An episode a day

[Rares]

Not you too!

[Gentian]

Please don't actually be mad at me.

Definitely not!

[Rares]

S4E1 Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1

And now we see a lot of my gripes with the show start to come up. Only on Part 1 and I already don't like how it's shaping up. Like, alright, Twilight was of course just made a princess, of course the immediate following 2-parter is going to be about her, oh absolutely. But desposing of Celestia off screen? And not even with something actually powerful but vines? Seriously? Luna too? Not to mention the absolute absurdity of the Mane 5 not being able to at least be with Twilight at the celebration, because the freaking Mayor of Ponyville asked them to handle the events for the town? I'm pretty sure princess trumps mayor, and with how important this is to Twilight, like you can see how very uneasy she is with her friends not with her at this time, and they write them off by saying "the Mayor needs them"? That baffles me. And of course, if mostly in part due to Applejack and how she says things, the Mane 5 really feel unnecessary in this, just to show that the vines are a bad. And talk about a poor threat, that was just boring and unnecessary.

The sooner this is over the better.

[Rares]

S4E2 Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2



This one genuinely makes me angry. In fact, I actually dislike it a lot more upon rewatch than I first thought. This episode was honestly just offensive with what it does to the show, and this is the point where I feel like a lot of stuff got ruined. Crystal Empire may have been a bad premier for sure, but this absolutely takes the fucking cake for sure, and definitely blows Flurry Heart out of the water. My original problem with the episode without thinking too much was the most obvious bit: The disregard for the elements, how they're literally thrown away for no good reason. I loved the elements, and especially knowing how poor they are with it later, and how they're practically never thought of again, and the tree is forgotten about after a table, this is really awful. Not to mention, after Twilight gets a massive power boost, they knock the Mane 5 down a tier by getting rid of them. Oh and I know this is a minor thing that many other people probably never noticed it, but why does Meghan McCarthy freaking retcon the Elements of Harmony in a way to make Twilight look even more special by again knocking down the Mane 5 a peg. It's a subtle thing, but notice how Twilight's element of Magic was the only element that was shaped as her cutie mark before she was born? All the others are just generic shaped crystals. Now I know you could say "Well that might not have been McCarthy's doing" except for if you actually watch the original pilot:

The Elements were always pre-destined for the Mane 6 together, not solely Twilight And okay, really I know it's small and honestly no big deal. It makes it feel like the Mane 5 were just lucky to be with Twilight at the time. The idea that it feels like all she did was just direct this season as "Isn't Twilight just better than everyone", especially when this episode basically treats it like the Mane 5 are somehow aimless without her, but even then makes them look horrible when they make her leave to go do princess things, when she clearly wants to be with them more than anything. And the tree needing the elements! Why! Why not instead explain why the elements were dead after Celestia used them? Why waste time with that crammed in "Oh yeah Discord planted evil plants but other plant magic stopped it". Like, I guess this isn't the worst written episode or something, but with what it does, it treats everyone who isn't Twilight as dirt, and then goes on to treat Twilight awful by making her friends treat her as something else when she clearly wants none of that.
Just:


Okay that's all out of my system now.

[Rares]

S4E3 Castle Mane-ia

Josh Haber wrote this, no wonder it left such a horrible taste in my mouth. Putting him in charge of creative direction in S6 was one of the other biggest mistakes of the show, but that's a story for another day. This episode was bad, and honestly I feel shows how Josh Haber puts little care into any episode he's involved in. Not only does it continue to enforce that "Everyone except for Twilight is an idiot" bit, especially with that ending where everyone is running around screaming for no good reason, but the whole reveal that it was just Pinkie being "lolrandom" as usual, was just dumb. Not to mention, it comes off as even worse when you realize they were all here before under much worse circumstances. It at least sort of made sense with Rarity and Fluttershy as well as Twilight, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack being there seemed really forced. This just rubbed me the wrong way.

[Rares]

S4E4 Daring Don't

I can kinda see why this one was so disliked. Honestly, I didn't have much fun with it, as I think any time this concept of "Oh look the fictional characters are actually real!" happens, it's not great. Dash's fangirling was cute, but aside from that, it didn't feel like it really worked well. It would have been much more enertaining if they just remained stories.

[Rares]

S4E5 Flight to the Finish

Not much I really felt like I pulled out of this one. Maybe a slightly catchy chorus in the song, but it seemed like another one of those bits where the CMC are trying to do something and Diamond Tiara bullies them. Getting tired of her stuff, it's getting really old. But I suppose the lesson was nice for Scootaloo.

[Rares]

S4E6 Power Ponies

This was a fun one. I feel like it was okay to have something like this given the nature and popularity of superheros, as opposed to things like zombies, but that's for another day. I felt like it was pleasant because it provided a little bit of fun. Of course I love Green Lantern Rari. I think the lesson was definitely a pleasant one, how no one is ever really useless, and can definitely be applied. Not to mention it felt like a really good full cast episode, not just around one character in particular. All in all, I really liked it. Nice to have a break from that long streak of episodes I disliked.

[Rares]

S4E7 Bats!

I guess the most notable thing from this is the song, the Danny Elfman inspired song. As someone who grew up loving his work, I can appreciate this. As it stands, the episode itself is enjoyable I say to find the least, even if it isn't the best written. I don't really find the moral to be applicable, especially since I feel like Applejack and Fluttershy were two extremes of something which both had merits. And I kinda don't like "the stare" being some weird super power Fluttershy has as opposed to just a talent she has for dealing with animals. But I felt like it was a fun little episode. I should thank this episode for the cute Raribat stuff too.

[Rares]

S4E8 Rarity Takes Manehattan

Also known as the best episode. At least for me. I feel like this episode does so much right. The lesson, the song, how Rarity acts especially under pressure (though I do like to call it payback for Suited for Success) I just think this episode works well on so many levels. It shows Rarity with her element, generosity, and how that works for her and in some cases against her, yet she doesn't let it drag her down. And I find that really motivational honestly, it means a lot to me that her experience didn't stop her from being who she is. There are little things I take out of it too. For example, I actually greatly appreciate what happens to Suri, and I think there's some things to be taken out of this. There are "Suri"s in the world, absolutely, dickheads who will take advantage of you, and get away with it with no repercussions, but you shouldn't let that bother you. Rarity isn't consumed by some intense hatred for her for what she did, she let it go and isn't bothered by that, and continues to help Coco, who is honestly great as she is. IDW was originally supposed to do a similar type of issue with Rarity, but Hasbro veto'd it because this was in production. Honestly, I'm glad they did. If they did, in their inability to care for much, they probably would have gone with something that just became a bad revenge plot, when I feel not showing any sort of need for that in this episode, tells a lot about her. I really hope Suri never appears again in the show, because sometimes there is a lesson of just there are bad people in the world, you'll have to deal with them, but don't let them control you, or be haunted by there memory. That's something I think means a lot.

I love this episode. I'm glad to call it my favorite.