The End of Apathy Pony
You'd think I'd have something a little more grand or sentimental to say about the end of what is essentially the gig that ended up as the turning point in my career as a writer-- we'd both be wrong.
It's been about 6 months since the last review, and in that time I've been forced to focus my efforts elsewhere, mainly out of necessity since there were other, more urgent matters to attend to. That said, this blog has always been in my thoughts. I've come back to it today to post the last of my MLP reviews.
A Canterlot Wedding: Part 1
A Canterlot Wedding: Part 2
A Canterlot Wedding: Part 1
From the MLP Wikia: "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 is the twenty-fifth episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the fifty-first overall. It is the first half of a two-part season finale. Twilight Sparkle grapples with her conflicted feelings when she finds out her brother, Shining Armor, is marrying Princess Celestia's niece, Princess Cadance. Twilight also begins to suspect that Cadance has changed since their childhood."
These are probably the kinds of episodes they should have been putting out at the start. Everything looks as good as it ever did, but the real bright spot of this episode is the story. Pretty much everything is set up to make Twilight appear to be overreacting to the entire situation, but of note is the scene where Twilight is trying to explain that Cadence is kind of a bitch now.
All of Twilight's friends come up with plausible explanations for her shitty behavior. They actually had me wondering who's side to take for a little bit, and even though things played out the way I expected, that feeling goes a long way with me for anything.
The episode ends on a suspenseful note, I've got my fingers crossed for the conclusion to wrap things up just as satisfactorily as they started.
A Canterlot Wedding: Part 2
From the MLP Wikia: "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2 is the twenty-sixth episode of the second season ofMy Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the fifty-second episode overall. It is the second episode in a two-part season finale. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are set to be married, but Queen Chrysalis has a devious plan to ruin Shining Armor's happily ever after and the future of Equestria."
The conclusion to A Canterlot Wedding was about what I expected, but the way it got there was as well done as anything in the series has ever been. Queen Chrysalis is probably the biggest enemy that the ponies have had to face since Discord, and her power is not to be trifled with. The first part had me wondering if Cadence was even who she said she was, but it was handled with subtlety right up until the reveal, so all credit where that's due.
The sequence at the end was pretty and gorgeously animated, this show never really stopped impressing me with what they could squeeze out of Flash. On the whole, I feel like this episode's greatest flaw is the fact that it wasn't longer. There was a good opportunity here to expand on a couple things, but what it got done in the time allotted is nothing to sneeze at. Of course, they always could have cut some of the songs, but that's a personal bias anyone who's been reading this far will have seen coming.
Overall? Stakes, character development, those are all things that can get me to pay attention, and A Canterlot Wedding managed to do that more than most episodes. Good job.
The Crystal Empire: Part 1
From the MLP Wikia: "The Crystal Empire - Part 1 is the first episode of the third season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the fifty-third episode overall.[2] It is the first half of a two-part episode. In this episode, a curse that caused an empire to vanish for a thousand years has finally ended. Princess Celestiaorders Twilight Sparkle and her friends to help defend the newly awakened Empire against King Sombra, the evil unicorn who had cursed the empire."
See, instead of bullshit like Over A Barrel, we could have been getting episodes like this. I don't know what season 4 is like, and I have no intention whatsoever of watching it, but what they did in this episode? THEY NEED TO KEEP DOING IT. The wacky hi-jinks? Plot relevant! Everyone had something to do (although it was the same something), there were stakes, mystery-- All that? Every episode. Not just when you need some forum fodder between seasons because you know that merchandising getting on and off shelves isn't an issue-- Every. Episode.
And I noticed this earlier, but it's incredibly telling that the deus ex machina jewels from the pilot are basically kept in a box until shit gets real, just sayin'...
But yeah, the cliffhanger had at least 3 different things go wrong for the protagonists, and I legitimately though, "Well...shit. How are they gonna get out of this one?"
Not bad, show, let's see if you can bring it to a close...
See, instead of bullshit like Over A Barrel, we could have been getting episodes like this. I don't know what season 4 is like, and I have no intention whatsoever of watching it, but what they did in this episode? THEY NEED TO KEEP DOING IT. The wacky hi-jinks? Plot relevant! Everyone had something to do (although it was the same something), there were stakes, mystery-- All that? Every episode. Not just when you need some forum fodder between seasons because you know that merchandising getting on and off shelves isn't an issue-- Every. Episode.
And I noticed this earlier, but it's incredibly telling that the deus ex machina jewels from the pilot are basically kept in a box until shit gets real, just sayin'...
But yeah, the cliffhanger had at least 3 different things go wrong for the protagonists, and I legitimately though, "Well...shit. How are they gonna get out of this one?"
Not bad, show, let's see if you can bring it to a close...
The Crystal Empire: Part 2
From the MLP WIkia: "The Crystal Empire - Part 2 is the second episode of the third season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the fifty-fourth episode overall. It is the second episode of a two-parter which begins the season. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle and Spike search for the Crystal Heart while their friends try to protect the Crystal Faire from King Sombra."
...They fuckin' did it.
You know, I'm glad I can end my time with this series on a positive note. For any issues one may take with aspects of the fandom, the show itself can and does entertain on all fronts occasionally. The second part of The Crystal Empire built on what was established in the first part while also bringing suspense to a crescendo and resolving the crisis in a way that was unexpected but the result of a logical chain of events.
I mean, I'm not trying to say that the show should be joyless-- as much as I bitch about the songs, I say that only to voice it as an issue I take with why I wouldn't watch this show on a regular basis-- not gonna lie, I totally skipped any and all songs. Fuck 'em.
But if that's your thing? By all means, enjoy; I say that not as giving permission (because i'm not arrogant enough to assume that you need mine or anyone's), but because it would be hypocritical of me as someone who watched Powerpuff Girls and Sailor Moon devotedly, and the latter to this day.
One more to go, let's end it right.
...They fuckin' did it.
You know, I'm glad I can end my time with this series on a positive note. For any issues one may take with aspects of the fandom, the show itself can and does entertain on all fronts occasionally. The second part of The Crystal Empire built on what was established in the first part while also bringing suspense to a crescendo and resolving the crisis in a way that was unexpected but the result of a logical chain of events.
I mean, I'm not trying to say that the show should be joyless-- as much as I bitch about the songs, I say that only to voice it as an issue I take with why I wouldn't watch this show on a regular basis-- not gonna lie, I totally skipped any and all songs. Fuck 'em.
But if that's your thing? By all means, enjoy; I say that not as giving permission (because i'm not arrogant enough to assume that you need mine or anyone's), but because it would be hypocritical of me as someone who watched Powerpuff Girls and Sailor Moon devotedly, and the latter to this day.
One more to go, let's end it right.
Magical Mystery Cure
From the MLP Wikia:"Magical Msystery Cure is the thirteenth episode of the third season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. It aired as the final episode of the third season[3] and the sixty-fifth episode overall. It is the first episode to feature Twilight Sparkle as an Alicorn and the last episode to take place before the spin-off film My Little Pony Equestria Girls.[4]
In this episode, Twilight Sparkle accidentally switches her friends' destinies and tries to fix them. By doing so, she becomes an Alicorn princess. The title of the episode alludes to the album Magical Mystery Tour, by the Beatles. The episode features a total of seven songs, the most songs in a single episode so far, breaking the previous record of four set by A Friend in Deed."
*sigh*...
Too many songs, princess of what, and why? I really don't know what was supposed to be the point of this episode, but ut was constantly referencing other episodes in what I assume were earlier in the season. The fact that I'm complaining about this means that they at least took more care to reward people who care about continuity. While I applaud that, I still don't much care about MLP-- even the revelation that Twilight Sparkle was in training to become a princess is something that I have no investment in finding out the answers to.
For a final episode, it's a great jumping off point. I feel like I've seen enough of the show to determine that while it's well made and genuinely entertaining when running on all cylinders, it's just not for me.
And that's okay.
- Apathy pony
Too many songs, princess of what, and why? I really don't know what was supposed to be the point of this episode, but ut was constantly referencing other episodes in what I assume were earlier in the season. The fact that I'm complaining about this means that they at least took more care to reward people who care about continuity. While I applaud that, I still don't much care about MLP-- even the revelation that Twilight Sparkle was in training to become a princess is something that I have no investment in finding out the answers to.
For a final episode, it's a great jumping off point. I feel like I've seen enough of the show to determine that while it's well made and genuinely entertaining when running on all cylinders, it's just not for me.
And that's okay.
- Apathy pony
