Riposte Notions: "Three's A Crowd"

Now, this is how you make an episode of Friendship is Magic.

Season 4's been flapping about like a fish on land so far. Sometimes it lands on the good end, but other times it just lands on a really weird angle that's uncomfortable. The show is good, it's never bad, but sometimes it's just not great. This is a GREAT episode. There are so many things that can be said about it! Catch it under the break!


Okay. So, the episode starts off by telling us that the writers haven't forgotten about Princess Cadance and the Crystal Empire; indeed, basing an entire episode around how we haven't seen them in a while! Well, Princess Cadance, at least. We saw the Crystal Empire a couple of episodes back in "Flight to the Finish" briefly at the end. Twilight's excited.

Fluttershy's excited too, about going to see the Breezies. I bet this is just a one-off reference to G3 that won't be mentioned again. It's nice, though. The gang wishes her off at the train station before she goes off on her little adventure.

Princess Cadance arrives and brings along Flash Sentry:

Who just as quickly leaves. Look at that smirk, though. In all honesty, I really love how much continuity they're invoking in this episode. I liked the rather meaningless character of Flash Sentry, despite having absolutely nothing to do in the movie. Even a one-off gag from season 2 gets some love in the form of a reference to Rarity's fainting couch.

Twilight and Cadance are going off to go off to a Starswirl the Bearded conventio- I mean, "travelling museum" and wishes their friends well. And then, Discord shows up. Oh, sweet Discord. He appears to be sick and says that the only pony who can help him is Fluttershy, who is conveniently out. The gang naturally doesn't buy it. Note: I love how Discord and Fluttershy are portrayed as pen pals. They've really grown together as friends since season 3! Also, love how Discord mentions one of the plot holes from the season 2 finale. (YES, CONTINUITY!)

After "accidentally" finding a way to stop everypony from interrupting him, it seems it's up to Twilight to find a way to fix him.

Who cosplays at a travelling museum? Told you it was a convention.

Anyway, now it's up for Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight to placate Discord. This comes with what must be the BEST song in the season thus far.

"A Little Glass of Water" comes with that oh so wonderful Disney-like feeling, even more so than the season 2 finale. It pops in out of nowhere and just has so many callbacks, references, and quips that you can't help but laugh. Adding in, of course, the wonderful singing performance by John de Lancie's Discord, you've got a contender - possibly - for the best song in Friendship is Magic. Okay, maybe going a bit far, but it is REALLY, really good.

Funny stuff happens, including this:

and this:

After retrieving a giant flower which allegedly has petal that can cure Discord, it turns out that Discord was never sick at all! He was just testing the newly-minted Princess Twilight to see if she was still humble and worthy of being a leader. I love how they're continuing Discord's role as a sort of cosmic "teacher" for Twilight, much in the same way that Q acted for Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Which is good, because John de Lancie also portrayed Q! So, he has a lot of experience with this sort of thing.

Twilight's understandably pissed that Discord's fooled her once again, but Princess Cadance is actually grateful! She explains that the Crystal Empire's gotten predictable, so some excitement really helped her bond with Twilight. Aww. Then, Discord gets sick for real from the giant worm thing up there. The episode ends with a new lesson learned, Fluttershy getting back in time to take care of Discord, and Twilight finally acting like a Princess.

So, why's this episode so good?

Well, let me explain: the best episodes of Friendship is Magic rely primarily on character interaction. Nothing's better than two well-written characters playing off of each other, and this episode has three! Throw in ridiculously fluid animation, wry humor, pop culture references, and an amazing song, then you're good. This episode is all of that and MORE.

The second tier of enjoyment that comes from Friendship is Magic usually involves some measure of continuity. After a first season that hardly acknowledged any continuity besides a trinity of episodes, a second season that went with a "we'll invoke it if we have to" rule, a third season that was the first to feature actual sequel episodes and more consistent appearances from previously-seen characters, the fourth season appears to be the season where EVERYTHING is on the table.

Look! It's Rarity's fainting couch! Flash Sentry cameo! Princess Cadance, one of my favorite characters (regrettably missing the "sunshine, sunshine" jingle)! CRYSTAL EMPIRE TRAIN! DISCORD! The funny little imaginary chibi-pony things from season 2! Discord and Fluttershy being adorable! CONTINUTY! THAT'S ALL FOLKS RECYCLE YOUR 3D GLASSES PLUSHIES ARE IN THE LOBBY GOODNIGHT!

9.0/10.0

Also, welcome to Riposte Notion! This is different from my normal reviews since they usually involve my first reactions to a work of fiction that I've just absorbed. Not like my normal reviews where I usually have time to mull it over for a day or so. Is it an arbitrary distinction? Maybe, but I justify these by having them be half-reaction, half-review. So, there.