My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episodes 301-302 - The Crystal Empire

 

Rating:

Winter is coming to Ponyville.  The season three opener finds Twilight forced to take the black and head to the wall, but fortunately (or perhaps unfortu­nately) the Game Of Thrones references end there.  Instead of wildlings, the legendary and certainly not hastily retconned Crystal Em­pire has reappeared, more or less intact after it disappeared a thousand years ago (according to the flashback, apparently before Celestia sent Luna to the moooooooon!).  These Brigadoon ponies are suffering from…amnesia after the past millennium passed overnight to them, and restoring their spirit so that they might protect Equestria from the evil King Sombra (even though nobody had heard of any of these characters before (including Twilight, who says as much)) is really important seriously.  Since pretty much no one else was critical of the season two finale also penned by Me­gan McCarthy, it’s unsurprising that she learned nothing from the over­rated and mediocre two-parter.  Most of the problems in that episode are present here as well, which includes a number of “that was easy” plot mo­ments, unnecessary below-average Broadway songs, slightly suspect characteri­zation, and Shining Armor referring to his sister as “Twilie” no less than three times.  Despite these issues, I ac­tually enjoyed this two-parter better than the last one, if only because the story felt more suited for the time allotted.  There are still a lot of problems with the episode, especially from a logical standpoint, and this is definitely the least of the first four season-openers.  Fortunately, the focus is on the mane six instead of the unwanted previously retconned couple (who were thankfully otherwise occupied for most of the show), which helps the overall spirit.
 

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 123 - The Cutie Mark Chronicles

 Rating:

Sonic Rainboom slyly mentions Rainbow Dash accomplishing one when she was a filly, but it neglects to go into de­tails.  Seven episodes later, we finally get to see how it happened.  The Cutie Mark Chronicles’ placement near the end of the season is a smart one, as it ties up a number of threads.  Our least favorite characters give up trying to kill themselves for the moment and decide just to ask the mane six how they got their cutie marks.  The stories they hear suggest the marks only appear as a result of exposure to radiation or a near-death experience.  No wonder an exasperated Scootaloo takes little from these bizarrely unhelpful stories, likely concluding cutie marks aren’t really worth all that the mane six had to go through to get them.  Free-falling onto a swarm of butterflies from 30,000 feet is debatably preferable to a trip to the tattoo parlor down the street, though.  Of course, it’s more likely the latter is exactly what the mane six did, and they just embellished a bit for the children’s sake.  Nevertheless, the stories in The Cutie Mark Chronicles are compelling no matter if they're actually canon or not, and that makes the episode one of the best in the first season.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 403 - Castle Mane-ia

 

Rating:

There are so many ways Castle Mane-ia could have gone wrong, and in previous seasons it probably would have.  Yes, the episode is technically harmless fluff filler that could have been a good Halloween offering, but this new season is finally seeing My Little Pony approach the feel of a good series.  Even though the plot is unlikely and requires a bit of a stretch to happen, all of it unwinds very naturally.  For the first time, our pony friends just seem to be living their lives in a normal fashion as opposed to being slaves to whatever the plot of the week is.  Having introduced an arc in the season opener greatly enhances this, even if those events weren’t really necessary for this episode to happen.  Castle Mane-ia is designed like older scary movies or thrillers, and several came to mind while watching (Scooby Doo was the main inspiration, although I also thought of Abbott & Costello, Don Knotts movies, and Murder By Death).  These consist of the characters being confined and wandering around some sort of scary mansion, and are often accompanied by unexplained disappearances and an unknown person lurking in the shadows.  That might mean Castle Mane-ia is a genre exercise, but the style of the fourth season makes it so much more enjoyable.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 126 - The Best Night Ever

Rating:

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything’s okay and everything’s going right.

Alternately, I could quote the John Lennon aphorism that life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.  Both would describe the action of The Best Night Ever, which is a decidedly unsatisfying conclusion to the first season.  However, for once this is actually by design.  Le Grand Gala Équestre was first introduced in Ticket Master and hinted at throughout the rest of the season, but it’s taken until the final episode for us to actually see the event.  Since the introduction was so long ago, a lot of the first act recaps the reasons the mane six badly wanted to go to this dance via a large production number that is actually quite appropriate.  Everything goes smoothly for about the first half or so, but a failed Pinkie Pie song marks the beginning of things turning for the worse.  The mane six’s plans all start going awry no matter how much they try to fight it.  Although this disheartening illumination of Murphy’s Law prevents The Best Night Ever from ranking among the season’s best episodes, it’s also the point at the same time.  In a season besotted by silly cartoon flourishes, this episode is a surprisingly realistic interpretation of an event everyone has been waiting for.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 125 - Party Of One

Rating:

Dear Princess Celestia,

    Pinkie Pie is crazy!  Yesterday she made us go to a birthday party for her pet alligator, which we all did because we’re her friends, but today she wanted us to go to the after party for the party we just went to.  I have my studies and my friends do all have jobs, although Pinkie Pie never seems to go to hers.  After today, I don’t have to wonder why she gets so much time off.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 124 - Owl's Well That Ends Well

Rating:

 

The mane six share a rare night together at a meteor shower as Owl’s Well That Ends Well opens.  It is a fine moment that is relatively unequaled in the series, and seems to be the setup for at least a decent episode.  Then Owlo­wiscious shows up.  This mysterious owl just invites himself into Twi­light’s house one night, but she doesn’t see anything weird about that.  Then he starts doing the chores that Spike is supposed to be in charge of, which causes the “#1 Assistant” to get butthurt.  Spike repeatedly tries and fails to make Owlowisicious look bad, and eventually ends up almost get­ting himself killed.  Twilight then explains something she could have ear­lier which would have prevented a large chunk of the episode, but it’s TV logic that fortunately saves Spike.  Adding a new character pretty much never stuck in the first season, and Owlowisicious is no different.  Once the next episode rolls around, he’s long gone, so Spike doesn’t have to worry anymore.  That just makes Owl’s Well That Ends Well doubly unnecessary.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 122 - A Bird In The Hoof

Rating:

God this is a dull episode.  Since trying to make My Little Pony a Looney Tunes car­toon worked so well in Fall Weather Friends, Charlotte Fullerton decided why not do the same but even more so this time.  A Bird In The Hoof in­volves Fluttershy kidnapping Princess Celestia’s pet bird Philomena and try­ing futilely to convalesce her.  Like A Dog And Pony Show, apparently this kidnapping is supposed to be funny.  Unlike that episode, there are no good moments to balance the bad ones out.  Fluttershy tries a lot of things that don’t have any hope of working, and both her and Twilight needlessly freak out about what they imagine the nicest princess in all of history will do to them.  Of course, they can partially be forgiven since the “Trollestia” meme basically originates from this episode.  One uttered word by the prin­cess when she introduces her pet would have spared us all of the action that follows.  As the Anthropic Principle states, if something stupid or extremely unlikely has to happen for a movie or show to exist, then it will happen.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 121 - Over A Barrel

Rating:

In some ways, Over A Barrel is kind of the first season's forgotten episode.  Maybe not in rule 34-dom, where Braeburn, Bloomberg, and the wing-boner have received attention, but the story and events don’t seem to have had much effect on anything that’s come after it.  The episode is surprisingly epic for a typical 22 minutes, which balances out some of the awkward parts of the writing.  Yes, we've seen the “outsider becomes leader of a native tribe” trope many times before, but rarely is a “world-deciding” conflict shown from both sides where the two make sense.  There are a lot of new characters here who will probably never return, which is unfortunate even if there isn't much more story left.  Although M.A. Larson specializes in similar epic adventures featuring all of the ponies, Over A Barrel is otherwise unique from any other episode.  Not only does it take place entirely away from Ponyville, but the mane six get split up early on and have vastly different experiences because of it.  They are outsiders who have to deal with an unfamiliar situation, and everything isn't exactly handled correctly.  A lot of drama and suspense is packed into the episode, along with a large number of characters and commentary on issues.  Somehow (and quite surprisingly), writer Dave Polsky made it all work.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 120 - Green Isn't Your Color

Rating:

Green Isn't Your Color is a bit more over the top in its depiction of the fashion industry than Suited For Success, and also unfortunately has more slapstick.  Nevertheless, the overall spirit is fun, and the episode still manages to depict an important lesson even if in a slightly silly manner.  This spirit carries Green Isn't Your Color, which otherwise might have come off as a jab at fashion by someone who really doesn't know much about it.  Everything is well-meant though, and another in a long line of great supporting roles by Pinkie Pie is instrumental in helping.  Not every moment sparkles, and a lot of what happens suffers from the one-off/forgetfulness syndrome that is typical of the first season.  With the overall good time though, this doesn't end up mattering so much.

My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 119 - A Dog And Pony Show

Rating:

A Dog And Pony Show is probably the least of the “adventure” episodes of the first season, although the genre is strong enough that it certainly still rates in the top half.  Amy Keating Rogers is again plagued by a few too many cutesy touches of the kind that sank Fall Weather Friends, but this time she finds enough good moments to compensate.  The plot is the darkest of any episode yet aired in the series, and it’s hard not to take the subject seriously even though it’s only played for laughs.  Rarity is kidnapped by three Gollums Diamond Dogs (not of the Bowie variety), who plan to use her to find the ridiculous multitude of gems just lying around Equestria.  Of course, Rar­ity doesn't know how to be scared in situations she should be, and won’t compromise her “principles” no matter what peril she may be in.  It’s extremely doubtful that any kidnapping situation turns out like the one here, as the Dogs’ disgust with Rarity would probably lead to her death rather than them willingly let her go.  That means the point doesn't exactly come off, since acting like Rarity does in a similar situation almost certainly isn't the right thing to do.  Kidnappings aren't generally sources of comedy, so the episode feels somewhat disconcerting overall.  With a large amount of fantasy elements present, it’s better not to take A Dog And Pony Show too seriously, and the various fun parts that Rogers somehow finds do elevate the episode.  Mostly this is thanks to Rarity, who shines even though she has a bit of the stereotypical “fabulous” bug that certain writers often plague her with.