Whoa, we’re just two episodes away from the ending of the Season. Season 3 of My Little Pony has been providing some pretty cool fan service. We had Rainbow Dash get some quality time with Scootaloo, Applejack got a song to herself, and Rainbow finally did something about becoming a Wonderbolt. (Which is something that has yet to be followed up on.) Now this episode I will admit I wasn’t too excited for. We just had a Spike-centered one not too long ago, it’s a bit sudden. Still, it was going to bring back all the pets, which is nice. Cameos aside, we haven’t seen the Tank the Tortoise since his debut appearance way back in May the Best Pet Win, Applejack’s dog Winona is always due for an appearance, and…Owlowiscious hasn’t done anything in awhile. Just For Sidekicks is an episode reminding the fans that the pets haven’t been forgotten. Beyond that it’s a reasonable episode. Definitely the weakest of the season and one of the weakest overall, (I’m sorry, but Spike just cannot hold his own episode) but still pretty entertaining.

Here’s the official description from The Hub:

Spike finds himself in over his head after convincing Twilight and her friends to let him pet-sit all of their critters in exchange for a few gems.

This one starts out with Spike attempting to make some kind of jewel cake. The problem? He finds himself eating the jewels instead of mixing them in. So to get some of those shiny diamonds, he volunteers to watch all the Mane 6’s pets when they go off to the Crystal Empire. (It’s pretty neat how this episode ties into the one coming next week.) What the little dragon doesn’t realize is that watching all these pets is nigh impossible. I was never a huge Spike fan, his episodes are generally the weakest. (Though it was cool when he turned into an actual adult dragon in Secret of my Excess.) He did have his moment in The Crystal Empire when Twilight gave him the Crystal Heart. Then he got his own episode for the season, Spike at Your Service. There he was just oblivious to the chaos he was causing, it was pretty sad. (Still that episode was fun, mainly cause of Pinkie Pie’s ‘stache.) Here, despite being Twilight’s assistant for two seasons, he’s pretty devious. I mean, if this episode wanted to make the viewer not like Spike, it has succeeded. Thankfully the Ponies get some pretty good scenes. Fluttershy with her politeness is always great to see, she stole the show in some parts. One of my personal parts is when Rainbow, when no one is looking, says goodbye to Tank in a loving manner. That shows even she has a soft side with her pet!

If there would be a king of troll in this show, it would be Angel. I love how once that bunny escapes, the rest of the pets stop fooling and assist Spike in attempting to catch him. It also shows just how much Fluttershy spoils him. An unexpected thing with this episode was the inclusion of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The three Fillies get some great screen time, from Sweetie Belle looking forward to going to the Crystal Empire to Apple Bloom using a feather from Scootalo to threaten Spike with. (Anyone else laugh when Scootalo forgot that Tortoises can bring their heads in?) On top of that we even get a nice little appearance from Zecora, whom is perhaps the most underused character in the whole series.

Overall, Just for Sidekicks was pretty much the level of quality I pictured. Not bad of course, just a generally weak episode. Spike lately just hasn’t been a great protagonist at all. He was a total klutz two episodes ago and here he’s just devious. Like with Spike at Your Service, the entertaining bits come from the other characters. So no offense against Spike, but he just hasn’t been written that good as of late. (I did get a good laugh though when he shouted “Whyyyyy?!“)

3.5/5

My name is Daniel (@Destroyer_199), the main guy for comic reviews here at Unleash the Fanboy. I was born in 1995 in the Big Apple, spent my formative years in Staten Island, and currently reside in the awesome state that is New Jersey.