In the earlier seasons, Spike-centric episodes did not have a good track record on the whole. Neither did he as a character when an episode was centered around him, where he was not particularly appealing or interesting. In Season 6 onwards there was a big upgrade in his character writing, one of the few consistently good things and the biggest improvement of Season 6, and the quality of the episodes centered around him were drastically better, a prime example being "Gauntlet of Fire".
So there were mixed expectations on first watch for "Father Knows Beast", especially considering too that it is one of the lowest rated episodes here and not particularly well liked by the fanbase. On first watch, it was a little better than expected and the same applies on rewatch. "Father Knows Beast" is not one of the worst Spike-centric episodes, it's better than "Owl's Well that Ends Well", "Dragon Quest" and "Princess Spike". It is also not one of the worst episodes of Season 8, despite being a big step down from the season's high point "Sounds of Silence", to me "Non-Compete Clause", "Yakity-Sax", "A Matter of Principals" and "The End in Friend" are worse. It is though a lesser effort for Season 8.
There are good things about "Father Knows Beast". The animation is lively, vibrant and meticulous and rich in detail. The music rhythmically and tonally fits like a glove. Most of the voice acting is extremely good, Shannon Chan-Kent and Cathy Weseluk standing out and Tara Strong shines in the scene where Twilight and Spike reconcile. Which was a very touching and beautifully written scene.
Also liked very much the chemistry between Spike and Smolder, the latter shining a lot in the episode. Like a lot that they learn from each other and it is a chemistry that makes sense and doesn't feel introduced out of the blue. She is an interesting character, she has flaws such as moments where she is too dismissive but also has strengths such as her genuine willingness to help. Spike at least doesn't have any negative traits overdone and has moments where one roots for him, the only thing that works against him is moments of cluelessness.
However, "Father Knows Beast" to me had a good deal of shortcomings. The biggest issue for me being the character of Sludge. It is a big problem when a character has a lot of screen time and manages to be a completely unappealing character in every way. Despite the large amount of screen time, his character writing is actually pretty limited and he was one-dimensional and obnoxious. His relationship with Spike was very disconnected and the entire situation felt too out of the blue. Part of me wishes that the episode delved deeper into the relationship between Spike and Twilight (appealing maternal if underused), it has always been pleasant but this could have been an opportunity to make it clearer what kind of relationship it was between them and it doesn't do that.
"Father Knows Beast" does generally feel somewhat bland and could have done with a tighter pace and not been as thin. A couple of scenes didn't work for me, the Twilight heart breaking scene was too cartoonish and was too juvenile to make it an emotional moment while the whole exploiting dragons' weaknesses thing was just silly and contradictory. The dialogue can be cheesy and had more maturity, the reconciliation scene being the best written part.
In conclusion, watchable but pretty average. 5/10.
So there were mixed expectations on first watch for "Father Knows Beast", especially considering too that it is one of the lowest rated episodes here and not particularly well liked by the fanbase. On first watch, it was a little better than expected and the same applies on rewatch. "Father Knows Beast" is not one of the worst Spike-centric episodes, it's better than "Owl's Well that Ends Well", "Dragon Quest" and "Princess Spike". It is also not one of the worst episodes of Season 8, despite being a big step down from the season's high point "Sounds of Silence", to me "Non-Compete Clause", "Yakity-Sax", "A Matter of Principals" and "The End in Friend" are worse. It is though a lesser effort for Season 8.
There are good things about "Father Knows Beast". The animation is lively, vibrant and meticulous and rich in detail. The music rhythmically and tonally fits like a glove. Most of the voice acting is extremely good, Shannon Chan-Kent and Cathy Weseluk standing out and Tara Strong shines in the scene where Twilight and Spike reconcile. Which was a very touching and beautifully written scene.
Also liked very much the chemistry between Spike and Smolder, the latter shining a lot in the episode. Like a lot that they learn from each other and it is a chemistry that makes sense and doesn't feel introduced out of the blue. She is an interesting character, she has flaws such as moments where she is too dismissive but also has strengths such as her genuine willingness to help. Spike at least doesn't have any negative traits overdone and has moments where one roots for him, the only thing that works against him is moments of cluelessness.
However, "Father Knows Beast" to me had a good deal of shortcomings. The biggest issue for me being the character of Sludge. It is a big problem when a character has a lot of screen time and manages to be a completely unappealing character in every way. Despite the large amount of screen time, his character writing is actually pretty limited and he was one-dimensional and obnoxious. His relationship with Spike was very disconnected and the entire situation felt too out of the blue. Part of me wishes that the episode delved deeper into the relationship between Spike and Twilight (appealing maternal if underused), it has always been pleasant but this could have been an opportunity to make it clearer what kind of relationship it was between them and it doesn't do that.
"Father Knows Beast" does generally feel somewhat bland and could have done with a tighter pace and not been as thin. A couple of scenes didn't work for me, the Twilight heart breaking scene was too cartoonish and was too juvenile to make it an emotional moment while the whole exploiting dragons' weaknesses thing was just silly and contradictory. The dialogue can be cheesy and had more maturity, the reconciliation scene being the best written part.
In conclusion, watchable but pretty average. 5/10.
