My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 504 - Bloom And Gloom

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Echoing one thread from The Cutie Map, Bloom And Gloom explores more possible dissatisfaction with cutie marks.  This time, the Crusaders’ perspective is considered, and more specifically Apple Bloom.  After season four’s “realism”, Josh Haber’s fifth season debut is purposely anything but.  His script is structured as a number of obvious dreams that deconstruct Apple Bloom’s various fears regarding her potentially appearing mark.  No importance is made about when Apple Bloom wakes up or hiding that fact from the audience, which allows Haber to solely focus on his theme.  Babs Seed’s letter describing her recently acquired cutie mark inspires fear in the Crusaders, who wonder if she should even be allowed in their group anymore.  Then Apple Bloom’s following slumber turns into a nightmare she may never wake up from.  As it deals with dreams, Bloom And Gloom eventually becomes the third in an unexpected trilogy featuring Princess Luna.  But her majesty mostly stays out of the way while letting Apple Bloom and company discover their own lessons.  Similarly starting every nightmare leads to a recursion feel, as Apple Bloom learns something each time.  This allows her fears to be explored while providing partial plot progression.  Bloom And Gloom’s simple message is still important.  Cutie marks represent an expression of who you are, and hiding from one means running away from yourself.  This naturally could mean many different things, but getting stuck with a job you hate legitimately concerns most people who work.  Even if not spectacularly deep or completely original, Bloom And Gloom is a surprisingly strong and engaging effort that doesn’t rely on its gimmick for impact.  Humanizing the Crusaders doesn’t happen often enough, but their potentially goofy struggles rarely hit home this much.  Maximizing a premise doesn’t either, and Haber’s deft handling of issues probably wouldn’t have been matched by most writers.  His touch makes Bloom And Gloom better than it probably had a right to be.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 503 - Castle Sweet Castle

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Season five’s airing order begins the same as season four’s; a big two-part adventure followed by some slice of life from a new writer.  Or two this time, since friendship amongst the writing staff is also an early theme.  Instead of the spooky genre exercise Castle Mane-ia, Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco were tasked with cleaning up some loose threads.  After living in her cramped library for the previous four seasons, Twilight’s new home is a spacious castle.  Far from accepting this huge life change with no trepidation, Twilight is spending a bit too much time with her friends.  Realizing the problem, they step in and agree to redecorate, but their touches are slightly more personal than would be warranted.  Despite invoking that “keep her occupied” trope, Castle Sweet Castle otherwise has a realistic feel which is atypical of most episodes.  Lewis and Songco show strong series knowledge and find many surprisingly funny moments.  They also waste some time with bickering and two montages of the same song.  While nothing really happens, it’s refreshing to find writers who treat our ponies as human(ish) rather than storybook heroes.  Maybe this slice of life doesn’t end up being all that compelling or revelatory, but day-to-day existence rarely is.  Castle Sweet Castle avoids being filler by fulfilling a necessary part of starting the new season.  Lewis and Songco are solid, and that’s more than enough given My Little Pony’s prodigious lows.  Their premiere episode may not impress much, but mostly was done about as well as could be expected.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episodes 201-02 - The Return Of Harmony

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While M.A. Larson would tackle many issues during an impressive second season run of episodes, his lone two-part opener is all story.  As something of a companion to the pilot, The Return Of Harmony introduces Discord (an omnipotent lord of chaos voiced by John de Lancie), and calls upon our ponies to reunite the Elements Of Harmony and save Equestria.  After retrieving these Elements by traveling through a labyrinth, Twilight must restore her friends once they are turned into opposite versions of themselves by Discord.  Larson follows Lauren Faust’s blueprint in having the six ponies go on adventures together, and it takes a little while to crystalize into a complete story.  Additionally, Larson’s dialogue isn’t always spectacular, while his use of slapstick (though not usually intended for laughs) and a “that was easy” solution end up being unfortunate harbingers for many subsequent episodes.  But he also finds classic moments as well; mainly in the labyrinth and later scenes of the anti-mane six.  And of course there’s de Lancie, whose Q persona fits surprisingly well in a completely unrelated series.  His Discord produces sights that won’t appear again around Ponyville, and de Lancie’s instantly recognizable voice is perfect for voice acting.  The Return Of Harmony is unquestionably better with him, and his performance is strong enough to warrant multiple return visits for Discord.  Larson’s style feels slightly raw though, and borrowing other writers’ worst traits means the episode isn’t aging so well.  But his overall sense of story is strong even if the ending feels rushed.  Despite being slightly inconsistent and awkward, The Return Of Harmony’s better moments are unparalleled in the series.  That still makes for one of the season’s best episodes despite any lessons having to wait until next week.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 220 - It's About Time

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Time travel is a popular science fiction subject with plenty of potential for screwing up.  It’s probably impossible in theory (at least backwards), and never takes into account the earth’s rotation or orbit.  Still, the amount of derived prospective stories is immense, and need not be limited to sci-fi settings.  As Ponyville’s version, It’s About Time still contains that paradox of only happening because of time travel which wouldn’t have occurred otherwise, but everything else in the plot is surprisingly sound.  Twilight receives a visit from her future self looking like a ninja pirate and apparently warning of impending doom next Tuesday.  She spends the subsequent week or so freaking out as little by little her appearance matches future Twilight’s.  Naturally she finally realizes there was no such disaster, but going back in time finds her unable to stop past Twilight from worrying.  Instead of just a fun meaningless story, M.A. Larson covers issues regarding our perception of the future and how we often feel like it will never happen.  Additionally, Twilight’s fretting about something happening ends up being its cause rather than some magic evil force, which can also paradoxically be true in real life.  While Larson’s dialogue isn’t always crisp and not every scene works, the thought he clearly put in stands out.  It’s About Time features fun storytelling and excellent exploration of its subjects, when many season two episodes didn’t have either.  Despite not quite matching Larson’s best work and being technically frivolous, It’s About Time stands with the many entertaining and memorable episodes Larson wrote for this season.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 219 - Putting Your Hoof Down

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I’m all for asserting yourself, but Putting Your Hoof Down oscillates too fast between the extremes.  Fluttershy starts as a virtual abused housewife, then quickly changes into Iron Will Jr. with no explanation.  Yes, it’s mildly fun seeing her not taking anyone’s shit, but this becomes an excuse to embarrass ponies around town.  Nothing is really learned from Fluttershy momentarily taking charge except that the world loves extraverts and there’s something wrong with introverts.  I don’t trust them.  Since she was let go after the astoundingly terrible Baby Cakes, Charlotte Fullerton passed scriptwriting duties off to Merriwether Williams, who naturally added clichés and slapstick humor.  While sort of taking place in My Little Pony’s actual universe, budget limitations mean Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are off while Pinkie Pie and Rarity just happen to be hanging around wherever.  This and the sudden immigration of valley girls to Ponyville give Putting Your Hoof Down that classic Williams feel.  While actually mostly watchable, the episode is too stereotypical and fillerish to count as anything other than minor.  And considering Williams again uses writing as her canvas for hurting the mane six (Rarity and Pinkie receive putdowns that are a little too good), Putting Your Hoof Down doesn’t rate well either.  Even if a decent lesson exists somewhere in there, these aren’t the kind of episodes My Little Pony should be wasting time on airing.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 218 - A Friend In Deed

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After Feeling Pinkie Keen and Baby Cakes, you probably thought Pinkie Pie couldn’t get any worse.  But she does.  A Friend In Deed is basically an excuse for her to supremely annoy one character under the guise of comedy.  Once a new donkey magically appears in town, Pinkie is determined to be friends with him.  She does this by embarrassing him and attempting to ruin his life.  Then Pinkie quickly finds his lost love right over there and boom, happy ending.  Amy Keating Rogers has usually been one of the better writers, but A Friend In Deed is a master class on how not to write scripts.  Her pacing is entirely off, it’s front-loaded with filler (including the teaser being from a different episode), and she continually indulges Pinkie’s worst annoying tendencies.  Rather than attempting some sort of interaction, Pinkie Pie is just loud and obnoxious.  And this is practically the entire episode.  While Rogers’ lesson was decent, she completely bungled things enough that Maud Pie had to address it again.  And not content with just destroying the mane six, Rogers has Pinkie turn it on the unfortunately named Cranky, who understandably can’t wait to get out of this series.  A Friend In Deed completely redefines the second season’s “mess”, and is absolutely unenjoyable and unwatchable throughout.  In a season full of them, there are few more disagreeable experiences.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 216 - Read It And Weep

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By likely coincidence, M.A. Larson’s worst episode was aired immediately before Cindy Morrow’s best, which produced a rather bizarro feel.  While just about every other writer humiliated Rainbow Dash in some way during season two, Morrow actually showed she had an ability to grow.  Laid up in the hospital for a few days after injuring her wing, Dash reluctantly tries and loves reading.  After dissing it earlier, she now must hide this revelation from her friends.  As Dash reads, we see a movie version of Daring Do; an adventuring archaeologist clearly modeled on Indiana Jones.  While Daring Don’t establishes these adventures are apparently real, Read It And Weep succeeds because the action takes place in Dash’s head.  Every word produces fantastic images, and Daring Do is almost certainly a projection of Dash herself.  Even though the two parallel stories don’t really concern each other, they add up to an effective (if obvious) reading PSA and an exploration of being something against your image.  Even if the Daring Do sections aren’t exactly original, they remain very entertaining and focus on what Dash can imagine from a book.  Read It And Weep isn’t perfect with characterization and might seem to rely on Daring Do at the expense of story, but it’s also surprisingly effective at accomplishing its goals.  For both entertainment and a great lesson, Morrow’s outing is undoubtedly season two’s surprise episode and a guilty pleasure very much on par with its main character.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 215 - The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

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While unquestionably responsible for almost all of season two’s best episodes, M.A. Larson’s Super Speedy Cider Squeezy is not among them.  It’s honestly difficult to believe he wrote this script, since Larson falls for many traps that sunk previous outings.  Filler, slapstick humor, questionable characterization, clichés, and lazy references all dot his effort, which also ends with no lesson.  Applejack’s family cider business isn’t able to keep up with demand, so the traveling salesmen Flim Flam Brothers roll into town on a machine that they say can.  After the Apples refuse to compromise their ethics, the brothers start a man vs. machine battle which will determine who will sell cider in Ponyville.  Clearly Larson wanted to tackle a big vs. little business issue, but that had already been handled better elsewhere (South Park’s episode 217 – Gnomes).  Then he has Rainbow Dash jonesing for a beverage she has never drank before, but it’s obvious from the teaser that not one drop of cider will ever purse her lips.  Larson at least tries to find a decent message and get everyone involved, but why he would stoop to the tactics of lesser writers in such an uninspired and unoriginal way remains baffling.  Painful and boring describe Super Speedy, which don’t fit any of Larson’s episodes after his first.  Whatever he was going for didn’t pan out, and we’re left with an uninteresting mess that’s sadly typical of the surrounding season.  Even while thankfully temporary, Super Speedy is an uncharacteristic misstep from a writer who’s frankly better than this.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 217 - Hearts And Hooves Day

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Hearts And Hooves Day is the story of how the mane six finally all get boyfriends.  I mean, it’s about the Crusaders realizing they like guys and trying to ask them out.  I mean, some combination of both?  Derpy finding love?  Rainbow Dash coming out?  Diamond Tiara dating someone poor?  Snips and Snails dealing with being the school’s first gay couple?  Better keep going, because it would be way down anyone’s list to come up with the Ponyville Valentine’s Day episode that Meghan McCarthy did.  Instead of using My Little Pony’s boatload of interesting characters, McCarthy took the two most boring ones and stuck them together.  When that obviously wasn’t working, she forced things by the love potion route.  Then this somehow has anything meaningful to say about relationships.  Hearts And Hooves Day is the third and unquestionably worst season two holiday episode, as it takes a premise that could have been good in just about anyone else in the world’s hands and completely fails to find anything fun or interesting.  This was a possibility for entertainment, a message about homosexuality, or something, but McCarthy went a very safe route that produced nothing of substance.  With a complete misrepresentation of relationships, painful moments, overly cutesy dialogue, and one huge missed opportunity, Hearts And Hooves Day is an utter disaster.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 212 - Family Appreciation Day

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Zap apples, timber wolves, bunny ponies.  For an episode supposedly about Ponyville’s founding, a lot of stuff never really caught on.  Cindy Morrow’s heavily retconned story ends up being about as much canon as Hearth’s Warming Eve, since almost everything is forgotten and there’s no guarantee Granny Smith ever told the truth.  Despite never being mentioned before, everyone at the Apple farm is excited about Zap apples.  These rainbow-colored fruits taste much better than the real ones, but their appearance and harvesting are both dependent upon magic that makes little sense.  Morrow’s goal doesn’t concern itself with this though, as she strives to show that older members of your family shouldn’t be dismissed because of age.  The sentiment is fine, but Family Appreciation Day doesn’t come close to doing so.  Instead, we have two acts of torture where Apple Bloom frets over how dumb her ancestor is acting.  Can’t imagine why she doesn’t want Granny Smith coming to school and giving a talk.  Thankfully, her story almost redeems the episode, as we glimpse a different Granny Smith from many years ago.  Then this somehow justifies dressing Diamond Tiara up as a bunny girl.  After head-scratching magic, pointless retcons, Granny Smith acting incredibly stupid, and many questionable scenes (such as one apparently inspired by Weekend At Bernie’s), Family Appreciation Days’ ending is in rather poor taste.  And that’s indicative of Morrow’s problem here, since she clearly has no idea how to say what she wants.  Except for Granny Smith’s story, the results are terrible.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 214 - The Last Roundup

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After seeing The Last Roundup again, I wondered where a rating as high as three stars came from.  Watched it shortly after the mostly terrible Family Appreciation Day and gave it a higher rating because it was a better episode?  Yup.  Applejack’s failures at the national rodeo lead her to abandon Ponyville for an old west cherry orchard, but Amy Keating Rogers can only find questionable moments to surround this shaky premise.  Pinkie Pie is super annoying (producing more groans than chuckles), a cherry sorting scene inexplicably references I Love Lucy, and it culminates in that little beauty up there.  Applejack risks her life and four others to run a train crossing in the middle of nowhere, which quickly proves pointless when Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash just fly over the train.  So much for that whole send a good message to the kids thing.  The Last Roundup is also notable for Derpy’s lone speaking role, which was controversial enough to be replaced in later airings by a voice even worse and more offensive.  Like everything else here, that scene has not aged well since Derpy’s annoying behavior is on par with Pinkie’s.  While the lesson of not dealing with problems alone no doubt has merit, one again wonders how a writer came up with this script to portray it.  Given so many poorly thought out scenes and absolutely no redeeming ones, The Last Roundup is a huge misfire and another example of writers’ “creativity” sinking season two.