I wan to open this by saying, in regards to Amy Keating Rogers and last week's episode, I'm greatly troubled to see how people reacted in such an extreme way towards Ms. Rogers. Regardless of how well she writes her episodes of the characters, she did not deserve the treatment she got, nor should anyone have to go through what she did. Because of that, I'm finally going to get a Twitter account an apologize for the actions of my fellow Bronies and give her my condolences...
HOWEVER!
I will also make it clear that, despite the extreme reaction being uncalled for, she DID poorly write Pinkie Pie in such a way that created such a reaction. I'm not saying she had it coming, not at all, I'm saying that there's a reason for everything, and I think it's clear that a lot of people, myself included, didn't like how Pinkie Pie acted in Filli Vanilli. Speaking only for myself, I've never been a fan of Pinkie's innocent insensitivity, but the levels in which she went to in Filli Vanilli is easily the worst I've ever seen from Pinkie Pie, even worse then my previous most-hated Pinkie moment, that being when she stalked and pestered Cranky Doodle Donkey at the end of A Friend in Deed. And I honestly don't care if people actually found Pinkie funny, or if they can somehow justify it, the fact of the matter is I don't want to see this happen again, and I want Amy Keating Rogers to realize this and not dismiss all the criticisms at the episode as blind hatred. What I'm getting at is, I sympathize, even empathize with her a bit, but I also want her to grow into a better, more skilled writer in the process.
...And that nicely ties into this episode and Dave Polsky. Dave Polsky recently stated on Twitter that he's trying his hardest to get rid of his status as the most controversial writer for the show. And as much I don't care for him as a writer, I can't really blame him, because while I outright despise his first two episode, a lot of his more recent episodes seem to be trying to be good but still somehow manage to be controversial; Too Many Pinkie Pies had a questionable method of getting rid of all the Pinkie clones, Spike At Your Service had a cliched plot that came at the expect of Spike's character, Keep Calm and Flutter On... oy vey... Games Ponies Play had a plot that could easily be resolved in 5 seconds tops, and a resolution that made no sense, Daring Don't made a previously thought to be fictional character "real", and Rarity Takes Manehatten had ponies not acknowledge Twilight was a princess... Ironic, since this episode seems to be all about Twilight's princesshood.
Let me get this right off the bat: no, I didn't like the episode. Which is not to say that it's bad, I just really didn't care for it. See, that's the thing about me, I try to acknowledge when something is good or bad, or just not for me personally. I'm sure from a technical standpoint, it's decent, and I'm sure many people could get some enjoyment out of it... I didn't. I honestly don't want to argue about it, because lord knows I've argued too much lately. In fact, what I said at the beginning is kind of why I won't be as in-depth this time around. I doubt I would have liked it anyway, even if the whole AKR Pinkie fiasco didn't happen, but it certainly didn't help, either. Anyway, let's get to this...
Firstly, Claire Corlett'a voice has definitely gotten deeper, and it's kind of distracting, since Madeleine Peters and Michelle Creber sound normal/like they always have. I'm sure I'll get used to it, thought.
Secondly, Diamond Tiara is a bitch. I don't like her in this episode, I hate her shallow personality, but I get that's the "joke", and that's all there is to her character, so fuck it. It's not like she's going to be going away anytime soon, since she's an easy-up for a writer to use a bitchy character to say and do obviously mean things, so I don't feel the need to complain about it. It DOES make me wonder why the CMC would ever want to be in her good graces, though.
Third... so ponies are finally acknowledging that Twilight's a princess now... Strange that they only seem to notice it now when she's been living in Ponyville AS a princess for quite some time. Maybe it's because the CMC brought it up, and just thought she was untouchable or something... Still, they act like like she JUST came into town, which I find confusing from a continuity perspective. I'm sure some guy will say that this season isn't happening in chronological order or some shit, but it doesn't help me make sense of it or enjoy this. I also hate how Diamond Tiara didn't seem to care that Twilight was Celestia's personal student and saved Equestria on multiple occasions but only cares now that she's a princess. But she's a bitch, so fuck it. I guess it's cool that the CMC don't see studying with Twilight as that big of a deal, since they've known Twilight for a long time, so I'll give them that.
Fourth, Pipsqueak's back... That's cool, I guess. Eh...
Fifth, what was up with Twilight pigging out at that fast food restaurant? I know she said she didn't realize how hungry she was and that she hadn't been there in a while, but still, it comes out of nowhere... It feels like it's trying too hard for a joke, and I believe I've said this at some point before, but I don't find the jokes in MLP:FiM that funny, especially when Dave Polsky is attempting humor.
Sixth, Pinkie shows up... that's cute, I suppose. I feel like Dave Polsky "gets" Pinkie Pie better then most of the other writers. Which is not to say he hasn't written Pinkie Pie in a way that annoys me before, but compared to everyone else, he seems to really nail Pinkie more often then not.
Seventh, so when the cat's out of the bag, the CMC are humiliated when they try to use what they learned from Twilight and fail, causing Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and everypony else to laugh at them. While I did like how Twilight smugly said that they didn't come here to learn anything either, it still felt so unsatisfying seeing Diamond Tiara get away with just that. I seriously hate how one-note she is, in addition to the fact that I hate her personality in general. But here's the really stupid thing, when the CMC say they're sorry and leave, the successfully pull off what they learned from Twilight! So what was wrong with them before?! I guess it was to show that they HAVE learned, but... God damn, it just makes no sense to me, and I'm sure you can justify or find reasons to like it, but no, to me, these feels awkward, and it really breaks the flow, especially when the episode stops to show that they DID learn a thing or two in-between saying they're sorry. But I'm sure someone will reply to this part, state reasons why this makes sense, or that they don't have a problem with it, and I'll look all the dumber for not liking it. Sometimes, I don't even know why I talk...
Eighth, I probably should have mentioned this sooner, but I like that Sweetie Belle is learning how to use magic, it's adorable. The other CMC are probably doing something that could fit to their special talents, but that's all pointless, since we know that Apple Bloom is good at building stuff, Sweetie Belle is good at singing, and Scootaloo is good with her scooter, so... uh, nevermind. Also, it really doesn't make sense now, seeing a unicorn as old as Sweetie Belle use magic, but seeing Pumpkin Cake use magic with ease. I still somehow accept it, despite being a major lapse in continuity and logic, but this really doesn't help things.
Nineth, so Spike is the butt of jokes again. At least this time it's in a more understandable/acceptable light; Spike makes nachos, sees a lot of ponies come in, goes to make more nachos, and when he comes back, everypony left. Definitely the lightest case of Spike abuse this season, and one I'm able to tolerate more. Still, much like Pinkie's personality, I hope the writers don't mess these things up in future seasons.
Tenth, so the CMC are going to continue "Twilight Time", but are doing it in "secret" with disguises... why? Everypony already thinks their losers for not using their Twilight Time properly, plus this time they can just say no if anypony wants to join in. Eh, not really a comaplaint, but I thought it was dumb.
And I guess that's it. I didn't find the episode funny, I didn't like Diamond Tiara, who took up a lot of screentime in this episode and is the primary motivations for why the CMC did what they did, which again, why try to appease Diamond Tiara, they should know better by now!? But like I said, I'm not being very analytical here, I'm just stating my immediate thoughts on the episode. I doubt it'll get better the more I look into it, because Diamond Tiara is still thee, but I'm sure it's not as bad as I just made it out to be.
Well... here's hoping Fluttershy can cheer me up next week... and that the Breezies aren't as bad as Pinkie.
No comments:
Post a Comment