Well... the last season nine episode review was far more controversial and sparked more discussion than I initially imagined! I am genuinely sorry for those who liked it and felt like my thoughts on the previous episode rubbed you the wrong way, but just because one person didn't agree with you, that doesn't really give you the right to be a jerk to them. I'm not the only person who felt that way towards Sparkle's Seven (or Twilight's Seven, I can't really tell nor do I care) if you look at the comments on my journal for said episode on DeviantArt, so if a person doesn't enjoy what you do, don't get fussy about it. That person is not ruining your life - I'm looking at you, Justin Riley! - and they have the right to disagree with your views. It's a non-issue.
Okay, now that I got it out of my system, here's my review for The Point of No Return.
The Point of No Return
Written by Gillian M. Berrow
When are the writers of season nine going to produce an episode that's actually worth giving a second watch?
This episode is the absolute nadir of the writers ripping off older episodes when they don't have any ideas. Give or take, this episode is a blatant retreading of Amending Fences! I'm serious. It copies the episode point for point and does everything worse.
First off is Moon Dancer's presence; I mention it first because I care about that the least. In Amending Fences, it was shown that she was upset over Twilight not turning up at her party and the latter also felt bad for letting her friend down. Here, we don't get a glimpse of Moon's personality or her friendship with Twilight. Swap her out with anypony else, and the plot would remain the same.
What makes it worse is how hyped up everyone was for her to appear, only to make a meaningless speaking cameo! I genuinely think Moon Dancer was included just to pander to the older fans.
In fact, it's a similar problem that Sparkle's Seven had with Zephyr Breeze... sort of. At least there, they tried giving him a purpose so Rainbow Dash could distract him. Though it was still fruitless for Zephyr to appear in the long run, but I digress.
The point is, if you're going to include a fan favorite, they need to have a reason to appear in a particular episode, this one included. They can't just be featured solely to make fans go "Oh my gosh, it's Derpy!" or words to that effect. And you can't tell me that "they probably didn't have any ideas for Moon Dancer in seasons 6-8" especially since each season has 26 episodes to work with! There's no excuse to not include her in episodes between Amending Fences and this one! (And no, mentions do not count.) If you can't come up with good roles for a character, then don't use them!
Wow, I talked about Moon Dancer's role way more than I thought...!
Back to the episode, the other two points it rips off Amending Fences (though Moon Dancer's wasn't exactly plot relevant here, but that's not the point) are the flashbacks to the first episode of the show and Twilight making amends with an old friend. With Amending Fences, they based it off a seemingly random line in Mare in the Moon and tied it into the main story really well. Heck, continuity was down to the presence of Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts!
In this episode, it felt like the attempt at tying it to Mare in the Moon was pulled right out of their collective backside to maintain a sense of continuity.
And as for the third point? It felt as though the reconciliation between Twilight and Dusty Pages (the librarian) was written the way it did to make the Princess of Friendship feel special, which means the moral - nobody's perfect - whilst okay, feels ultimately contrived.
I haven't even begun to talk about The Point of No Return on its own merits. It's yet another case of Twilight freaking out over something completely unimportant, because we've never seen that type of story before(!) I'm honestly convinced they didn't have any ideas for this episode to begin with. It's further cemented by the fact Twilight freaks out about turning up at a library. She went inside the same library in Forgotten Friendship and turned out fine! Unless Equestria Girls as a whole is non-canon or it was tacked on to pad this episode to 22 minutes. However you view it, neither option is off the table.
This episode is the absolute nadir of the writers ripping off older episodes when they don't have any ideas. Give or take, this episode is a blatant retreading of Amending Fences! I'm serious. It copies the episode point for point and does everything worse.
First off is Moon Dancer's presence; I mention it first because I care about that the least. In Amending Fences, it was shown that she was upset over Twilight not turning up at her party and the latter also felt bad for letting her friend down. Here, we don't get a glimpse of Moon's personality or her friendship with Twilight. Swap her out with anypony else, and the plot would remain the same.
What makes it worse is how hyped up everyone was for her to appear, only to make a meaningless speaking cameo! I genuinely think Moon Dancer was included just to pander to the older fans.
In fact, it's a similar problem that Sparkle's Seven had with Zephyr Breeze... sort of. At least there, they tried giving him a purpose so Rainbow Dash could distract him. Though it was still fruitless for Zephyr to appear in the long run, but I digress.
The point is, if you're going to include a fan favorite, they need to have a reason to appear in a particular episode, this one included. They can't just be featured solely to make fans go "Oh my gosh, it's Derpy!" or words to that effect. And you can't tell me that "they probably didn't have any ideas for Moon Dancer in seasons 6-8" especially since each season has 26 episodes to work with! There's no excuse to not include her in episodes between Amending Fences and this one! (And no, mentions do not count.) If you can't come up with good roles for a character, then don't use them!
Wow, I talked about Moon Dancer's role way more than I thought...!
Back to the episode, the other two points it rips off Amending Fences (though Moon Dancer's wasn't exactly plot relevant here, but that's not the point) are the flashbacks to the first episode of the show and Twilight making amends with an old friend. With Amending Fences, they based it off a seemingly random line in Mare in the Moon and tied it into the main story really well. Heck, continuity was down to the presence of Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts!
In this episode, it felt like the attempt at tying it to Mare in the Moon was pulled right out of their collective backside to maintain a sense of continuity.
And as for the third point? It felt as though the reconciliation between Twilight and Dusty Pages (the librarian) was written the way it did to make the Princess of Friendship feel special, which means the moral - nobody's perfect - whilst okay, feels ultimately contrived.
I haven't even begun to talk about The Point of No Return on its own merits. It's yet another case of Twilight freaking out over something completely unimportant, because we've never seen that type of story before(!) I'm honestly convinced they didn't have any ideas for this episode to begin with. It's further cemented by the fact Twilight freaks out about turning up at a library. She went inside the same library in Forgotten Friendship and turned out fine! Unless Equestria Girls as a whole is non-canon or it was tacked on to pad this episode to 22 minutes. However you view it, neither option is off the table.
Final Thoughts
I've been watching the show since 2013, and I've seen a lot of bad episodes with things that irritated me. Last year, I thought The Mean 6 was the absolute worst episode the series had put out, but The Point of No Return proved me wrong.
To be honest, I feel like I put far more effort into this review for The Point of No Return than the entire crew did into this episode. It's a blatant re-hashing of an older episode, the moral feels incredibly forced, and the plot and characters are insipid. The whole thing feels forced and, overall, completely pointless.
If you can't tell, I'm angry. For the last season of the series, it's supposed to be enjoyable and go out big, and so far, it's failing to impress. But I'm also disappointed. Not for myself, but for Gillian Berrow since it's her last episode in the series. I also feel bad that all the effort put into the visuals, music and voice acting was completely wasted on this miserable failure, for it's officially earned the title of the worst ever episode in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
If you can't tell, I'm angry. For the last season of the series, it's supposed to be enjoyable and go out big, and so far, it's failing to impress. But I'm also disappointed. Not for myself, but for Gillian Berrow since it's her last episode in the series. I also feel bad that all the effort put into the visuals, music and voice acting was completely wasted on this miserable failure, for it's officially earned the title of the worst ever episode in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Rating: Atrocious (-10/10)
It's funny how you mention whether Equestria Girls is not canon or is. According to Lauren Faust, she stated in an interview that Equestria Girls is actually not canon, at least in her opinion, making Sunset Shimmer's cameo in the last episode feel more like a spit in the face to her work.
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