Barnstormer

I mean, does Barnstormer need an explanation for this song? XP

Was glad to see more unique, expressive, and funny facial expressions make a return in this episode. I feel like those have been kinda absent this season. As far as actual content, I didn't think I was gonna like this episode, since I tend not to enjoy the whole 'stereotypical teen/pre-teen dance/romance' shtick, but it was cute. Deadmau5 Spike gave me a giggle. Also can we talk about how adorable this face is?

Generally/for past seasons, I'd agree. Like I said, from the pre-season marketing it seemed like the majority focus was gonna be on the clash between the two sides (Mane 6 vs Grogar and company). Again, I get that not every episode was going to be about that, but the frequency of that story arc popping up is spread out so far it kind of ends up feeling like filler in something like, say, DBZ, where you're just like 'GET BACK TO THE DAMN STORY/FIGHT ALREADY.' I also mean there seems to be a number of episodes that aren't following the villains and the conflict with them, that (from the descriptions anyway) also don't seem to have a lesson in mind, they just seem to be there to reach the total episode count they were aiming for...in other words, filler. It's a SOL show, but it's SOL that's also trying to share moral or life lessons. When the majority of episodes are focusing on everything but what you marketed as the main arc of the season, and then some of those also seem to have no lesson, which is the main point of the show....yeah, it starts to feel the same way as filler. Sparkle's 7 is an example of what I'm talking about. It's not focused on the overarching season plot, and near as I could tell there was no lesson it was trying to share. It was just....there. Ie., filler. As filler goes, it wasn't *bad*, but it 1) also didn't really get me hyped, and 2) just adds to me wondering when we're gonna get back to the overarching season plot. Did that clear up what I mean? (Genuine question, not being snarky, and I ask cuz I'm reeeeally tired so I might not be expressing my thoughts in the clearest way).

Aside from the premiere, this season's just been very meh or outright disappointing for me. Like I know not every episode is gonna be about the stuff that went down in the premiere, but the way they made it seem in pre-season marketing was that there was gonna be more of a focus on that, which I was looking forward to. But we've had not a single episode on the subject yet, and a good number so far have been about things characters already learned in the past (Twilight's OCD and panic, the School six not arguing to the point of calamity) or were just filler (Twilight's heist). I haven't watched this episode yet, but the description just isn't 'revving my engine', which sucks cuz I love Patton. Next week's episode is about middle/high school BS, seemingly (school dance), and possibly lessons that have already been expressed by other stories (stay true to yourself/just be who you are), and then FINALLY the week after that we get another peek at the villains...and then we go back to 'normal' episodes for at least 5 weeks...which brings us to episode 13 in a 26 episode season, after which (meaning s9e14 onward) I can't find any titles or descriptions, until the first part of the finale, which reads: .........thanks IMDB for that stellar grammatical checking job, there; did the 'Does Bruno Mars is Gay?' author write that one for you? Dunno why all the other descriptions you have read just fine, but whatever -_- Anyway, that's one episode in an entire half season where we see what's going on with the villains, and if they keep that track record, that means we get ONE more episode before the finale showing how the villains are planning to do whatever it is they do, in the middle of a bunch of (again, to me) very meh episodes. So unless they change something, the finale's gonna seem like it came from nowhere, and I'm not going to be very enthused about the other episodes. From looking at the descriptions for what's ahead, I see only one besides Frenemies where I'm actively interested (The Last Crusade), 2 where I'm not actively interested but am thinking 'this could be good, depending' (Going to Seed and Sweet and Smoky), and 3 that fall into either the 'filler' or 'they learned this/showed this lesson already' categories I mentioned earlier (She's all Yak, Student Counsel, and Between Dark and Dawn). I dunno, maybe the second half will switch it up and be primarily about Grogar and co., but.... I just hoped for better from the final send off of the show :/