S07:E01+02 - Celestial Advice/All Bottled Up

[Professional Horse 94]

REEEEE THIS WAS GARBAGE DHX SUCKS

I'm kidding, of course, but I have a feeling some folk won't be. These two episodes had some pretty nasty flaws. For example, retconning things for no good reason, some awkward dialogue, humour and writing in general, Trixie being a little too annoying, "boring" slice-of-life instead of the usual drama we have in two-parters -- which this was not. Not to mention that Starlight Glimmer is still here.

But did I care? Nope. I mostly watch MLP for the comedy, and these two certainly delivered. So much silliness, fun character interaction and situational comedy, as well as satire! Speaking of which, that song at the end of "All Bottled Up" was a joke, and wasn't supposed to be good. When I first saw the M6 singing all of a sudden for no good reason, I was baffled, but then I laughed. I missed the days when MLP made fun of songs in children's entertainment. Those were good days, and these two reminded me of those.

Another good thing was characterization. Holy moly, the characterization. Celestia was amazing, Twilight was adorable as always, Spike was the sarcastic straight man he should be, Trixie and Discord were glorious jerks and Starlight, uh, she was there too. It's almost as if the people who wrote these episodes know that characters are the backbone and forte of this show. 

Overall, while these two were definitely flawed, I really enjoyed watching them. Two thumbs up from me.

You know what? I'm gonna give season 7 a chance. Maybe it's not gonna be as bad as I--

Next episode is a babysitting episode with Twilight.

Baby Cakes + Lesson Zero 2.0.

Oh crap.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Professional Horse

[SolarFlare13 16,153]

I reckon Season 7 got off to a great start BOTH episodes had A LOT of emotion in them. A feeling of sadness (in a good way, mind you :P) for the first episode and a feeling of pity = Starlight  / anger = Trixie  for the second epsiode. The first song for Season 7 was pretty good ^D^ <3

It's a little odd that there's no two-parter for Season 7 like it was for the other seasons, but they were really good episodes nevertheless  

[CastletonSnob 3,096]

Why does Spike tend to steal the show in episodes where he's a supporting character?

[chronos911 22]

Man.. I hate to be a downer but these episodes just bored me.   Nothing was really set up to make the rest of the season seem exciting.    It was basically just Twilight and friends hanging out and Starlight and Trixie hanging out..  oh and they made a table disappear... Yay?   So interesting.    I'm not entirely decided yet but I think this series is starting to lose it's appeal for me now..   Season 6 did nothing for me, and I thought they would at least try to improve the writing quality in season 7 but it's just more of the same.  We've went from Disney level quality to what seems like this really goofy kids show that really is meant for 6 year old girls this time.  Have I grown out of this show or has this show really just lost it's charm?   It feels like the latter to me. 

[Lonely Fanboy48 28]

A very decent premiere. Celestial Advice is my favorite from the 2. I bet Starlight Glimmer (Pony) might be part of the Equestria Girls Specials just by looking at the end of the episode.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Lonely Fanboy48

[FizzyGreen 910]

10 minutes ago, VG_Addict said:

Off-topic, but I have a feeling next week's episode will be bad. 

Y tho 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,165]

Hang on; we'll get this to work...

Polls for each episode are now up; vote away!

[PinkiePie97 913]

Celestial Advice - I thought it was alright. I still think Starlight's progress is being rushed, though I'm glad there was a reason this time. I got a kick out of seeing Celestia laugh like that.

All Bottled Up - I liked this one better. I really liked Trixie in this episode, and I like how they joked about the song.

Edited April 16, 2017 by PinkiePie97

[BastementSparkle 20,335]

I absolutely loved that first episode. All that Celestia love, I legitimately started tearing up a bit during those final moments with her and Twilight there, hearing how worried Celestia was about Twilight, and how she didn't want to lose her...Darn, and how Twilight still says she needs her. That's probably the most touching thing we've seen with Celestia so far, and seeing her tear up while looking at Luna's moon too...Wow, it wasn't a true "Celestia" episode, but this is probably her best portrayal in the series so far.

 Other than that, Twilight was great. She was adorkable and nervous, Discord was back to his old scheming ways, Spike was snarky and the voice of reason like he should be, and Trixie and Starlight were adorable and hilarious together as always. That last bit with the Mane Six losing the record in the second episode because of their song...That's just great.

I have a few little problems, Trixie was just a little bit too oblivious, and the song, while not awful certainly wasn't the best, and I'm not totally sure about Starlight graduating so soon, even if she is going to stay with Twilight for now, I feel she should have spent more time as her student...But I feel the good far outweighs the bad in this pair.

Overall, I thought both these episodes were really good. They were both pretty funny, with a nice touch of Heartwarming thrown in, especially in the first one. I think this duo "Slice of life" approach for the premiere was a nice change of pace from the usual "Epic villain or disaster threatens Equestria!" that we usually get, though I do love those and hope we have something great for the finale to make up for it.

Looking forward to next week!

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I don't wish my horrible livestream experience on anyone.  I switched from my IPad to my $1000 laptop at the last minute for a better picture, and it was great, until just as the first commercial break ended and then the livestream froze, and wouldn't unfreeze no matter how many times I refreshed.  I switched to Moliminous's livestream as that's my backup, but couldn't get sound no matter how many times I refreshed.  Then, I switched back to my IPad, and it worked fine, although I had some issues with Moliminous's stream as it omitted some footage.  

I was almost a good 15 minutes behind but caught up by 1/3 of the way into the second episode, so I switched back to Equestria TV, and everything was fine from that point forward.  I got sick of waiting for the apparent replay of the first episode as I wanted to see the parts I missed on Moliminous's stream, but I just ended up seeing it on some Russian guy's livestream, although he talked over it in Russian so it wasn't perfectly ideal.  Still, I got to see what I missed, so I'm happy, but long story short, I'm never using my $1000 laptop again for livestreaming.

As for the episodes, the first one is alright, though somewhat falsely advertised as I was thinking Starlight would be going out and doing her own thing going forward, likely as part of her own group of friends.  That said, I'm glad she was kept around as I'm all for maintaining the status quo.  I wasn't hurting for some Starlight/Trixie time as I just finished reading Trixie's GM Berrow book, but All Bottled Up is a great literal interpretation of a common friendship problem.  Is it just me or should all unicorns be quarantined for everypony's protection?  All joking aside, I think season 7 is off to an alright start, and look forward to what's ahead.  Also, we finally got a kind of, sort of, Celestia episode so I'll take it.

[Steve Piranha 29,499]

Danm, I was moving up, so I've missed the episode.... well, not much difference as Spectrum moved Discovery Family to the gold package while I had silver

[Foxy Socks 2,604]

They were both great, better than Season 6's premiere, though I am not sure what they will do next, other than give Starlight more independent tasks. Thankfully I was able to watch both without any issue, since my computer seemed to be working fine now, and no major connection issues. I am very excited to see the new season start, and I love the character development. I really like the direction it is going.

 

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

So just going to combine these and keep it short

What I liked:

Celestia: Great to see some character work from her and her wise if not a little humorous advice was well appreachated. 

Twilight: Nice to FINALLY see an episode where she's in the focus again, hasn't really been one of those since season 5

Trixie: Episode 2 was pretty funny with how she acted.

The Song: Nice and catchy tune there. Too bad it's only 1/5 we'll get. 

Flash fantasies Starlight: Okay so who else would have loved to have Changeling Starlight or DragonBro Starlight in the show?

Starlight: This is bottom since it's very close to the meh side of things but it was nice to see her finally get some shit kicked her way and the world not coddle her for it. 

 

What I didn't like:

The constant reminder of the Season 6 finale and praise for Starlight: I hate the season 6 finale and do not care for Starlight so to see the first episode (and a small reminder in the second) go on and on about how great Starlight was freaking annoying. The fact that both parts revolved around this was extremely frustrating for me. 

The Mane 6's subplot: They didn't really do anything, it was filler. The only reason it was there was because they had to mandate the Mane 6 being involved with the premier episodes somehow. 

 

What was a missed opportunity:

Celesetia's memories: Hey DHX you know what you could have done here? Added a flashback to Sunset Shimmer. I mean FFS it wouldn't have been that hard.

 

So not a bad start to the season, I'm torn between the two episode but I think I'll give it to 1 over 2 since it had Twilight who's was so underutilized in season 6. Here's to the rest of the season

[Dark Qiviut 22,656]

Just started watching Celestial Advice.

Jeez, Discord's acting like a dick here.

And I'm gonna repeat what I wrote following To Where: Starlight's development is really rushed.

[TheGOAT 64]

Both episodes sucked. Too much Starlight.

 

In all seriousness it was a great way to start a new season.

[Plonkett 345]

45 minutes ago, chronos911 said:

Man.. I hate to be a downer but these episodes just bored me.   Nothing was really set up to make the rest of the season seem exciting.    It was basically just Twilight and friends hanging out and Starlight and Trixie hanging out..  oh and they made a table disappear... Yay?   So interesting.    I'm not entirely decided yet but I think this series is starting to lose it's appeal for me now..   Season 6 did nothing for me, and I thought they would at least try to improve the writing quality in season 7 but it's just more of the same.  We've went from Disney level quality to what seems like this really goofy kids show that really is meant for 6 year old girls this time.  Have I grown out of this show or has this show really just lost it's charm?   It feels like the latter to me. 

And it's happened since the original writers left the show. Coincidence? I think not. You would think that they've gotten over the loss of those writers by now, but it seems apparent that they never will.

[Kaneki 1,073]

I saw E01 on a stream, didn't catch E02 cause I had to head out, and I came in late to E01.

Thought it was an interesting episode, but I'm easily entertained probably. I liked the end part the best, and to those saying it was boring, I guess I'm not caught up enough to know what the past 1 or 2 seasons were like. I liked it.

[Brainstorm 4,124]

I enjoyed both morals in both episodes, about Starlight staying in Ponyville, seeing Celestia's point of view of sending Twilight and Spike to ponyville.

Starlight and Trixie learning Magic, how to show emotions instead of bottling them up, Bulk Biceps working at the spa.

[Kaneki 1,073]

2 minutes ago, Brainstorm said:

I enjoyed both morals in both episodes, about Starlight staying in Ponyville, seeing Celestia's point of view of sending Twilight and Spike to ponyville.

Starlight and Trixie learning Magic, how to show emotions instead of bottling them up, Bulk Biceps working at the spa.

Good points! It was interesting how a few seasons ago (from what I heard), Starlight Glimmer wasn't the important one like she was in this episode, is that right? If so, another example of "bad turned good" I guess.

[Megas 28,357]

Both of these episodes were great, barring a couple of issues, namely Trixie being a prick in All Bottled Up, Discord being a prick in Celestial Advice, and I'm not a fan of the hinting of Glimmercorn

Really great to see Celestia getting a more prominent role in an episode, though I still hope we get an episode entirely dedicated to her in the future

Edited April 15, 2017 by Whompy Whomperson

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

From my DA account: SPOILER ALERT!: So I watched the new episodes of My Little Pony season 7 "Celestial Advice" and "All Bottled Up". 

My thoughts on "Celestial Advice". I loved this one! I loved how they made use of Discord pressuring Twilight and I adore the way Celestia and Twilight interacted. It was so nice to see their relationship together on screen. I loved that we got to see more of Princess Celestia's personality. I loved the "There is no wrong way to fantasize" line from Celestia. It was also really cool to see exactly how Twilight's mind works and it was great that she used such an advanced spell to do it! It was nice to see the writers take advantage of Twilight's alicorn magic. They don't do it enough. I loved how we got to see Celestia's fears and see that she wants and needs to feel needed by Twilight. It reminds me of when my teacher got sick and he said "Nobody needs me" and I told him "Yes we do need you. I need you."  and it made him very happy. It was really interesting to see how Celestia did indeed plan for Twilight to meet the other Mane 5 on purpose. That explains a LOT. I guess my only complaint would be how Twilight didn't really have to choose at the end because it feels like it was done for plot ease but frankly I do not think Starlight is ready to go out on her own. I was a bit disappointed it wasn't a double episode but again I think this story does indeed work better as only 22 moments.

"All Bottled Up" I thought I wouldn't like this episode very much but it actually turned out to be very good and quite clever. I loved the idea of Starlight teaching Trixie magic. I liked how we got to see that at least with Starlight magic is indeed controlled by emotion. I loved how the writers contrasted Trixie/Starlight's friendship with the deeper bond of the Mane 6. It showed how important expressing honestly and communicating is. I also liked that we got to actually see what the Mane 6 were doing while they were on retreat since in season 6 we almost never got to see what another pony was doing if they were written as being out of Ponyvile etc. My only grip would have to be the song but I think the song was supposed to be corny and cheesy on purpose so it's not a huge problem. 

On a side note, the "My Little Pony" logo is blue,purple,white and pink in the opening now instead of pink and white. Cool!

[Brainstorm 4,124]

22 minutes ago, Cloggedone said:

Good points! It was interesting how a few seasons ago (from what I heard), Starlight Glimmer wasn't the important one like she was in this episode, is that right? If so, another example of "bad turned good" I guess.

Yeah, it was also cool seeing Ember, maybe we'll see her again later in the season, even Zecora can help both Starlight and Trixie, and maybe even Ember.

It was also cool that Spike stayed to watch them practice magic, I know he's not on every adventure with Twilight, but it cool to see what he does. Maybe he and Discord will have another Guys Night. Also maybe Thorax showing too, he deserves to show on Guys Night.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Brainstorm

[Foliha 395]

Celestia's laugh...  Nice to see Sunburst - more please!

[Jeric 46,890]

Still ruminating on why a few things clicked for me in one of the episodes, but as of now it's safe to say my top character list has shifted now. 

Old

RARITY > AJ > Scootaloo

 

New

RARITY > Starlight > AJ

 

[weesh 690]

These episodes are wildly different, they need their own threads.