Hearthbreakers Review · 5:09pm Oct 24th, 2015
So, we've got a Christmas themed episode for the second time in the show's history and it's not even Halloween. Wait, what?
Yes, that's right, it's a Christmas themed episode airing before Halloween. And no, it's not The Nightmare Before Christmas. Instead, we've got Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the Apple Family, spending Hearth's Warming at the Pie family rock farm. When this episode was first announced, I was cautiously looking forward to it because of who penned it. The writer is Nick Confalone, who was responsible for writing "Party Pooped" with help from Jim Miller and Jayson Thiesen. So, with Nick on his own, did he do a good enough job to justify being picked up, or did he only prove he's better off when someone else can hold his hand?
Well, let's find out.
We start off with Pinkie Pie coming down the chimney in Twilight's castle, just like Santa Clause (makes me wonder if there's an Equestria equivalent of that character). And yes, I said Santa Clause and not Sandy Claws.
(Go away, you three.)
Applejack arrives and announces that she and Pinkie Pie are just stopping by to wish Twilight and Spike a happy Hearth's Warming, before they head off to the Pie family rock farm for the holiday. During this time, we learn that Twilight and Spike open presents on Hearth's Warming Eve, instead of Hearth's Warming day, because it's their tradition. But Spike's first present is, a book. Thankfully, it's not a certain bomb carrying book that belongs to a certain wizard from TF2.
On the train ride to the rock farm, Apple Bloom is excited, largely for the presents. But Applejack says it's not about the presents, it's about tradition. And we get a recap of Hearth's Warming Eve (the episode in case you were wondering).
At the train station, Pinkie Pie already expresses her excitement about her family meeting Applejack's family, and a few moments later, Maud shows up, having come home from her studies to spend the holiday. I guess that makes a bit more sense than her appearance in "Make New Friends, But Keep Discord", though she may have gotten so far ahead in her studies that she could afford to miss a day or two to hang out with her sister.
Upon reaching the rock farm, we meet Pinkie's family. Her parents are Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz respectively, and then we get some exposition that may shatter a lot of headcanons. One of Pinkie's sisters is Limestone Pie, who's as aggressive as Gilda. And the other is Marble Pie, who is younger than Pinkie Pie by only a few minutes. Everyone's always believed that Limestone and Marble are twins.
I do have a bit of a problem with their potrayls. They aren't quite as one note as the Yacks from "Party Pooped" but they don't really break out of their default personalities. It turns out that their traditions are different from the Apple family's, they eat rock soup, and instead of a flag pole, they use a giant boulder to raise the flag. Pinkie Pie splits everyone up into teams, with Limestone as the judge. And when she and Applejack are in the mine, Applejack learns that the Pie family hides their presents, and sometimes they never find them. I do have a problem with Applejack suddenly taking issue with this, as it kind of sends a bad message to kids about how Christmas isn't about family or tradition, it's about the presents. And considering how commerical the holiday is, this message isn't likely to make the holiday anymore enjoyable for parents.
So Applejack, as usual, decides that rather than listen to reason and do the logical thing, which is talk about what she doesn't like, she decides to take charge and forsake the Pie family tradition in favor of her own. And naturally, the Pie family gets upset about this. Pinkie Pie is torn over having to choose between the two traditions, and the Apple family decides it's best to just leave and head back home. Just like with "Maud Pie" I really think this episode would've been stronger if they weren't forced to have a happy ending for everyone. Because this episode more so than any other, had the chance to show that sometimes you can try your best and still not be able to befriend someone. But that doesn't mean you should just give up.
But after Applejack recieves a present from Pinkie Pie on the train ride back, she insists that the train stop, and admits to the Pie family how wrong she was to ignore their traditions in favor of her own. And I appreciate the message, though ony Limestone gets the opportunity to break away from her default personality of grumpiness, and it's only for a moment.
The episode ends with the two families coming to terms, and becoming friends, and Maud decides to share some of her poetry skills with a few carols based on rocks.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, all in all, it has a good deal of heart. But it's held back by the Pie family not really moving past their default characteristics, and Applejack ignoring what she learned from "Apple Family Reunion" for the sake of the plot. But the episode does have a good deal of heart, and its moral is really good. The humor is also top notch, as every joke hits home ("Party Pooped" had good jokes too, but the Yaks running gag got old very fast). In the end, I give it an A, putting it above "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows" (I just can't wrap my head around the premise, and the ending is anti-climatic) but below "Rarity Investigates" (pretty good humor and character interaction, but the culprit shouldn't have been so obvious). Nick Confalone is a decent writer, but I think he needs to be paired up with someone who can handle emotion better so that he can stick to what he's best at. Maybe he and Cindy Morrow or Dave Polsky could team up in the future, and cover each other's weaknesses?
Now, next week will be Halloween, and we will finally see the airing of "Scare Master", which was leaked about a month ago. Before you ask, no, I have not seen it! I am waiting for it to air, so don't spoil it for me! The premise involves Fluttershy deciding to participate in Nightmare Night to overcome her timidness, and this episode could correct the problem I had with her character in much of Season 4. Don't disappoint me writers, Fluttershy has been showing some tremendous growth this season, don't take it all away!
Good points but one.
You got marble and limestone mixed up.
limestone is the one aggressive as Gilda and marble is younger than Pinkie Pie by only a few minutes.
just pointing that out
3493541 What this dude said.
I actually think last week's episodes was a lot better.
This episode was fun and enjoyable, but I don't think it was nearly as funny as last week's, and I generally prefer the funnier episodes than ones that are generally more heartfelt by default.
As for the episode being forced to have a happy ending, I don't really mind that, since, at its core FiM IS a pretty idealistic show (heck, the title pretty much makes that clear right from the bat), despite its, admittedly large, amounts of dark/creepy moments
And here it is, ''Tradition'', from the United Artists picture Fiddler On The Roof (Norman Jewison, USA 1971):
(Courtesy of MGM Studios, Inc.)
The above comments form the basis of my point which is that Marble Pie and Limestone's personalities are actually reversed: Limestone's the one who acts like Gilda.
Yeah, I found that Pinkie Pie's half of the combined Apple Pie Family Tree was filled with doornail-dead personalities - and only slightly try to escape being that way.
Kinda converts AJ to Angelica Pickles doesn't it? *Has gotten back into watching Rugrats enough for you to get it*
"Maud Pie" would be quite an infamous one by your standards as you were quoted as saying you reviewed it as it unfolded which you were then quoted as saying never to do again.
It kind of is a really good moral when you think about it.
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Meanwhile, sometime after Season 5 ends we will approach December 1. That's a day in 2001 where all CBS stations ran two Rugrats specials: ''The Santa Experience'' and ''Chanukah''. Except for one.
The night on which both specials aired over CBS airwaves, KHOU, the CBS station in Houston, Texas, interrupted both specials every few minutes to present special coverage on the Houston Mayoral Elections of that year. Considering that Chanukah happens to be a holiday other than Christmas that is usually celebrated around this time of year (and is a Jewish one!), do you suppose that this was their accidental show of support for Fox's side of their War on Christmas? (considering it's also now usually celebrated around this time of year, I'd think so!)
3493541 I realized that after watching the episode again.
3493665
still good points you done as always
What do you think of MacxMarble?
Isn't the lesson Applejack has to learn here a different one? It seems to me that what Applejack feels is a fear that this tradition cannot possible be something the Pie family enjoys upholding, that it isn't something they do that allows them to spend time together and enjoy themselves as a family. Family is very important to AJ, and when by all means it seems like on a time of the year for kin to be happy together, they're anything but, I can understand why she reacted that way. I feared Pinkie had a strained relationship with her parents myself once the family was introduced.
3493772 It's cute, if a bit cliche because of the whole "Big strong guy gets paired up with cute tiny girl". It happens quite often.
Speak for yourself; my headcanon's pretty much intact.
It was an okay episode when I watched it, a lot of good moments, but I don't think I would watch it regularly.
As for next week, I have resisted watching the leaks and will continue to do so until then.
"A Friend in Deed" could have ended with the exact same moral, but like this episode, a happy ending was forced. Why? Are these writers really afraid of ending the episode on a downer? It's not like it's going to screw kids up.
What lesson was that again? I thought the lesson in that episode was that your family members are the first friends you ever make. Or something like that.
I don't think Cindy Morrow is working for the show anymore. I think she left after season two, and as "Putting Your Hoof Down" showed us, sometimes two writers collaborating together can have disastrous results. But, episodes like "Tanks for the Memories" has shown us that sometimes it can work out very well.
Could you elaborate on this, please? I'm having trouble understanding exactly what your problem with her was back in season 4. If there was anypony that I had any problems with back in season 4, it was definitely Pinkie Pie. The only episodes i can recall from Season 4 involving Fluttershy are "Filli Vanilli" and "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies." If I had to guess, I'd say it's the latter that you had an issue with.
3494259 Same here.
3498854
The conflict came about because Applejack was trying to take charge and run the whole reunion, ignoring why everyone had gathered. Esentially, it also had a message for Applejack to not manage everything just because she wants it to turn out good.
"Tanks For The Memories" was a solo episode penned by Cindy Morrow on her own. "Three's A Crowd" is said to be the colab that actually works, though I say the best colab so far was "Putting Your Hoof Down" even though Merriweather and Fullerton were a combination that didn't make a lot of sense.
My problem with Season 4 Fluttershy was that in a lot of episodes, like "Bats", "Filli Vanilli", and especially "Trade Ya", she ignored her character growth from the first three seasons about standing up for yourself and not letting your fears control your life. She regressed back to being weak, unable to argue her point, easily manipulated by others, completely controlled by her fears while refusing to make an effort to overcome them, and got away with not standing up for herself in a bad trade. The snyposis for "Scare Master" has Fluttershy deciding to participate in Nightmare Night, to overcome her timindness and scarried cat nature. This means she's actually making an effort to overcome a major flaw that she has, and she's doing it on her own as opposed to being forced into it by someone else. I always hate characters that have serious problems and make no effort to solve them, and expect the world to change to accomdate them even when their behaviors or problems are bad and it isn't possible to go on living the way they are.
3498931
Morrow wrote "Tanks for the Memories?" Huh, so that explains why that episode was so good. Maybe it was "Castle Sweet Castle" that I was thinking of. Both episodes feature a scene in Fluttershy's cottage, so maybe that's where I got confused.
Oh, yeah, now I remember. Why didn't she just use her stare in "Trade Ya?" I also hated "Bats" because it required all of the characters to turn into complete morons in order for the plot to work. Fluttershy says that she knows next to nothing about the fruit bats, then immediately afterward proceeds to make false claims about them, like that they'll help Applejack's apple trees grow stronger faster. While I did like "Filli Vanilli", I do agree that Pinkie Pie was not the only character that I had a problem with. Really, whether a character's growth goes on depends largely on the writer. Remember that they're working on multiple episodes at once, so some continuity errors are bound to crop up here and there. Two prime examples of this are Spike and Rainbow Dash. Spike feels useless even though he helps Twilight on a daily basis and has been essential in saving Equestria multiple times. And Rainbow Dash has had to learn the lesson of humility I don't know how many times.
3499027 But "Bats", "Filli Vanilli", and "Trade Ya" came out over a year after "Putting Your Hoof Down" and "Hurricane Fluttershy". I'm glad that Season 5 has been more consistent with Fluttershy's character growth, and the same goes for Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Pinkie Pie's doing really well for herself as well, but Twilight hasn't really done much since becoming an alicorn, and Applejack remains as perfect as she always is, the only consistent trait to pop up in her focus episodes is her stubborness. Poor Spike continues to remain stuck at a crossroads, he gets some good development and love from older writers, but newers writer can't seem to move past making him the butt monkey of all jokes.
3499300 Spike has ALWAYS been the butt monkey, even as far back as season one's "Owl's Well That Ends Well." I do agree that Pinkie has been very enjoyable this season, nowhere near as annoying as in the past. Speaking of her, what is it me or did Pinkie's voice sound a little off at some parts during "Heartbreakers?" As for Twilight, she got to save Equestrian singlehoofedly and she'll get to do something in "The Hooffields and the McColts."
3500827 But in the greater terms of things, her role doesn't amount to much of anything. She's still the same character, she's just changed her physical appearance. At first it made sense, but at this point, they really need to give her a greater purpose. They've given her a title and a castle, they need to do something with them.
3500977 Back in season 4, maybe, but now she's the Princess of Friendship. I'd say the map is doing something with Twilight and the castle itself. This opens up opportunities for the characters to go on new adventures, make new friends, and such. This makes the series much more adventurous than it has been in the past.
3501028 True, but that means less focus on Twilight. Don't get me wrong, "Amending Fences" was great, but it was just the sort of character focus Twilight's gotten since day 1. Not much has been done to explore her role as a princess outside of a few two parters, and the most recent one wasn't about her.
The IDW Comics have actually suggested something that I think the show staff ought to cosnider adopting. Have ponies come to Twilight when they need help solving friendship problems. After all, she's the princess of friendship now.
3501036 "Princess Spike" actually had that happening, but it was Spike who was doing the advising instead of her. This should have been Twilight's episode to shine as the Princess of Friendship, not a Spike episode.
3501061 Agreed.