Turn and Smile Prime Time, May 8th, 2025: Oops! All Horsies! Unicorn Academy, Heartland, & Race for the Crown
This one's for the horse girls.
Welcome back, Sofa Taters!
Colour us vermillion because we did a lil ol oopsie-doodle!
We don’t know how this happened, but it turns out that all of the TV shows we picked this week are about or feature horses.
Last week, Larissa went to Horse Expo Alberta and had horses on her mind. Mason, on the other hand, “accidentally” saw Unicorn Academy. Mason might thought that a horse that looks like She-Ra’s noble steed, Swift Wind, was in it.
Given our plan to review She-Ra And The Princesses of Power when we get to 100 subscribers, Mason’s hands were tied.
Considering the Kentucky Derby is the first Saturday in May, we couldn’t help but review Race to the Crown this week as well. Everything kind of collided, and we found ourselves with opinions about horse shows.
With that, let’s buckle in and see what great horsie content there is out there today!
Table Of Contents
OPENING REVIEW: Unicorn Academy
Sound 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: This is the second animated series targeting little girls I’ve seen with a theme song that has taken out all the stops and gone harder than it needs to. Written by Brendan Quinn, Joel Serlin, and Tyler Tsang, the song itself is an inspiring and uplifting bit of music that also provides good advice to kids: follow your heart.
Larissa’s take: This song is a banger. 🎵 So follow yoouuurr hea-arr-aarrt straight to the sttaa-aaarr-arrrs 🎵 In another timeline, Katy Perry was singing it in the late 00’s.
Conveyance (of Tone/Theme) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Larissa’s Take: From what I understand, Unicorn Academy is a bit like Hogwarts with secret magical acceptance letters given out to kids around the world. Instead of teaching students magic with a wand, they learn magic while riding unicorns. It seems from the opening sequence, the unicorn magic powers are based on a certain elemental power, seemingly botany, frost, fire, lightning, waves, and rainbow power. I would expect the students to grow their respective powers as they connect with their unicorn partners over the course of the season. For that, I think the opening sequence conveyed the tone and theme of the show very well. I know exactly what I am in for and the basics of the characters right from the start.
Mason’s take: I’m reminded of Captain Planet And The Planeteers. In that show, and many others for kids, a lot of effort goes into characterization. It’s a lot more than just personality or what the voice actor does. It’s usually done through cooperation from every department in the production. The same interdepartmental cooperation is seen in Unicorn Academy. The characters don’t even have to say anything to communicate who they are. In a show where the theme song emphatically encourages its audience to be who you are and follow your heart, this is doubly important. This is definitely reflected in the opening sequence.
Aesthetic 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: My only concern with the brightly coloured and immensely vibrant colour scheme of this show is that if anyone with synesthesia watches this show, they might be overloaded with too many colours. In all seriousness, though, after we commented on the lack of colour in modern film and television, it’s nice to be overloaded and assaulted with colour.
Larissa’s take: If I were 8, I would definitely want to be enrolled at Unicorn Academy. Ok, maybe I still want to be enrolled at Unicorn Academy! The aesthetic is bright and colourful without being overwhelming. Interestingly, the logo itself is a slick minimalistic gold emblem in contrast to the colourful show. I could see it in another context actually used at a real-life equestrian center. I wouldn’t mind it on a jacket tbh…
Innovation 🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: The thing I like about children’s TV is that it often hits you with the theme song right away, and this show certainly continues that trend. Other than that, it’s a vibrant, action-packed opening even if it doesn’t seem to be trying to innovate the form. If it’s not broke, right?
Larissa’s take: The song was awesome. The aesthetics were on point for the show. Did it hit on anything unique? No. We’ve seen variations on this story before, from Harry Potter, to Captain Planet. It works well coming together with a unicorn spin here, though.
Overall Opening Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
EPISODE: Heartland, S18, E1, “True Grit”
Story 🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: I don’t like to be negative (that’s a lie) but if you’re someone who watches 1923, and thinks to yourself, “this is a little much,” and you would rather a show without the violence, the vulgarity, or the chemistry (or you’ve ever remarked that Touched By An Angel was a tad too action-packed for your sensibilities), by-gum do I have a recommendation for you here. From what I can gather from the story of the episode, two cattle farms share the same land. One family rents it from the other. The one that collects the rent is undercutting the renting family’s beef at a store, and they’re mighty upset about it, but nobody knows what to do about it. As this is happening, the renting family’s daughter gets asked on a date by the other guy so she doesn’t want him to come pick her up at her home because the rest of the family is big mad at him for the beef prices, then he cancels the date because his dog gets hurt. I was confused, waiting for the show to get interesting. I saw four episodes, and it doesn’t get much different. Even still, I’m glad this show exists because coma patients, conservative stay-at-home moms, and eight-year-olds so obsessed with horses that they’re willing to ignore forty odd minutes of boring people to look awe-struck at the horses all need shows for them. Let them rein in for it. Me, I’m going to say neigh.
Larissa’s take: I want to take a moment to highlight the subplot about Molly the border collie. Molly works with her owner, Nathan, out on the cattle ranch, but one day she gets hurt and loses her confidence. Nathan is really worried, so he cancels his date with a woman who is clearly interested in him. The woman, Amy, even drives by to check on Molly. As Nathan considers hynotherapy for his dog, seemingly only “platonic friend” Amy suggests Molly try sheep herding instead of the more intimidating cattle. After trying sheep, Molly was back to her usual spirits, so Amy went ahead and booked a sheep herding competition for the happy border collie. Here, Nathan runs into his ex-wife, and gets even more cagey around Amy. The next day, Nathan calls Amy to see if she could meet him at the farm and after refusing, Amy resigns herself to the choice to stop pursuing a man who was clearly is more interested in his dog than her. We go back to Nathan, who looks confused and dismayed that Amy rebuked him, and as the camera pulls back, we see that he had set up a romantic picnic. Molly was there.
Characters 🌟🌟
Mason’s take: While watching this show, I was champing at the bit to find out about the characters, but every character seems very much the same, or not around enough for me to get a good sense of who they were. I’m not even complaining about one-note characters because usually, one-note characters have some diversity in their personalities from one another. It’s like every character in this show took the same class on sullen stoicism and is determined to get their money’s worth out of it. I watched this on the Canadian streaming service CBC Gem, and honestly, I’m so happy that it comes with ads because I at least got some characters with unique and distinct personalities whenever Jake from State Farm came trotting out.
Larissa’s take: Nathan is the stupidest man on the planet and I get frustrated at his confusion. The entire episode Amy basically just talked about how he was hard to get to know and closed off, but he just came across as dumb and really into his dog. Shaun Johnson as Jack Bartlett was pretty awesome. He did what John on Yellowstone could never do - land a spot on a beloved cooking show to sell his beef to yuppies. Let’s giddyup indeed.
Aesthetic 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Larissa’s take: I was recently at Horse Expo Canada 2025 in Red Deer, Alberta (being a horse girl myself), and was able to hang out with some of the stars of Heartland! I can certify that the cast are real rootin’ tootin’ country cowboys!
Mason’s take: The Canadian comedy band The Arrogant Worms have a song that celebrates the diverse landscape of Canada from sea to sea, and in this song titled “Rocks And Trees” they inform us that Canada, which is a beautiful place, has rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks and water. The most I can say about the aesthetic of Heartland, which films in High River, Alberta, is that at least The Arrogant Worms are correct on this fact.
Innovation 🌟🌟
Mason’s take: I got into the “Animorphs” series when I was young. The first of those books I read was number five, “The Predator.” The main reason is that I first saw it in my class’s library, and it was the only one of the series we had. One of the benefits of the serialized structure of “Animorphs” is that, generally, a new reader can start at almost any point in the whole series and not be confused about the premise of the series. Because of that, and my enduring love of “Animorphs,” I’ve always appreciated when long-running series recap the major events so more casual or newer viewers don’t feel lost. We’ve all been wrangled into watching something we wouldn’t have picked up on our own, and many times, a strong Episode 1 has been what made us want to start from the beginning. Not a very strong opening this season for this Heartland n00b. Fortunately, my strong media literacy helped me piece relationships and other things together, but otherwise, it feels like after eighteen seasons, Heartland might not be looking to grow its audience. There was more backstory, recapping, and exposition in a filler episode of Supernatural when they weren’t on some plot business than there was in this episode. It’s… certainly a choice.
Larissa’s take: I watched the pilot episode before jumping into Season 18, and it definitely seems like the plot and characters have moved forward substantially. It’s true there wasn’t much introduction for the audience to draw them in. A lot of inferences need to be made. That being said, I don’t think it takes too long to settle in. I agree with Mason that this show is basically what would happen if Yellowstone and Touched By An Angel had a baby. If you are looking for a PG show that still features cowboy drama (with spice level mayonnaise), this is the show for you!
Overall Episode Rating 🌟🌟
SEASON: Race For The Crown
Plot/Drama 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Larissa’s take: I expected this show to be more of a history lesson taking us back through the times of War Admiral in the 30’s and Secretariat in the 70’s. I thought they would at least featured the two horses that are still alive out of the 13 that have ever won the esteemed Triple Crown - a horse that wins the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. It ended up more of a real-time behind-the-scenes lead-up to each race, with a heavy focus on the owners of the horses. Overall, I would say that it casts the horse racing sport - that is one part equestrian, one part competition, one part gambling, and all parts dubious - in quite a positive light. There was tension, but only over who, out of the deserving, might win the next race. Good sportsmanship was shown all around, and outside of weird fashion choices, owners were seen as passionate and invested in their horses. No one mentioned the seven horses who died at the Derby the previous year under suspicious circumstances, not even once.
Mason’s take: Say a prayer for American jockey Katie Davis. Showing up late in the docuseries (Episode 5, “The Preakness: Seizing the Moment”). Davis, who seems to be gritting her teeth through the systemic sexism in American horse racing, repeats, “an incredible opportunity” more than any other person I’ve ever heard. She later goes on to tell the story of her agent telling her that she won’t make it as a professional jockey, as tears start to come. She clearly and obviously deals with gender based bias because even in 2024, when this series was filmed, there are so few female jockeys that nobody at the track expects them to be racing. It’s even an assumption that she leans into, as she chooses to wrap her long hair in a bandana that she wears before putting on her helmet, specifically to surprise spectators when she races or wins. This is an unnecessarily gendered sport.
By the way, nobody won the Triple Crown. #Spoilers.
Personalities 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: I’ve learned everything and nothing about horse racing other than all the American owners look like a comic book supervillian who is a corrupt business tycoon throwing money into an anti-Superman weapon. It turns out that the horses are the ones who run the race, and jockeys ride them. You might think that jockeys train and own the horse they ride. But they don’t, because that would be too simple. Jockeys ride the horse for the trainer, who trains the horse. Do the trainers own the horse? No! This is not simple or logical! Instead, the trainer works for the owner. What does the owner do? The owner has money. They give money to the trainer to care for the horse. The owner might not even own the whole horse! Some of them own a percentage of the horse. So now you might think that a documentary series about trying to get the Triple Crown would mostly feature the riders and trainers who actually do the work.
Again, that would be too simple. Instead, it spent a lot of time with the owners, who, again, just have the money in this arrangement. I don’t know about you, but in a docuseries about winning the Stanley Cup, I wouldn’t want to hear from the millionaire team owners as they repeatedly tell the camera that this year is their year, like viewers are nervous Canuck shareholders.
Larissa’s take: We don’t want to talk to the meth-addled jockeys or the chain-smoking nihilistic trainers who are 92 and don’t want to die yet. Instead, we focus on the people who can be on camera, the owners. And really, it’s all about the boys and their toys. Some people invest in sports cars, some in horses. They both cost millions. Horse racing is interesting because no matter how much money you dump into it - and some of these owners are dumping tens of millions into a single horse to win one of these Triple Crown races - a long shot with 80-to-1 odds can beat you out of nowhere - a dark horse, if you will. This actually happened btw in 2022. Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby with 80-to-1 odds!
Aesthetic 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Larissa’s take: The famous Churchill Downs (as well as Pimlico and Belmont Park) gave us equestrian glam chic with its 150-year-old heritage. Loved the facinators. Loved the colourful silks. Additionally, because it was a follow-the-action-as-it-happens documentary, everything felt authentic. We saw the horses get led into the starting gate, and the jockeys covered in mud as they crossed the finish line. We felt the sorrow when the horse didn’t win, and its owner was now out millions of dollars.
Mason’s take: If you like the look of mud-speckled short men, I couldn’t suggest this enough. But between that, Michael Iavarone seemingly trying to invest in getting skin cancer as his next big venture, and the odd fashion choices of everyone featured, I don’t know what to make of it. At the very least, it is visually very interesting.
Innovation 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: It feels like a risky, and dare I say, even innovative choice given the increasing divide between the wealthy and average people to prominently feature the names and locations of owners in a sports documentary instead of using that time to focus on the training, preparation, and struggles of the trainers, athletes, and horses. I say this because it’s not difficult to find out information like Michael Iavarone is an asset manager who has worked for at least one corrupt firm that was shut down by regulators. Information like this, with the owners taking the spotlight, can turn some personalities into villains for class-conscious viewers and fans of the Player Two being tried in New York at the moment.
Larissa’s take: I thought it was interesting to showcase horse racing in a similar way that we might see Football in HBO’s Hard Knocks, or Golf in Netflix’s Full Swing. It felt like it could be an ad for horse racing, honestly. It was gritty. It was real. It felt like the competitiveness was fused with intellectualism and prestige. It brings out a bit of a fascination with how it all works, and why money doesn’t guarantee the odds. Maybe someone like me has a shot. Maybe all I need to do is listen to that sadistic 92-year-old trainer. Maybe…oh damn the track bookie is sending me threats now.
I'm super curious about Race for the Crown because on the one hand I really enjoy drive to survive while not caring one bit about Formula one. But on the other hands I really hated full swing because of how boring and privileged everyone featured seemed to be. Based on your review it could really go both ways for me 😂. I'll have to watch to know I guess.