Buffalo Bill. The Joker. Jack Torrance. Norman Bates. Twilight Sparkle.

Let’s all sing now!

One of these things is not like the other! One of these things just doesn’t belong!

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I think it’s fair to say none of us saw this coming. This episode was so batshit crazy I actually shrivelled into myself like a turtle. And I don’t even have a shell. I think you probably know what parts I mean….(Hello girls!)

Twilight has well and truly given the Pinkamina fad a run for its money, although I think Crazy Twilight carries a little more innocence than Pinkamina does. Twilight was crazy with worry over losing the new life she had grown to love. Pinkie on the other hand was one public assault away from getting her own solitary sentence on the moon.

But I’m here to at least TRY and stem my fan gushing constructively, so a big thing I noticed was what a push the developers seem to be making for visual comedy. Twilight’s ear-to-ear grin and giant eyes…her donkey teeth and crushed mane…Fluttershy’s bear-breaking ninja skills and the Rainnuke are all indicators of visuals being used as the mane focus for humour.

Like anyone else with a set of eyes anchored in their head, I love the visual style for the show, and extra detail or pushing the boundaries of the visuals is always welcome, but what I hope doesn’t happen is for that to overshadow the simple wordplay humour and comedic timing I have come to love.

Still….not something I should exactly be worrying about yet, given that A: Rarity was in fine form and B: The episode was still a rollercoaster of laughs and genuinely spine tingling tension.

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A more interesting point I noticed was the episodes steadfast commitment to the shows refusal to submit to the typical trappings of television for kids. I’m not just talking about Fluttershy wailing on that bear though, what I mean is that a character like Twilight is NEVER the focus of the “school kid in trouble” story. Normally in a scenario like that, writers tend to focus on the downtrodden but likeable underachiever, to make the characters more relatable to the kids who apparently all feel like they suck at their schoolwork. The hyper-organised, nerdy overachieving teacher’s pet is usually the one we are all supposed to hate remember? Does the name Nanette Manoir sound familiar? If it does you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It’s such a refreshing reversal on that old cliché to have the teacher’s pet as the one we are supposed to sympathise with instead of despise.

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The series also clearly still has a great eye for sneaking in references. Did we all catch the Gollum parody? Good. That’s another one to sit alongside Star Wars, Benny Hill, Alice in Wonderland, the story of Icarus, Sylvester Stallone, The A-Team, and Anna Wintour, to name a few.

In fact, there has been speculation that the episode even parodied its own delay. Twilight has to send a letter to the Princess “EVERY WEEK” remember?

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Speaking of our favourite tyrant overlord (who is so a QUEEN it’s not even funny), I’m at a little bit of a loss as to why she seemed so genuinely pissed off. There wasn’t much indication as to which one of Twilights blunders she seemed upset about. The episodes moral would suggest that she wouldn’t have really minded if Twilight had missed this one deadline, but then she didn’t exactly clarify straight away that is was the vexing of Ponyville’s citizens and the discord they caused (hardy har har) that was the real problem. A small lapse in focus on pacing methinks.

Hmmm….I thinks that all I have to talk about regarding Lesson Zero. Bear in mind, that these aren’t so much reviews as they are a handful of interesting things I tend to notice about the episodes. But please, don’t let that stop you from agreeing with me. Everyone should agree with me all the time, every day.

Forever.

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Oh, and Derpy was in the opening. Yay for fan made impact!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EoXTroz3r80