horse show thoughts: ep 1/2 spoilers as hell







- it was good

- i still have qualms with the /way/ they pulled off princess twilight (the season 3 finale) but i've never been opposed to the idea of it, and they're executing on it quite well. this is good

- i love the major conceit of the storyline being "oh no we have to send twilight away because Protect The Princess/oh wait no we actually need our friend." the execution was really off mostly because it was really, really rushed though.

- related to previous point: i think episode 1 really could have been cut down a lot and episode 2 expanded. especially since the episode 1 "cliffhanger" really didn't leave even the slightest element of suspense, it was a really obvious flashback? cut some of episode 1, end it on "OH NO THE TREE IS IN DANGER" and ep 2 them racing off to combat it - then sending twilight away and getting her back there doesn't feel so forced. as for what to cut the scenes of everypony being fucked with by the forest magic probably could have been more snappy

- they used discord EXTREMELY well and i really hope they're smart enough to put him on the shelf for most of the rest of the season in spite of this. dude just does not work as an all-the-time character but this is the part i was most pleasantly surprised about - they nailed a way to make him still Discord, but actually be good, but in a way that's still untrustworthy and messed up that he's still an ambiguous-ish character? very very good

- i'm also very pleasantly surprised that they were able to gracefully ditch the Deus Ex Harmonia - it opens up a whole lot more story space where you don't have to ask the question "well why don't they just go get the elements"

- i'm glad to see they have something going forward with The Box but this whole "six keys " business smacks of, like, a late 90s mediocre platformer video game. i feel like we've been transported to Donkey Kong 64 or some shit

- i have every expectation that the next episode will be a very low-key domestic slice of life affair that doesn't reference most of the plot threads opened up here in anything more than ultra-minor passing. that's what i want. this show cannot be high-concept drama all the time, that's unsustainable, and the slice of life stuff is probably what i like more on the whole

- it was good