And he once watched a show based around this:
Yeah, let that live on in your nightmares.
After the jump, he'll break down another episode and discuss what makes it good, what makes it bad, and what makes it just outright crazy. This week's theme? How accidentally sneezing fire into a really old book can almost cost you your job, leading you to run away and wind up almost dying as a monster tries to get you.
...yeah, sometimes the messages get a bit mixed between the show's intent and what I pick up.
We open with Twilight Sparkle and Spike preparing for a massive meteor shower by gathering up a whole bunch of supplies. Spike is at the peak of his "assistant" capabilities, gathering up supplies, preparing snacks, and making sure everything is ready.
You know, after last week's episode where we learned that Spike's hatching from an egg was essentially Twilight's entrance exam to join
Anyway, Spike is sent back for an astronomy book, but because of the dust (someone hasn't been doing a good job keeping things clean, I guess), he winds up sneezing and burning the entire contents of the book up. Rather than own up to it (and, to be fair, blaming a dragon for sneezing fire is like blaming a leaky faucet for having water in it), he instead hides the book back on the shelf and runs off to join Twilight. We get dramatic music, cue title.
On a nearby hilltop, Twilight and Spike arrive to find the rest of the main characters and the kids already waiting (along with some characters that, frankly, I don't even recognize as having seen before). While Spike sets up (after dodging a question about the book), Rainbow Dash comments how neat it would be to have someone to take care of everything she asked. Cue Scootaloo, eager to be the helper for her idol.
I smiled a bit at this, because when I was young, I would've chopped off a leg to have been one of those kids having Mister Wizard show me how to make giant bubbles with a box fan and a wire coat hanger, he was my hero when I was little.
Spike soaks up the compliments from the other characters about his skills preparing things, being a "cute widdle dragon," and being so helpful, and this also includes Rarity giving a gift to Spike: a bright shiny bow tie.
Words fail me.
The meteor shower begins, and two things to note: one, it's actually pretty cute how the kid ponies stand on the backs of their sisters to see. I'm not sure how that would work with real animals, but the sentiment carries through. Second, I'm pretty sure I saw a few copy/pastes and palette swaps in the crowd when they panned back out.
After the show the characters are simply hanging out, and they realize that Spike worked himself to exhaustion and fell asleep in the punch bowl (don't make the pun, Pinkie Pie beat you to it). Back at the library, Spike gets tucked into bed, and Twilight starts acting out those dreams we all had when we were care free, the night was young, and we had hit our second wind and really wanted to live it up and have the night never end.
Yeah, I'm lying again. She starts writing an essay about comets. Nothing exciting ever comes from using the phrase "small irregularly-shaped bodies." Trust me on that.
A noise startles Twilight, but a quick investigation doesn't reveal anything. She resumes writing, but hearing it again causes her to open a window and the scroll she was writing on blows outside into the night air.
Seriously, what kind of night life involves scrolls?
...oh, right.
Well, this won't end well.
Fortunately, we're saved from seeing Twilight get shot by the local Pony PD when an owl arrives with her wayward scroll. She invites it in to stay warm on a cold night and keep her company while she works, and it accepts. Fortunately, Twilight just happens to have a perfectly constructed coat rack that isn't in use nearby, because of course she does.
The next morning, Spike freaks out because he overslept. Twilight isn't concerned, since "Owlowiscous" (you see what they did there? I had to Google that to make sure I spelled it correctly) took care of the morning chores and will be there to help Spike out. Spike starts to freak out a bit that maybe he isn't as necessary or needed. He heads to the library to introduce himself, and is greeted by a head swiveling around 180 degrees to look at him.
As Spike says, "That's creepy."
And now we get a rather silly rendition of a "Who's On First" routine by Abbott and Costello, because apparently Spike has no idea what an owl is, so every time he refers to himself and the owl says "Who" he starts to get upset. I mean, it's not a bad sketch, and I love that they're acknowledging a cornerstone of comedy like that, but, well, Animaniacs did it better.
Anyway, Spike's studying up on owls while the other ponies dote on Owlowiscious, including Rarity providing their newest "little star" with a gift...a sparkly bow tie.
And no, your eyes aren't fooling you, it's the exact same bow tie she gave Spike. Rarity, you heartless creature.
They seem pretty focused on making it look like Owlowisc- Owlow- ...the owl is trying to replace Spike. Attempts to get books for Twilight lead to the owl flying up and getting them first (don't think I missed the fact that Twilight actually says "oh em gee" at one point, but we're going to discuss religion in this show later),. When Twilight breaks her last writing quill, while Spike is off trying to get a new one and failing at every step, the owl simply provides one of its feathers to get the job done.
And I'm not kidding. He even visits a store called "Quills and Sofas." And they happen to be sold out of one of the two things they sell.
That's brilliant.
Spike falls asleep again in the middle of pledging to get the rest of his chores done, and is awakened the next morning by a book slamming next to him. A book filled with crispy pages.
Twilight expresses her disappointment in Spike, and Spike is now convinced that Owlo- the owl is trying to take his place and is setting him up. Spike gets the idea into his head to do it first to the owl, which apparently involves dressing up like Snidely Whiplash.
Seriously, what kid would get that reference?
The plan, though, doesn't really seem very well thought out, since it involves blaming the owl for mauling a catnip mouse covered in ketchup. When caught, Twilight again expresses her disappointment, and Spike is left feeling like he isn't loved anymore. Obviously, the only solution is to run away from home!
When a rainstorm hits while Spike wanders through the Everfree Forest (stupid idea #1 since the mouse idea), Spike winds up taking shelter inside a large cave that you could drive a bus into (stupid idea #2), and is immediately awestruck when he comes upon a huge pile of gemstones piled in a heap (stupid idea #3 is "not running away" here). I'm pretty sure Patton Oswalt up there knows what's next.
Spike gets cornered by the giant dragon, and is apparently doomed when suddenly a hero arrives with a proud hoot! Owlis- Owo- ... excuse me while I scroll up. Uh-huh. O-w-l-o-w-i-s-c-i-o-u-s, got it. Okay. Owlowiscious flies in and distracts the dragon (including smacking it in the face twice, dodging a swung tail, and making it drive a spike into its own head...man, Rainbow Dash didn't do that well against a dragon, and that one was still asleep) so Spike can make his escape. Twilight meets him at the entrance, he hops on her back, and they take off into the dark woods, with Owlowiscious leading the way through the darkness.
Back at the edge of the forest (why don't the dragons just swarm the place? I mean, sure, they have a Princess who can make the sun rise by willing it, but- ...actually, yeah, that'd probably be enough even if I forgot for a moment that her equally powerful sister was back from being trapped in the moon for a thousand years) Twilight confronts Spike about running off, and he admits that he felt that he wasn't wanted or needed anymore.
Once the whole confusion is cleared up, Spike apologizes for overreacting, Twilight apologizes for not realizing how Spike would feel about her having a new "nighttime" assistant, and Spike apologizes to Owlowiscious (that gets easier to type each time) for thinking the bird was out for his job.
Spike gets to write a letter to Princess Celestia about how being jealous and telling lies doesn't do anything to help you, and we get a sense at the end that Owlowiscious understands just how confusing saying "who" is to people. Sneaky owl.
The Good:
Well, we got one more monster episode before the finale (two to go!), and it's great to see another dragon. It appears dragons are the one creature that even a character who defeated a bear made of outer space and fought a thousand year old evil isn't willing to face, which I think holds up a real sense of danger to the show. There really is something out there that would terrify any of the characters if they faced it...well, maybe not Fluttershy once she saw her friends get taken down. After all, she does have "the stare."
But back to this episode. I like that it was a pretty concise story. An accident leads to a panicked lie, which leads to paranoia, which leads to more lying, which leads to being caught and the "punishment" being much worse than what would've happened if there had just been that initial confession. It's a solid moral lesson for kids (better than some of the other more recent ones, looking at you CMC episodes).
Also, man I loved those classic comedy and drama references. Abbott and Costello, the mustachioed villains of vaudeville, and a few other subtle references were quite clever and great for an eye like mine who appreciates some of the older media that's out there.
Oh, and one more thing...I was actually convinced for a moment that the owl actually was out to take Spike's job for a moment. When he pulls a book out from under Spike making Spike fall down, I was sure it was an actual act of malice. I think it says a lot for the episode creators that they were able to lend a bit of credibility to Spike's paranoia, but upon a second look at the scenes you realize that Owlowiscious' expression doesn't change, it's our perspective on it because we have Spike interpreting everything.
The Bad:
Rarity comes off as a bit of an insensitive ditz in this episode, since she gives Owlowiscious an exact duplicate of the tie she gave Spike, and I'm pretty sure she knows what she means to him. It'd be like that person you really liked in high school sending you a personalized valentine...just to realize it was a form letter that could be (and was) just being handed out like it was nothing.
Also, there were some visible animation hiccups in this episode. The copy/pasting was rather obvious, and I think there was a problem with the large dragon's wings at one point. Plus, I'm not sure how the owl was able to sit on Twilight Sparkle's haunch with its feet curled like that. There wasn't really a solid perch there.
Overall:
It's nice to see the episodes staying solid as we get towards the end. Many shows tend to slow down at this point or start to run out of budget or ideas, or they want to save up big things for the actual finale, but to have not only a "monster of the week" appear but also get some deep characterization is pretty neat. We haven't really had much of a spotlight on Spike in a while, and we were even able to get little touches of secondary character personalities while we were at it.
Plus, "Quills and Sofas" is the best name for a store ever.
So, only two episodes left before I move on to something else. Let's hope the next one has something special to keep me interested. So, episode, what's up next?
...oh look, it's Pinkie Pie's descent into madness. I'm sure what I'm about to watch will be absolutely nightmarish. I can't wait.
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