Season 5, Episode 23 Thoughts and Review · 2:17am Nov 15th, 2015
Spoilers below the cut! There will also be spoilers for next week's episode, as well.
Yoooo, another map episode! Let's see where this goes!
The episode begins at Fluttershy's cottage, where she gathers her animal friends together for their "furry friends book club". Before they can start, Fluttershy's cutie mark suddenly starts glowing, indicating that she is being summoned by the Cutie Map. She bolts out the cottage door, leaving her animals to carry on without her.
OK, you know what, that's actually cute. And I'm glad that this episode started off with Fluttershy, rather instead of Twilight. We've seen Twilight's reaction to the map previously in "Made in Manehatten", and to see it again would be a bit redundant. But, seeing Fluttershy react to it was kinda neat, especially with how even though she saw how big a deal it is, she still managed to make sure that everything was in order before she left. Ah, Shy, you so cute.
As soon as Fluttershy reaches the castle, Twilight excitedly greets her, having been summoned by the map as well and doing extensive research on their destination... Even though it was only five minutes. God, I love Twilight.
Twilight and Fluttershy are being called to the Smokey Mountains, a region of Equestria that's supposedly home to a picturesque valley between two adjacent mountains. With their saddlebags—which Twilight has apparently crammed with books—the two set out in the Twinkling Balloon.
I HAVE MISSED THIS FUCKING BALLOON, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.
A lot of you are probably thinking that Hasbro did that for further merchandising, but once you think about it, it kinda makes sense. I mean, Twilight mentioned that the Smokey Mountains don't have a lot of info on them, so it'd be kiiiiinda weird to have train tracks that go there. (And before ANY of y'all try to bring up how the Crystal Empire had train tracks, my theory is that there were ponies who had been conducting research up in the north, probably to try to figure out how it became an arctic wasteland in the first place. So, yeah.)
When Twilight and Fluttershy finally arrive to the Smokey Mountains, they find that most of the trees have been cut down, and ponies on one mountain are firing upon the ponies on the other mountain with pumpkins.
...Don't any of you dare to make a Halloween joke. I am still very sore about the holiday.
Twilight and Fluttershy meet with the first clan of ponies—the rural Hooffields, led by Ma Hooffield—who are in a long-standing feud with the neighboring McColts. Before their feud endangers innocent animals, Twilight gets the Hooffields to agree to a ceasefire, and she and Fluttershy go to talk with the McColts.
On the other mountaintop, where a large wooden fortress has been built, Twilight and Fluttershy meet with the architectural McColts—led by Big Daddy McColt—and try to foster a truce between the two sides.
Fluttershy is so sweet.
However, both sides are vehemently against a truce, and the Hooffields start firing tomatoes at the McColts.
Fus ro DAH.
Twilight and Fluttershy return to the Hooffields' farm just as the McColts start to return fire with bales of hay, putting the nearby animals in more danger. The two go back and forth between the opposing clans to find out how their feud first started, but neither side gives a clear answer. All the Hooffields and McColts care about is winning the fight, regardless of what they're fighting for.
Fluttershy thinks that one side simply needs to apologize to the other. To this end, the Hooffields deliver a large carrot cake to the McColts as a sign of goodwill. The McColts are almost ready to accept the Hooffields' apology, but a group of Hooffields suddenly emerge from inside the cake and assault the McColts with fruit. The feud continues to escalate, and the two sides bring their conflict to the valley between their mountain homes.
It's almost a reverse Trojan Horse...
As little animals continue to get caught in the middle of the Hooffields and McColts' feud, Twilight despairs at her failure to end the conflict. Fluttershy briefly speaks with the cold and hungry animals, and she learns what happened to the once-beautiful Smokey Mountains and why the Hooffields and McColts are fighting.
CONTINUITY, YASSS.
Using a long-range freeze spell, Twilight gets the two sides to stop fighting long enough for Fluttershy to explain. She tells the two warring clans of their ancestors Grub Hooffield and Piles McColt, who were best of friends. When they discovered the beautiful Smokey Mountain valley, they vowed to protect and preserve it for the animals that lived there.
There's that old-style filter again.
Unfortunately, they disagreed on the best way to do that. Grub wanted to start by planting crops, but Piles wanted to start by building a shelter. Piles started building his shelter on the land where Grub was going to start his farm. As a result, the two continually argued and sabotaged each other's efforts. The Hooffields and McColts eventually settled onto opposing mountaintops, and the valley and animals between them suffered due to their constant fighting.
When the regretful Hooffields and McColts finally realize what their feud has done to the land around them, they put aside their differences and apologize—both to the animals and to the ponies they were fighting against.
The Hooffields and McColts work together to restore the valley to its former glory, culminating in a large water fountain dedicated to their ancestral founders. Twilight and Fluttershy's cutie marks start to glow, meaning their friendship mission has been accomplished. As they set out for home, Twilight wonders what future missions await her and her friends.
These two are rather great together. How come we don't get more episodes with them?
You know what? I liked this episode. I know that there are probably of few of you who weren't a big fan of it since it's played on one of the biggest tropes in history: family feuds, more specifically ones that the current generation seems to have no idea of how it even started. But, I liked it, because it was simple. And ya wanna know why?
People have spent ages since the end of season 2 complaining about how the writers don't write anymore "simple" episodes, saying that they wished it was like the old episodes. But, whenever we get a simple episode? People complain and say that it's too simple! I am a fan of both the adventurous and the slice of life stories that MLP has to offer, albeit a few bad episodes... But, you know what, I am not a fan of how people will want one thing and then complain when they get just that!
One of the immediate things that came to mind when I was looking at some of the feedback for this episode was the episode, "Suited For Success" (Arguably one of the best MLP episodes ever). Before I begin to put down what I think, allow me to pull you to this review I am rather fond of:
Tommy kinda nails it on the head right here.
Tommy brings up a good point with the statement of how Rarity acts as an avatar for the writers and many other freelance artists and creators. They will oftentimes run into clients or members of their viewing audience who will nitpick their creativity and abilities. It's really hard to show what you want to do when everyone seems to control whatever it is you want to do.
The writers make mistakes. That's a given. But, when you criticize them for making the mistake of giving you what you wanted? Really? I mean, even Hasbro catered to the fans when it came to the 100th episode special.
Allow me to elaborate with a personal experience. Back when I first started writing Lovestruck, people got upset about some the stuff I did. I realized my errors, then made the decision to go back and redo the story, not only for my benefit, but also for my readers. But, even after that, I ended up getting more comments about what I SHOULD be doing and even some from previous commentators who had been criticizing me harshly about how much better the original was, even though I personally found it abhorrent in comparison.
You wanna know something? If you wanted the writers to do something for you and the writers give you just that, don't complain. Seriously. Just don't.
Speaking of artists, can I tell you how much I loved the designs in this episode? They were so diverse, I love it!
LOOK.
FUCKING LOOK.
I love these new character models, it's great!
As for the two main girls of the episode, can I just give a round of applause for Shy and Twilight? Shy was freaking awesome, and even though she didn't really do a whole lot outside of her character, I'm happy to give this episode the "No Flutter-abuse" Award! I mean, in episode's past, it was either the characters abusing Shy or the writers' themselves doing it by mischaracterizing her and just putting her in the same situation over and over and over again. While this episode didn't break any new ground with Shy, it made her look good and it was just so nice to see her on an adventure with Twilight.
As for Twilight? Girl, let me tell you, I loved seeing her in this episode. Sure, she didn't achieve much and one could argue that her character was completely unneeded here, but you know what? I was glad to see her out adventuring and doing what the map wanted. Plus, to see her struggle with her own methods not working out? It was nice, and expanded her character a little bit. Plus, it was really cool to see that underlying lesson for the audience: "Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you prepare yourself for something; things might go wrong anyhow."
And another cool thing to come from this episode was the lesson about feuding overall. I know that one of the original stories about feuds is Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (and can I just say I'm kinda glad the writers didn't take that forbidden love route, like omg, noooooo... unless they were gay, but still... WAIT A MINUTE, FUCKING STORY IDEA, GIVE ME A MINUTE). Anyway, the bottom line about this whole feud nonsense? It went on for generations because the previous generation would teach their children to hate the other clan and it go on for years. The lesson from this? There is nothing worse than doing things the way they've always been done just because of that reason alone.
Also, as for the whole Romeo and Juliet thing? As much I dislike the whole trope of "forbidden love" (within certain boundaries), I have to say, I did find this little response someone wrote about R&J to be rather enlightening: HERE.
As for my story idea... Ahem.
...Anyone up for a lesbian version of R&J?
Alright, moving on, let's see what's up for next week's episode!
Season 5, Episode 24: The Mane Attraction
An old friend of Applejack’s has become a huge pop star, but Applejack is worried that the singer’s manager does not have her best interests at heart.
...OH MY GOD. THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE EPISODE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. THE EPISODE WITH THAT AWESOME SONG THAT MADE ME CRY. FUCK YES, I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEKEND.
PARDON ME AS I SCREECH EXCITEDLY.
OK, well, I'm just gonna go and... freak out, now.
It's a better environmental episode in comparison to Bats.
This is easily my favorite of the two-pony map episodes.
The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone was just... unpleasant would be the closest to how I feel about it.
Made in Manehatten was pretty dull.
But this episode was neither of those things.
It was funny, engaging, and actually very entertaining.
So, counting the premiere as one episode, that makes two map episodes that were enjoyable, and two that were not so enjoyable. The season finale will break the tie.
I did like Twilight's take on the Royal Canterlot Voice, and that TS Clyde might have a long lost brother.
How does the saying go? Ah, yes: "Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean that it's not stupid."
Also, new Papa today; you watch for it.
3543021 And a better map episode than "Made in Manehattan". I can see why it's taken us so long to get another TwiShy episode, seeing as these two can switch roles between crazy mare and straight mare pretty easily. Kind of the same with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, though I think their mutal love of pranks should've been utilized at some point.
I hope that, if the map is sticking around for Season 6, we get more unusual pairings from it. Like RariPie and AppleShy.
I'm going to be at work when the episode airs. ;~;