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

Rating:

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.

Band meeting!  Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom, present.  Since Babs Seed is apparently being written out, she has sent a letter announcing her new scissors cutie mark.  They figure this will lead to some sort of hair stylist job, but Sweetie Belle doesn’t think that sounds very interesting or enjoyable.  Scootaloo continues by musing about apple-related aspects that are similarly disenchanting, which provokes unrealized dread in Apple Bloom.

Later that night, Apple Bloom vocalizes her fears before sleeping which form the basis of her forthcoming dreams (Applejack’s sickly sweet lullaby probably isn’t responsible).  They all follow the same basic pattern of Apple Bloom “waking up” and heading downstairs for breakfast.  Applejack soon discovers her sister got a new cutie mark overnight, but it’s not what either expected.  After some misadventures, Apple Bloom retreats into the forest, where a mysterious stranger removes her cutie mark to further complications.

Up first is Apple Bloom’s cutie mark she doesn’t like.  A bottle of pesticide spraying an apple adorns her ass, which only arouses joy in the current pest pony.  Quickly giving Apple Bloom lessons, he is happy about finally retiring from such a shitty job.  Laughing at those weak parasprites, their main foe will be twittermites; electrically charged bugs that grow more powerful as their group expands.  With her new cutie mark, Apple Bloom easily collects these bugs into a holding container.  The pest pony has seen enough and leaves, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon show up to bash one awful cutie mark.  Apple Bloom quickly renounces it in the forest, but now the twittermites are loose and destroying Ponyville.  Since she no longer has her pest pony mark, Apple Bloom can only watch helplessly while Sweet Apple Acres burns down in a flash.

At least Apple Bloom likes her next cutie mark better, as she will be responsible for making apple potions or something (referencing Twilight Time’s events).  Unfortunately, now the Crusaders stop associating with her since she isn’t “one of them”.  Upon again removing her mark, Apple Bloom returns to find her friends now “have” theirs (they don’t really, but do in that dream sort of way) and can’t waste time on such frivolous relationships.

Now realizing something’s not right, Apple Bloom’s next cutie mark is a whale.  Before we can discover where this would lead, the Apples no longer want her association.  They kick Apple Bloom out in a surreal sequence which finds Big Mac talking profusely while the characters’ voice actors and dialogue change frequently (Applejack and Granny Smith both get “yup”s).  Then Apple Bloom wakes again to see new cutie marks appearing every time she turns around.  Another forest retreat finds her swearing off cutie marks forever.

Likely feeling bad about so much shameless entertainment, Luna shows herself before this dream never ends.  She reveals that the “mysterious stranger” was nothing more than Apple Bloom’s shadow, and that of course Apple Bloom is entirely responsible for everything since she’s still dreaming.  Luna succinctly relates that a cutie mark only represents who you are, which is what currently scares Apple Bloom.  Despite feeling alone, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are also having bad dreams about failing at their talents.  Luna convenes the three in their (dreamt) clubhouse, where they decide booting Babs Seed from their group would be pretty terrible.  Resolving to continue once awake, Apple Bloom can finally enjoy a real stack of pancakes.

Fear and cutie marks have both been dealt with before on My Little Pony (as have dreams), but Haber approaches both from slightly different angles.  Suggesting cutie marks could be problematic only first happened in The Cutie Map, but Haber explores worries ponies without them probably have.  Giving an outline inside your episode is rare, although Apple Bloom understandable has anxiety.  Even with everything spelled out, the different sections are somewhat humorous but believable as to what Apple Bloom thinks could happen.  Considering dreams often involve fears, these parts are actually well done despite some absurdity.

And while not completely accurate (most dream sequences aren’t since they would require first person views), Haber throws in a number of aspects to make them feel more real.  Ponies disappear without warning, settings can change just as quickly, and even the trope of waking up many times without actually doing so are all typical of dreams.  Additionally, the animation department added surreal touches of their own, like Applejack’s pancake stack changing each time or Pinkie Pie flying outside Apple Bloom’s window.  Usurping that Groundhog Day feel helps give structure and progression to something usually free form.  Until Luna’s appearance, Haber’s portrayal of dreams My Little Pony’s best and most effective so far.

Not that Luna dropping in ruins the episode, but her supporting role almost feels expected.  She has little time for intrigue given her busy schedule this night, but still finds some while helping Apple Bloom.  Their discussion about fear is reminiscent of Sleepless In Ponyville’s, although with a more practical solution since Apple Bloom is essentially afraid of herself.  Making such suggestions shows Luna either recalls her interaction with Scootaloo or has dealt with similar problems earlier, which again highlights Luna’s appeal as a character.  Haber’s point is indeed “simple”, but no less accurate for it, and admitting Apple Bloom completely controls her dream (mostly subconsciously) increases that realistic feel.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are mostly in the background since their dream appearances don’t exactly count, but still provide a few fun moments.  Sweetie Belle is about to sing (her likely cutie mark nicely alludes to The Show Stoppers), but a different mark’s appearances causes judges Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Rarity to award bottom scores (Rarity kindly offers a 1 rather than 0 out of sisterhood).  And upon being informed they are still dreaming, Scootaloo starts flying around the room.  Her joy hopefully anticipates its actual occurrence one day.  Even if technically mostly fake, Haber manages to make the Crusaders feel both real and compelling, which is a difficult and impressive feat.

Outside of some spotty dialogue clichés (“peas in a pod”, “fit to a tee”), Haber does very little wrong with Bloom And Gloom.  Even if none of the revelations are surprising given an outline and earlier dream episodes, Haber forgoes a “thriller” in favor of making his point.  He feels completely in command of the characters and what he wants to say, and creates an interesting story despite the audience being quite aware Apple Bloom is dreaming.  Diamond Tiara’s taunts, Big Mac’s strange loquaciousness, and Apple Bloom’s responses all feel right, and equating cutie marks to yourself better demonstrates The Cutie Map’s buried point.  With Bloom And Gloom, Haber becomes one of My Little Pony’s best writers, and appears willing to fight Larson for the crown.  This is amazing to say for an episode that could have devolved into silly filler, but Bloom And Gloom is good despite expectations.  Outside of a few nitpicky moments, the premise, lesson, and episode pretty much couldn’t have been executed better.