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

Greetings and salutations, my friends.

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

Today, for my 81st episode analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take on the 3rd "Chapter" of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark: "Winter Wishday".

Here's the rundown of this special:

With different holiday traditions across three pony lands, the Mane 5 race against time to celebrate everyone's special customs and make it home in time for the Wishing Star.

After taking my break from analyzing episodes of episodes of "My Little Pony: Make Your Mark", especially considering how mind-bogglingly infuriating "Chapter 2" was for me, I knew that I was gonna need to get back into it sooner than later. Obviously, I'm hoping to finish what I started before the end of 2024, so that's my biggest motivator on the matter; along with wanting to reach my 100th episode review.

Luckily, since MLP: MYM's "Chapter 3" consists of one 45-minute special, I didn't feel like I was gonna go back in with a large stack ahead of me. And yes, I know that "Winter Wishday" is supposed to be a Christmas-themed episode, but considering the fact that it doesn't directly celebrate Christmas, I don't think it matters what month I showcase the review for it in.

In prepartion for making this review, I rewatched "Winter Wishday" three more times this year just so that I could be absolutely certain over what I thought of it. I never review a Make Your Mark episode without seeing it more than once or my brain going for it, so don't think for one second that everything I say about an MYM episode is based on bias. When I go in, I really go all-in.

So, what do I think of "Winter Wishday" in words? Especially after rewatching it three times this year?

Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to be honest with you guys about this:

Prior to creating this review, I frequently read comments claiming that MYM's quality began to improve starting with "Winter Wishday". Despite having initially seen this special for the first time around last year, I was wanting to see whether those comments would be ones I'd agree with, which was another reasons for why I reacquainted myself with "Winter Wishday" more than once recently.

But, you know what?

Sadly, my experience with "Winter Wishday" turned out to be no different than watching Make Your Mark's 1st and 2nd chapters! Granted, it certainly wasn't as bad as its predecessors were, but still...it suffered from the same problems as them and showcased little sense of improvement.

As with the previous episodes, the majority of this special's problems derive from its writing. And this time, the story was done by newcomer Dave Horwitz.

When it came to the narrative, the main thing I'll admit is that Horwitz kept it from turning into an overwhelming multi-package deal compared to Chapter 1. It featured the Main 5 & Sparky travelling from one location to the next, and taking part in a variety of activities, yet the story managed to hold itself together and not go all-over-the-place; a factor that was probably helped by the decision to have the group stick together rather than go their separate ways.

Other than that, though, the entirety of this special's story was hardly what I'd call well-accomplished.

First off, the subplot revolving around the mysterious snowfall was the most useless part of the whole story! Some may say that it's supposed to open the door for more exploration on magic and its newfound developments, but from my personal perspective, the mysterious snowfall subplot was really more of an unnecessary distraction.

Here's why:

At no point throughout the plot did the mysterious snowfall play a central or meaningful part to actually make itself relevant. Even when it started to get worse by causing blizzards, more snow than needed, and a greater chill in the air, Horwitz never made an effort to show why the snowfall was important enough for an inclusion. The times the snowfall was brought up also felt like an attempt by Horwitz to ensure that it simply wouldn't be forgotten, to no avail. Once Zipp figures out that the snowfall was being caused by an ancient spell that the unicorns were unwittingly casting, the problem's revolved so quickly that it was like it could be stopped with a simple snap of one's fingers, and when you think about it more...if Zipp had simply unraveled the problem quicker, it really wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Outside of this, "Winter Wishday" has another problem that frequently brought its predecessors to its knees: Unexplainable plot conveniences!

Here's what they are:

1. During the time Zipp & Izzy were inspecting the Marestream for flight capabilities, Zipp put Sunny's lantern on the center of its front window area. Right after doing so, the magic that supposedly originates from the Main 5's friendship blasts from their cutie marks and into the lantern, transforming the Marestream from a broken down tram car to a brand new flying RV!

2. Hitch's Grandma Figgy has a book about the unicorn holiday known as Wishiehoof, which also details some past history regarding unicorns. And Figgy gives it to Zipp as a gift before she and the others leave for Bridlewood.

3. When the characters are in the Marestream and on their way to Zephyr Heights, they get caught in a severe air turbulence. As it threatens to freeze the wings, the Main 5 & Sparky decide to calm themselves down & hope they'll make it by envisioning the gates of Zephyr Heights, which ironically makes the lantern's magic help the Marestream overcome the turbulence.

A similar situation happens again when the heroes are trying to leave Maretime Bay. Because of how much snow came down, the Marestream ended up being buried and the group had difficulty locating it. Once Izzy simply "wishes" that they could find the Marestream, the lantern comes to life and helps the group find it.

(The last one was a two-parter, in case you'd like an explanation)

I don't know about you guys, but to me, everything about the stuff I listed was laughably forced.

With the magic-related developments, they happened like the writing was catering to the characters' needs, turning everything to their favor in the most insincere way possible. Turning the Marestream into the best flying vehicle ever, overcoming the air turbulence, and finding the Marestream as it was buried under snow were terrific opportunities for the main characters to show that they're a great team who can accomplish anything if they put their minds to it, but instead, the problems are resolved thanks to magic waiting on them hand-and-foot! This ultimately leaves the Main 5 & Sparky with no goal to actually work towards or a challenge to overcome.

I know what you're gonna say, "Dude! These sort of things happened in the 4th generation of My Little Pony as well, so why complain about it happening in this series?!"

Well, here's the thing:

While it is true that G4's main characters have used magic to solve problems here and there, magic was never their only method for overcoming every single conundrum they came across. Rather, they used magic based on if it's either required or if there was no other way. Most of the time, they'd really rely more on actual teamwork, as well as being resourceful and taking the time to do some problem-solving.

With G5, on the other hand...it seems like the characters' only option for overcoming a jam is if magic came into play, and "Winter Wishday" served as an example of why I think this.

As for the book Grandma Figgy had, the problems revolving around it are quite honestly a mouthful to detail. Every time I'd think about it, I'd realize that there are several plot holes regarding the book in general.

Like, how and where did Grandma Figgy get a book detailing unicorn history in the first place?! For that matter, where did her deceased family get it?! How does that even tie in with the fact that, prior to officially joining the group in A New Generation, Hitch was racially-prejudiced towards unicorns and pegasi just like all the other Earth ponies outside of Sunny and her father were?!

Me to Kronk: What do you think, Kronk?

Me to Kronk: Agreed.

Me Back to the Readers: Aside from that...

The book Grandma Figgy gave Zipp was too much of a cheat path for how the main characters could figure out what was causing the snow. Zipp could've easily figured out the whole thing on her own by taking in every detail and making the connection herself, but once again, she's prevented from having the opportunity to show why she's considered a true detective thanks to terrible writing & direction.

The other aspects in the writing weren’t to my liking either.

Along with not enjoying how things were moving forward, and the various plot holes & conveniences, I personally found "Winter Wishday" to be far from engaging. Through the Main 5 and Sparky's tour on the Marestream, "Winter Wishday" was apparently made to do some worldbuilding and lore-delving. There's nothing inherently wrong with stories doing that, but the thing is...I couldn't understand what the ultimate point behind the worldbuilding and lore-delving in "Winter Wishday" was other than just getting the main characters to leave Maretime Bay for a time.

From what I remember, expanding a series' world can only work if it's not a story's only trait or purpose. It has to be a largely secondary element, and if it relates to a narrative's themes & helps lead towards a moral for people to learn, that's where it can be truly interesting. With "Winter Wisday", the expansion was definitely there, but it didn't build toward anything important nor had much relevance, which only made me wonder "Why bother?". Considering the fact that the previous two chapters primarily took place in Maretime Bay, it felt like the tour was also incorporated simply to serve as a reminder for the G5 production team over what other locations & settings they had to work with.

In addition to this, "Winter Wishday" had zero sense of morality in its narrative. The ending did seem to somewhat teach that the most important part of celebrating a holiday is spending it with the ones you love, but I didn't think the story ever emphasized exactly what the intended lesson was in the long run. Was the thing I already mentioned what the production team was trying to teach in the first place?

Not to mention the pacing was wonky. For over 30 minutes, "Winter Wishday" spent all its time focusing on the Main 5 & Sparky preparing for their tour, travelling to their destinations, and both visiting & spending time at the depicted locations. Again, these sort of things aren't something I necessarily have a problem with, but for some reason...each of the moments I mentioned were incredibly slow. Once the part featuring Zipp and Pipp performing the Zephyr Heights Wishentine Royal Carousel Concert is over, I was shocked to find that only under 11 minutes was left, and everything suddenly progressed at a much quicker rate. To put it bluntly, it felt like I was watching a very long & slow first act, and by the time the episode started to pick up speed and get its gears going, it's over! This very same problem was something I similarly noted in Chapter 2's "Hoof Done It?", and it frustrates me that it was repeated here in "Winter Wishday".

Similar to the majority of MYM episodes I previously reviewed, "Winter Wishday" also had an utterly lackluster tone. It tries to be something with heart and emotion, particularly through the depicted bond of the main characters and their relationships with the rest of Equestria's residents, yet I was left entirely unmoved. I could see how close the connections shared between the characters were, but I wasn't able to feel the bonds or find anything heartwarming about them. The humor throughout this special was far from hilarious, that's for sure. Every attempt "Winter Wishday" made at providing laughs left me feeling relatively stone-faced, and not only were the gags flat, but they were either out-of-place or cringeworthy. Several of the jokes revolving around Izzy Moonbow are prime examples of why I think this, such as that moment where Izzy zones out in the midst of her and Zipp revealing their surprise to the others.

And now, I'd like to talk about what I think of the characters in this special:

The one thing I'll say regarding Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, & Sparky in "Winter Wishday" is that, compared to their appearances in Chapters 1 & 2, they weren't as infuriating as before. The episode wasn't able to help me warm up to them, and I still didn't find any reason to get engaged by any of the 6 characters, but I wasn't wanting to tear pieces of my hair out as I was watching them either. The supporting characters were pretty passable as well, and considering the fact that "Winter Wishday" featured both the debut of Grandma Figgy and the return of Alphabittle, I'd say this was a decent landmark episode from them.

Also, I'm not gonna lie, the part where Onyx recites her 'Requiem for the Fallen Snow' poem was genuinely entertaining. Even if the poem was a work-in-progress, I thought the words mixed together quite well, and the visual emphasis that came with it gave the scene great flavor.

In spite of this, there was one thing about each and every character in "Winter Wishday" that made them far from enjoyable to hang out with. That thing being the very reason I didn't grow much a liking for the characters regardless of them not being as annoying as before:

All of the characters were dreadfully one-dimensional! They neither learned anything that could help them improve for the better or grow as individuals, and they didn’t have any kind of character arc in this special either.

The biggest example I'd like to point out comes from Hitch, mainly when he and the others were visiting Grandma Figgy. Throughout the visit, Hitch frequently commented that his grandmother was very particular and loved it when everything was 'Just So', but it turned out that he was the particular of the two. He constantly wanted everything to be exactly the same and repeat whatever was often done over the years, and he'd express disappointment over whatever sort of change is made.

For me, this was the perfect opportunity for Hitch to learn that he needed to be open for doing something new and welcome the changes Grandma Figgy wished to make. But, that ultimately never happened, which is clearly shown by Hitch once again saying that his grandmother is the particular one while he and the others are traveling to Bridlewood!

The last thing I'd like to address is that "Winter Wishday" had an extremely noticeable animation error. It occurs during the time Hitch was looking for the little lights to string up on the gingerbread houses, and it was impossible to ignore.

Take a look:

Believe me, I'm not making this up. This exact kind of error shown in these screenshots I took was something I similarly noted during a scene in Chapter 2's "The Traditional Unicorn Sleepover", in that when the scene featuring Zipp finding Misty in the Brighthouse elevator showed her having a suspicious look, it appeared that Misty was already out of the elevator before cutting back to Misty acting suspiciously.

In "Winter Wishday", when you look closely at the third picture, and compare that to both the first and last pictures, it looked like Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp were standing in noticeably different positions! Their bodies are directed towards the table instead of towards Hitch as he's digging in the closet.

With this being said, I'm beginning to think that the G5 animation teams don't care about maintaining organization in the sequences they make. It really grinds my gears that, in spite of all the advanced technology they have, they don't give squat about clearing up an error as simple as the one I'm addressing.

In the end, "Winter Wishday" had some noteworthy highlights that I'm glad to commend, but it neither improved over the problems showcased in its predecessors nor gave any indication that things will get better. Plus, outside of the Marestream coming to fruition and Zipp mentioning her research on the lantern, the entirety of this special is really more of a useless slice-of-life story that doesn't provide anything meaningful, fruitful, or important.

So, I rate "Winter Wishday" 1½ out of 5 stars.