Episode Reviews: Ticket Master

(First posted on Fimfiction September 15, 2012)

The third episode of Friendship is Magic is the first time we got to see the slice-of-life format that would come to dominate the series. Once again, let's see how well the episode actually holds up.




TECHNICAL SPECS:

Season: 1
Episode: 3
Written By: Lauren Faust and Amy Keating Rogers
First Aired: October 29, 2010

SUMMARY:

While helping Applejack harvest apples, Twilight and Spike receive two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, the most important formal event in Equestria. Twilight is just happy to go to a dance, while Spike is uninterested in such a girly thing as a gala. Applejack, however, can only see bits in her eyes as she fantasizes about selling apple products to all the rich ponies attending, thus earning her enough money to fix up the farm and help her family. Rainbow Dash, who was napping overhead, also wants to go so she can impress the Wonderbolts and earn her way into their good graces. Unfortunately, there is only one ticket, so Twilight decides to go eat some lunch before deciding who will get the ticket.

While in Ponyville, however, the two run into Pinkie, who also expresses a desire to attend the biggest party in Equestria. Rarity is also interested, if only so she can pursue her dreams of a fairy tale romance with Celestia’s nephew. And even Fluttershy wants to go, if only so she can go into the gardens and visit all the adorable animals there. Now that all five of her friends want the ticket, Twilight shoos them away until she can eat some lunch and come to a decision.

At the restaurant, Twilight still can’t decide, and wants to enjoy her daffodil and daisy sandwich. Unfortunately, there’s a sudden rainstorm...but her lunch is saved when Rainbow Dash punches a hole in the clouds. Twilight sees through this transparent attempt to win support, and forces Dash to close up the hole...causing the rain to drench her and ruin her sandwich. Rarity takes her inside her boutique and fixes her up with a new saddle (and Spike with an outfit, while he quickly runs away to hide from the femininity), but then reveals her true intentions, and Twilight discards the garment and leaves. Applejack is waiting outside with an entire cart of apple products, and Twilight almost gives in, but her ethics win and she runs back to the library.

Fluttershy and Angel are already there, cleaning up the place and making her a salad. Twilight tries to order her to leave, but Pinkie and a party entourage drag her outside and start tossing her around while Pinkie very loudly announces her plan to bribe Twilight. And then she reveals that Twilight has a ticket to the entire town, causing everypony to chase them across town. Twilight and Spike (who popped up earlier for some reason) escape via a very slow teleport, which pops them back into the library that night. Unfortunately, Twilight’s friends are still waiting for her inside.

Twilight finally breaks down and admits that she can’t decide on who to give the ticket to, and all these attempts to buy the ticket aren’t making things easier. Now guilty, her friends finally give up the ticket, each saying that she can give it to somepony else. Twilight’s solution is to have Spike write down the episode’s letter, telling the Princess that leaving friends left out is not a fun thing and that she’s returning both tickets; if all her friends can’t go, she doesn’t want to go, either. Spike sends the letter and tickets away...only to cough up another letter a few seconds later, asking Twilight why she didn’t just say so in the first place. Sure enough, six tickets arrive, allowing everypony the chance to go to the Gala! Well, except for Spike...until a last-second addition gives him his own ticket. And so the seven head off to dinner, never realizing the terror that awaits them...

REVIEW:

“The Ticket Master,” while not the first episode, is a far better introduction to the series than the original pilot. While that one sells itself as an action-adventure series with monsters, dangers and easily-defeatable villains, this episode establishes the slice-of-life style that will dominate the show for most of its run. (Originally, Faust had wanted a more even split between the two, but meddling from Hasbro and the restrictions of the E/I rating kiboshed those ideas.) As for the episode itself, I loved it when I first saw it, but now have decidedly mixed feelings on it. Like many of the very early episodes, a lot of things weren’t quite settled on yet, and it hurts the episode as a whole.

The opening with Applejack and Twilight harvesting apples (while Spike throws away the bad ones and eats the good ones) is a pretty cute bit, and helps establish that the relationships Twilight made in the pilot are here to stay. The bit about Big Macintosh and “Granny’s girdles” is also cute, although I have no idea what use a pony would have for a girdle to begin with. Still, the whole point is to establish the existence of the Grand Galloping Gala, and while we learn from their conversation that it’s a formal event attended heavily by the wealthy, there’s still a lot we don’t know. This is a perfect establishment for the “Grand Galloping Gala Story Arc,” and would have been even better if it had been intentional.

Yes, the GGG was a complete accident. According to interviews made during the second season, the dance was brought up as a one-off thing which we would never see. However, the team eventually decided to throw in a mention to it in “Suited for Success,” and finally it was decided to make the Gala itself the season finale. That’s ultimately why the arc is only three episodes long, spread out across the whole season; and in truth, only this episode (and “Sonic Rainboom”) has any major bearing on the finale’s plot. The rest was mostly just set up.

In any case, Applejack’s fantasy about raising money for the farm foreshadows her sense of responsibility to her family and farm. After all, she dreams of making a whole chest of doubloons off the event, and instead of use the money on herself, she dreams of fixing up the farm buildings and equipment, as well as giving Granny Smith a new hip and cosmetic surgery. We’ll see this again in “The Last Roundup,” where her inability to live up to her obligations caused her to exile herself from town until she could do just that. Still, even excluding the finale, it’s obvious that wouldn’t fly. Formal events like this the Gala would be rigorously catered, and she wouldn’t be able to sell a single apple without having it inspected by the royal guards at least eighteen times just in case she planned to use it to kill Celestia. Either way, she wouldn’t even be able to get the stand inside the castle grounds.

And then we have Rainbow Dash’s dream. This one is pretty me all around, although it highlights Dash’s arrogance and brashness perfectly. She honestly thinks that if she intrudes on one of their events and overshadows them, they’d be willing to instantly sign her up. In reality, she would be beaten down so badly by security that this would turn into one of those “Dash breaks her wings” fic in a hurry. Visually, the scene is fairly impressive, especially with the Super Speed Strut.

This is when we learn what kind of episode plot this’ll be. It’s one of the oldest, most stock ones in existence. Two friends want the extra ticket a third friend has, and both start bribing the third one while beating the crap out of each other to get it. Unfortunately, the twists the episode pulls here are not as impressive as with “Griffon the Brush-Off,” which is disappointing.

When both AJ and Dash present their case for the ticket, I’d honestly give it over to AJ. Both dreams are unrealistic, but she’s at least aiming to help others. Rainbow just wants to crash an air show so she can prove herself to her idols by ruining their own routine. I also like the hoof wrestle bit, as well as how they keep doing it after Twilight leaves.

And then we get Pinkie’s fantasy, complete with the second Pinkie song, “The Best Place For Me.” The song is just okay, but this scene establishes just how narrow-sighted Pinkie’s concept of a party is. It’s also interesting how she doesn’t even ask if she can go; since the tickets landed on her face, it’s a given that she’s invited.

Rarity’s fantasy is...okay, my opinion has gotten a lot of flak for this one, but I have to say it. Rarity’s dream is to meet somepony she never met, woo him, and finally get engaged and become a princess...in a single night. While this scene also further establishes how she wants to be seen as an equal by the Canterlot elite, her plans to marry somepony she has never seen in person just to fulfill a romantic fantasy does not sit well with me. Maybe it’s just because I’m writing a Blueblood Redemption fic and it’s screwing with my sense of right and wrong, but yeah, I am not a fan of this plot. Still, Rarity’s “How could you?” whine is hilarious.

And then we have Fluttershy’s dream, which is probably the most grounded of the bunch. She just wants to see the cute animals and pretty flowers, thereby ignoring the whole reason you get a ticket to the GGG in the first place. This is also the first time we see Angel, and while he steals the tickets, he’s also not really that bad here. When Fluttershy shies away, he pushes her to stand up for herself, and as we’ll see later, he willingly helps in her schemes to buy Twilight’s favor.

And so we have the first twist on the ancient story: instead of two friends competing, we have five. This leads to the restaurant scene, which includes some fun little tidbits on pony and dragon diets. Twilight munching on the flower petals was adorable, and her daffodil and daisy sandwich is a nice touch on real equines’ status as herbivores. As for Spike, we learn that dragons can eat grass, but also that Spike has a love for gemstones.

We also get a nice moment where Twilight starts weighing on who she could give the tickets to if she gives away her own. I love Rarity’s crying face. Also note that AJ and Fluttershy are absent from that display; apparently they’re her top picks. We also get some hints at Twilight’s obsessive nature when it comes to her friendship; she’s afraid that if she disappoints any of these ponies, she’ll lose them as friends, and she can’t stand to hurt them at all.

And then comes the bribery. Dash punching the hole in the sky was cute, especially with how everything around Twilight and Spike is sunny while the rest of Ponyville is getting drenched. Dash’s expression and voice are just adorable, as is that little zipper sound when she closes the clouds. And then Twilight learns that doing the right thing isn’t easy, since she loses her lunch and continues the episode’s running gag of her not getting to eat. Ever. Oh, and that little saddle umbrella is actually pretty practical for a four-legged species.

Rarity’s little bit here is almost heart-wrenching in its cuteness:

After that, she just resorts to giving Twilight a saddle, which was pretty much the common dress accessory in the first half of the season. While I could see where the team was coming from, keep in mind that saddles were designed for the benefit of the rider, not the horse. Dresses, while impractical in the real world, are far more fitting for the ponies on the show. I also love Spike’s reaction here as he continues his quest to avoid anything girly. Again, typical ten-year-old boy behavior. The rest of Rarity’s scene is just her overplaying her hand and giving away her scheme, all while dreaming up how she’ll take all the glory at the Gala for herself. If you want to know why Rarity didn’t click for me until “Suited for Success,” this and “Dragonshy” are your reasons why.

Applejack’s scene is mostly a repeat of her introduction in the pilot, only with actual apple foods instead of a series of family members. It’s very short, and it’s interesting how the food offer almost wins Twilight over, but she does the right thing and refuses to give in, thereby damning her further to a lifetime without sustenance.

Fluttershy cleaning the library was funny, especially when she very blatantly admits that she was just doing it all for the ticket. Again, though, it’s a short scene. And then we have Pinkie flat-out admitting the most important lesson of the episode:

First, I love just how blatant Pinkie is in her attempted bribery. She even admits it in song. Second, I love Twilight’s reaction, especially her forelegs-crossed glare during the third toss. And finally, Pinkie is absolutely right; Twilight is the cutest, smartest, all around-best pony.

And then we get the Benny Hill chase, which isn’t funny for itself so much as just how out-of-nowhere it all is. Really, the best part here is the reaction of all the background ponies as they try to get the ticket. One even shouts that they’ll do her taxes, proving that not even Equestria can escape the horrors of its own IRS. Twilight’s teleport, however, is a bit of a plot hole, since she vanishes in the middle of the day, and when she reappears, it’s night. (Apparently Equestria operates on Ed Wood logic.) Oh, and Spike also gets burned when he teleports with her, something that never really comes up again.

This is when we get the second subversion, and arguably the best of the handful. Once Twilight admits that she doesn’t want to hurt anypony’s feelings, her friends all give up the ticket...except for Dash, who immediately takes this as the perfect time to do a little victory dance. It isn’t until the others give her a look that she finally realizes what’s going on and gives up the ticket as well. All of this leads into a fairly stock, but still decent, moral, followed by the usual ending with Celestia revealing that Twilight could have just asked for more tickets and she would have provided.

The best part of the ending was Spike. After a whole episode of avoiding the Gala, he’s suddenly disappointed that he can’t go. And then comes the ticket, and he’s rushing out and giggling with joy...until he runs into Applejack, at which point he reverts to his previous uninterested persuasion. This becomes more poignant in the finale, when he learn that all he wanted was to spend time with his friends.

CONCLUSION:

“The Ticket Master” is just an okay episode, and while it helps lay down the foundation for the finale, it’s still rather lacking in a lot of areas. The comedy is just average, the writing is merely adequate, and overall, it’s obvious the show still had a long way to go.