Uncommon Bond

Starlight Glimmer is one of those characters that divided the fandom since she reformed, actually don't dislike her at all (she's grown on me a lot) though her reform took a lot of getting used to. Trixie varied, at times funny and at other times annoying. Maud Pie is one of my favourite recurring characters, she has always been likeable and very funny in a deadpan way while moving whenever she's vulnerable. "Uncommon Bond" did sound interesting conceptually and also rootable, an oft-strength of the show.

Actually think that "Uncommon Bond" could have done more with its premise. While there is a good deal to admire about it and it is a decent episode on the whole, it did for me have a few big flaws and towards the bottom end of a generally solid Season 7. Though not the worst, it's better than "Honest Apple" and "Marks and Recreation" while being nowhere near as good as "A Royal Problem" and "The Perfect Pear". If asked whether "Uncommon Bond" is recommended, my answer would be a medium "y".

"Uncommon Bond" has a lot of good things. The animation is rich in colour and the refinement and attention to detail are quite something. Trixie also looks quite cute. The music is never at odds with the action and stylistically and tonally it fits very well. The voice acting all round is great, Kelly Sheridan and Ingrid Nilssen always deliver and deliver here. Sheridan always brought a lot of nuance to Starlight and she does here, while Nilssen makes deadpan wildly entertaining. Starlight has come on as a character by a long way and written well.

Love Maud, no surprises there, who has great comic timing and while her personality is very simple and deadpan it is a funny and likeable one. Trixie is not annoying here nor are her negative traits exaggerated. It is good that the episode did not ignore continuity and it was also good to see how important Sunburst was to Starlight. The game board stuff was a lot of fun and there is a lot of well meant and grin worthy dialogue. Not to mention a great, relevant and honest lesson.

There are faults however. Sunburst didn't strike me as a particularly likeable character, he came over often as too insensitive, such as the way he talks about Twilight and his tossing aside of Starlight, not particularly grateful and doesn't really learn from his mistakes. His reaction to the game board is pretty the only time any small amount of sympathy for him was felt. While "Uncommon Bond" did well in showing how important Sunburst was to Starlight, as a result of the lack of anything in common concept the chemistry between the two too often was too distant.

Moreover the ending felt rather too tidy and rushed, as well as on the awkward side. Other than the delivery of the lesson, it did to me feel too much like not much had been resolved and that little was learnt. There is charm and energy story-wise, though the first half tends to be predictable and too safe.

Concluding, decent. 6/10.

This episode features Sunburst coming back to spend time with Starlight Glimmer. We get some really funny appearances by Trixie and Maud Pie. I admit that this wasn't one of my favorite episodes, but it was still quite entertaining. I really do like Sunburst's design. I think it's mostly because he's bright orange which happens to be my favorite color. It seems like his beard is off in some frames. It looks like it's just hanging on his chin. There's a nice part where Starlight uses a spell to turn him and her back into fillies. I recall Twilight saying an aging spell was quite difficult.

It's great to see her advancing so well with her magic. Specifically, there's an old board game that they used to play which is how they try to bond again. The ending is probably the best part as it's rather sweet. I admit that it was kind of weird not to see any of the other Mane 6 in this episode. Yeah, they did it with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but not quite with Starlight. I can appreciate them doing episodes based on characters that aren't quite as relevant. ***