My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episodes 501-02 - The Cutie Map

Rating:

Nothing shocked me more about season five’s premiere The Cutie Map than its writing credit, which I never would have guessed was possible.  Naturally Meghan McCarthy did the story, but the script was left to a collaboration between Scott Sonneborn (last season’s worst new writer) and M.A. Larson (our savior).  Why Sonneborn would be allowed to even look at a season premiere or be in the same room as Larson’s typewriter are questions that cannot be answered yet.  The Cutie Map plays like an unholy love child between Larson and McCarthy, as a big mane six adventure dealing with unexplored issues regarding cutie marks mingles with another retconned villain and “that was easy” plot solutions.  Now that a small castle has replaced Twilight’s library, the mane six are given thrones and a 3D map of Equestria that directs our ponies toward various problems.  Before anyone can settle in, they are whisked off to a village that is too friendly and whose entire population has an equal sign cutie mark.  Larson’s ideas dominate early, since the real world doesn’t have cutie marks and people may either dislike their “special talent” or not even have one.  Then McCarthy’s adventure takes over, since of course this village is an evil cult whose leader must be stopped.  While a roundabout way to approach it, The Cutie Map’s overall message is clearly diversity makes the world better, and various attempts at racial “purity” and conformity ultimately hurt our own society.  Maybe that’s somewhat lost in a story which doesn’t always reflect it, but the ending’s vibrancy of many different colored ponies cannot be denied.  Other issues aren’t fully addressed, and Larson probably would’ve been better writing the episode himself.  But The Cutie Map still fascinatingly explores a land without cutie marks, and acts as an effective introduction to the fifth season.

While admiring their new castle, the mane six eventually plop down on thrones specifically designed for them.  With every key present, a table map materializes in front of them.  After Spike smashes Pinkie’s parents, images of their various cutie marks hover over a certain area.  Deciding help must be needed there, our ponies ride to wherever the train ends.

They eventually arrive at a small almost-western village with one street of houses that all look the same.  Observing everyone smiling, Pinkie Pie senses something is very wrong despite Fluttershy enjoying herself.  Their opinions don’t change when everyone around greets and stares at them.  Two stallions give them a more proper welcome before having the mane six meet town founder Starlight Glimmer.  Hoping for something monsterous, Dash disappointedly sees Glimmer is just another pleasant and attractive pony.

Starlight Glimmer further explains that their village holds the key to “true friendship”.  With no cutie marks, none of them flaunt their special talents in front of everyone, thus preventing arguments and conflict.  She continues explaining in song, which becomes a big production number put on by everyone else.  “In Our Town” is a bizarre march (reminiscent of “The Trial” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, but happier sounding) that espouses rather conformist philosophies.  Dash thinks it’s a joke, but no one else does.

After being bid to stay, the mane six convene at a local establishment for some food.  Except Fluttershy, they’re all disturbed by the recent display and argue about what should be done.  Meanwhile, Sugar Belle attempts taking their order and assumes the mane six’s friendship must be close to ending.  Pinkie exclaims this is absurd as Sugar Belle goes over their menu.  It consists of muffins (possibly a dumb joke but perfectly delivered).  As Pinkie attempts eating these baked bads, Sugar Belle (who naturally has no special cooking talent) is still confused how such different ponies could be arguing and then agreeing.  Despite being watched, she quietly asks the mane six to stop downstairs after they’re done.  Since everyone still stares at them, our ponies have Pinkie eat every muffin and then “go inside to order some more”.

Three ponies emerge in apparent ambush, but fortunately with questions rather than weapons.  Curious about cutie marks and friendship, they explain Starlight uses her magic staff to remove their marks, which are then stored in a large vault.  Since this is free to view and not hidden, Twilight and company are soon headed there with Starlight.  Pinkie admits certain ponies miss their cutie marks, although such an obvious blunder may not have mattered.  Angered by “free thinking”, Starlight turns the Staff of Sameness on Twilight and her friends.  Their cutie marks are stripped, and they all turn a few shades duller.

Part two finds our ponies trapped inside one room while brainwashing recordings play through a loudspeaker.  Without cutie marks, none of the mane six can perform their characteristic abilities.  Rarity balks on judging drapes, Fluttershy no longer understands animals, Pinkie Pie isn’t able to be too happy, and Applejack doesn’t possess enough strength for breaking the door down.  Since Fluttershy seemed rather accepting of this village before though, Twilight figures they’ll buy her believing their philosophy right away.

Starlight lets them out temporarily in case anyone wanted to join, but that has no chance of happening.  Fluttershy does finally speak up though and is quickly welcomed…if she’ll name names, unfortunately.  Before pointing anyone out, Party Favor comes forward and says he “alone” wanted his cutie mark back, but now no longer does.  As punishment, he is sent in with the other mane six members while Fluttershy stays with Starlight until her new house can be built.

At night, Fluttershy sneaks out of the chimney and just happens to immediately catch a few important things.  Starlight’s de facto second Double Diamond has brought over the mane six’s cutie marks, for either “safekeeping” or selling on eBay.  Then Fluttershy witnesses Starlight fortuitously spilling some water on herself, which reveals her equal mark cutie sign is a fake.  Glitter never went through the ceremony, but pretends she did using makeup.  This considerably alters Fluttershy’s plan.

The next day, those naughty ponies are lead back out but again refuse.  Fluttershy offers to “lock them back in” while Party Favor receives a one day reprieve.  Then suddenly Twilight “wants to become a member” too, but only until she has Starlight admit no one possessing other cutie marks would be allowed in the village.  Fluttershy then tries dumping a magically appearing bucket of water on Starlight, but she sidesteps it à la Dick Van Dyke.  Somehow, one drop still hits her though and reveals a partial cutie mark.  Party Favor wipes off enough to reveal the whole thing, which shocks everyone in town.  Starlight justifies that removing each cutie mark needed magic, and everything she did was for the greater good.  But no one will accept this betrayal.  As Starlight quickly returns home, everyone sets off for the vault to retrieve their cutie marks.

Of course, Starlight still has the mane six’s, but they can’t penetrate her house until every other pony returns with theirs.  Unfortunately, Starlight has retreated through a secret passage that leads outside, so the race is on before she reaches “impossible to find her in” caves.  Thankfully, Party Favor can make binoculars and a large bridge completely out of balloons.  With everyone’s special talents, Starlight is stopped just short of the caves and our ponies’ cutie marks are restored.  In no way setting up a forthcoming sequel, Starlight still escapes and “we’ll never find her in there”.  Since their cutie marks start vibrating, the mane six have accomplished their goal, but stick around for some partying.

The Cutie Map’s subject matter almost matches its writing credit in terms of astonishment, which can be interpreted as anywhere from being against discrimination to a strict anti-communist manifesto.  Starlight’s proclamations and the recording are reminiscent of dystopian nightmares like 1984 or Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron.  This is fairly heavy for a children’s show, although Larson (probably) made it watchable while ostensibly not quite so deep.  How far the various writers meant this exploration to go remains unclear though.  Are they mad at racists, Obamacare, that Facebook marriage equality avatar, or mother Russia?  It’s impossible to say, and Larson’s tweet about the matter suggests he didn’t put in this much thought.  Maybe McCarthy or Sonneborn did, but the episode doesn’t specify who is being lampooned, nor does this issue conclude satisfactorily.  Scaring away the “evil villain” doesn’t really work in communist countries (since it’s always next man up), and racism is more of a systematic problem than one asshole guy.  Obviously somebody felt very strongly about this here, but part of that got lost between writers.

Perhaps the allegory is too obvious, but it was also often subtly portrayed.  Starlight Glimmer appears noticeably brighter than the other village residents, and she clearly uses magic when no one else does.  So that “easy” reveal was actually right there if you paid attention.  But also unmentioned is how cutie marks may not be a perfect concept.  As Starlight Glimmer hints, the villagers approached her after being unhappy with their lives.  Did Party Favor dislike his dead-end skill, or not want his one career option of being a clown?  Probably, and those other talents shown weren’t necessarily spectacular either (skiing, baking, whatever the hell Night Glider does).  What happens if you don’t enjoy your talent, or have more than one?  My Little Pony never really addressed this before, so a small bone is appreciated.  If Celestia forces ponies into one career path, then maybe some rebellion should be expected.  But obviously Starlight’s way isn’t successful either.

While the animators weren’t entirely consistent, they did depict “equal” ponies quite well.  Given their look, an anti-racism angle is more effective.  Everyone in town acts bland and boring, and are unable to perform anything competently.  Once the mane six “convert”, they start behaving similarly since their new cutie marks repress individuality.  They’re weak, uninspired, and can only trot or fly at moderate speeds.  This makes them more equal, but what good is that?  Forcing someone to be like somebody else has this end result.  We are all unique and shouldn’t ignore or be ashamed of it.

Consequently, the mane six are portrayed as more diverse than ever.  Each character’s “quirks” are noticeably played up, and they all have different reactions to their situation.  Notice especially during “In Our Town” when all five standing ponies have different facial expression as the others march past.  Dash chuckles while Pinkie makes the sourest expression she ever has (way too much duckface though, which might be memerific but rather uncomfortable to watch).  And Fluttershy loves it, but the others are different levels of unsure.  This division has never been more prominent, although they obviously haven’t felt similar either.  Their subsequent argument is understandable, but we’d still never expect a breakup was imminent.  Even if the mane six were thrown together for no logical reason, they’ve been through many things together.  Such a passage of time hasn’t really been evident before this point, which means this episode couldn’t have worked any earlier.  You need not be completely the same as your friends, but similar enough and able to understand any differences.  Since we know how the mane six view each other, their fighting seems more of the sibling variety rather than enemies.

Obviously our ponies are better off being very different than all the same, and we should certainly be celebrating diversity in a culture that still strikes back at it.  But maybe this was too obvious here for complete effectiveness.  Communist countries do often start a cult of personality like Starlight Glimmer was clearly doing, but they don’t usually completely repress individuality either (Russia’s sustained Olympic success wouldn’t have been possible from this pony society).  Capitalism is not a perfect system, and many people have only recently begun noticing its flaws.  So McCarthy’s black and white approach is problematic since both ways have merit and faults, and the issue isn’t simply Starlight being an evil brainwasher.  People or ponies can’t always be defined by one talent, but The Cutie Map doesn’t fully address this.

Ironically, the “strength in diversity” approach which finally beats Starlight holds The Cutie Map back.  McCarthy, Larson, and Sonneborn are very different writers whose styles don’t really mesh.  One person’s vision is almost always more effective than a huge writing “collaboration” which probably wasn’t.  The overall story clearly belongs to McCarthy, and that it actually deals with issues instead of some bland good vs. evil battle shows Larson’s influence.  Sonneborn’s contribution is less clear, although I’d happily blame him for the mane six’s early stereotypical scenes and other less effective parts.  Did Larson punch up/entirely rewrite Sonneborn’s first draft leaving little to none of his original work?  Hopefully, but the nature of two such different writers “working together” remains unclear.  Whatever Sonneborn added though, McCarthy and Larson’s styles still do not fit.  Larson wasn’t afforded enough time or plot for exploring a weighty topic, and he was bound to an unsatisfying conclusion (where did all those balloons come from, his schlong?).  In this case, Larson was definitely restrained by two lesser writers, even though all three technically have the same “cutie mark”.  As they inadvertently showed, life is too complicated for a black and white cutie mark/equal sign issue.

Even with a confused viewpoint and an interesting concern that isn’t fully explored, The Cutie Map is mostly compelling viewing in the adventure tradition of earlier two-parters.  Larson benefits from time he hasn’t had earlier, and again explores subjects when other writers would have been content with just story.  While characterization was solid (if more different than usual), aspects of the animation and writing just weren’t consistent enough for a better rating.  The former’s lapses are most surprising, like all that duckface or Night Glider’s hooves on her hips (something that looks clichéd rather than appropriate).  And McCarthy’s story follows her usual pattern, which Larson sadly couldn’t override.  Still, most of the presented episode works, and everyone definitely took a risk with such subject matter.  Whether it ages well cannot yet be determined, but enough of The Cutie Map features the mane six embracing their time together that a positive outlook certainly exists.  Our ponies are moving forward, and there’s no reason not to follow.