~StatesTheOblivious~

I like wolves the most. Dunno why, but I really like their physiogonomy, especially their eyes.

Just came back from Day 1 and ... Phew! Lotta people, lotta things to see and I'm exhausted from carrying all the merch, goodies and my camera. But it was totally worth it. Tomorrow will be mostly demo playing only, hopefully I won't have to wait too long in the queues for Overwatch, Legacy of the Void, WH 40K Inquisitor, Uncharted 4 and Battlefront.

This was ... the best Luna episode yet and one of the best episodes of this season so far. Gonna write a review, I think. The call-backs, the pace, the concept - all very nice. Oh, and I'm surprised this wasn't in the episode:

While I have to disagree with some of your points simply because I think you're sometimes asking too much from writing (or human behavior, reactions and thought patterns in general), I share your despise for this episode; you summed up everything to dislike about it and presented it in a very structured and detailed way. For me, as I wrote in my little review, the missing connection between lesson and cause of trouble, between the problem and it's presented "cause" were the most messed up things in this episode. Note: By now I even get the feeling that the staff sorts out the most acceptable episode ideas, gets 20 to 23 each season, fills the missing spots with obviously bad ones and writes at least one of them as a Spike episode because it's an "easy" way out.

So I was sitting there right before the episode aired without actually expecting anything. I had read the synopsis when it was posted for the first time and had already considered to be this episode the usual hit or miss that Spike episodes sadly are in most cases. As someone who considers Spike his favorite character, my inexistent expectations were not just unfulfilled, they were brought into existence just to be crushed with every further minute of airtime that I hoped to get some increase in quality while I sat through it. This episode is not just “meh”, it’s actually bad. I don’t think I need to sum up the plot for this one, as I’ll already spend enough time on picking the one big and complex flaw out of it. So, let’s start with his first actions as the one who just tried to grant his friend much needed rest. Not just were these things the ones that, due to Spike’s actions, led to the destruction of the gemstone statue, they were also the things he did without either knowing that they could do harm in the end, nor with any bad intentions. Ironically, the things he did as “Princess Spike” weren’t even the ones anyone complained about in the end. Even the selfish things like the massage or the cupcakes didn’t cause further harm. And the worst thing about it all: If you look at it this way … Spike only had to deal with the ponies’ problems because: 1) Spike tried to do what he was ordered to do in order to help Twilight - so his job. 2) Twilight organized everything, so any problems that occurred due to her planning were her fault. 3) Spike didn’t make any decisions that were presented as being totally wrong, except for the three initial actions that led to the rather unfortunate and unexpected destruction of the gemstone statue and the few “services” that no one complained about in the end. 4) Instead of thinking on their own or talking to another princess, the ponies wanted to only see Twilight. What he did before he “abused” his power was done without any selfishness. And after he started to do it as “Princess Spike”, it caused no direct harm. Still, it’s what he has to apologize for in the end, even though it was unforeseeable that it would end this way. (You cannot tell me that Fancy Pants foresaw this exact turn of events.) And Twilight even makes him do so, even though he, without anything shown or said to actually contradict it, managed to fix her mistakes and finish her tasks. So a dumb coincidence led to him be the bad guy? Really? That is the result? After doing power-hungry yet not incompetently, he has to go through a forced lesson that only has to do something with an accident? Really? You could even say it was everyone else’s fault, too, because Twilight failed to organize the Summit better, because none of the other princesses felt the need to take over after Twilight got to bed, because Spike was left alone with dealing with all the problems and because the ponies were as intelligent and individual as ants. All in all, I fail at trying to find anything good to say about this episode. Spike gets the short end of the stick for a stupid reason again, everything he probably did well is totally ignored because “just because”/ it happened for the wrong reasons, Equestrians are presented as stupid again and all that was done to write it as a comedic episode failed immensely because it’s more tragic than funny. I’m done with this review. Personal Note: Do you see hope for Spike? I do not. Not anymore. I gave up. After five seasons, the staff finally did it. They produced the episode that made me finally accept what most of the fans have already decided as given long ago: That Spike is a lost cause. Thank you, guys. The one thing that made me stick to the show even through my depression is now gone: The hope that Spike would get positive development in the show.

I liked it. If you wanna know why I don't love it, here's my review: https://mlpforums.com/blog/2437/entry-16999-slice-of-life-or-how-to-literally-jump-the-shark-after-more-than-91-episodes/ Long story short: The fan service was a bit too strong.

First off: If you expected to get an over-the-top-episode with this one, you were right. “Slice of Life” is, without being as casually random as “Make New Friends but Keep Discord”, one of the most entertaining episodes of the show. But this status comes with a cost. Before I skip or leave anything out, I should talk about the plot first. So, instead of focusing on any characters of the Mane Cast, this episode starts with Cranky and Matilda, two characters we’ve seen close to nothing of since the second season. Preparing for their wedding, they find their invitations to be referring to the wrong date, so they literally only got a few hours left until they marry instead of over a day; which of course means that some actions need to be taken. What now starts is a split into several minor plotlines that all come together in the end. Cranky and Matilda trying to rearrange a few things, Derpy trying to make up for her mistake when writing the invitations, Time “Dr. Whooves” Turner running through town to get his attire done, Lyra and Bon Bon friend-shipping and the fusion of classical music with electro starring Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. All of this comes with appearances of several additional secondary and background characters. Luckily, the wedding is successful and we got a cute donkey pair in the end. Now, after summing this up, let me get to what I found to be positive. Finally, after four and a part of the fifth season, we got an episode that didn’t have the usual suspects starring. What was done by several great TV-Shows already is now also a part of FiM’s canon. And it was done in a partially very splendid way. Some really funny scenes, with Gummy’s internal monologue being both, the icing on the cake and perhaps the most genius scene I’ve seen in a long time. Nice and overall still improving animation, several little details like the jumped shark and Letrotki’s Cutie Mark and a really nice piece of not vocally supported music. But as I said before, this all comes with a little cost, or might I say an unpleasant overtone? See, I am glad that the staff obviously appreciates the fandom’s continuing support for the show. But fan-service and fan-pandering are very closely connected. If I have one thing to openly criticize about this episode, it’s not that they made the episode, it’s not that they focused on characters that didn’t get any or just little attention until now in the show – but it’s that they actually made many things canon that were only fanon until now. It’s not done in a bad way if you focus on quality of execution, but in a kinda bad way when you think of it this way: So, they actually also focused on many background characters in this episode, but where did they take the ideas of their characterization from? Well, obviously not from their own creativity. And that’s the slightly sad thing about “Slice of Life”. Instead of breaking up the structure of usual fan-service, they just did what several fans wanted and expected to see in their fanon dominated expectations and view on canon elements that lacked development. This episode is pandering. Not entirely, but a big part of it. But it’s not even entirely bad in this aspect. Why? Because this episode was obviously written for just one thing: for the lulz. And for a big thank you to the loyal fans. If else, they wouldn’t have added the shark jumping in the Rave-O-Mobil scene and especially they wouldn’t have added this: I hope you liked my little text here and I’m sure to write some more little reviews in the future. Till next time!

I’m … positively speechless. This was not just better than the last two episodes, it was the most entertaining episode in a long time. One funny moment followed another, several crazy new things like Discord’s lovecraftian home-dimension, return of The Smooze, all the references and Trollestia galore! This was awesome! Yet extremely …

If RD would kindly move her wing away, we could probably read it.

Unfortunately, I can still see a hint of another letter beneath the wrapping ... No misspelling, sadly. :/

Direct quote from Wikipedia: Now, we all know that the show will most likely never deal with death and its emotional and physical consequences in a straight forward way, so all we’ll ever get will be hints and allegories like this very episode here. But that’s the problem: What this episode delivered was - ignoring the continuity breaking by having it aired way after Hearth’s Warming Eve or the actually quite differed way of integrating the five stages and forms of mourn in it - still not a good approach, mostly because of two reasons. 1) It simplifies the Kübler-Ross model. Not by simplifying the model itself, but its very scope. Yes, losing a companion, an emotionally close individual, is a hard thing to take. But Rainbow should’ve known from the very beginning that this “loss” was going to be a temporary one. She knew what hibernation was. She reacted like something really traumatic already happened. Her reaction might have been a totally emotional one, so you can only blame her for not controlling herself, but it was still a very childish one. She overdid it. And that leads to the second reason. 2) She might have not caused any irreversible damage by sabotaging the Winter Lab, but she still did something that wasn’t right. Now, while there is a lesson in the end, it’s just a half one. It was to accept loss and let go when it’s time, but she didn’t learn that doing what she did to prevent tank from hibernating while going through the five stages was wrong, no matter the outcome. Don’t get me wrong, there are still things about this episode that were great. Honorable mentions go to the song and the comedic parts. I’ll Fly is probably one of the best songs from the show on my list and was the Rainbow Dash song the fans have been waiting for. While it’s not as great as it could have been – mostly because of the context it was presented in and not because of its quality – it still is a very good piece of music. And the way some of the 5-stages-scenes were done was done quite well, especially her getting angry (and her angry face) and the little scene with a more or less puzzled Spike. Not to forget about the scene with Open Skies, Clear Skies and Fluffy Clouds. That one was a really good laugh. So my final rating of this episode is “Meh”, but probably in a more positive way than my rating of last week’s episode. Tanks for the Memories had a good idea, but failed a bit because of the show’s limits.

Uh ... Uh huh ... huh-wha-? I, um ... huh? Huh?! Maybe it's because I've been watching this episode at 11:30pm, but I think I need some time to think about it and to watch it again after a good night's sleep. This was so right and so wrong on so many levels. Right now I'd say it was better than last week's episode, but for the wrong reasons. Hm ... Gonna write more tomorrow.

Okay, I’ve watched it again … but my opinion doesn’t change. In fact, I see it as one of the most mixed feelings-inducing episodes on my list. There are two things I have to talk about in this matter. First, there’s the writing itself. There are good episodes in other TV shows and even entire movies about “time loops” and repeating dream sequences, but this here is just too simple to actually be anything but predictable. It felt very repetitive. At least there were some of the show’s funniest moments mixed in there. Then there’s also the pacing. Right in the middle of the second dream sequence, I thought “Dammit, get to the point!” But it didn’t. Ironically, after all this time and after so many episodes that could’ve needed more than just twenty two minutes of usable screen time, there’s finally an episode that could’ve been much shorter without losing any of its message. (This way most of the gags felt like fillers. Fillers were the thing I liked the most about an episode from a show that has proven to live from no-filler moments! Boy!)* The latter brings me to the second point; the message. Right in the second dream sequence, we have something that could be considered the rough lesson to learn that simple differences shouldn’t get in the way of friendship and that you can still be friends even if you change. Nothing to complain here, but after all the time being, the CMC might have been more of the “Getting our CM’s for the sake of getting our CM’s!”-kind all along, but I hoped that the writers would actually implement that the CMC are more about helping each other to receive one’s and their CM’s instead of nearly excluding anyone who got it, despite the possibility of them still helping the ones who didn’t get them yet, even though they don’t end the friendship between them. This feels like a step backwards. But my personal most “disturbing” thing about this episode is not the writing, nor is it the Matrix/Inception mashup or the ending, no – it’s Babs’ Cutie Mark. Why? Just let me put it this way … If you give a tomboy a scissor as the symbol of their special talent … Get it? I hope not. *In addition, there’s also Luna’s part. It’s nice to see her as a benevolent ruler who’s guiding her subjects. But this felt so forced after having it already seen in the same way in two earlier episodes, so even the episode itself was kinda repetitive within the show’s continuity. AFTERWORD: I do not hate this episode. It’s just easier to exactly point out the things one doesn’t like. It’s a “meh” on my scale. Not fantastic, but far from terrible.

Okay, okay ... This one was the worst out of the four aired episodes yet. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad, especially because it had this entire Inception and Matrix mashup and some of the most funny moments in the show, but it was less fleshed out in execution than the previous three were. The very predictable outcome and the extremely repetitive plot weren't able to do it for me. Not as much as the rest of the season has so far. Okay, Flapplejack (Ha-ha!) and actually good, but lazily implemented lesson aside, it was still enjoyable but kinda ... well, off. Didn't actually feel like a MLP epsiode to me, I don't know. I will probably write a longer review later, or at least more of my thoughts down, after rewatching it.

WHERE DID IT COME FROM!? So, as I already said in the episode’s discussion thread, I ask myself that question. And so I thought about it. Okay, there are actually just a few variations of explanations that I can think of … but each of them leads to a few further, and sometimes rather, interesting thoughts. 1a) Spike bought it himself. If so, where did he buy it? Well, considering the Mane 6/7 have saved the world (or at least Equestria or just the day) numerous times already, it’d be weird if no one in Equestria ever considered their deeds to be something worth more than just a little attention. I mean, even Scootaloo founded a Rainbow Dash fan club as seen in The Mysterious Mare Do Well, so it’s perfectly within possibility if someone founded a Mane6/7 fan club. So, this group of … Manesixnies … Harmobros … uh, you get what I’m trying to say – so these fans would, of course, want merchandise. And someone sure would make it to earn some money. Ha! Possible source of Spike’s Rarity plushie found! Still kind of weird, though … Would he consider buying himself? Would Scootaloo buy one just to let it be signed by RD? Would any of the Mane 6 be ultimately be okay with this? Hmmm … 1b) Someone bought it for Spike. So, this one is still consistent with the prior “fandom theory”, but adds something to it. Who would buy it for him? Twilight? Someone else? Rarity even, for whatever weird reason? (Well, not for me, I ship them.) But it’d have to be someone who not just knows about his crush, but also to be okay with it. And I mean “okay to the level where they actually buy a plushie of his crush for him”-weird kind of way. Uh, this train of thought leads to a dead end for me. Um, probably the worst explanation for how he got it, but, oh wait, there’s more … 2a) Someone made it for him. Okay, this one is even weirder, unless it was a commissioned work. Because it’d mean that someone actually put in the effort to make it and that that someone would, if it wasn’t a commissioned work by someone who’s not close to the Mane6/7, definitely think something like this: “Dude, a plushie? What’s this supposed to mean?” Again, it could be a Mane 6/7 fan, but if not … Well, here come the imaginations of ponies looking in a weirded out way at Spike. So, this is still not really a satisfying explanation, but I’ve still got one left … 2b) Spike made it himself. Easy as that. He wants one (or anything to remind him of her, or to appreciate her … even more) so he grabs a few things and makes one. Not even contradicting canon, given it is hinted several times that he’s skilled in many things. Forget about Spike at Your Service here. Best explanation for me. Yeah, I think I’m satisfied now. Are you? Other thoughts or answers? Post them below in the comments!