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Monthly Archives: August 2014

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six: “A Canterlot Wedding”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

A Canterlot Wedding, Applejack, changeling, changelings, Chrysalis, Fluttershy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Princess Cadance, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Shining Armor, This Day Aria, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

Twilight Sparkle gets a surprise while having a picnic with her friends when Spike runs up bearing two messages from Princess Celestia: one saying that there is to be a wedding in Canterlot in which the Mane Six are expected to handle preparations, and the other saying that the groom is Twilight Sparkle’s brother, Shining Armor. Twilight is both afraid that she’s losing her “best friend” as well as angry that he said nothing about the wedding or who he’s marrying. On arrival in Canterlot, they find things more odd in that the entire city is gearing up for battle due to a threat of invasion having been made. Shining Armor himself is using his power to maintain a shield impassable to evil around the entire kingdom and claims that’s the reason he hasn’t told Twilight anything about this beforehand, and reveals that the one he’s marrying is Twilight’s old “foalsitter” and one of the only three alicorns in existence: Princess Cadance. Twilight is momentarily enthused at the thought of Cadance being her new sister-in-law, but that quickly changes when Cadance doesn’t recognize her, expresses a cold, almost cruel, attitude to everyone, and is unusually rude and brusque to the Mane Six. When Twilight shares her fears, the Mane Six ignore them, chalking them up to Cadance wanting everything perfect and Twilight being jealous over losing her brother. Yet when Twilight catches Cadance casting a strange spell that seems to impact Shining Armor mentally and Cadance’s original bridesmaids mysteriously disappear and are replaced by the other members of the Mane Six, she interrupts the wedding rehearsal and tells everyone what she feared. When Cadance starts crying, Shining Armor angrily defends her, having an explanation for everything Twilight has seen, and then tells her he doesn’t want her in the wedding. Everyone else walks out, also angry at Twilight, and she begins to fear she was wrong. When Cadance suddenly reappears, she apologizes…only for Cadance’s eyes to flash green and serpentine before she casts a spell that makes Twilight vanish in a ring of green fire.

Twilight soon finds herself teleported to the forgotten Canterlot Caves, where Cadance reveals she’s being imprisoned there while she works an evil design on Shining Armor. Soon after, Twilight finds a second Cadance, more haggard and worn-looking, but also kinder and gentler. She reveals she’s the true Princess Cadance and that the one she’s been talking to is a monster called a changeling that impersonates loved ones and then feeds off of that love until they’ve left the victim a soulless husk, and she’s been feeding off of Shining Armor and gradually eroding his will until he has become her puppet. The two escape and confront “Cadance” at the wedding and reveal the truth, prompting her to revert into her true monstrous form: Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings. She reveals she intended to invade Canterlot and Equestria and feed off of all of the natural love that the ponies had for each other and make her and her hive the most powerful entities in the world. She further reveals the barrier Shining Armor made has been growing weaker as he has, and is nearly about to break with an army of changelings ready to invade. Celestia steps forward to stop her…and is struck down with one blast as Chrysalis has grown too powerful from feeding on Shining Armor’s love. The girls go to get the Elements of Harmony instead, but the changelings break in and capture them as well, bringing them back before Chrysalis, the zombified-Shining-Armor, and the restrained Cadance. When Chrysalis turns aside to gloat, Twilight frees Cadance, who uses her own power, in turn, to bring Shining Armor back to consciousness before combining her power with his to make a new shield, which in turn blows Chrysalis and the changelings out of Canterlot and Equestria. Twilight Sparkle plans a new wedding for Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, Princess Celestia commends her for trusting her instincts, and the wedding ends up being the “Best. Wedding. EVER.”

Rating:

(Takes a deep breath and puts on a protecting raincoat against tomatoes and rotten eggs)

I’m going to be a bit “long winded” about this one, so let’s get it over with…

…

This episode was worse than the Season Three premiere and was, in many ways, the worst episode in the entire series.

There, I said it, and I’m not taking it back. If that offended you, then move on to “Fun Facts”. Otherwise, get ready for a long haul…

Let’s start with my overall assessment. Yes…it’s worse than the Season Three premiere. The Season Three premiere got a lot of flak after this episode, which a lot of people thought was the best of the series, and it didn’t deserve it. The Season Three premiere was superior to this episode in every way EXCEPT the villain (and maybe one song). However, I think the problem with the fan response to this episode is, ironically, the same problem plaguing the Mane Six in this episode. They’re focused so much on one thing about this episode that they’re completely forgetting everything else.

I honestly believe this episode was a “bastardized Frankenstein monster”. Goodness knows Hasbro probably forced them to make it, similar to “Equestria Girls”. They wanted to sell a line of toys that had the ponies all in wedding apparel, with wedding coaches, wedding parties, and everything else that makes the original target audience for the show giggle and blush…little girls who know nothing about romantic love or relationships and are brought up on ultimately foolish and unrealistic visions of their “Prince Charming” and “perfect fairy-tale weddings”. That meant the biggest episode of the season had to be “a wedding”.

Although I can’t find any evidence to support this, I believe honestly what happened was the writers came up originally for an “after school special” episode that featured Twilight Sparkle getting jealous over the bride at her brother’s wedding and ending up making a bunch of wild accusations that ultimately boiled down to nothing, that Twilight would apologize to the bride, everyone would make up, and, to the tune of the wedding, Twilight Sparkle would write to Celestia some letter about the importance of realizing “there’s enough love to go around” and to “embrace new family members”.

My guess is the producers and Hasbro looked over that and thought it was far too weak. Plus, it rehashed old morals already covered in this season. Maybe they thought it paled in comparison to the Season Premiere (it would have), or that too much of it was focused on weddings being a source of “contention” or “irritation”, which would have ruined the angle to sell more wedding merchandise, or maybe they thought it made Cadance too negative even if it would have only been Twilight’s perception. They wanted Shining Armor and Cadance to “stand out”. After all…why would kids bother buying toys for two characters they just found out about who were ultimately irrelevant? Even if one of them was a plot-hole-alicorn? Or maybe, and this is most likely of all, they would have had to REALLY throw in “wedding fluff” to make that a two-parter episode, at which point it would have been even more ridiculously obvious that this episode was purely “for profit”.

So they had to create a conflict worthy of the level of the Season Two opener, and they had to make Shining Armor and Cadance the heroes, and make them just so gosh-darn likable that kids would actually want to buy their toys. The result was this mess.

Where do I start? The fact that we’re supposed to sympathize with Twilight Sparkle when she moans about losing a brother we never knew she had? The total plot holes when she talks about having seen him times since moving to Ponyville yet she doesn’t even have a picture from him or have him appear in her flashbacks? How about the alicorn thrown in “out of nowhere” who, for some reason, never lived as a princess but as a typical kid? (Some may argue that’s “the way things are” in Equestria…and they’re wrong because the big thing in Season Four is Twilight’s constant attempts to not be treated like royalty.) Could it be that we’re supposed to identify and be emotionally attached to a pair of characters who are blatant MacGuffins that we’ve just met? How about the fact that everyone is so “stupefied” by the wedding that they don’t notice a single thing about the Fake Cadance and dismiss everything she does that’s “off”? I mean…give me a break. Less than a minute after Fake Cadance walked in I realized that she was a bitch. If it’s that obvious to the audience then you have to claim everyone else was stupid. Shining Armor has an “excuse”, but no one else does.

Maybe the fact that the Mane Six are such “background characters” in this episode that they barely do anything in the fight sequence? Or that the dramatic parts were so badly written that it’s filled with characters who just “stand there and listen”? Or that Twilight Sparkle herself had to nearly become a “side character” so that she wouldn’t steal the thunder from the finale? How about the resolution itself, which was a ridiculous deus ex machina to begin with? People complain about Discord having “lost due to overconfidence”…but this takes the cake. The villain’s otherwise perfect plan is foiled because she turns her back for ten seconds. Why didn’t they just throw in Twilight Sparkle saying “Look! A distraction!” while they were at it? (It actually would have been kind of funny that way…) And then there’s the last five minutes which is absolutely nothing more than a goofy party which shows just how “skewed” the whole episode was in terms of its fan base. Because that’s what little girls think 75% of a wedding is…a nice big party as opposed to a lifetime of commitment or a major turning point in people’s lives. Maybe I’m being too cynical about the wedding part…but for crying out loud, if even Disney in “Frozen” is starting to realize they’ve been “telling little girls the wrong message” for decades, then you’d think a show as smart as MLP:FIM could do the same.

Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were introduced as plot-device characters in this episode…and, in reality, very little has changed after two more seasons of them, which shows how “forced” they were into the plot in the first place. The IDW comic at least portrayed Shining Armor as having a bit of his sister’s “nerdly” tendencies and being a little socially awkward himself. In the show, on the other hand, his only real purpose after this episode seems to have been to either get his butt kicked by the villain, provide moral support for Cadance, or appear long enough to pretty much say: “Hi! I’m in the episode!”

Cadance, on the other hand, is a fairy princess…and that’s it. That is absolutely it. Every single episode has her being innocent and perfect and beautiful and wonderful and absolutely nothing else. Every time she shows up it’s basically the writers going: “Love this character! Love this character! Love this character!” She doesn’t have anything “bad” about her, to be true…but that, ironically, is what makes her a bad character. Everyone else on the show is so well-rounded and multi-faceted…whereas her character is always pretty, sweet, and perfect. Part of what makes the Mane Six so appealing is that they aren’t perfect. Each and every one of them “violates their own virtue” in regular episodes. That’s what makes them so “real” and “relatable”. Cadance is, quite simply, a fairy princess…and fairies aren’t real.

Now, to give credit where credit is due…

This episode did one thing right, and it was such a “big one thing” that it masked a lot of badness in the episode: Chrysalis. I’ll admit, she was a pretty awesome villain. She differed from the traditional “mold” of power-hungry villains, she oozes malevolence, she’s clever and powerful, she succeeds where Nightmare Moon and Discord failed in many areas, she doesn’t get truly “defeated” at the end, and, to be honest…she’s got a rather nightmarish design and modus operandi for a Y-rated cartoon. She looks like a “pony from Hell”. And to be totally honest…Chrysalis might have been what got me in the fandom. I didn’t officially “join” until Season Three, but in the summer following this episode I happened to catch a screenshot of her online. My jaw dropped. “THAT is one of the characters on that show about ponies?!” When I looked in on her story and found out more about her plot, it made me start to realize this wasn’t a copy of what I remembered from G1 as a kid, which my sisters were fans of. It definitely contributed to me eventually “joining the herd”.

But even Chrysalis’ plan is so mucked up…like how she could have gotten in through the shield to begin with since it expands out from Shining Armor’s horn, or why she decided to warn the city instead of simply sneaking in and catching it totally off guard…and how she loses literally due to a weak plot device. Against a subpar villain that might have been fine, but for crying out loud…she defeated Celestia…she stopped the girls from getting the Elements of Harmony…she conquered Canterlot…and she loses due to a spot of luck.

The biggest disappointment with this episode, however, is that it could have been a lot better with just a couple little changes here and there. I’ll pick on one of the biggest moments of the episode…Celestia’s defeat.

That scene pretty much confirmed to every fan who went around saying “Trollestia” that she really is a useless character who can only troll others and push people around and can’t do anything on her own. And, unfortunately…that view has only been supported on the show since, especially in Season Three. Look…I “get it”. The idea was the “warm, wonderful, wubbly, wondrous love” of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance was supposed to be so strong that it made Chrysalis stronger than Celestia…and they still could have had her lose…but, dang it all, they could have done it a lot better. They could have had Princess Celestia “save face”. Rather than going down with one hit, they could have gotten her into a fight where she was slowly losing, and she could have shouted out: “Get the Elements of Harmony! I’ll hold her off as long as I can!” Or maybe Chrysalis could have aimed for the otherwise-pointless-and-useless guests in the chamber and forced Celestia to jump in front of it and take a hit. But no…she gets pwned in one shot and loses any chance to shut down the people who say how bad her character is.

The moral to this episode about “trusting your instincts” is so clearly tacked on I had forgotten about it, especially since it’s really not good advice in all situations, especially ones presented in this episode where you could be motivated by jealousy. If anything, the message in this episode is to “hate weddings”, because so many of the characters failed to see the “writing on the wall” as a result of their obsession with weddings.

In short, this episode is a mess, a pander, a bunch of holes, and, if not for Chrysalis being so “delightfully evil”, would have been possibly the worst episode in the series. As it was, her presence helped make this season end on a “good note”…but not a terrific one.

Fun Facts:

One of the big inconsistencies in the episode is when exactly Cadance was replaced by Chrysalis. Obviously, the wedding plans were already underway…so the question becomes why neither she nor Shining Armor ever saw the need to tell Twilight Sparkle about it. (Probably the same reason Twilight Sparkle never saw the need to tell anyone else about Shining Armor and Princess Cadance…plot device convenience. :P) But that still creates some problems. Based on the letter, it looks as if Celestia is the one inviting the girls to come in and pretty much handle the entire reception. Now…it makes sense that she would as opposed to Shining Armor and “Cadance”, because Chrysalis wouldn’t want any “siblings” interfering…yet that makes it look as if the whole wedding was Chrysalis’ idea in the first place.

“Mi Amore Candenza” literally translates to “I love Cadance”. The going theory with that is that Chrysalis was “milking every bit of love she could get”, so that even saying her name would give her something to feed on.

“My big brother and I have always been so close!” …which is why he hasn’t been mentioned once in the entire series so far. 😛

This episode is so bad it has holes within itself. Twilight Sparkle said her big brother was the only one she ever accepted as a friend before moving to Ponyville…which is a lie because in the same episode she reveals she was friends with Cadance.

As kind of a “throwback” to the couch joke from “Lesson Zero”, Rarity pulls out a pillow to faint on.

While I normally love the IDW comic series, it made this whole episode even worse. In the comic, it was revealed via flashback that not only did Twilight Sparkle know all about Shining Armor and Cadance’s mutual attraction…she actually helped get them together when she was still a foal. That effectively ruins almost everything in the setup of this episode. My guess is the authors of the comic didn’t care to watch that episode a second time either. 😛

Yet another plot hole…Chrysalis actually announced she was going to attack Canterlot. Wouldn’t it have been easier just to not announce it so she wouldn’t have to worry about the barrier and no one would be ready for her? Granted, it ended up not making much of a difference, but still.

Cadance is an alicorn, which caused a stir. Faust only ever intended for there to be two alicorns, the goddesses Celestia and Luna. Putting in a new one kind of mucked things up a bit, and eventually led to a “redefinition” of Equestrian royalty and princesses which would become clearer in Season Three and Four. Eventually, it would show that alicorns aren’t part of the “nobility” but become “princesses by virtue”. Still…it might make a good episode to show how Cadance became an alicorn herself at a young age.

Cadance’s cutie mark is the Crystal Heart from “The Crystal Empire”…so I give the writers some credit in this episode for “looking ahead” as she would become the ruler of the Crystal Empire in Season Three.

Twilight Sparkle wiggling her butt in the air for the “Do a little shake!” part of her rhyme became rather memeable…especially the look on “Candace”‘s face.

Luna appears very briefly in this episode, in only a handful of scenes…but it’s also responsible for a rather interesting fan theory: Luna is Chrysalis. I don’t believe it, but I can see how it works. In Luna’s first appearance, where she “relieves” Celestia, when the camera moves off of her…her wings spread, as if she’s about to fly away again as soon as Celestia’s back is turned. Later, when Twilight runs away from Fake Cadance and Shining Armor, she’s there…but coldly orders Twilight to “stay indoors”. The biggest part, of course, is when Luna fails to show up for any of the wedding or the rehearsal…but after Chrysalis is blown away suddenly flies in asking: “Did I miss anything?”

From the time Chrysalis reveals herself to her defeat, only about 7 minutes pass out of the entire episode.

So much for the girls having learned to “not brush off Twilight Sparkle’s concerns” as they did in “Lesson Zero”, eh?

Since Cadance wasn’t really “imprisoned”, it seems kind of silly that she didn’t reappear before Twilight showed up as there was no obstacle in her way that she couldn’t have gotten out of the way herself. However…keep in mind that Twilight Sparkle vanished the day before the wedding. They presumably had been trying to find the way back for a full day.

The Canterlot Caves sound like the story behind them could make an interesting episode…

“This Day Aria” is considered by some to be the “highlight song-wise” of the entire season. I’m not sure about that…but it is a good song. Very “Disney-like”. I’d say it reminds me a lot of the fake in “The Little Mermaid”, except “Vanessa”‘s own song is only a few lines. The resemblance to that scene and the one with Fake Cadance, however, is unmistakable. And, like most Disney Villain songs, it has a reprise later in the episode. The only part I dislike is how it’s misleading, like a lot of this episode. It sounds as if Fake Cadance is only just some little “cruel harpy” out to steal a “hunky husband” for herself. It’s not until after this and the big reveal that we get Chrysalis’ real plan.

The CMCs are flower girls for the wedding. Why? To sell toys of them in wedding attire, of course. 😛

Again, a “Do the other characters see this?” problem in the episode. Shining Armor’s vacuous look should have been obvious at the wedding, along with his green eyes. One might argue “no one can see that”…but if that’s the case, how come Twilight saw his eyes go loopy earlier?

Cadance’s power is to make others fall in love. That’s sweet…or it would be if there hadn’t already been an episode condemning forcing people to fall in love.

Ok…I get it…everyone is so obsessed with the wedding they’re “blind” to all else…but not ONE person in Canterlot ran into the wedding saying: “Holy Celestia, there’s an army of changelings smashing themselves against the barrier! Remember that invasion we’re all worried about?! It’s happening now! Why don’t we drop the wedding for a bit!”

The changelings kind of resemble gremlins to me.

Celestia’s defeat, with the slow-mo, kind of resembles Anime defeats.

When the Mane Six charge the changeling swarm…Fluttershy has a nervous look as opposed to a bold one.

The fight against the changeling swarm is the first real “physical fight” the series has had…but it looks like most of the changelings are fighting themselves in the background. Actually…it makes sense as it’s revealed they can’t tell each other apart once they take another form.

Also, Pinkie Pie “wields” Twilight Sparkle like a gun. 😀

The part where the Mane Six go slo-mo and knock the “wave” of changelings into the air is somewhat reminscent of “The Matrix Reloaded”. However, most of the fight leading up to that is more similar to “The Powerpuff Girls”, another show Lauren Faust helped with.

Over the years I’ve begun to wonder if Megan McCarthy has the most “anime affinity” out of all the writers, and not just because of the very DBZ-esque fight in Season Four. In addition to the earlier-mentioned parts, I get a “Serenity/Endymion” (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) vibe from “Cadance/Shining Armor”, especially in this episode. Chrysalis is the female villain who wants Shining Armor all to herself, but only to use him, and it’s the “love united” between Cadance and Shining Armor that blows her away (literally). Plus, the part where the girls finish off the swarm only to find an even larger swarm waiting for them, and immediately cutting to after the fight is similar to one of the Dragonball Z movies against Metal Cooler.

Part of Chrysalis’ notoriety stems from the fact that, unlike the other villains in the series, she was never defeated…just blown out of Canterlot and forgotten by the characters in the series and never mentioned again…unless, of course, every time Twilight and Cadance do the little “rhyme” when they meet is to confirm they’re each “really them”. 😛 Although the IDW comic’s first arc had her return and be more conclusively defeated, she’s still free to rise again at the end of that one too, indicating that they’re planning on bringing her back at some point… (I actually thought when I saw the previews for “Inspiration Manifestation” that Chrysalis was going to end up being the Season Four ending villain, based on the green eyes. :P)

As it turned out, Celestia-in-a-chrysalis ended up being a rather big moment for the fandom as well. While it’s become clear in IDW since then it’s just a restraining measure, the myth perpetuated in the “darker” parts of the fandom is that the chrysalis slowly turns the victim inside into a changeling as well.

Twilight Sparkle’s parents appear at the “real wedding” doing what they’re best at in the series…looking proud of their kids and tearing up. 😛 I kind of wonder where they were during the first wedding… Don’t tell me “Cadance” convinced Shining Armor to leave them out too…

In one of the few “nice touches” I like in the wedding segment…Applejack waits until Rarity wipes her eyes for tearing up…then quickly puts her cowboy hat back on.

Derpy, non-cross-eyed, appears in the audience.

At the wedding reception, Vinyl Scratch returns (literally pulled out of nowhere) and Rainbow Dash dances with Soarin, who is wearing the “non-show uniform” of a Wonderbolt, making it appear here the first time instead of in “Wonderbolts Academy”. Also, Rarity gets a picture with Fancy Pants…who doesn’t seem impressed to see her again for some reason…

Perhaps as “throwing a bone” to the older audience who had to sit through the ending, Spike says after the wedding is concluded: “Just wait ’til you see what I have planned for the bachelor’s party!” No little kid who’s grown up sighing dreamily at every perfect Disney wedding has any idea what the heck a bachelor’s party is, but even if they weren’t full of drunkenness and strippers, you at least have to be old enough to know that they always take place before weddings. By comparison, I’m pretty sure most little kids think the groom does nothing before a wedding except get in a suit and sigh dreamily about how much he loves his princess and has never even heard of the term “bachelor”.

Again, the ending theme has been replaced in this episode.

Rating:

2.5 Stars out of 5 (With 0.5-1 Stars coming solely from Chrysalis)

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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Twenty-Four: “MMMystery on the Friendship Express”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

Applejack, Donut Joe, Fluttershy, Gustave Le Grande, Mulia Mild, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

It’s time for the National Dessert Competition in Equestria, being held in Canterlot, and Pinkie Pie is overseeing the Cakes’ entry: Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness AKA “the MMMM”, and invites the other Mane Six members along. Almost immediately, she and three other bakers clash while on the train: Gustave Le Grand, a French-inspired griffon submitting eclairs, Donut Joe, with his “city” of “Donutopia”, and Mulia Mild, a mule who baked a life-sized chocolate mousse moose. Fearing that they’ll try to sabotage the MMMM, Pinkie Pie elects to guard it that night, and, before falling asleep on the job, is ambushed by a series of strange events involving a shadowy figure, first chasing the figure off to the caboose and vanishing, then chasing the figure to the engine and vanishing, and finally getting in a scuffle when the blinds to the dessert car close on their own. The next day, the MMMM has monstrous bites taken out of all three tiers, and Pinkie Pie, naming herself detective and Twilight Sparkle her assistant, begins immediately making wild accusations of the bakers with no basis of facts. To make matters worse, after passing into a dark tunnel and emerging again, all of the desserts have been ravaged. Twilight eventually “switches roles” and looks for clues, and ends up concluding that the culprits who vandalized the MMMM were Rainbow Dash (she flew to escape Pinkie Pie in the caboose), Fluttershy (she hid herself as the conductor), and Rarity (she used her magic to lower the blinds in the dessert car). Taking a cue from that Pinkie Pie looks for clues as well and discovers that the other bakers devoured each other’s desserts. Everyone reveals Pinkie Pie’s description of the desserts tempted them into eating them all and apologizes. The bakers decide to combine the remains of their entries to create one new entry, which immediately wins first prize. Pinkie writes to Celestia about the importance of never jumping to conclusions.

Review:

Considering what happens in the very next episode…the moral of this one is rather ironic. 😛

I like this episode a lot better on review. It’s something that’s been missing since Season One…good, wacky fun that only Pinkie Pie can provide. True, this is another episode where her silliness gives way to stupidity, but it’s a “good” kind of stupid in this one, where she comes off as more wacky and fun than mean. There’s a moral in it, but for once in Season Two the “drama” is completely overshadowed by the humor. It’s loads of fun. Pinkie Pie’s accusations are great, the characters are great… I can only guess that with the seriousness (at least for ten minutes…) of the next episode, they wanted to end the “regular” episodes on a very light-hearted note.

True, the moral of this story seems almost “tacked on”. Yet in terms of pure humor enjoyment, you don’t really care so much about the “moral”. You’re too busy having a good time with this episode. Plus, I read “Mystery on the Orient Express”, so that adds to my enjoyment although I’m not a rabid mystery fan.

About my only beef is that I think they could have left Applejack out. She’s effectively just “there”. And I don’t like that the episode’s mystery didn’t “play fair”, although it would have been instantly obvious to the audience that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were guilty if it had revealed the clues Twilight found. Yet still, like I said, this is a pretty good episode…and, as will become evident in my review of the Season Finale, was the “high point toward the end of this season”.

Fun Facts:

The name of this episode is obviously a takeoff of the infamous Hercule Poirot mystery: Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express”. However, it shares something else in common with it too. *SPOILER ALERT* Similar to “Murder”, every potential suspect ends up being guilty (except Applejack). *END SPOILERS*

In Season Four, it’s revealed that Ponyville has a fast-food, McDonalds-esque restaurant called “Hay Burger”. However, at the beginning of this episode, Twilight is drinking from a Solo cup with a picture of hay on it. My guess is she either made a stop there in this season or this is one of those “hay shakes” from an earlier episode. 😛

Again, the distance from Ponyville to Canterlot is up in the air. In this episode, it seems to take nearly a full day for a train to get there.

Gustave Le Grand is the first griffon to appear on the show since Season One’s “Griffon the Brush-Off”. Donut Joe, who appeared in “The Best Night Ever”, also shows up in this episode. Finally, Mulia Mild is a parody of Julia Child, an infamous cook.

Fluttershy is scared of the chocolate mousse moose.

A “Whodunnit” is a slang term for a mystery, but Twilight can’t resist correcting the incorrect grammar. 😛

The hats that Pinkie Pie pulls out for herself and Twilight Sparkle are those corresponding to Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Pinkie’s “wild allegations” are all parodies. Her allegation of Gustave is a knock-off of classic silent film “dastardly villains”. Donut Joe’s allegation is a James Bond knock-off. Mulia’s is a knock-off of samurai flicks/anime.

Also, similar to Agatha Christie, the mystery in this episode doesn’t “play fair”. Although it shows Rarity’s eyelash on the picture, it doesn’t reveal what the “first clue” Twilight Sparkle found was (Rainbow Dash’s blue feather), which would have solved part of the mystery a lot sooner. Similarly, it doesn’t reveal Twilight found a long, pink hair in the conductor’s hat, implicating Fluttershy.

Celestia appears in this episode but has no lines. She’s too fixated on the dessert to answer Pinkie Pie. 😛 She’s also the only one who gets to actually eat the desert as Pinkie devours the rest in one bite afterward. What a pig. 😦

An odd episode in which the girls go to Canterlot in this episode only to go to it again in the next episode.

Rating:

3.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Twenty-Three: “Ponyville Confidential”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

Apple Bloom, Applejack, CMCs, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Fluttershy, Gabby Gums, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Ponyville Confidential, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

In their latest attempt to get their Cutie Marks, the CMCs decide to join the school newspaper staff, even if doing so means being under Diamond Tiara as the new editor-in-chief. She demands “juicy” stories, and dismisses everything the girls give her until they report on a story of Snips and Snails getting stuck together from chewing gum. Although the two foals take the story as their shot at fame, everyone else in school, and town, loves it for being an embarrassing piece. Diamond Tiara wants more, and soon the girls create the persona of a gossip columnist named “Gabby Gums” and go around town spying on everyone’s embarrassing moments, “stretching the truth” on them, and then publishing them. They’re a sensation and soon selling all over Ponyville and Cloudsdale, but as time goes on, the Mane Six and other ponies close to the CMCs get slandered by the column, and eventually Rarity finds out their identity. On telling the other girls, they’re soon infuriated at the three and refuse to talk to them. They want to quit, but Diamond Tiara demands they either continue to be Gabby Gums or she’ll publish embarrassing stories about them instead. In spite of the threat, the CMCs eventually run a story exposing their own identity, shutting down the column, and asking for the town’s forgiveness. Soon after, Ms. Cheerilee boots Diamond Tiara off the staff, keeping her from ever running the embarrassing stories in retribution.

Review:

Even by “CMC Episode” standards…this episode is just plain weak.

Don’t get me wrong…out of all the “after school special” episodes they can do, and out of all the ones in the “standard playbook”, gossip is one of the most important. Especially nowadays in the era of cyberbullying. I dare say it’s more important than “standard bullying”, which showed up in Season Three’s “One Bad Apple”, because it simultaneously encourages the bully by providing them anonymity, while spreading to everyone else quickly. Yet this episode failed multiple ways to handle it well.

First, it placed all the blame solely on the CMCs. And, granted, they were indeed the gossipers and most of the blame belonged on them…but it utterly failed to address the “elephant in the room”. With the exception of Twilight Sparkle, each and every character loved Gabby Gums until they got slandered by her. Even when Twilight tried to tell them all that the gossip might be hurtful to who was involved, the girls brushed her off. They claimed it was all “innocent”. That it was “fun” to have your “name in the paper”. In other words, they excused the fact that by soaking up every bit of gossip that was put out, they were, in fact, causing Gabby Gums to thrive and continue more than the CMCs were. If no one actually read Gabby Gums, then it wouldn’t have been an issue. Diamond Tiara would have yanked the column. Yet by their own admission, the ponies said they didn’t like the “Namby-Pamby” stories any more than Diamond Tiara did. It was NEVER until they suffered themselves that they started getting all up-in-arms about how terrible the gossip was.

To me? That makes every last one of them a hypocrite who doesn’t have the right to run the CMCs through the wringer. …Except maybe Twilight. 😛 The ponies in town deserve to share the blame for this one.

Second, it suffered from rather big plot holes. Spike gave not one but two interviews to “Gabby Gums”. He had to have known her real identity. And Ms. Cheerilee seemed to completely ignore any negative impact Gabby Gums might have had on the community until right after the CMCs apologized for it publicly and disowned themselves from it.

Third, it was yet another “have it all” ending. The Mane Six were understandably infuriated at the CMCs for what they did. So mad they didn’t want to talk to them at all, were in constant tears, or, in Rainbow Dash’s case, made it continuously rain on them whenever she could. And I can see that. That’s the cruelest thing about gossip. It’s like tearing open a pillowsack full of feathers and running around and shaking them everywhere, and then being told to put them all back. No matter how hard you work or try, you will never be able to get every last one of those feathers back in that case…and such is the same with trying to “un-gossip” something. Yet all the CMCs have to do is print one “umbrella apology”…and they’re instantly forgiven completely by everyone. That’s…probably the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen on the show. And coming from a show that makes rainbows in factories and a dracoequis who can make chocolate rain…that’s saying something. But it fits here because the CMC episodes are designed to be realistic and “down to Earth”. And gossip is such a hurtful thing that is such a violation of trust that it takes a little more than an apology, even if it meant exposing themselves, to undo it.

I would have preferred if the girls did run their own embarrassing stories as “penance”. Sure, they would have been awful and terrible for them, but if that went along with the apology, it would have been not only poetic justice but would have made everyone “even”.

I do compliment it on not going the “traditional route” that “anti-gossip kid cartoons” go…which would have been for the girls to print an embarrassing article about Diamond Tiara. But the alternative was not believable and poorly executed, especially for a show that tends to handle matters like this rather well.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a huge CMC fan and I think most of their episodes are mediocre at best…but this one crosses into “bad” territory again.

Fun Facts:

Although it’s a CMC episode, it seems to focus more on Sweetie Belle as opposed to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

The opening of the episode, between the background music and the slow overhead shot going to school during the bell, may be a nod to the opening to “The Simpsons”.

Did…Diamond Tiara walk out of the class just to make a dramatic entrance coming back in? :X On that note, Diamond Tiara is just a “generic bitch” in this episode for once as opposed to being a snobbish bully.

Based on the equations on the board…it looks like Ms. Cheerilee is teaching the foals calculus. O_o

Anyone know the joke behind the one student in the fez reading the paper? ‘Cause I sure don’t.

This episode finally confirms Scootaloo is flightless when her tiny wings are unable to keep her from crashing into mud.

One of the articles the girls write is about “The Great and Powerful Trixie”. No wonder she was a laughing-stock by the time Season Three rolled around. 😛

When Twilight gets a pedicure, she’s wearing a massive foam array for all four hooves. This is actually accurate. Horse hooves are individual fingers that fused and grew massive and long over time as opposed to hands.

The fact that the girls did a personal interview with Spike means he must have known who “Gabby Gums” was long before anyone else, including Rarity.

Big Mactintosh still has Ms. Smartypants. 🙂

In a bit of an inversion, Applejack confines herself to one-word replies and Big Macintosh is more talkative to the CMCs. The joke would have worked a bit better if there hadn’t already been plenty of times when Big Macintosh was talkative.

Until the last story, Diamond Tiara had read every single article the CMCs had turned in before printing. The fact that she didn’t read that one was a big telegraph it was going to be something she didn’t want out.

Ms. Cheerilee sounds very “Princess Celestia-esque” in this episode to me for some reason… Ah well.

Rating:

2 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Twenty-Two: “Hurricane Fluttershy”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

Fluttershy, Hurricane Fluttershy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

Since weather is “pony-made” in Equestria, every year pegasi must generate a massive tornado to draw from a water source into Cloudsdale to produce rain. This year, the duty has fallen to Ponyville to generate a tornado of at least “800 wingpower”, but Rainbow Dash wants to go even higher and smash the record held by Fillydelphia, and soon is rallying every pegasi in town to train as hard as possible with the intent of getting each individual up to at least 10.0 wingpower and guarantee the record will be broken. This includes Fluttershy, who is scared witless of doing so because she was mocked when she was younger for being such a weak flier. Even though Rainbow Dash coaxes her into coming to the training field, her pitiful 0.5 wingpower makes her run off in tears. She’s again encouraged by Angel and her animal friends to train harder and, as a result, manages to get herself all the way up to 2.3 wingpower…but as this is still pathetic compared to every other pegasi, she insists that she won’t make a difference and only embarrass herself and refuses to fly. On the day to make the tornado, however, eight of the best pegasi are sick and now it’s debatable whether or not the pegasi can even reach the 800 mark. Everyone jumps in and gives it their best, but only gets to 790 before collapsing. In spite of the danger of the already-tired pegasi hurting themselves with another failure, Rainbow Dash rallies them and they manage to get to 795…but hold there. Although she fears her 2.3 will still not be enough, Fluttershy, encouraged by Twilight, joins in and pushes herself even harder to 3.0 then, finally conquering her inner demons, manages to go up to 5.0 and be enough to make the tornado successful. The pegasi of Ponyville praise Fluttershy, and she writes a letter to Celestia about the importance of never thinking your own contribution is “too small”.

Review:

This episode was a bit better than I remember it.

Don’t get me wrong…it’s got plenty of reasons to be “meh” about it. It’s more “drama based” with less jokes than a lot of other episodes, which on its own makes the episode a bit more subpar. The fact that’s it’s mostly just retelling the moral of “Dragonshy” with less jokes and fewer members of the Mane Six is also evident.

Yet the drama seems to work pretty well in this one. The pacing is good, the bits of humor, while not “laugh out loud”, are entertaining, and it shows a lot of interesting variation in pegasi. Fans who hated “Putting Your Hoof Down” are probably happier to see the Fluttershy we all know and love in this one.

The best part of this episode, however, is that it’s probably “Rainbow Dash at her best”, even if Fluttershy is the focus. A particularly good part is where Rainbow Dash is starting to get mad and yell at Fluttershy for not wanting to participate…but then she calms down and realizes who she’s talking to. She continuously tries to encourage and support Fluttershy even if she acts rough at points. And you really feel in scenes where in spite of her “winner’s determination” to have them break records, you can tell she would want Fluttershy to help even if she couldn’t contribute at all, because she wants her to feel “valued”. It’s very sweet. I only regret that Fluttershy isn’t as “receptive” to it as she could be, or even to her animal friends (even Angel is rather caring and gentle in this one)…that it takes Twilight to give her the “push” she needs to help her friend. And, in truth, for all of her brash attitude and belligerence…it’s episodes like this that show you just why Rainbow Dash embodies Loyalty.

That alone is worth a bit extra.

Fun Facts:

The episode title is kind of a hard one to get a “feel” for the episode from, but it’s most likely an allusion to the boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. The title has a dual meaning, one from Fluttershy using her power to help generate a powerful storm, and also referring to the personal training and discipline she does to try and increase her ability, which is a nod to “training montages”.

The “mule” joke is used again that was in an earlier episode.

Although the idea was presented in “Winter Wrap Up”, this episode sort of drives the idea home that Rainbow Dash is the “boss” of the pegasi living in Ponyville, in that they seem to generally follow her lead in pegasi-related matters.

Fluttershy may be assertive, but she’s far from not timid. 😛 Anyway…the fact that Fluttershy is hiding in a tree costume has been considered by some fans to be a nod to the “train discussion joke” way back in Season One’s “Over A Barrel”, where she said: “I’d like to be a tree!”

This episode shows how far the show has come since the pilot. Ponies are apparently “technologically advanced” enough to have movie projectors. (In Season Three, it would further be confirmed that the movie theaters exist in Equestria.) At any rate, the video being watched is clearly a nod to 1950s informational film reels.

Again, Spitfire appears in this episode and suffers from “Mr. Burns” syndrome. 😛

This episode introduced a hulking “Arnold Schwarzenegger” pegasi with tiny wings (which itself may be an adult-orientated joke…taking steroids might make certain other body parts shrink…). While he would appear as a background character for a couple episodes in Season Three, it wouldn’t be all the way until Season Four’s “Rainbow Falls” that he was finally given a name: Bulk Biceps. Until then, the fans had a lot of fun naming him. My personal favorite that I wish the creators would have gone with is “Big McLargeHooves”, which would have been an allusion to MST3K. Ah well…a man can dream.

Did Fluttershy borrow Rarity’s robe?

This episode lends more to the idea that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have known each other for a long time. Back in “The Cutie Mark Chronicles”, it looks as if Rainbow was just sticking up for a pegasi who was being bullied, and that may have very well been how they met, but they seemed to know each other well after that. Further note that both filly Rainbow Dash and filly Fluttershy have their Cutie Marks in the flashback, indicating this was after the events of the Season One episode. It seems Fluttershy went back to Cloudsdale at least for a while after first reaching the “ground”.

Watching this episode a second time, you can really watch how the disease “progresses”…first with Thunderlane coughing at the meeting in the beginning, then having another pegasi mare cough after talking with him.

At one point, a squirrel speaks to Twilight Sparkle. Spike asks what it’s saying, and Twilight says: “Do I look like I speak squirrel?” This may be a “hidden joke”. Twilight Sparkle is voiced by Tara Strong, who did the voice of Bubbles on “The Powerpuff Girls”, who could speak to squirrels. 🙂 (A similar joke may be in Season Four’s finale. Tirek’s new form resembles Trigon from “Teen Titans”, who was Raven’s father/arch-nemesis. Raven was voiced by Tara Strong.)

Spike is playing a pan flute at the end…for some reason…

The “cloud producer” in Cloudsdale resembles a giant meat grinder.

Rating:

3 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Twenty-One: “Dragon Quest”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

Applejack, Dragon Quest, Fluttershy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

During the Great Dragon Migration, when the girls are out watching hundreds of dragons fly over Equestria and Spike is waiting on them as normal, comments by Rainbow Dash indicating how “wimpy” he is as well as Rarity calling him various “cutesy” comments prompt Spike to start questioning his identity and wanting to be more like a real dragon. When Twilight is unable to find anything known to ponies about dragons, Spike decides to go on a self-discovery “quest” and join the Great Dragon Migration. While Twilight lets him go, she, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity secretly fear for him and assemble a rather outrageous costume that they follow him in. Spike ends up arriving at the dragon gathering and pairing up with a group of teenage dragons, who soon not only reveal themselves to be savage brutes, but also pick on Spike for having lived around ponies. After putting him through several “initiations”, Spike manages to convince them he’s a “real dragon”, but that means he needs to go out with them on a “raid” to steal Phoenix eggs. After some mishaps, Spike manages to get one of the eggs himself, and the other dragons tell him to smash it. In the end, however, he realizes even if he’s a dragon, he’s not a brute and bully like other dragons and refuses. The girls arrive to have Twilight teleport them back to Ponyville before the dragons can rip them apart. Spike writes to Celestia about how what you are doesn’t determine who you are, and thinks of himself as a “pony”.

Review:

As far as most Spike episodes go, I like this one over the ones that portray him in a more negative light. So that makes this episode a little better. That said…this is a very “meh” episode. Nothing really “clicks” in it. The drama doesn’t really work out that well as it’s obvious right at the start Spike is never going to fit in with the other dragons, nor does he, deep down inside, want to. Humor-wise, there isn’t much that’s really funny in this episode. Fluttershy looks thrown into the opening for a gag but it doesn’t “work” with me. Perhaps she’s supposed to show her more assertive side with the “I said NO”, but the fact that she actually hits Rainbow Dash, something she didn’t even do in “Putting Your Hoof Down”, makes me kind of frown. Not to mention I think it’s a regression of her character back to prior to “Dragonshy”. Rarity’s getup is obviously supposed to get a laugh for being far too conspicuous when the other girls are wearing camouflage…but the fact that they’re probably a half mile from Ponyville kind of defeats the purpose. Could they really have not watched it from there out in the open? Obviously Ponyville is safe because none of the dragons are just incinerating it for fun. And other than that, there isn’t much in the way of humor rather than weak slapstick.

This episode does help “elaborate” more on dragons in Equestria in general, and it helped get the audience thinking more about Spike’s origins…but neither item was ever “followed up on” in the rest of the series. And since those were the only two really “stand-out” things of this episode, it kind of makes it fall flat.

It’s not a “bad” episode…it’s just…dull. One of the more forgettable ones in the series.

Fun Facts:

The title of this episode is a takeoff of “Dragon Quest”, a popular RPG video game series that was on par with the Final Fantasy series for years.

This episode confirmed that all dragons are bullies and jerks. 😛 Spike is an exception due to how he was raised by Twilight Sparkle. It also confirmed, along with “Secret of My Excess”, just how little Equestrians know about dragons, and that dragons have a rather pitiful opinion of ponies.

Fluttershy is once again terrified of dragons. Her reaction in “Dragonshy” must have been a one-time deal. Actually, to me, this is more OOC Fluttershy than “Putting Your Hoof Down”. She’s louder as opposed to being more timid, she comes off as more angry than hysterical, and actually hits Rainbow Dash as she runs away. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be the more “assertive” Fluttershy from after that episode or not…

Twilight reiterates that Spike was given to her as an egg, not knowing who found him or where. This…would actually make a decent episode, especially now that Tirek has entered the series. (In G1, Tirek killed Spike’s parents.)

Spike appears to hitch a ride on the river with Cranky Doodle Donkey, although seeing as it’s the older toupee, probably not.

This episode calls attention to the fact that Spike has no wings. Seeing as the pilot episode endorsed the idea of “Chinese Dragons” rather than “European Dragons”, this makes sense. However, now that the writers have definitely made European Dragons the “dominant” dragon…it makes Spike kind of awkward, especially since it was revealed he is, in fact, a European Dragon. The episode does hint, however, that he might get wings as he gets older, “Secret of My Excess” notwithstanding.

The part where it turns out there’s a real dragon that looks just like the blatantly fake costume… XD

Not exactly sure how Spike “failed” “King of the Hoard”. He knocked off the main teenage dragon.

Phoenixes make a return appearance, now in male and female varieties as well as chicks and hatchlings.

The end, when the picture of Spike has been taped into a picture with the Mane Six, might be an allusion to “The Simpsons” in an earlier episode where Bart did the same to cover up a bad picture of himself with the family.

I think the writers forgot about “Peewee” after this episode… 😛

The Mane Six all appear in this episode, although it only features Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

Rating:

2.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Twenty: “It’s About Time”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

Applejack, Cerberus, Fluttershy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Tirek, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

While neurotically planning her schedule for the next several months, Twilight Sparkle gets an unexpected visit from a rather beaten and injured-looking “Future” Twilight Sparkle. She mentions she’s not from the distant future but next Tuesday and has an “important message” for Twilight, but due to “present” Twilight’s incessant questions and comments, is unable to get it out before she’s sent back to the future. Twilight, assuming this means a terrible disaster will happen next Tuesday, rallies the citizens to “disaster-proof” Equestria. But even though the events involve returning Cerberus to guarding Tartarus (seemingly) before any of the evil inside can escape, Twilight is still cut in such a way to match the cut her future self had afterward, leading her to think they haven’t averted the disaster. She tries doing nothing, seeing the future using Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense, and finally “watching everything”, but all of her efforts only make her look progressively more like Future Twilight. Finally, on Monday evening, Twilight decides to stop the disaster by “stopping time” and tries to “break into Canterlot’s spells” to do so…so distraught she doesn’t realize she’s free to go wherever she wants in Canterlot unimpeded. Tuesday ends up coming without her as she furiously tries to find a time spell…only for nothing to happen. She realizes she got herself worked up over nothing. When Pinkie Pie finds a spell that will send her back in time once, and only once, for a few moments, she decides to use it to warn her past self not to worry over the next week…and, as a result, “completes the loop” by failing to get out the warning in time. She moans as she realizes that she sentenced “Past Twilight” to working herself up over nothing for the next week…but Pinkie reminds her that she, at least, is already “done” with it. Twilight vows to herself to stop being so neurotic and worrysome…and then takes Spike home, who foolishly ate all the ice cream he wanted saying it’s “Future Spike’s problem”…and not being smart enough to realize he would eventually become “Future Spike”.

Rating:

Who wants some good old fashioned Season One zanyness? I do! I do!

This episode is more than just about time travel. The fantasy elements and off-the-wallness of a lot of the bits is a good throwback to more of the “cartooney” episodes of Season One. Ironically, it’s also a “look forward”, as this episode serves as the prologue to the Season Four finale. The writer of this episode, M.A. Larson (my personal favorite), also did “The Return of Harmony”, and, as evidenced in that episode, he’s a sci-fi buff. And that’s obvious in the “Terminator” feel to Twilight going through time as well as the resemblance she has to a certain video game character in this episode.

This episode is just good generic “fun” to me. There’s nothing bad about it. The pacing is nice. It doesn’t quite feature the Mane Six prominently but they all get a bit of screen time. Spike is a bit of a jerk at points, but he ends up paying for at the end. 🙂 Sure, it makes use of an “old hat” plot involving time travel, the self-fulfilling prophecy, but it does it in a much less “bleak” way than other plotlines might. Twilight, at the bare minimum, seems to realize in spite of the fact that she ended up causing the misfortune to befall her by trying to warn her about it, she’s now “wiser” for the experience. And indeed…Twilight’s neurosis seemed to mellow out a bit after this episode. Not completely…but enough to where she didn’t have a repeat of this episode or “Lesson Zero” again.

All in all, one of the more “fun” episodes of Season Two.

Fun Facts:

Spike mentions “Arbor Day” at the beginning of the episode. Apparently, Equestria does have ONE holiday that exists in the real world. 😛

Naturally, this whole episode is one of the classic time-travel themes: the self-fulfilling prophecy. Twilight’s attempt to keep herself from being neurotic ironically caused her to worry even more than usual and ended up in disaster for her.

“Future” Twilight resembles Solid Snake from the “Metal Gear Solid” franchise…as does her attempts to sneak into Canterlot. Her appearance in the past also resembles the “Terminator” franchise.

Las Pegasus, seemingly a parody of Los Angeles, is mentioned in this episode. The fact that Rainbow Dash says everything clear from “Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus” indicates that, similar to the USA, there are East and West Coast regions in Equestria.

Cereberus appears in this episode and is mentioned to be the guardian of Tartarus and dark creatures imprisoned there. This is pretty much identical to Greek Mythology.

Ironically…there is an event that happens in this episode that, if prevented, would have spared Equestria from nearly being destroyed. It’s revealed in Season Four that while Cerberus was loose, Tirek used the opportunity to escape and spent the next two seasons slowly regaining his power until he was ready to make a move in the Season Four finale. Future Twilight didn’t know her own strength. 😛

Baltimare, an obvious knockoff of Baltimore, is also mentioned.

Pinkie Sense is mentioned again in this episode. And as a throwback to Season One…a random object falls on Twilight’s head. It’s never explained how. 😛

Another Starswirl the Bearded reference. He’s already becoming a more important historical figure.

In another throwback to Season One, random Celestia. She just walks through, wishes Twilight “Happy Tuesday”, and then leaves. That’s her only appearance this episode. Twilight doesn’t even write to her.

Rating:

3.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Nineteen: “Putting Your Hoof Down”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

fake Flanderization, Fluttershy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Putting Your Hoof Down, Rarity

Synopsis:

Fluttershy has a rather bad morning when her animals refuse to listen to her and “mind their manners” while eating, and Angel Bunny forces her to make an exotic food dish for him, requiring her to go to the market and get pushed around by other ponies, before he throws it (and her) out a window due to lacking a cherry. Tired of “being a doormat”, Fluttershy ends up going to an “assertiveness workshop” hosted by a minotaur named Iron Will, whose training is little more than teaching people to be aggressive and mean in response to people who get in their way. Fluttershy implements the methods and first starts getting her way, but soon she takes it too far and starts getting violent with anyone who even accidentally causes her some discomfort. When Rarity and Pinkie Pie confront her about her behavior, she ends up personally insulting both of them and sending them running off in tears. Realizing how horrible she’s become, Fluttershy secludes herself in her house to keep “Nasty Fluttershy” from hurting anyone else. When Rarity and Pinkie return to try and talk her into coming out, Iron Will suddenly pops up to collect his fee for the workshop. Rarity and Pinkie’s methods of “being assertive” fail on him and they fear Fluttershy will be cowed by the imposing minotaur, but are both surprised when Fluttershy politely yet firmly tells Iron Will that since his workshop promised “100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back”, and she’s not satisfied with the results, she owes him nothing. Iron Will leaves empty handed and the three girls make up. Fluttershy writes to Celestia that you can be assertive without being mean, as she refuses to make Angel anything special and only eat what she made for him.

Review:

A lot of people hate this episode. Then again, a lot of people love “A Canterlot Wedding”. Looks like I’m going to tick people off twice in my Season Two reviews. 😛

I’ll admit, the part where Fluttershy says rather biting insults to Rarity and Pinkie Pie is not only pretty bad, but it’s a bit OOC even considering the episode. Until now, Fluttershy was only getting aggressive with people she considered trying to “walk over her”. At that part, she just started outright being mean, similar to when she was a bully in “The Return of Harmony”. Now, while it’s bad, I think people make too much out of it. They seem to treat it as if this redefines Fluttershy’s character, which I never liked. If there’s not a trope for this yet there should be, but it’s basically “Pym-ization”: taking one thing a character did one time and then trying to say that defines their entire character. It’s kind of like a “Perceived” or “Forced Flanderization”. It’s not really there but it’s in the collective subconscious of a lot of people. And on this show…that’s really not fair.

Did anyone fault Rarity, the “generous” one, in Season Three for giving Spike just a sliver of a gem to pay for watching Opal? Or Pinkie Pie when she was belligerently mean in “Party of One” or even thoughtless in Season Four? Or did they hate Sweetie Belle when she tried to do something out of pure meanness in the same season? To try and say this one incident “defines Fluttershy” is, frankly, as stupid as those adults who saw Derpy speak and declared she was insulting people with intellectual disabilities. And it’s not like Fluttershy maintained it afterward. She had gotten caught up in no longer being pushed around and thought she had to take it “further” in order to keep being “assertive”. She wasn’t even applying it correctly…just reacting to any perceived slight. And this was her “breaking point”. She broke down in tears herself and then boarded herself up in her own house, afraid she’d hurt people again if she even allowed herself to interact with them. People think it was a sign of “stupidity” or “abuse” that Rarity and Pinkie Pie went back to her, or that Fluttershy manipulates her “friendship”. No…it’s because both of them knew Fluttershy enough to realize she didn’t really mean what she said…that it was just her taking Iron Will’s advice “too far”.

Frankly, I think this was an episode that should have been handled sometime. Fluttershy had a history of being pushed around for being so meek and shy. It seems good that they would deal with it at some point. It does seem a bit “thin”, to be sure. Basically any of the Mane Six could have been in the roles of Rarity and Pinkie Pie and the episode would have worked just as well. But no…I won’t say it’s a bad episode. If for no other reason than this was only the third episode I had ever seen and it was the “hook that landed” that finally got me into “the herd”.

Fun Facts:

Just like the previous episode proved Pinkie Pie can carry the show by herself, this episode showed Fluttershy can almost carry the show by herself. She needed to play off of Rarity and Pinkie Pie but, in all honesty, any of the Mane Six could have given their lines.

Angel Bunny is horrible in this episode. He’s downright abusive to Fluttershy. He actually b***h-slaps her!

The ponies who pop up (literally) in front of Fluttershy when she’s buying asparagus look ripped straight from the 1980s. Also, the train conductor is selling asparagus…

Pinkie Pie’s way of getting tomatoes for one bit instead of two is another infamous Looney Tunes gag.

Again, Celestia is invoked like God.

Iron Will is obviously a parody of many self-help gurus.

Another sentient race, goats, appear…although they only seem “semi-sentient” in that they only bleat like goats.

When Iron Will comes on stage, what sounds like “Eye of the Tiger” begins to play. He also says he “(pities) the fool” who doubts his methods, a knockoff of Mr. T.

Derpy is in the audience.

Fluttershy is stronger than she looks. She kicks two wagons full of garbage over and tosses a guy by the neck.

When Fluttershy is walking sadly back to her house, the music may be a nod to “The Incredible Hulk” ending theme. Ironically, Fluttershy would go on to be the “Saddle Rager” in Season Four, a parody of the Hulk.

Rating:

3 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Eighteen: “A Friend In Deed”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

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Tags

A Friend In Deed, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, The Smile Song

Synopsis:

Pinkie Pie prides herself on being the friend of everyone in Ponyville and doing whatever it takes to make them smile. However, she soon runs into a difficulty in the form of Cranky Doodle Donkey, a curmudgeony old donkey who lives up to his namesake as he’s moving into town. Pinkie’s attempts to make friends only annoy him, and her attempts to “bring her A game” only end up in disaster for Cranky, such as destroying his toupee and exposing him to public humiliation. Although she manages to keep him from blowing up at her by giving him a spa treatment and a better toupee, things backfire again when she tries to help him unpack at his house and ends up burning a precious scrapbook to him that she was nosing through. Enraged, he angrily chases her out, declares she will never be his friend, and, in spite of her rather dramatic lengths she goes to, refuses to accept her apology either. Yet when Cranky yells that Pinkie destroyed “all I have left to remember her”, she deduces from the clues she’s been seeing that Cranky is unhappy because he was never able to find his long lost love in spite of looking all over Equestria for her his entire life, and that the donkey he’s looking for is another local resident: Matlida. She brings Matilda to him and, on meeting up with her again, Cranky finally smiles, thanks Pinkie Pie for going above and beyond in her attempts to make him happy, and agrees to be her friend…but still wants to spend some quiet time with Matilda by themselves. Pinkie writes to Celestia that there are many ways to express friendship, but the best thing you can do is make your friends smile.

Review:

This is, to me, the quintessential “Pinkie Pie” episode. Although she was almost the only member of the Mane Six to appear in an earlier episode this season, “Baby Cakes”, this one focuses a lot more on “Pinkie being Pinkie”. Unlike other episodes where her stupidity that ends up “hurting” others inadvertently seems rather mean, in this episode even her shouting out how bald Cranky is comes off as far more of a “innocent mistake”, making her overall more likeable in this episode. It has some of the best high-quality goofiness and “cartoonishness” that had been sorely lacking in this season. I’m not saying the show can’t be more dramatic and serious…it can just “lighten up a bit more” from time to time.

To me, this episode also proved that Pinkie Pie can pretty much carry the entire show by herself, if she wants to. Although lots of characters appear in this episode, Pinkie and Cranky are almost the only “real” characters. And for a one-shot, Cranky is pretty good. He comes off as a “real” character, not just an archetype of being cranky but more like someone who is just old and tired and doesn’t have time for an annoying kid to be pestering him and not getting the hint she isn’t wanted. In that sense…this is almost like “Dennis the Menace” at points.

And, like I said, this episode gets to the “heart” of Pinkie Pie more than any other episode. Really, she’s a pony who just desires to be everyone’s friend and make them happy. And while that can get a bit overbearing at times…there’s nothing wrong with that. 🙂

So, between the cartoonish humor and some fairly good drama, another nice episode.

Fun Facts:

The “Baby Cakes” feature at the beginning of this episode.

Zecora appears pretty much as a cameo.

Aside from a very brief scene, the only member of the Mane Six in this episode to speak is Pinkie Pie, although all of the Mane Six and the CMCs appear during “The Smile Song”.

One of the big songs of Season Two, “The Smile Song”, was in this episode. It’s also one of the longest so far, running at 3:22.

The part where Pinkie pulls up a “dark” version of her self is very similar to how she clones herself in Season Three’s: “Too Many Pinkie Pies”.

Naturally, when Pinkie Pie hears the donkey’s name is Cranky Doodle Donkey, the song she breaks out into is a parody of “Yankee Doodle”.

The “thought bubble” sequence is done using felt cutouts, similar to other “off-the-wall” cartoons like “Chowder”. The check she holds up after deciding to make friends with Cranky is also felt.

Pinkie is very “sing-y” in this episode. In addition to “The Smile Song”, she also sings “Cranky Doodle Donkey” and “Welcome, Welcome, Welcome” and “He Was A Cranky Doodle Donkey”.

Derpy is in the snow globe. 🙂

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash both have lines, but Twilight has four and Rainbow Dash only has one. At any rate…Rainbow is in the library reading another Daring Do book. 😀

Pinkie Pie is at her most “toon-esque” in this episode…probably for the entire series. While a number of episodes in the first season had been similar to Looney Tunes, however, this one is more like one of the MGM Tex Avery cartoons, especially during the “chase” sequence where Pinkie Pie has the uncanny ability to already be wherever Cranky ends up. She also sprouts extra hooves out of nowhere. 😛

This episode also indicates that Pinkie Pie is something of a “savant” in that she’s able to make connections no one else sees.

The song Pinkie sings at the end is a parody of “Yankee Doodle Dandy”.

The credits roll to “Yankee Doodle” on the piano. Along with the score at the end of the Season Two opener, this is only the second episode so far that doesn’t end with the traditional ending theme.

Rating:

3.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Seventeen: “Hearts and Hooves Day”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Apple Bloom, CMCs, Cutie Mark Crusaders, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

It’s “Hearts and Hooves Day” in Ponyville, the equivalent of Valentine’s Day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders make a gigantic valentine for Ms. Cheerilee, but realize she has no “very special somepony” of her own, and decide to play matchmakers. Eventually, they settle on trying to pair her with Big Macintosh, but the two aren’t interested in each other. The girls end up trying to match them by mixing up something from one of Twilight’s books they think is a “Love Potion”. It works…but soon Big Mac and Cheerilee are doing nothing but looking in each other’s eyes and giving each other stupid, mushy pet names all day. It turns out the substance was a “Love Poison”, and it robs whoever drinks it of a desire to do anything but be around the object of their affection. Realizing that means that Cheerilee will abandon her teaching and Big Mac will stop growing apples, the girls try to break the spell by keeping the two from looking into each other’s eyes for a full hour. It’s difficult, but in the end they succeed. After it’s over, they confess what they did and admit that it’s wrong to try and force two ponies together even if you think it’s a good match. The CMCs get punished by having to do all of Big Mac’s chores, and Big Mac and Cheerilee pretend to go on a picnic to mess with them.

Review:

The writers really “bit off more than they could chew” in this episode. They tried to make it center on love and “toxic” love…but you can’t do either in a show that’s supposed to be rated Y and still get it through the censors. The end result is an episode that’s equal parts boring and stupid. Most of the episode is slow paced and dull without much in the way of humor. Even the brief CMC song doesn’t really help the mood, and the song is far weaker than others from this season. The main part of the episode occurs after Cheerilee and Big Mac drink the Love Poison…at which point the only expressions of love they can make in a Y-rated show is calling each other dumb names. Not only is it not that funny, it’s rather stupid. If they can’t even hug and kiss, it comes off that the main “problem” with the Love Poison was that it made them annoying rather than in a toxic relationship.

Pretty much the whole “Hearts and Hooves Day” premise to me is weak. Why would a book about “Hearts and Hooves Day” be pretty much telling a story about how stupid it is to be obsessed with loving someone else so much that you neglect everything else? And why in the world would the “Love Poison” potion be in the book?! Isn’t that like writing a story about a kid blowing himself up with fireworks and then including the formula of how to make them from household chemicals?

This episode is a real “low point” of the season to me. Most CMC episodes aren’t much fun to me, but this one is particularly bland. It has an opportunity to expand both on Cheerilee and Big Mac’s characters…and it does a paltry job of both. Especially the ending.

The girls did something they shouldn’t have, yes…but there was no need for Cheerilee and Big Mac to “troll” them again at the end when they had learned their lesson. That was just mean. Yet the real problem is the premise of this episode. The moral of the story was supposed to be that it’s bad to try and force people to be together.

So what is the specialty of Princess Cadance, the character who never should have existed in the first place, in “A Canterlot Wedding”?

Her power makes ponies fall in love with each other.

…

And no blaming separate writers, either. Both this episode and “A Canterlot Wedding” were written by Megan McCarthy. It’s just one big plot hole.

So yeah…possibly my least favorite episode of Season Two.

Fun Facts:

This was the first of several episodes in the series with the CMCs acting as a group of friends rather than out to get their Cutie Marks. I think that aspect works well. If they were constantly seen going to get their Cutie Marks, it would highlight how ludicrous it is that they don’t have them after four seasons. 😛

Another episode where a “real” holiday is translated for the show…this time Valentine’s Day.

The fillies can apparently leave school “whenever”. 😛

Also, the first episode to feature a song by the CMCs…well…other than “The Show Stoppers” one.

In the ring shop, the multicolored gems surrounding the one big one may be a nod to the Elements of Harmony…or Marvel’s Infinity Gems.

Big Macintosh’s hopping is similar to Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes.

Why is the clock chiming at five minutes ’til?

The girls put a mattress at the bottom of the pit? Don’t tell me falling into a pit without something soft in it is Y7 material too…

The only member of the Mane Six to appear in this episode is Twilight Sparkle, and it’s only to pretty much provide the plot device for the episode. So this is another rare episode with no Applejack.

Some fans think this is episode ends up with a Big Macintosh/Ms. Cheerilee shipping…but…no. There’s really no chemistry between them. Not even when they’re on Love Poison…

Rating:

1.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Two, Episode Sixteen: “Read It and Weep”

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by pcclsky in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ~ Season Two, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Applejack, Daring Do, Fluttershy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Read It and Weep, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

Rainbow Dash breaks one of her wings while flying around doing tricks, and ends up stuck in the hospital for a few days for observation. To alleviate boredom, Twilight Sparkle offers her a book of a popular action hero character, Daring Do. At first, Rainbow Dash snorts off the whole thing, dismissing reading as being something only an “egghead” does. However, when monotony takes its toll, she decides to give it a try…and is soon hooked. She ends up trying to hide her new love for the series by chasing off the girls when they come visit so she can keep reading, but right as she’s down to the climax in the last chapter, the doctors come in and release her. Desperate to finish the story but hating the thought of asking Twilight for the copy and exposing her secret, she breaks into the hospital and tries to steal it, but ends up being chased back in town and waking the girls up due to being accused of being a slipper thief. She finally admits her love of the series, and the girls assure her it’s nothing to be ashamed of and that it doesn’t make her less of an athletic pony. She tells Spike to write the letter to Celestia about the importance of trying new things…so she can be free to read more Daring Do.

Review:

Heh…hidden message in this episode, perhaps?

The episode itself is pretty decent. It’s a little hard to try and insert an action hero into a show that’s rated Y. One of the big things of Season Four is how the writers clearly looked at every loophole they could exploit in the censors to make it a true “physically active” season…but for Daring Do’s first appearance, she seems to only be able to be in constant peril rather than hold her own. Later, in “Daring Don’t”, it’s revealed she also has Indiana Jones’ ability to beat up a team of attackers too, but for now she does little and says even less.

Nevertheless, this episode is far more “lighthearted” than most of the other episodes in this season, which all seemed to have a more dramatic “hook” to them. This one is pretty much pure fun. The girls don’t really figure into it although they all appear. The focus is mostly on Rainbow Dash…and Daring Do. Yet it works rather well. There’s a lot of quirks in this episode in an attempt to be more “modern” and “contemporary”. That’s a far cry from the first season. Lots of allusions as well, especially, as mentioned, to Indiana Jones.

Yet I think the real “kicker” to this episode is that pretty much the majority of bronies can perfectly relate to Rainbow Dash in this episode. Their experience with “joining the herd” is pretty much identical to that of Rainbow Dash. We all dismissed this series as being something for stupid people or even “freaks” in some cases, out of boredom or, perhaps, a fascination for why people liked this series we tried it out…and we became hooked before we knew it. Then we entered the “closet brony” phase where we thought that this somehow made us demented or crazy as well and tried to hide the fandom from everyone else…likely even the ones who had introduced us in the first place. But, finally, we reached the point of “acceptance” and, like Rainbow Dash, we kicked back and watched every last episode in the first season in one day. 😛

That’s worth a bit more acclaim for this episode. 😀

Fun Facts:

This episode is kind of fun to rewatch in light of Season Four’s “Daring Don’t”…now that we realize Daring Do actually did everything in this episode. I guess that makes Ahuizotl an actual show villain. 😀

The accident that finally gets Rainbow Dash laid up in the hospital is never seen. I’m actually a tad disappointed, considering all of the violent accidents she’s been in throughout the series. I’d like to see what actually busted her wing.

First appearance of the fan universe within the fan universe…er…until Season Four came around…Daring Do. It’s small wonder Rainbow Dash identifies with her so much…she’s her recolored. 😛

Daring Do is obviously a takeoff of Indiana Jones. The room where the Sapphire Statue is located is a takeoff of the same place where the gold idol was at the beginning of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, while there being a “trick” to the tiles was somewhat of a nod to “The Last Crusade”. When she yells: “Better luck next time, Ahuizotl!”, that’s similar to the line Indiana shouts off in “Temple of Doom” when he’s taking off from China. The deathtrap she escapes from at the end, however, is more of a nod to James Bond and other similar “deathtrap scenes” in spy movies.

Twilight Sparkle says “Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone” is the first in the series…yet it really seems as if the series has been going on for a while when Rainbow Dash opens the book…

The board game that the girls are playing seems similar to “Battleship”.

There is no way Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack didn’t see Rainbow Dash reading the book when they walked in. 😛

Ahuizotl is both a character as well as a description of what he is. An ahuizotl is a monster from Aztec mythology. His voice may be an attempt to imitate the Nazi villains of Indiana Jones, or it may be a knock off of Bela Lugosi’s iconic “Dracula” voice.

First, but definitely not the last, appearance of a “pony ninja”. 🙂

After a long absence, Rainbow Dash gives a “squee” in this episode.

The “crazy” pony barking in this episode always kind of threw me for a loop. Her cutie mark is a screw loose. Does that mean her special talent is being insane? O_o

Well, of course Twilight has every book in the series and Rainbow can borrow them whenever she wants…TWILIGHT LIVES IN THE LIBRARY.

The only episode so far that has ever showed the inside of Rainbow Dash’s room.

Rating:

3.5 Stars out of 5

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