S01:E03 - The Ticket Master

[Pony Of The Month 534]

I love this episode. It's a fantastic way to show off the flaws of the mane 6. I guess that's what S1E2 lacked. We didn't get to see their flaws to much, but this episode made up for it.

[Thunderchild 875]

This was the episode that got me fully into the show. I liked what i'd seen up to this point, but the Benny Hill chase scene put me over the top. I grew up in England, and used to watch Benny Hill every wednesday night-he was kind of like an old friend.

Good lesson too. 

[Davoo 8]

So yeah this episode was pretty good. Good with the characters, but the premise was still pretty corny. Faust has great character designs, great broad ideas, obviously fantastic production abilities, but just 'okay' story execution.

[RollPlay 19]

I thought Princess Celestia only gave two tickets, because she expected Twilight would only have made one friend. Unless she was planning for Twilight and Spike to go anyway. Still I find it very likely Princess Celestia really thought Twilight would make only a few friends or less.

 

Anyway, this is a really good episode.

In the Pilot episode(s) Celestia meets all 5 of twilights friends so it isnt very likely that she did know Twilight had more than one new friend, the truth is simple that Princess Celestia really is just a troll and a verry subtle one at that which makes it all the more fun to watch. Though I will give the possibility that the other ticket was ment for spike.

[thebobmaster 31]

After the events of the two-parter premiere, Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) finds herself relocated to Ponyville in order to be with her new friends. One day, she receives a message from Princess Celestia, who is inviting Twilight and one other person to the Grand Galloping Gala, which is a fairly big deal, akin to being invited to a presidential dinner in the U.S. However, the fact that it is a big deal is essentially the conflict of the episode. With five friends, who is Twilight going to pick to be the one to get the ticket, and how is she supposed to pick one? Well, her friends aren't going to make it any easier, as they each do favors for her in order to try to persuade her to give the extra ticket to them.

 

 

This is another fairly basic plot. The idea is a plot that has been done quite a few times before (friend gets something, has multiple friends that want it, and has to pick one, while the friends try to sway favor towards them). On top of that, the end of the episode, while making sense, still feels like a bit of a cop-out. You know those plots where there is an easy solution that is just not considered by the characters? Well, it's the same sort of thing here.

 

 

The characterization is, however, one of the good things about the episode. All of the characters get a chance to shine again (although Twilight is still the focus of the episode), and they do so in a more noticeable fashion. Each character gets a scene to themselves, for one thing. While each character got a characterization scene in the first episode, then a scene to showcase their element in the second episode, this is different. The scenes aren't shared with everyone, for one thing, unlike the second episode, which had the entire group together for almost the whole thing. And while the scenes do involve characterization, it's not so much establishing the characterization as developing it. The characters show how their reasons for wanting the second ticket are all different from each other, since no two people, or ponies in this case, have the exact same wants and needs. Also, each character does different favors for Twilight, involving their area of interest. Overall, this is one of the better parts of the episode.

 

 

The voice acting is...as good as it was in the last episode. Unfortunately, no one really gets a further chance to shine, other than Tara Strong as Twilight. Everyone gets a few scenes, but not enough to really tax the voice actresses. They do a good job with what they have, but other than Tara Strong, not much of them have anything, even the ones that voice two characters.

 

 

However, this episode does have a few improvements over the premiere. For one thing, the nature of the show changes closer to a form that most of the show deals with. The premiere was focused on a big threat, taking down somepony threatening to bring eternal night. This one is a step down in scale, dealing with more personal issues. The characterization really helps in that regard, as each character gets a scene or two to show their own personality, while doing a good job of demonstrating that no one character is "more" deserving of the second ticket than the other.

 

 

On top of that, there is some more adult humor in this one, as well as some more old school references. For an example of the latter, the entire episode is basically a 22 minute long version of the scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where various characters try to "buy" a ticket off of the recipient. Towards that end, a bit of the adult humor is slipped in there, where one of the offers from a background pony in exchange for the ticket is "I'll do your taxes!" While that isn't exactly "adult" as in "parents will not want their kids to get it, and wonder where the censors are", it is still a joke only adults would get.

 

 

Overall, this episode is mostly notable for what it represents in terms of the future of the show. More character focused, some noticeable references, and light-hearted humor while still maintaining some seriousness. It just has not really been refined, and is a bit rough around the edges.

 

Overall: 6.5/10 (5/10 is average)

Edited April 17, 2013 by thebobmaster

[True Rarity 1,240]

I just now saw this episode, and I LOVED IT!!!!

But I thought Spike would be a little angry about Rarity's wanting to go to the Gala just to meet the stallion of her dreams...

 

"Yay! Uh, I mean, gross! How come I have to go?"
~Spike 

[Starlight Song 43]

Does anyone else desperately want to know the rest of the "Oatmeal" conversation?

No? Okay then here's a super played out PMV. Yay!

[Bloody Murder 5]

Yeah, can someone tell me why Twilight didn't just ask Celestia for more tickets in the beginning? She's suppose to be the smart one so why did she not go with the obvious answer?

[Child Of Darkness 285]

The 3rd episode developes the characters more and more, it gives us a knowlage of the characters dreams and ambitions and what they want to do at the gala and in some cases what the want in their life

[spacestorm 183]

Another great episode, one of better ones from this season in my opinion. It is very well shown what each of the six dreams about and at the same time it is very good development of the personality of each of them and especially of the main character.
I think Celestia has sent only two tickets with a view to Twilight and Spike. Of course she knew about the other five friends, but probably she wanted to see again what Twilight learned about friendship. At least to see how strong became their relationship after a such short time.

It can be said that the solution to the problem of insufficient number of tickets was obvious from the beginning, but Twilight had to learn about this herself.

[Ihei 713]

This is my favorite episode in the series because of.. well, you know, everything. The lesson, the way it's plotted out, and how all of Ponyville is treating Twilight nicely to get the ticket. I love the humor too, in it. Great episode, I'm hoping for another episode like this.

[Aura 120]

This was an interesting start for the mane 6. They had defeated Nightmare Moon not too long ago, and now they fond themselves in a situation that could divide their relationships just as quickly. Talk about seeing your friends' true colors, eh? A real slice-of-life episode to set the mood for the season.

 

As for this episode being a hint about "Trollestia," I leave that to an individual's interpretation.

[fantasyplayer00 2]

I liked the episode because it has two episodes in one so we was with Twilight and the others in the first one and was with Spike in the second so i like when they have other stories yust for one day or more

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

I liked Pinkie imagining the gala the best.

 

I think that was my favorite part as well.  Especially the "pin the tail on the pony" gag.  This episode established that the characters would be dealing with everyday problems, and not just big scary villains.  I like that. 

[~Silver Essence~ 2,625]

Another classic episode that I enjoyed.

 

This is the true beginning of the series, and despite not being perfect, it was enjoyable for the most part.

[Megas 27,580]

I usually hate these kind of episodes, but nonetheless I still enjoy it. Though one issue I will point out, I kinda wish they gave the rest of the mane 6 a reason to go with the same weight as Applejack, or her's at the same level as the others, because the way I see it kinda makes them look a little selfish compared to AJ.

 

 

[shocker1991 32]

I tend to find the "friends doing favours just to get something" plots in cartoons to be hit or miss. Usually they are a miss but I kind of enjoyed this episode. I like the fact that the favours don't come into the episode until the second act and I actually kind of like Pinkie's gala song despite it's very short length.

 

This is a bit of a nitpick but one thing I have always hated about this episode is when Applejack says to spike "Isn't it just like a boy who can't handle the least bit of sentiment." If she had said something else instead of boy, I might have been okay with it.

Edited October 8, 2013 by shocker1991

[~PrincessLuna~ 53]

Haha I really love this ep. if I was twili I would have gave it to RD in the first place... not only because she is my favorite pony (other than LUNAAA) but also because I think she had the best reason ;3

I usually hate these kind of episodes, but nonetheless I still enjoy it. Though one issue I will point out, I kinda wish they gave the rest of the mane 6 a reason to go with the same weight as Applejack, or her's at the same level as the others, because the way I see it kinda makes them look a little selfish compared to AJ.

Well I said in my last post I was thinking RD had the best reason.. I might have to agree with you now that AJ had the best reason, thank god I read that

[Life Giver 1,063]

Won't say its my favorite episode but still another funny one. I can't believe I did't see the mistakes where Fluttershy's wing flip weren't sync  or the one where she has fly wings. 

[Renon Strike 67]

that statement made me laugh a little  "Isn't it just like a boy who can't handle the least bit of sentiment.",  when they first created that episode, no one had an idea that Brony fandom would exist, they can't make statements like this anymore.

[CultOfTheNorth 32]

This month I decided that I am going to make one pony review each and every week for December. This week I turned back all the way to the ticket master, I hope you like it 

 

[Comrade Courage 653]

great episode love how Twilight handled the situation

[Rainbowdash29 1]

While this episode had a cliche plot, I still enjoyed this episode. 7/10

[pegasus255 15]

man this episode is old .

[Hetapony 1]

I think this episode was a bit cliche but I liked it...Poor Twilight I would have blown up in rage if I couldn't get enough peace and quiet to eat a simple meal! XC