Episode review: S9E15: "2, 4, 6, Greaaat"

The moment a million ponyfic people fell off their chairs

We're now little more than two months away from the end of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and as such thoughts are beginning to turn to what the series finale may be like. I'm not going to talk about that here, even though I've seen the trailers, but I am going to talk about "2, 4, 6, Greaaat". This 15th episode of S9 was written by Kaita Mpambara, which had me cautiously optimistic given that he'd previously served up the enjoyable "Horse Play" and the mixed "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place". What would happen this time?

Oh dear. Let's not beat around the bush: this was a poor episode. It's my least favourite of the season so far, and my pick as the worst FiM ep since the infamous "Non-Compete Clause" last year. To add to the frustration, the central reason is similar: main character regression causing said character to act in an unlikeable way for most of the running time. Unfortunately for the many Rainbow Dash fans out there, in both "N-C C" and this it's Dash who behaves like a total jerk for great swathes of the episode.

Let's address that central fault first. Rainbow Dash in this episode does not behave at all like you would expect today's Rainbow Dash to. She comes across as immature and unpleasant, and indeed she reminded me strongly of some of her less appealing moments in early S2. Now, sure, one of the joys of FiM has always been its interestingly flawed characters – but this isn't early S2 any more. Rainbow's had seven seasons to grow since then, which makes an S2 character in an S9 ep glaringly obvious when compared with so many other episodes.

Smolder's expression says it all, really

Rainbow also treats the students pretty shabbily, making it patently obvious that she doesn't give a damn about helping them if it means she has to actually get involved. The students are absolutely justified in calling her out on this, as is Snips – even if his motives are a little more driven by personal avarice. This was one aspect of the episode I did like: Smolder's attitude in particular was very appealing this time around, and both Ocellus and Yona had their moments too, though the "Yona stomps a lot" thing is already getting a bit old.

Now, one thing I'm not going to complain about, because it's not the writer's or episode's fault, is that the whole premise is not one I as a Brit can really engage with. An academic sports game as a major event that anyone beyond the students' families – if they're lucky – cares tuppence about is a very North American thing. (Though tuppence isn't —Ed.) Snips would not have a good time trying to make money out of it over here! Still, even if it's alien to us, we've all seen enough Transatlantic shows to recognise the stereotypes.

Let's move on. One of the most interesting features of this episode was also one of its flaws. It transpired near the end that Twilight was in fact setting Rainbow Dash up for a friendship lesson. This little touch was another step on Twilight's path towards taking over from Princess Celestia – who was there to congratulate her. But this aspect was rushed. I just wish this had been the central plot of the episode, or at least that it had had a little more time. There were two (fairly brief) montages once again, after all...

I suppose some of the chants they came up with were pretty decent

A lesser concern is that the dynamic between Twi and Dash is simply not the same as that between Celestia and Twi used to be, so isn't a "friendship lesson" a tiny bit patronising? Mind you, Rainbow needed it, so perhaps I shouldn't complain. Possibly Twilight realised Dash was behaving like a pony from S2, so decided to treat her like the pony she was in S2! Her friends also seemed to have been hit lightly with the Idiot Stick: Applejack's gift of hay was left unexplained, coming close to portraying her as the "stupid farm hick" she's never been.

I'm getting annoyed again, so I think it's time for a few more of the things I did like. I was happy that the School of Friendship lost the buckball game. That was a good reminder of the early days: Twilight's fifth place in the Running of the Leaves, to be precise. There was a little fun humour. It was also fascinating to see that magic-dampening horn rings are now canon. That's been a very popular fanfic idea for years and years, and I know it made a lot of us in the ponyfic world sit up and go, "Really?!" Also, Celestia yelling in the crowd was fun.

These are bright spots in a generally gloomy picture, however. There were more problems: the irritatingly stereotypical cheerleader mares, Snails' sudden ascent to OP magic-user, the use again of "20% cooler". But worst of all: for the first two acts, this was boring. Even the poor modern-day episodes that think meme faces constitute a plot element are rarely this dull. Frankly, if it hadn't picked up markedly in the last third, it might even have skirted close to a one-star rating. But even as a two, "2, 4, 6, Greaaat" is a terrible disappointment. The only way is up – I hope.

"Yes... empty your mind. Then you won't remember this episode"

Best line: Rainbow Dash: "Yeah, Zecora's a lot less helpful than you think."
Best moment: Smolder tearing a strip off Rainbow Dash
Worst moment: "20% cooler" used unironically. Again

Yays

• The all-too-brief look at Twilight learning more about ruling
• Twilight's school not winning the buckball game
• The students' justified annoyance with Rainbow Dash

Neighs

• Rainbow's deeply off-putting attitude until two-thirds distance
• The sheer dullness of much of the episode
• Grating cheerleader ponies
• Snails can self-levitate now?
• I'm going to mention "20% cooler" again

★★