[MLP/REVIEW/S4E19&20] Double Special: For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils & Leap of Faith

I so totally didn't forget to review last weeks episode... I had this double review in mind all along... sure... maybe I can convince myself if I keep saying that...

>> For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils:

Oh wow, another Sweetie Belle episode, and so soon. If I may be so bold, the CMC are really taking center stage this season. From as early as Flight to the Finish up to this episode, every so often the CMC have gotten some really well done and compelling episodes. They really stand out more as characters of their own and dealing with problems not related to getting cutie marks (either directly or indirectly).

On to this episode in particular. I really liked this one (Sweetie being my favorite of the CMC probably had no small part in that...). I liked that the animators had Sweetie use her magic in various instances, such as opening and closing the box flaps. It's a nice small nod to Twilight Time and a fun little way to provide continuity. I also liked the dream sequences and felt they were really animated well and had really smooth and creative transitions between the various segments, though I will say seeing the same scene (the birthday) twice in a row was a little much... tl;dr: good job animators.

This conflict was a really enjoyable one. Not only was it interesting, it was also relateable. Despite not being something I've experienced on a personal level, it's something I can understand quite well and have seen in action many times. Conflicts like these are the best since when you can relate so well to the conflict at hand, it bears more emotional weight. The end result is an episode that lands close to home and that makes you feel really good when you're done.

I do think the resolution was a little weird. What, Sapphire is suddenly okay with everything just becuase of a dolphin stitch? And it really doesn't even look that good... There's this whole Egyptian thing going on but suddenly a dolphin somehow makes sense? Maybe it's not my place to say as I am far from fashionable myself, but I just didn't like it. But back to the matter at hand, I just didn't find it very believable that having her lucky animal on the headdress would make Sapphire okay with all that had happened.

Something else that I liked was seeing Luna again, and what's more, relating Sweetie's conflict to that of her own from when she became Nightmare Moon. It really gives solid reasoning to why she would've taken such an interest in such a small conflict. (especially small for a princess) Though it's a little weird in two ways. Firstly, how would Luna know about Sweetie's fifth birthday? It's weird enough that she knows, but it would have happened while Luna was locked away in the moon... The other thing is how she would know that Sapphire's lucky animal was a dolphin. I guess it just adds up to Alicorn princess / Dreamwalker powers... It's still weird though.

Overall: 9/10 - I wouldn't say perfect, but overall I quite liked it. As stated before, I wouldn't be surprised if the CMC got their cutie marks sometime S5.

>> Leap of Faith:

So here it is: AJ's key episode. This leaves only Twilight. Let's just hope they actually make it good and don't just make all the key's combine to form her's like with the elements... we've already seen that, so we need something different this time, but I digress. My first thought when we got to the inciting action of this episode was, "oh great... just great... not these two again..." Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 was FAR from my favorite episode. In fact, its one of my least favorites. It stood as my all time least favorite for quite some time and was only recently removed from its place of personal infamy by simple ways, but once again, I digress.

I will say this: Flim and Flam made a much better appearance here that last time. In the last episode, there was never any real conflict. Sure, AJ's ideals were challenged, but she never doubted them, wasn't wrong about anything, and didn't learn anything at the end. We end up right back where we started excepting for the fact that we just realized we wasted twenty-two minutes of our lives on a poorly written episode with no emotional weight to the plot. (pununintended)

This time is different, not only is there a solid, and pretty believable conflict, but it causes AJ to doubt herself and her ideals and comes to learn something by the end and walk away a stronger character who's been reaffirmed in her ideals. These are the makings of a strong conflict and a good resolution and I'm glad to see the writers incorporating them as they usually do rather than a repeat of last time.

This episode deals with a very real truth, that sometimes the truth hurts. (which, by the way, is a truth that hurts. "the truth hurts" is autological!) AJ's whole honesty thing seems simple enough, but it's when the rubber meets the road that things can get pretty sticky, and often times people may actually be better off were you to lie, or at least refrain from telling them the truth... Everyone knows it's wrong to lie, but sometimes out there in real life situations you can reach grey areas where you begin to question your ideals. What you do when you are confronted with these types of conflicts isn't always easy to decide, and sometimes you find yourself compromising your ideals, often to your own regret later on. This is the situation AJ finds herself in in this episode, and she has just as much trouble with is as any normal person would. This is why this episode's conflict is so relateable, becuase it's real.

The way AJ first responds to the seemingly too-good-to-be-true miracal tonic is really in character. Just like classic AJ, she grabs control of the situation and takes the initiative with a non-nonsense approach. In this case,  going back the the Flim and Flam tent in order to determine just what is going on.

Critically, I don't have much to say about this episode. I liked it, but there wasn't too much I thought was especially good or bad, except for what I've already written. So overall, 8/10 - a nice episode and a pretty decent key episode.


I apologize for the delay in ep19, I've just been busy this last week, but I made sure to go back and finish it this week.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E18] Maud Pie

"The next one's about rocks."

"They're all about rocks."

Maude Pie is another episode that appealed to be on a personal level. Last week I saw myself in Applebloom and this ween in Maud. Although not quite on her level, I'm not a very social person. What's more is that just like her, I don't show my emotions terribly plainly, it's just the kind of person I am. But what got me more than anything else is when I got to see her relationship with Pinkie. I don't tend to make many friendships, but the ones I do make, I consider very special and important to me.

Now as far as execution, I think the episode was done pretty well. Although it wasn't very hard to see where the episode was going, it was still enjoyable to watch regardless. I am glad that we got to see a member of Pinkie's family in person finally, now we just need Fluttershy and Rainbow's family to make some screen appearances.

--> Random insert!: Tom x Maud is my new OTP! <--

I like that Twilight refused to simply pretend to be friends. Even though she cited a practical reason for this, I still feel she wouldn't have done it even if there was no reason not to, simply because that's not who she is. Twilight's the princess of friendship and would rather put the effort into a true relationship rather than take the easy route of faking it. Though, I can sympathize with the others. they're hard-pressed to be able to understand Maud and as much as they want to be friends with her, they don't know just how to do it, and only suggest faking it because they don't want to let Pinkie down.

The scene that made everything for me was the final one when Maud reveals all the rock candy necklaces she's saved over the years. It shows just how much Maud cares for pinkie. Before you say "she saved her life isn't that enough?" the answer is no. You don't have to truly and deeply care for someone to save them, though it sure would help. The mere fact that she saved them all the years, even when pinkie would care less if she saved them considering the fact that she think Maud had eaten them all, shows that she truly does care for Pinkie.

On the whole, I'd say this episode deserves an 8/10. It may not be my favorite episode of all time, and there wasn't anything particularly special about it, however it was a pretty good episode regardless.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E17] Somepony to Watch Over Me

First let me apologize for not getting this up as soon as other reviews, but that out of the way, let's talk pony.

This is an episode that resonated very well with me as it's something I've experienced a lot in my life. I saw my mom in Applejack a lot in this episode, and thus only about seven minutes in I was begging for Applebloom to punch Applejack in the face...

This episode was kinda predictable, but still enjoyable. The monster battle was quite exciting though. By the end of the episode, I was really proud of Applebloom. The other crusaders and her have really grown since their introduction, and I wouldn't be suprised if they got their cutie marks late this season or early next season. (By the way: the hillbilly ponies were quite a suprise...)

Despite the incredibly stupid descision to take the pies by herself, I still feel like this was a good thing for the episode. It's something I feel that demonstrates how a lot of people feel. They might make the clearest descisions, but they just want to let their parents know that they are more grown up than they realise. There's also a message for the parents here, that there's eventually a time to let go, and it's not always easy to know just when that time is. To some extent, a loving parent will never let go, but they learn that their kids have lives of their own and need freedom.

Back on track with the episode, as I said before, it was pretty predictable. I liked it for sure (especially the meta-gag about not having enough time for a song), but from a critical standpoint, I'd say 6/10, but don't take this as me not liking this episode. I loved it, but because it spoke to me as a person, and to me that's the most important thing.

See you back here next week for ep 18

=D

[MLP/SPECULATION] 'dat box

I promised it earlier, and here it is: my thoughts on the box and a few speculations about the upcoming episodes. Before I begin, let me give a little disclaimer here...

1) everything here is my opinion/guesses and nothing more

2) I have not looked at ANY spoilers for upcoming episodes because I like to go into an episode unspoilered. Thus, this pot may contradict info that was leaked/given out by staff. (If there is any, I avoid spoilers like the plague)

3) This post was written 3/1/2014 and thus may (and very likel will) be completely irrelevant by the time the episodes being discussed actually air.

So let's get the obvious out of the way. The thread is rarity's key, the badge is RD's, the rubber chicken is pinkie's and the flower is flutter's. If you can't figure that out, well then I don't know. Since twi is the main character, she's obviously going to get her key last, which means AJ is next.

AJ's key giver will likely be another guest star like the others, and I'm betting it will either be celestia that gives twi her key, or else all the others combine to make hers. (Though I do hope not, since that's just so stereotypical and would rob twi of what could be a really awesome episode.)

One thing I've noticed is that the key episodes are spaces a little to close to each other to leave us with no more than 2-3 episodes at the end before the finale. I'm hoping this is no coincidence and it means will get some ultra epic 5-6 part finale, but I think that's hoping for too much...

Another hope of mine is that all the key givers show up again and play a part in the finale.

Now about the box... My best bet are some newer and more powerful elements of harmony, or at least some kind of replacement magical artifact. I'm betting (and REALLY hoping) for more answers on the elements (and now the tree) themselves. My bet is it has something to do with Celly and Luna's past/parents and I REALLY hope they get to play an important part in the finale as well because I just love them and want to see more of their past.

I actually would really love a dozen or so episode mini-series about Celestia and Luna. Them as children, their parents, becoming princesses, defeating discord and Luna's fall and the fallout of Luna's banishment. There's so much untapped potential that would make for some amazing storytelling. Being a side-series it could delve away from the show's lighthearted friendship theme and go into some darker territory and really go in  depth with Celestia and Luna and all the deep emotions that would have accompanied their past. (Think like the two flashback scenes from Princess Twilight Sparkle, but expanded into a miniseries and without twi's commentary)

Anyway, I digress. That's my two cents so I think we're done here.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E16] It Ain't Easy Being Breezy

I'm surrounded by idiots...

Okay, I want a Sea Breeze plushy..

I'm allergic to adorableness!

I certainly did NOT like this episode. I LOVED it! Let's review the positives:

1) it's a fluttershy episode that has NOTHING to do about shyness

2) Fluttershy apparently learned something in putting your hoof down after all

3) the breezies from Three's a Crowd are actually significant (yay continuity)

4) Sea breeze

5) cuteness overload and

6) CUTENESS OVERLOAD

It's pretty refreshing to see Fluttershy having progressed so since season one, and apparently making more progress now in a way that doesn't repeat half of all the other Fluttershy episodes from before, (See my review on Filli Vanilli) and I hope this is a sign of things to come for her. I'd love to see her get more interesting conflicts like this. I want her to be an interesting character, but untill two weeks ago and right now, she hasn't really been one in my opinion, but here's hoping.

On the topic of continuity, even though I didn't really care for the episode overall, the fact the Fluttershy leaving from Three's a Crowd was referenced and apparently wasn't just a plot device for that episode is kind of refreshing. I know it's not really completely necessary when there's no overarching plot and stories are contained in one or two episodes at a time, but it's still nice to see other episodes referenced and gone back to at times to make the show feel more natural and flowing.

What's next? SEA BREEZE! Okay, I love this guy. 99% chance he's never returning, but I'd still love to see him again at some time. (though I'm still hoping for him, cheese, coco, spitfire, and whoever gives twi and aj their keys to make an appearance in the season finale, but that's another topic that I'll write about later.) All the other breezies were cute for sure, but this one had some serious attitude, end even though he had to tone it down by the end of the episode, he was still a fun character.

The best thing about any fluttershy episode is cuteness, but thankfully, this episode didn't use it as a crutch like others have in the past. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I want a Sea Breeze plushy.

So what was bad about this episode? Actually not all that much. I do have to say that the transformation spell at the end was kinda out of the blue, but it was worth it for the ending scene, not to mention the final gag.

Overall: 9/10 another solid key episode challenging one of the mane 6's elements. 99% next up is aj (cause, y'know, mane protagonist always gets the key first or last) then twi.

I'll be posting an opinion/speculation article later today about the keys and such, so new on the look out for that.

If you like this review and want more, be sure to tune in every week. I'll have reviews of each episode within a few hours of its airing.