CJF's MLP Reviews: The Cutie Map

I want to be more productive this year, so why not do reviews on individual episodes? Since Season 5 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic just premiered, this seemed to be like a good opportunity. And before you ask, no I'm not going to review the last four seasons as it would take too much time. So here's my review on the Season 5 premiere "The Cutie Map."

To recap, Twilight Sparkle and her friends Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, unlocked the mysterious chest used to defeat Tirek and out pops a shiny castle replacing Twilight's destroyed home. Cut to almost a year and one Equestria Girls movie later, Twilight is wondering why the castle appeared in the first place. As soon as she sits in her chair, out pops a table representing a holographic map of Equestria.


Twilight and friends discover that the map is leading them to one town and they leave Ponyville to investigate. As they arrive, they discover that it is a town in which everyone has a slasher smile and a Cutie Mark shaped like an equal sign.

Pinkie Pie is quick to suspect something is wrong. Understandable, considering she had an episode in which she sang a song about smiling, and those smiles are creepy as heck. My sister and I quickly suspected that it might end up like the episode "Swarm of the Century," where her friends don't believe her. Actually, all but Fluttershy were suspecting that something is wrong with the town. Fluttershy was quickly won over by how kind the townsfolk were.

The Mane 6 are then introduced to their leader, Sunlight Glimmer, which I was able to remember because her name sounds like Sunset Shimmer. She explains in song that differing opinions and talents do nothing but cause bitterness and conflict. It's pretty obvious that she's the villain, but I didn't mind. I'll explain in a little bit as to why I found her to be an interesting antagonist.

In the meantime, the song is pretty darn catchy and it's not going to leave my head for a little while. I think what really sells that scene are the expressions that Pinkie Pie makes throughout, furthering her suspicion on the town.

They run into a muffin baker named Sugar Belle, whose name I also remember because I quickly thought "Are you related to Sweetie Belle?" She and a bunch of other ponies express how much they miss their Cutie Marks and reveal that they are stored in a cave. Sunlight then leads Twilight and her friends to it, only to figure out that...

Sunlight takes their Cutie Marks away with some wooden staff and traps them in a building until they can agree to their philosophy. At this point, I was starting to notice similarities between her and Amon from The Legend of Korra. Think about it, Amon takes away bending because benders cause nothing but conflicts and wishes for everyone to be equal. The same applies to Sunlight and how she views Cutie Marks. She may as well as just said "You have been equalized."

The result of the Mane 6 being equalized begin to kick as the following goes:

- Pinkie Pie is less energetic
- Fluttershy finds it hard to talk to animals
- Rarity finds it hard to critique
- Twilight can't use her magic
- Rainbow Dash is not as athletic
- Applejack can't kick as stronger as she used to. In addition, she can't come up with any "country-isms."

They hatch up a plan to get out by using Fluttershy, since no one would believe they have been completely converted overnight but her. There's a little bit of tension as Sunlight asks who spilled the beans about the cave in order to earn her trust. One of Sugar Belle's friends eventually confesses before Fluttershy could, and is sentenced to be locked up with the rest of the Mane 6.

Fluttershy attempts to head to the cave in a pretty hilarious moment where she only makes a few steps, like that one gag in the SpongeBob episode, "Your Shoe's Untied." However, she finds out that Sunlight is holding on to their Cutie Marks at her home as well as the shocking revelation that her equal sign Cutie Mark is fake and has been hiding her real one using make-up.

The next day comes when Fluttershy exposes her to everyone in town. The townspeople, feeling betrayed, head to the cave to retrieve their Cutie Marks, while Sunlight escapes. Sugar Belle and her friends eventually help the Mane 6 catch her through a pretty entertaining chase sequence. It's at this moment where the side characters began to shine as the Mane 6 are powerless.

Sunlight attempts to take their Cutie Marks away, but is stopped by Twilight's... friendship magic, I guess. Twilight goes on about how she discovered who she was thanks to her friends, and Sugar Belle and her pals eventually realize this as well, spreading the magic of friendship throughout town. The bad news, however, Sunlight gets away and will probably return in future episodes.

As a season premiere, it's pretty good. It doesn't quite have the scale of previous two-parters, but considering the season 4 finale, it's nice to have a change of pace once in a while. The overall plot is engaging, and the season so far is throwing in more chances for world-building.

Now I'll go into a little detail as to why I found Sunlight to be an interesting antagonist. Aside from her similarities to Amon, she is not a one-dimensional villain, having a bit of depth that has yet to be explored. And you know what, she serves as somewhat of a threat. Turns out that staff I mentioned earlier does absolutely nothing. She actually learned this type of magic, again, making her as somewhat of a threat.

She's definitely not going to be a one-off villain. After all, villains like Trixie and the Flim Flam brothers made their second appearances, and her story has yet to be resolved. What are the odds that she'll return in the season finale? Heck, what if she makes an appearance in the next Equestria Girls movie? The possibilities are nearly endless.

I like the lesson that it was going for. In the words of CellSpex, it is only through interactions with people who are different from you that you truly learn and grow as a person. Makes me wish I did more of that in high school.

I know I said I don't use numerical scores, but I'll make an exception for this series of reviews. Think of my official rating system translated into numbers. "The Cutie Map" gets a solid...

5/5

I'm curious to where this season is going to go. In the meantime, here's a picture of Fluttershy's adorable face in the episode...