- Radio Static
JAC
Hello, Mutants. This is the next oh-fish-ee-uhl broadcast of the MLP Review Series, Don't Knock Fox. This is JAC the Lipper, with my co-host, KIERAL the Cookie.KIERAL
Heya! The episode we're reviewing today- season 5 episode 4- is our first CMC episode this season. If you're wondering what type of cookie I am, then forget it, you weren't supposed to know about that.JAC
Strawberry Shortbread.When we start with CMC episodes, they only get a couple each season. They're almost breaks from our main characters. Last season, we saw Sweetie Belle enter the Dream, now we have Apple Bloom. Next season will likely be Scootaloo.The CMC episodes do feel unique. They feel more like a bunch of kids trying to figure out life than adults trying to figure out friendship. Now while adults figuring out friendship is certainly relatable because we have the social skills of hamsters, watching through the lens of the CMC has always been interesting, if not always great.This episode is basically a giant allegory for what you're gonna be doing with the rest of your life and the anxiety behind that. The idea of, what if you hate your job, what if you lose your friends, what if you disappoint your family. The answers in real life are yes, nah, and hopefully. However, this episode portrays a more optimistic message, opting for the idea of keeping everything, and being unafraid of yourself.I'll let KIERAL do a summary since I hate doing summaries.Basic Summary:
KIERAL
Thank you for dumping that on me. So, we start off with a CMC clubhouse meeting where Apple Bloom announces that her cousin, Babs Seed, has finally gotten her cutie mark. Babs didn't really show up last season so, if you've forgotten like I did, she's the fourth member of the CMC. Or was, because now that she's got her cutie mark, the rest of the CMC agree she's not a member anymore.This gets Apple Bloom a bit sad- and when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo bring up the thoughts of getting a cutie mark you wouldn't want, downright anxious. Not Sweetie Belle, nor Applejack, can put Apple Bloom to ease. That night she goes to sleep.. and then wakes up.. to discover she's gotten a cutie mark! For managing.. infestations.She meets an older pony with the same kind of mark and although uncertain about whether she likes it at first, Apple Bloom finds it's something she can get into. But when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon show up to mock her, she gets upset and runs away. She runs into the woods, where a shadowy figure offers to take away Apple Bloom's cutie mark. She accepts. When Apple Bloom wakes up again, she has a new cutie mark. Potion Making! That's more like it. She comes to see the rest of the CMC, only to be booted from the clubhouse because she's not a crusader anymore.
JAC
As soon as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle find out Apple Bloom's got a mark, the girls say, "Yeah, no." And they kick her out. Turns out, you can only be a crusader if you are a blank flank/hip.
Okay that's that, I'm gonna ramble. I'm gonna go on this digression now!
Flanks are not hips. Flanks are actually more the side, particularly between your rib and hip. The mark is on the hips, which is where the bone is.
Anyway, as the girls excommunicate Apple Bloom, she goes back to the Lady in the Lake, who steals her cutie mark again, however turns out the other girls actually have their own cutie marks, which we never see. But they're sure important.
On the third day, she sees another set of pancakes, and turns out her cutie mark is of a dolphin.
The apple family interrogates her for this egregious crime and have her shot for going against the family.
Apple Bloom wakes up again, while Pinkie Pie is outside her window in a chicken costume she had in Luna Eclipsed, being a subtle reference for Luna.
Well, Apple Bloom meets the Lady in the Swamp again and tries to run away, but she sees an a princess coming from the moon. Luna says, "You can't run away from your shadow."
Luna, with her power to enter others dreams, reveals that Apple Bloom's anxiety is shared by her friends. Sweetie Belle is afraid she's gonna be a janitor and will need three jobs to support her heroin addiction, meanwhile Scootaloo dreams she's gonna be the next Evil Knievel, until she finds out she's actually the next Gordon Ramsay. Therefore, she falls in a river of mashed potatoes. Worse, they're unsalted.
Luna takes them to the clubhouse. Thus showing the Cutie Mark Crusaders know how to make a hub but the Elements of Harmony do not.
Anyway, Luna has them all talk about their anxieties. Growing up is hard basically, but they figure out they're cutie marks will be something that relates to them on an emotional level.
They realize they can still be friends and give Babs Seed a care package. When they wake up.
Applejack says in the morning, "Everything can be solved with a good night's rest."
"Yeah I just wished that wasn't so exhausting."
Relatable, Apple Bloom. Soon as I wake up, "Woah, that was tiresome."
Review:
KIERAL
So, like some of our previous CMC episodes, this one was pretty unique, for largely taking place in a dream. And at first this was subtle- it was hard to tell if it really was a dream as it wasn't overly surreal save for a few unusual encounters. In truth this was rather confusing since other dreams tended to be pretty explicit about what they were. However, once the pattern is established things fall more into place and the episode becomes interesting. It is a more in depth look at a pony's anxieties then we have seen before.
JAC
Personally, I think they should have revealed this was a dream before the commercial break.
Because this feels like a taunt at people who've been wanting this for a long time, and we
do have two villains already who we know can steal cutie marks. At least one is active, Starlight
Glimmer. And then you have the gross old dude last season, Lurch from the Addam's
Family. So Apple Bloom losing her cutie mark feels less like foreshadowing at that point and
more like something that could actually occur.
However, now we see the potential ramifications. They justified the fear of losing friends indirectly by saying at the start that Babs Seed is no longer a crusader.
They've justified the fear of losing family because all of the family has apples.
They justified fear of having a sucky cutie mark because, well, look at the janitors. Someone has to be a janitor.
KIERAL
Indeed. Despite the episode's awkward not-so-start, the anxieties definitely felt real. The dreams did get more surreal as they went on, later featuring teleporting and characters acting overly mean, which makes me think holding back the reveal was very intentional (and likewise not a choice I agree with).
JAC
I think I approve of the idea of delaying the reveal because the idea is to throw you into chaos. You're supposed to go like, "Holy Barnacles, what's going on." But they reveal right after they come back from commercial break.
KIERAL
Yeah, really was a bit long.
JAC
Like you get into the situation, you're right back, and suddenly, everything is a lie. Turns out you're adopted. Now can we talk about the lighting upgrade that's going on?
So
we've gotten a burst of budget in the lighting department. You can see
the blue light on Apple Bloom actually start to turn her green on the
close side, meanwhile her far side is still yellow. All the meanwhile,
the shadow is growing from hers with a gradient. And meanwhile
meanwhile, we got some shading on her bow indicating that's turned away
from the light, giving some depth.
Also
we got a beam of light coming on, versus several darker shapes that
help light up that tree trunk which the shadow is on. We've got a
shadow, surrounded by a light area, surrounded by dark areas, surrounded
by light areas.
KIERAL
Yeah! The forest scenes were really a treat.
Something I was particularly happy to see was the presence of cel shading. Now in this still, we can see how much form it gives Apple Bloom. There are even cast shadows from her mane and bow, which further strengthen the effect since we can judge the distance between the bow and tail!
Cast shadows can be pretty tempting to avoid when they are cast from/upon organic forms so props to the animators here.
JAC
What's a cast shadow again
KIERAL
Ah! Yes, we're educational too! A cast shadow is a shadow not on an object (that can be the "attached shadow"), but rather the one that is created by it. I can identify that there's a shadow cast onto Apple Bloom's tail since its edge matches up with the shape of her bow.
It's not a perfect match, probably because it's a bit distorted by the tail's round form.
Star Ratings:
JAC
3/5
This episode is a ride from beginning to end. Starts off weak and confusing, but ends off being strong. However, I can't find myself justifying many of the mistakes. A couple of key choices could make this episode stronger, such as referencing Babs Seed last season or even having her appear. And maybe talking about why Morpheus keeps invading their dreams. However, there is a lot of amusing background humor and art. Also this gives a deeper and more serious look at the CMC. While they're always wanting their cutie marks, their episodes are almost never really about that. They're more about ruthless desire and the understanding of patience.
This was a wonderful little episode, but not necessarily good.
As a note, episode 4 is the true first real normal episode of a season. Episode 3 introduces new status quo, 4 is the new status quo.
KIERAL
4/5
So, this was a quite unusual episode with a pretty realistic representation of anxiety, building up to a spiral rather then kicking it off right away. I'd say there are two lessons in this one actually, the first being that everyone gets anxieties (even if they don't act it outwardly), and the second being that your cutie mark won't change who you are. The latter I find especially valuable, because in a world so full of things to do you can get a lot of worry about whether your choices are really the best ones.
If it weren't for the weak and confusing start I'd rank this episode higher, but as is, it gets a 4/5 from me.
JAC
Yeah besides, cutie marks obviously determine who you are.
Recommendations:
JAC
Bloom and Gloom is pretty much more of a surreal episode, more about teaching a moral with nightmares, because Luna is a good princess. I think this is great for anyone who likes build-up, and who may be lost in their life. There's plenty of visuals. If you already know the twists, I think a lot of problems will go away from this episode, and there's nothing terrible.
Just a solid little episode. Nothing much more or less.
KIERAL
Firstly I'd say, it's a well executed dream story and if you're looking for an example of that, this is it (especially if you're aware of its problems, which now you should be). There are a couple funny moments and the surrealism ranges from subtle to heavy towards the end which is pretty fun. I'd also recommend this to someone that prefers characters acting more realistically.
No comments:
Post a Comment