Rainbow Roadtrip: I'll get to it!

I've now seen Rainbow Roadtrip.* It will be a little while before I get it reviewed here, though, partly because I want to watch it again and 60 minutes of Pony obviously takes longer to rewatch than 22 minutes! I also endured a nightmare journey home yesterday in 32 °C heat with the railways falling apart around me, so I was simply too exhausted to do anything about the special until this afternoon.

* Italics rather than quotes as it feels like a cut-down film to me, rather than a lengthened episode.

Text Review Roundup: "Between Dark and Dawn"

Zack Warner (aka The Railfan Brony) commented last week to alert me to Scyph's review of "The Last Crusade". It's an interesting and quite in-depth review that takes a fairly critical line on the theme of "This episode could have been so much more". Unfortunately Scyph doesn't seem to be a regular MLP reviewer, otherwise I'd have added them to the TRR roster.

Here we go with the final TRR of the first half of S9. I'll be doing one for "Rainbow Roadtrip", and the show people may decide that counts as an episode as "Best Gift Ever" did, but it's going to be a bit different from the usual 22-minute instalments nevertheless. After that, there'll be a few weeks of hiatus. I'll probably kick off "Sounds of 2012" during that period. I'll get round to the latest Equestria Girls special at some point, too, though I keep forgetting it exists which maybe isn't the best sign.

As far as "Between Dark and Dawn" went, the text-based reviewers were a pretty mixed bag. A couple really liked it, two reviewers really disliked it, but everyone else was somewhere in the middle or slightly above. There was general agreement that the song was good – even The Railfan Brony said that in his otherwise very negative review, leaving Present Perfect as the only reviewer here who actively disliked it. Most reviewers also considered the Twilight secondary plot to be somewhat dull. I was again in the main pack but near the back of it.

Cuddlepug – mildly positive (graded B-; "great song [...] enjoyable, even if it ultimately fails to say very much")

Dark Qiviut – very positive ("Great humor, great characterization, and great heart [...] The little details add extra shape")

DrakeyC – mostly positive ("a fun episode, love the sisterly dynamic between Celestia and Luna, and they gave us lots of fun moments. And we got a SISTERS SONG [but] Where this episode really didn't work was the B plot")

Dramamaster829 – positive ("the side plot [was] forgettable [but] a sweet and endearing tale featuring two soon-to-be former rulers of Equestria")

JDPrime22 – positive (rated 9/10; "This episode was a blast! Aside from Fancy Pants not stating early on that the princesses relied on the Canterlot Gala Committee [...] this episode was great")

Lightening McQueen – positive ("great [...] Twilight sounded a bit stubborn not wanting Fancy Pants' help [...] the song "Lotta Little Things" was so lovely")

Louder Yay – mixed (rated 3/5; " It was odd, and in both good and bad ways [...] a Celestia/Luna duet and boy was it entertaining [...] A nice way of doing the old "Luna doesn't understand modern life" trope [but] Twilight really should not need to learn yet again how to delegate")

Mike Cartoon Pony – mixed ("enjoyable in the moment but leaves a borderline-incomprehensible impression once it has wrapped, not helped by the quality frequently veering back and forth between cloud-breaking highs and trench-deep lows")

MLEEP Reviews – positive (rated 9/10; "hammy playfulness [but the secondary plot] got old really fast [...] still a fun-filled and heartwarming road trip")

Present Perfect – very negative ("Neither Celestia nor Luna has gotten any real respect since about season two [...] Why do I feel like the plot is a mishmash of numerous other, better episodes? [...] I just hope I never see this again, it’s one of the worst episodes of the show’s run.")

The Railfan Brony – very negative (rated Atrocious; "The only good aspect about this episode is Celestia and Luna's duet [but it's] one of the most abysmally written episodes of the entire series [...] retreading old ground [...] unfortunate implications, and an uninteresting end result")

TheDragonWarlock – positive (rated 9/10; "The writing is great with solid characterization, the comedy is just as good, and it manages to take a concept that sounds cliche and make it work very well [though it] does suffer some issues like Fancy Pants still being a jerk")

Ponyfic Roundup 255

Read it Later story count: 250 (-4)

Now there's a milestone: this is the first time since I started keeping score that the number of my RiL list entries has been lower than the number of its contemporary Ponyfic Roundup edition. Although my list has shrunk by four, I have only the three fics to review this week, but they are a moderately mixed bag. Here's the list:

Berry Bitters and Apple Sours by King of Beggars
An Ordinary Day by alt-tap
The Flirt by Sir Hat

★: 1 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0

Episode review: S9E13: "Between Dark and Dawn"

I do wonder whether the FlimFlams' problems have something to do with Capper

And here we are. Although there's a special coming down the tracks pretty soon, "Between Dark and Dawn" was the last regular episode of Friendship is Magic before our last ever mid-season hiatus. This one saw a new writer: Gail Simone. Although she's new to My Little Pony, many comic-book fans will be familiar with her from her work on Birds of Prey, Batgirl and so on. How would she fare with a TV-Y kids' show? Well...

Yes, it's meta time again!

Another very, very busy weekend for me (steam trains again!) so this is another week when blog publication days are shifted back a little. I hope to have the episode review up on Tuesday, Ponyfic Roundup on Thursday and Text Review Roundup on Friday – but I'm so tired right now that I can't entirely guarantee those dates. I'll post all of them as soon as I can get the time (and energy), of course. :)

Text Review Roundup: "The Last Crusade"

Time for today's TRR. Before going any further, I ought to mention that The Railfan Brony quite frequently refers to episodes of Thomas [the Tank Engine] and Friends. I haven't watched that show since the days when Ringo Starr was the narrator, so I never pick out those phrases to include here. If you do know Thomas, you might find it interesting to read TRB's reviews and note those passages yourself.

Anyway, "The Last Crusade" was generally well received, with only one featured reviewer actively disliking the ep – though in all fairness I must say that I know of at least three other people who were distinctly unimpressed. Two were Soge and Griffin, whose thoughts you can read in my review's comments, and a third is someone who as far as I know hasn't mentioned their view publicly and so will remain unnamed here.

Aunts Lofty and Holiday gained widespread praise and were often considered the best things in the episode. However, quite a few reviewers had reservations when it came to the portrayal of Scootaloo's parents. I was irritated by this more than some reviewers, which meant my overall assessment was a little more negative than the average, though still a long way from being damning.

Cuddlepug – very positive (graded A; "emotionally fraught [...] you'd be forgiven for shedding a tear or two [...] During Pride, [Scootaloo's aunts are] especially welcome. [...] You couldn't have asked for a more satisfying end to [the CMCs'] story.")

Dark Qiviut – very positive ("I love Last Crusade! Not my favorite of the series, but my favorite of the season thus far, and I argue (barely) the best of the season, too.")
Not a full review, for reasons outlined here

DrakeyC – positive ("cool they did it [Scoot's aunts] I very much appreciate the episode thoroughly disproves Scootabuse [...] stock CMC comical filly antics")

Dramamaster829 – broadly positive ("[The episode proves] how important [the CMCs'] friendship is to the show [Scoot's parents'] communication skills are lackluster [...] I think [Rainbow Dash] was just thrown in just for appearances [Scoot's aunts] were very engaging characters with awesome chemistry")

JDPrime22 – fairly positive (rated 8/10; Why [Scootaloo] didn't even mention [her parents] once over the past NINE SEASONS is beyond me [...] this message was fairly strong, her parents letting Scootaloo decide for herself [...] Oh, and Diamond Tiara exists again, remember her?")

Lightening McQueen – positive ("very good, but also emotional [...] helped me fully realise that there is nothing wrong with some people being gay, and it is fine to show gay couples in kids' media [...] happy with how everything worked out in the end")

Louder Yay – positive with substantial reservations (rated 3/5; "I'm not sure I can fully reconcile [this and "Parental Glideance"] I liked that little observation [about the CMC's cutie marks] As with one or two other Dubuc episodes, there's a slight lack of coherence to this one [but] the aunts have annoyed a whole bunch of people who needed to be annoyed, and that counts for something :D")

Mike Cartoon Pony – largely positive ("a swansong to the CMC [...] Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood are not presented in the most positive light [...] Holiday and Lofty are wonderful characters, absolute sweethearts [the second act is] mostly just pushing the plot on autopilot [...] has to settle for being "good" rather then the show masterpiece it might have been")

MLEEP Reviews – very positive (rated 9/10; "so great to finally meet Scootaloo's family at last [...] I absolutely love how it's Scootaloo's aunts that are the ones that help the CMC realize the solution to the conflict")

Present Perfect – positive ("I love how much personality they crammed into [Scootaloo's aunts] part of me wants to slam this episode for being nothing but “hey, kids!” moments [but the episode was] done tastefully and with style")

The Railfan Brony – negative (rated Terrible; "It's nice to see [Scoot] hype [her parents] up as cool [and her aunts are] very progressive in a kid's show [but the episode] very much goes for the "Status Quo is God" trope, which is one of the worst [and] the end result is really frustrating")

TheDragonWarlock – positive (rated 9/10; "may arguably be the best Cutie Mark Crusader episode [...] brings some nice closure [though] the way [her parents] try to get Scootaloo to come to terms with the big move is well...cold [...] It really is a great way to end the CMC though")

Ponyfic Roundup 254

Before I get on with Ponyfic Roundup itself, I ought to give a quick signal boost to The Fimfiction Feghoot Festival, run by Super Trampoline. This is now open and runs until 14th July. You'll need a Fimfiction account to enter, but otherwise it's open to all-comers. There are actual real prizes for this one, too! (A feghoot is a short story ending in a terrible pun that's been set up by the story itself.)

Read it Later story count: 254 (nc)

Three stories this week, which is three more than I would have if I'd reviewed none at all but half as many as I'd have if I'd reviewed them all twice and pretended they were different fics. See you in St Ives.

Misadventures in Manehattan by The Princess Rarity
Now Hiring by miss-cyan
The Brief, Torrid Love-Affair of Fernando the Straw and Madame Le Flour by CoffeeMinion

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0