As usual with these reviews, it will contain spoilers. Those of you who have not seen the latest episode yet, you have been warned.
The premise of this episode is that Spike has been given a position of responsibility while Twilight rests for an important event, leading to the young dragon letting the power go to his head.
Let me start this off by saying how great I think it is that we get yet another story that showcases how Twilight's ascension to the role of princess has had an impact on those around her. We got this a few times last year and it was always interesting to see, particularly in the episode "Twilight Time", wherein the Cutie Mark Crusaders let their closeness to Twilight affect them and lead them to making selfish decisions. As Spike is more-or-less their age, it makes sense that he would allow himself to go down a similar path especially since he's actually being given a position of power. Remember, this is not the first time he's been put on a pedestal. Back during "Equestria Games" he was given a position of great importance, and then, like now, he let that kind of authority go to his head, making him act in a way that, quite frankly, was inappropriate. Now, let me say right now that I want to like Spike's episodes, I really do. But, for the most part, they've never really grabbed me all that much. Only in the aforementioned EG episode did I ever really relate to him, given my own history with stage fright, and even then it wasn't that much of an entertaining episode for me. This one, by contrast, does a good job of showing what happens when someone with good intentions makes poor decisions to try and help others.
After all, we've seen many times before that Twilight?s opinion of him is, perhaps what matters most to him. Going all the way back to the show' first season, we see just how easily he gets worried when he thinks she's disappointed in him. And this fear of not wanting to let her down can be seen as a recurring theme in pretty much all of the episodes centred around him. And while I can't honestly say that I've loved any of his episode, I can at least appreciate this theme simply because of how relatable it is. I mean, let's face it, at the end of the day, it's a story of how a child is doing his best in a position of power to try and avoid having those around him feel like he's let them down, and I don?t think there's a single person out there that hasn't been in that position at least once in their life. On top of that, the episodes does a good job of showcasing just how stressful these kinds of responsibilities can be. Spike is, after all, representing one of Equestria's top leaders, and that kind of job is going to get very stressful very fast. That too can be seen as a recurring theme, and not just in episodes for Spike. Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, all these and more have had episodes where many people were counting on them and they let the tensions of their responsibilities get to them. And, yet again, that too can be a very relatable thing.
As with many episodes of its type, many of the story beats can be pretty easy to predict. As I've said before, I don't mind story ideas being repeated over and over as long as they try and do something new with them. And thankfully, that's what we get here. Just as one example, Twilight's usual need to keep things organized and proper is usually a source of great distress for her. But, this time, that distress is actually passed onto someone else, which was interesting to see. In addition to this, Spike's behaviour reminds me a great deal of "Secret of my Excess" in many ways. Now, at first, this wasn't a good thing, as that was one of my least favourite episodes of the show. Much like in that story, Spike starts of small with something that seems harmless, but then it spirals out of control and causes major problems for everyone else. However, I will give the character credit in that, at least at first, his actions were for the benefit of someone else, in this case Twilight. Seriously, the lengths Spike went to to make sure that his friend got the rest she deserved should be applauded, even if that was the only good thing to come from Spike?s long string of poor decisions in this episode.
Time to discuss the humour of the episode now and, in all honesty, this is something I wasn't really looking forward to. The reason for this is that Spike?s episodes, for the most part, haven't been that funny to me. That's not to say that there was nothing to laugh at, because there was here and there, but overall his stories, much like those of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, never managed to reach that same comedic level that a lot of other mlp episodes did. However, as I mentioned earlier, there was that element of seeing one of the main characters in a tense and stressful situation, which, as cruel as it may be to say, is a pretty funny thing when this show does it right. Twilight in "Lesson Zero", Rarity in "Suited for Success", Pinkie Pie in "To Many Pinkie Pies", this show has a long history of making funny situations out of things that, quite frankly, shouldn't be funny at all. And the same is true here, as seeing Spike in this position, growing increasingly worried about failing, does, at times, come across as being amusing. Thankfully, that isn't the only thing this episode has going for it in terms of comedy, as many other moments, mostly when the only one-shot ponies have to bicker amongst themselves, also managed to get a laugh out of me.
When it comes to songs, this week there's none, which is, as usual, a disappointment for me.
As for the moral of the week, this episode seems to have an overall message of not letting power go to your head. I think this is an important thing for children in particular to be taught, who may be under the impression that having power means that they can do whatever they want without consequence. And this episode shows the fine message of how, when you make big decisions that benefit yourself above others, that can lead to many problems for others down the line. In addition, there seems to be a general moral of how peoples working together can create a greater whole. This lesson I'm kind of on the fence about. On the one hand, it's a good one to teach, but, on the other, it was put in so late in the story that I didn't really feel it all that much throughout the rest of the episode like the first lesson was. So, while I can safely say that this episode does well in teaching some kind of lesson, I'd be lying if I said it was the best morals this show as tried to present.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, in all honesty, I knew right from the start that it was going to suffer, largely from having been aired immediately after last week's episode, "Slice of Life". Coming after an episode that well-paced and funny was always going to be a tough act, but, to the episode's credit, there were several elements I liked about it. It was good seeing Twilight?s role as a princess affect those around her, there were some decent comedic moments here and there, Spike trying to cope with his position was done in a believable manner and, above all, there was nothing overtly wrong with the way this story was carried out. However, even with all that I can't really say that I loved this episode. I certainly LIKED it, but I don't think there was anything here that's going to make me want to come back to it in the near future. I enjoyed watching it, and I recommend that others do too, but overall, I don't think this is one that really grabbed me as much as it could have done.
The premise of this episode is that Spike has been given a position of responsibility while Twilight rests for an important event, leading to the young dragon letting the power go to his head.
Let me start this off by saying how great I think it is that we get yet another story that showcases how Twilight's ascension to the role of princess has had an impact on those around her. We got this a few times last year and it was always interesting to see, particularly in the episode "Twilight Time", wherein the Cutie Mark Crusaders let their closeness to Twilight affect them and lead them to making selfish decisions. As Spike is more-or-less their age, it makes sense that he would allow himself to go down a similar path especially since he's actually being given a position of power. Remember, this is not the first time he's been put on a pedestal. Back during "Equestria Games" he was given a position of great importance, and then, like now, he let that kind of authority go to his head, making him act in a way that, quite frankly, was inappropriate. Now, let me say right now that I want to like Spike's episodes, I really do. But, for the most part, they've never really grabbed me all that much. Only in the aforementioned EG episode did I ever really relate to him, given my own history with stage fright, and even then it wasn't that much of an entertaining episode for me. This one, by contrast, does a good job of showing what happens when someone with good intentions makes poor decisions to try and help others.
After all, we've seen many times before that Twilight?s opinion of him is, perhaps what matters most to him. Going all the way back to the show' first season, we see just how easily he gets worried when he thinks she's disappointed in him. And this fear of not wanting to let her down can be seen as a recurring theme in pretty much all of the episodes centred around him. And while I can't honestly say that I've loved any of his episode, I can at least appreciate this theme simply because of how relatable it is. I mean, let's face it, at the end of the day, it's a story of how a child is doing his best in a position of power to try and avoid having those around him feel like he's let them down, and I don?t think there's a single person out there that hasn't been in that position at least once in their life. On top of that, the episodes does a good job of showcasing just how stressful these kinds of responsibilities can be. Spike is, after all, representing one of Equestria's top leaders, and that kind of job is going to get very stressful very fast. That too can be seen as a recurring theme, and not just in episodes for Spike. Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, all these and more have had episodes where many people were counting on them and they let the tensions of their responsibilities get to them. And, yet again, that too can be a very relatable thing.
As with many episodes of its type, many of the story beats can be pretty easy to predict. As I've said before, I don't mind story ideas being repeated over and over as long as they try and do something new with them. And thankfully, that's what we get here. Just as one example, Twilight's usual need to keep things organized and proper is usually a source of great distress for her. But, this time, that distress is actually passed onto someone else, which was interesting to see. In addition to this, Spike's behaviour reminds me a great deal of "Secret of my Excess" in many ways. Now, at first, this wasn't a good thing, as that was one of my least favourite episodes of the show. Much like in that story, Spike starts of small with something that seems harmless, but then it spirals out of control and causes major problems for everyone else. However, I will give the character credit in that, at least at first, his actions were for the benefit of someone else, in this case Twilight. Seriously, the lengths Spike went to to make sure that his friend got the rest she deserved should be applauded, even if that was the only good thing to come from Spike?s long string of poor decisions in this episode.
Time to discuss the humour of the episode now and, in all honesty, this is something I wasn't really looking forward to. The reason for this is that Spike?s episodes, for the most part, haven't been that funny to me. That's not to say that there was nothing to laugh at, because there was here and there, but overall his stories, much like those of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, never managed to reach that same comedic level that a lot of other mlp episodes did. However, as I mentioned earlier, there was that element of seeing one of the main characters in a tense and stressful situation, which, as cruel as it may be to say, is a pretty funny thing when this show does it right. Twilight in "Lesson Zero", Rarity in "Suited for Success", Pinkie Pie in "To Many Pinkie Pies", this show has a long history of making funny situations out of things that, quite frankly, shouldn't be funny at all. And the same is true here, as seeing Spike in this position, growing increasingly worried about failing, does, at times, come across as being amusing. Thankfully, that isn't the only thing this episode has going for it in terms of comedy, as many other moments, mostly when the only one-shot ponies have to bicker amongst themselves, also managed to get a laugh out of me.
When it comes to songs, this week there's none, which is, as usual, a disappointment for me.
As for the moral of the week, this episode seems to have an overall message of not letting power go to your head. I think this is an important thing for children in particular to be taught, who may be under the impression that having power means that they can do whatever they want without consequence. And this episode shows the fine message of how, when you make big decisions that benefit yourself above others, that can lead to many problems for others down the line. In addition, there seems to be a general moral of how peoples working together can create a greater whole. This lesson I'm kind of on the fence about. On the one hand, it's a good one to teach, but, on the other, it was put in so late in the story that I didn't really feel it all that much throughout the rest of the episode like the first lesson was. So, while I can safely say that this episode does well in teaching some kind of lesson, I'd be lying if I said it was the best morals this show as tried to present.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, in all honesty, I knew right from the start that it was going to suffer, largely from having been aired immediately after last week's episode, "Slice of Life". Coming after an episode that well-paced and funny was always going to be a tough act, but, to the episode's credit, there were several elements I liked about it. It was good seeing Twilight?s role as a princess affect those around her, there were some decent comedic moments here and there, Spike trying to cope with his position was done in a believable manner and, above all, there was nothing overtly wrong with the way this story was carried out. However, even with all that I can't really say that I loved this episode. I certainly LIKED it, but I don't think there was anything here that's going to make me want to come back to it in the near future. I enjoyed watching it, and I recommend that others do too, but overall, I don't think this is one that really grabbed me as much as it could have done.
