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.
