Doctor Perseus Reviews: "Flutter Brutter" *SPOILERS* · 10:00pm Jun 4th, 2016
In this week's episode of MLP, Fluttershy's freeloading brother Zephyr Breeze moves in with her after she convinces him to move out of their parents' house. She decides to make Zephyr get a job but this proves to be more difficult than one would think.
Now this was an episode I was definitely looking forward to. It's been teased since Season 5 was airing that we would meet Fluttershy's enigmatic brother. So how did this episode turn out? I think it's one of the best Fluttershy episodes we've had thus far.
Fluttershy was on point throughout this episode. It was so satisfying to see Fluttershy stand up to her brother and not back down. This is one of those times where it really shows how far these characters have come since Season 1. Fluttershy's still kind and caring but she's not about to let anypony walk over her, not even her own brother. It was also great to finally meet Fluttershy's family. While we didn't get any further names for Fluttershy's parents aside from Mr. and Mrs. Shy, I liked their designs and it's easy to see where Fluttershy got a lot of her characteristics from. And I believe Fluttershy is the first member of the Mane 6 to have a younger brother. It's nice to see that type of dynamic being explored as the relationships we've seen in the Mane 6 thus far have already covered those with sisters and older brothers. Anyway, I think the best way to describe Zephyr is entertainingly annoying. He was an entertaining character who helped provide some laughs due to how much he annoyed the other characters but, at the same time, I kinda wanted to give him a good smack and a lecture. But it was nice to see him, thanks to Fluttershy, finally begin making something of himself at the end. Lastly, I don't want to stereotype but based on Zephyr's interest in Rainbow Dash and his various collection of posing stallions, I'm inclined to believe that Zephyr may be bisexual. I dunno. Maybe I'm looking too deep into things. I'm sure there will be plenty of fanfics to come though.
Anyway, the other members of the Mane 6 get some fun moments throughout the episode. Rainbow Dash's reactions to Zephyr's advances (as well as Mr. and Mrs. Shy's belief that Rainbow Dash was always "pining" for Zephyr) were priceless. Pinkie Pie's mentioning of Cheese Sandwich was a nice bit of fan service (seriously, Weird Al, when are you coming back to MLP?). And Twilight's, Spike's and Rarity's reactions to Zephyr's antics were fitting.
The song "Can I Do It On My Own" was an enjoyable little melody at the end. It's weird how devoid of songs this season has been so far aside from a few select episodes. The moral was also very good as I think a lot of people can relate to being so afraid of failure that they don't even try (I've been guilty of this a couple times in my life, though certainly not to extent of how Zephyr was handling things). And it's also funny that the word "peeved" is apparently a cuss word in Equestria. Maybe it's their equivalent of "pissed" or something.
Overall, Flutter Brutter was a great Fluttershy episode and was certainly a step up from last week's episode.
Next week's episode is Spice Up Your Life!
Pinkie Pie and Rarity are called to Canterlot to solve a friendship problem. Once there, they discover a father and daughter whose relationship is strained as they struggle to keep their restaurant open. Pinkie Pie and Rarity both want to help, but have different ideas on what 'help' means.
What did the rest of you think of Flutter Brutter?
So as of this episode, Rainbow Dash is now the only Mane 6 pony without any confirmed biological siblings.
* Applejack: Big Macintosh (older brother) & Apple Bloom (younger sister).
* Fluttershy: Zephyr Breeze (younger brother)
* Pinkie Pie: Limestone Pie (older sister), Maud Pie (older sister), & Marble Pie (younger twin sister).
* Rarity: Sweetie Belle (younger sister)
* Twilight Sparkle: Shining Armor (older brother)
Also, like Newbie Dash, this episode was written by Dave Rapp with a story contributed by a veteran writer. In the case of Newbie Dash, it was Dave Polsky. Here, it's Meghan McCarthy. If you remember back in your The Crystalling review, I brought up how she left the job of story editor to Josh Haber so that she could work on the script for the feature-length movie coming out next year. I guess she decided to take a break by helping out with an episode.
Did you spot link in the back ground? If not here is a DA Image I posted of him:
orig01.deviantart.net/d6ab/f/2016/156/f/f/link_is_canon____by_phoenixqnebula-da54ge7.jpg
I always see Spike as Twilight's younger brother. I really wish they would clarify that. when was the last time we had just a Spike and twilight episode
3998786
Link has appeared in MLP. I can die happy now.
3998768
Maybe Rainbow Dash is an only child.
It was a nice surprise to see Meghan writing another episode. I am interested in seeing how she handles the 2017 film.
3999191
You and me both!
You know, I think it was mentioned somewhere in the episode that the Mane Six had each met Zepyhr before. Fanfic fuel!
3999195
Well, I guess every group of friends needs to have at least one member who doesn't have any brothers or sisters and Rainbow Dash just happens to be to be that one member for the Mane 6. For a few other examples, Angelica Pickles from Rugrats/All Grown Up and Nigel Uno aka Numbah 1 from Codename: Kids Next Door.
I agree this is one of Fluttershy's best episode. You can see me gush over it at a molecular level on my own blog. I actually didn't realize it whilst watching the episode or writing the review that Zephyr is the only younger brother we've seen so far. I guess it didn't register for me because he's not the only younger sibling.
Though, I don't quite get why you'd think Zephyr might be bisexual. But "entertainingly annoying" is probably the best way to describe Zephyr though.
3999195
4002005
Yeah, that's what I figure as well. I mentioned in my own review how odd it would be if each of the Mane 6 had a sibling. I mean, what is the likelihood of six randomly selected friends all having siblings. At least one of them should be an only child.