Review: Slice of Life

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic celebrated a massive milestone this week with their 100th episode. A feat that nobody would have expected from the show about cute pastel equines, but here we are. And to celebrate the very concept of 100 pony eps, the writers of the series decided to celebrate the fandom that it has garnered by moving the spotlight away from the main characters and instead shining a light on the lives of the beloved background ponies. Did this work to make one of the show's finest episodes?

The plot revolves around the wedding of Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda, two characters that first appeared in season 2's "A Friend in Deed". When their wedding invitations they have to get the wedding ready earlier than planned. This leads to the differing side stories involving many of the side characters. From wall eyed mare Derpy trying to fix the situation, to time obsessed Doctor Whooves bowling with Big Lebowski inspired ponies to get his suit tailored.

As for Twilight Sparkle and the gang, they have to fight a creature known as a bugbear, while the rest of the town pretty much just watches and does nothing. While that happens we jam with music ponies DJ Pon3 and Octavia, and learn some surprising truths about Bon Bon. We even get a major callback from season one in flamboyant sea serpent Steven Magnet, and learn the deep inner monologues of Pinkie Pie's pet alligator Gummy.

What works for "Slice of Life" is that it does a good job in giving these beloved side characters their own spotlight while not interfering in the long established canons that the fans have given these characters over the years. They even manage to come up with some fresh ideas that somehow manage to work like Bon Bon actually being Special Agent Sweetie Drops. The episode moves at a fairly brisk pace for its 23 minute run time and never feels like it drags. The humor is great, and the fact that the episode isn't bogged down by a required moral helps massively.

What also works in the episode's favor is the fact that it doesn't take itself seriously. The plot isn't some deep concept, or tries to be over dramatic (something that I wish most MLP fans would stop trying to force). It's an episode that just wants to be fun. And considering the many jokes, easter eggs, and literal shark jumping moments in the episode, you can tell that fun was definitely had in developing this episode.

But while I can heap tons of praise for this episode, I can't exactly call it perfect. It does have its flaws. Many of which come from its limited 23 minute runtime. The episode focuses on so many side characters, but it feels like barely any of them have any interesting payoff. For example the Special Agent Sweetie Drops reveal just feels like it's just there to be a shocker and nothing else of major substance happens until she patches things up with Lyra.

And despite their wedding being the focus of the episode, it feels like Cranky and Matilda are given very little in terms of major character development or interesting moments. They just feel like part of a plot device that gives us a reason to focus on the show's more beloved side ponies. Another issue, and most damning for the episode itself is that it's definitely not an outsider friendly episode. If you go into this one without being well versed in the fandom you probably won't understand the hype, or even get much of what's going on overall. But then again, why would you start at episode 100?

For an episode that celebrates five years and 100 episodes of My Little Pony, Slice of Life is a great present from the show staff to the people who have helped make it the phenomenon it's become. Is it the most well structured episode ever? No. But despite many flaws, it's definitely a must watch episode for any fan of the show.

Rating: A