Episode Review: Filli Vanilli · 2:40am Feb 19th, 2014
Since things are taking so long and because there was very little to fix with the first part of it, I am putting up the revised first part of Mezza Voce. No timeline on when the other parts will be released (all-at-once) but I am getting there, don't you worry yourselves! Hopefully I made it more clear as to what was going on with Octavia at the time. Doesn't make her less of an idiot though. ;3 Review after the break!
For every good musician out there in the world, there are about a hundred bad or mediocre ones to fluff out the ranks of the community. Not specific to any single one, but in general. /shoots foot. At any rate, in with the legends and the good artists, you have the infamous and just plain awful. But there is one sin that stands out from the others in musical circles, and that is lip-synching. The title of this episode comes from a 1980's German R&B (Rhythm and Blues)/Pop band called Milli Vanilli which had over two dozen lawsuits launched against them when it was found out that they were lip synching. A very obscure reference if I ever saw one. If anyone brings up hipsters, I will break their glasses and crumple their cappuccino cups.
Heart Attack Counter: 5*
Filli Vanilli begins with a normal day at Fluttershy's cottage, with the butter-yellow pegasus singing to her little woodland friends at the start of a brand new day. However, things take a turn for the worse when she turns to realize that her friends have been listening to her... all of her friends. After the title, her friends start praising her singing prowess and how they are surprised that... she has a... great voice. Did Hearth's Warming Eve never happen, or are they all just deaf? Actually, now that I think about it, Twilight does say "I've never heard you sing a SOLO like that!"Anyway, Rarity, it seems is a member of an acapella group called The Ponytones, and she happily extends her an invitation to make their quartet and quintet, but Fluttershy swiftly refuses. Pinkie Pie... just... she doesn't make things better. >> Anyway, eventually Fluttershy says that, surprise, she is too shy to go on stage. Ah well, Rarity takes it in stride with just a mild hint of disappointment, but there is no time to dwell on it as she has a performance to get ready for; ironically one for the pet center fundraiser.
As the group practices, Fluttershy hangs back and listens to them, silently grooving on their silky voices. Afterwards, she speaks with Rarity and they comment how it's going to be a nice, drama-free event due to their skills... and that jinxes it. Next day, it turns out that one of the group, Big Macintosh (Eee~!) lost his voice (and title) from a Turkey Call contest (with the title going to Pinkie), meaning The Ponytones can't perform and the whole event will be a tremendous flop. Reluctantly, Fluttershy agrees to help, but she has no intentions of being on stage, giving Rarity an idea. With the aid of Zecora (Eeee~!), they create a brew that mimics the Poison Joke effects from Bridle Gossip to give Fluttershy that smooth bass voice once more. The event goes off without a hitch as Fluttershy performs for the lip synching Big Mac and nopony is the wiser. However, when a filly and her dad ask if the Ponytones can play for her Cute-ceañera, Rarity declines because of Mac's voice... but Fluttershy insists that the perform anyway.
Thus, a cycle of performing, being asked to perform and Fluttershy agreeing to to it commences as, over the next few days, The Ponytones are asked to play at various venues all around town while finding new and creative ways to conceal the secret fifth member. Eventually, Fluttershy becomes the author of her own misfortune as she becomes overenthusiastic during one performance and exposes herself. Naturally, she locks up and flees as fast as the wind form the cheering crowd. After a humourous brother/sister moment between Applejack and Mac, they girls go back to the cottage to find that Fluttershy has taken the herbal bath and her voice is back to normal. Pinkie Pie makes things even worse resulting in a chase around town at night.Eventually they catch up to her and calm her down enough to at least give performing a very tiny shot: namely in front of her friends and animals. She finds that it wasn't as bad as she thought, but refuses another performance because she's not that comfortable yet and cites 'baby steps, everypony'. She writes her lesson down in the journal, the end!
Those Ponytones outfits are amazing. They must be a Rarity design. <3
*Sighs* Okay, let's talk about Pinkie Pie for a bit. Amy, oh Amy, you can do SO much better than this! How is it we get a spectacular Pinkie in Pinkie Pride but two weeks later, we get a Pinkie who makes Fluttershy cry... twice? I can see where she's coming from in saying Pinkie's mouth was moving faster than her mind, but the last time that happened was with Princess Luna, who she knew nothing about. Not so-sensative-she-would-never-prank-her Fluttershy. Still, be it a bad day, or getting back into the swing of things, this Pinkie comes off as a major (pardon le francais) asshole and turns a great episode... into a good one. Pinkie could have been written out and things would have stayed the same.
Geeze. Even Mac is making duck faces this season. Also, Best Zebra! (I can already smell the R34 edits. x.x)
I'm not going to go into details about the songs this episode, because they weren't exactly big, but they were still spectacular. Although, I am a little disappointed there was, apparently, a need for drums and other background effects for an acapella group, which the last time I checked, was supposed to be JUST vocals. The first number sung by Fluttershy was rather Disney and a bit forgettable, but "Find the Music" was surprisingly catchy and memorable to me.
[youtube=Y-YsNL9YMe8]
So, we have two new ponies wit significant roles in this episode, even if they do not speak outside of singing the songs. He is Toe-Tapper and she is Torch Song (I think) and I simply adore their designs! Also, Twilight actually flies this episode! Yay! =D The callback to season one, where Spike nicknames Fluttershy as "Flutterguy" was also pretty good and no, it was not a panda. -.- I also loved the subtle understanding between Rarity and Fluttershy, bringing back the continuity of their closeness as friends. Oh, and I can't forget Gummy and the turkey, or even the fabulous outfits that the Ponytones wear!
Sadly, there is one really big thing that brings this episode down and her name is Pinkie Pie. I've already gone on about this, so I will not repeat myself, but this is substantial and really hampers my enjoyment of the story, even if the faces she makes and Spider Pie are priceless. I also didn't like how this show has a habit of making Big Macintosh SHUT UP when he's in danger of saying more than five words. It just really rubs me the wrong way that this is the most he's spoken since Ponyville Confidential. Yes, he's not a main character, but he has more screen time than Mr. Cake and a fraction of the lines outside of 'Eyup' and 'Nope' and that bugs me a little.
I'd hate to imagine what Gummy was like before they surgically removed all of his teeth!
So, let's get this over with. If you were to lock me in a room filled with those spotlight heads, I would have to rate this episode an easy-listening 81/100. It suffers because of Pinkie, even if she was well meaning, because she came off as an inconsiderate d**k. I really am starting to worry a bit of her characterization and this is not a good thing. She's now easily the worst mane six in my book right now. =/
Anyway, next week, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decide to become popular by getting close to the newest princess in the land. Will their efforts be worth it, or will they go mad from all the books, lecturing and study that the uni- er, alicorn, is famous for? Only Twilight Time will tell. =P Until then, this is Ciroton saying, "You've got to find the music in you!"
Spider Pie, Spider Pie. Does whatever a Spider Pie does.
Wait, wait, wait... You mean to tell me that in the next episode, other characters are FINALLY going to acknowledge the fact that Twilight is a princess?!
She's not Pinkie Pie anymore, she's Fluttershy upsetter...yeah that didn't really work.
Anyway, your feeling of Pinkie being the worst of the man six is accurate. She just is. Don't get me wrong, I kind of respect her character, but she's just worst pony. I can't put my finger on why, she just...is.
I remember when my sister was huge into Milli Vanilli. Hell, I remember the Super Mario Bros. 3 show where they guest stared! I stopped keeping track of their exploits just before they had their big controversial reveal, so the impact of them faking wasn't a huge deal for me.
I don't get the panda reference.
May not want to... 
Man, this episode could have been perfect. But, Pinkie Pie did a bang up job of bringing it down.
Actually, I've heard some people say that it should have been Sweetie Belle with the stage fright problem. This would have been a nice buildup to her cutie mark reveal (but I have the distinct feeling that we'll never see them until the show is ready to end). As it is now, it's kinda of a rehash of Hurricane Fluttershy, only with a different spin. I guess I should be grateful though, because otherwise we wouldn't have gotten all the adorableness that Fluttershy brought with her in this latest outing.
IE: They must be a GOOD Rarity design, because Rainbow Falls clearly showed us that Rarity isn't as infallible on all fashion matters as we thought...
Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Fluttershy has performed on stage in front of much larger crowds by herself as the center of attention without anywhere near this much hysterical fear before (Green Isn't Your Color)? Not to mention that this was also a favor to the same friend as last time?
Though I must admit, the return of Flutterguy was pretty sweet.
1850978
I don't think Green Isn't Your Color counts because she was pretty much browbeat into it by a combination of Photo Finish and her perceived obligation to Rarity.
Hearts Warming Eve on the other hand...
here is my mindset with pinkie pie. she is hyperactive and often flies off the handle, but also is always trying to create levity in the situations. from how i imagine it, the episodes focusing on pinkie pie shows us how she is between antics. and i imagine that she does thing accidentally on purpose to ease the situations. she intentionally does things to make every at ease but will let her hyperactivity get ahead of her and may do something that is more hurtful by mistake.
guess that i how i can sitll enjoy here even in these moments of freak out. i can sitll see her as more complex because i imagine that when we are not seeing her go crazy, as she is not the focus of these episodes, she is actually taking the situation more seriosuly than she is letting on and is trying to figure out how to keep everyone at ease and calm, if in her own way.
put simply, i took her "Oooh, but i'm so good at it", too heart. she is just trying to keep everyone at ease. hell i think she does help sometimes oto, though times like this she creates conflict. and pinkie has never been completely good at reading other ponies anyway. it took her an entire day and so much effort that she is lucky she was not bagged and gagged and arrested for stalking in her episode with cranky doodle, to realize what he really needed. this is especially true when she gets overexcited.
though i will admit she should ahve realized she was actually hurting fluttershy. though i sitll found it funny how she was, i can actually tell, trying to bring levity and portray fluttershy's phobias as ridiculous, and going way out of left field.
the rest of the episode............ just damn awesome. i would probably get it a ninety though i am rarely bothered by pinkie, largely because of my mindset with the character, and that song was just awesome and catchy........... ironically the first thing i saw with open mouth big mac was applebloom out of it.
...........okay, i would KILL for someone to make a character in the show that basically had the voice of flutterguy. i just love it!
While not quite the same, I feel this is relevant, even if the Pony Tones didn't have a beatboxer.