My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 306 - Sleepless In Ponyville

Rating:

Hoo-ah.  No doubt taking my recommendation to heart, My Little Pony found at least one badly needed new writer for the third season.  While the characterization is suspect in places and there were probably a few too many clichés, Sleepless In Pony­ville is as strong a debut from anyone on the writing staff.  Outside of Rarity being way too over the top (even if hilariously so), Corey Powell seems to have had little trouble fitting into things.  Her debut episode is some­thing of an extension on the themes of Luna Eclipsed, while she hap­pily references the events of Sonic Rainboom as well.  Good choices in my opinion, but Powell’s tone is obviously quite different from M.A. Larson’s, which doesn’t end up being a bad thing.  Powell found ways to make funny moments out of clichés (“are we there yet?” well, yes actually), and yet turned in some epic and almost cinematic scenes near the end.  The episode is a bit uneven overall, but the refreshing new voice Powell brings is exactly what a floundering season needed.  She might not be approaching Larson’s levels for a while, but this is the second consecutive episode that pushes the third season toward being better than the first two.

And I’ll even forgive something Powell likely had no control over, which is that Sleepless In Ponyville is another episode with suspiciously missing cast members done only for budgetary reasons.  Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are nowhere to be found, which saves two actors from the payroll.  It would be different if these choices were made for artistic rea­sons, but I know that they’re not (especially glaring this time since Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy have the same voice actor, but might as well bring Rar­ity along since we need Tabitha St. Germain for Luna).  Powell did a solid job of not making us miss half of the mane six all that much though, since most of the plot revolves around a “sisters” camping trip for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  With Rarity already being “too much” as it is, adding any­one more to the proceedings wouldn’t have been worthwhile, even if Fluttershy makes sense for an out­door adventure with potentially scary animals.  In her place we have a rare Scootaloo-centric episode, where the forgotten Cutie Mark Crusader does her best im­itation of the perpetually scared pony for most of the episode.  She is stoked to finally get to spend some time with Rainbow Dash, but feels that she’ll never live up to her idol when she is frightened by the latter’s ghost stor­ies.  The conflict between trying to be strong and feeling scared eats Scootaloo up to the point where she loses her grip on reality at times (no doubt also due to the sleep deprivation she suffers early on).  This sets up a surpri­singly poignant meeting with a certain princess of the night. 

Apparently the whole town is used to Scootaloo dangerously riding through on her “motorized” scooter, since even Granny Smith has perfected a slick move to avoid getting run over.  A unique jump off an over­turned cart catches the attention of an on break Dash, whose short compli­ment stuns Scootaloo enough for her to break the laws of physics.  This set­up could easily fall into Clichéville, but Powell smartly avoids the pitfalls.  Scootaloo tumbles onto a farm, but into a haystack and not a manure pile or other mud hole.  After the break, she recounts the story to the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, where she goes on to assume that Dash has an interest in tak­ing her “under her wing”.  This sounds like a bad after-school special plot where Scootaloo learns an important lesson about not misinterpreting what celebrities say, but her friends quickly convince her that this mentoring wish was unlikely from a three-word comment.  Mercifully agreeing, Scoot­aloo decides to plot a way to hang out with Dash more, which turns a planned camping event Apple Bloom has with Applejack into a Cutie Mark Crusader “Big Sister” outing.

Obviously Applejack and Rainbow Dash have no problems with the outdoors, but Rarity is another matter.  Sweetie Belle doesn’t want to be left out, so she schemes herself to induce her sister’s involvement.  The look on her face as she rubs her hooves together deviously while saying “Rarity loves camping” makes it little surprise what we will see next.  Rarity “des­pises” camping no doubt at least partially due to her hatred of dirt, but she soon agrees anyways (after the puppy dog eye trick) in an effort to avoid another Sisterhooves Social.  Not only is this episode far above that lacklus­ter effort in about 20 seconds worth of scenes, but we see that Rarity has learned from her mistake then as well.  Plus, she can’t resist an opportunity to make a new outfit.

Rarity’s not the only one to learn from previous episodes.  In Dragonshy, Rainbow Dash wanted to quickly fly up to the dragon’s cave, but had to wait for the other ponies who couldn’t (or didn’t want to) fly to traverse the mountain on foot.  This time, she plans ahead by informing Applejack that she’ll meet everyone at the first campsite.  Scootaloo is disappointed, but Dash’s decision makes complete sense based on the last time she had to do something like this.  Of course, Rarity also decided to pack enough so that camping would feel like home as much as possible, which means Sweet­ie Belle has to pull a cart with a tower of bags throughout their journey, slowing them down considerably.  I generally dislike when Rarity is por­trayed in the extremely “gay” way she is here (meaning very stereotypi­cally so), but somehow Powell makes it work (as it were).  The best mo­ment happens shortly after they reach the campsite, when a haughty re­quest by Rarity is quite unexpectedly parodied with an imitation by Rain­bow Dash (“Hey, Scootaloo, do be a sweetheart…”).  This is a delightful side we haven’t seen to Rainbow Dash before, although it fits with her joking nature.

Unfortunately for Scootaloo, this nature continues as it’s time to tell campfire stories.  Of course Rainbow Dash goes the scary route, although we don’t actually get to hear any of the tales.  This was probably a wise move (especially given episode time restrictions), but it still feels like a disappoint­ment.  The first one’s punchline especially doesn’t seem like it could possi­bly be scary (“who’s got my rusty horseshoe?”), although it succeeds in fright­ening Scootaloo for most of the episode’s duration.  Wanting to im­press Rainbow Dash, she insists she wasn’t scared at all, but Dash’s com­ments about Scootaloo being tough like her don’t help at all.  Now every noise in the dark is a scary monster, and Dash’s snoring just makes things worse.  As soon as Scootaloo’s head hits the pillow, a nightmare begins in which she relives Dash’s story in a post-apocalyptic campsite.  This does suc­ceed in showing a bit how it could be scary, but there isn’t a lot of substance to the running and screaming either.

Unfortunately, the nightmare precedes a second act that is largely of a lower quality than what came before it.  Scootaloo spends most of it being scared or trying to catch up on the sleep she missed after spending the entire night awake.  While fears are often this frustrating, this sequence also leads to mo­notonous viewing as Scootaloo jumps at every twig snap or frog croak (the Mr. Magoo nap on her scooter is only mildly amusing, even if sleeping in cars is a much bigger problem than may be realized).  A second campfire story doesn’t add anything new, while a “99 bottles” song by the previously talented Sweetie Belle is just pain­ful (although it is funny to watch Scootaloo enthusiastically enjoying the terrible ditty).  Naturally this repetition also leads to another nightmare, which is fair since worrying is the surest way to bring them on.

Most of it is pretty much the same as the first, with Scootaloo being chased by the monster she just heard about through a wasteland version of where she is.  The second act ends just as she’s about to meet her doom, but then it’s practically a different episode once we come back from commercial break.  Needing to be saved in her dream apparently, the deus ex machina comes in the form of Princess Luna.  Considering how different and lucid her appear­ance is, Luna likely does know some spell that allows her to enter dreams.  However, Powell doesn’t give any solid evidence that this is the real Luna, and I think it’s wise that the possibility she is only part of the dream is left open.  Luna’s speaking cadence probably sounds closer to what the fanbase believed than Larson’s “rusty” version we saw in Luna Eclipsed.  She’s had a couple of years to get better adjusted now, and it’s interesting to see that Scootaloo isn’t afraid of her at all.  This is the kind of progress that is all too rare on TV shows, but the better moment happens once they start talking.  Luna doesn’t suspect that Scootaloo’s biggest fear is a fictional character in a story she just heard, and Scootaloo responds that she actually doesn’t want Dash to find out she’s not as tough as she pretends to be.  Her admission is an un­believably vulnerable moment and one of the most touching parts of the entire series.  As Luna counsels Scootaloo, it’s impossible not to think of her own dealings with fear in Luna Eclipsed, which adds weight to words that would otherwise seem empty without the context.  With the synth-chor­us and harp music background, this scene feels more like a movie than television, which is to its advantage.  Coming immediately after a tough second act, it is shocking to find such a scene, which is among the best of any in the series.  The point of the entire episode is laid out within just a few moments, and we realize that everyone has fears no matter what image they may project.

Perhaps the only negative thing about the scene is that it is too short, although I usually feel the exact same way about good dreams I don’t want to end.  Luna shows that she has that Marlon Brando/Orson Welles myster­iousness to her, and her quick appearance (outside of a couple of other cam­eos in separate dreams) is essential in making the episode work.  Also good is Luna uncomfortably flying away when she notices the dream is ending.  Luna is a character we really need to see more of, as there is so much more to ex­plore with her than the once-a-season appearances she’s limited to now (a few lines in the McCarthy two-parters hardly count as substantial).

Scootaloo wakes up, and the spell is broken.  Apparently forgetting her dream/nightmare quicker than usual, she decides to run out into the forest to…escape the headless horse somehow.  Her luck driving the scooter blind finally runs out, and the long crash eventually leads her down a waterfall.  Fortunately she is saved once again; this time by the pony who spe­cializes in these sorts of things.  Either Scootaloo’s screams were loud enough to wake her (while the talking she did in the cave wasn’t), or perhaps Dash has a “Rainbow Sense” that alerts her to ponies falling to their deaths, but Scootaloo is whisked to safety by her hero.  Dash is under­standably angry at this idiotic behavior, so Scootaloo finally decides to come clean about what she’s afraid of (after some hopefully unnecessary and possibly imagined encouragement from Luna in the moon).  We have yet to see if Scootaloo has any family, although she doesn’t have any sisters like her fellow Crusaders.  Her idolization of Dash has occurred solely because she is lonely and has a hole that needs filling, which is not something that anyone with siblings can easily understand.  Once Scootaloo lays it all out there, Dash is happy to accept the mentoring offer, since she was actually scared of those stories the first time as well (an admission made not before she checks to make sure they’re alone).  The pegasi share a hug that is almost sisterly, and finally seem to have forged a bond that was more than two years in the making.

Sleepless In Ponyville is practically over at this point, but the rest of what happens seems almost like filler.  The six of them finally arrive at the falls and have a race, while Scootaloo must suddenly deal with the Olden Pony again in another (completely unannounced) dream.  Dash bails out Scootaloo by simply tossing the rusty shoe over to the Olden Pony, who thanks them and wishes them well before leaving.  It’s a mildly amusing moment, but the implication is that Dash is now going to be there for Scootaloo, which was exactly what she wanted at the beginning of the episode.  That Luna is still stalking Scootaloo’s dreams is totally not creepy in any way.

While Luna Eclipsed dealt with the “fun” of overcoming fear, Sleepless In Ponyville examines the darker side where the fear can paralyze you and is most definitely not enjoyable.  Scootaloo doesn’t realize that everyone has been afraid of scary stories at some point (I had a similar reaction back in first grade myself), and that dealing with it is part of growing up.  This is also the first time that the pain of being alone really comes through for Scoot­aloo, and we see that her “attraction” to Dash is not just because she’s a fangirl.  These moments trump the few awkward ones the two share (Dash’s “come in when you want” comment to Scootaloo is strange, and do ponies actually sit like that?), and make up for a painful and repetitive second act that is at a level far below the rest of the episode.  Most of the events are a better rep­resentation of what people think of fear than what was shown in Luna Eclipsed, with the supposition being that dealing with fears is not fun as much as it is necessary.

The second season's lone new writer (Merriwether Williams) only has vague surface-level ideas of the characters and goes off on tangents that are unlikely to be ex­plored, but Corey Powell does a much better job of fitting in while still keeping her own voice.  There are a few cartoony moments (by design), and Rarity is treated superficially, but the portrayals of Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash are as good as we’ve seen in the series.  The fears Scootaloo had in Stare Master come to a head here, and while Dash was largely responsible for this, her ad­mission that she was afraid once too makes her feel more well-rounded rather than just a simple prankster (as in Griffon The Brush-Off).  Add to that the welcome (and tantalizingly short) return of Luna, and there’s plenty to like about Powell’s debut.  She pays tribute to the history the show already has instead of ignoring it on an ego trip, but strives to make progress as well by suggesting Dash and Scootaloo will finally grow closer together.  Sleepless In Ponyville feels like an episode to be built off of rather than one whose events are better ignored.

Rating this episode is not an enviable task, though.  The second act is prob­ably in the two-star range, while other parts (especially Luna’s appear­ance) would rate closer to five.  This is a wide swing that doesn’t happen on most episodes, but the good moments are too strong to rate Sleepless In Ponyville any less than four stars.  My Little Pony clearly needed new writing blood at this point, and this debut by Powell suggests she at least has the potential to match Larson’s heights.  Just about everyone on the writing staff was rusty their first time out, so perhaps this accounts for a tough second act that probably had to be included structurally for the episode to work.  While those moments are forgettable, others are truly stunning, which is what should be taken away from the show.