Rating:
M.A. Larson’s second outing of the third season is one hot mess of an
episode that strives for no less than to summarize the entire series up to this
point and completely redefine it going forward.
While Magic Duel could perhaps have used another 5-10 minutes or so, Magical
Mystery Cure is very clearly a two-parter that has been smashed and stripped
into a hurried 21+ minutes. There are a
lot of potential points to be explored, but no time for any of them, so the
episode literally montages through the entire plot. Larson is still without peer on the writing
staff despite a couple of other members stepping it up, so it’s odd that he’s
basically only a co-writer here. Daniel
Ingram turned in a season’s worth of songs for this one episode, and wrote most
of the lyrics too. Magical Mystery Cure
is as much his as Larson’s, but he’s never been a compelling enough composer to
make the series’ first musical episode a worthwhile idea. His style produces second-rate Broadway or
pop songs, which sound like something you’ve heard better before rather than
anything original. Fortunately for him,
I don’t expect as much as I do from Larson, and Ingram’s songs are definitely
passable. They don’t distract from what
is going on and are even almost emotional in spots, but it probably would have
been better if there was more actual episode between them (such as in the
second season finale). Magical Mystery
Cure is definitely a disappointment on first viewing, as it could have been so
much more than what it is. These
problems ease on a second time through, since the strong cinematic tone
produces a number of fine moments. Most
musicals are long for a reason though, and the decision to keep Magical Mystery
Cure in one part is ultimately what keeps it from being the great episode it was
clearly intended to be. Larson’s talents
are wasted, and what little work he is able to show is not his best. Even a sub-par effort from him is better than
most of the writing on the series, so Magical Mystery Cure somehow pulls
through despite the flaws and its controversial and possibly unnecessary plot
developments.
The first act deals with the mane six members not named Twilight
suddenly having each other’s cutie marks.
They don’t see anything wrong with it, but are supremely unhappy in
their new professions. Cutie marks have
always been the show’s metaphor for the career you should be in, so having the
mane six working elsewhere and not liking it should speak to the many doing a
job in a field they hate for the money. Unfortunately, the quickness of the
plot and the montage only make it seem to be a device for comic effect. Rarity arranges the clouds into patterns,
Applejack makes terrible dresses, and the woodland creatures are close to
cooking Rainbow Dash stew. All of the
five insist everything is fine, but some make huge life changes within the day
or however long it’s supposed to be.
This includes Fluttershy almost moving back to Cloudsdale and Applejack
closing down Rarity’s once-profitable shop.
In a strange and quick flashback (why didn’t the episode just start with
it?), Twilight remembers that she half cast a spell the previous night which
Celestia sent her, since the incompetent ruler of all things had no chance of
finishing the work of the great Starswirl The Bearded (apparently the only pony
magician from the past). A check of the
elements confirms her suspicions, so she sets out to fix things.
With the town in ruins again and everyone very angry, Twilight
accomplishes the monumental task of returning everything to normal in another
brisk seven-minute act. While this is
close to Meghan McCarthy’s “that was easy” plot solutions, Twilight can
actually be forgiven for figuring the problem out very quickly. She pretty much had to do the same thing in
The Return Of Harmony, which makes this part feel a bit like a rehash. Twilight also has the benefit of knowing the
exact career each of the mane six belongs in, so she doesn’t have to waste time
with any “why don’t you try this and see if you like it” suggestions. Even though her friends don’t think it will
work, they fall into their careers pretty easily and have the right cutie marks
restored. Each friend happily helps the
next one, and the mane six are soon back to their usual selves. A voice in her head then tells Twilight how
to finish the spell, which proceeds to cast itself once it’s written on the
page. Beams shoot out from the other
Elements worn by the mane six which envelop Twilight and vaporize her. The remaining friends gasp in horror at the
dark spot on the floor which represents all of her remains.
Twilight wakes up in Heaven to see Celestia, who congratulates her on
creatively killing herself. This is
something no pony has ever done before, and she deserves to be rewarded. Also, she wrote some words in an old
book. Celestia casts a spell on Twilight
and returns her to Ponyville, where her friends had apparently gathered for a
late night vigil honoring their fallen comrade.
She lands on the ground and unfurls her wings, and the mane six and
Spike can only stand in awe. Fluttershy
says she looks like a princess, so Celestia descends from on high and announces
there’s a reason for that. With a
shortage of princesses after Celestia’s latest cleansing, she is naming
Twilight the newest member of the nobility.
A celebration soon commences where everyone is verklempt, and it turns
out flying is pretty easy after all.
While the premise of Magical Mystery Cure deals with a much more
effective point, the biggest news is of course Twilight being turned into an
alicorn and subsequently named a princess.
I can only guess how it would have felt to discover this in the episode,
since the development was leaked and quite well-known beforehand. Having a big character change in a series
isn’t necessarily a jump-the-shark occasion, as I’m reminded how Star Trek: Deep Space Nine promoted Benjamin
Sisko to captain before its own fourth season, and then gave him a ship while
adding a regular once it commenced. Many
would argue the series only got better after that point, and My Little Pony certainly has a lot of
room for improvement. Of course, those
changes didn’t necessarily compromise the premise as much as this one could,
since the dynamic of six equal friends has been irrevocably altered. Twilight was treated like a princess for most
of the third season though, with Celestia becoming surprisingly lazy and
trusting in affairs that she really should be handling. This change has merely been a formality for
now, but likely won’t remain that way forever.
There’s also the problem of Twilight being named a princess, which
can’t actually happen in any monarchy.
Your only choices are to be born or marry into it, and for the latter
the title is mostly just for show.
Simplifying things for a North American audience just ends up causing
confusion, since everyone is called a princess whether it makes sense or
not. An English approach would have
likely been better, since Twilight could simply have been granted a peerage. This is something the sovereign can actually
do, and acknowledges Twilight’s accomplishments without suggesting that she’s
now in line for the crown. HRH The
Duchess Of Ponyville does sound a bit haughty for a children’s show, although
it’s ridiculous that “princess” is apparently the only title without any
negative connotation. All of the newly
created “princesses” do make sense under a royal system, but this catering to a
young audience brings more absurdity than there should be. Queen Celestia and Baroness Twilight aren’t
really all that better though.
As shocking as this development was, Twilight is mercifully just as
flabbergasted by her stylization. Her
“book” comment is a bit of a nod to the fanbase, and although she quotes Lou
Gehrig in her impromptu acceptance speech, she never shows any sense of
entitlement at suddenly being given “every young girl’s dream”. This is important for the show to continue
close to how it has before, and it makes her character all the more
endearing. Larson didn’t have much room
for what is usually his strongest trait, but his handling of Twilight in this
situation is excellent.
The entire third season strangely operated as if it was going to be the last one,
especially with its half-slate of episodes (for 65 total of course) and tired
opening. The premise for Magical Mystery
Cure seems like it was selected ahead of time as the possible series finale,
and the episode was basically presented like that despite the subsequent fourth
season. Since it features short clips
and callbacks to many earlier episodes, it probably would have been a decent
ending in two parts, but the rushed one episode we got certainly would have
been a disappointing finish. If
budgetary concerns were the main culprit for the episode’s length, then the solutions
that come to mind are either sacrificing Spike At Your Service or just producing
a full 26 episodes like the other seasons have.
Booting a bad Williams episode would have made for a stronger season anyway
even if Magical Mystery Cure had to be aired over two weeks. Why McCarthy is granted unnecessary
two-parters while Larson can’t get the time he needs is a decision that
deserves an explanation, but one the great story editor naturally has no chance
in giving.
There are a host of problems with Magical Mystery Cure, but it
nevertheless merits a good rating primarily because of tone. No doubt the episode was created to be
important, and it will probably only seem more so as the series goes on. Important doesn’t necessarily equal substantial
though, and there’s so much going on in Magical Mystery Cure that they almost
forgot to make an actual episode. Larson
can’t entirely be held blameless for this, since his writing isn’t quite up to the
usual standard. But it also wasn’t entirely
his episode either, with Ingram and director Jayson Thiessen likely being more
responsible for how Magical Mystery Cure turned out. Glossing over a potentially great premise
with an absurd amount of songs for the allotted time is a very confusing
choice, and ends up making for a more ponderous than compelling offering. With an improved second viewing, this episode
will probably be better received over time once the shock of a potential
redirection for the series wears off. As
a pivotal moment in the series, there’s no question that Magical Mystery Cure
cannot be forgotten, but the rushed presentation kills any chance of it standing
with the show’s best episodes.
Everything may indeed end up being just fine going forward, but not if
an episode like this is attempted again without the proper time and care it
deserves.
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