~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.

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.

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!

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. :/