My Little Pony's Justice 2 - Official MLP Thread v2

[Your Vest Friend]

 

Goddamnit Berry Punch.

[Nix]

Doomie? He was on the episode?

 

Man that's obscure.

 

I mean, there's no way to tell.

 

But I'm going with it.

[Your Vest Friend]

Also the official name is now Muffins.

[Dark Qiviut]

Before I go on, some people here (both bronies and non-bronies) here know well how much I despise fandom scapegoating. So for them, it's no surprise how much Tommy Oliver's scapegoating and stereotyping of the fandom and analysis community really set me off. My angry response (which I revised and posted in his video comments) can be found here.

 

---

 

Now, for my analysis for Slice of Life:

 

First impressions: This is actually pretty decent. Some of the content (particularly the pop culture humor like Bon Bon's "secret agent" and the Twilicane) feel a little hollow, and the bugbear sideplot was rather stupid. But the background characters were rather nicely done. In all, it kinda works…for now.

This is what I wrote here, and I'll write a bit more.

 

If you're not into the core fandom, then chances are you're not going to get many of the in-fandom jokes.

• Bon Bon's "secret agent" angle is a very subtle joke at her two names: Bon Bon and Sweetie Drops, both of them official. Won't be surprised if it's a play on James Bond, too.

   

  The MLP Forums's Dolphanatic caught another reference to Bon Bon's "agent" work. One of the gags from the early seasons was how her voice was never the same. Sometimes it's very girly. Other times, it's very deep like "Mine's got rocks in it!" This solves the gag.

• Derpy's reference to "Muffins" is a reference to her love for them that began in the fandom and became canonized after her Comic-Con toy was released with the muffin vectors.
• Lyra sits like a P.O.'d human as both a callback to Swarm of the Century as well as a reference to a lot of the "Lyra likes human mythology" fanon.
• Octavia and Vinyl together is a reference to how they're often together in fanonical work and headcanon.
• The shark plushie that Octavia and Vinyl jumped over along the hill is a reference to "jump the shark."
• Button Mash's reappearance is a nod to the background pony's reemergence in the fanon thanks to JanAnimations.
• Derpy and The Doctor together is a nod to the popular DoctorDerpy ship and headcanon.
• Berry Punch's barrel of "fruit juice" is a reference to the meme of her liking alcohol/wine.
• Gummy's philosophical approach to the pony world is a hilarious meta reference to how he often looks like he couldn't care less.
• Derpy the mailmare a reference to the popular fanon (which later became canon in Rarity's Micro comic).
• Everypony not giving a buck about the monster attacks in Ponyville is a meta reference to the countless monsters that invaded the town.
• Plenty of Doctor Who references, from the accent to the scarf and "Allons-y."
• The horse heads that we see in many conventions.
• The "bug bear" is a self-reference "pandering" joke.
• Obviously, the Twilicane.
• Derpy locking out the Mane Six.
• Clearing up the friendship problem in "a half-hour or so" is possibly the best joke in the episode. It works so well because it's so matter-of-fact, doesn't feel like a joke, yet doesn't intrude in the story.
• Shining Armor crying before the wedding. Liquid pride, anypony?

A question to everyone else: When Derpy looked through the vial of flameless fireworks, did it feel like a subtle reference to Derpy staring at the lava lamp? I don't know, but it somehow feels like it to me.

 

If you're not into fandom jokes or never fully got the grasp of them, then a lot of the fandom humor won't make sense. What makes a reference solid is how you can find them funny without having to completely understand them. A ton of jokes are very tongue-in-cheek with the fandom while still keeping the content rating in mind. While the core fandom will laugh from many of the jokes, some will only be confused because they won't get it. Consequently, some of these jokes will either go through one ear and out the other or only bewilder them more.

 

Sometimes the humor is there only for the sake of it. One of the worst is the random Twilicane. Good humor shouldn't be there "just because." They must have some level of in-story context. Otherwise, it's going to look like pandering. The Twilicane joke is plain pandering because it interferes with the rush of the climax. Bon Bon's "secret agent" is another, which I'll get to a little below.

 

On the flipside, the interaction with Doctor Whooves and Derpy feels incredibly natural. Both characters really play off each other. Doctor Whooves's very analytical and relies on a ton of science to equate and solve problems. His goal for wanting to create some level of magic without needing a horn really drives him to getting the best results possible, but sometimes overthinks things. His demeanor resembles the popular Tenth Doctor, which is finalized by his "Allons-y." On the other hand, Derpy is a simpler pony who prefers to focus on a calmer, simpler slice of life. She doesn't care a ton about the deep, scientific approach. She simply wants to do her job and wants to do it well. Unlike The Last Roundup, Derpy's squeaky female voice doesn't have that artificial, sarcastic edge; it's innocent, cute, aloof, and genuine.

 

Outside of Doctor and Derpy, the tandem of Octavia and Vinyl Scratch is magnificent. Octavia is the one who does all the talking, but she doesn't only make the scene. Vinyl Scratch's approach is more hands-on; while she's mute, her style of music does the talking. As a result, you can see how Vinyl feels, behaves, and reacts to the environment. The lack of dialogue forces Larson to show instead of tell, but Vinyl and Octavia really work like a team. Vinyl's dubstep/techno meshes with Octavia's classical standards and talents. Without just relying on the typical music, the two genres cooperate. Octavia wanted the wedding to be special; this was one way to make the episode special.

 

The weakest tandem is Lyra and Bon Bon. Their voices are clichéd, and the "best friends" dialogue is hammered in way too much. Sure, it only enforces and teases the popular LyraBon ship, but they lack plenty of personality. Without the exposition, Bon Bon would remain a flat bore. Their conversation and vocality feel way too plain, especially Lyra; without her minty green fur, she'd be your stereotypical valley girl. Bon Bon's "secret agent" joke doesn't fit, either, because the joke feels way too out there and relies a lot on telling the audience rather than showing despite having some historic context with the bugbear.

 

But you also dove into more of Cranky's history thanks to Steven Magnet. He and Matilda hit off (friendly-wise ) beautifully in the salon. Matilda was anxious, but Steven's suave, casual conversational attitude adds a bit of calm in between the storm. During all the chaos, it'd make the whole episode feel overwhelming. It's great to see them amicably talk for a stretch of time (and have SM grow back his mustache!). But he triggered those nerves when he told her the wedding meant everything, and with a very creepy closeup to boot.

 

Thankfully, Steven's relationship with Cranky isn't a dump. The resolution gave it some context when he gave Cranky part of his 'stache willingly. It revived his classic look before Rarity "corrected" it in Part 2 of the pilot, but apparently, he either isn't as vain as he used to be or he just wants to do the trimming himself.

 

The side plot of the bug bear makes the entire episode feel distracting. The main plot was to rush Cranky and Matilda's wedding because the invitation had the wrong date, but you're reminded of the constant battle. With it taking place only in the background, you don't really get how the battle took place; his defeat is only mentioned in exposition. You want to see how the Mane Six fend off the bugbear and keep the rest of Ponyville busy.

 

Conversely, one piece of exposition isn't merely dumped onto its audience. Gato when watching one of the teasers, so he gets the credit:

 

 

Notice what Amethyst is wearing around the main part of her body and her left front leg. Each team has a captain. Amethyst was the animal team's captain, and the clothing style proves it. During the conversation, Amethyst claimed she hasn't done any organization since Twilight moved in. Winter Wrap Up is one of season one's earliest episodes, and the conflict was how Twilight could adapt to Ponyville without relying on magic all the time. The result: being the lead organizer of Winter Wrap Up. It's easily the cleverest reference of Slice of Life because it's a tiny detail with a lot of impact.

 

Even better is the moral. Mayor Mare's speech to the background characters was more than simply that. It was also dialogue to the bronies without being extremely explicit despite referencing the main cast. Mayor Mare said that Ponyville isn't simply the mane characters, but everyone else out there. Connect the same thing to the relationship the bronies have with the cast. The cast help make the show, but it doesn't feel complete without all of us. Everyone in Ponyville matters. Everyone who watches the show matters. Without bronies (me, you, adults, kids, male, female, and everyone in between), how can the show's popularity spread?

 

Finally, an open plot from season two is finally resolved. Following A Friend in Deed, you're left to open questions about Cranky and Matilda's relationship. For those who saw the animatic, you know it was being resolved this season. But how is it resolved, plenty asked? Slice of Life answers those questions by focusing on the rest of society rather than just the Mane Six.

 

So why did I critique this gift? The answer is simple: No one episode deserves special treatment. Just because it's a gift to the brony fanbase doesn't entitle Slice of Life to not get the same treatment as any other episode. Remember what Sugar Belle said to Starlight Glimmer in The Cutie Map, Part 2?

 

Sugar Belle: You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!

 

This applies. I treat the other episodes with the same analytical, critical breakdown. Like the "It's for kids" excuse, there's no reason to give this episode a pass, either. To claim this as "ungrateful" or "spoiled" is immensely disrespectful to not just this episode, but the others, too, including what's coming up later on. What I critiqued both positively and negatively here would get the same level of respect as any other episode. It doesn't matter how big a milestone this is. The core of a good episode is the story. Without a good story, this episode is factory-laden junk food, and it's always better to eat a scratch-made, fresh meal. Fortunately, the foreground episode holds up nicely at this point. How well it'll age is up for debate.

 

Is Slice of Life the best episode of the show? No. It has some flaws to work with, such as the background clutter and plain voices for both Bon Bon and Lyra. But it may be one of the most personal depending on who you talk to because it really connects with the core brony fandom. But some great characters shine through, particularly Octavia, Derpy, and Doctor Whooves. Plenty debate or look for fanon being crushed, when in actuality, plenty of fanon becomes canon, and whatever is left unsaid will only spark even fuller fanon and headcanon in the future. Slice of Life is pure fanon starter. The moral is appropriate for the show and relates very well to both the characters in the canon and the relationship between DHX and the bronies. Slice of Life keeps the bronies conneted thanks to the personal touches, themes, jokes, and overall moral. I don't know how long this series will last, but I'm sticking around for the ride!

[AdventChild]

I guess one’s enjoyment out of Slice of Life is if you like the background ponies or the Other Mane/Side B Six (Lyra, Bon Bon, Derpy/Muffins, Time Turner, Vinyl and Octavia). Also, easily persuaded by fandom references/shout-outs a plenty.

 

Honestly, the ones I probably only care about or have interest in is Time Turner and somewhat Vinyl, but not a fan of or just don’t care much about the like of Derpy or the rest (and not a fan of the shipping that is involved either). And after watching this episode? Eh, pretty much mostly the same. Not to mention I probably would have been excited for an episode like this during S2 or S3, but now I just feel kinda eh about it.

 

Speaking of Time Turner, his parts were the ones I liked along with the Big Lebowski ponies and the changeling at the wedding. I'm missing Chrysalis more already.

 

However, much of the fandom referential humor or just even most of the humor in general didn’t really get to me and I just felt kinda eh. A handful of it felt kinda over-the-top or forced and I mean, I know it’s the 100^th episode and all but still, even the whole Gummy monologue felt unneeded and didn’t made me laugh at all and coming from someone who likes him. Not much of a fan of Steven Magnet segments and the whole Bon Bon spy thing felt meh. It just didn’t sit right with me and wasn’t my cup of tea as well as feeling too hectic.

 

Again, I would have preferred if the episode was more like The Simpsons’ 22 Stories about Springfield or The Amazing World of Gumball episodes The Extras and The World with a much looser format and have character stories loosely tied with one another than have it centered around the wedding. I feel that there would have been better opportunities for more ponies to get the spotlight as well as talk. I was slightly disappointed that Button Mash didn’t get a chance to talk along with Bulk Biceps, Pipsqueak, Big Mac, and others not getting more lines. Definite missed opportunity there.

 

Lastly, why are the princesses and the CMC (esp. the CMC) are considered background ponies? Wouldn’t they be considered minor/side characters than background esp. with the CMC having episodes focused on them? They could have easily cut them out. At least, there were some development out of Celestia and Luna but that’s about it.

 

The episode is a lover-letter to the fandom, but I felt that they could have toned it down just a notch even for a milestone like this and would have worked better in a looser format to get possibly more out of other background/side ponies.

[Strickerx5]

... *claps* Yes, just yes! I was a bit optimistic about this episode but damn, they definitely brought their A game with this one.

 

Pros my god there are so many...:

- I honestly thought we had seen the end of Derpy (Muffins is a good name and all but like Robotnik and Eggman, I'm sticking with the original) after all that drama The Last Roundup got her but man was I wrong. I thought this episode did an amazing job bringing her to the front of the screen. I honestly hope she becomes more prevalent in the show.

- I love how they pulled the Dr. Who idea as far as they could without triggering the risk of getting into legal trouble. Literally the only thing missing was him calling himself a time lord and a blue police box showing up out of no where. Add in both sharing the most screen time with Derpy (and even a moment with Roseluck) and that just made it for me!

- Bringing back The Big Lebowski characters was just great to see. Actually, I'm just going to go ahead and say I'm happy with every character they brought back here (Steven Magnet, Pip, Button... wait... does this mean the C&D can end on good terms or...).

- I kind of like what they did with Bon bon. Though, a part of me just knows that they did that just to destroy some head cannons. XD

- Loved Octavia and Vinyl's relationship. They literally had some of the best scenes in the episode. I think the only thing that could of made it better is if they actually got the VA that does most of the fan stuff with Vinyl in to voice her. Since that will probably never happen, keeping her mute was probably the best next course of action.

- Absolutely loved how the mane 6 were played as the background characters. Really just suited the episode and theme nicely.

- That entire scene of them all merging on the speaker cart might just go down as my favorite sequence of the show. Just so many beats hit at once. I had to rewatch it twice during my initial viewing just to take most of it in XD.

- That Gummy scene... my god.

- Changeling out of no where... ok then...?

- Let this be a point for every gag and reference I missed as I feel there was just so much here. I know I didn't catch all of it.

- Probably the biggest pro out of the entire episode; Luna and Celestia being casual. That character interaction between them was fantastic. You don't know how happy it made me to see those two like that. I don't care if they're not really background characters. They just don't get enough screen time and anywhere they do you can bet I won't argue. THIS is what I've wanted for a looooong time. It's nice to know the writers are actually capable of it! Seriously, for the love of all that is decent, give these two an episode by themselves!

- Oh yeah. Also, LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAA *fireworks*

 

Cons/ nitpicks:

- ...Was Zecora even there? Actually, when was the last time she showed up? Eh, kind of feels like a missed opportunity here.

- Yeah, sort of saw this one coming from the time this episode was announced. While there were a bunch of voices I loved (Octavia, Derpy, ect.), there were a couple of off ones. Can't say I was that big of a fan of Lyra's as it just didn't pin her as having an almost Beverly Hill type accent. Also, I feel as though whoever they got to voice Time Turner tried a bit too hard with some of his lines. Again, these are mostly just nitpicks but are some things I picked up on.

- I was expecting a drop during that speaker riding scene. The music was building up to a drop... where was it. My inner 2011 self is screaming.

 

So um... yeah. It might be too early to really place it but this might just be one of my favorite episodes to date. I know it was mainly geared towards the fans and that may have detracted from it's universal enjoyment but... I'll be honest here, that didn't really effect me. To me, Larson really pulled this one off well. Was it over the top at points? You bet. Could I have done with some lighter nods? Yes, but to be honest, this was still just an absolute joy to watch. I've stated many times before that I really only watch the show for character interactions, humor, and animation. Everything else comes after for me. While I still think it's important for episodes to be the full package, as long as I enjoyed myself while watching it I couldn't care less about it being a pure fandom shout out. I can imagine some are probably already writing this episode off as pure pandering and the moment the show completely jumped the shark. You know what, they're absolutely right; but I'd be lying if I didn't enjoy every minute of it. I loved this episode, plain and simple. I'm looking forward to the next (probably more down to earth XD) one in the coming weeks but it was nice to see the show just go crazy. It's their 100th episode, I think that's cause for some lighthearted fun.
 

 

 

Wow... I've watched 100 episodes of an MLP cartoon... pfff, it's been one hell of a ride (and one I'm glad to be on) XD! I'd never thought this show would have reached this milestone. Back when this aired, good shows often never made it past their first season. To see this show come this far and for me to have been watching it pretty much since the early beginnings is just amazing. I can't say I've stayed with any show this consistently. Watching that last episode was just like taking a trip through it all honestly. While the community may not be as clean as it was before (if it ever really was), there have been some great shit that has come out of it. This episode just hit so many of them home that it was just simply beautiful to watch. I know FiM is probably far from over at this point (what with a movie coming and all), but I can honestly say that this first milestone was a good ride. I'm not sure what the future holds, but if these last hundred episodes are anything to go by... I'd say there shouldn't be too much to worry about. It's been great so far so here's to another 100!

[Your Vest Friend]

Zecora cameo'd, she was up on the balcony along with the CMC and the cow during the end sequence.

[JayRaR]

This season rocks so hard! My hype for this episode reached no limits and my mind imploded with all the fandom nods and references. I wonder how an uninformed viewer will view this episode as, lol.

 

-Expanded Ditzy Doo (or Muffins) role. Muffins talked again (yay), but she is much more involved with the plot here than the Last Roundup. Honestly, I didn't like her previous 2 voices especially the first one. Coupled with how she acted and I was a little turned off when I should've been super excited. Here in Slice of Life, her ditzyness and naivety were toned down and with a very nice voice. Her interactions with Doctor Whooves were simply marvelous and some her actions (Muffins with a huge grin, playing around with the Doctor's stuff, locking out the Mane 6) were combination of hilarious and adorable.

 

-Doctor Whooves. I admit, not a fan of Doctor Who (watched a couple of episodes but still didn't grab me) but I liked how he was portrayed here. He acted like I knew the Doctor would (only know of the 10th and 11th). He seems like a pony Twilight would love to chat with, but I hope he doesn't make anymore voiced appearances because his entire character is borrowed to heavily on another series. Background shenanigans are ok though.

 

-Octavia and Vinyl. Octavia's voice was just I imagined it. Refined and proper, just how Tabitha would voice her. Octavia and Rarity are like two peas of the same pod, and rumors are saying they might meet up in future episodes? Exciting! Vinyl not talking was a letdown, but her interaction with the Doctor was hilarious (the wubz blocking out everything) and her duet with Octavia was over-the-top and nonsensical. Not too mention good music too! Her bass-mobile was hilarious, picking up background ponies along the way. Hope and Octavia get more appearances more often.

 

-Lyra and Bonbon (or Sweetie Drops?). Their "friendship" is at full force with their talk of "best friends", embracing, and a butt romp to go with it.Their voices are fine, kind of how college girls would sound (with lack of a better example). The secret agent persona of Bonbon took me by surprise (I'm guessing this is another fanon I don't know about? It was hilarious and kind of explains Bonbon's different voices. Lyra seemed pretty normal, but acted like a human when she sat before the wedding. Her "benches we sat on" line is so hilarious and even out of context sounded supremely random. I wouldn't mind if they showed up more with these personalities in future episodes (especially with Bonbon's secret agent expertise) as it seems the next episode would imply. I did wonder how she captured the bugbear though (by herself?).

 

-The bugbear. This thing was a combination of horror and absolute surprise when I first saw this thing. "What in the hell is that? A bear...bee...wasp thing?" It was a nice plot device to keep the Mane 6 preoccupied while the background ponies have their episode in the limelight. This thing put up quite of a fight though. From beating up RD to Twilight actually shooting lasers at it to it giving Pinkie Pie a noogie (poor thing lol) to Applejack pulling it down with her rope to the King Kong homage. A strange enough of a plot device and intense battle it was, I was more interested to hear more background characters talking lol. Although it was a shame I couldn't see the climax (and if Bonbon got rid of it or not).

 

-The Big Lebowski ponies. Not much to say, but "The Dude" was a nice parody to the original character although him being rich and successful was not exactly faithful lol. He served as a nice contrast to the extremely British and serious Doctor with his laidback personality. The "what is this, man you keep saying" was hilarious. It was a nice and silly exchange from the both of them.

 

-Steven Magnet. His comeback was glorious and his added backstory as Cranky's travelling companion was cool and very believable. His super flamboyant personality was hilarious and I kinda wished he had more cameo appearances in the series. He got along well with Matilda (liked how he unintentionally spooked out Matilda with how serious weddings are) and his friendship with Cranky is a nice contrast. I don't know but his line "now get out there and marry that donkey!" line stood out to me from him. Cutting off his mustache and giving it to Cranky as a makeshift wig was a nice homage to his first appearance and a very sincere way of helping out his friend at the cost of his beauty.

 

-Celestia and Luna's sisterly rivalry was pretty great and is something I want to see more in the series. It seems odd they'd be at a Ponyville wedding especially with Cadence and Shining Armor attending as well. Shining's liquid pride is at full force here, lol. Also baffling that the pony sisters, Cadence and Shining all sit away from each other. Was this Amethyst's Grade A seating organization at work here? Speaking of her, it was kinda sad to hear her say that Twilight stole her responsibilities as the main organizer. She said that nonchalantly and without jealousy or indignation so I guess she was ok with it.

 

-I liked the Mayor's speech at the end. Tied up the episode nicely, gave out a nice life lesson, and served as a hidden reference to the fandom work.

 

-The random changeling at the wedding. This intrigues me about why this changeling is here. Either a changeling must show up at a wedding or it was invited. It seemed to be no harm and behaved itself quite nicely (with the foals cowering in fear lol). It didn't even need to disguise itself. Could also be a friendly changeling idk.

 

-The episode was paced rather well for how many ministories and character viewpoints this episode had. There could've been so much more but I felt the episode flowed along pretty smoothly with plentiful jokes along the way. Definitely my favorite episode of this season!

 

The next episode is a Spike episode, and it might be the first dent to an otherwise great season. I don't really like Spike episodes so I assume this would be no different. 

[AdventChild]

I think Gummy should be the one with the spy stuff and not Bon Bon. He could easily be the Perry the Platypus of this series.

[Your Vest Friend]

My Little Pony: Friendship is really sick beats.

 

 

That didn't take them long to do.

[Nix]

lol Cadance caught onto Spike's shit before he even started abusing Twilight's title for luxury purposes.

 

Episode was pretty much everything I thought it was going to be.  It was easy to guess how Spike was going to act in the episode, and he did everything I expected him to.  What I didn't predict was Cadance playing a supporting role in the episode, so that's nice.  Pretty neat how she clogged the water pipe with some fancy crystal magic.

 

Also, of course Twilight would try to sleep on books before sleeping in a bed.

[Kevin]

So yeah, this was a pretty predictable Spike episode. I know that we're coming off the episode 100 hype train here, but I really thought they could have done a better job here. Here's the thing about Spike, he's a great supporting character. He knows how to keep Twilight in check and whatnot, but I hate how when he's on his own, he turns into an idiot. We've been there before and it gets dull fast. I really wish the writers would give him some actual character development instead of treating him like an idiot.

The only two good things to come out of this even inside was Cadence being a secondary star and Fancy Pants making a return. Other than that, there's not much else I can say about this episode.

[Dark Qiviut]

When Discovery Family doesn't show a teaser at any point throughout the week, that proves a complete lack of confidence they had for it. Even Appleoosa's Most Wanted had a teaser.

After torturing myself to finish Act 1, I can see why. Besides all of the unnecessary exposition, the annoyances Spike had to deal with were incredibly painful to sit through. Rather than have the conflict flow naturally, contrived cartoon logic creates a ton of nuisances just to make Spike's assignment more difficult. Every joke fails because Spike is just trying to do his job. Spike has been a stagnant butt of jokes for five seasons now! Jesus Christ, can we actually have another Spike episode that treats his character with some level of RESPECT?!

I prefer to watch an episode and feel bored than watch an episode and cringe at so-called "humor." At least if I feel bored, I can watch the episode and catch some extra shuteye. I can't muster any strength to watch the next two acts because the stupidity grates my ears.

[Strickerx5]

Hm, have to say I rather enjoyed that one. Though, I can see where you all are coming from. I... don't think my usually list layout is really going to work for this one as the plot never really went anywhere I didn't expect it too. It was a verily predictable episode but I can't say that bothered me all too much because I was still interested to see what happened next.

 

We all know that Spike has been the butt of every joke for some time now. Outside of his own episodes, he's rarely ever given an opportunity to shine. It's a shame too as he is one of my favorite characters and when he is given that time, he does so brilliantly. The thing is, I don't think the writers using Spike as comedy relief was the problem this time around. Rather, it's much more rooted into the very base of the episode. This episode followed a common trope of a second level character being placed in a first level character's position and not really knowing exactly how to handle it. It's a very over done and rather hard trope to really pull off but lets take a look at Spike himself for a second. I think in between all the good he does, his season 1 self is often overlooked. He's a kid, plan and simple. Being as such, he's bound to fuck up a lot of the time. The thing with Spike is that I believe the other characters trust him a bit too much. Let's be honest here, Cadence should of known that some ponies would try and get to Twilight at some point to have their issues solved or something and Spike just isn't the person to fully handle that type of thing. In all actuality, she probably should of placed a couple of guards outside her room... but then we wouldn't have an episode. XD

 

As I said before, the trope is hard to pull off without a hitch. Though, I think they did a pretty good job with it here. Spike was actually shown being responsible and actually solving some problems for a time. I'll be honest here and say if, put in the position, I probably would of came up with the same answers. They honestly seemed like good ones. Add in the fact that Spike is a kid and he really did give it the college try which speaks volumes to his character. It's just too bad that confidence and power went to his head. Though, that's where him being a kid comes into play. The real fault of the episode for me really came down to the background ponies (odd as we just had a kick ass episode with some them XD). It's another case where this series completely dumbs down every secondary character in order to make the plot work. While it's not as hurtful here as it's been before, it was still pretty noticeable.

 

Beyond that, I guess I'll just list some points (I can't escape it XD) that I can't really put in paragraph form:

- It was nice to see Fancy Pants again. I love how, while he still has that Canterlot mindset, he's still cool af.

- Can somebody tell me how Spike knew that most dragons were allergic to those trees? I mean, they've said before that facts about dragons were limited. How would Spike have known that it was a common allergy among them? What makes it worse is that they could of avoided this by just saying that only he was allergic to them...

- This episode confirms that half asleep Twilight is best Twilight.

- Is it safe to say that Equestria doesn't have a set industrial age and can have multiple forms of electronics yet? I mean the jackhammer, chain-saw, water main... come on! I swear, if there's one thing I do know about the community it's that some people hate the idea of Equestria being advanced in any form. I just don't get that... *secretly is just happy that Gamer Luna can still be a thing*

- Speaking of which, LUUUUUUUNNNNNNAAAAAA!!!! Oh my good, when's the last time we've seen her two episodes in a row? Hell, I don't think she has if you don't count two-parters. Season 5 might just go down as my favorite season just for the pure amounts of Moon. LET'S GO FOR 3!

 

So yeah, overall I did enjoy this one. It's definitely not the best episode of the season, but it's definitely not the worst. I could see myself re-watching it every now and then. Here's hoping that we can see more Spike episodes in the near future.

[QuantumEdge]

After seeing that blatant Fargo parody pony, is anyone else thinking the production team's a massive fan of the Coen Brothers? 

 

EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, I'd quite like to see the Coen Brothers direct an episode just to see what the end result would be.

[AdventChild]

After the over-the-top episode last week, what we got this week was a pretty bland boring one and unfortunate that it had to be a Spike episode. The little dude can’t catch a break with his episodes.

There doesn’t seem much to take note other than Fancy Pants, Fargo pony, sleepy Twilight and Cadance having a role in this. But it doesn’t save the plot for beans.

What makes the episode so meh was how predictable it is with Spike becoming power hungry and greedy with his actions and the contrived domino effect of the forced situations at hand that kinda ruins the episodes pacing. Also, the fact it feels like something we’ve seen countless times before in others and esp. on this one that doesn’t do things differently. Not to mention the whole taking advantage of princess relations was already done before, *CoughTWILIGHTTIME*Cough. Add onto that the humor was very barebones and wasn’t that good.

Yeah, just very meh and boring episode.

[gato]

Sorry for not talking about 100, work, exams and E3 are a bad combo for gato. But I liked it . _.b
 
 
 
This one tho... There is something wrong about this one that kept bothering me while I was watching it, most people seems to put the blame of this episode on Spike's character and how tired the scenario felt to them but I didn't feel it had to do with it at all, even when his vice was at the most obvious the disasters he causes aren't because of it but rather because of the bad decisions he made at the beginning when he was acting with good intentions... That and the fact that the universe itself seems to hate the dragon . -.
 
I gotta quote EqD's followup because this time Phoe pretty much nailed my grievances with this episode:
 

100% of the problems that actually came back to bite him were the ones that simply resulted from him trying to do his original job. The water pipe bursting, the... ahem, allergenic trees, the out of control polo ponies, they're all circumstances set up before it ever really occurred to him to start abusing his station. So what we're left with is this weird divide between problem and lesson and it made the whole thing feel a little left of center.

There is a serious disconnection here between both the morals and the problem of the episode. As stated above the reason everything went wrong was because the moment Spike was actually acting with good intentions. He was ordered by Cadance to not disturb Twilight but the ponies who were assisting to the convention were having none of it, Spike tried to help the ponies or tell them to go away since Purple Smart was supposed to rest but they were having none of it and threatened to leave and give some very bad impressions from the new princess... With no other choice Spike awakes Twilight but she is still so tired that can't spew anything rational, leaving the baby dragon with the a very difficult choice.
 
1) Tell the representatives to go away and threaten her sister figure's reputation
2) Tell the representatives to put the hay in the apple and eat the candle... Which would have the same consequence as 1)
3) Give them his own advice.
 
The third one was the most reasonable one but since no one listens to him (will get to this later) he had to mask the fact the suggestion came from him and say it was an order from Twilight... it works! (sort of, you see it fails later on) And the episode keeps going from there.
 
The thing is, all of the problems don't come from Spike's greed or anything like that, everything goes wrong because he wanted to help Twilight get some rest (and because he thought he could handle everything beyond his dutie as well) and it feel so wrong... Not to mention that the way the event is ruined is hella coincidental (the polo ball landing on the trees that break the pipe that spread water and Dragon sneeze inducing flowers all over the place).
 
 
 
The other thing it feels disjointed is the moral, the way the episode plays out seems to be a "don't bite more than you can chew" kind of scenario (with Spike taking all of Twi's responsibilities even when he didn't have to) but the second half it transforms into a "don't let power get to your head" kind of thing, even if none of the previous scenes suggested that, nor that any of the decisions Spike took on his power trip affected the meeting negatively other than making some ponies work a little extra.
 
But there is a third one! Spike begins the episode trying to give a little speech and show his will to help but no one listens to him... The delegates come to visit Twilight and Spike offers his own advice but no one listens to him... The reason behind most of the dragon's actions come from his desire of being noticed, to make him feel that his contribution matters and as a matter of fact Cadance mentions this at the end of the chapter  
 

Spike: It-it just felt so good to have ponies caring about my opinions on such important matters. I guess I was just enjoying feeling like a princess.

 

And later on we have this:
 

Manehattan Delegate: Sure! You know, the whole idea of the statue is that when each of us plays our own small part, it adds up to somethin' great.

Fancy Pants: Quite. Just like how all our cities make up the beautiful land of Equestria!

Princess Cadance: I hereby dedicate the Citizens of Equestria statue to everypony who plays their part, no matter how big or how small!

 

 

Which is a nice moral and all but... Doesn't feel like it's represented very well on the episode with the whole "you are not important unless you are a princess thing" and what not...

 

 

 

So this episode feels like a mess, there are things to love like Fancy Pants' participation (even at his most indignant, he still felt like a reasonable horse), Cadance's display of smarts and magic across the episode (except maybe for leaving Spike alone dealing with something she later suspected he couldn't handle and then giving the dragon the idea of using Twi's position for his own benefit) and the fact Gustave-le-Grand landed a big job and now works at Canterlot. But that's little to redeem on an episode that for the most part didn't feel right.

 

I bet the people who organize conventions felt very identified with this one tho ° 3°

[Applejack1973]

It was good to see more Gummy and Steven Magnet.

[Nix]

aw shit, Cadance 3 times in a row

 

yissss

 

This episode was pretty great.  Pinkie Pie is a tricky character to get right, she can easily ruin episodes just as quickly as she can "make" them, and episodes with her at the forefront can get even worse.  It's kind of crazy that the Yaks and their "must be absolutely perfect" attitude was used for this episode now that I think about it, because that applies to Pinkie all too well.  Thankfully Pinkie's been pretty spot-on this season (except for a few gags in The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, but thankfully that wasn't enough to ruin it) and I think she nailed it this time.  It's just super neat to see just how much effort Pinkie throws into her parties... and since Pinkie has a party cave, does Cheese Sandwich have one too?  Serious question here, I need to know.

 

Also that look Celestia gave Twilight when the Yaks decided to not declare war on Equestria was priceless.  I think Celestia needs to start teaching Twilight again, because holy shit that was almost a disaster.

[Kevin]

Much better than last week's episode!

 

It's great to see more areas explored. First the Griffins and now the Yaks. I'm not sure on how to feel about the Yaks themselves. They kept getting mad and destroying things in spite of the others trying to make them feel welcomed a trait that bugged me greatly.

 

It was great to see Cherry Jubilee again and Pinkie's journey towards Yakyakistan was fun to watch. I have to say that baby Yak looked adorable!

 

Oh did this episode deliver on the crazy-nervous expressions! It wouldn't surprise me if one of them become a meme at some point.

 

Lastly, Pinkie never ceases to amaze on the interesting life she lives. I certainly wasn't expressive that party basement with all the files she had on everyone.

[Strickerx5]

That feeling when all of the other princesses got to be in the last three episodes but not Luna... Man, I'd call this unfair if she wasn't getting an episode 2 weeks from now... *cough*. Anyways, on to this episode.

 

Pros:

- Here we see a wild Pinkie. At her top form once again

- Nervous and paranoid Twilight are fighting sleeping Twilight at the moment for supremacy of best Twilight

- Oh, more sentient creatures from other areas. Always a plus

- Can Gummy do no wrong?

- Nice to see Cherry again. Though, it was a pretty odd way to bring here back. XD

- All of the mane 6 were great in this

- Pinkie's journey could of made an episode in itself. XD

- Cadence out of fucking nowhere

- That kid yak was freaking adorable

- Dat sled ride back to Ponyville... wow, probably should of done this a long time ago with this show *throws all logic out the window*

- Batman references are always welcomed (Party Cave)

- Pinkie just going up the slide had me actually laughing

 

Cons:

- So are we just going to ignore that cool looking monster or...
- Did anyone notice that Pinkie was in Appleloosa for a split second before they switched the background to the cherry town?

- Way to get my hopes up for seeing a new location

- No Luna... no, I'm not going to let this go! >:U

 

Side Notes:

- Ok seriously, how long does it take to get to one end of Equestria by train? You have that Mystery episode telling me it's at least a day and then you have others telling me it's only an hour or two. :/

 

So yeah, this was a pretty fun episode. Love seeing Pinkie get the spotlight and just go utterly crazy with it.

[AdventChild]

After last week’s ‘meh’-pisode with Spike, Party Pooped is definitely steps up above it and rather decent.

 

I liked most of Pinkism in this though the monologue-ing could have been taken down a notch, Beatles reference, a majority of the expressions and Cherry Jubilee appearance.

 

About the yaks, I honestly didn’t like them that much overall. They seemed to be acting out the Hulk and just felt forced and over-the-top a little bit and didn’t find them interesting even in their destruction.

 

Also, I feel like that there should have been more about Pinkie’s quest and less on the scenes in town with the yaks. It could have helped with the episode’s pacing a bit more which affected the second half. Not to mention some things that could have been expanded or looked more into like the monster and Yakyakistan.

 

So definitely a decent episode that is better than last week’s.

[gato]

Man I'm feeling mighty self conscious right about now...

 

 

This episode was a mess, it somehow managed to out random every single weird stance in the show in 10 minutes or so. It somehow manages to feel more out of place than a Bass Mobile running around the city or a secret agency working on the shadows. It's able to break more suspension of disbelief than the fact Scootaloo managed to drag the Crusaders from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire in the span of a musical sequence.

 

Are we supposed to take it just because Pinkie Pie? Because I don't like that at all...

 

Yet I can't bring myself to hate this one.

 

 

 

Because it was just too freaking fun! The animation on this episode tied with the dialogue makes this one a worth watch, look at this little gem right here:

 

 

Everything on this scene is awesome, from how cute Shy looks to how her smile starts to fade as soon as she reads Twi likes to dance (my favorite part) to the very weird character trait we just found about the purple princess and how she slowly gets away from that random quesadilla to the right. That's some attention to detail!

 

Speaking of which Pinkie's monologue about her musical career is also full of it, like the cutie marks from the not-Beatles (not-George got a freaking obscure pick) to the fact not-Paul is left hoofed or how Pinkie is the drummer (like her EqG counterpart) or how she doesn't grab the sticks but actually has them stick to her hoofs with tape.

 

But back to the characters, this is one of the few and rare occasions when we get to see Pinkie Pie stressed and it was very interesting to see her channel some Twilight during those moments when her friends kept putting more and more pressure on her (unintentionally, mind you), her running gag was also kinda cool, the fact she has a cupcakes party cave is pretty awesome, the way she keeps information about every single pony on town is both awesome and creepy... All around I loved her parts on this one... Actually it's kinda funny how well both of Andrea Libman's characters are doing this season I just can't find anything that I really dislike about them so far (not even her jokes on Griffonstone).

 

I'm also noticing a weird lack of fabulous pony this season but I'm sure that's going to get fixed later on.

 

Twilight on the other hand didn't fare so well, not that I have anything against the way she acted but I'm kinda irked about how her plan almost starts a war (not entirely her fault tho, the Yaks were a stomping minefield) and she gets nothing but praise from Celestia, credit where it's due because it was her plan to open up relationships with the Yaks again, but her plan backfired horribly and they didn't end up in an international(?) conflict was because Pinkie strayed away from that plan. It's true that there is no way for sunbutt to know what happened there but you'd think Purplesmart would have admitted that most of the credit should have gone to Ponk. Still it's very interesting to see the new princess doing princess stuff besides smiling and waving, that was one of my problems with S4 and I'm glad to see it's all in the past.

 

 

 

So yeah, I liked this one. I'm not sure if I can vouch for the new writer because the story was all over the place but the episode managed to keep being something enjoyable despite that, great interactions, good humor and a Pinkie Pie that keeps being one of the highlights of the season so far for me.

 

I give it a "Yak calf is the cutest thing" out of "Luna will have an episode before Rara" . _.b

 

PJSalt

 

 

 

EDIT: Waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiit a minute!

 

 

 

This is it. The northern boundary of the Crystal Empire. Beyond lies Yakyakistan. Nopony who's attempted this climb has ever returned. Are you sure you have to do this?

[Nix]

Hey, we got a trailer for the Friendship Games!

 

 

Looks like Sunset is keeping her new outfit, neato.

 

And Human Twilight is adorable.  

 

She's totally plotting something though.

 

I mean, she has a toy that looks like an evil powered up her... probably has something to do with that amulet she's wearing in a few of the shots (it looks like that's the thing that's making all of those rifts appear in the first place).  It doesn't seem like she gets along with her schoolmates either, so maybe she's going to use magic to get revenge on them or something?  Or she gets corrupted by it orrrrrrr....

 

I dunno, looks like it'll be a lot of fun though.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

If Midnight Sparkle is Human!Twily corrupted, I hope Sunset plays a role in getting her back to normal. ~Full circle!~