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

Greetings and salutations, my friends.

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

Today, I'm gonna give you guys my analysis on the 12th episode of "My Little Pony: Make Your Mark": "Top Remodel".

Usually, I'd start everything off with a summary of the overall plot, to help give people an idea of what the product is about. However, due to certain complications, I'm gonna skip giving a rundown of it.

Anyway...

After taking another much-needed break from analyzing the 5th Generation of My Little Pony, which ironically extended to over a year, I knew that I'd need to get back into reviewing every episode of Make Your Mark as soon as possible. For obvious reasons,"Top Remodel" was the episode I chose to analyze next, mostly since it was the 2nd episode of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark's 4th "Chapter".

Prior to making the critique, I rewatched "Top Remodel" five times in the year 2025, just to get my brain going and be certain over my thoughts regarding it. There were many things about "Top Remodel" that I knew I was gonna be giving a mouthful of comments towards, and while I easily recalled my feelings towards what the episode showcased & provided back when I first watched it in 2023, I really didn't want to make my analysis on the episode without rewatching it first. Even more than once. The only reason I rewatched "Top Remodel" five times is because I had other commitments last year, so it was hard to turn my attention towards "Top Remodel" despite already rewatching it three times.

Coming from a guy who rewatched "Top Remodel" last year...I can now say with absolute honesty & certainty that the episode was everything I've come to expect out of a G5 installment following its predecessors: An openly dull, infuriating, & disorienting mess.

With this being said...

As with the previous MYM episodes, the biggest problems with "Top Remodel" come from its story & direction. The plot in question was written by Leore Berris; and taking the director's chair again is Randi Rodrigues, who helmed three of Chapter 2's episodes.

Every time I rewatched "Top Remodel" I found that the storytelling style was pretty much like the writing for the majority of its predecessors. The episode started off in a relatively straightforward fashion, and it provided a solid premise for people to get invested in. Once the episode got past the beginning, though, it was taken in too many directions at once! The Main 5 split up to accomplish separate objectives, and other characters are added along the way. That's why I ultimately didn't bother giving a summary of what "Top Remodel" is about, because the story was too incomprehensible & difficult to actually summarize.

Plot-wise, "Top Remodel" had 4 stories crammed into one!

The 1st subplot is about Hitch, Pipp, & Sparky going on some kind of jumbled adventure in the abandoned factory. The 2nd subplot focuses on Sunny & Izzy remodeling the factory, and they even allow residents of Maretime Bay to give suggestions. The 3rd subplot focuses on Zipp trying to decode the hologram message left by Twilight Sparkle, which was projected by the Unity Crystals in "Growing Pains". And the 4th subplot is about Misty trying to decide if she should continue her mission in getting Sparky for Opaline, because after the events of "Have You Seen This Dragon?", Opaline now wants to use the magic of dragon-fire to become more powerful than before.

The first two subplots share the common goal of renovating the factory, but the other two subplots are completely separate from that aspect. What every subplot has in common, though...is that none of them connect or mix well. And they were all executed & handled in a way that made "Top Remodel" more dizzying than engaging.

Misty's subplot had a boatload of problems, I'll tell you that.

One issue I've noted is that Misty's subplot came at the near middle of this episode. When that happened, the entirety of it came across as something that was shoved-in during the story's final stages. It was like the production team thought to themselves, "Oh no, we have to include Misty & Opaline in the story! It doesn't matter if they won't do anything important, we've got to have them around!". Considering the fact Opaline & Misty were notably absent in "Winter Wishday" & "Bridlewoodstock", I wouldn't be surprised if they were included in "Top Remodel" because the production team found themselves forgetting that the two characters existed.

As for what happens in Misty's subplot...

It starts off with Misty spying on Zipp from afar, overhearing Twilight's message as filmed on Zipp's phone, before recording Zipp watching the video and showing what she discovered to Opaline. With Opaline now aware of what the Unity Crystals' powers & what Twilight Sparkle had done, we're predictably given one of her not-so-interesting "Get Me that Dragon!" rants, and she doesn't waste time shoving her desires for dragon-fire in everyone's faces either. The only significant thing Opaline does during this time is explain to Misty what the Unity Crystals apparently are & their purpose, kinda like how a disgruntled school teacher is educating a clueless student.

Since the scene Misty shares with Opaline is the only one that the latter character has in this episode, I'd like to go ahead and express my thoughts on Opaline herself & the part she played in it:

The main point of interest I noted regarding Opaline was her reaction to Misty proposing that they steal the Unity Crystals instead of Sparky. She gives a noticeable display of sarcasm, before clarifying to Misty that the idea was terrible & explaining why they can't steal the crystals with reasonable justification. I found the moment to be interesting partly because it was relatively amusing to see, although that doesn't mean I "enjoyed" it since sarcasm isn't uncommon in villains anyway.

But, here's the biggest reason for why I'm pointing the moment out:

Fans of G5 frequently claimed that Opaline will demean Misty simply for proposing her own ideas, which isn't surprising since their relationship is often interpreted as an abusive "Master-to-Slave" kind of association. To tell you the truth, though, I haven't seen Opaline do that with Misty in any of their appearances together, including the various installments I've watched but haven't reviewed yet. "Top Remodel" is the only episode I've seen where Opaline does get onto Misty for proposing an idea, but from what I've seen, she honestly wasn't being abusive to Misty for it. Instead of lashing out at Misty, calling her names, or downright hurting her, Opaline was patient with Misty & helped her understand why they couldn't steal the crystals. The only thing Opaline did was pressure Misty into continuing the mission to bring Sparky to her like she usually did, but that hardly counts as abusive.

I don't know about you guys, but how Opaline responded to Misty's idea-proposing in this episode notably debunks the fan claims I mentioned about the two before. All the scene really did was show that Opaline wanted Misty to be on the same page & isn't cruel enough to do something particularly awful to Misty, so it puts into question whether Opaline is as abusive to Misty as people say.

Outside of this "Main Point of Interest", though, I noted that Opaline's characterization didn't improve since her last appearance in "Have You Seen This Dragon?". Chapter 4 is said to be where Opaline becomes more compelling as a villain, but so far...I haven't seen any significant difference between how she was depicted in Chapters 2 & 4. I still felt bored & irritated by Opaline instead of the opposite, and I wasn't convinced that she became a more credible threat.

Opaline's displays of her newfound fire powers were the parts where she annoyed me the most. People will probably defend those moments by saying that they're supposed to emphasize how dangerous Opaline became after the events of "Have You Seen This Dragon?", but from my perspective...Opaline was disregarding the importance of conserving her own powers in favor of being an arrogant show-off. Also, when you take into account that the time gap between "Have You Seen This Dragon?" & "Top Remodel" is supposed to be up to a year or something like that, the excuse of Opaline being so careless with her powers based on just getting them is one that'd easily be debunked. All in all, these particular moments serve as new examples of why I view Opaline as a childish imbecile who's hard to take seriously, and it doesn’t help that they felt laughably forced as well.

As for the explanation-tale Opaline gave about the Unity Crystals, and the little sequence that played while she talked, I wasn’t a big fan of it. The one thing I commend regarding the scene is that it was naturally-integrated and helped keep the narrative going, so it wasn’t out-of-place from the rest of the story. In addition, I did a look-back on the bedtime scene in “The Traditional Unicorn Sleepover” for comparison purposes, and the tale Opaline gave thankfully didn’t carry any contradictions. But, I still didn’t like the explanation-tale scene in “Top Remodel” because its attempts at expanding the lore of the Unity Crystals were flat, uninspired, dull, & repetitive.

Other than that, as I made the comparison between it and the bedtime story sequence I mentioned, I remembered that the latter moment was actually where Misty first learned about the Unity Crystals, including what they were made for & their capabilities. I know that she’d later go against Sunny’s story by telling her own in a “Spur of the Moment” passion, but wouldn’t Misty tell Opaline what Sunny said after leaving the Brighthouse in the morning? Wouldn’t that also be the time where Opaline officially learns about the Unity Crystals’ purpose instead of much later?

Another thing I noted about the explanation-tale sequence is that it further established my observations that Twilight Sparkle’s visual design in G5 is entirely different from her G4 appearance. If you look in this screenshot I took, you’ll see what I mean:

I know this screenshot shows Twilight all darkened up, but her features are still visible. Most notably, you can see that Twilight’s hoof designs are exactly like how the ponies of G5 were designed, which is a complete contrast from her visual appearance in G4.

With this being Twilight’s second physical appearance in Make Your Mark outside of the hologram in “Growing Pains”, I believe it verifies that this was what she truly looked like prior to the events of “My Little Pony: A New Generation”. And the same goes with every pony that lived during her time. People who consider G4 & G5 to be directly part of the same universe will defend this visual-mismatch by saying that it’s based on the change in technology, and that Twilight’s G4 appearance couldn’t be accurately translated because of it, but the thing is…when you look at this from an in-universe perspective, it doesn’t make any sense. Despite the various statements from Hasbro, and G.M. Berrow being involved in both My Little Pony productions, aspects like Twilight’s various design differences are among the reasons for why I’ve questioned how G5 is officially canon with G4. It’s something that I highly doubt G5 itself will provide answers for, let alone ones that wouldn’t cause its continuity-placement to get more muddled instead of clearer.

Moving on from that…

You’d think that after Misty’s scene with Opaline was over, things would get interesting for her. But, that’s not the case at all. She only has two more scenes in “Top Remodel”, and they all feature Misty in her bedroom talking to a small junk sculpture she made herself. She names the sculpture “Madame Taffytail”, and Misty made it because she wanted to talk to someone about whether she should go after Sparky again. That, and she wanted someone to express certain frustrations regarding Opaline.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why Misty created Madame Taffytail. She didn’t have anyone to help her work out whatever problems she had, and she didn’t know who to trust either, so I sympathize for Misty on those grounds.

The real problem regarding Misty’s scenes with Madame Taffytail comes from the way they played out. I can’t exactly explain it, but when I was watching the two scenes, it felt like I was seeing a one-pony comedy show that was poorly performed & didn’t have any punch-lines! Every moment Misty talked to Madame Taffytail lead into a joke that was painfully awkward, and the scenes put so much emphasis on the humorous aspects of Misty’s situation that it became harder to feel sorry for her. The part where Misty ultimately decided to continue her assigned mission was also lacking, because the resolution came across as the end of an unfunny ventriloquist act.

From my perspective, Leore Berris & company were making fun of Misty over her apparent inner-conflict, and all by just focusing on the silliness side of her scenes with Madame Taffytail. If they had simply given the scenes more emotional weight & seriousness, and delved into Misty’s situation from her own psychological standpoint, then they wouldn’t have seemed like something created purely to satisfy a mean-streak of sorts.

Friendship is Magic’s “Party of One” notably delved into how much Pinkie Pie thinking the worst of her friends & her growing loneliness was affecting her psyche, and the production team behind that episode depicted the moments with Pinkie & the various inanimate objects as far from a simple comedic affair. They dived into the more emotional & serious aspects of Pinkie’s situation, and even if what happened with her during that time seemed creepy & depressing, it notably showed that Pinkie is a surprisingly complex individual who isn’t without insecurities & depth. So, why couldn’t the production team of Make Your Mark’s “Top Remodel” do something similar with Misty? Did they seriously not think to go bigger & deeper with the scenes between her & Madame Taffytail?

To make a long story short, Misty’s subplot in “Top Remodel”, and the inclusions of her & Opaline, were far from worthwhile. Instead of being intrigued by what was going on with the two characters, I was jaded to the point of mental exhaustion. Their inclusions weren’t exactly unnecessary, and Misty & Opaline didn’t spend the entire episode doing nothing like in “Growing Pains”, but that hardly gives any compensation due to their wasted usage.

On the subject of Zipp's subplot, I found that it was a similarly uninspired affair. It was evident that the production team intended to use Zipp & her endeavor to decode Twilight's hologram message for lore-expanding purposes, and to "further prepare" the Main 5 for Opaline, but even then...I've often questioned whether the subplot needed to be incorporated anyway.

Just like Misty & Opaline's inclusions, the production team clearly decided to follow-up on Twilight's hologram message because they were forgetting that the event happened & needed to remind themselves of it. Considering the significant episode gap between "Growing Pains" & "Top Remodel", and the larger focus towards the characters going on slice-of-life ventures, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. It only seems to prove that the writing for G5 as a whole is disorganized & unstructured. If they really wanted to use Zipp's investigation for giving the overarching plot-line about Opaline another kickoff, Berris & company should've formulated more over how to make the subplot absorbing enough to hold a viewer's attention. Zipp was definitely all-in on her investigation, and she made solid conclusions intended for prepping up the Main 5's first face-to-face meeting with Opaline, but I wasn't captivated by what was happening nor cared about the progress Zipp had made.

To tell you the truth, Zipp's subplot primarily just reminded me of my overall dislike for "Detective Zipp". For me, after the creative teams made Zipp a detective & focused on her solving mysteries, she became more annoying compared to her debut appearance in A New Generation. Zipp's depiction as a detective ranged from displaying her as unrealistically smarter than other ponies or stupid to where even flies seem more intelligent, and what really doesn't help is that Zipp's detective endeavors are so focused on being comedy-oriented that I've questioned her credibility as an investigator.

I'm not even sure if anyone will agree with me on this, but after Zipp became a detective, she came across as overly conceited & prideful. She seemed to always care about being right and having the answer to everything, and whenever I watched Zipp's mystery-solving endeavors, it'd feel like she's secretly taking on cases merely to feel good about herself. The moment where Zipp's cutie mark glowed as she's gaining answers in "Top Remodel" is an example of why I think this, because while she was saying that she cared about keeping Equestria safe & maintaining harmony, it heavily translated in my head that all Zipp wanted out of decoding Twilight's message was an opportunity to boost her own ego.

It makes me wonder...did Zipp really become a detective to help others & serve her country? Or did she become one out of a desire to achieve glory & fulfill personal pleasures?

Thirdly, I found Hitch, Pipp, & Sparky's subplot to be equally underwhelming. Despite having the most screen-time & focus, their subplot was the least fruitful & necessary of all the ones this episode featured. The only purpose it served was just giving the trio something to do, and that's it.

Like I said about the trio's subplot at the beginning, it's simply about Hitch, Pipp, & Sparky venturing in the factory. It started off with them checking the old building for ghosts, and all because Pipp liked places with a spooky atmosphere. So much time was dedicated to the trio looking for ghosts that you'd think they'd actually find one, and the prospect of them discovering that the factory really was haunted held a great deal of creative potential.

But, it never happened.

The subplot first took a swerve when Sprout Cloverleaf came in the picture. Then everything was taken in an entirely different direction once the flying mice appeared, and it's reduced to being a repeat of Pipp & Izzy's "Critter Round-Up" venture from Chapter 2's "The Cutie Mark Mix-Up".

Even after revealing what Hitch, Pipp, & Sparky's subplot was about & sharing the details, I think all Leore Berris & company ever did was constantly wing it with the trio. The subplot was neither consistent in narrative-drive nor ambitious in creative-intention, and it was the complete opposite of engaging. In some ways, I could see that the production team wanted to make the trio's subplot another one of those "Importance of Working Together" stories, even if the goals change. But, if that was the intention, then the entirety of it was flat & uninventive. I never rooted for Hitch, Pipp, & Sparky in their endeavor to catch the mice, and I was unimpressed by how Hitch & Pipp got the mice to leave the factory in the long run. Not to mention the humor that ensued throughout the subplot was relatively lame.

However, I will say that the subplot had its good points.

Hitch & Pipp's chemistry was decent to watch, even before they found the flying mice. Also, the part where Pipp comments that the mission to make the mice leave was exactly like the critter situation that occurred in "The Cutie Mark Mix-Up" was surprisingly amusing. It's mainly because the way Pipp mentioned that event felt kinda like a meta-commentary towards G5 repeating certain plot-lines & story-aspects that were used before, whether in G5 itself or other installments of the MLP franchise, so it was interesting to see that referenced & given acknowledgement. AJ Bridel's delivery of the line added onto why I found the moment to be amusing, that's for sure. And, while I wasn't a fan of Hitch & Pipp solving the mouse problem by singing a song & going into some sort of party-line with them, "With Each Other" was one of the more enjoyable musical numbers I've heard from G5 as a whole. I didn't want to download "With Each Other" to my Music app or listen to it more often, but I thought that it had catchier lyrics & melodies compared to other G5 songs, and its message about teamwork was nicely-done.

Lastly, it's time I address my thoughts on Sunny & Izzy's subplot:

I know many people will hate me for saying this, but I consider Sunny & Izzy's subplot to be the worst of the ones featured in "Top Remodel"! The biggest reason is because I found it to be the most morally-toxic & manipulative, which is apparent since the other three subplots had no morals anyway.

As I mentioned before, Sunny & Izzy's subplot is about the two of them working to recreate the old factory into something new, and they decide to ask the various Maretime Bay residents for advice & feedback first. Although, what I didn't mention was that everyone was giving the duo so many ideas that it became difficult for them to get organized, and they struggled to figure out how any of the ideas could work. Once that became apparent, Izzy "encourages" Sunny to make the "final decision" over what ideas should go or stay.

First off, I understand what Leore Berris & company intended to teach through Sunny & Izzy's situation. Creating something new is difficult. As someone who's delved into the creative arts myself, I can tell you from experience that the hardest part is figuring out what the people would want, determining if it's something they'd enjoy, and ensuring that they'd be satisfied with what they're given. It's a conundrum where getting feedback & input from others can come in handy for the creator, especially for deciding what to do next. But, not every idea someone else has is good, and other ideas would sound great only to not work well, so the creator would have to exclude certain propositions as part of making project the very best it can be. Even if doing so could make people unhappy, of course.

In itself, this message is a good one for people to learn. Regardless of what you're creating & the goals behind the project, it's impossible to please "everyone". Rather than incorporate "every" idea into the project, the creator needs to focus more on providing the best they can give, including by only going with whatever ideas will actually work & align with the creator's vision. Experimenting can also help, because by testing out the various ideas, it becomes easier to determine which ideas can be kept & which ones can be discarded.

Unfortunately, I noted several problems regarding how "Top Remodel" was handling the message, and everything about it was so muddled up by the storytelling that I've often wondered "Is that really what Leore Berris & company were intending to teach?". If anything, the lesson translated in my head as the following: "Feedback & help from others is overrated! You should only rely on your own judgements & decisions!".

Here are the reasons for why I think this:

• Sunny & Izzy did want to repurpose the factory, and their intentions to get input from others was genuine. But, they never had any specific plans on what to do with the factory. They didn’t create any blueprints to build from, and they didn’t make a list of whatever they already planned on doing either.

How could any of Maretime Bay’s residents contribute ideas if Sunny & Izzy never provided a clear picture to work with? And why would the duo ask everyone for ideas considering their apparent lack of vision for the factory?

• Maretime Bay’s residents were obviously intended to help the story build towards what Sunny “supposedly” learns near the end, especially considering they were the ones proposing ideas that Sunny & Izzy were struggling to work with. Even so, all they’ve done is obliterate the credibility of the episode’s conceived lesson and add onto why it translated in my head as an anti-community precept.

Throughout my time watching G5’s movie & shows, I found that the background & supporting characters living in Maretime Bay were selfish & greedy individuals who primarily cared about themselves and having their own way with everything, and I hardly remember a single time where any of them ever wanted to “help” others. There were thankfully exceptions, but even then…I don’t understand why Sunny & Izzy wanted to consult with the various Maretime Bay residents in the first place. The duo even allowed Posey Bloom to give an idea, and she is one of the most inconsiderate & self-centered MLP characters in existence!

• From what I’ve gathered, people have commended Izzy for stepping up & helping Sunny. They’ve often said that she went through the same kind of situation in Chapter 2’s “Izzy Does It” & used what she learned from that venture as a source of guidance for Sunny in order to solve the problem she was having.

The thing is, though…I watched “Izzy Does It” before, then rewatched the episode multiple times in 2024 to make my review of it, and I noted that what Izzy went through in the Chapter 2 premiere wasn’t anything like the conundrum she & Sunny were having in “Top Remodel”. “Izzy Does It” was about the character having trouble with “Creative Block” and coming up with something new, whereas “Top Remodel” is about Sunny & Izzy struggling to make every suggestion from various Maretime Bay residents work.

How did people get the idea of Izzy basing her wisdom in “Top Remodel” off her experience in “Izzy Does It” when the situations weren’t even remotely alike? Do they even know that Izzy quoted the advice from a crackpot unicorn named Elder Flower?

• The fact that Izzy’s the one giving Sunny wisdom is largely unbelievable. In all of her appearances, Izzy is shown to be little more than an air-headed idiot who hardly ever “helps” her friends, and she’d normally steer stories in a morally-toxic direction.

Based on how everything turned out in the end, Izzy’s “Piece of Wisdom” apparently encouraged Sunny to not keep any of the suggestions made by the residents of Maretime Bay. It seemed like the only ideas Sunny kept were the ones she likely concocted herself, and that Izzy just went along with whatever her friend wanted like she was already doing before, so their actions after Izzy’s “Moment of Guidance” made their entire endeavor beforehand become questionable. I know what I said about Sunny & Izzy in how they resolved their problem is largely suggestive, but their scene before the big presentation primarily showed them removing stuff. They weren’t shown keeping anything, and there wasn’t any confirmation over what outside suggestions stayed, whether visual or dialogue-based.

The point is, Sunny & Izzy’s subplot had a good message, but the writing & direction of the subplot manipulated the lesson into saying something completely different. It was like the moral became part of an anti-community agenda, as well as a booster for self-righteousness, which wasn’t helped by various aspects involving the subplot’s featured characters. Instead of being convinced that Sunny is improving as an authority figure, and was on her way to becoming a great leader, I found myself believing that she’d do a terrible job at being the new official ruler of Equestria. And rather than seeing Izzy’s “Moment of Wisdom” as proof that she’s a good friend who wants to help others, I saw it as an instance of her being a menace who causes trouble and encourages dangerous ideals. Because of the various problems I noted regarding Sunny & Izzy's subplot, it became harder for me to get invested by the duo, care about whether they'd resolve their problem, and want them to succeed in their goal.

Obviously, if my boredom & disappointment over the focuses on Misty, Sparky, and the Main 5 is any indication, I found each of these characters to be overly one-dimensional. None of them had a remote sense of actual character growth throughout this episode. They never showcased any distinct or relatable qualities, let alone the kind that’d help them stand out in a good way. All 7 characters also had internal-struggles that were pretty obvious, but they weren’t given any kind of personal weight & emphasis to help audiences actually feel for them. And, every attempt to make these characters likable ironically translated them as more nerve-grinding, which only made them harder to tolerate.

I didn't enjoy the episode's tone either. As shown by my frequent addressing of the humor that ensued throughout each subplot, I found the production team's attempts at providing comedy to be lackluster. The various jokes ranged from being flat, mundane, cringeworthy, and childish, with the numerous slapstick gags & comedic-timings from Izzy being definite examples. The only reason I commended the two dialogue-based moments I mentioned as amusing is because they had a refreshing innocence of sorts, but even they weren't funny enough to get me rolling on the ground with laughter. And as for whether the production team managed to give "Top Remodel" heart & emotion, that'd be a 'no'. I can't deny that Leore Berris & company tried, but the moments that were supposed to be heartfelt came across as heartless instead. Not once did I ever feel my soul get tugged, and the only thing I ever felt was indifference.

With all of these things being said, I can finally talk about Top Remodel's biggest elephant in the room: The inclusion of Sprout Cloverleaf.

When it comes to "Top Remodel", I sensed that Sprout making another one of his 'Grand Appearances' wasn't out of the question. The Canterlogic Factory was formerly owned by his mother, Phyllis, and Sprout was the second-in-command of it based on family connection. The Main 5's plans to renovate the abandoned factory were bound to attract the attention of the Cloverleaf family, or just one Cloverleaf in the cast of Sprout, so...in a way, "Top Remodel" is perhaps the only MYM episode to date where Sprout being included seemed natural. Phyllis is also featured, but she only makes a silent cameo during the "With Each Other" song sequence.

In spite of Sprout not being out-of-place, though, there were many things about his inclusion in "Top Remodel" that I didn't like. In fact, everything about Sprout's appearance in "Top Remodel" wasn't any different from other G5 stories he starred in, including A New Generation.

Behold, my explanations:

Before Hitch, Pipp, & Sparky met up with him in their "ghost search", Sprout was secretly following the trio from afar like a creeper and watching them like he had an ulterior motive. The very time Sprout made himself known was after he's frightened out of hiding by a loud noise caused by Izzy, which was based on her being stupid.

And what did Sprout do after getting discovered & questioned by Hitch & Pipp?

He acted all high-and-mighty while saying that he was following the trio to ensure they wouldn't "mess anything up". His response towards Hitch & Pipp mentioning his crimes in A New Generation didn't make it any better for him, even if they only commented he "crashed a giant robot into Sunny's lighthouse". Instead of agreeing that they made a fair point, he passed off the reminder like it was a mere embarrassment on his part, refusing to admit to the crime & acknowledge it while not expressing any kind of regret.

Afterwards, while Sprout did take part in the endeavor to make the flying mice leave, he never exactly "helped" in resolving the problem. Every effort he made primarily resulted in the objective becoming harder to achieve, especially when you look at how he was trying to handle it. And, right before Hitch & Pipp discover that singing a new song would get the mice to vacate the factory, Sprout decided to just leave. He left Pipp & Hitch to deal with the mice themselves without a second thought, not having any regard on the matter.

Of course, the real kicker came from Sprout's final scenes, where he attended Sunny & Izzy's unveiling of "Canterlove Studios". He commented that he's impressed with what they did with the building, only to follow his statement up by haughtily declaring that it still belonged to him. He then followed his declaration with a cringeworthy evil laugh, before circling around Sunny & Izzy like he's taunting them until he walked away, continuing his evil laugh in the midst of it all. The only thing that subsequently occurred was Izzy wondering if Sprout was right until Sunny assured that he's wrong.

Now, comes the big dissection for Sprout:

In my analysis of A New Generation, I commented that I hated Sprout because he came across as someone “whom the filmmakers had no idea what they wanted to create out of him”. Outside of mentioning that his intentions behind taking over Maretime Bay & enacting a war with the other pony tribes were entirely unclear, though, I never went into much detail on the matter. And believe me, while it has been over four years since I watched the movie in full, the memories of my time watching Sprout in it are always fresh.

Before I watched A New Generation, I learned that Sprout was the “main antagonist” based on new data regarding him & seeing other reviews for the movie. Once I saw the film for myself…I found that Sprout’s role wasn’t as solid or defined as people said.

Compared to the other major characters, with Phyllis becoming an exception later on, the filmmakers were just making up what to do with Sprout as they went along. From the beginning, Sprout did nothing but disrupt the film’s narrative-flow even by just talking, and every attempt to give him a meaningful role ironically translated Sprout as an all-the-more purposeless individual. Plus, while I noted that certain aspects of Sprout’s character were supposed to “signify him” as the villain, and that some parts of the story were made to “elevate him further” into the role, I found that they were all poorly-written, blandly-portrayed, and unusually-forced.

Fans of A New Generation have said that Sprout was intended to represent people who were taught “What to Think” instead of “How to Think” since he was educated into hating unicorns & pegasi, but that claim never held up because he frequently treated his fellow Earth Ponies with animosity, disrespect, and faithlessness! Fans have also stated that Sprout’s behavior is a result of his upbringing by Phyllis, and that his #1 goal was to earn his mother’s approval, but his depiction & various actions throughout the movie completely discredited those claims! Heck, despite Sprout & Phyllis sharing scenes, their relationship was largely lacking in chemistry, depth, and believability.

From a creative standpoint, I found the writing & direction for Sprout in A New Generation to be awfully aimless & convoluted, and his presence alone caused a serious disconnect from the narrative. He’s also given a great deal of screen-time, yet even after he takes over Maretime Bay, the filmmakers never did anything fruitful with Sprout. The only thing they ever seemed to put much effort was subjecting Sprout to humorless jokes, whether visual or dialogue-based.

Suffice to say, I’ve had similar feelings towards Sprout’s sequel appearances. Outside of some background cameos, Sprout continued making major appearances throughout the G5 franchise, but…once again, nothing compelling or productive is ever done with him. He’s just present for the sake of it, and he continued to be the center of lackluster comedy gags.

“Top Remodel” is a prime example of this. As I mentioned earlier, the subplots revolving around the old factory actually provided good leeway for getting Sprout involved, and they opened up some story-based potential for him. However, that potential wasn’t grasped. He’s included in the equation, but he didn’t contribute anything substantial. Instead, he continued to serve as a plot-disrupter & lame one-pony joke show who wouldn’t be missed. Leore Berris could’ve even used “Top Remodel” for providing in-depth exploration on what happened to Sprout outside of losing the factory, with the fate of Phyllis being mentioned on the side, but she never did.

As for Sprout in terms of his “character”, my thoughts on him remain unchanged.

Ever since I made my critique on A New Generation, I’ve been very vocal over my hatred of Sprout. I found Sprout to be bearable in every way, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t take Sprout seriously as a villain or get engaged by him.

Along with this, Sprout was the film’s most one-dimensional character. In spite of what happened with Sprout throughout the story, he never had any kind of individual character development; and every aspect regarding Sprout that was supposed to encourage personal growth didn’t help him undergo individual change at all! One example is Sprout’s last scene near the end. After magic returned to Equestria, and despite getting spared from receiving punishment, all Sprout did was ask his mother if he was a good sheriff! He asked Phyllis like he never learned from all he did or acknowledged it, and when she avoided answering the question by ditching him, Sprout acted like a disgruntled grump over it!

Sprout’s sequels appearances weren’t any better in regards to his depiction, that’s for sure. It’s notably implied that a huge length of time had passed since the events of A New Generation, yet Sprout is still as infuriating & stupid as before.

In my opinion, the one thing that “Top Remodel” in particular accomplished with Sprout was establishing that he’s irredeemable. His behavior, actions, & interactions with the Main 5 throughout the episode showed that Sprout hasn’t learned the errors of his ways, and that he’s not making any effort to change & become a better pony. Despite Sunny confirming that the factory still doesn’t belong to Sprout anymore, even after it got turned into a studio, the ending revealed that Sprout secretly saw Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, & Hitch’s endeavors involving the factory as an opportunity to somehow get the factory back. This proves that Sprout still likes to exploit others for personal gain, and that he’s not willing to accept the consequences of his crimes.

With how much of an in-depth look “Top Remodel” gave into showing Sprout’s lack of personal development since the events of A New Generation, I believe the episode confirmed that he’ll never change. People will say that Sprout can be officially redeemed if he was given the right story for it, but the entirety of his character completely dispels the notion of that happening. Everything Sprout did in “Top Remodel” also appeared to be a symbolic picture of what would happen if Sprout went on some “Grand Adventure” with the heroes. In this case, he’ll join his “friends” based on the goal being to acquire some magical artifact, only to pull a double-cross because it turned out the artifact was something he wanted for his own selfish purposes. When it comes to committing betrayal, I’m pretty sure Sprout would do so without changing his mind & regretting it afterwards!

At the end of the day, despite supposedly being in the “reformed villain” category, Sprout clearly hasn’t reformed, and I highly doubt that he’ll ever change. “Top Remodel” also validates that Sprout was obviously not punished for his crimes in A New Generation, because lo and behold, the entire Equestrian population is too soft-hearted to make him pay the penalty & gave him a second chance anyway. And that’s even despite his lack of remorse & regrets over all he did!

I don’t care how many people are going to defend Sprout or try to counteract my statements on him. Sprout Cloverleaf is quite honestly the worst character of entire G5 series, and the worst in the My Little Pony franchise period! People say that the worst “reformed villain” in the My Little Pony franchise is either Discord or Trixie, but for me, that title goes to Sprout. Others say that Starlight Glimmer shouldn’t have been given a chance to turn her life around, but that's exactly how I feel about Sprout. Several have even stated that Discord, Trixie, & Starlight don’t deserve forgiveness, that their past crimes & the mistakes they made during their reformed days are impossible to overlook, and that capital punishment is the only thing they should receive. But, those very assertions are ones that I strongly apply towards Sprout, especially on the grounds that he’s not sorry about anything!

If I was in-charge of G5 Equestria’s justice system, and I had to make a judgement for Sprout, I'd sentence that unrepentant schmuck to an execution. If I chose to have Sprout die, I'd be happy to kill him in any way, such as by sicking a tiger on him. And if I decided to let Sprout live, I'd sentence him to be turned to stone for eternity, because that's the only punishment where Sprout wouldn't be able to talk or move afterwards.

One thing's for sure, I'm positive that Sprout is worthy of being on this guy's list, and I'd love for him to take Sprout out:

As for the recasting of Ken Jeong with Josh Graham, and the latter's performance & interpretation of Sprout...well, let's just say I hated Graham's work as the character for the same reasons I detested Jeong's.

I disliked Ken Jeong's portrayal of Sprout in A New Generation because all he did was further emphasize why I found the character to be impossible to sit through, and while I am aware that he's played villains before, I still consider Jeong to be an eye-twitchingly bizarre casting choice for the part. Josh Graham's work as Sprout was equally insufferable, and not just on account of giving a mediocre vocal of impression of Jeong either. It seemed like Graham turned every line he had into something that's painful to the ears, and nothing about his performance sounded inspired.

In conclusion, "Top Remodel" isn't without a few highlights here and there, but...the entirety of it was still another representation of why I'm not particularly fond of My Little Pony's 5th Generation. The story was all-over-the-place, the characters are uninteresting & one-dimensional, everything!

So, I rate "Top Remodel" a solid one out of five stars.

---

In the future, I'll definitely be giving you guys reviews on the rest of G5. I already analyzed 11 of the show's episodes, 12 now that I've reviewed "Top Remodel, and I believe it's better to finish what I started. In chronological order, of course.

But for now, I'm gonna give myself another mental break from G5 in favor of other things. This review took 2 to 3 months to complete, and nearly a week to type up on my computer, so I need some time to recuperate from working on it.