S04:E06 - Power Ponies

[~/XC- BRONY\~ 310]

Anyone got a link to the episode on YouTube?

[Quill 10]

Man, oh MAN did this episode have me laughing my flank off. The superhero parodies (I could name which character was parodying which hero) were absolutly awesome. Fluttershy's in particular had me gushing with laughter. Her Hulk-like design was over the top, yes but that was the point I think. Spike was doubting himself a lot in this episode sure, but when an episode is good, it's really good. Not much world building unfortunately but hey will still have 20 episodes left.

[SPLinux 380]

This is the only upload i know of that exists so far: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwiVVOBJJkOzVElDUzRRdWZuaWM/view?pli=1&sle=true

 

 

[DarligPegasi 315]

Where's the poll so I can say the episode was super LAME. 

[Castle Bleck 19,356]

Dear Mane-iac,

 

 

Love,

Anti-Villain

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

I really liked this episode, fitting how both of the season's best episodes so far both occurred inside the old palace. 

 

Rarity was best Power Pony as per the usual. 

 

Fluttershy hulking up was pretty funny and was a good pay-off from the buildup.

 

Who would win a Pinkie Pie as Fillysecond vs. Spongebob as The Quickster fight?

[Envy 6,161]

"Time for the 'mane' event"

 

So cheesey, I laughed. xD

[SomariFeyWright 776]

I know it's both a cartoon and a parody of superhero comic books, but there were SO many parts of this episode that just left me dumbfounded.

 

Lassoing a tornado? Using a file to take out a bunch of cell bars in like two seconds?

... Lassoing a tornado? I'm sorry, that one really bugged me.

 

I was also rather annoyed with Spike's sudden obsession with comics, since they pulled it out of nowhere for plot convenience. But that's just a personal pet peeve. I can't really complain too much.

 

I also think the Flutterhulk design was a teensy bit underwhelming. But then again, I don't think any design could have done the buildup justice.

 

Overall, I thought it was a good episode. It was an excellent parody of comic books in general, especially older comics. The ponies working with their powers really worked nicely and seeing Spike get a big role like he did was certainly nice.

 

Overall, an OK/10. Definitely better than last week's episode.

 

 

 

Who would win a Pinkie Pie as Fillysecond vs. Spongebob as The Quickster fight?

Fillysecond, easily. Did you forget that Spongebob was completely incompetent with his powers?

[SPLinux 380]

Someone has uploaded a 1080p version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0kBx8D5Jn0&feature=youtu.be

[BalanceBrony 259]

The plot was boring and predictable. I was able to call pretty much the whole sequence of events. The humour was mostly meh, though the Flutterhulk was pretty hilarious. The moral was a repeat about a Spike who feels useless and underappreciated, but isn't really. The whole motive and plan of the villain was as silly and underwhelming as the villain herself. The characters were overall very dull, with minimal to no development for any of them, and very little depth to any of them. Further, some of the characters' issues with their powers made no sense. In particular, Twilight's talent is magic itself, and Applejack is a rodeo star. There is no reason these two should've had trouble being useful, regardless of whether they could figure out their new powers or not, they still had their preexisting skills with magic and rope respectively. Overall, this episode is somewhere in between meh and ugh. Initial impression is 3/10 stars, making my least favorite episode thus far.

 

------------------------

 

That was before browsing the forums, after just having watched the episode. After reading some comments on here, I noted a few other positives.

 

Positives:

- Twilight and Spike's relationship: about time they covered this. Spike is not her pet, or her slave. The "two minutes" dialogue definitely seems along the lines of mother/son. SO STAHP, ya'll Spilight shippers. It's just wrong

- The castle: the repeated presence of the castle could definitely means it may well be important later on.

- I forgot to give props on the hilarious Pinkie antics this episode. This episode was a really funny performance for her.

- Rarity was pretty cool too.

 

But the negatives still stand, and overall, my impression has only been upgraded to 3.5/10. Not much, because the episode was still resolutely un-entertaining for me. Stay tuned for my second viewing impressions. My rating always improves after a second viewing.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

The plot was boring and predictable. I was able to call pretty much the whole sequence of events. The humour was mostly meh, though the Flutterhulk was pretty hilarious. The moral was a repeat about a Spike who feels useless and underappreciated, but isn't really. The whole motive and plan of the villain was as silly and underwhelming as the villain herself. The characters were overall very dull, with minimal to no development for any of them, and very little depth to any of them. Further, some of the characters' issues with their powers made no sense. In particular, Twilight's talent is magic itself, and Applejack is a rodeo star. There is no reason these two should've had trouble being useful, regardless of whether they could figure out their new powers or not, they still had their preexisting skills with magic and rope respectively. Overall, this episode is somewhere in between meh and ugh. Initial impression is 3/10 stars, making my least favorite episode thus far.

 

------------------------

 

That was before browsing the forums, after just having watched the episode. After reading some comments on here, I noted a few other positives.

 

Positives:

- Twilight and Spike's relationship: about time they covered this. Spike is not her pet, or her slave. The "two minutes" dialogue definitely seems along the lines of mother/son. SO STAHP, ya'll Spilight shippers. It's just wrong

- The castle: the repeated presence of the castle could definitely means it may well be important later on.

- I forgot to give props on the hilarious Pinkie antics this episode. This episode was a really funny performance for her.

- Rarity was pretty cool too. (No problem with this, just saying.)

 

But the negatives still stand, and overall, my impression has only been upgraded to 3.5/10. Not much, because the episode was still resolutely un-entertaining for me. Stay tuned for my second viewing impressions. My rating always improves after a second viewing.

As well founded as your opinions are, and as much as I can respect them, I think you're leaving a major variable out of this analysis, dude.

 

This episode wasn't supposed to be taken as seriously as the ones before it

 

Now, I'm all for show analysis, I love it; yet, there's a certain weight you've got to identify with each episode, you know, dude? Such as last week's episode; it was supposed to be much more serious than Power Ponies, in case that wasn't obvious; Power Ponies wasn't supposed to provide too much development as well, in contrast with Daring Don't, last week's episode, etc. This was much more of a fun episode as to important, something leisurely and lighthearted.

 

Ergo, it should be weighted as less important on aspects such as what you brought up, such as character development and the villain's motive being silly or not; had this been a much more serious and dark atmosphere, such as the ones found in other episodes, it should be weighted more heavily and taken more seriously.

 

What I've bolded are things I'm talking about; the rest of the points you've brought up are either completely reasonable opinions or agreeable, in my line of thought

Edited December 21, 2013 by ~Sadistic ghostfk39~

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

Great episode! This is what Daring Don't should have been. In my opinion, anyways.

 

Great background music. The premise was great and believable for Equestria. And Spike is the best sidekick ever.

Mane-iac was just hilarious. I kept thinking of the Doc Ock and of the Laughing Octopus from MGS4. Though I think she as supposed to be kinda like the Joker. Just awesome.

 

Rarity is the best Green Lantern EVER. And I think that Pinkie didn't have any superpowers... She was just high on caffeine and sugar. XD. But honestly, I don't know which one of them I like more!

 

Just one thing: what the hell is wrong with Equestrian society? Once again, all the minions are male. Why?

 

Anyway... I'll watch it some more times because it's just great. Definitively one of my favorites!

[lolololol 65]

This episode was OK. this is my least enjoyed episode of the season so far. errrhm...6/10.

[Inactive01 5,299]

I thought that although the plot was predictable, that it was still a fun episode regardless. They really addressed the potential concerns that people may have about the fact Spike was just an accessory to everyone else. It really shows that Spike has a place in the Mane 6's hearts and that he is valuable to everyone else even if he thinks otherwise.

 

I liked this episode a lot because I think many of us can relate to Spike really well. We all feel useless at times because it seems like people don't need our help or don't need us at all. In reality, there will be moments where they do need us. It's just not readily apparent to us. Plus, they made it really important to remember that at the end of the day, the true friend will truly remember that you're their friend and they will value that. 

[Champion RD92 8,658]

*spoilers*

 

So why was AJ the only one who was useful at all in the beginning? She was the only one who was able to use her powers right away. Plus she was the only one whose costume actually looked cool and didn't look stupid. So basically, she was best Power Pony.

 

This episode could have been more interesting and exciting I think, I actually didn't love it that much. 

 

Although when Fluttershy turned into that monster thing, I was like wtf lmao.

 

Also, there was this face Fluttershy made earlier in the episode that was funny as heck, I wish I could find a pic of it haha

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

 

So why was AJ the only one who was useful at all in the beginning? She was the only one who was able to use her powers right away. Plus she was the only one whose costume actually looked cool and didn't look stupid. So basically, she was best Power Pony.

 

Good point. I was going to say that it's because she knows how to handle a lasso in her real life, but then Twilight should have no problem too. Well, contrivance. Happens a lot in superhero comics. 

[BalanceBrony 259]

As well founded as your opinions are, and as much as I can respect them, I think you're leaving a major variable out of this analysis, dude.

 

This episode wasn't supposed to be taken as seriously as the ones before it

 

Now, I'm all for show analysis, I love it; yet, there's a certain weight you've got to identify with each episode, you know, dude? Such as last week's episode; it was supposed to be much more serious than Power Ponies, in case that wasn't obvious; Power Ponies wasn't supposed to provide too much development as well, in contrast with Daring Don't, last week's episode, etc. This was much more of a fun episode as to important, something leisurely and lighthearted.

 

Ergo, it should be weighted as less important on aspects such as what you brought up, such as character development and the villain's motive being silly or not; had this been a much more serious and dark atmosphere, such as the ones found in other episodes, it should be weighted more heavily and taken more seriously.

 

What I've bolded are things I'm talking about; the rest of the points you've brought up are either completely reasonable opinions or agreeable, in my line of thought

True enough. Were I to analyse this relatively (compared to other funny episodes) and not comprehensively, it would still be much the same to me, however. In the past, even purely humour-centered episodes have had good plot and character development, or at least show some understanding of the characters. Castle Mane-ia for example, was a romp, just as this was supposed to be. But it still had continuity, and still showed a deep understanding of the characters. And the moral, while shoe-horned, was still unique to that episode. In this case the moral was a complete repeat, for the umpteenth time, that Spike has value to his friends.

 

Spike really needs something new to be added to his character, because the underappreciated Spike thing is just getting insanely old. Perhaps go a little deeper, and point out some deeper issue of self-worth, which is why this keeps cropping up. I took points off of development primarily because the focus character had no development which we haven't already seen on multiple occasions. The focus should always get some development.

 

Regarding the villain- honestly? Her motive was to give everypony a bad hair day? I get the idea about a silly villain trying to get laughs by being so over-the-top, but the Mane-iac overshot silly humour and went into the territory of sheer absurdity.

 

And as I mentioned before, aside from Flutterhulk and Pinkie's antics, very few laughs were extracted from me, meaning it failed to entertain even in its own category as a humour episode. So, even completely forgetting the points I made above, it would still be in between "blegh" and "meh." It might end up getting an upgrade to 5 or 6 out of 10 if I could forget all of my other points, and just look at the humour. Probably 5. But since I can't forget my other points, I have no idea what I would objectively rate this episode from purely the stance of humour. My rating also stands because the show is meant to entertain, rather than just make you laugh, and entertainment is comprehensive- the overall enjoyment I derive from the episode.

Edited December 21, 2013 by BalanceBrony

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

Hey! Can someone link me a high quality youtube stream? I really wanna watch this, it looks like it will be great.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

 

 

Fillysecond, easily. Did you forget that Spongebob was completely incompetent with his powers?

Wasn't it because he got some magma on his head from Squidward and it caused him to run until he turned into ash? lol

[Misterian 118]

As much as I like this episode, I have one question I think should be addressed;

 

What was up with the comic book disappearing at the end?

[~/XC- BRONY\~ 310]

Good episode, but my overall opinion was: Meh

 

Wasn't my favorite episode, but it wasn't my least favorite. It was really cool to get out of the world and have a fun episode like this.

[SomariFeyWright 776]

 

 

Wasn't it because he got some magma on his head from Squidward and it caused him to run until he turned into ash? lol

When you run so fast that you disintegrate, you clearly aren't being all that smart.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I swear to Celestia's mane, that was one of the most awesome episodes ever

 

Did anyone catch the Wilhelm scream?

 

Oh and one more thing...

 

Flutterage...at it's finest. 

[Amethyst42 6]

I'm squinting my eyes to type this so I don't accidentally see spoilers. I'm in Canada and can't see/buy the show when it first comes out. Does anyone have a link for me to the show yet? I scanned the last two pages and haven't seen anything.

[Starlight Lunamoon 109]

Andrea Libman tweeted earlier that when she did the voice for Flutterhulk, she lost her voice...