Season eight had a great start with School Daze, and the next five episodes were all really good for the most part, but then it faltered so suddenly with the last two episodes ranging from bad to terrible. Can The Break Up Break Down claw back some lost ground?
In some ways, it does. Others though? Not enough to be considered one of the best. This has a similar problem to The Parent Map; it primarily takes after a season seven episode (Hard to Say Anything) and three others from past seasons (Dungeons and Discords, All Bottled Up, and Hearts and Hooves Day).
However, unlike The Parent Map, The Break Up Break Down has some advantage over it. For one, the characters are actually entertaining, Discord and Spike especially. I definitely believe you could create gold with these two, and Confalone certainly did here (though, this may be down to having written Dungeons and Discords as well).
Another strong point is that it addressed a question a had since Hard to Say Anything aired; are Big Mac and Sugar Belle in a long distance relationship? As of this episode, we can see that she'll be closer to him by being an apprentice to Mrs. Cake.
The best character of the episode was, without a doubt, Big Macintosh. He's sensitive, he's slightly insecure, and even apologies when he takes his frustration out on those who didn't deserve it. Some may get some Ponyville Confidential vibes out of that, but it doesn't take longer than thirty seconds and like I said, he does apologize for yelling at Sweetie Belle. So let's park a bit of caution there, okay?
Speaking of which, the Crusaders' subplot felt useless and didn't have any impact on the main story. Sure, they helped Big Mac set up the barn, but that's it. It could easily be skipped over and you lose nothing.
The episode's theme was about jumping to conclusions... and communicating properly with others, which, actually, feels a lot more nuanced than what we've seen as of late in recent Thomas episodes like Engine of the Future. The fact that they used a few characters around that theme made it all the more better, though slightly anti-climactic since we know Sugar Belle wasn't going to break up with Big Mac.
Also, this is minor, but why do they keep saying "girl" in place of "mare"? There's nothing wrong with saying "coltfriend" and "marefriend", so use that!
Final Thoughts
It's a step in the right direction for season eight; despite the re-use of elements from certain episodes, the characters and theme more than make up for that, so it passes into "good" territory, though only just. That being said, I hope they come up with some more original stories for the rest of season eight and nine, plus the yet-to-be released Generation 5. Otherwise, it's a sign the series is creatively stagnant and should be put to bed.
Rating: Good
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