About time I got back to these! For anyone joining me here: these are not
meant to be full-featured reviews, and I assume that readers have seen not only the episode featured but the entire series. (Or, at least, that they don't care about spoilers any more.) I'm not really interested in a blow-by-blow account of every single scene, more in how the episode strikes me after all these years have passed. I'd love to know how you feel about the episode now, too!
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| Dash wouldn't be this affectionate towards a creature again until she adopted Tank |
S1E10: "Swarm of the Century"
Written by M. A. Larson
17 Dec 2010
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 7.8
The one with "Princess Celest".
Thoughts: Mr Larson's debut! Not one of Fluttershy's greatest moments, given she's the one who stops the parasprite problem being resolved after Applejack's herding. Mind you, not Pinkie's either: whatever the girls say later, she could easily have explained herself properly at the time instead of rambling on about trombones! Still, her Parasprite Polka remains a memorable performance. Interesting what a big deal a visit from Celestia was at this point. Carrot Top's "We couldn't fit it all in!" has gone down in fandom folklore.
I think this is the first time we see Rainbow Dash's cloud house; but I think wrongly! See comments. Even so, it'll never stop being, well, awesome. First mention of Fillydelphia too, yes? The parasprites eating the words somewhat anticipates Discord doing something similar a few seasons later. All in all, one of the silliest, most cartoony episodes of the early days, but one that's a good deal of fun almost throughout – as long as you can overlook the slightly rickety structure. Of the episode, that is. Not of Ponyville. Though now I think about it...
Choice quote: Pinkie Pie: "
Me? I'm not the ruiner! I'm the ruinee! Or is it ruiness? ...ruinette?"
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Winter Wrap Up", where of course the first big
song appears. The interesting thing for me will be seeing how the episode beyond
the song holds up.
This one's easy watching; it's good fun, and very quotable. The complete and utter destruction of Ponyville does suggest a somewhat flexible attitude to continuity though!
ReplyDeleteNote that Applejack's barn is destroyed for the first time. It won't be the last.
Also, pedant's gonna pedant, but we already saw Rainbow Dash's house in both "Griffon the Brush Off" and "Dragonshy". Only briefly though, so you'd be forgiven for forgetting about it.
Note that Applejack's barn is destroyed for the first time. It won't be the last.
DeleteIndeed so. They need to raise one in a few seasons' time, after all. ;)
Pedantry is welcome here! I have no idea why I forgot the scene in "Dragonshy" in particular, as Rainbow's house it's seen during that A Team montage I really like.
Twilight meeting Celestia and pretending nothing is wrong, and continuing to pretend nothing is wrong even as Pinkie parades past them (with Celestia's disbelieving stare), will never ever stop being one of my favourite pony scenes.
ReplyDeleteI think that scene (along with a couple of others in this episode) has probably been coloured forever for me by Friendship is Witchcraft. It is a lot of fun in the original, though, no argument there!
DeleteA funny, silly episode, easily showing the writing chops of M.A. Larson and delighting in that early season craziness that got filtered out over time. Twilight's bit about rebuilding the whole town in a minute is like a dry run for Lesson Zero, and it just kills me, though the bit Cloptimist mentions about Twilight's speech to Celestia is gold too. God I'm delighting in rewatching this early stuff, It's giving me the same thrills I got from cartoons when I was younger, merged in with these loveable ponies. What's not to like?
ReplyDeleteeasily showing the writing chops of M.A. Larson
DeleteIt's probably not a huge spoiler to say that there's a Larson episode later on which may end up being my favourite of S1. We'll see when we get there. :)
I dislike this episode with great intensity.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first binged the show in two days, this was the episode I got up to on my first. Although I don't remember particularly minding it much on the first visit, every time I've revisited it since, I've come to hate it more and more fiercely. Now it's an ep I always skip whenever I rewatch this season, and since I only skip three overall, on my terms that's a hell of an achievement.
To be fair, the first two-thirds are mostly enjoyable shenanigans with the cast. I can't even be mad at Fluttershy, dumb as she is in that one moment; it fits her animal-loving nature, no one in-show pretends it's not dumb, and can't they just round 'em up again, anyway? Also, the "Trouble with Tribbles" nod is cute, and Twilight's Blazing Saddles reference is easily the funniest thing in context.
For me, though, this episode has two major problems: the first is that it's a classic case of what I call "Creator's Pet Pinkie". Despite the fact she's being written as needlessly stupid and incompetent in basic communication, the narrative neither acknowledges it nor lets it temper the pro-Pinkie moral at the end.
It'd be one thing if the girls brushed off a clear attempt to explain the situation to them - that would serve the moral admirably - or even if Pinkie was called out too.
But no. Every time she had a golden opportunity to say "I know how to get rid of these things!" and completely squanders it babbling like an idiot, I wanted to strangle her. She's sitting on the solution from the start and making it harder than it needs to be, both for herself and for her friends. The avoidable damage to Ponyville is on her head, as far as I'm concerned.
That's another reason I don't like this episode either; once it moves to the destruction of Ponyville, with ponies shrieking everywhere and buildings being torn apart, I find it unpleasant to watch. Especially now, after getting attached to the series and its setting for so long. In practice, what'd be funny in a more cynical show feels misguided, even slightly horrific, here. (I hate the dour ending note of this one).
I have the same problem with "Feeling Pinkie Keen" and "Lesson Zero", and I don't think it should be aiming there. It's a level of mean-spiritedness that diminishes what makes the show so appealing to me.
Stepping back, the episode's still got a fair amount to recommend it to others, but problems like those are deal-breakers for me. If we're going for silly, over-the-top fun, I much prefer the "Pinkie Pride" approach any day of the week.
Now that's absolutely fascinating. I think you're the first person I've encountered who actively hates this episode.* Your point about cynicism struck me most of all, given that S1 is largely free from such. I'll confess that this didn't register as I rewatched, but it's perfectly understandable.
Delete* I've always found it intriguing when someone is out of kilter with the consensus. For example, I know of someone who detests "Sweet and Elite", to the extent they skip it entirely as you do this episode.
It's kind of weird for me as well. When I first watched this episode, I don't remember those elements particularly bothering me as much as they do now.
DeleteUsually, my experience of an episode remains unchanged over time. For instance, and more positively, "Suited for Success" and "Sonic Rainboom" have always been among my favourite episodes of Season One, if not of the entire series.
In other media, I'm not even against cynical humour. Terry Pratchett's Discworld, for instance, is riddled with cynical moments and insights that are utterly hilarious, and I thought the Hazbin Hotel pilot - which pretty much runs with the fact that it's set in Hell - was a laugh-a-minute riot.
All I know is that this episode became harder to enjoy with every rewatch, and the last third is chiefly where it loses me.
I wouldn't say I dislike this episode, being that it's easy to have fun with episodes like this and it's moments are silly at best. But looking backing at some of the episode's moments, I wouldn't say Fluttershy 'stops' the problem but more like made it worse just when it seems the girls had the parasprites right where they wanted them. Now it's not Fluttershy's fault entirely, even though she found those creatures in the first place. She loves animals, all kinds, the thing with the Parasprite is that she never heard of these creatures before-hoof and she had no idea that they could either multiply faster than rabbits or consume everything in sight. If anything, Twilight Sparkle herself made a boo-boo using a spell so they wouldn't eat the 'food' not counting on the fact that the spell would have them eat something else... Even some pony's skirt.
ReplyDeleteOffscreen: But we don't normally wear 'clothes'!
YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!
*Clears throat* But I think the real blunder for me, which seems only be done out of plot convenience, is the fact that Pinkie Pie has the solution to the problem and it should've been her shining moment overall... But what's been REAL common with Pinkie Pie is her lack of communication. She could just as easily say, 'I know what these creatures are; this is how you get rid of them!' But no, she's going about making requests for instruments without giving an explanation as to 'why' and it's enough to make fans go Doug Walker and say, 'EXPLAIN, PINKIE! EXPLAIN!!!' This wouldn't be the first time where Pinkie doesn't communicate topics well, like how she says her sister, Maud, is similar to her friends but not bringing up that she's not as energetic as herself or how she claims they celebrate the same traditions for Heartswarming but blatantly leaving out that her family traditions mainly focus on rock related stuff (Like eating a broth with a rock in it... Yeah, I think that'd be pretty bad for my digestive system). The problem with the writers when it comes to Pinkie is that they try so hard to make her silly, that to the majority of the fans it makes her look 'stupid' and it's no wonder why her friends misinterpret almost anything Pinkie says or even when her attempts to lighten the mood come off so random at times.
But let me make ONE thing perfectly clear: I don't HATE this episode... I don't even dislike it. I think it's a harmless enough episode, if we're looking at this as a classic cartoon where crazy shenanigans ensue. Sure, Ponyville isn't entirely saved at the end and some matters were made worse than it needed to be, but there are so many memorable, funny moments in the episode I almost forgive the issues that do occur. I even wanted to see what Fillydelphia is like being that it's a nod to Philadelphia, maybe an interpretation of the 'cheesesteak' (Or If anything, a multi-layered cheese sandwich without the 'steak') but unless it's featured more in the comics we treat it as a reference and nothing more. If there is a few funny scenes I recall, it's the parasprites being mischievous with Rainbow, Rarity freaking out when her shop is in shambles, the dream sequence that shows Celestia going panicky, even the way we see Pinkie go 'Pied Piper' with these parasprites is fun. I wouldn't say this was the perfect episode, particularly the best Pinkie Pie episode, but it's still a fun episode that most fans can enjoy (Not EVERYONE, but most of them).
Celestia makes a hasty exit to go deal with a parasprite infestation in Fillydelphia. Six years later, Pinkie reads an article saying the infestation has been eradicated in "Daring Done?" Had they really been ravaging the place the whole time? I guess that's why we never saw an episode take place there.
ReplyDeleteUnless there was more than one infestation, I suppose.
Delete