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Batbrony Reviews "S02:E23 - Ponyville Confidential"


Batbrony

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The final CMC episode of Season 2, "Ponyville Confidential" is a very fun episode with a high quality message. While certainly not their best episode to date, there's plenty of positive to find here, so without further ado let's get cracking.

 

 

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img-1963795-2-blink.png Girls, do you think I might get in trouble if we publish Rarity's diary? Girls?

 

So for their latest attempt to get their cutie marks, the CMC decide to join the school newspaper, the Foal Free Press, in the hopes that maybe their special talent is journalism. Certainly reasonable enough, especially compared to some of their previous attempts. Their best laid plans, however, are thrown askew when none other than Diamond Tiara ends up being the new editor-in-chief for the paper. After she rejects the legitimate articles that the CMC try to submit, Diamond Tiara ends up taking a gossip piece the trio of fillies accidentally come up with and encourages them to bring her more. Soon, however, what starts out as seemingly harmless fun turns into a gossip-pandemic, with ponies all over Ponyville falling victim to the venomous and contagious gossip of the Foal Free Press. After things finally go too far and they are discovered, the CMC realize that, despite their success, no cutie mark is worth slandering other ponies and throwing away all of their friendships to boot, and more than make amends. Their good relations are restored, the Gabby Gums column is discontinued, Diamond Tiara is fired and replaced by the swagalicious colt Featherweight, and all is right with the world. So the CMC are pretty fun in this episode, obviously. They're up to their usual shenanigans, with some funny CMC attempts by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle at the start of the episode and hilarity all around as they pursue journalism, especially from Sweetie Belle, who gets up to all sorts of trouble at Carousel Boutique. I sort of take issue with the fact that they so easily went along with something that Diamond Tiara of all ponies was telling them to do, seeing as she's certainly no shining example of upstanding morality, but I can give it a pass seeing as they were pretty convinced (rightfully so) that this was a promising field to pursue their cutie marks in. Not much to say about most of their activity in the episode, seeing as aside from the conflict itself, it's pretty standard fare as CMC episodes go, and certainly not as funny as their previous episode "Hearts and Hooves Day". The lesson they learn is quite a good one for all ages, especially in the manner in which it is delivered; whether young or old, I think we can all agree that gossip can be extremely hurtful and emotionally scarring. The manner in which it is critiqued, however, is simply ingenious; since the CMC are the stars, the episode reaches out on one level to younger viewers, but at the same time the idea of this problem arising as a result of the CMC heading up a gossip column reaches out to older audiences on a number of levels, namely in that teenagers and adults witness every day the ridiculous stories that gossip columns in print, television, and on the Internet run in an attempt to create scandal, often where there is none, and also the journalistic aspects of the episode highlight the immorality of invasion of privacy. Gossip is hardly a new subject matter in kids television, but the manner in which we see it handled here is quite frankly very unique and orginal, at least it is in my opinion. I still take issue with the fact that the CMC didn't put a rest to this before it got out of control, but again, they're impressionable fillies trying something new, so it's forgivable and believable. In the end, with the help of some older ponies, the CMC learn a worthwhile lesson about the dangers of gossip and invading others' privacy, and act upon the lesson learned as they should. Good on the CMC!

 

 

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Seriously, at what point did you find the time to make that poster and put it there?

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Besides the episode's stars, "Ponyville Confidential is notable as probably involving all of the Mane 6 more than any other CMC-centric episode. We've got prominent appearances from Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, and even Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy get a few lines in. In addition, they usually appear all together in this episode, and the manner in which they deliver other ponies' observations of the effects of Gabby Gums' gossip column is a pretty unique storytelling device for MLP and creates a nice balance in screen time between the CMC and the Mane 6, something we don't usually see in a CMC episode. Their appearances all add to the story in some way; we see the negative effects of gossip in how all of them react to their own gossip articles being published, Twilight spends most of the episode laying the foundation for the lesson of the episode, critiquing the gossip column, foreseeing its negative effects, and taking the moral high ground. Rarity, like Sweetie Belle, shines quite a bit, proving herself at first to be (unsurprisingly) quite the gossip fangirl, but after suffering from it herself and discovering that her own sister is Gabby Gums, Rarity provides some wonderful sisterly guidance (rather notable seeing as Applejack and Rainbow Dash, AB's older sister and Scoots's role model, respectively, shun the CMC after discovering they're Gabby Gums) and sets the stage for Sweetie Belle and the rest of the CMC learning their lesson and making things right. Finally, the Mane 6 (and Spike) all have some very funny moments, from Rarity's fangirling over the gossip column to their hijinks in the spa (most notably RD's absolutely adorable refusal to get a hooficure). Overall, it's nice seeing the Mane 6 so heavily involved in a CMC-centric episode, and I hope we get more CMC episodes that strike this balance so nicely in the future.

 

 

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Oh crap, Spike forgot to turn his swag off!!!

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Besides these two big elements, just a few other things stand out. It's nice getting to see more of Ponyville Elementary's foals besides the CMC, and some of the newspaper staff have some funny moments of their own, especially Featherweight. I do question Ms. Cheerilee's decision to make Diamond Tiara the editor-in-chief; I mean, seriously, did that really at any point seem like a good idea? Cheerilee's smart enough to know that Diamond Tiara's a pretty rotten egg, and I doubt that Filthy Rich would ever pressure her to do so, but eh, whatever, plot convenience, am I right? Other than that, the animation's lovely as usual, though there certainly aren't any standout visuals in an episode like this. Overall, "Ponyville Confidential" is a very well done episode by Season 2 standards and a lovely send off to the CMC in Season 2, aside of course from their cameo appearances in "Canterlot Wedding". A fun CMC episode with a high quality lesson, and definitely a good rewatch.

 

 

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Fez pony is now canon: I think we can all agree that the world is most definitely a better place because of it.

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