S02 E01 : "The Return of Harmony" Part 1

   

Oops, I accidentally took a break! No, seriously, it was accidental. I was planning to do this one last week, but I ended up having to postpone it because of work-related exhaustion. But I'm back now, and ready to watch MLP until my eyes bleed (not really)!

The title indicates that we might actually see, and get this, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! You know, the things that saved the day in the pilot and were never seen again for no particular reason? I vaguely remember these two episodes because Adam was watching the premier at the time while I was probably playing a video game or something, I dunno.

The only thing that I clearly recall is that John De Lancie had a role as the villain Discord, which was basically Q as a tiny lil' dragon-thing. I love me some John De Lancie as Q...but how did he fare as Discord? We shall see...

S02 E01: "The Return of Harmony - Part 1"

As if the CMC weren't generally annoying enough, their "antics" went and awakened an ancient evil! Lovely. Discord is implied to have been freed by their negativity, and after the credits we see Ponyville assaulted by chocolate milk storms from candy cotton clouds, Applejack's trees wither and her corn pops into popcorn,  while Fluttershy's animals mutate and go all Biblical plague on Applejack's crops. The six ponies cooperate to stop the chaos, and are immediately summoned by Princess Celestia to Canterlot. 

Once there, she explains who Discord is and how he was stopped last time with The Elements of Harmony by Celestia and Luna. Turns out they were sealed away in the castle after the pilot episode, and that would have been great to know earlier so I wouldn't have spent time bitching about it. Celestia assigns the main 6 to track down Discord and seal him away again since they're the ones currently linked to the Elements...or she would have if they hadn't been stolen. 

Turns out, surprise, Discord took them. He demonstrates that he knows who the main 6 are, and he's decided to have a little fun with them by making them find the Elements. He gives a cryptic clue that Twilight Sparkle deciphers to mean that the Elements are hidden in Canterlot's hedge maze. The six take off, and just before they enter the maze, Discord takes their wings and horns to make sure that none of them use their natural abilities to cheat.

They enter the maze anyway, and Discord seperates them by summoning new walls into the maze. Twilight tells the others to regroup in the center, which everyone agrees to sans Fluttershy, who is too busy freaking the fuck out. Applejack is lead down her path by some apples which turn into living piles of apples. They taunt AJ by showing her a vision of the six ending their friendship, breaking her spirit. This gives Discord the opening he needs to brainwash her. When she is reunited with Twilight, she lies about what happened.

 Pinkie Pie is up next, and Discord convinces her that her friends laugh at her, not with her. Once she's distraught, Discord takes the opportunity to force her under his thrall, just before she's found by Twilight and AJ. This continues with the remaining ponies; Discord appeals to Rarity's greed by making her think she's found a giant diamond, Fluttershy is so good natured and resistant that he just cuts the shit and straight up brainwashes her out of frustration, and Rainbow Dash is tricked into flying away from the maze after being shown the destruction of Cloudsdale.

With that, the game is over-- Dash technically broke the rules by flying away. Discord declares victory and says that a new age of chaos will reign throughout Equestria!

OMG THEY'RE FUCKED

 

So what did you think?

Um...wow...this one was good! Like, legit entertaining! I haven't liked an episode this much since A Dog and Pony Show. I actually laughed more than once, out loud. Them's is LOLs, fuckers! 

There were quite a few humorous moments stemming from character interaction, and while that isn't doing much to make me give a shit about the non-Rarity ponies, they are at least entertaining to watch in this episode. Discord himself I was indifferent to, but that's because John De Lancie's performance was about what I was expecting. They have reached the lowest of bars once again, which is to say that I wasn't bored. I sincerely hope that bar is raised at some point.

"Hold on a second! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain!"

  Worth it. 

The animation was good, and there was one moment in particular where Discord reveals himself in a stained-glass window that was very well done. Backgrounds, facial expressions, all as good as usual. Say what you will about the show (I sure fucking do), but it ain't ugly, and this premier episode was a reminder of that.

Overall, it's a great start to the season, and I'm going into the next episode A LOT less apprehensive than I've been since The Episode That Shall Not Be Named. Don't fuck it up, show!

- Apathy Pony

S01 E18: "The Show Stoppers"

S01 E18: "The Show Stoppers"

Reviews! MLP Reviews! Woo.

Closing in on the end of the season, and at this rate I might have it finished before the new year! Maybe. Possibly. I don't know. [Editor's note: lol, no]

ANYWAY

The Show Stoppers! Never heard anything about this one, no idea what to expect, and I'm hoping we get a 100% nitpick free episode. The quality, while rocky in various areas, remains largely acceptable (or at least enough to continue watching in the hopes of improvement).

Will this episode be the one to break the show's current streak of adequacy? We shall see...

Glorified Synopsis

00:07 THE CMC AGAIN?! Hnnn...let's hope they're better behaved than the last episode.

00:34 Just want to say the backgrounds are looking great, and we aren't even a minute in. Wonderful. Also, that is one busted-ass treehouse. How are the three of them even supposed to fit into that thing?

00:42 So this place was apparently Applejack's old clubhouse, and every attempt she makes to sell the CMC on taking it over is accompanied by parts of it collapsing and/or falling off. Good job giving a fixer-upper to some ponies that don't even have opposable thumbs or magikenesis, AJ. :|

00:58 "'TLC' as in 'Tender Loving Care' or Totally Lost Cause?'"

...Alright Scootaloo. You keep that snark coming and you may work your way back into my good graces after all.

01:13 So this is some ploy to get the CMC to fix up the clubhouse in the hopes of getting their cutie marks? Applejack, this is total bullshit. >_>

On the other hand, this intro set up the premise of the episode well enough, but I'm wondering how this scenario is going to lead into the title.

02:04 Oh, so Scootaloo has an artistic streak, I see! Cool! And I guess I see where the name comes from, what with the, ah, scooter and all.

02:20 Poor, poor Granny Smith. God, was that her name her entire life?

02:55 Clubhouse is actually renovated! Not bad for a trio of quadrupeds (mostly Applebloom) with no opposable thumbs.

03:13 Sounds like the CMC has a theme song...thank god Sweetie Bell is singing it to herself.

03:23 SHE CALLED IT A THEME SONG IN UNIVERSE HAHA

Oh, and this is feeling like the episode where at least one of them get their marks. I mean, come on, scooter tricks, super decorating skills and, um...humming? If they went out of their way to establish this, I'll be surprised if this whole CMC thing isn't resolved at the end for at least one of them.

04:02 I like that Applejack could barely contain her incredulity when she heard the words "theme song".

05:35 Okay, I like this montage, for two reasons:

A.) They did not make a fucking musical number out of it! "Show, don't tell" is one of the rules of storytelling which musicals shit on as a convention of the genre, and it should go without saying that I am irritated by that kind of thing when it happens. It's not happening here! I like that.

B.) The CMC are (reasonably) well behaved! After last episode's staggering obnoxiousness, the CMC seem to have been toned down considerably and it's much appreciated.

05:51 You let toddlers style your hair, you deserve what you get. Also, why do you sound like a baby when you cry, older pony? Weird.

06:10 THEY ARE DOING ZENER TESTS FOR ESP

WHAT

07:00 What is this tiny mountain? How is it? I don't

07:34 Spike is clearly not enamored of the CMC's "adorable" shenanigans, and he is now neck and neck with Opal for Favorite Supporting Character once again.

08:04 So it's their 3rd appearance and someone FINALLY told the CMC to try things they already like to find their special talent! And it's Twilight Sparkle of all ponies, the most inconsistently intelligent of them all. Good for her, she's been needing a moment like this for a while.

08:12 TITLE DROP

08:30 Rarity is SICK OF YOUR SHIT, SWEETIE BELL. Bless her.

09:34 The CMC just gathered up a bunch of shit and a book on ghost stories...Spike pretty much summed it up when he said he wasn't sure if he should be excited or ambivalent.

10:42 LET'S IGNORE OUR INNATE TALENTS AND ABILITIES AND ASSOCIATE THEM WITH STUPID BULLSHIT, SOME OF WHICH WE HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED AS BEING TERRIBLE AT EVEN BEFORE THIS EPISODE

13:29 More of the above, and making it super obvious that the three of them should have switched jobs, with Applebloom on costumes and sets, Scootaloo on choreography, and Sweetie Bell producing the song. I have to remind myself of the target demographic for this show is on occasion, but it's still annoying when the show has to do things like this.

14:32 Applejack walks in on the CMC's train wreck of a routine and tries to back away slowly before they catch her...but slowly was the mistake. The CMC ask AJ what she thinks and she can barely verbalize how atrocious they are, bless her.

14:42 YAY, MORE UNWARRANTED CONFIDENCE

14:50 SNIPS AND SNAILS! And they're terrible at magic.

15:20 Pony applause is stamping their hooves? I'm pretty sure I saw them actually clapping at some point...oh well, whatever.

15:30 You can't see their entire costumes, as usual, but from what I can glean they are cosplaying as The Misfits from Jem or some shit like that.

15:40 HOW OFTEN ARE YOU GOING TO SAY "My little ponies!" TWILIGHT, IT STARTED OUT BEING REAL FUCKING GRATUITOUS AND THAT HAS ONLY INCREASED.

CUT IT THE FUCK OUT, please.

16:21 Well, let's get this shit over with...

16:44 Applejack looks humiliated, lol

17:14 you know...this isn't entirely terrible. The singing needs some work, but for three pre-teens or whatever the hell they are in pony years, this isn't really that bad, considering.

17:37 Spoke too soon...

18:43 AND NOW COMES THE SHAME

19:14 Are they going to win something? They're going to win aren't they...

19:40 If Snips and Snails didn't start that argument about who's award for best magic act was shinier, it could easily be taken out of context if you didn't know what they were talking about.

20:16 The CMC won best comedy act? Was that even a category? This was a pity award, wasn't it? Meh, whatever. After that kind of embarrassment, at least they won something.

20:32 NO CUTIE MARKS?! This...is BULLSHIT! I hope this arc is over soon, now that the inevitable conclusion has been telegraphed.

Oh, and Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Twist were also participants and THEY DIDN'T WIN SHIT! Good. Well, except Twist-- I heard the fandom despises her for some reason, but I'm personally indifferent to her.

21:33 The CMC have once again refused to glean anything from their experience and will now be pursuing comedy as a way of earning their cutie marks.

*sighs*

Final Thoughts

You know what? This episode, on the whole, is a'ight. Animation, backgrounds, character designs, dialogue, blahbity-blah. All fine. What's not fine? Taking plausible character development and kicking it square in the dick.

I'm not really feeling the CMC at this point. Honestly, their "precocious" enthusiasm and inability to learn from their experiences is not particularly endearing, and it's been an ongoing trait of theirs since their second appearance. I hope, for the sake of the characters, that this Cutie Mark quest gets wrapped up real soon, because I don't know how much more of this shit I can tolerate. Even if they stretch it out so that they get their marks one by one, FINE! Just get on with it already.

See you next time for A Dog and Pony Show! (seriously? they really went there)

- Apathy Pony