MLP Reviews #5: One Bad Apple · 4:38pm Jan 11th, 2014
MLP Review #5
One Bad Apple
Here we go.. a Cutie Mark Crusaders episode! These episodes seem to be largely hit or miss with me. They are either fantastic or awful with very few in the middle.. such as “Cutie Pox” which took so few risks to make it anything wonderful but avoided doing anything horrible. However, this review isn’t about “Cutie Pox” but about “One Bad Apple”.
So let’s begin!
Intro
So we see that Apple Bloom is excited that her cousin is visiting Apple Bloom and her family from Manehattan. Apple Bloom is trying to figure out what to wear besides the bow she normally wears. Applejack just wants to get to the train station on time. We see that Apple Bloom is a slob and has no fashion sense – Rarity would be insulted by some of the outfits Apple Bloom was considering. Applejack, being impatient with her sister, tells Apple Bloom that her cousin doesn’t have a cutie mark. This means Apple Bloom doesn’t need to fancy herself up. She also wants to bring her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle along. Oh boy, this is going to be a CMC episode about not having cutie marks. Like I said in the first paragraph, these are either hit or miss. This also looks like this is a “stupid Apple Bloom” episode, something which tends to bring CMC episodes down almost as much as a “stupid Scootaloo/Sweetie Belle” episode. With that said, if one doesn’t have a brain, the other two usually don’t have them either. However, I do have to admit that I am curious to meet Apple Bloom’s cousin. All we know is that she is from Manehattan and doesn’t have a cutie mark. I guess this also means her cousin is also a filly, are there any mares without cutie marks?
Act I
Ah, Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are at the train station. Applejack is clearly as annoyed as I am with the CMC’s childish behavior. Apple Bloom is so excited to meet her cousin that she is examining every pony in a train car (and a cow) to see if her cousin is there. Applejack tells Apple Bloom that she never met Babs Seed. Heh heh. Kind of like bad seed, oh I get it!
Enter Babs Seed. She is given an enthusiastic welcome by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Babs doesn’t seem as enthusiastic but she does have a Brooklyn accent. The CMC show Babs their treehouse and tell Babs about all the dorky things they do as Cutie Mark Crusaders. You know, the kind of stuff which you see and think… “yea, these ponies are not cool”. Babs seems very uncomfortable with the idea of talking about the fact that she doesn’t have her cutie mark. However, the CMC don’t seem to notice. Apple Bloom is excited about the idea of meeting another filly in the same age group without her cutie mark. The CMC show Babs their float for the summer harvest, a giant pumpkin, telling Babs that she can ride in it with them. Babs doesn’t really say much. I got to admit though, despite the very beginning of the episode, the CMC aren’t annoying here – it is just clear that Babs has a different idea of how she wants to deal with the cutie mark thing.
Enter Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon: the pink-colored sociopathic brat and her loyal follower. Wow, they really like hanging out with the CMC. Why stop by Sweet Apple Acres? Did Diamond Tiara really say, “Hey, Spoonie! Let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres and see if we can make fun of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” That seems lamer than whatever it was the CMC were showing Babs. Diamond Tiara makes fun of Babs for being a “blank flank” which you can see sets Babs off. However, not to the CMC’s benefit. We also get some stupid-ass “lame-kin” insult from Diamond Tiara, good, we don’t want to do anything that would make her likable. Babs responds to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon by bullying the CMC as well. Babs comments “More like the Cutie Mark Crybabies”. Wow, Babs is even better at making a witty insult than Diamond Tiara – sorry girl, you’re useless. Babs knocks over the giant pumpkin float which rolls out of the barn – destroying the float.
Apple Bloom tells Babs that she’ll tell Applejack about this. However, Babs (in a very intimidating way) tells Apple Bloom to not be a snitch and then Babs leaves with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
This is your typical bullying story. Don’t tell an adult because that would make you a snitch.
Sweetie Belle wants to tell Applejack about what happened anyway, making her the most mature one of the group in this episode. However, Apple Bloom is against the idea since she doesn’t want to be a “snitch” or a “crybaby”. Seems like the CMC is in trouble. Who knows what Babs would do? Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are more about using their words to bully others. However, Babs seems to like physical bullying as well. You get the idea. This is going to end with the basic moral. Apple Bloom should have told Applejack about Babs being a bully and the problem could be resolved. Babs is a bad seed, that’s why her name is Babs Seed – get it, heh heh.
Act II
We see Babs Seed in action and boy is she a bully.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders are terrified to do anything because of Babs. She is everywhere they are.
This leads to the best part of the episode: the song. “Babs Seed”. The music, the lyrics, and the animation all come together to make probably one of the best songs in MLP:FiM history. At least, it makes my top five.
The CMC are watching a movie and Babs pops out of the movie screen just to bully them! That is terrifying but incredible at the same time. At the same time, things are looking pretty good. You have an interesting CMC episode. Babs is a very different kind of bully from Diamond Tiara. Diamond Tiara is simply an annoyance. However, Babs is a torturer with seemingly no remorse. Additionally, she’s in Ponyville for a “couple of weeks”.
The last straw is when Babs steals the CMC’s clubhouse. This causes Sweetie Belle to cry Pinkie Pie style. When you do that to Sweetie Belle, you know you’re a bad pony. Also, Babs steals Apple Bloom’s bed and makes Apple Bloom sleep on the floor.
Sweetie Belle suggests again that they tell Applejack about what is going on. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are against the idea. Apple Bloom doesn’t want to be a “snitch” and Scootaloo doesn’t want to be a “baby”. Sweetie Belle then gives more suggestions such as telling Rarity or Twilight. However, Apple Bloom suggests that they take matters into their own hands. The Cutie Mark Crusaders build a golden apple float for the summer harvest with a trap inside. We get a funny scene where Scootaloo thinks she has a wrench cutie mark but it turns out to just be dirt. They build the float knowing that Babs will steal it from them. One of two things will likely happen: either, Babs will get fucked over like Gilda in “Griffon the Brush Off” or something is going to happen which will make the CMC regret the trap they set up.
Enter the Summer Harvest parade. Lol, Pinkie Pie and Spike like food, lol.
The floats are all set up. The CMC bring their golden apple float and show it to Babs. Sweetie Belle is terrible at being subtle. However, they succeed in getting Babs to steal the float from them.
The CMC even show foresight by placing a mattress next to the float. I forgot to mention this earlier. However, this episode has a positive trait for a CMC episode: the CMC are children but they aren’t idiots.
Enter Applejack.
Applejack doesn’t seem to notice how evil/conniving the CMC look when they send Babs off on the float – even though it’s pretty obvious to us, at least. At least they don’t mention their plan in front of Applejack or anything like that.
Applejack is so proud that the CMC “let Babs ride the float” because Babs was going through some “heartache” in Manehattan because she was being bullied for not having her cutie mark. Applejack gives the CMC balloons and walks away. The CMC realize why Babs went along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and now want to stop the trap.
So Babs’ bullying can be justified because she was bulled in Manehattan. Wait.. what? Is a great episode going to turn sour just like that? I would get that excuse if she just tagged along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon but didn’t do anything. However, Babs became the leader of that group. She was the one who was tormenting the CMC and seemed to have a lot of fun doing so. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were the ones watching with amusement. Babs is probably the biggest bully we have seen in the MLP series. Gilda and Diamond Tiara don’t compare. However, it seems like we are looking to make Babs “a good gal”. It’s too early to make a judgment though. Let’s see how the third act is handled. Remember. Babs’ bullying is perhaps the cruelest and mean-spirited kind we have ever seen in the series.
Act III
Holy shit! Did I just see double Bon Bon? I am assuming the one next to Lyra is the real Bon Bon and the other one is her twin sister or a changeling or whatever? I dunno.
So yea.. here we are, back to the story. The Cutie Mark Crusaders now want to save Babs Seed from the booby trap they set up. The CMC see that Pinkie Pie is driving a leaf float or something like that – I dunno. The CMC ask Pinkie if they can get in the float. Pinkie lets them in and she even lets them drive the float. Bad idea, since they are kids and can’t drive for shit. They catch up to Babs’ float. Babs thinks they are trying to steal the golden apple float and Babs bump her float into the CMC’s float causing it to crash. Pinkie is just happy about veggie salad or something like that. Wow, a Pinkie Pie joke falling flat and it isn’t even a Merriwether Williams episode. Lol, Pinkie is being random, I get it, lol. Veggie salad is the joke and the punchline. It doesn’t work for me personally. However, I could see why some people would find it funny.
The booby trap sets off in the golden apple float and Babs loses control of it.
The CMC catch up to Babs’ float, jump into it and push her out. Now the Cutie Mark Crusaders are stuck in the booby-trapped float which goes into the mud.
They get screwed over for their plan against Babs Seed. They talk about getting their cutie marks in “stupidest idea ever”. Nothing is quite as stupid as what they did in “The Show Stoppers” and I didn’t see any cutie marks pop up after that episode.. so I don’t think that’s what their cutie marks will represent.
We get to the resolution scene next. The CMC are getting cleaned up from all the mud. Babs Seed realizes she has been such a bully to them and asks why they bothered to save her given how she treated them.
The CMC explain that they set up the booby trap and wanted to get back at Babs for bullying them.
Sweetie Belle realizes that they turned into bullies themselves and whines about life being so ironic, enter philosopher Sweetie Belle. She is learning that life just screws you over some times to teach you a lesson. This was unexpected for them since they turned into “bullies” out of self-defense.
Applejack comments that the CMC should have just told her what was going on in the first place. Points for Sweetie Belle who suggested that right away.
Babs is apologetic and make a 180 in character. She wants to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
One moral works here. If you’re a kid, it’s in your best interest to tell an adult if you’re being bullied. Applejack tells the CMC that at the end.
However, another moral doesn’t work here. A bully’s actions can be justified if the bully has been bullied him/herself, especially the way Babs treated them in the second act. I get it. She’s from Manehattan and has a lot of attitude but I mean.. come on!
The moral does seem jumbled in places, if you know what I mean.
After that scene though, the episode does get better.
We see the initiation where Babs Seed joins the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She even gets a CMC cape which we’ve never seen before. This scene is funny for two reasons. First, it parodies what real initiations are often like with a very long speech with a lot of repetition. Second, since Babs is the first pony they initiated, Scootaloo forgot that she wrote the speech she hated listening to so much – it was probably done a long time ago.
Also at the end, Babs and the CMC have another run-in with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Babs uses her New Yorker ‘tude on the two prissies and makes them fall in the mud. It is also revealed that Diamond Tiara is secretly a pig in disguise, :-p. It’s also good to see that Babs didn’t make a total 180. I also like to see Diamond Tiara get what she deserves. They call her Bad Seed. Applejack questions it. Sweetie Belle tries to explain it to AJ but fails miserably; I guess Babs Seed is a badass.
Honestly, those two last scenes saved this episode from getting a lower rating I would have given it otherwise.
Babs is an interesting character [unlike Diamond Tiara] because her bullying tactics were just so cruel and effective. Babs wasn’t much with words. However, her actions were just really cruel-natured. It makes you wonder how Babs was being bullied in Manehattan – was it much worse than the petty insults of Diamond Tiara?
Honestly, I remembered this episode not being very good when I first saw it. However, when I gave it a second watch, I realized that this is the kind of episode that did some things really well and some things really poorly. Some parts of the episode give it a “9” rating and other parts give it a “3” rating. I will average it out.
Rating: 6/10 [One Bad Apple had a mix of good and bad. One of the morals had a really “wtf” feel to it. Nothing seems to indicate that the sadistic approach Babs took to bullying was justified. However, this episode did have a lot of pluses: a top-notch song, likeable Cutie Mark Crusaders, and an interesting story. Babs is the sort of bully the CMC never had to deal with before and I think she was a more interesting character than Gilda who played a similar role. With that said, I have never seen a Pinkie Pie joke fall flat like the veggie salad one though. I would argue that the good and bad kind of balance each other out to put “One Bad Apple” on neither the awesome list nor the shit list in the end.]
Revised Rating: 5/10
The "3" stuff really outweighed the "9" stuff. I like Babs Seed as a character and the CMC were actually not annoying in this episode. However, this episode just had one bad moral. Also, DT and SS suck ass...but especially DT.
Ranking so far
The Return of Harmony: 10/10
Secret of My Excess: 9/10
Winter Wrap Up: 8/10 9/10
Putting Your Hoof Down: 5/10 7/10
One Bad Apple: 5/10
Next Up: Baby Cakes
The CMC did not become "Bullies" with they wanted to do to Babs. They just overreacted to the situation. And this episode would've been so much better with the snitch plot. It's tired, cliched, and downright pathetic. There's a difference between telling and tattling. Plus telling an adult doesn't always work, that's not the only way to deal with bullies. If it's not direct, or it's just one bully you can ignore them and make yourself less of a target. But if it becomes put downs, or physical you don't play along, you stand up to them. You don't fight back, but you don't take the abuse lying down. You show them that they can't pick on you, you make them question why they're doing it to you, and even offer to help them if they're troubled.
What's even worse is that they could've just as easily used Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon alone for this episode, Babs may be my favorite crusader, but her role in this episode was pointless.
1706486 SuperPinkBrony12, you make some really good points. There are many ways of dealing with bullies including the ones you mentioned above.
To be fair though, the CMC are children. (
) When Babs was a bully, she had a very intimidating presence about her. Substitute the CMC with three of the Mane Six and you would expect a very different scenario. I don't think Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would have been appropriate substitutes - as I mentioned in my review, Babs' bulling style was a lot more physical in nature and relied heavily on intimidation. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just say things they know will make the CMC feel bad but they don't rely on intimidation/fear in the same way Babs did.
1709337 They could've easily worked, since this could've fleshed them out. Made the episode be about them learning how much their bullying of the CMC is wrong, and how much it hurts. Bullying is a very serious problem in today's world, and rarely can you find a show that can deliver a moral about bullying, within the primary age of bully victims, that actually sticks for all the right reasons.