My Little Pony XXXVIII: Nopony Expects Sponish Pinquisition!

[Sean Mirrsen]

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Well, that was... pretty bad. And pretty much exemplifying all the bad things I have so often said were happening to the show since Season 2 started. When I feel the need to start scanning ahead on the first watchthrough of a new pony episode, something is going terribly wrong.

All in all, I keep by my previous assessment. With the original creative core leaving the production team, the whole thing went haywire. At this rate, I will be hoping the series gets cancelled after Season 2, before such careless handling will completely ruin the universe. This episode, even moreso than the last, surprisingly, felt like a run-of-the-mill cartoon, detached from the show it was supposed to be taking place in. Fluttershy was flanderized into a doormat, and made a gag out of by flipping her all the way around into a b!tch. Pinkie Pie became the element of Cartoon Physics and Old And Overused Gags. Rarity... well, no idea, her depiction was rather foggy to me most of the time. And let's not speak of headset-equipped goats that don't speak, out-of-nowhere minotaurs that are actually half-satyrs (a minotaur is supposed to be all human save for the head), and the troubled and confused Equestrian economy. This episode falls firmly into the bounds identified as the trope called They Just Didn't Care, and this makes me utterly sad. I'll laugh at the gags, but as a whole this episode is a disgrace to the show proper. They better pull something epic out of the rumpcracks for the finale, nothing short of that will redeem Season 2.

[thubby]

now that i think about it, hasnt she already learned this lesson twice?
first with the dragon and then the cockatrice?

(side note: firefox has cockatrice as a word, i am pleased )

[BlasTech]

Wow. Just popped in briefly, and ponythread is

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really negative today. I haven't seen this kind of hate since the Owl episode.

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Well, this is very true. I guess it was just taken to new extremes this week and that's what I reacted against.

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What did you think of the episode? And for the record this was still better than Owl's well.

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Hadn't watched it yet. May as well now!

Stream of consciousness review:

Fluttershy, don't you see that what Angel hungers for is STEAK? Or possibly amour. He is a bunny, after all.

... his special recipe is the same thing with a waffle and whipped cream.

Okay, so far, a minute in, I see what people are responding negatively to. That opening was kinda painful.

... I don't know that I want to keep watching this. It's making me feel sad inside. I don't watch ponies, when I watch ponies, to feel sad inside.

Rarity: I AM GOING TO BULLY YOU UNTIL YOU STOP PUTTING UP WITH BEING BULLIED.

Rarity, stop playing with that poor nerd's heart!

RARITY, I AM ASHAMED OF YOU. IF YOU MAKE FLUTTERSHY ACT LIKE A FLOOZIE TOO, I WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.

Tomato Merchant: Haven't you read economic theory? We had a tomato blight. As a result, the price per unit of output was higher.

Also, yay for Pinkie doing Loony Toons bits!

Fluttershy, no. No. You can't do this. No. You can't. You can't be flirty.

Merchant: Well, you know, if you think I'm handsome and nice, I could use a date for my brother's wedding next week.

HATE. HAAAAATE ANGEL. HATE. He'd been doing so WELL the last few appearances.

So... Equestria DOES have Junk Mail. I remember there being a debate about that a while back. Problem solved.

This is painful. This is just painful.

Yay Rocky Theme!

... only Fluttershy should be here. Ponyville is made up of jerks and selfish people. They should be at Basic Courtesy's seminar.

He pities the fool. Heh. All we need is a Chuck Norris reference and we'll have the 80s trifecta.

Huh. Hayseed Pony has a name now.

NO. FLUTTERSHY. NO. YOU KNOW BETTER. THIS IS NOT HOW ADULTS HANDLE THEIR PROBLEMS. NO.

FLY, FLUTTERSHY. JUST FLY. JUST FLY. YOU HAVE WINGS. USE TEM. YOU AREN'T SCOOTALOO. YOUR WINGS AREN'T DEFORMED.

Alternate haircut Lyra is a jerk.

Poor Carrot Top and Cherry Coke.

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING TO ENCOURAGE. NO. NO. STOP IT RARITY AND PINKIE PIE. NO. THIS IS BEING A JERK. SHE IS SCARING OFF YOUR CUSTOMERS. DON'T GIVE HER FREE STUFF.

Taxi? Huh. Who would've thought Ponyville would have a market for that.

Third person talking is funny. It's like Fluttershy can't act this way unless she convinces herself she's someone else.

... this may knock Fluttershy down all the way to the bottom of my Favorite Ponies ranking list. Twilight Sparkle, you may have just become #5.

Fluttershy, you enormous (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Stop being mean to Pinkie and Rarity! Stop it stop it stop it!

Is that a variant of the old Incredible Hulk "walking away theme?"

What the... we're already 17 minutes in? What the (expletive deleted) have they been wasting their time on this episode? Whaaaaaaa?

Why the hell is Iron Will there?

The whole Monster-Minotaur joke wasn't funny. At all. Ever. In the whole episode.

Pinkie is, once again, the saving grace in a bad episode.

Fluttershy, don't renege on your debts.

Good point, Fluttershy.

Shut up, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. There was no moral this episode. This was a series of events meant to be funny that weren't.

This is why I don't like season 2 overall. It feels like the characters, which were pretty consistent through season 1, are regularly knocked out of character in stupid ways. And I definitely feel the rushed complaint people had. Like I said, I was at the end of the episode and I thought "what the heck had actually happened this whole time?"

And... yeah. My feeling is now, Fluttershy's ruined. She went a whole season practically with no activity, and this ruined her. She was actually more of a jerk here than when Discord used magic to mind control her.

Congrats, Twilight. You had Lesson Zero (my old least favorite episode) to get you on my bad side, but this was worse. You've moved from #6 to #5 on the power rankings list.

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This convo was like watching a trainwreck in progress, if everyone is reacting negatively in thread, there's a good chance the ep wasn't that good! XD

Overall, I found this episode to be middling, there were some very painful parts to watch, but in hindsight I think they're intended to be painful. (Remember, Angel, no means no!)

Pacing was my main complaint, it was doing pretty well up till Mr T-aur turned up in the last 3 minutes, then it felt like they'd suddenly realised how close to time they were and rushed the finale. Could have benefitted from a bit more time to have Pinkie and Rarity talk Fluttershy out of her depression and encourage her to confront Iron Will with some integrity.

I don't get why people complain so much about Rarity's manipulation of ponies, that's how she is. Remember the Diamond Dogs? She doesn't pull any punches when it comes to twisting people around her hoof if she needs to.

Pinkie's manipulation was classic Loony Tunes, so as a result suffered from alot of "I've seen this skit before".

Iron Will trod a fine line between domineering jerk and not so bad guy, in the end I think he came down on the right side, but man was it a close call.

BGM and animation had some highlights, particularly the seminar and Fluttershy's cottage at the end.

And as for "zomg season 2 is horrible" I have to flatly disagree. Between "Friend in Deed", "May the Best Pet Win", "Secret of My Excess", "Sisterhooves Social", "Last Roundup", "Family Appreciation Day", and so on, I really can't fault the occasional slip up in ones like this or Mare Do Well. It's had some lows, true, but so did S1, and the highs have been spectacular.

And so this post isn't completely taken up my NewEp discussion, have some Pony (large/long):

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[Deadly]

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I'm starting to agree with the general negativity surrounding this episode. It had some funny bits, but the characterizations were rather negative and lessons somewhat gray-zone. I'm sure it's not indicative of the season as a whole, however.

I think what season 2 needs by now is a little more adventure to balance things out. Maybe we'll get that next saturday. And hopefully next Fluttershy episode will do better, too.

A hypothetical (ep)

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Having earlier broken a Pinkie promise and ticked off Fluttersertive, you are now fleeing from tardy!twilight who wants you for an experiment. You run into a situation where you can either go one way and Pinkie will find you, another and Fluttershy will, or you can be hauled off by Twilight.

What do you do?

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Um... Fluttershy, because I'd totally be her doormat

On another note, because I don't think I was around at the time, what were the problems with Owl's Well? It seems to be on everypony's hate list, while I always thought it was fine (if not anywhere near the top)

[Aotrs Commander]

Yaay, Bobcat's dropped by! Huzzah! (Shame it had to be on a less-than-stellar episode, but that's about typical, isn't it...!)

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To whoever said the town of Ponyville were out of character:

That's wrong. Ponyville has always, always, always been populated with self-centred egotistical jerkwads. That's one of my favourite aspects of the show, actually, how the majority of background and minor characters are jerks - something you entirely don't expect from ponies as a concept.

It's making the point that friendship is magic and you shouldn't rely on or get upset by a world full of petty jerks. I love it for that reason, and love it every time a background pony acts like a wad.

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See, I don't like that "ponies-are-jerks" aspect normally (there's a difference between "jerk" and "highly-strung"), and that episode was worse than normal in that regard. I, for one thing, would like to believe ponies are BETTER than humans, not just as big a jerks. Worse even, because I really wouldn't expect that sort of asshat behavior from humans. It just riled me. And, actually, come to that, I kinda find the whole "virtually everypony apart from the major characters if a jerk" to be rather insulting. As I say, I think there's perhaps a strong element of English cultural undertones in my position, though.

I just realised something. That episode is EVEN WORSE when taken in the context of it's original intended audience. Do they really want to show young that's it's okay for young girls to be using flirtation as a means to get stuff...? Now, I'm over-reacting, I suspect, but at the end of the day, bitsof that episode made me uncomfortable, and I don't expect that out of pony, especially when using three of my favourite characters.

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We're just mad because we're all used to cherries and other necessary consumer goods being subject to some fair and fixed price. Take another context, like a contract for personal service or a large-scale deal and you'll see people negotiating unique deals all the time. Sure, the cherry dealer isn't charitable, but I don't want to cast him as the bad guy just because 99% of us (myself included) would cut Fluttershy a deal because she's so weak and innocent and deserving.

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No, I'm mad because he specifcally was going out to screw his customer for no-other reason than he could, and my reaction would remain the same for pretty much whoever he'd done it to, with the only possible exception of Discord... I am quite happy to cast him as a bad guy.

Right, I think I've dwelled on that topic long enough; time to put it behind me and concentrate on what's more important, like my ongoing planning as to find out exactly what individuals thought screwing over Jubilee continouously was a good idea, and my developing of a suitably unimaginably horrific revenge to be inflicted upon them...

[Grif]

I wasn't aware that the thread in general hated Owl's Well. I thought it to be a middling episode at best. But certainly not the worst.

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To be honest, yes, I agree that this was one of the weaker episodes. The jokes just weren't funny and they kinda gone overboard with Assertive!Fluttershy for a bit there. Kinda like Lesson Zero, except for Fluttershy and not involving a forced love spell.

Still, this is way better than Mare Do Well, and although it does stretch the character of Fluttershy a little, it has its moments. I particularly liked how they didn't make out Iron Will to be a convenient scapegoat for the ponies to kick out of town or something. (He strikes me as a reasonable, if slightly egoistical person.) I'll just put the ponies as jerks throughout the episode as jerks-as-needed-by-plot-reason rather than take this as conclusive proof that ponies are, indeed, jerks. As Thanqol said, I do like that they highlighted not all is sweet and saccharine in Equestria.

[Tiki Snakes]

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I'm really not seeing how this is anything other than in-character for season 1 Fluttershy.


It's a key part of her character, Like the ever-confident Rainbow Dash secretly having crippling self-belief issues, the Party Pony never being entirely confident that her friends might not just abandon her if she stops being fun for a minute, rarity's struggle with her materialistic nature, etc etc

Also good catch on the walking away music, that does sound very much like a take on the Hulk TV series theme.
Especially with Fluttershy then boarding herself in as if she literally believed she could Hulk out at any moment.

[SKarious]

So, another episode. Got me wondering:

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How DOES Fluttershy earn her bits? Rarity, Pinkie and AJ run stores, and Twilight and Rainbow probably get paid by the city hall for their services, but Fluttershy doesn't seem to do any productive labor.

All in all, this episode

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Was good. Being more assertive without losing your identity is a good lesson to learn at any age. I, myself, have a friend who changed his personality completely after such "self-help" sessions, so this one kind of hits close.

Anyway, seeing doormat-Fluttershy trying to stand up for herself and failing was funny. And Pinkie stole the show with her "Rabbit Season" routine.

Is our favorite gray mailmare in this one? I must have missed her.

[Thanqol]

Is our favorite gray mailmare in this one? I must have missed her.

She is, derped and awesome in a crowd shot or two.

[Kyouhen]

And so this post isn't completely taken up my NewEp discussion, have some Pony (large/long):

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I absolutely love this guy's work. I really hope he decides to make some wallpapers for this, especially the frame with Pinkie bursting out of Sugarcube Corner in a burst of pink and happiness. Some of the details are great too, like the bite marks on Rainbow Dash's note. I can't wait to see what else this guy comes up with.

[OracleofWuffing]

So, another episode. Got me wondering:

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How DOES Fluttershy earn her bits? Rarity, Pinkie and AJ run stores, and Twilight and Rainbow probably get paid by the city hall for their services, but Fluttershy doesn't seem to do any productive labor.

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Well, she takes care of animals well. Perhaps she makes money on the side as a vet? She's also groomed Opal before, but that was done as a friendship thing.

Also, another separate last thought on the new episode...

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Anyone else find it strange that Rarity is spending so much time with Pinkie Pie after the cherry chimichonga incident? Perhaps she got so adapted to the noise that she no longer can tolerate silence.

[Tiki Snakes]

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Fluttershy's Bits
Perhaps she simply has very rich parents? At the very least she showed some very high-end fashion knowledge, it certainly seems possible.

[Zevox]

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And as for "zomg season 2 is horrible" I have to flatly disagree. Between "Friend in Deed", "May the Best Pet Win", "Secret of My Excess", "Sisterhooves Social", "Last Roundup", "Family Appreciation Day", and so on, I really can't fault the occasional slip up in ones like this or Mare Do Well. It's had some lows, true, but so did S1, and the highs have been spectacular.

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Agreed. Season 2 on the whole is so far not significantly better or worse than season 1. It has its low points (for me: Putting Your Hoof Down, Sweet and Elite, most CMC episodes), but it also definitely has its high points (for me: Return of Harmony, May the Best Win, Luna Eclipsed, Read it and Weep, Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6k), and and a number of simply good or okay ones in between (including the only CMC episode I kind of like, Family Appreciation Day). Which is just as season 1 did, from highs like Sonic Rainboom, Dragonshy, and Cutie Mark Chronicles to lows like The Ticket Master, Owl's Well that Ends Well, and Show Stoppers (which I still think is the worst episode in the series). This most recent one is just making people too pessimistic I think.

Edit: Was just on Ponibooru, and saw this, which made me smile (screenshot from the recent episode, not spoilery though):

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Derpy with a muffin bag!

Zevox

[Eakin]

I this a pony reference in today's Darths & Droids or am I just over-sensitive to that sort of thing?

[Zevox]

I this a pony reference in today's Darths & Droids or am I just over-sensitive to that sort of thing?

Not seeing anything that could be a pony reference myself. What is it that you think might be?

Zevox

[Kindablue]

Not seeing anything that could be a pony reference myself. What is it that you think might be?

Zevox

It's a bit of a stretch.

[Zevox]

It's a bit of a stretch.

Yeah, yeah that would be quite a bit of a stretch. Definitely wouldn't call that a pony reference myself without something more to it.

Zevox

[Beacon of Chaos]

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[MCerberus]

So, another episode. Got me wondering:

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How DOES Fluttershy earn her bits? Rarity, Pinkie and AJ run stores, and Twilight and Rainbow probably get paid by the city hall for their services, but Fluttershy doesn't seem to do any productive labor.

Where Fluttershy gets money:

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I always think of Fluttershy having some sort of government job keeping an eye on the forest and ponies silly enough to go into it. Also a part-time vet and selling eggs.

[/QUOTE]

And so this post isn't completely taken up my NewEp discussion, have some Pony (large/long):

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I always think of Pinkie and Rarity getting along partially because of their love of gadgets. The former because the fandom saw the Pinkie-copter and ran with it. The latter because Rarity seems the one to constantly be on the cutting-edge of things.

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Twilight's science consists of being hooked up to machines and having nothing happen. Twilight's science is only dangerous to Twilight.

Twilight: Spike, I have reached a conclusion: science causes anvils to spontaneously generate. They'll have to rewrite the physics books!

hypo

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You have to remember this is tardy!Twilight we're talking about. Her science is going to have a lot of misplaced magic going on, right Mr. Smartypants?

[erikun]

Well, I actually watched the newest episode yesterday. I was a bit too busy eating and getting ready for work to respond; the new time doesn't suit me at all. I suppose it's better for Pacific Time people to catch it live, though.

Anyways, on to thoughts.

Season 2 Episode 19 spoilers (Putting Your Hoof Down)

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An interesting episode, overall. It makes a good point that aggressiveness and assertiveness are two different things; you can definitely have one without the other. The episode did a good job of highlighting that, especially with how everyone was reacting to "new" Fluttershy.

I wouldn't be surprised if this episode didn't make it very high on many people's lists, though. The entire plot, after all, involved taking a fan-favorite and pointing out that one of her most liked qualities is a bad thing. It's true, of course, but I'm sure there's a number of people who would prefer to just ignore this one.

Wow, the market ponies are a bunch of [buy some apples]. The Apple family got a lot of flak in Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 for not just increasing the price of their cider, but given the light of the rest of the town, I'm thinking that it may not be so fairly deserved. They don't bring in a lot of money, but they've probably price their food so that everyone can get a consistent and fair price. That's not necessarily a bad idea (although the Apples should get some money for the bank).

Fluttershy has been taking lessons from Luna. Where's the fanart of this?

I'm pretty sure that's the mailcolt from Last Roundup, who is carrying the mailwagon. Nice to see him again.

And it was nice to see Fluttershy actually being assertive, rather than just aggressive, in the end. It seems like she did pick up something from all that, as opposed to just a temporary bad attitude. Perhaps not one of my favorite episodes, but it seemed like a nice one overall.

[Kato]

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I'll agree with: Rather bad. Sure, the lesson was good but that's about the one good thing. (Also: Don't advertise "perfect satisfaction")

The jokes weren't that good, Flutters went way too far way too fast, everyone else was a prick all of a sudden... and I'd kick Angel out.

It wasn't terrible but there was just a lot of "not good" in it.

[thubby]

fluttershy apparently doesn't have a whole lot of money.
if 2 bits are a fair price for cider, and it's 1-2 bits for tomatoes, i think that puts a bit at about 1-2 dollars.

ignoring the price gouging, that she doesn't have the equivalent of 20$ is troubling.

[MCerberus]

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fluttershy apparently doesn't have a whole lot of money.
if 2 bits are a fair price for cider, and it's 1-2 bits for tomatoes, i think that puts a bit at about 1-2 dollars.

ignoring the price gouging, that she doesn't have the equivalent of 20$ is troubling.

ep

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Well she likely didn't have that much on her at the time. Do you always leave the house with an extra giant wad of cash beyond what you've budgeted to spend?

Or rather would you if you knew they were all going to be dollar coins?

[Lix Lorn]

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Gaaaaaaaasp
<3

[Tiki Snakes]

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(Also: Don't advertise "perfect satisfaction")

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Subtext to that, intentional or not;
I got the impression that, basically, everyone pays up because his Seminar doesn't actually work. So when the super confident minotaur turns up and aggressively demands his cash, regardless of how well they've been following his basically flawed techniques, they suddenly are all smiles and nods and pay up.
Him being a tiny bit dim, takes this as genuine endorsement, hence him being so suprised when Fluttershy actually manages to assert that she wasn't satisfied. She had learned to be assertive, unlike all the others (just not because of his techniques).
And he goes away a tiny, tiny bit wiser too.

[Weimann]

S2E19

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Hooookay. This episode? This episode.

I guess I'll start with the good things, which was that it supported my hypothesis stating that the greater part of the mane cast you have on screen at once the better. They work off each other so well, and both Rarity and Pinke Pie gets some comedy gold here. Iron Will was also pretty funny at times. So, y'know, main objective fulfilled. I can like an episode on that alone.

That said, I don't like the episode. Why? A couple reasons.

Firstly, it's one thing that the ponies kind of push her around. It's rather easy to do, after all. But Fluttershy is supposed to be good with animals. In this episode, she's even getting bossed around on her home turf.

Secondly, is it just me or is this what they do every time they want to make something of Fluttershy? She confronted the dragon in Dragonshy, the cockatrice in Stare Master and you will LOVE ME!!! Some of those were good (Stare Master in particular, that was freaking epic), but this one didn't add much and the plot hook is getting old. We don't need it every time.

Thirdly, and related, does it seem to anyone as if the Element of Kindness isn't given much credit here? Can we have some episode where the benefits of her kindness gets explored in a positive and useful light without trying to turn its personification into the Element of Confidence? Don't get me wrong, confidence and sticking to your guns are great lessons, but kindness can also be useful. Precisely because there's a perception that kind = timid and weak, such a lesson could actually be among the most useful ones the show could tell.

But all that was after-constructions, thoughts I formulated after watching the episode and when writing this post. There's a more immediate thing that set the tone for my perception of the episode right from the start. In fact, right from the pre-intro scene.

That ****ing rabbit.

Okay, we all know that Fluttershy's favourite pet is a right little git that can't find enough ways to exploit her affection for all animals. It's his character, and while I never liked it (indeed, it correlated strongly to point one made above), I get that it's supposed to be a joke.

But this isn't funny.

I don't know about you, but when I saw that, it just screamed "bitch, where's my dinner?" right out at me. I fail to see what that added to the episode, and make no mistake, kids will pick up on that. It's not a good example to set. This might be the first thing I'll call out as actively wrong with a FiM episode. It's the first strike. And seriously, would someone just KILL THAT DAMN RABBIT?!

Bleh. Sorry I got soap boxy there.

Anyway, as I said, the episode is still watchable. I actually did like Flutterbitch in the Return of Harmony and we get to see some of her in this episode too. And for some reason, I find it hilarious that a minotaur, which is a half-bull, have goats for aids. I mean, disconnect much? Still, no, this might be the worst episode yet.

[Mewtarthio]

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Well, she takes care of animals well. Perhaps she makes money on the side as a vet? She's also groomed Opal before, but that was done as a friendship thing.

Except that I'm fairly certain her "treatment" of Philomena is banned under the Geneighva Convention, so she can't be that good of a vet.

To be honest, until today's episode confirmed that she actually has money (albeit very little of it), I'd pretty much assumed she just squatted in an abandoned building, relying entirely on wild grass for food, her animal friends for home maintenance, and the occasional charity of her pony friends for luxuries.

Also, another separate last thought on the new episode...

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Anyone else find it strange that Rarity is spending so much time with Pinkie Pie after the cherry chimichonga incident? Perhaps she got so adapted to the noise that she no longer can tolerate silence.

Pinkie Pie's friendship is inescapable. No matter how annoying you find her, she will break you down and make you her bestest friend. It is only a matter of time...

[darthbobcat]

Thoughts on Ep/Season 2:

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See, for me, a lot of the season 2 episodes were really really really weak. Like, Over a Barrel would have been in the top 80th percentile in season 2, in my humble opinion. So this episode was a typical example of it. The problem I have, in my opinion, is that the writers spend more time trying to play to the internet fans than keeping the characters... in character. People say they don't like the CMC episodes or Mare Do Well. Those for me have been the highlights of the season for me, because none of them had moments that made me say "Who is this Pony who's impersonating Applejack" or the like. The first 5 episodes or so of Season 2 were, for me, not worth watching. Part of the reason I left was because I didn't feel like going back here to be negative all the time. Only since about February has the season been batting better than a 50% average for me.

And that was especially true here. This felt like such a step back for the whole cast involved, except Pinkie. When I said I felt Fluttershy was ruined, I wasn't kidding. The previous times she'd gone into jerky territory, she was under immense stress or was under mind control. Here, I didn't think she had an excuse. It just demonstrated what some of my friends had pointed out to me before: noone in real life is that shy and cute unless they're trying to get something. And now I'll be thinking that about her in the back of my mind forever.

[Selpharia]

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I like this one. It's not my favorite, but I think the comment about fluttershy doing everything to extremes is sport on. Once she decided she needed to change, she had no touchstone to understand what was too far. I also think that her early successes lead to her spiraling out of control pretty clearly. In her spat with Mr. Greenhooves the gardener, you can she she's uncertain, and pretty much following Iron Will's script, and only when that solves what is for her a longstanding proble, does she begin to be more and more aggressive. her dialogue suggests that Greenhoves does this all the time, and always ignores her very correct advice, and mistreating animals and plants has always been a bit of a berserk button for Fluttershy.

Not to excuse the jerky behavior of the townsponies, but I think that part of why Fluttershy gets cut in front of so often, and why she AAGGRESSERTS so strongly at it is that it's another thinkgthat she's let happen many times before. So when ponies see Fluttershy in line they just think: "Oh, free spot in front of Fluttershy." While some have said that Fluttershy was acting really inappropriately at Sugarcube Corner, the pony who cut in front of her had basically just arrogantly admitted that she just wanted to be futher in line and couldn't give a flying feather about who she inconvenienced in her selfishness. I also chalk up her aggressing Pinkie Pie there to her insistence on following Iron Will's script and her fear of returning to being a doormat if she didn't do so.

Homestly, I liked the fact that new!Flutttershy was actually very hurtful to Pinkie and Rarity, as it shows us how far gone she really is into "needing" to be assertive and not understanding her own aggression. Honestly though, if I could fix one thing about the episode, it would be to make Fluttershy's epiphany more detailed and organic, rather than sudden and out of nowhere like it is. I think the "bad feeling" people get from the episode comes mainly from that, since Fluttershy really did do a lot of emotional damage, and her realization and repentance seem too sudden and inexplicable to make up for it.

On another note, Rarity using her feminine wiles is always a bit odd, just because it's against the tone of the show, but I think that some ponies can mistake "side of the character I don't like" for "out of character" because they want their little ponies perfect all the time, or at least every error pointed out and corrected (see Sweet and Elite). Also, I'm pretty sure Rarity does actually pay Poindexter fro the asparagus, so it;'s not quite so mercenary, as it's just "could you let me buy the last one, handsome?" rather than "give me the last one since I called you handsome, you pathetic nerd", though it certainly is a bit manipulative, but I wouldn't call it evil. I don't think Pinkie's assertiveness was in any way immoral, since price negotiation is clearly accepted in the market.

I did feel the pacing problems as several others have mentioned, but I loved Iron Will and his EXTREEEEME HAM. I think this episode is solidly middling for me, and certainly not as bad as Owl's Well, Mare Do Well, or Feeling Pinkie Well Keen.

ETA: Darthbobcat, if you wouldn't mind giving some examples of scenes you thought were particularly bad, I'd be interested to know.

[darthbobcat]

ETA: Darthbobcat, if you wouldn't mind giving some examples of scenes you thought were particularly bad, I'd be interested to know.

Let's see... the trouble is that I watched the episodes I hated once, months ago, and tried to purge them from my memory. But really specific examples aren't coming to mind. Though I do know that I overstated it before; I did like the Sisterhooves Social. If Sweetie Belle had a speaking role this season, I liked that episode and if I didn't, she was the highlight (see: Lesson Zero).

I can think of a few specific moments.

1) The Halloween episode. I had no idea how this thing could exist in continuity. When Nightmare Moon showed up, it shouldn't have been "who are you," it should have been "OH NO THE LITERAL DEVIL HAS SHOWN UP!" Also, it was sort of a character assassination of a pony not featured: Celestia. Either she didn't care enough to tell Luna to tone it down, or Trollestia is real and she wanted to watch her go make a fool of herself.

2) Lesson Zero. Least favorite episode; while episode 19 ruined Fluttershy for me, Lesson Zero is the bottom of the barrel for me. I don't like Twilight Sparkle in that mode, where she doesn't understand the Celestia isn't Tyrantlestia. Specific moment that got me was Fluttershy breaking the bear's neck. They didn't have to make the fight that extreme to make Twilight Sparkle... think... I forget why that made her go away, rather than her discovering the problem of Fluttershy abusing her animal friends.

Those are the two low points that I can remember distinctly. Everything else was the oft mentioned pacing issues (the Discord thing needed another episode to tell the story they wanted to tell), obvious fan pandering or... just not very good writing.