Episode Re-Review: Honest Apple · 6:17pm February 3rd
Usually, by this point a season would've given us at least some idea of what was in store and what they were going to focus on. But Season 7 was up to eight episodes at this point and there was no sense of direction, the closest that could be said was family since that was the focus of two episodes centered on different Crusaders. We also had Twilight being freed from being Starlight's teacher, allowing Twilight and Starlight both to explore new boundaries. But this episode was coming on the heels of a fairly popular (though not without controversy) Big Macintosh episode and was starring Applejack, a character who'd been getting less and less focus as the seasons went by. A brand new writer debuted with this episode in the form of Kevin Lappin, who like David Rapp had only previously done live action sitcoms. And as David Rapp can attest with "Newbie Dash", that doesn't seem to make for a winning combination. But maybe this lower stakes episode could be good, even though nowadays if people do remember it it's not fondly? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins with Rarity passing out flyers, and Spike is helping her do it. There seems to be an attempt at a joke about Spike being roped into it, but it come across more like he was stalking her, which is just creepy. Spike was never that obsessed with Rarity. What is Rarity passing out flyers for? A fashion contest to be held at her boutique. She's already got both Photo Finish and Hoity Toity to be judges. And who's the third judge? Applejack, a pony with zero fashion experience.
Why is Rarity picking Applejack of all ponies, you might ask? Well, apparently, she wants someone with an outsider's perspective for her little contest. When even Pinkie Pie isn't buying it, you know something's wrong. I fail to see why you need an outsider's perspective for a contest. And by that logic, why not just pick a random pony off the street? Why pick somepony has no experience with fashion or being a judge? Yes, Applejack is honest. But honesty is not the only thing that's important in a judge. The most important thing about a judge is that they can be fair and impartial no matter what. Given how stubborn Applejack can be, I don't think she's all that trustworthy in the fair and impartial department. Applejack even insists to Rarity's face that she's not qualified. But Rarity stupidly thinks Applejack is just being modest.
Rarity insists Applejack think about it, and Applejack does. Then she changes her mind only after pointing out what anypony could've figured out when Apple Bloom is wearing a hat with ribbons that makes it hard to hold or harvest apples. Solving the blatantly obviously doesn't magically make you qualified for something. But Applejack decides to take Rarity up on her offer anyway as Hoity Toity and Photo Finish arrive. They reveal that Coco has apparently made her debut as a designer in her own right, and we even seen Photo Finish lift up her glasses so we can see what color her eyes are (though there's apparently an animation error with Hoity Toity's eyes being the wrong color). The episode clearly wants Applejack to be in the wrong when she laughs at the dress in the photo, claiming it looks like a disco ball. Except that's clearly what it is, so either the animators or the writers made the wrong call.
Now it's time to meet the contestants, all three of them. They include Lilly Lace (a stereotypical valley girl), Inky Rose (a stereotypical goth), and Jet Streak (a stereotypical "ahead of his time" visionary). All three of them have their own ideas about what they want to do, and it's clear that none of them really know what they're doing: They have an idea but have no thought given to how they'll implement or if it's even possible. They do things like make a hat with lots of feathers, or just put lots of holes in socks because potatoes. And again, Applejack being the only one to say how stupid that is doesn't magically make her right, it just means you're making everyone else stupid as a result. Her blunt advice naturally causes problems, and Rarity is already quite frustrated after the first day. Pinkie Pie sees this and offers Rarity a chance to unwind by playing a guitar, to which Rarity agrees and plays so hard she actually makes it smoke.
And if you thought things were already pretty bad as they were from the way the episode is going, just wait, it gets worse. The next day, Applejack gets up in the contestants faces and tells them how bad and stupid they are, then proceeds to destroy their work right in front of everypony. And does anypony else intervene at any point to stop this? No, they just stand there with shocked expressions. Rarity at least you'd think would intervene given that she has magic. Sure, she's not as skilled with her horn as Twilight or Starlight, but I'm pretty sure she could use magic to pull Applejack aside and have a talk with her. We've seen Rarity put her hoof down before when she thinks somepony else is going too far.
Then just in case you might be tempted to root for Applejack, she says to Rarity's face that "fashion is ridiculous". And that's something Applejack would never say no matter what. She knows Rarity really well, she's witnessed enough fashion events to know how much it means to Rarity.
You know what this is? This is Rainbow Dash in Applejack's body, and doing a very poor job of blending in. Rainbow Dash might be this blunt without any thought for what others might think, but that's exactly why she's not the element of honesty. Being honest just to be rude is wrong. The whole point of Applejack's test back in "Leap of Faith" was that she didn't want to be honest just to make somepony unhappy, even if the aesop at the end got preachy about whether it's okay to believe in lies if it makes you feel better. There's a reason why they say "truth hurts", it can be hard to accept that you're wrong. But constructive criticism exisits for a reason, just telling someone they're bad isn't going to solve anything, whereas pointing out what they did wrong and what they can do better will help them learn. None of this is what Applejack's doing, and what's even worse is that she reacts to Rarity finally berating her as if it's Rarity's fault for letting Applejack be a judge in the first place.
So what does Rarity do to make Applejack see sense? She takes her to see a pony named Strawberry Sunrise, and asks her what she thinks of apples. Strawberry outright says she doesn't like them, which makes Applejack lose her cool. But Rarity insists that Applejack shouldn't be mad because it's Strawberry's "honest opinion", basically saying that two wrongs make a right. Only then does Applejack realize she's messed up, after she's pretty much ruined the show.
But Applejack is convinced she can make things right. How, you ask? By kidnapping Hoity Toity and Photo Finish, as well as the contestants, and holding them hostage until she apologizes for taking things too far.
Yet somehow, despite that, a simple apology is enough to undo the damage and let the show go on. And apparently, Rarity is willing to be a judge too since she out of the blue gives her vote to one of the contestants, which makes you wonder why she needed Applejack at all. In any case, it's down to Applejack to pick a winner since the contestants are tied at one a piece. Who does she pick? Well, the episode cuts to after the show as it's revealed that Applejack couldn't pick a winner, so all three won. I guess Rarity never planned for any sort of tiebreaker?
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Quite honestly, this episode never should've left the cutting room floor. Its premise alone makes no sense: Applejack judging a fashion show. Even the episode itself and the characters admit this is a stretch. And just lampshading your problems doesn't make them go away. If you know that makes no sense, then you should go back to the drawing board and try again. Are we sure this wasn't meant to be say a Fluttershy episode? It feels like the plot would fit Fluttershy a lot better, with her struggling to be honest without being cruel. Maybe then it would make sense for her to get carried away and for her to have to apologize later on. Instead, we have to watch everyone be an idiot, even have Applejack act like Rainbow Dash for no good reason. And in the end, the contest might as well not matter since all three contestants win anyone, making the entire episode pointless.
This episode easily gets an E, it's right up there with "Hearth's Warming Eve" for the most pointless episode of the entire show. It's a waste of an episode slot.
Now, since I already covered my thoughts on "A Royal Problem" in all its ups and downs, we're skipping ahead next week to "Not Asking for Trouble", a sequel episode of sorts to "Party Pooped" in which we'll actually get to see Yakyakistan.
Yeah the episode is a bit of a mess, but I love the scene with Strawberry Sunrise.
And the scene with Rarity absolutely shredding guitar makes the entire episode worth it.
I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that choosing Applejack to be a judge for a fashion contest is the equivalent of choosing Fluttershy to be a commentator for a wrestling match. Seriously, this whole episode felt like it was made solely to shoehorn in more Rarijack shipping moments.
Also, as bad as Applejack was here, Rarity was no better. If there was any trope that could best describe her in this episode, it would be "Unintentionally Unsympathetic". To be more specific, we're supposed to feel sorry for her when Applejack's brutal honesty ends up driving away the contestants and other judges. However, given that she made Applejack a judge without her consent, never once tried to stop her bad behavior until it was too late, and even had the nerve to pin all of the blame on Applejack without acknowledging her part in any of this. it comes off more like Rarity just brought everything that happened to her in this episode on herself.
Oh, and here are Hoity Toity and Photo Finish's first and last speaking lines.
Hoity Toity
Photo Finish
This episode honestly gives me Season 1 vibes. It's like most (if not all) character development was set right back to zero...