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Batbrony

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  1. Batbrony
    Sorry for the late review everypony. I was volunteering at a local museum this morning (which really wasn't as fun as it sounds, the event was super slow and had very light attendance, but eh, what can you do?), and after that I had to run some errands with my mom. But I finally got around to the episode late in the afternoon. So what did I think? Overall... solid average episode, but... it should have been a good episode. So let's begin by covering the good before I go over what I think brings this episode down, disappointingly, to average status.
     
    Well first of all, the Mane 6 as a whole were just wonderful. As far as sharing screen time goes, this was one of the best ensemble episodes in a long time, in fact, probably the best one we've had since "Power Ponies" (and heck, I'd say it did an even better job than "Power Ponies" did as an ensemble episode). Heck, the screen time was split so nicely that I can't even really call Pinkie Pie the star of the episode, everyone just shared the screen so well and contributed to the episode pretty much equally. Pinkie didn't even end up solving the group's dilemma here, rather, the rest of her friends did. All of them were very much in character here, had a lot of screen time, contributed a lot of laughs (though Pinkie Pie undeniably had the lion's share, seriously, her comedy and characterization was very spot on, felt like a Season 2 turn for Pinkie Pie), and were all very competent even. None of them actually made mistakes or did anything malicious, they just had to deal with a very awkward situation that would understandably trip anyone up. Pinkie's love for Maud was believable as well, just because when you're siblings, you get each other, even if you are polar opposites (a lot of the time, anyway, not always, but a lot of the time), and it was very touching seeing the lengths she'd go to make her sister happy and feel welcome. As for the rest of the Mane 6, they really did put their best hoof forward as well trying to befriend Maud. It wasn't that they weren't trying, they just seriously couldn't click with her or figure out what they had in common until the very end. So overall, what we got from the Mane 6 as a whole were very down-to-earth performances perfect for a slice-of-life episode, which this episode felt very much like. It wasn't a dire situation, there wasn't anything major at stake, no one was in peril or risking throwing everything away. It was just a very solid, slice-of-life dilemma that felt very normal, the characters worked just fine confronted with that dilemma, and overall that slice-of-life feel worked just fine for the episode.
     




    Seriously, can we please address the fact that we all just ate actual rocks?!
    Because I can't help but feel that these aren't going to pass through our systems very well.

     

    *RD's next trip to the can*


     

    OH GOSH, WHYYYYYY???????? IT FEELS LIKE THERE'S NAILS PASSING THROUGH MY BOWELS, AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


     

    Have fun getting that image out of your heads. :comeatus:


     
    Thematically the episode had a very nice message. Again, it was normal, it was just a solid and even mature slice-of-life message, but it was a nice message all the same that was executed perfectly fine in the episode. It's very real that sometimes, not all of your friends are going to click with or understand each other, even if you're friends with them all the same, and the fact that this was one of Pinkie's sisters made the situation all the more awkward and difficult for the rest of the Mane 6. It was also nice that, by the end of the episode, while the girls had accepted that they really didn't understand Maud nor she they, they could at least connect with each other over their common love for Pinkie Pie. That was a nice compromise that felt very real; it's not like Maud changed because of that, it's not like she suddenly became more outgoing because they had something in common. She was still Maud, they were still the Mane 6 and didn't get her, but they all still loved Pinkie and realized they could bond over that in their own way. Very lovely message, very lovely indeed, and it was executed and delivered within the story just fine. The humor, as I mentioned, was pretty spot on as well, with some very funny visual and dialogue humor from all of the Mane 6, especially Pinkie Pie. She didn't feel like she was unnecessarily over-the-top in her behavior, no, that felt very real because you could tell she was just trying her hardest to make sure her sister and friends had a great time together (even if she was blissfully unaware for much of it that they weren't). Overall, the episode's story itself fulfilled its intent perfectly fine, delivering a very solid message with very good execution. So the Mane 6 are fine, the message was fine, the story, the humor, the fulfillment of the episode's intent itself were all just fine. So where did this episode go wrong, why do I think it's just a disappointingly average episode instead of a solid good episode?
     
    One word: Maud. Let me explain: Maud played her role in the story just fine. The purpose behind her character was to present the Mane 6 with someone who they couldn't bond with at all, and in the end had to settle for bonding over their common love for Pinkie Pie, which was a fair compromise that worked for everyone. She fulfilled her purpose just fine, helping the episode fulfill its overall intent just fine. She also wasn't malicious or anything, she certainly wasn't a jerk. She seemed by the end to be a well meaning pony who only had love for her sister. But my gosh, was she BORING!!!
     



     
    Now look, I know it may seem a bit juvenile or childish to complain about someone not being animated or being a very reserved character, but, listen, here's the thing: I COMPLETELY GET WHY THE MANE 6 DIDN'T CLICK WITH MAUD! Why? Because I didn't click with her either, not at all, and I imagine that a number of bronies feel the same way. The entire episode there was absolutely nothing compelling about her in the slightest! Maud was just... bleh. I know that some of the situations and scenes she was in ended up having dry humor, but that wasn't because of her, not intentionally at least. She wasn't ever trying to be funny or witty, the things she did that were funny were always her being serious about something. She was just so introverted and unenthusiastic about anything and everything, and it drove me crazy at times. Even her saving Pinkie Pie rubbed me the wrong way. Not because I can't believe that Maud would love her sister enough to move mountains, but because it was the only plot point that felt convoluted. I know they'd established earlier that Maud was freakishly strong, but come on, that deus ex machina was ridiculous, she friggin' turned into Superman in that scene out of bucking nowhere!!! I was happy with how the episode was resolved, I was happy that a good message was learned and delivered, and I was happy that the Mane 6 found something to bond with Maud over, but I just... didn't... like... Maud! I got absolutely nothing out of this character, I wasn't sorry to see her leave at the end, and I won't be sorry if she never reappears in the show again. As a character herself, she was dry as toast left out in the desert sun for a week, and I just, I'm sorry, I didn't like her, not one bit, she made me feel NOTHING! I guess I also was a bit mad that neither Inkie nor Blinkie have gotten to show up yet in the present, seeing as they were already established characters way back in Season 1, and instead we got a completely new character, but really, I wouldn't have held that against her if I found her to be likable at all, which, I didn't. The Mane 6 didn't ever click with her and neither did I, and really, Maud is what brought this episode down from good to average status for me, which is a real shame because if not for her, this would've been a solid good episode in my book. If some of you like Maud, good for you, but me, I couldn't get into her at all, not once, as I watched the episode.
     




    Sweet Celestia, Gummy has more personality here than Maud does!!!


     
    So as I said, the episode overall was average. It should've been good, but one major element brought it down to average status, and that's pretty disappointing in all honesty. Plenty to like here, but there's also just one big element that simply didn't work once for me. Ah well, they can't all be home runs, but it's still disappointing when one element alone tarnishes an episode overall, even when everything else works just fine. Sorry Maud, but I hope you're on that rock trip for a LONG time.
     




    My gosh, PINKIE'S TONGUE HAS MORE PERSONALITY THAN MAUD DOES!!!
    Seriously, though, that image is pretty darn hilarious. Pinkie Pie, u so silly, never stop being a silly filly, you hear?

  2. Batbrony
    I've seen a large number of people express great dislike for "Somepony to Watch Over Me", specifically for what they describe as OOC actions from Applejack. Honestly, I couldn't disagree more, but I will concede that I can see why people would miss it. At the same time, I think that if one reads between the lines enough, you can see why her behavior here would make sense. So without further ado, let's begin my review of "Somepony to Watch Over Me".
     
    Well I suppose based on that introduction that it goes without saying that I loved it, I really did, especially after last week's disappointment of an episode. Certainly wasn't the best episode of the season, but it was definitely up there among the better episodes we've had, and both Apple Bloom and Applejack were great here I thought. Maybe one reason I really liked it was because, as both an older sibling and first-child, I could understand both where Applejack and Apple Bloom were coming from here. Anyways, besides those two I thought it had some great pacing, fun comedy, fantastic animation, especially at the end, and some very unexpected but very appreciated suspense and action, complete with a top-notch baddy in the form of the chimera.
     




    Chores done, house to myself, time to do whatever the buck I want, WOOHOO!!!


     
    To start things off, let's cover Apple Bloom and Applejack, since they were so interconnected in this episode. I think we can all agree that Applejack learned the primary lesson here, even if Apple Bloom had a sort-of lesson at the end about how, just because she can do some things on her own, it doesn't mean she has to do everything by herself, especially if it puts her in danger, but, to be fair, that was mostly AJ's fault. And yes, I DO think that this lesson that AJ learned, that she doesn't have to be overprotective of her little sister as she starts to mature and grow older, doing more and more things on her own, WAS not only a good lesson that was delivered quite well, but was ALSO something she really had to learn. Consider past episodes. The one time we'd really seen Applejack overprotective of Apple Bloom was in "Bridle Gossip", which most concede made perfect sense since they were dealing with somepony who they didn't know and were very afraid of, not to mention that Apple Bloom did run off on her own there. Some quick to criticize this episode have pointed out that we haven't seen that since, ergo, so the argument goes, AJ being overprotective was OOC. But consider this; when else has Apple Bloom really had any responsibilities to handle or been involved in very dangerous situations on her own, that Applejack actually entrusted to her. I'm not talking spur-of-the-moment crises like the float they made getting out of control in "One Bad Apple", that happened in a span of 5 minutes and AJ had no idea it was coming, I'm talking about a responsibility that AJ had time to entrust to her. Can you think of any? Cause I sure can't. Apple Bloom regularly helps around Sweet Apple Acres, even with some hard work, she has to, BUT Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Mac have always been there to keep an eye on her. Playing with the CMC doesn't count either, Applejack usually is aware that they're either on the farm, at one of the CMC's houses, or at least in Ponyville, so there's reason for her to get worried there. This was, as far as I can tell, the first time that AJ has entrusted Apple Bloom with a weighty responsibility to handle on her own for at least a day, maybe two. So, why does she freak out as much as she does, even after entrusting her with the responsibility? Well from what we learn it's clear that Big Mac and Granny Smith convinced AJ this was a good idea in the first place, most likely Granny Smith especially. On her own, I don't think AJ would've felt comfortable with that decision, and as soon as she gets away from Granny Smith's consoling presence and starts over-thinking everything, she works herself up into a fretful state. Again, the question is WHY? Why does AJ get so very worried? I think, if you read between the lines, you can discern why she does and Big Mac and Granny Smith, and it makes perfect sense I think. We know based on what DHX writers have said in the past that the Apple siblings parents passed away some time ago, probably while Applejack was an older filly and Apple Bloom a foal. Now, Granny Smith has seen children and grandchildren grow up and grow into handling responsibilities on their own countless times, so she obviously wouldn't be concerned about Apple Bloom being able to handle this on her own. Big Mac, being the oldest Apple sibling, already saw his first little sister, Applejack, grow into a fine young mare herself no sweat, even after losing their parents, so that explains his cool approach to the situation as well. But Applejack? She's really never seen that in anyone younger than her in her immediate family. One has to imagine that, after losing her parents, Applejack would not only be very protective of all of her family, but especially Apple Bloom, who was no longer just a little sister to her, but, given the new responsibilities suddenly thrust upon her in both running the farm and raising her sister, almost something like her very own child, her FIRST CHILD even. As a first child myself I can tell you that parents are always most protective of the first child since everything's new with the first one. Take that into account with the tragic experience with her parents, along with the fact that AJ's now, more or less, the acting head of the Apple family in the field (seeing as she's more sociable and outgoing than Big Mac and handles much more farm business than Granny Smith), and it suddenly makes perfect sense that AJ would be so overprotective of Apple Bloom when she's for the first time given the responsibility of running the farm all on her own for at least 1-2 days. She's always been there before to make sure Apple Bloom was just fine while helping around the farm, or at least Big Mac or Granny Smith were, so there was no reason for her to fret. But in this situation, deep-buried fears and insecurities of AJ's surfaced quite dramatically, to the detriment of the precocious young Apple Bloom, and even though it was obviously wrong for AJ to worry so much, I understand given both her past and the fact that she's AB's older sister why she became so overprotective. In conclusion, I think that this perfectly explains AJ's behavior here; like I said, it takes some reading between the lines, but I for one think it makes plenty of sense. So even though we didn't get any explicit allusions to their parents, I think that this episode had plenty to do with their parental situation all the same, and I'm glad to see that Applejack learned this lesson about trusting her little sister and not fretting so much as she grows older, eventually into a fine young mare herself ready to take on the world.
     
    So besides her mistake which, I for one think was both believable and hardly OOC (and I hope that others find my reasoning sound, but if you didn't that's fine), there were a lot of other things to love about AJ and AB here. Applejack was pretty hilarious when she was fretting and baby-proofing Sweet Apple Acres, especially with that checking-in gag when she thought AB was taking a nap. On top of that, she was AMAZING at the end when she took down that chimera. Applejack's really been proving this season that she is probably the most physically adept member of the Mane 6, to say the least; sure she might have her strength, but she doesn't have wings, magic, or a ridiculous amount of natural talent like a lot of the other Mane 6 do. She has to work for everything she gets, and it shows; she took down that chimera with both brawn, moves, and smarts, so like I said earlier, ninja AJ was friggin' Batman in that scene and I loved it!!! As for Apple Bloom, she had a great episode too; it was actually the first episode she's had that specifically focused on her alone out of the CMC since "The Cutie Pox" way back in Season 2, and it was far better than that episode. She's really grown in that time and showed yet again why she's the leader of the CMC; she really is quite mature at this point and was very earnestly trying to prove that she could handle herself. The best part of it all? She was doing so at the beginning, and a great job at that! Unfortunately, as so often happens to children or younger siblings, as soon as her older sister came back it just seemed like she couldn't do anything right, or that AJ always found her at the wrong time or in the wrong place (so I could actually empathize with her quite a bit). I also loved the mistake that she made, because it was both AJ and AB's fault, her wandering off into the woods at the end, and those are the most realistic kind of mistakes, especially between family. Oftentimes both parties are to blame for some kind of mistake made, especially something as bad as that one; AJ was being too overprotective, and AB, justifiably upset, made a poor judgment and rushed into a very dangerous situation that she wasn't ready for (though did handle far better than I or AJ thought she would). Basically, what we got here was an Apple Bloom who has significantly grown as a character since Season 1, an Applejack who understandably had to deal with that and accept it, and, what I thought, was a heck of a good episode as a result. As far as sister episodes go, I'd say it's right on par with Rarity and Sweetie Belles "Sisterhooves Social" and Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's "Sleepless in Ponyville".
     




    Why yes sugarcube, I am Batman! You jelly?


     

    Me: NO! *I am, actually
    *

     
    Besides those two, there were plenty of other things I loved about this episode. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had quite a bit of solid comedic bits, especially in the middle of the episode (that aborted song bit was to die for, seriously!). The comedy, in fact, was, all around, quite delightful, and it was especially fun seeing Applejack being so over-the-top protective, just because we so rarely see her being a silly pony (reference totally intended). The pacing was great, helped largely by the fact that they limited the characters in the episode (something that, at times, has been a problem this season, so it was very wise of the writers here to only utilize the Apple Family, the CMC, and some other minor characters). The chimera was a very B.A. and surprisingly silly antagonist, awesome in design, even if she got her flank handed to her (unsurprisingly) by AJ. That whole sequence in fact was awesome, complete with some great animation, action, and suspense. The Cajun ponies at the end had some great and silly designs, and were a very silly but fun way to round out the episode. All in all, I thought that this was a very different but excellently handled episode. At some points it was slice of life, other points straight up silliness, and at other points it even had some unexpected but very well handled action and suspense. But overall, what I loved most about the episode was the interactions between Applejack and Apple Bloom, and the very good lesson learned by AJ and wonderful character growth evident in both Applejack and Apple Bloom. I thought that the last thing AJ was here was OOC, and I hope after reading the reasoning behind my conclusion that others who've thought otherwise might feel the same, if only because it might make the episode more enjoyable for you.
     









  3. Batbrony
    So for months now, my best bud DashForever has been urging me to check out the anime "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". Welp, I finally did. So what's my consensus?
     
    This show... is without a doubt the finest anime I've ever seen. Now, before I go any further, let me just say this, so that people are aware going ahead some things about myself before they read my opinions on the show. I would not consider myself an otaku in any sense of the word; while I enjoy great anime when I find them, I do not watch the genre regularly enough to consider myself an otaku. To date, I have completed Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, Attack On Titan, a few Hayao Miyazaki films (My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke), and now, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. So I'm not an expert on anime from firsthand experience or anything. That said, I also take the film and television media I watch very seriously. To me, there are few things better than a truly great story, and each one I find no matter what the format, be it books, movies, television, or video games, is a joy to experience, digest, and dissect. I also regularly watch movie and television reviews online, including a couple of anime reviewers, so I'm well acquainted with both analyzing a film or show as well as what people tend to look for in animes specifically.
     
    As for this review, it'll be divided into multiple parts covering (1) characters, (2) story, (3) animation, (4) music, and (5) miscellaneous subjects (i.e. romance and sexuality, religion/spirituality, themes, etc.). In this first part I'll cover characters alone, seeing as that's a hefty subject to tackle in and of itself. I will also not be reviewing the movie "Rebellion" (which I have yet to see), simply because it was made just about 2 years after the show, and even though it's technically a sequel to the anime, I believe personally that the show should be measured alone in this review. For those of you who haven't seen the show, I'd highly recommend you do so before reading any further, and just to further ensure you don't see anything that'd spoil the show for you, I will be sure to conceal my thoughts under spoiler tags. With that all out of the way, without further ado, let's begin.
     
    "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" was released in 2011, produced by Shaft and Aniplex. It was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen "Urobutcher" Urobuchi, with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Ishida, and music by Yuki Kajiura. The show won the Television Award at the 16th Animation Kobe Awards, as well as 12 Newtype Anime Awards and the Grand Prize for animation in the 2011 Japan Media Arts awards. It also won three Tokyo Anime Awards in the Television Category, Best Director and Best Screenplay, and the Selection Committee Special Prize award at the 2012 Licensing of the Year awards.Madoka Magica was awarded a Seiun Award for "Best Media" at the 2012 Japan Science Fiction Convention.
     
    I pray this review may do a show of this magnitude, that accomplished so much with so little, justice and treat it with the reverence and respect it is due. Here we go. This is...
     



     

    WARNING: FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, HEAVY SPOILERS


     
    Characters
     
    Madoka Kaname, a.k.a. "Best Optimist"
     
     

  4. Batbrony
    Alrighty, "Twilight Time", boy oh boy this was a fun episode! I'll start by saying that I think it's safe to say that the ridiculous streak of awesome episodes that started with "Rarity Takes Manehattan" has officially come to an end, but really that's not a bad thing. Season 2 had streaks of its own, and that's arguably the best season of MLP so far. Every great show, in my honest opinion, achieves a balance in quality; sure you'll have great episodes, maybe even a run of great episodes, but those still need to be balanced out by good or average episodes as well from time to time. For one, people are human and can only produce so many phenomenal episodes, and two, episodes of good or average quality give the viewer a way to more clearly separate the good from the great, and further highlight what makes the truly exceptional episodes so very, very good. But enough about that, let's jump into the review itself; thankfully this might actually end up being one of my shortest reviews in awhile, so ya'll shouldn't have to read a book by me today like usual, yay!!!
     
    First, let's start by covering the Cutie Mark Crusaders (and just the CMC, no need to separately cover them all for this one). Honestly I gotta say that this was probably the most well-balanced CMC episode in awhile in terms of screen time and contributions to the story and the group's actions/decisions. I guess Sweetie Belle did probably get the most screen time out of the three (which you won't hear me complaining about seeing as in a lot of recent CMC episodes in Season 3 and earlier in Season 4 she's been really playing second fiddle to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom), but they were all pretty well balanced all the same in terms of screen time. I have started noticing a pattern in terms of roles filled by each member in a CMC episode (and these do vary by episode): Sweetie Belle was her usual adorable self, but here she also was the primary mover in the group and primarily responsible for all the trouble they got in: Scootaloo was also adorable and got some good jokes in there (her reaction to the school-ponies-paparazzi photos was hilarious ), but also was kind of the secondary mover, going along for the most part with Sweetie Belle's ideas without questioning them too much or contributing any of her own: and finally Apple Bloom was the passive conscience of the group who kept chiming in that what they were doing probably wasn't a good idea, but kept getting ignored for the most part by SB and Scoots and going along with them all the same. All of them did just fine, were adorable at times and funny at others, and exactly what we hope for and expect out of the CMC at this point.
     




    The duck face strikes again!!!


     
    As with a lot of CMC episodes, the lesson, while good for all ages, was especially good for younger viewers closer to the CMC in age. It's especially easy for kids (though adults can easily make this same mistake too) to latch onto popular or famous figures and use their association with them to gain favor, respect, or influence among their peers. Not only does this undermine good character and a sound work ethic, but it's also inconsiderate to the figure one's latching onto, especially if he/she actually considers you to be a friend, because in that regard then you're doing nothing but abusing your friendship with them. All in all, the episode pretty much got across that celebrity worship, whether distant or personal, isn't healthy for anyone and to engage in it speaks poorly of one's character. Good lesson for all, including the CMC in the show, even if it wasn't delivered all too seriously.
     
    I've heard some people saying that the CMC sounded different (and I will admit that AB definitely sounded a little more deep-voiced from the start of the season, but hey, that's what happens when VAs go through puberty), but here I honestly didn't hear it. Sure Sweetie didn't get in quite as many Sweetie-squeaks as usual, but for the most part they all sounded the same to me. IDK, maybe I'll hear it more upon a rewatch. Whatever the case is, it didn't take away from the episode itself. Also, I really, really liked seeing the CMC getting lessons on practical, day-to-day activities that may have to do with their cutie marks and future talents from Twilight. The drastic progress they exhibited at the end (I'm talking more the progress they showed right after they goofed up in front of their classmates, not the stuff at the very end) was a little unbelievable, but seeing as this was a pretty silly episode it was easy to overlook. Overall, the CMC had a fun episode with some minor but lovely character growth; very much in the same vein of "Ponyville Confidential" in my opinion, though considerably less serious than that episode in terms of its lesson.
     




    Guys, relax, I got this. My idea's totes gonna work!


     

    DON'T LISTEN TO HER, NO MATTER HOW CUTE SHE MAY BE!!!


     
    Next, let's cover Princess Twilight Sparkle. For the first third of the episode I was worried she wasn't going to get nearly enough screen time (which would've been just plain silly given the title of the episode is "Twilight Time" ), but she ended up having quite a lovely episode as, basically, the episode's deuteragonist. I loved seeing her openly welcoming the CMC and other fillies into her home and offering to teach them what she could, such a stark contrast to the introverted loner that she was when the show began. I feel like this illustrates two things: (1) how much she's come to call Ponyville home now that she's been there so long and grown so close to so many of its residents, and (2) how she's taken it upon herself to try giving herself more and more responsibilities (which it seems Princess Celestia has largely left up to her own discretion for the time being, which makes sense seeing as she is new to this princess-thing, not to mention there are two perfectly capable +1,000 year old princesses to take care of most state affairs while Twilight gets used to her new role) as a result of her royal title, in this case, trying to spread in a small way some of what she knows to her new subjects. On top of that, her humility and down-to-earth attitude was a very nice highlight of her maturity in filling this new role, though I think it also partly bespeaks how Twilight's still not entirely used to the role in general nor thinking of herself as a princess. All in all, Twilight was mature, sensible, at times adorable and witty (that's how I'd best describe the humor she displayed here, I think), and had a pretty darn wonderful turn in one of her best deuteragonist roles yet.
     
    Only disappointment was that she didn't end up getting her key/element embodiment here, but oh well, that's fine.
     




    Yeah, remember when Twilicorn meant the end of the world as we knew it? And remember when that didn't happen? Yeah, I'd say Princess Twilight Sparkle is doing just fine. :comeatus:


     
    Lastly let's cover the supporting characters, which in this case I'd say were namely the school colts and fillies of Ponyville Elementary, headlined by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Well no surprise, those two were unpleasant as usual (though oddly enough they did make that strangely nice offer to the CMC at the beginning (something that Sweetie Belle herself admitted) to hang out with them if they got to go to Manehattan, even if they were jerks about them not getting to go). I did like getting to see more of them here than we do in most episodes, just because it's fun trying to get a sense of the subtle differences between DT and Silver Spoon (and trust me, they're there), but overall they were just their usual, jerky selves, which is fine seeing as that's the role they've always filled. The other classmates were pretty hilarious just because, when you've got a roving drove of ponies following someone all over the place, you get to see all kinds of physical humor (along with some adorable reactions, particularly when Twilight stumbled upon all of them outside the fast food joint). Some of the reactions, especially from Pipsqueak (and let me just add that it was AWESOME getting to see Princess Luna's #1 fan return, in a speaking role no less ), were hilarious, and the gawking that all the colts and fillies were exhibiting throughout was pretty darn funny. The Philip J. Fry pony was pretty darn hilarious as well, and it was cool getting to see ponies return like Pipsqueak and Featherweight. Besides those guys, Pinkie and Spike both had pretty funny cameos. Oh, and Spike shall henceforth be known as Spike, the Nacho King (or Spike, El Nacho King if you prefer ).
     




    Spike, El Nacho King


     
    I don't really have anything to say about this one beyond what I already have. It was just a fun episode with some lighthearted comedy, CMC shenanigans, CMC and Twilight adorableness, and a whole lot of laughs along with a pretty good message, even if the whole thing wasn't taken too seriously. Very nice "good" episode for Season 4, very nice indeed, and like I said earlier, nothing wrong with having a more average episode like this one every once in awhile. Well done DHX and Dave Polsky, well done indeed.
     




    Forget the zombie ponies, Pipsqueak is back and there's a Philip J. Fry pony standing next to him!!!


  5. Batbrony
    "Filli Vanilli"... so this episode was surprisingly good. I mean, no, good doesn't do it justice, this was a legitimately great episode that, going in, I didn't really know how to feel about. Let me start by saying this: I called from the very second I saw the premise for this episode that it would be about Fluttershy overcoming stage fright. I bucking called it, and I'm sure plenty of other bronies did as well. And I groaned and moaned and worried that it would just be another retreading of Fluttershy overcoming some insecurity of hers, and that FINALLY this recurring theme with her would start getting old. Well, I was right... partially. The episode was entirely about stage fright, surprise, surprise, BUT it absolutely dazzled in its execution and actually handled the admittedly predictable subject splendidly. So let's get down to just what made this episode work so well.
     



     
     
    Firstly, we need to cover our main character of course, Fluttershy! This was her second starring role of Season 4, and quite frankly it was a far superior appearance compared to her role in "Bats!" While the idea that Fluttershy has stage fright was completely predictable, again, the way it was conveyed, as well as her taking her first baby steps to overcome it, were really, really handled well. While I can't relate to her stage fright myself (I've been a choral singer pretty much all my life, and even performed in a few musicals when I was younger as well, including being a member of the barbershop quartet in "The Music Man", which was AWESOME), I CAN relate to her love of singing. While we knew before this episode that Fluttershy loved to sing around her animal friends, we'd never seen before just how much she loved singing and appreciated it, and I'll be honest, this new element of Fluttershy's character has significantly raised her in my eyes, just because, well, I've always loved singing myself, so I can totally relate to both enjoying doing it yourself as well as appreciating it from others. The scenes where we saw how much Fluttershy glowed behind stage, how very happy just singing for others at all was making her, those scenes were among my favorite in the episode, because I know those feelings that she was experiencing all too well. When you're performing something like Verdi's "Requiem" or Handel's "Messiah", or even just something as fun as pre-game school spirit songs for homecoming, and you love singing more than most things, you feel ecstatic and your spirits soar, and that was captured perfectly here. Fluttershy's always adorable, but the happiness that she had behind stage were some of the cutest scenes she's ever had, and honestly warmed my heart, really, they did. Again, a lot of that has to do with the fact that I know exactly what she was feeling, so really it just felt true to life, a reaction that I could perfectly understand and knew that people really do experience when they get to do something like that which they truly love.
     



     
    Besides Fluttershy's pure, sincere, and very real-to-life elation and love of singing, the return of Flutterguy was a hilarious and completely out-of-left-field twist that really spiced things up in this episode and provided an unexpected element, to say the least. Seriously, I don't think any of us saw THAT coming, not to mention that it was actually a pretty ingenious solution to the Ponytones quandary, so good on Zecora for having one of her better and more creative ideas. I also loved how Fluttershy didn't fully resolve her stage fright here. Previous Fluttershy episodes treating her fears or insecurities, such as "Dragonshy" or "Hurricane Fluttershy", have generally thrust Fluttershy into center stage and made her the crux upon which everything else depends (though both of those episodes were excellent, really). On top of that, how many kids shows can you think of that have dealt with the issue of stage fright before? A lot, right? Well, in most cases these episodes are extraordinarily predictable, and usually quite frustrating at that. For one, 3/4 to even 4/5 of the episode usually deals with overcoming the stage fright itself, and it gets BORING!!! Here, that wasn't the case; we actually got to see Fluttershy start performing about half way through the episode, even if she wasn't onstage. Second, the stage fright is usually completely overcome by the end of the episode, and that's highly unrealistic. Again, here, that wasn't the case. Instead of completely overcoming her stage fright, Fluttershy quite realistically simply took her initial steps to doing so, performing in front of her friends and animal friends at the very end. I expect that she really will continue to progress in this regard, and that maybe by the end of the season we'll even see her performing onstage in front of a real crowd for some reason or other, which I'd love very much. Finally, in stage fright episodes in other kids shows, the person overcoming the stage fright generally has to perform a solo of some sort, be it vocal or instrumental, in doing so, completely taking center stage. Again, that didn't happen here! Fluttershy not only performed backstage for most of the episode, but she did so as part of a quartet, and as a choral singer who can appreciate the skill that it takes to coordinate group-singing (not to mention how fun singing in a group as opposed to solo really is), I really, really loved this deviation from the standard stage fright episode formula very much. Once again, DHX took an episode format that we've seen lots of times in other children's shows and tweaked it just enough that it came off as fresh and original in its execution, and nowhere was that more apparent than in the way Fluttershy was handled in this episode. All in all, she had a great turn in the spotlight this time, and this is definitely one of my favorite all-time Fluttershy episodes for sure.
     
    Next, let's look at the primary supporting characters of the episode, the Ponytones. Well first, let's cover Rarity. She was lovely as usual; no surprise to me that she loves singing herself, seeing as she has probably the most mature singing voice of the Mane 6 (and still my personal favorite out of the bunch in terms of singing). But where she really shined here was in her support of Fluttershy. Rarity and Fluttershy have a delightful friendship, one of my favorites. More than anypony else, Rarity is probably the best member of the Mane 6 for encouraging Fluttershy to overcome her fears simply because she knows how to be delicate, how to treat someone like Fluttershy with nuance and subtlety. Even AJ, despite her patience and maturity, isn't as good for helping Fluttershy come out of her shell as Rarity is, simply because she's so much more blunt than Rarity. Rarity helped Fluttershy take those baby steps by helping her find the perfect solution to her singing quandary, and it really did work wonders. All in all, she had a great turn alongside Fluttershy, and another fantastic Season 4 appearance. Big Mac's bass voice was glorious (especially for this bass guy right here ), and he was a whole lot of fun to watch in yet another prominent supporting role. There was even some fun "Hearts and Hooves Day" continuity with that Cheerilee-swoon midway through the episode, not to mention he just had some funny, funny bits, like the Turkey Call competition and AJ's interrogation at the end. Finally, the two other members of the Ponytones (don't know their names yet) had nice debuts. Their designs were lovely and they provided some great singing, nicely rounding out this quartet (and later quintet).
     




    Seriously, do I look fabulous in this vest and bow tie or what?


     




    Cheerilee: she likes what she sees. :comeatus:


     

    Glad to see CheeriMac is alive and well.


     
    Finally let's cover the Mane 6. For the most part they didn't do too much that was notable, aside from AJ's hilarious Big Mac interrogation. However, one in particular stood out: Pinkie Pie. :okiedokielokie: Honestly, this might be the closest we'll ever get to seeing Pinkie Pie as an episode antagonist (albeit accidentally). Her ridiculous antics, while hilarious, just kept distressing poor Fluttershy more and more as the episode went on. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if an episode dealt with Pinkie reigning herself in, because not only is it a character trait that she seriously needs to deal with, but it would also be a pretty good lesson for kids about knowing when to cut loose and when to reign yourself in and control your excitement. Still, she was hilarious, and the other Mane 6 were just fine as well (though I do somewhat question how they never recall Fluttershy singing seeing as she HAS sung in front of all of them prior to this episode, but eh, plot convenience, whatever ). Oh, also, SpiderPie is now apparently canon.
     




    BOO! :okiedokielokie:


     
    Musically, the episode was stunning. I don't care that the episode only really featured one tune, Daniel Ingram made it WORK! They kept tweaking and changing it in slightly different ways as the episode continued, very creative on their part, plus I loved the barbershop/pop hybrid it ended up being. All in all, this one piece featured multiple times in "Filli Vanilli" was a delightful number, one of the most creative Ingram's produced this season, and was a pleasure to listen to over and over again throughout the episode (not to mention how adorable Fluttershy looked everytime she sang it backstage ). The animation as well was wonderful; there wasn't too many notable sights (though the ponies movements themselves were top notch, and Fluttershy shaking her groove-thing to the music's beat nicely captured how much she loved music in general, totally being serious about that, honest!). Comedy-wise this certainly wasn't the funniest episode of the season, but it kept delivering the laughs with great consistency in a wide variety of ways and from a wide array of characters. The new minor characters were all a lot of fun, especially that cute little filly who had her cute-ceanera. And of course, as mentioned earlier, the theme of the episode was not only great, but wonderfully executed as well! Overall, I have no complaints about this episode (besides Pinkie Pie's rather bizarre, though somewhat unsurprising, over-the-top antics, just because one would think she'd know to at least try to contain herself around Fluttershy of all ponies). This was yet another wonderful addition to Season 4, and I laud the folks at DHX for it!
     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnslameKl2c


    Hardly the best episode of the season, but this one scene is seriously one of my favorite scenes of Season 4 thus far!


     
    EDIT: First, I've learned that the main tune of the episode is named "Find the Music in You". Second, I've got to correct my earlier statement that there was only one number, because there were actually two, the first being Fluttershy's musical number at the beginning of the episode, "Find the Music in the Treetops" (which was lovely as well, though a far more traditional tune by this show's standards).
  6. Batbrony
    First of all, I want to start this review by apologizing for the uncharacteristic delay in getting it out. My little sister was home from college for the weekend, so my mom and I were pretty busy doing stuff with her, like watching the Olympics or going to a local ice carving festival, these past couple days, not to mention I had work yesterday. But enough about that, let's talk "Simple Ways"! In my humble opinion, we got yet another home-run this week! I'm not going to go so far as to say that "Simple Ways" was better than "Pinkie Pride", after all, few things could or ever will be as epic as Weird Al on MLP, but I still can easily include this latest addition to Season 4 among the shining examples of episodes we've had coming again and again ever since "Rarity Takes Manehattan". Like most Rarijack episodes, this one's a little less obviously impressive than some of its predecessors from previous weeks, but the high quality marks are still there, as we'll see in a moment. So without further ado, let's begin this review of "Simple Ways".
     




    Well that's just terrifying. Oh hey look, mutton-chops pony is back!


     
    So let's get the big two elements of this episode out of the way first, those being, (1) Rarity and Applejack, and (2) the episode's surprisingly mature, nuanced theme, which a lot of people seem to have missed and think was just hammered in at the very end. Well first of all, as I've said very much in the past and recently given this episode's stars, I believe very firmly that Rarity and Applejack are the greatest pair of friends among the Mane 6. No two have really grown closer to one another since the show began, nor has this been so regularly displayed for any particular pair among the six as much as with these two. On top of that, their friendship in general is probably, on the surface, the most surprising among the whole group: one's an uptight fashionista with a penchant for fashion, high society, and the dramatic, while the other's a earth pony farmer who doesn't just not mind getting dirty, she loves it, along with putting in a hard day's work on the farm and doing the hard, backbreaking farm work her family's done for generations.
     
    Beneath those superficial, though still very real, differences, however, are far more similarities than one realizes at first glance. Both mares are hard working, self-made business ponies, take great pride in their work, are probably the oldest and most mature members of the Mane 6 (despite Rarity's aforementioned penchant for the dramatic at times in her behavior), and older sisters to boot, which probably has a lot to do with the maturity they display in the group, especially in the way they've always treated Twilight (and other Mane 6 members when they're in need of help) in an almost older-sisterly fashion (interesting to note that Twilight, despite being the leader of the group, also has a little-sister POV being the youngest member of her own family). Ever since Rarity and AJ themselves first got past their superficial differences in the still legendary episode "Look Before You Sleep" (seriously, still one of the best Season 1 episodes), they've only grown closer to each other, and more than any other ponies in the Mane 6 this duo seems to appear together onscreen, whether in starring or supporting roles. Besides the similarities they truly do share with each other, as the devoted AJ fan Sugar Cube pointed out in another thread, these two are probably the most realistic, least cartoonish characters of the Mane 6 as a whole, so that's probably another reason that their friendship not only makes so much sense but also works so well in the show. So how did they work here?
     
    Fantastically, really, they were both absolutely splendid in what I consider to be one of the best Rarijack episodes since "Look Before You Sleep", if not the best. First of all, the writers made absolutely the right decision in ensuring that this was a RARIJACK episode starring those two, not an episode starring those two with the rest of the Mane 6 unnecessarily crammed in (a major complaint I had with "Bats!" earlier this season, which I felt would've been a far better episode if it had focused more on Applejack and Fluttershy alone instead of involving all of the Mane 6 pretty equally). This balance in screen time helped ensure that there were really no pacing issues (yeah there was still a lot going on, but I honestly don't get why so many people seem to think there was a pacing problem in this episode, it was focused on two characters alone and did a perfectly fine job in the pacing department in my opinion).
     
    Second of all, the theme of this episode fit these two characters to a T and highlighted their friendship and why it works so well more explicitly than any other episode since "Look Before You Sleep" (and this was doubly interesting in that it was very much a look at how their friendship is now that they've been friends for a good while since that Season 1 episode). So, just what makes Rarijack such a compelling duo? Simply this: they accept each other for who they are without batting an eye. Their friendship is really, when you get down to it, probably the greatest microcosm of, not only the friendships we get in the show between the Mane 6 as a whole, but the foundation and central tenets of the brony fandom itself; the idea that anyone can be friends with anyone else, no matter how great your differences may be. If you simply accept each other for who you are, and do good (or at least try to) by others, then there's absolutely no reason you can't be friends. AJ especially displayed that here, in perhaps one of the greatest displays of her element of honesty that I have ever seen in the show. I do wish that a Rarijack episode down the road would someday have Rarity teaching Applejack the lesson, just because it seems like more often than not it's AJ teaching Rarity the lesson (i.e. "Sisterhooves Social"), but still, it worked great here, and made perfect sense as well. Rarity, blinded by her crush on Trenderhoof, chose to become something she isn't in order to win his affections. Our dear Applejack certainly was having none of this, because she wasn't about to let her dearest friend not be honest TO HERSELF. Applejack cares more about honesty than anypony, and that includes being honest to oneself. She displayed that honesty quite easily throughout the episode; short of saying it to his face out of politeness, she made it about as clear as she could that she wasn't interested in Trenderhoof in that way, and she made it quite clear to Rarity as well that she felt the same way. She only resorted to her little ruse at the end simply because being honest with Rarity in her normal, blunt fashion didn't work, so she needed to pull a Rarity herself and do something over-the-top that would catch Rarity's eye, something Rarity herself would do. During that final sequence, the two ponies highlighted quite aptly just how well they understand each other, and even more so the entire episode just how much they accept each other. Yes they have their own likes, but they love each other for who they are, and so were both quite understandably distraught when the other pretended to be something she wasn't (though again, AJ was just pulling a clever ruse). Finally, the patience displayed by AJ was the cherry on top of this Rarijack smorgasbord that illustrated just how close they are. AJ really never blew up at Rarity despite the fact that she was being pretty silly, she just got really frustrated at her friend for not being herself. She made it quite clear, even at her angriest, that all she wanted to do was help her friend, and it was nice that we got to see her show Rarity the error of her ways without making any dumb mistakes herself.
     
    Overall, this was an incredibly nuanced theme that really was being delivered, if you look at it closely, the entire episode from beginning to end, especially once Rarity started trying to countrify herself. It was all about honesty, so obviously AJ came out of this looking like the better character in a mature sense here, but it also excellently highlighted just what makes Rarijack work so well as a friendship. These two understand and accept each other more than anypony else does despite being polar opposites, and that fact was on full display here, quite clearly illustrating, in my opinion, that they truly are the best pair of friends in the show.
     




    Two best friends, unlikely as it may seem. Proof that friendship truly knows no bounds.


     
    Alrighty, well, with that big chunk out of the way I shouldn't have too much else left to say seeing as this still was just a pretty silly and lighthearted episode despite having a pretty well executed theme. Our new character, Trenderhoof... I didn't like him that much. Now don't get me wrong, he seemed nice enough and he also gave quite a few laughs (I'll expand on that in a minute). I think what I didn't like most about him was (1) the fact that he was basically a hipster pony, but even more so (2) his voice. Good Lord, I hated his voice! It was very... grating, very unpleasant to the ears. It kept cracking throughout the whole episode and I found myself wincing quite a few times when Trenderhoof spoke. I don't know what they were thinking with the direction they gave this VA, but this voice was just plain unpleasant and distracting, so I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing Trenderhoof again in the future. I will say this to the episode's credit in the way it used Trenderhoof: THIS IS HOW YOU DO A CRUSH DHX!!!!!!! Let's contrast this to that... "thing" we got in EQG that DHX called a crush: in EQG, the crush made no sense seeing as how quickly it developed (not to mention the fact that Flash was a human), consisted entirely of stupid blushing and giggling, and only got about 5 minutes of screentime despite the fact that DHX was trying to sell us that this was supposed to be a legitimate, serious plot point. Here, although the episode revolved around the crush, it was mostly played for laughs, Rarity's and Trenderhoof's crushes were acceptable (she'd been obsessively following his work for years and he fell victim to love at first sight, the former being acceptable even when played up seriously and the latter acceptable especially when played up for laughs), and, most importantly of all, both crushes concluded with surprisingly serious, well-delivered letdowns for both characters. They both realized that Trenderhoof didn't like Rarity for who she was and AJ didn't like Trenderhoof for who he was, and thus neither pair was compatible. Sure Rarity and Trenderhoof were saddened by this, but they were able to accept it because, as they both learned, it's far better to find someone who loves you for who you are. That's a theme on crushes and love that you rarely see in any show, but especially not in a family/children's program, and my hat's off to DHX for how they used Trenderhoof to deliver this message.
     




    Epic 4th wall breaking powers!!!


     
    The comedy in this episode was superb! In my opinion, it's the finest that the comedy has been all season in writing alone; there weren't as many physical gags as in previous episodes (though there was a bit of visual humor), but the dialogue was HILARIOUS! Rarity was her usual over-the-top, dramatic self, and Tabitha St. Germain had some absolutely riotous delivery in her lines. Applejack was very blunt and no-nonsense as usual, which always balances out Rarity's dramatics so nicely when they're onscreen together (I have to imagine that Ashleigh and Tabitha must have a blast recording some of those lines together themselves). Rarity and Trenderhoof were both very Pepe Le Pew-ish, especially when all three shared the screen with AJ, which made for some very funny set-ups (in fact, a lot of the humor, being so dialogue driven, was very Looney Tune-ish, more heavily reminiscent of those legendary sketches than most episodes of MLP I've seen since Season 2. Heck, there were even some sexual innuendos/visual humor throughout the episode that I was kind of shocked to see, something that most kids shows won't utilize these days but was always played up for laughs in the Looney Tunes, and I appreciated it very much here). Spike had probably the best 4th wall breaking moment of the season. And of course, the last third of the episode was simply legend (as a funny aside, I totally called AJ "Rarifying" herself before the episode debuted in a conversation with DashForever on Skype earlier in the week )! The accents donned by both Rarity and Applejack were to die for, especially Rarity's: Tabitha's refined/country accent hybrid had me in stitches every time she spoke with it. I think we can all agree that Rari-country and Applejewel was one of the finest comedic moments of this season so far, and overall, this was most definitely a funny, funny episode in the writing department.
     

    How every brony always envisioned Rarity-countrified:


     



     

    What we got instead:


     



     


    Well... that's certainly a turnoff.

     

    And yet, somehow, THIS was the most surprising sight of the episode!


     



     




     

    Wow...
    No wait, that 3 second clip doesn't do every bronies' collective reaction to Applejewel justice. Let's see... here we go, that should do. :comeatus:

     




     
    Just got a few more things left to cover. Animation was lovely as usual; I especially loved the design they gave Applejewel, very, very chic, far more than I thought AJ could ever look (and the fact that she was totally comfortable in that look helped sell it, what a far cry from how AJ was concerning dresses and styling herself in Season 1). Derpy had a few nice little cameos, and the normality of her appearances is something I'm loving very, very much. I was glad that there wasn't any music, just because it's nice to get a break from the tunes in an episode every once in awhile. All in all, I've got nothing bad to say about this episode. Yeah it wasn't the best of the season, but it was a splendid episode all the same with some fairly subtle and surprisingly serious themes, and handily highlighted just what makes Applejack and Rarity such a great pair of friends more than anything else. Well done "Simple Ways", well done indeed.
     




    One more time for good measure, DAYUMMMMMM... WHAT THE BUCK IS UP WITH THE DUCKFACES THIS SEASON?!?!


  7. Batbrony
    *scans the area* Alright, he's not in, woohoo! Down to business...


     

    Hiya everypony, it's me, your favorite mailmare Derpy!!!


     



     

    I've just borrowed this kind fellow's laptop for a bit so I could make an entry in his blog (for very important-mom reasons as you'll see in a second). How did I do that? Oh it wasn't that hard, just took some potion Princess Sparkle made that lets ponies "cross over into different dimensions" or something like that. Only cost me 5 bits, what a deal, right?!


     

    Anyways, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to pull for my little muffin, Dinky Doo!


     



     

    That's her with her Aunty Carrot! Anyways, yeah, she's currently in a fierce competition with Miss Bon Bon for qualifying for a spot in your World Cup competition. Now I don't have anything against Miss Bon Bon, nothing at all; in fact, she and I are good friends, and I love the candies she sells, Dinky too! It's just, well... I have to pull for my daughter because... that's what moms do.


     

    I remember back on the day Dinky was born, I swore then and there that I'd always be there for my little muffin no matter what.






    That's Dinky right after we got out of the hospital after she was born. It was the happiest trip to the hospital I ever took in my entire life!


     

    Ever since that day, the two of us have been there for each other through thick and thin. Even when the Doctor's busy with his work or my older, adoptive daughter Amethyst is away at school, I always have my little Dinky by my side. She's everything to me! I love the Doctor, he's the best friend I'll ever have and so much more, but Dinky is, well... a part of me.


     

    Now I know you guys don't get to see that in this show about our lives that you seem to love to watch. Poor Dinky's a bit camera shy so she doesn't like showing up all too much at all. I tried that a bit myself last season, but that didn't work out all too well, and she didn't want me to not show up in something I love just because she's a little afraid of the camera. But you know what, it's OK that you don't see the two of us too often. You know why? Because YOU'VE all managed to tell our story for us! The art, the fanfiction, even the music you make about the two of us?! It's beautiful, wonderful stuff, it really is, and that's all the attention we need. You've seen the beauty there is in our relationship and given it a life of its own even though you don't even know anything about us, and it's touching, it really is. I mean, just look at all these moments you've made, these memories you've captured!


     















     

    That's just a hoofful of the ways you've captured the love between my daughter and I, and I couldn't be happier or more thankful for them all! My love for my Dinky's why I'm here now; I can only think of a few things I'd love more than getting to compete in the World Cup Tournament with my daughter. She's everything to me, and even if she was going up against the nicest pony in the world I'd still be there cheering her on. All she needs to qualify is a draw with Miss Bon Bon, so if you'd be so kind as to give a vote to my little Dinky so that she and I might get to have some fun together in the tournament, I'd be eternally grateful. I know I'm basically asking you to vote for her because she's my daughter and I love her, but ya know something, that's all the reason I need, and I guess it's all the reason I can give seeing as you know pretty much nothing else about her.


     

    So please, please, please everypony, vote for my little Dinky because I love her! And if you do, I might just bake muffins for you all to boot.
    Now scoot, there's only a few hours left to vote!!!

     

    http://mlpforums.com/topic/82112-the-2014-mlpf-world-cup-qualifying-matchday-7-group-e-and-group-f/

     



     

    Well, that's all I had to say everypony! Bye bye for now! Oh, and thanks to the guy who (sort of) let me post on his blog. I hear you're a big fan, so thanks for the support!!!


  8. Batbrony
    "Pinkie Pride"... so this episode was fun. Welp that's it, review over...
     



     
    Oh calm your shorts, I kid, I kid (and I also communicate with Internet gifs, so what does that say about me? Can't be anything good). Whatever, let's get this review going proper.
     
    Do I even need to start by mentioning that the ungodly streak of hits DHX has been throwing our way ever since "Rarity Takes Manehattan" (and yes, I still consider "Rainbow Falls" to be among that group of elites despite the fact that it seems to have left a sour taste in the mouth of the majority of bronydom) continued yet again this week? Honestly, it's getting tiring seeing this much awesome. OK, not really, but you get my point that the amount of awesome we've had lately in the show is kinda overwhelming, and that was true yet again here. It's getting to the point where I can't speak about every little thing that was right because there's just too much to count, it's true, there's just too much, both the big and little. Well, let's try to do this episode justice anyways; as with previous recent reviews of mine, this review will largely cover characters in the episode, then conclude with more aesthetic elements.
     
    So let's start with our main character, Pinkie Pie, in her second starring role of the season (and first solo starring role seeing as she was more of a co-star with AJ in "Pinkie Apple Pie"). I'll just come out and say it, I thought this was Pinkie's best starring role since "A Friend in Deed". I still consider that episode to be the quintessential Pinkie Pie episode (for more details on why, you can read my review of "A Friend in Deed" here: http://mlpforums.com/blog/1009/entry-8131-batbrony-reviews-s02e18-a-friend-in-deed/), but this episode was definitely its spiritual successor, for a number of reasons, some of which I'll get to later. Perhaps the most obvious reason, however, is that, more than any Pinkie episode since "A Friend in Deed", this episode revolved around that which makes Pinkie tick, her unconditional, never-ending, sugar-and-joy-fueled mission to spread joy and happiness to as many ponies as possible through her talents for making ponies laugh and throwing parties. This makes perfect sense seeing as it seems that each member of the Mane 6 is revisiting the elements they embody this season whenever they receive the "keys" (or whatever the buck those special items will be, kinda hard to imagine a rubber chicken being used as a key ) in an episode and bolstering the fact that they embody those elements. In Pinkie's case, it's laughter of course. This episode would've been retread ground for Pinkie if not for the fact that it was executed in a far more original manner than any of the "key episodes" so far this season, namely in the way the lesson was delivered. Pinkie, when her status as town party pony was threatened, fell victim to pride (a vice we'd normally see Rainbow Dash succumb to), and in her zeal to defend her title ended up threatening to ruin one of her best friend's birth-iversary party. As soon as Pinkie realized this, she was immediately ashamed; it's not like she's a prideful pony, she just let her raw emotions get the better of her, but in doing so she compromised everything that she stands for. She's a super-duper-party-pony not because she yearns for glory, nor because it brings her pride and satisfaction (not first and foremost at least), but ultimately because she just wants to make other ponies as happy as can be without getting anything in return. Once she was reminded of that, that it's not the scale or size of the party, but really the selflessness of the act itself that spreads the joy to other ponies, Pinkie's head was set straight and she went about righting everything as best she could, in the process both making a new friend as well as throwing RD about the most epic party she could. Pinkie done good, and she received both a good lesson as well as a rubber chicken for her efforts.
     
    Besides the lesson learned, Pinkie Pie was just about as Pinkielicious as one could hope for here. She went through a wide range of emotions, showed just how serious she can be even while remaining the silliest of ponies, sang, dance, spread the laughs, all that good Pinkie stuff. Might've been her funniest episode since "Party of One", although in many ways I hesitate declaring it her funniest episode ever seeing as so much of the episode's humor relied off of Cheese Sandwich, and not solely Pinkie. Still, all the same this was most definitely one of Pinkie's finest starring roles to date!
     




    Pinkie... never stop being you. You hear me? NEVER STOP BEING YOU!!!


     
    Next up, let's talk about the newest character of the show, Cheese Sandwich, voiced by none other than the most legendary parodist/musician/accordionist (yes that's actually a real word)/funny man of them all, Weird Al Yankovic. This character was definitely one of the best supporting characters we've gotten in a LONG time, I'm talking dating all the way back to Season 2 even. He's basically the closest we'll ever get to a Rule 63 Pinkie Pie, and it's very uncanny how a character who really does reflect his VA's typical humor so well is so very similar to Pinkie Pie herself. Makes me almost wonder if Lauren Faust was partially inspired by Weird Al and possibly other similar nonsensical, absurdist comedians when she came up with Pinkie Pie's character? Anyways, he was a blast; just as random, zany, whacky, and goofy as Pinkie Pie herself, and the first pony we've ever seen who loves throwing parties and making ponies laugh as much as she does. Hearing him get to sing was probably what I appreciated the most about his appearance just because Weird Al really is an extremely talented singer and it was a joy getting to hear his vocals about as much as one could hope to in an episode. But really, the best thing about his character was how sincere he felt; I honestly felt like I was watching Al himself here. The guy strikes me as one of the most genuine celebrities out there, possibly the closest real-world equivalent to a Pinkie Pie even, a man who sincerely loves what he does and spreading as much laughter and joy as he can to others. So this turned out to be what every person always hopes a celebrity guest appearance will be on a TV show, but more often than not they never turn out to be; instead of some cringe-inducing or pointless cameo, this was just legend, absolutely fantastic in every sense of the word. Weird Al, from the bottom of my heart on behalf of every one of your fellow brony-brethren, thank you, thank you, thank you for this! You're awesome, just plain awesome.
     




    OK, just to make sure everything's clear here, he's got a fish and an aviator hat on his head and a tuba-playing mouse on his tongue. Makes perfect sense to me!


     
    Next, let's talk the Mane 6. Besides Rainbow Dash, none of them really stood out here seeing as the episode was so heavily dominated by Pinkie and Cheese. Rainbow was quite cute on her birth-iversary, and never felt obnoxious at all. I mean yeah, she was excited about it, but if you had her personality and you were celebrating a birth-iversary, wouldn't you be that excited as well? But she had more to her character here than just excitement. Heck, you could practically feel the sinking feeling of disappointment and anxiousness that she felt when she said "Heh... big, tense competition on my birth-iversary. What could be better?", I mean really, I felt for her there, that and her look of sadness after the giant pinata fell on her (wow, that was weird to write) showed more than anything else just how wrong Pinkie's pride was. It also showed once again just how patient she's gotten since the show began, seeing as the old Rainbow would've probably gotten angry almost immediately at Pinkie over something like this; but here, she didn't even get mad, in fact she was actually apologizing to Pinkie immediately after Pinkie apologized to her. Our favorite cyan pegasus sure has grown up a lot since the show began, and I love it, not to mention that she definitely got the best party ever at the end there! It was, wait for it... SO AWESOME!
     
    As for the rest, they all had bits here and there. Rarity and AJ had a few one-liners together (and AJ even broke the fourth wall at one point), Twilight was her fun, bookish self, and Fluttershy actually had the funniest line of the episode ("Oh no, not a goof-off!" "What's a goof-off?" "I have no idea", my gosh, the delivery on that line was fantastic and seriously the funniest single line in the episode! Props Andrea, props!!!). I'm not mad at any of them for embracing Cheese as quickly as they did (even if RD's line about Pinkie's parties not being epic was kind of unnecessarily cruel, especially when she knew Pinkie was right there), and I'm not just excusing it on account of plot convenience. I think it's perfectly believable that anyone would take up someone's offer to throw a party for them if that someone was an insanely talented party planner who was offering to throw the most epic party possible for free. They just got caught up in the excitement is all and they admitted as much to Pinkie at the end. Heck, even Cheese got caught up in trying to impress his fillyhood idol; my guess is that he actually wanted to repay Pinkie more than anything by taking the load off her shoulders. He certainly wasn't mean-spirited in his agenda, though he may have let pride blind him a bit just as it blinded Pinkie Pie. But whatever, back to the Mane 6, long story short they were perfectly fine here, especially RD with her RDness and Fluttershy with her hilarious line delivery, not to mention AJ, Rarity, and Twi rocked their groove-things in "Make a Wish" along with Pinkie Pie.
     
    Now to cover the final character of this episode: Ponyville. What do I mean by that? Well, for me, the best episodes are those in which the town of Ponyville itself is practically a character, the seventh member of the Mane 6 even if you will. Highlights of this sort include "Lesson Zero", "Hurricane Fluttershy", and "A Friend in Deed", among many others. For this to happen, you need a lot of background ponies to show up, you need them to show up consistently, and you need there to be at least a few memorable cameos. Did we have that here? Oh me oh my we most certainly did! This is another big reason that I consider this episode to be the spiritual successor to "A Friend in Deed"; at least in the "Smile" song, the entire town of Ponyville was simply alive, a character in its own right alongside Pinkie Pie, and the same can be said here. Just about every major background pony resident of Ponyville showed up, including Cloud Kicker, Lyra, Bon Bon, Carrot Top, Berry Punch, Cherry Berry, Colgate, Caramel, Raindrops, Dinky Doo, Roseluck, Daisy, Lily, Amethyst Star/Sparkler, Mr. and Mrs. Cake along with Pound and Pumpkin Cake (yes I know they're more supporting characters than background), Diamond Tiara in a singing role of all things (which was even more strangely actually enjoyable, seriously, what the buck, a Diamond Tiara appearance that I actually liked?!), Cheerilee, Doctor Whooves, Filly Cloudchaser and Flitter (seriously, I don't think they were there in the present but they definitely showed up as fillies in Cheese's flashback), Twinkleshine, Sea Swirl, Lemon Hearts, Rainbowshine, Sassaflash, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and basically every resident of Ponyville you could imagine. Oh yeah, and Derpy was back in yet another cameo role, I loved it very, very much (duh); it wasn't quite as epic as the supporting role she got in "Rainbow Falls", much more similar to her Season 1 and Season 2 cameos, but she was still there plenty and had some awesome, adorable bits (most notably her munching on that chocolate-fondue fountain (come on, you all know you'd do that to if it was right there in front of you ) and Filly Derpy's first official canon appearance (and no, her appearance in "The Cutie Pox" doesn't count, that was in the present and, ergo, not actually Derpy, even if it was still awesome).
     




    THAT'S BUCKING ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!


     
    Anyways, like I said, the town of Ponyville, as it has often been in the past, was here again practically a character in and of itself, and the episodes in which that happens generally turn out to be some of my favorite of the series, and "Pinkie Pride" was no exception. Love it when these characters get to be characters, and I wish it happened in the show more often (though it does make the rare times that it does even more special, to be honest).
     
    Alright, onto the aesthetic elements of the episode, starting with music. This was the first "musical" episode we've had in the show since "Magical Mystery Cure" last season, and in my opinion the musical format worked even better here than it did in that episode. I can't possibly go into great depth on each song, so I'll start with a quick summary of each one and then share my thoughts on the music as a whole. We had "Pinkie the Party Planner" (based quite obviously off of "Belle" from "Beauty and the Beast", and a lovely tune to start the episode off), "The Super Duper Party Pony" (based off of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from "Mary Poppins" and Weird Al's MLP musical debut, complete with accordion instrumentals and everything, though strangely enough not the first polka piece we've gotten in this show despite it's extensive use of the accordion, that honor goes to Pinkie's parasprite song from way back in Season 1), "Pinkie's Lament" (based off of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from "Evita", and Pinkie's most somber musical solo to date), "The Goof Off" (based off of "Together (Wherever We Go)" from "The Brady Bunch", a zany compilation of original pieces, polka songs (including the Beer Barrel Polka, otherwise known as Roll Out the Barrel, which I myself had the pleasure to sing with the entire crowd at Lambeau Field just this past December, as is tradition at Green Bay Packers games in the 4th quarter ), a Spanish piece of all things, and even a brief "Smile" song rendition as sung by Weird Al himself, definitely the craziest song of the bunch in this episode), "Cheese Confesses" (a slowed down reprise of "The Super Duper Party Pony" that was honestly genuinely touching in a number of parts, especially in just how sincere and heartfelt Cheese's admission of the effect Pinkie had on his life felt), and "Make a Wish" (based off of P!nk's "Raise Your Glass", and in many ways a spiritual successor, I felt, to "Love is in Bloom" from Season 2, even if it sounded a bit more like "This is Our Big Night" from "Equestria Girls", I'm not counting that one just because that entire movie had a feel of its own very much removed in many aspects from that of MLP).
     
    I don't have a single favorite out of all of these songs, unlike "A True, True Friend" in "Magical Mystery Cure", for one big reason: this episode was even more of a musical than that one was. The music in "Magical Mystery Cure" is wonderful, but it is also quite obviously a device utilized to move the episode along quicker. Here, that was not the case; each song felt natural, a logical successor to the previous number. The polka strung the middle pieces together very nicely, and even the pieces that most deviated from the others (i.e. "Make a Wish") musically still felt like they belonged with the group as a whole. Basically, I can't imagine this episode without any of these songs; they did each other justice so well, and the greater whole that they made was far more impressive than any effect left by any individual piece alone. Definitely one of Daniel Ingram's most impressive accomplishments yet, only further amplified by the legendary Weird Al's vocals where he contributed them, and by far the musical highlight of the season thus far for an episode as a whole (even if "Apples to the Core" is still my favorite individual piece of the season so far).
     
    Oh, and if you don't believe me about that "Roll Out the Barrel" thing, take a gander at this then listen to Pinkie's bit right after Cheese sings "Smile" in "The Goof Off". Besides, what's not to love about a little polka? :comeatus:
     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfyObUd5e8

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q95Ns__HXVY

     
    The animation here was stupendous as usual, probably the most gorgeous we've ever seen in any Pinkie episode. The variety in the faces that both Pinkie and Cheese made was simply unreal at times (definitely one of the animation highlights of this whole season so far), the scale that some of the ludicrous stunts that Pinkie and Cheese pulled was appropriately enormous, it was great getting to see an entire episode centered around Ponyville (the first we've actually had set entirely in Ponyville this season if I'm not mistaken), and everything just looked stunning from beginning to end. Major props to Sibsy and the animation team as usual.
     
    Finally, the comedy was, to say the least, through the roof. I didn't think it'd be possible for one to make an episode funnier than "Three's a Crowd" after last week, especially in the very next episode, but by gosh DHX bucking did it! Pinkie was hilarious, Cheese was hilarious, the sight gags, the lines, and the music were all hilarious. A couple highlights for me include Boneless the chicken, the cheesehead that Cheese stuck on RD during "The Goof Off" (c'mon, I'm a Packer backer and bonified cheesehead, how could I not love that?), and, as I mentioned earlier, Fluttershy's "I have no idea" line. But perhaps my favorite running gag in this entire episode would have to be the Western references. Some were obvious, others not so much, but they were there all right, and seeing as I spent my entire final semester of college just last spring studying Western films for my senior thesis, and falling in love with the genre in the process, I was delighted by them. We had (1) a Clint Eastwood reference to his Man With No Name character from Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" in the hat and poncho donned by Cheese throughout the episode, not to mention his serious demeanor which he assumed when doing so, (2) a reference to "High Noon", legendary Western starring Gary Cooper, when Pinkie announced that they would hold their goof off at high noon originally, (3) the reference to the classic "3:10 to Yuma" when Pinkie declared that the goof off would be at "3:10 to goof off" instead (which I have not actually seen, the 1950s original I mean, not the 2000s remake), and finally, (4) the start of the goof off itself, which basically referenced every single Western stand off ever. For this guy, those Western references were an unexpected delight, and I really have to wonder who came up with them seeing as so many involved Cheese; while I could easily see the writers coming up with them on their own, I can't help but wonder if Weird Al is a big Western fan and if he might've had some creative input into not only his character but also comedic bits throughout the episode. Hard to say, hard to say, but definitely plausible. In any case, the humor was on here and absolutely a delight.
     






     

    That's my pony.


     
    Just a few more notes before I wrap this review up. It was fun getting to briefly see Appleloosa at the start of the episode. The Equestrian map that comes up when you look it up on Google images is apparently canon now seeing as it was displayed during one of Cheese's songs, so that's cool. I was admittedly a bit disappointed that Cranky Doodle Donkey didn't show up yet again even though his special somedonkey Matilda did (seriously, I miss that guy, he was awesome!). Overall, however, this episode was everything that I could've hoped it would be and so much more. It is legend, it really, truly is, and it will forever hold a special place in the annals of MLP's canon as one of the finest episodes I've ever seen on this show.
     




    Oh yeah, and I'm totally shipping these two. :comeatus:


     



  9. Batbrony
    OK, "Three's a Crowd" was a hoot and a holler, no denying that. I'd say it was probably the silliest episode we've had this season since "Castle Mane-ia", or maybe "Power Ponies", and maybe the funniest episode out of those three. Despite having a giant action sequence between two alicorns and a giant worm, the episode somehow turned out to be a lovely little slice of life episode far sillier than most, and very unique from most in that we got a combination of main characters that we usually don't see in the show. So, let's get this review going proper. Oh, and seeing as there wasn't so much plot until the last third of the episode and mostly just silliness being wreaked by Discord, like last week I'll focus this review as well once again on the characters, rather than the story.
     




    I love these two, they're adorable


     
    So let's start by talking about Twilight and Cadance. Besides "Games Ponies Play", until today we'd never seen these two alicorn sisters-in-law getting to spend time together in a casual capacity, and even in the aforementioned episode the visit was semi-formal seeing as Twilight was trying to help the Crystal Empire secure hosting the Equestria Games. I will say that the one thing that continues to bug me about Cadance, or rather, her VA, is that she always delivers her lines like she's trying to be a Mary Sue. I'm not saying she is, because Cadance is hardly what I'd call a Mary Sue, but gosh dang it if she doesn't sound like one with her constantly-cheery voice (and no, it's not the same as Celestia's gentle and benevolent regal demeanor or Luna's delightfully cute and hilarious social awkwardness mixed in with genuine formality). But whatever, she still had a good episode, mostly because the writers have always written her very well (no small feat considering if anypony could easily be a Mary Sue, it's her; I mean, that's always been the case since her inception back in Season 2 and the writers have still managed to make her a well rounded character).
     
    Anyways, Twilight and Cadance, it was a lot of fun to watch them spending the day as sisters. Even when Discord started trying to ruin their plans, you could still tell that they were spending time with each other in an unofficial capacity, and it especially brought Cadance down to earth in a way we've never seen her before. Twilight for her part had one of her silliest roles this season (as well as probably her first starring role since the season opener), and Tara as usual did an outstanding job with the voice work, delivering each line to perfection. I really liked that her distrust of Discord was justified at the end and that she'd been right all along; I mean, yeah, she didn't ever predict that he was faking his illness, but she knew from the start that Discord was just trying to screw with her and Cadance the whole time. I get the feeling that Cadance knew it as well, but I really enjoyed how she handled it differently. Being the Princess of Love, she's really shown herself to be possibly the most patient out of all the princesses, maybe even all of the main characters, and I think that has a lot to do with her loving nature. After all, as 1 Corinthians 13:4 states, "Love is patient, love is kind". Cadance doesn't let things phase her (except for really, really big things like, IDK, being abducted on her wedding day), and I think it's really quite astute of the writers to understand that, yeah, a princess who embodies love more than anyone else probably would be really, really patient with anyone, even someone as frustrating as Discord. All in all, the sisters-in-law duo of Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance were a lot of fun to watch this episode. They were cute, they were funny, they had a really cool alicorn action sequence together where they really worked well and in-sync with one another (and I am LOVING how much alicorn action we're seeing this season... no, NOT THAT KIND OF ACTION!!! ), it was nice seeing them together without Shining Armor around (though I wouldn't mind seeing more of him soon as well), and overall they had a great slice of life episode together in which Cadance proved, even though she's not that much older than Twilight, that she can still teach her a lesson or two about friendship.
     




    Oh gosh, I just realized they didn't do the dance, THEY DIDN'T DO THE DANCE, WHAT THE BUCK MAN?!?!


     
    OK, now onto Discord. This guy, of course, stole the show. His Season 4 appearances are really kicking the snot out of his lone Season 3 appearance so far, aren't they? I mean, heck, he might've been funnier here than he even was in the season opener! So of course John De Lancie did a delightful job, I mean, c'mon, he's John De Lancie, he was born to play trolls! Every time Discord shows up now, I swear, the writers not only do a fantastic job with his character, but with those around him. The second he shows up, everyone gets a little sillier, whether or not they mean to, especially the Mane 6; we don't usually see them so on edge and distrustful, so it's always kinda silly seeing that whenever our loveable Lord of Chaos comes to town. You can see it in their faces, they're all measuring every single word of his, trying to find out how he's trying to trick them (there was seriously hilarious visual comedy from Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight today in particular, at least in the facial expression department). As for his trick itself, the payoff was great, mostly because the viewer was as uncertain the whole time as to whether or not he really was sick as Twilight and her friends were. I mean, he got two ponies sick for crying out loud, but at the same time you just knew, you JUST knew, he was screwing with them somehow, but you couldn't put your finger on it. I just loved that I was second guessing myself right up until the very end when we learned the truth. Discord thankfully got some just desserts (something he really should've gotten in the season 4 opener, so it was satisfying seeing that there were actual consequences for his actions this time), and interestingly enough it remains ambiguous as to whether or not he will ever turn into a villain again. His trollish nature is the same as ever, and it's kind of terrifying that the only thing holding him back from turning into an all out villain now is a cute little butter pony.
     




    Oh dear, it appears I may have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, could you ladies help me by any chance?



    (thumbs up if you get the reference)


     
    As for his comedy, I can't point to specific examples, I just can't. EVERY SINGLE THING about Discord is comedy, I'm serious, he is the living embodiment of comedy, even more so than when he first showed up since he's no longer a villain (for the time being). His lines put me in stitches, the visual humor he was responsible for, whether in his own body language or the way he affects the world around him, was delightful, his trolling in general as well as the ultimate troll plan he put together for this episode were a riot, and that musical number! Oh my goodness, that was pretty much exactly what you'd figure a Discord musical number would turn out to be, and boy oh boy was it funny. Not the best song we've had this season, but it wasn't trying to be, it was trying to be the funniest we've had this season, and it most DEFINITELY was, maybe even the funniest song we've ever had on the show. Discord, you are comedy. Comedy, you are Discord. Ergo, any time you show up, fun times will be had by all watching your antics. Funny, funny, FUNNY episode, and that will always be the first word that comes to mind whenever I look back on it.
     




    Chaos: it's what I do!


     
    Next let's briefly cover the Mane 6. Fluttershy had quite the nice set up for a future episode of hers (at least, assuming that the Breezies episode down the road covers her little trip, which will be quite interesting to watch seeing as she usually never does anything without her friends whenever she's in a starring role). I'm pretty sure after this episode that Pinkie Pie has ADHD; I know that probably should've been apparent by now, but my gosh she was getting so easily distracted by those red balloons, it just seemed like the writers were screaming, "YES, SHE HAS ADHD, NO, WE'RE NOT JOKING, SHE REALLY DOES!" Rainbow irked me earlier with how quickly she abandoned the group (given that she is the Element of Loyalty and all), but Radiance64 astutely pointed out that while she is loyal to friends, she's not loyal to Discord in the slightest, so I can give her a pass for dashing off (heh, see what I did there?) so fast. It was really fun seeing some good ol' Rarijack in the episode; I've said it before and I'll say it again, those two are my favorite duo of friends among the Mane 6, and it was just a delight seeing them both automatically stick together and working in tandem to keep Discord away from Twilight (even if it didn't work). Plus, Rarity had a few funny lines and AJ had a few funny faces. Makes me quite excited to see Rarijack even more so later in the season when "Simple Ways" debuts.
     
    OK, what else to cover. Animation was spot on as usual. The Crystal train was seriously awesome and, in a weird way, kind of metal. IDK, it just looked like something you'd expect KISS to show up in or something. The giant worm at the end was just plain terrifying, but it made for quite an awesome action sequence, complete with alicorn aerial action and magic to boot. And of course Discord's animations were fluid and simply unpredictable, as they should be. The music, as I said earlier, was a blast and Daniel Ingram continues to prove himself to be one of the finest composers for children's television in the modern era. We got one of the most random references I've ever seen in this show (at least I'm pretty sure it was a reference) in the form of Discord's chariot, which I swear was a "300" reference! Finally, the lesson was pretty sweet, even if it wasn't that important for the episode's purposes seeing as this was just a pretty silly episode all in all.
     
    There's only one bad thing at all that I can say about this episode: THIS GUY... :okiedokielokie:
     



     
    I don't care if he only showed up for 10 seconds and didn't say a word, IT WAS STILL 10 SECONDS TOO LONG!!! But, other than that little bit of unpleasantness, nothing bad at all that I can say about this episode thankfully. All in all, it was a fun, fun, fun episode, and I can't wait to rewatch it. Should be very interesting to see if next week's episode can surpass it in the fun department. Brace yourselves everypony... Weird Al is coming to town.
  10. Batbrony
    And the streak continues, my gosh is Season 4 on a roll!!! Though "Rainbow Falls" may have been the most divisive episode of the last three, largely because of its theme and the execution of said theme, after having watched it twice and put quite a bit of thought into it, I actually think this episode wasn't as bad for Rainbow Dash's character as some people seem to think it was (though I understand why they would think so). We've got A LOT to cover in this one, so let's get going; seeing as there are so many characters to cover in this one, rather than cover the overall story, I'm just going to split this one up into a look at the characters, and then, as usual, go over the aesthetic elements to round everything out.
     
    So first off-
     

    *ahem*


     
    What the-
     



     
    Oh hey Derpy, how's it hanging? So, as I was saying-
     

    *ahem*


     
    What?!
     



     
    Now listen here missy, you just wait! I'll get to you in a little while, but first I gotta cover some other stuff here.
     



     
    HEY, don't give me that look!!! Think of it this way; I'm saving you for last just like the writers did! So just sit there and be patient, I'll do you justice, don't you worry.
     



     
    Good. Now then, where was I? Oh yes, characters. Well, seeing as she was the star of the episode, let's start with Rainbow Dash. It seems that so far peoples' #1 complaint of RD in this episode was that it covered retread ground in an almost Fluttershy-like manner, that is, we've seen RD's loyalty get tested before, we've seen her have to learn to put her friends before glory. On the surface, one might easily get this impression from the episode. BUT, look at it more closely, and I think you'll find that Corey Powell actually put together a rather original conflict for Rainbow Dash, even if it tested her loyalty yet again. To start, let's reflect on conflicts RD has faced in the past, particularly those related to her element in some way. In "Sonic Rainboom", Rainbow Dash had to learn to overcome her own insecurity and self-doubt in order to not only do her best, but save her friend and role models in the process. In "May the Best Pet Win", while RD did learn a lesson about not measuring others by shallow and superficial qualities, that episode was specifically about learning what one should look for in a pet, even though the lesson was applied to friends as well. "The Mysterious Mare Do-Well" gave RD a much-needed lesson about humility and doing something just because it's the right thing to do, not for the sake of glory and praise. "Wonderbolts Academy" was more a case of RD applying lessons she'd learned in the past than actually learning one, and while one could argue that that is the episode that proves RD didn't need to learn the lesson that she did in "Rainbow Falls", consider the following; in "Wonderbolts Academy", aside from their pairs, the cadets are not technically on one big team with each other. They're all sort of competing with each other, and Rainbow is only forced at the very end to once and for all rebuke Lightning Dust's methods (which she'd been uncomfortable with the entire episode) in a split second decision when her friends' very lives are at stake. So why is this episode actually different from all of those?
     
    Well let's look at how this episode starts, progresses, and ends for Rainbow Dash. First of all, we learn from the get go that RD has taken it upon herself, voluntarily, to lead the Ponyville relay team at the Equestria Games tryouts. She could have EASILY decided to just be a sprinter instead like Thunderlane and some of the other Ponyville pegasi, but I get the feeling that she took the relay team for two reasons: (1) she likes taking the more challenging of the two, pushing herself to her limits, and (2) she wants Ponyville to be represented in as many events as possible, and as such loyally took the harder of the two events that less pegasi wanted to volunteer for, not to mention it's the event that gets less glory for an individual in the sense that it's a team event, whereas sprinting is an individual event. This from the get-go shows a remarkable amount of maturity and character growth on RD's part since the series first started.
     
    So what else does RD do as the episode progresses? Well, she starts by trying to keep her teammates focused on their training, which is made all the harder by the fact that her well-intentioned friends keep distracting them (especially AJ and Rarity, they were a little off in this episode in the logic department). At the same time, she sees how professional the Wonderbolts are training and vies for that kind of skill and effort from her own teammates, and when one of them gets into a life-threatening situation, she saves Soarin's life (yet again) and, with his spot open, receives an offer to train with the Wonderbolts after turning down their initial offer to join them. Wanting to at least improve her own abilities through said training, even though she still plans on competing with the Ponyville squad, RD accepts their tantalizing offer and begins secretly practicing with them as well as the Ponyville team, though it's clear which she enjoys working with more. It's very understandable why even the Element of Loyalty would get sucked into this situation: (1) the Wonderbolts are her idols, so it would be crazy for RD to get an offer to train with them and turn it down, plus she still thinks she's going to end up competing with the Ponyville relay team anyway, (2) she's there to qualify (not win, qualify, she knows very well that's the best they can do with what they've got), while her teammates and friends seem to just be there to have fun, and for a competitor that kind of attitude can honestly be frustrating, even for the most patient of ones, and it's taken A LOT for RD to get as patient as she is (which still isn't a lot), and (3) while it might seem to be only logical that the Wonderbolts would later offer her another chance to compete with them, RD has never been the thinker of the Mane 6, and I'm not saying she's stupid, just that in the excitement of being given an offer like THAT, it's easy to see why RD wouldn't consider or draw the conclusion that the Wonderbolts would try to entice her to join them again. So given all these circumstances, I am more than willing to cut RD some slack for the choices she makes in this episode.
     
    So naturally, after training extensively with the Wonderbolts, Rainbow gets an offer to compete with them instead of Ponyville's team yet again. Now here's where people seem to have the biggest problem with RD in this episode; instead of sticking to her guns and firmly staying committed to the Ponyville team, RD decides to, as Twilight aptly puts it, not choose at all and feigns an injury, putting both the Cloudsdale and Ponyville teams' hopes in jeopardy (though to be fair the Wonderbolts should've just then and there gone to Soarin' since they knew he was OK, but that's stupidity on their part, not RD's). Now, let me give Rainbow the benefit of the doubt here; she didn't want to say no to Ponyville because that's her hometown and where her friends are from, AND she didn't want to say no to the Wonderbolts because they're her idols who she hopes to someday compete with (though aside from age this episode very much further raised the question why, aside from plot convenience, she isn't one already). This is really a conflict she's never faced before when you think about it. The closest parallel was the conflict she faced in "Wonderbolts Academy", but there she was uncomfortable the entire time with LD's methods, and only had to decide to do things the right way in a split second decision when an unexpected emergency arose. Here, she was sucked in by the older and prestigious Wonderbolts, and after tasting how good it would be to be one of them, in fact coming closer to being one of them than she ever has before, RD was presented with the choice of almost certain glory or betting it all on two very unathletic ponies instead. This wasn't a split second decision, she had time to think about this, and that made the decision all the harder to make because RD could consider what she'd be giving up if she made one choice or the other. Being the Element of Loyalty, I can see why RD wouldn't want to let either Ponyville or Cloudsdale down (let's keep in mind that that's who the Wonderbolts were representing, RD's very own hometown which she has quite a lot of love for just like Ponyville, as we've seen in episodes like "The Return of Harmony" and "Games Ponies Play"), because she never wants to let anyone down and after the opportunity she'd been afforded by the Wonderbolts in getting to train with them, one can see why she'd feel just as obligated to them as she would to Ponyville. So all in all, I can see why RD came to the conclusion that making no choice was the best option of them all, because she'd feel bad either way (though she certainly felt bad doing nothing as well).
     
    Thankfully, after realizing that the team she'd committed to in the first place, not to mention the team in which her friends and fellow townsponies were a part of, was the team she should stick by (as well as straightening the Wonderbolts out with their teammate Soarin), RD did the right thing and stuck by her friends. Bing, bang, boom, lesson learned, as you would assume it would be. The genius of this episode for RD, in my opinion, is not in the lesson learned; as many have pointed out, that is certainly retread ground, RD HAS had her loyalty tested in the past and had to learn what it means to embody loyalty. The genius is in the execution; aside from when Discord threatened all of Cloudsdale, I cannot think of another time that Rainbow Dash has faced a more complicated or understandable test of her loyalty. On one side she was being asked to compete with ponies who didn't seem to be taking their training all that seriously and were not naturally gifted flyers to boot, but were still her friends, while on the other side she was being offered the opportunity to instead train, and later, to compete, with her lifelong role models. For a competitor like RD who's also the loyalest of ponies, that's a TERRIBLY taxing quandary, and I say bravo to Corey Powell for coming up with one as complex as this was for Rainbow Dash. Overall, I thought the episode presented Rainbow Dash faced with a terribly difficult choice to make, and I give great credit to the writers for showing her struggling with it as much as she was, because I think that's understandable, even when you take into account how much RD has grown as a character since Season 1. For me, this qualifies it as one of my all time favorite Rainbow Dash episodes, even if on the surface it appears clumsy or retread.
     
    OK, well that certainly was long enough. Bear with me ya'll, still got a lot to cover here. Let's talk about the Mane 6 next. I'll go down from those who performed best to those who, well, didn't have the strongest of episodes. First up, let's talk Fluttershy. Good Lord, was this a good Fluttershy episode! Usually Fluttershy is one of the less capable members of the Mane 6 in a supporting role, because, given her quiet nature, she's easily overwhelmed while in a supporting role by other, more, shall we say, loudmouthed characters, be they in the Mane 6 or otherwise. But here, my gosh, here she was ON!!! Honestly, I think this might be Fluttershy's best turn in a supporting role ever! So from the start we knew that she was on the Ponyville relay team. Oddly enough a lot of people seem to have assumed that she was bullied into joining it; yeah, I know that in the past in episodes like "Hurricane Fluttershy" that Flutters has been pressured into doing things by RD, but I really don't think that was the case here. Fluttershy, even though she was well aware that she's not the most physically capable flyer, was excited the entire time to be a part of the relay team and was proud to be competing for the chance to represent her hometown at the Equestria Games. This is a far cry from the Fluttershy of Season 1 or 2 who would never imagine attempting something like this, and it bespeaks the wonderful character progression she's made since she met her friends. Fluttershy is no longer a pony unwilling to do that which frightens her; yeah, things might still scare her, but that doesn't mean she's not willing to give it her all as she tries to overcome her fears and do her best, and it's thanks in large part to her friends' support, including RD's, that Flutters has gotten to this point. On top of her own confidence, Fluttershy was extremely supportive of her teammates the entire episode, not to mention hilarious and adorable in her own usual way. All in all, there's not a single bad thing I can say about Fluttershy in this episode, and I stand by my assertion that this was her best turn in a supporting role ever. Good on you butter pony!
     
    Next, Twilight had probably the second best turn in a supporting role of any member of the Mane 6 in this episode, and it was one of her better supporting roles all season. I think it was very mature of her as a friend and de facto leader of the Mane 6 to advise Rainbow Dash while at the same time not trying to butt in and resolve RD's problem on her own. She didn't even reveal RD's feigned injury at the end, and might've even kept up the facade for RD's sake up to mere seconds before RD revealed it herself for what it was (although that might've just been a goof on the writers part; I mean, it felt just a bit odd hearing Twilight say "Is that Rainbow Dash?" when she was the one who was most skeptical of her injury in the first place, to say the least). She was also quite cute and funny throughout, especially in her turn as a cheerleader (although up until then, I wasn't quite sure what she was doing to support the relay team besides her advice she was giving to RD). All in all, Twilight did a great job as the voice of reason without stealing the spotlight from the episode's main character, and like I said, it was one of her better turns in a supporting role this season, if not one of her best supporting roles in the show as a whole.
     
    Pinkie Pie did what she's done a lot this season, just take up a comedic supporting role, but here, unlike previous episodes, it didn't feel needlessly stupid. She was exuberant and energetic with plenty good reason, because, well, she was filling the role of relay team cheerleader, and she brought an appropriate amount of energy to the role. Don't feel the need to say much else beyond that; she was funny and had some delightful running gags, and it was definitely one of Pinkie's better supporting roles this season, though she hardly stood out or stole the spotlight.
     
    Applejack and Rarity I'm kinda split on. On the one hand, they were both pretty funny throughout and genuine in their support. On the other hand, they were also, for their characters at least, kind of, well, stupid. Applejack started throwing food at characters for no good reason without warning them, and Rarity designed some of the ugliest outfits I've ever seen her make (seriously, they looked nothing like uniforms, and while I know Rarity has a penchant for making stuff fabulous and more feminine, she still takes WHAT type of outfit she's designing and making into account when she does so and so should've made something that looked more like an actual uniform, even if it was bedazzled, instead of those ugly as sin dresses that even as dresses would've been ugly). They weren't in the episode enough to do anything that was unforgivable, but still, they definitely had the weakest turn in supporting roles of any of the Mane 6 this episode.
     
    Well that's the main cast out of the way (and I just realized Spike was nowhere to be found in this episode, guess the little guy got left behind, HA! ). Next, let's start by covering the Wonderbolts. It was great overall getting to learn more about how that group conducts themselves, as a lot of what we saw this episode had never been established in prior episodes. I gotta call BS on anyone who says they were OOC, because all we've seen of them in previous episodes has been (1) flying for competitions or stunts, (2) attending social events like the Grand Galloping Gala, and (3) in Spitfire's case, taking a turn as drill instructor, which is hardly the same thing as actively participating as a Wonderbolt. I understand that, maybe as a result of RD talking up the Wonderbolts so much in the first three seasons, people might've idealized them just a bit; heck, I myself was surprised by how they turned out. But overall, I don't think it was that surprising in hindsight to learn that, at least a number of the Wonderbolts are actually very fierce competitors who, although certainly well-meaning, are willing to do whatever it takes to win, at least within the boundaries of an event's rules. It's not like they were cheating or anything; having been saved by her once, and having numerous times been treated to her exceptional flying abilities, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin were all well aware from the very start how great a flyer Rainbow Dash was and said as much (a nice bit of continuity if I do say so myself). So when Soarin was hurt, even though it turned out to just be a minor injury, Spitfire and Fleetfoot simply did what any single-minded competitor would do and found a pony who, under normal circumstances might even be faster than Soarin, and so tried to entice her to join their team. They weren't even really doing it to go after Ponyville, they were more doing it for their own benefit; I'm not trying to defend their actions, because they were in the wrong and they knew it by the end, but I'm just trying to make sense of them. Professional athletes have to have a competitive instinct to get to where they are, so it just makes sense that some of the Wonderbolts would act that way. Thankfully, they were reminded that they should've just stuck by their teammate instead (especially when he was only minorly injured and it was a qualifying round of all things ), and learned a valuable lesson about loyalty to one's friends themselves. Nice to see that Rainbow Dash continues to teach her own role models a thing or two.
     
    As for the individual Wonderbolts, they were all great in their own way. I usually never describe any ponies as sexy, but my gosh I gotta agree with CD on this one that Spitfire once again reinforced her reputation as sexiest pony (I don't know how she does it, but she does!). But besides that, Spitfire was great as team leader, plus it was nice seeing her participating in an actual competition and getting a feel for her athletic side. On top of that her training sequences were pretty cool. Soarin was a lovable goof as usual, and definitely the most grounded and personally likable of the bunch (even if he was easily distracted by the ladies ), and it was a lot of fun getting to see and hear him for the first time since his speaking debut in "The Best Night Ever" wayyyyy back in Season 1. Finally, Fleetfoot was a fun and welcome addition to the group. If any of you have read the MLP comic books, then you know that in the two Big Mac issues she had her own fun little subplot there that was quite a delight, so I was especially happy to see her getting a speaking role after that fun little appearance. Her lisp was quite hilarious, even if it did make her sound a bit like Twist (who I loathe), her design was great, and she definitely had a distinct personality of her own. In fact, I honestly think she was even more competitive than Spitfire, as it seemed she was the one who kinda goaded Spitfire to an extent to extending their invitations to RD, or at least was more aggressive in her attempts to entice RD. Overall, all three had great appearances, and I can't wait to see them again; they weren't really antagonists, at least the two mares weren't (Soarin doesn't count, he did nothing wrong except flirt at the wrong time), they were just well-intentioned ponies doing the wrong thing for not necessarily bad reasons, just pragmatic reasons.
     
    OK, now we gotta talk about Snowflake, or as his apparently canon name is, Bulk Biceps! As far as speaking supporting characters go, this guy stole the show, especially the first two-thirds of the episode! I mean, my gosh, he was talking up a storm and he was hilarious through and through! The guy was a beefhead, yeah, but he was a lovable beefhead; he was exuberant and just as excited to be representing Ponyville as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were, he was a goofball in every sense of the word, and all in all he was just plain likable. He and Fluttershy, oh my gosh, BULK BICEPS AND FLUTTERSHY... I don't ship main characters that much, but my gosh, these two are EASY to ship after the episode they had together! They were one of the cutest pairs I've ever seen in the entire show; not once did Bulk get frustrated at Fluttershy's timidness, not once did Fluttershy show any fear of Bulk's, well, bulkiness, and the entire time it was just a blast watching those two together. He was also equally supportive of RD, friendly to the rest of the Mane 6, and proved himself all in all to just be a good guy and good pony in general. It was especially nice seeing him and another certain pony from Ponyville actually contributing to the plot of the episode, because too often supporting characters in episodes are just there for exposition or to be saved by the main characters; that doesn't seem to be the case this season, seeing as we already had Coco, and now Bulk and a certain other pony to boot. But yeah, obviously the biggest impression Bulk left was the humor he brought to the episode; every second this guy was on screen I was laughing my flank off, and I couldn't have been happier with how he turned out.
     
    Well, we've just got one other character left to cover, so you all know what this means. Brace yourselves ya'll, cause this is gonna be... intense, to say the least. OK... here we go. So unlike a lot of people, I did not actually see Meghan McCarthy's tweet from yesterday until after the episode today. Given that I knew this would be an episode involving pegasi, I was optimistic that a certain beloved character of mine might show up at least in a cameo. What I couldn't expect, however, was... well, what we got. When I saw what we got, this was my reaction for the first second:
     



     
    Then this was my reaction for the rest of the seconds, and, well, that basically carried on into the next two hours, give or take.
     









     
    This... I mean, wow, this... THIS!!! THIS bucking piece of amazing was NOT Derpy's best cameo ever. Why do I say that? Because I can't call this a cameo. Let me make one thing, ONE THING, clear: this was a motherbucking SUPPORTING ROLE!!! Derpy, with full, derped up eyes and without saying a word, was in a supporting role! You can't call it anything else, you just can't! She actively contributed to the plot (i.e. stepped in for Rainbow Dash), was addressed by members of the Mane 6 and reacted to said members, and even ended up in the team photo (as any second string member of a team should). She was in the entire third act of the episode for crying out loud, over 5 WHOLE MINUTES!!!! This was a supporting role, the first time a background pony as prominent as Derpy (let's be honest, Bulk is awesome, but he's nowhere near as famous as Derpy) has gotten an actual, honest-to-Faust supporting role!!! THAT I did not see coming this season, it legitimately shocked me! Upon my second watch I noticed that Ms. Hooves actually showed up a couple of times prior to her supporting appearance in small, hard to spot cameos which I missed the first time, which only increased my joy, but it still comes nowhere near to being as awesome as THAT was. This... I friggin' love DHX for this, I really do. I don't even care that she didn't talk, if Derpy doesn't talk again that'll just be fine by me, because she was there, she was a character, she wasn't even just a cameo or a running gag, she was an actual character who DID SOMETHING! She interacted with the Mane 6 for crying out loud and was ready to step up for her hometown like the rest of them. That, I, I can't express just how happy I am about that, it practically made me cry. Of anything that could've happened this season, I did NOT see Derpy in a supporting role coming, and now, who knows, I suppose it's entirely possible that the background pony-centric episode the writers have mentioned this season could very well be about her. It would actually be really interesting if they had an entire episode in which she didn't even speak that she starred in, and I'd certainly buy it; it would be something different. But this episode, even more than the Season 3 finale, showed quite clearly that Derpy is here to stay, and even better, it showed that the writers are willing to try to actually expand upon and build her character, give her something more than just a cameo here and there. That is bucking amazing, and I love DHX for this from the bottom of my heart, as does our lovable little muffin mare. She was adorable, she was funny, but most importantly, she was a character who did something, who was ready to step up when needed and actually help ponies around her. Derpy, you rock. Not much more to say besides that. You rock... woohoo.
     




    OK, can we all just agree that she's basically the seventh member of the Mane 6?


     
    OK, we're nearing the end of this super gigantic review, I promise you! Not too much else to cover at this point. I loved the continuity with the Equestria Games story arc, and can't wait to see when that event actually takes place! The other pegasi who showed up were all cool, like Thunderlane, Cloud Kicker, the Cloudsdale cheerleaders, and the Doctor Whooves-doppleganger pegasus (he did have a different cutie mark than the Doctor, if you noticed, so it was definitely not the same pony, though I did spot a Carrot Top pegasus at one point which was weird ). The griffons who showed up as competitors was a nice touch, even if we didn't get to see much of them. Besides the extremely cool setting at Rainbow Falls (I love the fact that apparently rainbows are a physical, liquid material in Equestria, which was also shown in "Sonic Rainboom") and the great flying effects during training or competition segments, there wasn't too much particularly notable about the animation (not that it was bad, it's just, there wasn't anything that really, really stood out). Music as well wasn't too notable. The humor was spot on in this episode, and although Bulk might've been responsible for the majority of the laughs (along with Fluttershy), it was really spread around, with some great laughs coming as well from Pinkie, Twilight, AJ, Rarity, Derpy, even the Wonderbolts! Aside from that, I don't really have much else to say about this one (thank the Lord, right?). While I understand why it would be the most divisive episode of the season so far, for me, after putting much thought into it, this episode has only carried on the fantastic stride established two episodes ago by "Rarity Takes Manehattan", and it's definitely my favorite Rainbow Dash episode this season (and OK, maybe I'm just a little biased by the fact that Derpy showed up for over 5 minutes, so sue me! ). In short, I loved it, and that's that.
  11. Batbrony
    Wow, wow, wow, has Season 4 hit its stride or what?! We've had two phenomenal episodes back-to-back the last two weeks, and I can only imagine things are going to get better from here. "Pinkie Apple Pie" hit all the right notes and, well, for the first time this season I'm facing a conundrum that I love to face but don't get to that often: I don't know what my favorite episode this season is anymore. Seriously, between "Rarity Takes Manehatten's" fabulosity and the goofy and heartwarming episode that was "Pinkie Apple Pie", I don't know which is better. THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! Ah well, let's get this review started, shall we?
     



     
    So, seeing as there's a lot of characters and elements to talk about in this episode, I'm going to go in order of appearance and start by discussing Pinkie Pie, as well as each respective character's conception of family and the lesson they learned concerning it. So Pinkie Pie probably had her best episode since Season 2. That's not to say that "Too Many Pinkie Pies" was a bad episode, far from it, but I just thought that this was a better Pinkie-centric episode than that one is all. The thing I liked about this episode for Pinkie is that she didn't need to learn a lesson, really, or at least not that much of a lesson. Usually in a Pinkie-centric episode she takes things too far, but here she actually contributed to the lesson learned quite a bit, and only needed a brief reminder at the end that whether or not she and the Apples were blood relatives didn't matter, they're still family one way or the other. So what I'm saying is, odd as it may sound, Pinkie displayed a bizarre amount of maturity in this episode. Go figure, right?
     
    Allow me to explain. When Pinkie Pie learns that she might be related to the Apples, most people assumed she just accepted that as fact right from the start, and to an extent that might be true. But I get the feeling that in the back of her mind, Pinkie realized already that, whether or not she was related, she loved the Apples already and spending time with each and every one of them, and getting the chance to go on a road trip with them of all things? Well, you all know that Pinkie's going to enjoy herself on a road trip no matter what! So even though she was confident that she was actually related to them for most of the episode, and ecstatic at the thought, I think even more so, Pinkie being the joyous pony she is who knows how to enjoy any ponies company better than anypony else does was just happy the whole time to be getting to partake in this family outing with the Apples at all. Think about it? She was so, so, so happy the whole episode, not just blissfully unaware of things, but sincerely happy! That's what makes Pinkie Pie such a great character, that it takes so much to get her down at all, and I'd say she's an even happier pony now even more so than when the show started! That's a big reason that I thought this was a fantastic Pinkie Pie episode, that we got to see her element on display so much without many words being spoken about it. But anyways, concerning her views on family, I have to respectfully disagree with Flipturn's assertion that "Pinkie has a family now", and that's why she's so happy. Pinkie had a family already, and while they certainly aren't as fun loving as her, from what we've seen (and might get to see even more when one or both of Pinkie's sisters shows up this season) she really loves her family, even though she moved off the rock farm. Besides the reasons for her happiness that I already pointed out, the other thing that was driving Pinkie through the roof this episode was the thought of not only having more family than she thought she did, but also having family in her hometown who also happened to be great friends already. Yet even though the question remains uncertain as to whether or not Pinkie and the Apples are actually family, she doesn't care, because she loves them all the same and had a blast on their trip together. Pinkie, you truly are the Element of Laughter, and we should all take a page out of your book and try not to let so many things get us down so easily.
     
    Besides those great elements of her character this episode, Pinkie was probably the cutest and funniest she's been all season, and nailed every scene she was in from beginning to end. Overall, a great Pinkie-centric episode for sure.
     




    Four seasons in and I still can't really fathom just how happy and joyful this pony really is 24/7!!!


     
    Now, onto the Apple Family, and yes I'm going to lump them all together here (except for Goldie Delicious) because they worked off of each other so much in each scene, no one character really taking the spotlight, even if AJ was at the center of it all. First, I just have to mention that I LOVE it when the Apple Family gets to share the spotlight together, and I think that this episode did a better job of doing that than any previous episode in the show's entire canon has. Like I said, none of the Apples, not even Big Mac, really got overwhelmed in screen time by another, and in a road trip episode that worked to perfection! Oh yeah, let's discuss for a minute the fact that this was a road trip episode. This was a FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC road trip episode! It hit the right balance between unbelievable shenanigans and realistic family interactions on the road. The hijinks on the road and river were a hoot and, as should be in a cartoon, over-the-top, but the family fights and arguing, that was dead on accurate. I mean, I swear, that's guaranteed to happen in any family when you go on any type of road trip; heck, I could practically see my mom, sister, and I in our trip before Christmas to Green Bay when I was watching the Apples. That kind of arguing's not a bad thing, so long as family members make up of course, because that's just what families do; they're people you know and love who it's OK to argue with because you love each other enough that of course you're going to make up, and I'm glad that all the Apples, especially AJ (but all of them were reminded of it, again, very, very, very Apple Family centric), were reminded of that and dispelled by the end of the episode with the idea that good family's never fight but run like some picture-perfect clockwork. Fantastic lesson learned by all the Apples, and I'm so happy that they got to share in that lesson, as well as the one sort of learned by Pinkie Pie, with Pinkie Pie, their new at the very least honorary Apple.
     




    Are we doin' what ah think we're doing?


     

    Eeyup.


     

    That's right... ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!


     
    Finally, let's talk about Goldie Delicious briefly. This character, for the little she appeared at the end, was very, very fun, and a wonderful little addition to the Apple Family. I loved that she's basically the family hoarder (come on, every family needs one ) and, on top of that, a crazy cat lady to boot! She might have been a bit kooky and hoardish, but she seemed like a really sweet character, and she was more than happy to help out ponies she'd just met right out of the blue. So yeah, fun little addition to the cast, definitely, most definitely.
     
    OK, characters and themes are out of the way, so let's talk about the song now. Oh my gosh, we've had three episodes in a row with music!!! THAT IS UNHEARD OF, EVEN BY MLP'S STANDARDS!!!!! The best part is that the songs just keep getting better and better! "Generosity" was my favorite song of the season last week, but I'm sorry, "Apples to the Core" blew even that song out of the water! It's probably the most joyous song we've gotten since "Smile" and "True, True Friend", and was just a blast from beginning to end. You saw real love, I mean REAL, sincere love, from each and every one of the Apples and Pinkie in that number, and just how happy all of them were, not just at the prospect of Pinkie being one of them, but also just to all be together on the road. Also, I dare you to listen to this song and not clap along, or at least not bop along in rhythm. It is just that catchy, and even a finer rendition of country than "Raise This Barn" was last season. Daniel Ingram, you did it again, and I bow in awe to your awesomeness sir. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the animation on this number was some of the most gorgeous and lively we've ever gotten in an MLP musical piece; while "Smile" and "True, True Friend" were admittedly bigger and more impressive in their scope, there was A LOT going on in this piece, and seeing as it was only five ponies doing it all, that's impressive. Dancing along rhythmically with the piece while also appearing to progress along in their journey, that's just dang impressive choreography right there, and my hat's off to the animation team on making the Apples' and Pinkie's movements seamlessly synchronized with the tune itself. All in all, I got to say that "Apples to the Core" is one of the finest songs in all of MLP's canon to this date, and certainly did not disappoint in the slightest.
     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wrVTYMGTao


    Go ahead, just try and listen to this song without smiling and bopping along, I DARE YOU!!!


     
    Animation wise, the characters were lively as usual, and on top of the expected hilarious and adorable faces we got from Pinkie Pie, we also got some great animation from the rest of the Apples as well. Most notable I'd say was the variety we got from Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, seeing as they're both less seen than Applejack and Apple Bloom, and the number of appearances they made throughout is again a big reason I say this was more an Apple Family-centric episode than an Applejack-centric one. Besides the characters, it was real nice getting to see more of the Equestrian wilderness, seeing as it's been too long since we really got to see the wilds of Equestria extensively, what with adventures occurring in Ponyville less and less.
     
    I simply have to mention how fantastic the pacing here was, as well as in last week's episode. Pacing is a big but highly underrated part of what separates good episodes from great episodes, and two weeks in a row now we've had fantastically paced episodes, with not too much but also not too little going on, just the right amount of events to fill the episode without it feeling too cluttered. Hats off to the writers for the phenomenal pacing compared to previous episodes this season, or even in seasons past.
     
    Finally, let's talk about the comedy, because in a road trip episode starring Pinkie Pie, you know you're going to get A LOT. Pinkie Pie was a riot, both in her animations, behavior, and dialogue, not much else to say besides that seeing as she is, well, her. Heck, with any other character I probably would've called BS on the way she discovered her potential relation to the Apples, but seeing as it's Pinkie, it made all the sense in the world, and just as suitably the hyperactive mare ended the episode by, once again, breaking the 4th wall. Pinkie, you are a pink riot and I love you for it!!! As for the Apples, they all had bits, although I honestly thought that Big Mac probably had the funniest performance. He's probably never talked as much as he did here, and it astounds me how each 'eeyup' can actually be delivered so differently, so kudos to Peter New for bringing character to a character with such limited dialogue. Still, AJ, AB, and Granny Smith were all whacky as well in their own ways; I died when Granny led them into that cave (which was actually an expertly handled comedic bit, nothing wrong at all with purely audio humor minus the visuals, kind of reminiscent even of the Looney Tunes), AB's maplicious was a hilarious send up to the fans, and AJ was hilarious the entire time as she tried to be the center of the family, similar to her meltdown in "Apple Family Reunion". Besides the main characters, Goldie Delicious, for the little she appeared, was a hoot, mostly in just everything that was around her in her house, especially her cats (including a bucking cheetah and a deliciously clever Dusty Katt reference, congrats to the manliest brony on getting referenced in the show ). Finally, there were A TON of sight gags, especially that recurring eagle sight gag that reminded all of us that, damn, nature is scary!!! All in all this was a hilarious episode, and might have even been the funniest Apple Family-centric episode ever (although again, that was largely helped by Pinkie's constant presence with them throughout).
     
    Overall, this was a phenomenal episode and I loved every minute of it. It was nice that we didn't need all of the Mane 6 here, and as a couple of people have pointed out, this was the first episode this season in which they all haven't appeared, and I liked that. Honestly, MLP needs more of that this season, and this was really what I thought "Bats!" should've been, that being, I thought AJ and Fluttershy would get most of the screen time, not the Mane 6 as a whole. All in all, I think it's safe to say that Season 4 has hit its stride, and I can't wait to see what comes next this season!
     



  12. Batbrony
    Well, well, well, "Rarity Takes Manehattan", our first episode starring Rarity since "Sweet and Elite" way back in Season 2. Before I get into the review proper, I suppose I should start things off by just coming out and saying that this was, by far, my favorite single shot episode of the season thus far, namely because more than any other Season 4 episode we've seen so far, "Rarity Takes Manehattan" especially captured the slice-of-life feel that embodied the majority of episodes in the first two seasons of MLP. The problem, the situation, the lesson learned, they all felt like something one could encounter in the real world, and thus especially applicable to the audience. This wasn't just things happening for the sake of things happening; here we had a story that we cared about and in which one could see elements drawn quite clearly from real world scenarios. So let's get to the particulars, shall we?
     



     
    First, let's begin with our star, Rarity. To be honest, this was her best episode since "Suited For Success", maybe even her best episode ever. Why? Because it highlighted her element more than any episode has highlighted any other member of the Mane 6's element since Pinkie Pie's in "A Friend In Deed". Generosity was, quite explicitly, THE subject of this episode from start to finish, and I loved every minute of it.
     
    Now, I am not one of those bronies who constantly complains that Rarity before now has never lived up to her element, because that's total BS. If you look, not even that hard mind you, you can find plenty of examples of Rarity's generosity in the show. It's on display quite extensively in "Suited For Success", where Rarity goes out of her way to make dresses for all of her friends for the Grand Galloping Gala at no charge whatsoever, and plenty of other times since then Rarity has been generous with her time, efforts, and resources to her friends, most notably in style and fashion matters, though she obviously always accompanies her friends on plenty of adventures and quests for their own and Equestria's sake. That said, the fact remains that it still has never been directly addressed as much as it was in this episode, and the only other member of the Mane 6 who hasn't had her element be the subject of an entire episode now is probably Applejack (because to be honest I cannot say that any of AJ's episodes ever have revolved around her honesty, not explicitly at least).
     
    So then, back to the episode at hand, what makes Rarity work here, both in her strengths and shortcomings? Well first of all, we really get an idea for Rarity's particular brand of generosity when we see her functioning in an environment that she aspires to be a part of, at least some day. Rarity's is not a boundless generosity, that is, she doesn't give without cause, because to be honest, that's stupid. True generosity can and should be economical. What do I mean by that? Not that one should do something and automatically expect something in return, but that one should do something for another that will clearly have positive results and because it is the right thing to do. If it's something small, you don't have to think about it quite as much, you can just do it on the spot (like Rarity sharing her scarf with a chilled tourist or she and her friends fixing a cab's wheel), but if it's something big, you need to put more thought into it and guarantee that your efforts aren't put to waste (like Rarity going through all the trouble she did to get her friends tickets to Hinny of the Hills as thanks for their accompanying her and, later, for their helping her win the fashion show and forgiving her for her behavior). Point is, generosity can and should be calculated, it shouldn't just be done because it's the right thing to do, and Rarity is almost always smart in her giving to others. It's when she slips up that she loses her groove and the perfect balance between selfless and businesslike that she almost always strikes.
     
    Early in the episode, Rarity's faith that her generosity to any and every pony can lead only to good things in return is, in fact, rewarded. Ponies, both her friends and strangers, repay her for her kindness and selflessness, and it works to her advantage, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. Unfortunately, Rarity's faith in the goodness of ponies goes too far when she gives her material to her competitor Suri Polomare, and in turn is stabbed in the back by Suri as a result. At that point, her entire perception of generosity is thrown askew, and she adapts a cutthroat attitude instead in her quest to win and get back at Suri. For awhile, she no longer gives of herself without expecting anything in return (even if good things do come her way usually as a result), but instead insists to her friends that if she does something for them, then they in turn are obligated to do something for her. This "I scratch your back you scratch mine" attitude warps her into a jerk for a short time, but thankfully she realizes it, and in splendid fashion. Just as everything seems to be going her way once more and she's on the brink of winning Fashion Week, Rarity realizes that her friends aren't there to enjoy it with her. Believing they've rightfully chosen not to attend as a result of her decidedly ungenerous attitude, Rarity despairingly searches all of Manehattan for them, only to find them back at the fashion show, having slept in on accident. While her friends agree that she took things too far, they also reiterate that they knew all along that that wasn't who she was, and that she really is the most generous of ponies. Her lesson learned, Rarity concludes the episode more sure of herself and her generous spirit than ever before; she knows that, while you can't necessarily trust every pony, and so should be careful and smart in your generosity, that doesn't mean that you should on the other end of things expect something in return for generosity either. While you should be smart about who you give of yourself to, you should also be selfless in your giving, not expecting anything in return. If good things come your way as a result, great, but if not, you'll still have done the right thing, and that's all that matters. Intelligence and economy can and should go hand in hand with selflessness in one's generosity; neither extreme should dominate, but rather balance each other out, and selfless but also business-savvy Rarity understands that for good by the end of the episode. This lesson was both subtle, down-to-earth, and excellently delivered in probably the most well-paced single episode of the season thus far, and I cannot praise Dave Polsky enough on the outstanding job he did in the writing for this episode, especially for Rarity.
     




    I'm being fabulous and nopony can stop me!


     
    Next, let's discuss the rest of the Mane 6. Honestly, I thought this was the best single episode for the rest of the group as well this season. They had a great time with Rarity in Manehattan, you saw the impact her generous spirit had made on all of them since they first met her, and most importantly, they proved themselves to be great friends. They didn't help Rarity because she'd gotten them tickets for Hinny of the Hills, as she mistakenly believed at that point, but rather because she was their friend and needed their help. They also readily forgave her for her shortness and ungenerous spirit because they knew she was both hurt by Suri's betrayal and super stressed because the future of her career in fashion could hinge on her performance in Fashion Week. While the Mane 6 don't have the same natural generosity that Rarity has, they displayed both great generosity, as well as patience and forgiveness, for another reason entirely: because they're Rarity's friends! This behavior highlights another lesson entirely; when it comes to friends, there should be no question at all about generosity, or any other good things your friends do for you. Friends do things for each other not because they're looking for something in return, but because of friendship, because they're somebody else's friend, love him/her, and would do anything for them within reason. True friends cannot and shouldn't take this generosity lightly or abuse it as Rarity does by demanding excessively of her friends, but at the same time they shouldn't assume that their friends need something in return either for generous behavior. When it comes to friends, you shouldn't do something for them because they did something for you, or at least not entirely for that reason, but because they are your friend, because you love them and want to do kind things for them simply to show how much you appreciate their friendship. Rarity gets this by the end when she gets her friends to see Hinny of the Hills, partly as thanks for their help and forgiveness, but largely because of their friendship alone.
     
    As for new characters, let's talk about the few we got here. First, Prim Hemline was pretty fun, sort of a fashionista version of Ms. Harshwhinny from the little we saw of her (I especially enjoyed her line "The rest of you must go home early, so sad."). I wish she would've asked Suri how the heck she "made" that material that she stole from Rarity, since that might've revealed her fraudulence early on, but that's just a little pet peeve of mine that can be excused by plot convenience. Suri Polomare was quite enjoyably unpleasant, something I'd been hoping to see for some time now. MLP feels real when we get minor antagonists like her who are jerks, bullies, or just plain nasty, because the real world is full of people just like that. Suri was a very appropriate foil for Rarity, what Trixie or Lightning Dust have been in the past for Twilight and Rainbow, respectively. In fact, curiously enough she was kind of a mesh of those two characters; she had the ambition of Lightning Dust, but the fraudulence of Trixie. All in all, she was a lot of fun to dislike, and to make it even better she had a hilarious accent, m'kay! Finally, I simply have to talk about Coco Pommel! Oh my goodness, this timid little filly was ADORABLE!!! More than that, however, I loved the unspoken details about her character that simply resonated in her movements and physical behavior. She clearly was a soft spoken pony with a lot of talent and ideas, but having allowed herself to be taken advantage of by Suri, she'd also clearly been bullied and pushed around by her for a long time, and even worse, convinced that the only way to get ahead in Manehattan was to be cutthroat and ruthless. With Rarity's example, however, the greatest fruit of Rarity's generosity this episode was born in Coco finally mustering the courage to quit and take her talents elsewhere, trying to make a name for herself the right way once more. On top of that, her gift of a rainbow spool of thread may very well play a role later on this season; I wouldn't say so considering how many cliffhangers we've already gotten, but Meghan McCarthy apparently suggested the spool might reappear later this season in a tweet following the episode, so now I'm not so sure, guess we'll just have to wait and see. All in all, Prim was fun, Suri was unlikable but in a good way, and Coco was both adorable but even more importantly very well used the few times she appeared.
     




    We're, like, the best of friends, or something, m'kay?


     

    No we aren't.


     




    You, on the other hoof, are adorable!


     

    *gasp* I am?


     

    YES!!!


     
    Finally, I have to mention that there were quite a few fun background ponies in this episode, both in speaking and nonspeaking roles. The bellhop and receptionist were especially fun characters (that receptionist's accent was too funny!), and on top of that we got cameos from Dr. Whooves, Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, Photo Finish, Grumpy Cat pony (who made no sense but was quite funny to behold), and even Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee. Definitely a great episode for the background ponies this week!
     
    Both the humor and the adorableness in this episode were through the roof! Rarity, as she should be in any major appearance, was on full display with about as much eccentricity, over-the-topness, and fabulosity as she could muster! When she was happy, she was HAPPY, when she was sad, she was SAD, and at every single moment, she was FABULOUS!!!! I can't really point to one single moment that stands out (although I was especially impressed by her pants and sobs interspersed throughout her tearful explanation of Suri's betrayal to her friends, that was just really high quality VA work on Tabitha's part); all around, Tabitha St. Germain delivered some amazing voice work as usual, and the animator's in turn brought that voice work to life with some stellar animation for our favorite equine fashionista. The rest of the Mane 6 had their own moments as well, both in the cute and hilarious departments (although oddly enough, Fluttershy didn't really do anything cute). Twilight had a cute/hilarious moment at the beginning when she got excited at the prospect of Rarity taking them to Hinny of the Hills, Rainbow's line about singing ponies killed, and AJ had both a hilarious moment with her bluntly honest appraisal of Rarity's behavior at the end, but also a cute moment when earlier on she displayed excitement at the prospect of getting their manes done at a salon (little moments like that, or AJ's massage at the spa in Season 2, that silently reinforce that she's not just a tomcolt, but actually does enjoy feminine or, if you will, "girly" activities, are very much appreciated on my part). Besides our stars, there was plenty of cuteness and hilarity to be found in the supporting characters and background ponies, too much to list it all; overall, the episode was solid in the humor and cute departments.
     
    Alright, onto the more aesthetic qualities of the episode. First, I just HAVE to start with "Generosity". This is seriously the best song we've had this season, and once more proves that Rarity has the finest singing voice of any of the Mane 6. While I do wish she did sing more, at the same time I'm glad that her singing is such a rarity (pun totally intended) simply because that, in part, makes it even more enjoyable when she actually does sing. However, the song wasn't just pleasant because of Rarity's singing. It had a delightful tune as well, and we even got to hear some of the other Mane 6 sing to boot. "Generosity" also expressed in song one of the Mane 6's elements more clearly than any other song in the show has since Pinkie sang "Smile", and while I can't quite put it on the same legendary level as that number, it certainly comes close in its quality. I guess my only complaint would be about the lyrics; the lyrics themselves were fine, but in both the original number as well as the reprise, there were brief moments where it was sometimes hard to understand what words the singers were saying. It wasn't that bad, but it happened enough times that it was noticeable, and it struck me as odd since the ponies are usually so easy to understand in song.
     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhu-k8JvhwM


    BUCKING LOVE THIS SONG!!!


     
    As for animation, everything was fluid and gorgeous as usual. Rarity was very graceful in her movements, not to mention we got to see a lot of her magic at work (I don't know why but I always love seeing Rarity's magic; the light blue hue is very pleasing to the eye, and on top of that the ways she utilizes it just seem to really reflect her own natural grace to a T). Most impressive of all in the animation, however, was Manehatttan itself. I'd wanted to see so much more of this city since we first learned of it in "Cutie Mark Chronicles" back in Season 1, and its true debut here certainly did not disappoint! There were plenty of nods to its real world counterpart, New York City, but at the same time it maintained its own unique look as well. Overall, another hit out of the park on the animation team's part.
     




    OK, that's just bucking gorgeous!


     
    Alas, even in a picture perfect episode there were a few things that didn't work, albeit very, very few here. Besides the difficulty I had understanding some of the lyrics in "Generosity", there were really only a couple other things that didn't work here for me. Spike really didn't contribute anything to this episode aside from manual labor and comedic bits at his own expense, and this coming from a guy who thinks that most Spike-abuse is overblown by fans as it is. Lastly, Rainbow's "aiiight" at the end was very, very, VERY cringeworthy, a decidedly uncool moment that just didn't feel like something she would ever say. Besides those couple of things, however, I can't really think of anything else that particularly bothered me in this episode. All in all, this was not a good, not even very good, but I think undeniably great episode! It was a fantastic return to a starring role for Rarity, perfectly embodied what makes her such a great character in an excellently written, executed, and well-paced story, and had some great laughs, style, cuteness, music, and animation. If I may, "Rarity Takes Manehattan" is extraordinarily generous in its outstanding qualities, containing something for, really, just about everyone.
  13. Batbrony
    OK, just got done watching it. Sorry I wasn't here once again for the premiere everypony; my grandparents were leaving town this morning and we were having breakfast with them at their hotel. Hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas this past week! Anyways, let's get this review going.
     
    So "Bats!"... this was not my favorite episode of Season 4 so far, nor would I say it was one of my favorite. I will say that I'm glad that this week's episode addressed a lesson that directly affected the girls' lives themselves, seeing as there were some pretty high stakes in this episode for Applejack at the start and later o
  14. Batbrony
    *sigh* Let's see now, what do we have this week from the ponies?


     




     

    A superhero episode? DHX made another superhero episode? And it's not just one superhero, it's pretty much parodying every single thing you could possibly parody about comic books and superheroes???


     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swbnsL7ANiQ

     

    Oh my goodness, dis gon' be good!!! :comeatus: If you'll excuse me everypony...


     

    *one epic viewing later*


     
    http
  15. Batbrony
    Behold... God's Country


     
    Good evening everypony (at least evening to those of us in the Western Hemisphere)! Not much of a blog for ya'll tonight, but I just wanted to give you all a quick explanation as to why I will be absent for the next couple of days. Shocking as it may sound, I, the Batbrony, one of the biggest superhero-obsessed members of the forums, will be missing the premiere of "Power Ponies" tomorrow *cue the inevitable forum-wide gasp*. Now, in most instances I would consider this an unthinkable sacrilege, BUT... this is different. My mother, sister, and I will be embarking tomorrow on a 2-day trip to Wisconsin to the heart of Packer country itself, Green Bay! There, we will be watching our beloved NFL team, the Green Bay Packers, playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in the most majestic stadium in the country, Lambeau Field itself!!! We've never been to a Packers game before (even though we have visited Lambeau Field a couple times in the summer, and even the Packers training camp one year), and we've been planning this trip for over a year. On top of that, the Packers are playing a do-or-die game with their playoff hopes on the line. They've got to win their next two games or else they most certainly will not go to the playoffs.
     




    So basically this'll be Lambeau Field this weekend, and NOT just because our playoff hopes are on the line!


     
    Needless to say, this should prove to be amazing and epic, and it's one of the few things I'd be willing to miss a superhero-themed MLP episode for in all the world! Now, that said, we will be driving back on Monday, and should be back late afternoon or early evening, so I should be able to watch "Power Ponies" then, and yes, I will most certainly be cranking out my usual review in both the episode thread as well as my own blog. Sure I'm sad that I won't be getting to experience the epicness that this premiere should prove to be live with all you guys, but I know that this is going to be an amazing trip, and I don't want any of ya'll to wonder where I've gone in my absence (since I'm sure my absence will raise more than a few eyebrows given the content of this episode ). I will be back everypony, just in a couple of days, and I can't wait to share in the awesomeness of "Power Ponies" with ya'll!!! Hope ya'll enjoy the episode and have a great weekend; me, I'll be freezing my plot off in God's country with tens of thousands of fellow cheeseheads watching the greatest football team in the world. GO PACK GO!!!
     









  16. Batbrony
    OK, "Daring Don't", the fourth episode of Season 4. Honestly, I'm kind of a bit split on this episode. Overall I think it's a solid one, but some very big plot points within it especially bothered me, so I'll cover those first in my review.
     
    First of all, the twist that A. K. Yearling (and can I just reiterate again that that play on J.K. Rowling's name is fantastic! ) is in fact the real Daring Do, while epic on quite a few levels, also bothered me a bit, as did parts of her characterization. Firstly, this twist apparently means that every single one of her adventures that she's written about have actually happened. So you're telling me that nopony in all of Equestria, including Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor (former Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard and now Prince of the Crystal Empire), and the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle, was ever aware that ANY of these events that could have had disastrous ramifications across the globe EVER happened?!?! I'm sorry, I just find that hard to believe. I mean, yeah, it's epic that Daring Do is apparently a real figure in Equestria, not just a fictional character, but still, how the hay is nopony aware that she actually exists? I know that some people might say that maybe Celestia just lets her do her own thing without revealing her identity, but I can't buy that because I just feel like if Celestia really was aware of her, she'd definitely involve herself in trying to help Daring Do out and save the world from the villains Daring Do confronts. So yeah, that plot point was just a bit hard to swallow, even if it was awesome, and for the rest of the episode I was seriously waiting for it to be revealed that they'd somehow stumbled upon a film set for a Daring Do film or something, it just seemed that hard to believe that these events were actually happening!
     
    Second, concerning Daring Do herself, I found her Batman-esque alienation in the extreme to be a bit... out of character? OK, seeing as we've never seen her before outside of "Read It and Weep", let me explain. Daring Do is obviously a send up to Indiana Jones, right? Well, here's the thing; Indiana Jones never, ever turns down help. Sure, there are some things he tries to do on his own or he tries to keep certain people he cares about from getting in harms way, but in all of the Indiana Jones films he never goes around telling every single person who tries to help him that he works alone! So, in that regard, it felt like the writers were somewhat betraying the very source material for the Daring Do character. Yes I know it was partly for plot convenience and delivering the lesson of the episode, but you're also telling me that in all her adventures Daring Do's never needed any help at all? No, she's not Batman, she's Indiana Jones, and Indiana Jones is not a dark loner, he's a charismatic, Americanized James Bond, archaeologist style, who's worked with fellow professors, loudmouthed Egyptians played by John Rhys Davies, his father, adolescent Asians, and countless love interests to save the world from Nazis, communists, and terribly stereotyped Indian cultists! So to me, the loner characterization just didn't seem to fit Daring Do, at least not the one we were introduced to in "Read It and Weep".
     




    We're seriously about to pull THIS plot twist? Seriously? Ughhh, fine, but I'm not happy about it one bit, and I'm gonna show that the entire episode in how I treat my #1 fan!


     
    So those are my two complaints about Daring Do. What else did I have a big problem with? The Mane 6 for the first 3/4 of this episode, especially Rainbow Dash! For so much of this episode, it seemed like the Mane 6 had one big, giant brain fart and completely forgot that they're heroes just like Daring Do!!! They've saved Equestria countless times, but apparently they forgot that when they found out that Daring Do was real. Two things in particular ticked me off. The whole first scene with Daring Do, all the Mane 6 did was literally stand there outside her window and watch! WHAT THE BUCK GIRLS?!?! She's getting mobbed by three ponies right there (and later a fourth showed up RIGHT BESIDE THE ENTIRE GROUP), and all they did was just stand there and watch! I don't get it, why didn't they jump into action right on the spot? Yeah, plot convenience, I know, but I'm sorry, this plot convenience required the group to be way too OOC. Heck, this would've seemed OOC in Season 1 even, but here, it was just downright laughable! Sure, learning that Daring Do was real was a whole lot to take in, but these are the girls who've battled godlike figures, dangerous magical creatures and enemies, and an entire Changeling army on a regular basis!!! WHY DIDN'T THEY DO ANYTHING?!?!?! Their ineptness in that scene drove me crazy to no end, and just came off as stupid and lazy on the writers part. In fact, this would've made far more sense; Rainbow Dash, in her excitement, gets to the house ahead of the whole group, finds out Daring Do is real, and, when she tries to help her, fails and is overwhelmed, and then fills in the whole group once they show up, who then proceed to try and help Daring Do after convincing Rainbow that together, they can be of valuable service to her. Same lesson, but executed SO MUCH BETTER! Still, to the Mane 6's credit, they seemed to get over that collective brain fart after that scene, and the rest seemed raring to go and help out Daring Do once they caught up to RD, so I'll give them credit there.
     




    Since Derpy wasn't in this episode, we decided to honor her in spirit by leaving our brains back in Ponyville!


     




     

    Ya know, I'd buy that.


     
    Now, as for RD in particular, she apparently forgot that she was Rainbow Dash for most of this episode. I mean... what the buck was she doing? She kept saying she was going to help out Daring Do, but all she did was fangirl over her! Don't get me wrong, she was adorable and hilarious the entire time, but she wasn't Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash is a pony of action, a pony who always proves on a daily basis that she is the most awesome pony around. But here they made her an idiot just so they could phone-in a lesson about believing in yourself for a pony besides Fluttershy (which I get to an extent, since Fluttershy's usually been the only character who's needed to learn this lesson, but still, Rainbow Dash is the last pony who needs to learn a lesson about believing in herself!). The few times she did try to "help" Daring Do before the episode's climax, she was completely inept! She was nothing but dead weight, and my gosh was it driving me crazy!!! It's just... it's not the RD we've come to know and love in the last three seasons. I don't know, it just bugged the heck out of me and felt extremely OOC that she was incapable of doing anything to help her idol out before the climax of the episode.
     




    Ughhh, what I wouldn't give for one of the Element Bearer's help right about now. Wait... what do you mean she is one? Quit yanking my tail, there's no way THAT pony is an Element Bearer!


     
    OK, that said, we've got the bad out of the way. And the bad was pretty bad and, more than anything, head scratching, I want to say. BUT, there was also a lot of good in this episode, so let's cover that now. First of all, the humor was spot on yet again, in just about every department. We had Twilight and Rainbow Dash's ongoing Daring Do debates: the Mane 6's obliviousness to what they were talking about: some hilarious one-liners: Rainbow Dash and, to a lesser extent, Twilight's fangirling over Daring Do: all kinds of visual humor (Pinkie's red line, that hat Applejack was wearing at the party, Rainbow Dash's duck face (seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen!), etc.): Ahuizotl's hilariously over-the-top personality: Daring Do's hilarious marriage proposal quip: dozens upon dozens of fandom jokes that apply to just about every fandom ever, it was all over the place and busting my gut throughout! The animation as well was simply spot on, and really captured the Indiana Jones-esque feel that you could tell they were going for here. Speaking of Indiana Jones, besides Daring Do's loner mischaracterization, I think they nailed that feel that they were going for. The music was very adventurous, Daring Do was undeniably awesome and had all kinds of slick moves, her enemies were very affectionate references to foes faced by Dr. Jones, especially that Dr. Caballeron (a very spot-on reference to Rene Belloq), and everything just felt like something out of an Indiana Jones movie (especially that rather ingenious trap that Ahuizotl put Daring Do in, loved that scene!). Rainbow Dash's fangirling, even though it got quite old after awhile, was undeniably adorable and hilarious (as was Twilight's, even though it didn't show up nearly as much), and she had some hilariously adorable faces throughout (including the return of the Rainbow-squee face, very much appreciated). The climax was probably the highlight of the episode, but there was a very healthy amount of action throughout, it just kept getting interrupted before the end by Rainbow's idiocy and fish-out-of-water position (and again, she shouldn't have been a fish-out-of-water, she's an even bigger hero than Daring Do if we're being honest, along with her friends!).
     




    SURPRISE MOTHERBUCKER!!!


     
    So here are my final thoughts on this episode: it was undoubtedly a very cute and very fun-filled episode with an interesting addition to the canon, some fantastic animation, gut-busting humor, sweet and slick action sequences, some wonderful shoutouts to the fandom, and a whole lot of D'AWWWtastic moments. Basically, it was a rollicking good time and just a really fun episode to watch. However, it also had some very confusing and head scratching major plot points, especially the A.K. Yearling/Daring Do twist, Daring Do's characterization, and Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Mane 6's characterization for 3/4 of the episode. These took a lot away from the episode and made the lesson feel both unnecessary and insincere. Also, it didn't really contribute anything to the season's main story arc, even less than last week's episode, and I was kind of a little disappointed it didn't, just a bit. Overall, I really liked this episode, I really did, but I wish I could like it more than I do, because what we got in the end was kind of a mess. This was an episode with all the right elements to be a great episode, but in the end those elements were poorly utilized and it was pretty sloppily executed, resulting in just a pretty above average episode rather than a phenomenal episode. By far my least favorite episode of Season 4 so far, but still a very fun and cute episode that I can't wait to rewatch as soon as possible.
     
    Well, the pony fun's not over yet today my friends! Later tonight, on Everfree Network at 9 PM EST, we've got the premiere of Ponies the Anthology 3!!! Be there or be square everypony; this should prove to be one of the best fan projects of 2013, no joke, and just a rollicking good time in general. Hope ya'll have a great day everypony!!!
     





    It's almost here everypony, and it will most definitely be EPIC!!!


  17. Batbrony
    After the home run that was the Season 4 premiere, "Castle Mane-ia" was the perfect episode to get the season proper underway. After watching it twice I can honestly say that, in my opinion, this is one of the funniest episodes of MLP to date, and a very clever one too, even if it does utilize the "group of friends unknowingly all in the same creepy location" trope (which I actually thought was a sweet homage to shows such as the original "Scooby Doo" that frequently utilized that same trope, definitely was reminded of that while I was watching it). Seeing as this episode pretty much had four subplots total, I'll deviate a little from my usual review format and split this review up into reviews of each one of the subplots. Let's get to it everypony!
     
    I figure we'll go in chronological order here, so let's start with Twilight and Spike. Their's was probably the least entertaining of the four subplots just because nothing much was going on with those two besides Twilight reading some books, but that's not to say that both characters didn't have their bright spots. I always find it hilarious how Twilight so easily ignores Spike's concerns when she has her mind set on something, in this case, books (of course ). Spike and Angel Bunny had a few funny interactions, and Angel's enjoyment of Spike's freaking out was especially amusing. Twilight was adorable as usual when she plunged into the cornucopia of books at Celestia and Luna's old castle, particularly at the very beginning, and even if it wasn't very entertaining, it made sense that she kept a level head whilst conducting her research. Her freeze spell towards the very end of the episode was quite cool, and the lesson she delivered, even if it was a little confusing to me at first, was a good one (that being that you shouldn't allow your imagination to run wild at your own expense, but get the facts straight before you jump to irrational conclusions... ya know, I feel like we've had variations of this lesson before in the show, weird, right? I guess this lesson was different in that it specifically related to the castle itself, something old, foreboding, and mysterious that isn't so much so once you learn more about it and its history.). Finally, I liked the new lesson format that Twilight introduced in the journal/diary that they're all going to keep; I know it came a bit suddenly, but given that Twilight, being a princess and all, is no longer technically Celestia's student, it makes sense that they wouldn't be writing letters to the princesses anymore. RIP letters, we'll miss you! Overall, while Twilight and Spike weren't especially entertaining in this episode, they were still solid and contributed well enough to the plot, even if they didn't discover anything about the mysterious chest.
     




    I just realized that that book is bigger than Spike: HA!!!


     
    Next, let's cover Applejack and Rainbow Dash. These two were a whole lot of fun to watch; I never tire of the tomcolt shenanigans they get up to when they're in competing mode with one another, and man oh man we had lot of that in this episode, probably the most we've had since "Fall Weather Friends" back in Season 1. The bee-stare off at the beginning was pretty hilarious, and their increasing paranoia as they continued further and further into the castle was very fun to watch as well. I guess the only negative thing I'll say about those two is that, aside from their getting more and more freaked out, their scenes just didn't change that much as the episode progressed: they rib each other, something freaky happens that freaks them out, they get outta there, wash, rinse, repeat. It didn't get old or anything considering their reactions were always priceless to watch, plus they went to some interesting parts of the castle (that Hall of Hooves was seriously freaky, I mean, why the buck would Celestia and Luna even have that?!?! ) so it was notable to an extent. Aside from their tomfoolery not much else to cover with those two; they were a blast to watch, and I hope we get more good-natured AppleDash competition as the season continues.
     




    When tomcolts collide.


     
    Now we come to my favorite subplot. Of all the ponies in the episode, I have to say that I honestly thought that Rarity and Fluttershy stole the show!!! I absolutely love those two together because they have a very fun relationship, and we don't get to see those two exclusively nearly enough in the show; I mean, the last time I can recall those two specifically being paired almost entirely by themselves in an episode was way back in Season 1 in "Green Isn't Your Color", and I loved it then just as much as I do now! So what made them so great here? Well, really, I thought that Rarity and Fluttershy were the funniest characters of the episode. Fluttershy's reluctant assistance to Rarity and increasingly frantic searches for Angel we're both funny and adorable, and only grew in their insanity as the episode continued, with the poor butter pony eventually being mistakenly convinced that her beloved bunny had been crushed by a column of all things! I probably wouldn't have laughed at that scene if I hadn't known Angel was OK, but since I did, I laughed my plot off. As for Rarity, oh my gosh, she was quite frankly the funniest character of the episode from start to finish (I really believe that this may have been her funniest role since "A Dog and Pony Show", no joke)! Her penchant for the melodramatic was very much on display here, her obsession with refurbishing and restoring the castle's tapestries was both unsurprising but also hilarious, and just when I thought she couldn't get any funnier, what does she do? She starts yelling at the castle itself!!! I couldn't believe it, but she kept ranting about how ungrateful and unappreciative the castle was, and my gosh did I lose it at that! Whether by themselves or together, Fluttershy and Rarity brought their A-game to this episode from start to finish (especially Rarity: hats off to Tabitha St. Germain on one of her funnier vocal performances in awhile), and I for one especially got a kick out of them and the trouble they got up to in that old castle. Way to go you two!
     




    Can we seriously please get more of these two paired together in the show? They are seriously one of the funniest pairs in all of MLP!!!


     
    Finally, Pinkie Pie's hilarious twist subplot/surprise appearance. Since she wasn't in the episode that much, I can't really say that Pinkie Pie was the funniest character in this episode (that honor still goes to Rarity as far as I'm concerned), but she definitely was one of its highlights. Her first scene at the start was suitably random (helped by Gummy's accompanying her; I swear, I don't think that gator could possibly give any less of a buck about everything than he does), and that randomness only increased tenfold when she reappeared at the end. While she wasn't the funniest character in this episode, she definitely had the funniest line with her "Hey you guys! Did you know that I can totally play the organ??? Because I didn't!!!", and her explanation for what she was doing there made just about as much sense as you would expect it to for Pinkie Pie. Not much else to say about her since she didn't contribute a whole lot to the plot, but nonetheless, Pinkie was still a very enjoyable element of this episode, and I hope that her other supporting appearances this season are just as whacky and random as she was here.
     




    Pinkie Pie: she can play the organ now. Because of course she can.


     
    OK, subplots out of the way, let's wrap this review up. The animation was once again gorgeous, and it was especially a whole lot of fun getting to see Princess Celestia and Luna's old castle in great detail. I'm gonna go out on a limb right now and say that, given how much attention this location will obviously receive this season (seeing as the mysterious chest is located right beneath its foundations beside the Tree of Harmony), I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it eventually got restored and given to Twilight as her very own castle, seeing as it is pretty close to Ponyville. Don't know when that might happen (probably not for awhile), or if it even will, but hey, I think it's a plausible theory, and certainly one I wouldn't be opposed to. Not much to say for the music once again besides the instrumentals; I will say that I really liked the organ music we got here, especially towards the end, just because for me personally the organ is my favorite instrument, so it was a lot of fun getting to hear some of the arrangements they had here. Finally, I'm very, very, very intrigued by the little set-up we got at the end (and in the middle as well; don't forget that there was an eye in a portrait watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash earlier on) of the episode suggesting that there may indeed be a Pony of the Shadows, or at the very least some mysterious figure lurking in the shadows who may not be that friendly, mostly because it just might be the first glimpse we get of a villain who may very well prove to be the first season-long villain of the show, remaining in the shadows until the time is right to reveal himself or herself. I'm totally down with a development like that, and it was a delightful bit of foreshadowing that I did not see coming in the slightest given how late it came. Overall, "Castle Mane-ia", although not doing much to advance the overall plot of this season's main story arc and also having a somewhat confusing lesson, was a blast, and in my opinion one of the silliest and most fun episodes we've had in awhile, and all in all one of the funniest episodes of the entire show in general! Kudos DHX, kudos, Season 4 is off to a very solid start indeed!!!
  18. Batbrony
    All righty, Season 4 is underway, and you know what that means! That's right, it's time for another season of reviews, starting with today's first and second episodes of Season 4, "Princess Twilight Sparkle: Part 1 and Part 2".
     
    Let's start by getting a big elephant in the room out of the way: retconning Twilight's flying abilities. We've known for quite some time that the writers were pretty much entirely retconning her being able to fly perfectly fine at the end of the Season 3 finale for the sake of plot convenience, but ya know what, it worked, it really, really worked. They didn't just have her struggling to fly for the sake of doing something cute; instead, they tied her struggling to fly with Twilight's deeper insecurities about her new role as a princess, and the royal duties and responsibilities that come along with it. If there's one thing that came across crystal clear about Twilight in this episode, it's that she's still adjusting to her new role as a princess, and probably will be for much of the season, and the reason that works is because it's believable! I mean, if you suddenly got slapped with a pair of brand spanking new wings and told you'd been promoted to royalty, wouldn't you be freaking out for quite some time afterward too? So in conclusion, I wholeheartedly believe there's no reason to make a big fuss over her flying abilities; yes, it's a bit silly in hindsight and definitely worth a good chuckle or two, but not actually getting worked up over. Overall, the flying retcon worked for me just fine.
     
    Now that that's out of the way, let's jump into the episode itself. The plot's a good enough spot as any to start, so let's begin there. This was... a very different premiere/finale. Not so much in its beginning and end, those followed general plot points as we'd seen them executed before. Something bad goes down at the beginning, it gets resolved in the end. But how it was all executed stands out from previous entries into MLP canon. There were a lot, and I do mean A LOT of very detailed segments thrown in, especially in the backstory department, and it shed a light on Equestrian history like we'd never seen before. The closest parallel I can recall would be the images of Sombra's rule that Celestia conjured in "The Crystal Empire: Part 1" last season, but that's it. While at first the flashbacks might've come across as pandering/needless filler, really, they played a fundamental role in the overall plot. They not only helped Twilight and company solve the mystery of what was going on, but I have a feeling they might play a bigger role in the whole season to come. The Nightmare Moon origin sequence makes sense because her banishment revolved around the Elements of Harmony, plus their old castle was located atop the site of the Tree of Harmony. The banishment of Discord proved its worth in the end when it was revealed that Discord really was responsible for all this mayhem, albeit a thousand years ago. And finally, well, it goes without saying why the final flashback sequence was crucial. Overall, the level of detail we got in these little plot points, even if they meant that the general course of events was a little more rushed than one might expect (especially towards the end), were much appreciated on my part. In fact, I cannot heap enough praise on the Nightmare Moon sequence; honestly, it was probably my favorite scene in both episodes. It was executed spectacularly, captured the power and emotion of that singular moment in Equestrian history, and looked absolutely gorgeous. My only regret is that we didn't get to see Celestia immediately following Luna's banishment, as it would've been deeply moving to see how emotionally distraught she was after having to do such a terrible thing, but I get it, they were cramming in a lot into both of these episodes. All in all, it's one of the finest sequences I've ever seen in all of MLP, and I cannot laud enough praise on DHX for the way they put it together.
     
    Now, the details in the flashbacks aside, what else stood out in the plot? Other little moments; one in particular that I enjoyed immensely was hearing both at the start and finish in great detail from Celestia herself how the Summer Sun Celebration has always been a painful occasion for her given it marked the banishment of her sister, but now it is an occasion that she too can rejoice in along with her faithful subjects to mark her sister's redemption. It's one of the most detailed looks into Celestia's mind we've ever gotten, and one of the first concerning her own sister at that, and those little moments that dwelt on it were among my favorite in both episodes. The Mane 6 worked superbly as a team in their sequences; even if they were a bit rushed (again, a small sacrifice for the detailed flashbacks), they simply flowed together like running water. You can just tell that at this point they're naturals at having to save the day and fall back into the role with ease. I didn't really mind when they sent Twilight back to Ponyville, even if it did waste some time, just because their logic that she needed to stay safe was sound, plus it did play a part in setting up the lesson they learned at the end that just as Equestria needs its rulers, so too do the Mane 6 need each other, every single one of them. It wasn't so much saying that they needed Twilight solely, because they saved her a number of times themselves, especially at the end; it just so happened that in this instant she was the crucial part of the group that was, in fact, missing. Discord and his comedic relief were of course fantastic, but I'll talk more about that later. The set-up for what will probably be the show's first season-long plot point (i.e. the case with six locks) was very intriguing, and I'm very interested to see what the payoff will be at the end of the season. I think the one plot point that really ticked me off, the only one that actually aggravated me at all, would have to be Zecora's explanation of the potion, because, well, it wasn't an explanation at all! All she said was that Twilight had to turn the potion from purple to white; she didn't explain how, she didn't say what that would do, she didn't say what the potion as it was already did, heck, she didn't even explain what she was doing with a potion that could only be completed by alicorn magic in the first place!!! It was stupid and very clumsily explained, and overall just a weak bit of plot convenience that was not masked at all for what it was. I don't mind that much, because the potion itself was awesome and the flashbacks were phenomenal, but yeah, Zecora's non-explanation was just stupid and poorly handled (shame too, I really like Zecora, besides the incessant rhyming of course). Overall, I thought the plot of these first two episodes was very solid and executed in a very unique and standout way, unlike any we've ever seen in the show before, most notably for all of the flashbacks we got. Thumbs up DHX, ya done good in the plot department.
     
    Next, it's time to cover characters. Quite a bit to talk about in this department, so let's get going. First of all, concerning our star Twilight Sparkle, as I said before, I very much enjoyed the level of insecurity she displayed. She may be the de facto leader of the Mane 6, but one should also keep in mind that up until the Season 3 finale she was also a student, and in many ways she still is, just in a new sense. Now she has a completely new batch of responsibilities this season, responsibilities which, unlike say somepony like Cadance, she's never spent her whole life explicitly preparing for at all. She didn't know in becoming Princess Celestia's student that she'd be preparing to become a princess, how could she? So yes, I like that Twilight had a whole new bundle of insecurities and worries to handle, and I liked how she was portrayed handling them. Besides that, her attempts at flying were very cute (although I don't know why she didn't consider teleporting to Ponyville instead, but maybe it's too far away to do that, even for her, who knows?), and her faith in the power of friendship was really great to see, especially from her of all ponies, the pony who at the start of Season 1 needed to learn more about friendship than anypony else. Now, after witnessing its power for so long, she showed that she had more faith than even her friends did, that even if they give up the Elements of Harmony themselves, the power of their friendship will be as strong as ever, keep them together, and be more than enough to pull them all through thick and thin. Twilight proved why she's the main character of this show swimmingly, and I cannot wait to see what further development her character goes through this season.
     
     
     
     
     
     





    See bronies, I told you everything was gonna be just fine! Although to be fair, my new crown is kinda lame... shucks, I miss my old crown.


     
    Next, let's cover the rest of the Mane 6. Probably the best out of all of them in the Season 4 premiere would have to be Applejack. This was honestly one of her best appearances to date, and from start to finish she was simply a boss and owning every scene she was in! I loved that she was so take charge, and I anticipate that if the Ponyville bunch are a little more separated than usual from Twilight this season, AJ, having always been Twilight's right-hand mare (a position she more than proved in these two episodes), will more than likely take charge of the Ponyville bunch in Twilight's absence, at least for anything concerning all five of them. Even if Twilight delivered the lesson of the episode to her in the end, AJ was very level headed throughout the episode as well, doing what she could to ensure Twilight that their friendship was as powerful as ever (even if she thought the Elements were necessary for that to some extent), and logically coming to the conclusion that Twilight should stay out of the Everfree Forest for Equestria's sake (even if she should've considered that they'd probably need her most of all, but still, she was being her selfless self and just putting Equestria's needs before her own). She led the Mane 6 in Twilight's absence, including leading the charge to come to her rescue against both the rocodile and the Everfree vines, and was also kind of a boss in the moves department (seriously, she's bucking Indiana Jones at this point!!!). All in all, AJ had a simply fantastic Season 4 premiere, probably the best out of the Mane 6 besides Twilight.
     
     
     
     
     
     





    Applejack: Like a Boss!!! Let's hope she's consistently this awesome all season long!


     
    Rainbow Dash had a solid premiere herself, proving herself once again to be the loyalest of ponies. She played more of a supporting role than we usually see her in, but given how much was going on that makes sense. I was not surprised to see her being the one to butt heads with AJ once they realized they needed Twilight, seeing as she's the most loudmouthed pony of the bunch, and that bit of character continuity was much appreciated. Of course, I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention how cute it was seeing her trying to teach Twilight how to fly. As for the others, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all had solid episodes, but nothing special. Again, there was a lot going on, much of it which didn't even directly involve any of the Mane 6, so it's not surprising that they didn't especially standout seeing as they're not as take charge or loudmouthed as AJ or RD, nor leaders of the group. They had some nice moments, some very funny bits (Pinkie's fantasizing about cake was especially hilarious), and were great support to Twilight and great heroes for Equestria as usual, but again, they mostly filled more subtle supporting roles this time around, somewhat akin to the level of involvement all of the Mane 6 (besides Twilight) had in "A Canterlot Wedding: Part 1 and Part 2". I anticipate that their truly shining moments this season will come later when episodes focus specifically on them, or when they're in more intimate supporting roles, a lot less is going on, and a lot less characters are involved. Spike was kind of a non-presence besides providing some comedic relief, but he did have his moments and, again, considering how much was going on it's a wonder they got in as much for him as they did. I expect he'll have better moments/episodes as the season progresses as well.
     
     
     
     
     
     




     
    Next, the support from within Ponyville, namely Discord and Zecora. Well I'll start with Zecora; it was nice enough seeing her again, but like I said earlier her explanation for that potion was kinda bull crap. Here's hoping she has more flattering appearances this season, cause aside from the fact that the flashback potion was awesome, her appearance was pretty underwhelming here. Discord, on the other hand, was simply fantastic! For one, he provided the majority of the comedic relief, especially in the second episode, but he had a healthy enough dose in the first as well. I'd go so far as to say this appearance of his was even funnier than his return in "Keep Calm and Flutter On". Fantastic laughs from John De Lancie as usual, and I anticipate more chaotic goofiness and shenanigans as the season continues. What really stood out to me about Discord, however, was his ambivalence. I absolutely love that it's still very much up in the air just how good he really is, and how easily he'd return to his chaotic ways if given the chance. I'm convinced he more or less egged Twilight on into returning into the Everfree; sure, he's fine for the time being that they succeeded, but they also had to give up their Elements as a result, so kind of a win for him if he ever decides to turn back to his evil ways down the road. Plus, it was very obvious that he'd have been more than happy if they'd failed, seeing as Equestria would pretty much be his for the taking. And finally, of course, that twist at the end was to die for; zany, but at the same time scary good, showing just how much Discord plans ahead and that he is still, even when reformed, the best villain the show's had to date (although I will admit I was just a little disappointed that it didn't turn out that it was some new villain hiding in the shadows responsible for the mess in the Everfree who'd end up appearing later, though again, not too upset seeing as it possibly portends things to come for Discord). All in all, I couldn't have been happier with Discord's reappearance; he was zany as usual, but also ambivalent enough that you don't really know where he stands, even after being reformed. As far as I'm concerned, right now he could go either way, and whatever he chooses to do I'm sure it's going to be awesome in its execution!!! Definitely a highlight of the episodes for me, seriously one of the best appearances from any supporting character we've ever had.
     
     
     
     
     
     





    Guess what everypony? I'm baaaaaack!!!


     
    Finally, Celestia and Luna had hands down their best appearance together to date (if not Celestia's best appearance yet on a whole). Yes, Luna had her episode in Season 2, but we haven't ever really seen those two together that much in any episode. They might've been abducted for much of it, but I think this portends good things to come. Celestia discussed Luna in a manner we've never seen to date in some of the most touching, emotional scenes I've ever seen from the Princess of the Sun, both at the beginning and the end of the episode. Heck, they even show up now in the show's opener together, which I hope is DHX conveying in their own way that those two will both be appearing together more this season, which would make a lot of sense. Twilight has to learn about royal duties now, responsibilities that Luna and Celestia are most qualified to teach her about, so I think there's good reason to believe that we'll be seeing more of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna than ever in any season before. Besides their appearances in the present, as I mentioned before the origin and banishment of Nightmare Moon flashback sequence was among one of the most impressive and moving I've ever seen in the show as a whole, and was probably my favorite scene in both episodes. On top of that, their other flashbacks were great as well, especially their banishment of Discord; you really got a sense of just how desperate their stand against him was, particularly in their roughened up appearance when they confronted him. Here's hoping that Celestia and Luna's great premiere appearances is but the start of a fantastic Season 4 on the whole for both of them.
     
     
     
     
     
     





    Ready to have an awesome Season 4 dearest Luna?


     

    We most certainly are, dear sister!!! Truly it shall be b****ing good!


     

    *gasp* LUNA, LANGUAGE!!!


     

    *ahem* Apologies. We got carried away.


     
    Well, that's characters pretty much out of the way, so just a few more things to cover now. Animation: do I really need to say anything? Probably not, but I'm going to anyway. The animation was among the most gorgeous we've ever seen. The only disappointing part might've been that the Everfree Forest was kind of lackluster looking at times, but besides that it was spot on. The character animations look more gorgeous than ever before, especially in the lighting and shading, which I'm sure will stand out even more once I get to rewatch the episodes in higher quality. My favorite characters to see were probably Celestia and Luna, just because I've always loved their designs and we got to see A LOT of them here (not to mention some more Nightmare Moon in one of the Top 5 most impressive sequences animation-wise we've ever seen in the show to date, one which I simply cannot wait to rewatch in higher quality). The Mane 6 and Discord's animations were a delight as well as usual, and the Everfree vine sequences were pretty impressive as well (not the best ever, but still very smooth). The only thing that was a little lackluster was probably the CGI animations for the Elements of Harmony/the Tree of Harmony, although that might've largely been the quality of the stream I was watching. Maybe it'll look better when I watch it in higher quality, and to its credit the fact that they were able to so seamlessly work in CGI animation with Flash animation is incredibly impressive. Overall, DHX's animators are better than ever, and I can't wait to see what other animation wonders are in store for us this season. Can't say much about the music, seeing as there were no musical numbers considering how much was going on, but the instrumentals sounded solid as usual, with the Nightmare Moon sequence especially sounding epic. Background characters didn't show up that much either, aside from a few little sequences here and there (the guards were pretty fun to hear from, plus that sequence in Ponyville when Discord freed those two Ponyville citizens was pretty cute), but I do think I spotted Derpy at the end at the Summer Sun Celebration, which I was most pleased to see. The new opening is pretty awesome (though it is pretty hilarious how Twilight now becomes an alicorn within the opening itself), and I especially love seeing Luna alongside Celestia now at the end.
     
     
     
     
     
     





    Well done animators, well done indeed! Here, have Dashie's crown, you deserve it!


     
    Overall, Season 4 has gotten off to about the best start I could've possibly hoped for, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season has in store. Let's give it up for DHX everypony! MLP is back, and it's better than ever!!! Hip hip, HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!
  19. Batbrony
    Well, this episode was far better than it had any right to be; I mean, c'mon, we've seen this premise a thousand and one times before. Somepony saves somepony else's life, and the other pony feels the need to repay them, and inevitably conflict ensues, whether because they aren't good at helping, their help gets abused, or the one who saved them doesn't feel comfortable getting their help. But my gosh, was the execution good or what?!?! DHX went and did it again, crafting yet another excellent episode with a good lesson about true friendship. So, let's begin with this review, shall we?
     
    So, what did I like about this episode. Well, first of all, it was excellently balanced between Spike and Applejack. DHX has frequently done episodes focusing on two characters in the past, such as "Sisterhooves Social", and we yet again had that in "Spike at Your Service"; the balance in screen time and episode focus on these two characters was outstanding! It really felt focused on both of them the whole time; even as more and more of the Mane 6 got dragged into the situation, the episode's focus, in both screen time and lesson learned, stayed on Applejack and Spike, and that is just incredibly impressive storytelling right there. Even though Spike needed to learn a lesson A LOT more than AJ (seriously, not actually sure what lesson she learned, and frankly I don't think she even learned one, all of the conflict stemmed from Spike's stubborn attachment to his Dragon Code), the lesson learned by Spike was great, and they both reaffirmed their friendship quite nicely. Still, I'll break down next what I especially liked about both characters in this episode, so let's start with Spike.
     




    Spike: apparently he's useless on a farm.


     
    First, Spike... well, if this episode reconfirmed anything about him, it's that he's bucking funny!!!!!! Seriously, this guy was hilarious the whole episode, from the time he tried to find something to do at the very beginning. However, the thing's he did did actually point to something a little deeper about his character, that being, he's still a baby dragon, not just physically, but in his mental development as well. He's just not that old yet, and, hey, it shows. I mean, seriously, the short list of thing's he'd been hoping to do, the frantic energy and destructive way in which he tried to help AJ! Even the way he got into the Everfree Forest in the first place stems entirely from his limited capacity for thinking things through; I mean, heck, he basically SAW the hot air balloon and thought "Hey, hot air balloon, that looks fun!!!" Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Spike's stupid, that couldn't be further from the truth; what I'm saying is he's still young, and as such has a child's, or rather, baby dragon's mind, and it still shows all the time. As such, he also has to learn frequently more basic lessons about friendship than the Mane 6, such as the one he learned here about how true friends just help each other out of friendship or love for one another, not in the hopes of getting something from each other. For instance, last season he learned about how the Mane 6 are not just his friends, but his family, and the season before that he had to come to realize that he could never be replaced by a pet (although honestly Twilight did latch onto Owlowiscious pretty bucking quickly ). Point is, Spike's still growing up, and it shows all the time, but honestly, I don't mind, because like I said earlier, the results are usually hilarious!!! Gosh dang, when Spike sets out to do something, he sets out to do it!!! I will admit, I was a little surprised at how bad Spike was at helping AJ out, since he is an assistant to Twilight after all. IDK, maybe I'd developed this false notion that Spike is some sort of everyman good at all sorts of things, and so was just a little taken aback at how BAD he was at farm chores! But, in the end, it made sense; Spike's good at simpler, quieter chores, such as cleaning and organizing things in the tree house, not baking or other more laborious and demanding farm work. All in all, though, the little guy's heart is in the right place, and he showed it especially when he was willing to stay behind to try and save AJ from what I can only describe as the Megatron of Timberwolves (yeah, more on them later)!!! Spike, you're a funny little dude, but you're also awesome, and I wouldn't have ya any other way!!!
     




    Oh come on DHX, really, a massage? You're practically BEGGING us to ship those two!!!


     
    Next, Applejack. Well, I posted this earlier, but since it's so true, might as well post it again, this was the first thing I thought after AJ saved Spike from those Timberwolves...
     




     
    And it's true!!!! By Celestia's mane, it's true!!!!! AJ is bucking Batman!!! Seriously, she did not just save Spike once, but TWICE, from Timberwolves (yeah I'm counting that second time, I don't care if she got stuck immediately afterwards, it still counts). She's courageous, got some sweet moves, and ready to help anypony out at anytime! But ya know my favorite part about Applejack saving Spike? Her reaction about it, meaning, her humility! As we saw later in the episode, some of the Mane 6 (*cough* Rarity *cough* Rainbow Dash *cough*) would be more than happy to have Spike as their own personal assistant after saving his life, and I don't blame them for it, that's consistent with their characters, and I'm sure they'd get sick of him just as AJ did after seeing how, well, BAD he was at helping them out. But what was Applejack's reaction from the very get go? She told him to think nothing of it, that that's what friends do for each other! Yeah, she accepted his help, but that's only because he was soooooo insistent that he help her, and she didn't want to make him feel bad about it, not because she actually wanted to take advantage of him. She even got into trouble later on because she didn't want to hurt his feelings and because he was so persistent, along with the fact that she was busy saving his life, AGAIN!!! Applejack once again showed that she is hands down probably the most mature of the Mane 6, particularly in her humility, which is a wonderful and sorely lacking character trait in far too many people these days. In addition to that, Applejack was pretty uncharacteristically funny, especially later in the episode as she got more and more exasperated with Spike and when she was trying to fake being a damsel in distress (seriously, never thought AJ and damsel would ever be spoken about in the same sentence before this episode!). I thought it was also pretty cute and funny when she tried to get Twilight's attention; the fact that she knew so much as poking something out of place would get her Twi's attention just goes to show how close the Mane 6 were at this point in the show, and how well they know each other. Yeah, she didn't really have to learn much of a lesson compared to Spike, and actually helped teach it more than anything, but she did still need Spike's help in the end, so I guess in some ways she learned a minor lesson about accepting somepony else's help when YOU really need it, since, admirable as it was, she was still insisting when she was stuck that Spike save himself. What else can I say except that AJ's awesome, and she had one heck of a Season 3!!!!!!! Keep being awesome AJ!!!!
     




    Applejack: damsel in distress extraordinaire she is not!


     
    Well now, let's talk timberwolves. Once again, we had another very cool magical object, or rather, creature, this season, even if it was introduced last season, and I couldn't be happier. Ever since they were introduced in Season 2, timberwolves had struck me as one of the coolest creatures in the MLP universe, and also one of the most original. Their whole design, and the very concept about them, is very cool and creative, and I was very happy to see DHX delving more into timberwolves and explaining what they are. You got the sense from the get-go that these guys are dangerous, I mean, REALLY dangerous creatures, since they have a very menacing and inhuman, or rather, inpony design, even compared to some of the other creatures we've seen. They're savage, they're brutal, and you got the sense the whole time that they'd like nothing better than to tear you apart. Their magical properties are also very cool as well, if not a little disconcerting. I mean, can they actually die? AJ busted them twice and they put themselves back together both times (yeah, I'm kinda sad now that her kill count is nil), and the second time they put themselves back together into this monstrous, ginormous, Mega-Timberwolf thing (WHICH WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!)!!!!!!!!! In addition to the very concept, let me reiterate that their design in general is AWESOME! The animation on them was spectacular, and different compared to the usual Flash animation, and only served to make them appear even more animalistic. Overall, I'm very pleased that DHX decided to return to the timberwolves, since they're such cool creatures, and hope to see more of them in the future!
     




    Timberwolves = Bad@$$


     




    OK... not so bad@$$


     
    Next, the Mane 6! There was a lot of the Mane 6 actually, and let me be the first to say, they were bucking hilarious!!! First of all, in an AJ/Spike episode, I did not expect to see as much of Mane 6 as we did. But boy was I wrong!!! Heck, as the episode kept going, we got more and more and MORE of the Mane 6, and it was awesome!!! They just kept getting funnier and funnier! Twilight was hilarious with her assignment (honestly, I doubt that Celestia told her to read those 12 books in a weekend, I figure that was just Twilight's own personal challenge for herself), and then we got RD and Rarity!!! Holy cow, those two were too funny, especially RD (even her popping into the scene out of nowhere was hilarious!)! I wasn't surprised in the slightest that they'd readily take Spike as an assistant, it was hilarious seeing Rarity trying to humor Spike (yet again!!!), and Rainbow Dash is officially the first fan fiction writer of the MLP universe!!! RD even got in over her head (even by her own admission)!!! But the best, and funniest, part had to be at the end once Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight joined the group. First, we hadn't gotten to see the Mane 6 in-depth conducting their usual plans that much in Season 3, so that was nice to see again. But boy howdy, it was bucking funny this time!!! That whole plan to get Spike to drop his Dragon Code had me in stitches the whole time, both in the planning and execution!!! Pinkie Pie was, well, Pinkie Pie (what else do you expect) and that moustache gag, though random, was really funny, Rarity's attempts at teaching AJ how to be a damsel were bucking hilarious, RD's timberwolf roar (and Fluttershy's reaction) were both awesome, hilarious, and frankly not surprising, and the fake timberwolf was too funny in it's whole design! Heck, even Twilight jumping out of the woods once the real timberwolves showed up was bucking hysterical, just her whole reaction and everything!!! Overall, considering the episode stayed so nicely focused on AJ and Spike, the fact that we were able to get so much of the Mane 6 was a surprising but awesome treat, and just goes to show yet again how unbelievably good DHX is at pacing episodes!!!
     
    Well, that about does it for this review. The animation was great once again (still can't get over how awesome looking those timberwolves were!!!), the plot was executed outstandingly, and, as I said at the beginning, far better than it had any right to be, all the characters were funny and awesome as usual, and hey, we got another AJ (+Spike) episode that stayed focused on the main characters of the episode, which is AWESOME!!!! Overall, this episode, considering the retread premise, was a very pleasant surprise; although it shouldn't be that surprising at this point how good DHX is at putting together episodes, they just never cease to find a way to surprise me in some new way, and I LOVE IT!!!!!!! This was also a nice episode to end the year 2012 on, and it's a fun one to return to, believe me, even if Spike's OOC incompetency is a bit annoying at times.
  20. Batbrony
    Sweet applesauce, "Apple Family Reunion" was undoubtedly the best Applejack episode ever!!! Lot of things to cover for this one, so let's begin, shall we?
     
    First of all, this episode was wonderfully executed and paced, and that is no small feat considering this episode was covering a family reunion of all things!!! But did this episode just have the family reunion? Heck no, we had back story on the reunion, preparation for the reunion, and the reunion itself of all things, and yet at no point did the episode actually feel rushed! That is incredibly impressive, and I cannot laud praise on DHX enough for how masterful they are at pacing the episodes at this point.
     
     





    MLP: it now makes subtle visual implications that main characters' parents are dead!


     
     
    Second, this was the best Applejack episode ever for one very particular reason: it was the best lesson she's ever had to learn, really, largely because this was probably the biggest mistake she's ever made. Yes, she's made mistakes in the past, but they've usually never affected anypony else (except for those worm-muffins she baked with Pinkie in "Apple Bucking Season"), and usually only affect her instead. This time, however, her entire family, I mean, her ENTIRE family, was suffering all because AJ was overdoing it. It just goes to show that over-planning and organizing certain events and affairs, especially those that are meant to be simply fun get-togethers between friends or family, can actually do more harm than good, and AJ learned a great lesson about enjoying the simple and little things, especially with your family, that is a great lesson for anypony, and in some ways, a more pressing issue for older viewers, especially those of us who like to organize things meticulously and run events smoothly. So yeah, that was probably the biggest mistake AJ's ever made, and we all benefited because of it, getting the best AJ episode ever with the best lesson she's ever learned!
     
     








    Moments like these where we just got to see the Apples themselves linking up with each other at the reunion were among my favorite of this episode. Plus, LOOK, BELLY RUB, IT'S SO ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!


     
     
    Third, the Apples... there were a lot of them!!! It was awesome getting to see AJ's whole family again, including return appearances by Braeburn and Babs, which is just a nice bit of continuity right there. We even got to hear more about Babs's attempts to open a CMC branch in Manehattan, if ever so briefly. But perhaps my favorite part about all of the Apples was that they weren't all depicted as simply country folk or Western folk. There were some with distinctly cheeseheaded Wisconsin accents (a personal favorite of mine considering most of my mom's family is from Wisconsin), some with city-folk Manehattan accents, Babs's Brooklyn accent (she even said fughed about it, I lol'd so hard!!! ). The episode made it clear that the Apples are really from all over Equestria, and really, you get a wide variety of ponies when they're from all over the place, with all sorts of different accents and mannerisms. But despite their differences, they're still family, and love one another dearly; perhaps my favorite part about their family bonding is that the episode showed that usually what happens with big families is that there are some you are closer to than others, such as Granny Smith and Apple Rose, or Apple Bloom and Babs, and it was wonderful to see both old relationships reaffirmed and new ones getting built within the Apple family. What else can I say about the Apples except that they're undeniably AWESOME!!!!!!!!
     
     





    Apples! Apples everywhere!!!


     
     
    Four, the song. Well, ya'll knew this one was coming. We begged DHX to give AJ an actual song of her own for the longest time, and once again, Daniel Ingram did not disappoint in the slightest! Ya know what's probably the most amazing part about this particular number? HE DID COUNTRY RIGHT!!! That is no small feat friends; country, especially in a children's show, can easily sound really cheesy, but this song was both delightful and felt very in character for AJ and suitable for her first solo song of the show. I for one loved it; it was probably the biggest number we'd had since "Smile, Smile, Smile" in Season 2. I mean, with all of the Apples singing at the end, it was one big song alright! AJ finally got her own song, and Mr. Ingram, hats off to you, you did it again; "Raise This Barn" was SWEET!!!!!!!
     
     





    Country Swag


     
     
    Five, the animation. I always praise the animation, but for this episode my praise is a little different, and has to do entirely with (1) location, and (2) the characters. First, I love Sweet Apple Acres, and I love seeing Sweet Apple Acres, and boy howdy, there was A LOT of Sweet Apple Acres in this episode!!! It's such a quaint locale within Ponyville, but you also always get the sense that it's really, really big, that there's something still that you haven't seen of it yet. I don't know about ya'll, but I for one was very glad to see the episode focused largely on Sweet Apple Acres itself visually, because it's one of my favorite locales in the whole show, and one that I don't think we always get to see enough of. Second, concerning the characters, the variety and yet consistency of the Apple family was really visually impressive. While they all looked unique in their own way, you could, at the same time, tell that they were all supposed to be family, and that's certainly not easy to pull off in a world of technicolored ponies (I for one especially loved it when Apple Octavia showed up, in a word, that was AWESOME). All in all, it was very fun getting to see all of the different Apples once again, especially some of the new stallion designs they came up with, because I distinctly remember not seeing that many stallions the first time we saw the Apple family in Season 1, Episode 1. Kudos to the animation team at DHX.
     
    Six, AJ and AB were bucking cute!!! OK, maybe Apple Bloom being cute isn't so surprising, she always is, with her energetic personality, quirky sense of humor, and just overall cute mannerisms. But Applejack?!?! HOLY CRAP, I couldn't count how many times she did something adorable. Her pose in the family picture was adorable, she had quite a few cute moments when she was preparing for the reunion with her friends' help, and of course, she was very cute with her family once the reunion got going on the right track. But the moment that stole the show (and you all what I'm talking about) was... foal AJ. Sweet Celestia, I thought she was cute as a filly in "Cutie Mark Chronicles," but this was too much!!! Heck, it was too much when I saw her alone, but then she TALKED!!! Needless to say, I squeed for about 5 minutes straight. Actually, come to think of it, I think that's actually the youngest canon scene we've ever actually had in the show of any of the Mane 6. I WANT MORE, STUDIO B, MORE!!!!!!!
     
     





    Oh my gosh, WHY IS IT SO CUTE?!?!?!


     
     
    All in all, this was a great last episode to have before Christmas of 2012, and, in my book, the best Applejack episode we'd ever had. It was funny, it was cute, the animation was amazing, the Apple family was awesome, the reunion was awesome, there was great continuity, the pacing and execution were phenomenal, and it had a great lesson for all ages. What more could ya ask for, really? Hats off to the team on another phenomenal episode for Season 3!!!
  21. Batbrony
    All righty then, time for an in-depth analysis of "Sleepless in Ponyville". Let's see, what was awesome about it? Well, what wasn't!!!
     
    First of all, Scootaloo finally got an episode; after 57 episodes, it was long overdue, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Scoots got plenty of screen time, and really started to flesh out as a character in this episode; we know now without a doubt that she more than anything wants to be like RD, but at the same time, she's still a filly, and her nightmares proved it. She needs somepony to look up to like her friends have in their sisters, and this episode perfectly addressed that need; she now has a "big sister" of her own!
     
    Second, the subject in general concerning nightmares was a good one, especially for younger viewers. Let's be honest with ourselves, we've all been in Scootaloo's position before after hearing or seeing something really scary! You hunker down under the covers at night, you freak out at any shadow that even looks funny, you don't even want to get out of bed and walk the ten feet to the bathroom cause you're so scared, even if your bladder is about to burst! We've all been there when we were kids, so this is a great lesson to the younger viewers that it's OK to be scared of scary things, but what you don't have to be scared of is going to others with your fears and seeking them for comfort. That's a great lesson for younger viewers, and I'm really glad that DHX chose to address it.
     
    Third, Luna finally helped teach a lesson, and that's great!!! Ever since her re-appearance in Season 2, I'd been dying to see her actually teach a lesson. I mean, as she said herself, she is the Princess of the Night (which is now officially a canon term, can anypony say, AWESOME?!?!) after all, and over 1000 years old, so I always figured she had plenty of wisdom to convey and share with others. That's really cool too that she actually goes within ponies dreams and watches over them (sort of like a Sandman-like figure); it fleshes out more about what her responsibilities as the caretaker and guardian of the night are, distinguishing her duties further from Celestia's. But most of all, to reiterate, I was especially pleased to see her teaching somepony a lesson, and ya know, considering her rare appearances, it was kind of appropriate that she teach Scootaloo a lesson in her very first episode devoted to her!!! Also, Ponyception for the win; I said it in another post, but that whole "This is a dream" bit was totally an Inception reference, so I can die happy now because of that!!!
     





    Princess Luna: she's in your dreams, watching you as you sleep. That's not creepy at all.


     
    Fourth, it was awesome seeing the CMC with all of their sisters (or sister figures). Rarity and Sweetie Belle's still somewhat dysfunctional, give-and-take relationship was hilarious to watch, but also very sweet, because ultimately, even if they're sometimes polar opposites, they're still really sweet together and truly love each other. Applejack and Apple Bloom got along swimmingly as usual, and Applejack even raised concern for Scootaloo a couple of times, proving yet again that she is easily the most mature of the Mane 6; she just notices so quickly and so easily when anypony is acting unusual or out of character, and that's a very useful and mature trait. It's a trait that those especially concerned with the well-being of others possess, and I was even convinced midway through the episode that AJ would be the one to tell RD that Scootaloo was freaking out from her stories. Finally, Rainbow Dash is finally living up to Scootaloo's hopes and dreams and has officially taken Scoots under her wing; I mean, what more could we have asked for really? There have been dozens of fan fics and thousands of fan pics depicting RD taking Scootaloo under her wing since Season 1, and really, that was a great shout out to the fandom from DHX. Don't get me wrong, it logically makes sense as well, but it was a great bit of love from the producers to the fans; they know we've been dying to see RD treat Scootaloo with love and like a little sister. Plus, it's a great bit of character development for RD, and even though she was certainly surprised by Scootaloo's desire to have her as a big sister, I was so glad to see her not hesitate in the slightest to take her under her wing (literally!!!). It just goes to show how far RD has progressed as a character since Season 1, and how much she's matured, even if she is still the same good ol' RD who knows she's the most awesome pony around!
     





    Probably the best shot from the episode and most definitely one of the standout moments of Season 3. Also, wing hugs are now canon, and life's just a little more complete because of it.


     
    The animation was, as usual, fantastic, and it was great to see them head to the mountains, an area around Ponyville we've never really seen before, for their camping trip. Got to see some nice new animation with some very cool colors. Harry the bear made a reappearance, and that's always fun (poor guy lost his fish!!! ). Also, I think we officially have a new best song this season; "99 Buckets of Oats" was simply moving, an achievement in song-making for children's programs unlike any that Daniel Ingram has yet displayed on this show. I have no doubt that it will surely live on in this fandom and take hold of all of our hearts, perhaps even surpassing "Smile, Smile, Smile" as our officially new favorite song!!! Glorious, it was simply glorious!!!
     





    BEST... SONG... EVER!!!!!!!!!


     
    Overall, "Sleepless in Ponyville" was a great episode, a wonderful debut for Scootaloo in her very first own episode, and I think it's safe to say it was everything we could have and were in fact asking for, and so much more! Scootalove is offically canon, it was great seeing the pony sister pairs together, Luna made a surprise (and awesome) cameo appearance, one of my favorite movies of all time was subtly but also most definitely referenced, and we got the best song in the show's history thus far (I'm dead-bucking serious about that!!! ). In the end, what more could we have possibly asked for?
     
    P.S. As a side note, I'm fairly certain that this was actually the first episode that Twilight has never even appeared in!!! I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, maybe she showed up at some point in the beginning of the episode, but I don't think I saw her once. That's pretty interesting indeed, and it just goes to show how fantastic the cast of characters in this show is, considering at this point it is apparent that not every episode hinges upon the main character making an appearance ("One Bad Apple" similarly proved it in that Twilight didn't speak once, but she did appear in that episode at least).
     
    EDIT: After checking MLP Wiki, I have to correct my above statement; this is actually not the first episode that Twilight has never appeared in. Last season, she did not appear in 3 episodes: (1) "Sisterhooves Social", (2) "Family Appreciation Day", and (3) "Putting Your Hoof Down". Still, this does further reinforce my point above about the fantastic cast of characters and there being no need for Twilight to appear in every episode in order to carry episodes. But, I apologize for the mistake everypony.
     
    P.P.S. Just realized, I still don't know what the buck Scootaloo's family situation is?!?!?! Oh buck it, I don't care, she's got RD as a big sister now, so it doesn't really matter!!! Still, I would like to get some sort of explanation at some point in the show's running; I mean, it's getting to the point where "Where's Scootaloo's family?" is the "What happened to Zuko's mom?" of MLP!!! LOL!!!!
  22. Batbrony
    After a string of a few episodes of largely normal quality for Season 2, we got... well, a special episode. A dang special episode. In fact, it's probably the best episode in the closing episodes of Season 2 until the season finale. "Hurricane Fluttershy" is one of those perfect episodes that just seems to get everything right. A great lesson, good pacing, sweet thrills and fun laughs, and most importantly, great friendship all around. Without further ado, let's take a look at the awesomeness that is "Hurricane Fluttershy"!
     
     





    I can honestly say that this is the strangest training montage I've ever seen.


     
    Seeing as this is a Fluttershy episode, let's start off by covering the timid little pegasus herself, along with the amazing lesson of this episode. Put simply, in my opinion, this episode has Fluttershy at her finest, and is probably her best episode to date! The only other one that might highlight her qualities better is "Keep Calm and Flutter On", but the reason I feel that "Hurricane Fluttershy" is superior is that, whereas Fluttershy faces off against a completely separate entity in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" (i.e. Discord), in "Hurricane Fluttershy" she has to overcome a very difficult personal obstacle, a physical and mental challenge. So what's Fluttershy up against this week? Well, Ponyville's been selected to provide rainwater to Cloudsdale for the year, and Rainbow Dash, as the obvious flight-leader of the Ponyville pegasi, dives headfirst into the task, attempting to not only complete it, but break the wind speed record set the previous year by Fillydelphia. To do so, she needs every single one of the Ponyville pegasi to participate at their absolute top speeds, and yes, that includes Fluttershy. This, however, proves to be rather problematic for Fluttershy; she's both physically a weak flier, having always had trouble flying, plus she just doesn't enjoy flying in general, both because she prefers to stay on the ground unless she absolutely must fly and also because as a filly her weak flying drew laughs and derision from the other pegasi in Cloudsdale. If this were an emergency, she'd probably have less trouble participating, but this is simply a civic activity that's technically voluntary and which Rainbow doesn't even think will be that hard to pull of at the very least. Obviously Flutters is going to have some difficulty with this.
     
    What I love about this scenario is that this episode, with Fluttershy and her fears, is clearly reaching out to anyone who's ever had self-esteem issues on account of physical or mental limitations and any derision they received as a result from their peers. This is an extremely relatable issue for very many people, and the writers handled it excellently! While she's fearful at first, with the help of both her animal friends, as well as a great deal of encouragement from Rainbow Dash and Twilight, Fluttershy pushes herself to her physical limits and overcomes her mental blocks, flying about as well as she can. While it's certainly not much compared to what more naturally capable pegasi can reach, in the end, Fluttershy's little bit of speed is essential to even creating the water tornado at all after the feather flu devastates the Ponyville pegasi ranks. Overcoming her fears and disbelief in herself, Fluttershy finds the courage to believe in herself and do what she must for her friends, town, and all of Equestria. While it's great that she does something for her home, it's also worth noting that she equally does this for herself! It's not that she's being selfish or anything, but sometimes we have to be reminded that often overcoming personal demons is as much for ourselves as it is for the people we love, plus as selfless as Fluttershy is, she of all ponies certainly needed this lesson in self-confidence and believing in yourself. I love too that Fluttershy, although essential in the end, doesn't end up being the fastest flyer or anything. She's a necessary cog in the machine, but she's still no star player. Too often a kids show will have an episode where some kid ends up being an unexpected hero for say a sports team by doing something truly exceptional, such as a game winning touchdown. This message, however, feels a lot truer, more sincere and real: you do not have to be the best player out there or make some amazing play on a team in order to be making valuable contributions. Speaking from personal experience, while I never encountered any derision, I can say with confidence that I myself somewhat know where Fluttershy is coming from, largely in physical limitations. From my childhood through high school I always played sports, but I never had that much natural ability. I did however have a heck of a lot of persistence and determination and always stuck with it because I loved the sports and I loved the friends I made and teammates I played with. In football, I never went beyond second string in high school, but in my senior year I earned Scout Team Champion of the Year from our very own coaching staff. In track and field, I was never at the front of the pack, but in the spring of my senior year I was named one of our four or five captains. There is truth to this lesson in "Hurricane Fluttershy", a great truth, and I know that I and thousands of other people out there have experience with it. You can still make great contributions, play important roles, and earn the respect of your peers even if you aren't the greatest at something; hard work, giving it your all for yourself and for others, those are the things that really matter and are their own rewards. Definitely one of my top ten favorite lessons in the entire show, both for the quality of the moral as well as the execution.
     
     





    Everyone has a role to play in the grand scheme of things, even if it's not so apparent what that role is sometimes. But once we find it, the best we can do for ourselves and others is give it our all.


     
    Well we're not quite done yet with this review, no sir. Besides Fluttershy, there's one other character who really shines in this episode: Rainbow Dash. As far as supporting roles go, this is most definitely my favorite RD episode in which she's playing a supporting character. Heck, I like her in this episode more than in a bunch of her starring appearances in all 3 seasons, including Season 2. So just why does she stand out so much here? Well, to be honest, RD probably behaves more maturely here than she ever had in the show up until that point. It's really one of the best examples of clear-cut character growth paying dividends from lessons learned in previous episodes for any of the Mane 6! She's not boastful, braggy, asinine, arrogant; rather, she behaves like a leader and a good friend, both with Fluttershy as well as the other pegasi. With Fluttershy, she's gentle; yeah, she pushes her, but she doesn't push her for selfish reasons, but because she believes in Fluttershy and wants to see her friend do her best, both for herself and Ponyville. With the Ponyville pegasi, Dashie's a relentless leader; her biggest shortcoming in fact is simply her not taking their personal hygiene more seriously seeing as that feather flu pandemic takes them so off-guard. Even when it becomes clear that they can't break the record which they were on pace to doing, does Dashie throw in the towel? Hay no, of course not! Instead, she presses on and pushes everypony else to follow her lead so they can get Cloudsdale the water they need for all of Equestria! That is simply RD at her best; it's one of the best highlights of what a truly awesome and loyal pegasus she is, and her sheer determination in the face of impossible odds is just a blast to watch. She's a great friend, a tireless leader, relentlessly loyal, and just plain awesome; nothing more you can say other than this is Rainbow Dash at her finest!
     
     





    Alright guys, remember, all the stores open at 6 A.M. on Black Friday; if we bull rush 'em all, there's no way we'll miss out on all the hot sales!


     
    Finally, there's a lot of other things that really make this episode great, not just good. I love seeing all of the Ponyville pegasi; I'm kind of a sucker for pegasi especially, and boy oh boy they're all over this episode! Derpy cameos, the introduction of Snowflake, Flitter, and Cloudchaser, and tons of other pegasi, this episode's just a dream come true for me! In addition, I love how involved all of these background ponies are. In the end, pretty much the entire Ponyville pegasus population is directly involved in saving the day, and since it's so rare that we ever get to see background ponies making any real contributions to the action of the show, this episode stands out in a pretty unique and awesome regard for the inclusion of so many. There's some funny Spike and Twilight moments, as there usually are when those two are playing supporting characters. Fluttershy's woodland critter friends are hilarious and adorable as usual, and Angel Bunny especially gets a special shout out for probably being more supportive in this episode than I've ever seen him before or since of Fluttershy. The 80's training montage is hysterical and so cheesy and delicious, and that's all that really needs to be said about that. The animation's gorgeous as usual, especially during the climax, which is pretty much perfect in every single regard.
     

     

    D'AWWW, those two are cute! Kinda look like sisters even! Wait, what's that? Wait... what do you mean people ship them together?!?! But I, they look like sisters, and... AWWWWW MAN, FANDOM, I AM DISAPPOINT!!!! STAHP IT!!!!!!!!!


     





    YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BUCKING PUMPED I AM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!


     
    Overall, "Hurricane Fluttershy" remains not just one of the greatest episodes of Season 2, but also one of the finest episodes in MLP to date, as well as in my opinion Fluttershy's best episode so far. With a great lesson, riveting storyline, fantastic characterization of both Fluttershy and RD, and just flat-out perfect execution in pretty much every single regard, it's definitely one of the most noteworthy episodes of MLP most certainly worth a rewatch if you're looking for a real treat.
     
     





    Wing-fives: they're now canon. Because why wouldn't they be?


  23. Batbrony
    "It's About Time"... so this episode's all kinds of fun! I mean how can it not be? It's time travel mixed with ponies for crying out loud, you know without a doubt after reading that premise that you're going to have a blast! So as you can tell, I certainly like this episode a lot. It's not my favorite episode of Season 2 by any means, but there's still plenty here that works and on the whole it hits all the right notes. Let's begin.
     





    Ughhh, good job Twilight, you've created a time paradox! What do you have to say for yourself missy?


     
    "It's About Time" is the first Twilight-centric episode since "Lesson Zero" (I would say "Luna Eclipsed" since Twilight helps solve Luna's social awkwardness, but it's still Luna's problem so technically "Lesson Zero" it is), and to be honest it has a very similar conflict as that legendary episode in that Twilight's making a mountain out of a molehill again. I guess I should start by saying that, while the two problems she's trying to resolve in her own nutty way are distinct problems (and the lessons she learns in both are also distinct from each other), the similarities of these episodes are enough that it sort of takes away from the effect of Twilight's nuttiness in this one. I mean, after "Lesson Zero", no amount of insanity on Twilight's part can really phase anyone anymore, and every time I watch this episode, even though I do enjoy it, I can't help but think to myself, "I've seen this Twilight before, and for very similar reasons". Aside from that little bit of redundancy, however, Twilight's a delight and learns a great lesson to boot.
     
    So what's the source of Twilight's insanity this time? Well, time travel if we're being frank. Basically, she loses her head because her future self traveled back in time to warn her not to lose her head. It's really silly when you think about it, but it works here really well, especially considering one usually would see time travel in a kids program in some sort of made-for-TV movie, not a single, 22 minute episode. After all kinds of whacky shenanigans (and much bodily harm and mental fatigue on Twilight's part, though nothing in comparison to the madness that is "Lesson Zero"... I'm just saying, nothing can touch that episode as far as insanity levels go), Twilight finally realizes that she's been worrying about nothing this entire time and learns a valuable lesson. You shouldn't worry about problems in the future that you can't even foresee, otherwise you'll end up accomplishing nothing and just waste your days making mountains out of molehills again and again and again; instead, you should worry about resolving problems as they happen, keep your mind focused on the present in order to secure it and the future! This results in a great bit of character growth on Twilight's part, and ever since this episode it's been more and more noticeable that she's made great efforts to keep her cool in high pressure situations and not put more on her plate than she can handle. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this was a major step in her road to becoming a princess, whether she knew it or not, and that Princess Celestia was most certainly waiting to see if Twilight knew how to prioritize problems before choosing to elevate her to princesshood. It's also actually one of the more adult lessons that the show's had; let's be honest, little kids don't usually have the problem of worrying about the future. They live for the present and can barely plan what they're going to be doing five minutes from now, much less one week. Rather, teenagers and adults are the ones who can get so easily swept up in so many affairs and projects that before we know it, we're trying to plan months ahead for as many situations as possible and losing our sanity in the process. I applaud the writers for knowingly making an episode with a message like this tailored more for an adult audience, and for that it most certainly stands out.
     





    Pinkie Pie's a fortune teller... because of course she is. Ya know what, at this point, I'm not even surprised anymore.


     
    Besides the creative lesson, the episode only REALLY stands out for one other reason: it makes A LOT of interesting additions to the show's canon. In this episode alone, we learn (1) that Tartarus exists as some kind of hold for evil spirits in Equestria, (2) that it's guarded by the 3-headed dog Cerberus (who's kind of adorable here ), (3) that time travel is possible in Equestria, (4) that Twilight is capable of using time travel spells, (5) that time travel spells are kept in the Canterlot Library, (6) that there's a Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Library, (7) that there's a Horse Head Nebula in the MLP universe. THAT IS A LOT!!! There are few episodes, even in Season 2, that add SO MUCH to MLP's canon, and "It's About Time" most certainly deserves a lot of credit simply for all the cool additions that it manages to pull off.
     





    That's hardly surprising either at this point, but it's also adorable, so I don't care cause it makes me so happy!


     
    Aside from the two big qualities of having a great lesson and some cool canon additions, there's not much else to say about this one. Twilight's nutty, and Spike and Pinkie Pie especially provide some nice supporting comedy relief, playing off of crazy Twilight hilariously. There's some nice Mane 6 interactions from all the Mane 6, some without any words even being spoken (my personal favorite being Rarity and AJ fixing the Ponyville dam together; it's just nice silently seeing those two, such polar opposites, getting along so swimmingly together at this point in the show). The MGS and Escape From New York references are absolutely hilarious, plus, as I said earlier, the writers certainly use time travel here to great effect (far better than a lot of other shows do, I can tell you that much). Overall, while certainly not one of the greatest MLP episodes, "It's About Time" is still a lovely episode with some nice character growth from Twilight, some great laughs and clever writing, a very good lesson, and some cool additions to the show's canon. Definitely a worthwhile viewing if you ask me!
  24. Batbrony
    BEST EPISODE EVER!!! Ok, that might be exaggerating just a little bit, but I think it's safe to say that within the first two minutes this episode was already amazing. I've written extensively in the past about why I love this scene so much and what it meant for the fandom, so I won't go into it too much here, but I can't properly review "The Last Roundup" without covering it a little bit. Derpy's first and, to date, only talking scene was nothing short of amazing. First of all, Derpy herself is utterly adorable, and this scene proved as much; to this day I will never understand the small fraction of people within and outside of the fandom who decided that for some reason Ms. Hooves in her one minute of fame was insulting at all when there have been in the past so many other more incompetent characters with far more screen time in children's shows who haven't taken any slack whatsoever (and that's all I'm going to say about the Derpy controversy; again, I've written far more extensively about it in the past). Second, her being given this tiny cameo was, to date at that point, probably the largest recognition from the folks at Studio B of the brony fandom. When Derpy talked, it suddenly became clear as day that not only did they know about bronies, but they knew what we liked within the show, even the little things, and they cared about what we liked in the show and were willing to interact with and encourage this unlikely fandom by giving us shout-outs tailored to our own tastes, basically, including us within the magic of the show itself as best they could. This really took the level of affection between the show's creators and bronies to a whole new level, and for that, what may well prove to be Derpy's only talking scene will forever hold a special place in my heart.
     




    I did it Rainbow Dash, I talked, I finally talked!!!


     
    Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the rest of the episode. "The Last Roundup" was the first of a pair of back-to-back Applejack-centric episodes, similar to how Rainbow Dash had a pair of back-to-back episodes in "May the Best Pet Win" and "The Mysterious Mare Do Well". In this review, I'll largely be looking at why people unfairly misread this episode in their viewing of it, largely, in the forming of the popular opinion that Derpy and Pinkie Pie steal the spotlight from Applejack. I believe that in reality this really is a solid Applejack episode, but it's largely the viewer's responsibility to figure that out. So, let's begin.
     
    Well, first of all, let's dispel with the idea that this is Derpy and Pinkie Pie's episode. First, as I said, Derpy's scene is undeniably amazing, one of my favorite moments in the show for obvious reasons, but that said I cannot pretend that it's anything more than a minute long scene, and not a whole episode. Ergo, despite the fact that it's an awesome moment in this episode, I cannot conscientiously state that Derpy's scene makes the whole episode, because it simply doesn't. As for Pinkie Pie, yes, she's on her A-game here, I mean it, she is flat out funny from beginning to end and probably is responsible for more laughs than all of the other characters in this episode combined. But again, it's still not her episode; she doesn't have a lesson to learn, she doesn't learn any lesson, heck, she's not even present at the end of the episode when Applejack does learn her own lesson! While she undeniably owns the laughs in this episode, that again does not mean that it is her episode; "The Last Roundup" is quite obviously an Applejack-centric episode when you get down to it, and nothing can change that, not even Pinkie Pie's personality reaching epic proportions.
     




    Seriously, does she ever stop talking? Lan' sakes I'm gonna buck her into a tree if she don't shut up soon.


     
    So, that out of the way, what must a viewer understand going into this episode in order to appreciate it as truly an Applejack episode? Well, the biggest thing is this: Applejack, even in starring roles, has never and will never have the biggest personality on screen. That is simply not her character; she's not some flashy pegasus, super hyper earth pony, or high strung unicorn. She's a simple, humble, farmer earth pony who doesn't like being the center of attention, never has, and never will, and the fact that the writers consistently convey that even when she's the star of an episode is commendable. Her primary concerns are being mature, responsible, getting whatever needs doing done, and doing her best in any project she tackles. She doesn't need her friends or family's praise to know she's done her best, she just needs to meet the high expectations she's set for herself, and once she has done so, she's perfectly content to quietly acknowledge that to herself and take it no further than that. This goes to show that Applejack is not a Mary Sue, but rather simply a subtle, nuanced character; very mature, set in her ways, consistent, unchanging, and very, very stubborn. The worst thing for her is making her own problems somepony else's and not meeting the standards she's set for herself, and so if she ever fails to live up to her own expectations, she will try to resolve this on her own without turning to friends or family, which she thinks is needless. This is indeed a character flaw, and an understandable one at that, albeit somewhat unusual as well, namely in that few people ever display this flaw themselves. It's a problem of putting too much responsibility on yourself, and, like in the Season 1 classic "Apple Bucking Season", Applejack displays this same personality trait here in "The Last Roundup". If a viewer understands going into this episode these things about Applejack, then he or she will have no trouble at all understanding that this is easily an Applejack-centric episode.
     
    So, just what does Applejack learn out of this experience, after failing to meet her own expectations for herself and not bringing home any first place ribbons or prize money like she'd promised? Well, she learns that when one doesn't meet her expectations or goals, it's fine to feel disappointed, but that doesn't mean you should run from your friends and family thinking they'll be just as disappointed as well. Instead, you should turn to them for support, because that's what they're there for, to support you when you're down and going through a rough patch, and in the end, their love and fellowship is far more important than any prize you could ever win. This is a very, very mature lesson indeed, and it's suitable that Applejack should learn it; rather than more obvious lessons learned by ponies making more obvious mistakes, like Rarity or Rainbow Dash, it's not so clear until the end just what Applejack has done wrong and what she needs to do instead. Personal responsibility is a wonderful trait to have and display regularly, but that doesn't mean one can't take it too far, and AJ does just that. But in the end, all is well, and she's learned a valuable lesson that she doesn't just need to be a rock that other ponies can lean on and count on for support, but also that she has rocks of her own to lean on when times are rough, and she carries this lesson with her into the next episode, as we'll see in my next review.
     
    Besides the great lesson learned in this episode and the solid comedic moments, the rest of the episode is pretty standard fare. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Canterlot or the new town of Dodge Junction, and especially a bit bummed that we didn't get to actually see Applejack at the rodeo, though I understand why the writers chose that course for storytelling purposes, along with the little that we got to see of both aforementioned cities. The animation is lovely as usual, but nothing spectacular, and no one scene really stands out all that much visually. Overall, this is a solid and terribly underrated Applejack episode, and unlike her Season 3 appearances which seem to get all the credit they're due, I really wish that Applejack's Season 2 appearances got the full credit they deserve from bronies and pegasisters. If you're looking for a fun MLP episode with a great, nuanced lesson and some hysterical comedy, look no further than "The Last Roundup".
     




    Aw shucks sugarcube, ya'll didn't have to say all those nice things about me.


     

    STOP BEING SO MODEST!!!
    Sheesh.

  25. Batbrony
    Oh nelly, "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000"! This is a fun episode, to say the least, namely because it added a very fun fact to MLP canon: ponies like their liquor! Yes, it appears that the ponies of Equestria have a nigh unquenchable thirst for what appears to be hard cider, to the point that apparently every single pony in all of Ponyville foregoes all of their business for days on end just to partake in Cider Season and get some delicious Sweet Apple Cider. Can't really blame them, seeing as I'm quite the fan of hard cider myself, and if Sweet Apple Cider is as tasty as Angry Orchard's Crisp Apple Cider then I totally understand where they're coming from!
     




    Sweet Celestia these ponies like their cider!!!

    Now I'm not really exaggerating when I say that cider is at the center of what makes most of this episode a blast. To be honest, it kinda really is. Most of the jokes revolve around cider, a shortage of cider, or the making of cider. The entire conflict is due to the Apple Family's inability to keep up with cider demands during Cider Season and their competition with Flim and Flam to be sole cider producers in Ponyville. The episode starts with cider, it ends with cider, cider, cider, cider, cider, CIDER!!! It's all over the place in this episode and it makes for a fun episode without much of a lesson but full of tons of humor, fun times, a compelling conflict, and of course, CIDER!!!
     

    I smell a catchy-as-buck Daniel Ingram musical number!!!

    Of course, there's more to this episode obviously than cider, namely two elements: (1) the Flim Flam Brothers, and (2) the not-lesson learned. Let's start with the former. The Flim Flam Brothers are kind of the first secondary antagonists the show had really had that the Mane 6 faced off against since, I want to say, the Diamond Dogs back in Season 1 (that's not counting Diamond Tiara, seeing as she's an antagonist to the CMC, not the Mane 6). They enter the show with a bang, singing the delightful "Flim Flam Brothers Song" which, up until this point in the show, was probably the most musically impressive song that Daniel Ingram had thrown together. It's a hilarious and fun parody of "Ya Got Trouble" from "The Music Man" (a musical I've actually performed in myself, making the song all the more delightful to listen to), and to this day it remains one of my favorite songs of the entire show, and one of the only reasons I can't ever bring myself to dislike Flim or Flam that much, despite the fact that they prove themselves to be jerky con artists. Actually, despite the obvious play of their name on the con artist term "flimflam", it doesn't feel right calling them con artists, namely because their machine actually works. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, when used properly, seems to make perfectly fine cider, and the episode, rather than being honest workers vs. con artists, is more John Henry vs. the Steam Drill (which the episode is actually an homage to). In the end, it's really their sacrifice of quality that proves to be their downfall, for while they outpace the Apple Family and Mane 6, they end up producing terrible cider as a result, compromising the integrity of their product and leading to their being driven out of town. Besides their less admirable qualities, the brothers, when they're not being arses, are kinda fun to watch, and unlike any other secondary characters the show's ever had before or since. In fact, I kinda hope they even learned a lesson from all of this and are now doing honest work somewhere, simply because they're undeniably charismatic and you certainly wouldn't want guys like that to keep digging their own graves.
     

    SWAG!!!

    Next, the not-lesson of the episode is fantastic as well. It really is true what Applejack says at the end; she didn't learn anything because, really, all she does in this episode is put things she already knew to be true into practice. She's grown up her whole life being taught that there is no substitute for hard work, honesty, and integrity in all activities, and her faith in that credo pays off. In addition, she carries over a lesson that she'd learned in both "Apple Bucking Season" and the previous episode, "The Last Roundup", that being, she could always rely on her friends for help and support when she and her family needed it, and her faith in her friends pays off as well. It's really great seeing the ponies, rather than learning a new lesson, simply putting what they've learned into practice in their lives, because that shows character growth and progression, and it's something we've seen more and more as the show has continued. Finally, the not-lesson is also responsible for what is quite possibly the greatest trolling of Princess Celestia of all time, that being of course, AJ's delightful proclamation "Ah didn't learn anything!!!" I'm sorry, but every time I hear her say that, I absolutely lose it.
    Overall, "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" is an incredibly fun episode with cider, a great song, cider, lots of laughs, cider, a wonderful not-lesson, cider, a couple of fun secondary antagonists, cider, some touching interactions between the Mane 6, namely, their being there for Applejack and her family when she needs them most at a moment's notice, and of course, cider! In the end, I think we can all agree that this is what we took away from this awesome episode.
     

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