Rating:
Fluttershy already had her special episode with Filli
Vanilli, so the actual one chosen for this honor probably wasn’t going to
measure up. Natasha Levinger’s first
outing for My Little Pony was the
filler-filled dud Pinkie Apple Pie, and unfortunately, that’s the main problem
with her second episode as well. It
Ain’t Easy Being Breezies is meant to introduce a new species first mentioned
in Three’s A Crowd (and a reboot from earlier MLP incarnations), but there isn’t really much to say once you see
them. They’re dragonfly-sized ponies who
speak some version of Swedish, but otherwise are the same as normal
ponies. The main goal for them is to get
home, which just takes flying with a breeze across Equestria. Mostly the problems are evident by how long
it takes simple events to happen.
Fluttershy makes sure to explain everything carefully throughout the
teaser and first act, and the journey seems pretty much done by the end of
it. But we have 14 minutes to fill, so
of course Spike does something stupid to screw up the plan. With the Pegasi still around, they could just
create another breeze and send the wayward Breezies back home. But no, they’re not ready yet. Wait until the 20-minute mark at least. There’s so much stretching that the various
emotional points feel manufactured, as it’s really difficult to care about a
group of ponies we’ve never seen before.
Nothing new is learned from Fluttershy either, who again breaks out the
stare (after getting angry in defense of a hurt friend) and delivers her trademark
quiet “yay”. With no growth found in an
episode supposedly devoted to it, “Breezies” marks Levinger’s second
consecutive flop.
Delivering plot points through lots of exposition is a tough
task, but Fluttershy is game for it. She
starts in the teaser by leading the mane six through an unnecessary cheer
(they’re much too loud, of course), and continues her spiel to Mr. Cake once
the episode proper begins. As we saw in
Baby Cakes, he’s someone who will believe any story told to him, but at least
this time evidence is provided thereafter.
The Breezies finally show up once the commercial break nears, but Spike
disturbs a leaf in an attempt to secure a better view. A group of the Breezies is broken off from
the rest, but Fluttershy rescues them gently.
Naturally (as an avid Bergman fan) she can speak their
language, although the leader, Seabreeze, is fluent in English. He desperately wants to get home, but the
other Breezies really don’t. They shack
up at Fluttershy’s place, and create excuses for why they have to stay. Seabreeze finally has enough of this stalling
and sets out on his own. He’s felled by
acorns and bees, but Fluttershy is there again to save the day. She has to yell at the bees, who
unsurprisingly don’t respond to kind words, and that prompts her rainbow
moment. Tough love is the only way to
save the Breezies, so she returns home and kicks the bums out.
There’s no point in having tons of exposition without plot
contrivance too, so Twilight magically knows a spell to turn the mane six into
Breezies (needed when the group isn’t enough to fill a breeze, or
something). They all fly to a hole that
leads to the Breezies’ dominion.
Seabreeze is reunited with his wife and baby, and the other Breezies are
happy to be back. Fluttershy escapes the
closing hole just in time, and another spell returns the mane six to normal.
It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies doesn’t feature a lot in the
way of characterization, and what little exists is unimpressive. Contrary to Filli Vanilli, Fluttershy only acts
in established patterns. We knew nothing
about her feelings on performing there, but her love of animals (including the
previous Breezies mention), the cheer, and the stare are all copypasted right
out of earlier episodes. She had better
realizations in Filli Vanilli, although the eureka moment counts as one of the
few decent scenes. Unfortunately,
Fluttershy is the only mane six member to receive anything more than a
supporting role.
Likewise, the Breezies only get one developed character
themselves. Seabreeze has the only
speaking part, and at least has some motivation for his actions. His appearance is strangely feminine though,
and it feels like the series copped out on a potential new group to include. Is Seabreeze trans-something? Nope, he’s just a normal male, and Fluttershy
intuits this immediately with no evidence.
They could have met on the previous trip, but the dialogue makes it
clear that didn’t happen either. At
least Seabreeze has some personality, although the revelation feels hollow
amongst all the filler. Did he really
need a baby at home to justify his actions?
Certainly almost dying in Ponyville would be enough, but it seems a
cheap grab at emotion. Although his
desire is explained, why didn’t the other Breezies want to return? Seabreeze’s attitude suggests they would be
going back to either slavery or some other menial labor, but then they were
just as happy. This second part of the
thread needed explaining but didn’t get it.
Of course, the real reason they wanted to stay was to lengthen the
episode so it didn’t end after two acts.
And that’s what I mean by filler. Certain characters’ decisions are only based
on the current time of the episode rather than their own desires. For whatever reason, Levinger doesn’t appear
capable of writing a complete episode of the series, which is ironic
considering the best writers struggle to fit everything they want into the time
slot. One could argue Breezies-sized
modicums of progress have been made, with a few specks of good characterization
and scenes. But they are trumped by
loads of exposition and filler, which mar the attempts at emotion. That Breezies is the worst of the “rainbow”
episodes is telling, since their importance otherwise produced some of fourth
season’s better offerings. Levinger
couldn’t do it though, although some of the fault must also go to Meghan McCarthy
or whoever decided to make Breezies Fluttershy’s episode instead of Filli
Vanilli. As it stands, It Ain’t Easy
Being Breezies is a misstep and a disappointment.
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