"...but I say proper cucumber placement is more important!" |
To my immense surprise, this turned out to be far and away my favourite of the three Trixie episodes we've had so far. In fact, it's the first that I can honestly say I really, really liked. She and Starlight Glimmer work amazingly well together, enough so that they've instantly entered my list of "pairings I'd like to see in Friends Forever comics". Their shared heritage of being various shades of evil at various times creates a fun dynamic that we haven't really seen with any other pair of characters.
It's also interesting seeing that Twilight is still very much a flawed character. While I like Twi, I do think it makes "our" ponies feel more real and relatable when they prove themselves not to be perfect. Perhaps her suspicious sneaking around is a little too much like pre-ascension Twilight for this stage in her life, but I can accept that – both in the name of comedy and because as a teacher, she's still only in Season One! For much of the episode, Twilight is in the wrong and the other two in the right, and that role reversal is interesting in itself.
"Look, can you get that thing off my ear, please?" |
The dinner party is a silly secondary story, but hey, I laughed. The guests being the crotchety Cranky, the silent (in this episode) Derpy and the silent (in every episode) Vinyl is somehow perfect. Did I say Vinyl? I meant "DJ Pon3", whose name is now unarguably canon. That said, I don't expect the fandom to budge on the issue, since (unlike, say, Minuette) that new canon name is a horrible mouthful. It's also nice to see more from Celestia, although not very much more. Her looking at her fork is brilliant, as is that closing question to her from Cranky.
There are a few things in "No Second Prances" that I'm rather less fond of. One is the actual trick with the manticore. Equestria clearly doesn't have a big problem with using animals for entertainment, but I'm still a bit surprised Fluttershy accepted it with nothing more than a sigh and a swoon. It also seemed a little too risky – what if Starlight hadn't changed her mind? Probably Twilight would have leapt in to save Trixie, but still. Also, the pacing was, as often happens, a bit fast towards the end. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable episode overall!
"Pinkie, please remember that the normal laws of physics do apply to me!" |
Yays
- Trixie and Starlight are a great double act
- Flawed!Twilight is more interesting
- We get a little more Celestia; yay!
- Some of the best faces in quite a while
- Some amusing stuff from the background crew
- A little rushed in its resolution
- Not that keen on the manticore trick
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ReplyDeleteI don't get it. "I also enjoy the idea of Twilight asking Trixie to make a new friend for Celestia's dinner party." is how that bit starts. What's the problem?
DeleteWell, I suppose it wasn't technically Celestia's dinner party, so I've slightly reworded that bit.
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DeleteGah, yes! Wow, I really must be tired. Fixed; thanks!
DeleteHow can you put flawed Twilight as one of the pros? She was acting out of character! For shame, Loganberry. For shame. And I'm still refusing to watch the episode. BTW, I had the images blocked so I wouldn't have to look at scenes from such a stupid episode.
ReplyDeleteI will not discuss this unless you watch the episode first. Full stop.
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DeleteUncalled for. No episode is worth getting that worked up over. Go outside or something, take a break.
Delete@GamerBoi42: your post was deleted because of its final sentence, which was disgusting. I would have left the rest to speak for itself, so in the interests of openness here's what you said to me:
Delete"By not discussing this, you are being a coward. If you don't wanna be a coward, then you will take part in this discussion. Twilight Sparkle is the Princess of Friendship. She is supposed to encourage friendships, not try and prevent them. By trying to prevent Starlight from becoming friends with Trixie, Twilight is behaving out of character. I have no idea why Hasbro would approve of such a stupid episode. And it's a bad influence on the target audience, since they're gonna try and prevent a friend of theirs from being a friend with someone else."
You were so over exaggerated what what was “disgusting”. That was not a valid reason to block a comment.
Deletea) Read what I said again: I would have left the rest to speak for itself. The bit I quoted in italics above is the aforementioned rest and does not include the disgusting part.
Deleteb) GamerBoi42 later cleaned up their act and became a pleasant and valued contributor to the fandom.
c) Why the hay are you commenting on an eight-year-old comment anyway?!
Present Perfect said:
ReplyDeleteNo episode is worth getting that worked up over.
It is if the majority are giving it praise, and quite frankly, are too blind to see Twilight behaving out of character.
No, then you write a blog, a civil one, maybe even a long one, about why you think that's so, post it, and accept that people will disagree. Learning to let people be wrong is the first step on the path to peace.
DeleteAnd I already did - http://xxgamerboi42xx.deviantart.com/journal/Why-No-Second-Prances-is-the-worst-MLP-FiM-episode-603860692
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