49 - 'Between Dark & Dawn' & 'The Last Laugh'

Hello, hello! … and tara, tara. Must be Strong... (geddit?) So, Pawn Heart reaches the end of the line, offering a review of the epilogue episode ‘The Last Problem’, the standard season overview and awards, and a bunch of mildly wistful musings on putting the podcast together. To all who’ve joined me, for all or part – thank you!

Hello hello! We’re coming in to land... please ensure all loose threads are neatly tied around your waist and that you have secured any bits that may fly about and blind a kid in the overhead lockers. Will the talented trio of Nicola, Mike & J-Hab successfully bring this huge vessel in for a Photo Finish? (Any more metaphors you want to mix in there?) YES! They will. AVOID! Spoilers. LEARN! How to correctly pronounce ‘Dubuc’. (I’m talking to you, Pawn Heart.) All this and more in this careful and militarily precise coordination of arcs and plot strands… -tastic instalment! Email - [email protected] Twitter - @allplottedout

Hello hello! The show ties up its Ponyville affairs with an ep that tries to have Mrs Cake and eat her too [citation needed]. More references, gimmicks, references, apples, meta-humour, references and references than you can cake a Cake at. Oh, and a wedding. So that’s nice. HAPPY! Apples and/or marriage. REMEMBER! That one? STARE! Into Mayor Mare’s mangy eyeballs. All this and TENUOUS BONUS APPLE-BASED CONTENT in this week’s eeyup-tastic instalment! Email – [email protected] Twitter - @AllPlottedOut

Hello hello! Season 9 methodically works its way through tickboxes and loose ends with a (sort of) final CMCs caper and a swansong to the already dubious Daring Do universe. HOOF! It to Daring Do for being given some prime real estate in the final season despite having comparatively little character. REST! Your dog for once, as Claire Corlett acts in her normal register. WALK! –en. Possibly. All this and some desperate piffle about Stalybridge in this week’s doub-tastic instalment!   Email – [email protected] Twitter - @AllPlottedOut

Hello hello! At last - we can all enjoy the benefits of a salt-free meal thanks to a couple of sterling stories showing the makers still offering great character-based one off eps while also subtly moving pony pieces into place for the finale. GABBY! Gabby. It’s Gabby! … did I mention Gabby, though? BRACE! Under your desk for more crowbarred in Oppenheimer refences. I’M! Not going to miss making myself think of three of these for each episode write-up. All this and Silverstream’s Dad in this week’s scholastic instalment!   Email - ⁠[email protected]⁠ Twexter - @allplottedout

Hello hello! A couple of big-hitting regulars take their best writing swing this week – Michael Vogel fixes his eyes on the Equestria Series with an assured [trawls Wikipedia] bunt, while the other steels themselves for their very last time at the… place where… the baseball players… swing. Will Confalone hit a home run with his body-swapping swan song? Or will he switch brains with [more Wikipedia trawling] Mike Redmond managing the Marlins? … what’s a baseball? HAIL! The return of …Thing the vet pony. She’s a vet. RHYME! Your way out of a regular show role. BLAST OFF! And strike the Evil Bydo Empire! (okay, scratch that one) All this and a quasi-interesting fact about the word ‘staycation’ in this week’s swap-tastic instalment! Email – [email protected] Twitter - @AllPlottedOut

Hello hello! The bad vibes hang about a bit longer as Pawn Heart seems to get a whole ant colony up his bum about a “Comedy Episode” ™, which rapidly snowballs into filler content. The other episode is, fortunately, rather good. CHERISH! The RD and Smoulder banter. CONTORT! Characters beyond recognition because funny or last season or whatever LISTEN! To the Extended Dance Mix of ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ by New Order rather than the album version All this and more in today’s entitlement-tastic instalment!   Email – [email protected] Twitter - @AllPlottedOut

Hello hello! Pawn Heart puffs up and pads out for this "special" quinquinquagenary episode of All Plotted Out! MORE filler! BIGGER pauses! And MUSIC?! YOU GOT IT, BIG BOOTS. ... I'm sorry. Email - [email protected] Twexter - @allplottedout

Hello hello! This week we encounter two eps that deal with their Final Season responsibilities very differently - one triumphs by using a last season arc as a springboard for character dynamics, the other... is just an excuse to shove a fan favourite character in, really. LAUGH! Because plot says so. CAPPER! It's Capper! That was Capper. QUESTION! The validity of comparing the return of Cheese Sandwich to Twin Peaks: The Return All this and ANOTHER CROWBARRED IN REFERENCE TO THE HAYS CODE in this [redacted]tastic instalment! Email - [email protected] Xtro (or whatever it's called now) - @allplottedout

Hello hello! We swing back from a relatively quiet couple of eps with a welcome dose of Haber-penned Trixie & Starlight banter, and some oddly unimportant headcanon-crushing hijinks with Scootaloo’s deadbeat – sorry, “ADVENTURE-SEEKING AND IMPORTANT” parents. SMILE! At just how much character (and how many characters) the later show has built for itself. FORCE! Use of the host’s radtacular new names for the showrunner. BE UNSATISFIED! As nothing changes for the CMCs except for Scootaloo’s folks teasing her with the possibility of parenting … then leaving again. All this and ponies “doing chores together” in this weeks Auntastic instalment!   Email – [email protected] Twitter - @AllPlottedOut