And here we are at last, the end of season 1. What we do past here in the thread I imagine will be up for reflection and discussion – whether we need a new thread, whether we keep going or not, etc, but for my part I’d like to keep going into season 2, even if it’s just me and we then just discuss the episodes, although I imagine others will still want to join in. Possibly we could go for more of a pick-and-choose model going forward where people chime in for episodes they’re interested in whilst skipping over others. But for now, I’m going to focus on the actual episode. 

We’ve been waiting for it ever since episode 3, and it’s finally here, the Grand Galloping Gala! The intro sets us up with an allusion to Cinderella, which I think sets the mood for what the Gala is going to be like fairly well: this is a night where our six mares get to feel like princesses – at least in theory! An aspect of this I really like is that in contrast to Cinderella, here a whole group of friends get to be special. Cinderella doesn’t go to the ball along with her sisters, albeit through no fault of her own, and with her magical assistance she’s really the sole beneficiary of all the attention. It also, intentionally or not, gives us a clue as to the outcome of the episode: just as Cinderella loses track of time and so feels she has to flee the ball at midnight, thus ending her evening in disappointment, our Mane Six will also end the night feeling disappointed. The intro also rather skilfully gives most (not all, but that would be a tall order in the tight time window) of the Six something to contribute. Pinkie introduces the scene, Twilight’s magic is the focal point, Fluttershy provides the mice, and Rarity provides the replacement for the mice. We tend to not get all six in one opening, and I think that’s because it’s a hard act to pull off, but it’s done great here and I appreciate it for that – one of my favorite aspects of Cutie Mark Chronicles was how it kept all of the Mane Six in focus for the story, and I think it’s something that I enjoy very much in general. When all of the Mane Six are given relatively equal focus, it reminds me of the first three episodes, as well as Dragonshy, and feels somehow more like the ‘core show’, rather than a spotlight episode – which is not to say I don’t enjoy spotlight episodes, but I’ll confess that I think I slightly prefer the ‘equal focus’ approach, at least in balance (I.e not every episode) and absent other factors of a given episode.