MLP Episode 816: The Hearth's Warming Club

Another week, another review. Let's head on down to The Hearth's Warming Club for the next episode!

The Hearth's Warming Club

Written by Brian Hohlfeld

You know, I think it's a missed opportunity to have it air on July 28, cause then we would've had a "Christmas in July"-type special. That aside, this is the fourth overall Chirstmas-themed episode of the series (with a 44 minute special planned for the holidays, a first for the series, in fact!), but how does it stack up against the previous three?

I love it. Even more so that we're given more bonding amongst the Young Six, and that we especially get their different perspectives on how they celebrate the holidays. Each story they tell really showcases their individual characters, unlike something like The Mane Six where most of the characters are interchangeable with each other.

Here, we can tell that Smolder has a twisted sense of humor, Sandbar makes boring things seem exciting, and that Yona and Silverstream take pride in their own respective heritages for different reasons. My favorite was Ocellus', especially with how literally she and the Changelings take Twilight's instructions on how Hearth's Warming is celebrated. That was hilarious!

Yet the real standout character here was Gallus; the reason he pulled that prank was because he didn't want to be alone on Hearth's Warming. To him, his new friends are perhaps the closest he's ever had to a real family, despite their differences. Yona might be my personal favorite of the Young Six, but Gallus is without a doubt the most layered and comes in a close second for me (Smolder is third, for the record).

It was also great that Twilight actually displayed some common sense by asking the students one on one for their perspective of the situation (even if we don't see it), though it is also laughable considering her behavior in previous episodes like Marks for Effort. Just because she was well-written here, that doesn't make her any less hypocritical.

Final Thoughts

Since School Daze aired back in March, I thought it set the bar too high for season eight. But The Hearth's Warming Club almost looks as if it could knock it off its perch. Almost. The theme is amazing (no one deserves to be alone on the holidays), the story is brilliant, and the Young Six really shine every time they appear in an episode, good or bad. There's honestly little to complain about.

That being said, it's kind of sad that people aren't thinking very highly of season eight. Yes, we got some duds like The Mean Six, Non-Compete Clause, and Yakity-Sax, but those duds don't mean the season overall is bad. Especially not with gems like Molt Down, Surf and/or Turf, Horse Play, and this one. There's only eight episodes and a finale to go, so the only direction season eight can go at this point is up.

Rating: Excellent