My Little Repeats 208: "Frenemies"

A visually inventive episode in the way you can't take for granted by this point

S9E08: "Frenemies"

18 May 2019

My original rating: ★★★★★

IMDb score: 8.9

The one with straw dolls

Thoughts: IMDb ratings are even less use than usual by this point in Friendship is Magic, but there's no doubting that "Frenemies" was very well received in 2019. I was interested to see whether it held up now we know the truth about "Grogar". For the most part, I think it does, as the main storyline is about the Legion of Doom. They're all good, funny but with that edge of darkness, and they combined to provide a really great song in "Better Way to be Bad". The episode was well paced, too, with even the Rusty Bucket sections not really letting things flag. As I've noted before, in G1 it was North Star, not Gusty, who took the Bell, but that's minor here. You know what? I'm going to be generous and say this is a 4.5-star episode still. And as I don't give half stars? It's keeping that five. This may or may not be the last perfect rating I give for FiM, of course!

Choice quote: Tirek: "Welcome back, baby!"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next up will be "Sweet and Smoky", which is a Fluttershy-heavy episode and therefore extremely important. The two go together. But will it be extremely good? At some point, we shall find out!

My Little Repeats 207: "She's All Yak"

Spike, you're getting very big-headed

S9E07: "She's All Yak"

11 May 2019

My original rating: ★★

IMDb score: 7.0

The one with sprouts

Thoughts: Looking back, people had very mixed reactions to this episode, but I came down on the more negative side and still do. The YonaBar (friend)ship comes out of nowhere, but it's fine in itself, while the American pronunciation of "fete" merely needs getting used to. A bigger problem is that the whole "fitting right in" thing involves a yak being told she needs to be more, well, pony despite the whole point of the renamed Amity Ball being to include other creatures. This is pretty uncomfortable stuff, all the more for this show, and Rarity written as supporting it is deeply disappointing. It's a relief that the moral returns to not trying to be something you aren't. The song is rather dull and uninteresting to the extent I've already forgotten it again. A few amusing moments, such as Spike's DJ act, but very predictable stuff and I can't see a reason to change the two-star rating.

Choice quote: Rarity: "By Celestia, I think she's got it."

New rating: ★★

Next up will be "Frenemies"! This episode was widely seen as a highlight of S9 back in 2019, but will it hold up now that we know how the storyline ends? We'll see!

My Little Repeats 206: "Common Ground"

"Hay! We need those baskets for our game!"

S9E06: "Common Ground"

4 May 2019

My original rating: ★★★

IMDb score: 7.6

The one with stats galore

Thoughts: Patton Oswalt returns as Quibble Pants, but in a rather surprisingly thoughtful (all the more so given it's a Josh Haber episode) and domestic way. Oswalt's real-life wife and daughter play similar roles here. The chronology is weird: Wind Sprint's dad (whose fate is never revealed) "was a great [buckball] player", yet buckball has only been around for about ten minutes. Clear Sky is the voice of reason here, though less dull than that might make her sound. Everything's a bit predictable, but it's often sweet and generally holds the interest fairly well. Also, it's nice to have a family that isn't quite the kids-cartoon-standard nuclear one. Snips and Snails were amusing. Wind's VA is not a pro, but for once it works. I think this keeps its three.

Choice quote: Quibble Pants: "I'm not even 100% sure what bucking is."

New rating: ★★★

After this will come "She's All Yak", which I cannot say I adored the first time around. I'll try to get that done soon, because the episode after that is a different matter!

My Little Repeats 205: "The Point of No Return"

"Oh yes, I love giving out our residents' addresses to total strangers!"

S9E05: "The Point of No Return"

27 April 2019

My original rating: ★★★

IMDb score: 7.7

The one with the G1 Star Swirl figure

Thoughts: The highish IMDb rating for what Wikipedia – and basically nobody else – insists is the 200th episode of FiM does rather baffle me. It's not a total basket case, but I don't see how it can be said to be really good, even if it does open with a Derpy speaking role. Still, I'm sure someone out there loves it! The whole "Overdue!" thing is just a rehash of "Tardy!" from way back in "Lesson Zero", just not as smoothly executed. The episode is pretty much a one-joke affair, and not a particularly diverting one at that. Nice to see Moondancer again. Dusty Pages is probably the most entertaining character in the ep, and Twilight's sudden realisation about imperfection doesn't convince. Going down to two stars, I'm afraid!

Choice quote: Spike: "You realise that [smelling books] might be a you thing?"

New rating: ★★

Next on the list is "Common Ground". This episode has a reasonable reputation with friends who've seen it, and I recall finding it fairly good, although not amazing. We'll see whether I still do.

My Little Repeats 204: "Sparkle's Seven"

Rarity may actually look more concerning than Rainbow here...

S9E04: "Sparkle's Seven"

20 April 2019

My original rating: ★★★★

IMDb score: 8.6

The one with geese

Thoughts: The 200th episode of FiM was a great success at the time. Even Ghost Mike loved it, which is pretty rare for this late in the series. Certainly it's a good deal better than a lot of eps in Seasons 8 and 9, even if it can't match the utter hilarity of the 100th episode. "Sparkle's Seven" does well by the titular group of friends, it's solidly paced and it looks great. I particularly note its good dialogue, too: this isn't always the later show's strongest suit. I still don't much like the meme faces (Dr Ian Malcolm applies) and the Sibling Supreme stuff was a tiny bit forced, even if it did a job. The floor trap was somewhat mean-spirited, but it did give us that lovely (if short) Fluttershy and Spike chat. Zephyr was funny in his appalling way. But this ep was just nice, as well as being one of Spike's best episodes. I'm probably being overly generous here, but I'm just about letting "Sparkle's Seven" keep its four.

Choice quote: Spike: "You've been practising that speech, haven't you?"

New rating: ★★★★

Next up will be "The Point of No Return". Again, I don't care what Wikipedia says on the matter, that is not episode 200, but ep 201. I wasn't particularly impressed by it back in 2019, but I'll go in with the usual open mind.

My Little Repeats 203: "Uprooted"

Admittedly Terramar here looks to be growing out of his mum's head – but hay, seaponies, right?

S9E03: "Uprooted"

13 April 2019

My original rating: ★★★ (just)

IMDb score: 6.7

The one with sapling headphones

Thoughts: The students were frequently the highlight of Season 8, but I didn't get that from this episode. After the intro recalling "What Lies Beneath" (oh joy, more cruelty towards Gallus) I felt Nicole Dubuc's ep was often slow and felt stretched to fill its 22 minutes, and some of the conflict felt forced. I'm still not sure how I feel about the "New Tree" being canonically seen in the G5 film! The permission slip montage is overlong and fairly dull, though it was nice to see Terramar again for a few moments. The song was okay but not much more, and the visuals were fairly nice but not amazing. A few good lines, but not enough. All in all, a bit of a re-run of "Castle Sweet Castle" from S5, but not as good. This is being nudged down to a two-star rating.

Choice quote: Silverstream: "It's impressionism!"

New rating: ★★

Next up will be "Sparkle's Seven", which I am going to count as the 200th episode whatever Wikipedia says. It was definitely promoted as such at the time, so calling it 199 out of an arbitrary decision not to count "Best Gift Ever" can get in the sea. I quite liked the ep in 2019.

My Little Repeats 202: "The Beginning of the End, part 2"

Real artists' "bad" drawings are always much too good!

S9E02: "The Beginning of the End, part 2"

6 April 2019

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)

IMDb score: 8.7

The one with extreme forestry

Thoughts: The IMDb scores for this are quite something. Yes, I know they're not exactly reliable, but they're not nothing either. Plenty of people genuinely loved this episode, and I really liked it at the time. Rainbow is upset by the idea of Spike and Starlight being under Sombra's spell, but omits a certain other orange character beginning with S. Starswirl (hay, another one!) produces lore about Everfree out of nowhere; handy. Discord turns up from nowhere – well, maybe – and throws himself in front of Fluttershy as Sombra fires at her. At the time it was quite an affecting moment when it appeared Discord had no magic, though it didn't make much sense even before he admitted the truth that he'd lose to a straightforward OP unicorn. Sombra just standing around while Discord monologues is a bit eye-rolling too. The final Legion of Doom scene is quite fun, but again lessened by what we now know about Grogar. This one's also being bumped down to a three, but a lesser three than the first part.

Choice quote: Rarity: "Show me the muddy!"

New rating: ★★★

Next up will be "Uprooted", which I found underwhelming in 2019 despite its Student Six focus. It scraped a three. Will it maintain that in 2026? Only one way to find out...

My Little Repeats 201: "The Beginning of the End, part 1"

"It was North Star, you fools, not Gusty!"

S9E01: "The Beginning of the End, part 1"

6 April 2019

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)

IMDb score: 8.6

The one with Protectors of Equestria!

Thoughts: And we're back! As, indeed are the Lady Writers, in a very welcome reprise. Celestia and Luna spring their retirement on the Manes. Rainbow rather bluntly reminds Twilight that the Princesses "almost never help". The Legion of Doom takes shape, though knowing now that Grogar is, well, not Grogar can't help but be disappointing. (His eyebrows may be the giveaway...) Sombra conquering the Crystal Empire is dark stuff, though. I loved seeing the Elements of Harmony again, and glad they got to have one last Rainbow of Light before being destroyed. I can't help but bump this down to a high three now I know Grogar was a fake-out, but it was still a solid start to the show's final season.

Choice quote: Twilight: "Twilighting? You... you made me a verb?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up, shockingly enough, will be "The Beginning of the End, part 2". I hope that news doesn't disappoint you too much. :P

From a discussion at the Worcester meet on S8/S9

I was at the Worcester Shires' first meet of 2020 on Saturday, and very enjoyable it was too. One of the many things we talked about was our enjoyment or otherwise of later FiM seasons and episodes. While I can't remember everything we discussed, and not all of it would make sense out of context anyway, one thing that was interesting was just how many S8 and S9 episodes were considered good-or-better by at least somebody. More than I would have expected if you'd asked me to guess, to be honest.

Although my rewatch series may eventually change this, right now my feeling is that S8 is my least favourite season of the show. Even there, though, there are the likes of "Surf and/or Turf", "The Break Up Breakdown", "The Hearth's Warming Club", "Road to Friendship", "What Lies Beneath" and "Sound of Silence", any one of which I would happily watch if I happened to switch on Tiny Pop while it was playing. There are several more (eg "Grannies Gone Wild" and "The Washouts") that got at least qualified support.

Much the same applied to S9 – though I was interested that there were more complaints about S9 episodes than about S8 ones. Whether that's just because they're fresher in our minds, I don't know, but it goes against the general feeling that S9 > S8. Bearing in mind that the epilogue's popularity with most (though not, until the last few minutes, me) may fade with time, I do wonder whether S8 may eventually end up being liked more than S9, or at least being about on its level. And whether I may end up feeling that way too.

That's one great thing about a show that ran for nine years and over 200 episodes – even though there won't be any more FiM instalments, there's still always something to talk about. Good news for those of us who maintain blogs about it!

My audio review of Season 9 of FiM

There will be no post tomorrow. I hope to have a "Sounds of 2012" instalment for you on Boxing Day, and then Ponyfic Roundup 277 will appear on Friday 27th December. Note that there will not be a PR the week after that; all being well it will return on 8th January 2020. Now, on to today's business...

( Text link )

Here's your Christmas treat! (Or possibly Christmas trick, depending.) My review of Season 9 of Friendship is Magic, touching briefly on the usual stuff: which episodes I liked, which I didn't, how Fluttershy got on... you get the idea. The video takes a little under a quarter of an hour all told. It was recorded on my phone and only given very basic editing, so I do ask for your indulgence there. Even so, I hope you will find at least some of it interesting.

For those who find it easier or preferable to read, the script I used when making the video is given past the cut. Happy Hearth's Warming!

S9 audio review coming soon...ish!

A friend asked me a little while ago whether I was going to do a Season 9 review in the same way I did one for Season 8. I thought about it briefly and decided that yes, I would. At the time I was asked, the online world was still swirling with rumours and counter-rumours about the future of YouTube creativity, but now that that's died down a bit I've decided to make the piece anyway.

I've done the basic recording, and the raw file comes to about 15 minutes, which I think is reasonable. It will take me a little while to edit, though I'm not going to do that to pro standards by any means, and then I'll upload it. Hopefully it'll be before Hearth's Warming, at least. I also intend to provide a text transcript for those who find audio a problem or would simply prefer to read.

Please note that this is a season review, not a show review. I may eventually do a piece that encompasses the entirety of Friendship is Magic, but you really shouldn't hold your breath for that. What you'll be getting here is the usual stuff: best and worst episodes, a quick look at the songs, how Fluttershy did, that kind of thing. I've also stuck in a brief section on Rainbow Roadtrip.

Season 9 – the UK of Equestria rankings

For the very last time, at least in the Friendship is Magic era, the members of UK of Equestria have been giving their ranked lists of their favourite and... less favourite episodes of the season. Since there were two double-headers this season, there were 24 episodes in the list – Rainbow Roadtrip did not count as it's not officially part of the season and doesn't have an episode number.

We had 13 voters, exactly the same as for the half-time vote. As usual, I've divided the episodes into five tiers, going by their mean rankings. An episode with a mean better than fifth gets five stars, from there to 10 gets four, and so on. My own rankings are in brackets after each episode name. Here we go...

★★★★★
1. The Ending of the End (5)
2. The Last Problem (10)

★★★★
3. Frenemies (1)
4. Between Dark and Dawn (9)
5. The Big Mac Question (3)
6. Sparkle's Seven (2)
7. A Horse-Shoe In (7)
8. The Summer Sun Setback (4)
9. The Beginning of the End (6)

★★★
10. Student Counsel (15)
11. She Talks to Angel (8)
12. The Last Crusade (14)
13= Common Ground (11)
13= A Trivial Pursuit (22)
15. Dragon Dropped (19)

★★
16. Growing Up is Hard to Do (16)
17. The Last Laugh (17)
18. The Point of No Return (21)
19. Going to Seed (18)
20. Uprooted (20)
21. She's All Yak (23)
22. Daring Doubt (13)
23. Sweet and Smoky (12)

★
24. 2, 4, 6, Greaaat (24)

Number of times each episode placed first
5: The Last Problem
4: Frenemies
3: The Ending of the End
1: The Beginning of the End

Number of times each episode placed last
6: 2, 4, 6, Greaaat
2: Growing Up is Hard to Do
1: Going to Seed
1: The Last Crusade
1: The Point of No Return
1: Sweet and Smoky
1: A Trivial Pursuit

Most controversial (highest standard deviation)
1. Growing Up is Hard to Do
2. Sparkle's Seven
3. The Summer Sun Setback

Least controversial
1. The Ending of the End
2. Between Dark and Dawn
3. Daring Doubt

"The Ending of the End" was a clear victor, being the only episode that all 13 voters placed in their top seven. No other ep even had unanimous top-half placings. The fandom's doubts about the S9 epilogue were fairly firmly squashed on UK of E – although there was a small cluster of voters (including me) who placed it mid-table, it still gained enough top spots to take second position with some ease.

At the bottom, that cheerleading episode was a predictable wooden-spooner, though two people did include it in their top tens. "Sweet and Smoky" was next, to my continuing disappointment, with "Daring Doubt" ranked between 13th and 23rd by every single voter. There wasn't a noticeable gap between how the two halves of this season were received, though there was a slight skewing due to the finale and epilogue's popularity.

A notable feature of the S9 rankings was the wild variation in opinion given to some episodes. "Growing Up is Hard to Do" was ranked third by one person and dead last by another. "The Last Crusade" had almost as wide a spread, from fifth to 24th. One voter ranked "Frenemies down in 20th spot, while another had "A Trivial Pursuit" up in fifth. Even "Sparkle's Seven" received several rankings in the mid-to-low teens.

Text Review Roundup: "The Last Problem"

And also the last Text Review Roundup – for some considerable while, at least. (I don't do TRRs for the Equestria Girls specials, so "Holidays Unwrapped" won't get one.) Even if I do end up resurrecting this feature for G5, I may tweak it a little – in particular, removing my one/two-word value judgements and letting reviewers' words speak for themselves. (Of course, which words I choose to quote will still be subjective!)

Anyway, how did "The Last Problem" fare? I'll be honest, the first time I skimmed a few reviewers' thoughts, I hit on the negative ones and thought they were representative. I'm therefore having to revise my opinion on that even as I write up this TRR. That said, the praise was certainly not universal, and in a few cases maybe it's hard to separate the reviewer's praise for the episode with their praise for the series. My own mixed view was below the average.

Bubble Blabber – positive (rated 9/10; "Seeing Twilight, Spike, and everyone else as aging adults is strange and instantly makes me feel nostalgic, which is exactly what I want in a final episode [...] the show treated this like how a finale should be treated: not being afraid to finalize arcs, fulfill fans wishes, and put a capstone on characters journeys as they move on and grow older.")

Cuddlepug – very positive (graded A; "wraps everything up in a way that “The Ending of the End” wasn't able to do [...] gives us the answers we wanted and ties everything together neatly [...] Seeing all the characters years on, looking tired but still conversing as good friends, is rewarding")

Dark Qiviut – very positive ("The moral is excellent in concept and better than excellent in execution [...The song is] emotional, hopeful, and beautiful [...] A magnificent cap to a great, successful show!")

DrakeyC – positive ("much better [than eps 24/25] I laughed very frequently [...] I liked the grown-up designs for the cast [...] all the ships are canon and they have kids and I don't care how much pandering it is, I ate it up and want seconds. And the final song was great, great seeing all the cast, and very touching and warm.")

Dramamaster829 – broadly positive ("I did felt my heart-strings tugged seeing the way this episode was written out. Sure we got to see the typical ‘Anything can and will go wrong’ coronation that still works out [and] the introduction of Luster Dawn was random [but] overall the ending with the book closing as a nod to how the show started… That hit me hard.")

JDPrime22 – very positive (rated 10/10; "God, I cried. [...] Pinkie married Cheese Sandwich and had a kid. I cried. Applejack was wearing Granny Smith's scarf. I cried. The ponies we grew up loving and laughing with are finally older and living their lives. I cried. [...] Phenomenal finale.")

Louder Yay – mixed (rated 3/5; "If you consider this thing simply as an episode of an animated children's show, then I don't think it's especially impressive [...] However. However. It's not "simply" any such thing, not to me [...] I'm not at all fond of [all the shipping, but the song] really fitted for me [and] The very end of "The Last Problem" brings us easily the epilogue's best moments.")

Mike Cartoon Pony – very negative ("if you think Spike’s future design is the worst issue, you haven’t seen anything yet [... The flashback stuff is] typical lightweight Season 9 fluff [...] a catchall bucket marked “it’s a fun Epilogue, indulge your reckless side normally kept tampered, FiM staff”. The end result is like stepping forth into somebody else’s migraine [...] I stand by this Epilogue being Canon In Name Only [...] the fanservice moments are not things fans need, even if they think they do")

MLEEP Reviews – very positive (rated 10/10; "an emotional final farewell to the series with our final song of the season as well as the entirety of the series [...] man was it a powerhouse of a final farewell")

Present Perfect – mixed ("That was... okay. [...] The final sequence with the song was fantastic, my friend and I were literally just shouting at the screen the things which we were seeing [...] I hate two of the ships they canonized [...] the last few minutes of The Final Problem were even a fitting and perhaps beautiful finale for MLP:FiM, but overall? As an episode? It was just okay.")

SuperPinkBrony12 – positive ("The Last Problem I'm willing to give it an A+ just on account of how well it wrapped things up, maybe it's not what some of us would've preferred but all things considered I don't think we could've asked for a much better send off than that.")

The Railfan Brony – extremely negative (rated Atrocious; "Literally the first thing I said after watching it was, "that's it?" I'm not even joking [...] I genuinely feel sorry for the voice actors and animators that all of their amazing talent was wasted on this.")

TheDragonWarlock – positive (rated 9/10; "falls a little short of being perfect. It comes damn close to it though [...] It's got a great story, the characters are all well written, its has a fantastic song, and a moral that everyone can relate to and learn [...] sends the show off on a very high note.")

Episode review: S9E26: "The Last Problem"

That Young Six window is a fanfic waiting to happen, for a start!

Here we go, then. The very last new episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic we will ever see. Josh Haber was, unsurprisingly, the one who got the final writing credit for the series. After a finale which I found highly watchable, if not exactly perfectly constructed, I was hoping that I'd be able to go out on a high note. After all, FiM has changed my life in oh so many ways and brought me a great deal of happiness. Come past the cut to see what I thought!

Text Review Roundup: "The Ending of the End"

As I've said already, the end of the show certainly doesn't seem to have reduced my workload here any. :D This time, I'm getting TRR updated to nearly the end of the series. As one or two people have pointed out, some reviewers did cover both "The Ending of the End" and "The Last Question" in the same review, but I think they're different enough to split. This means I'll have to make more value judgements than usual, so please do comment below if you think I've misrepresented your views.

Also, many reviewers wrote a lot about the finale, and I'm simply not going to include 500-word summaries, so inevitably I'm having to simplify greatly here. Please do read the full reviews to understand the reviewers' feelings. Anyway, the text-based folks gave it a decidedly mixed reaction. It does feel strange that (along with the oft-cheery MLEEP) it was Present Perfect and me who liked this one more than anybody else did! Even we disliked the Grogar twist, though, which was absolutely not well received.

Cuddlepug – mixed (graded B-; "[The Grogar = Discord] twist doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense [...] and Discord's motivation is, frankly, an insult to the audience [...] this sours what is actually quite a decent episode overall [...] t's big, it's bold and it's certainly exciting.")

Dark Qiviut – mildly positive ("[Making Spike Friendship Ambassador is] Small, but powerful and extraordinarily sweet [but] Discord being Grogar is a poorly-written, overcomplicated twist [...] Ending of the End's okay. I like it, but like A Canterlot Wedding, it could've done much better.")

DrakeyC – somewhat negative ("The Grogar-Discord twist was terrible [and] raises a lot of questions [...] Twilight's shattered self-confidence was totally forced [...] The racism subplot, and by association the Windigos, was stupid and pointless [...] but there were a lot of great things in this episode. The final battle [...] everyone [coming] together as one nation to fight the trio [...] the powered-up designs for Cozy Glow and Chrysalis [but] Overall, Episodes 24 and 25 were a disappoint")

Dramamaster829 – broadly positive ("I could not get over the fact that the whole time Grogar was Discord in disguise [but] Much of the sequences within this first part alone were amazing [and] the final confrontation against Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow [was] probably bigger than the Season 4 finale. [...] If the show had chosen to end with this Two-Parter alone, it would’ve been a satisfying ending.")

JDPrime22 – positive (rated 8.5/10; "What. The. Hell. Discord. [...] I really did enjoy the rest of this first part [...] REALLY enjoyed part two [...] Discord somewhat redeemed himself, and the fight scenes are just SOOOOO GOOOOOD. [...] And better yet, we didn't forgive the villains!")

Louder Yay – generally very positive (rated 4/5; "There were a lot of enjoyable bits in "The Ending of the End" – and I do mean a lot – but they weren't always smoothly connected. [...] I'm still more than a bit annoyed about Grogar not being real [but] I really liked Starlight's battle with Chrysalis [and we later got] the Rainbow of Light! :D [...] I loved the final scene in Donut Joe's [except for] a weak "everypony laughs" ending.")

Mike Cartoon Pony – mixed ("character moments don’t really deliver, so all the audience investment comes from prior episodes. For most viewers, that’ll be enough, these episodes are quite the thriller [...] enjoyable in spurts but really rickety and wobbly when you think about what's going on for even a second [...] You know the Grogar twist has pissed a lot of people off when even DrWolf can’t mount a defence for it.")

MLEEP Reviews – very positive (rated 10/10; "the most epic battle of good versus evil that has ever been while bringing an perfectly fitting end for our legion of villains as well as the dawn of a new era as the Princess Of Friendship herself officially becomes Equestria's new ruler")

Present Perfect – mostly very positive ("I’m mad because Grogar was so cool, and so menacing and so powerful, and I was really looking forward to finding out what his master plan was [but] by the end of part 1, they had topped Twilight’s Kingdom in terms of epicness [and] THEY DID A PINKY AND THE BRAIN REFERENCE. [...] it’s actually a strong conclusion for the School of Friendship [...] It’s not the best episode of the show’s entire run, but it might be top three?")

SuperPinkBrony12 – rather negative ("very clunky in its set up, Part 1 especially suffers from how horribly they wrote Discord [...] Part 2 tried to pick up the pieces and make them fit back in but did so in a very half hearted way, padding out the run time")

The Railfan Brony – negative (rated Bad; "[Grogar being Discord was] hooves down, the stupidest plot twist this show has ever spewed [... The villains] end up being turned into a statue. Thank goodness [...] takes every grand finale cliche, smashes them all up and throws the remains into the hotel swimming pool. It's a completely underwhelming anticlimax")

TheDragonWarlock – negative (rated 4/10; "For wasting so much potential, ramping up a lot of hype without delivering it, and failing to do what should've been the final season's last battle justice, it deserves a low score for what it did. There's nothing I hate more then wasted potential for a good story, and this finale not only squandered potential, it stomped over it and spat on 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!

Text Review Roundup: "The Big Mac Question"

I am returnèd from UK PonyCon. I loved it. But if you know anything much about me, then you probably knew I was going to say that. I'll inflict a multi-part con report on you in due course, but for now it's time to get back to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As far as Text Review Roundup is concerned, the show has a little life left in it yet! Since I didn't get the TRR for "The Big Mac Question" done before I left for the con, here it is.

The written reviewers generally liked this episode, and in many cases they liked it quite a lot, which was nice considering that it was the final "regular" ep before the end of the show's run. It was really only DrakeyC among the regular TRR crew who found it underwhelming. I liked this episode a little bit more than the average, but not by a huge margin.

Cuddlepug – mostly positive (graded B; "delivers some of the more heart-warming scenes of Friendship is Magic [...] Where the episode doesn't quite work is in the random, 'mockumentary'-style scenes [...] However, the episode pulls things back with its fantastic [final scenes]")

Dark Qiviut – extremely positive (graded A+; "The Big Mac Question is really funny, really cute, and really heartwarming. Vogel and Haber tackled all of the emotions at exactly the right time and provided a magnificent cap to several arcs, some of which date back to the first season. This is the new-best Season 9 episode and one of the ten best of the series.")

DrakeyC – mixed ("The CMC's antics [in the third act] were hilarious, Mrs Cake was fine. [However, while] the third act is well-handled and written well and everything comes together nicely[,] on an emotional level, I don't care [...] because [Big Mac and Sugar Belle's] relationship has had no development.)
NB: DrakeyC missed the background LyraBon moment because of stream lag.

Dramamaster829 – mildly positive ("From start to finish, I actually found myself enjoying this episode far more than I was prepared for. [...] While [considering the marriage's effect on AJ] would've made for a more dramatic story than what we got, in the end I was satisfied with what we did get.")

Fiendstorm – very positive (graded A; "I freaking love the cold open [...] a great example of a flashback episode [...] The ending to this episode is probably the most touching [...] a gem of an episode.")

JDPrime22 – very positive (rated 10/10; "I loved this episode. Very cute. Very funny. Very fitting to see off these two characters with a marriage, and to tie it into arguably one of the best episodes of the entire series (Perfect Pear) was absolutely beautiful.")

Louder Yay – very positive (rated 4/5; "I really enjoyed this episode, and there really wasn't much I can fault it on. [...] Discord was at his most Discord-y [...] We've followed Lyra and Bon Bon since S1, and I'm sure that's why [their] moment felt entirely right: not forced, but an organic continuation of the last few years.")

Mike Cartoon Pony – positive ("easily the best episode since “She Talks to Angel” [despite] a plot setup you can see coming from a mile away [...] As for the episode’s sweet final few minutes, it’s all perfectly constructed [...] decent-but-not-great comedy")

MLEEP Reviews – very positive (rated 10/10; "one of the most heartwarming and romantic episodes that I've ever seen throughout the series these past nine years")

Present Perfect – fairly positive ("they finally did an episode with a romance theme and got the message right [...] Discord’s apple gambit was highly entertaining, and the “I thought we were just saying each others’ names” gag was hilarious [but] it’s a retread of all the other SugarMac episodes [and] just left me wishing those had been better. ")

SuperPinkBrony12 – broadly positive ("while everyone is mostly in character and the story does the comedy of errors plot nicely, there are a few minor details that get in the way [...] The CMC's plot also feels like a little bit of a stretch [...] Still, for the first time since "The Summer Sun Setback" we have an episode that is not only fun to watch but also has an enjoyable plot and character moments")

The Railfan Brony – very positive (rated Excellent; "too many funny moments to list [...] I also like how the episode's structure plays out [and Mac and Belle] talking things out before the proposal is one of the best moments of the entire show [...] It's funny, sweet, charming, and has a great ending and moral.")

TheDragonWarlock – broadly positive (rated 8.5/10; "While certainly not one of my all time favorites, this episode was a lot of fun overall. It's a great way to end the SugarMac story arc on a sweet and romantic note. The characters, barring Discord, are all good and well written")

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.

Text Review Roundup: "Growing Up is Hard to Do"

TRR time again. This is the last week I'm certain to be able to get one done for a while. I'll try to get next week's up on Thursday, but if I don't manage that then it may have to wait owing to UK PonyCon. As for the episode, the text-based reviewers gave it a mixed reception, although nobody thought it was utterly worthless and, conversely, nobody proclaimed it an all-time classic. I was maybe very slightly kinder than the average towards this one.

Cuddlepug – mixed (graded C; "an entertaining enough episode of Friendship is Magic, but it can't help but come across as something of a missed opportunity [...] it's an episode that doesn't really feature any form of growing up")

Dark Qiviut – no review this week

DrakeyC – largely negative ("The highlight of this episode is the adult CMC. [...] A pity that such great adult designs are being utilized for such a bad episode. I was bored out of my skull [...] The entire second and third acts of this episode felt like padding")

Dramamaster829 – mildly positive ("While it's not the most complex CMC episode in the entire series, for all it's simplicity I actually did enjoy the story [...] a relatable topic")

JDPrime22 – very positive (rated 9/10; "surprising way to see these characters off [...] Honestly, this was the most relatable lesson. I really enjoyed this one.)

Louder Yay – mildly positive (rated 3/5; "wasn't exactly the most complex of eps [...] but it didn't really do anything that felt egregiously out of place [...] I confess that I didn't really warm to [Spur and Biscuit]: they were rather bland and forgettable [...] superior filler [...] Although it did share one of S9's repeating weaknesses – character regression to fit a particular story – in this case the CMC's lack of maturity didn't seem as out of place as, say, Rainbow's in "2, 4, 6, Greaaat"")

Mike Cartoon Pony – mixed ("It’s just there, not lingering in the mind and only sticking out due to being a poor showing for [the CMC's] last outing. [...] There are plenty of nice touches along the way [and] the song is a catchy, fun one [but] the story after the transformation feels tacked on to the concept of the CMC ageing for the episode, like they didn’t know what to do with that setup. [...] Just a pity Ed Valentine returned for an episode as ultimately flavourless as this.")

MLEEP Reviews – positive (rated 8.5/10; "while having a concept that other shows in kids' entertainment have done before [this episode] still managed to be a pretty great experience which is sure to generate a wave of new creativity among the fandom")

Present Perfect – broadly positive ("The new [CMC] designs were fantastic, and the VA work was awesome. [...] entertaining background gags [...] The only notable downside I can find is that they were really heavy-handed with the whole grownup thing [...] The song wasn't bad, either!")

SuperPinkBrony12 – rather negative ("it's just really predictable and suffers from a lot of continuity errors and character regression. This kind of plot is something I would've expected out of the CMC back in Season 1 or Season 2, not Season 9 [...] All of this could've been fixed if Ed Valentine had anyone tell him what was going on, but for some reason no one did. [At least] it doesn't do anything offensively or majorily bad")

The Railfan Brony – mildly positive (rated Good; "It was... adequate, to say the least. [...] At this point, [the CMC] should be teenagers during their final years of grade school, and yet they're talked down to like it's season one or two. [but they] were enjoyable throughout [...] It's tolerable, that's good enough for me.")

TheDragonWarlock – mixed (rated 6.5/10; "a rather odd episode to have so late into the series, especially the final few episodes of FiM [... This] isn't necessarily a bad episode, but compared to most CMC episode the past few seasons, it feels like a drop off; especially after The Last Crusade. [...] some enjoyable bits such as the song being decent and it has some cute visual gags [but the ep] could've been so much more.")

Episode review: S9E22: "Growing Up is Hard to Do"

"And grown-ups don't even need to breathe!"

This week's Friendship is Magic episode was written by Ed Valentine, a familiar name to fans of the show but one we hadn't seen attached to an ep since "The Fault in Our Cutie Marks" way back in S6. I was quite pleased to discover that Valentine would be writing this one, since he's written several other CMC episodes, with his debut being the very solid "Flight to the Finish". I was hoping for good things. After the cut, we'll see whether I got them!