My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 213 - Baby Cakes

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Like Sisterhooves Social, Baby Cakes definitely started with a good heart.  But oh god the results.  Completely scrapping any semblance of plot, Charlotte Fullerton chooses to portray a “realistic” day taking care of kids.  Whatever positives you imagine this might entail have been entirely left out in favor of dirty diapers, slapstick humor, and crying.  Oh god, the crying.  Taking a cue from her head writer, Fullerton stretches scenes through repeated dialogue or actions (see above), and even wastes a full minute and a half by having the Cakes ask around if the mane six will babysit when Pinkie Pie is right there.  Which is how it gets worse, because Pinkie is an absolute disaster.  Not one of her antics is remotely funny, and she displays a complete misunderstanding of babies in a way that four-year-olds don’t.  Then these “one-month olds” start doing things fully grown ponies can’t to inject some drama or something, which ruins the feel Fullerton was apparently going for.  Obviously raising kids is hard work, but Baby Cakes seems to make the argument that they’re not worth having at all.  Add to it Mr. Cake’s horrid genetics story, and Baby Cakes is one of the worst My Little Pony episodes ever produced.  Few outings can match how completely unwatchable it is.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 204 - Luna Eclipsed

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Luna Eclipsed is rather raw and slightly awkward, which parallels its main character in a way.  Between two huge failures, M.A. Larson offers the best Halloween episode of the series, and one of the few ever which actually tackles reasons for the holiday’s existence.  To do so, he brought back Celestia’s sister Luna, who was last seen in the pilot over a year earlier.  Criticisms abounded because her characterization stood in stark contrast to this appearance, which consisted of about a minute on screen.  Here, Luna is loud, awkward, talks funny, and has a small sarcastic streak.  She decides to arrive in Ponyville on Nightmare Night; partly to protest the holiday’s unfair portrayal of her.  Attempting to fit in, Luna scares the whole town and ends up canceling Halloween altogether.  Fortunately Twilight faced a similar problem earlier (for an episode or two, but still), and is happy to help another member of Canterlot’s royalty with her image.  Even given this partial success, it would take time for Luna to be integrated within the series, and her successive appearances show the strong but quiet loner that the initial glimpse would have suggested.  But does this mean Luna is completely out of character in her eponymous episode?  From a show that tackles introversion regularly, I can’t say that it is.  We all have moments of extroversion like Luna before retreating back inside, and they’re not exactly well-written one-man shows.  Luna might be a bit too out there, but at least Larson tried to address her being gone for a thousand years.  Language is practically impossible to understand after that time, so fortunately her speech isn’t worse.  Despite the few aspects of her character that might not age well, Luna Eclipsed is a joy that still finds time to explore issues about its subject.  Larson may not articulate his points quite correctly, but he still offers a definitive argument on why Halloween is a necessary part of culture.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 205 - Sisterhooves Social

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While theoretically possessing a good heart, Sisterhooves Social is a humungous mess from start to finish.  It moves from an assault on your viewing stamina in act one to the completely preposterous act three race, and finds nothing redeeming in between.  Cindy Morrow attempted tackling the recurring sisters’ theme, but I’m guessing she was an only child based upon what made it to air.  Sweetie Belle will never be more annoying or stupid, which rubs off on Rarity once she starts thinking the former’s actions had some sort of purpose.  This reaches such heights that Rarity then acts completely out of character (after probably suffocating) to get her worthless and trying sister back when the two still won’t live together anyways.  All for the purpose of some imaginary family bond that simply doesn’t exist here or in the real world.  Sweetie Belle’s relentlessness completely sinks Sisterhooves early on, while the subsequent events don’t make any amount of sense.  Having a brother or sister in no way means you have to let them destroy your life, but Morrow’s moral seems to conclude exactly that.  And as usual, she has characters accurately critique the episode from within.  “Geez Louise, can’t I do anything right?” No matter who that applies to in Sisterhooves Social, the answer is no, they absolutely cannot.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 223 - Ponyville Confidential

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If I don’t bust M.A. Larson for clichéd dialogue and stock plots, it’s because he weaves them into a surprisingly personal and enjoyable story where they’re barely noticed.  Not that he necessarily spent time as a gossip writer, but Ponyville Confidential demonstrates a lot of the writing experience, from writer’s block to morals to writing what you want versus what will sell.  Even more shocking is Larson finding his foil in the Cutie Mark Crusaders rather than any specific mane six member.  Apple Bloom suggests penning articles for the school paper will earn them cutie marks, but their original ideas are too boring for sensational-minded editor Diamond Tiara.  A chance encounter with those two idiots Snips and Snails sets them on the gossip path, as their successful articles mean no one in Ponyville is safe.  At first, their Foal Free Press is more popular than the real papers, but everyone’s ire causes the CMCs to rethink what they’re doing.  From all of the moral dilemmas to great characterization and a look into the extraneous aspects of being a writer, Ponyville Confidential is a strong capper to Larson’s amazing season two run.  No other writer on the staff can integrate everything into a very satisfying 22-minute episode.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 203 - Lesson Zero

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Of all the bad My Little Pony outings, this is the WORST…POSSIBLE…EPISODE!!!  That sounds like a good line, so I’d better reuse it at least twice because writing 22-minute scripts is hard.  Meghan McCarthy has shaped quite a bit of Friendship Is Magic (not usually for the better), but never was so downright awful as in Lesson Zero.  Twilight neglected writing her letter to Princess Celestia this week, but filler abounds since that isn’t much of a plot.  Many phrases are repeated multiple times (“I have searched high, I have searched low.  Low and high!  High and low.”, “Yes?  Yes?  Yes?”  “I really like her mane”), scenes are dragged out either with or without such dialogue, and nothing much really happens throughout.  After wasting three and a half minutes on Twilight Sparkles’ propensity to make checklists (she’s so nerdy, it’s hilarious!), our future princess wanders around town to find out nothing is going on.  Her letter is due by sundown (apparently, like all school assignments), so she quickly goes bonkers at the prospect of being tardy.  TARRRDYYY!!!  (Yep, that gets reused too.)  What’s even worse is that McCarthy made sure Lesson Zero’s ripples were felt throughout the entire series, because she removed Twilight’s importance in corresponding with God.  Now anyone can, which means we don’t need her around much anymore.  So for a filler-filled bore whose only goal is the complete destruction of Twilight’s character, I dub Lesson Zero the WORST…POSSIBLE…EPISODE!!!  Relatively speaking.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks

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The general consensus is that Rainbow Rocks far outclasses its predecessor, which in some ways is almost true.  With the setting and most characters already established, RR can focus almost exclusively on its story.  Canterlot High is having a battle of the bands, but the dreaded Sirènes are threatening to use their bewildering voices to take over the school.  These Equestria ex-pats are still another retcon creation from Meghan McCarthy, who again provides the usual things I complain about in every single review of her work.  EG’s mane six know serious trouble is imminent regarding the new “students”, and quickly find a way to bring Twilight back to help.  At least McCarthy attempts a number of good character moments regarding the reformed Sunset Shimmer, who has assumed Twilight’s place in the group…sort of.  Shimmer’s previous actions have left her an outsider, and she struggles to fit in for the entire movie.  And having now formed a band, the mane six’s personalities frequently clash as well.  Cameos are once again omnipresent, but Trixie has a much larger part while Maud and Vinyl Scratch make surprisingly memorable contributions.  Naturally a fair amount of songs are included, and whether by choice or not the Sirens get the best ones.  Our ponies don’t fare as well, but their suspiciously strong playing makes them passable.  Although McCarthy’s focus is strong, her dialogue is not, since the script is literally pervaded with clichés.  Fortunately, that doesn’t distract too much from the enjoyment, as RR is another better-than-would-be-expected entry into this series.  And there will be more Equestria Girls movies.  To get into the spirit of things and borrow a cliché, make sure to watch throughout the credits.  You’ll miss the best scene if you don’t.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Season 4 Top And Bottom 5

M.A. Larson sat out the fourth season to complete his novel Pennyroyal Academy, and as such it became the first series not to earn any ratings higher than four stars.  In his absence though, most of the other writers stepped to produce their best work, including some of the new additions.  Dave Polsky ended up with the lion’s share of five shows, and most of them were solid.  Amy Keating Rogers returned to pen both the best Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie episodes, while Meghan McCarthy’s opening and closing two-parters were far more successful than her previous efforts.  Josh Haber brought a realistic feel that fit the season perfectly and proved himself worthy of remaining on the staff, and even Merriwether Williams turned in one of her “best” episodes (in that it didn’t top the worst list).  Unfortunately, Scott Sonneborn and Natasha Levinger were both complete disasters, while McCarthy’s meddling ruined plenty of potentially decent outings.

These last three produced filler which destroyed the flow of a season that was surprisingly gripping at times.  Having an arc regarding finding six keys allowed for each mane six member to have their own special episode, and three of them were among the season’s top ratings.  After the Equestria Games hoopla was introduced in the previous season’s Games Ponies Play, that became a solid mini-arc as well.  These served to focus the season, and were unquestionably stronger than most of the other episodes that didn’t deal with these threads.  So even if no one specific episode matched the best efforts from previous seasons, the fourth was undoubtedly My Little Pony’s strongest overall to date.  With Larson’s return set for the fifth season and many other writers finally maturing, expectations have to be set rather high.  It is a great loss that Larson chose this particular season to sit out, but I must concern myself with the shows that were actually produced.  And there was plenty to like.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episodes 401-02 - Princess Twilight Sparkle

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One may consider it a certainty that a Meghan McCarthy penned episode will contain retcons and easy button solutions, so the fourth season premiere Twilight Princess Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't disappoint in that area.  However, the introspective moments found in Equestria Girls also receive development here, and for the first time it appears that McCarthy is learning something as a writer on My Little Pony.  Eschewing a villain takes a page out of my book, and letting Twilight do a bit of time travel shows some Larson influence.  But like Equestria Girls, McCarthy's model for Princess Twilight is clearly the pilot, although the first half deals more with the potential splitting up of the mane six rather than their coming together.  Sticking rigidly to this format means the two-parter has pacing issues, with their big quest and many revelations coming only in the second half.  These problems plagued McCarthy and her story editing staff last season as well, and her writing again relies too heavily on clichés.  However, focusing on the three princesses and avoiding her other problems (the royal couple was not missed) has produced McCarthy's most successful episode in a long time.  She's not quite able to match Larson’s epicness despite clearly trying, but unmistakably pushes a feel of trying to make the fourth season bigger and better than the previous three.  Even if it doesn't last very long, Princess Twilight Sparkle is as good of a start as could have been expected.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episodes 425-26 - Twilight's Kingdom

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Despite the fourth season premiere promising a massive arc of a quest, Twilight admits at the beginning of Twilight’s Kingdom that it hasn’t ended up happening.  Meghan McCarthy’s second two-parter finally wraps up this story, with her usual dose of yet another retconned villain, an easy solution, and a plot that feels borrowed from a fanfic.  Nevertheless, it is as focused and watchable as her earlier effort, since pushing the series forward helps gloss over more problematic writing.  After Twilight wonders about and then demands a purpose, an old ape-centaur picks that moment to wander into town and start stealing magic.  This extremely creepy process is repeated many times, while Twilight’s eventual battle with him also pushes the show into areas it probably shouldn’t go.  After finally acquiring all the dollars magic in Equestria, Lord Tirek is quickly defeated by a big ball of friendship that sprouts up a new castle for Twilight afterwards.  That was easy.  Songs are mercifully kept to a minimum (which doesn’t seem likely when the first filler one hits less than five minutes in), and having promise of a slightly different direction for the series is somewhat exciting.  But this is a second straight season finale that expects us to ignore all the problems as it pushes toward its goal.  McCarthy may have slightly relaxed her writing idiosyncrasies in the fourth season, but like Discord, she isn’t quite there yet.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 424 - Equestria Games

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After a run of filler to meet an apparently too large episode requirement, season four regains its focus with the previously hyped Equestria Games.  Dave Polsky takes something of a risk by not showing the events but Spike’s adventures around them instead.  The dragon has ironically become something of a hero in the Crystal Empire after Twilight crapped out on saving them, but he finds it hard to capitalize on his celebrity.  Stage fright hits Spike hard after being asked to light the Olympic torch, and attempts to atone for this just get worse.  Like in Power Ponies, he gets a contrived moment of redemption which prevents his future suicide, and this absurd scene really undermines the episode.  Thankfully the surrounding material works better, including Spike’s hilarious attempt at singing Cloudsdale’s anthem.  Polsky remembers to pay off Rainbow Falls’ buildup with the relay race, although it still remains something of a secondary afterthought.  Considering how sports were shown in Fall Weather Friends, and that we really only care about one of the competitors, this is almost certainly a wise choice.  Even if another episode devoted to poor Spike discovering fake self-worth isn’t really necessary, Equestria Games at least feels like it has a point and is part of the fourth season’s storyline.  That focus and tone help the parts which aren’t quite so strong.