My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 622 - P.P.O.V. (Pony Point Of View)

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Didn’t I just complain about the previous episode being dull and pointless?  P.P.O.V. (Ponies’ Pussies Or Vaginas) trots out another Rashomon-style story regarding the above three ponies’ unlikely boat trip, except there doesn’t end up being any point besides filler.  Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all recount various conflicting versions of how their boat sank while Twilight and Spike figure out what really happened, but the conclusion is profoundly unsatisfying.  The Foxes return for an episode that looks decent and has some fun with each story and their unspoken similar details, although it falls apart upon any reflection.  Wow is that teaser exposition convoluted, and did they really walk to shore after being capsized by a freaking sea monster?  Like Michael Vogel immediately preceding, the Foxes cannot justify why their episode even exists.  The story setup and actual events were more interesting, but instead we hear Rarity et al. make stupid exaggerations while perfect Twilight comes to the rescue.  Literally every series does the Rashomon trope at some point, but P.P.O.V. certainly doesn’t qualify as an interesting version.  The episode actually feels more suited for season one with an obvious moral, the mane six struggling to understand each other, and Starlight being mysteriously absent.  Even if this counts as a better showing for the animators, problematic writing and pacing hurt any chance for P.P.O.V. to be remotely enjoyable.  Every other season six criticism applies here, since these issues all stemmed from the script.  P.P.O.V. is therefore nothing more than poorly-written filler from that part of the season where it usually occurs.  While again not painful like more terrible episodes, P.P.O.V.’s odd feel does little right either and makes for yet another uninspired outing.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 604 - On Your Marks

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On Your Marks is a rare necessary episode that doesn’t feel substantial.  Dave Polsky’s premise could have gone either way, but he chose to populate his script with filler.  Now possessing strange new cutie marks, the Crusaders question both their continued activities and existence.  They ultimately decide on a Radiohead-like compromise between doing their own activities around group ones, but Apple Bloom doesn’t come upon this so easily.  Our least favorite ponies still find time to solve a cutie mark problem while helping another earn his, but neither ends up being very remarkable.  Some problems exist from the Crusaders having gotten their marks in crusading earlier, but Polsky can’t be forgiven for what he came up with.  On Your Marks needed to be better given My Little Pony’s writing situation, which unquestionably makes it disappointing.  Too many scenes are wasted with them not knowing what to do, and that doesn’t make for compelling viewing despite being understandable.  If anything, On Your Marks seems like the series is searching for ideas, but like our protagonists they aren’t finding them.