My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

[Smashgoom202]

You know what I just realized when Fluttershy made Pinkie cry in the Iron Will episode it was forgiven but Pinkies actions in Filli Vanilli are still scene as "evil"?

Probably because Fluttershy realized and deeply regretted what she did. Pinkie Pie showed no such remorse, even after being told she was doing something wrong.

Pinkie was only playing, she's childish and didn't know Fluttershy would take it so seriously.

She knew not to prank Fluttershy in Griffon the Brush Off because she knew Fluttershy was sensitive, so she has no excuse here.

I'm sorry, I don't care if Pinkie was "only playing" or "being childish", a line has to be drawn in these situations with how far you can go with your insensitivity and Pinkie definitely crosses it by making Fluttershy break down to tears *TWICE* and not only not bothering to correct herself until promted, but literally showing no regret about what she did. Hell, when Fluttershy runs off crying, she doesn't have an "oh no, what have I done?!" thing like she did with Cranky Doodle Donkey in A Friend in Deed or even season 4's own Pinkie's Pride with Rainbow Dash, she just goes "What? Too much?"

SCREW! YOU! PINKIE PIE!!!

Hmm. What does that say about Pinkie's character? Normally she is exuberant and fun-loving, but not at the expense of her friends, so this is alarmingly out of character. Couple theories:

1. Pure random selfishness (Odd and out of character)
2. Inconsistent writing (More likely)
3. Some ulterior motive (Odd and out of character)

What Pinkie Pie did was cruel and unnecessary, but my question is "why?", not whether it was wrong or insensitive. Hell yeah, let's analyze this.
btw pinkie is best pony

Amy Keating Rogers wrote this episode, and has sense felt that she didn't do anything wrong when it came to writing Pinkie Pie in that episode. Think is, this is mostly because the backlash was so huge, mostly from rage-fueled idiots who will jump on anything to hate on season 4, and thus Ms. Rogers dismissed ALL arguments against her as the same. This amplifies MY anger toward Pinkie Pie in the episode, because not only does the writer think this is okay, but it's likely we're going to get more of this.

...BTW, I DO like Pinkie Pie, about half the time... the other half... ugh...

Also, sorry for spoiling this for you if you haven't seen the episode yet.

Edit: BTW, here's Mr. Enter's review of the episode:

Spoiler

I like how he described the moral as a very "kids moral". That's kind of how I feel, too, though I didn't really consider the fact that Rainbow Dash ISN'T a kid. It's weird, I feel like I should have realized that sooner.

I have to admit, even though part of me thinks Mr. Enter is too hard on the episode for being too optimistic, everything he said about the American educational system is so freaking spot-on I don't even care.

 

[RedShell]

Me and my friends Dave, Stuart and Tom, (those are their minion names, their real names are Caitlin, Lucy and Alice respectively) made a weird tribute to Return of Harmony by "singing and dancing in the chocolate rain".
My friends have just been humiliated.
My work here is done.
Thank Celestia they don't have Mario Boards accounts.

 

[Smashgoom202]

Saw Trade Ya earlier today, and WHOA, my original post exceeded the 25,000 character limit! That's the second time this has happened to me... For those of you curious to read in full what I had to say, check it out on my blog:

http://smashmatt202.blogspot.com/2014/04/friendship-is-magic-season-4-blogs.html

I'll give you my non-spoiler'd thoughts instead...

I definitely had a lot to nitpick about while watching it, but I don't think it's that bad... from a neutral perspective. The ending definitely felt way too corny and wishy-washy for my tastes. It's not like I don't expect the series to be like that, but... there's a difference between genuine emotion in writing and half-hearted, ham-handed corny stuff that don't feel believable. Family Guy falls into this trap quite frequently, it pulls the rug from under the audience so frequently, and the characters act so horrible to one-another that I can't be invested when they try to act nice once in a while. Obviously this episode doesn't got that far, and I can't put my finger on why I don't like it... Hell, I'm not even sure if I like it or not, I just know that the nitpick train's in town and I'm the conductor this time.

Seriously, this episode, coupled with Sompony to Watch Over Me, makes me think that Scott Sonneborn is the new Dave Polsky, in the sense that neither of them are very good writers. That being said, I don't hate this episode. I don't think I particularly like it, but I definitely found a lot to complain and critique about it, leading me to think he's not a very good writing, given all the trappings he's fallen into with his episodes. What's weird though is that, unlike Dave Polsky, he's never written anything that's made me angry, not to mention, while Scott's writing can be very nonsensical a lot of the time, it's not nearly as nonsensical as Dave's episodes (or at least his early episodes). Not to mention, while I found a lot to complain about and some of Scott's mistakes can get pretty stupid, it's not stupid to the point of either being insulting or enraging as Dave's episodes. It's ironic, while many people find Dave Polsky's episodes hilarious despite his poor writing style, I find his attempts at humor make me angrier and make me notice his shortcomings even more! By contrast, Scott doesn't got THAT extreme, and thus, is mostly safe from my scorn.

I DO think that, just like Dave Polsky, he can improve with new episodes. I just hope that, unlike Dave Polsky, he's given a ton of episodes to write. I don't care if it's more practice, give the episodes to writers who've proven to be good or more competent!

...So yeah, not sure if I liked this episode or not... I'm starting to feel like watching these episodes and writing these write-ups are becoming a chore, despite me getting some kind of primal joy in tearing into crap that either doesn't make sense to me or is something I don't like. I think it's a good thing this season's almost over, that way I can focus on the bajillion other things I've been meaning to get around to.

 

[DragonFreak]

I read your entry on your blog up there. I completely agree with 99% of the things you said. It was actually a pretty painful episode to watch.

At least Spike got a speaking part for the first time in over ten episodes or so. Seriously, what is with this anti Spike thing?

 

[SonicMario]

I just thought Trade Ya was an average episode. Of the likes of Castle-Mania. Nothing too terrible, but not really anything amazing either.

Oh and Dragonfreak, the next two episodes before the big Season Finale (Which will obviously be Twilight-centric) will have Spike as a main part of the episode.

I DO think that, just like Dave Polsky, he can improve with new episodes. I just hope that, unlike Dave Polsky, he's given a ton of episodes to write. I don't care if it's more practice, give the episodes to writers who've proven to be good or more competent!

The problem with this, is who's defined to be more competent at least in terms of Season 4 writers to you? M.A. Larson couldn't write anything for Season 4 because he was busy with a book at the time of writing. You don't think Meghan is that great of a writer despite she usually considered one of the better writers of the show. And the ones you have shown like for like Cindy Morrow and Charlotte Fullerton are a bit inconsistent (Like while Suited for Success was a legitimately good episode, I did not like Look Before You Sleep in Fullerton's case. And Cindy Morrow was great in Season 2 (Sisterhooves Social + Hurricane Fluttershy), but seems to have fallen in her writing for Season 3 (One Bad Apple + Apple Family Reunion). Cindy couldn't write anything for Season 4 either though, and Charlotte's only part of Season 4 was she helped with Power Ponies. But because there was 3 writers. We can't tell which of them contributed each parts to the final product. While all have a better track record overall then Season 1 Dave Polsky, despite you being annoyed that Polsky was given this many episodes to begin. What's to say if they went with another choice to write that many episodes. That it'd turn out even better then what we have now?

While if I had known Dave Polsky was going to get this many episodes prior to Season 4 started. I admit there would of been reason for me to worry about the season's quality beforehand. But Dave really has stepped things up this time. I'd even dare say he's a candidate for the best writer of this season.

 

[DragonFreak]

I just thought Trade Ya was an average episode. Of the likes of Castle-Mania. Nothing too terrible, but not really anything amazing either.

I got the feeling it was like Castle Mania too, which I thought was below average. IDK, I just don't like episodes with many sub plots.

Oh and Dragonfreak, the next two episodes before the big Season Finale (Which will obviously be Twilight-centric) will have Spike as a main part of the episode.

Yessssss

 

[SonicMario]

Oh and Dragonfreak, the next two episodes before the big Season Finale (Which will obviously be Twilight-centric) will have Spike as a main part of the episode.

Yessssss

Here's the synopsis for both

Spoiler: Episode 23

"Rarity is less than pleased to realize that she's lost her creative touch and soon begins to wonder if she'll ever be able to recover it; in an effort to help Rarity, Spike happens across a spell that may be less helpful than it appears."

Spoiler: Episode 24

"With the Equestria Games just around the corner, Spike is thrilled to be selected to light the opening day torch, until his nerves get the best of him; Spike takes drastic action to show his friends that he's the brave dragon he claims to be."

 

[DragonFreak]

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

*fixed

 

[Smashgoom202]

I read your entry on your blog up there. I completely agree with 99% of the things you said. It was actually a pretty painful episode to watch.

Oh yeah? What was the 1% that you didn't agree with me with?

And NV, I get all that, but I'm still annoyed that my least favorite writer, one who I honestly would think wouldn't get another episode again after the ones he wrote in season 1, would write again, let alone being seemingly one of the main contributors of episodes in season 3 AND 4. I don't care if he has "experience" or has been on the show for that long, if I were the showrunner, I'd say the guy is lucky to still be writing for the show at all!

 

[Baby Mario Bloops]

So, what I've noticed this season....

Last season had it ending with Twilight becoming a princess, and fans were all like "Now the show is going to be all centered around Twilight!". Yet, only like 3 or 4 episodes this entire season were Twilight episodes. The rest of the time it was like Fluttershy, Applejack, CMC, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, etc., but Twilight and Spike were both characters that seemed to not get as much focus on the episode. I mean, Twilight still did get a lot of major stuff in episodes, but usually as much as every else in the episode. But they were never really focused on her, such as in Twilight Time, even though the episode has her name in it!

Speaking of equal focus, that's another thing I really like of this season. There are episodes that are completely focused on one pony, like Pinkie Pride, It aint easy Being Breezies, and Rarity Takes Manehattan. But the majority of the season had episodes where all the ponies have a major role in each episode, such as Pinkie Apple Pie, Fili Vanilli, Bats!, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3, and Trade Ya!. Like, they've done it before and everything, but I feel like it was very prominent this season, and I really like that, since when I was heading into this season, I was thinking that there were going to be episodes where Twilight needs to learn how to fly, or Twilight will have to go to the castle for this, and Twilight this, and Twilight that.

And now that we've seen about 84.6% of the episodes, I can safely say that Season 4 is the best season so far of MLP. I would say fathoms better than Season 2, but I wouldn't say a close call either.

 

[SonicMario]

I read your entry on your blog up there. I completely agree with 99% of the things you said. It was actually a pretty painful episode to watch.

Oh yeah? What was the 1% that you didn't agree with me with?

And NV, I get all that, but I'm still annoyed that my least favorite writer, one who I honestly would think wouldn't get another episode again after the ones he wrote in season 1, would write again, let alone being seemingly one of the main contributors of episodes in season 3 AND 4. I don't care if he has "experience" or has been on the show for that long, if I were the showrunner, I'd say the guy is lucky to still be writing for the show at all!

That seems a tad unfair. I don't want to risk possibly provoking you to rant about it. But while I do put Feeling Pinkie Keen as one of the weaker Season 1 episodes. I don't quite understand how it was so terrible that Dave should have not have had another chance after Season 1 ended. From what Season 4's showed me, bringing Dave back as a recurring writer has paid off. So in this case, a writer that wrote a bad episode for an early season managed to get better. Which is pretty awesome to see.

I remember seeing a tweet that Dave said he hoped the whole "FiM's most controversial writer" thing that was stuck on somewhat prior to Season 4 becomes less of what he's known for and that people's writing style can change for the better. And thus far, for the exception of Daring Don't. He's done just that.

So, what I've noticed this season....

Last season had it ending with Twilight becoming a princess, and fans were all like "Now the show is going to be all centered around Twilight!". Yet, only like 3 or 4 episodes this entire season were Twilight episodes. The rest of the time it was like Fluttershy, Applejack, CMC, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, etc., but Twilight and Spike were both characters that seemed to not get as much focus on the episode. I mean, Twilight still did get a lot of major stuff in episodes, but usually as much as every else in the episode. But they were never really focused on her, such as in Twilight Time, even though the episode has her name in it!

Speaking of equal focus, that's another thing I really like of this season. There are episodes that are completely focused on one pony, like Pinkie Pride, It aint easy Being Breezies, and Rarity Takes Manehattan. But the majority of the season had episodes where all the ponies have a major role in each episode, such as Pinkie Apple Pie, Fili Vanilli, Bats!, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3, and Trade Ya!. Like, they've done it before and everything, but I feel like it was very prominent this season, and I really like that, since when I was heading into this season, I was thinking that there were going to be episodes where Twilight needs to learn how to fly, or Twilight will have to go to the castle for this, and Twilight this, and Twilight that.

And now that we've seen about 84.6% of the episodes, I can safely say that Season 4 is the best season so far of MLP. I would say fathoms better than Season 2, but I wouldn't say a close call either.

I think there are some out there now that say they aren't referencing Twilight's princesshood enough. Hypocrites much? Hehe

But seriously there many reasons Season 4 is potentially for me the best season of the show so far (I can't say for certain yet until it's over. But it is definitely giving Season 2 a run for it's money for my favorite. Season 2 had a satisfying conclusion with Canterlot Wedding. I'm waiting to see what we get for Season 4's finale ^^)

 

[Smashgoom202]

I read your entry on your blog up there. I completely agree with 99% of the things you said. It was actually a pretty painful episode to watch.

Oh yeah? What was the 1% that you didn't agree with me with?

And NV, I get all that, but I'm still annoyed that my least favorite writer, one who I honestly would think wouldn't get another episode again after the ones he wrote in season 1, would write again, let alone being seemingly one of the main contributors of episodes in season 3 AND 4. I don't care if he has "experience" or has been on the show for that long, if I were the showrunner, I'd say the guy is lucky to still be writing for the show at all!

That seems a tad unfair. I don't want to risk possibly provoking you to rant about it. But while I do put Feeling Pinkie Keen as one of the weaker Season 1 episodes. I don't quite understand how it was so terrible that Dave should have not have had another chance after Season 1 ended. From what Season 4's showed me, bringing Dave back as a recurring writer has paid off. So in this case, a writer that wrote a bad episode for an early season managed to get better. Which is pretty awesome to see.

I remember seeing a tweet that Dave said he hoped the whole "FiM's most controversial writer" thing that was stuck on somewhat prior to Season 4 becomes less of what he's known for and that people's writing style can change for the better. And thus far, for the exception of Daring Don't. He's done just that.

Yeah it's unfair, but no other episode in the whole show has enraged me as much as that episode. It's not like I want to deny him a second chance, and I realize this is completely childish of me, but I'm finding myself at wit's end trying to be both fair and just let out my personal thoughts on things. Yeah, Dave Polsky's improved a lot, but it's not like he's given absolute gold. Even Rarity Takes Manehatten, which I feel is his best episode this season, had it's issues here and there (and no, I'm actually not just talking about how Twilight being a princess is completely ignored). My point IS, even if he's gotten better, I still don't like him much as a writer, not to mention I still don't think he's all that good.

There really isn't any way to put this without me sounding completely unreasonable, but it's my genuine feelings; I really do not like Dave Polsky as a writer. What he writers now doesn't undo what he wrote back then. He's improved, but part of me feels that's only because the fandom is keeping him on his toes. Same goes for the rest of the writers, while I'm on that. The most annoying aspect of this season for me is how they appear to be fixing old mistakes, only to make new ones along the way. This is why I feel the show isn't all THAT great; even now in what I feel is it's best season, it's still just above average. Maybe it's because I've seen other shows just done better, like Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, and Wander Over Yonder. With Adventure Time, it sets up a word where it's okay to throw logic out the window, all while taking matters seriously; that's seriously hard to pull off but dang if Pendleton Ward and his team didn't somehow pull it off! Gravity Falls is VERY consistent with what it does, and it all comes from Alex Hirsch's perfectionist take on it; he (as well as season 1 director Michael Rianda for that matter) have this philosophy that what they do shouldn't just be tossed out saying it's fine as it is, they keep going back, revising and refining every last detail... not to mention, continuity and hidden details are what the series is all about. Wander Over Yonder... it's just a straight-up comedy cartoon show; stuff like continuity and consistency don't matter that much so long as it's all funny, which is is, not to mention they STILL manage to keep it consistent (for the most part) and even have a few call-backs here and there.

My problem with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is that every since the beginning, it NEVER felt consistent. It set up a world with a definite backstory and a definite set of rules when it comes to magic (unlike Adventure Time, where magic can literally be used to justify anything... unless you're Princess Bubblegum, in which case, science can be used to justify anything); having anything explained with it being "just magic" kind of flies in the face of what Twilight says in both Bridle Gossip and Feeling Pinkie Keen. Hell, I think Princess Celestia even used the word "curse" when talking with Twilight, despite Twilight saying there's not such thing as curses. What's weird is that I can kind of understand why this inconsistency is here in the first 3 seasons. With season one, Hasbro was bearing down on Lauren Faust and company and kept the creativity limited. Season two had an awkward transitional period where Lauren left and Jayson Thiessen and Meghan McCarthy took her place. Season three was a shorter season and had a lot more pressure when it came to getting content in there. Season 4, though... it feels like Jayson, Meghan, and company had the most freedom here and the least amount of constraints to work with... yet they still find ways to mess up. And yeah, nobody's perfect. It's not like there weren't episodes weren't episodes of Adventure Time where the lack of logic worked to it's disadvantage, or episodes of Wander Over Yonder that just fell flat in terms of humor or the message (Gravity Falls is as close to perfection as you can get from what I can tell; there's only one episode that I genuinely did not like or didn't find much redeemable about it, and even then it wasn't terrible). It's just that, for some reason, the imperfections seem all the more noticeable to me in this series more then any other TV show I watch. It's like a weird mix of wanting to do your best and make an entertaining show but either not as committed enough or not talented enough to make it work. Yeah, I know I said not talented, and that's incredibly rude but gosh darn if that's not how I feel and I've just been holding it in just to be polite!

So sorry I went on a rant despite you not wanting to provoke me. Like I said, I've been really on edge when it comes to talking about these kinds of things lately.

Edit: Back to Dave Polsky for a minute, while only one episode of his this season has been truly "controversial:, that doesn't necessarily mean his episodes are THAT much of an improvement. Again, being unfair, considering I just don't like his episodes in general. Even For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, which is supposedly a great episode; I really don't like it because I hate any episode of a TV show where "poor communication kills", ESPECIALLY lately because of personal reasons, but I especially hate how it's set up in the actual episode (I think Mr. Enter explained it well enough in his review).

So yeah, don't like Dave Polsky's writing style... or Hell, just what he writes in general, because it feels like he lost his "style" this season and now it feels like he's missing his most distinguishing feature. Don't care that he's improved, I still don't like it all that much. Maybe that's unfair, but but this point, I really don't give a shit anymore.

...BTW, I think the people who complain about the show not referencing princess Twilight enough aren't really hypocrites, even if they hated the concept in the first place... Because really, the show committed to the change and they should stick to it. It doesn't matter if you liked or hated the idea to begin with, it's still an actual problem, and like I said, one that can't be fixed since it's already there. It doesn't matter if they start addressing Twilight's princesshood NOW, because they SHOULD have been doing that since the beginning.

...I just realized that I might be too overly critical of this show. Maybe it's because of a certain someone I've been talking to over on the MLP forum I go to, or maybe because of all the various conflicting opinions of the show and more importantly, the people who keep saying "I don't get why people think this or or that about this show/episode, since it's CLEARLY this, because that's how I viewed it, and thus it must be this way!" (whoa... did not mean for that to come out that way...), but I just seem to be very harsh on this show lately...

 

[Smashgoom202]

I saw this episode earlier today with my mom. I liked it... though that might me because my mom was there with me and we both made glib observations about the episode as we watch it. I think it's here that I realize that watching these kinds of things, even if you don't like them, is always better when there are more people watching with you. This is why I typically only go to see movies in theaters with someone else.

The downside is that since I watched it with me mom and since we both kept talking during the whole thing that I didn't pay as close attention to some things, and thus I don't know about how critical I can be. Maybe to some of you that's a good thing, since maybe some of you think I'm being too harsh on episodes lately, but I feel like I'm a disappointment to myself by not being as analytical. Though on the bright side for both me and everyone, it'll hopefully mean this post will be shorter then normal. So, let's get rolling...

Spoiler

There's some kind of fair going on in Ponyville, I didn't catch what kind of fair it was, but Pinkie Pie's being adorable. Rarity wants to leave her mark on the fair, and she does so by... building a puppet show stage? Interesting... choice? Spike, of course, praises it, but the puppeteer hates it. What's funny is that I could already tell he wasn't going to like it before he even said it was awful; like the window for where the puppets are supposed to be was way too small, AND it had freaking vases on there! What the heck was Rarity thinking? Spike still says it's great regardless, and thus we get our foreshadowing for the episode; my mom picked up on it immediately, and since I wasn't sure if that wasn't going to be the case or not, I guess that means the moral was handled in a way that wasn't painfully obvious.

Rarity wallows her sorrows away in ice cream as Spike goes to the old castle library to find a book to help Rarity (BTW, my mom wasn't caught up on everything that had happened in season 4, so I had to bring her up to speed for a lot of it, such as what the castle was and the fact that Twilight didn't move there... even though I said it would have made sense). Owloycious is there, and for Heaven's gate writers, just how much longer are you going to milk that stupid "who?" joke?! It got immediately old in Owl's Well That Ends Well, and really, you'd THINK by now Spike would be smart enough not to mistake every "hoo" Owloycious says for a "who?" Anyway, he finds a book that doesn't at all look totally ominous, and takes it, and for some reason doesn't notice the place falling around him. Look, I don't care how absorbed into a book he was, if I fall, even for a few inches or a foot, I'm going to feel that fall and the sudden stop at the end!

He returns to Rarity with the book, she read it out loud, and I forget a lot of what she says, though I DID pick up on the word "truth", so I kept that in mind. Then she suddenly changes the stone book into a hard cover book, just by thinking about it! And her fainting couch into a much fancier couch! She then goes and fixes the puppeteer's puppet stage and makes it to his liking! Spike is about to reveal that she used a spell to fix it so fast, but Rarity keeps him quiet about it. Then Rarity changes Applejack's apple cart into a much fancier one, and decides to secretly change ALL of their carts into fancier ones. She then makes Spike swear to keep this new power between "the three of them"... that's him, her, and the book... Yeah, Spike definitely notices how freaking creepy this is and that he should probably say or do something about it, but because he doesn't want to upset Rarity, he agrees to this.

You know what's weird, aside from the beginning and at some points during this episode, Spike's crush on Rarity is barely brought up. It's a good motivation for keeping Spike quiet about this, but the episode seems to emphasis his more general friendship with Rarity then his love for her. I should also add that this is probably one of the few Spiek episodes where Spike's character is balanced out, and while he does make a mistake, it's a completely understandable mistake and he does come around and learn his lesson in the end! Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is probably the best Spike's been characterized this season... until the end, anyway, but I'll get to that, well, at the end.

Anyway, Rarity continues to "improve" things, only to make things worse for everyone around her, including giving Rainbow Dash a dress, turning a kids party into a fancy party (and somehow transformed a bunch of ponies into completely different ponies... hell, I THINK a male pony was changed into Octavia!), and given Spike a crystal/gem outfit! All the whole, she doesn't seem to notice or care that she's making things worse, not to mention the episode seems to keep emphasizing that all she cares about is Spike's approval... in retrospect, it feels like a no so subtle way of making the answer obvious... it's weird, though, the episode keeps making Rarity sound like she REALLY wants Spike's approval on all that she's doing, only for her to immediately dismiss him and go about her "business". Of course, Spike can't bring himself to say that Rarity's going too fair; even lightly trying to bring her down, he still can't say anything negative about what Rarity's doing. In addition, Rarity's shenanigans have caught Twilight's attention, and someone pointed out how Twilight seems to be the "hero of another adventure" here, in that there could very well be an episode base don her perspective on all of this, but instead we get Spike's perspective, not to mention she really does seem to be the go-to pony for disasters these days, especially since now she's a princess.

Spike and Owloycious talk, and Spike gets the idea that if he can take that book away from Rarity, she'll stop acting crazy. Sure enough, Rarity is done "Fabulizing" Ponyville and proclaims to Spike how she intends to move on to all of Equestria. With Owloycious's help, Spike manages to take the book from Rarity and... eat it?! I thought that would lead to some horrible repercussions, but it doesn't, really... Maybe in the future? End, doubt it. Spike feels assured that Rarity can't do a thing now and keeps praising her... only to be shocked when he sees she doesn't need the book to keep doing what she's doing. Just when it looks like she's about to go off the wall crazy, Spike finally comes out and says his honest opinion: that her "improvements" are only making things worse for the ponies she's doing this to. This ends up breaking the spell... Okay, there are some really nitpicky things about this ending that I feel like talking about.

One, I don't like how Rarity had no memory at all about what she was doing. It feels like a cliche, and you'd think she'd at least have SOME input over what she was doing, given that a lot of the spells she cast had her own personal flair to it. Hell, even with the Ice King, who is actually a normal human named Simon Petrikov, made crazy by the crown he wears; at least with him, Simon at least has vague memories and "impressions" on what he's doing as the Ice King, and knows who Finn and Jake are even after being briefly turned back to normal in the episode "Betty".

Two, the message, while good, gets a LITTLE too repetitive, especially given all the foreshadowing we got before we eventually got our message. Regardless, it IS a good message to have: a white lie is okay so long as no one gets hurt, and sometimes, you just have to be honest with them...

Which makes what happens at the very end INCREDIBLY insulting. Twilight comes in, CLEARLY frazzled about the whole situation, telling Spike NEVER to take another book from the library (assuming she's referring both to the treehouse library and the old castle library) without her permission. Spike response... by saying she she doesn't look good. Yeah, screw you, too, Spike. Being honest is one thing, but being deliberately *bleep*-ish and insulting is another.

That covers the basic overview, but a few other things I wanted to lightly touch on:

-The scene where Rarity apparently made a whole bunch of cloths over the night was pretty funny; I'm willing to bet a lot of creative people and/or artists are like that, they have a lot of ideas and they just want to get them all down. I'm kind of like that too, I have a lot of ideas and I want to get to them... too bad I'm such a procrastinator, as you can clearly tell.
-Twilight mentions that both Cadance AND Luna were there to fix up Ponyville... No Celestia, huh? Thing is, I was already spoiled about this ending by how many parody comics were made regarding it, ALL of them pointing out the exact same thing.
-So... did Spike tell Twilight what happened? I figured they'd try to keep that a secret, that way they wouldn't know Rarity was the one who did it all. But then again, I suppose Spike DID learn about being honest, and besides, Rarity is back to normal, so it's all good.
-The episode was written by Corey Powell and Meghan McCarthy. You know, for all I crap I give Meghan McCarthy, I will say this, she seems to be the best when it comes to writing Spike (MOST of the time), so it's nice to see that that aspect shines through here. As for Corey... really hard to get a good grasp on her writing style. It's weird I point that out, seeing as with a lot of other shows I watch, I don't seem to notice THAT much of a difference in style between writers (at least, not that much), so it says a lot when it comes to MLP that an episode is written by someone and I can not only IMMEDIATELY tell who it is, but also how jarring the difference feels from episode to episode.

And that's all I got. Definitely a lot shorter then Trade Ya (thank goodness). Next few days is "Equestria Games", and... really, for all the hype they're putting into this event, I really don't see what they're going to do with it or how they're going to cram such a major event into one episode...

 

[Baby Mario Bloops]

So, just a note about the latest episode...

Spoiler

Did you guys see Rarity & Sweetie Belle's parents? It at the very beginning where they are standing with Sweetie Belle.

 

[SonicMario]

So, just a note about the latest episode...

Spoiler

Did you guys see Rarity & Sweetie Belle's parents? It at the very beginning where they are standing with Sweetie Belle.

Rarity's parents have made the most appearances outside of Twilight's parents in terms of the Main 6 parents so I didn't find it really too noteworthy though it's cute to see them with Sweetie Belle and all

I just wish there'd be an episode where Twi's parents would appear AND speak for once instead of just cameo appearances

Oh and did I not say what I thought about Inspiration Manifestation. I just thought it was another good episode. Might be the best Spike centered episode since Secret of my Excess. And Rarity going a bit crazy was fun to see. I'm just waiting for the Finale essentially though. Tomorrow's episode is a little interesting but I just know the finale's going to be epic.

Part of the problem I have with tomorrow's episode is obviously part of it is going to have a return of a problem I had with Rainbow Falls. That being Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps.

 

[Smashgoom202]

So once again, my comments have exceeded the maximum message length, so once again, if anyone's interested in hearing what I had to say about the latest episode, go here:

http://smashmatt202.blogspot.com/2014/05/friendship-is-magic-season-4-blog.html

Fair warning, I get a bit too... personal... in my usual ramblings... Not particularly proud of this one.

 

[SonicMario]

I enjoyed the previous episode overall.

I did have two problems one is tiny, one is bigger though.

As I said in the previous post a problem I had with Rainbow Falls was Fluttershy not being so nervous about attending an Athletic event. But considering it didn't really take up much of the episode it's really only a minor issue.

The other one is the fact that all this build-up since Games Ponies Play. Which followed up with Flight to the Finish, and Rainbow Falls. Feel kinda useless now since all the Equestria Games ended up being was a subplot in this one Spike episode. Now I would rather have this arc was left out so that it doesn't interfere to the much more important arc that ends in the Finale. But still for people hoping for an awesome Olympics-inspired episode. It kinda feels like a disappointment when we got more Spike then we did any of the events (All we got was the relay and Ice Archery)

Otherwise though, it was a nice episode before the Season ends. I can't wait until next Saturday though, this looks to be quite epic. ^^

 

[Smashgoom202]

BTW guys, Tara Strongand Meghan McCarthy will have a web conference and are openly seeking questions from the fans:

http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/tara-strong-and-meghan-mccarthy-holding.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/tara-strong-meghan-mccarthy-to-hold-my-little-pony-web-conference-on-may-6

Also, Meghan McCarthy will take over The Hub's Twitter page to answer other questions.

If I had a Twitter account, I'd ask to tone down Spike's tendencies to be the butt of jokes, and also to never ever ever write Pinkie Pie like she acted in Filli Vanilli ever again, please.

 

[Amphituber]

Just watched ep 20 of s4.

Spoiler

FLIM FLAM BROTHERS YES

Okay, so, the Flim Flam Brothers are some of my favorite characters from the show, just because they are so well conceived and implemented. Essentially, they boil down to three things:

1. A faithful nod to the character Harold Hill from the amazing classic musical The Music Man
2. A humorous pastiche of con-man archetypes and carnie culture
3. The vehicles to deliver two brilliant musical numbers (both of which are also a nod to the aforementioned movie)

A side note: the repeated chanting of cider during the first song is a direct reference to the crowd chanting "trouble" in "Trouble in River City", further strengthening the connection. And I love me some Music Man.

To make a long story short, I loved this episode simply for the fact they brought 'em back, and in full form. Awesome.

Aside from that, the message behind the ep is a good one and pretty heartfelt, so that's good. I don't really have much else to say, since I don't really connect with the Apple Family as characters much.

 

[SonicMario]

Season 5 confirmed to have 26 episodes like Seasons 1, 2, and 4!. And that's not all...

It will come out sometime around 2015! With the possibility of it starting in Late 2014 (Season 4 started in late 2013 even though it was previously announced to begin in Early 2014)

Just... wow... 117 episodes guaranteed. At this point I'll be satisfied if Season 5 turns out to be the final season. Though a sixth one isn't farfetched at this point.

 

[DragonFreak]

Oh wow! This is great news. I still am not sure how many more seasons they will make. By my logic of pretty much everything, if it makes money, it will continue to exist.

 

[Amphituber]

Ooh, I love this subject. The way I see it, the more content the better, but there are disadvantages too.

Suppose MLP stays popular long enough to become a show the size and scope of, say, Futurama, or Spongebob. First of all, that would create so much content for fans to build upon, so much to discover within the show's canon as well as within the fan base.

The primary disadvantage of it is a little theory I've brewed up: what I like to call the "closed mystery principle". Essentially, the more content there is about a show's canon, the more that is revealed about the world and characters, and the more audiences get interested, until they hit a certain point of having revealed too much, and all interest drops.

On the one hand, this leads to increased discussion material for fans to enjoy and debate. However, on the other hand, there's only so much you can reveal, otherwise there's no mystery to draw people. All the best works of literature are based around fundamental questions. Those questions should only be answered at the end of a work or arc, if at all.

A main reason many TV shows jump the shark is this principle; they answer all the questions too early, and then the rest is essentially filler. However, if a world is expansive enough, it can constantly introduce new questions. MLP certainly can support this kind of storytelling. The issue is not whether they can continue, but how long, what novelties can they introduce to keep the audience hooked.

My personal guestimate is 10 to 12 seasons; I know that sounds really optimistic, but note I'm not saying those are all good. Its likely it will jump the shark and still go on a while longer. I'm an idealist by nature, and if I had my way they'd be churning out brilliance ad infinitum. But, y'know, practicality and common sense :P

Thoughts?

 

[Purple Yoshi]

It's going to be interesting, that's for sure. We're getting to the point where MLP could easily get stale if they don't change the status quo. I mean, not that many kids shows go for over 5 seasons.

 

[Dr. Javelin]

There really isn't any way to put this without me sounding completely unreasonable, but it's my genuine feelings; I really do not like Dave Polsky as a writer.

you know, i was watching my only source of mlp, joshscorcher's reviews, and he and his collab partner were raving over dave polsky's comedic genius

interesting

 

[Revin]

Spoiler

FLIM FLAM BROTHERS YES

wait really?

...
.......
.............

ok i need to see this. is it on youtube?