Just finished watching Castle Sweet Castle. It feels a little too Suited for Success without the system critique, and the second "echo" joke with Fluttershy was stupid. But it's a nice, sweet story without getting all too sappy.

That was my immediate impression upon watching CSC via this status, but I'll comment a bit more.

To be very honest, the fact that the feels are really subdued until the end is really one of the biggest strengths of this episode. It takes the concept of mourning and gives it a really refreshing twist without feeling too clichéd. Yes, we still see the characters feeling very sad about the Golden Oak Library, and it was great about how they didn't ignore it while not getting that sappy. Not just Twilight's feelings, but her friends', too. They're just as much a part of life as Twilight, making the Library a part of their home, too. It was also rather good how they noticed the problem without being humiliated before Twilight as a result. Having Spike comment about it and distract Twilight was all needed.

But a few problems that I noticed.

1. Applejack actually pouring soil in Twilight's castle. There's a certain proportion of suspension of disbelief in Western cartoons, and FIM is no exception. But the idea of her actually pouring soil on top of the cold floor feels way too stupid. It would've been better if there were flowerpots filled with flowers and plants instead. The intent is great, but it felt very out of place.
   
2. The end "echo" joke at the end of Act 2 sucked. The co-writers went with a specific mood that Twilight would feel sad over having the house not be like home, and Fluttershy et al. had a reason to feel sad. But the second "echo" joke was very out of place and completely killed the mood.
   
3. While the pacing at the end was fine, the middle felt pretty slow. It kept on going with the ReMane Five conflicting, and having them repeat "clutter" all the time hammers the point too much. Once is fine. Twice is pushing it. Saying the same word over and over again is being blunt and obnoxious. Kids aren't stupid; they know synonyms of the word.
   
4. Continuity references also got heavy. Everyone here already knows how much the episode depends on continuity. Without it, the characters don't grow. But when they piled on all those references in Act 3, it starts getting weighty at best and relied on at worst. Continuity as a bit more than a cherry is better by keeping it more subtle. Having Twilight mourn in her own way is an excellent reinforcement of continuity without hammering it in.
   

To describe another strength to balance the brief negativity out, Spike was really on point here, easily his best role since Simple Ways. While Twilight wanted to come home, he did a great job acting as a foil, providing excuse after excuse to distract her and keep the ReMane Five busy. The comedy he was a part in worked, too, yet didn't have him suffer too much from Bulk Biceps*. Nice to see him be involved while keeping his childlike essence and not degrade him to comedic idiot that victimized him for most of last season. Kudos for the new co-writers for giving him a sense of dignity and not ignoring his crush on Rarity.

Currently, a pretty nice start. Act 3 did a nice job resolving. There are flaws that hurt it somewhat, but not so much that kills CSC entirely. It's nowhere close to the high quality of The Cutie Map, but it does its job.

*Having him be a masseuse really works for him, and it's good to not see him act like the idiot presented from Rainbow Falls. May his character never degrade that badly again!

Source: S05:E03 - Castle Sweet Castle