Brotherhooves Social Review · 3:10am Oct 4th, 2015
Well, it's happened folks. In some kind of weird way, we actually now have a Big Mac episode. I did not see that coming! I think the same can be said for EVERYTHING in this episode.
Let's not dilly dally and dive right in!
In the previous episode, it was mentioned that Applejack and Rarity would be missing the Sisterhooves Social. Well, it carried through right here! This episode begins just shortly before Made In Manehattan does! Then it goes right alongside it, pretty much! Aside from that, Big Macintosh seems to be having issues in getting Apple Bloom's attention. Applejack tries to help, but she's called by the Cutie Map and has to leave.
So after Applejack departs for Manehattan, Apple Bloom is feeling pretty down about the fact that she can't participate in the Sisterhooves Social. But then Big Mac has an idea!
O.o Uh... I think I'm scared, now.
Anyway, so the Sisterhooves Social rolls around. Scootaloo is competing with Rainbow Dash, while Sweetie Belle is hanging around to watch the proceedings. This is when Apple Bloom awkwardly reveals that her long-lost cousin, Orchard Blossom, is going to be participating with her. So we finally meet this cousin who-
IS BIG MAC IN DRAG!!!!!!!
Wow. Poison and I were SO taken aback by this, I had to pause the video because I was laughing too hard. I could not believe what was happening! XD Even moreso, when he started talking in that terrible yet still convincing Southern Belle accent, we just went crackers! I really must give Peter New tons of kudos for being able to pull that off!
What especially got to me also, was Sweetie Belle's deadpan reaction of seeing right through it. That was just golden! Rainbow's equally deadpan sarcasm was pretty silly too. I did like this approach, it was nice to see the whole Paper Thin Disguise element actually NOT fool anybody.
So in the long run, they didn't even end up winning. Big Mac, try as he may, ended up being destructive and tore apart the obstacle course! It was an interesting display of his competitive side, as well as the fact he just simply wasn't prepared for all this. Even when they did cross the finish line, they ended up disqualified. Instead, Rainbow and Scootaloo win! That was a really nice touch to have the two of them compete together in the Sisterhooves Social! We've seen nice inklings of their bond since "Sleepless In Ponyville", but this was a great addition to it.
Now of course, we all can see now that this episode comes off as the "Character A disguises themselves as either the opposite gender or is impersonating someone" plot. Usually for the benefit of somebody else. We've seen this plenty of times in other shows, especially in cartoons. And usually, when the character is exposed for who they really are, it ends disastrously.
This could have ended up ending pretty badly overall. The lesson could've been, as Dr. Wolf put it, all about the fact that it doesn't matter if you're sisters or not. Yeah, while that factor was indeed part of it, hammering it in like that would've felt a bit too forced. It would've even left with the question of "Are just going to ignore that Big Mac played a bit too dirty back there?".
That didn't happen. Instead, we actually got something a lot better! :D To begin with, they got disqualified just as Big Mac's disguise fell apart. But they were disqualified for a good reason! Because of the poor sportsmanship and destruction of the obstacle course! Yes! That was beautiful! They didn't even care that he was dressed in drag! They even knew it all along! How they handled the cross-dressing really stood out to me overall, and I'm so glad they did it that way.
Most of all, it also proves that you don't need to win in order to build a closer bond. Nowhere was that reinforced better than during the ending. Oh yes, I think we all know about the ending at this point. Big Mac finally opens up to Apple Bloom about how he feels, and it's actually very believable. He feels overshadowed by Applejack because of her amazing feats, especially since Apple Bloom used to look up to him when she was little. He used to be her hero. Nowadays, he feels neglected and like he can't possibly measure up to Applejack.
It was such a wonderful scene. Apple Bloom was so understanding and compassionate, which was very mature of her. Sometimes, you do need to remind the people you love just how much they mean to you. And again, I think this was a very understandable approach for Big Mac's character and it worked out very nicely. Awwwww!
Wow, you guys. I loved this episode! It made me laugh the entire way through, Big Mac's Orchard Blossom getup was hilarious, it was nice to see Rainbow and Scootaloo participating, it was great development for Big Mac's character, the ending bit was heartwarming, and the moral was nicely handled. It did contain cringe humour, but I have to say that it was awkward and cringe-worthy in all the right ways.
I would say, for the time being, this has become my favourite episode of season five. :D
This is possibly my favorite of the season. Big Mac is best Big Brother ever, take that Shining.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I think this was a HUGE improvement over Polsky's last episode in teens of comedy. And plus it explored a relationship we haven't seen before. Sure, we've seen the Apple Family as a whole and a tonne of AJ and Apple Bloom but never Big Mac and Apple Bloom.