Episode Re-Review: Make New Friends, But Keep Discord · 4:01pm Apr 23rd, 2021
After getting off to a roaring start with "The Cutie Map" Season 5 had quickly gotten stuck in the mud with lackluster and downright terrible episodes. No one seemed to be able to bring about success, not new writers and not old writers. But Natasha Levinger, the woman behind "Pinkie Apple Pie" and "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" was going to take a crack at trying to get Season 5 back on track. This was a Fluttershy episode, but it was also very much a Discord one and in fact his first one. Given what Discord did at the end of Season 4 in "Twilight's Kingdom" this episode had some pretty big nagging questions hanging over its head. Was Natasha able to crank out a hit, or did she too produce a dud? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins at Fluttershy's cottage with Fluttershy and Discord enjoying Tuesday Tea together, but something is missing.
After a bit of chatting, the topic shifts to the Grand Galloping Gala which is taking place in Canterlot (because where else would it be?). Discord is eagerly anticipating being Fluttershy's invited guest, but she reveals that she already went ahead and invited a new friend in Tree Hugger. It's not because she meant to exclude Discord, it's because she assumed Discord already got his own invitation since he and Princess Celestia are "friends" according to Fluttershy. Seems kind of odd when Discord violated the terms of his agreement of release, unless it was never about capturing Tirek even though that feels like the initial justification for setting him free.
Discord naturally becomes jealous and not so secretly makes it clear he feels like he's being replaced. He proceeds to more or less snoop on the CMC as they're getting dressed up for the gala, scaring them when he shows up quite unannounced.
Some say this means the second Friends Forever comic can't be canon since in that issue Discord and the Cutie Mark Crusaders became friends. But I'm pretty sure even friends don't like friends just dropping in unannounced when they're in the middle of something. Interestingly, we also see Applejack and Rainbow Dash playing a card game of some kind that uses the mane six's cutie marks but we never learn what the game is or how it works. And when Applejack sees Apple Bloom dressed up she ends up blowing her nose into Rainbow Dash's tail. So much for crying on the inside.
It turns out that the CMC will all be going to the gala as the "dates" or "plus ones" of their big sisters. "Plus Ones" is fine but "Dates" sends the wrong idea. Anyway, Discord gets annoyed by the CMC shouting and chanting, and decides to visit Sugarcube Corner where he gets spotted hiding inside a cardboard box.
Discord learns that Pinkie Pie is going to the gala and she initially planned on asking her mom to go (meaning Pinkie's on good terms with her family) but ultimately decided on Maud instead (I guess she's on break from pursuing her rocktorate?). Meanwhile, Discord spots Tree Hugger and finds out that she's a hippie.
So Discord retreats back to his house in his own dimension and sulks, complaining aloud that he doesn't even want to go to the gala. But he changes his mind when he finally gets his invitation from the mailpony, the same one from "The Last Roundup" but voiced by Ashliegh Ball instead of Cathy Wesluck (Spike did appear earlier to confirm that Twilight was at the gala, but I believe that's the extent of his involvement all episode). Not wanting to look desperate or jealous, Discord decides to bring along a guest and settles on a creature later identified as The Smooze. We then see that Twilight has taken over planning and hosting the gala from Princess Celestia (likely to give her a break). And when she sees Discord with The Smooze she confronts him and angrily tells him to keep The Smooze under control because the entire night of the gala is going to be really important to her. Now, Twilight could've phrased that a bit better but she is right to warn Discord. When you bring a guest or guests to a party you're kind of responsible for making sure they don't get into trouble. Of course, Discord is solely interested in using The Smooze so as to not look desperate in front of Fluttershy. And he reveals that he knows The Smooze from college, apparently.
However, Discord becomes offended when Tree Hugger doesn't remember meeting him earlier (because she's that spaced out) and even more offended by Fluttershy only barely acknowledging his presence or really explaining him to Tree Hugger.
It only gets worse when Discord locks The Smooze outside and Rarity has an unfortunate encounter with it that causes her to lose some of the jewels on her dress (though maybe that should teach her not to have jewelry on her dress for formal occasions, if only because they could be easily stolen, damaged or lost). Twilight scolds Discord for not keeping an eye on The Smooze, and Discord is forced to take action by getting rid of Rarity's smoozified clothes, leaving her naked.
Realizing he's losing control of the situation, Discord locks The Smooze in a closet and then opts to do some stand up comedy. Pretty much all of his jokes land with a thud though, aside from a brief zinger about Twilight's flying that gets a laugh out of Princess Celestia (much to Twilight's shock). It eventually ends with Maud telling Discord "You're the most basic of jokes." which gets everyone to laugh at Discord.
Then, in a nod to The Shining The Smooze spills out of the closet it was in due to having consumed all the expensive jewels and rare minerals stored in it, covering the entire ballroom. Rainbow Dash stupidly waits until the ooze has actually reached her to try to fly, while Rarity whines about her shoes being ruined and Applejack rightfully skewers her over her priorities. Twilight quickly discovers that her magic can't affect The Smooze, and Princess Celestia tries to light up her horn only for a huge bubble to prevent her from doing anything. Now, Celestia's magic affecting The Smooze would seem questionable since it would then the raise the question of how she can't touch Discord who knows The Smooze. But the fact that she doesn't even clean her horn off before trying just makes her look lazy and pathetic. Fortunately, Tree Hugger (who happens to be voiced by Nicole Oliver, so in a way Princess Celestia is useful) finds a way to calm down The Smooze using her mouth to produce whinnies as a substitute for sonic vibrations.
Tree Hugger gets praised for saving the day, which becomes the final straw for Discord. He grabs Tree Hugger and opens up a rift to a dimension involving sock puppets. He threatens to send Tree Hugger through it (one way) and when the rest of the mane six opt to intervene, Discord sics The Smooze on them to get them out of the way. It then falls to Fluttershy to talk Discord out of his attempt at revenge. It's been revealed that the original draft called for Discord to revert back to his old antagonistic ways, he would take Tree Hugger through the portal with him and Fluttershy would give chase in what I believe was to be an homage to The Mask. But I'm glad they scrapped that because if Discord went back to being an antagonist here, the first we've seen of him since his betrayal of Equestria in "Twilight's Kingdom", it would've called his entire redemption arc into question and made us wonder why he hasn't been turned back to stone or sealed away if he continues to endanger others over his own personal feelings. Yes, I'm willing to bet that in that chase scene he would've been talked down, realized his mistake and apologized. But it still would've seen him go way too far over a perceived insult, which is not what his character needed after "Twilight's Kingdom" (which the events of are never acknowledged here). It would've been like the Grogar twist in "The Ending of the End" in that it would've ruined Discord's character entirely.
So fortunately we instead have Fluttershy telling Discord off and pointing out that she didn't abandon him, although she is kind of responsible in that she was unintentionally ignoring him in favor of hanging out with Tree Hugger (not that it excuses what Discord did). Discord realizes his mistake, closes the portal and sets Tree Hugger down. But in a bit of realism Tree Hugger rejects Discord and says she needs a lot of time before she'll even consider being around him (and considering what he was going to do to her that's pretty reasonable). I assume Discord calls off The Smooze since we later see him apologizing to it for basically doing what he accused Fluttershy of doing. And he says he could get to like the idea of having multiple friends (like he didn't already with the mane six, but then again he admitted to Tirek that it was mostly Fluttershy who made being reformed worthwhile). Then Pinkie Pie opts to go dance with The Smooze as we have Twilight apologizing to Princess Celestia for the gala being a disaster. Except Princess Celestia points out that it was just fine and that she invited Discord specifically so he'd liven things up. This entire ending scene is basically a rehash of the ending of "The Best Night Ever" and makes Princess Celestia look even more irresponsible here. Even if she's bored she should be concerned about how twice her idea of making the gala more interesting has resulted in ponies being put in danger (and both times she really didn't do anything to intervene until after things were already out of control).
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, considering this is more of a Discord episode than a Fluttershy one, I think it's pretty good. I'm kind of disappointed there's no acknowledgement of what happened during "Twilight's Kingdom" because that's not something that should just be forgotten. But considering how much time has passed in-universe it's likely that such addressing has already occurred off-screen (wouldn't at least hurt to be told that that happened and Discord learned his lesson). Discord reacts reasonably, and in fact it's remarkable that it takes so long for him to lose his patience and try to send Tree Hugger away when he is repeatedly insulted by her unknowingly (and then publicly humiliated). Fluttershy again shows off her character growth by making sure to keep Discord in check and tell him off when he goes too far. And even though Tree Hugger is very much a hippie character and a G-rated stoner she's quite enjoyable, she doesn't feel like too much of an overdone stereotype. However, the fact that the rest of the mane six just get taken out of the fight when Discord snaps and the episode's ending rehashing "The Best Night Ever" does cause it to lose points. Plus, while Maud did get a good zinger in about Discord she was mostly just there to make jokes about her stotic nature which kind of feels like flanderization. I'm pretty sure we could've gotten the same out of Pinkie's mother or even one of the Cakes (Mrs. Cake could've been used to save on the voice acting budget since Tabitha St. Germain voices her). I do like how they reworked the climax so that Discord almost crosses a line but doesn't quite do it, that's a lot better than what was originally planned for him. I feel like the CMC could've had more of a presence in the episode though, once they make it to the gala they don't really do much of anything. Still, this episode gets an A. Finally, a breath of fresh air for Season 5!
Next up is where Season 5 would start to carve out its own identity and truly establish itself with the theme of "Explore Equestria" as we would get the first ever map mission in the form of "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone".
Sooo...
You're not going to talk about the fact that the Smooze is based on a G1 villain of the same name?
This is definitely a fun little episode.
I think this episode is definitely an example as to why FlutterCord wouldn't work and why it's not the most possible. If Fluttershy was in love with Discord, she'd likely invite him in a heartbeat instead of someone else.
While it has also been a while since I last saw this episode, I loved how the team was able to keep the episode in line with the show's themes about friendship, and it even represents why Discord was released from stone in the first place: To learn about friendship, particularly through Fluttershy.
5504829 She said in this episode that she assumed Discord had already been invited because of his friendship with Celestia, so love or not she didn't feel the need to ask.
Not my favorite but it a fun episode to watch
So I guess you could consider this a mild case of "Jerkass Has a Point".