My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Three's a Crowd"

When it comes to TV shows, Movies, books, comics, videogames, and every type of entertainment out there one of the most important things is setting. The world that the stories and characters are contained in is really important and it might be a key factor that can either keep the viewer’s immersion intact or it can shatter it like a sledgehammer. There have been many TV shows that ended up going down the drain almost exclusive because of poorly constructed and even worse developed setting. One of the biggest offenders when it comes to that is the TV series “24” which, during the first six seasons of its 8 seasons run, tried to sell us that Los Angeles was the international hub for terrorist activities in the whole World. It was always under the threat of president assassination attempts, nuclear bombs, viruses, nuclear bombs, nerve gas and nuclear bombs (one would think the writers for this fucking show were still shell-shocked after the Cold War or something). With such a poor setting filled with even more pauper stories and characters what we got was an insipid pile of unbearable bullshit that falls apart after a second viewing. Nowadays “24” is regarded as one of the most ridiculous TV series ever put together due to its repetitive nature and worthless socio-political commentary. Setting is the factor that differentiates a good TV show from a bad TV show, because with a good setting you can get away with pretty much anything to the point that you can allow yourself to write stories about nothing. TV series like “Scrubs”, “Arrested Development”, “Community” or “The Office” can get away with any kind of story, because their setting it really creative and their characters are really good. When you have very well developed and very likable characters and a very well developed world with an established set of rules, you can allow yourself to come up with ridiculous or simplistic stories that break these rules. Let’s take for example (and to segue into Ponies) the IDW MLP Comics Issues #9 and #10, also known as “Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair” where Big Macintosh ventures himself in the perilous quest for a box of nails. It’s probably one of the most original, non-pretentious, downright funny and narratively artistic exercises I have ever read in a comic. I was wondering if My Little Pony (the TV Show) was ever going to be so brave as to do something like this. Did they do it in this week’s episode? Let’s find out.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Rainbow Falls"

There is one trend that happens too often in media, especially in pop-culture, and that is the trend of loving everything that has the same name, brand, director, writer, etc. in it regardless of its quality. There’s people who love every single thing about Doctor Who, or those who love everything created by Joss Whedon, or even weirdos who are obsessed with Silent Hill to the point of pre-ordering games without even trying them out first. I am like that too, believe me when I say that I am not exempt of this. I love everything that has to do with Mass Effect, and I love every single Pokémon RPG that’s ever been released (the puzzle games and the pet-caring games though, are a horse of a completely different color). There are times when this backfires immensely, and the end result is laughable at best and sad at worst. I am still baffled at the people who try to defend “Prometheus” just because it’s a Ridley Scott movie, and Ridley Scott can’t do no evil as he is always perfect! “Robin Hood” and “A Good Year” never happened! Not in my real world head canon! Judging the quality of something just because you love one aspect of it (the creator, the brand, the universe, one of the characters, the writer) is not fair, which is not to say it’s wrong. Your opinion can’t be wrong. It’s your opinion! You can totally like something just because you love the one thing in it that makes you like it, but don’t expect that argument to hold on too well when trying to defend it. Especially if the place where you are trying to defend it is the internet.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Pinkie Apple Pie"

This show has always offered two types of episodes for me. There are the episodes where all is fun and enjoyment and there is a lot of cool action scenes and funny parts; and then there are the episodes where the emotional investment is such you’d think Pixar had a hand in the writing of the script. Sometimes these two types combine which result in some of my favorite episodes (like Sonic Rainboom, Cutie Mark Chronicles, Sleepless in Ponyville, Sweet and Elite, Rarity Takes Manehattan) and other times these elements are absent which leads to some of my most hated episodes (Putting your Hoof Down). I find myself emotionally invested in many of the characters this show has, and this is a constant that has never changed for me. You know a character is well written when you can talk about them like you've known them your whole life. Let’s look, for example, at Rainbow Dash. One quick glance at her and you’ll think she is just a brass and sporty tomboy that’s just full of herself. But then you see her interact with the other characters and you will find more about her. She’s also insecure; she’s fairly clumsy and sometimes screws up; she likes reading adventure books and Broadway musicals; she’s best friends with Twilight and Pinkie; she wants to become a Wonderbolt; she’s a great flier and a really athletic sports-pony; she has a pet tortoise named Tank; and she can squee like a fangirl over everything because she is really passionate about the things that she likes. The same goes for every other character in the show, like Applebloom, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and so on. Everyone in this show has something going on all the time.

My Little Pony is not a show that I watch for the story, or even for the moral. Like any other character driven show that I watch, I watch it for characters, because I want to see them interact with each other and because I want to see them coming out of the situation they have been thrown into. You know that two characters will have two completely different ways to solve a conflict, and that’s where the entertainment value for this show is. So when I heard that there was going to be an episode pairing Applejack and Pinkie Pie I had nothing but hype towards it. This might be my most hyped episode of the entire season so far. It wasn’t the Super Hero episode. It wasn’t the next Rarity episode. This was the one, because I knew it was going to be full of feels and heartwarming moments. Were my expectations met? Let’s take a look.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Rarity Takes Manehattan"

Once upon a time I was part of the furry community in a website known as FurAffinity. It’s well known for its constant outages, technical issues, and a crowd so filled with scum and villainy it makes the Mos Eisley cantina look like a church. In there I met some nice people whom have followed me to the Brony fandom, but more often than not I was bullied, attacked, mocked, laughed at and, worst of all, got my art stolen several times only to be accused of stealing some else’s artwork. This went on for over six years until I encountered the MLP Fandom and then realized that people don’t usually attack and eat each other like a pack of cannibalistic hyenas fighting for a prey they didn’t even catch in the first place. Every fandom has problems with art theft, and the MLP fandom is no exception, but every now and then I like to think back to those years  to remind myself where I come from and how bad things could be. I did meet very nice people, I admit that, but I am really glad I put all of that behind me and finally moved into a crowd that I can appreciate and respect as much as they appreciate and respect me. When I write these reviews, or when I draw my pictures, I know there is going to be someone reacting to them and I love hearing their feedback. I like making fans of this show happy and give them something they’d want to add to their favorites, or talk about on Twitter and Tumblr. I don’t aim to become popular, I just like making people happy and give them something to think about. I think you can imagine where this episode review is heading, so let’s get to it.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Bats!"

I've come to notice that all my episode reviews have started with me throwing a jab at the reviewing side of the fandom. I think I owe you guys an explanation as to why I do this.

I really like that we have a group of dedicated and passionate reviewers out there willing to take time out of their day to tell us all what they think about the newest episode. That’s pretty much where my enjoyment ends and my problems begin. These people are too obfuscated with what they hate that they forget to balance out what they like and what they dislike. They go for the nitpicking, the flaw-pointing, or just downright disregarding something because it gives them nothing to bitch about. They literally refuse to review some episodes because they can’t complain about anything, and so they hand-wave them as shallow and inconsequential. Never before I have seen someone beating around the bush so hard just to say they hated something, and the worst part is that most of them won’t even tell you that! I have watched too many videos where the final verdicts are never delivered. We don’t know if they enjoyed it or not. By the amount of hatred spewed in them one would assume that they hated the episodes, so I guess this side of the fandom isn't really having a good time with Season 4. But this is not the worst part. The worst part is when they go and admit that their reviews aren't giving that much constructive feedback to begin with, and that people can easily ignore them for other better suited reviewers. You know you are not a very good critic when you tell your subscribers to go watch someone else because your videos aren't good enough for the material you are criticizing. You are not being humble, you are just being a tosser.