Friday, April 18, 2014

Season 1 Wrap-Up

  


Season 1 Wrap-Up

Man, it has taken so long to get here. Partially my fault, but...eh. Anyway, I finished the entire first season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Over the course of season one, my opinion was mostly consistent, then a later...episode...kinda crushed my lil' reviewer's spirit. It wasn't easy to get back on the horse, so to speak, but I powered through and finished it. So where does that leave my feelings about the show now? Well, that's below the break. 

So are you a Brony now?





Are...are you at least a fan, then?



*sigh*, Okay...do you at least think MLP has some merit to it? 


Yeah. I do.

From what I know about the production of the first season, told to me 3rd hand by Adam, the show didn't try to aim for an older audience at all beyond mere watchability-- That showed through most of the episodes. Subtle gags and references were bottom-heavy this season, most of the humor being slapstick-based. There isn't anything wrong with slapstick, and I enjoy it at times, but those times are largely dependant on if I like what the rest of a story has to offer. In MLP's case, for me that was usually little to nothing.

I often found myself trying to grasp at any little aspect of the characters or jokes to try and force a reaction towards the material that didn't amount to "meh," which mostly resulted in hyperbolic descriptions of the action in most of the episodes before The Episode That Shall Not Be Named. Generally most of the episodes were passable, but not the kind of thing that would encourage me to actively seek out the next one. I feel like a lot of this has to do with characterization, or a lack thereof.

We didn't even really learn much about the characters' pasts until waaaaaay late in the season, and the new details we learned didn't make me feel any particular investment in the main six beyond what I already felt. Equestria itself also wasn't the kind of place I'd find myself wanting to project an escapist fantasy on, so that wasn't helping either.

That said, in retrospect, the season had a few standout episodes: Call of the CutieSuited for Success, A Dog and Pony Show and The Best Night Ever. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that two out of four are Rarity-heavy episodes, since she was the character that made me even want to give this show a chance in the first place. Going over earlier reviews had me scratching my head at times, if for no other reason than that I could barely recall them in spite of the praise I had given a few of them.

As for the ones specifically named above, they had humor that appealed to me, and in enough quantity that I was genuinely amused by them throughout their run-time. Honestly, I'd say they're the best season one has to offer. Unfortunately, the problem is that they're merely 4 episodes out of 26 so far. 

I...well, shit. Um...so do you have a favorite episode? 


A Dog and Pony Show-- it was the funniest one, in my opinion, and had the best moral of the season, hands down. 

And your least favorite? 


Jesus! Ah-- favorite...favorite character?


That one. For reasons.

Oh, okay. Least favorite?

  

Obnoxious, destructive, self-centered, and every lesson she learns to the contrary vanishes by the next episode. That happens with all of them to some degree, but it's the worst with her because her default setting seems to be irritating shithead.

What?! Fuck you, Rainbow Dash is the shit!


Fine, be that way! Anyway, so...if you could quit right now, would you? 

Consult THE EPISODE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED


I see...well, is that going to affect your opinion going into the second season? It sounds like you kinda have it in for the show...

I don't have it in for the show, but let's be real-- this show hasn't done nearly enough for me personally to get me invested in it. It could simply be that MLP isn't to my taste, and that's all there is to it. There's still 39 episodes to go, and I don't know much about them that would influence me either way. The only thing either of us can do is wait and see what I think after I watch them. However, if things continue like they have been? Not looking good.


That's about it! See you soon for Season Two!

-Apathy Pony

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