S04E13: Simple Ways

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Re: S04E13: Simple Ways

Postby The Doctor (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:10 am

:granny: So we're agreed then ladies? We'll pick my granddaughter's friend?
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:01 am

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Who is this? I'm shit with color schemes. She's wearing an Academy uniform so I feel like we're supposed to recognize her? :pinkieshrug:
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:07 am

Surprise combed her mane for the selection ceremony.
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Postby Chaos Sonic (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:23 am

DerFurShur wrote:Yeah kudos to Ashleigh for pulling off sophisticated better than Tabitha did country

I think it was more that Applejack (in character) is better at doing sophisticated than Rarity is at country, since she has more practice. :pinkieshrug:

The Doctor wrote:Agreed. Growing up in Ponyville, even if she despises it, she has to have been exposed to farming.

I don't know about that. I grew up and still live in a farm town, and in fact my neighborhood is a former farm surrounded by farms, and I don't know anything about farming. :pinkieshrug:

kefkafloyd wrote:This should be a photoshop thread.

Rarity's Secret Shame.

:rariwhat: Secret? Shame?

Angel Beat wrote:This episode was filled with delicious ham.

So much juicy, delicious ham... :awesomedash:

I'd say Tabitha brought the entire porcine population of Iowa to bear on this episode. :vogue:
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Postby Juniper Phoenix (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:45 am

Something that I didn't quite realize until this season: I don't think Rarity's had a single episode that I didn't care for. :starity:

I somehow didn't notice before season 4 started, but I know I'm in for a ride whenever she's the focus. The way she reacts to or handles whatever the plot throws at her, and the way Tabitha portrays her, Rarity just manages to hit all the right notes.

So yeah, I liked this episode all-around. Rarity is great, Tabitha's great, Southern Rarity and Apple Jewel were great. It was great. :-I

Also, no big deal, but I couldn't help but hear a bit of Granny Smith slip through Rarity's accent. :smirk:
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Postby Yarma (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:06 am

Random thoughts on THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN.

Oh Tabitha you are quite literally the best. I didn't know you could chew even more scenery, but I'm glad you did. I love every line delivery.

Hipster horse is so smug he is worthy of rarity affection. I like some of his lines too. He's kinda condescending.

Applejack jewel is amazing. Holy shit. This is the best climax to an episode. "I love being covered in mud!" There are a million little things in this episode that made me laugh.

My new favorite of the season and, I may have top reevaluate my top 5 or so.
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Postby Veradox (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:17 am

Jonathan Apple wrote:Something that I didn't quite realize until this season: I don't think Rarity's had a single episode that I didn't care for. :starity:

I somehow didn't notice before season 4 started, but I know I'm in for a ride whenever she's the focus. The way she reacts to or handles whatever the plot throws at her, and the way Tabitha portrays her, Rarity just manages to hit all the right notes.

So yeah, I liked this episode all-around. Rarity is great, Tabitha's great, Southern Rarity and Apple Jewel were great. It was great. :-I

Also, no big deal, but I couldn't help but hear a bit of Granny Smith slip through Rarity's accent. :smirk:


I agree, it wasn't until this season that I realized that there weren't really any bad Rarity episodes, and I believe that's mainly because of how Rarity handles whatever situation she's in, and also Tabitha's phenomenal performance. Because of this, Rarity is my third favorite pony. :starity:
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Postby Stuff (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:21 am

Could not stop giggling. :vogue: / 10

Good Valentine's Day ep.
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Postby Ragnar (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:22 am

I've known Rarity episodes were always excellent since before I ever saw any, and this episode is further proof that I am good at knowing things about multicolor horses. Awesome episode.

Applejack was pretty great this episode. :twasnothin:
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:28 am

This episode just cemented to me why Rarity is my second favourite of the Mane Six.
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Postby haywire (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:34 am

They are doing such a fantastic job of making this guy look like a douche, holy shit.

E: This was a fun episode, it's always great when Tabitha gets to play dramatic.
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Postby Ragnar (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:39 am

haywire wrote:They are doing such a fantastic job of making this guy look like a douche, holy shit.

Me when he showed up:
[camera pans up to his torso, where there is a comb in his pocket] "Comb!" :ohboy:
[camera pans the rest of the way up] "Dick!" :ohboy:

At least he tries to be less of an asshole during the actual thing.

e: All in all, this may be one of the kinder treatments of insufferable hipsters. He used the word "authenticity" to describe farm life and yet he got away with some dignity at the end. AJ and Rarity dealt with him far more gently then I was expecting, especially.
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Aramek wrote: :eyebrow: Hmmf, Ragnar the Red indeed.
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:45 am

The Outlander wrote:Oh, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that would tell you this episode is better than Castle-Mania.

Oh me, pick me! However, the difference in quality between those two top-tier pony episodes is so small it can only be measured using quantum instruments.

There's a tiny handful of people in this thread who agree with me that this episode rocks your face. For everybody else who just kind of yawned, I wanted to make a Top 10 Greatest things post so people might give the episode a second chance. But then I realized all the greatest things are Tabitha noises so instead I made

Top 10 Greatest Things In This Great Episode That Aren't Tabitha Noises

10) Lookit how the cute horsies shake hands! :awesomedash:
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9) Rarity doesn't even have to request the stairs, Spike just wheels them over at the right moment.
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8) Rarity is carrying a fan not because it's hot or anything, but because she knows its the right prop for high-strung, high-class mares to carry if they want to avoid coming down with the vapors. :vogue:
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7) The entirety of Rarity and Trenderhoof's conversation about farming. "You can really feel the authenticity!" "They...they really do grow apples here." I'm also wondering if the "au naturel, indeed" exchange is Haber doing suggestive-but-subtle, given that au naturel commonly means nude.

6) Rarity's tears are clear when they pool in her eyes and become discolored as they mix with her mascara and spill out onto her cheeks. :ponydrugs:
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5) "I once had an apple so rare, they thought it was extinct. I ate four of them." This line was golden. Trenderhoof is all about experiencing something rare because it makes him feel rare; like all hipsters he's a narcissist. Genuinely love Trenderhoof though.

4) Trenderhoof's love poetry. Funny scene, and I posted the following last week so am now an idiot on record:

an idiot wrote:I mean it's basically impossible to rhyme Rarity with anything, so instead they structure her songs differently.


3) That donkey noise is always funny.
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2) I love how Applejack is just hanging off of Fluts here. It shows off her casual confidence so well.
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1) WILL SOMEPONY BRING ME A TOWEL TO WIPE THIS REPULSIVE FILTH FROM MY HOOVES?!
This is why you are best pony, Rarity. :wink:


Boss Hogg's Chicken Dinner wrote:My new favorite of the season and, I may have top reevaluate my top 5 or so.

:hishovel:
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Postby Ragnar (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:51 am

People "kind of yawned through this episode"? Really? :starity: No sarcasm, I didn't read the thread because I should be working right now. What are people not liking?
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Aramek wrote: :eyebrow: Hmmf, Ragnar the Red indeed.
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Postby Perrydotto (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:13 am

Ragnar wrote:What are people not liking?


Oh here! Maybe I can help! :hiiiii:


I was very lukewarm on this episode all throughout. It started off promising enough, but when I saw that the story just took the least inspired and imaginative way of proceeding and being resolved, I was just kinda eh on it.

I don't expect a kids cartoon to rock my socks off in terms of innovation or story twists, but the show has proven time and time again that it can give a clever spin on typical cartoon stories, and it just felt flat here when that didn't happen.

Josh Haber was wonderful at grasping and portraying the characters in Castle Mane-ia, but not so much here. Castle Mane-ia was a stock cartoon plot too, but it was one that was there to serve as a stage for the characters to play off of each other. Simple Ways seems to go for the other way around, making the characters fit the plot, and I didn't enjoy that much.

I had zero problems with Rarity having a new crush, especially one that was less shitty than Blueblood, but I just can't imagine her immediately just trying to copy Applejack with no questions asked and Applejack never confronting her on any of her behaviour (element of honesty!) despite being visibly uncomfortable. To me, that was obviously just done because the plot said so, and I felt that dragged things down quite a bit. I could already see how things would play out, and for the most part they did so as by-the-books as I feared.

The episode had its moments, for sure, and most of them can be attributed to Tabitha being amazing. The episode could have used more fun and fresh character moments to spice the trite plot up, but when it did have them, it delivered, and Tabitha sold them like hell. I had quite a good hearty chuckles at some of the great noises and tones she had going, and once she got to the part where Rarity fakes being a farm gal, I just about lost it entirely. Basically Granny Smith in younger, and it was amazing. Tabitha never ceases to amaze, seriously.

Trent was a funny dork too, I enjoyed that.

The lesson was good, but I just dearly wish it hadn't been shown with the typical "character copies other character to impress and other character turns the tables on them" cliche.

Overall, not an episode I'll rewatch (Tabitha moments aside maybe), but it wasn't terrible. I just think it didn't hit all those great notes Josh Haber managed with Castle Mane-ia, the plot felt a bit too flat and played out to appeal to me, and the characterization wasn't that great. The weaker one of the Josh Haber outings, for sure.
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Postby Wylie (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:28 am

Yes, so maybe just include Perry's comments here as my own, because she's pretty much nailed what's wrong with this one.

But, like she said (and like I said before): Everything that was wrong here was balanced against Tabitha and Ashleigh's performances, which were both outstanding.

In the end, I didn't have a whole lot of hype going into this episode, and it didn't disappoint me, but it also didn't exceed my expectations for it, either. I was not overwhelmed, nor was I underwhelmed.

I achieved an entirely appropriate level of whelmedness by this episode, I suppose. It whelmed me. :pinkieshrug:
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Postby Venusy (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:24 am

Fundamentally speaking, I think the cuts were taken from the wrong side of the episode. There's too long spent on establishing that Rarity is MCing the Days festival, that this means that Trenderhoof will be visiting, and who Trenderhoof is to start with. It takes 7 minutes for him to first meet Applejack, and even longer for the conflict to start.

The emphasis is on gags, so there's no :cry: moment that has come to be expected from most Rarity episodes - even without the gag focus, the audience probably wouldn't be invested in Rarity and Trenderhoof compared to the prospect of Rarity losing her friends or her sister. Seeing how much of a disaster the revised festival would have been might have fixed that, it might not. :pinkieshrug:
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Postby Frosthawk (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:45 am

My thoughts presented upon a fresh watch at 3 am:

Cold open: Meh. Meh.
First act after cold open: I like the little sketches, and also Spike's role. It suggests that he volunteered to help out, but in a totally legitimately helpful, non-creepy way. I also think this show is pushing too many "IMPORTANT PONYVILLE EVENTS!!!" at us and thus I'm left feeling like, why do I give a shit about whatever this event is? I'm still not sure what it is, anyway. Main six seems included for the sake of including the main six. And ah, here's one of the preview clips I saw.
The next scene where Trenderhoof arrives: Pretty much what you would expect.
Rarity showing Trenderhoof around before he sees Applejack: I like this scene. It's pretty simple, but it establishes Trenderhoof's character and, for me, it makes him seem likable. It also seems pretty realistic, and doesn't feature Rarity just losing her shit, which at this point is good.
Applejack Discovery!!! Odd.
Rarity wallows in despair!! Hahaha. This scene could have been totally lame if it wasn't for Tabitha's amazing as usual VA'ing. I also loved Spike in this scene.
Trenderhoof stalks Applejack, featuring Rarity the Hopeless and Trenderhoof's Sick Phat Rhymes: The interaction between Applejack and Trenderhoof is delightfully awkward and, for reasons beyond my comprehension, kind of makes Trenderhoof seem somewhat endearing as a character, but at the same time I totally sympathize with Applejack. Rarity's attempt at wooing seems kind of dense for her, but Trender's quasi-poem made me laugh pretty hard as to make me forget that.
Rarity Attempts Manual Labor: Like the last two scenes combined, but less endearing.
As above, except Applejack's in a henhouse: Well now Applejack's schooling Rarity and Trenderhoof at the same time. This just seems to be Invade Applejack's Space: The Episode at this point.
Rarity's kind of acting dumb: Trenderhoof needs to leave poor Applejack alone.
Rarity's New Theme: Any kind of stupid absurdity that might have present at this point is more than made up for by Rarity's attempting a southern accent. Holy shit that's hilarious. I'm laughing every time she opens her mouth and it's great.
Applejewel: Applejack's basically trolling Rarity, I guess that's cool. Oh this leads to the I LOVE BEIN' COVERED IN MUUUDDD LINE, basically the best thing ever. Whoops, all downhill from here I guess cause nothing can top that shit. Wish this hadn't been a preview clip tbh.
End of episode stuff: Typical end of episode stuff. A lesson I don't think the show has previously embarked on, anyway.


I would give this episode probably somewhere around a 7/10 or a 7.5/10. Good but I think Rarity Takes Manehattan is clearly the better Rarity episode for this season.
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Postby Ragnar (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:51 am

On the other hand, the song in Simple Ways is better than the song in Rarity Takes Manhattan. :iamapony:
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Aramek wrote: :eyebrow: Hmmf, Ragnar the Red indeed.
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Postby Frosthawk (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:09 am

Upon finally reading posts people have made about this episode, I think Perry's post sums up the problems I had with this episode quite eloquently.
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:19 am

I think one of the reasons that this episode's might not be seen as strong is coming after Pinkie Pride. It has to be hard to top something like that and this episode slightly suffered from it. I still think it's hilarious and great though.
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Postby Ragnar (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:47 am

Well I never watched Pinkie Pride, so I guess I just saw a different episode than you guys :smug:

Actually that's exactly what I'm getting out of this, since everything in Perrydotto's review of the episode is apparently spot on for a significant number of people, but none of it rang true for me personally. Other people have read the post and thought, "hey, she nailed it," and I'm sitting here staring at the post like she's doing card tricks for a dog.
:hiiiii: Tada! THIS was your card!
:starity: woof?

I'm the dog in this metaphor, you see.

But we all seem to agree that the voice acting here was fantastic, and I'd want to throw in a complement for the animation, particularly for Applejack sneaking through the bushes and every single face Rarity makes. You know, the usual.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 12:55 pm

PictishBeast wrote:6) Rarity's tears are clear when they pool in her eyes and become discolored as they mix with her mascara and spill out onto her cheeks. :ponydrugs:
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Huh, I was wondering why her tears looked so dark. At first I assumed it was some sort of video compression error in the stream I was watching, but when the "error" didn't clear up despite the stream running smoothly, I assumed they just had to resort to some other means of showing her tears against her near-white fur. Which they kind of did, really.
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Postby Highbrow Dash (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 1:04 pm

Veradox wrote:I somehow didn't notice before season 4 started, but I know I'm in for a ride whenever she's the focus. The way she reacts to or handles whatever the plot throws at her, and the way Tabitha portrays her, Rarity just manages to hit all the right notes.

Veradox wrote:I agree, it wasn't until this season that I realized that there weren't really any bad Rarity episodes, and I believe that's mainly because of how Rarity handles whatever situation she's in, and also Tabitha's phenomenal performance. Because of this, Rarity is my third favorite pony. :starity:


All according to plan :scheming:
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Postby londonarbuckle (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 1:29 pm

Ragnar wrote:People "kind of yawned through this episode"? Really? :starity: No sarcasm, I didn't read the thread because I should be working right now. What are people not liking?


I just watched it, and pretty much this. This episode was amazing and hilarious and I can't even form any coherent thoughts about it right now because the whole thing was great. Trenderhoof was perfect and even if it was a stock plot it was well-executed. It's also pretty mind-blowing and hilarious to see commentary on hipster cultural appropriation in My Little Pony, and also great seeing that point made anywhere without making the person doing it a black-and-white hateworthy caricature. Hell, I thought everyone's motivations were pretty great and relatable. Easily my favorite episode of the season (maybe tied with Pinkie Pride).
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 1:41 pm

I think this'll be another one of those episodes where outsider opinions will be more favorable. Any episode following Pinkie Pride isn't going to look too hot in comparison, so in the future I'd like to hear from more people who weren't necessarily following along with the show as it aired each episode.
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Postby Sind (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 2:56 pm

Tabitha was absolutely amazing this episode :-D

but... err... that's about it, really. The rest of the episode didn't really interest me, outside of a few select moments, and I couldn't even be bothered to focus on the episode 100%, opting instead to browse the web simultaneously, sometimes even pausing the episode =/

And really, Tabitha is always amazing, so there wasn't much new on that front either. Sure, there was suddenly tons of it, which is the no. 1 strength of this episode, but it's not like it's her best performance yet, or anything like that.

As awesome as she was here, it wasn't even remotely close to being as good as Rarity in Ponyville Confidential, which I to this day consider the best Rarity on the show(or anywhere else, for that matter).

So yes, I had laughs, and Tabitha's performance was wonderful. But the story failed to interest me beyond that, and I can't see myself watching it again anytime soon. :pinkieshrug:
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Postby Tears (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:18 pm

Highbrow Dash wrote:"You can really feel the authenticity!"
"Oh yes, er, they really do grow apples here :rariwhat:"


Haha, that was one of my favourite lines. Josh Haber put a lot of pretty dry humour into the lines through the episode (in fact I can see why that aspect, along with the very specific rendering of a certain type of hipster, might make the tone of this episode a little bit New Yorker cartoon for what some people want from poni. It was very wry). There were a bunch more and I'll probably post up some when I re-watch it later, but I also liked.

[Rara's bespoke apple-bucking]
:eyebrow: Well, your way is certainly long on style
:vogue: Oh, thank you!

Also, is there some kind of award we can give Tabitha? Not a voice-acting award, just... an award. Maybe a humanitarian award from the UN.

Also, giving Entertainment Weekly a preview clip that just happened to be the climax of the episode is totally egregious, never watching a preview clip again :flipout:

And AJ ended up as the star of the episode! An episode with Rarity in it. It's tough to argue she stole the show, given Rarity's hamminess and the fact that Tabitha's line-readings are outrageous, but she was smart and funny and sarcastic and her response to Rarity's insane idea of how farmers acted was amazing.

The whole thing was grand farce, but in a way my favourite Rarity section was at the train station, which was just fricken' adorable, not just her shyness and hysteria before meeting him, but the way she acts when she's trying to act like her whole world isn't exploding inside when she's saying "Mr Trenderhoof, nice to meet you." :ponydrugs:

And when she goes fully off the rails (I feel like this is Rarity's Lesson Zero, in a way), that accent. In my head there are whole pages of the script that just say [Tabitha ad-lib], like at some points her southern veers into braying Cockney.

And Spike was the best, not just in his raised eyebrow look at the audience, but also his shrugging "i'uno" when Rarity asks what AJ's got that she hasn't. Like "Rarity I am still secretly in love with you but how do you constantly manage the stupidest goddam thing to do or say every single second of the day"

And concur with people sorta-liking Trenderhoof ("Call me Trend") who is more a hapless doof than genuinely mean-spirited. He just witters away in his own little world and is constantly stupid or tone-deaf or patronising or monumentally self-absorbed. And I had no idea how much I wanted a bad poetry-based rhyme scheme fake-out burn to appear in this show until now. And the "extinct apple" line is like 20% cooler-level burn for the hipster set (which I am not as far away from as maybe I should be :eep: )

Can't wait to re-watch later.

All that said, I can totally see why it would fall on the "eh" or "not my cup of tea" scale for some people, when people point out issues with it I can see where they're coming from, I just dug it so I don't personally agree.

And on Rarity and how she should have learned after Blueblood, romance is something people pretty much never learn about. It's not like people IRL go "Well, that guy/girl totally sucked, luckily I have obtained character progression from this experience and will never again fall for a total choade :party: "

FINALLY, I saw Haber's tweets about the ending being truncated due to too much material, and I'd love to see the un-animated sections of the script, but it was nowhere near as jarring as I'd expected. It felt like things had gotten to such an insane level of absurdity that Rarity had a moment of clarity and thought "okay, wait, let's step back here. What am I doing? What am I wearing?" :cry:
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:22 pm

Ragnar wrote:Actually that's exactly what I'm getting out of this, since everything in Perrydotto's review of the episode is apparently spot on for a significant number of people, but none of it rang true for me personally. Other people have read the post and thought, "hey, she nailed it," and I'm sitting here staring at the post like she's doing card tricks for a dog.


Yeah me too. I think this is just about as good as pony gets so I've been going "what the what" at all of these lukewarm reactions. As one of the 3 people on earth who didn't like Pinkie Pride I'm feeling even more like a pod person.

I do prefer being the Tigger this week instead of last week's Eeyore, so there's that.

Fizzbuzz wrote:Huh, I was wondering why her tears looked so dark.


Yeah they were going for this:

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I liked it because it's a real "diva meltdown" signifier.
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:28 pm

They once had Rarity's cat with the running-mascara look, which was amazing in its own right. :gotcha:

And I loved Pinkie Pride and this episode! :party: Can I have half a pod?
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Postby Tears (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:53 pm

Random little esoteric thing, but fancy-AJ's hair :flirt: reminds me of something from an old LucasArts game, maybe Day of the Tentacle. Like there's a dead woman or a mannequin or something, and you end up using spaghetti and meatballs for her hair to make her look desirable or something... anyone?
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:55 pm

Headless Horse wrote:And I loved Pinkie Pride and this episode! :party: Can I have half a pod?


I do as well! Now we shall take over the rest of mankind!
:plonk: Image :)
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Postby SlateSlabrock (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:59 pm

PictishBeast wrote:Image

Who is this? I'm shit with color schemes. She's wearing an Academy uniform so I feel like we're supposed to recognize her? :pinkieshrug:

She showed up briefly in Wonderbolt Academy. The wiki doesn't seem to have anything else on her.

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(Also, I just noticed the drill instructors have buzz-cut tails.)
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Postby Big Boss (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 4:11 pm

The only thing I can think of is that it's somebody's OC. Andrea's? :v:

Also, :flirt: is an homage to Dolly Parton.

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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 4:53 pm

Re: Pictish's top 10 list: most of these are what I expect pony to do anyways. #4 was a crappy cliche joke that went too long, though. #1 kinda contradicted with Sisterhooves - Rarity doesn't mind getting dirty when she has to. Maybe it was the dress, I dunno, but I couldn't help Rarity was flanderized a bit to make that climax work, and it wasn't that strong anyways.

Also, if Jayson really thought everything was awesome and it was hard to cut things... I'm sure an appropriate climax would have made up for anything cut out. Cut out the crappy poem joke and one other thing (maybe the AJ/Rarity in the barn scene - that didn't really advance much either).

I agree that whoever is choosing clips fucked up this week, BUT, no one here thought this was going to be a climax. It felt like critical rising action to a breaking point. Be upset, but also blame the episode for failing here.

I also take offense to the notion that PPride affected this episode's opinions just for the naysayers. :rainbert:
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Postby Killing Vector (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:15 pm

Not a top-tier episode for the pacing/structure reasons that have been hashed out already, but it made up for that by being really funny and making me laugh a lot (and I'm usually somewhat averse to character-embarrassing-themselves humour, but not here), so overall it was quite good. :allright:

Also, on the subject of stock plots, I recall M.A. Larson saying that a good way to write episodes for a show with strong, well-developed personalities like Pony is to take a stock sitcom plot and just see how your characters behave and react to it (e.g. Ponyville Confidential, which the comment was in reference to).

Headless Horse wrote:After this many episodes I think we can safely say pony show has not fallen prey to the pernicious and irresistible draw of the Love Conquers All plot. And that being said, I think it's easily earned the right to do a Love Conquers Some plot at some point.

Does a Love Conquers Changelings plot count? :evil:
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Postby Durandal (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:28 pm

I just want to point out a beautiful little detail I noticed:

Image

Applejack glances sideways at Fluttershy, and then this little unspoken exchange happens:

:eyebrow: ...Yeah, I've given up trying to keep up with her crushes. Fluttershy, I know she gabs with you all the time; who in the hay is she talking about?
:nnngh: I have never heard of this stallion before. She seems to have a new one every season
:bluh: Fine, I'll just ask her straight out

2 seconds of animation, zero words, yet since we know these characters so well we instantly understand exactly what's happening here.
Headless Horse wrote:God I love this show :ponydrugs:
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:12 pm

^^ Lies, I never said any such thing, that doesn't even sound like me :argh:
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Postby MochaBean (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:06 pm

It's not the season's high point, but I still enjoyed the heck outta this episode. Trenderhoof was great, Tabitha and Ashleigh were in high-gear, and I had a huge grin on my face the whole time.

Really from rereading the thread, it seems like an even 50-50 split of opinion to me.
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:10 pm

I wonder if this subplot is going to serve a purpose like the Equestrian Games in the future.
:plonk: Image :)
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