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

[ShadowSJG]

/watch?v=-2hRkLKqhgk

Legends of everfree sneak peek

[Strickerx5]

So today's episode was a pretty enjoyable one. It continues season 6's wonderful trend of not shoving every main member into an episode and boils it all down to each characters core traits adding to the plot in a meaningful way. Rarity, AJ, Rainbow, and especially the CMCs shinned here. This is mainly due to a message that just isn't conveyed enough in media. It's hard to talk eye-to-eye with people who are older and, presumably, more experienced at a task than you. Though, for a functioning society, you really need to as the older generation doesn't always have the answer (especially now with current politics but we're here for pony XD). They can get stuck in their ways and it was nice to see all that play out here.

The only real nitpick I had with this one was honestly just how the carts worked. I know it's a world of magic and dragons and what not but if you're going to start an episode with some physics you'd think they'd explain how the hell those carts were moving after the initial slope. Ponyville doesn't have many hills and I've partaken in my fair share of pinewood derbys back in the day so I think I can safely say that most of those carts (especially AJ's old fashioned one) should not have been moving after a certain point.

Also, did anyone notice how the whole fan-cannon idea of Dinky being Derpy's supposed child was pretty much shot down here? Because that wasn't Dinky she was with.

Other than those minor details, this was just a pretty by-the-books episode that I enjoyed quite a bit.

[AdventChild]

So after Patton Oswald’s Daring Do fanboyism last week, we follow up with a CMC episode (yay….goodie…*sigh).

Man, oh, man did this one feel below average.

I liked that Cheerilee had more lines and moments and some of the carts designs and the lesson at the end, but that’s all about it really

First off, I think there was missed opportunity as well as a way to shake things up by replacing AJ with Big Mac and make it like a follow up to Brotherhooves Social to further develop him and the sibling relationship.

The plot is your predictable and bare bones “adults get overly competitive and irrational during a children’s competition while neglecting the kids that know better” that is a typical 80s-90s sitcom/cartoon trope. Not to mention the humor felt entirely lacking here too. The 3 Manes felt really OOC and obnoxiously forced to make this dumb plot to work and acted like jerks to their little sisters and ruining the competition (esp. with Rarity’s cheating wings. Not cool.). It's like they had been holding the Idiot Ball all throughout.This episode felt it should belong in the earlier seasons like 2 or 3 due to the Manes’ (immature) actions, not this far into the series.

Also, you think that the CMC once realizing what kind of carts that their partners were creating that they would actually had the bright idea of switching their partners? Apple Bloom with Rainbow Dash for fastest cart, Scootaloo with Rarity for the most creative, and Sweetie Belle with AJ for the most traditional. This could have made things interesting, but nope! Another missed opportunity there. It also felt like The Show Stoppers on how oblivious the CMC with that solution.

The song was just there and not much memorable and the pony who designed that awful wreck of a race track needs to be smacked upside the head.

It’s a below average episode with a cliché plot and annoying bad ‘Big Sis’ moments. 

[Your Vest Friend]

So 28 Pranks Later...well, that was a pretty mediocre-bad episode in light of the characters,

[Strickerx5]

Eh, well that was an episode. I guess I'll start off with what I liked. I loved the delivery of quite a few lines (which alone had me laughing probably more than I should have in this episode) and the facial expressions were pretty great as well. Though, seeing as this is MLP this has come to be expected at this point. What was a real highlight for me was the zombie imagery in this one. It was all just really well done and hit all the beats of your standard undead narrative which was cool to see in ponies. Though, it's everywhere else where this episode starts to fall apart for me.

Am I the only one that thought the other main's message to Rainbow at the beginning of the episode was sort of needlessly misleading. I mean, anyone could understand that they wanted Rainbow to tone down on the pranking and save it for worthwhile moments but that's just not what they said there. To that end, I sort of started cheering for Dash when she literally did do what they said and stepped up her pranking. I mean, moving AJ's bed through all those alarms? I don't care who you are, that takes time and effort and I'll applaud that XD.

Though, the real problem I have with this episode started to show when Rainbow started pranking others outside the main circle. It then hit its peak point when Dash couldn't put two and two together when Pinkie got sick off her cookie prank. It's like she regressed back to season 1 Dash and suddenly became unbelievably thick. The episode then moves back to a predictable state where you know Rainbow's taking it too far, the other ponies are just playing her, and she'll get told off at the end.

So overall, this is probably one of the weaker episodes of season 6 so far. It just seemed to mute every main character's defining traits in order to fit into a way overdone plot line. Zombie theme aside, I don't see myself revisiting this one anytime soon.

 

Also... I'm kicking myself for chuckling at the whoopie-cushion gag. I don't even know why I found it so humorous. It's like comedy suicide at this point but it being paired with Purple No-fun just seemed to carry it full circle for me into it being funny... somehow...

[AdventChild]

After last week’s cart wreck of an episode, we follow up with The Trotting Dead with 28 Pranks Later.

Even though I liked it slightly better than last week’s, the problems there happen to be somewhat similar in this one.

The things I liked were some of the Pinkie Pie parts and zombie parts.

First off, like with the cart episode, this one felt like it belongs in one of the previous seasons like 2 or 3 with how immature RD seemed to be. Again, it felt like her character had been forcefully regressed for the sake of the predictable plot just like last episode and it made her feel rather annoying as well as one-note with her pranks. Not to mention we’ve seen RD show some restraint (even if it was her ego) in Flight to the Finish in front of Miss Harshwhinny. Also, didn’t you listen to Pinkie in Griffon the Brush Off about pranking Fluttershy? And I felt like punching my computer screen whenever she says ‘Gotcha!’.

The pranks and much of the humor I didn’t find that funny. Speaking of which, the pranks she did excluding the one with the skunk though annoying seem relatively minor and conducting a mass zombie outbreak feels an extreme overreaction. Not to mention the Manes esp. AJ say that the pranks RD was doing in the beginning were cheap or lazy, encouraging her to do more elaborate ones rather than toning it down, which didn’t really make their point across clearly. Also, the moral feels rather forced and getting the point by being crueler seems mean spirited and counterproductive.

Overall, a meh episode suffers with character regression for the sake of stupid zombie shenanigans and a predictable plot.

[MetalSkulkBane]

I'm so glad Rainbow learn the lesson that was said in first 3 minutes of the episode. Lesson that Rainbow in season 1 episode 5 already knew. And it's second time Mane Six had to rally against Rainbow,  which is kinda weird.

[Dark Qiviut]

28PL is Mare Do Well in a new dress, yet simultaneously, it tries to "fix" it without comprehending the flaws. The most obvious here is actually talking to Dash, which they actually do here compared to there. Except…

. <--- The point…

…

…

…

…

…

… ---> DHX.

The flaw of why they didn't talk to her ahead of time is because they didn't bother trying to tell her to calm down. If they put in any effort, they'd still be out-of-character, passive-aggressive assholes just by how they acted after, but at least they tried to do something about it before they, too, treated everyone's lives as pawns.

In 28 Pranks Later, while they called her out, their solution was actually having Dash put in the effort to come up with better pranks rather than telling her to calm down. In short, they're passively responsible for Dash pranking on everyone.

This doesn't even count the blatant out-of-character prologue. Dammit, Dash, you learned that Fluttershy doesn't like being pranked!

[AdventChild]

Last week’s zombie shenanigans, this week Changeling tomfoolery.

Ever since Canterlot Wedding, I really liked the design of the bug ponies and are some of the neater aspects of Equestria that I liked to see further explored. This episode had little of in it and it just left me wanting a bit more which hopefully we'll get in this season's finale.

I put this episode almost on par with Gauntlet of Fire and definitely find it steps up than the last couple of episodes.

I liked Thorax and Spike’s interactions/friendship, some of the humor and moments with the guards, and some bit more Changeling lore and backstory.

The cons are the writing/dialogue did felt kinda hokey in spots and Thorax’s voice kinda, excuse the pun, bugged me a little. Some of the background ponies’ reactions felt a bit over the top. Pacing issues near the end and I honestly didn’t like the song that much that I mostly skipped it. And said song quickly changed everypony’s mind about Thorax completely.

Also, Sunset 2.0/Starlight, the one who sympathized and related with Trixie for her misdeeds, looking kinda hypocritical near the end there. In fact, what was her purpose in this episode anyway? Just to let us know that she is still relevant? Honestly you can easily write her and Sunburst out and nothing much would have been changed.

All in all, a decent Spike episode that is again, steps in a better direction than the previous couple of eps. One of the few positives in an otherwise, IMO, underwhelming/lackluster season.

[Strickerx5]

Huh, I'm pretty crossed with this episode. I guess to change things up a bit (see what I did there harhar) I'll start with what I didn't like with this one first. For one, this might have been a more predictable episode than the last two. This basically killed any hope for them taking an interesting route with the Changelings here. I mean honestly, when Thorax is discovered in the castle throne room scene the whole episode could have ended there if Spike had come up to defend him there but then the show staff probably realized that they still had 5 minutes to fill. Also, gotta say that I wasn't a fan of this song. It started out good enough and I do love Cathy's singing voice for Spike but damn if that song didn't drag on. It seemed like they put the full version into the episode rather than the cut and pure versions they tend to do for other episodes. Didn't help that they seemed to start reusing some of the same animation half way through as well.

Also, and this is more of a nitpick, why were Sunburst and Starlight even there? I like the idea of seeing characters that really would never be seen otherwise when they can but they did NOTHING here.

Though beyond that... I can't say that I fully dislike this episode either. I loved seeing Spike as the main character again and it was great seeing Twilight stick up for him too. The Spike and Thorax interactions were a joy to watch. And I also love the possibilities this opens up going forward with Thorax being a direct line to Changeling discussion. All of these are huge positives for me.

Plus, I gotta say I liked the idea of Cadance and Shinning going overboard with the guards due to their past with the Changelings. They even seemed the most apprehensive about accepting Thorax towards the end there (especially Shinning). But you know, perfect pink princess pone gotta keep face and accepts Thorax in because Twilight's word is better than Spike's I guess.

So overall... eh, it's not my favorite episode of the season by any stretch of the word but it wasn't a bad time. While it was pretty predictable I do love the doors it opens up going forward. Let's hope that the show opens them at some point.

[MetalSkulkBane]

It's arguable whenever "The Times They Are a Changeling"  was a good episode, but i think we can all agree it could been better. Like let Starlight join Spike's side at some point. Or if Song has more scenery and felt less repetitive. Lastly, I wish the ending acknowledge Thorax's love thirst, you know, the whole reason people fear him. Is he okay, now that he has friends? Will they look for a way "cure" him?

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Out of nowhere, NEW ALBUM!

Pinkie Pie's Party Playlist not only includes the long-awaited Pinkie Pride songs, but also some tracks from Season 5! Full tracklist:

1. I'll Fly (Rainbow Dash)

2. The Spectacle (Countess Coloratura)

3. The Magic Inside (Countess Coloratura)

4. In Our Town (Starlight Glimmer)

5. Pony Pokey (Pinkie Pie)

6. Cheese Confesses (Cheese Sandwich & Pinkie Pie)

7. Pinkie's Lament (Pinkie Pie)

8. Super Duper Party Pony (Pinkie Pie, Cheese Sandwich, Rainbow Dash, & Fluttershy)

9. The Goof Off (Cheese Sandwich & Pinkie Pie)

10. The Pony I Want to Be (Diamond Tiara)

It's available now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Google Play!

Definitely didn't expect this so suddenly, but SUPER happy that what prevented the Pinkie Pride songs from being included in previous albums has finally been sorted out! Especially pumped to finally have a clear version of Pinkie's Lament!   

[Kevin]

Man did Discord really steal the show in this episode! His wit and antics never get old! The interaction between the character was big strenth of this episode as well.

My main complaint is the pacing. Most of the episode was spent with Discord being very reluctant and it wasn't until the latter half of the episode that we actually get some D&D gameplay. I really wished we've gotten some more gameplay out of it.

All in all, a fun little episode.

[AdventChild]

After hearing the synopsis for this episode with it starring male characters like Big Mac and Discord and the D&D premise, I was actually anticipating for this one.

Now after watching it, my reaction is kinda….eh, it was pretty average.

Discord stole much of the show and feels like the main and only positive here and the problem or disappointment with the episode lies in nearly everything else.

First off is the poor pacing. It really bugged me that it took nearly half the episode to get to the D&D portion and much of the stuff pass intro could have been cut in half. Also, this episode could’ve easily benefited in being a two-parter for sure and be able to delve more into the D&D aspect.

Big Mac reduced to gag character status with Yup/Nope and not getting enough lines. It has been a personal peeve that after Brotherhooves Social, Big Mac’s first central episode, he had been reduced to being one note after getting big development and able to express himself more even if it was to family. Also, the gag is just tiresome at this point IMO.

More wasted potential comes from not including Shining Armor who has a nerd-side in the comics as well as in The One Where Only Pinkie Pie Knows. Adding him in could have further his character development and increased the party’s size. Hay, why not invite Thorax from last episode as well? It would have been nice to establish some continuity as well as it would have been interesting to see Discord to interact/react to the Changeling and even to see whether or not he knows anything about the race/species and possible Discord backstory.

It’s an average episode, saved partially by Discord antics, but poor pacing that shoves much of the D&D hijinks in the second half and a lot of missed opportunities that could have made this better.

[Strickerx5]

Gotta keep this short because I'm starting school this week.

This was an interesting little episode for me. I love the idea of Spike, Big Mac, and Discord getting together to play a Dungeons and Dragon sort of game but I felt that the execution had a bit left to be desired. For the most part, I oddly just didn't find Discord to be all that funny this time around. He had his moments, but pretty much the entire first half just saw him whining which is off putting to me for a character that strong in personality. This basically leads to my main problem with the episode as it spent too much time with Discord when it just wasn't his A game showing here. It relied too heavily on him. It got better towards the end though.

Though, on the other hand, Spike just continues to shine this season. I love how balanced he was here. So far, Spike is definitely getting my mvp award for the season XD. Also, Big Mac was there and um... yeah, he really didn't do much here. It was nice to see him though I guess.

So yeah, not my favorite showing from Discord but a pretty decent episode nonetheless. I loved the board game theme and Spike's role which really carried the episode for me. Plus, Luna was mentioned so yay.

Also, am I the only one who would have liked to see the main six in Yakyakistan too? I feel like that would have been the making for a pretty great episode. To have a bit of a Just for Sidekicks and Games Ponies Play style going on again.

[MetalSkulkBane]

My feelings were all over the place over this episode. Maybe it's some stupid nostalgia, but almost every Discord episode is tiring for me since "man, he was so much better in first appearance". Still, he definitely had worst episodes. Pacing was bad, but interactions were nice (still, could use extra stallion or two).

What really makes me wonder is presenting DnD. My brother commented that it's good they showed them playing with dices and stuff, instead of showing up their imagination. "This is how real DnD looks, showing you that dragon will come out out of nowhere would be a lie"; I kinda get the idea, but isn't cartoon a visual media? With that said, Dicord's world looked great, very creative idea leaving them as a walking paper. I wish they showed us "Smarity" too.

Also I loved the ending. When mane six seen then play I crossed my fingers and said "please join them, please join them". And they did! Not all of them, but one can argue it's better this way, remind us that our heroes do have different tastes beyond "party, apple, dress" routine.

[AdventChild]

So we go from Discord trying to understand D&D “nerd” culture to the opposite end with athleticism as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie trying out sports that they’re good at.

Gotta admit this episode felt barebones average, really dull. Not as entertaining as Discord’s antics from last week.

Some of the positives are Snails, some Pinkie parts, Fluttershy’s outburst, and some of the facial reactions. Also, that odd Pegasus mare that is clearly on steroids that should disqualified Braeburn’s team. But even these aren’t enough to salvage the episode from being a borefest and are better in prior eps.

First off, as a personal preference, I’m not much of a sports fan with my favorite sport being bowling and not with the usual ones with big fans (football, baseball etc.) so I wasn’t really interested in this in the first place. Also, I wasn’t fond of buckball either which is merely a combination of volleyball and basketball with buckets and not as interesting or exciting as Quidditch.

Man, did they really nerf and have the unicorns hold the Idiot Ball just to give Snails the part. Also, surprised that they didn’t bother to ask Rarity or Starlight Glimmer (or even Trixie) to participate to play for the part.

Predictable cliché plot and moral for the most part, no thanks to the weak and bland writing/humor that didn’t help much. Speaking of Idiot Ball, AJ and RD seemed to holding it as their characters seemed to be in competitive mode, acting jerk like and it just comes off as forced. It doesn’t help that AJ’s sole reason for this is to get back at Braeburn and the plot/premise stems from this weak branch of reasoning. Just like some eps this season like Cart Before Ponies or 28 Pranks Later, this also felt more fitting in the earlier season because how the two acted more like they would in S1-3. Speaking of S1, is it any wonder why I prefer Fall Weathered Friends over this? (better humor and less forced plot for one). Not to mention some points felt like filler esp. nearing the end of the episode too.

IMO, a dull cliché and unremarkable episode.

[Strickerx5]

I don't really have a lot to say about this one. It was as by-the-books as an episode can get these days. I liked the inclusions of Snails (feels like the show forgot about him and Snips a couple of seasons back) and I did like the interesting team dynamics Buckball could have brought. The reason I use "could" is, outside of focusing on how abnormally good Pinkie and Flutters were at this new sport, it barely goes into the aspects that combining all three pony types into one sport could have brought. I'll give it points for not being a simple football or basketball re-skin like most shows will do but it barely does anything with the idea as we just get a simple "think about how others feel" episode.

So yeah, this was just an average episode. Nothing outstandingly good or bad about it. I did enjoy the meta humor of both Andrea's and Ashely's pair of characters interacting off each other (2 people voicing the 4 main characters) but beyond that, there really wasn't anything special of note here.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Episode was pretty dull. Buckball is a weird one. Rules do seem to make sense and make it fairly unique, but animation failed to make it look interesting. I swear that unicorn didn't moved buckets at all, Rainbow was just nice enough to never stand in front of her bucket.

Also, on more technical level: I don't know much about sports, but it seems to me that this game pretty much can't have strategy. With only 3 players, each having given specific roles, it's impossible to make any team maneuvers.

[AdventChild]

*Sigh… another CMC episode concerning Cutie Marks, my least anticipated episodes.

Yeah, didn’t like this one, kinda bored me.

I guess the only things liked were Twilight being adorkable and more continuity with Griffonstone.

The plot was paint by numbers. And Gabby was eh, a bit too hyperactive for my taste and kinda annoying at times and can be seen as a bit of a Mary Sue with how well she does at everything. Didn’t feel much depth to her even if it is her debut episode. Also, didn’t like the song.

It seems that they are running out of ideas for stories surrounding Cutie Marks and just running it thin and stretching it out. I wished that they would stop talking about the dumb marks after they obtained theirs last season and moved on to something else. It feels tiresome at this point. Hay, the Filly Scout idea introduced in 28 Pranks Later has some potential for stories of the CMC earning badges than Cutie Marks and focus more on filling their sashes. Also, like with Big Mac, give any of the colts like Button Mash, Rumble or Pipsqueak an episode focusing on them and give the CMC a bit of break every once in a while. Why not? At least, it brings something new to the table.

An overall bland CMC episode IMO.

[Strickerx5]

Honestly, I don't entirely know where I'd place this one. There are some parts of it that I really liked and others that I really didn't. I guess I'll start off by saying how good it is to see more griffons. I like how the show seems to be trying to expand upon the current cast by not just adding ponies, but other already introduced creatures into the mix as well.

When it comes to the new griffon Gabby though... I found myself being pretty on and off with her throughout the entire episode. I loved her attitude compared to what we've seen with the rest of the griffons and especially loved her character design and animation but man did she get annoying at points. She probably got more lines in just this episode than a majority of the secondary cast has gotten in the entire series. While some of it is pretty enduring, a lot of it just comes off as noise to me and sort of muddles her appeal. I even found myself questioning her overall motive due to just how loud she was. Also, it could just be my jaded outlook here but, damn if her optimism didn't seem freakish at multiple points.

Another thing I couldn't help but notice was just how blatant the ponies were with stereotyping griffons. It might be a small thing, but it's something I've noticed the show doing for a while now and it just seemed heavy handed here. Plus, unlike in other episodes, it wasn't even addressed or looked down on. Nope, we can automatically assume griffon are jerks because of what we've heard... k. I know it probably wasn't meant to come off that way and the moral does go a bit in the other way of that mindset but I just feel like with what's going on in today's world... more could have been done to go directly against it.

That's really where my negatives for this episode end though. I loved the CMCs attitude towards at least trying to accomplish the impossible and I absolutely love the moral at the end of it all. I also liked how a bit of Twilight's dork side showed here. She really didn't do much besides advance the plot otherwise but with the season she's been having... eh, I'll take what I can get at this point.

So yeah, still not properly sure where to put this one... can't say I've felt this way about an episode in a while. I didn't particularly find it noteworthy but it wasn't really bad to me I guess, hm. Anyways, here's hoping we see Gabby again sometime in the near future. Only... a bit more toned down hopefully.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Quite obvious plot. Cheesy at times. Gabby sure talks a lot.

I liked it.

I see the faults, but can't help but like it. First of all, this is impressive that they still making CMC episodes after they got their cutie marks. Lazy show would call it a day, but they coming up with ideas.

Second of all, Gaby is just like CMC or Marine the Raccon: overexcited to point of stupidy, but I can't help but love their passion and energy. She quickly captured my sympathy, so I got invested in her struggle (something that Thorax failed few episodes ago)

[Kevin]

Oh man did Fluttershy absolutely kill it in this episode! I've been loving her character development and I personally think it's one of the best things about this season so far!

It's great to see more new area, Las Pegasus. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me how G rated they made it considering that this is a technically a kids show after all. It doesn't surprise me that Gladmane turned out to be the antagonist. It looked shady right from the get go. I actually found it refreshing that Flim and Flam were protagonists for once even if they were going back to their old ways in the end. I will say that double con that was pulled off was very clever.

All in all, this was a great episode and I hope they keep up the great work regarding Fluttershy's character!

[AdventChild]

Going from referencing Griffonstone with a new Griffon and the CMC last episode to exploring new territory of Las Pegasus with AJ and Fluttershy meeting the familiar Flim Flam Bros in this one.

And after seeing it, my reaction for this was okay. Kinda indifferent.

I liked seeing Las Pegasus that it was a giant resort/theme park and some of the ponies’ design, AJ is better characterized here than in some of the other episodes she starred in like Apple Jack’s Day Off and Carts Before Ponies, Fluttershy characterization was nice too and the double con pull.

Gladmane was pretty obvious antagonist from the start and rather generic in a way, being a rich tycoon. The humor and writing didn’t stand out much IMO other than Gladmane and Flim Flam’s delivery. Speaking of Flim and Flam, I’m rather neutral on the two and they’re characters that I’m mainly indifferent to. It was nice to see them as protagonists for a change, but I prefer their debut episode Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 over this.

An okay episode, not bad and not great either.

[Strickerx5]

Gotta say that this episode caught me a bit off guard. I wasn't really prepared for how lively Las Pegasus turned out to be nor for how much the plot was going to keep me guessing. I guess I'll start with the animation as all those new character models and backgrounds were truly a sight to behold. It seems like they've really made the effort to go all out with the background ponies this season as there are a tone of new designs and color schemes in there that we haven't seen before. It sort of brings more life to an already lively world.

In terms of the narrative, I gotta say that this one had me guessing quite a bit. I mean, putting the two ponies of the main six who would be least likely to go out for the night and party, let alone go to a place like Las Pegasus already garnered my attention but bringing back Flim and Flam was something I just didn't see coming. At that point I couldn't decide who was going to be the antagonist for the episode. Would it be the characters that we know are incredibly shifty or the new one that just screams "I have devious intentions"? It honestly all kept me engaged till the very end as I loved how all the characters interacted through their past, given traits, and general dialogue. Plus, Fluttershy may be the only one to question Spike's sprint for this seasons mvp as she was amazing here too. I don't think I've mentioned her that much this season but she's steadily been great to watch with how much development she's seemed to have retained over the last few seasons.

And Twilight was... exposition... again. Man, I was half using hyperbole a couple of months back when I called her Cadance 2.0 but with every episode she's in... it's becoming a fact.

So yeah, overall I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with this episode. I just believe that it used all its cards just right and made for an enjoyable watch on just about every front. I honestly can't find any noteworthy shortcomings here.