MLP Review: Look Before You Sleep (season 1, episode 8)

The plot of this episode follows Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain) and Applejack (Ashleigh Ball) as they clean up a park before a rainstorm. However, mostly due to Rarity's "fussiness", as Applejack puts it, they are still outside when said rainstorm starts. Offering shelter from the storm in her magically protected treehouse, Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) suggests a sleepover. As for how it goes...let's just say Applejack and Rarity have personality clashes.

This plot is actually pretty good. It's a bit cliched in the whole "sleepover party" sense, but it does it well. Again, the main conflict in the episode comes from Rarity and Applejack having personality clashes, which are understandable. Also, the episode avoids taking the easy way out by having one pony learn that the other was right all along, instead showing that they were both wrong in different ways, emphasizing compromise over forcing someone to change how they are.

This is the first episode that has Rarity in a main role, which allows for Tabitha St. Germain to really show her character, which she does quite successfully. Rarity is a very proud pony, and her voice reflects both the positive and negative of it. Tabitha also portrays Rarity's obsession with cleanliness well, making it funny and endearing, rather than annoying. It feels like it is part of who Rarity is, not just a cheap joke.

Good times are had.

That brings me to the characters. I covered Rarity's character development pretty well, but Applejack also gets a fair bit of character development. She is shown as being "practical" or "boorish", depending on whether you ask her or Rarity. She doesn't see the point in being fussy, or in following manners, or dressing up. She is basically a rancher, after all. You don't wear a dress when you are herding cattle, and you don't eat ranch food politely (wonder what Applejack's family eats besides apples. Or what any pony eats, for that matter. Are they all vegetarian? I guess that makes sense). The characters do develop through the episode, showing a willingness to compromise for their friendship, though.

Overall, this is not as good as "Dragonshy", but it is still a solid episode. The plot takes an old idea and gives it a new twist, allowing for character development, the characters get some good characterization, and most of all, the humor is there. The scene with Rarity and Applejack fighting over the bed is one that has been done a lot, but due to how the characters act, it makes the scene quite entertaining and well done. It's definitely one of the more light-hearted episodes, but that's not always a bad thing. Another interesting thing about the episode is that it is the first one to not feature the entire cast. Only Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack are in this episode, showing that not every episode needs to have every pony, something that happens quite a bit later on.

Of course, they have to have a "fight over the blanket scene". Is it just me, or does Applejack look odd without her hat on?

Overall: 8/10