My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 521 - Scare Master

 

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Oh god why.  Natasha Levinger’s take on Halloween is supposedly funny, scary, and insightful, but the episode actually ends up being another abomination of stupidity.  Fine, Fluttershy didn’t go out during the first Nightmare Night in Luna Eclipsed, but what the fuck did Levinger turn her into?  Now Fluttershy is somehow paralyzed by a wide array of irrational fears, and completely sucks the fun out of every activity.  With nowhere else for this plot point to go halfway through, Levinger decides Fluttershy should scare everyone else instead, but the results vary from oddly not scary, too much for a children’s show, and humorously bad.  Then after an apparent success and many self-congratulations, Fluttershy gives up, says fuck her friends, and goes home.  Larson’s Halloween episode wasn’t perfect, but he addressed why the holiday exists while reintroducing an important new character.  Levinger’s seemed little more than a dreary rehash of Filli Vanilli which has little purpose and accomplishes nothing.  Like Hearthbreakers before it, Levinger assumes details about her assigned holiday that aren’t really established as canon.  Why would Fluttershy be afraid to go out on Nightmare Night when nothing bad actually happens?  Is she really scared of other ponies in costumes?  Levinger says yes, but that doesn’t make any sense.  We do finally see how Rarity celebrates Halloween, but her costume designs look terrible and uninspired here.  Not content with all this, Levinger adds in some unnecessary slapstick “comedy” which gets repeated for additional “effect”.  Outside of Fluttershy’s absurd characterization, the other mane six members essentially phone in their parts.  No one seems interested to be appearing in this abomination, and they aren’t bothered by completely ignoring Fluttershy or her problems.  Even if certain scenes are mildly amusing, absolutely no repeat value exists.  Every joke falls flat the second time around, and Fluttershy’s attitude makes certain parts unwatchable.  Levinger’s time on My Little Pony consisted of awful episodes (Pinkie Apple Pie, It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies, Make New Friends But Keep Discord), with Scare Master being the deserved nail in her writing career.  From strange reactions to misguided ideas on what constitutes scary, Scare Master is another mess which does nothing right.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 518 - Crusaders Of The Lost Mark

 

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Crusaders Of The Lost Mark attempts to be an Important episode, but only ends up as Magical Mystery Cure part two.  This criticism is common, but completely accurate since the episode features wall-to-wall songs and tries to do way too much.  Perhaps not to the extent of season three’s finale, although nothing about the plot, characterization, or resolution makes much sense either.  While planning their next failed attempt at earning cutie marks, the Crusaders are interrupted by Pipsqueak, who demands they become his campaign managers for a run at class president.  With no experience or reason to help someone who barely ever makes an appearance, they readily accept.  He slaughters Diamond Tiara after her assholish display, but now the Crusaders feel bad and try cheering her up by becoming friends.  Then after Tiara becomes a completely different character, they finally earn their cutie marks without disrupting My Little Pony’s premise.  These widely disparate events are scored as a musical for some reason, and Ingram’s songs are again typically bland and unoriginal.  Amy Keating Rogers wastes yet another teaser, and pervades her script with too many head-shaking moments.  Many may feel that the Crusaders finally earning their marks is historic enough to warrant a higher rating, but these odd final scenes only elevate a worse episode to middling status.  Given how long they’ve attempted to earn them, this part feels rushed after the drawn out Diamond Tiara scenes which don’t offer as much insight as they pretend.  Almost every problem Rogers had with A Friend In Deed occurs again here, since Crusaders is another extremely poorly paced episode.  Her script may never reach those earlier lows, but it’s still an indisputable mess whose sections do not belong together.  That the Crusaders earn their marks in this way is extremely disappointing, and wastes what should have been one of the series’ highlights.  Rogers is capable of much better work, but Crusaders brought out her sub-par faults instead and fails to achieve any of its objectives.  Even though they’re often annoying, the Crusaders deserved better than this anti-climax for their “defining” episode.

 

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 514 - Canterlot Boutique

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Canterlot Boutique consciously tries to be Suited For Success’s sequel, but it never probes deeper than the surface level.  Rarity has somehow scraped up enough money to open a second shop (thanks, Princess Exposition!), and few premises scream “reset button” more.  At least she found a manager to help, but Sassy Saddles’ outgoing marketing persona feels predictably evil.  Thankfully, Amy Keating Rogers goes some places you won't expect, and does try dealing with fashion issues.  Whether she actually cares about fashion is debatable, although her topics don’t only pertain to that discipline.  In a country where the percentage of successful people constantly dwindles, marketing and mass production are almost more important than good ideas and creativity.  Sassy understands this, but Rogers doesn’t portray that as bad.  Her attitude differs from Rarity’s, but she isn’t uncaring or heartless.  Also discussed is how most people believe fashion means wearing “what’s in style” and looking like everyone else.  With hundreds of orders for the “princess dress”, this will literally be true in Canterlot, but that fact (and the morality of doing so) goes unmentioned.  What doesn’t though is whether Rarity is ready for the next step or not, and what being famous will take.  Rogers starts off slowly, but eventually spins her show into focus through tackling many different subjects.  Choosing stereotypes over new characters admittedly may not have been inspired, but it does accurately describe working in customer service.  And having everyone discover their own fashion sense is a positive if utopian message.  Unfortunately, Rogers clearly doesn’t care about fashion, while too much disconnect and questionable scene choices exist for a better rating.  Canterlot Boutique may mostly have Rarity’s heart, but its mean-spirited parts detract from the overall effect.  Considering Rogers has had early-episode focus problems before (A Friend In Deed, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3), this aspect can’t be glossed over or forgiven.  Most episodes don’t attempt to deal with so much though, and Canterlot Boutique is successful enough that it earns a passing grade despite needing another script draft and better editing.  Most of the supporting ponies don’t return often if ever, but like the other background characters in season five, that doesn’t mean they’re not realistic or deserving.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 615 - 28 Pranks Later

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You know what we need?  A sequel to that one terrible episode.  No, not The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.  That other one, with the griffon.  Brush off something-or-other.  We already did one?  Fuck, I mean, I know we already did one, but that was to the griffon part.  Do one on the prank part instead.  You know what, go ahead and throw in Mare-Do-Well too, what the hell.  Oh, and zombies.  The kids love zombies.  That Walking Dead show?  Huge ratings for AMC.  Every other movie that tops the box office these days has zombies, or it’s some other sort of horror movie.  I don’t know, just put some zombies in because our ratings have been sagging recently.  Yes, I know it’s a kids’ show!  They won’t notice, trust me.  I’ve had sex right next to my three-year-old’s bedroom and he slept through the whole thing.  What does that have to do…oh never mind.  Just don’t make the episode too gory and it’ll be fine.  We probably shouldn’t have anyone die either; the parents might not like that.  And don’t put “dead” in the title, I don’t want to have another conversation with Standards and Practices about that.  Come on, there must be at least one zombie movie without “dead” in the title.  Night Of The Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, um, Shaun Of The Dead, Day Of The Dead, Land Of The Dead, Evil Dead, Dead Alive, fuck.  Wait, wasn’t there that one movie that came out a while ago from that piece of shit director who somehow won for that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire movie?  What was it called again?  Yeah, that’s it, 28 Days Later.  Bam, there’s your title and premise right there.  Script’s practically already half written, I can feel this is going to be a good one.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 606 - No Second Prances

 

 

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Receiving his second straight solid premise, Nick Confalone unsurprisingly flushed it down the toilet.  No Second Prances finds Starlight Glimmer making friends with Trixie, but this spectacular development gets lost through poor characterization and writing.  Twilight wants Starlight to make her own new friend for an upcoming dinner with Princess Celestia, except Starlight actually chooses someone who understands her.  Trixie has returned with a new magic show (sort of), and…fuck it, she has no tricks and the dinner doesn’t really matter anyway.  Criticisms about No Second Prances pandering and being bullet points to or a summary of an actual good script are quite accurate.  Confalone doesn’t care whether his characters actually arrive where he wants, and every choice he made was awful.  Trixie has forgotten about Magic Duel (except for some toothless asides), Starlight won’t stop joking about her past, and Twilight is an annoying mother whose change of heart only occurs because the script says so.  Then we get Trixie trying to kill herself while Celestia has no lines because they didn’t want to pay her voice actress.  And since Slice Of Life was so popular, why not needlessly throw in those background ponies too?  Cranky rattles off some decent quips and Trixie’s sarcastic introduction elicits laughter, but No Second Prances is otherwise a complete mess.  Confalone can’t be forgiven for utterly destroying his premise when it should have been a season highlight and likely top list inclusion.  Instead, the episode confirms that forcing Starlight onto the show was a huge mistake.  Confalone certainly wasn’t attempting this goal, but he nevertheless achieved it with yet another disappointment.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 607 - Newbie Dash

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So apparently pilot training/flight school is actually like this, where everyone’s first day goes terribly, too many new recruits just want to show off, and you absolutely will get stuck with a terrible call name.  While such trivia proves interesting, seeing these events in action does not.  Dave Rapp’s first script freely retcons or contrives whatever he needs to hurt and embarrass the usual mane six member.  Doing so was unfortunately typical of season two, so Newbie Dash marked one more step backwards.  Some effort was made to justify Twilight becoming a princess or the Crusaders earning their marks before, but we don’t have time for that so fuck it.  Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt now, because some guy we’ve never seen before totally “retired”.  Training for their upcoming show goes terribly though, especially when everyone starts calling her Rainbow Crash again.  When not using this premise to dump trash on Dash or otherwise inflict bodily harm, Rapp populates his script with questionable sequences which have little point but killing time (Dash imitates her five friends and Pinkie Pie wants bigger cotton candy).    He also has Dash walk across the runway (while we watch another Wonderbolt fly over it), so that she can almost get hit and fall into a conveniently placed trash can.  Good luck trying to find Dash walking anywhere else when she’s not injured.  Even though Rapp gives Pinkie one decent line (“at least they didn’t call you Rainbow Trash”), Newbie Dash feels too painful for a passing grade.  It never feels like an actual episode, going from needless slapstick comedy to a final lesson of being “okay with fitting in”.  What theoretically should have been Dash’s huge celebration ends up being more character regression.  Every complaint I’ve made before fits Newbie Dash, since it isn’t remotely acceptable for a series this far into production.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 620 - Viva Las Pegasus

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Viva Las Pegasus might be more filler, but at least it’s enjoyable and does something.  The Map sends Applejack and Fluttershy to Vegas…and they’re pissed.  Despite not partaking in any festivities (just as well for a children’s show), they were the right ones sent.  With gambling also wisely ignored, Pegasus concentrates on backstage issues regarding several performing shows, with an interesting twist.  Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc” [why]at’s script admittedly has problems, but also a story which develops and reveals as it goes along.  And they discuss how friendship, always an instrument of good in My Little Pony, can be used for evil.  Much of what happens is delightful, including appearances by Siegfried and Roy, “big old” Elvis (as the main baddie), and two familiar swindling brothers whose surprising argument may or may not be why Fluttershy and Applejack are there.  Burke and Wyatt have some dialogue problems (more clichés and Elvis stand-in Gladmane doing too many “uh-huh-huh”s), didn’t name several important backstage characters (two of whom are referred to multiple times as “director” and “star”), and offer an uninspired resolution that seems less likely to have worked than the original plan.  But their script is also well-structured and watchable, which can’t be said for most season six efforts.  Pegasus isn’t great, but Burke and Wyatt explored an issue which most people probably didn’t even consider existing.  Not that questioning everyone’s sincerity was necessary for Ponyville, but it’s a valid concern given how Gladmane manipulates friendship for his personal gain.  “Watchable” shouldn’t really be the bar episodes are judged on, but Pegasus doesn’t drag or contain wasted moments (such as montage filler songs) like previously aired outings do.  Perhaps Pegasus would have barely been a footnote in other seasons, but it rates among season six’s best outings despite the flaws.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 617 - Dungeons & Discords

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What was the point of this episode again?  Discord joins in on Spike and Big Mac’s Dungeons & Dragons game (retitled Ogres & Oubliettes after the comics.  Oh wow, that’s awesome! 10/10!), and they make some references to The Mask and that one Star Trek: TNG episode where Riker becomes a Q.  Does any of this somehow turn into a good outing?  Most fans think so, but again they must have watched a different show.  Discord does his annoying loser antics, which are no better than his similar behavior from season five.  Then the “big reveal” has Spike only inviting Discord because he felt sorry for him, despite the teaser making perfectly clear that Discord participates because Fluttershy is busy elsewhere.  Or the reviews go on about how much development Discord received.  But what did he learn exactly?  Find creatures who feel sorry for you and take advantage of them?  Because you know he’s not going to change at all after this.  And what did this episode say about Dungeons & Dragons?  That it’s super boring and would be much better in a real life video game setting?  The whole point of Dungeons & Dragons is that you’re basically participating in an epic fantasy novel, which Dungeons & Discords just shits all over.  Nick Confalone’s script has severe pacing problems when it’s not being incredibly boring.  Getting to playing this silly game takes forever, and then there’s barely enough time left for learning about the story.  Confalone also unnecessarily brings back gender issues, which mostly stem from repeatedly referring to their gathering as “guys’ night”.  Remember that one episode where Big Mac was a princess?  Yeah, fuck that.  He’s a man’s man.  And guess who’s the first mane six member to join in later?  When an episode creates two separate stories (the mane six travel with Celestia to visit Yakyakistan), we shouldn’t be stuck seeing the more boring of them.  And yet we do, since Confalone’s script does nothing right.  Discord’s antics still aren’t funny, and he only “succeeds” in making Dungeons & Dragons look like the geeky snooze-fest everyone imagines it is.  Maybe just mentioning the game is enough for any fan to award a high rating, but Confalone’s take ends up being more trash for season six’s landfill.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 610 - Applejack's "Day" Off

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Well, they tried I guess.  Those Foxes and season five’s worst new writer (Neal Dusedau, ugh) attempted showing a solid lesson, but no one involved had enough talent to pull it off.  Applejack is badly overworked and needs some rest, although this soon mutates into a discourse on workplace efficiency.  Granted some validity exists regarding getting stuck in a routine, but why did they think these events would be an effective demonstration of that?  Like other season six efforts, Applejack’s “Day” Off (couldn’t even get the title right) suffers from feeling like it takes place in an alternate universe.  Suddenly every spa employee has an Eastern European accent and Rainbow Dash really loves her “pampered massages”.  Likewise, the teaser only exists to make a bad sight gag about Rarity looking pruny, because she forgets about it once the episode proper starts.  “Day” Off feels pretty dull when it’s not doing uncomfortable things like this, so the philosophers can argue about which is better.  Their incompetency also trickled down to the animators, who couldn’t produce anything of interest visually either.  Despite admirable intentions, what “Day” Off needed was beyond everyone’s abilities.  They decided proving Rainbow Dash fits within a gender binary was more important than making sure their script made any sense.  Considering some point clearly existed, “Day” Off might not necessarily be filler.  And given Rarity and Applejack’s horrid history together (Look Before You Sleep), seeing them get along as friends does seem refreshing.  Unfortunately, there was no overcoming such poor writing for a “slice of life” episode where almost nothing happens.  Among many other season six examples, Applejack’s “Day” Off is a B effort which could have been made years earlier without many changes, and therefore remains very far away from acceptable quality.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 618 - Buckball Season

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In yet another filler episode, Buckball Season details preparations for a meaningless game of some previously non-existing sport.  Unlike Dungeons & Discords though, new writer Jennifer Skelly finds a decent moral and point for her script.  Skelly’s characters demonstrate surprising awareness and an ability to solve problems before completely losing control (probably unique among “moral” episodes).  Unfortunately, other issues (besides the episode being completely unnecessary) contribute to another sub-par offering.  For instance, Twilight and Rarity are not only completely missing, but forgotten like they never existed.  Many earlier episodes cut one or more voice actors because of financial reasons, but this particular oversight looks extremely glaring when the plot involves finding a unicorn.  Rarity probably wouldn’t have joined the team, but nobody mentions her?  Twilight participated in that stupid leaf race during Fall Weather Friends and also needlessly teleports everywhere, so maybe she could handle holding a basket?  Instead, we’re supposed to believe that Snails is some sort of magic god and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are better at buckball (without practicing) than their two friends.  These may not be false though, since we’ve never seen Snails outside his idiot fest with Snips and Pinkie Pie is very evidently not bound by physical laws.  Fluttershy did have trouble flying during Hurricane Fluttershy, but she also caught Rainbow Dash (traveling at full speed) while pulling a hot air balloon full of ponies (The Return Of Harmony), and was once described as “the greatest flyer ever to come out of Cloudsdale” (The Cutie Mark Chronicles).  Clearly her true athletic talents are underrated and hampered by self-doubt.  Even so, believing these three could beat Ponyville and Appleloosa’s best players remains difficult.  That isn’t necessarily fatal, since it helps Skelly demonstrate how not everyone feasts on pressure-filled situations.  And unlike The Cart Before The Ponies, she paced her script well so time existed for the final game to finish.  Of course, this might only occur because her paper-thin plot barely has enough for 22 minutes.  While its omissions are curious, Buckball Season feels pleasant enough despite the low rating and how it seems to come from five years earlier.  The episode isn’t among season six’s worst, but still lacks enough substance to refrain from being notable as well.