[Season 4] Episode 7: Bats! .... hello broadway

HELLOOO EVERYBODY and welcome to Cultures Compendium of Reviews! As always, I am Culture Shock. Your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond. In todays review, we're combining 2 parts Bram stokers with one part Tim Burton for a Broadway style horror of humor. However, there are a FEW rules to go over before we can get started. First off, all content within this blog is expressly the opinion of its author. It does not, nor should it EVER, reflect the overall opinion of the fandom. Lastly, if ANY of you notice ANY mistakes, be it typos or otherwise, please don't hesitate to let me know. With that said, let's begin. Shall we?

Bats! is the 7th episode of season 4 and the 72nd episode overall. Written by Merriwether Williams, the episode features the girls going hoof to fang with a hyper evolved strain of fruit bats. When a swarm of vampire fruit bats threatens Sweet Apple Acres Applejack turns to her friends to help rid the farm of them once and for all. But when Twilights magical solution backfires it ends up awakening a new threat to the farm, Flutterbat. Can the girls save her before it's too late? Or will noseferashy rule the orchard?

7 episodes into season 4 and we finally get one of my favorite alter ego's. Aside from Nightmare Moon and Pinkemena. Although she was born purely from accidental magical exposure part of me thinks Flutterbat also represents fluttershy's repressed wild side. Or rather the side she keeps bottled in for fear of how others would think of her. Aside from that Bats! was a pleasant take on classic Dracula with a musical touch of Tim Burton on Broadway. Not to mention who doesn't love a cute bat pony. Especially one with such adorable appeal.

Personally, I feel the episode teaches a strong message about not considering everyones point of view. Sometimes the simplest solution can yield the best results. Even if not's how you planned it. In the end it can save you time and effort as well as open up greater opportunities in the long run.

As for negatives in this episode I'd have to say they kinda made it obvious Fluttershy was the culprit but at the same time they tried a little to hard to make less obvious. Ontop of that the musical felt a bit Beauty and the Beast instead of Cats like it was meant to be. Aside from that, however,  this was still a pleasantly delightful episode to watch and a nice introduction to Fluttershy's more "uninhibited" side. So far overall season 4 has aimed to please and I can only hope it continues to do so in the next few episodes to come.

Alright! This concludes my review of Bats! Overall an okay episode with a pleasant theme. I highly recommend this to any vampire or flutterbat fanatics out there. I give this episode an 8.5 / 10. Hope you guys enjoyed the review. Be sure to leave a like if you did. Also, don't forget to follow us for more updates. Got a suggestion for a review? Leave it in the comments section down below. With that said this has been Culture Shock, your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond, saying KEEP CALM AND BRONY ON!! PEACE!!