Picking Apart "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", Season 4 Episode 11

WARNING!  From this point onward, the following reviews will consist of using heavy profanity.  It is advised not to proceed past this point unless you are 18 years of age or older.  Profanity will be used to express personal opinions only, so there can be no one responsible if anyone is greatly offended because you have been warned.  If you can handle profanity and you're ready to proceed, by all means do so.

"I used to wonder what friendship could be; until I surpassed those who first showed it to me."

- Russet Burbanks, Fanfiction.net

Because in this episode, we are dealing with anything BUT!  Don't believe me?  Well, allow me to enlighten you.

Discord returns in this episode and he attempts to convince the Mane 6 that he's reformed and asks for their signs of friendship.  But what does he get?  The evil eye.  What the hell, Mane 6?  Even now, with only Fluttershy as his supposedly one real friend, it's obvious that the others want nothing to do with this hilarious lunatic and they don't even want to be his friends at all.  Is it any wonder he betrays them in the Season 4 finale?  Oops, did I say that loud?  Too bad, because I don't give a fuck.  Besides, it's more like the Mane 6 betrayed him anyways.  You'll see what I mean after this review.

So... *sigh*  ... ...  ...You know what?  Let's just get this over with.  This is the eleventh episode in Season 4, "Three's A Crowd".

We begin with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie sharing good news.  For Fluttershy, she's got the green light to go on a trip and look after some tiny fingerlings named Breezies, which we'll get to see five episodes later.  For Pinkie...  I'll pass.

But for Twilight, she is happy to find out that her sister-in-law, Princess Cadance is able to make time to pay her a visit.  Ain't that nice?

So after Fluttershy leaves, Twilight discusses her plans for Cadance's visit.

Pinkie Pie: Fluttershy! I'll never forget youuuuuuu! [beat] Ooh, something floaty! La-la-la-la-la!

The trouble is, Twilight is somewhat worried because the last two times they got together were not on good terms.  And FUCK the first time!  So Twilight is obviously hoping for some quiet time with no hassles, worries, fate of Equestria hanging in the balance, yadda yadda yadda...

But at least she has a plan.  To spend a relaxing day at the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum that happens to be in Ponyville for the day.

Uh... damn, why does Twilight always pull off these cute stunts that give us all heart attacks.  Or diabeetus, as these Internet users call it.  Well, let's see if we can cure that.  This calls for an experiment that is known as...

So I'll take the same clip from before and slow it down to about half the normal speed and see just how it sounds.  Everybody ready?  Here we go.

Yeah... I guess if it makes her sound like a muffled Patrick Star, then that's definitely scary.  Can you imagine this being done with other clips from the series?

Oh, and I musn't forget this one!

So anyway, a special train from the Crystal Empire pulls into the Ponyville boarding station, and... we get a special guest appearance from a character we weren't expecting, but unfortunately brought the bronies to their knees in anguish and venom-filled hatred.  Here it comes, folks!

So how did this happen?  Well apparently, Meghan McCarthy had tweeted that Flash Sentry wasn't originally planned to appear at all in Season 4.  But what she meant was that he wasn't originally in the episode scripts, as Jim Miller later stated that Flash Sentry was added in by popular demand somehow.

Hell, he even ordered the bronies to stand down and stop blaming Meghan McCarthy for seemingly lying on the day that the Season 4 finale aired.  Clearly, these bronies have become stupider watching this series because they just don't get that these things have to be taken with a grain of salt because of pre-production and even now, it's obvious that these bronies still think in some way or another that they're always right and never wrong.  How fucking selfish is that?

So Flash Sentry makes his cameo for not even one minute long and the bronies go berserk with rage.  Don't believe me?  Get a load of this!

*sigh*  Well, let's try to continue this review despite this.  Nevertheless, I'm sure that whatever I point out will be irrelevant because most of the bronies claimed that the whole episode, no matter what else was put into it and despite Discord's return, was ruined.  All because of Flash Sentry's cameo.

So after Twilight and Cadance leave to spend the day together (And they didn't do that childish chant of theirs, because...?), Discord makes a spinning entrance.  And he's feeling blue because no one is happy to see him.

Rainbow Dash: Oh, no... That sounds like...

Discord: [sneezes] [sniffs] Oh...

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity: Discord!

Rainbow Dash: Whatever color you are is the color of trouble!

See what I mean?  Every time Discord shows his face, no one is happy to see him and they just assume he's up to no good.  Even when he's given a sideways glance, it's the evil eye.

Well, here's the whole story.  Fluttershy had written him a letter telling him about her trip to see the Breezies.  Knowing this, and knowing only Fluttershy really cares for him, he decides to feign being ill as a means of testing the others to see if they can prove themselves to be just as good friends, which apparently didn't work.  Seriously, whoever couldn't anticipate him being a bad guy again in the Season 4 finale is an idiot.  It's that predictable, especially after this episode.  But then again, what does it matter?  The bronies didn't care!  They didn't even care about the rest of the episode!  They were too busy fuming over Flash Sentry's cameo appearance.

But get this.  Pinkie Pie decides to be in the right and give Discord some TLC, but what does he do?  He sends her away!  This is most likely because he seems to know who still despises him and wants to test their friendships.  In this case, it's Applejack and Rarity, the polar opposites of each other, who are the most reluctant.

Discord: I so hope you don't mind, Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie: Well, as a matter of fact, I most certainly- Hey! Who keeps throwing away these perfectly good balloons?

So then Discord overhears that Twilight and Cadance are having some quality time together and eventually decides to go pester them instead.  Do you sense trouble?  Do you?  The only 'trouble' is... Flash Sentry's cameo appearance.

So Discord pays Twilight and Cadance a visit at the Star Swirl the Bearded exhibits and informs them of his 'blue flu' disease that he made up.  Now, to Twilight's credit, she seems the least displeased or reluctant to see Discord (I could be wrong), but it becomes obvious to him that she doesn't put the importance of all her friends on equal footing.

Discord: How would Twilight nurse me back to health if she were sick too? You will be letting me stay at your place until I'm all better, won't you?

Twilight Sparkle: Stay? With me?! Uh, now is not really the best time, though I'm sure you already knew that...

Discord: But taking in the sick and the desperate - isn't that what Fluttershy would do? Isn't 'helping' something that friends do for friends? Unless, of course, you're really saying that you're not my friend.

Twilight Sparkle: [through gritted teeth] No, that is not what I'm saying.

Yeah, for someone who couldn't decide which of her friends to give that spare Gala ticket to because already all five of her friends were so fucking important to her, she really just wants to give Discord the slip.  I'll bet if another friend of hers was ailing, she'd drop everything she was doing, even with Cadance, and go help that friend out.

But not Discord.

So eventually, Twilight agrees to allow Discord to recuperate at the library, but maybe he does start to take advantage of her so-called hospitality.  Gee, while you're at it, why don't you sing about it?  It's your first song, so you might as well--

Uh, actually, I just thought of something.  Last I checked, John de Lancie is an American actor and the series itself, including the music, is being made in Canada, and also last I checked, wasn't the reason that--

As I was saying, isn't the reason that Tara Strong isn't providing the singing voice for Twilight Sparkle because she currently resides in America, where I presume John de Lancie also resides?  It's not like he relocated to Canada, did he?  I don't care if he's only is half-speaking, half-singing.  How does he know when to get it right?  You know, match the quiet music and nail the lyrics.  And since I'll likely bring this up in my next review, now I really want a good solid excuse as to why Tara Strong can't perform the singing voice of Twilight Sparkle.  Because this smashes the original reason into pieces if you ask me.

But what do the bronies care?  Even with Discord's first song, they're still upset over Flash Sentry's cameo and still think the episode is ruined!

*sigh*  Right.  So, because Twilight just can't put up with Discord's antics and is apparently unable to share his sense of humor, she and Cadance decide to set out and find a cure for his 'disease'.

So they give him a lift by pulling a big chariot to the Equestria's border where they find the one thing capable of curing him - a gigantic flower?

Twilight Sparkle: Come on, if we hurry, we can still have some time together.

Yeah, this is just a bother, isn't it?  Twilight isn't doing this favor for Discord at all.  She's only doing this because she just wants to go back to spending her precious free time with Cadance.  I know it's Discord they're dealing with, but would Twilight be this way if she was helping out another friend?

Hell, what about Applejack and Rarity?  Didn't Discord claim that he made them sick as well?  What if they were involved in this?  Would Twilight still be trying to do this as quickly as possible to cure her ailing friends?  Or is she just trying to be fast because her time with Cadance is being cut short?

Again, just not Discord.

So Twilight and Cadance unearth the giant flower, but this apparently awakens an angry worm-like creature called a Tatzlwurm, which immediately tries to eat the princesses.  Okay, now it's getting action-packed... but even this is irrelevant to the bronies because they're still like "Nope, the episode's still ruined because of Flash Sentry."  Stupid pricks.

I mean, did they even watch the episode after Flash Sentry's cameo?  I'll bet they stopped watching after that part and decided to do some more of their infamous threatening to leave the fandom.  Oh, look!  Flash Sentry's back!  Let's threaten Hasbro and force them to make the series go our way!  And it will work!  Pshaw...

Bronies, I troll you!  And this is how I do it!

In fact, you could almost replace the episode audio with this and make something silly.  Yeah, I think I'll do just that.

Even the action didn't please those bastards, I'm sure.  So why don't I just do some more trolling to them?

So the sisters-in-law defeat the Tatzlwurm and bury it back underground.  They prepare to deliver the flower to Discord, only to find that he was faking his illness the entire time.  Shocked?

Well, like I said earlier, he set Twilight up to see just how much of a friend she was willing to be to him, considering that only Fluttershy writes letters to him, so he deliberately picked the day that Fluttershy was away just to see how much the others considered him a friend.

Well, I don't really think Twilight passed any test this time around, especially not after Cadance makes her hammy speech.

Princess Cadance: You didn't put a damper on our visit at all.

Twilight Sparkle: He didn't?!

Discord: [simultaneously] I didn't?!

Princess Cadance: Spending the day at the Star Swirl the Bearded exhibit would've been more relaxing, but to be honest, relaxation is the last thing I need.

Twilight Sparkle: It is?

Princess Cadance: Don't get me wrong. Life in the Crystal Empire is wonderful, but it's become a little... predictable. I enjoy a little excitement now and then. Getting to face all these challenges today was just what I needed.

Gee, where have we heard THAT before?  That is, assuming Cadance didn't just make this up to please Twilight and say she didn't mind the adventure.

Princess Cadance:  And facing them with you just made me realize even more how lucky I am to have somepony like you as a friend. We may not see each other very often, but I know you'll always be there when I need you. Just like she was there for you, Discord.

Discord: Yes, she's a real sweetheart. We're all so lucky to have her in our lives.

And to top it all off, the Tatzlwurm returns and sneezes on Discord, causing him to get sick for real.

So while Twilight logs down the events in her journal, Fluttershy nurses Discord back to health.

Applejack: I don't wanna go sayin' you got what you deserved...

Rarity: Well, I have no trouble saying it. You got what you deserved!

Sheesh, some friends you are!  I don't even care if Discord was bothering you before!  This isn't friendship!  This is just trying to keep a leash on him so he doesn't go bad again!  Clearly, the Mane 6 are just there to make sure he doesn't hatch another evil scheme to, you guessed it, take over Equestria.

And what does THIS matter?!  The bronies were probably still upset because of Flash Sentry's cameo and didn't care about the details of the rest of the episode!  Big, fat, fucking deal!

And that was "Three's A Crowd" for ya.  Let me tell you this much.  It has problems.  And the highlight is that while having one good friend is better than none, it apparently doesn't cut it for Discord and it doesn't help that Fluttershy's friends still somewhat despise him, particularly Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.  Sure, they'll look out for each other.

But again, not Discord.

So how can they not see that it's only a matter of time before he goes bad again?  And more importantly, how can any viewer not see it coming?  I've been predicting this since the beginning of Season 4 and I think anyone can tell that Discord is gonna return to his old roots and, you guessed it, take over Equestria.

In the meantime, I've got plenty more episodes to cover until we get to that cartoon disaster.  Until then, this is The Thunder signing off... for now.