It is really interesting seeing Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy together and it was great and more than welcome to have a return to the Cutie Map. Something that showed much potential when introduced but could have generally been explored more in Season 5. The story though does not sound very exciting or a story that will engage many people, with it being a type that is very old hat and had already been done to death in animation and variably.
"The Hooffields and McColts", a takeoff of the notorious Hatfields and McCoys story, was a little better than expected and is a good deal better than "What About Discord?" (most things are better than that episode). At least there isn't any character butchering unlike that episode. Still have never considered "The Hooffields and McColts" a particularly good episode and still don't. The script and story in general don't work and while it is always great when anything tackles the fixing relationships theme 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' had done that already in Season 5 with "Amending Fences" and handled it a lot better in that.
Of course there are things done well. The animation is colourful and beautifully detailed, a great job is done with the expressions and reactions too (some expressive, some wacky). The music is dynamic and has no trouble gelling tonally or with the setting. Tara Strong and Andrea Libman voice Twilight and Fluttershy beautifully. The ending is sweet, the "forgiveness is an investment to happiness" line is very telling and the moral about the importance of friendship (an oft-done moral but again always worth addressing) is one of the best and best delivered ones of the season, delivered clearly and sincerely and not at the expense of the storytelling and characters.
Both Twilight and Fluttershy come over very effectively here. Some may find Twilight too "frantic" at times, but she was still treated with a good deal of respect. There is still the character trait of trying to make things right with good intentions in an to the book way, which is handled tactfully. Fluttershy may not be as strong a character but she is written a lot more sympathetically here than she was in "Scare Master" and is true to character and likeable. The chemistry between them is beautifully done too, lovely seeing them so close while with some contrast.
Sadly didn't find the Hooffield and McColt characters (feeling like overdone stereotypes rather than real characters) anywhere near as appealing, Ma Hooffield for example is completely bland and Big Daddy McColt can get very annoying. The conflict badly lacked tension and didn't have anywhere enough to sustain interest, to the extent of not caring that much as to how things would resolve (and there was no surprise about the outcome).
Did not like at all a vast majority of the writing, apart from that lovely forgiveness line already mentioned. It is far too silly and contrived, with an over-reliance of very forced and stale humour. The story is very flimsy, what little there is is very predictable and bland and there are stretches that don't really go anywhere. Like the script it really goes overboard on the silliness and the worst of it is enough to induce cringing. While Strong and Libman are fine, Peter Kelamis is too hammy for my liking.
In summary, watchable but very average. 5/10
"The Hooffields and McColts", a takeoff of the notorious Hatfields and McCoys story, was a little better than expected and is a good deal better than "What About Discord?" (most things are better than that episode). At least there isn't any character butchering unlike that episode. Still have never considered "The Hooffields and McColts" a particularly good episode and still don't. The script and story in general don't work and while it is always great when anything tackles the fixing relationships theme 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' had done that already in Season 5 with "Amending Fences" and handled it a lot better in that.
Of course there are things done well. The animation is colourful and beautifully detailed, a great job is done with the expressions and reactions too (some expressive, some wacky). The music is dynamic and has no trouble gelling tonally or with the setting. Tara Strong and Andrea Libman voice Twilight and Fluttershy beautifully. The ending is sweet, the "forgiveness is an investment to happiness" line is very telling and the moral about the importance of friendship (an oft-done moral but again always worth addressing) is one of the best and best delivered ones of the season, delivered clearly and sincerely and not at the expense of the storytelling and characters.
Both Twilight and Fluttershy come over very effectively here. Some may find Twilight too "frantic" at times, but she was still treated with a good deal of respect. There is still the character trait of trying to make things right with good intentions in an to the book way, which is handled tactfully. Fluttershy may not be as strong a character but she is written a lot more sympathetically here than she was in "Scare Master" and is true to character and likeable. The chemistry between them is beautifully done too, lovely seeing them so close while with some contrast.
Sadly didn't find the Hooffield and McColt characters (feeling like overdone stereotypes rather than real characters) anywhere near as appealing, Ma Hooffield for example is completely bland and Big Daddy McColt can get very annoying. The conflict badly lacked tension and didn't have anywhere enough to sustain interest, to the extent of not caring that much as to how things would resolve (and there was no surprise about the outcome).
Did not like at all a vast majority of the writing, apart from that lovely forgiveness line already mentioned. It is far too silly and contrived, with an over-reliance of very forced and stale humour. The story is very flimsy, what little there is is very predictable and bland and there are stretches that don't really go anywhere. Like the script it really goes overboard on the silliness and the worst of it is enough to induce cringing. While Strong and Libman are fine, Peter Kelamis is too hammy for my liking.
In summary, watchable but very average. 5/10
