As with all my reviews, this one will contain spoilers. Those of you who have not seen the episode yet, you have been warned.
The premise of this episode is that Discord tries to show that he's not jealous when Fluttershy decides to take a different friend to the Grand Galloping Gala.
Okay, I?ll be upfront about this. This is an episode I've both been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. First and foremost, we need to establish that this is a largely Discord-centric episode. Now, long-time readers of my reviews will know by now that I've had a dislike of this character ever since he first showed up in season two. His brand of humour never appealed to me, nor did the constant way in which he annoyed the other characters. As such, any episode featuring him always had kind of a handicap as far as I was concerned. It's something that's been driven home all the more when he turned into a full-on traitor in the last season. I know the characters themselves may have forgiven him, but let's just say that I myself still have some bitterness towards this character for it. However, before anyone jumps down my throat on this matter, let me say that none of this is to do with the actor, John De Lancie. He's a great performer and puts his best effort into whatever role he does, including this one. So whatever I may have to say about Discord, please know that, as far as Lancie is concerned, I have nothing but respect for the guy.
But yeah, having this be a Discord episode does hamper it somewhat for me, although there is one other thing to it that made me rather apprehensive, and that's the fact that it was written by Natasha Levinger. This is not someone who has done MLP stories that often, in fact, she's only done two others, "Pinkie Apple Pie" and "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies". Now, I'm sure she's doing her best here, and I'm sure she's a talented writer, because I doubt she'd have been hired if she wasn't. But, if I'm being perfectly honest, neither of those two episodes were ones I'd consider all-time greats, even if they did have their moments. And, again, if I'm being honest, this episode also falls somewhat short for me. Firstly, the fact that we're bringing out the tired "jealous boyfriend" trope for Discord's character is not something that appeals to me. I know I've gone on record as saying I don?t mind re-used story ideas if they do something new with it, and this just doesn't. Secondly, they're revisiting the scenario of the Grand Galloping Gala for this episode. Not only does it bug me that the main six would be willing to go back there after their last visit, but that in itself bothers me since it drudges up memories of that first GGG episode, which wasn't one I really regard all that highly.
However, before this gets too overly negative, let me say that there were some things about this episode that I did find interesting. Firstly, there's the relationship between Discord and Fluttershy. Despite my reservations about his character, I will say that I've found it continually fascinating to see him try and form relationships as, to be frank, he is someone who never even HAD relationships before the main six got to him. And since Fluttershy is the pony he has the best connection with, it's understandable that he would get jealous when her attention is diverted elsewhere. And, like I said before, Mr De Lancie gives his usual acting chops here, portraying Discord just right in this scenario. Plus, this is the first episode where we get to see Discord in a post-betrayal situation, where ponies have to interact with him after his turn to the dark side last season. Granted, I don't think they went into that issue as much as they could have done, and truly I think a high-class function like this is probably the last place he'd be wanted, but even so, it's interesting.
And then we have our special and super-hyped guest character, the Smooze. Now, I'll be honest here, when the trailers and animatics started coming out for this episode, I kept hearing people go on and on about this character, and how excited they were for it. I myself couldn't really understand it all so, after a while, I relented and did some background research to find out more about this person. Turns out it's the return of a character from the old G1 cartoon from the 80's, the second such return of a character (aside from the main ponies obviously) since Tirek. However, when compared to that aforementioned villain, the Smooze doesn't really do much for me. It's pretty much a stand-in for the classic sci-fi monster the Blob, causing trouble wherever it goes. There's not much else to its character beyond Discord trying to play into the whole jealousy thing, no real personality to latch on to and like. So while I appreciate that long-time MLP fans may get a kick out of seeing this thing here, as for me personally, consider me unenthused
There were, however, two things that really struck me regarding the characters here. Firstly, there is Discord's ultimate reaction to Tree Hugger, namely his willingness to banish her to another dimension because of how frustrated he was with her. This right here is full-on villain behaviour, something the other character are ready to leap into action to stop him for. And yet, even after Fluttershy calms him, they go back to acting as friends. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't sit right with me. I know he was frustrated, but that's no excuse for what he almost did here. And that makes it, by my counting anyway, the third time he's slipped back into his old ways. I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt and letting them have a second chance, but if it takes so little for Discord to return to that kind of villainous behaviour, then it just boggles my mind that the ponies are so quick to keep him as a friend afterwards.
Secondly, there was Celestia. Now, I?ll go on record here in saying that I think it's nice that we finally get to see her this season. However, her ultimate revelation that she invited Discord for the sole reason that she knew he'd cause trouble and liven things up is just wrong to me. First of all, it's pretty much a repeat of what she did in the first season, inviting people with the intent of causing havoc, which in her mind apparently makes things more exciting. Now, I?m all for dreary things being livened up, but just think of how much stress this put everybody else under. Twilight was a nervous wreck at the prospect of her carefully-planned party going to hell like that, and everyone else was terrified when the Smooze went on a rampage. We even had a small child utterly traumatized by that creepy door moment. To top it all off, Celestia's own power was hindered by that ooze, which means that, had it not been for Tree Hugger, there was no way her "brilliant" plan could have been resolved. I like Celestia, I really do, but her plan here was just really irresponsible.
And then, at last, we have Tree Hugger herself. Now, I more-or-less like her as a character, since she was fundamentally helpful and tried to get along with everybody. She was never antagonistic to anyone, not even Discord, and everyone else seemed to like her okay. But it does strike me as odd is her general demeanour. Now, I know this is a kid's show, and it's very unlikely that they'd ever do anything too adult. And yet, when I see this character, the only thing I can think of whenever she speak is "she's on drugs or something". I know that sounds extreme, but let's face it, everybody who watches this is going to think the same thing. I don't know if this was perhaps a communication error between the writers and voice actress, or whether this was a complete accident, but if it wasn't, and they did indeed intend for her to be like this, then all I've got to say is...wow.
As for the songs, this week there's none to speak of.
Time to talk about comedy now and this week, as you might expect, the jokes and funny moments were largely based on Discord and his various antics. Now, much like the character himself, the jokes that come from him tend to be very hit-and-miss for me. A lot of the time, his humour has been very self-serving, amusing himself while everyone around him is just made uncomfortable by it. And the same is true here. While Mr De Lancie is obviously doing his comic best to pull these jokes off, I just never found them funny. However, that's not to say there is zero humour to be found here. On the contrary, as the interactions of the other characters more than makes up for it. Pinkie Pie, as usual, is an absolute riot whenever she's on screen, and some of the characters reactions to having the Smooze around the whole time was just priceless. It's the old "thing-you-don't-expect-at-a-fancy-party" trope that actually works in the episode?s favour.
When it comes to the moral of the story, this week it seems to be that you shouldn't let the idea of your friends gaining other friends bother you. It?s a pretty basic lesson, pretty much saying not to let jealousy get the better of you. As far as morals go, it's about as ordinary as MLP gets, which I suppose is understandable, given that, as previously mentioned, Discord is new to this whole thing, so it makes sense that the lessons he'd have to learn would be pretty basic. Nothing really wrong with that, it's just that it's been done before in other MLP episodes, and done better, most notably back in season one, where Pinkie was trying to cope with Rainbow's friendship with Gilda. Still, it was done fine here.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, as you've probably guessed by now, this is not a story that I was all that enamoured by. Now, I did not go into this story wanting to dislike it, and to be perfectly clear, I didn't. As I've said a couple of times before now, De Lancie puts his all into this performance, and portrays the character of Discord exactly how I would expect him to under these circumstances. The relationship between him and Fluttershy felt genuine and gave the episode a real heart at the core of it all. And, as I said, there were several amusing moments for me to latch onto and enjoy. However, the story as a whole didn't really do anything interesting enough for me to really love it all that much. The regular characters were just as entertaining as ever, and seeing them behave in their various ways around Discord was enjoyable. And again, it's clear that this was an episode that the people behind it were putting real effort into, both on the writing and animation side of things. However, in spite of that, this is another episode that, much like the one we got two weeks ago, isn't one I'll be revisiting anytime soon. I'm glad I watched it this time around, but I think that's all I'm willing to give it.
The premise of this episode is that Discord tries to show that he's not jealous when Fluttershy decides to take a different friend to the Grand Galloping Gala.
Okay, I?ll be upfront about this. This is an episode I've both been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. First and foremost, we need to establish that this is a largely Discord-centric episode. Now, long-time readers of my reviews will know by now that I've had a dislike of this character ever since he first showed up in season two. His brand of humour never appealed to me, nor did the constant way in which he annoyed the other characters. As such, any episode featuring him always had kind of a handicap as far as I was concerned. It's something that's been driven home all the more when he turned into a full-on traitor in the last season. I know the characters themselves may have forgiven him, but let's just say that I myself still have some bitterness towards this character for it. However, before anyone jumps down my throat on this matter, let me say that none of this is to do with the actor, John De Lancie. He's a great performer and puts his best effort into whatever role he does, including this one. So whatever I may have to say about Discord, please know that, as far as Lancie is concerned, I have nothing but respect for the guy.
But yeah, having this be a Discord episode does hamper it somewhat for me, although there is one other thing to it that made me rather apprehensive, and that's the fact that it was written by Natasha Levinger. This is not someone who has done MLP stories that often, in fact, she's only done two others, "Pinkie Apple Pie" and "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies". Now, I'm sure she's doing her best here, and I'm sure she's a talented writer, because I doubt she'd have been hired if she wasn't. But, if I'm being perfectly honest, neither of those two episodes were ones I'd consider all-time greats, even if they did have their moments. And, again, if I'm being honest, this episode also falls somewhat short for me. Firstly, the fact that we're bringing out the tired "jealous boyfriend" trope for Discord's character is not something that appeals to me. I know I've gone on record as saying I don?t mind re-used story ideas if they do something new with it, and this just doesn't. Secondly, they're revisiting the scenario of the Grand Galloping Gala for this episode. Not only does it bug me that the main six would be willing to go back there after their last visit, but that in itself bothers me since it drudges up memories of that first GGG episode, which wasn't one I really regard all that highly.
However, before this gets too overly negative, let me say that there were some things about this episode that I did find interesting. Firstly, there's the relationship between Discord and Fluttershy. Despite my reservations about his character, I will say that I've found it continually fascinating to see him try and form relationships as, to be frank, he is someone who never even HAD relationships before the main six got to him. And since Fluttershy is the pony he has the best connection with, it's understandable that he would get jealous when her attention is diverted elsewhere. And, like I said before, Mr De Lancie gives his usual acting chops here, portraying Discord just right in this scenario. Plus, this is the first episode where we get to see Discord in a post-betrayal situation, where ponies have to interact with him after his turn to the dark side last season. Granted, I don't think they went into that issue as much as they could have done, and truly I think a high-class function like this is probably the last place he'd be wanted, but even so, it's interesting.
And then we have our special and super-hyped guest character, the Smooze. Now, I'll be honest here, when the trailers and animatics started coming out for this episode, I kept hearing people go on and on about this character, and how excited they were for it. I myself couldn't really understand it all so, after a while, I relented and did some background research to find out more about this person. Turns out it's the return of a character from the old G1 cartoon from the 80's, the second such return of a character (aside from the main ponies obviously) since Tirek. However, when compared to that aforementioned villain, the Smooze doesn't really do much for me. It's pretty much a stand-in for the classic sci-fi monster the Blob, causing trouble wherever it goes. There's not much else to its character beyond Discord trying to play into the whole jealousy thing, no real personality to latch on to and like. So while I appreciate that long-time MLP fans may get a kick out of seeing this thing here, as for me personally, consider me unenthused
There were, however, two things that really struck me regarding the characters here. Firstly, there is Discord's ultimate reaction to Tree Hugger, namely his willingness to banish her to another dimension because of how frustrated he was with her. This right here is full-on villain behaviour, something the other character are ready to leap into action to stop him for. And yet, even after Fluttershy calms him, they go back to acting as friends. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't sit right with me. I know he was frustrated, but that's no excuse for what he almost did here. And that makes it, by my counting anyway, the third time he's slipped back into his old ways. I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt and letting them have a second chance, but if it takes so little for Discord to return to that kind of villainous behaviour, then it just boggles my mind that the ponies are so quick to keep him as a friend afterwards.
Secondly, there was Celestia. Now, I?ll go on record here in saying that I think it's nice that we finally get to see her this season. However, her ultimate revelation that she invited Discord for the sole reason that she knew he'd cause trouble and liven things up is just wrong to me. First of all, it's pretty much a repeat of what she did in the first season, inviting people with the intent of causing havoc, which in her mind apparently makes things more exciting. Now, I?m all for dreary things being livened up, but just think of how much stress this put everybody else under. Twilight was a nervous wreck at the prospect of her carefully-planned party going to hell like that, and everyone else was terrified when the Smooze went on a rampage. We even had a small child utterly traumatized by that creepy door moment. To top it all off, Celestia's own power was hindered by that ooze, which means that, had it not been for Tree Hugger, there was no way her "brilliant" plan could have been resolved. I like Celestia, I really do, but her plan here was just really irresponsible.
And then, at last, we have Tree Hugger herself. Now, I more-or-less like her as a character, since she was fundamentally helpful and tried to get along with everybody. She was never antagonistic to anyone, not even Discord, and everyone else seemed to like her okay. But it does strike me as odd is her general demeanour. Now, I know this is a kid's show, and it's very unlikely that they'd ever do anything too adult. And yet, when I see this character, the only thing I can think of whenever she speak is "she's on drugs or something". I know that sounds extreme, but let's face it, everybody who watches this is going to think the same thing. I don't know if this was perhaps a communication error between the writers and voice actress, or whether this was a complete accident, but if it wasn't, and they did indeed intend for her to be like this, then all I've got to say is...wow.
As for the songs, this week there's none to speak of.
Time to talk about comedy now and this week, as you might expect, the jokes and funny moments were largely based on Discord and his various antics. Now, much like the character himself, the jokes that come from him tend to be very hit-and-miss for me. A lot of the time, his humour has been very self-serving, amusing himself while everyone around him is just made uncomfortable by it. And the same is true here. While Mr De Lancie is obviously doing his comic best to pull these jokes off, I just never found them funny. However, that's not to say there is zero humour to be found here. On the contrary, as the interactions of the other characters more than makes up for it. Pinkie Pie, as usual, is an absolute riot whenever she's on screen, and some of the characters reactions to having the Smooze around the whole time was just priceless. It's the old "thing-you-don't-expect-at-a-fancy-party" trope that actually works in the episode?s favour.
When it comes to the moral of the story, this week it seems to be that you shouldn't let the idea of your friends gaining other friends bother you. It?s a pretty basic lesson, pretty much saying not to let jealousy get the better of you. As far as morals go, it's about as ordinary as MLP gets, which I suppose is understandable, given that, as previously mentioned, Discord is new to this whole thing, so it makes sense that the lessons he'd have to learn would be pretty basic. Nothing really wrong with that, it's just that it's been done before in other MLP episodes, and done better, most notably back in season one, where Pinkie was trying to cope with Rainbow's friendship with Gilda. Still, it was done fine here.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, as you've probably guessed by now, this is not a story that I was all that enamoured by. Now, I did not go into this story wanting to dislike it, and to be perfectly clear, I didn't. As I've said a couple of times before now, De Lancie puts his all into this performance, and portrays the character of Discord exactly how I would expect him to under these circumstances. The relationship between him and Fluttershy felt genuine and gave the episode a real heart at the core of it all. And, as I said, there were several amusing moments for me to latch onto and enjoy. However, the story as a whole didn't really do anything interesting enough for me to really love it all that much. The regular characters were just as entertaining as ever, and seeing them behave in their various ways around Discord was enjoyable. And again, it's clear that this was an episode that the people behind it were putting real effort into, both on the writing and animation side of things. However, in spite of that, this is another episode that, much like the one we got two weeks ago, isn't one I'll be revisiting anytime soon. I'm glad I watched it this time around, but I think that's all I'm willing to give it.
