CJF's MLP Reviews: Make New Friends But Keep Discord

Hooray for an episode centering around Discord. Even after he reformed in Season 3, he is still a lot of fun, being the mischievous draconequus that he always is. Not to mention that he is voiced by Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation, doubling the fun. It seems as though we have yet another great episode in this season, taking advantage of Discord's comedy, while still providing a relatable situation.

The episode begins with Discord and Fluttershy having a tea party. Fluttershy reveals to him that she is taking someone to the Grand Galloping Gala, the show's equivalent to a ball. Discord is a little ticked off about this, but tries not to show it in front of her. Yup, it's a jealousy episode.

Discord then goes around trying to ask other ponies to the Gala, with no success, seeing as how they all have their "plus-ones." At Sugar Cube corner, we get this little gem that can easily have me go into geek-out mode:

After that, Discord finds Fluttershy with her new friend: a hippie named Tree Hugger. They introduce each other and Discord continuously tries not to express his jealousy. With all the things Tree Hugger says, I'm temped to say that she is on drugs, but I'm above that.

Discord returns to an acid trip that is his home, as he finds a mail pony delivering his invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala. He is overjoyed that he was finally invited, but figures he must not go alone because he thinks that Fluttershy will think that he is her only friend. He then finds someone he could take to the Gala: the Smooze.

Oh, hi, Harry and Lloyd.

Yeah, I didn't see this coming. A character from G1 My Little Pony appearing in the show was quite a surprise. So how much more interesting can the episode get with a blob at the Gala? It grows in size after Discord fed it a diamond. I can already see where this is going.

While the party is going on, Discord finds Fluttershy and Tree Hugger as he tries to gain the former's attention. While that is going on, the Smooze starts devouring other ponies' gems, so Discord locks it in a closet... full of gems. Uh-oh.

Discord then eavesdrops on Fluttershy, telling Tree Hugger that she has never known anypony as funny as her. He doesn't take it all that well. He then proceeds with his next plan to get attention: being a stand-up comedian. It's not exactly going well, even due to the point of Maud, Pinkie Pie's sister, being more funny than he is.

While that is going on, this little boy who for some reason looks like Danny from The Shining...

spots the closet spilling some Smooze out. Um, why is he wearing a sweater at a Gala instead of formal wear? Just so the writers can give us that reference, I suppose. What happens next results in a very sticky situation. It also appears to be immune to magic, so neither Twilight nor Celestia could stop the Smooze.

Tree Hugger saves the night, however, by providing the Smooze with some calming auditory therapy, releasing everypony from it. Discord has had enough and threatens to send her to a dimension full of sock puppets. Um... okay? Fluttershy stops him and Discord confesses, feeling that she is abandoning him for a new friend.

Fluttershy tells him that is not the case, as she tells him that people can have different friends to talk about other stuff. Discord then apologizes, the Smooze is brought back to normal size, and the Gala continues. What sells the ending is Princess Celestia herself, claiming that the Gala was the most fun in years because of her inviting Discord, which is hilarious. I guess after the last Grand Galloping Gala, she wanted to liven things up a little.

This episode is great. It does a great job making Discord's emotions feel genuine. His predicament can apply to just about anyone who has a crush on someone or have friends hanging out with other friends, which makes the moral pretty simple, yet relatable.

The appearance of the Smooze from the 1980s My Little Pony movie is quite surprising, but a welcome addition. Just because this generation of MLP is several times better than the last three generations, doesn't mean the writers can't acknowledge previous aspects. Last season had Tirek, who was also in G1 MLP, and look how he turned out to be.

It is also one of the funniest episodes in the show by far, and Dave Polsky didn't even write it. The pop culture references can go a little overboard, but thankfully it relies on other forms of humor. Maud only has a couple of lines of dialogue, yet her dry sense of humor still cracks me up every time she is on screen, for example. The character of Tree Hugger, while she is written as a stereotypical hippie, she gets a chuckle out of me once in a while.

Make New Friends But Keep Discord gets a righteous...

5/5

On today's review, I provide the sequel to Fluttershy's Adorable Faces: We Bought Two Cakes.