My Little Repeats 179: "The Parent Map"

Early-series Twilight doing this at her library might have been fun

S8E08: "The Parent Map"

5 May 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.4

The one with chocolate perfume

Thoughts: This is a reasonable enough episode, with a reasonable plot leading to a reasonable moral. It doesn't do anything I hate, and it's nice to see Starlight and Sunburst teaming up, but by Celestia it's predictable in its overall direction. The "don't touch the books" bookshop is strange, all the more so as Firelight does handle them later with no comeback. You do wonder what Starlight's dad was doing while his daughter was off brainwashing ponies. I do like the tension between modernisation and preservation, but then I do live in an old town in Europe! As in 2018, I rather wish that had been the central conflict here. And where are our heroes' other parents? Even a line would have been nice. Some nice visuals and jokes, such as those gates, but even some of those get reused noticeably often. Not a terrible ep, but a bit flat compared with other family-based episodes like "Parental Glideance". All in all, a time-passer of an episode rather than anything more; just too predictable to be more than that. I think only a smidge above the purely run-of-the-mill, which means a top-end two-star rating now.

Choice quote: Stellar Flare: "Use your words, Sunburst."

New rating: ★★

Well now, let's see what's next on the list. And... "Non-Compete Clause". Oh. Well, it has to be done, doesn't it? I suppose. See you there!

My Little Repeats 140: "Where the Apple Lies"

"Granny's going to report us all for using that logo, isn't she?"

S6E23: "Where the Apple Lies"

8 Oct 2016

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 6.9

The one with eye-bandaged Derpy

Thoughts: A bit of a step up from "P.P.O.V.", though not enough to bring it above "quite good" territory. Big Mac is great value here, with the largely flashed-back plot allowing him to say plenty for once. He and Applejack spark off each other nicely as siblings – although it's odd that neither Apple Bloom nor her parents are anywhere to be seen, which makes you wonder about the exact time this is set. Filthy Rich is better here than his human analogue in Legend of Everfree, though I still don't know what he sees in Spoiled Milk. (Brilliant name, though it raises even more questions about pony naming conventions...) It's another good-looking ep, with plenty of fun touches to enjoy in the background, not least 80s Cheerilee! Granny seems very broadly characterised, but I suspect she knows more than she's letting on. Not a thrill-a-minute episode, but a character-focused one with a pleasantly laid-back pace. I still rather like it, and I'm happy for it to keep its three.

Choice quote: Granny Smith: "I'm sorry, Applejack, but you's just gonna have to un-promise."

New rating: ★★★

Next time, it's "Top Bolt", an episode which is largely seen (including by me) as one of the best of this era of the show's run. I am certainly looking forward to watching this ep again.

My Little Repeats 128: Flutter Brutter

"Zephyr, what does that manestyle say about who you are?"

S6E11: "Flutter Brutter"

4 Jun 2016

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 6.9

The one with G3 Rainbow's cutie mark (on the curtains)

Thoughts: Fluttershy's family are finally introduced here, rendering non-canon-compliant all those fics about how pegasi don't have close familial bonds. Given Zephyr Breeze, some may respond "Shame". Still, this is Fluttershy's ep. She's excellent in it, demonstrating character development and a slightly steelier edge since her early days but without having lost her inherent kindness. This is a 'Shy who feels like she should at this point in the series, and indeed this is among my favourites of her episodes in later FiM. The episode is quite American in a "You've been 18 for fourteen seconds, why aren't you in your own house yet?" way, but let's be honest: Zephyr is so annoying that our sympathy for him is always likely to be a bit limited. (Especially when he's trying to hit on Rainbow, though that does lead to a fun misunderstanding from the Shy parents at the end. Poor Dash.) Perhaps Zephyr's personality is a bit over-the-top even for a cartoon, but fortunately the action keeps moving so we don't get bogged down. The song is a pretty good one, if not world-class, and there's even a fun background Zelda reference. I think "Flutter Brutter" is worthy of keeping its high three-star rating.

Choice quote: Zephyr Breeze: "Turns out the animal communication thing isn't genetic."

New rating: ★★★

Next time, I'll be rewatching "Spice Up Your Life", which I moderately enjoyed, but not quite as much as some of the fandom did.

My Little Repeats 124: "Newbie Dash"

"And it's lucky for you they cut your impression of me, Newbie..."

S6E07: "Newbie Dash"

7 May 2016

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 6.1

The one with Rainbow's locker drawing of her friends

Thoughts: If I was surprised to find I'd originally awarded "No Second Prances" a four, I was amazed to discover I'd done the same for this episode. Granted, I've never had the "argh, take it away" reaction many fans do to "Newbie Dash", and indeed I quite like Dashie's cringy impressions of the other Manes – but was it really worthy of that high a rating? Answer: no. While I still don't think Dave Rapp's debut is a terrible ep, and indeed there's a reasonable amount to like about it (the callbacks, Scootaloo's reaction, some very nicely animated flying sequences, the ending) you can easily argue that it's a disappointment given it's the culmination of a seasons-long arc for Rainbow Dash. That said, I don't agree with those who thought she was bullied here. She went as far as endangering her team-mates, which Spitfire didn't tolerate when Lightning Dust did it and rightly didn't now either. "Rainbow Crash" becoming a badge of honour at the end is nice, too. On the downside, Pinkie is annoying much more than she is appealing, the cotton candy joke isn't very funny, the only really likeable other Wonderbolt is Soarin and it's all a bit uneven with the middle act in particular falling short. So while I still won't be as harsh as some are, I don't think it's as special as it should have been, the pre-credits sequence aside, and as such I'm knocking it down from a low four to a top-end two. That's maybe a tad harsh, but I can't quite justify a three. I don't think I got my rating right in 2016.

Choice quote: Rainbow: "Goodbye Rainbow Dash, hello Captain Awesome!"

New rating: ★★

Next time, it'll be "A Hearth's Warming Tail", which I utterly adored six years ago. I suspect I'm just going to wallow in it again. But we'll see!

Episode review: S9E10: "Gone to Seed"

I almost missed this lovely touch, but AB is doing a Pinkie Promise here

I should probably mention before going any further that I now have seen the Italian early releases, since I found versions with English soundtracks. I will of course not be even hinting at any spoilers for episodes that haven't yet aired on Discovery Family, so please don't anyone else do that either, not even in the comments. Thanks! Anyway, "Gone to Seed" was Dave Rapp's first episode since "The Parent Map". More relevantly perhaps, he also wrote "Where the Apple Lies" in S6. Past the break for more!

Episode review: S8E08: "The Parent Map"

Bedroom design by Horse Voice

Season 8 has been going quite well recently if you ask me. You probably don't ask me, but I'm going to tell you anyway. The perils of reading Louder Yay. Anyway, we had a returning writer this time: Dave Rapp, previously responsible for "Newbie Dash", "Flutter Brutter" and "Where the Apple Lies". Not a collection that everyone enjoyed, but I thought all three episodes were at least okay and so was cautiously optimistic. In the end, we got...

Episode review: S6E23: "Where the Apple Lies"

"An' y'all know I never been at any of that scrumpy"

Happy Birthday to Friendship is Magic, which turns six years old today! As I've already said, I have seen (and liked) the finale, but I'll be leaving the review until after it's been shown in the US. Today, then, it's back to a normal ep. This was not shown in the UK, almost certainly on account of extensive mentions of cider. It's written by Dave Rapp, who wrote the very enjoyable "Newbie Dash" and "Flutter Brutter", so I had high hopes. Past the break, I'll waffle on as usual.

Episode review: S6E11: "Flutter Brutter"

"I have had it with the peeved ponies in this peeved house"

We saw the return of an old friend in the opening credits for "Flutter Brutter" – the story for this episode was by a certain Meghan McCarthy. It was written, however, by Dave Rapp of "Newbie Dash" fame/infamy (delete according to taste). All the buzz before the ep went out was about the fact that we were finally going to see that Fluttershy had actual, living family. Was it worth the wait? After the break, we'll see.

Episode review: S6E07: "Newbie Dash"

BronyScot ticket sales will open on 11 May. I'll write more about that in a dedicated post later this week, but for now suffice it to say that I wish them every success. It's very unlikely that I'll make it to Glasgow myself, but I hope many others do. Okay, episode time!

I honestly cannot imagine why anybody would write fanfics about this episode

Rainbow Dash has finally made it into the Wonderbolts as a full member of the squad. That much we knew from the synopsis and preview clip, but how would she get on? The fulfilment of Rainbow's dream – one first mentioned the S1 premiere – was quite a responsibility for the episode's writer, and a little surprisingly they gave it to a newcomer: Dave Rapp. (Dave Polsky was also jointly credited for the story, but only writers get tags here!) How did Mr Rapp do as a newbie himself? Follow me past the break to find out!