Who spotted Derpy in the episode?
Gotta say her appearance this episode was easier to spot than others. And speaking of which, according to The Hub's facebook page, Derpy is now officially her canon name!
As for my thoughts on this episode, it was nice to see some backstory, even though it was honestly rather predictable. Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were totally overplayed and a little flanderised in this episode, but the way I see it, this is because they were playing other characters who were just similar to themselves.
And while the whole story of the play was kinda cheesy, as well as much of the dialogue, once again I feel we can hoof-wave this because it was all a pageant play.
I also thought that the designs and ideas behind the Windigos was pretty cool. Not to mention they are one of the few monsters on the show that have been given a completely non-goofy appearance. Think about it, the cockatrice, the hydra, the ursa, the red dragon, Discord, they all were evil, but kinda goofy at the same time. The only truly monstrous monster in the show prior to this episode was the green dragon (Reginald, I think his name is). Those Windigos looked awesome, had a terrifying sound, and were generally a clever idea.
I also did like how they were defeated by the so-called Fire of Friendship. I was glad that there was more love-influenced magic in the show apart from just the Elements of Harmony.
My only real complaint about this episode was the song, for 2 reasons:
1. It was far too short. It was barely 30 seconds! Pinkie Pie can get away with such spontaneity, but a hugeass crowd song like this should at least have 2 verses and a chorus!
2. The singing voices: Apart from their lips moving, there was no indication that the mane 6 were actually singing. Among the choir of voices, there was no sign of their singing voices.
But for such a short song, it was really charming and a nice way to round off the episode. All in all, while the story and dialogue maynot have always been perfect, the humour made up for it, and I finished it with a warm feeling inside me. I always love holiday specials.
It also helped that I watched it with about a dozen other bronies and pegasistas.
