MLP:ER – Rainbow Falls, Pinkie Pride, & Three’s a Crowd

(Yep, apparently Netflix puts these in production order.)

Rainbow Falls

Once again we see how rampant racism is in Equestria!  You’ll notice in the background the token team of griffons (which we previously established as the conquered people).  Then we have Rainbow Dash refusing to even consider her friend Twilight as a team member even though she’s clearly a better physical match for the contest than Bulk Biceps!  Clearly alecorns are totally discriminated here!

Actually it does make you wonder about the big BB.  Does he have small wings because of steroid use, or are his small wings a birth defect and he became obsessed with fitness to compensate?  RD might be encouraging his ongoing depression and self esteem issues!  Bad Rainbow Dash!  What kind of lessons are we teaching our kids in this animated show about completely fictional animals?  Griffons today… they’ll be mistreating their roc’s before you know it!

Pinkie Pride

Weird Al showing up as a major guest in a musical episode?  Done.  Perfection!  Humanity has reached our apex (at least until James Farr does a super-smash up of the star wars prequels).  Pack it in everyone, Jesus will be coming again to pick up His copy when it’s on disc. (Because you know Jesus don’t pirate.)

Also nice to get a glimpse at how Discord’s church recruits adherents.  And we see Cheese Sandwich traveling the world… making disciples of all towns we might say…

Three’s a Crowd

I wasn’t sure how well the whole “Discord reformed” story was going to work out but I’ll admit this passive-aggressive fighting is getting downright entertaining.  Like consider some of these comic panels from MLP:Friends Forever issue #2:

Yep, Discord joins the CMC to help them out and we get a stupendous meta joke as well as a nice fandom shoutout. (yes I am confirming that I watched Friendship is Witchcraft)  That issue was actually really really good and I recommend any fan to get themselves a copy even if they don’t care much about the rest of the comic.  The CMC & Discord teaming up is so brilliant I wonder they haven’t devoted an entire season to it!

Where was I…

So there’s further proof of Pinkie Pie’s devotion to her chaotic lord (notice how eager she is to help him yet he has to brush her off lest the others get suspicious).  Instead he targets the two allied most strongly with Fluttershy before moving on to tormenting Celestia’s chief supporter with the next probable in line to boot!  At best he eliminates two more of the best soldiers his rival has.  At worst he’s dug his claws in a little deeper, drawing them to his fold.  Yes… the Game of Saddles continues to play out in tense political struggles week after week…

There’s also some lesson about how quality time IS quantity time when it comes to our loved ones or something but who cares about that.

MLP:ER – Rarity Takes Manehattan & Pinkie Apple Pie

Whew.  Got some other writing projects finished so now back to PONIES!

…

Rarity Takes Manehattan

Ugh, a musical number right in the middle?  No I don’t care if it was self-referential 4th-wall breaking meta-whatever, it sucks!  Why do we need something like that taking up valuable time that could be devoted to plot??

Then… let me see if I can explain this…

So the story starts out with numerous examples of Rarity being generous.  At one point, she’s generous with the “wrong” pony and gets screwed by it.  Now the traditional motifs and tropes of this arc are: she decides to give up generosity, starts failing even worse, then is saved near the end by all the people she had been generous with before coming together (deliberately or accidentally depends on the tale) and reminding her that when you’re generous, the positives almost always outweigh the negatives.

Well… they don’t quite do that here, with all the “previously helped” folk coming together at the second act (in fact, before she helps the wrong pony) making the arc structure all messed up.  Instead of seeing it demonstrated that generousness is best the protagonist just has a sudden bout of guilt.  Yeah it’s believable and all, but it’s narratively unsatisfying.  Also these arcs often have a member of the antagonist’s side be “redeemed”.  It happened but, again, more out of a general sense of guilt and not by seeing the power of the protagonist’s generosity winning out over the antagonist’s selfishness in a very overt manner.  Again, nothing wrong with it, just like there’s nothing “wrong” with serving a meal out of order (like: salad – ice cream – steak), everything should still taste just fine.  But… it’s all a little ‘off’.

And way to skip out on your obligations, Rarity.  Yeah it’s nice to give the redeemed mook a job, but YOU promised the playwright that YOU would design and create the costumes.  You have no idea if the girl you just gave the job to can do the work as well or even if the customer will like the girl’s work as well as you.  You should stick with your original deal and send the newbie to Ponyville to maintain your shop while gone if you want to give her work.  Shame on the show for teaching kids that they can just pawn off their tasks and contracts.

Pinkie Apple Pie

Notice how Pinkie seems to be gaining greater control over the reality-warping powers her master, Discord granted her?  Undoubtedly she’s realized that Fluttershy and Applejack are natural allies, considering how both work so closely with nature and animals, if Rarity would be Lord Fluttershy’s grand vizer, then Applejack would probably be the “enforcer” or “chief of royal forces” (a natural given her strength and brains).  So Pinkie’s plan (obvious if you rewatch the episode) is to break AJ’s loyalties (if that fails – her mind) by first claiming a family bond then engaging in an adventure to strengthen the bond.  Given that Pinkie is now “officially” family, AJ will find her ties tested when the War of Ponies for the Crystal Throne begins.

The episode is initially set up that one thinks it will be one of those traditional motifs or arcs where Pinkie tries to join the family but the Apples don’t want her around (like the episode of Andy Griffith when Andy saved Gomer’s life).  Then it takes a left turn, however, when we come to find out that the Apples don’t mind Pinkie at all, in fact they WANT her to think well of their family, so we shift into a more “cover up the dysfunction, let’s impress” arc.  Clever and well done, I liked that twist.

Finally, that song was just awesome.  Yeah I would have preferred it stayed in “STOMP” style but if not, banjos & violins are a great substitute.  It’s just so catchy and fun.  I wonder we don’t trim up the plots to give more space to these songs!

MLP:ER – Bats!

Oh look we see Fluttershy’s true self revealed as Twilight’s spell inadvertently rid FS of self control.  Now she must be extra careful to keep her true, power-hungry self hidden all the more from her future subjects friends.

…

Ok, I can’t do this, even by magical standards and weirdness of Equestria this episode makes little sense.

• Fluttershy says that the seeds from the fruits the bats eat grow into “better trees”.  How?  First, apple trees can take anywhere from 3-8 years (depending on factors) to bear fruit, so how does she know?  Second, how does that even work?  The seeds would land clumped together, meaning their sprouts would be competing for space and resources vs the careful, organized orchard growing where each seed would be given the best amount of space and tended to.  I think this was intended to be a parallel with some bats & birds that eat seeds than poop them out, but that has the advantage of spreading the seeds out and providing ready fertilizer for them.  How bat-spit is supposed to accomplish that is beyond me.
• I get that maybe this is supposed to be a “rah rah Environment”! episode but it’s disgusting how much it glosses over the problem of pests in food cultivation.  People don’t hate pests out of some blind hatred, but because for each ear of corn eaten by them is one less ear of corn for everyone else.  Not a problem if one or two are lost, but unless there is an outside force striking their numbers, the pests will eat as much as they can and breed as much as they can.  You can’t just toss out a few ears of corn and satisfy the locust hoard, they want it all with no concept of seed-corn, rationing, or sharing.  In reality the bats would quickly spread out of the “section” marked off for them and continue to ravish the rest of the crop.  (Yes, “Swarm of the Century” was more realistic than this episode.)  Look I get the appeal of “the wild”, even I feel tempted by it at times, but there are reasons humans historically went to the trouble of cultivating crops – we like to eat.  When pests could be described as a “plague” if they grew numerous enough, they could literally be the death of entire societies.  Control over our food allows more of us to live than ever before, and losing that control isn’t something to be wished for.
• No really, how badly did this impact the Apple family’s finances?  In the show it’s shown as somewhat lucky what with their fields seemingly infinite but in reality where would Applejack & family make up the revenue loss?  Selling apples and their products (cider, pies, etc) is how the family earns a living.  If their product is reduced for a year until the next harvest, what then?  Does Applebloom end up having to miss out on school activities since they can’t pay for them?  Or do her grades suffer as supplies must be forgone?  Will Granny Smith get any treatments and medicine that a pony her age would need?  Would Winona have to be given away now that the family couldn’t afford her dog food?  Now the Apple family might be lucky enough (the farm being a long family ownership) to not have any outstanding loans liened against their property but if they did then this disaster could be the end of Applejack and her family having a home.  Next season: AJ has to move in with Twilight while Applebloom is sent to an orphanage, Granny Smith to a retirement home, and Big Macintosh to a factory for work.  Have fun, kids!

Don’t get me wrong, I really do think we should take care of the environment and I would love for the woods around my house to grow for generations to come so kids can always play and explore, but there seems to be a growing message of “if farmers just make a tiny sacrifice…” nowadays without the realization that often farmers live lives by their fingernails where one bad season can result in the loss of family land and home.  Even many “industrial” farms are the result of decades of planning, effort, and luck by families to build up a bit of a “buffer” that other businesses have in order to survive lean times.

No this isn’t the worst episode ever for the show, but it does disappoint.  Kids these days could certainly use a little less romanticizing of the wild and a bit more instructing in how challenging and near-miraculous it is to get food to them.  Maybe then they’ll realize how fortunate and blessed they are to live during a time where farming is a career choice, not a survival necessity, and pests are a curiosity, not a death sentence.

MLP:ER – 4.05 & 4.06

What happened last week?  Why didn’t my reviews get published?

Actually I’ll admit that watching some people do my bit about “evil undercurrents” in Thomas the Tank Engine (only as far as I could tell, they were serious) has sort of dampened my enthusiasm for this.  It’s hard to do parody when people race to make your joke the baseline for their behavior.

Flight to the Finish

Besides, I’m never quite comfortable doing the “dark truths of Equestria” when it comes to the CMC.  True Fluttershy and her loyalists are looking to bring them into the herd same as Discord and Celestia seek to expand their ranks as well but that’s still a long way aways (especially since the ancient treaty and custom that said no blank flank may ever be recruited by any military).

Plus it was a musical episode.  I hate musicals.

Otherwise a mostly ok, serviceable story that does at least show that the CMC seemed to have grown out of their misdivision of labor problem they had way back in S1’s “the Show Stoppers”.  So +1 for a subtle lesson in economics.

Power Ponies

Now THIS one… I wonder if Discord is involved, seems irresponsible for a public shop to hand out something that could be so dangerous.  Unless maybe this 4th-wall-traveling happened because of the location they were in… Then again I was expecting that the story would be drawn from Spike’s dreams after falling asleep from reading the comic.  So kudos for figuring out some way to “really” do this story.

Though what if the CMC had gotten sucked in?  Would they be trapped until they defeated the villain or is victory always assured somehow?  Is time different from in there vs outside or are they in sync? (Story pitch: “Cutie Mark Crusaders get sucked into the comic.  One minute later they emerge fully grown and battle-hardened.”)  Whoever came up with Rarity as Green Lantern and Pinkie Pie as the Flash deserve all the internets as such was a touch of brilliance and a great way to show & reinforce aspects of both’s character.

So setting aside the premiere (which had Discord, always a crowd pleaser), this is the best episode of the season so far.

Now which comic would I want to get sucked into…

(probably Grimm Fairy Tales because of the babes and sheer b-movie fun of it)

MLP:ER – Daring Don’t

Was… was this the MLP equivalent of GalaxyQuest?

The big difference being that the idols this time are not faking it.  Though it seems weird that for a group having bested Nightmare Moon, Discord, and more, to have never heard that Ahuizotl was real.

It also seems weird that Daring Do never heard of our Mane Six.  SERIOUSLY! How many times do these girls have to save the world for people to recognize them?  Heh, that would have been a funny twist on the tropes in this episode: if Daring Do had come to the group for their help (what with them being legends and all) and the group had trouble believing it wasn’t a promotion or something.  Or if Daring Do was running out of adventures and wanted to follow the Mane Six around for new book material.  The question is whether either of those would have been more cliche or less than the episode we got.

The moment of two fans pooling their canon knowledge together was fun.  I know several works have had fans’ knowledge come through in a pinch (GalaxyQuest obviously) but is this the first time that knowledge has been used straight within the work itself?  Off the top of my head we usually see something “themed” towards a work the fans use their knowledge to crack (riddles obviously being the most common form) but this is in a “real” world not within or a part of the work itself.  The other instance I can think of is that of a real world invader into the work who is aware of how powerful his knowledge is (Last Action Hero being pretty much THE movie about it).  Supernatural is actually the only work I can think of where fans of the work are a part of the real world which is also the work, and thus their knowledge is actually useful to what’s going on without them being outside-aware of how their fandom is useful (and even the SPN instance was shorter than this one).  Now if we can just get a Sam & Dean pony… (or did they already do one?)

Best moment of the episode: “Uh… should we go in and help her, maybe?” -Fluttershy

Final rating: Funtacular

MLP:ER – Castle Mane-ia

Apologies for the delay.  A friend loaned me “Game of Thrones” S3 and I was watching it for a lighthearted break before resuming the darker, more challenging stories of MLP:FiM.

What’s that?  You don’t think MLP is more hardcore than GoT?  Well let me remind you that while the latter has occasional nudity, the former consists of an all female cast, NUDE ALL THE TIME! (and if you bring up Applejack, I’ll just repeat what the cop told me: “Hats don’t count.”)

So last time we left our ladies, Discord made one of the most passive-aggressive attacks and Twilight went on a vision quest about the past.  This time?  Oh sure it may look like a simple, fun haunted house tale of people “haunting” each other, but study the events more carefully…

First we have Twilight’s & Spike’s arrival.  These two are our “simplified” characters, what you see is what you get and they wear their goals on their sleeve.  Though now that she’s an alicorn, we might see Twilight’s thoughts turning to her own grand domicile after being inspired by this castle.

Who do we see next?  Why none other than our challenger to the power structure of Equestria: Fluttershy!  Here we are reminded that Fluttershy, in her grand plan to conquer the world, has already roped in Rarity to her services.  We are also reminded of just how devious the “Coming Storm” (FS’s moniker after the episode “Hurricane Fluttershy”) can be as she has convinced Rarity that going to the castle was her own idea.  Thus Fluttershy can now gather design suggestions for her future keep without anyone being the wiser.  She also brings along Angel (the Vader to her emperor) who will be in charge of observing the traps and layouts of the castle (every grand ruler needs a trap door you know).

Later Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrive at the castle spurred there by an idea from who?  And shortly tormented through the castle by who?  That’s right, Pinkie Pie!

Hm.  From your expression I don’t think you get it.  Recall that Pinkie Pie is none other than the chief priest of Discord (though in his case, the title is something more like “cucumber resplendent”) who is to bring the world to chaos as he prefers.  In S3 there we Pinkie slacking off on her duties a bit on converting ponies to her lord & master’s cause.  It would seem that with Discord’s reappearance in the previous episode, she has been reminded of her duties.  (Plus with the Elements of Harmony now given up, the power threat to Discord is much less.) Thus we see a Pinkie seemingly more manic and unhinged than usual.  A Pinkie who takes steps to drive Rainbow Dash and Applejack into madness (for once your mind is free of the constraints of logic and sanity, then you can embrace the wisdom of Discord).  Of course she acts innocent and ignorant when caught but watch her closely, you can see subtleties in her performance showing a cold, calculating mind.

After this incident it’s likely she has the hooks of chaos in RD & AJ.  FS has Rarity on her side and, given that they want to keep the existing order (just with FS in charge instead of Celestia & Luna), Twilight is an ally of circumstance.  The battle lines are being drawn, 3 on one side, 3 on the other… what will happen next in, “True Tales of Ponyville”?

MLP:ER – Princess Twilight Sparkle 1 & 2

Oh hey!  Netflix finally got season 4 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!  Well it can’t be put off any longer.  Time leave the light-hearted, family-friendly lands of Supernatural and venture now into the dark, twisted world of sapient ponies…

Well this episode is in canon so I have to do a straight review.

…Which I don’t mind!  Save for Discord’s first appearance, this is the strongest season opener the show has had so far, and kudos to the makers for actually going with an episode that is dripping with continuity.  I mean I can get why some kids shows aren’t continuity heavy, though never because “kids can’t grasp it”.  If you’ve ever spent any time with a five-year-old and up, you’ll quickly learn that their brains are incredibly sponges able to store and recall minute trivia about any of their favorite subjects (I won’t challenge a 5th grader on superheroes).

Regardless, the story was also pretty well crafted to give background on things that happened before without making the exposition clunky or unnatural.  If they ever did “as you know” it was in a manner like taunting or threatening – the way people would in real life!  I also admit that I’m a sucker for “wheels in motion” style plots.

Often this show can struggle with the speed of things, ending up with developments that happen way too quick (like the very first episode, the “friends” having the power to defeat an ancient evil after knowing each other for 2 hours).  This two-parter was a good breather and had the subtext of “it takes time”.  Twilight might have wings now, but she’s still struggling with flight and often times forgets she has the ability.  Likewise Discord’s reform.  Previously it almost seemed too quick and sudden, but in this episode we see said reformation is still taking time.  He might be honestly reformed but still tempted by mischief, or he might still be wicked but is plotting a longer game.  Either interpretation works and this is what makes deep, fully-realized characters.

Yeah, I’m saying some of the best writing on TV is in a kids show.

Maybe 4.5 because the flashback with Luna & Celestia was pretty gratuitous fanservice but at least it wasn’t boring.

 

MLP:ER – Magical Mystery Cure

Yeah… this has taken awhile…

The fact is… I don’t care about this episode.  It’s a musical and as I’ve made clear in general, I’m not a fan of musicals (operas rock, though – REAL operas).  It’s nothing against them or their fans, it’s just not my cup of tea, and this was a musical episode, made worse by two minutes of plot stretched out over twelve hours* by the songs.  But it’s a canon episode which means I need to “review it straight” like I once promised, which is good because I’m not sure I could come up with a “true stories of ponyville”** for this one (Celestia making a play against Fluttershy?  The whole town in on it?).

It’s really weird that the cutie mark changes cause the ponies to adopt new jobs.  No, that’s not what I mean, it’s weird that everyone else accepts their new jobs.  Everyone hates Fluttershy’s comedy to point of lynching* and nobody bothered pointing out that she should go back to her old job?  Was everyone’s memory affected?  But Twilight & Spike remember… (there were other signs others seemed to remember too)  Should maybe there be a few more safety measures around the Elements of Harmony so other magical acts by Twilight don’t blow up Ponyville?

Heh… a MLP:FiM Three-Mile Island episode… now THAT I’d like to see.

Yay for Twilight earning a princess-ship.  Otherwise?  Meh.

Should I even bother looking at equestria girls?  Is that canon?

*some exaggeration may be present in content

**You like that name?  It just came to me.  I might start running with that if S4 ever hits netflix.

MLP:ER – Keep Calm and Carry On

At last!  Here we see that this show has the treachery and backstabbing political machinations that make Game of Thrones look like My Little Pony.

As this blog has been doggedly documenting (despite the agents trying to stop me, THE TRUTH WILL NOT BE HIDDEN), Fluttershy has plans to become the supreme rule of Equestria (then… THE WORLD! (of course)).  The real question has been, how much do her only challengers know?  Thus far, FS’s biggest advantage has been her secrecy.

Well this episode opens with Celestia confirming that yes, she does know Fluttershy has aims on the throne.  However, for the god-princess to so openly challenge what – to others – seems to only be a mere pegasus would be foolish.  She would drive the commoners away from her, ensuring that they rally under FS’s banner.  Notice then that Celestia performs a masterful move in this proverbial chess match: she brings Discord – the only real challenge to Fluttershy’s schemes – to the rising power herself.  It is a brilliant ‘check’.  If FS were to turn down the “challenge” presented her, it would weaken her growing honor and respect, as well as confirm for Celestia that FS really is a threat and that the latter knows that the former knows about the latter’s true plans.  However, if FS accepts, she will then be in danger.  No matter the outcome, either Discord will be eliminated or Fluttershy will, Celestia will have one less challenger to her throne.

Side Note: Also notice how we have confirmation of Pinky Pie as Discord’s chief disciple.  While the others complain about his antics, she provides a “complaint” that sounds just like a fanatic trying to hide his/her fanaticism (even though everyone knows the truth, I mean just look at PP’s power set).  After the events of this episode, I wonder if we’ll yet see the conflict between PP and FS come to a head.  I doubt there will be many survivors.

So, Discord is loose.  If I can step outside my normal reporter function for a moment, I must congratulate the writers.  Obviously we all have our doubts as to whether Discord could be any threat to the mighty Fluttershy, so we see her employ her “nuke” (the STARE) right off the bat.  Only… it doesn’t work! (dramatic music)  It’s a nice narrative touch which lets us know that Discord really is a threat to FS and a real challenger to her goals.

Anyway, we resume with a battle of wits between these two dark lords to be of Equestria, and even a bit of comeuppance to Vizer-to-be, Angel (who had it coming).  Eventually we get a dinner party, a grand speed chess match between these two brilliant tacticians.  Like the best, while FS might have lost her primary goal at the dinner, she did gain a secondary goal in confirmation that Pinkie Pie is, in fact, a servant of Discord (notice how her actions in the dinner are those you would expect of a disciple basking in the presence of their lord).

Back and forth the two minds go at it, Discord always trying to bait Fluttershy into a trap while FS plays the game very conservatively (she hasn’t come this far to lose now).  Until… THE DEMON IS DEFEATED!

…or IS he? (dramatic music)

Note carefully how everything plays out in the end and watch the game closely.  We are told at the beginning that Discord is aware while he is a statue so he knew that Celestia had designs on “taming” him.  Then in the end, we see him “convert” when he realizes how he didn’t have any friends.  Except we know this to not be true!  Pinkie Pie is his disciple, and even if she wasn’t, we know she would be a friend to all or can be easily “bribed” into friendship with a little chocolate rain.  Discord didn’t “reform” it was a FEINT!  Doesn’t his reform seem a little quick in this episode?  Of course!  See, in his previous appearance it was established that Discord is aware of the 4th wall (which is also how Pinkie Pie has some power over it), meaning that when he “realizes” his friendless status and “looks back” he’s actually checking the show’s running time.  Seeing that it is about to run out, he puts on a show at “reforming”.  Why?  TO GET CLOSE TO THE COURT OF CELESTIA!  Meanwhile Fluttershy will let down her guard thinking things are “safe”, allowing PP to keep an eye on her while Discord maneuvers into position in the throne room.  Fluttershy thinks she put him in checkmate but really he just promoted a pawn deep behind enemy lines.

Whew, this episode was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant and I commend the writers for the taut political thriller they have painted which keep us coming back week after week. HBO’s got nothing on this.w

MLP:ER – Spike at Your Service

Well let’s see…

Supernatural’s back.  Once Upon a Time also returned with a fascinating turn and I’ve caught up on season 2 of Game of Thrones.

Still, it’s Halloween’s month so time to turn my attention to something REALLY scary and disturbing…

Oh Equestria, you are such a dark and twisted world.

Awhile back I pointed out that the land had become so warped that a predator was now forced to serve its prey.  This episode we see yet another sign as Spike, a dragon, is forced to run from a timberwolf.

Now while every cryptozoologist can tell you that dragons and pheonixes are natural enemies (like donkeys and coyotes), dragons remain the natural limiters of timberwolves.  Yet here we have Spike, a creature that can breathe fire running away from a creature made of wood.  Some of you might try claiming that the timberwolves seem to be made out of green wood which doesn’t burn, but I remind you that Spike breathes green fire which according to my D&D book would easily burn green fire.  Thus this whole scene and premise of the episode is based upon the equivalent of seeing a sentient pin run away from an aggressive balloon.

Though I did like that although this episode did do the old “helpful guy turns out to be annoying and not that helpful” (see also the classic Andy Griffith episode for another example of this trope), it revealed that Spike has an optimism that would impress Sisyphus and a determination that is really a positive character trait.

So other than the disturbing message about how messed up Equestria is, this was a fun little episode.