(Song Used: Push It - Garbage)

*PILLS HERE

This episode is one of the more often forgotten episodes of the first season. It’s one of those episodes that a lot of fans of the show are like “Oh yeah! That happened. Huh.”. It’s not that this episode doesn’t have any memorable scenes to it. But I suppose the problem is that despite that it doesn’t stand out. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing since it doesn’t stand out for being particularly bad, just not too great either. I think one thing that may stand out though if a bit sad is that this is one of the few episodes we learn a little bit of what Celestia lives with personally. We’ve never gotten a true Celestia episode yet in the show, and it’s a pretty sad fact that this episode is the closest we have to that. For those who like to follow the Trollestia jokes (But as in an occasional prankster, not all the time) the Phoenix itself could be seen as some evidence towards that as it was messing with Fluttershy the whole time. Perhaps taking a queue from Celestia herself who even does a light joke on the Cakes earlier in the same episode when she fakes drinking the tea saying “Gotcha!”. 

Another thing that is rare that can also be associated with this episode is the closest we get to a Twilight and Fluttershy duo episode until The Hooffields and McColts happened in Season 5. This episode also does get some subtle following up if you pay attention closely to Best Night Ever. Fluttershy remembers Twilight’s advice of tough love in an attempt to lure out the animals who aren’t listening to her. So while an oft forgotten episode, it certainly has some things to it that we rarely see and/or haven’t seen yet in the show that would be neat to see more. Now if only we’d see Celestia’s Phoenix again sometime, maybe the episode wouldn’t be quite as forgotten then.

While Season 4 is still my favorite season there are a few things where I wish they had taken a somewhat different direction. I was hoping early on after this episode that since they were putting all this effort into renovating the old castle we see in this episode and everything, that this castle would be given to Twilight. Which would make all sorts of sense since it’s not like Celestia and Luna use it anymore, and it is the very spot where Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 defeated Nightmare Moon. It would have been a good iconic location to show up repeatably. I don’t hate the Castle that Twilight ended up getting in the end, but I do feel it would of been more clever to use the old castle. Probably would of softened the blow a little more for some who got really attached to the Golden Oaks tree library that gets destroyed by Tirek in the Finale. Cause while one iconic location is lost forever, it’s replaced with a location that’s arguably just as much and more entwined with the show’s lore since as it turns out it’s the location where Nightmare Moon gets defeated twice. About this episode itself though, it’s a pretty ok episode. With some excellent humor here and there. Kinda some stuff you’ve already seen a lot of though if you’ve watched a lot of Scooby Doo however. 

This episode also introduced a temporary replacement for the Friendship letters that kinda just went quietly away in Season 3 (Funnily enough the last character to send a friendship letter to Celestia was Applejack). Which I think personally work better, since it being a journal the Characters can write in it anytime they want, they don’t have to feel obligated to send something in (I suppose as Season 3 showed they didn’t feel obligated with the Friendship letters anyway but you get the idea). It even proved useful in the Finale of Season 4. The episode itself was pretty ok, I thought Pinkie was pretty humorous and one of the darker jokes in the show (Fluttershy thinking Angel had been crushed) was a surprise. Pretty amusing if you like Scooby-Doo situations in ponies.

The Smile song along from this episode is one of the most widespread and popular parts of the show. There is the problem though that if the episode was just the Smile song and nothing else (As in like a short, not the Smile song on repeat until it makes 22 minutes). It’d definitely be one of the top stuff of the show. The problem is there’s still 20 minutes afterward. The Smile song perfectly gets Pinkie’s character explained well. There’s only one moment in the show I feel surpasses the Smile song that encompasses what Pinkie’s character is. You’ll see that much, much, later down the list however. It’s practically universal in the fandom that the Smile song is pretty up there in terms of songs. But once you get past that in the episode, responses get very mixed. As afterward it could be argued Pinkie’s pursuit of Cranky is one of her most annoying appearances to date. As much fun as it is to see the good ol’ Droopy gag where no matter where the wolf went he’d find Droopy somewhere. The problem being that the wolf in those cartoons kinda deserved it, Cranky only wanted to be left alone. 

Granted things turns out alright in the end when Pinkie reunites him with his long lost love Matilda and thus Cranky ends up befriending Pinkie in the end. But sometimes you can kinda get the feeling that Pinkie doesn’t entirely deserve it after the things she did in the episode. The Smile song alone brought it this far, but I do kinda say that without it this episode would be quite a little bit lower.

This is the only other episode other then the Pilot that Lauren Faust wrote for the show. This was also the very first slice of life episode in the show. So given Slice of Life is what would make up the majority of the show it had to show us the true format of the show since the Adventurous episodes like the Pilot would only be occasional. It was also the first episode in what could be called a Grand Galloping Gala arc. Though if it’s an arc not many episodes are there since there’s just this, Suited for Success, and Best Night Ever. I’d say Ticket Master is a pretty ok episode, Twilight’s personality in the pilot still showing up to give us some good humor. Though when you’re watching the series in order it can be awkward to have the show have them come together to defeat a threat to the world but then start trying to gain the favor over their other friends for the tickets. Even Fluttershy blatantly admits to Twilight her cleaning the library was an attempt to get the ticket. That’s the kindest of the 6 Main characters and she still tries to get Twilight’s preference like everybody else. 

Well anyway, the competition over the tickets prove fruitless as Twilight at first decides to just not take anybody even giving away her own ticket. Only for Celestia to send back tickets for everyone (Even Spike) so they all get to go in a “Well why didn’t you just say so” response. Ticket Master being the first Slice of Life can be given some leeway, but all-in-all just proved pretty average

*It was at this moment, Dash knew there was no going back. She was getting a pet whether she wanted to or not

I know I kinda gave my misgivings about Tank for Tanks for the Memories. But that doesn’t mean I have disdain for his debut episode, as I feel it’s a pretty fun one still. I do like how it gets into what makes a pet truly special, one that meets all your high standards. Or just the one who may save your life. I wouldn’t have had a problem with Tanks for the Memories if Tank had shown up more often then he did as I do feel it’s possible for Tank and Rainbow to have a relationship like that. It’s just one episode alone does not justify Rainbow’s actions in that episode unless Tank really was dying. This episode is very predictable though, because you have Rainbow pushing all these cool pets in a big contest and Fluttershy keeps putting in this tortoise despite it obviously not being able to do much in those contests. You can see from a mile away that somehow they’re going to go the ironic route for Rainbow’s pet with one of the most slowest known animals. What remains entertaining though is things like Fluttershy and Rainbow’s duet, the final race, and when Tank rescues Rainbow in the end. 

Though I do always kinda feel bad for the Falcon at the end. The way that bird walks away in defeat kinda makes me wish Rainbow had decided to keep that one as well as Tank anyway, nothing wrong with 2 pets are there? I feel this will always be a fun little episode for the animal lover fans out there. Might of been higher in the list if Tank appeared more often then he did, but then again so would Tanks for the Memories.