 |
| Strengthened changeling-minion-proof glass these days? |
Written by Dave Polsky
9 Feb 2013
My original rating: 7/10 (=★★★)
IMDb score: 7.2
The one with Coach Shining Armor
Thoughts: The big gimmick for this episode is that it takes place simultaneously with the events of "Just for Sidekicks". Which is great and all, but the episode itself is, for the most part, one of the dullest I've rewatched in all these three seasons. The extended period of mistaken identity at its heart is as contrived and tiresome as these things often are, for a start. And did we ever hear of "Mustangia" again? I can't remember it if so. About the most interesting part of the ep is the fun little bit with the pony pyramid act. That said, I do like the way that "Ms Peachbottom" (not actually named in the episode) is shown as claustrophobic, a thing you rarely see taken even halfway seriously in a fun cartoon – seeing that here was perhaps a slight surprise from a humour-loving writer like Dave Polsky. Mind you, we never did get a canon answer as to who the rainbow-maned stallion taking Filly Dash to the Games was. At the time there was speculation he was Rainbow's dad, but "Parental Glideance" in S7 put the tin lid on that idea. Despite a few fun moments, I don't really know why I enjoyed it so much in 2013, as I now feel I clearly overrated it back then. For some reason Ms Harshwhinny was adored by the fandom at the time, though I feel she was considerably better value in S4. As I did say back then, Pinkie is rather weirdly written, too. I'm taking back the three-star (equivalent) rating I originally gave this one and returning only two of those stars. Sorry.
Choice quote: Rainbow and Fluttershy: "Bump-cha!"
New rating: ★★
Next up is "Magical Mystery Cure", and we all know what that means. I'll say it right now: I like "MMC" despite its flaws, and I don't expect that to change. I know that's not a universally held opinion around here, but that's all right.
There is a lot of Polsky this season. He's written or co-written four of these episodes - the next best writers only manage two.
ReplyDeleteAre they any good? Well, when the plot of this one could be completely shut down by just one character asking a question as basic as "Who are you?" at the train station (or some variation like "Are you the inspector?")... then no.
Going back to the Crystal Empire was what I sorely wanted back in the day, because its debut two-parter got me interested in how it would fit into broader canon. Perhaps some questions would be answered at last, like how the existence of the crystal ponies factors into the three tribes? Nope. As nice as the crystal spa setting is, ultimately the invention of an entirely new subspecies/species of pony was just windowdressing so Cadence could have her mane done. What a disappointment.
The idiotic mistaken identities plot and the nonsensical self-contradicting reasoning behind Harshwhinny's decision at the end pretty much killed any chance of me rating this episode favourably.
One odd thing I did get out of this - more than the mysterious rainbow stallion cameo - was the appearance of the Cloudsdale announcer in that same scene. She's called "Laurette" on the mlp.fandom.com, and given she's the closest thing to an authority figure shown on Cloudsdale, I basically took her and made her its mayor, Mayor Laurette, for at least one of my fics. I guess part of it was just the voice. Quiet, dignified authority, it seemed to me.
The only other thing I strongly remember about this episode is the gag with Rainbow smacking into the skylight while Rarity looks around in puzzlement.
"At the time there was speculation he was Rainbow's dad, but 'Flutter Brutter' in S6 put the tin lid on that idea."
How, exactly? I don't recall Bow Hothoof so much as being mentioned there. First I was aware, he made his debut in Season Seven's "Parental Glideance".
Next up is "Magical Mystery Cure", and we all know what that means. I'll say it right now: I like "MMC" despite its flaws, and I don't expect that to change. I know that's not a universally held opinion around here, but that's all right.
I thought "Magical Mystery Cure" was largely popular among the fandom, especially in hindsight?
Yes, I meant "Parental Glideance". Correcting that now. As is no doubt rather obvious, I'm not always thinking exactly straight at the moment. (Simply 2020 Syndrome.)
DeleteI thought "Magical Mystery Cure" was largely popular among the fandom, especially in hindsight?
It is, but that's not always the case on here! :P
I like how you used the one scene I ever remember from this episode as the thumbnail. That's seriously one of the funniest audio/visual gags in the entire series' run, because that was the only thing Polsky was good at.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get the hot, frothing love for Ms. Harshwhinny, though. :B
I was about to write the same thing! Pegasus hitting a window like a bird is never not funny.
DeleteYeah this episode… exists. That thumbnail gag is truly priceless, so smart choice there (your thumbnail choices often are, Logan).
ReplyDeleteMistaken identity plots are always a long shot, but FiM had plenty of examples of making tired, cliched plots work. Sadly, this is not one of those cases - as mentioned, outside of Peachbottom's fun attitude, and the nice detail of her being claustrophobic and it not being something the episode makes fun of, there's nothing that makes it anything less then infuriating. It's almost as annoying as when many a future episode regresses its characters so the plot can happen - there's no major damage to a character here, though perhaps collective damage to the lot for never coping on until it's too late.
And the cop-out ending feels like something out of an 80's family sitcom, determined to have everything wrap up super-nice. For a show that is often surprisingly realistic within its own boundaries (like Fluttershy only going from 0.5 to 2.3 wing power in "Hurricane Fluttershy") its too idealistic.
There are some decent gags along the way (even if the thumbnail one is the only hugely memorable one), and I appreciate Shining Armor getting a few moments all of his own too. But yeah, this is easily bottom ten of the show's first three seasons for me. I think I dislike "One Bad Apple" a little more then this on the whole, mostly for personal reasons, but still, both are severely crippled.
And yeah, Impossible Numbers is right - it's during Season 3 that the show's inability or disinterest if fleshing out the lore it keeps introducing starts spreading like rot. As always, not something against this episode in particular, but there's almost nothing in this one that even relates to or involves the fact of the Crystal Empire having recently returned.
Next one - oh boy, now there's a huge case of "my problems come not from the episode itself, but from how it's handled after the fact". I still like it, kind of, even if its severely flawed and rushed, and still misunderstood on both sides of the spectrum even today. I'll save that doozy for next Monday. Until then!
I thought this one was pretty middle of the road. I loved the sight gag of the screenshot you chose, and I don't mind so much the mistaken identity, because as we in the fanfiction community have known forever, old ideas can still be done well. Plus, as is often forgotten, this is a kids' show. That audience wouldn't have had such a wide exposure to this type of plot yet. So I don't fault Polsky at all for using one.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea with Harshwhinny is that she wasn't the smiles and roses that 99% of ponies are, but she wasn't malicious either, like they portrayed Trixie, Lightning Dust, etc. Yet Harshwhinny does still have good intentions at the root of it all. She was a different character type than we'd seen before.
"...one of the dullest I've re-watched in all these three seasons."
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever re-watched this one, but dullest? I wouldn't argue with that.
I am pretty sure that the Ms. Harshwinny fandom was a joke, as in, people take this inconsequential character in a largely forgettable episode, and decide she is the best thing ever – and she even had way more screen time than any of the background fandom darlings!
ReplyDeleteIn which case, it definitely became one of those "started out ironic but turned into real" things.
DeleteKind of like this entire fandom, if you think about it. c.c
Man. I'm going to have to re-watch this. I haven't seen it in years, but I remember really liking this episode solely because I LOVED Ms. Peachbottom. I can't remember much about it, to tell you the truth. I couldn't even remember the plot before I read your synopsis, but my memory has warm fuzzies for that claustrophobic pony.
ReplyDelete