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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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)
You know on the bright side, Griffon the Brush Off is better than 28 pranks later.
ReplyDelete