Pony Megathread

[Kreekakon]

Alright it's review time for the finale episode! I'll keep it minor spoilers.

The episode is "Magical Mystery Cure", and is the 13th episode of season 3 as well as the season finale.

So does it hold up? I'd say most definitely. Given the constraints of 20 minutes that the studio had to work with this, I'd say they pulled off the whole thing in the BEST way possible!

Even with that said they were STILL working under the restriction of 20 minutes, and despite the obvious best efforts of the studio, the end result still came across as very obviously rushed in pacing. It was a shame as the plot of the episode in question has a ton of potential to go very deeply in the matter it tries to deal with. More run-time would definitely benefit the very talented studio into making this an exceptionally perfect experience.

However one of the reasons the episode still succeeds with me is also owing to the pacing issue. How you may ask? The episode starts with the sense of the feel of "everything suddenly goes wrong, and is no longer the way you know it". It reminds me of certain other show's finales that have them take place after the true threat/antagonist is neutralized. Sometimes these episodes are also referred to as the epilogue episode of the show. After the external threat is eliminated, it is usually time for the main cast to settle some differences, and lingering issues that come out purely from themselves. Although it is no way "dangerous" on a large scale, it can be just as important to the main cast in question.

This is that type of episode. It reminds me of "The Return of Harmony Part II" except without there being an actual "threat". It deals with similar happenings, but this episode made such a thing feel more important to me, and higher stakes sentimentality.


Then there is the matter of the songs...oh god the songs. I thought they were some of the best songs in the whole series. There were a whole bunch of them in this episode, and it's reached the amount that nearly makes the whole thing a musical. I thought the songs carried most of the episode mainly due to their amazing quality which in turn displays very well the emotions going through the whole thing.


Some things in the episode did seem a bit weird though like some characters that didn't react in ways I thought they should've. Again this is also probably also due to pacing issues.

In some closing words, I can see very well that this likely Act 1 of what might come after in Act 2, and Act 3. This was confirmed as season 4 is practically confirmed to go this route with its opener. I can't say it in a rational way, but I feel that when knowing that this episode works infinitely better than it would've if it was stand-alone.

This review will not have a verdict, and a final score, because I feel like this is a very special episode which may require a ton of thought put into it to decide what you think about it, most of which is irrational. It is in a place where I am not suited to give it a score to determine its quality. So I'll just leave you with this:

Did I enjoy the episode? Very much!