Episode Re-Review: Games Ponies Play · 2:56pm Mar 21st, 2021
So, with Spike's own story taken care of, Dave Polsky was ready to write what at the time seemed likely to be the show's penultimate episode and a nod to Fawlty Towers in plot. Yet this episode was almost guaranteed to be overshadowed by what came next and what it would mean for the show and the fandom. Dave's most recent work had included "Too Many Pinkie Pies", the story for "Spike At Your Service" (which Merriweather Williams horribly revised) and a collab for "Keep Calm and Flutter On" supposedly done with a fifteen year old brony. So, was Dave up to the task of writing on his own again? Well, let's find out.
We begin with a reminder of what Spike was doing last episode before Twilight and the rest of the mane six board a train to the Crystal Empire. On the platform, Rainbow Dash recounts how Cloudsdale was once up for consideration for the Equestria Games but was passed over in favor of Fillydelphia. Interestingly, Rainbow is seen with a stallion here who was later named Rainbow Blaze. Speculation at the time was that he was either her big brother or her father. Ultimately, he would be neither, just a coach who apparently taught Rainbow "everything she knows". But considering what Rainbow's parents were like, maybe he was a better role model for her in the end.
So because of that childhood memory, Rainbow wants to ensure that the Crystal Empire is not passed over like Cloudsdale was. Twilight even has them all practice a cheering routine on the train, which goes awry when the train comes to a stop and Applejack grumbles about how stupid Twilight's decision was. After a bit of filler with Rainbow scaring a child, the mane six arrive at a spa where Princess Cadence is having her mane done, having learned of a tradition that the Crystal Empire's ruler used to do when greeting important guests. We have the usual greeting between her and Twilight, and then Cadence teaches Twilight a deep breathing routine to avoid stressing out. However, things soon afterward start going wrong when the intended mane stylist is out sick and no one else at the spa knows how to do the task. And worse than that is that the inspector for the committee that assigns the games to a city is due to arrive shortly. Rarity stays behind to work on Cadence's mane while the rest of the mane six go to greet the inspector with only one clue: "Miss. Harshwhinny" will be identifiable due to her flower print luggage.
Rainbow comments on how the inspector is bound to be testing them and they should be ready for anything. The resto f the mane six then reach the platform and immediately spot a mare with flower print luggage. Do they ask her if she's Miss. Harshwhinny though? No. They just assume that because of her luggage this mare is the inspector. So they decide to give her a welcome tour of the Crystal Empire and of course the actual Miss. Harshwhinny arrives just after they leave the platform.
The stupidity continues with the line "Since we're not from the empire, who better than us to show you around?" as if somehow that's supposed to convince an inspector. They take the mare to the castle since Rarity messed up on styling Cadence's mane by skipping a step she thought was optional. And the rest of the mane six do their cheer routine from earlier, but don't think anything odd at all when "Miss. Harshwhinny" acts surprised that Princess Cadence even knows her. They think it is all just an act, in fact they think everything the mare does is part of an act to test them. And at no point do they ask for clarification that she is in fact who they think she is. And with Rarity still busy working on Cadence, she tells Twilight to stall for more time. Twilight goes to see Shining Armor while the rest of the mane six opt to give the mare a tour of the castle despite obviously not knowing anything about it.
As for Shining Armor, he's at this newly constructed stadium coaching the Crystal Empire's athletic team. He even comments on how surprised he is that Twilight isn't panicking. But things quickly get out of control when "Miss. Harshwhinny" ends up at the stadium and runs loose, ultimately getting a vase stuck on her head. All the while the real Miss. Harshwhinny has been ignored completely even when Twilight passes her by (because the inspector is worth treating well but not what appears to be a random civilian even though it could be a good showing of hospitality). It's only once the vase is off (and Rainbow gets flung onto the roof of the spa) that the truth comes out, this mare is not in fact Miss. Harshwhinny. She doesn't identify herself by name, she just claims to be a wild mustang from Mustangia and even flirts with Shining Armor a bit (much to his disgust). It only gets harsher in hindsight due to the fact that the voice actress here, Patrica Drake, would go on voice to Twilight Velvet with basically the same voice she uses for the mare who would be named Miss. Peachbottom.
So the rest of the mane six fan out to start looking for Miss. Harshwhinny while Miss. Peachbottom ends up at the spa, unknowningly talking to Miss. Harshwhinny about the treatment she received (which was only given because it was presumed she was the inspector). Pinkie Pie, in her own Pinkie way, suggests checking the spa. And sure enough, Miss. Harshwhinny is there and complains to Princess Cadence about the treatment she received. However, Miss. Harshwhinny is partially to blame for the mix-up due to the fact that she didn't bother to clarify when she would be arriving or what she looked like, so how did she expect the Crystal Empire to properly identify her and welcome her? Rainbow Dash does confess to her part in making things worse due to her desire to make sure the Crystal Empire won the right to host the games, but then Miss. Harshwhinny reveals that because of Miss. Peachbottom's treatment due to the mix-up the empire can have the games anyway.
We briefly get a reminder of Spike's presence from the other episode, but because we saw that first the "mystery" behind the baggage cart spilling its load and Spike and the pets hiding under the seats is not a mystery. All this really does is clarify what Twilight's comment in the previous episode about Spike staying calm was about.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, let's face it, this episode was perhaps intentionally written to be as low key and average as possible so as not to overshadow the finale. But they really didn't need to do it in such an insulting fashion. The story tries to capture that Fawlty Towers kind of humor, particularly with the whole "The inspector's here" plot. But in trying to do so it makes the mane six look bad for not asking obvious questions and just assuming things, though there is also the headscratching detail of Miss. Harshwhinny expecting a welcoming reception despite not clarifying when she was coming or what to look out for to signify her arrival. And her being "swayed" by a pony who got the treatment intended for the inspector doesn't make sense no matter how you think about it. Heck, Rarity is completely sidelined here for what I can only assume is because she would've spotted things the others didn't. The development that Twilight gets here is nice, but she could've gotten it at any point from any episode and it didn't have to be from this episode. Heck, at the time it seemed like the Equestria Games would never actually be shown. And if they hadn't this episode would've been the most pointless in the entire show because it accomplished nothing. As it is, its attempt to tie in with an already pretty weak episode doesn't help it much, neither episode seems particularly strong. So this episode too gets a C-, they really wanted to make sure the finale would not be overshadowed and they succeeded a little too well in that regard.
Well, next up is the review I think you've all been waiting for. The re-review of the intended series finale that was ultimately just a season finale at the last minute "Magical Mystery Cure", and one that still remains controversial, polarizing and divisive to this day.
This was an episode that I thought was fun at first, but really isn't that good in hindsight.
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Yeah. I do like that Harshwhinny at least acknowledges she may have screwed up by, for some reason, not telling them when exactly she'd be arriving, or what she looked like. Like, did she just say "I'll be the mare with the floral luggage?" It reminds me of, both in fiction and IRL, people will often give VERY vague descriptions of suspects
In a way, you could say Rarity's subplot in this episode comes off as an unintentional metaphor for how this season treated her.
5480337 Well it was not by choice or intention. Rarity was supposed to get her own episode this season and it was turned into an Applejack episode because Meghan thought the script made Rarity "too mean". Aside from that, the worst Rarity got was the same problem everyone had during "The Crystal Empire" in that they couldn't make the mane six's personalities fit the story.
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I'm well aware of that. I was just making a point. Even if the original Spike at Your Service wasn't the best written, I honestly would've preferred that over what we ended up getting if only so Rarity would've gotten her time in the spotlight instead of making us think the show staff just completely ignored her this season.