Season Five Episode Reviews: Appleoosa's Most Wanted · 12:31am May 6th, 2015
Welcome to the second CMC episode of the season. This time, the fillies are going after one of the most dangerous outlaws in Equestria: Trouble Shoes! Can they get their cutie marks this time so that we don't have these episodes anymore? Will Applejack ever calm down? Will the fans ever stop gushing over Braeburn?
The answer to all those questions is, “No.” This is “Appleoosa's Most Wanted.”
TECHNICAL SPECS:
Season: 5
Episode: 6
Written By: Dave Polsky
First Aired: May 2, 2015
SUMMARY:
It's rodeo season in Appleoosa (the second “l” was dropped around the same time [insert joke about America's brutality and racist policies towards the Native Americans here]), and Applejack is competing in Braeburn's stead due to the latter injuring his leg. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have also tagged along; Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are eager to compete and get cutie marks, but Sweetie Belle is more apprehensive about how dangerous things are. It gets worse when Sheriff Silverstar rounds up his deputies and tells them to be on high alert, as Trouble Shoes, an outlaw with a history of destroying rodeos, is on the loose.
No sooner have the CMC (who were supposed to be under Braeburn's watch) approached Applejack about competing than the stack of hay bales AJ's team was using for practice collapses. The CMC escape, but Scootaloo's cool sombrero is now in a better place. A giant hoofprint confirms that this was indeed Trouble Shoes' doing, and Silverstar pledges to stop this varmint once and for all. Unfortunately, seeing her little sister nearly die has caused Applejack to backslide again, and she immediately orders the fillies be sent back to Ponyville on the next train...after being watched by Braeburn again. Sure enough, he falls asleep, allowing the three to escape and head into the forest (which a desert has now, apparently) to search for Trouble Shoes.
The three, having no idea what they're doing, quickly get caught in a rainstorm, followed by a mud slide into the deepest parts of the forest. They spot a wagon in the distance and step inside to get dry, but are soon approached by said wagon's owner, who turns out to be none other than Jason Vorhees Shia LaBeouf Trouble Shoes. The fearsome outlaw...is actually a massive (and massively clumsy) stallion with a bad-luck sign (an upside-down horseshoe) for his cutie mark, as well as a depressed view of the world. As the stallion reluctantly guides the CMC back to Appleoosa, he tells them the truth about his anti-rodeo rampages.
As a colt, he wanted to be in the rodeo, but he wasn't any good at anything no matter how hard he practiced. During a tryout for a rodeo school, he was pulling his routine off when his cutie mark appeared, distracting him and causing an accident that made the judges laugh. Humiliated, he quit halfway through and walked away from the tryouts, but still loved to watch the rodeos. Unfortunately, his cutie mark means that he's plagued with bad luck, and he keeps causing accidents that disrupt the rodeos. This causes the CMC to think that he's just looking at his mark the wrong way: he's just a klutz that could make a good rodeo clown. Unfortunately, they were so engrossed in the story that they forgot about Trouble Shoes being a wanted stallion. Even worse, Braeburn informed Applejack of the trio being gone, and she jumped to the conclusion that the vile monster had kidnapped the three. Seeing the three with him is all the proof Silverstar needs to arrest him for “sabotaging” the rodeos and kidnapping.
The next day, the CMC try to get Applejack to help them break Trouble Shoes out of jail, but she wants no part of any felonies, especially when they involve kidnappers. So the CMC pull the job off themselves, disguising Trouble Shoes as a rodeo clown so that he can infiltrate the rodeo itself. Applejack wins her competition (but still has no blue ribbon, so it doesn't count), only to be outstaged when the CMC finally convince Trouble Shoes that he's ruined his life by looking at things the wrong way, and he finally crashes the clown routine with his klutziness. Despite his massive size and mishaps, everypony is laughing and having a good time...until a water barrel washes off his makeup and reveals his identity. Silverstar moves in to arrest him, but the CMC manage to convince him that the rodeo incidents were indeed just accidents, and Trouble Shoes agrees to both be a rodeo clown and accept his punishment for the damages he did cause. The fillies also finally admit the truth about their nighttime escapade, exonerating Trouble Shoes of the kidnapping charges...but leaving them cleaning up the rodeo grounds as a very peeved Applejack looks on.
REVIEW:
I have to be honest: when this episode was announced, I expected to really dislike it. The premise sounded like something out of the pages of the Cattle Rustler arc from the comics, and as I stated in those reviews, that arc was absolutely terrible. The CMC trying to bust an outlaw to get their cutie marks stank of a forced plotline, and it was made worse when it was revealed that Dave Polsky was the writer; as established previously, the guy has had some major lows and only mild highs. The episode also went back to Appleoosa, the same setting of one of my absolute least favorite episodes of all time (and another one of Polsky's), “Over a Barrel.” And it was not long after another standard CMC episode, “Bloom and Gloom.”
So imagine my surprise when the episode turned out...okay. Not great, but certainly watchable and enjoyable for what it was.
The episode opens with many of the standard clichés Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes are known to have. The trio want their marks really badly, so they plan to sign up for as many things as possible until they get them. Apple Bloom might say that they only want to sign up for one event, but the minute Applejack opens those flood gates...well, Appleoosa will be Buffalo territory again before nightfall. We have Apple Bloom as the leader, Scootaloo as the cool kid, and Sweetie Belle as the concerned one, with Applejack and Braeburn serving as the adults. And of course, the plot really kicks off with the fillies running off to get cutie marks for rounding up desperadoes.
But then the plot, at the very least, starts shifting the pieces around. Apple Bloom realizes that they really should turn back, only it's now too late and she's gotten all three lost. Applejack actually acts sensible to the CMC's habit of causing mischief during dangerous times (such as when they inadvertently accelerated the release of an evil god) and sends them home, and while her overall fears edge into “Somepony to Watch Over Me” territory when she accuses Trouble Shoes of kidnapping immediately, they're far more justified here and she doesn't go completely insane. And the overall moral is not imparted to the Crusaders (even if they get a lesson at the end anyway), but is instead something they teach to Trouble Shoes, building on the lesson Luna had taught them two episodes prior. It's still a CMC episode, but it's one that's really trying, and I can respect it for that much.
Trouble Shoes is one of the more entertaining characters to come out as of late. For one thing, the dude's the biggest pony in the show so far, to the point that he could probably be called a horse if it weren't for the cutie mark. He's also the most depressing character of all, both in terms of his backstory and his general characterization. It's kind of like if Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh had his brain implanted into a Clydesdale, hit the gym, and moved as far as he could from the Hundred-Acre Wood to get away from Tigger's constant harassment. And he has reason to be depressed, as he not only has terrible luck and is really clumsy, but he's gone through life thinking his cutie mark had destined him to fail.
There have been a couple views expressed on how to frame Trouble Shoes' existential crisis, but in my opinion, it helps reinforce what Luna said back in “Bloom and Gloom:” a cutie mark is simply a representation of who a pony is. Trouble Shoes didn't suck at rodeos because of his mark; as shown by the training montage, he was bad before he started. When he's telling the story of when he got the mark at that tryout, he states that he realized he was doing what he had always been intended to do – namely, putting on a show. Throughout his whole story, he never seems interested in winning trophies or ribbons; he just loves the whole spectacle, and wants to be a part of it.
So yes, I'm not upset about the cutie mark thing. I am, however, upset that there is a giant forest in what is supposed to be a wasteland desert! Anyone remember how the reason they couldn't move the trees in “Over a Barrel” was because all of the other ground was infertile? Remember how it's only been a year in-show? Are ponies just that freaking amazing at terraforming? Did the Buffalo have any say? Where the heck are they, and why are they in Trouble Shoes' flashback? AND WHY DID SWEETIE BELLE TAKE THE KEYS WHEN THEY JUST GET SILVERSTAR OUT OF THE JAIL WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTY?!
One other sore spot is Braeburn, who basically exists for the sake of explaining why Applejack's there, failing at everything, and getting clobbered during the clown act. I don't know why it bugs me, especially since his other appearance was mostly to deliver bad horse puns, but it still irks me somewhat. On the plus side, Silverstar is far more reasonable that he was in the first season. He doesn't have anything personal against Trouble Shoes, defends him when Applejack accuses him of kidnapping, and only goes along with her paranoia because Apple Bloom is either talked over or afraid to admit the truth. Then again, Trouble Shoes ultimately isn't a danger outside of his klutziness and size.
And yes, I love the torch-and-pitchfork duo. Ponies are always so eager to form an angry mob. They're like Twitter, in a way.
CONCLUSION:
This episode was overall okay. It's a basic story told in an interesting way, and outside of some plot issues and reminding us that “Over a Barrel” is still canon, it's not a bad watch. With the season continuing to develop a theme around cutie marks, it will be interesting to see what else they have planned for the CMC.
...And maybe a Celestia episode? Hmm?
Pony takes a break next week, but after that, it will be time to smooze with Discord's plus-one.
...Also, the Smooze is the worst villain in the entire MLP franchise.
I do love the Smooze's song, though. He's not really a villain, anyway, more like a natural disaster that can sing.
Anyway. Yeah, this episode was surprisingly decent. Good job, Polsky, you've managed to kinda-sorta redeem the existance of Over a Barrel. Give Braeburn some more lines next time, though.
Yeah, I can basically agree with this. It had some nice moments, and it was pretty cool to even see Braeburn again, but it was all around a very average episode.
That forest thing bugged me really badly too, and part of it is just, it was completely unnecessary. You could have had the exact same scene, rain and all, just out in the brush lands or scrubs. Then it wouldn't totally shatter the illusion of a desert area. I mean, why even go to Appleoosa if you're just going to have yet another 'CMC run through the forest' scene?
Yeah, I'm not the only one who's fucking baffled by the whole "Its only been one fucking year" thing.
I mean, holy fucking shit, Discord escaped and was reformed, Nightmare moon escaped, Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek, Alicorn, fucking Jesus Christ, fucking world shattering events happen every other month, at best, in the fucking canon. They could have said, "Oh, we skipped some time to make the story more sedate." No its fucking 2 fast 2 furious fucking 15 now: We've started making CoD games.
Otherwise, the episodes this season have been like season 4. Nothing I can remember. Just like season three cept I remember quite vividly the maiming. Is it just me, or has these past three seasons just been, well, dull? Me, I can remember some of my favorite episodes from 1 and 2 quite well, but 3 through now, I seem to only remember the shit that fucking infuriated or disgusted me.
RIP, Appleoosa's second L, 2014-2015 :(
3048183 Actually, if you look at the map, Appleloosa is near a set of mountains to the south, and mountains often have forests in their foothills. But the environment seems very swamp, so it would be bad for apples. My best guess is, the tribe wanted the ponies to move the trees west, but that would be into the desert. and maybe the north was not good land either. Meh, it was not a well thought out episode and I doubt the show even cares about geography.
The only problem I have with this episode is that it makes a point of having everyone make up for the trouble they caused, which is good, but it just makes it that much more obvious that Dash got away with no repercussions for her actions last week. I do like last week's episode, but that is a huge black mark on it.
Either way, those two angry mob ponies were the highlight this week.
I really liked this episode, more than most people, I think. It didn't make a huge splash, but it had funny jokes, bright characters, interesting designs, and a few new things we can draw about familiar characters (when have we seen the CMC actually counsel someone before?). This was a really pleasant episode that gave a small sample of everything we like about this show.
Also, I just remembered, we did get other references to Appleoosa: the beginning of Pinkie Pride, and towards the end of the first part of Twilight's Kingdom.
Too bad it wasnt a crossover with Malibu's most wanted...
I really enjoy your reviews. Thanks for posting them.