Troublebutts [episode spoilers!] · 7:13pm Apr 9th, 2016
Dear god do I hate The Gift of Maud Pie, and I think I've figured out why. Yes, Maud is an inherently boring character and not worth building an episode around. Double yes, Rarity was acting like an idiot the entire time, and it was irritating more than amusing. But the umber one reason why I just do not like that episode is Pinkie. And it's not even the way she acts -- this is a far cry from the character destruction of season four, plus that line about riding actual swans, which I missed the first time, is pretty hilarious. It's just that this whole episode is based on her not understanding something, coupled with the stakes being something I just didn't care about. Giving a better gift than her sister? It never caught my "give a care", so the whole thing slides over me and leaves me with nothing interesting to hold on to.
And that's why I hate that episode. The brothers who wrote it have another episode later this season, and I am not looking forward to it.
This week? Polsky's back, and the visual gags are up at eleven again.
It's Lesson Zero but with Apple Bloom. :B I mean this more as a condemnation of plot rehash than anything that actually happens. Overall? I found this a very okay, serviceable episode with some good visual gags, as I said, and a slight edge of contrivance that was still no worse than anything Polsky did in season four.
Addressing the "what will the CMCs do now?" part was a good idea. Even addressing "they got cutie marks in something not what we were led to believe was their special talents" was appreciated. Just like how Rarity's cutie mark isn't a dress or a sewing machine, they don't have to have particular pictures on their butts to be good at or enjoy doing something, and I think that was the entire point of this episode. Which, admittedly, makes it very much "talking to the fans", so take that how you will.
Also, we get Apple Bloom x R63 Scootaloo, so that was a thing. But if there's one thing I will always like about this episode, it's the Dirty Dancing homage with pony Patrick Swayze near the end. :) That made me happy for reasons you might be able to figure out.
Beyond that, as I said, a little contrived, mostly just okay, at least somewhat entertaining. Very odd seeing Apple Bloom get a song all to herself.
The Crystalling
On Your Marks
The Gift of the Maud Pie
Out on My Own
I think you're a bit too hard on Maud. You have to read into how she acts. She's not emotionless, she really does care about her sister and has hobbies and desires. She just isn't hyper about it. In particular, if she's sincere with her treating Boulder like a sapient character and actually does write poems about rocks, then her brain is wired a little weird. Or she could just be joking to have fun in her own ways with other ponies. Either way, it fits her as Pinkie's sister.
That said, though, I do think they flanderized her a bit since her debut, where she did have a wider array of facial expressions and vocal tones.
WHOO! BLOG 1111!!
MY OCD IS ASSUAGED!
I enjoyed today's episode. Yeah, it had plenty of flaws with how it was structured and I felt as though it struggled to figure out what it wanted to be as an episode (ironic given the premise), but the character moments and cameos made it enjoyable as a whole. I would've preferred it to have been better organized in terms of plot, but despite its flaws, it was good. It just could've been much better in my opinion.
As for Maud, she's definitely a tricky character to write, and I say that based on the episodes she has been in and from personal experience in trying to write something about her. I kind of like how she provides a stark contrast to the colorful, cheerful world around her, though I can see how that might get tiring if there's not much added to her for an episode. Anyway, while two of the three next episodes do have me worried for quality reasons, I'm glad that I found a S6 episode I can say I enjoyed. Here's hoping that there are some excellent episodes in the future.
It actually spoke to me because the moral was relevant: my family has always been gift-crazy but it's stressful for Jewel to buy me presents because he can't possibly outdo me.
Plus I love Pinkie.
Why do you hate me
I found Gift of the Maud Pie about ten point three bazillion times better than the premier.
It's like, how do I even stand to be on the same site as you? :V
3859130
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that! :O
3859486
I dunno man. D: We're strange people.
One thing:
That occurred to me when Scootaloo and Sweetie come back to find Apple Bloom sitting in the dark and brooding was--hey, I'll bet this is what happened to Starlight Glimmer. She was forced out onto her own, and since she didn't have any other friends to come in and be all reasonable at her, she spiraled out of control into a world of madness and horror.
Mike
This was a solid 7/10. The frustrating thing about gift was that there were so many small things they could have done better. Maybe flashback to pinkie giving a bad gift last year, maud "reacts", and pinkie can instantly tell she doesnt like it. Then when we see her react to the new gift, it's funny because pinkie interprets the same reaction as "she likes it". Maybe don't have "character talks really fast" count as a joke? Maybe give a reason that guy wanted the cannon?
You, sir, are the Titanium Dragon of My Little Pony episodes. Never change.
3859612
I was leaning so hard on "CMC Lesson Zero" that I was joking about them asking Starlight to teach them the cutie mark-removal spell so they could make their own cutie mark problems. :V
3859745
Something tells me this is not a good thing. :B Also, what happened to him? He's been kinda quiet lately.
Man I don't know why, but I absolutely LOVED this episode. The scene with Sweetie and Scootaloo coming back from their own adventures, and finding a disgruntled Apple Bloom in the dark room was gold.
3859926 No, I didn't mean it as a bad thing at all. You like what you like, and I don't have any problem with that. I was just making a silly observation.
TD's posting comments in the Writeoff discussion right now, so it looks like he's around.
Pinkie and Maud are happiness, Present. Why do you hate happiness?
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You secretly love Bats!, don't you? It's the only explanation that makes any sense.
3860450
You shut your mouth D: