My Little Repeats 194: "What Lies Beneath"

"You really wouldn't like to be a tree, whatever Professor Fluttershy says."

S8E22: "What Lies Beneath"

22 Sep 2018

My original rating: ★★★★

IMDb score: 8.3

The one with plumbing diagrams

Thoughts: Not everyone agrees with me on this, but I generally find Mike Vogel to be among the most reliable writers of the later seasons of Friendship is Magic. He largely hits the mark again with "What Lies Beneath", an episode which was extremely popular at the time and which prompted a lot of discussion at the time and probably only faded a bit because of its misfortune in being immediately followed by "Sounds of Silence" and the fandom's kirin obsession. "What Lies Beneath" shows us that the Tree of Harmony is a complete sociopath very powerful indeed, scarily so really. As has often been noted, Smolder faces the terror of being cute at tea parties, while Gallus faces the terror of being crushed to death by rocks. Silverstream and Ocellus's past traumas are more directly addressed than ever before (or since) – though "tell[ing] him exactly what you think of him" prooobably wouldn't defeat the real Storm King. Yona is cute as ever and commands a mighty spider army. Sandbar... well, he's a bit dense, but quite appealing anyway. Cozy Glow's manipulative behaviour is considerably creepier from a post-S9 viewpoint. The (other) students support each other, and that I was very pleased with. In 2018, I thought this was four/five-star boundary. I no longer think it's that good, but it's still highly watchable, even if the Tree is weird. (Mind you, it's not a pony, so why should it think like one...?) Take a star off and it becomes a top-end three, but I'm going to creep it over the line to a low-end four. The students' character moments, their care and compassion for each other, is what does that.

Choice quote: Cozy Glow, to the non-pony students: "Golly, it's so inspiring how relaxed you all are about studying friendship, considering your disadvantage." [Creepy in 2018. Even more so in 2025.]

New rating:★★★★

Next time, it is of course "Sounds of Silence". I am not someone who thinks kirin are the greatest things since sliced bread, so don't expect me to rave on and give it an easy five-star rating. It does have a reasonable amount of Fluttershy in it, however, which is rarely a bad thing. We shall see!

My Little Repeats 184: "The Mean 6"

Honestly, I'd be on Starlight's side at this point

S8E13: "The Mean 6"

6 Jun 2018 (in the UK; 9 Jun 2018 in the US)

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.8

The one with smelling the roses

Thoughts: This was one of those rare and precious occasions when the UK got an episode before the US – although the scale of early international releases and indeed leaks going on by this point made it all a bit moot. As a mid-season finale, though, this is a bit on the weak side, largely because of all the potential it wastes. Chrysalis here starts out properly villainous, as she should be, but then shows surprisingly little of the intelligence we know she possesses, not least in not nipping Twilight's plotting in the bud sooner. The Mane Six are absurdly – let's face it, unbelievably – dense not to realise that their friends are behaving way out of character, some with very obviously wrong cutie marks, and the one "maybe it's poison joke" reference isn't enough to save that. (Special boo for Twilight "We know each other really well" Sparkle here, given she personally observed something very similar happening to said friends in "The Return of Harmony".) Now, I don't think this is a terrible episode. Even if Starlight's presence is a bit superfluous, she is good value in her part. The voice work, visuals and incidental music are all excellent. Evil Twilight, more than the others, actually has a certain depth of character. The famous "melting faces" scene, even though short and diluted from the draft version, remains memorably unpleasant. The real problem here is that this is an intriguingly ambitious setup that in the end doesn't really deliver the goods. Knocking it down to two stars.

Choice quote: Starlight: "Home has books, tea... fewer bugs... a roof."

New rating: ★★

That brings us to S8's mid-season hiatus. The next Friendship is Magic episode in term of broadcast was "Yakity-Sax", which was pushed up the schedule as part of a Discovery Family promotional event, but it's nevertheless generally considered to be E18 and so I'll review it in that spot. That means next up for FiM will be "A Matter of Principals". However, before then we have the second Equestria Girls special, namely "Rollercoaster of RariJack Friendship". That one was a mixed bag for me first time around.

My Little Repeats 172: "School Daze, part 2"

Now this I did like. The expressions tell you a fair bit about each student's character.

S8E02: "School Daze, part 2"

24 Mar 2018

My original rating: ★★★ (for both parts)
IMDb score: 7.8

The one with stairs!

Thoughts: And here Friendship is Magic succumbed to the temptation of referencing "20% cooler".¹ Not for the last time. Sigh. It also sees the debut of the pukwudgies, who just leave me cold. The Mane Six were pretty idiotic in the cupcake scene. However, there are pluses: the song "Friendship Always Wins" is nice, and as you all know I'm fond of the students, who of course get lots of screen time here. I also like Starlight's relatability in this episode and the way she doesn't rely on magic. She too is learning! On the other hoof, Twilight's "we're going to ignore the rules because I say so" line remains immensely annoying, especially since Celestia had to abide by them. It also still grates that Cheerilee has been forgotten. At least the Castle of the Two Sisters finally reappeared, though it didn't exactly do much. Overall I think this is slightly better than part one. Probably not quite enough to take it out of the two-star band, though. As I'd put it in a ponyfic review: a top-end two.
¹ Although Rainbow Rocks had already featured "20% less cool".

Choice quote: Smolder: "Smolder like... breathing."

New rating: ★★

Next up, "The Maud Couple", which I've slightly soured on since I considered it a middle-of-the-road instalment back in 2018. We'll have to see whether that assessment holds, won't we?

My Little Repeats 171: "School Daze, part 1"

"Can we tell her this thing is a mess?"

S8E01: "School Daze, part 1"

24 Mar 2018

My original rating: ★★★ (for both parts)
IMDb score: 7.7

The one with a teeny confetti cannon

Thoughts: Quite honestly, the best thing about this episode is that it introduces the Young Six, who in my book are the highlights of S8. As for the rest, though: Twilight says there's a difference between being a student and being a teacher, then ignores that. Cheerilee, the actual professional teacher in Ponyville – you know, the one who's been there since S1 – isn't even granted a name-check, let alone an actual appearance. At the start we get a few rather forced movie references – okay, fair enough. The racist Chancellor Neighsay (voiced by Maurice LaMarche, no less) could have sparked a very interesting storyline about how unpleasant people can sometimes nevertheless be right – a message very relevant to these days of social media. But no. Instead he turns out to be massively powerful (portals, magic chains, etc) with no explanation and none of Starlight's relatability to soften it. The students are entertaining, and I look forward to seeing more of them this season. The School of Friendship itself is ridiculous. The episode falls to two stars, and with quite a thump.

Choice quote: Fluttershy: "I've had quite enough of life-threatening adventures, thank you."

New rating: ★★

Having covered part one of the premiere, you'll never guess what's coming next in this series. What's that you say? A purple parakeet? The Box of Delights? A train bound for Morningtown, many miles away? No, no and thrice no. It's part two of the premiere!

My Little Repeats 143: "To Where and Back Again, part 2"

"Starlight, how do you do that with your leg? Doesn't it hurt?"

S6E26: "To Where and Back Again, part 2"

7 Oct 2016 (Tiny Pop; 22 Oct on Discovery Family)

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)
IMDb score: 8.3

The one with a klutzy draconequus

Thoughts: As with part one, I expect some people to feel I'm being absurdly generous to this episode. So, let's start with my least favourite part, ie the changeling reformation. It was too quick and easy, and the new changeling designs aren't appealing. I'd have much rather kept the "black but with shimmery wings" design. The rest, though? Way more fun. Trixie's sniping with Discord is fantastic throughout. Starlight grows as a leader and is a more appealing character for it. Chrysalis reminds us all why she's Best Villain – she's clever, she's scary, and as we now know, she will never reform. Thorax's impersonations are crucial to the success of the mission. Discord overcomes his hardest test: the Room of Crying Fluttershys. The hive animation is interesting. All in all? This is not only a four, it's a high four. One of my favourite season finales.

Choice quote: Trixie: "It is absolutely ridiculous that that worked."

New rating: ★★★★

And at last that's the end of Season Six! As usual, I'll do a brief retrospective next time, and then it will be on to the reasonably fondly remembered first part of S7.

My Little Repeats 142: "To Where and Back Again, part 1"

"A changeling can change. But we haven't."

S6E25: "To Where and Back Again, part 1"

6 Oct 2016 (Tiny Pop; 22 Oct on Discovery Family)

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)
IMDb score: 8.4

The one with Thorax's glittery wings

Thoughts: Tiny Pop being Tiny Pop, this episode was shown before "Top Bolt". This is, as Discord says, "quite the combination of secondary characters" – but for the most part, it really works. It doesn't hurt that the best villain in the show is back, although Chrysalis only shows up a fair way in. We get another excellent double act with Starlight and Trixie, while Glimmy herself is a more appealing character for her insecurities. (Her magic is again a bit OP, though...) The Changeling!Mane Six aren't the most convincing replacements in the world: you'd think Chrysalis could have managed better! This episode was shown at UK PonyCon 2016 (on the date of the US showing, so many of us had already seen it) and I remember the general reaction being very positive. I do have a small sigh for the Princesses getting easily captured, not for the first or last time, but oh well. This is quality entertainment. Despite a few flaws, it can keep its four.

Choice quote: Luna: "I see much of myself in you, Starlight Glimmer."

New rating: ★★★★

Tiny Pop showed E25 and E26 a day apart, so for once we had a proper cliffhanger, and I adored that. You get a longer one here for free, though! Next time, it's "To Where and Back Again, part 2", and then I'll finally be done with S6.

My Little Repeats 138: "Every Little Thing She Does"

Some fans' worst nightmare comes true

 S6E21: "Every Little Thing She Does"

24 Sep 2016

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.6

The one with Fluttershy covered in bugs

Thoughts: A fairly controversial episode, albeit one more liked than not at the time and an entertaining one until you start to question it. Starlight's in a starring post-reformation role, though "reformation" is slightly questionable given that she spends chunks of this ep mind-controlling her friends. Right at the start it's established that Glimmy is ridiculously powerful – that never did get explained. But let's face it, enslaving your friends and forcing them to do stuff is not okay however you slice it. The "magic hangover" scene near the end is amusing, though I'm slightly surprised Hasbro okayed it, but Spike's "I had no idea we had spiders in the castle" is too stupid for words. Fortunately he has some nice "Told you!" moments to make up for that. But still, mind control. What matters in this episode for me is that Starlight does face consequences. Twilight is (for her) quite angry, Dash correctly points out that you "don't cast spells on your friends!" and GlimGlam herself has to work to help make things right. That said, I no longer feel I can support my four-star rating from 2016. It's too patchy for that and the mind control is too iffy. Three is what it gets now.

Choice quote: Twilight: "Maybe there is such a thing as too much studying."

New rating: ★★★

Next time, it's Equestria Girls' final feature film, Legend of Everfree. If you're interested in joining me for that ride, you'll be very welcome!

My Little Repeats 130: "Stranger Than Fan Fiction"

There's a stall selling saucepans at the back there. Saucepans. What a convention!

S6E13: "Stranger Than Fan Fiction"

30 Jul 2016

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.3

The one with cardboard box Ahuizotl

Thoughts: For reasons I can't now recall, the mid-S6 hiatus came after 12 episodes. Seven weeks later, we were back with this, an ep generally fondly remembered but also disliked by some for being so clearly aimed at the fandom rather than kids in places. I'm squarely in the "this is great fun" camp. Patton Oswalt is another excellent guest star, and his improvised closing-credits speech on fanfic is a real highlight – one of many. Rainbow Dash has a good outing, too: she's written satisfyingly and she and Quibble make a great "odd couple" team who, in the best tradition, move from sniping at each other to working highly effectively together. (As an aside, though it's very rare now, DashPants shipping was everywhere for a short while.) The dialogue is generally excellent, there's a lot of truly funny humour, the visuals and sounds are great, the convention stuff is glorious... in short, there's a lot to like here. Is it perfect? Nah. Daring Do's pebble thing at the end stretches credulity even for her adventures, Quibble is occasionally a tiny bit too dense... and why did nopony at the con notice Caballeron and his henchponies weren't wearing hoofbands? But none of these ruin what is a tremendously entertaining episode. This is a case where "this couldn't have been made in S1" isn't a criticism. It keeps its four, and it's a high four at that. I love this episode.

Choice quote: Quibble Pants: "You need to get your money back."

New rating: ★★★★

Next time, I'll be rewatching "The Cart Before the Horses", an episode I found frustrating. Great concept, catchy song, fun visuals... but characterisation that just didn't sit right. We'll see if it does any better now.

My Little Repeats 129: "Spice Up Your Life"

"Second word. Sounds like 'bestie'. Really?"

S6E12: "Spice Up Your Life"

11 Jun 2016

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.7

The one with the return of Pinkie's pig costume

Thoughts: Mike Vogel returns with an interestingly different Pony episode. Sadly they didn't quite go the whole hog and make the episode's very decent song into a Bollywood spectacular (although I'm sure I once read that it was considered early on) but the travails of an Indian restaurant in Canterlot wasn't something we'd seen before. Also, yay for this not being in Manehattan. The Tasty Treat's Saffron and Coriander are good guest characters, and I'm a little sad we didn't see them after this episode. (Fun fact: Saffron is voiced by Diana Kaarina, who also voiced Aria Blaze in Rainbow Rocks.) Pinkie and Rarity make a yes-and-no team-up as the Cutie Map makes its first S6 appearance: Pinkie is generally great, encouraging and inspiring in the way she does best. Rarity is perhaps a little more snooty and a little less three-dimensional than she should be by this point, though the flattest character is Zesty Gourmand. It's a shame to see the easy route to depicting a critic (he says during a review!) and a comparison with Hoity Toity from S1 is quite instructive. Also, minor annoyance in the animation: I find it hard to believe Minuette would turn up her nose at the food. She never came across as snobbish in "Amending Fences"! This is still quite an enjoyable episode, in spite of the "don't change who you are" moral hardly being original. The atmosphere, visuals and music help. So, another three-star episode. It's lifted above the average by the animation touches, but not that far above the average.

Choice quote: Pinkie: "That's true times three!"

New rating: ★★★

Next time, I'll be rewatching "Stranger than Fan Fiction", which I had a whale of a time with in 2016. Hopefully the same will be true in 2022!

My Little Repeats 125: "A Hearth's Warming Tail"

This episode really is a feast for the eyes and ears

S6E08: "A Hearth's Warming Tail"

14 May 2016

My original rating: ★★★★★
IMDb score: 8.3

The one with Vinyl the gramophone DJ

Thoughts: Michael Vogel wasn't new to MLP of course, but "A Hearth's Warming Tail" was his first FiM writing credit. This episode, perhaps surprisingly, really split opinion when we did the old UK of Equestria rankings. More people placed it either very high or very low than in the middle. Part of this is probably that some just aren't up for yet another version of A Christmas Carol. I, however, am. While this isn't quite up to the genius of the Muppets' take on Dickens, it is wonderful. It was the first show episode to make use of a live band (for "Pinkie's Present") and the songs in general are excellent, with a special word for "Luna's Future". Starlight works well as Snowfall Frost, this episode's Scrooge, and though Rainbow Dash may seem an odd choice for the Bob Cratchit role she doesn't do badly either. The episode looks absolutely wonderful, quite rightly for a festive episode – even if it did come out in May! Lots of fun references to spot as we go along, and an amusing little cameo for Derpy, too. Poignant and entertaining at the same time, just like its inspiration, this is one of those episodes which rises above its flaws, and yes they're there – the pacing hurtles along in the second half, and "Flutterholly" is a feeble name. But you know what? I. Don't. Care. It's all just too much fun. I love this episode to pieces, and to nopony's surprise I'm letting it keep its five-star rating.

Choice quote: Snow Dash: "*spit take* Boss?"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next time, it'll be "The Saddle Row Review", another very popular episode. I went along with the herd on that one and really liked it.

Episode review: S9E24/25: "The Ending of the End"

"I am PinkCozia, Queen of Queens. Look upon me, ye mighty, and buy our toys!"

Well, here we are. It's the S9 finale. Also, therefore, the finale of Friendship is Magic as a whole, making this the very las—what's that? An epilogue? Oh. Okay, this is nearly the very last time I'll be writing one of these reviews. The show's never scheduled a two-parter like this before, but I was hoping for something impressive. Nicole Dubuc was handling the first part of this double-length ep, while Michael Vogel was on second-part writing duties. How did it perform? You know what to do to find out!

Episode review: S9E23: "The Big Mac Question"

Did the well-timed little gust of wind remind anyone else of the shooting stars of past episodes?

It seems I was a little premature in dubbing last week's episode the last for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Although "The Big Mac Question" wasn't fully a CMC ep in the way "Growing Up is Hard to Do" was, the fillies did play a very substantial role. But more of that later. This episode was co-written by Josh Haber and Michael Vogel, so I was hoping for both entertainment (from the former) and solid writing (from the latter). Past the cut, we'll see if we got it.

Episode review: S9E17: "The Summer Sun Setback"

"I assure you, I had nothing to do with those Dutch releases"

Ah, it's nice to get away from the bad side of the fandom for a while and talk about an actual show episode. After enduring a couple of pretty poor episodes, I was looking forward to "The Summer Sun Setback", and the identity of the writer was a big part of that. Mike Vogel's episodes have a tremendous record with me, and I was hoping this latest one would continue that run. It was a Twilight episode, too, so would it take away the trivia-tinged bad taste from last week?

Episode review: S9E08: "Frenemies"

So, does this count as an on-screen death? :P

When I last looked, the comments count for my "She's All Yak" review (including my responses) was into the mid-30s. Whatever people thought of it, it's certainly got them talking! This week, we had the return of Mike "Michael" Vogel to writing duties. I was very happy indeed when I discovered he was going to be writing this episode. Why? Well, take a look at his solo credits for this show:

"A Hearth's Warming Tail"
"Spice Up Your Life"
"Every Little Thing She Does"
"The Mean 6"
"What Lies Beneath"
"Best Gift Ever"

Other than "Spice Up Your Life", which I only mildly like, I love the rest of that half-dozen. Would "Frenemies" be worthy of this exalted company?

Special review: "Best Gift Ever"

Yeah, yeah, I'm pathetically weak. But come on

Although S8 of Friendship is Magic is now over and done with, there's one more piece of related business to get out of the way before we enter what will probably be the last ever FiM inter-season hiatus. "Best Night Gift Ever" marks the first time the show has had a special, which is odd considering how popular it's been. You'd think they'd have made one a few years ago. Still... this was written by Michael Vogel, and given that his strong record includes the fabulous "A Hearth's Warming Tail" I had high hopes. In the event...

Episode review: S8E22: "What Lies Beneath"

That tiara... hmm. Smolder already has both horns and wings...

I'm now back from some quite stressful personal stuff (a family funeral) and I also spent a large chunk of yesterday out watching steam trains. As such, this review is being typed in late evening, so please excuse me if it's less coherent than usual. (How could anyone tell? —Ed.) "What Lies Beneath" was written by Michael Vogel, who rarely produces a poor episode and most recently gave us the interesting "The Mean 6". As for this instalment of the season...

Episode review: S8E13: "The Mean 6"

We only saw this for half a second, but it cracked me up

Well, it's taken a while, but here I am at last getting up to date with FiM again! The final episode before the mid-season hiatus was written by Michael Vogel, last seen sharing writing duties with Nicole Dubuc in the S8 premiere. The synopsis for this one seemed intriguing, but because of my holiday I already knew it had received a rather mixed reaction. (More of that in Text Review Roundup tomorrow.) Beyond the break, I'll say how I felt about it.

Episode review: S8E01&E02: "School Daze"

The Mare Who bucked convention and didn't play by the rules

After what's actually been a fairly short inter-season break, we're back with new episodes of Friendship is Magic. All the previews, the leaks and the 12 million animatics Discovery Family released ahead of time certainly got people talking, though there were mixed views as to how the season premiere itself would be received. There was a heavyweight writing partnership to start us off: Michael Vogel and Nicole Dubuc. My thoughts are after the break, as ever, but first:

Please do not mention anything from the S8 leaks in your comments. I don't want to be spoiled on future episodes! This applies all season. Thanks!

Episode review: S6E25&26: "To Where and Back Again"

Right in front of the princesses. That has to be deliberate

Well. Well. After quite a ride during Season Six, we've come to the season finale at last. Well, actually some of us in the UK saw it weeks ago, and I saw it again at UK PonyCon on Saturday, but still. The writers were Josh Haber and Michael Vogel, so the big guns were definitely being wheeled out. Was I about to see a story for the ages, or would I end up disappointed and wishing that "Top Bolt" had actually been the last episode of the season? Find out by clicking past the break.

Episode review: S6E21: "Every Little Thing She Does"

IT'S NOT... CREEPY

The show's been on a pretty decent streak in this back end of Season Six, and the announcement that Michael Vogel was to write episode 21 set some minds at rest after a teaser trailer that caused considerable controversy. "Every Little Thing She Does" (clever The Police reference there!) was also storyboarder Sabrina Alberghetti's last episode; in recognition of the fine work she's done since S1, I'm giving her a tag this time. Beyond the break, I'll talk a bit about what I thought of the episode.