Dave Polsky may be known for the controversial flare that’s been infamous in so many FIM episodes: Feeling Pinkie Keen’s poor use of language that resulted in the faith vs. science debacle, the Natives/White Settlers setting in Over a Barrel used as a gimmick for the moral, Too Many Pinkie Pies’s graphic ending, and Daring Don’t contradicting the purpose of Daring Do being a Dash recolor among other contrivances. But his strengths are usually his visual comedy and the timing. But when he writes well, he writes really well, as evident by his low-key Rarity Takes Manehattan (an excellent episode).

It was his turn again for Twilight Time, his first CMC-centric episode. Just like RTM, it’s also very low-key on the slapstick, although not to the former’s extent. But it doesn’t need to. With the communication between all of the characters and Twilight, it’s his second great — and currently my fourth-most favorite — episode of the season.

There are various strengths and intriguing insights:

1. Twilight plays in a role similar to Celestia, but with character instead of boring two-dimensionality that Celestia suffers. She still has the love for learning, but simultaneously doesn’t intend to keep it for herself. The Cutie Mark Crusaders don’t communicate on-screen with Twilight too often, but this is the first time where their conversations are approached on a deeper, teacher-mentor level.
    
   Simultaneously, she retains some of the geeky nature of her character without crossing the line. In Hay Burger (a parody of the classic fast food joints we all come to know and love */sarcasm*), she munches on her burgers in the messiest way fashionable (including a funny moment where she wipes the ketchup off her muzzle with a burger). This twist provides some growth into her character, which I’ll get to later.
    
   (And, no, not in the way similar with my Rainbow Falls review.)
   
2. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are antagonists again, except they’re actually in character and somewhat likeable. One Bad Apple and Flight to the Finish gave each of them absolutely no dimension, following the typical taunts and insults (and for the latter, eventually going ahead to hit Scootaloo with the one-dimensional low blow that really crumbled the episode.) Here, they retain their antagonistic qualities, but don’t cross the line. In a way, they show some form of integrity. Diamond Tiara has the obsession for Twilight Time and the spotlight. SS tagged the same interests in a more toned down perspective. In a way, this is how they should be rather than they were in their last two starred episodes, sans their cameo in Pinkie Pride.
    
   And for once, two things happen.
    
   There’s no "blank flank" taunt to one-dimensionalize them. They play mind games again, but they have a limit to what they do and simply let the Cutie Mark Crusaders let their egos get the best of them.
    
   Karma bites them on the ass after Twilight calls them out for bandwagoning, ending their antagonistic juvenility prematurely. Unlike FttF, which they needed a good piece of punishment, they didn’t do anything so cruel to warrant anything to really send a message. Just Twilight putting them (and the rest of their classmates) in their place was needed.
   
3. Ironically, despite their appearance, they aren’t the conflict, but mostly a minor catalyst. It’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders who bring the conflict unto themselves. They saw the Disasterly Duo’s attention and wanted it, too. When they got it, they ran with it far too long, engulfing their egos. Simultaneously, when they found out it was much bigger than they can chew, they wanted to solve it and get to Twilight to tell them about everything. The fact that they have the wherewithal to figure out the dilemma and try to fix it shows their intellect and naivety without dropping the ball stupidly like in The Showstoppers.
    
   In-characterization is such a beautiful thing, now isn’t it?
   
4. The Cutie Mark Crusaders yearn to search for their cutie marks (*ahem*), but the journey’s reduced to simple wish-fulfillment and instead focused on their egos and abilities. This isn’t in any way objective here, but I usually find the CMCs to be much more interesting when they’re not focused on their cutie marks. When they’re constantly focused on their crusade, the characterization tends to lose plenty of focus and resort to gags and consequences (Ponyville Confidential being a huge exception, which partially failed for other reasons).
    
   More importantly, they’re definitely growing up, which is a good thing because the last thing a continuity-backed show needs is to keep them as kids continually pursuing their cutie marks. Sweetie Belle is learning her magic little by little. Apple Bloom is curious about potion-making. Scootaloo wants to rebuild her unicycle. For the latter, Scoots’s trait doesn’t need to revolve around simply her scooter; it can be multiple vehicles, as well. Hopefully, they capitalize it sometime in the future.
    
   But they’re growing up not just physically, but psychologically, too. Each of the characters adopt specific personality traits from their sisters or protégés. Sweetie yearns for the spotlight. AB has become a voice of reason. Scootaloo wants to be appealing and cool (at this point, her posing with the duckface is my favorite moment in the episode). Yet, Polsky never abandons their own unique characteristics. Instead, he blends them fluidly, allowing the characters to change (and this time, change for the right reasons), yet never being out of character.
    
   Hopefully, if they ever get their cutie marks someday, they don’t drop the ball like what happened with the Twilicorn.
   
5. As for the Twilicorn, her status is finally readdressed and primary to the conflict for the first time since Castle Mane-ia! (Power Ponies and Three’s a Crowd don’t count.) One of the biggest problems this season is how much her status is overlooked and even ignored, simply proving how null MMC was. But the fact that the fillies were the ones to look up to and want to follow the Twilicorn makes so much sense because kids look up to celebrities as role models in real life. It’s a great parallel.
   
6. Even better is Twilight’s character development via a subtle reinforcement of continuity. Like I said before, her geekiness doesn’t cross the line into regressing her character. But her character development’s honed in in two ways.
    
   a. Her response to her sudden celebrity status is extremely mature. If Twilight’s characterization was before Games Ponies Play (or even before The Crystal Empire), chances are she would’ve been confused and might’ve broken down over this because she didn’t know how to keep her composure under intense pressure. But that type of reaction would’ve been very out of character of her here because she learned techniques to calm down and used them to her advantage. Disappointed she showed when Pipsqueak spilled the beans, but she never snapped, embraced the spotlight, and was willing to give the CMCs another chance to remedy themselves after they royally screwed up.
    
   b. How she ate at the fast food joint. Messy, slapsticky, and hilarious. But it is never out of place. While she’s still organized in her reading, books, spells, scrolls, and equipment, having it explored beyond those negates her growth. But the best part is how relaxed she is while there. She was casual and collected — never uptight. It was a great way of showing how she’s no longer so obsessed in keeping everything so nice and orderly.
   
7. As far as the story itself is concerned, it’s simple, but fluid. There are no obnoxious side-plots to distract the audience nor any Mane Six character beside Pinkie Pie and Spike — -_- — giving Polsky the ability to expand his script without adding any redundancies in the conflict. You get the points across where the conflict starts, how it builds up, where the climax is, and the resolution. It isn’t like Daring Don’t or Power Ponies, where they get so extraneous, the idea of telling a quality story takes a back seat in favor of action and animation. It’s a very tame slice-of-life story, as it should be. Often, the best self-contained FIM episodes — Party of One, Winter Wrap-Up, Sisterhooves Social, Apple Family Reunion , Pinkie Pride (yes, I went there) — tell the simplest stories.
   
8. Pinkie Pie only gets one role, but her characterization is a massive improvement over Filli Vanilli. She speaks very few lines, but they’re in character, likeable, bubbly, intelligent, and competent. All five traits that simply fit her!
   
9. The CMCs learn their lesson rather early and try to fix things. Sometimes, the characters presented don’t estimate the consequences of their actions until near the end where the conflict is about to be resolved or in the last minute where they were being too stupid to learn it for themselves. By having the CMCs realize their mistake and try to rectify it, Polsky shows how they learn the moral without having to shove it in, thus allowing the audience to slowly process it. It was a very subtle, organic, effective method of storytelling.
   
10. Continuity is acknowledged without ramming you over the head. Aside from Twilight’s ascension and the CMCs’ absorption of bits of their protégés’ personalities, there are two obvious ones:
     
    a. Apple Bloom's potion-making reference Bridle Gossip, The Cutie Pox, and Hearts & Hooves Day.
     
    b. Sweetie Belle's development for magic, which we’ve seen introduced in One Bad Apple.
    
11. Beyond just the characters and story, the animation’s very fluid. There are no distracting glitches, either, nor does it cause any plot holes. My most favorite animation scene in this episode was this.
     
    
     
    By using very minimal light while the Cutie Mark Crusaders were huddling, it tells the audience how close they are spatially. Because there isn’t a lot of space for the sun to penetrate, not only does the huddle look very realistic, but the background gets really pushed back.
    

But with the strengths come the flaws.

1. The stupid Spikabuse at the end. He makes so many nachos…but when everyone left, his cooking is wasted? This shit’s irritating, writers!
   
2. The story sometimes tends to tell instead of show. Because of its simplicity, there’s a lot of dialogue, so the screentime tends to come with moments or ideas that tend to be exposited or reiterated, such as Apple Bloom telling off Scootaloo for her posing. When you tell a lot, you risk three things.
    
   a. Losing investment of your audience. Telling will often make your audience feel bored and want to flip the channel, and due to humor being in patches, this is the perfect recipe to make them decide what else to watch.
    
   b. Dissolving any form of tension. Surprisingly, TT doesn't get to that point.
    
   c. Hinting of a very wonky pace. While it's solid, the timeskip is the only place where the pace is truly a problem.
    
   Cut down the redundancies. Let the animation and a couple of quips do the trick.
   
3. The continuity is really awkward. Twilight Time is officially the fifteenth episode this season, and Twilight has basically been there since MMC. To have the classmates behave obsessively this late during the season doesn’t make so much sense. Plus, Twilight has lived in Ponyville for over a year, so she is well-known throughout the community. Surely, if they became obsessed, they’d do so much sooner. If Twilight Time was the fourth or fifth episode and have Flight to the Finish relocated to TT’s slot instead, then the timing would’ve made more sense.
   
4. Despite being structurally sound, Twilight Time doesn’t have the oomph to make it stand out. In Rarity Takes Manehattan, you have the atmosphere, uniqueness of Suri taking advantage of Rarity’s generosity, the somber reprise, and so on. Because of its bold message and mature conflict, there were golden opportunities to get invested, and Polsky capitalized it. And there were many great big moments as well as fantastic smaller ones.
    
   Here, you don’t get that. It’s a tame episode, which isn’t bad by any means, but RTM has the strength for the viewer to recall the episode once just to get you invested. But since TT’s in "play-it-safe" mode, the moments often get overlooked. You’ll have to watch it at least twice to recall the best and your favorite moments. The big moments don't shine so much, while the smaller ones do.
   
5. The week-long time skip skips too quickly. You have a week full of events confined to two scenes. Because of this, the time skip is empty and does nothing to capture the audience’s attention. It's filler. If there was something like a montage song, a couple of more events, and/or even Twilight stopping by to visit, then the CMCs’ newfound celebrity status — in their standards — could be more impactful.
   
6. Although Twilight Sparkle’s status is in the center of the story, there isn’t so much expansion. You don’t get into that much depth for what she does as an alicorn princess beyond simply being the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ mentor. She just becomes a celebrity and keeps her personality in check. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and script tell us about her status, and we’ve seen a duty or two already from her. However, we don’t get to see it go into even more depth. Her other duties get glossed over in favor of simply her title and status. In other words, you don’t get to see the potential and may have to rely on Princess Twilight Sparkle, Castle Mane-ia, and maybe the finale to see her new role fully fledged out. Again, Polsky and crew play it really safe, cluing in how they don't really know what to do with her.
   

Nevertheless, this doesn’t falter the structure quality as well as the nuances that make Twilight Time stand out as one of the best episodes this season. With great characterization, a simple story, and a great conflict, the Cutie Mark Crusaders take a half-page from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s book and become classmate celebrities. Their classmates want to absorb in the fun, so they tag along, and the CMCs play themselves into corner after corner after corner. Simultaneously, they never were stupid — just naïve. And they were all competent, too. Twilight’s characterization balances out her love for learning with a more lax outlook. Altogether, Twilight Time is a story that will depend on your tastes, but its overall quality stands out, thus competing with The Cutie Mark Chronicles as the best or second-best CMC-centric episode to date.