Have you marsupials ever wandered what got this lemur interested in this crazy fandom to begin with? I'll show you. It's this video right here:
Yup. If it weren't for a stupid mash-up of Moonbase Alpha and My Little Pony, I never would have gotten intrigued. I never would have gotten off my lazy butt. I never would have given up stupid things. I never would have started glancing at episodes. I never would have fallen in love with pastel colored horses. I never would have started writing again. I never would have been righteously burned by Vimbert. I never would have helped organize SATGF. I never would have met thousands of marsupials. I never would have made friends with Ponky. And I never would have made this stupidly long blog that you are about to not read.
There are times when I forget what this show really means to me. There are times when I forget what the experience felt like ages ago, before the fandom's unnecessary drama, before the proliferation of clop, before the documentaries and cons, before the epic fanfics and fanarts--when all I had was a lonely existence meandering about the seedier corners of the Internet, pretending to be spending my time on satisfying stuff. For years, I sought some sort of medium that would inspire me to write, and yet I found none.
Then ponies happened. Now, I'm not pretending to claim that MLP somehow changed my life or made me into a better person, but it was one of several contributing factors to what I consider to be a happier, more fulfilling, and more creatively engaging existence today. But it's so easy to get wrapped up in the politics of the fandom, the rat race towards the feature box, the manipulation of characters in fanfic after fanfic, that I often forget the simple of joy of... y'know... watching ponies and f*cking enjoying it... enjoying the liberation, the irony, the innocence, and the simplicity of it all.
Two weeks ago or so, I decided that I wanted to re-experience it all again. So, I went on a huge fast where I limited my input of anything non-poni, restricting my access to Youtube and other forms of multimedia, unles it was somehow related to the antics of the Mane 6. What I experienced was a huge wave of nostalgia. Did it improve my spirit? Well, it didn't magically transform me into a less moody person overnight, but I did notice some effects.
This really, truly is a fun show. It makes me legitimately cheerful to view it and re-view it. Making it my sole intake for a while was a unique thing, and I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime. I suggest y'all try it too. If you haven't marathonned poni in a while, give it a shot. You may find yourself clearing the tubes of your brain (in a good way).
Though I only made it through S1 so far, I decided to write commentary along the way. Thus, we have a bunch of TL;DR to follow, unless of course you'd like to make the trip along with me. It's not exactly my best typewritten stuff, but it's from the heart... as black and soulless as that heart may be.
So sit back, relax, and prepare to remember some poni poni poni with me, starting with:
“Friendship is Magic parts 1 and 2”
Remember when this show was innocent? Well, that's the funny part. You see, it's always been innocent. So, perhaps, the better question is: Remember when the fandom was innocent? The fantastic thing about MLP is how it suddenly—without much provocation—became the source of so much adult fascination. Not just any normal adults, mind you, but those with their nihilistic hearts soaked in the pungent puddles of 4chan, somethingawful, ogrish, etc. It's interesting to see how so many different yet like-minded marsupials reacted to the same childish stimuli. Some wanted to relive it, hence how we got stuff like Past Sins and My Little Dashie. Others had what I suppose could be called the knee-jerk testosteronical reaction, hence the birth of Cupcakes and Rainbow Factory.
In the beginning, everything was so pure, a pastel-colored clean slate. It was a marvelous work of art painted across a soft canvas, and yet it was so simple. So goddam simple. Six ponies—six personalities—six unique motivations—one vessel: friendship. It appealed to the young, the old, the animal, the vegetable, the menstrual—er... ahem.
Show pilots are wyrd things. A lot of them are really sucky when you look back at them. Take Star Trek: The Next Generation, for example. Brrrrrr. It's funny in hindsight, but that shiet is just too dayum cheesy to handle most of the time. M*A*S*H? Very awkward, but also very daring. Teen Titans? The pacing is completely off, and it took a while for the show to find its proper dance choreography, as is normal for most programs, I suspect.
The pilot to MLP: FIM is noticeably different from the rest of the show, but the wonderful thing is that it doesn't age too badly. All things considered, its slow pace and simple narrative fits in wonderfully with season one as a whole. And as awesomely kaizo as Season 2 was and noticeably deep Season 3, we really can't harsh Season 1 for the way it did things. Cuz, sh00r it was slow, sh00r the plots were extremely predictable in many circ*mstances, but it obviously worked. Cuz it's what ensnared us and didn't let go to this day. Perhaps Faust is to thank. Perhaps it was the writers at the time. But you didn't need a show that was off the wall or attention-grabbing. You just had a bunch of colorful talking ponies who knew their places and could fill them prettily.
And it's not to say that the art wasn't fantastic. There's something that has always been mesmerizing about the minimalistic style. While I wow over the zany Tex Avery bits of Season 2 or the trippy sequences of Season 3, I could spend an entire episode of Season One just staring at how the ponies' manes flounce. Seriously, though, dat mane flounce. So dayum intoxicating. Perhaps that has always been the show's secret.
As much as I seem to be mindlessly praising the first two bits of MLP: FIM, in all honesty, it didn't ensnare me when I first saw it. The first episode of the show I ever saw—completely experimental—was Sonic Rainboom (cuz I wanted to know more about that lesbian pony with the skittles hair, I mean, come on), and it didn't wow me much at all. Then, for some reason, I decided to throttle my way through all of the episodes in order, and... well... what exactly happened?
It's been said that FiM started out with Slice of Life as the predominant style of story telling. That's pretty darn true. You're not watching a saturday morning cartoon with magical horses—you're getting invited into the same room with them as they talk about sleepovers, sonic rainbooms, golden tickets, apple harvesting, fashion, and parties. It's a slow process of induction, but it's like the viewer becomes a member of the cast—a Mane Seventh, as t'were. I actually found myself feeling all “meh” and disgruntled when I realized “Oh, this is an adventure episode. Guhhhh—enough with the dragons and the diamond dogs; just let the dayum ponies talk to each other and nomg MANE FLOUNCE.”
Perhaps that's the secret formula, the ebil lasso that ties our tentacles together and forces us to sit on our butts, staring at something on the Internet that doesn't involve the premature squirting of mucus across a bony estrogeniconette's ample milk-makers for a change. After all, if we're not on the Internet to get our rocks off, it's to set our minds off—as in to find escape, to jump into an alternate world where anything and everything can be discussed, imagined, and vicariously enjoyed. How refreshing to have it be something innocent and wholesome for a change... at least at first.
That's the promise that I think the show gave a lot of us at the start, and it does so with a great deal of grace. As I re-watched Part 2, I was thinking how akin to the JJ Abrams Star Trek it was. When I say that, I mean to imply that no single second of the episode is wasted. Every moment, every bit of dialogue, every situation is meant to explain a character, the character's motivation, and the character's contribution to Twilight's adventure/growth. Yes, the “trials” were pretty dayum predictable, but let us not forget the intended demographic at hoof here. That aside, there's a great deal of leisure to be taken in stuff that is predictably methodical. Take the comedy of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy for example. We know the f*ck-up is coming as soon as Stanley picks up some prop or another. The hilarity ensues when Ollie shares our pain, gives us a glance from beyond the fourth wall, and suffers the slings and arrows of Stanley's chaotic incompetence. Cartoon shows carry on the tradition of making trainwrecks delicious from the get-go, even if we can see the pieces of the locomotive flying apart from miles away.
There's a lot of nostalgia to be had in the first two episodes. The biggest piece is probably Twilight's character and the state of her development. Does any marsupial remember how much of an antisocial douchebag she is? Like, really? I mean, it's an obvious extreme: she wants nothing to do with friendship, and ironically she falls for the social trap that is delightfully sprung upon her. In a way, I almost wish there was a method of story-telling that focused on her in this primordial state (and from what I've seen, there's indeed a fanfic or two that has embraced the idea of perpetual!Bitch!Twilight).
I used to be a major fan of X-Men Evolution. I even wrote a few fanfics about it back in 2002 (mostly just one big Gary Stu fic called “Between the Walls,” starring everyone's favorite metrosexual asian, Shion Komine). I remember how excited I was about the first two or three episodes of the show. The program's concept just had so much potential, that I still get chills when I watch it. Too bad the rest of the show had to happen.
But MLP is different, and in a good way. The spirit of the first episode persisted throughout the rest of the season. The pilot was all about Twilight coming to terms with gaining friends, and the rest of the show was about her learning all sorts of lessons now that she had such close contacts. Every single episode was pivotal in showing the morals learned by everyone's favorite lavender unicorn. So, when I hop into the pilot, it's only natural that the rest of the season assault my eybells once again, cuz they flow so naturally into one another.
Yes, when Season 2 came, things changed dramatically, even unexpectedly to me at the time. But I wholly embraced it. The show really couldn't afford to do things the way Season 1 did anymore. It was obvious that they had to learn a few new tricks, and boy did we have a buttload of characters to do that with.
I know some shows tend to go downhill at some point, with some season feeling like a death knell of sorts. Bronies are gonna brony, and drama makes snarks out of the best of us. Regardless of what the multitude of melodramatic masses think, I'm convinced that no such “horribad season” has happened yet in MLP. I find each season to be different—and differently enjoyable. That is to say, though Season 2 is technically my favorite, I still get a completely different vibe and an altogether unique endorphin rush whenever I delve into Season 1. And I cherish the depth of character and contextual development to the poni poni poni of Season 3. I suspect when Season 4 comes about, it will have a flavor all on its own, and I'll enjoy looking back at it all—along with the first three that I am re-watching now—and see how the new family member fits into the fold.
For the longest time, when I'd go back to watch random episodes of MLP Season 1, this would be the episode I would inevitably skip. I found it boring, uber generic, unimaginative, predictable, and... did I mention boring? I know I said before that I wasn't a fan of the “adventure” titles, but at least give me something colorful, exciting, and adorkable. I wouldn't really get that until Applebuck Season. Nomg, sleepyjack is the bestjack.
Ahem. But just now, I've come to realize that The Ticket Master is an episode that HAD to be done. I mean... there was absolutely no way it COULDN'T have been shown exactly when it was, how it was, and with the sort of meticulous drive that embodied it. Why? It's not just a slice-of-life episode that got us reacquainted with the central setting of the show. More importantly, it showed us the characters. I mean, it showed us the mane cast goddam inside and f*cking out.
And it's kind of a dangerous episode. I mean, look at it. The story introduces the plot device of the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala. Why? Just to set up a bunch of “fantasy dream sequences” where the Mane 5 flesh out what they most want to do at the event, which is identical to what they are most motivated to pursue in life.
Why is it dangerous? Let's take a look at Star Trek the Next Generation (no joke, my mental bible is to compare any and all storytelling to TNG / I even use it in writing). The second episode.. THE SECOND f*ckING EPISODE of TNG is an abomination called the “Naked Now.” It's an episode where the cast acts grossly out of character. It has to do with some bullsh*t attempt at a crossover with an old TOS (The Original Series) episode. Basically, the crew of the Starship Enterprise stumbles upon some virus or something that removes their superego and forces them to act purely on impulse, id, and unmitigated desire (how this works on an android is beyond my knowledge, unless Data's actions were a result of being banged by Natasha Yar, and... uhm... euuuuuyyyyyughhh). The whole point, I guess, is to show who and what each of these characters are when they are stripped of their superficial masks. Thus, we see Wesley wanting to be a scientist, Geordi wanting to have natural sight, Tasha wanting... to be a slu*t? I dunno. Anyways...
It's a bold thing to have one of the very first episodes be an installment where we see the motivations and desires of the characters so grossly displayed. Star Trek TNG, however, f*cked this up big time, because we had barely been introduced to the characters when they started acting like total f*cking tools at Spring Break.
With MLP's Ticket Master, this is different, because the dream sequences of the characters ARE a PART of their INTRODUCTION. The two-part pilot was so adventure-heavy and plot-centric that it could only give us glimpses of RD's aspirations to join the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy's fondness for animals, Applejack's agricultural spirit, Rarity's fashion fetish, and Pinkie Pie's... goddam annoyance. Here, though, in Ticket Master, we get a chance to see the characters in their natural habitat, and there's nothing holding back the proverbial fountain of exposition.
Is it boring? Well, to some, like me at the time, sh00r. But what carries the message so swiftly is the power of its delivery. And that delivery is embolstered by wonderful voice-acting and passion in each of the characters' presentation. I still giggle—shamelessly—everytime Rarity shouts “YES!!!” to the princely stallion who's proposing to her. While Pinkie Pie makes me want to take a cheese grater to my scrotum at times, I must admit that her entire “Grand Galloping Gala Party” sequence was wonderfully animated, and did an apt job of representing her enthusiasm and bounciness.
What's more, the transition from one pony to another was very smoothe and digestible. This was an episode that had to be done in order to get us to know the characters, and it did so without grating on our nerves any. So many shows just shove characters down our throats. This had the wonderful failsafe of having Twilight—still in quasi-antisocial-bitch-mode—acting as a funnel for the audience's inner voice. No matter what, she would always be ten times more pissed and frustrated at her new friends' antics than we would be, and we got to sympathize with her.
Perhaps it's appropriate that, aside from the two-part pilot, this is the only episode... the ONLY one that gets a writing credit from Lauren Faust herself. It seems like quite the apt bearing of the torch, as if she's handing these characters to us, these “four legged friends” of hers that she would someday miss. It's a noble bit of sacrifice, if you think about it, but I do believe we're all better marsupials for it. F'naaa.
If Applejack didn't have hooves, she'd be my waifu. There. I said it. It's out in the open. Now let's move on.
This is yet another methodical installment of the early-show poni poni poni exploration that's so indicative of season 1. Just like Ticket Master, not a whole lot of shiet happens. Exactly how do you add spice to an episode synopsis that amounts to “Twilight Sparkle tries to talk some sense into a stubborn pony for 22 minutes?”
However, what makes Applebuck Season worth watching is the adoracute factor, and let all detractors be damned. From Applejack snoring “neigh” to the way she screams “celery,” this episode won me over, and it seems to get better with time.
As the show takes off, it's only natural that the writers start shining the spotlight on various members of the Mane 6. But, even this early, the focus was not exclusively on one pony and one pony alone. Just like Twilight's issue with the two golden tickets in the previous episode, Applejack's situation is merely a vessel through which we are once again exposed to the other main characters and their unique traits/aspirations. For kids, I suspect this reinforcement is uber important. For hairy basem*nt children, the repetitive structure likewise endears us more to the cast. Once again, Rainbow Dash is the stunt mare, Fluttershy is the animal pony, Pinkie Pie is the equine spreading pestilence and misery. We see more of the ponies doing what they're best at, only we witness how they react when things go south. Thre's really nothing wrong with rinsing and repeating, so long as you change the scent of the hair conditioner... er... or something. Nmiaow.
As for an Applejack episode, I've always felt that this installment cut both ways. We got to see the stupidly cute side of sleepy!drunk!Applejack, which is always a plus. But this portrayal of her also cemented the stigma that she's really f*cking stubborn. Add that to her feuding with Rarity in “Look Before You Sleep” and her rampant xenophobia in “Bridle Gossip,” and you've got the making of a character who's more female dog than female horse. Which is a shame, because I've always considered Applejack to be the obligatory Commander Riker of MLP: FiM—in that she's in just about every dayum episode, even if she isn't gobbling up the spotlight. And in all of those circ*mstances where she's assisting the other characters, she is the utter definition of supportive, dependable, honest, sympathetic, and amiable. I've long believed that Faust and Co. designed her to be a “perfect friend,” or at least the next closest thing, which explains why she's the first pony whom Twilight meets in Episode One and why she's almost always acting as the leader of the bunch whenever Twilight's not around to squawk orders in her Mary Sue voice. So, when it comes time to give her character depth, the flaws are a bit.. reaching, to say the least. But then again, perhaps that's just me.
I guess I'm biased. There's a lot about Applejack that I find admirable, endearing, and even attractive (see above). I like that she's strong, sincere, independent, and family-oriented. It seems that in every circle of friends, there's always that one individual whom you know you can depend on in whatever circ*mstance. Sometimes, said persons are selfless to a fault, and that's an interesting character trait in and of itself.
My co-worker in real life (who goes by “Mir” on this site) took an instant like to Applejack, and it was predominantly because of this episode. The reason can probably be attested to the fact that he too is a hard-worker who happens to deal with chronic insomnia. So you can imagine how an episode like this would have been up his alley.
I, for one, absolutely lurve comedy plots that involve people dealing with indefinable levels of sleepiness. There was a marvelous episode of M*A*S*H that dealt with Hawkeye going on days without sleep and having truer, repressed emotions showing through the cracks of his otherwise snarky persona. I thought it was both hilarious and touching at the same time. Back in the day, I wrote a chapter of my stupidly long Teen Titans fanfic in which the narrating protagonist suffered a similar about of sleep-deprivation, and I had tons of fun fiddling with streams of consciousness and unreliable narrator. Legit insomnia is nothing to laugh over, but I'm instantly attracted to the subject matter as a device in fanfiction. Sleepy ponies are 300% more adorable than regular ponies. Can anyone disagree? I especially love a fictional scenario where a character is put into a situation where something that is richly deserved—be it sleep, food, a refreshing shower, a bottle of Dr. Pepper, or a comfortable couch—is dangled constantly before the protagonist before ultimately being given to them in the end. It's a great way to tug on the heartstrings. As a matter of fact, any story that involves a character arriving at a comfort zone while completely deserving it is an instant-win in my book. I ilke to imagine the readers being allowed to celebrate with the parties involved. In the case of “Applebuck Season,” I'd say Applejack completely deserved both the pony-award-trophy AND a good night's sleep, and I like to think that she received both of them... as well as a lesson on equine friendship to boot.
Happy times.
When I first got into MLP: FiM, I could see the obvious pattern that was showing up. You'd have a story with colorful equines getting into trouble / the power of friendship saves them / in the end they learn a proper moral that improves their lives.
This is probably the first episode where I felt that the delivery of the moral was off. Why? MLP falls into a trope—not too terribly, but they still do—where a lesson is learned at the behest of some two dimensional character who is essentially a bag of dicks. Take, for example, Gilda. It's not just that she clashes with poni poni poni etiquette; she seems to have no moral center whatsoever. She runs on bitch blood. She probably wakes up and devours the spinal cords of infants for breakfast. The only room for bringing salvation to her character is through fanfics. The same goes for other female doggish characters such as Diamond Tiara and Lightning Dust. While there's hope for the regular cast, there's really no hope for these poor schmucks.
What, were they born this way? I think this episode would have done a lot better if Gilda wasn't a griffon. I find the fact that she's a completely different species to be a bit of a distraction. This is probably because I'm an adult and I'm reading too much into it, but I feel as though Gilda—as the first sentient non-pony creature to have a thoroughly explored role—just screams “racial differences.” Here we have a program that's trying to teach stuff to young kids. Are they gonna equate all of Gilda's glaringly negative qualities to the fact that she's not a pony? I very much doubt that there were any sort of xenophobic motives behind the writers' choice to make her another kind of creature; perhaps they wanted to excuse her two-dimensional nature on the fact that she was from another culture entirely where her sort of actions would have been supported and embraced, but none of that is touched upon because she's not developed beyond the artifice of a foil to all that Pinkie and Twilight and Rainbow are trying to learn. Long story short, if Gilda was just another pegasus that Rainbow happened to have made friends with at Junior Speedsters' camp, then that would have been just fine, in my opinion.
Also, it really feels like there's too much shiet happening to Gilda at the end. I mean, she gets owned by a sh*tton of circ*mstances and she gets owned hard. It's almost cruel in a way. Yes, they established that she was something of an irredeemable jerk early on, but I'm too busy wanting to like the Mane 6 to wish to dislike this cameo character. All of the stuff happening to her misfortune is kind of distracting me from the enjoyment of the situational comedy. And then they “surprise us” by saying that Pinkie Pie wasn't the one responsible for all of the pranks (instead it was Rainbow Dash), so none of this was some sort of act of revenge. But didn't it have the same cathartic effect as if Pinkie Pie did pull all the pranks on Gilda as some act of petty hatred? Karma can't be allied to just ponies alone, show.
As you can probably tell, I'm not the biggest fan of this episode, and I tend to skip it a lot. Maybe there's a lot of Fluttershy inside of me; I really don't like conflict and I find the last act of this episode to be stupidly uncomfortable. Plus, it's a Pinkie Pie episode—but that's not really a bad thing. What I mean to say is, it doesn't feel to me like a Pinkie Pie episode. There are tons of other ponies involved—especially Rainbow Dash—so it's not exclusively just her. What's more, this was the first episode that showed that it was “okay” to be annoyed by Pinkie Pie. Hell, Twilight would rather read her book than get an earful of her. Rainbow Dash spends a few comical minutes simply trying to avoid her (in a wonderful nod to classic cartoon gags). I find that I actually appreciate Pinkie Pie moments when she's getting on other characters' nerves. Take for instances S2's “A Friend In Deed.” I absolutely love that episode—if not for the song, than simply for the fact that it shows Pinkie Pie trying to overcome her biggest obstacle: herself. Now that's a pretty awesome premise.
This is also a nice episode for showing that Twilight Sparkle—the resident Mary Sue of the show—is anything but perfect. She's an introverted unicorn who's trying to understand the nature of friendship. In her desire to help out Pinkie, she makes a mistake. She boldly claims that Pinkie Pie is the one with the attitude and not Gilda. What's great about this is that—at that point in the episode—there's a lot of merit to Twilight's assertion. And yet she's still wrong. And when she finds out how wrong she is, she apologizes, and she learns something about herself, even though the entire episode was spent analyzing another pony and a situation that hardly involved Twilight at all. THAT is when you know the formula for season one was working. And working fantastically.
Last but not least, I gotta say how much I lurve the transition between the last two commercial breaks, where Pinkie Pie is grinning evilly—then gives a ridiculously innocent smile after the fade-in. I mean, what cartoons do that?! What cartoon has ever done that?! Makes me snicker every time...
This has always been one of my favorite episodes, though it's hard to thoroughly explain why. Early-early in the fandom, I was easily swayed by fanon explanations for shiet. That said, I couldn't help but notice the tons of Twixie shipping fanart out there. What's more, I fell for it, which is rather pathetic, but that's to be expected. Back when I wrote Teen Titans fanfiction, I utterly ABHORRED the notion of Beast Boy / Raven shipping, because there was absolutely no legitimate basis for it in the canon material whatsoever. Stuff like BB/Rae, Twilight/Trixie, and Rainbow Dash/Applejack is the same sort of stuff that comes from that wyrd psyche of Internetgoers that lurve Snape/Harry, Zelda/Ganondorf, or Cloud/Sephiroth to death. You know the deal: two characters act as total opposites, even to the extent of hating each other, so it goes without saying that they are a perfect!romantic!match made in Hyrule—er... heaven.
But I was a different fanboy when I embraced MLP, for I had already learned to embrace shamelessness. F'naaa.
Really, if you're gonna spend a good chunk of your internet time obsessing over pastel colored horses, then how much more extreme is it to adore the notion of them nuzzling endearingly in public? This fandom has seen and done some wyrd shiet, and I find myself getting red in the face whenever I find myself having to explain even the slimmest iota of stuff to those outside the obsession (aka SANE PEOPLE). There's really no simple way to say explain—much less excuse how simply watching and re-watching “Boast Busters” makes me giggle inside at the idea of adoracute Trixie goodness.
But let's try to look at the episode objectively. Besides, it's not like I ship Twilight and Trixie much anyways. They're too busy treading for water in the tidal waves of emotions billowing outward from Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's sacred, enchanted, truer than true lurve.
This is really the first episode that breaks the mold of the previous few installments, I think. The addition of Trixie, Snips, and Snails really expanded the framework of the show. No longer was it exclusively about Twilight and her brand new friends. Even in the Gilda episode, everything was anchored to Pinkie Pie. But this time we get scenes that transpire away from the central cast. Also, there are characters who don't get any representation at all (Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie is a no show; I'm guessing Andrea Libman was busy fighting zombies that day). It's almost like a preview for S2 in a nutshell, which is ironic, seeing that Trixie would turn out to be a reoccuring character.
I think what's so charming about this episode is just how dayum cute it is. Here we have an extremely outlandish antagonist. She flaunts her stuff, taunts Twilight, and physically manipulates/abuses Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. And yet, she really can't be taken too seriously. Aside from being a common charlatan, she embraces her superficiality. The first moment Trixie speaks in the third person (third pony?), it's obvious that she isn't exactly right in the head. It's like she's so two dimension that even she sees both sides of herself. Can Gilda claim that?
What we get is a villain who deserve a good cuddle and a ruffling of the mane rather than a baseball bat across the muzzle. I think this proved that the show could get stupidly cute and still make it pass. That's charming, in a way. After all, it's fun to post vectors of Trixie on message boards or to send pics of her to co-workers, chortling at the notion that our greatest enemies in life could be so self-defeating and easy to show off.
As for character development, this was obviously a very important episode for Twilight. I like to think the writers knew that she was bound to be a Mary Sue, and this was their attempt to compensate for it. Regardless of how powerful Twilight has gotten, the show went to extreme lengths to highlight the humility she took to get there. With the reality of karma and wutnot, the situation may not exactly be realistic or digestible, but it's certainly inspiring.
Also, props to the show for giving us fodder to expand lore with, wut with colts and magic use and giant celestial glow bears and the like.
It's just a shame that Trixie was dealt a bad card at the end. Much like with Gilda in “Grifon the Brush-off,” it felt like Trixie was punished a little too extraordinarily. We've all discussed it before: she gets her traveling wagon crushed to splinters while her two young accomplishes win mustaches? I mean, wtf. An entire legion of Trixie-sympathizers was born in the blink of an eye. I'm not quite sure if this is what the writers intended, but it worked for better as well as for worse, and the fact that the sequel in S3 is one of the best things ever made is truly a bonus.
I remember when I first started watching MLP, I was rather turned-off by “adventure episodes.” I always felt that the Elements of Harmony plot of the pilot was sort of tacked-on in order to give weight to the characters and setting of the story. Then, when we'd have stuff like this, where the Mane 6 get together in order to defeat some antagonistic force like a sleeping dragon, it felt kind of forced, as if the writers were obligated to break the slice-of-life mold in order to maintain some sort of continuous story thread.
But, in hindsight, it's hard not to lurve this episode. We've had several episodes to solidify the characters and what motivates them, so it's nice to have them all together again for some joint venture. And, all things considered, this is really the first time we've had an episode where the entire group is working towards a common goal, at least since the pilot. The “Ticket Master” was really just a Twilight Sparkle episode, if you think about it.
There's a lot about this episode that's fun. It's an adventure, but nothing is too dark or heavy-handed. The central conflict here is Fluttershy's struggle with herself, not so much the dragon that needs to be coaxed to leave Equestria. And for a character like Fluttershy, this was a greaty way to have an introductory focus-episode.
Although, I wish I could say that I embrace all Fluttershy episodes with absolute enthusiasm. When it comes to the mane 6, the one character whose episodes are consistently “good,” in my opinion, is Rarity. With Fluttershy, it's a real dayum challenge to make things enthralling. It's because she's such a passive character. She fits better in the background, or else acting as a foil to other, more active characters. Not that there's anything wrong with one of the main characters being pensive and borderline cowardly, but the essential problem is that having any dynamic change with the character ultimately defeats the character. If Fluttershy completely conquers her reluctant spirit, than she is no longer the same pony, and there's nothing more indicative of saturday morning cartoons than static typecasting.
Long story short, do we want a Fluttershy who surpasses all personal adversity? Nietzsche knows the show has tried to do that with pretty much every dayum episode. And yet, no matter how assertive she proves herself to be at the end of each installment, I can't help but feel as though she ultimately reverts back to her shy, fearful self. Think about it—would the Fluttershy who talked down a mother f*cking dragon to save her friends be the same pony who couldn't buy her way to preparing a simple salad in “Putting Your Hoof Down?” Something doesn't quite sit well with me when it comes to characters who go through the same experience over and over again and learns a lesson—only they don't learn that lesson, because it's as if things are unwritten about them by the next installment. But... y'know... this is coming from the blatant hypocrite who wrote the repetitive trainwreck that is “Background Pony.” F'naaaa...
I think the best Fluttershy episode—in regards to growing her character—is easily “Hurricane Fluttershy.” Yes, she flounders about in that episode, but at least it shows that she's not only gone through some growth, but she's trying to improve herself, and many of the trials she goes through in the episode is by her choice alone. She chooses to join Rainbow Dash's team. She chooses to exercise and improve her flight speed. What's nifty about it all is that she forces herself to lend a hoof to the pegasus weather fliers, not because somepony told her she had to. She's convinced that she has what it takes to make a difference, and she must overcome her doubt in order to cross the final thresshold. I found the climax of that episode much easier to find pride in her than when she confesses to Celestia about Philomena in “Bird in the Hoof” or tries to lock herself up in the cottage at the end of “Putting Your Hoof Down.”
As for this episode in general, it's uber fun, and it only gets funner with each viewing. It shows each of the ponies in their most natural character, and... hell... there are a lot of nice Rainbow Dash bits. Is it just me, or is she always in the center whenever there's a poni group hug? I dunno. Watch this episode again. It'll make you smile, or at least perform an anti-frown.
Kind of like “Griffon the Brush-Off,” this is an episode I neglected to re-watch for a long time. Then, at some point, I found myself stumbling upon it more often than naught, almost without meaning to. I think I blame synchtube's “filly” channel (o lawd, does any marsupial remember THAT place?).
Anyways, I can see why this isn't exactly the most exciting episode. It slices the Mane 6 cast in half. It almost entirely takes place inside a single location. And the most exciting thing is that a tree falls inside... a tree.
But, as you can predict, I've come to appreciate it more in hindsight. I swear, MLP is like hashish, or some ghetto drug that takes a long time to grab your brain by the hook and get you addicted. You can't convert someone to bronyism instantly. It needs time to take root and sprout.
This is one such example of that. I never exactly hated this episode when I first saw it; I was just disappointed by how tiny the scope of it was. Watching it on future occasions, and both knowing and accepting that what you see is what you get, then it becomes a delightfully relaxing episode to watch. I can appreciate how brave the writers were to have the majority of a kid's cartoon episode happen inside one building. And, seriously, who doesn't love a good, silly sleepover story? I know that the Fimfic feature bar practically gobbles that shiet up. It's almost as if the MLP crew gave us a fanfic before basem*nt children were writing fanfictions about the show.
And how about that Rarijack, huh? I mean, I brake for Appledash, and I occasionally squee at Twixie. But shipping Applejack/Rarity? Fitting that, for the most part, all of that craziness would stem from an episode where the characters involve absolutely loathe each other's ovaries, but that's Internet fan logic for you.
This episode's kind of like a tour de force of voice acting: Tara Strong, Ashleigh Belle, and Tabitha St Germain give us their best here, and all of it is delicious. The whole dayum episode really is an example of talking ponies syndrome, and they did a remarkable job with what was given them. On one hand, it's fantastic to see Applejack and Rarity acting at their most emotive extreme (seriously, how many dayum vectors and gifs did this episode alone give us?). On the other, this probably the most adorable dayum Twilight we have seen in any episode ever. Being that Rarity and Applejack are in the foreground of this story, it's nice that they didn't have Twilight just sitting around outside the spotlight, gathering dust. Her entire quest in this season is to learn more and more about friendship, and they use this episode to put her naivete through the ringer. It's done to the point of parody, and yet it gives us a charming unicorn who's believably inexperienced in the ways of socializing. That's something we can't rightfully get in season 2 or 3, which is what makes season 1 unique for re-watching, verdad?
What most people will agree about this episode is that it shows that the characters do not perfectly get along. As a matter of fact, it takes a great degree of effort and conflict before they can make amends. That's actually kind of realistic for a show attempting to teach lessons on friend-making. It practically makes the characters more respectable when we see them getting along easy-peasy in episodes to follow.
And, y'know, it's nice to have characters with that sort of foundation.
Hoooo boyo. This episode...
This is a super fun episode, through-in-through. It's also super awkward if you read too much into it. So, like, Ponyville has a token zebra, and naturally she speaks in rhyme and has inner furnishings of an African motif. Seems legit, right?
I like Zecora. I really do. I like that she's a serious-minded, plot-device-driven, solver of all problems. I think I read somewhere that Faust had intended for her to be a mentor-figure to Twilight Sparkle. So, when Zecora made more than one appearance in Season 2, long after Faust's departure, it put me in a super-good mood. It felt to me as if the writers and crew were still attempting to extend Faust's original vision. That's a nifty thing.
As for the episode, this was when things starting getting a great deal more kaizo than the previous installments. Sure, “Griffon the Brush Off” had its goofy moments. But this episode was when the writers seemed to wake up to the fact that they were doing a cartoon show and goddammit you need to have cartoony things happen. There's so much that's stupidly cute and silly from this (like, how in Nietzsche's name does Applejack's hat shrink in proportion to her? Are hats in Equestria organic things that are affected by poison joke?)
I remember my co-worker admitting that he watched this episode with his mother, and it had her in stitches. And, come to think of it, it's totally an okay episode to show to someone who's completely in the dark about MLP in general. I think that the moral is actually really well supported, especially since the pony who has to learn her lesson the hardest—Twilight—goes through a really remarkable position shift on the issue of prejudice. At first, she's completely logical and open-minded about the zebra, Zecora (lulz, I love how the ponies are all “A WHAT?!” when Twilight first cracks the “z” word). Then, she goes through a period of doubt and uncertainty, where she's persuaded by the paranoia of her friends that Zecora may in fact be up to nefarious shiet. You don't get that too much from cartoons. Usually, when a lesson is learned, there's only one angle, not two... or three? F'naaaa
My only regret—naturally—is that they needed to make Applejack look so jerkly in order to represent the prejudicial side of things. A souther-accented poni with blonde hair hatin' on a zebra? Yeah... Well, at least they used the excuse that she was concerned like f*ck for her little sister. But, dammit, Applejack is a good poni. A good poni. Pinkie Pie was a bitch in this episode, but who cares. Amirite?
Before I got into the fandom, I recall being exposed to screencaps and inside jokes and memes here and there. I swear, half of them must have come from this episode at the time. I'm beginning to think that this was the episode where the essence of the show started coloring outside the lines and becoming exploitable. Like, this was probably the point where people stopped being a poni-watching-audience and started becoming legit online bronies. Then, everything is just exponential increase... exponential increase to smex.
This episode just doesn't give a f*ck.
For real, is there really an episode in this? “Trust Pinkie Pie.” Some lesson. I'm thinking the writers got sick of writing after-school specials starring ponies and wanted to flex their cartoonish muscles for a change. Well, flex they did, to the point of kaizo hilarity.
What's best about this episode, I think, is the pacing. It starts out so calmly, with Fluttershy of all ponies gathering flowers—as stereotypical an activity that you can expect from a cartoon about talking girl horses. Everything proceeds relatively slice-of-lifey, but then starts accelerating into chaos and destruction and bedlam. Even the soundtrack goes more and more crazy as hundreds of parasprites fill the screen. What's nice is just how juxtaposed Twilight's dwindling sanity is with the increasingly outrageous circ*mstances taking place.
I think one reason why this episode is always so fun to watch and re-watch is that it doesn't really star any single pony. I used to think that it was a Fluttershy episode, but then the predominance of the rest of the Mane 6 erases all implications of that. Is it a Pinkie Pie episode? Yes, she is important, but she doesn't appear as often as the others. Certainly, then, it is a Twilight Sparkle episode, but yet we receive so much screentime from the other contenders.
No, through in through, this episode is about the Mane 6 as a whole. I find that those episodes in specific are the ones I really, really feel happy watching the most. An episode could be utterly sucky (“Spike At Your Service,” I'm looking at you) and still I would enjoy it simply for the fact that it features all of the best (and worst) ponies at one time. I'd like to think that such is the mark of a good cast having been established. Thank you Faust... or thermodynamics. Whatever.
When you think about it, this is a very good episode—if not the best—to show to those outside of the fandom in the event that you wanna get them interested. For one, it involves a common and easily digestible trope (see Star Trek's “Trouble With Tribbles”). For another, it doesn't make any pretentious attempt to shout “I AM A LITTLE GIRLS' CARTOON.” Finally, it's just really dayum hilarious. From all of the visual nonsense with the parasprites, to the multiple failed attempts to get rid of them, to Fluttershy's unwillingness to part with the creatures entirely, to that f*cking scene with f*cking Rarity on the f*cking stool as Pinkie Pie grabs the f*cking flute—it's all extremely priceless.
Now, contemplate this: Nightmare Moon cast the world in eternal night, but it was undone in a matter of hours. Discord made Ponyville the chaos capital of the world, but it was reversed by the Elements of Harmony. Chrysalis and Sombra attacked innocent kingdoms, but they were swiftly undone.
But the parasprites? They f*ck up Ponyville hard. Not a dragonequus, not a vengeful alicorn, not Sauron in the form of a robed stallion—parasprites. The entire dayum town is torn to bits.
Why don't we have more fanfics dedicated to the rebuilding of Ponyville after this mayhem? That could be an entire saga all on its own. Some marsupial, snap to it. F'naaaa.
Somehow I knew this episode was going to be legendary before I sat down to watch it. Somewhere in the brony circles, I caught wind of “that musical episode.” And this be it.
I guess it goes without saying that this episode is probably the hardest to go back and re-watch. It seems to get a polarizing reaction from fans. Either you lurve it to death, or it's the most annoying thing ever. Honestly, I kind of fall somewhere in the middle. Though the musical bit in the first act and the instrumental montage towards the end make the story a little bit threadbare, I find that the message is extremely positive, and the entire episode is very much uplifting. Still, whenever I think about this episode, I think about my co-worker (whom I inadvertently converted to bronyhood) and his reaction to it: “That episode took a lot of alcohol to get through. A lot of alcohol.”
What thrills me about this episode is the way Twilight is cast. She is adorable as f*ck. I think this episode, more than any other part of Season One, captures the spirit of Twilight Sparkle trying to blend in with the ponies of Ponyville. There's this whole “new kid in town” feel to it, almost like an early episode of Doug (whoah... I went there). The multiple failures that Twilight endures in order to prove she's worthy of assisting Winter-Wrap up doesn't affect me much, because I'm so enraptured by how genuinely enthusiastic she is to assist and acclimate to the local tradition. Also, Spike acts as a fantastic foil to her throughout the episode, and it's a sign of things to come in episodes like “Lesson Zero” and “Feeling Pinkie Keen.”
As for the music itself—I am honestly not a big fan. I do like the animation and... uh... “cinematic choreography” that's employed throughout the instrumental bits, but the song itself got stuck in my head... and not in a good way. I do enjoy the various remixes that have been made of it, and whoever does Rainbow Dash's singing voice deserves a metal.
I'm a bit surprised that MLP hasn't given us episodes like this more often. When someone says “My Little Pony” to another person, the shiet that goes on in “Winter Wrap Up” is probably what most individuals would envision. It's a bunch of ponies in a happy, carefree town getting funky with nature. There's almost a communal aspect to it. I almost wonder if Ponyville socializes all of its year-round city functions, using the same air of comraderie and cooperation that so flourished in this episode. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, I dunno.
Still, the ponies of season 1 are considerably less grumpy and competitive than the equines of season 2. I wonder why that is. Whatever the case, season 1's atmosphere screams “girl cartoon” way more than the following ensembles. At least that's how I see it.
Maybe I was high on Dr. Pepper when I watched this most recently, but this is a really, really good episode. I think when I first watched it, I was a bit wyrded out because the focus and plot of the episode was to far detached from the usual cast. Still, it wasn't that much of a loss. We got a lot of really good introductions to Apple Bloom prior to this episode, so it was only natural that they would choose Applejack's younger sister as the vessel through which to tell this tale. As the CMC formed afterwards, I was so influenced by this episode that I kept expecting Apple Bloom to be the leader/most important pony of the bunch. I still feel that way even to this day. I think Apple Bloom has a lot of qualities in common with Twilight, and I wouldn't be surprised if they gave her the central role of a future spinoff series.
This episode resonates on many-many levels, and a hell of a lot more so with the target demographic. I mean, the whole “cutie mark” metaphor would only have been more obvious if Apple Bloom had talked about looking forward to the day she woke up to blood in her saddle. Whatever the case, I'm sure we all can relate to wanting to reach a special milestone in order to prove ourselves to others. For a girly show about horses, it's rather remarkable that MLP: FiM hasn't focused more on the themes of “fitting in” and “dealing with peer pressure.” Then again, it appears as if the show is more concerned about broadcasting an idealistic friendship model rather than trying to illustrate negative social situations and how to deal with them.
When I first saw this episode, I had no clue that there were going to be more CMC adventures to come. Even still, it's pretty nifty to have a story where the character fights and struggles so hard for one specific goal, only for it never to be realized by the tale's end, and yet there is still a satisfying conclusion to the entire experience. Does Apple Bloom get her cutie mark? No. Instead, she runs into other ponies who are also waiting for the latest milestone in their development. This means that the adventure has barely begun; it has evolved into something that can be exercised with the trust and dependence of others. Ultimately, Apple Bloom has grown, transforming into a character who has learned to exercise her situation in the company of friends, rather than obsessing with the matter all on her lonesome. I find that truly satisfying, not to mention optimistic.
Also, I didn't realize it until just recently, but this episode just flies through the roof when it comes to animation. Seriously, compare “Winter-Wrap-Up” to “Call of the Cutie,” and it looks like they got three times the animation team to work on the latter. I don't know if I'm imagining this or if there truly was a legitimate shift, but everything about “Call of the Cutie” feels fluid and playful and dynamic on a whole new level. I suspect, for the most part, the latter half of Season One starts to blend into the luxurious art style of Season Two. In other words, the show—just like Apple Bloom—is starting to grow into something bigger, bouncier, and more fertile.
...Ew.
Live long and dash apples. The end.
No, but seriously, this episode is great. Cuz it's all about conflict. And conflict is juicy; so is Appledash.
As much as I love this episode, I've quite literally seen it a million times (jee, imagine why), so it's hard to speak fresh about it. Whenever I think about discussing it in depth, I think about some behind-the-scenes commentary I had read sometime/somewhere. Apparently, Faust was uber-concerned about how to pull this one off, because it casts two well-established characters at their worst. I mean, Hell. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are distrusting each other, insulting each other, laying traps for each other, laughing at Twilight's expense, calling Twilight an egghead. Sure, karma kicks them in the flank at the end, but there's still a heck of a lot of hijinks to go through before Princess Celestia and the writers strike the message's stake through our eyeballs.
Word has gone around that the original premise of this was gonna be something way, waaaaaaay different. We've all gossiped about it: a pony being raised to believe that she's a deer and Rainbow Dash and Applejack essentially taking opposite sides of a custody argument. Needless to say, it's rather obvious that things were toned down for a motherf*cking kid's show. If this was still the 90s, things would be hella different. But—shiet—how many marsupials reading this were even born before 1990 anyways? Fuuuu...
I love Applejack and Rainbow Dash to death. And I love that they are far from perfect. I love that Rainbow Dash is an asshole and Applejack is a hothead. I love that their competitive edges are so strong that they won't back down from each other. In other words, this is probably the best episode to have written about two tomboyish yet completely philosophically different characters. I mean, if they hadn't done something like this, we likely would have had several million fanfics written to fill the void, making all sorts of fanonical statements about “who could beat who at what” (btw, it's pure bullshiet that RD could possibly beat AJ at a hoof-wrestle... just sayin').
Sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones that make those involved look like complete douchebag idiots. Kudos to MLP: FiM for being true to life... with... erm... shippable horses.
I've stated before that I have a weak spot for Rarity episodes. This remains true. Rarity, much like Rainbow Dash, has a far more nebulous theme about her. She desires fame and recognition among all else, and she wishes to achieve this in a manner that is both respectable and graceful. This makes it both tantalizing and difficult to write about her achieving success. I think it's a great challenge, and most of the show's writers tackle it very well. Her episodes are a great deal more layered and complicated than the other stuff that the cartoon has to offer, and as you can well guess that makes it more interesting for someone such as myself.
I also appreciate Rarity for many of the same reasons I appreciate Rainbow Dash. Rarity is not a perfect character. She's got a lot of flaws, and most of them are equal to her positive qualities (I swear, her avarice is pretty much on par with her generosity). I think it's very interesting to have a character who wants to live the rich lifestyle and—yet—give lavishly to her friends at the same time. What's more, Rarity is an artist. Though, as a fanfic author, I can only pretend to relate to her, I still think I can understand her need to be recognized and to make an impact on other individuals. For her, image and presentation is important, because it's connected to the central tenets of her career as well as her character.
Thus, we have Suited for Success, where she decides to make dresses for all of her friends. While this may seem super generous, there's also a great deal of it that is extremely egotistical. The first few times I've watched this episode, I always saw Rarity as having innocently suffered from the rudeness of her friends. Upon a repeated viewing, I realize that she's partially to blame for the shiet that she goes through as well. Essentially, she commits the crime of presumption. She believes that her gift in the dress-making craft is so spectacular that it will instantly win the approval of her closest companions. When this backfires completely in her face, she finds herself unable to cope with it, for she made no room in her mind for having to backtrack through her craft. As a writer, I think there's a lot to glean off of here. Tons of times, I have written sh*t with the pure intention of casting gold. When an entire project falls apart, it can be utterly devastating, and it certainly cuts ones pride and hubris down a notch.
Still, for the most part, this is an episode that allows us to not only get into the mind of Rarity, but to see her in a mostly blameless light. If any of you ever feel like Rarity is an overbearing female dog that only deserves to be torched (Candle-stick head, I'm looking at you), then feel free to switch on this episode from time to time and watch as the entire universe gets behind Rarity and makes her look like the Virgin Mary by comparison to her self-centered friends.
I think the lesson of this episode is a lot more complicated than “BE GRATEFUL FOR SHIET, DAMMIT,” but rather it goes into the tenuous balance between that which is artistically beautiful and that which is personally sincere. Rarity suspended her confidence in her own abilities to make stuff of aesthetic quality because she was a great deal more concerned with making her friends happy. It's almost as if she was attempting to reason out a lesson on generosity for herself, and the only reason she ended up having a nervous breakdown was because she wasn't the only one having to larn a lesson. Just because you're doing something to make your friends happy doesn't necessarily mean that what you're doing is right. I think there's a lot that can be taken from that, even if it wasn't the superficial moral of this episode.
I also have to say that, through and through, “Art of the Dress” remains my favorite song of the MLP tenure. Sure, I lurve “Find a Pet” and “Smile Smile Smile,” but this one had wonderful lyrics and a great beat. I also love how there's a reprise in which the music is more frenetic and the dialogue is completely topsy-turvy. It's a wonderful, blatant metaphor for how Rarity's good intentions bred forth a sh*tton of exhausting labor. Sometimes, the simplest of things work, and the whole dayum musical number is just friggin' catchy.
Also, I think that the part where the ponies gather outside of Rarity's room, trying to coax her out, is one of the finest moments in the first season, if not the entire show. The dialogue, the chemistry, the jokes and gags; it was all spot on. And the reason for that is because we've already had 13 episodes to establish the characters. There was no longer any need for rendundant exposition or reinforcement. The characters said what they had to say when they had to say it. I still smile and snicker when I sit through that sequence.
So, yeah. Overall, this is still one of my favorite episodes ever. If it's not in the top five, it's easily in the top ten, and I can't imagine why others wouldn't enjoy it.
I can, however, understand why people wouldn't enjoy this episode. The odd thing is, though, is that I kind of like it.
Well, no. Not “kind of” like it, more like “really-really” like it. I'm a dumb person, and more often than not this means that I like dumb stuff... including dumb episodes with dumb horses having dumb fun. And that's a good way to describe this beautiful abomination: dumb fun.
I liked this episode when I saw it. And though I can see some of the faults now (okay, most of the faults), I still enjoy it. Mostly, I guess, it's for the animation and the overall goddam cuteness of it. Seriously, if you haven't in a while, go back through and watch this episode again. The animation is amazing. There are tons of cute and experimentally bizarre emotes. Even Pinkie, who I would normally rather see on the romantic end of a guillotine, has lots of d'awwwwful expressions to give. Plus, Applejack is thrown in for the f*ck of it. The hydra—though a bit derpy looking—has loads of creative little expressions among its four heads, and I really get a feel for the weight and the sluggishness of the thing.
Now, as for the story, it's taken me a while to understand why it pisses so many adult fans off. Though, in all honesty, I think it just comes down to a bunch of butthurt atheists. Hey, I'm atheist myself. But I also grew up in a religious environment, and I grew up possessing a religious mindset. So, when a tv show preaches to me to ditch empiricism for the sake of blind faith, I usually just disregard it as philosophy I've tried and rejected and focus on the stuff that's left to savor—like the dayum gorgeous animation.
But a lot of people probably got hung up on the show's blatant argument of faith vs facts. That is to say, there isn't really much of an argument, cuz the statement being made is completely f*cking one-sided. As soon as Pinkie Pie appeared in the episode, Twilight had no chance in Joan Rivers' vagin* of proving the legitimacy of her own perspective. The very fabric of the universe was completely against her from start to fnish. And you gotta admit, it's pretty hard to get anywhere in an argument when everything you bring to the table is completely demolished by Pinkie Pie's copious payload of fate-driven deus ex machinas... or whatever you'd like to call the random shiet that foiled Twilight's understanding at every turn. It beats me. I'm sure tvtropes has a basketful of terms for it, but I wouldn't know. I don't surf TVTropes that much. Mostly because I don't have the time. I'm a writer; I'm too busy making mistakes to bother with producing long-winded dissertations about other writers making mistakes.
While I have no legitimate faith in an afterlife, a God, or a princess harem in the sky (boy, wouldn't that rock), I do accept the fact that there are things in this existence of mine that I cannot explain. While that may sound like an agnostic standpoint, it is because of the fact that I choose to believe that there is nothing that I therefore consider myself a nihilist and an atheist. I think that a person who is truly religious must get to that point through a divine experience, where nothing can explain what has happened to him or her. This is not the case with me, and I somehow doubt it will ever be. I don't believe that I am making a standpoint based on pride, but rather on practicality. If I chose to be religious at this point in my life, it would inevitably be in order to satiate some sort of superficial need or emotion rather than attempting to find some legitimate meaning in the universe.
And yet, I don't feel so strongly about my “atheism” that I must take offense to media and literature's attempts to get preachy. Yes, I think I can understand the outrage when one watches an episode of MLP that is essentially teaching kids that “Hey, in the event that you're facing a terrible, life-threatening situation, do shiet that is random and dumb—like a leap of faith into a f*cking bog—and you'll come out okay! Cuz Pinkie Pie!” To be fair, the show could have addressed this issue without taking either side and it would have been far, far more convincing. But then it would have ceased being My Little Pony and instead turned into the f*cking movie Contact starring Jodie Foster (which I absolutely love, by the way, but you could probably tell by my stories).
Last but not least, I'll state what everyone else must obviously know. This was the point of no-return for the show. The animation, the inside jokes, the random hilarity, the mother-f*cking derp-eyed Derpy cameo: this is where the show took off as a phenomenon, recognizing the fandom in tiny, minute ways, and proceeding to get more and more kaizo in ways that would only take off once S2 rolled around. I only residually knew about Derpy and the amazing birth of such a bizarre, fanonically-influenced character. So, when I saw this episode waaaaaay late into the game, and I noticed the bit with Derpy and the falling objects, I only thought it was natural. I didn't realize that Derpy was something produced by accident, that she was never meant to be more than... whatever the f*ck the original animator her derped her thought she would be.
It's an interesting thing, because I watched all of Season 1 after it had ended, and my knowledge of the inner workings and sly jokes of the fandom were minimal. So, I took just about everything at face value. There was no deep context or innuendo to it all. That wouldn't happen until season 2, and as awesome as that experience was, it was forever different from the innocent romp that S1 provided me. Just figured I'd plug that in there. I'm sure others can relate in some fashion or another. Or not.
Go jump off a cliff.
This is the very first episode of My Little Pony that I ever saw.
...and it didn't bedazzle me one bit.
Which is rather sad, really. I've gone back to it several times, and I do enjoy it thoroughly. Rainbow Dash is best pony, after all, so it goes without saying that this episode is liken unto a bible in my head. I guess it's one of those episodes that you have to watch only one time, because once you know how it ends, it doesn't make second, third, or fiftieth run-throughs nearly as charming.
Everypony wins. It's basically that. Everypony wins. Rainbow Dash wins. Her friends win. Rarity doesn't get crushed to a pulp at sea level. Did I mention that Rainbow Dash wins?
It's a real feel-good story, but that's all it truly is. Not much is lost. Hell, Rarity was douchebaggy enough that you'd think her reputation would be ruined. But everypony seemed to forget all about her glory-hogging the spotlight immediately after the Best Young Fliers Competition was over... except for f*cking Scootaloo midway through Season 3. Yay, see-through time traveling chickens.
Still, a feel-good story has its purpose. And I think I've watched youtube clips of the end played out to Guile's theme music more than the actual episode itself. It's not that Rainbow simply beat the odds, she overcame her own doubts and anxiety and shiet. Which is ironic, because she's been the utter definition of confident and boastful throughout the whole dayum show. To have her suddenly turn into a fuss-bucket midway through her very own episode is not only awkward, it's brilliant.
I've heard it said time and time again: Rainbow Dash may very well be the best thought-out character in the show. She has very clearly defined hopes and dreams, but oftentimes she is finding herself having to put them aside in order to look out after her friends. From the very first two episodes, the nature of her loyalty versus her personal aspirations has been made abundantly clear, and yet she continues to be an impressive character.
So, next time you go to a Hot Topic, and you see half the f*cking store dedicated to merchandising Rainbow Dash, just tell yourself that she earned it, and then you can buy those hot pants without feeling bad.
I remember feeling as though Season One—especially towards the end—was predominantly focused on Fluttershy episodes. For real: there's a lot of Fluttershy stuff in the last few episodes here, and seeing as she was my least favorite for a while (until I wisened up), I was a bit less than enthused to see myself watching an episode that featured her and the annoying Huey, Dewey, and Louis fillies that the writers appeared to be forcing on us.
On watching through S1 again, I gotta admit that Fluttershy really isn't all that bad. I still maintain that she's very, very difficult to build an interesting narrative around, at least when she's in the spotlight. But her voice acting is so well done and the gags built around her so nuanced that it's hard to hate her.
The CMC, on the other hand, is another story. I actually forgot that “Stare Master” took place before “Show Stoppers,” so, in hindsight, it feels kind of wyrd having this be the second appearance of all three fillies since Call of the Cutie. I like to think that this is the closest to a “Sweetie Belle” episode while “Show Stoppers” features a lot more Scootaloo. So, it feels as though they're trying to get us to be more and more familiar with the young characters.
That didn't make me like them, though. More than in any other episode, I feel this undying need to smack the shiet out of these three. I mean, fuuuuu, kudos to the show for representing child characters as... y'know... bratty children. But the extent to which these three ignore and direspect Fluttershy's authority is downright insulting, and yet they seem to be painting it left and right as something adoracute and silly. I found myself feeling too bad for Fluttershy to get any laughs out of it.
Not to say that this was a bad episode. It did a very good job of introducing the CMC and their antics (and I would eventually come to embrace them). Also, it was a story/lesson that was bound to happen, showing a character who was dealing with—as they repeatedly said time and time over—”biting off more than they can chew.” Because of the existence of this episode, I really don't think we needed shiet... like... “Baby Cakes” in friggin' Season Two. Seriously, what was the point of that episode? “Hey, we know you're demographically estrogenical, but don't expect baby-caring to be easy.”
What I do like about this installment is just how dayum slice-of-lifey it is. Hell, the entire first act takes place inside one room of the Boutique. The charm in each scene is the characters and how they interact. Sure, there is an adventure before the episode's over, but Fluttershy being forced to act in an authoritarian role was the fun here.
Also, I know I tend to poke fun at Sweetie Belle a lot in my fanfics. It's not that I hate her, I just think that she's short on intelligence. And after re-watching this episode... I realize I'm friggin' right. Sweetie Belle really is dumber than a f*cking bag of bricks. Like, holy shiet: the writers seem to have fun magnifying this fact for the sake of comical effect.
This was an example of an episode where Twilight Sparkle kind of had to be thrown into the story in order for her lesson-learning to make sense. Her turning to stone on the way to Zecora's seemed a bit tacked on, but I think the writers did a good job throwing all of the elements together.
Last but not least, I need to confess: I giggle everytime I hear Fluttershy say “Elizabeak.”
Dear Nietzsche, this episode. This f*cking episode.
This episode annoyed the goddayum ever-loving snot out of me the first time I watched it. I swear, with the prolonged musical montages and the endless chatter between the living STDs and—finally—that annoying as acid-covered-balls musical number at the end... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-yeahhhhhh. This was a very, very hard episode to get through, and probably the first moment in the show where I legitimately felt pissed off.
And you know what? I'm actually very glad to have felt that anger. You know why? It meant that I was actually becoming a fan of the show... a newly-hoofed convert, as t'were. The reason being, I had become uber-attached to the “Mane Six” cast, and the fact that this installment focused entirely on the CMC was what ticked me off. I was excited to stumble upon a new episode, and I wanted the “usual ponies” that I knew... and lurved, not these three goof-offs.
I seriously doubt that the writers intended this to happen, but I think a lof of marsupials initially marathonning the show went through the same thing. They realized this was a CMC episode and went “wtf, where's my goddam Rainbow Dash?!” When the end rolled about, and Scootaloo is singing off-key to a ridiculously 80s styled ballad, it's almost as if the episode is deliberately trying to hurt us.
Well, I've been a brony for nearly two years now. I have grown to lurve the CMC—as I have grown to lurve just about everything poni poni poni—and I really can't be cruel to this episode. Mostly because I think it actually has a very, very valuable lesson for mofos like us to learn. Or perhaps it's not so much a lesson as it is a relateable situation to reflect on.
I think we have all been in that situation where we get too charismatic—even zealous—about a particular task, project, or crusade (f'naaaaaaa), only to eventually fall flat on our faces. In this episode, the CMC get so darn enthused about their act in the talent show, that they are completely and utterly blind to all failure. They get laughed at for their extreme hubris, and learn to accept the award they eventually do manage to win. When I entered this fandom, I believed that I was writing the most fantastic fanfic to ever dawn the digital stage, and thankfully a certain candle-stick head was more than capable of cutting me down a notch... or a few million notches. Long story short, excessive hubris is never a good thing, and it's nice being able to relate to characters who can not only experience failure, but learn to surpass it.
Admittedly, the whole gag with the CMC obviously having specific talents and yet utterly ignoring them in their carpe diem attitude is pretty charming. I thought the show did a good job of exposing us to their true gifts with great subtlety. Even though the CMC are often morons and even annoying, they do come across as very good role models, in that their entire purpose is to do and try everything imaginable in order to achieve the best in life. How often do we see that with young characters in cartoon shows? Phineas and Ferb is the only other thing that comes to mind—now there's a dayum good show. Just saying.
Last but not least, I appreciate the fact that the more... er... “adult” ponies don't always get along with their younger peers/siblings. I refer, of course, to the scenes where Applejack has a hard time digesting the CMC's antics, and yet trying to be a good older sister and pretending not to be bothered. It's good that not everything is peachy-keen between the younger and older characters, cuz that's pretty reflective of real life. And the more realistic the characters are—annoying or not—they'll ultimately become endearing.
Sweetie Belle is still a f*cking dumbass, though.
Every now and then, you get what I call “the episode that reminds me that this was written for kids.” This one is such an episode.
However, unlike stuff like “It's About Time” or “MMMystery on the Friendship Express,” I find this one equally enjoyable as the episodes that are less kaizo and more slice-of-lifey. The biggest reason for this is obviously that each of the Mane 6 are involved at all times. Another reason is that we have the development of one of the finest story threads in the whole show: namely the ongoing infatuation Spike has for Rarity. It's quite actually a fully-defined story thread that more or less reaches a boiling point in S2's “Secret of My Excess,” which has what I find to be the single-most-touching moment in all of MLP.
Also, Tabitha St Germain saves the day on multiple occasions here. I really, truly believe she is the best voice actress of the whole bunch, and in this episode she got to show off quite a bit.
As for the diamond dogs, it's nifty seeing a villainous character that's bipedal for a change. Alas, we also get the trope where a cartoonish villain is dangerous... only not really. It's been twenty years since the 90s, and tv seems to have deevolved into a wussified medium incapable of showing cartoon characters in legitimate, mortal peril. So, everytime something threatening happens to one of the show's mainstays, it has to somehow be played off as nuanced and comical. Boy, what I'd give to see MLP having a “very special episode” where—like—Winona has to be put down or something. But I doubt we'll ever get shiet like that.
I loved the bit with Spike fantasizing about being a noble dragon knight and saving Rarity from the canines, mostly because it has a once-in-a-lifetime situation where Spike's VA, Cathy Weseluck, who is a woman, voicing a young male character... who is then purposefully inflecting his voice to sound like a macho older male character. That kind of stuff wyrds me out, and it shows how talented VAs can truly be.
Last but not least, re-watching this episode gave me something of an epiphany. Spike is, for better or for worse, the show's one “token male character.” Think about it: in so much film and television, you have a predominantly male cast with maybe one or two females thrown in... 'cuz women are a minority, right? Ahem. And, typically, when you have a token female or two, they are almost always involved in some sort of romantic relationship/tryst. Think about the movie version of the Avengers. Only one female superhero: Black Widow (Maria Hill doesn't count), and naturally she's shipped with someone else... in this case Hawkeye. Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Major Kira? Shipped in every season. Jadzia Dax? Shipped in every other episode, lulz. Young Justice? Ms. Martian was practically written to hop into Superboy's lap from the get-go. And Artemis/Kid Flash? Why the f*ck not.
Perhaps I'm overgeneralizing, but it seems in most comics/media/vidya games/literature, having a female character among the cast is sort of like saying “here's an organism with a lot more space between its legs than a dude so it goes without saying that it must seek to have someone or something fill it immediately.”
So, perhaps you can see how it's refreshing—and borderline hilarious—to have a show where the one reoccuring male character is a total romantic casanova that obsesses over another individual to the point of being unhealthy. And yet, for all intents and purposes, Spike is incredibly well-developed and dynamic a character.
Thank you, Faust. Stay classy.
The world is full of horrific injustices. The use of chemical warfare in the Syrian war, censorship within the Turkish media, flopping in the NBA.
One injustice that I cannot fathom to stand is how terribly, horribly, holocaustically underrated this episode is. This is, without a doubt, the single beist episode of season one. Hell, it could very well be the best episode of the entire f*cking show.
Notice that I'm not using the term “my favorite episode.” That would be inaccurate. I am telling you all—I am teaching each and every one of you, replacing ignorance with the one absolute and undeniable truth, that this episode, “Green Isn't Your Color,” deserves to be the best, top, most-praised, most awarded, most legendary episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. There are facts—historical and scientific—that only an anemic imbecile with water on the brain could deny: stuff like the moon landing, the slaughter of gays and jews during WW2, Richard Nixon's scandal at Watergate, the cartoon show Doug. To downplay this episode is to warp reality, to claim that apples fall up, or that the sky is green, or that butterflies come out when you jack off.
But no, this episode is fantastic. It's beyond fantastic. It's genius, funny, intelligent, emotional, and clever at every turn. It takes two fabulous characters and treats them with respect. It acknowledges the fact that it's a cartoon, but then promptly goes “f*ck that, we're gonna cast these mares as they really are: female friends with motivations both selfish and altruistic.”
There are so many ways... so many goddayum ways that this episode could have gone south, and yet it didn't. The entire episode could have been Rarity being a jealous bitch and doing horribly OoC stuff to get back at Fluttershy. It could have simply focused on Fluttershy and her less-than-pleasant escapade through fame. Instead, it had these elements and tons more, and it decided to cast all of them at once. Instead of being a one-dimensional story or a two dimensional, it decided to flounce on past the third, fourth, and sexy dimensions to become something that was complex, and yet totally digestible.
And it didn't just use Fluttershy and Rarity to accomplish this. It used Twilight as a vessel to teach us the story's lesson in a way that was both endearing and entertaining. It threw in Pinkie Pie for gags that—amazingly—didn't feel forced. Did I mention that there is also a f*cking hilarious German stereotype that also fits into this whole glorious mess?
Sure, we could have gotten Rainbow Dash and Applejack more involved, but the writers knew not to overdue it. And, as it stands, the cast is just so dayum tight. Everypony has a purpose. Rarity shows us a realistic portrayal of a friend who envies another friend and yet cares about her too much to do anything vindictive. Fluttershy shows us the passive character who is loyal to a T, even at the cost of her own peace of mind, and yet she openly dislikes the whole situation. Twilight is the relateable character who is stuck in the middle and only wants to do the right thing, yet can't stand bearing the weight of everypony's secrets. Pinkie Pie... nnnngh... mmmfsssnnkktttremindssss us that this is still a cartoon show and... actuallymakesmesnickerfromtimetotime. Ahem.
What's uber touching about this is that the story is essentially a tragedy. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity all want something, but they refuse themselves the joy of emotional release because they are tangled in each other's loyalties. Rarity is jealous of Fluttershy and misses their get-togethers, but she doesn't want to ruin Fluttershy's fame because she ultimately cares for her as a friend. Fluttershy is motivated by the same: she doesn't want to hurt Rarity's feeling by ditching her celebrityhood and letting Rarity down. Then we have Twilight who sees both sides of the conflict and only wants to resolve it, but is too bound by the values of friendship (that she's still just beginning to grasp) to bother sticking her horn into the situation. I lurve how each character cannot get what they want because they are far better friends than they each give themselves credit for.
What's more, it's touching. It's super touching that Twilight and Fluttershy would go to such dramatic odds to sabotage Fluttershy's own career, but who would salvage it? Rarity, the one who was uber jealous to begin with. And when the truth comes out, it isn't unnecessarily sappy. Instead, it's juxtaposed with Twilight almost having a breakdown as she holds out on letting the truth out at the last second.
And then you have the running gags of Fluttershy being incapable of expressing her frustration. Then there's Pinkie Pie's 4th wall gags. And... shiet... the angle with Spike that isn't brought back until the last second, forming fashionable bookends to the entire package... just...rrrjgjakldakqldgjkadhjgag.
This episode is amazing. I knew it when I saw it. I knew it when I re-watched it. And I remembered it just now during my most recent marathonning. Seriously, give this episode another viewing. It's comical, endearing, well-timed, and—ultimately—it doesn't risk insulting anyone's intelligence, regardless of age or demographic. I can only wish that someday I can balance story elements and plot devices in such a well-rounded way to deliver a package as exquisite as this.
This episode. Oh Nietzsche, this episode.
So, I was marathonning My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic back in the day. I was finding myself falling in love with the material. I was getting to respect the characters. Aside from a few romps through CMC-ville, I was relatively undisturbed. I almost couldn't believe the show was capable of a truly, literally bad episode.
Then Over a Barrel happened.
I think every season of any tv show earns itself an installment where either the writers experimented to hard or just went “f*ck it.” I'm tempted to believe that both examples happened in this episode. Whatever the case, I think I eventually realized that I wasn't alone in this opinion. There's just something... off about it.
Perhaps it's the fact that they decided to remove the show so much from its usual setting with little to no exposition. It wyrds me out when cartoon shows do that, and it's almost always to try and emulate some sort of genre or style that otherwise the writers couldn't dabble in. In this case, we get a trip to the wild, wild, west. I mean, why not, right? They're talking horses.
Ugh. This episode... I think what kills it for me is not the myriad of ridiculous gags (that remind us we're watching a show made for regular children, not basem*nt children), but the whole native american stereotype slant. So... like... what the f*ck? Is this supposed to be some sort of analogy of the conflict between American settlers and indigenous indians? I feel as though the concept was introduced that way, but switched gears halfway through the show. So, if that's the case, why do we even have the crazy-ass battle that isn't a battle at the end? Is it just to make the shoe fit? Nietzsche, I'm so confused.
I guess this is where my age shows up. I'm familiar with cartoons from the 90s taking issues like this and trying to preach to us. I'm searching for a meaning in this episode, and yet I can't find it. Everything is so kaizo and upside down, and I have little to no anchor to hang onto because we're in the goddayum desert, far away from what has endeared me to FiM to begin with.
I hated this episode so much, I did my best for the longest time to show off my disgust in fanfiction. Scootaloo and other characters remark on how effing retarded “Appleloosa” is in End of Ponies. Chapter XIV of Background Pony features a country music stallion who hates the snot ouf of the town. I've given buffalo something of a bum rap in most if not all of my MLP lore (lulz, I can lay claim to “MLP lore,” that's sad).
But, as fate would have it, I've grown to hate the episode less and less as time goes by. It's kind of like a guilty pleasure, the same reason I can watch the Final Destination or Rush Hour movies and still giggle like an infant. I can't say the same for other less-than-awesom episodes, such as “Owl's Well That Ends Well,” “MMMyster on the Friendship Express,” or... brrrrrr... “Mare Do Well.”
I think what saves this episode, at least in some remote fashion, is the opening. Seems like this cartoon shines the most whenever the writers go “Hey, we need filler? Slice of life!” The opening bit in the train with the mares all hanging out and just... y'know... talking? Can we have more of that plz? Also, though Pinkie's musical gags are annoying as f*ck (to the point that even the buffalo are thinking that a fuschia mare dressed up as a harlot on stage is stupid), the part where the standoff at the end happens and Pinkie's singing is the last straw that shatters the peace is absolutely brilliant, and perhaps one of the best gags in the whole dayum show. It's too bad there was a lot of bullcrap (buffalo crap?) to wade through before we got to that moment.
Being a fan of shows means taking stuff in stride. I'm a huge Star Trek fan, and yet I'll tell everyone that I hate Voyager to death. I think Star Trek Voyager was an example of the continuity's writing at its absolute f*cking dumbest. But, even if Voyager is the bastard child of the series, it's still invited to the family table at Thanksgiving (Enterprise gets to sit with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto at the kid's seat). For all of its flaws, I still lurve bits and pieces of Over a Barrel. How can I not? It's pony, and though any sort of lesson falls flat to me, I do adore Twilight's wording when she says that friendship is a “wonderous and powerful thing,” cuz it's the spirit of the show that endures more than anything... or maybe I just like listening to Rainbow's voice crack.
Here's an episode that I've glossed over far more than I care to admit. It's not a bad episode, really, and watching it again has made me come to appreciate it even more.
I guess I wasn't raised on Benny Hill like most other bronies, so I find cartoony chase sequences such as at the end of this episode and in the middle of “Ticket Master” to feel like boring filter. Though, I gotta admit, Philomena reading a newspaper and wearing a mustache a la Hard Day's Night is effing brilliant.
All in all, Philomena is kind of what wins this episode for me (aside from the adoracute slice of life intro to this episode). I think the writers and animators had a lot of fun bringing this sick-ass birdthing to life, cuz it shows through and through. Watching the gags with Philomena made me feel as though I was watching an old mid-90s Cartoon Network show like Power Puff Girls or Dexter's Laboratory. The magic of Philomena is in the predictability and timing of her coughs, skull-collisions, falling feathers, etc.
I've kind of forgotten how adorable Fluttershy is in Season One. I think I've learned to have more respect for her as a character. Seriously, it's entertaining just listening to the voice that comes out of her. She's such an innocent character, and she wants so much to do what's good. She's like... I dunno... an estrogenical Buster Keaton made out of dandelions in this episode, constantly attempting to solve a problem that is quite simply mechanically unfixable. It's endearing to witness, even as she fails.
What bothered me is that the act of Fluttershy stealing Philomena from Celestia's cage just feels... really out of characters, especially for S1 Fluttershy. You could make the argument that she's trying to be more assertive, but hearing Twilight scold her in the second half of the episode kind of inadvertently voices the confusion of the audience, and makes things a bit too glaring to enjoy.
Also... just what is the relationship of Celestia to these “adult” ponies? Can we call the cast of FiM “adult” to begin with? Maybe before the CMC were introduced, we could have accepted the “little ponies” as child-like characters. But ever since Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were introduced, it's felt confusing as hell. Are the Mane 6 adults—and every other pony in Ponyville for that matter? If that was the case, why does Celestia refer to individuals as “my child?” Maybe everypony is just perpetually young... or something. Meh. It makes Celestia a bit less respectable, imo, but perhaps that's just the Chromosomal gland in me wanting to question godlike authority.
Also, couldn't Celestia have simplified things by telling everypony that Philomena was a f*cking Phoenix from the get-go? For real, this had to have been the episode that gave birth to the whole Trollestia/Molestia nonsense. Whatever. It's a good thing Scootaloo killed that f*cking bird in EoP Chapter One.
Earlier in this blog, I used my completely and utterly infallible logic to prove to you all the superiority of “Green Is Not Your Color,” but as perfect as that episode is, it's still not my favorite. That award would undoubtedly have to go to this one. It's what made me so enamored with the character of Scootaloo. It's what inspired me to write End of Ponies.
This is, without a doubt, the moment when I fell in love with this show.
And it's such a sappy episode too. Those of you still stuck on me being some emotastic weaver of depression fics would probably find it a total shocker. But this really is my favorite. I may have been starting to embrace the CMC, but this was when I finally understood the brilliance of the three characters. They really are like microcosmic versions of the Mane 6, and using them as the thread for this episode—more like a series of vignettes—was a brilliant way of killing two... three... six(?) birds with one stone. How fitting that we had an entire season to show us the characters, to establish their personality, to illustrate their hopes and dreams, and only now do we get to see their origin stories. It's perfect timing, cuz it's like being show baby pictures of a bunch of friends we've recently made and collectively giggling over their silliness.
I'm no wise man by any stretch, but I am gaining years by the decade (three of them, as of now), and the older I get the more I find myself embracing my past with greater openness of mind, coming to accept both the cruddy and the joyful things that have made me what I am today. To see a cartoon showing older characters looking positively on their past (and, face it, not all of the cutie mark vignettes are exactly snow-white perfect experiences) and accepting it in stride is pretty inspiring, especially as a message to young kids. So much of the whole CMC angle is learning to bide one's time and embrace destiny as it happens, not as one expects it to happen. And in this episode, we see a fine line between the ambition of the CMC and the wisened knowledge of the Mane 6. It's uber quaint, to say the least.
The episode does a hell of a lot of fantastic teasing and foreshadowing. Scootaloo wants nothing more but to hear about Rainbow Dash's cutie mark tale, and as an audience, we're feeling the tension along with her. This is especially cemented by the fact that we have a teaser of Rainbow Dash's story in the first act, when Fluttershy talks about her experience. Then, the plot device of Rainbow Dash's sonic boom is another bit of delicious teaser. If we've watched this show episodically from start to finish, we know that Rainbow Dash is capable of such a feat. We also know that she has supposedly done it before as a little filly. When we finally do reach the moment when Rainbow Dash shares her tail, yes—it's rather predictable. Thankfully, though, the writers used that as simply the penultimate leadup to the episode's actual climax, which is what exactly? It's the Mane 6 reinforcing a wonderful revelation that's been paved throughout this entire collection of stories: that all of the characters were related through destiny without knowing it.
Sappy? Yes, but why else would we be watching a colorful show about talking horsies unless we wanted to f*cking feel good about life? It's nice every once in a while to have an episode that is unashamedly, unabashedly happy. It gives us hope for the CMC, and it gives us hope for ourselves.
By the time I saw this episode, I had already chosen Rainbow Dash as best pony. So, imagine my rapture when the writers gave us the background exposition of the Mane Six and outright f*cking declared “Rainbow Dash is the best pony AND the glue that holds the main cast together!” I may not have made other brony friends by the time I watched this episode, but—still—I didn't feel alone in my opinion. Thankfully, I had a little orange chicken who also knew who best poni was, and watching Scootaloo on her quest to learn Rainbow Dash's cutie mark really endeared me to her, cuz I felt like I was on that quest too—and that the two of us were properly rewarded.
The whole mechanic of Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash has since won the hearts of countless fans, and—aside from the Rarity/Spike relationship or the Twilight/Spike siblinghood—I find it to be one of the best developed character interactions in the show (especially with the way S3 has gone). If I could somehow have captured the joy and innocence and wonder that this episode gave me into a little ball, I would have exploited the Hell out of it. And, as a matter of fact, I ultimately did, in the form of “End of Ponies” and other train wrecks of MLP textuality.
No matter how many times I watch this episode, that dayum ending with the dayum estrogenical coming-together and the diabeetus hug makes me smile, without fail. And sometimes a show with just a single episode capable of doing that is worth treasuring forever.
And you can't say it's not relevant to real life either. If it weren't for poni, I wouldn't have made connections with thousands of marsupials. I wouldn't have run into awesome people such as Vimbert, Wanderer D, and Chromsome. I wouldn't have helped form the SATGF. I wouldn't have met friends such as Props, Pilate, Spotlight, and all of Noble Jury. I wouldn't have met Ponky.
Everything is a dense and tangled web. For better or for worse, we are the sum of our past and present interactions, it just so happens that a lot of it has been for the better for me. Is this destiny? I dunno... but I'd call it pretty dayum awesome. Sappy or not.
And seriously, who can't use some good sap from time to time?
All I love about this episode is the opening. Seriously, the whole bit with the hilltop and the stargazing is one of my absolute favorite slice-of-life moments from the entire show. I watched this episode hot off the heels of “Cutie Mark Chronicles,” and I was still buzzing from the diabeetus high the previous installment gave me. So when I saw the Mane 6 and the CMC interacting as one, I felt as if the show had achieved something. We knew who everypony was. There was no longer any need for introduction. We could see all of the characters in the same scene and enjoy them for what they were, and what they've come to mean to us.
And then the rest of the episode happened.
Most fans would probably agree that Spike episodes tend to be bad episodes. I think this is only partially true. The Spike episodes of Season 2 were absolutely f*cking fantastic. The Spike episodes of S1 and S3, though... unnngh...
Seriously, this could have been such a better episode. Instead, it felt as though... like... it shot itself in the foot. I don't mind the owl. I don't mind Spike having to deal with jealousy and coming to terms with what he may or may not mean to Twilight. It's just the absolutely ridiculous way they went about tackling the theme that bothered me.
I almost feel like I wanna blame Spike and not the writers. After all, the only embellishment sinfully committed by this episode is in Spike's character itself (except for, maybe, Rarity giving the same bow-tie to Owlowiscious that she gave to Spike 24 hours earlier... seriously, that bitch be crazy). It's really not that hard to imagine Spike doing stupidly childish things as a way of acting out his jealousy. It's just not... very entertaining? It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion, and when he pulls out the cape and top hat and does the whole ebil mustache thing... ennnnghhh. It's okay to have young characters do immature things, but—please—keep it funny. Not that I'm an expert on that or anything. Meh. I dunno.
I felt that the story had a lot of potential at the end, specifically when Spike ends up in the dragon's lair in the episode's climax. I suddenly imagined the dragon taking Spike under his wing and making him loathe the Ponyvillean society that “no longer loved him.” Now that would have been a nifty angle. In fact, I think someone made an entire fic around the concept, not that I've read it or anything. I don't read worth beans.
But, alas. All grown-up dragons are ineherently wicked and beastly, which makes the prospect of Spike's future with the ponies very depressing and questionable (not to mention pathetically unresolved).
I don't hate Spike. I think his relationship with Twilight is one of the most endearing things in the show. Are they siblings? Are they like mother and son? Are they friends? There are so many ways to examine the issue; they're both that complex. And one cannot call this episode a complete waste, because it does show the two of the developing as characters, a development that gets further and further illustrated as we proceed into S3. It's hard not to feel emotionally invested in these two, and though this episode kind of blundered around a bit, it's a key ingredient in the overall mix. So... kudos... I guess.
Who am I kidding? I have little to no love for Pinkie Pie... but that's like saying that I hate the last bottle of a six pack of Dr. Pepper... or that Snow White is my least favorite Princess... or that I hate two hours out of the middle of Bioshock Infitit*. Yes, there are times when I wanna wring the party pony's neck, but please understand... just as I would invite the bastard child Voyager to Thanksgiving Dinner, I find some parts of my black heart capable of loving the goofy antics of Pinkie Pie from time to time. I can't really hate all ponies, but there is one whom I respect the least... and I've realized upon re-watching this episode in particular exactly why that is.
First of all, this isn't really a bad episode. It's just... a really f*cking wyrd one. It's kaizo and random and... quasi-disturbing. If anything, this belongs in S2... and I'm not sure if that's an insult or a compliment.
We have some fantastic gags and hilarious visuals. We have tons of meme-exploitable bits and Gummy goodness. But I often think this episode did more to hurt the image of the show, and more especially the image of Pinkie Pie. After all, it's hard to look at MLP as the same innocent series when they reveal that one character is manic-depressive psychopath with dissociative identity disorder.
Notice—I did not say “schizophrenia” or “schizoid” or “schizo.” I said “dissociative identity disorder.” Schizophrenia does not equal someone having multiple personalities. f*cking look it up. (/rant).
Before I finished marathoning MLP, there were two bits that I had seen gifs/youtube clips of that I wanted to know the sources for. One was Fluttershy screaming “LOVE ME.” The other was Pinkie Pie with a straight mane going derp-eyed against a Jackson Pollock painting. When I discovered the origin of the latter, I thought I would be amused. Word to the wise, “disturbed” doesn't equal the same as “amused.”
While I'll admit that this episode handled a character having an emotional breakdown way better than—say—Lesson (f*cking) Zero, the way they so nonchalantly treat the situation it is more akin to an episode of Ren & Stimpy or Futurama than, say, a show with effing pastel ponies. It's so bizarre that I often wonder if I'm watching the same show and not some fan-production that was made for adults in mind.
Not that this is a bad thing, mind you, it's just a bit jarring... especially in season one. What takes the cake is that there really isn't much of a lesson learned. Sure, Twilight pretends to garner some sort of moral from this kaizo experience, but if they ended the episode with everyone being flatted by cement trucks, I would have felt no lesser or greater catharsis. Why? Nothing is solved.
Pinkie Pie has a major problem. It is a problem that is not only unresolved, but it is—as a matter of fact—embraced and condoned by the very ponies who claim to be her friends. They have witnessed her at her darkest, at her most psychopathic, and yet they don't do anything to help her come to terms with how swiftly she can turn from a clown to a sad*st upon the serrated edge of knife. What's worse is that this episode has pretty much told us that looming beneath this loving and bubbly persona is a perpetually distraught, perpetually anxious, undeniably paranoid individual who does not confront her personal issues, but instead avoids them at every turn. If we're to take the continuity of this show seriously, then this means that every time we see Pinkie Pie throwing parties, singing songs, nuzzling her friends, and even handling foals, she is just one sneeze away from needing to be Baker Acted. With that knowledge—with that understanding instilled in our hearts—it is difficult, nay, next to impossible to take any of her character development seriously, unless of course her central problems are directly resolved... which they never are, and we're in Season f*cking Three.
So, all in all, a very enjoyable episode, but it would have been a lot more digestible if it aired along—say—the Adult Swim lineup, not so much the Hub Channel. And if this episode didn't exist, it's just possible that I might have respected the party pony a little bit more... as in—respected her at all.
This really is the only way you could have ended this season. Looking back, I don't see a lot of people praising it. Quite the opposite, in fact; it seems like most bronies are willing to skim past this finale, probably because they're turned off by the musical numbers or something.
I really don't understand why that would be the case. This episode is fantastic. It's epic, awesome, and thematically perfect. It's pretty much a direct sequel to the “Ticket Master.” I'm almost willing to bet that it was written to take place at the start of Season One, shortly after Ticket Master, but then the writers were like “friggin' duh” and made this the climax of the initial run, which was brilliant.
I can see, perhaps, how this episode is kind of standard fare, at least from an initial viewpoint. It seems like in every cartoon show made for little girls ever, there's gotta be that underlying message of “Ohai, are you a creature born with ovaries? Well be prepared to have every dream you've ever had in life crash and f*cking burn, you!” Such is the modern (postmodern?) antithesis of yesterday's “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes.”
However, I don't find such psuedo-feminist-awareness to be forced in this episode. The story revolves around the characters and their individual aspirations. The theme of this episode is the same theme that it's been throughout the whole season: friendship. Twilight and her friends spent nearly twenty-four installments learning about companionship, only to suddenly forget every lesson at the last second. Why? Because they're so bent out of shape about having the “best night ever.” They neglect to realize that they have all of their wishes and joys fulfilled simply by being with each other.
Is it predictable? Sure, but it's no less charming to watch. Putting the plot to music is setting up the tragedy of the night to be all the more epic. It's a sitcom in its most hilarious form, and the writers do a marvelous job of weaving all of the separate plot points together. I found myself liking this episode even better upon a re-watch, because everything really is so dayum smooth. It bounces from Rainbow Dash to Rarity to Fluttershy to Twilight to Pinkie to Applejack without having to bat an eye. You really feel like you're there with them, watching as the night falls apart thread by thread.
And, as tragic as it is... it's not. Because these characters find joy in spite of the desolation. They have each other, and that's charming enough of a thing to cherish, for we have come to cherish what they have along with them.
I was very glad that they didn't end the season with some cliffhanger or a stupid adventure or something else that was gravely serious. This season had shown us that the best moments could be had in slice-of-life and simple character interaction. It was fitting that they ended it on a like-minded note.
Kaizo stuff? Stupid adventures? Individual character development? That would come later, in Season Two. Admittedly, the show had to mutate to accommodate for these thematic shifts. Was it a good mutation?
Well... stay tuned, and we can find out (again) together...
