Power ponies HOOOO!
In this week’s installment of MLP: FIM, we see what is thought to be the very first concept episode of the show, and in a sense, it is. However, it does have a few flaws that sets it back from being amazing.
Let me just say, like it or not, this episode will definitely be remembered as it is a massive departure from the norm of the show. We have the characters being transported into a comic universe to pretty much “finish” the story, and defeat the Mane-iac… yes… yes… two “mane” puns this season so far!
The episode is pretty much surrounded around Spike, whom is Twilight sparkles little baby dragon assistant. And he, as hinted at in the beginning of the episode, gets turned into the “comic relief” sidekick whom is fairly incompetent. Half of me felt that the show was poking fun of the way they have been treating spike these past few episodes… and I guess this is sort of their “hey look, we are fixing it!” episode.
That’s a bit disappointing in the sense that they should not have an episode like this focus on one specific character, but instead on the fun aspects. I couldn’t care less whether spike is feeling down when the entire city is at risk!
But, nevertheless, they focus on spike trying to be competent. I’m just glad they didn’t completely make him dominate the episode, and act as sort of the “hound master” releasing the superheroes from their cages and letting them beat up the villians.
The best moment in this episode stemmed from the pure physical gag that is Fluttershy turning into a hulk, and beating up the giant hairdryer weapon of mass destruction. This made me cry from laughter, and was most definitely the highlight.
Apart from that, most of the humor was physical, instead of referential or anything… which is and understandable and silly place to take a show which need not stray from its target demographic. I’d of still loved to see some more superhero references, but who knows, maybe I’m just missing a lot!
Let me just say that this episode was not bad, it wasn’t even mediocre, it was actually very good! It did not have squandered potential like last week’s episode, so it was automatically a step ahead for me, entertainment wise.
Sure it was somewhat rushed, and not as well told… but it was simply more fun. I still find a “fun only” episode like ‘Daring Don’t’ to be better, but this one still held its ground. We some nice action, great dialogue, splendid voice acting from the psychotic villain, and the unexpected use of the word “dementia” in a children’s show! (I was actually REALLY surprised by this!)
Overall, it was a worthy and solid installment of this TV-Show, only hindered by a few pacing flaws and an unnecessary focus on a character that majorly detracted from the “epic” feel this episode tried to provide. I can’t complain though, we had ponies dressed up as superheroes!
Grade: B
awkwardreviews 
I’ll just copy paste my thoughts I posted on Equestria Daily. In hindsight, they’re kinda harsh, but I’ll post them anyway. Flutterhulk was the highlight of the episode for me, and I too was surprised that they used the word dementia:
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I didn’t like it, to be honest. I’ve never found the fight scenes in MLP that memorable, and this is no exception. The only thing that really stuck in my mind was the tornado and Applejack lassoing some ponies. I’ve also never had a big interest in superheroes. I’ve seen a few superhero movies, and like them okay, but I’ve never understood the current cultural obsession with them, and this episode just seems like a gimmicky attempt to please superhero fans (maybe superhero fans like it more?).
I was excited at the prospect of getting to see Maretropolis and some unique set pieces, but all we get are very brief glimpses. Very humdrum, I have to say. (see what I did there?) The characters didn’t interact in any interesting ways, there was an overabundance of expository dialogue that I think could’ve been written more cleverly (a problem I’ve been noticing with the show lately), and the book being enchanted felt like a cop out.
I think I would’ve liked the episode more if it took place in Spike’s dream, and all of the characters and backgrounds were redesigned to make the dream emulate the style of a real comic – the MLP comics, perhaps. I mean, if they’re gonna try something different, they might as well go all the way with it. If nothing else, it would’ve given the episode a more memorable and distinct feel. In my opinion, the show works best when it does slice of life episodes. Flight of the Finish was great. More of that, please.
My grade: C+
*Flight to the Finish. Even when I really try, I still fuck up my writing. English is my best subject, damn it! XD
I was fine with this episode, though it did have noticeable flaws. Time, like you said, was one of them. The writers said they were trying to give a 90’s feel to the episode which I have to commend them for attempting.
I just saw a lot of missed opportunities in this episode. One of the biggest being Rarity, and I’m not just saying that since she’s my fav. When your villain is a pony who runs a shampoo factory and has a super powered mane you’d think that Rarity would at least make some remark. Nothing, which kinda disappointed me but meh, what can you do? I would of also liked to have seen the powers show cased a little more instead just being a bit rushed throughout the episode.
I was actually fine with the villain and the mane 6’s super hero designs. The villain being the Joker’s back story and Doc Ock’s powers actually made her fun to watch. Her hipster henchmen, or hench ponies as the case may be, were also pretty creative. I liked how they ranged from having different appearances to being the same character model, it helped give them that henchmen feel.
With this episode I found that the writers are retreading old morals already established before. Spike having self esteem issues kind of confused me. How could he feel he was useless? Did he forget that he defeated an evil unicorn king and saved an empire alongside a princess? I’ll just right this off since it is a kid show. Also the self esteem conflict that he was having having was, in a way, identical to Twilight’s problem in the Season 3 premier.
Overall it was an odd but non the less fun episode. Definitely could of been better but that goes without saying for almost everything. Watching this episode did sorta give me a nostalgic feeling, all those Saturday mornings of watching cartoons and Power Rangers entered my mind.
It had a nostalgic 90s vibe? I didn’t grow up watching Power Rangers or Saturday morning cartoons. I wish I did at times. That coupled with my relative lack of interest or knowledge in superheroes wasn’t a very good combination for enjoying the episode. I wonder if this episode will have as polarizing a reaction as Daring Don’t did.
I see what you mean. Relative lack of interest and/or knowledge is one of the reasons why I sorta am ‘eh’ towards Friendship is WitchCraft. It’s a good parody series for the show and has made me laugh,but I find that in order to get a good amount of the jokes or references they make you have to sorta be in the know.
You mentioned in your video commentary / review that this episode probably should have been a 2 parter. I don’t entirely agree with that. The two part episodes seem to revolve around threats to Equestria, which this wasn’t. An alternate to a 2 parter I would have liked to have seen, is small elements of alternate universe peppered into other unrelated episodes culminating into this episode.
Also. Just a suggestion. Why don’t you embed your commentary videos into these review pages?
Yeah, the two parters do tend to stray that route, that’s exactly why i think this would have been a good departure. I rather have this show do “dr who” two parters, where they are usually more epic and intimidating, rather than just confining them to a specific element like “equestria being destroyed”.