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[Bronies Are Cool]

Due to me never watching The Peanuts, I'm not sure what the reference was. :/

[CitricAcid]

Due to me never watching The Peanuts, I'm not sure what the reference was. :/

Maybe you know it better as Charlie Brown? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts

It was Rarity's "good grief" line and the friendship booth.

[FLAOFEI]

About the last few episodes... You may remember a certain chubby pony? Well she made an aperance again this week in Made In Manehatan!
If you pause at the news stall scene right before the 10min mark of the episode, you will find her on a bag of potatoe chips! Not only that, but if you watch the transition away from that scene frame by frame, when the newspaper flies by, she is on the front page!
WHO IS THIS MARE!? So many questions...

[ph00tbag]

For a whole slew of reasons, I loved Rarity Investigates. Prime among them was that we never get to see RD and Rarity hang out, even though I've always felt they would have an interesting and unique dynamic, ever since Sonic Rainboom. St. Germain's voice acting is, as always, impeccable, and Rarity's, erm... look this episode is... well, um... *pulls on collar* It's really well-executed. I don't think I'd mind being interrogated by Rarity.

Made in Manehattan was also rather nice. My only gripe was that the pacing was a bit slow, so the episode felt really short. But it was cute and fun, and I liked the dialogue for the most part.

It was Rarity's "good grief" line and the friendship booth.

Also, one of the ponies that walked by the friendship booth had a shirt on with a zig-zag pattern, and a mane made of one curly hair, and he had a football for a cutie mark. We're already calling him Good Grief, as I understand.

[CitricAcid]

Today's episode was good, but it won't rank highly on my list. I'm not a fan of episodes where a character spends most of the time embarrassed and/or embarrassing themselves. I wind up hiding my face in my hands until it's over, which I don't find enjoyable. I like how the episode made it subtly clear that Applebloom was the only pony who thought Big Mac was actually trying to fool anypony. And I couldn't tell: was RD actually fooled by the costume?

It was good to hear Big Mac speak (in a normal tone) at the end.

[Bronies Are Cool]

I can't say that I enjoyed the entire episode as I was on the verge of cringing most of the time.
But at the end, I actually really enjoyed the last little bit.
There was quite a bit of character development going on for big Mac.
It could be pointed out that big mac isn't the type of person that is really all easily ready to talk about his feelings.
And he has insecurities both about his role in life and how he thinks others think of him. (Like, he wasn't confident and began to second guess himself by saying that Apple bloom didn't want to hear about his feelings. Even though she did.)
Another thing is that he didn't like to talk a lot. Yes, we all already knew that. But the other part about it is that he can talk when he needs to and will talk when he needs to. Not sure if he just doesn't like to talk, or if he does like to talk but doesn't because he is insecure about something.

[ph00tbag]

Definitely a cringeworthy episode. I'm pretty much 100% with Citric on what I find rough about this kinda stuff.

I liked Big Macintosh's development this episode, too. The idea that he's not very talkative because of his insecurity is a good interpretation, because it kinda follows. I think it's really interesting that his reservations about talking evaporate when he's pretending to be a mare. Take from that what you will.

"Don't think we'll go easy on you just because you're a stallion."

Wow @ sexism.

[CitricAcid]

I hate how the first episode that I disliked this season was the one where the CMCs get their cutie marks and where DT was redeemed. :( It all happened with the same ham-fisted song-ridden haste with which Twilight got her wings. Maybe it would have worked better as a two-parter; at the very least that would have given time for a better intro and more space between songs.

Other stuff:
- Was that a sandslash cutie mark?
- Does Cheerilee's school secretly house the X-Ponies?
- DT had the best expressions!

[Bronies Are Cool]

I kind of feel like the main appeal for the CMC is now gone. :/ like, I like the idea of them getting their mark, but I feel like it should have happened in a similar way to Twilight getting her wings. It should have been when the show was coming to an end. (And having it be a two part episode would also have been a great idea.)
I actually liked some of the songs and I'm glad that diamond tiara is no longer going to just be a sick dick for no reason. Now we actually know why. And now she will stop. But then get main appeal is also gone.
And also, the big mystery about AJs parents have been revived.

[Gnarrkhaz]

Wow, i didn't see that coming! I guess i should have after all the similarities with Magical Mystery Cure. First, Diamond Tiara redeems herself, which was already a big thing (again, i love how minor characters play a bigger role in this season), and then the CMCs get their cutie marks. The fact that it's about helping others to find their cutie marks is a nice way to explain why it took so long to get it as they were always obsessed with their own.

I had a few problems with the conflict regarding the arc, but the more i think about it, the more they seem like nitpicks, like why they didn't get their marks in the episode with Troubleshoes -- because that was a very similar situation -- or how they didn't really change dramatically as characters. They have never been so obsessed that they wouldn't help others. But then again, they didn't really help others regarding their cutie marks except in that one Troubleshoes episode (as far as i remember).

The only real gripe i have with it is that the whole arc seems to consist of only two parts: CMCs are obsessed with their own cutie mark -> CMCs learn that they'd rather care about others' cutie marks. For five seasons, that's not a lot to work with. It would have been good to have something in between. Maybe i have to rewatch all the CMC episodes to get more out of it, but i doubt it.

With all that said, it was still a great episode.

I hope that future CMC episodes are now actually properly affected by this change, unlike Twilight's episodes since the end of season 3. I want to see the CMCs follow up on this.

[Freewave]

I was bit shocked to see how this all turned out. In ways I'm glad Tiara won't be a consistent b*tch from now on (and I'm assuming Silver Spoon who was just tagging along) but the change was a bit too drastic and quick in the epsiode. As has been the case with a lot of Season 5 episodes I like the ideas behind what they did, just not how they often orchestrated key moments or the episode as a whole. Like the Big Mac episode, i like the last couple minutes but the rest were cringe-worthy. It's not even like a drag queen or transgender nod it's just a BAD plot point that didn't have to be a central part of the episode.

Was nice to have a block of Rarity episodes when season 4 had so little.

[Gnarrkhaz]

Like the Big Mac episode, i like the last couple minutes but the rest were cringe-worthy. It's not even like a drag queen or transgender nod it's just a BAD plot point that didn't have to be a central part of the episode.

I thought the fact that most ponies knew from the beginning that he was Big Mac in a dress but let him participate anyway was clever. In most other stories the disguise would have probably worked.

[ph00tbag]

Overall, I enjoyed the episode. The execution was choppy at points, primarily in the sense that the reasoning behind DT being a bitch kinda exculpated her, and just shifted all bad pony accusations to her mother. It wasn't really development. Regardless, we got some great pathos out of her internal conflict, and "Pony I Want to Be" was amazing. I do actually like the way the CMC got their cutie marks, and I think there's actually more in store for them now. In much the same way that Twilight getting wings opened up a whole world of options for where the story could go, this really opens up a lot of places for the CMC to go.

Those cutie marks are ugly af, though.

[CitricAcid]

Good episode yesterday, I'm just not a Pinkie fan, so meh.

I really wish Pinkie had told the truth at the end, rather than claiming that keeping the secret was a piece of cake.

Also what's with Shining's line about how "he's surprised she's been able to keep the secret for this long"? (I forget the exact quote.) The implication is that he didn't think she could keep the secret, in which case, why tell her?

Shining's freakout session in his childhood bedroom was unexpected but fun. I would like to see more of this variety of cut-away gag.

Oh, and my heart was warmed by the fact that Twilight referred to her brother's comics as mint-in-bag. She cares enough about her brother's interests to learn the jargon and express concern for them. That is amazing. Most siblings wouldn't bother to learn more than the surface level details like "my brother likes comics."

[Gnarrkhaz]

Oh, and my heart was warmed by the fact that Twilight referred to her brother's comics as mint-in-bag. She cares enough about her brother's interests to learn the jargon and express concern for them. That is amazing. Most siblings wouldn't bother to learn more than the surface level details like "my brother likes comics."

Yes, that was really a nice touch, now that you say it.

Is it possible that this was the first episode without much of a moral at the end? I can't really see one. Nothing was learned, really. That's a minus for me, if only because it's such a deviation from what's expected. Also, the whole shebang with Pinkie got a bit old after a while. Still, good episode.

Also, they're pumping out these big reveals as of late. What comes next? Spike becoming an adult (for real this time)?

[CitricAcid]

Scare master had my favorite moral ever. The whole "being good at something but not enjoying it" thing holds a special place in my heart. And I don't think I've ever seen it glorified quite like it was here. If it weren't for the plethora of embarrassing Fluttershy moments, I would have enjoyed the episode more.

When I saw the pony with the horse mask at the maze entrance, my thought was, "Aah! It's a brony!"

It took me a while to notice that the bat costume was a costume. I thought they had come up with a way to bring Flutterbat back.

[Gnarrkhaz]

I really enjoyed the interactions between Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy and Pinkie's reactions therein because they were surprisingly subtle.

[CitricAcid]

Today's episode was jumbo/LARGE. I'm still not a Discord fan, but this one was relatively enjoyable. I particularly liked the unexpected ironic ending. Not much else to say about it. I liked the way Fluttershy's hair squished when Discord hugged her; It reminded me of my plush. Elsewhere I saw someone commenting about new hair physics in the episode, so maybe they were right.

Oh and coincidentally, this episode aired on my long weekend, which I will inevitably spend holed up in my apartment, probably working on music.

[ph00tbag]

So it's about time someone resurrected this thread. I've been kinda all over the place trying to settle in fully at AIT with the Army, so I've neglected this thread.

But I have had some things I've liked and/or disliked about these last five episodes.

In the case of the premier, I first of all really liked Starlight's whole awkward reunion with Sunburst. It's a really relatable situation, because it's really easy to feel like you have to compare your life to the achievements of your childhood friends, and to feel like you haven't done as much. These feelings can be exponentially compounded in today's environment of social media. I know that one of my friends from high school is a doctor now. Meanwhile, I have two BA's a CCT cert, and am still a trainee in the US Army. I have my music, too, sure, but I really haven't achieved much in that. But the point of the episode is that comparing your achievements to those of your friends is pretty self-destructive, and can be disastrous for your relationship. You should take pride in your own achievements. Granted, that can be hard for Starlight Glimmer, but I think the important bit there is that she's here now, and she's doing what she can to help.

That it means we have a pretty heavily implied canon romantic ship between her and Sunburst is too much for me. Those two are fucking adorable.

Flurry Heart is literally the devil. Her birth signifies the end times. Just look at her eyes and tell me she didn't mean for any of this to happen. The ponies foiled her this time, but they can't be successful forever.

I did, however, like the implication that Luna and Celestia weren't born Alicorns. I never liked that part of Journal of the Two Sisters, anyway. I really liked how Flurry Heart just kinda gravitated toward Pinkie Pie in the seemingly arbitrary way babies have of selecting whom they hold fondness for. I also loved Celestia and Luna being actual badasses for once.

The Gift of the Maud Pie was a cute and fun little episode, although something about Pinkie only having one Party Cannon just seems off to me. This is a girl who has balls stashed all over Ponyville in case of ball emergencies. You mean to tell me she only ever invested in one Party Cannon? And you expect me to believe it? Also, why the hell did that pony from New Jersey (he most certainly was not a Manehattanite) find the Party Cannon so particularly enticing? I mean, is he secretly also some kind of Party Pony? I must know these things.

I can't wait to see more of Rarity's Manehattan location. I love how she's low key becoming a huge name in Equestrian Fashion, and it's kinda ho-hum for the rest of the Mane 6. Oftentimes, your own success can sneak up on you, especially if you take it one step at a time, because you'll have gotten used to the place you were by the time you take the next step. It's like that (probably false) maxim about boiling live frogs.

Can we just not have Bulk Biceps anymore? I really don't like the guy.

Outside of that, On Your Marks was a fun episode, and another of the ones that impressed by covering multiple topics at once. Your friendships don't have to be based on one thing, and it's best for their health if they are actually multidimensional. On the other hand, just because your friends have interests that don't really do it for you, doesn't mean you can't spend time together on the interests you do share. Finally, sometimes in order to fully embrace your talent, you have to face a couple fears.

On another thought, it was kinda cool to see the callback to Showstoppers in AB rather enjoying dance, despite being pretty terrible at it. I hate that the door has now been left wide open for underage shipping. I know this fandom will forever ruin this thing.

And in the case of Gauntlet of Fire, I think it can now be officially said that we have our first truly good Spike episode. Equestria Games got close, and has the distinction of being the first Spike episode that wasn't unequivocally bad, but Gauntlet was enjoyable, did some really impressive world-building, and taught a neat (if somewhat redundant, at this point) little lesson. Straight up, I think the key point to observe is that Spike was not really the protagonist, here, not from a Bildungsroman standpoint. Spike has always been at his most effective as a static character, who precociously "gets" the episode's lesson, without having to process it, and spends the episode wryly observing how obtuse his friends are for not being on the same page. Here, he's a surrogate educator, because Princess Ember would never have listened to Twilight before her story of growth (btw, Ember is the protagonist of this episode). It keeps Spike from breaking character, but still leaves him in a central role in the episode's plot.

I love how there was that little hint of politics in Twilight getting to know Dragon Lord (Lady?) Ember, and the explicit characterization of ponies and dragons as allies. Twilight be doin' princess shit up in this joint. I also loved how Spike got one in on Garble pretty hard. Personally, I don't see what would have been so bad for ponies, though, if that one dragon who wanted to make burps the official dragon greeting had won. I think Spike was overreacting there. Rarity is definitely super racist against dragons. Poor Spike. :[