My Little Pony Revisited: Season 1, Episodes 14-19

So the first half of the season has picked itself up right at the end, but how will the second half fare?

Suited For Success

Written by Charlotte Fullerton

It's safe to say that when the series first began, Rarity wasn't what you'd call a fan favorite by many. But then comes this episode to turn things to her favor.

The plot's kind of slow paced, but it actually works in this episode's favor because of the humor. The Mane Six are, at first, pleased about the redesigned dresses, but we don't see them until the show, and they're laughably bad (though they do tie into the theme very well). Heck, Opal's reactions to what we see about Twilight's and Applejack's dresses become funnier as a result.

The humor's big sticking point is Rarity herself. Whether it be her (initial) enthusiasm in making the dresses, her "Art of the Dress" song, and her "I'M SO PATHETIC!" rant, the writers and Tabitha St. Germain really know how to ham up Rarity's character. She's one of the show's most entertaining characters, and this episode's an example as to why.

SpongeBob SquarePants gets its success by having comedy sprinkled throughout a thin story, and it's been around for two decades. My Little Pony has been around for almost half that time, and even in season one, it knows how to make some of the least interesting stories some of the funniest of the show. It might be easy to talk about what Suited for Success doesn't have, but what it has is a great message about not overdoing stuff, and that's all that matters.

Rating: Excellent (9/10)

Feeling Pinkie Keen

Written by Dave Polsky

Well, this is going to be fun...!

According to Faust and Polsky, the episode's intended message was "there are some things we may never understand or be able to prove, but that's not a bad thing; mysteries are part of life and we just have to go with them." Is it a good message for children to learn? Watching the episode, I decided yes. No matter how hard you try, you just can't explain the great wonders of the world - the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, Mount Everest, who cares about how they came to be? They're there, and that's all that should matter. Over-analyzing how something came to be will just take away the magic (ha!) of the wonders.

Back to the episode itself, there's little to talk about beyond the humor and the botched theme. Whether Twilight deserved her comeuppance for being rude about Pinkie's behavior is open to debate, but even if you feel she did, you can't help but feel bad for her suffering physical hell just trying to come to a conclusion. Though how did she recover from her injuries so quickly after having a lot of stuff fall on her? Sure, it's Rule of Comedy, but it does kind of make the physical pain she goes through kind of pointless.

Rating: Okay (5/10)

Sonic Rainboom

Written by M. A. Larson

It's safe to say that for every dud script Larson writes up, a gem follows it afterward. This one, thankfully, is a gem, and rightly so.

You feel sorry for Rainbow Dash when she suffers a confidence blow, not helped when the bullies from her youth mock her and call her "Rainbow Crash", and when Rarity shows her up at the competition. No, she didn't show up her friend on purpose; Rarity just got carried away with her wings, paid the price for it and even apologized at the end. So did the bullies, but Rainbow Dash refused to hang out with them at the end and instead chose the Wonderbolts. Oh, if only you knew what was coming, Dash...

Fluttershy is also great in the role she has trying to give Rainbow Dash support. Yeah, it did little to soothe the blue Pegasus' fears, but it's still funny when Fluttershy keeps trying to cheer loudly and fail at it, but it pays off when Dash finally pulls off the Sonic Rainboom at the end.

A small nitpick that has less to do with this episode and more with The Cutie Mark Chronicles, but Pinkie mentioning that Dash has done a Sonic Rainboom in the past spoils the events of the latter episode, which makes it less a case of "who performed it?" and more a case of "when will they get to it?" Wouldn't it have worked better if both episodes were swapped around?

Despite the problem with spoiling a future episode (nothing to do with the episode itself, but I did want to point that out), Sonic Rainboom's still a great episode in its own right, and makes Rainbow Dash sympathetic. Shame that season six onward couldn't do the same...

Rating: Excellent (9/10)

Stare Master

Written by Chris Savino

What an... odd episode. Twilight doesn't really serve much of a point in the episode to begin with. It almost felt as if the writers included her just to give her a mandatory appearance like the rest of season one did. Fortunately, every season after had episodes where she didn't appear. The only purpose she seems to have is to showcase the dangers of the cockatrice.

Also, as good as Fluttershy's dynamic with the Crusaders was, their antics do start to wear thin around the halfway point. Yeah, it does tie up with the message pretty well, but it's still repetitive at best.

Rating: Okay (6/10)

The Show Stoppers

Written by Cindy Morrow

Here's some behind the scenes for you; the old review of this episode was my most viewed post on the blog. How it happened, your guess is as good as mine. The episode itself is... fairly infamous among fans. Is it really as bad as they make it out to be?

I like the concept this episode has about realizing your true talents, and that's what it should've focused on... if it wasn't for A) the message coming off as a joke, and B) the obviousness of the Crusaders' talents.

The first act reveals what they're skilled at; Scootaloo at stunts with her scooter, Apple Bloom at carpentry (especially if you live in a farm), and Sweetie Belle at singing. Instead, it's Apple Bloom who does the dancing and stunt work, Sweetie Belle doing the costumes and props, and Scootaloo doing the singing. It just makes you wonder how they didn't know their actual talents. Yes, I know they're kids, but even at this age level, they aren't this clueless.

That being said, this is the first episode where they gain their new clubhouse courtesy of Applejack. Honestly, if it weren't for that moment, the episode would've been useless. The humor was very hit or miss with the montage of the fillies trying to figure out their skills (it's three minutes long, and it kinda drags on) and their theme song being performed very badly but... eh, they tried at least.

Getting back to my first question, it's far from the worst episode of the show, but it is really flawed and could've resolved the Crusaders' journey early on. But nope; they drag it out for four more seasons... but there are some good episodes in between, and I'll get to them soon enough.

Rating: Bad (2/10)

A Dog and Pony Show

Written by Amy Keating Rogers

This episode is absolutely the funniest of season one. Most of that comes down to Tabitha St. Germain's performance, especially when Rarity keeps getting on the Diamond Dogs' nerves.

But it's not just that; Spike's love for gems and trying to have a sneaky snack,  the fantasy sequences (especially Spike's), the attempted fights against the Diamond Dogs, and how the Mane Six won back Rarity without having to lift a hoof against them at the end. All in all, it's an amazing episode that works from beginning to end.

Rating: Excellent (10/10)

My Little Pony Revisited: Season 1, Episodes 8-13

The revisiting of season one continues!

Look Before You Sleep

Written by Charlotte Fullerton

And it's back to mediocrity we go...

Out of the Mane Six, Applejack and Rarity bring out the worst in each other, more so than the former against Rainbow Dash. And yet it's somehow become one of the most popular of the Mane Six pairs, but for completely stupid reasons. Tell me this; how would a cowpony and a pony interested fashion make things work out between themselves? Too many sacrifices would just lead to misery from both parties any way you slice it.

The episode itself it just... strange. Mostly it comes down to Twilight's characterization, and the issue is two-fold. First off, why is it her, and not Pinkie Pie, who's enthusiastic about slumber parties? Yes, I know it's early in the show, but it's very off-putting compared to her character before and after this episode.

Speaking of, that leads me onto the second issue; how did she not stop Applejack and Rarity from fighting earlier? Doing nothing just makes her look stupid, and again, it's where Pinkie could've worked better. Not helping is that the episode is set in one location, and it makes the episode a real slog to sit through. Some bottle episodes are interesting, but Look Before You Sleep is, sadly, not one of them. It's pretty weak overall.

Rating: Okay (4/10)

Bridle Gossip

Written by Amy Keating Rogers

At least here, in this episode, Twilight felt more like... Twilight, but it's another of those "strange" episodes of season one. No, not the ponies being afraid of Zecora. I can understand it... mostly if we consider the actions of creatures in later episodes. But it's strange in the sense that prior to Apple Bloom, nopony even bothered to try finding out who Zecora truly was. Even stranger is that Spike, a baby dragon, is with Twilight and no one bats an eyelid in his presence. Maybe it's due to his association with Twilight? Or is it cause of the events of Dragonshy?

That being said, Apple Bloom, in her first major supporting role, was pretty good, and she fit the role she was given. She doesn't know about Zecora as well as the other ponies do, and her getting frustrated with Applejack was very relatable, especially if you have an overprotective family member.

On the whole, it's a little better than the previous episode, though not by a whole lot. Pinkie's Enchantress Song was really bad, though Flutterguy's take on it was funny, but it's still fairly watchable and the ending message was pretty good.

Rating: Okay (5/10)

Swarm of the Century

Written by M. A. Larson

I've made it no secret that I think M. A. Larson is an inconsistent writer. For every gem attached to his name, there's another episode that is, at best, not as great as it could've been or, at worst, utterly terrible (looking at you, Fame and Misfortune).

The episode starts decently enough with Fluttershy first encountering a parasprite and making it feel wanted in her mane, and with Twilight making sure Celestia's visit to Ponyville goes well. But the moment Pinkie notices the parasprites, that's when things start to fall into confusing chaos. How does she even know what they are, let alone how to get rid of them with instruments? I know Pinkie can be absurd at times, but this is too absurd by her own standards. And again, this is in season one!

I feel like this episode tries too hard to be funny and... nothing else. It has a lot of ideas going on at once and doesn't do a very good job of tying them up that well. You could watch this episode a hundred times and you still couldn't grasp it. What's the point of Zecora's cameo? Why does Twilight accept the parasprites without analyzing them properly? How does Celestia not know what a parasprite is? How do you manage to screw up your storytelling with a 22 minute timeframe to work with?!

This episode's all over the place with too many questions and too few answers to the point it just... ends. A bad episode through and through.

Rating: Terrible (0/10)

Winter Wrap Up

Written by Cindy Morrow

After a three-episode run of mediocre at best stories, we're finally back in good episode territory.

Admit it; that song is pretty darn catchy. It does a great job explaining every task involved during Winter Wrap Up, and it also shows how desperate Twilight is to fit in. And her not being able to be part of the weather team is heartwarming since... we'll come to that soon enough. Her struggling in ice scoring was the funniest part, topped by Spike's comment on her being a natural disaster.

There... isn't really much else to say, really. The plot's a bit slow paced, but it's spread out evenly enough for you to be invested, and the message about teamwork and organization was great. Maybe more relevant than it's ever been since it aired eight years ago.

Rating: Good (8/10)

Call of the Cutie

Written by Meghan McCarthy

Meghan's back! And all is right with the world.

Although, out of her episodes, this is probably one of the least noticed compared to what she later wrote down the road. But don't just dismiss it purely because it's not exactly Twilight's Kingdom; it's actually one of this season's most important episodes, much less of the entire show.

Apple Bloom's plight about not having her own cutie mark is very relatable and sympathetic. A lot of people around you will have the latest gadgets and gizmos, and you may have something that's outdated or, worse, nothing.

Because she's afraid of being mocked for not having a cutie mark, Apple Bloom resorts to desperate measures to try and gain it quickly. It never feels like it drags on too much, and when her last ditch attempt fails, you feel even worse for her since she's pretty much given up...

...except it turns out she isn't alone when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stand up for her and bring Diamond Tiara down a few pegs, at her own cute-cenera. It's very satisfying to see the little pink brat brought down to size, and even more so that with the two blank flanks being there for Apple Bloom, it gives off the message that even if you feel like you're alone, your friends will be there to back you up.

Overall, it's Meghan McCarthy's most undervalued episode, but hopefully one day, it'll get the recognition it rightly deserves. I didn't think much of it before revisiting it, but now I feel it's one of season one's best episodes.

Rating: Excellent (10/10)

Fall Weather Friends

Written by Amy Keating Rogers

Remember back in my Non-Compete Clause review where I called it out for being this episode done horribly wrong? As well as years too late? Well, here, I'm going to talk about where Fall Weather Friends succeeds.

First of all, Rainbow and Applejack's reasoning for their rivalry is to see who's the best athletic pony. Some might consider it petty, but at least it isn't about being teacher of the month, and nor do they potentially put the Young Six in danger. If anything, the biggest danger to the two mares is themselves and their egos, especially when Applejack accuses Rainbow Dash of cheating for using her wings.

Secondly, not only do the two mares get punished for their petty rivalry, they also get punished for mocking Twilight's participation in the Running of the Leaves by losing to her; she came in fifth, and both Rainbow and Applejack were tied for last. A very fitting punishment indeed, especially when they resorted to dirty cheating to try and best the other.

The third and final point is the episode's message. In Non-Compete Clause, they argued once again about who was at fault, which sends mixed messages to an impressionable audience. Here, they don't treat the message as if it's a joke, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack both agreed that winning doesn't matter as long as you try your best... something that they should've learned seven seasons down the road, but still.

Out of season one's episodes, Fall Weather Friends holds up now like it did then. Sure, the message is kind of degraded since Rainbow and Applejack continue to hold their rivalry in later episodes, but it's still a solid episode overall. Oh yeah, and Pinkie and Spike's commentating on the race is funny.

Rating: Excellent (9/10)

My Little Pony Revisited: Season 1, Episodes 1-7

Wow, this is something I should've done a very, very long time ago. In the past, I mentioned wanting to revisit seasons 1-5 (and later, 6 as well) of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic mostly because my standards weren't up to snuff, and in some cases, I'd thought about revisiting some opinions to see how they hold up. I felt like some did whilst others aged badly. In addition, the older reviews have been reverted to drafts so I can later delete them once the revisit has been done. We don't know when season nine will be airing, so I might as well have something to do whilst we're waiting.

And so, without any further confusion or delay, let's revisit the first season of the show... again.

Mare in the Moon/Elements of Harmony

Written by Lauren Faust

A lot of franchises have a grand opening of some kind - The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Toy Story, Star Wars, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, even Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends to an extent. But was My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's first ever episode a grand opening?

The answer is... no. At least, not on an epic scale.

A first episode's purpose is to establish the episode's setting and lead characters, and the Friendship is Magic two-parter does a good job of that. For the main characters, we get a basic idea as to what the Mane Six are like - Twilight is socially awkward, Applejack cares for her friends and family, Rainbow Dash is cocky and confident, Rarity is prissy, Fluttershy is... well, shy, and Pinkie Pie is energetic. Spike... doesn't get much when it comes to character, but we can see that he cares for Twilight. I will admit, of course, that Twilight's first meeting with Rainbow Dash was the funniest out of all of them.

The cold opening was really good as well. It's stylized like a storybook, and it gives you an idea to what Equestria's past was like, as well as establishing the roles of Celestia and Luna. Sadly, they don't get much in terms of character, and the latter - whilst she was Nightmare Moon - barely feels like a threat. She's established as being dangerous, but she's anything but.

What harms the episode, unfortunately, is the pacing. It's very clunky and all over the place. The first half is essentially Twilight meeting the other members of the Mane Six, and the second half has them journeying to Celestia and Luna's old castle only to discover they're the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I think I read somewhere that Lauren Faust's original idea for season one was to spread this out over a whole season rather than two episodes; one can only debate how things might've gone if they went for her original idea.

Another problem is how easily Twilight trusted Applejack into letting go of the cliff-side so Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could catch her. Yes, it does showcase AJ's honesty and Twilight came out fine, but why didn't Applejack outright say that Dash and Fluttershy would catch her on the way down?

Overall, the series premiere is very mixed. The story is clunky and the pacing is awkward, but the characters and theme about making new friends salvage it. Not necessarily an episode I'd re-watch that often.

Rating: Okay (6/10)

The Ticket Master

Written by Amy Keating Rogers and Lauren Faust

I think this one is a little better than the previous episode. It sets up the saga leading up to the Grand Galloping Gala, and it's interesting to see that the Mane Five each have a good reason for wanting to there. Plus them trying to pressure Twilight in deciding to choose a plus one was funny, as were Spike's reactions.

One could easily see themselves in Twilight's hooves as well; they have a big(..ish) group of friends and don't have enough blessings to go around, making decision making harder. It's not helped that the others did good deeds for her to "help" her, which made making a decision even harder for Twilight. Barring Pinkie, of course, who was far less than subtle about it and the song she sang made her look selfish and petty.

So yeah, not a lot to say there. It's a bit slow-paced, but it sets up an arc fairly well and not putting pressure on your peers to make a decision is a good lesson for kids to learn.

Rating: Good (7/10)

Applebuck Season

Written by Amy Keating Rogers

The conflict implanted on Applejack was pretty good; Big Macintosh suffers from an injury and she's left to her own devices to try and harvest every apple she can. All the while, she has to help out Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy in their respective activities, but sleep deprivation on Applejack's end messes with them.

Twilight, of course, will have none of it and keeps insisting that Applejack needs help, whilst the earth pony argues otherwise. It does get a bit repetitive after all, but given that Applejack's behavior and stubbornness was effecting the rest of Ponyville (by the way, the baked bads are pretty gross), it does work for the story's message. Though it does make you wonder why Twilight didn't force herself to help Applejack against the latter's will.

But despite the nitpick, it's a good episode with funny moments and an equally good message.

Rating: Good (8/10)

Griffon the Brush Off

Written by Cindy Morrow

People complaining about Pinkie Pie being poorly written in the newer seasons should know that even in the early seasons, she wasn't perfect there either. This episode is the first that portrays her either as an idiot or a jerk. Let me explain...

It starts off decently enough with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie pulling innocent pranks on their friends, the funniest being Spike getting hiccups and sending Celestia a bunch of scrolls by accident. But when Gilda comes to Ponyville to see Rainbow Dash, that is when things go downhill very quick.

Actually, the bad begins when Pinkie ends up annoying Rainbow Dash just to ask for help in pulling a prank on Spike, and it's after Gilda comes in that crap really hits the fan.

Let me spell it out for you - Gilda is depicted as being in the wrong for getting in the way of Pinkie's friendship with Rainbow Dash. If you look at it from Gilda's point of view, all she wanted to do was hang out with Rainbow Dash, someone she hasn't seen for years. And you end up feeling more for Gilda than you do either Pinkie or Rainbow Dash.

Speaking of the latter, how was she the one who set up the pranks? I get if they wanted to make a plot twist, but it comes off as a slap in the face, as if it wasn't worth seeing Gilda again. Even if Pinkie told Dash off-screen, it's not very well explained, and Dash doesn't even say sorry to her! And be honest; can you really blame Gilda for snapping the way she did?

Then there's the message; it's supposedly about toxic friendship (something The Washouts did better, despite how sloppy the execution was), but at the end, Twilight apologizes to Pinkie for the latter being an annoying stalker, despite that earlier, she was right to scold Pinkie for it!

This is a prime example of Designated Hero - Pinkie, in this episode, is meant to be the one we're supposed to root for, but with how much she infuriates Gilda, it's hard to see why we should care for Pinkie (and by extension, Rainbow Dash) at all. Even if you don't root for Gilda (mostly because of her running into Fluttershy), this episode is not one that does Pinkie Pie justice at all. Yes, some future episodes featuring her as the lead character are bad as well (the biggest being Yakity-Sax and Secrets and Pies), but that doesn't excuse how botched this episode was.

Rating: Terrible (-1/10)

Boast Busters

Written by Chris Savino

I'm not a fan of Trixie whatsoever; she's an arrogant, brash loudmouth and doesn't seem to have a good reason behind it. For Rainbow Dash, it's somewhat justified since she views herself as the greatest flyer in Equestria. What has Trixie truly done to earn her right to brag?

The morality of the episode is extremely messed up; we're supposed to be seeing Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity as in the right despite them heckling Trixie's show, and we're meant to be booing Trixie getting her own back... if you liked her to begin with. That being said, she at least gets caught out for lying about defeating an Ursa Major when she couldn't even stop an Ursa Minor.

Speaking of which, Snips and Snails, the ponies who disturbed the Ursa Minor, don't get punished at all. And this is a nitpick, but I'll mention it regardless - why are they outside at night time? Where are the parents during all of this? And why punish them with mustaches? Even if they're kids, that's not a satisfactory punishment. Sure, they're made to clean up the mess they caused, but still.

But the episode's biggest downfall is how the conflict is driven. Twilight doesn't want to show off in front of Trixie and... that's about it. At least until the Ursa Minor attacks. It's too simple, and the humor does not shine enough to hide it; if anything, the humor comes off as flat, making the episode boring as a result.

That being said, there are redeemable qualities. Twilight and Spike's relationship shows how much the baby dragon looks up to her, and the message about not telling lies (even if that wasn't the intention) was pretty good, even if the ending was an anticlimax. But that's pretty much it. The plot is a disjointed mess, most of the characters' personas are screwed over, and the moral is okay at best and confusing at worst. It's just really frustrating.

Rating: Bad (1/10)

Dragonshy

Written by Meghan McCarthy

Back when the series first began, Fluttershy was more or less seen as the best of the Mane Six, but these days, most people seemed to stop caring about her; the root of which was probably that she grew out a lot from her persona in this episode. But let's take a look at where her character arc began, shall we?

I'd save this for last, but I'll get this out of the way regardless; the episode's theme is absolutely brilliant. Fluttershy is afraid about confronting a dragon, and even though she doesn't say so to her friends, she does hold them back much to Rainbow Dash's frustration. No, I'm not bothered by it; she was concerned for Equestria's sake, and any delays would continue the smoke infestation for at least a century. Plus, out of the Mane Six, Fluttershy and Dash have the best dynamic.

And it's only when the Mane Five get knocked back by the dragon (after Rainbow Dash kicked it) that she confronts and scolds him for hurting her friends. Up to that point, the episode was good, but nothing spectacular. Then it goes straight up to brilliant when it turns out the dragon didn't mean to cause harm; he's not the monster the ponies made him out to be. He just didn't know his snoring was causing them trouble. He's one of the most sympathetic dragons of the show other than Spike. And later on, Ember and Smolder.

And yeah, Rainbow Dash kicking the dragon could be considered a dick move, and not to mention stupid on her end. But when you're constantly faced with failure and have no other choice, you will become desperate and end up acting without thinking. Even if that wasn't Meghan's intention, it's still a nice touch.

So far, this is the best episode out of the first season, and a very strong start to Meghan McCarthy. If you're looking for a first episode to watch out of the series, I recommend this one. (Then again, I'd probably recommend anything by Meghan, wouldn't I?) Even when watching this episode again for the sake of this re-review, it's pretty clear that from this point onward, Fluttershy was destined for greater things. Out of the early episodes, this is one I'd happily watch again and again, which is more than what can be said about the likes of The Mean 6...

Rating: Excellent (10/10)