My Little Repeats 104: "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?"

Competition to succeed Daniel Ingram was fierce

S5E13: "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?"

11 Jul 2015

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.7

The one with Princess Big Mac

Thoughts: "Amending Fences" was a hard act to follow, but this episode – the last before a two-month hiatus – managed to hold up well in the eyes of the fandom, and it's still remembered fondly by many. It's certainly got a lot of interest, centred of course on Luna's guilt and the monster that has resulted: the Tantabus. This provides both some quite serious threat and the main emotional pull of the episode, and it generally does it rather well. On the other hoof, the animators also get to run wild in the dream sequences, with everything from literal LyraBon to Buff Spike riding Giant Derpy into battle to the singing flowers that quite understandably creep Rainbow Dash out. And, of course, that Sailor Mac sequence, which at the time led to so much fanart. Strangely enough, the brief return of Rainbow Power didn't. Funny, that. ;) There does remain one other nagging problem, that Luna could have explained to the Manes much earlier where the Tantabus came from – but I can process that as it being Luna's guilt itself that doesn't let her do so until she's convinced of how much the ponies believe in her now. The big deal here is that Luna gets more depth, and this show is often at its strongest when the focus is on character. This one can keep its four-star rating from 2015.

Choice quote: Twilight: "You can leave out the yawns."

New rating: ★★★★

Next up is "Canterlot Boutique", an episode which I originally felt was generally enjoyable but had a few too many rough edges. We'll see if the passage of time has smoothed them.

My Little Repeats 93: "The Cutie Map, part 2"

"I was told this image was an old meme now, but I didn't listen"

S5E02: "The Cutie Map, part 2"

4 Apr 2015

My original rating (for the whole premiere): ★★★★
IMDb score: 9.0

The one with balloon binoculars

Thoughts: This was great. Starlight is a deeply threatening villain, powerful and intelligent, with a range that runs from her use of imprisonment and brainwashing, to her clear intent to do harm to the pursuing villagers, to her willingness to yell over one of Twilight's speeches. (Okay, that one I can sort of understand.) The brainwashing section is creepy, what with the use of non-stop slogans over loudspeakers and the way the Mane Six are locked straight back in the moment they don't come around. It's about the closest to Orwellian you could imagine in a TV-Y show aimed at six-year-olds. Party Favor is shown no mercy until he "repents", either. The Cause trumps all. Fluttershy gets a good role in this half of the episode, with her oddly naive behaviour from part 1 being turned into a secret weapon. Starlight doesn't just accept her unquestioningly, though, and without Party Favor's self-sacrifice Sugar Belle at the very least might also have ended up in the Ministry of Equality building. Though who knows, given 'Shy works very hard not to betray anypony? There's not a huge amount of humour this time around, though "even tweets don't make sense any more" always amuses me. Pinkie's "barrel of laughs" line is kind of funny, but also pretty starkly shows how bad things have got at that time. (Pinkie is written well throughout this premiere, I'll note here.) Despite the paucity of laughs, there's certainly plenty going on, and the last third is action packed. Even with their cutie marks restored, it takes everything the Manes and the villagers (notably Double Diamond) have got to tackle Starlight, and even then she manages to escape... for now, at least. Custom end credits music, too! As with part 1, this was hugely watchable. As with part 1, it gets a full five stars.

Choice quote: Starlight Glimmer: "QUIET!"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next up is "Castle Sweet Castle", which was a bit overshadowed by this premiere but which did at least address something we'd all been wondering about.

My Little Repeats 92: "The Cutie Map, part 1"

Until Starlight fixes it later, that picture is hanging not quite right

S5E01: "The Cutie Map, part 1"
4 Apr 2015

My original rating (for the whole premiere): ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.9

The one with tasteless muffins

Thoughts: At almost 11 months, the S4/S5 hiatus was the longest in Friendship is Magic's run. Luckily, we got Rainbow Rocks in the gap... and a superb start to the new season when it finally arrived. Although its Hugo nomination came via controversial means, I think Starlight Glimmer's debut really is perhaps the most interesting episode FiM ever did. After a relatively normal opening scene introducing us to the titular map – which turned out to be largely just a plot device – we're into... "whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now" (thanks, Pinkie). Our Town starts off a bit unnerving and gets ever creepier as we go along. Rewatching and knowing the story, I pick up more on side details, such as Double Diamond's warning body language as Sugar Belle chats to the Mane Six. The eventual cliffhanger trap is teased, then seemingly over, then actually there. (Plus it only happens because of the Mane Sixers' own plan, which makes you wonder whether Starlight anticipated that.) Starlight herself starts out friendly, but there's always that hard edge – and she doesn't have the washed-out colours of her, frankly, cult members. The song, which Daniel Ingram consciously based on WW2 propaganda, contains the full-on terrifying lyric, "You can't have a nightmare if you never dream." By the end it's clear that we are in... it's often called a dystopia, and it is, but perhaps "false utopia" might be a better description. It is legitimately chilling, an extraordinary feat for a cartoon for six-year-olds about talking horses. This episode gets better with age, and as such I'm bumping it up a point to the maximum. I can't wait to see part 2 again in a few days.

Choice quote: Sugar Belle: "Is your friendship ending?"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next up, of course, is "The Cutie Map, part 2" – and I really hope I like it as much as I liked this!

My Little Reviews 87: "Trade Ya!"

Sorry about the delay in getting here, folks! Last time, I was very much at the top end of the pack in my outright adoration of "TT123" – which I absolutely do not recant, by the way! This time, an episode I expect to like rather than love, despite its considerable quantity of Fluttershy. Let's see...

Me when I realise I've set this post's publish time completely wrong

S4E22: "Trade Ya!"
Written by Scott Sonneborn
19 Apr 2014

My original rating: 8/10 (=★★★★)
IMDb score: 7.5

The one with the Discord table lamp

Thoughts: Here we have another episode with a big dollop of "going along in a predictable fashion", ie the trading. However, the ep as a whole, while I like it a good deal, doesn't work as well for me as "TT123" did. I love the Applejack/Rarity stuff (though for me it's not shipping!) and I enjoy a fair bit of the Rainbow/Fluttershy subplot as well. The ending is nice, there's a fun mythological creature in the Orthros, the Traders Exchange looks great and Sylvain LeVasseur Portelance (the voice of Stellar Eclipse, who appeared via the Make-a-Wish Foundation) acts surprisingly well for a non-professional. Nice to see full-on Crystal Ponies in the background, too; those were apparently toned down in later seasons owing to the level of work required. On the downside, there's way too much acceptance (not least from Twilight!) of Fluttershy coming close to months of indentured servitude. That just doesn't seem very Equestrian. I also don't think this was one of Pinkie's greatest S4 moments, eg her terrorising of the foal with the broken quill. This is much better than Sonneborn's debut ("Somepony to Watch Over Me") but it has enough rough patches that I can't quite justify its four any more. As such, a top-end three it gets now. Still entertaining, no question. Just not a great.

Choice quote: Rarity: "How dare you let me get what I want? What kind of friend do you think I am?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Inspiration Manifestation", which as I've mentioned before I can rarely remember anything much about. I therefore have no clue how I'll react now.

My Little Repeats 92: "Somepony to Watch Over Me"

The lighting in this section is very atmospheric indeed

S4E17: "Somepony to Watch Over Me"
Written by Scott Sonneborn
8 Mar 2014

My original rating: 7.5/10 (=★★★)
IMDb score: 6.1

The one with the Hats and Bows Closet

Thoughts: A really uneven episode, this one. Scott Sonneborn's debut starts pretty badly, with Applejack's protectiveness towards her little sister turned up to 11 and beyond. Yes, she's shown a bit of that before ("Bridle Gossip") but never like this. I really find it a chore to watch, and if that was all this episode had to offer it might be looking at a one-star rating. Happily it isn't, and after some fun CMC antics AJ's concern about Apple Bloom going missing is much more convincing. Then, of course, we get the chimera stuff. A really dangerous monster, with perhaps the most open death threat any character had received up to this point in the show – and a kid character at that. Some very striking visual design in the flame forest, too. The Cajun town at the very end was a bit strange, but I suppose it served its purpose. I'm more than happy to give the chimera segment a highish three at least, maybe even a low four. Average that out with the unenjoyable earlier AJ scenes and you no longer get the high three-star rating I gave this episode in 2014. You get a moderate two, and overall that's probably what it does deserve. Had its moments without a doubt, but horrendously uneven and oddly paced to (fireproof) boot. Not one of S4's finest.

Choice quote: Scootaloo: "Stop! No time for a song."

New rating: ★★

Next up is "Maud Pie", which I liked a great deal on its first appearance. Maud herself had quite a bit to do with that. I'm hoping I'll still like it as much.

Episode review: S5E13: "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?"

If there's anything around here more epic than this, I want it caught and shot now

After last week's wonderful episode, most of us were on a high. This mood was punctured a bit by the mess Hasbro made of their hiatus announcement, but at least we had one more ep before the break. This one, with its Philip K. Dick title reference, was that dreaded thing: a multi-credited episode. Scott Sonneborn wrote it, from a story by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller. Still, these things have to come good sometimes, right? And this one, mirabile dictu, did just that.

Episode review: S5E01/02: "The Cutie Map"

"Now, ponies, where should I put Party Favor's brain?"

Sorry for the lateness here, folks: a number of circumstances conspired against me. I'm not intending to take quite so long with episode reviews in future! Anyway, after a billion years of waiting, Season 5 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is upon us. The opener, whose title was changed from "Cutie Markless" at a late stage, is a two-parter, written by Scott Sonneborn and M. A. Larson from a story by Meghan McCarthy. I haven't often been impressed by co-written episodes, so how would this one fare? Beyond the cut, you'll find out!

Episode review: "Trade Ya!" (S4E22)

The Orthros and the pegasi in a... wait for it... dogpile

This post is a little bit late (and somewhat shorter than usual) because of my Easter break, but here I am again with another My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode review. This time, the ep under discussion is "Trade Ya!", written by Scott Sonneborn. He was making his second appearance as a writer for this show, having made his debut with the interesting but uneven "Somepony to Watch Over Me" a few weeks ago. What could he pull out of the bag this time? Only one way to find out: follow me past the break!

Episode review: "Somepony to Watch Over Me" (S4E17)

"Now don't yer do any o' that dangerous breathin' now, y'hear?"

It's the weekend, which means that it's time once again for us to return to the land of multi-coloured equines and review another episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This week, we had a brand new writer: Scott Sonneborn, who's written a whole heap of stuff but never – until now – turned his hand to a Pony episode. It's somehow mildly surprising to see a new name almost two-thirds of the way through a season, but as always the proof of the pudding was in the eating. Let's see!