. Like, I get why everyone has to leave, but they could've at least shown their last farewell to each other, instead of Jared explaining what happened afterwards. It just felt a bit, rushed.
Also, did "Earth to Pony" really got cancelled in 2020? Cause there's this other guy who made an unofficial sequel called, "Earth to Pony: Timelines", and it was made in 2019. It also featured Joey-O saying that he's cancelling "Earth to Pony" in the first episode.
5433273
Earth to Pony was cancelled on episode 1... then brought back... and then got cancelled again on the last episode because of the toxicity.
5433276
Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up, and nice review by the way.
5433277
Thanks. If you haven’t, go check out the first season’s review
5433501
I guess so.