Day Three Hundred and Five - MLP:FiM: Season 3, Episode 7, "Highwaaay to the Danger Zone!"

Halloween's over, Mons(sters) are asleep... time to post Ponies!

Yes, friends, now that our Couchbound Spooktacular of a whole month of Twin Peaks (plus weekend horror flicks) has finished, two things are self-evident. First, I can watch whatever I want (WOOHOO)! Second, it's been a decent while since I've watching any My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and I think it's about time that I changed that.

Today's episode is a cute little Rainbow Dash centered episode that's a sendup to Top Gun.

It seems, after years of pining for the Wonderbolts and trying to show off at every event she could, from the Best Young Flyer Competition to the Grand Galloping Gala, she's finally of either the age or skill level (or both) to join the Wonderbolt Academy.

Of course, that doesn't mean things will go smoothly for our spunky overachiever. While she's there, she ends up playing second fiddle to another egocentric pegasus named Lightning Dust and, though Rainbow Dash is eager to excel and push her limits, Lightning Dust's antics begin to cause RD, the other cadets, and even the Mane 6 harm.

While not the most humorous of episodes, the lesson is fairly poignant and it's nice to have RD making the connections for herself without having to have it spelled out for her by Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6. In fact, it should be noted that RD has to actively push against the example given to her by her commanding officer, Spitfire, to do the right thing. Sure, it takes being knocked around a bit and a possible gruesome end for her best friends (who come to Wonderbolt Academy to hand deliver a care package), but it's still Rainbow Dash comprehending the moral herself and standing up for her principles, even if it might cost her the thing she wants most in life, being a Wonderbolt.

There a few decent moments of comedy, though, mostly centered around Pinkie Pie and her obsession with getting a letter from RD (who is obviously too busy to write). I love how insanely codependent she is, in a non-Fatal Attraction sort of way. It really is the cutest bit watching Pinkie constantly open and close her mailbox, hoping a letter will miraculously appear via quantum tunneling or some such.

I also want to make special note of a few of the other cadets and background ponies. Not only is there another appearance of the roided out pegasus, Snowflake, with his trademarked "YEAH," but there are also two cameo ponies in the form of Manerick (Maverick from Top Gun) and Whiplash who is a Tom Skerritt pony (also a Top Gun reference), if I don't miss my guess. While not as cute as the Big Lebowski ponies during the bowling bit during that Cutie Mark Crusaders episode, it's still a nice nod to the adult audience of the show.

The ending is a little weird in that Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire does a stereotypical "you've got what it takes" speech and rewards RD for doing the right thing as a leader, stripping Lightning Dust of her rank as Leadpony but not resolving things with Lightning Dust in the standard "everyone learns a lesson, even the villains" way. Instead, LD is just led off in shame and there's no hint as to whether she's been demoted or completely kicked out of the program. A bit ambiguous and that annoys me.

Still, while not the best episode, by far, it's still a decent watch in its own right... especially for Pinkie's antics and a strong show of character by Rainbow Dash.

Man, I'm glad to be done with Twin Peaks. It's been so long since I had a real, honest choice of what I wanted to watch for the blog. Sure, it's probably telling that I instantly went for Ponies as a balm for my soul, but I don't care! I mean, c'mon... PONIES!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Sixty-nine - MLP:FiM: Season 3, Episode 9, "Baby Applejack? Hnnnngggghhhh!"

Wow, it's amazing how busy a day can get when you're least expecting it. I've cut dozens of shows, worked on NaNoWriMo prep, corralled two different local programs (though most of that was hands off), and still managed to find time to skip lunch *insert stomach grumbles here*. That said, I picked today to be a Free Day... anything I wanted to see, regardless of how recently I've watched just that.

The result? PONIES!

Today's episode is the season 3, Applejack-centered, story about her attempts to put on the best family reunion possible for all of her extended relations... everything from horrendously long and complicated obstacle courses to industrial sized fried food operations to extreeeeeeeeeme hayrides.

It must be hard for the writers to put together an episode, purely with Applejack in mind, that has her overcoming some personal flaw. On the whole, she's really the only member of the Mane 6 who has it all pretty much together and rarely worries about things unless she needs to. You're typical "older sister" type, she's hardworking, loyal, and honest to a fault. Heck, they had to invent an excuse to have her run away in season two by making her too ashamed that she failed to help the town all on her own.

Yeesh.

They pretty much had to do the same thing here, making her act out of character, becoming overbearing and obsessive almost overnight. But, I suppose it's all good, though, as it's a rare thing to have a completely AJ-focused episode. "You take what you can get," is what I'm saying.

Plus, despite its main character acting a bit against type, there are some really poignant moments in the episode. We get to see two shooting stars in reference to her absent (possibly dead) parents, Granny Smith gives herself a very temporary facelift (which makes her look like a very cute filly), and there is a short flashback scene that shows an infant Applejack that is all but sure to give anyone who watches a cuteness overload heart attack.

Sure, since it's an Apple Family Reunion, Babs (along with her terrible accent) makes a guest appearance, but she's not as annoying as she was in her intro episode "Babs Seed" and there are plenty of Background Ponies around, like Fiddlesticks and Turnip Truck, to make me smile.

I guess I have two regrets. First is that the climax song is rather uninspired and boring. I was hoping for more, perhaps something breaking the country genre, but oh well... at least it was over fast. Second is that there aren't more cameos from the Mane 6 (+ Spike)... though, those that do make an appearance are pretty funny and cute. Personally, my favorite was AJ using Spike as a BIC lighter. Freaking. Hilarious.

Overall, despite its flaws, this episode of MLP:FiM is full of enough smiles and squees to make any Brony or Pegasister happy... and it certainly made my busy day end on a delightful note.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~