Episode review: S6E12: "Spice Up Your Life"

"I know smiles – and Rarity's smile? It's just not right"

At last, I have the time to write a review of the final episode of My Little Pony to go out before the mid-season hiatus. This ep was written by Michael Vogel, the guy who absolutely nailed it with "A Hearth's Warming Tail" a few weeks ago, so I was pretty optimistic going in. As I'm a week late, it's probably a bit silly using a break to protect people from spoilers, but I'll do it anyway – so come along with me for a (short) review of the episode.

"Spice Up Your Life" is a pretty good, but not classic, episode – something Season Six has had a lot of. It's a little quieter and less hectic I expected it to be, but not so much as to harm it too much. What does harm it a bit is Zesty Gourmand, who's so one-note as to be really pretty boring. She's like Ms Harshwhinny's duller, more annoying cousin. Frankly, Zephyr Breeze is a breath of fresh air in comparison. Rarity is a bit of a pain too in the early stages, but she and Pinkie do eventually work quite well together.

Mind you, those Whinneapolis ponies do grate a bit

As for the main plot, it's simple in an almost S1-type way, but the whole "Indian restaurant" setting provides a different veneer to the traditional underpinnings. I'm not a huge fan of the way Twilight and Starlight did the "Look, we've mended the map" bit at the start: can you say "plot convenience"? Also, why on Equus does Minuette – who knows Pinkie Pie well – behave like such a ridiculous snob when Pinkie invites her somewhere? Also also, I'm fed up with Gordon Ramsay, equine or human.

I was a bit surprised to see that Coriander and Saffron's accents had come in for a bit of criticism. Maybe these things are touchier on the other side of the Atlantic, but I don't have any problem with them. As for the song, it reminds me a lot of some of the Indian/British fusion music I hear quite a bit. It's nice and catchy, but I so, so wish that the episode had taken the opportunity to turn it into a really huge-scale dance number – Pinkie has the "Summon Parade" spell down pat, after all!

And there it is: we round off "S6A" with yet another three-star episode. Over on UK of Equestria, ranking voting is currently open and several people have opined that the half-season has been much of a muchness. This episode falls into that category for me. If it hadn't been for the novel elements (the setting and, particularly, Saffron and Coriander) then it might have been a real "meh" ep. It escapes that fate and is perfectly watchable, but I really doubt that many people are going to see it as an all-time favourite. It's... nice.

"Not gonna work, those ships ain't gonna work. Oh fandom, why won't you listen to me?"

Best quote: Rarity: "Culture, couture, cuisine"


Yays

• Saffron and Coriander are entertaining characters
• The last few minutes (and the moral) are strong
• Nice to see a bit of Canterlot, rather than Manehattan

Neighs

• Zesty Gourmand – a less nuanced Ms Harshwhinny
• Minuette? Stuffy and stuck up? Hard to believe
• I still wish we'd had that massive dance number

★★★