My Episode Review/Rant on My Little Pony: Make Your Mark-Bridlewoodstock

Greetings and salutations, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take on the first episode of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark's 4th "Chapter": "Bridlewoodstock".

Here's the rundown of it:

Inspired by the amazing Lumi-Bloom that occurs every once a year in Bridlewood, Pipp Petals decides to put together a music festival so that everyone in Equestria can witness this natural phenomenan. Of course, even with the help of her friends, bringing the festival to fruition and ensuring that nothing ever goes wrong won't be an easy feat to accomplish.

After completing my analysis of "Winter Wishday", I decided that I wouldn't waste any time in creating my review of "Bridlewoodstock". Despite how big the time gap between the two episodes must've been, I didn't think it mattered when I'd post my review of the latter. I wanted to complete my endeavor to analyze every 30 to 45-minute installment of My Little Pony's 5th generation as quickly as possible, and I intend on doing just that. It's the only thing that I currently have the most motivation for anyway, so I don't have many review-related plans outside of this.

As with every MYM episode I previously reviewed, and regardless of having already watched "Bridlewoodstock" around last year, I decided to rewatch this 45-minute special more than once this year just to be certain over what I thought of it. In total, I rewatched "Bridlewoodstock" three times before officially getting started.

The main thing I will admit is that completing my review of this episode wasn't easy. It took me over a month since I posted my analysis of “Winter Wishday” to actually finish my review of “Bridlewoodstock” on paper. Whenever I worked on it, I've often started all over on writing certain things because how I initially worded them out didn't sound right in my head, and they were causing me to have trouble figuring out how to move forward. Other than that, I had a great many commitments relating to my actual money-making job, so it was difficult turning my focus on the review as much as I wanted. After I finished writing it down, it took me three days this week to type it on my personal website. And as I worked on it, I decided to leave some things I initially wrote on paper out of the equation, and I added in new things at the last minute after thinking they’d be great for the review.

In short, reviewing “Bridlewoodstock” was hardly what I’d call a piece of cake.

So, what do I think of "Bridlewoodstock" in words? Especially after seing it three more times this year? And regardless of how challenging bringing this review to fruition was?

Well, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, "Bridlewoodstock" was quite honestly another G5 bore. And considering the fact that this was supposed to be where the series' quality picks up, that's really saying something.

As with its predecessors, the main problems come from the story, which was written by G.M. Berrow and Tony Fleecs this time.

Interestingly, Tony Fleecs previously served as the artist for several MLP (G4) comics, such as the origin one-shot about Lord Tirek. As someone that researched who the various writers and artists of the comics were, I was surprised when I found out Fleecs was going to co-write this episode, and it made me wonder if Fleecs took on the task to boost his creative profile and abilities.

Regardless of Fleecs co-writing the story with Berrow, though, there are many reasons for why I found the plot they created to be lackluster.

For starters, the subplot revolving around the Troggles was perhaps the most questionable and unnecessary of all the ones this special featured. True, they were often talked about by the various characters and placed as a main concern, but I'm wondering why "Bridlewoodstock" needed a ghost-based subplot to begin with.

Whenever I thought back on the Troggles, I'd realize that their incorporation was just like the snowstorm in "Winter Wishday"! They're supposed to be Bridlewoodstock's center of conflict, yet they hardly contributed to the story or did anything meaningful. Basically, the Troggles were largely irrelevant and unimportant, and it seemed like they were around for the sake of simply being there. It really wouldn't have made any difference if they were excluded from the equation entirely.

Here's a big reason for why I think this:

The very time the Troggles began having a more recurring presence was while Ruby Jubilee was singing her "Iconic" song, which was around the last 10 minutes of this special. Right after they started attacking everyone, it doesn't take long for the Main 5 to figure out that the only way to get rid of the Troggles was to feed them red rubies. An answer that was literally spelled out for them in the poem warning about the Troggles! Once the solution is officially brought to light, the problem is resolved so quickly that it was like the Troggles were gone after just a sneeze.

To me, everything about the quick resolution with the Troggles signified that they were nothing more than distractions. Despite being the reason for why some were against the festival coming to fruition, or why some thought it should be closed down, the Troggles were an element with an openly questionable purpose. Even after mentioning that they're supposed to be the main source of conflict, I still can't understand what the basic point behind the Troggles was!

I wanna say that my statements regarding the Troggles accurately describes a story-related problem that a lot of entertainment products fall victim to. The problem being that, despite an element having a purpose behind its incorporation, the purpose in question is neither meaningful or understandable. If anyone around here knows what I'm talking about and the name of what I'm describing, please tell me.

The only other flaw I've noted regarding the Troggle subplot is that so many important things about them were clearly left unexplained for no reason at all. In this case, this special doesn't give any kind of history on how the Troggles came to be, where they came from, their connection with the unicorns and Lumi-Bloom, or how the unicorns discovered the Troggles' existence prior to this episode. There isn't any explanation on how the poem came to fruition either, or what inspired it.

Heck, Izzy Moonbow commented that she herself never actually saw a Troggle before they showed up during Ruby Jubilee's musical number, so how could she and the other present unicorns know they were real beyond a poetic warning? And what grounds did the poem have for being a factual source of the Troggles existence?

The point is, the Troggles were another poor attempt at worldbuilding and lore-delving for G5. Instead of simply providing expansion and encouraging interest, the Troggles opened up plot holes bigger than a pit, and I'm left with questions that are causing me to feel terribly restless!

As if that wasn't enough, "Bridlewoodstock" had a variety of other story-related issues that were both impossible to ignore and present in previous episodes.

Similar to "Winter Wishday", the pacing of "Bridlewoodstock" was wonky!

For over 30 minutes, the episode spends its time focusing on the Main 5 as they're trying to make the festival a reality and ensure nothing would go wrong, including by helping & accomodating the musicians they recruited so that they could perform in the show. The only significant thing that happens during that time is Zipp & Hitch investigating whether the Troggles exist, before they & Sparky hang out together during the big day. Under the last 15 minutes, the concert kicks off with Ruby Jubilee, the Troggles appear and cause chaos before getting defeated, and everything goes back to normal. And, Pipp apologizes to everyone for all that happened, the concert starts back up with Pipp and the Dreamlands singing, Electric Blue playing instruments, and Ruby Jubilee doing nothing important on stage.

I'm not sure how often I'll be noting this issue, and I'm hoping it won't be the case forever going forward, but...every scene that happened before Ruby Jubilee's big music number came along was sluggish, lengthy, uneventful, and rarely made something of itself; and once the concert first got started, things seemed to pick up before going at a hurried pace and coming to an abrupt end. It was like watching an incredibly long first act, and by the time it's done and the episode transitions to the next act, it's over before getting started!

Surely, I can't be the only one who noted this issue, right?

Another thing that doesn't help "Bridlewoodstock" is that its story contains virtually no sense of conflict! There were some aspects in the plot that held perfect potential for leading into times of reflection and growth, but they weren't taken advantage of. The aspects in question were the strain between the Dreamland members, Ruby Jubilee's creative block, and the accidental three headliners situation.

With the subplot revolving around Ruby's creative block, it seemed like that would've been an interesting reason to give her more focus. Like, if she had accepted the proposal to star in the Bridlewoodstock festival before offering to come up with a new song specifically for singing at the festival, it would've perfectly lead into her creative block situation and gave audiences the time needed to relate on the matter. Izzy and Pipp's offer to help would've also played out better as an act of friendship. Instead, Berrow and Fleecs decide to have Ruby's creative block issue serve as a hindrance for recruiting her in the festival, and when Izzy and Pipp decided to straight up visit her to help with the problem, the gesture came across as them simply manipulating Ruby's recruitment into being successful. This impression is fueled all-the-more by how quickly Ruby's problem is resolved.

Meanwhile, the subplot with the Dreamlands appeared to imply that, prior to being recruited for the festival, they likely broke up due to a combination of creative differences and a collapsing friendship. The episode never explained why the Dreamlands disbanded or what happened to them before the events of this episode, of course, but the reasons I proposed appeared to be possible. If that was the case, I'd have loved to see this plot aspect be further expanded on and developed throughout the story, and doing so would've opened the door for a more natural and heartfelt resolution to form between the members.

Sadly, none of the things I mentioned happened with the Dreamlands. Their first scene together features the members having a far from harmonious rehearsal at Mane Melody, which leads into them arguing and thinking that they should call it quits. But then, all because Sunny gave a speech to tell the members how great they are and offered encouragement, the Dreamlands are happy again and get right back into preparing for their appearance at the festival. After that, nothing noteworthy or meaningful happens with the Dreamlands. Just like what Izzy and Pipp did with Ruby Jubilee, Sunny's gesture to the Dreamlands merely felt like a manipulation for having them stay on the show, and the impression is further fueled by how fast the disharmony between the Dreamlands is quelled.

As for the subplot revolving around the mix-up over which music group will headline the show...well, that one had a boatload of issues.

First off, I'm well aware that the whole mess started because each of the Main 5 were desperate to secure the musicians for the show, and it was clear that the offer to make them the headliner was the best they could come up with. But, if Pipp had worked out a more coordinated plan with the others over who'd be the headliner and what they could offer the other musicians in exchange for their services, then the entire problem wouldn't have occured! Even more disgruntling is that none of the three teams who approached each music group tell one another how they got the deals to be finalized around the time they regrouped, which further displays a lack of organization amongst the Main 5. Obviously, Pipp wanted Ruby Jubilee to be the headliner since she and Izzy were the ones who recruited the popstar, and the stage was being decorated with rubies specifically for Ruby, so why couldn't Pipp and Izzy have told the others that was the plan all along?

It gets worse when the problem makes itself known on the day of the festival. After Pipp learned that every music group thought they were going to be the headliners, she decided to remedy the situation by convincing either Electric Blue or the Dreamlands to go on as the opening act. I'm definitely certain Pipp wanted Electric Blue to be the opening act, because she was present when Zipp was convincing the band to go on first. However, Pipp's entire plan backfires when everything falls into a situation similar to the last! Hitch convinced the Dreamlands to go on first, and then Ruby Jubilee decided on her own accord that she wanted to kick off the show, making them and Electric Blue the opening act!

And what do Pipp and the others do to remedy this new situation?

Nothing.

All they do is make Pipp the headliner instead. Neither Pipp or the others decide that it's best to tell the music groups the truth about the mix-up or apologize to them over what happened, which is disappointing because it would've helped show that they learned to carefully plan things more and that they're honest individuals.

Adding onto how puzzling the story got is that, once it's showtime, none of the bands find themselves in a confrontation over who's going on first. The show just kicks off with Ruby Jubilee performing her song, with no problem occuring except for the Troggles attacking. It's as if the "Three Opening Acts" situation was either forgotten or cast aside without an explanation, with no real resolution planned.

Also, remember the moment where Minty comments to Hitch & Sunny that the Dreamlands will perform as long as they're not "pushed aside at some little stage for old timers while the flashy new acts play the mane stage"?

Well, that's exactly what happened to them at the episode's 2nd song sequence! They, and Electric Blue, were placed on little stages while Pipp and Ruby Jubilee got the big stage. I don't know why that part of the deal was abandoned, but it frustrates me that all two of the former bands apparently got the short end of the stick!

To put it simply, though, all three of these plot aspects I just talked about were infested with terrible writing. It felt like the production team was trying to avoid any kind of emotional conflict from occuring, and that they were hardly taking risks with the characters.

This video here pretty much summarizes how I feel about both the usage in the Troggles subplot and the lack of conflict:

To top it all off, "Bridlewoodstock" barely had a tone to complement the story.

As my statements over "Bridlewoodstock" having no conflict implied, I didn't think this special had a single bit of heart or emotion. There weren't any moments that tugged at my soul, or parts that were even remotely dramatic. Also, the humor throughout this episode was far from amusing. Aside from not responding with any kind of laughter, I found the comedy to be immature, forced, and uninspired.

In regard to the "Iconic" and "Hooves Together" songs, I personally didn't find either of them to be a toe-tapping showstopper.

Some of the biggest things that annoyed me about the majority of G5's musical numbers is that they don't have any kind of human creativity or inspiration, and both "Iconic" and "Hooves Together" are no exception to this. The lyrics and melodies for all two songs were frightfully forgettable, and the times I ever listened to them left me feeling irritated & underwhelmed. Even the singing wasn't able to compensate the matter, because despite their efforts, the cast never made much of an impression with their singing.

Outside of this, there was an animation error in "Bridlewoodstock" that I was immediately able to pinpoint.

Here's what it is:

These screenshots I took and automerged were from the first two scenes of Pipp & Izzy waiting in the throne room for a respone from Ruby Jubilee. If you look closely, you'll notice that Pipp is pacing in front of Izzy with the left side of her body directed towards the three thrones. In the next shot, though, Pipp's left side is directed away from the thrones and to the left of the room!

Did the directors and animators forget what position in the throne room Pipp was pacing in? Or was the exchange between Pipp and Izzy during this time initially longer before getting trimmed down & edited for some reason?

Finally, the characters were as dull and unappealing as ever.

First and foremost, I'll start by talking about what I thought of the new characters in this special: Electric Blue, the Dreamlands, and Ruby Jubilee.

When it came to Electric Blue, I thought that they were the least noteworthy and necessary of the new characters. They had no personality or memorable quality whatsoever, they didn't any personal character arc, and they didn't make themselves relevant enough to justify their own inclusions. Considering the fact that I rarely talked about Electric Blue before this, I'd say I'm pretty much right about them being both useless and meaningless.

Also, as my statements regarding the Dreamlands' subplot indicated, the Dreamlands themselves at least had some potential. Each member had something of a personality, and they had some kind of character arc to build themselves off of, but everything fell apart for them once their first scene together concluded. Whatever personal story they had isn't given further development or a proper wrap-up, and they're reduced to being a sideshow that spends the rest of this episode doing nothing!

As for Ruby Jubilee, most of my opinions regarding her are similar to the Dreamlands. She had personality, and a character arc going for her at first, but...once her introductory scene ends, Ruby is reduced to a mere exhibition that doesn't do anything meaningful. Heck, despite being the first pony that the Troggles attack, Ruby never helped defeat them once their weakness was discovered!

One thing's for sure, Sofia Wylie was underused in her guest appearance as Ruby Jubilee. Wylie was G5's first celebrity guest star since the cast members of A New Generation, and while I don't have anything against her personally, I believe that she wasn't given much to work with. She had a good amount of speaking parts, and a musical number to sing, yet the episode never gave Wylie any chance to make a memorable impression or showcase why she's considered a talented individual. Basically, Wylie's guest appearance came across as more like a prop than an inspired inclusion, and it wouldn't have made any difference if the character was played by a professional voice actress instead.

As for the Main 5 and Sparky, they were a bore for the most part.

With Sparky, there were many reasons I didn't enjoy watching him in this episode. Along with being as annoying as he was in the previous Make Your Mark episodes, Sparky never did anything important nor did he meaningfully contribute to the story. Even as I was making this review, it took a lot of my brainpower to remember that Sparky was in this episode to begin with, and whenever I did recall what major scenes he had, it would mainly just be his comic-relief moments. In a way, this pretty much sums up Sparky's role in "Bridlewoodstock" as simply a forgettable comic-relief, and I doubt that he'd ever be missed.

Meanwhile, Sunny Starscout was as one-dimensional and dull as ever. As a matter of fact, Sunny didn't have any kind of character arc in "Bridlewoodstock", and it mostly seemed like she was around for the mere sake of it. She had her big moments, and there were occasions where she contributed to the narrative, yet I found myself questioning what the point behind her inclusion was.

With Izzy Moonbow, I didn't find her company to be much of a delight either. As usual, I was aggravated by Izzy, both because of her comedic-timings and how much of a bimbo she'd come across as. Not to mention there were some parts involving Izzy that I found to be unsettling and creepy, such as this one example I'd like to mention:

During the time Pipp and Izzy were waiting for Ruby Jubilee in the Zephyr Heights throne room, Pipp asks Izzy if she looks okay, to which Izzy responds by saying "Your Sparkle is Shining Bright!". The main reason I'm calling this part out as one of Izzy's creepiest moments is because the way she said it sounded reminiscent of a longing lover than an assuring friend, and the look she gave Pipp before speaking the line and her behavior as she spoke it further fueled the impression.

However, the real blow to Izzy in "Bridlewoodstock" is that she appeared to have a character arc that never went anywhere. From my perspective, she believed the Troggles were real and was worried about them showing up during the festival, yet she wanted to put her fears aside in favor of being a supportive and helpful friend for Pipp. Even if Izzy is one of my least favorite MLP characters, these prospects I just mentioned regarding her are ones that I would've loved to see be further developed and given more focus. Instead, the episode kept Izzy in her irritable comic-relief limbo, leaving her either one-dimensional as always or just plain underdeveloped.

As for Hitch and Zipp, they were a mixed-bag. There were things regarding them I didn't like, but there were also things involving both of them I enjoyed.

For much of this episode, Hitch and Zipp weren't given any reason for people to get engaged by them. The only noteworthy things they did were helping out with the musician recruitments, and that was pretty much it. But, when they decided to investigate the Troggles situation, everything bursted to life for the two characters.

For my understanding, Zipp wanted to find out more about the Troggles based on genuine concern for her sister's safety and the well-being of everyone else, so it didn't feel like she was merely looking for an excuse to go in detective mode again. Hitch wanted to investigate because he shared Zipp's concern and curiosity, so having that common reason worked perfectly for the team-up. It was interesting to see them working towards a goal that wasn't anything like the others in this episode, and even after their investigation was over, I was still hooked by their focus! The nice thing about Hitch & Zipp in "Bridlewoodstock" compared to previous MYM episodes is that they weren't going around being unlikable ding-dongs either, and along with enjoying their chemistry, the depictions of both characters successfully recaptured their positive qualities as shown in "A New Generation".

In spite of this, there were still things regarding Zipp and Hitch in this episode that underwhelmed me. For one, their worries over the Troggles appearing weren't given any kind of follow-up or proper resolution by the end, and another...whatever individual developments they had during their investigation became pointless thanks to the Troggles showing up. Hitch and Zipp's growing belief that there wasn't anything to worry about would've been the right opportunity for teaching that people shouldn't let their fears and superstitions alone get in the way of anything, but because the Troggles turned out to be real, that lesson was toosed straight out the window.

And last, but certainly not least, it's time to talk about what I thought of Pipp Petals.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't enjoy Pipp's role and focus as the main character of this episode. I saw that she had a character arc that many people could probably relate with, in that she had a dream that she was determined to bring into fruition and wanted to ensure everything was perfect, and these are aspects that I can relate with as well. For some reason, though, I neither relate with Pipp on these matters nor sympathize for her on an emotionally-personal level, and I was left feeling more bored than engaged. Just like in every MYM episode I previously analyzed, Pipp often did things that I found to be grating as well, which made it harder for me to actually want to follow her own story. I may as well go ahead and mention that Pipp's lack of coordinated planning over the musician-hirings played into why I consider her to be a less-than-bright individual, and the fact that she never realized this mistake or ever acknowledged that the “Three Headliners” mix-up was her fault hardly helps the matter.

As I watched the episode, I definitely noted that Pipp’s desires to have the festival come through and ensure everything was perfect caused her to pass off the growing concern about the Troggles like they were nothing. After all, a person should always take the time to listen to others instead of only thinking about they themselves want, and it was great that Pipp realized that by the end. Regardless, Pipp learning the lesson was hindered by these very big flaws:

• On what grounds would anyone listen to or believe the Bridlewood unicorns about anything?

With the exception of Izzy and Alphabittle, the unicorns were shown to be scared of just about everything, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were afraid of their own shadows as well. On top of that, many of the superstitions the unicorns had were more ridiculous than anything else, especially when you take into account that they go bonkers even when they hear the word ‘mayonnaise’ for some reason.

• Everything fell into a conclusion that caused Pipp learning her lesson to feel pointless in the long run!

After the Troggles were defeated, Pipp apologizes and admits responsibility over all that happened, even saying that she’ll shut the festival down like the Bridlewood residents wanted. But then, simply because the Troggles were gone for good, the various unicorns request that Pipp keep the festival going! This would allow Pipp to maintain what she wanted, and it felt like the story was openly trying to clear her of the faults she made.

With all this being said, “Bridlewoodstock” showcases why I was never a particularly big fan of Pipp Petals. Outside of A New Generation, every attempt to further develop Pipp always seemed to fall flat like a pancake, and whenever they try to have her learn a lesson from a mistake she caused, the plot would suddenly try justifying her actions. Things would also turn around in her favor like she didn’t need to learn a thing, which makes any attempt to have her grow as an individual be fruitless. Just like Izzy Moonbow, I also found Pipp to be an air-headed and irksome pony; and no matter how much the production team tried to make Pipp someone with depth, relatability, complexity, and heart, Pipp came across to me as someone who isn’t any of those things.

Basically, the rest of G5 caused Pipp to seem like an attempt to replicate on the success and popularity of Rarity the unicorn in MLP’s 4th generation. What Rarity and Pipp have in common is that both are ponies who are obsessed with beauty, fabulousness, and perfection, yet they’re shown to be incredibly purehearted, caring, and willing to help others in any way they can. Unlike Rarity, though, Pipp has mainly seemed like a bland character who doesn’t have very many distinct qualities other than being a social media icon, and I’ve often had a hard time recalling what her positive traits were.

As for the recasting of Sofia Carson with AJ Bridel, and the latter’s performance & interpretation of Pipp thereof, I found each of those things to be polarizing. I didn’t think Bridel’s work as the character was good, but I didn’t think it was bad either.

Here’s why:

When Sofia Carson voiced Pipp for A New Generation, I noted that she translated the character as someone with heart, personality, and complexity regardless of her negative attributes. Her performance was also great enough for Pipp’s positive qualities to shine through, capturing that she’s more than just some pretty-faced individual.

AJ Bridel, on the other hand…well, her work was mostly so-so. Outside of her voice for Pipp not sounding anything like Carson’s, her interpretation of the character caused Pipp to come across as generic and irritating. The main thing I commend Bridel for is that she actually tries to make the best of her material, and the fact that she obviously wanted to portray Pipp like she was doing more than just provide her voice is admirable to see. Other than that, though, I felt that Bridel wasn’t able to recapture the spark originated by Carson.

In conclusion, “Bridlewoodstock” was mostly a mess from my perspective. It had potential that was squandered into oblivion, the storytelling was difficult to sit through and follow, everything! And just like “Winter Wishday”, this entire 45-minute special was just another slice-of-life story that neither contributes anything important or adheres to the series’ overarching narrative, so it really makes me wonder what the point behind it was.

So, I rate “Bridlewoodstock” a solid one out of five stars.

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With this review being done & over with, I’m going to take another break from reviewing MLP (G5) installments for a little while. Working on it was so challenging that I’ve become exhausted from the series again, so I need to recuperate.

On top of that, there are other things that I’d like to turn my focus on right now, so taking this break is very much needed. If I don’t, I’d likely be going out of my skull.