Doctor Perseus Reviews: MLP S7E1&2 "Celestial Advice" & "All Bottled Up" · 12:23am Apr 20th, 2017
Time to finally catch up with my review of the Season 7 premiere!
This was definitely an interesting way to start off the new season. Not to mention this is the first time a season of MLP has started without a 2-parter. Honestly, I think it's a wise decision. It's good to shake things up every now and then.
Let's start with Celestial Advice. This episode feels very much like an aftermath episode. It's pretty much taking place immediately after the Season 6 finale. Despite being an average 22-minute episode, it manages to fit in a lot of characters. The Mane 6, Spike, the Princesses, Shining Armor and the royal family, Starlight, Discord, Trixie, Thorax, the new changelings, Sunburst. There are a lot of characters in this episode. Of course, the episode is mostly a Twilight episode; and a very good one at that.
The Fantasy Spell (as I've dubbed it) was an interesting method of allowing us to see Twilight's various thought-up scenarios for Starlight's future. Heck, we even got to see Ember, Garble, and the dragons again. Add that to the list of characters. I really hope we get to see more of Ember this season. And Gabby. And Gilda. Anyway, it was really fun traveling through Twilight's various fantasies/nightmares. But, of course, the best part of this episode is getting to see Celestia's character fleshed out a bit more. While I can't say this is the complete Celestia-centric episode we've always wanted, it certainly gave us the most character dept we've seen from Celestia since her argument with Luna in Slice of Life. It was really heartwarming to see just how much Celestia cares for Twilight.
If I had one nitpick for the episode, it has to be about how quickly the overall dilemma was solved. Starlight just cries that she's not ready to leave and everything's fine. Really? I mean, I have no problem with Starlight staying as I like her character and I want to see more of her. I just feel that final scene could have been handled a bit better. Speaking of other past issues, I've since grown to accept and even kind of like the new Changeling design. It's also nice to see that Thorax still has his original voice. Since he didn't speak after being changed in the Season 6 finale, I feared he would become a silent, regal royal or something like that. But it appears that he's still the same changeling. Just more colorful. I hope we get another Spike/Thorax episode this season. I think that would be even more interesting given Thorax's new position.
Anyway, let's move on to All Bottled Up.
I really liked this episode as well. I'm curious if Trixie is going to be making more appearances this season. I certainly don't have a problem with Trixie becoming a recurring character. Her friendship with Starlight is great. Not as great as her bickering relationship with Discord, but still great. And I totally don't ship them.
...Okay, maybe a bit.
Much like the Season 6 premiere, this episode had two stories going on...and Starlight's was definitely the most interesting. The Mane 6 story wasn't bad by any means. If anything, it was a fun parody of MLP as a whole. The song "Best Friends Until the End of Time" probably won't be one of my Season 7 favorites but it still was a catchy little diddy.
Starlight's dilemma was very understandable given her past and it was interesting seeing the ramifications of her literally bottling up her anger. And seeing her anger possess others was definitely a bit terrifying.
There's...not really that much else I have to say about this second episode. I just really liked it.
Overall, these two episodes formed a solid start for Season 7. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the rest of Season 7 has in store for us.
What did you think of Celestial Advice and All Bottled Up?
I agree that it certainly felt like a breath of fresh of air to not open a season with a two-parter. In a way, it's kind of similar to how I pointed out in your review of To Where and Back Again about it being the first season finale without any songs. It was also great to see Celestia show another side of her we don't normally see. Keep it up, writers.
Trivia: In All Bottled Up, when Starlight is chewing out Trixie for all of the trouble she caused and says the line "You didn't even say you were sorry!", she makes the exact same face she made when she silenced Twilight in The Cutie Map. Whereas that episode played her making that face for comedy, this episode treats it much more seriously.
You cannot resist the StarTrix!
I don't know if you read my reviews of these episode, but I mostly agreed that they were great compared to your typical intra-season episode. I felt they couldn't be judge by the standards of a typical premiere. This had the effect of making it a very comfortable opening. Also it is true that it's good to shake things up once in a while.