This review will contain spoilers for those who have not seen the latest episode.
The premise of this episode is that Spike finds a spell that helps Rarity to overcome a creative block, with both good and bad results.
As you can probably tell from that brief premise, this is a Spike-centric story, and one of two we'll be getting before the final two-part episode of the season. I've gone on record in saying that I've been wary of any character who gets two focus episodes in a row, so I will have to wait and see until next week if this double-Spike treat we're given works out alright. But nevertheless, I'm glad this character is getting more attention. I said back in my review of "Power Ponies" that I felt his character was being treated with a great deal of respect in this season, and with these two new episodes, he'll probably have more focus than any previous season yet.
His relationship to Rarity is another aspect of this episode that I was interested to see. Now, before anyone starts talking about "shipping" and that sort of thing, let me clarify that I do not simply mean their potential romantic relationship. Though, to be fair, Spike's enduring crush on Rarity has been one of his key character traits, and yet it's never been developed that much outside of the season two episode, "Secret of My Excess". Since then, this relationship and his crush has only been mentioned in passing here and there, and seems to have settled into a state of Rarity being aware of it but not fully reciprocating. But, nevertheless, I like that these two are being given a spotlight, as his devotion to her has been clear for a very long time.
However, the idea of him trying to use magic to try and fix some mental problem she has strikes me as a very poor decision on his part. That's not to say I think he was wrong to want to help her, far from it. But he, along with every other character at this point, should be aware of the dangers of using magic to influence people's behaviour, with the recent episode "Bats!" being a perfect example of this, or even the CMC's own attempts to change people back in "Hearts and Hooves Day".
Spike's desire to help his crush is clear, and in a world filled with magic it makes sense that such a thing would be an option for him, but even so I'd have hoped that Spike would be smart enough to consider the dangers of such paths before using them. At the very least, she should have gone to Twilight to consult with her before using such a spell on Rarity, given that he knows more than any other how knowledgeable she is on such subjects. But, like some of the mistakes the CMC make in their various episode, I suppose his lack of wisdom in this case can be attributed to his young age, even though I still think he went ahead with his plan far too quickly.
Rarity's position is a very understandable one for people to relate to. I, like many people, have experienced creative blocks from time to time, and I know full well how frustrating such times can be. As such, I can imagine just how much more difficult it must be for one like Rarity, for whom her creativeness is also her livelihood. In many ways this episode reminds me of one of my favourite Rarity outings, "Suited For Success". Much like that episode, she's struggling to try and carry on with her life's passion and being halted in some way, leading to a great deal of emotional stress for her. And much like that episode, she's portrayed in a very sympathetic and endearing way. My hat goes off to Tabitha St Germain for her performance here.
There were a number of callbacks to previous episodes and story ideas that made a comeback in this episode, which was something I appreciated as they were elements I found rather interesting and have been worried the show might drop. The return of the castle in the Everfree Forest was a nice welcome return, given it's importance during the early episodes of this season. And it makes sense that such a place would be the source of a troublesome type of magic. Spike's semi-rivalry with Twilight's owl (and before anyone asks, no I still don't know how to spell his name), is something the show hasn't even acknowledged since his introduction in season one, so seeing it here was pretty entertaining, and I felt there was a good dynamic between the two characters.
Time to discuss the episode's humour now and this week, as you might expect, the funny moments largely centre around Spike and Rarity. Spike's style of humour is much akin to that of the CMC, in that he gets involved in the kinds of antics you'd usually expect of young child characters. I've gone on record during the CMC's own episodes this season how that kind of humour fares for me, but Spike still fares rather well, getting in a funny moment here and there. However, he is greatly helped by sharing the spotlight with Rarity who, as I've mentioned many times, is one of my favourite sources of humour in this show. Tabitha St Germain's voice work on her, especially during her many over-the-top moments, always bring a smile to my face, and she does herself justice here.
When it comes to songs, this episode has none to speak of.
Onto the moral of the episode, and this week it seems to be that you need to be honest with your friends when you think they're doing something wrong. I feel that this is a good message for children, as I've known many times when kids have remained silent when their respective peers have been doing things they don't agree with. They believe that being a good friend means going along with it, rather than telling them openly that they're uncomfortable with their actions. A message like this, that we need to be honest before things get worse, is one I wholeheartedly approve of for children.
So, how did the episode fare overall? I felt that this was a somewhat stronger episode than last week. While last week's was a good ensemble piece, this week's outing is far more focused, with only Rarity and Spike having any significant screentime. Because of this, we get a stronger story with more development for the characters. The humour was good where appropriate and it places both characters in believable situations that was entertaining to see them work through. While I don't think it's as good as Rarity and Spike's previous focus episodes this season, it was nevertheless a good story, and I reccomend it a great deal.
The premise of this episode is that Spike finds a spell that helps Rarity to overcome a creative block, with both good and bad results.
As you can probably tell from that brief premise, this is a Spike-centric story, and one of two we'll be getting before the final two-part episode of the season. I've gone on record in saying that I've been wary of any character who gets two focus episodes in a row, so I will have to wait and see until next week if this double-Spike treat we're given works out alright. But nevertheless, I'm glad this character is getting more attention. I said back in my review of "Power Ponies" that I felt his character was being treated with a great deal of respect in this season, and with these two new episodes, he'll probably have more focus than any previous season yet.
His relationship to Rarity is another aspect of this episode that I was interested to see. Now, before anyone starts talking about "shipping" and that sort of thing, let me clarify that I do not simply mean their potential romantic relationship. Though, to be fair, Spike's enduring crush on Rarity has been one of his key character traits, and yet it's never been developed that much outside of the season two episode, "Secret of My Excess". Since then, this relationship and his crush has only been mentioned in passing here and there, and seems to have settled into a state of Rarity being aware of it but not fully reciprocating. But, nevertheless, I like that these two are being given a spotlight, as his devotion to her has been clear for a very long time.
However, the idea of him trying to use magic to try and fix some mental problem she has strikes me as a very poor decision on his part. That's not to say I think he was wrong to want to help her, far from it. But he, along with every other character at this point, should be aware of the dangers of using magic to influence people's behaviour, with the recent episode "Bats!" being a perfect example of this, or even the CMC's own attempts to change people back in "Hearts and Hooves Day".
Spike's desire to help his crush is clear, and in a world filled with magic it makes sense that such a thing would be an option for him, but even so I'd have hoped that Spike would be smart enough to consider the dangers of such paths before using them. At the very least, she should have gone to Twilight to consult with her before using such a spell on Rarity, given that he knows more than any other how knowledgeable she is on such subjects. But, like some of the mistakes the CMC make in their various episode, I suppose his lack of wisdom in this case can be attributed to his young age, even though I still think he went ahead with his plan far too quickly.
Rarity's position is a very understandable one for people to relate to. I, like many people, have experienced creative blocks from time to time, and I know full well how frustrating such times can be. As such, I can imagine just how much more difficult it must be for one like Rarity, for whom her creativeness is also her livelihood. In many ways this episode reminds me of one of my favourite Rarity outings, "Suited For Success". Much like that episode, she's struggling to try and carry on with her life's passion and being halted in some way, leading to a great deal of emotional stress for her. And much like that episode, she's portrayed in a very sympathetic and endearing way. My hat goes off to Tabitha St Germain for her performance here.
There were a number of callbacks to previous episodes and story ideas that made a comeback in this episode, which was something I appreciated as they were elements I found rather interesting and have been worried the show might drop. The return of the castle in the Everfree Forest was a nice welcome return, given it's importance during the early episodes of this season. And it makes sense that such a place would be the source of a troublesome type of magic. Spike's semi-rivalry with Twilight's owl (and before anyone asks, no I still don't know how to spell his name), is something the show hasn't even acknowledged since his introduction in season one, so seeing it here was pretty entertaining, and I felt there was a good dynamic between the two characters.
Time to discuss the episode's humour now and this week, as you might expect, the funny moments largely centre around Spike and Rarity. Spike's style of humour is much akin to that of the CMC, in that he gets involved in the kinds of antics you'd usually expect of young child characters. I've gone on record during the CMC's own episodes this season how that kind of humour fares for me, but Spike still fares rather well, getting in a funny moment here and there. However, he is greatly helped by sharing the spotlight with Rarity who, as I've mentioned many times, is one of my favourite sources of humour in this show. Tabitha St Germain's voice work on her, especially during her many over-the-top moments, always bring a smile to my face, and she does herself justice here.
When it comes to songs, this episode has none to speak of.
Onto the moral of the episode, and this week it seems to be that you need to be honest with your friends when you think they're doing something wrong. I feel that this is a good message for children, as I've known many times when kids have remained silent when their respective peers have been doing things they don't agree with. They believe that being a good friend means going along with it, rather than telling them openly that they're uncomfortable with their actions. A message like this, that we need to be honest before things get worse, is one I wholeheartedly approve of for children.
So, how did the episode fare overall? I felt that this was a somewhat stronger episode than last week. While last week's was a good ensemble piece, this week's outing is far more focused, with only Rarity and Spike having any significant screentime. Because of this, we get a stronger story with more development for the characters. The humour was good where appropriate and it places both characters in believable situations that was entertaining to see them work through. While I don't think it's as good as Rarity and Spike's previous focus episodes this season, it was nevertheless a good story, and I reccomend it a great deal.
