I think we have a streak coming along here! That’s right, I liked the recent episode almost as if not just as much as last week’s. If we’re lucky we could get on a real roll here with this season.

The only complaint I’d really say but I’ve always said that’s a nitpick anyway is you could probably see where the episode was going a mile away. In what I mean is in regards to Gilda being redeemed and being the one that turns things around. But hey I like Gilda a little more after this episode and I suppose that’s all that matters. Now I wouldn’t say it’s as much as a 180 like I had with Trixie from Boast Busters to Magic Duel. But nonetheless I’m happy for the fans who stuck up for Gilda even back then. As just like with Trixie, this episode proved Gilda’s not just a one-note antagonist. It’s really great to see characters you’re supposed to hate in their debut episodes show a new side to them that makes them somewhat relatable and even expand the character past their boundaries from an earlier season.

One thing I should say though, knowing it’s confirmed Gilda and Dash were childhood friends. That actually makes Griffon the Brush-Off’s ending quite heartbreaking in hindsight. It may be hard to look at Gilda the same way in that episode again even with the yelling at Fluttershy scene now.

But besides Gilda, the characterization was great for both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow in this one. The worldbuilding we got about Griffons was also interesting. I also chuckled quite a bit at the scene where Rainbow makes her impression of Twilight as well as when Pinkie was flirting with the statue of the Griffon King. Just some really good jokes throughout the episode and I must say they must of heard the concerns about Pinkie at least somewhat during Season 4. Because for the most part Pinkie’s been amazing this Season as of so far. Props to the writers for improving on her (I’m not one of those who’d say she was all that bad last season but there are a few moments where I could see where some were coming from. Ex: Filli Vanilli)

Anyway yes, a real solid episode and once again another MLP Season manages to avoid the curse of the 8th episode. We can possibly consider that “curse” dead now. We may have had Look Before You Sleep, Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, and to a lesser extent Apple Family Reunion. But both this episode and Rarity Takes Manehatten has crushed the preposition that 8 is an unlucky number in FiM.

Now we wait three weeks for the 100th episode of the show to air. Which will be quite interesting how this plays out. Because the challenge playing out is this: Can the staff manage an obvious love letter to the fanbase of the show without compromising a story where casual fans or the target demographic can still appreciate the beloved background characters on a similar level to those who actually are fully aware of the characters made popular purely by fanon. I think they can especially now that we know M.A. Larson will be at the helm of it all. But no matter how good this episode turns out there’s going to be high emotions on all sides of the spectrum. There will be the people who will be so overexcitable and love the episode to death for the portrayal given to the background characters but you’ll also have the people who will complain because they simply find any notion of pandering to the fanbase as obnoxious and show ruining or there will be those upset that the canon portrayal of the character does not match with their headcanons. I really feel there shouldn’t be such an explosion and instead treat the episode more as a celebration and an appreciation of how this show even got this far as not many cartoons really live to see a 100th 22-minute episode. The fans should be thanking the staff, and the vice versa. But I suppose before we get too ahead of ourselves let’s just wait and see what unfolds three weeks from now. It’s going to be a big day no matter what happens