My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 521 - Scare Master

 

Rating:

 

Oh god why.  Natasha Levinger’s take on Halloween is supposedly funny, scary, and insightful, but the episode actually ends up being another abomination of stupidity.  Fine, Fluttershy didn’t go out during the first Nightmare Night in Luna Eclipsed, but what the fuck did Levinger turn her into?  Now Fluttershy is somehow paralyzed by a wide array of irrational fears, and completely sucks the fun out of every activity.  With nowhere else for this plot point to go halfway through, Levinger decides Fluttershy should scare everyone else instead, but the results vary from oddly not scary, too much for a children’s show, and humorously bad.  Then after an apparent success and many self-congratulations, Fluttershy gives up, says fuck her friends, and goes home.  Larson’s Halloween episode wasn’t perfect, but he addressed why the holiday exists while reintroducing an important new character.  Levinger’s seemed little more than a dreary rehash of Filli Vanilli which has little purpose and accomplishes nothing.  Like Hearthbreakers before it, Levinger assumes details about her assigned holiday that aren’t really established as canon.  Why would Fluttershy be afraid to go out on Nightmare Night when nothing bad actually happens?  Is she really scared of other ponies in costumes?  Levinger says yes, but that doesn’t make any sense.  We do finally see how Rarity celebrates Halloween, but her costume designs look terrible and uninspired here.  Not content with all this, Levinger adds in some unnecessary slapstick “comedy” which gets repeated for additional “effect”.  Outside of Fluttershy’s absurd characterization, the other mane six members essentially phone in their parts.  No one seems interested to be appearing in this abomination, and they aren’t bothered by completely ignoring Fluttershy or her problems.  Even if certain scenes are mildly amusing, absolutely no repeat value exists.  Every joke falls flat the second time around, and Fluttershy’s attitude makes certain parts unwatchable.  Levinger’s time on My Little Pony consisted of awful episodes (Pinkie Apple Pie, It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies, Make New Friends But Keep Discord), with Scare Master being the deserved nail in her writing career.  From strange reactions to misguided ideas on what constitutes scary, Scare Master is another mess which does nothing right.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 518 - Crusaders Of The Lost Mark

 

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Crusaders Of The Lost Mark attempts to be an Important episode, but only ends up as Magical Mystery Cure part two.  This criticism is common, but completely accurate since the episode features wall-to-wall songs and tries to do way too much.  Perhaps not to the extent of season three’s finale, although nothing about the plot, characterization, or resolution makes much sense either.  While planning their next failed attempt at earning cutie marks, the Crusaders are interrupted by Pipsqueak, who demands they become his campaign managers for a run at class president.  With no experience or reason to help someone who barely ever makes an appearance, they readily accept.  He slaughters Diamond Tiara after her assholish display, but now the Crusaders feel bad and try cheering her up by becoming friends.  Then after Tiara becomes a completely different character, they finally earn their cutie marks without disrupting My Little Pony’s premise.  These widely disparate events are scored as a musical for some reason, and Ingram’s songs are again typically bland and unoriginal.  Amy Keating Rogers wastes yet another teaser, and pervades her script with too many head-shaking moments.  Many may feel that the Crusaders finally earning their marks is historic enough to warrant a higher rating, but these odd final scenes only elevate a worse episode to middling status.  Given how long they’ve attempted to earn them, this part feels rushed after the drawn out Diamond Tiara scenes which don’t offer as much insight as they pretend.  Almost every problem Rogers had with A Friend In Deed occurs again here, since Crusaders is another extremely poorly paced episode.  Her script may never reach those earlier lows, but it’s still an indisputable mess whose sections do not belong together.  That the Crusaders earn their marks in this way is extremely disappointing, and wastes what should have been one of the series’ highlights.  Rogers is capable of much better work, but Crusaders brought out her sub-par faults instead and fails to achieve any of its objectives.  Even though they’re often annoying, the Crusaders deserved better than this anti-climax for their “defining” episode.

 

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 514 - Canterlot Boutique

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Canterlot Boutique consciously tries to be Suited For Success’s sequel, but it never probes deeper than the surface level.  Rarity has somehow scraped up enough money to open a second shop (thanks, Princess Exposition!), and few premises scream “reset button” more.  At least she found a manager to help, but Sassy Saddles’ outgoing marketing persona feels predictably evil.  Thankfully, Amy Keating Rogers goes some places you won't expect, and does try dealing with fashion issues.  Whether she actually cares about fashion is debatable, although her topics don’t only pertain to that discipline.  In a country where the percentage of successful people constantly dwindles, marketing and mass production are almost more important than good ideas and creativity.  Sassy understands this, but Rogers doesn’t portray that as bad.  Her attitude differs from Rarity’s, but she isn’t uncaring or heartless.  Also discussed is how most people believe fashion means wearing “what’s in style” and looking like everyone else.  With hundreds of orders for the “princess dress”, this will literally be true in Canterlot, but that fact (and the morality of doing so) goes unmentioned.  What doesn’t though is whether Rarity is ready for the next step or not, and what being famous will take.  Rogers starts off slowly, but eventually spins her show into focus through tackling many different subjects.  Choosing stereotypes over new characters admittedly may not have been inspired, but it does accurately describe working in customer service.  And having everyone discover their own fashion sense is a positive if utopian message.  Unfortunately, Rogers clearly doesn’t care about fashion, while too much disconnect and questionable scene choices exist for a better rating.  Canterlot Boutique may mostly have Rarity’s heart, but its mean-spirited parts detract from the overall effect.  Considering Rogers has had early-episode focus problems before (A Friend In Deed, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3), this aspect can’t be glossed over or forgiven.  Most episodes don’t attempt to deal with so much though, and Canterlot Boutique is successful enough that it earns a passing grade despite needing another script draft and better editing.  Most of the supporting ponies don’t return often if ever, but like the other background characters in season five, that doesn’t mean they’re not realistic or deserving.