W&D S01EP24 - Owl's Well That Ends Well [we're live!]

[Tam]

You know the drill, bronies.

As soon as the entire ep is confirmed to be on Youtube we'll embed it here. Keep conversation about it here in this thread... do not provide running commentary in the chat room during airing to avoid spoilers, and do not openly link to downloads of the episode.

Edit: And here's the episode!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw8dBLlf3lo

[brianblackberry]

SPOILERS

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-- Cutie mark Crusaders return, but as indidivuals and we learn that Scoot is really Dash's #1 fangirl.

-- Ahh Pinky, the master of the bad puns

-- We now know Equestria's universe has other planets, meteors, and comets and their astronomical knowledge is at least as good as 17th or 18th century science.

-- Don't come become between a dragon and the unicorn he loves

-- Twilight butt!

-- New store shown in town, a sofa store that also sells quills... O_o

-- Dark Core better watch up there is a new villian in town, Dasterly Spike! That'll be good for a few pictures.

-- Well we now know why dragons collect so many jewels and gems (also there is at least one dragon in the Everfree forest)

-- The owl will probably be a regular character now.

*************************

It was very much a filler episode, the story was pretty predictable and the standard "old friend gets jealous of my new friend but turns out they have no reason to" trope was obvious. Not disappointed, because this usually happens towards the end of a series, especially before a big final, and not all episodes could be "god tier" like the last one. Coolest part was that the fandom's belief that Scoot was a total Dash fangirl was show as accurate, either that it was a direct grant to the fandom's belief that she was.

[Blue Moon]

WARNING: There may be spoilers below.

This episode had so many different possible themes/lessons, so I was constantly guessing them throughout the show (i.e. modesty when Spike was riding on the attention, learning to overcome jealousy when Twilight's new night assistant comes). Overall, though, this was a nice episode that gave Spike some much-needed show time.

Not as 'epic' as the Cutie Mark Chronicles or episodes like that, but it was fun to watch! I also realize that this brings the number of animal companions up to eight: Gummy, Opal, Winona, Angel, Hummingway, Elizabeak, Philomena, and now Twilight's owl.

[Teh_Brawler]

That was a silly episode but OH ALL THE LOVE

Spike is narcoleptic it seems.

[Tam]

There's no reason to mark for spoilers in the thread, gang. I warn people from providing running commentary while the episode airs... if the thread is unlocked, you're welcome to go for it, because everyone has the chance to watch you Youtube video before reading the thread.

[Whitehawke]

Nice episode, but not without it's flaws.

PROS:

-The punch got "Spiked". Actually laughed out loud with this joke.

-More Scootaloo/Rainbow Dash teasing. I really want to know if there is a reason (besides Scoots looking up to Dash) these two are seen together.

-Spike the dastardly. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

-Another dragon being introduced. Especially nice is the fact that Spike is the one interacting with him, since this solves/avoids the plothole of "Dragonshy" by showing that Spike has no real sway towards his species. Either that or the dragons were both jerks.

-"I'm out of quills. Need a sofa?"

CONS:

-The owl is quite possibly the most boring character on the show. Nothing interesting about him at all. The "Who?" joke wasn't even funny to begin with, so it was a bit cringe-worthy to see it used so many times. I would have liked the owl a lot more if he was shown to have actually been able to talk all along, since that would have at least bumped him to "Troll" status, but he's really bottom of the barrel right now. If they plan to show him in any future episodes, he'll hopefully have more personality than a robot.

PRO AND CON:

The fake dead mouse scene was REALLY over-planned out. I thought Spike would have stopped at decapitation but when he actually sprayed the "body" with ketchup, I really think they were pushing that "Kid-friendly" rating A LOT. But him getting caught in the middle of the act made me chuckle, and this wouldn't have made me raise any suspicions on a show for older audiences anyway.

Anyway, not a bad episode regardless of the owl's blandness. I still place it above "Over a barrel" since it's ending isn't as rushed as that one. But that owl really needed more personality.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Crying Spike was even sadder to me than crying Twilight or crying Fluttershy.

[Dessa]

I'm saying it: First bad episode.

I said it. Might change my mind on a rewatch, but I doubt it.

Had some good gags, but the run-on joke was played out by 1930. The dialogue was too brazenly expositionary, and as a result, it was stilted and awkward. When we were told countless times that Spike was the best assistant in the world, it was obvious where the episode was going. All that time explaining could have been spent better telling us WHY Spike enjoys assistancy so much, or something else that developed Spike's character.

I liked Aloicious. Alouicious' introduction to Spike was the most dramatic moment of the episode, and evil music combined with the owl's, hydraulic about-face made him menacing. In that way, Aloicious' robot-like quality could have been a boon. Instead, this development is left either abandoned or open-ended at the episode's conclusion, with Alo suddently appearing friendly toward Spike. A better conclusion would have been to end the episode on an evil glare from the owl. In addition to being hilarious (conflict endings can be great for laughs -- Think of all the ambiguous Dexter/Mandark episode endings), it would give us a future Frenemy to explore. His position at Twilight's left hoof would make him a great sometimes-hero sometimes-villain.

One tantalizing hook: Did Aloicious arrive on a meteor from that night's storm? I guess that would make him a...

*puts on glasses*

Owlien

YYYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

[Edit]

I still got a good belly laugh off some of the gags though (dastardly Spike is my favorite incarnation so far), so I guess it was worth the watch. Not up to the show's standard, however.

Edit:

And now Twilight has TWO animal companions (I counted Spike) but Rainbow Dash still has ZERO (I don't count Scootaloo).

[Snakebar-010]

Despite the cons mentioned so far (most of which I agree with), I have to say that today's episode wasn't too bad at all. The one thing that really bugged me about the entire episode was the owl wasn't really developed as a character, which I believe could have made the episode more interesting.

I did like the part where "The punch has been... Spiked!"

[BlackFang]

how on goddamned earth does quill gets misheard into quesadilla?? eh Pinkie??

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Dash: How about takin' out the trash?

Scoot: YES MA'AM!

me: WTF? o.O

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moar dragons=moar oh-sum :3

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@WhiteHawke: its an owl, give it a break

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needs moar of pinkie's bad puns (plus the fanart of her going all csi incoming)

[WillowWisp]

I had to giggle at the "spiked punch" joke. No little kid would get that.

Also, I was rather impressed with the accurate description Twilight was starting about comets.

[BlackFang]

I had to giggle at the "spiked punch" joke. No little kid would get that.

or anyone outside the U.S. for that matter (just googled it, then made sense )

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

They layed it on a little thick there at the beginning, but once the episode shifted gears, it got a lot smoother. Overall pretty good, not the best but certainly not my least favorite. You know, it is kind of funny, but most of my complaints about any episode tend to boil down to: "it was too short, because X could have gotten a bit more screen time," which is pretty tame as far as criticisms go. I think for this episode they could have used just a few more moments showing Twilight and Spike in their element so we'd get a better feel for their relationship.

They kinda dropped the ball in establishing Twilight and Spike's relationship at the start of the episode. As Dessa said, it was exposition. I think it would have been better if we were shown their relationship instead of told about it, but as the episode went on they started to fill in the blanks.

The ending was good. I mean, the show is about making friends after all, but it seemed a little bit rushed too. The whole episode really felt a bit like they were trying to squeeze stuff into the time limit. It was the same feeling I got when I watched Stair Master, its like there was something else that didn't quite make the cut but would probably make the directors cut version a lot better.

Pinkie Pie... I think she was just trying to cheer Spike up. There's no way anypony could mistake quill for quesadilla, but my mouth immediately started watering when I saw it flying through the air. Food is usually a good way to cheer up someone up.

Even if there was nothing else in the episode, the evil mustache twisting spike bit would have pushed the episode above neutral into "a good laugh," territory. That laugh, oh man... I just about died when he started ripping up the pillow. If I were spike though, I would have used the mouse to try to lure the Owl into chasing after it and knocking stuff over.

[brianblackberry]

When we were told countless times that Spike was the best assistant in the world, it was obvious where the episode was going. All that time explaining could have been spent better telling us WHY Spike enjoys assistancy so much, or something else that developed Spike's character.

THIS! Yes, this. This is what really bugged me, they had the perfect opportunity to talk about why Spike does what he does. Why is so motivated. When learned in the last episode Spike was born thanks to Twi's magic, so could see why they were put together, but that doesn't explain the loyalty, the friendship. A great backstory with a flashback about his reasons would have been great character building material.

In fact I don't think this episode added much to Spike's character at all, and he was the focus, which is disappointing.

Edit:

And now Twilight has TWO animal companions (I counted Spike) but Rainbow Dash still has ZERO (I don't count Scootaloo).

I still like to think that it will be a turtle.

[Hippo]

So this owl guy... thing...

You think he is a reoccurring character?

pleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesayno....

[BlackFang]

So this owl guy... thing...

You think he is a reoccurring character?

pleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesayno....

no, somehow i dont really think he will

obviously it will

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Sometimes you meet someone in passing and you wish you knew more about them. I know that has happened to me plenty of times.

((It took the CMCs a few episodes to really draw out their characters. Hopefully we'll get more in season 2.))

Double Edit: Anypony else get the feeling like Rainbow Dash is trying to shake Scootaloo's hero worship with her whole "take out the trash," bit? Someponies have been saying it is canonized scootabuse, but I get the impression from this and other episodes that as much as Rainbow Dash likes the attention, she knows that Scoots and the gang need to find their own path.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I'm saying it: First bad episode.

I said it. Might change my mind on a rewatch, but I doubt it.

Had some good gags, but the run-on joke was played out by 1930. The dialogue was too brazenly expositionary, and as a result, it was stilted and awkward. When we were told countless times that Spike was the best assistant in the world, it was obvious where the episode was going. All that time explaining could have been spent better telling us WHY Spike enjoys assistancy so much, or something else that developed Spike's character.

I liked Aloicious. Alouicious' introduction to Spike was the most dramatic moment of the episode, and evil music combined with the owl's, hydraulic about-face made him menacing. In that way, Aloicious' robot-like quality could have been a boon. Instead, this development is left either abandoned or open-ended at the episode's conclusion, with Alo suddently appearing friendly toward Spike. A better conclusion would have been to end the episode on an evil glare from the owl. In addition to being hilarious (conflict endings can be great for laughs -- Think of all the ambiguous Dexter/Mandark episode endings), it would give us a future Frenemy to explore. His position at Twilight's left hoof would make him a great sometimes-hero sometimes-villain.

One tantalizing hook: Did Aloicious arrive on a meteor from that night's storm? I guess that would make him a...

*puts on glasses*

Owlien

YYYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

I think the spelling would be more along Owlouicious. Y'know...a play on words, yet again?

[SunsetSombra]

The Owl didn't leave or die at the end of the episode...it's clearly coming back.

[brianblackberry]

Anypony else get the feeling like Rainbow Dash is trying to shake Scootaloo's hero worship with her whole "take out the trash," bit? Someponies have been saying it is canonized scootabuse, but I get the impression from this and other episodes that as much as Rainbow Dash likes the attention, she knows that Scoots and the gang need to find their own path.

I am hoping this will be resolved in such a manner in a Dash/Scoot Season 2 episode.

[Hippo]

The Owl didn't leave or die at the end of the episode...it's clearly coming back.

Silly... Who the hell does Twlight think she is? Fluttershy???

[BlackFang]

Anypony else get the feeling like Rainbow Dash is trying to shake Scootaloo's hero worship with her whole "take out the trash," bit? Someponies have been saying it is canonized scootabuse, but I get the impression from this and other episodes that as much as Rainbow Dash likes the attention, she knows that Scoots and the gang need to find their own path.

pretty much this... i mean is obvious Dash isnt a jerk, i cant really sense why could such a change of heart happen like that, out of thin air

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

I'm betting we'll see an episode in season 2 where Rainbow Dash has to learn that, while she has dreamed of being admired and respected for her flying in much the same way she admires and respects the wonderbolts, being a role model is a big responsibility; and Scoots has to learn that everypony makes mistakes sometimes, even your heroes.

Also, I kinda noticed it the first time around, but taking a second look made me really wish I had seen this in high definition. The actual meteor shower from 3:50 to 4:22 was pretty dang awesome and totally lived up to the hype. More than that, when they panned out in the last few seconds and played that sweet piano melody, and you see everyone standing there together... Thats the kind of thing where, when it happens to you in real life, you realize that it is a moment to remember.

[Manestream]

I dont think this episode was poor/bad at all; it clearly new it was making fun of itself, and overused its gags for that intent. I think it was supposed to inspire some face-hoofing; and it had some really adorable spike moments that were all call backs to earlier parts of the series (spike's crush, etc). Predictable? Yes. Bad? Not by a longshot in my eyes; I rather enjoyed this episode

[Thunder Boomer]

This was probably my least favorite episode. Not a single thing made me laugh or go "aww." It was full of bad puns, and the "who" joke was annoying. I'm convinced it was only written to explain why the Twilight toy comes with an owl.