My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 409 - Pinkie Apple Pie

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For the first time since she joined the writing staff, Merriwether Williams hasn’t written the worst episode of the season.  Whether Natasha Levinger or the premise is to blame is uncertain, but Pinkie Apple Pie is literally comprised of filler.  Pinkie discovers that she might be a distant relation of the Apple family from Twilight, but a smudge in the genealogy records casts some doubt.  The Apples go on a journey to find that there’s another smudge in a different book, so they still don’t know.  Great.  Along the way, they get justifiably angry with each other, but not enough to break up or something.  Ostensibly the episode is about families sticking together through the tough times, but these weren’t really bad enough for the Apple family to be in jeopardy.  I had also hoped Pinkie Apple Pie might be the adoption episode which must be coming, but that wasn’t the case either.  Essentially, there is no point to Pinkie Apple Pie, and it’s more painful than any episode since the second season.  Unlike the previous outing, even two stars might be a bit generous.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 407 - Bats!

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Holy shit!  There are bats in the west orchard!  I mean, holy shit, Merriwether Williams actually watched some other episodes of the series!  For some reason, Meghan McCarthy was “mistakenly” credited as the writer early on, but I’m not entirely certain she didn’t have something of a hand in this given the allusions and more “that was easy” plot solutions.  But nobody does lightweight or fitting into her timeslot better than Williams, even if Bats! is another episode that feels like it was written for years past.  This perspective Williams apparently now has is honestly extremely helpful, as it makes for a number of charming moments and produces a watchable episode.  Of course, Bats! is also more filler with little plot and nothing much of consequence that happens.  For the second straight episode, Williams actually shows decent characterization and writes a story that almost takes place in the actual universe it’s supposed to.  But then again, bats, ladies and gentleman, bats.  Vampire bats are a huge problem affecting the farming community, or something.  Williams actually seems determined to counteract the racism present in her previous episodes by having Fluttershy understand that the vampire bats’ culture is just different and not worthy of extermination over.  If only the same understanding was shown to dragons.  Unfortunately, the bat problem takes up the entire show, which makes it apparent that Bats! is nothing more than a low budget bottle episode.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 406 - Power Ponies

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If ever there was an episode that called out for the luxuries of a 30-minute runtime that liberally enjoys the scenery and action, then Power Ponies is it.  The mane six and Spike find themselves sucked into a comic book and transported to a completely different world where they all have super powers and battle the forces of evil, but all they can think about is quickly getting out of there to return to their normal boring lives and cleaning.  Spike has to narrate the action to acclimate the neophyte mane six to this alternate reality, but that destroys any possible sense of discovery.  With Meghan McCarthy at the helm (of three total writers), the world-deciding conflict is naturally over in rapid fashion, although this almost qualifies as difficult given her previous work.  Mostly though, Power Ponies offers only a huge sense of disappointment.  It should have been one of the most fun episodes in the canon, but instead feels rushed and unexciting.  Nothing happens that isn’t predictable (more or less), and there isn’t much of a point either.  Spike only has an opportunity to succeed because his character in the book is so much of a dunce that the main villain ignores him.  Unless this episode foreshadows a later story where the exact same thing happens to the mane six, Spike will only learn that he’s slightly better than the worst character in comic book history.  Oh, and Rainbow Dash doesn’t care that Pinkie Pie is the fastest pony now.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Double Rainboom

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Thanks to the consistent low quality of certain writers on My Little Pony, I’ve opined that choosing a random brony for the staff would be better than some of the professionals.  Technology today is advanced enough that one such brony set out to prove me right.  Animation student Zachary Rich decided to make an entire episode of the show as a project, and comes closer to matching the real thing than would have been possible even ten years earlier.  Naturally he was hindered by not having access to the professional animators or voice actors, but he also wasn’t bound by series conventions or standard running times.  Double Rainboom almost ends up feeling like Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky had written it, since the action is allowed to marinate for longer than would be possible in the real series.  Fan favorites like Derpy and Dr. Whooves are also given extended screentime, and references that couldn’t otherwise be made are sprinkled throughout (the unfortunately axed fan-game Fighting Is Magic gets a nod in the credits).  Of course, the animation doesn’t quite match the crispness of the original, and the voice actors aren’t spot-on doubles.  This serves to take the audience out of the episode a bit, even though it unfortunately couldn’t be helped.  Despite Double Rainboom not being able to transcend its fan-made status because of these problems, the freedom allowed such a production is where its enjoyability lies.  The episode may be too light and frivolous to be considered a major effort of the series, but I’d rather watch it than many of the numerous bad episodes produced by the professionals.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 405 - Flight To The Finish

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The second new writer of the fourth season does and doesn’t fare as well as the first.  Being tasked with a Cutie Mark Crusader episode for a premiere is not enviable, but like Josh Haber before him, Ed Valentine makes possible caricatures seem more realistic.  Perhaps the best way to describe Flight To The Finish is that it is uneven, but the good moments generally trump the bad.  Characters are both static and developed, while the plot is simultaneously interesting and clichéd.  Our favorite trio spends a decent amount of time montaging in their attempt to carry the Ponyville flag at the upcoming Equestria Games, but then they get burned out and have to rest.  Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon get their usual dose of name-calling in while attempting to sabotage the Crusaders, but share a moment where they admit the “blank flank” plan hasn’t worked and that they’ll have to think of something else.  Rainbow Dash must struggle with her enthusiasm throughout, but the early absurdity is soon understood when the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ routine is actually surprisingly good.  The episode is full of these contradictions, but not all of them work (would the Crusaders really move Harshwinny that much at the end?  It’s doubtful).  Valentine was also likely victim to the same problem that Larson had in season three, in that the third act felt rushed and was likely cut heavily for time.  Even so, the introspective moments push Flight To The Finish away from the dull walkthrough it seemed to start as and into a surprisingly solid offering.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 404 - Daring Don't

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Having missed the second season, writer Dave Polsky seems to be a bit behind everyone else (either that or his scripts keep getting shelved).  While the first couple of episodes in the fourth season point in a different direction, Daring Don’t would’ve felt right at home last year.  There’s no mention of the arc, and the mane six are all shepherded along with the story even if they didn’t really need to come with.  Polsky had a lot of potential given that the script is essentially about a writer, but couldn’t quite find the balance between revelation and action.  At least the latest Daring Do narrative isn’t a complete ripoff of Indiana Jones, but the discovery that all of the characters in the book are actually real doesn’t make a lot of sense.  A fair amount of fiction probably has at least some basis in reality, but certainly Daring Do would at least change the names.  Part of the appeal of Read It And Weep was that Rainbow Dash got lost in fiction during her convalescence, so having the Daring Do novels be autobiographies somewhat undermines that episode.  Still, the story could have been saved by having the mane six interact with Daring Do more, but unfortunately they remain literally on the sidelines until the very end.  Also floated around is the idea of whether it’s right to help someone who doesn’t want it, but no conclusion is really reached.  Daring Do is forced to accept assistance she doesn’t really need, and apparently becomes happy with that at some point.  Even so, Daring Don’t is enough good fun to recommend, even if the episode doesn’t come close to being what it could have.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 305 - Magic Duel

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You knew it was going to happen the instant I complained about this show in my season one top five list.  Despite having difficulty selecting a best episode for the first two seasons, Magic Duel is very clearly the finest outing of the third.  Trixie had no business being given a second episode after the awful Boast Busters, but leave it to M. A. Larson to find a depth of character where there previously was none.  In true My Little Pony fashion, he cobbles together an adventure from many cult favorites (Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Gremlins), but the episode is positively gripping despite all of the references.  The beginning is a bit slow, with Fluttershy seeming much more worried than usual throughout.  But everything takes off after Trixie’s arrival in Ponyville, and Magic Duel remains as strong as any episode of the series to this point straight through to the end.