Welcome back once again fillies and gentlecolts to another edition of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Recap/Review. Through the past nine episodes of season two, we’ve focused entirely on the equine portion of our mane cast, but not too much focus on everyone’s favorite baby dragon. Thankfully, this week’s episode finally puts the spotlight on Spike. But could he be interesting enough a character to warrant another episode? Or did the lackluster “Owl’s Well That Ends Well” tarnish any opportunity at redemption? Well, let’s find out in “Secret of my Excess.”
We open this week’s episode with Twilight Sparkle engaging in the exciting (well, to her at least) event of book re-shelving. But her enjoyment is cut short by an interruption from Spike, who is elated over a delicious fire ruby that he’s been saving for his birthday. Rarity comes for a visit to borrow a book from Twilight, ans is instantly enamored by the ruby. So much so that Spike, who has a crush on Rarity (Psst! Keep it a secret!) eventually gives in to her charms, and giver her his fire ruby, to which she’s extremely grateful and kisses him on the cheek.
A week later, the mane six hold a birthday party for Spike with lots of presents. The custom of lots of presents on a birthday is foreign to Spike, who has only received one present for his birthday every year. That being a book from Twilight (Good old predictable Twilight). Pinkie even tells him that the Cakes have a surprise for him at Sugar Cube Corner, which turns out to be a sapphire cupcake.
He also bumps into Cheerilee (literally). After telling her of his birthday, she gives him a hat. This begins to make Spike greedy as he begins to pester the ponies of Ponyville for gifts. Twilight eventually tells him to knock it off, but he facetiously tells her that he will. Cut to the next morning, as Twilight Sparkle wakes up to discover Spike covered in stuff he took from other poinies. But that’s not the big issue.
THIS is the big issue.
Spike has doubled in size, has a voice change, and seems to be undergoing puberty at a rapid pace. Soon he’ll have terrible acne, and scales where there were no scales before. Twilight unfortunately has no clue why this is happening. She tries to get the help of doctors and even veterinarians, but all of them have no clue what to do since they have no expertise in dealing with dragons. Twilight then goes to Zecora for help. Zecora tells the two that a dragon’s greed is the key factor to their maturity, and the more stuff Spike collects, the bigger and faster he’ll grow.
Twilight tries her best to keep rapidly growing Spike from terrorizing the other ponies in ponyville, and stealing their stuff with his greed attacks. But her eventually escapes her. He steals from Twilight’s friends, and even gets into a fight with Pinkie Pie as he literally tries to take the cake. However, despite the efforts of our heroes, he still continues his rampage and growth. He then heads to Carousel Boutique, and ala King Kong, captures Rarity and takes her with him.
Now a fully matured dragon, Spike terrorizes Ponyville with an unwilling Rarity in tow. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy try good cop/bad cop on him, but that ends up failing. Even an attempt by the Wonderbolts proves fruitless in its efforts. Spike heads to higher ground, while Rarity gives him a verbal thrashing. She shows him the fire ruby that Spike had given her earlier in the episode. This makes him remember giving her the ruby earlier, and causes him to shrink back to normal. However, since they were so high up, they begin to fall to their death. Spike begins to confess his love for Rarity, but she already was well aware. Thankfully though the two are saved by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the nick of time.
Rarity cheers Spike up by telling him that he’s her hero for saving Ponyville from… well… himself. The episode ends with Spike writing the letter to Princess Celestia. The moral being that while it’s good to get gifts, it’s not as good as giving gifts to those you care about.
So, it’s no secret that “Secret of My Excess” was a pretty good episode. but just how good. Breakdown time.
PRO
First off, this was definitely the much needed Spike redemption that was sorely missing so far in the series. Spike’s a very likable character, and seeing him transform for cute sidekick to rampaging beast is actually very jarring and interesting to see. This was easily the best character development for not just Spike but perhaps almost any other character so far.
Speaking of redemption, this episode felt like the action episode that was sorely lacking in the show since Return to Harmony. Mysterious Mare Do Well dropped the ball on that opportunity, and the other episodes, while still solid, were more sitcom episodes than what the show had been known for doing so well. And that’s having big adventures. This was a good return to that style of episode, and hopefully not the last any time soon. This episode was written by M.A Larson, who has handled some of the more action and adventure oriented episodes like Return to Harmony, Swarm of the Century, and Sonic Rainboom. So you know there is some credential in the episode quality.
The relationship between Rarity and Spike is adorable. Spike’s undying devotion, and Rarity’s affection for him is a sweet thing to see. I doubt it’ll lead to a romantic pairing, but at least it adds more dimension to their already well known strong friendship.
Again, points for seeing Zecora back. As well as some work for Cheerilee and Mr. and Mrs. Cake. It’s nice to see some of these background ponies get some screen time. Now if only they could do some of that pushing for Lyra and Bonbon. Come on, help a brony out.
The shout outs to classic monster movies like King Kong and Godzilla were awesome. Granted, you could see them coming from a mile away, but that doesn’t take their awesomeness away.
This episode had perfect pacing. Everything hit its mark. From slow start, to hectic middle, to harrowing finish. Nothing felt out of place, and no scene felt too long or too short. Everything felt just right.
CON
I do feel the quick fix ending was a bit terrible. Still paced well, but it just felt done a bit too quick to make for what little time was left in the episode. It’s not a major gripe, but it does still feel wonky.
And that’s honestly the only real gripe I have with the episode.
But one thing does still confuse me…
Why did Cheerilee have a pimp hat in her grocery bag? Yes, in an episode that dealt with how dragons grow and mature, not to mention an episode that contains big pushes toward popular shipping couples, THIS is my most nagging issue.
“Secret of My Excess” Is one of the best episodes to come out of the show yet. Not just of this season, but from the whole series so far. Its perfect blend of action, comedy, and adventure works for a great mix. And its subject matter is entertaining enough that all ages and genders will be able to enjoy it. This is a near flawless episode, and deserves the best rating I’ve given this season so far.
RATING: 9 out of 10
Next week, we’ve reached the final My Little Pony episode of 2011. And of course it’s Holiday themed. The mane 6 are cast in a play about how unicorn, pegasus, and earth ponies united to form Equestria. Will the performance go off without a hitch, or will there be some tension between the pony players? All will be revealed as Ponyville celebrates “Hearth’s Warming Eve”.
Until next week Bronies and Pegasisters.