One of the main attractions of "The Saddle Row Review" is its structure. No other Season 6 episode was formatted in this way, as an interrogation process with a big emphasis on flashbacks, and at this point of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's' run it was a unique one for the show too. The previous eight episodes of Season 6 were mixed in quality, while "Gauntlet of Fire" and "A Hearth's Warming Tail" are great there was also the mediocre at best "Newbie Dash".
"The Saddle Row Review" is another one of the great Season 6 episodes and as far as the latter seasons of the show go it's in the better half of it. Namely because it is one of the funniest episodes of the season and also because of how it handled its (for the show) unique structure so cleverly without losing the viewer's attention or the entertainment value. All the Mane 6 shine as well and equally, individually and together, in a way that didn't always happen in Season 6.
My only issue, love the show but have at least one gripe with most episodes, with "The Saddle Row Review" is the character of the landlord. If the episode was trying to make us hate him so much, it succeeded in that and some. His ultimatum bordered on blackmail and didn't gel in my view with the light-hearted, wacky nature of the rest of the episode.
So much is brilliant though. The animation is bursting with rich colour, the characters are expressively drawn and a lot of care and effort clearly went into the attention to detail in the backgrounds. "The Saddle Row Review" may not be the most visually ambitious episode of the season or of the show, but it looks great. The music fits the tone very well, with enough upbeat parts and some not as quirky ones. The voice acting is great from all, Tabitha St Germain brings a lot of both energy and nuance to her vocals as Rarity here in some of her best voice acting of the season.
As said, the writing is some of Season 6's funniest and not in a contrived way but in a witty and deliciously wacky way. The dialogue made me laugh out loud a number of times, while allowing for some scathing moments with Rarity (here in a situation that high achievers would relate to), and moments such as Twilight sweeping to DJ Pon-3, everything to do with Pinkie Pie and my favourite the good angel vs bad angel variant (seen many times before but feels fresh here). The story does need some suspension of disbelief as it can get silly, but when there is this much energy and clever material it is difficult to be too hard on it.
When anything is flashback heavy, there is the worry of it dragging the momentum or being disjointed and luckily neither are the case here. The escapades for each pony are silly but incredibly entertaining and don't feel predictable. The interrogation/interview-like format that serves as the consequence of what happens in the flashbacks are cleverly done and there is never too much of a disconnect between that and the flashbacks. Excepting the landlord, the characters are great. All the Mane 6 are on top form, especially Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and the interactions have tension and charm.
Overall, great and a Season 6 high-point. 9/10
"The Saddle Row Review" is another one of the great Season 6 episodes and as far as the latter seasons of the show go it's in the better half of it. Namely because it is one of the funniest episodes of the season and also because of how it handled its (for the show) unique structure so cleverly without losing the viewer's attention or the entertainment value. All the Mane 6 shine as well and equally, individually and together, in a way that didn't always happen in Season 6.
My only issue, love the show but have at least one gripe with most episodes, with "The Saddle Row Review" is the character of the landlord. If the episode was trying to make us hate him so much, it succeeded in that and some. His ultimatum bordered on blackmail and didn't gel in my view with the light-hearted, wacky nature of the rest of the episode.
So much is brilliant though. The animation is bursting with rich colour, the characters are expressively drawn and a lot of care and effort clearly went into the attention to detail in the backgrounds. "The Saddle Row Review" may not be the most visually ambitious episode of the season or of the show, but it looks great. The music fits the tone very well, with enough upbeat parts and some not as quirky ones. The voice acting is great from all, Tabitha St Germain brings a lot of both energy and nuance to her vocals as Rarity here in some of her best voice acting of the season.
As said, the writing is some of Season 6's funniest and not in a contrived way but in a witty and deliciously wacky way. The dialogue made me laugh out loud a number of times, while allowing for some scathing moments with Rarity (here in a situation that high achievers would relate to), and moments such as Twilight sweeping to DJ Pon-3, everything to do with Pinkie Pie and my favourite the good angel vs bad angel variant (seen many times before but feels fresh here). The story does need some suspension of disbelief as it can get silly, but when there is this much energy and clever material it is difficult to be too hard on it.
When anything is flashback heavy, there is the worry of it dragging the momentum or being disjointed and luckily neither are the case here. The escapades for each pony are silly but incredibly entertaining and don't feel predictable. The interrogation/interview-like format that serves as the consequence of what happens in the flashbacks are cleverly done and there is never too much of a disconnect between that and the flashbacks. Excepting the landlord, the characters are great. All the Mane 6 are on top form, especially Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and the interactions have tension and charm.
Overall, great and a Season 6 high-point. 9/10