Episode Re-Review: A Bird in the Hoof · 9:02pm Feb 10th, 2021
So, what was next for Season 1 after the weirdness and stupidity on display in "Over a Barrel"? Well, apparently this, an episode written by Charlotte Fullerton whose track record was very uneven. But hey, she was able to improve from "Look Before You Sleep" by writing "Suited For Success" which was the show's breakout episode. So maybe she could get Season 1 back on track? Well, let's find out.
We begin at Fluttershy's cottage with her tending to an injured mouse, and apparently she has wheelchairs and bandages small enough for mice. But then Angel Bunny comes running up with a stop watch and after a little bit of charades Fluttershy realizes she's late for a very important date.
It gets so bad that Angel has to force Fluttershy out of the cottage and lock the door behind her to keep her from coming back inside. Fluttershy runs all the way to Sugarcube Corner where royal guards are posted outside (isn't that kind of drawing attention? You might as well hang up a sign that says "The princess is here."). Rainbow Dash tries to make them laugh but they're like the palace guards in the U.K. in that they just stand around and don't react, so Rainbow gives up. Then Fluttershy approaches them and they lock their wings, refusing to let her pass. Fortunately, Twilight happens to see this and clears things up with the guards.
Twilight is a little worried because the rest of her friends don't seem to be acting all that well during what appears to be a formal breakfast at Sugarcube Corner. Most noticeably, Applejack isn't sure what to eat first and Pinkie Pie displays an appalling lack of table manners. This actually causes Mrs. Cake to gasp, but it's Pinkie's gasp reused. Except it doesn't work because Mrs. Cake doesn't sound anything like Pinkie. Princess Celestia doesn't seem to mind and seems to take advantage of the Cake's hospitality to play a trick on them by pretending to drink from her tea cup, causing them to overfill it.
Fluttershy comes before the princess but soon takes note of a very sick looking bird in a cage. Princess Celestia says she values all animals and doesn't seem to take notice of Fluttershy's concerns. Then a guard shows up and whispers something into Princess Celestia's ear. She declares that Mayor Mare needs to speak with her and that the breakfast is over. For some strange reason Rarity is wearing her gala dress even though she doesn't want it to get stained. Twilight, however, is just relieved that "no big disasters happened", and take a wild guess what happens. That's right, Fluttershy somehow manages to abduct Princess Celestia's pet bird (named Philomeena) without anyone noticing and takes said bird back to her cottage to try and nurse it back to health.
From there we spend a lot of time on Fluttershy trying to nurse a sick bird back to health, and the show basically tries to go for gross out humor. Except the animation plays it way too safe, the closest we get are when Philomeena pukes on Fluttershy's face and when her feathers keep falling off. It isn't until Twilight shows up that we get anything of real substance, as she realizes Fluttershy stole Princess Celestia's pet and suggests that if Princess Celestia finds out she'll punish Fluttershy, even going so far as to suggest she'll banish Fluttershy, imprison her or banish her and then imprison her in the place she's banished to. Fluttershy rightfully asks if Twilight believes Princess Celestia would do such a thing, but Twilight is afraid to take the chance.
Twilight tries to force Philomeena to take her medicine but it doesn't go very well. Then some royal guards show up to ask if anyone's seen the princess' pet. Twilight and Fluttershy make them go away by pretending to cough all the time. But attempts to make Philomeena get better go nowhere. Then Philomeena gives them both the slip, prompting a chase scene set to that discount Benny Hill theme we heard in "The Ticket Master" as well as things like the Scooby-Doo doors.
It all culminates when Philomeena ends up on top of a statue, and then leaps off it and bursts into flames right in front of Fluttershy. Fluttershy ends up weeping as she holds Philomeena's ashes in her hooves, just as Princess Celestia shows up. Fluttershy owns up to what she did and Princess Celestia appears to grieve, before she tells the pile of ashes to "stop fooling around". And Philomeena emerges, revealing herself as a phoenix. So this entire episode is basically that one scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. You know, the one where Dumbledore's pet phoenix burst into flames right in front of Harry and Harry thought it was his fault.
Princess Celestia reveals that Philomeena took advantage of being on her burning day to play tricks on Fluttershy and Twilight, and forces her to apologize. Afterward, Rainbow Dash enlists Philomeena's help to make the guards laugh by using her feathers to tickle them.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Honestly, it's pretty boring. Up until Philomeena runs away not a lot really happens despite their attempts to inject some drama. This really feels like an episode that was written before they'd really pinned down the characters, particularly Twilight since I find it hard to believe she never even accidentally stumbled upon Philomeena in the state she's in in this episode. It wouldn't surprise me if they just forgot about this episode and then came back to it later because they were cramped for time and needed episodes to meet a deadline. It can't work as a gross out humor type of episode because the animation plays it way too safe. And even the chase scene ends up becoming unfunny because it drags on for too long and uses gags that just feel like they're there for the sake of being there. So this episode gets a C-, not really bad so much as it is completely forgettable.
Well, thankfully the next episode is a much welcome breath of fresh air in the form of "The Cutie Mark Chronciles", six flashbacks involving the mane six as fillies.
My Little Pony attempting gross out humor is the equivalent of Dora the Explorer attempting black comedy.
Yeah, this is definitely just a boring and not fun episode.
It's my second least favorite of the season.
This is one of the most fun episodes of the season to me tbh.