My Little Repeats 72: "Bats!"

"Why Rarity, you're gonna save us a fortune on buckets!"

S4E07: "Bats!"
Written by Merriwether Williams
28 Dec 2013

My original rating: 8/10 (=★★★★)
IMDb score: 8.2

The one with Rarity's hazmat suit

Thoughts: Merriwether Williams' final episode is arguably her most enjoyable, fighting it out with "Wonderbolts Academy" for that honour. It certainly boasts a good song, an excellent duet between Applejack and Fluttershy that – at least at the time – was unlike anything we'd heard before on FiM. Vaguely Tim Burton-y and with fine visuals to complement the music. The actual story is quite fun, too, though it sticks in my craw slightly to have to admit that AJ generally has the right in the argument over Flutters. Doesn't help either that all of a sudden 'Shy is, well, a Stare master. Plus the "mystery" over who's swooping in to eat the apples really isn't much of a mystery at all. Flutterbat became famous of course, but even so. As I said in my 2013 review, I do (mostly) appreciate how Pinkie is written here; S4 is uneven on this score, but "Bats!" generally gets her right. The moral about sometimes having to tell your closest friends no is a great lesson, but it's not really one from the episode we've seen. Oh, and Fluttershy's fang at the end was rather intriguing at the time; now we know it meant absolutely nothing it's mildly irritating. All this means that I'm going to nudge this down slightly, from a bottom-end four to a top-end three. I still like it, but song aside I don't really think it's a classic.

Choice quote: Rainbow Dash: "Won't somepony please think of the cider?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Rarity Takes Manehattan". I remember this as being one of my favourite Dave Polsky episodes, but not as being exceptionally good.

My Little Repeats 59: "Wonderbolts Academy"

This shot really underlines how Rainbow has matured emotionally and LD hasn't

S3E07: "Wonderbolts Academy"

Written by Merriwether Williams
15 Dec 2012

My original rating: 7/10 (=★★★)
IMDb score: 8.2

The one with Pinkie emerging from the mailbox

Thoughts: For reasons I now can't remember, The Hub had a two-week gap between "Sleepless in Ponyville" and this next episode. For my money, it's one of Merriwether Williams' few definite hits. Lightning Dust is a hugely watchable character, though it's a bit of a shame that (as we learn five seasons later) she doesn't really learn much from her ejection from the Academy. Rainbow herself demonstrates how she's matured since the start of the show, and that's something I really do appreciate. As for Spitfire? I've softened a bit towards her portrayal, but this is a kid-friendly version of Sgt Hartman, a character type I find frankly tiresome. (Most real-life militaries do not take this very American "break them before you make them" approach, incidentally.) The two best scenes are confrontations: first when Rainbow snaps at Lightning Dust for her who-cares attitude to the tornado's consequences, and second when Dash quits. That scene had a real gut-punch impact when we saw it the first time. A bit less so now we know Rainbow's future, but still. Pinkie's portrayal can feel a bit over the top for this late in the series, and I'm afraid I still don't much like Bulk Biceps. Nice to see Twilight Sparkle's Balloon, though! Overall, an entertaining episode with a little extra emotional punch, but slightly let down by its flaws. I'll stick with a three-star rating.

Choice quote: Applejack: "Is anypony else followin' this?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Apple Family Reunion". I was distinctly underwhelmed with that episode in 2012, but I'm cautiously hopeful I may enjoy it more this time around.

My Little Repeats 47: "Dragon Quest"

Clearly dragon hands have the same sticky quality as pony hooves

S2E21: "Dragon Quest"
Written by Merriwether Williams
17 Mar 2012

My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 6.3

The one with Spike's beard

Thoughts: See that IMDb rating? It's very nearly the lowest of S2, just a tenth of a point ahead of the infamous "The Mysterious Mare Do Well". Am I in agreement? Broadly, yes. The main problem is Garble and his pals. I don't like them, but that in itself wouldn't be a problem if I found them interestingly dislikeable. I don't. They're just tedious. The episode does have its share of better things, not least the mighty Crackle and even more so his pony-made "cousin". Also, the "butterfly migration" stuff at the beginning. (Fluttershy's "I said no!" is a nice callback to a couple of eps ago.) And actually the setup of Spike becoming frustrated about not knowing his origins is a very good one. Actually, most of the first act is good stuff. The end isn't bad either, especially Rarity's sudden anger. Garble here seems like something worse than just a teenage bully, too, given his clearly implied intention to kill the phoenix hatchlings. But the middle section of the episode, set in this pre-Ember land of dragons, was really not that effective at holding my attention. That fed into a rather underwhelming episode when all was said and done. All told, this was another example of the way Spike episodes really didn't click with most of us during the first half of the series – despite that being when FiM was, in broad terms, at its best. I'm not inclined to revise my opinion sufficiently to bring its rating any higher than two stars.

Choice quote: Rarity: "Isn't he adorable when he waddles off in anger?"

New rating: ★★

Next up is "Hurricane Fluttershy", which is about best pony and is also best episode about best pony and so is just all-round best. I remain, as ever, your impartial judge of these things.

My Little Repeats 37: "Hearth's Warming Eve"

This glorious scene provided me with a ponyfic chapter title!

S2E11: "Hearth's Warming Eve"
Written by Merriwether Williams
17 Dec 2011

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.5

The one with Rarity's tree hat.

Thoughts: A festive episode premiering in December? What is this madness? I'll admit to a raised eyebrow when I saw this episode's 8.5 IMDb rating. Is it that good? For me, not quite, though it's more than decent. This is the ep that introduces the Windigoes, not much used hereafter but certainly an interesting concept. We're told that Starswirl was Clover's personal mentor, and I think it's the first time we see the Equestrian flag. The pageant approach is an interesting and unusual one, and I think it works well. All the Mane Six are fun (Spike gets a bit less to work with), though less so away from the pageant, where for example Rainbow continues her run of being rather annoying in S2. In the play, Applejack as Smart Cookie is probably my favourite with her deadpan asides to the audience. I'm amused that Princess Platinum dubs the land she finds "Unicornia" – a canon G3 place. Daniel Ingram wanted "The Heart Carol" to become a sort of brony anthem. It never quite achieved that, though I like it more than most fans seem to, and I really like the extended version. There are Hearth's Warming episodes I enjoy more than this one, but it's very watchable all the same. A highish three, and perhaps almost a four when I'm in the right mood.

Choice quote: Chancellor Puddinghead: "Can you think inside a chimney?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Family Appreciation Day", which I had little time for initially but gradually grew warmer towards – a bit like "Look Before You Sleep" in some ways. We'll see whether that's continued.

My Little Repeats 34: "The Mysterious Mare Do Well"

Snips is here. Snails has gone to get another dictionary

S2E08: "The Mysterious Mare Do Well"
Written by Merriwether Williams
26 Nov 2011

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 6.2

The one with the Hoofer Dam. (At least, that's my name for it.)

Thoughts: Okay, here we go. In the early days of the fandom, this episode tended to win "Least Favourite Episode" contests. Its 6.2 score from IMDb is testament to that. Is it that bad? Well... no. It's a mixed bag. On the plus side, it's undeniably entertaining, and there are some very amusing bits. Ghostwriter Spike, for example, and the Batman: The Animated Series-nodding crowd scene. Scootaloo's Rainbow Dash Fan Club opening scene. The score is excellent too. On the debit side of the ledger, not only is Rainbow Dash at her worst in inflated-ego terms, her friends aren't very nice either when they all brag about Mare Do Well in front of her. Ponyville also doesn't feel all that much like the town we know and love – that cliff the pram hurtles towards, for example. When did that turn up? And as for the hydro dam... Fast forward a few years and episodes like this, that don't really get Ponyville, became more common. But for Season 2, this is a mis-step. It's not awful, but it's certainly very uneven and well below par overall. It deserves its rather poor reputation, if not really the actual hate it used to get.

Choice quote: Unnamed stallion: "Excuse me? Do you think you could skip your catchphrase and just hurry up and save us?"

New rating: ★★

Next up is "Sweet and Elite", an episode I've been looking forward to considerably. Several significant debuts coming up in that one!

Episode review: "Bats!" (S4E07)

AJ's parents are dead. Batman's parents are dead. Hmm...

Apologies for the lateness of this review, but sadly I was without my PC for the last week owing to my being on holiday! Anyway, let's get this one done quickly, so that we can get back to something like the usual schedule for next time. This week's episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was pithily titled "Bats!", and – contrary to the rather glaring mistake on the captions – was actually written by Merriwether Williams, not Meghan McCarthy. I really hope that error is corrected for future showings of the ep. After the break!

Review: "Wonderbolts Academy" (S3E07)

How does she get away with a manecut like that in the military?

This was a really interesting episode. Very different to what I was expecting, certainly. I liked a pony I thought I wouldn't; I didn't like a pony I thought I would. Merriwether Williams isn't my favourite MLP:FiM writer, as a rule, but maybe she's come up trumps this time. Let's get going with the review and find out! Join us after the cut for more.