MLP Review: Boast Busters (Season 1, Episode 6)

The plot of this particular episode, once again, features Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong). After experimenting with her magic, and shrugging off all compliments about said magic, the unicorn finds out about another traveling magician who is in town, The Great and Powerful Trixie (voiced by Kathleen Barr, who did the voice of Kevin in "Ed, Edd, & Eddy"), who specializes in, well, basically showing off and one-upping everyone while proclaiming how awesome she is. Twilight, despite her friends' encouragement, is unwilling to step up, afraid that to do so would be just as bad as the boasting that Trixie specializes in.

This plot...is actually quite good. There is a threat later on in the episode, but it is a minor part of the story, overall. The main plot of the episode focuses on Twilight's battling with her feelings of wanting to one-up the braggart, while feeling that doing so would be just as bad as what Trixie does. It's very...Nietzsche.

Of course, Tara Strong's voice acting is quite, well, strong. The big surprise in this episode is Kathleen Barr as Trixie. For a villain with little screen time (she gets a few scenes, but not even as much as last episode's Gilda), she shows a talent for very easily getting the character's personality of bragging across, something that is not easy to do.

You dare question the great and powerful Oz Trixie?

The characterization is one of the strongest parts of this episode. Twilight, despite having more episodes around her character than the other members of the mane six combined, shows that there is still more character development left in her. She is definitely proud of her magic, but she doesn't want to brag about it, feeling that it is simply her talent, no different than Rarity's fashion, Rainbow Dash's speed, or Fluttershy's affinity with animals.

As for the villain, considering her lack of screentime (seriously, Trixie gets less screentime than Gilda did last episode), Trixie leaves quite an impact. Granted, her character isn't exactly original, being basically "What if the Wizard of Oz was a villain and a unicorn?", but the character is just done with such gusto that you look forward to the character getting what is coming to her. At the same time, when it happens...you almost feel bad for her, since what happens isn't directly her fault, and the people truly at fault get away with almost no punishment, one of my issues with the episode.

Overall, this episode is definitely a step up from the last one. While the villain isn't really that much more developed than Gilda, she still is at least enjoyable, something that Gilda was not, despite both serving as a dark side of what the mane cast could be (Gilda being Rainbow Dash without the underlying kindness, Trixie being Twilight without humility). Twilight's struggles through the episode are also easier to relate to, since she is aware of what her dark side is, and is trying to avoid that dark side. Both of these elements take a plot that has been done fairly often (that of the braggart having their bragging come back to bite then), and make a new twist on it. Finally, this episode shows just how Twilight became Celestia's student in magic, and is pretty awesome to behold.

Yes, yes you are.

Overall: 7.5/10