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"Just For Sidekicks" is no "Spike at Your Service", but it remains entertaining nonetheless. First, the positives. This episode's greatest strength is its humor. Every character is at their comedic peak. This is Spike's episode, but everyone is at their best, as if it's an episode starring everyone and not just Spike. That said, Spike's still the star. The moral at the end is also pretty good.
As far as animation is concerned, this episode does a good job with facial expressions, creating a whole slew of amusing faces that the characters shift seamlessly between. At the same time, there isn't any need for the same fluidity as the previous episode, so the quality animation is mostly concentrated in the faces.
Unfortunately, there are some problems with "Just For Sidekicks". One is the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The thing is, then the CMC are written as comic relief, it rarely works. It's much better than usual here, but they still lapse into obnoxiousness from time to time, especially Sweetie Belle, who's voice acting has taken a nosedive. Additionally, the plot at large is mostly predictable. Although the execution is good, the story proper is a bare frame that the episode's comedy is draped upon.
Overall, I liked the episode, but it didn't really have much reason to exist. It's not like this show has an overarching plot line, but this episode could have been replaced with something else and not much would have been lost. It seemed to be the opposite of the previous episodes that I thought were weaker in the season. Instead of being a decent story with dull execution, it was a predictable story with good execution. That said, it isn't a bad episode. The humor is excellent, and there are a number of shoutouts for the bronies. This isn't breaking Season 3's winning streak, and with only one episode left it seems like it's going to continue.
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