S08:E24 - Father Knows Beast

[Nye 1,652]

My initial thoughts were correct.

Spoiler

That dragon was the most rude character since Svengallop. 

It bothered me in this episode that Twilight didn’t try to help Spike whenever he crashed into something at the very starting. That was odd.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

On 9/2/2018 at 2:00 AM, Dark Qiviut said:

• Smolder makes a great representation of dragons being good despite their rough reputation. When Twilight had trouble instructing Spike how to do tricks, she's there to help, and Spike offers a thank-you pillow to her, who doesn't sleep with pillows. Unlike Sludge, she is there to represent authentic dragondom. When he had trouble flying, she fixed the problem. When she realized Spike was being his servant, she knew he phonied everything and worked with Spike to out him. When he fled, she consoled him.
• Sludge is a fantastic, competent antagonist. No need to repeat.
• Also, this is Dragon Quest done right. How so?
  1. Recall the sexist implications and xenophobic stereotyping of dragons by the Mane Six? These implications are nonexistent, and Haber did a great job dignifying dragon culture. Sludge claims he teaches Spike how to be a "real" dragon, but in reality, Sludge is a false representation of dragondom, while Smolder is. In DQ, the teenage dragons are written to represent dragondom with Spike disowning his identity until Gauntlet of Fire. Guess who's in the right here.
  2. DQ's lesson actively uses racism as a good thing and treats the dragons other than Spike himself as savages. Thankfully, FKB handles a similar moral much better, this time focused on family over individuality, but Spike never forgets or abandons his dragon identity or sees it as a bad thing.
  3. Accusations of xenophobia from the ponies to dragons in DQ are justified, courtesy of their racist and sexist language. In FKB, no one acted like that at all, especially Twilight. She focused solely on Sludge being a bad influence on him, and Spike retaliated by falsely accusing her of racism and nationalism, two of the accusations in which he apologized to her for (the other being a "fake parent").
  4. In DQ, Fluttershy agreed to watch the dragon migration after Dash agonizingly watched the butterfly migration, but stepped on Dash's chest and hightailed it. Here, Fluttershy actively helps him heal and no longer outwardly fears larger dragons.

Yes I completely agree with your assessment of Smolder and the episode's depictions of dragon culture. This episode showed us that dragons are individuals and more importantly the ponies and Spike have come to realize that dragons and hopefully all the other creatures are individuals. I rarely see media trying to address individually in this way so great job MLP writers. 

[ShootingStar159 2,157]

Cutest family photo ever!

[JCKane 345]

Interesting episode.  Was curious as to who the 'father' would be.  Though I had my suspensions he was lying even before he started his lessons.  I think it would be interesting to show more on Spike's parentage.

Fun imagery for the episode was when Twilight lowers her head in that sad expression.  And Starlight getting tossed out of the window while she was taking a bath

[YoshiAngemon 223]

No question, I can name at least TWO Fathers who are better than Sludge: Goofy, and Bowser! Bowser stands as a better father figure than Sludge, considering he's the best guy Nintendo used for the Parental COntrols and Nintendo Switch Online Videos. He actively has fun with Bowser Jr.

But the episode was great, and yet I wonder, was it Celestia herself who grabbed Spike's egg from the Dragon Lands?

Edited October 6, 2018 by YoshiAngemon

[JCKane 345]

4 minutes ago, YoshiAngemon said:

No question, in my opinion, Bowser stands as a better father figure than Sludge, considering he's the best guy Nintendo used for the Parental COntrols and Nintendo Switch Online Videos. He actively has fun with Bowser Jr.

But the episode was great, and yet I wonder, was it Celestia herself who grabbed Spike's egg from the Dragon Lands?

Everyone knows Spike was kidnapped by Tirek so he could enslave him to do his evil bidding while he used the Rainbow of Darkness to 'evilize' 4 Ponies to pull is evil sled of DOOM!!

huh? What do you mean wrong cannon?  

 

[Ganondorf8 11,424]

I had heard from around the fandom that this episode was divisive and I can see why. Before watching it for myself, I had a feeling that it was going to be cringe-worthy of unprecedented levels and it turns out that I was right. A few things I liked was the portrayal of Smolder in that she showed Spike how to fly like a dragon would as opposed to a pony. She also comes off as being a big sister to Spike when he told her what Sludge--I'll get to him soon enough--had said and how surprised/shocked she was when she heard it. Smolder deserves a ton of credit for doing what she did even if she only appeared for a short period of episode time. The song was honestly pretty catchy and came out of nowhere given what was going on. Would I want to watch it again? I'd say so but not just yet as this episode's drawbacks are a plenty.

For starters, Spike essentially broke Twilight's heart--also literally--when he said that Sludge was an actual parent as opposed to her. That was completely unacceptable to me seeing as she was the one who practically raised him ever since he hatched. Sure, Twilight's an alicorn and not a dragon, but she is pretty much the only thing Spike has that corresponds as a parental figure in his life. I'm glad that he reconciled with her and with such a touching moment no less, yet his actions are sure to make people really annoyed and maybe even question his loyalties. On a different note, maybe Spike should've consulted with Smolder first regarding dragon culture and how it operates. In fact, Twilight might want to consider the same thing as she doesn't know much about it either. Perhaps it could be a future episode idea or perhaps used in the comics? I can forgive Spike for how he acted but I'm not sure everyone else will feel the same way.

Then we have Sludge... He was a unique design as far as dragons go and despite him being a douche all because of being greedy, he actually did portray some characteristics of dragons; in particular, the ones from earlier seasons in the show. I don't doubt his injuries that he sustained upon crashing in Ponyville but as soon as he brought up the whole 'Spike, I'm your father' bit, I knew this episode was going to go downhill and pretty fast at doing it. For a while, Sludge did seem genuine at being a parent yet there were holes in his story the moment he started talking about it. The flashback didn't really help seeing as the egg shown had different coloured polka-dots as opposed to what Spike's egg actually had--green. Of course, there were other inconsistencies in his story and I'm surprised Twilight of all ponies didn't choose to investigate it. Do I despise Sludge? While he did do a horrible thing and basically got away with it in the end, I can't exactly hate him as his intentions were purely self-preservation. He had no desire to take over Ponyville or even cause any kind of conflict. He just wanted to live an easy life by muscling in by claiming to be Spike's father.

I am surprised that it took the show's staff this long to finally address the idea that Spike's 'dragon' family was still out there somewhere hoping to find out what became of him. This wasn't quite what I was expecting and I think others will have a similar opinion. Perhaps they should've first focused on where Celestia found Spike's egg in the first place. If we are given that answer, then more can be applied from there and give everyone some sense of satisfaction. Oh, what could have been. Honestly, there's not much else I can say about this episode other than I don't think I'll watch it again any time soon. The cringe in this one was everywhere and I even had to pause on occasion knowing that what was about to happen next was going to be difficult for me to get through. I'll give it a 65%.

[Misty Shadow 7,999]

I can see why this is a somewhat divisive episode. Despite being well-written, it comes as a disappointment to any Spike fan to still not know who Spike's real father is in an episode this late in the same season where he got his wings. However, Sludge was a worthy minor villain. It was foreshadowed from the start who he really was with how complacent he was in working with the ponies who were trying to help him get back on his feet and there's a clear possibility of him being a sociopath in how he manipulated a child into taking care of him with such malicious lies. Spike was pretty cruel in how he denounced Twilight as a real parent, which grated my nerves a bit as someone who thought he'd be past behavior like that by now, but I liked the visual of Twilight's heart literally breaking. The visual gag of Starlight being thrown out while taking a bath was awesome too. It's not at all bad, it just shows that we really need an episode about what happened with Spike's real parents eventually. We saw how well The Perfect Pear worked with Applejack, so surely a similar episode would work with Spike.  

[Senko 459]

6 hours ago, Silver Letter said:

Arguments can possibly be made for either. I once asked Spikes voice actress, Mrs. Weseluck, about it. She seemed to believe that Spike and Twilight are more like siblings in their relationship. I tend to agree as it is one of equals for the most part, even taking into account Spike being an assistant.

To each their own for me, especially given the reactions in this episode like Twilight having her heart broken at his saying she's not his real parent I see them more as mother/son. I mean even the fact that Spike thought to say she's not his real parent argues that on at least some level they act that way.

I also wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason she doesn't investigate Sludge's claims as much as she normally would is her hurt over this and her truly wanting the best for Spike. Just like all that time ago she let him go on the dragon migration (then followed him to make sure he was safe).

Edited October 6, 2018 by Senko

[Sonic5421 428]

I gotta admit, this was an interesting episode, especially regarding Sludge and how he tried to take advantage of the hospitality he was given by the Mane Six after they helped him recover from his crash landing by lying that he was Spike's father and concocting that fake story about Spike's mother.

The song was an interesting one, we got a cameo from Starlight when she was unceremoniously thrown out of the castle by Sludge while still taking a bath, and Smolder was able to help out Spike with learning how to fly with his wings after Twilight realized her error with remembering that Spike's wings were not feathered like her Alicorn ones, but webbed with dragon skin and scales like Smolder, Torch, and Ember's.

With Smolder's help, Spike was able to get Sludge to confess and leave, and made amends with Twilight for his earlier remark that left her literally heartbroken when she heard it.

Good episode, so I'll give it an 8.5, possibly a 9/10.

[MLPFanatic34 3,235]

This wasn't my favorite Spike episode, but it wasn't a god awful Spike episode either. I did enjoy seeing the relationship between Smolder and Spike show and how much of a big sister Smolder is to Spike, she also really gives dragons a good reputation despite everyone thinking they're selfish jerks, I did enjoy the song and seeing the mane 6 interact with Sludge. To be honest though Sludge got on my nerves and came off as a total douche. I knew his motivations even before he revealed the truth to Spike, also Spike came off incredibly hurtful to Twilight by saying she didn't know anything about him and him being a dragon and that part really bothered me. It sort of made Spike appear as a uncaring brat despite knowing that Twilight has raised him ever since he was a egg. 8/10 episode.

[ImpctR 155]

Hey sometimes I admit I may be influenced by the votes and if I see a mostly positive episode, I'd still give it a good grade but even so, if it is not my type like nothing special happens, I would still not give it highest no matter the overall votes. I noticed this time it is see, and not able to post or do your vote independently. Well I will give my vote alright and I will hit hard this time.

Although I've seen bad episodes, something about this one was not only boring but plain lame, not to say such episodes aren't my fave when focusing on some chars unless they are interesting like Molt Down.

I give this episode a

Spoiler

2/5

The lowest I've gone, it is not the worst but something here irritated me.

So what makes it like that:

- An episode I do not care much about unless something makes it good (there were some good Spike episodes)

- The guy crashes in the middle of Ponyville, and he is not the father!? You know if he were, that might make sense but he has no clue of the castle and suddenly wants to take advantage of the village? crap logic

- Sludge was so unlikable, not only that but you HAVE TO GIVE US A SONG OF HIM?? I dont care about songs but this just makes me put the song in the trash can.

- Sludge is like an old creep wanting to be around the young dragons, no that's not it since how did he even know he would land near Smoulder and Spike? No he just wanted to take advantage of. I don't know what personality it is supposed to depict. Ugly, unlikable, and giving a song by him, waste of minutes. And somehow he referenced not only Mount Aris but this may be the first time I hear a Klugetown reference? Is he from it? He looks like someone from it if they allow dragons there. It was very believable to some extent, then for disappointment of Spike fans who want to know his BG (well I dont care), it was all wasted.

- Somehow the 'Please CRY part' with Twilight's broken heart and Spike did not work for me, probably because it was not believable for either. I mean somehow the disappointment, I dont want to talk to you Twilight came too soon and unnatural.

- Spike was almost like 'yes dad, I need my dad-y' and when I just see this word over the internet I facepalm, so stupid..

- Maybe chuckled over this except Starlight was now a garbage background pony.

Spoiler

 

 

The pluses:

What made me like Smoulder even more, was how she helped Spike from the very beginning, like this is what Spike needed, an actual dragon friend to fill in the gap, not a parent.

Good busting the fat dragon's real intentions by Spike and Smoulder.

 

Like the writer's worst, idc there can be bad episodes but I will not hesitate to slam and bash.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2018 by ImpctR

[Dark Qiviut 22,500]

Already commented about it. This time, I posted a forum blog review with various edits to clean it up and expand it.

 

[ShadowPhoenix 153]

I thought this episode was brutal. I really bought that Sludge was Spike’s father, so to have him pull out the rug from under Spike’s latent hopes to have his parental questions was devastating, especially seeing how Spike quite literally broke Twilight’s heart earlier. I teared up when I saw that, and I’m glad that Twilight and Spike got to display so much love and affection toward each other. Before that reveal, I actually thought that there were some redeeming qualities to Sludge, because he did go down Spike’s list despite his obviously bullshit story of being imprisoned by some faceless entities, but whatever false congeniality Sludge may have possessed evaporated not only because he basically abused Spike but pulled off such a thorough deception.

 

Given what I’ve seen here, this is definitely an underrated episode. There was great emotion and meaning packed into the story. It continues the unbelievably fantastic streak of Road to Friendship, The Washouts, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place, What Lies Beneath and Sounds of Silence. The finale will in all probability be good too.

[Truffles 2,033]

7 hours ago, Ganondorf8 said:

For starters, Spike essentially broke Twilight's heart--also literally--when he said that Sludge was an actual parent as opposed to her. That was completely unacceptable to me seeing as she was the one who practically raised him ever since he hatched. Sure, Twilight's an alicorn and not a dragon, but she is pretty much the only thing Spike has that corresponds as a parental figure in his life. I'm glad that he reconciled with her and with such a touching moment no less, yet his actions are sure to make people really annoyed and maybe even question his loyalties.

While I understand why that scene makes people angry, I am bewildered when I see them questioning Spike's loyalty. He's been nothing but loyal to his friends ever since he arrived in Ponyville. It seems like an overreaction to an overreaction - he didn't say anything that burned any bridges, and indeed it didn't take much for them to reconcile.

If there's a flaw in this scene, it's what @ImpctR hinted at above: the rushed pacing. His overreaction - while logical at a perfunctory level - ramps up out of nowhere. It would have been better if Twilight had pushed a little harder and said a little more to make Spike wary of his supposed father. I think she could have done that without coming off like the heavy.

In reality, the only thing the audience should be feeling for Spike is pity, because pushing away Twilight would only hurt himself in the end - even if Sludge really was his father. Seeing him do that didn't make me angry, it made me sad.

 

[Ganondorf8 11,424]

@Truffles

I'm not questioning his loyalties but rather questioning his actions.

[BlackPony 77]

As a Spike fan, am I the only one who isn’t surprised that we wouldn’t actually see his real father? I know it sounds a bit cynical, but I kinda knew this would be a fake out, and I was mostly anticipating how the writers would handle Spike himself, his relationships with the others, and how he’d handle the reveal that Sludge was faking. And I think they did well on that part. 

 

Edit: I also love the way Sludge was handled. A lot of people were mad because he was an irredeemable POS, but he treated exactly that way, and that’s he was handle so well. He didn’t need to be complex, he didn’t need to have a completely logical reason to do what he did. He’s just a terrible “person” and that’s all. 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by BlackPony
Felt like adding more.

[doomie-22 19]

I absolutely hated this episode! This is worse than "Dragon Quest!" This is worse than "Spike at Your Service!" This is worse than "Princess Spike!" Honestly, the only good thing about this episode is the fact that we finally got confirmation that Twilight was the one who raised Spike, not Celestia! Why it took them eight years to establish that Spike and Twilight are practically family, I have no idea! 

[BlackPony 77]

1 hour ago, doomie-22 said:

Honestly, the only good thing about this episode is the fact that we finally got confirmation that Twilight was the one who raised Spike, not Celestia! Why it took them eight years to establish that Spike and Twilight are practically family, I have no idea! 

...I thought this was already obvious.

[Truffles 2,033]

17 hours ago, Ganondorf8 said:

@Truffles

I'm not questioning his loyalties but rather questioning his actions.

When you ended you're statement with "questioning his loyalties," I thought you were siding with that mindset. I agree his actions should be questioned, though it should be by his friends and not the audience - the revelation of Spike's list of activities he wanted to do with his biological parents shows how deep his wanting to be able to share his life with them goes. The audience should be able to put themselves in his scales in that situation, even if it isn't particularly satisfying since as outsiders we can see a lot more clearly Sludge isn't who he pretends to be. I think the Mane 6 were working up to doing an intervention, but had to tread very lightly in order to not alienate their friend. The last half of the episode could have used more time to let emotions play out, and that's an unfortunate technical flaw in it.

 

4 hours ago, BlackPony said:

As a Spike fan, am I the only one who isn’t surprised that we wouldn’t actually see his real father?

I saw a few comments when the non-English version first aired that revealed the truth, so it wasn't a surprise. If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have been reasonably sure until the Mane 6 and Spike started questioning aspects of his tale of Spike's origins.

4 hours ago, BlackPony said:

A lot of people were mad because he was an irredeemable POS

I think he can redeem himself - if he sets out to find out who Spike's parents really are and what became of them. In fact, it would be rather interesting if they did exactly that next season and the conflict is flipped upside down with the episode now being about learning how to regain trust in an individual who has been nothing but slimy. Especially since he's committed the horrible act of taking advantage of someone's innermost desire to be reunited with those who bore him.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

Pretty good. Nice continuity with the whole "Find spike's real family" thing. I felt like they were putting it off since the last real thing about spike wanting to find out who he is was back in Season 2. It's tough sometimes when you're different and you want to find out where you really belong. 

Sludge was a bit cringy but I liked how he had sort of a New York accent. 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Spike can 'X-ray' Twilight with his words, he can be the good fighter in mortal kombat.

[Thrond 3,263]

I found this kinda funny and cute until I realized Sludge was exploiting Spike, then I found it kinda melancholy. Poor kid is caught between two identities, and in his youth and insecurity he’s susceptible to folks like Sludge taking advantage of him. I’m not convinced that’s how I was supposed to feel, but Spike’s eagerness and confusion both complement that reading, and Twilight’s sensitivity was very welcome as well. This would have been a truly great episode of it had gone further in exploring Spike’s confused identity, and I think his motivation in the second half is a bit too simplistic, but we can also see his longing for a parental figure who is a bit more like him. I think some of those themes are unintended, and (as is always the case) this is kind of simplistic, but I had a lot of sympathy for both Spike and Twilight in this. If only it were a bit less simplistic, and had actually resolved those themes, I think this would be really impressive. For now, I prefer the more upbeat approach of “Dragon Quest,” but I still like this one. I guess my contrarian side struck again. 

Score:

Entertainment: 7/10

Characters: 8/10

Themes: 7/10

Story: 6/10

Overall: 70/100

Edited October 9, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[Thrond 3,263]

A few points:

• Spike’s relationship to Twilight is less ambiguous now, and it does explain their power dynamic a bit more... I don’t feel great about Twilight raising Spike at a young age, though.
• This telegraphs Sludge’s lying early on, but I still found his willingness to go through Spike’s checklist sweet. Though that only makes his insincerity even more depressing.
• And Spike’s checklist... that was just heart-wrenching. I’m not sure if this episode earns moments like that, but it creates a weird, seemingly unintended soulful quality. This episode stirred my emotions, and the show has rarely ever managed that.
• Starlight being defenestrated was my favourite gag here. 
• Throw this on the pile with “Newbie Dash” as episodes I find poignant enough to wish they were better. 
• I guess I just wish this answered its own questions more... clearly, Smolder can help Spike inways that Twilight can’t, but the episode doesn’t put that implication into words. Twilight is so anxious about that, and yet it’s never resolved.

Edited October 8, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, this is another episode for which it's rather difficult to characterize my feelings. On the one hand, there are significant positive elements to the episode. It's nice to see the Mane Six really working to make Spike's dreams of doing activities with his dad come true. It's also heartwarming to see Twilight helping Spike with flying, Twilight's concern for Spike later, and more confirmation of Twilight's and Spike's loving relationship. And Smolder ends up being a real hero in this episode. She stops Spike from continuing to be manipulated, used, and derailed by Sludge; again acts as a mentor to Spike on what being a dragon is really like; and helps Spike to expose Sludge and ultimately get him to leave.

On the other hand, though, it's painful to watch Spike being oblivious and obsequious to Sludge. It's hard not to wish that Spike would show more skepticism or hesitation before (more or less) doing anything that Sludge tells him to do, and before essentially agreeing to give up his current "ponified" life and any other personal goals just on Sludge's say-so. When Spike runs into Smolder outside, Spike says that Sludge is showing him how to be a "real dragon", that Sludge is really good at "being a dragon", and that "maybe someday, I'll be able to lay around doing nothing as well as he does". Didn't Spike have any of his own goals or aspirations other than being just like a "real dragon"? Even if Sludge were showing Spike what it's like to be a "real dragon", shouldn't Spike want to do more than that? Doesn't Spike have his own values and his own idea of who he is that he holds strongly enough to stand up for, rather than (in a matter of a couple of days or so) seemingly throwing all of that away in order to do whatever Sludge wants and to aspire to be like him?

However, is it necessarily bad characterization to have Spike act this way? I have these things that I think Spike ought to have done, and I wish that he would have done, but is it unreasonable to expect Spike to have done them? I guess I don't know. From our perspective in the audience, we can see more dispassionately (and pretty early on) that Sludge is a slimy freeloader who's emotionally manipulating and taking advantage of Spike. But I don't know that I can really put myself in Spike's place, where he wants to meet his biological parents this badly, to the point that he keeps a long list of things that he wishes that he could do with his dad. I feel like I might do better at keeping my wits about me in a situation like that, but then, I'm also probably less inclined to feel these strong emotions that might overtake dispassionate observation and judgement. So while I don't like seeing Spike act this way, I don't really know if it's unreasonable for Spike to do so.

-----

One potential turning point in the episode involves Spike's decision to take Sludge to the castle, and Spike's and the Mane Six's decision to nurse Sludge back to health. Spike and the Mane Six seem to think that Sludge is potentially seriously injured, as shown by their putting him in a wheelchair, making a sling for his arm, trying to do what looks like physical therapy, etc. But if they believe that, shouldn't they be taking him to a hospital? Ponyville does have a hospital, after all, and I would think that it would have more equipment and expertise in handling potentially serious injuries than the Mane Seven would have at Twilight's castle. Plus, if Sludge is overexaggerating or outright faking his injuries, then the hospital staff would seem more likely to pick up on that, and hopefully head off any attempt by Sludge to take advantage of Spike and the Mane Six. (The Ponyville hospital staff did, for example, see through Rainbow's pretending to be injured again back in "Read It And Weep", and refused to re-admit her.)

And I could see those two decisions changing the whole trajectory of events from that point. What if Spike and Smolder immediately took Sludge to the hospital, and it was determined that Sludge had no injuries or only minor injuries, and therefore had no need to stay in Ponyville? What if Sludge tried too hard to fake being injured, and the hospital staff called him out on it, exposing him as a slimy freeloader to Spike (and the others) before Sludge could even learn about and exploit Spike's orphan status? The seemingly innocuous decisions to take Sludge to the castle and for the Mane Six to help him may have turned out to be more fateful than they might have thought.

-----

Another aspect of this episode that I particularly noticed and thought about was how much Sludge managed to take advantage of Twilight's and everyone else's hospitality. Especially during and right after the song, I couldn't help wondering just how much food Sludge had gone through just in his relatively brief stay at the castle. And what about Sludge's (and Spike's) making a mess of things around the castle? Can Twilight, as presumably the one in charge of the castle, ask for some moderation in consuming all the food and trashing the place? Does she have to defer completely to whatever Sludge (and Spike) wants to do, no matter what the cost?

I also thought of this when Twilight questions Spike about what Sludge is doing. Twilight expresses discomfort at Sludge's "taking over [Spike's] room" and "making a mess of things", and is worried about whether Spike will act that way, just to have Spike respond indignantly and accuse Twilight of jealousy and/or bigotry. What kind of expectations are being set up here? Sludge gets to stay in the castle indefinitely; in the meantime, he and Spike get to consume or use whatever they want, have piles of open food in Spike's room, toss shelves of (organized) books around the library, burn or throw out whatever they don't like, etc.; and if Twilight questions any of this or wishes that they wouldn't do it, then she's the bad one?

But what would have happened if, say, Twilight stood firm and said that if Sludge won't follow her minimum baseline rules, then he's kicked out of the castle? Spike may well have followed Sludge wherever he went at that point, and Twilight could lose Spike indefinitely. But what would Sludge have done, knowing that his goal was to find a way to live a cushy lifestyle at others' expense? Would he have continued to manipulate Spike and tried to use Spike's other connections in order to freeload off of Spike's other friends/family? If that did work for Sludge, then it would seem like Twilight's kicking Sludge out would accomplish worse than nothing, because Sludge would still be using Spike and being a bad influence on him, but now he wouldn't even have Twilight to help, and meanwhile, Twilight would be alienated from Spike. So it does seem like Twilight is in a frustrating catch-22, at least for the moment. I do have to wonder, as others have mentioned, whether Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six were planning to use the Cutie Map to try to build a case against Sludge to present to Spike, and if so, how long that would have taken and how effective that would have been.

-----

Now here's just a few more miscellaneous observations that I had:

Spike's practicing flips and doing a "big finish" seems to imply that there's a performance of some kind that he's practicing for. This scene parallels Twilight's practicing in "Princess Twilight Sparkle", but in that case, she was (at least in part) practicing a routine for the Summer Sun Celebration. So are there plans for Spike to do some public flying performance at some point in the future?

Apparently none of Twilight's flying advice to Spike is helping, and Smolder is much better at helping Spike with flying technique, because dragons don't have feathers. But to what extent was Twilight's flying advice only applicable to feathered wings? The only particular flying advice we hear Twilight give in the episode - "Remember, two flaps, then straight up" to do a flip - doesn't seem to be obviously specific to feathered wings. Spike also mentions after Smolder's lessons that he just needed to bend his wings, but does Twilight not bend her wings?

Just a couple of episodes ago, I mentioned the dragon in "Gauntlet of Fire" that wanted to become Dragon Lord in order to raid Equestria for their pillows, and in this episode, that becomes relevant again. Smolder says to Spike's throw pillow gift that "It's just dragons don't really use pillows. At all". But that doesn't mean that all dragons don't want to use pillows, or that they couldn't start to.

It doesn't seem like Sludge was specifically traveling to Ponyville for the purpose of taking advantage of Spike. So where was Sludge originally going? Why did he crash-land in Ponyville? Did Sludge happen to see Spike and Smolder walking down the road, and he tried to land to talk to them? During the whole first third of the episode, we don't see any of the characters asking these questions, even just out of curiosity.

Right after Twilight leaves Sludge in Spike's room, she bumps into Spike, who drops the food he's carrying and has two raw eggs break on his face. Why was Spike carrying raw eggs with his pile of baked goods, anyway? Do dragons enjoy eating raw eggs?