MLP Review: Bridle Gossip (Season 1, Episode 9)

The plot of this episode, unlike many other episodes, has no real main character. Rather, it focuses on the mane six as a group. As a zebra comes into town named Zecora (voiced by Brenda Crichlow, who has made her career off of bit parts), almost all of the mane six are terrified of her, seeing her as being evil due to her actions. However, Twilight Sparkle is the only pony, other than Applejack's sister Applebloom (voiced by Michelle Creber, who also provides the singing voice for Applebloom in later episodes), who notices that all the evil acts are...ambiguous at best, such as "lurking" around stores and digging at the ground. However, after they save Appleboom from the Everfree Forest and/or Zecora, the mane six find themselves afflicted by some kind of curse. Is there something to their fears, or is it all coincidence?

This plot is...not bad. Granted, it is somewhat cliche, in the sense that the plot of "newcomer is met with suspicion" has been done fairly often. However, the fact that more than one character in-universe points out how foolishly everyone is acting is a nice twist, as is the effect the curse has on the mane six.

Each pony is affected differently, and in a way that actually reflects who they are. Twilight Sparkle, the magician, has her horn, and source of magic, rendered impotent (and if you think my choice of words there is a bit suspicious, just watch the episode). Rarity, the fashionista, is covered with a fluffy coat, leaving her face completely covered. Applejack, the most physical of the ponies, is made extremely small. Rainbow Dash, the athlete, is left unable to control her flying. Finally, the soft-spoken Fluttershy is given the voice of Blu Mankuma, who has an extremely deep voice. It's pretty clever, actually.

I hear they have pills for that now.

As far as the voice acting goes, there are two new characters to discuss. The first one is Applebloom. This isn't her first episode (that was the premiere), but this is her first major role. And Michelle does a great job. The voice itself isn't that hard to hit, considering that Michelle is currently only 13, but the accent is dead-on, and it is easy to believe that Applebloom is Applejack's sister, just from their voices.

As for Zecora, Brenda does an equally good job with her, making Zecora sound suitably mysterious and odd, but still coming across as friendly when necessary. Plus, speaking entirely in rhyme is not the easiest thing to make sound natural, but she pulls it off.

This episode does have some racial undertones. It's not racist, exactly. However, the fact that the ponies are afraid of a zebra (an animal native to Africa) and are locking her out of stores because of that fear raises some questions. That doesn't hurt the episode at all, though. In fact, if the racial undertones were intentional, they were added quite subtly, along the same lines as the ones put in "The Princess and the Frog", not intruding on the story at all.

OK, she's about as African as "The Lion King". That's a lot.

Overall, this is another well-done episode. While the plot has some cliche elements, they are given a new twist. The writing is clever, the new characters (or not new, but given far more focus) are done quite well, and some of the humor is almost on the level of Animaniacs in terms of getting past the censors (seriously, look at the picture of Twilight. Also, Spike gives the entire cast nicknames for their cursed forms. Applejack becomes Apple Teeny. Get it?). My only problem with this episode is that, since it focuses on the cast as a whole, none of them really get any character development, other than Twilight learning to literally not judge a book by its cover (the solution to their problem was in a book she dismissed due to the title "Super Naturals"), which is a shame. It is still a solid episode, and well worth a watch.

Overall: 8.5/10