As usual with my reviews, it will contain spoilers. Those of you who have not seen the episode yet, you have been warned.
The premise of this story is that the CMC attempt to help their fellow classmate, Pipsqueak, run against Diamond Tiara to become class president.
Okay, as I said with my review last week, the episodes centring around the younger characters, such as the CMC, have always been something of a hit-an-miss situation for me. While I fully acknowledge that there have been plenty I enjoy, "Sleepless in Ponyville" and "Sisterhooves Social" being my favourites, I generally don?t think of them favourably when compared to the episodes starring the main six. That?s not to say I dislike these characters in any way, because I do like all three of them, but there's no getting around the fact that, to me, their episodes have always lagged behind the main stories of this series. However, whatever unenthusiastic things I?ve said about them in the past, I hereby take it all back, because, as far as I?m concerned, this is the absolute best episode to feature the child cast of this show. Seriously, the difference between this episode and others involving the children of Ponyville is staggering, although I?ll get into why I like it later on.
So, as you can tell from the premise, this episode features not only the CMC, but also Pipsqueak, a character that has made very brief appearances in the past, and yet remains a fairly memorable member of the younger cast. I often find myself liking the kid as a character, despite his minimal impact on most stories, so having him be more involved in the central story of an episode is a nice change of pace. The idea of having the class elect a president is an odd one for me. Not in the basic premise, as I've seen class president stories in many other cartoons before. No, the issue I have is how young they are when doing this. The schools I went to never really did this sort of thing, so maybe I'm just lacking in proper experience for it, but were class presidents ever made for groups of children THIS young? Because it seems like something that's a bit too far ahead of them. Plus, it strikes me as strange that it's in any way difficult for anyone to have a hard time running against Diamond. Given the way she's so often treated her classmates, any such election on her part should have been a failure right from the start, so actually having her with a chance of winning seriously undermines the credibility of the episode for me.
One of the biggest plus points in the episode for me was the character of Diamond Tiara. Right from her first appearance five years ago, she has been the typical schoolyard bully, picking on the CMC and generally being an antagonist. However, here, all of her behaviour is put in a new light. We understand immediately why she is the way she is just from her interactions with her mother. I?ve known a few bullies in my life and I can honestly say that a lot of their behaviour came from a poor family life. Diamond?s mother may not abuse her per se, but the expectations she puts on her, as well as the dismissive attitude she has for those she views as ?beneath her?, have clearly moulded Diamond into being someone who has been against everyone else in her life. She?s shown here to be a real character with depth, to the point where I cared about her more than I ever have in the entire rest of the series. Granted, some may view this change on her part as being too quick, but for me, the emotion of her transition shone through, and, quick or not, having her come to terms with herself and her new friendships just brought a smile to my face.
And now it?s time to get to the most important aspect of this episode; the Cutie Mark Crusaders FINALLY getting their cutie marks. When I first watched this episode, I was not expecting this to be the big finale of the story, so having it happen caught me completely off-guard. This is a story arc that has been running throughout the entire history of the show, and there were many times when I actually wondered if they were going to give it a conclusion like this. But now, they have, and when I look back, I can?t think of a more fitting way for it to happen. Having their talents be to help others realise THEIR place in life makes perfect sense when you look back at the past CMC episodes. Many of them have involved them aiding other characters in realising what they can do, like Troubleshoes earlier this season, so having THAT be their role in life suits them in a way that, frankly I didn?t see coming. If you were to tell me that this was the end goal for these characters right from their introduction back in season one, I would not be surprised.
When it comes to songs, this week we have an enormous amount to get through. This episode, at its heart, is a musical one, with a new song being given to us every couple of minutes. Now, I know I?ve gone on record in saying that I?ve lamented this season?s lack of songs, and I can?t help but think that this is the universe?s way of getting me to shut up about it, just giving me a dozen all at once. As for the songs themselves, there?s a very wide variety, from an upbeat montage number to more emotional songs and even something of a minor villain song. Each of them was nice to listen to, even though I wouldn?t really count them as among the best the series has given me. However, I will say that they?re easily the best CMC songs I?ve heard in a while, right up there with ?Hearts as strong as horses? from last season.
Onto the humour now, and much like last week, the jokes all centre around the members of the CMC. As I said before, their jokes haven't always hit the mark for me, but even in spite of this they do remain amusing characters on the whole, which often helps to prop up any episode they may star in. However, given everything that happens, humour and jokes actually take something of a backseat in this episode, instead giving way to the more emotional stuff that the characters are going through. Now, I?ve said many times in the past that episodes of this show don?t need to just be wall-to-wall jokes, and this episode right here proves that, sometimes, just having good character moments is more than enough to make a story worth watching. So yeah, not really as many funny moments to speak of, but when everything else is being done so well, that?s no bother for me.
As for the moral of the episode, this weeks it seems to be that there really isn?t one to speak of, at least not in the way that a lot of other MLP episodes have done. Granted, we do have a general lesson of helping others to realise what they can do with their lives, as shown by the CMC helping Diamond. But, we also get lessons of other sorts, from showing how a bully can be affected by their home life, how offering a friendship can be all they need to get themselves out of a bad place, and that, sometimes, helping others is a worthy life goal in and of itself. While none of these lessons take centre stage like a lot of other morals-of-the-day, every single one of them is nevertheless an important and worthwhile lesson in their own right. And put together, I think it?s safe to say that this episode has more to teach the younger members of the audience than perhaps any other episode focusing on the CMC.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Honestly, I loved it. In many ways, it reminded me of ?Magical Mystery Cure? from back in season three, with it?s constant musicals, a need to help your friends and ending in a massive shift for it?s central characters. But, besides that, the episode just had a lot going for it. The emotions felt genuine, I adored the new friendship between the CMC and their old rival, the music and songs were great to listen to and the whole thing just had a real heart-warming feel to it. The closing of the CMC?s quest to find their cutie marks will undoubtedly have a massive impact on any future episode they star in, but even so, they handled this in a masterful way. The revelation of their goals fits in perfectly with everything they?ve done, and it just brought a massive smile to my face to see this arc brought to a close in such an astonishing way. No joke, but this episode has so endeared itself to me that I now hold it as not only one of the best episodes of the season, but easily the best CMC episode I have ever seen.
And quite frankly, I cannot think of a better kind of story to cap off the show?s fifth anniversary. A story that I think even Lauren Faust herself would have been proud of. Here?s to many more years to come, and many more episodes like this one.
The premise of this story is that the CMC attempt to help their fellow classmate, Pipsqueak, run against Diamond Tiara to become class president.
Okay, as I said with my review last week, the episodes centring around the younger characters, such as the CMC, have always been something of a hit-an-miss situation for me. While I fully acknowledge that there have been plenty I enjoy, "Sleepless in Ponyville" and "Sisterhooves Social" being my favourites, I generally don?t think of them favourably when compared to the episodes starring the main six. That?s not to say I dislike these characters in any way, because I do like all three of them, but there's no getting around the fact that, to me, their episodes have always lagged behind the main stories of this series. However, whatever unenthusiastic things I?ve said about them in the past, I hereby take it all back, because, as far as I?m concerned, this is the absolute best episode to feature the child cast of this show. Seriously, the difference between this episode and others involving the children of Ponyville is staggering, although I?ll get into why I like it later on.
So, as you can tell from the premise, this episode features not only the CMC, but also Pipsqueak, a character that has made very brief appearances in the past, and yet remains a fairly memorable member of the younger cast. I often find myself liking the kid as a character, despite his minimal impact on most stories, so having him be more involved in the central story of an episode is a nice change of pace. The idea of having the class elect a president is an odd one for me. Not in the basic premise, as I've seen class president stories in many other cartoons before. No, the issue I have is how young they are when doing this. The schools I went to never really did this sort of thing, so maybe I'm just lacking in proper experience for it, but were class presidents ever made for groups of children THIS young? Because it seems like something that's a bit too far ahead of them. Plus, it strikes me as strange that it's in any way difficult for anyone to have a hard time running against Diamond. Given the way she's so often treated her classmates, any such election on her part should have been a failure right from the start, so actually having her with a chance of winning seriously undermines the credibility of the episode for me.
One of the biggest plus points in the episode for me was the character of Diamond Tiara. Right from her first appearance five years ago, she has been the typical schoolyard bully, picking on the CMC and generally being an antagonist. However, here, all of her behaviour is put in a new light. We understand immediately why she is the way she is just from her interactions with her mother. I?ve known a few bullies in my life and I can honestly say that a lot of their behaviour came from a poor family life. Diamond?s mother may not abuse her per se, but the expectations she puts on her, as well as the dismissive attitude she has for those she views as ?beneath her?, have clearly moulded Diamond into being someone who has been against everyone else in her life. She?s shown here to be a real character with depth, to the point where I cared about her more than I ever have in the entire rest of the series. Granted, some may view this change on her part as being too quick, but for me, the emotion of her transition shone through, and, quick or not, having her come to terms with herself and her new friendships just brought a smile to my face.
And now it?s time to get to the most important aspect of this episode; the Cutie Mark Crusaders FINALLY getting their cutie marks. When I first watched this episode, I was not expecting this to be the big finale of the story, so having it happen caught me completely off-guard. This is a story arc that has been running throughout the entire history of the show, and there were many times when I actually wondered if they were going to give it a conclusion like this. But now, they have, and when I look back, I can?t think of a more fitting way for it to happen. Having their talents be to help others realise THEIR place in life makes perfect sense when you look back at the past CMC episodes. Many of them have involved them aiding other characters in realising what they can do, like Troubleshoes earlier this season, so having THAT be their role in life suits them in a way that, frankly I didn?t see coming. If you were to tell me that this was the end goal for these characters right from their introduction back in season one, I would not be surprised.
When it comes to songs, this week we have an enormous amount to get through. This episode, at its heart, is a musical one, with a new song being given to us every couple of minutes. Now, I know I?ve gone on record in saying that I?ve lamented this season?s lack of songs, and I can?t help but think that this is the universe?s way of getting me to shut up about it, just giving me a dozen all at once. As for the songs themselves, there?s a very wide variety, from an upbeat montage number to more emotional songs and even something of a minor villain song. Each of them was nice to listen to, even though I wouldn?t really count them as among the best the series has given me. However, I will say that they?re easily the best CMC songs I?ve heard in a while, right up there with ?Hearts as strong as horses? from last season.
Onto the humour now, and much like last week, the jokes all centre around the members of the CMC. As I said before, their jokes haven't always hit the mark for me, but even in spite of this they do remain amusing characters on the whole, which often helps to prop up any episode they may star in. However, given everything that happens, humour and jokes actually take something of a backseat in this episode, instead giving way to the more emotional stuff that the characters are going through. Now, I?ve said many times in the past that episodes of this show don?t need to just be wall-to-wall jokes, and this episode right here proves that, sometimes, just having good character moments is more than enough to make a story worth watching. So yeah, not really as many funny moments to speak of, but when everything else is being done so well, that?s no bother for me.
As for the moral of the episode, this weeks it seems to be that there really isn?t one to speak of, at least not in the way that a lot of other MLP episodes have done. Granted, we do have a general lesson of helping others to realise what they can do with their lives, as shown by the CMC helping Diamond. But, we also get lessons of other sorts, from showing how a bully can be affected by their home life, how offering a friendship can be all they need to get themselves out of a bad place, and that, sometimes, helping others is a worthy life goal in and of itself. While none of these lessons take centre stage like a lot of other morals-of-the-day, every single one of them is nevertheless an important and worthwhile lesson in their own right. And put together, I think it?s safe to say that this episode has more to teach the younger members of the audience than perhaps any other episode focusing on the CMC.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Honestly, I loved it. In many ways, it reminded me of ?Magical Mystery Cure? from back in season three, with it?s constant musicals, a need to help your friends and ending in a massive shift for it?s central characters. But, besides that, the episode just had a lot going for it. The emotions felt genuine, I adored the new friendship between the CMC and their old rival, the music and songs were great to listen to and the whole thing just had a real heart-warming feel to it. The closing of the CMC?s quest to find their cutie marks will undoubtedly have a massive impact on any future episode they star in, but even so, they handled this in a masterful way. The revelation of their goals fits in perfectly with everything they?ve done, and it just brought a massive smile to my face to see this arc brought to a close in such an astonishing way. No joke, but this episode has so endeared itself to me that I now hold it as not only one of the best episodes of the season, but easily the best CMC episode I have ever seen.
And quite frankly, I cannot think of a better kind of story to cap off the show?s fifth anniversary. A story that I think even Lauren Faust herself would have been proud of. Here?s to many more years to come, and many more episodes like this one.
