In "Call of the Cutie", three little fillies joined forces in a quest to earn their cutie marks. On this quest they have made Fluttershy's life a living hell, remained ignorant of their real talents in the face of obvious evidence, resurrected an ancient plague, brainwashed two ponies very close to them, and alienated themselves from the entire town. But... I refuse to believe they are as bad as everyone makes them out to be.
Not that I like them most of the time, in fact "Hearts and Hooves Day" and "Ponyville Confidential" are the only episodes in which I can stand the little buggers. In most of their episodes they display naïveté on levels I never knew existed, and their manic attitudes on behaviors they are clearly not intended for come off as extremely annoying. This is exemplified in one of my least favored episodes "The Show Stoppers".
But I believe something has recently changed in their group. "Hearts and Hooves Day" had them face the consequences of their actions without anypony else's assistance. Sure they made one of their biggest mistakes yet, but the fact that they acknowledged it, fixed it themselves, and learned from it was a giant leap forward from previous outings. Technically they learned something in "The Stare Master" too, but Fluttershy was the pony who solved the problem.
"Ponyville Confidential" has them make arguably their biggest blunder yet, by slandering most of Ponyville. (Though this is only the biggest in the sense that it affects the most ponies; by default their actions are never permanent.) By this point they seem to be getting desperate on their cutie mark crusade, so much that they continue writing gossip despite mounting guilt and hurt feelings from ponies around them. They are clearly in the wrong here, and they know it. Finally, when they are put in a situation they cannot escape without being unethical, they make the right choice by apologizing in their final column. I believe the attitudes and choices of the CMC in this episode were far better than previous episodes.
Of course, the episode isn't perfect. Diamond Tiara is even more of a psychopath and the citizens of Ponyville overreact, but that's par for the course at this point. I liked "Ponyville Confidential" and hope to see the CMC develop further, though that doesn't mean I want their episodes in any greater frequency.
Honest defense of the Cutie Mark Crusaders
In "Call of the Cutie", three little fillies joined forces in a quest to earn their cutie marks. On this quest they have made Fluttershy's life a living hell, remained ignorant of their real talents in the face of obvious evidence, resurrected an ancient plague, brainwashed two ponies very close to them, and alienated themselves from the entire town. But... I refuse to believe they are as bad as everyone makes them out to be.
Not that I like them most of the time, in fact "Hearts and Hooves Day" and "Ponyville Confidential" are the only episodes in which I can stand the little buggers. In most of their episodes they display naïveté on levels I never knew existed, and their manic attitudes on behaviors they are clearly not intended for come off as extremely annoying. This is exemplified in one of my least favored episodes "The Show Stoppers".
But I believe something has recently changed in their group. "Hearts and Hooves Day" had them face the consequences of their actions without anypony else's assistance. Sure they made one of their biggest mistakes yet, but the fact that they acknowledged it, fixed it themselves, and learned from it was a giant leap forward from previous outings. Technically they learned something in "The Stare Master" too, but Fluttershy was the pony who solved the problem.
"Ponyville Confidential" has them make arguably their biggest blunder yet, by slandering most of Ponyville. (Though this is only the biggest in the sense that it affects the most ponies; by default their actions are never permanent.) By this point they seem to be getting desperate on their cutie mark crusade, so much that they continue writing gossip despite mounting guilt and hurt feelings from ponies around them. They are clearly in the wrong here, and they know it. Finally, when they are put in a situation they cannot escape without being unethical, they make the right choice by apologizing in their final column. I believe the attitudes and choices of the CMC in this episode were far better than previous episodes.
Of course, the episode isn't perfect. Diamond Tiara is even more of a psychopath and the citizens of Ponyville overreact, but that's par for the course at this point. I liked "Ponyville Confidential" and hope to see the CMC develop further, though that doesn't mean I want their episodes in any greater frequency.