Monday, July 2, 2012

Picking Apart "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", Season 1 Episode 8

You remember when I mentioned the beginnings of friendship problems back in Episode 5?  Well, they return in this episode.  Now I know friendship problems in general are natural, but after a while you think they would only strengthen the friendship between the six main characters.  One of the factors that ultimately ruined the series, as I'll explain way later, is that after a long time, problems that cause friendships to divide still persist when you think the main characters would have known better at that point.  But I'm not out to discuss that just yet.  Today, I'm covering Episode 8, "Look Before You Sleep".

Look Before You Sleep
It starts off with the Pegasus ponies preparing to create a thunderstorm to make up for missing a few days of rain.  Now... hold on just a minute.  Am I really supposed to believe that these Pegasus are in charge of the entire weather system instead of it just happening naturally?

"Eeyup."

*sigh*  Okay, so they do.  But seriously, it's like something out of Greek mythology in which the gods that the people believe in and worship are able to control whatever they please.  There's no Mother Nature involved or anything.  It kinda makes you think that Ponyville, maybe even all of Equestria, is some kind of mystic magical land in which nature itself seems to be frozen in place and it needs budging in order to systemically work correctly.  And this is something we'll be seeing in later episodes.

So anyways, the storm starts up and Applejack and Rarity get swept up in it, which is when the viewers can already tell what their differences are and quite possibly the plot of the whole episode.  And already, we hear something extremely boring and cliche...

Applejack: Does so.
Rarity: Does not.
Applejack: Does so.
Rarity: Does not.
Applejack: Does so.
Rarity: Does not.
Arguing like little kids.  Humor or not, kids' show or not, this is what's called really old and it's completely unnecessary.

Twilight offers to give them shelter.  Yeah, like that's very safe.  Isn't her library home this big tree, which is normally vulnerable during a thunderstorm?  Isn't it not supposed to be safe?

Twilight Sparkle: It is if you have a magical lightning rod protecting your home like I do.

Okay, I'll buy that, but here's a question.  Does that mean this library tree was completely unprotected before Twilight came along?  Or did another unicorn before her have that dilemma taken care of?  *sigh*  Whatever did Ponyville do before Twilight?  That's actually kind of a problematic question, and even more so three episodes later.

But now we start to get into the plot.  See, Twilight is elated at the prospect at having her very first sleepover, so now we get the idea that she's totally into this friendship stuff by now.  However, Applejack and Rarity seem to be otherwise, and instead start to take advantage of being stuck in some storm shelter to settle their differences the hard way.  Here's the deal.  Applejack is a farmer, so she's totally used to getting her hooves dirty, even if means rolling around in mud.  Rarity is all fashion and maybe a slight bit narcissistic, but in any case, she totally hates getting dirty and prefers doing things if they're nice and clean.  Now does anybody else see how this could possibly clash with her representing the element of generosity?

Well, Twilight decides to start her slumber party by reading from a book that apparently has info on them.  Geez, does her library have a book for every contingency?  Next thing we know she could have books for how to build go-karts or playing video games or something.
So first up is getting a makeover (Girls' slumber party?  Definitely), which Rarity is all for, but Applejack is otherwise, saying...

Applejack: Ya make me wash the mud off my hooves, but it's okay for y'all to have mud all over yer faces?

Next up is telling ghost stories, but both Applejack and Rarity kind of miss the point at it, so Twilight tells one instead.
Next, they make s'mores, which Applejack eats, saying that they're just simply made to be eaten without being overly critical.
After that, comes a game of Truth or Dare, with both Applejack and Rarity daring each other to do things they wouldn't do for a fortune.  Okay, so here they make each other face their differences head on, but clearly they're doing a great service of being slumber party poopers.
And of course, the pillow fights don't go over well either, as Applejack and Rarity use it to go to an all-out war against each other.  Of course, Twilight gets caught in the crossfire and we should note that she doesn't take part, nor did she get a turn in Truth or Dare.

When it finally comes to getting some sleep, even that doesn't tone down the two competitors.  In fact, they get into another classic argument that no one wants to hear.
Rarity: I will not!
Applejack: Yes, you will!
Rarity: Won't!
Applejack: Will!
Rarity: Won't!
Applejack: Will!
Rarity: Won't!
Applejack: Will!
That's when Twilight finally breaks them up, saying that her slumber party is all but ruined, not to mention it's all topped off by a tree branch that thanks to Applejack trying to redirect comes crashing down through the window.  And wouldn't you know it?  All Twilight does is stick her muzzle in her book trying to figure out what part of their slumber party it has to do with.  Applejack apologizes to Rarity for not listening to her and convinces her to help move the branch out.

The slumber party then resumes, and Applejack proves to be the better pony by apologizing to Rarity first.

Applejack: Sorry for being such a pain in the patootie.

But it all leads to one final bicker in the britches that I personally just can't stand.

Applejack: Ugh. Are not.
Rarity: Are too.
Applejack: Are not!
Rarity: Are too.
Applejack: Are not.
Rarity: Are too.
Really, I just... *sigh*  Ah, forget it.  At least they had a good laugh over it.

Twilight narrates her next letter to Princess Celestia, basically stating that differences in friendships can make them stronger than one would realize, which is pretty much what I gathered at the beginning of the episode, hell maybe back in Episode 5.

And another episode bites the dust!  Man, I sure have a long way to go to get to the Season 2 finale.  Well, this episode was mediocre at most, I have to say, but I like how Applejack proves to be better than Rarity by apologizing first for being a shithead.  I still got a lot more episodes to cover before I get up to speed, and they certainly won't discuss themselves!

"Eeyup."

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