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The Second Opinion

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  1. The Second Opinion
    Wallace Shawn voice: "So, it is down to you, and it is down to me." It was a little bit odd that neither the changelings nor the friends were able to make much of a difference (at least, until the comet boost happened), but I do think I prefer the structure of all of them playing important roles at different times on the way there, then giving the climactic moment to the main character, over the main character just doing all the work the whole time. As a stylistic choice, I suppose it has its pros and cons. Spreading the battle out between more characters would have allowed for a wider variety of potential "favorite moments," but the approach they chose allowed them to put all their chips on making the main one as weighty as possible, with everyone we like contributing something to it in unison.
  2. The Second Opinion
    Took me a second to realize what "backseat pedestaling" meant. I guess I could see the point if I had more examples of the writers doing this, but as is, I wasn't really thinking in terms of whether the friends did "enough." It's definitely a Twilight main-character moment. I just meant that they used friendship as part of the solution.
  3. The Second Opinion
    Huh. Yeah, that does sound like kind of a strict requirement. I would've at least given them credit for the implication that the friends' cheering and such helps Twilight to resist the heart drain and up her passion, instead of proverbially letting it crumble.
  4. The Second Opinion
    Interesting. For me, like I said, it's been more or less the opposite, with most of the people who watch my stuff (and a random review I happened to come across on this website: http://mlpforums.com/blog/2248/entry-14824-return-of-queen-chrysalis-comic-series-review/) saying that they liked the last issue the best. Who are the people you've seen rank it poorly?
  5. The Second Opinion

    I think my new version of this review is a big improvement:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkKChcNboos

  6. The Second Opinion
    The general reaction seemed to be that they got better as they went, and when I started out reviewing them, I agreed. But while issue #4 was the epic payoff, I thought #3 was still the master of the off-the-wall (and slightly dark) humor, which makes it hard to decide. So my order from best to worst right now is - #3 or #4 - #2 - #1 What are your thoughts and how do you rank them?
  7. The Second Opinion
    Intentional or not, she definitely has traits indicative of aspergers. But I think whether she actually does is trivial compared to how it factors into the episode, and yes, either way, Maud is used to explore what makes people with these traits tick and how a little patience and understanding can be all it takes for them to become a friend like any other. There's really no need to definitively establish it or to cry "stop projecting!" when people make the comparison, as though someone is trying to repossess the character from you.
  8. The Second Opinion
    At last, it's time for the big finale. Can the first My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic comic arc end on a high note? Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TheSecondOpinion11
  9. The Second Opinion
    While I did think it had some trouble starting out and only really began to rival the first two in its second half - onward from Pinkie's Pride - that's more than I can say for season 3. (And even season 3 I don't hate, btw. It had its moments.)
  10. The Second Opinion
    When it comes to this kind of thing, in my experience, there's really is no easy spot to place the blame. Because while there is such a thing as nostalgic bias, there's also what I like to call "new toy" bias, where it's simpler for people enjoying the latest episode to dismiss the older ones and tell themselves they have everything they need right here. Having watched all of the episodes in row over the past few months and looked up some of the corresponding reactions, I actually find the brony fandom relatively accepting of new things compared to other fandoms. In fact, while I found season 3 and some of season 4 a little more wooden and less inspired than the first two (for example, the surprise bursts of creativity like reworking songs from musicals, Benny Hill chase scenes, and Twilight bursting into flames don't really happen anymore), most people, when I said so, seemed to wish I'd been a little more positive. And despite the instances of minor backlash that do speak to nostalgic bias, just look at Twilight becoming a princess: It would sound like a huge sellout from the outside looking in, and even worse, the episode did only the bare minimum to justify it. But the writers found legitimate ways to weave it into the story after that and continue to explore her character, and not only did the fans seem willing to hear them out, as far as I can tell, all but the obligatory minimum of ill will has been washed away.
  11. The Second Opinion

    There are time when I feel like technology is honestly fighting me.

  12. The Second Opinion
    Time to look at the third issue in the series of comics about the Changelings' return. Will it rise above the lukewarm approval the last two got? Will it finally explain where the name "Queen Chrysalis" comes from?
  13. The Second Opinion
    Eh, been there, done that
  14. The Second Opinion
    The comic book review continues with issue #2, a chapter about the gang trekking through a mountain. They enocunter giant spiders, more evil duplicates, and a troll that loves ponies. Will it be the improvement that fans promised?
  15. The Second Opinion
    I do agree that it's the worst premiere in the show, although it still looks like I liked it better than you did. That one was a lot of things that weren't good, but boring? I dunno...
  16. The Second Opinion
    I won't pretend it didn't have both themes on its mind, but like I said, I thought they got shoved off to the side with Rarity. It seemed like the episode didn't realize it was her story first and foremost, because through most of it, she just sits on the sidelines with her jealousy, while the episode splurges on Fluttershy antics. And personally, Oscar the Grouch that I am, I thought Twilight's thing with Pinkie Pie was kind of annoying. I don't know if the episode was trying to say that Pinkie was right or it was just supposed to be a "hilarious" case of logic poorly applied, but of all the ways they could have picked to delay the solution, this one seemed like a painfully obvious non-dilemma.
  17. The Second Opinion
    Again, I'm not seeing the difference. Rarity's jealousy isn't supposed to be a good thing here either. It comes across like you're reading into the few seconds Rarity spends saying to Twilight that she knows she shouldn't be jealous but is. Not that there's anything wrong with liking that moment, which is a nice little bit establishing that Rarity is 3-dimensional, but I'm not about to take any great insight on jealousy from that. Well, I'm gonna have to again disagree with you with evidence to the contrary. The first performance shows Fluttershy nervous but then getting into it as the episode goes on. The next few show her enjoying it in new ways, first belting out the song more passionately than she did before, then dancing in her hiding place and changing the words to play it up, and finally in her last performance, pushing Big Mac out to center stage as though she's imagining it herself and going full force in playing it up. The point of Fluttershy's modeling is that ponies think her timid squinting is cute. And to answer your question, there are 7 different scenes of Fluttershy being photographed, including a 2 1/2 minute montage of 3 different times in the middle, and that's disregarding the opening about her getting the cutesy spa treatment and the several other cuteness gags the throw in. Or, if you don't want to hold it strictly to individual moments and just add up the time spent on sequences centered around putting her in outfits and/or photographing her, it's over 7 minutes, or 1/3 of the episode, including the intro portion, theme song, and credits. You can if it's not a matter of a message, just a case of using stupidity as the driving force to keep the conflict going. The idea of not being able to solve the problem because you've been sworn into contractual secrecy by "cross my heart and hope to fly" is a gimmick dilemma for sitcommy plots that NOBODY is hindered by in real life, save for elementary school kids who only think they should be because of episodes like this in the first place. Even people who wouldn't be comfortable just revealing it would be smart enough to say "in that case, you should tell them yourself. Trust me, it's not what you think."
  18. The Second Opinion
    Yeah, that's another one I thought needed to step it up. "Pointless" is the key word, because it reveals early on that nothing is actually wrong and it's just the ponies scaring each other with gimmicky funs house stuff in wooden fashion.
  19. The Second Opinion
    Hm... well, which shows are you referring to that gave us that exchange instead? Because I'm not seeing new insight into jealousy here. "Just because she's jealous that doesn't mean she can't support her friend" sounds like every moral on jealousy ever. And granted, it's nice to see Rarity step up to the plate, but that only happens at the end, after she's been playing pretty much the same note on the sidelines the entire episdoe. On Filli Vanilli, I'm gonna have to disagree with you. Besides the fact that Fluttershy was joining an already popular group and didn't become "a pop sensation," her montage in that episode tells the story of her discovering her joy in performing, communicating the sense of elation and how it grows over time very well to us, the audience. Green Isn't Your Color just had her playing the same, ahem, note over and over and over for the sole purpose of making viewers coo. Granted, Filli Vanilli is guilty of using the "we never said she couldn't" card to explain Fluttershy's singing, but that begs the question of why it was under the surface so long more than it hurts any other episode's credibility. The singing itself, as done by the actress, fit the bill just fine. "Likelihood" based on headcanon and reading into side details from other episodes is not something I'm all that interested in debating when discussing the effectiveness of a specific story arc. And as for Pinkie's subplot with Twilight, you mean being able to keep secrets was the moral? Because I don't think ANYONE would walk away from this thinking Twilight pretending she doesn't know the obvious solution to this problem proved anything. I suppose you could skim past the part about jealousy and say it's about being open with your friends, but what does Twilight being pressured to delay the solution because of Pinkie Pie promise chants have to do with that? Of all the ways it could have structured this conflict, why put an obvious solution on the table and then pretend it isn't obvious?
  20. The Second Opinion
    A lot of episodes get flak for breaking continuity or being really stupid/unfunny, but which is most guilty in your eyes of being plain old boring? For me, it was actually Green Isn't Your Color (not a popular choice), because I thought Rarity's arc was pushed to the sidelines and left stagnant, in favor of overloading on repetitive "cute" Fluttershy antics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIORsxPIk84) But I've also heard arguements for Ain't Easy Being Breezies and there were I couple more that had trouble holding my attention. Thoughts?
  21. The Second Opinion
    I really didn't like this episode back in the day. But I got a lot of objections, and I did want to consider it again. Here's my perspective (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIORsxPIk84); On one hand: - I thought it was boring and stagnant. Rarity is apparently our main character, as she's the one who has to grow, to overcome her insecurities and save the day, but she spends most of it just jealously watching the action happen on the sidelines. - Instead, they focus on overloading Fluttershy's cutesy antics, trying to make everthing she does oh-so precious, as though it wants to be about timid squinting. (Wasn't this generation of the franchise trying to evolve beyond just relying on that?) - Pinkie Pie's subplot about keeping secrets was an annoying an unecessary way to drag out the conflict. Nobody's going to watch this thinking the right thing for Twilight to do was pretend she didn't know that Rarity and Fluttershy wanted the exact same thing. On the other hand: - I could be missing the appeal of Fluttershy, who bronies in general seem to love for her cutsiness, while I just see her as a decent character in the main cast who still isn't my favorite. - And what's more, the antics here do try to show off more than just her "cute" faces, throwing in some comedy and some goofy characters for her to play off of. - So maybe it's just a good "day in the life" episode for fans. Thoughts?
  22. The Second Opinion
    I liked Lesson Zero's better myself. Odd as this is to say, Pinkie Pie's collapse was a bit unstructured. They gave her a little too much empty space to spiral out of control in, and we're mostly left watching her essentially playing off herself.
  23. The Second Opinion
    Time to reopen this wound and argue whether Green Isn't Your Color SUCKS.
  24. The Second Opinion
    I think it's important to keep in mind that personality is not the same as weakness. Someone can be kind and shy while not needing a giant dragon attacking her friends to know when to stand firm. (It's actually a lesson that Putting Your Hoof Down pulled off rather well, for my money.) And no, you don't need to cling to one flaw to make a character interesting.
  25. The Second Opinion
    Eh, stuff like the way she was able to step in and break up Rainbow and Twilight's argument in Testing I think works to demonstrate that she's gone from cripplingly antisocial to competent-if-timid. Stuff like Filli Vanilli is more a case of plain old personal anxieties. I will give this show credit (in spots) for more realistic development, understanding that morals and competence can grow and change, but personalities are sort of rooted at the core.
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