Doctor Perseus Reviews: "Applejack's Day Off" *SPOILERS* · 7:36pm May 28th, 2016
In this week's episode of MLP, Applejack seems to be getting busier at the farm so Twilight and Spike step in to help Applejack and Rarity spend some much-needed quality time together. However, getting Applejack to take the day off turns out to be not as simple as one would think...
This is yet another one of those episodes I didn't really have any expectations for (I think this is becoming a recurring theme for this season). So how did this episode fare? It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. It was...okay.
There's really not a whole lot for me to talk about in regards to this episode because it was an incredibly simple episode. This is about as slice-of-life as you can get in an MLP episode. No real dramatic inner-struggle. No real great obstacle to overcome. Just a simple dilemma with a simple resolution. I can sum up everything about this episode in one sentence: Applejack fixes the steam bath at the spa and learns to not over-complicate work. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No. A simple, straightforward episode every now and then is acceptable. There's just not a whole lot of meat to this episode, is what I'm saying.
However, there are some stuff that I really did like about this episode. I liked the moral. I think a lot of us can relate to unconsciously adopting needlessly complicated steps for getting a usual task done. The lesson of getting a second opinion on something in order to improve and/or find an easier course of action is pretty good. Though, in a way, this does feel like a somewhat retread of Applebuck Season with Applejack learning to not be stubborn and ask for help when she needs it. This moral feels like a spiritual successor to that.
There are certainly some fun little moments throughout the episode. Rainbow Dash awkwardly trying to avoid confessing that she actually likes "fru-fru" spa treatments. Bulk Biceps giving Mr. Cake a hardcore massage (I'm sure the fanfic writers and fan artists will take everything from here 
). Applejack's weird routine for feeding the pigs. I also have to say that this episode did go against my expectations. Originally, with Spike and Twilight doing Applejack's chores, I expected this to be a retread of Spike at Your Service. Thankfully, this was not the case (and this is coming from someone who genuinely enjoys that episode from time to time).
So, overall, there's not a whole lot to say about Applejack's Day Off. It's probably the simplest MLP episode we've had thus far. But at least it proved to be entertaining enough and wasn't dreadfully boring like some other episodes. *cough*Somepony to Watch Over Me*cough*
Next week, we FINALLY meet Fluttershy's family in Flutter Brutter!
When Fluttershy’s self-absorbed brother starts freeloading off their parents, she encourages him to move out. Unfortunately, he moves in with her instead, forcing Fluttershy to stand up to her brother and help him get over his fear of failure.
What did the rest of you think of Applejack's Day Off?
Meh, I thought it average to be honest.
It's once again time to reveal who wrote the MLP: FIM episode of the week. In this case, we've got a collaboration by the Fox Brothers, Michael P. & Wil, and an old "friend" of yours, Neal Dusedau. If you recall correctly, Neal had previously written two of last season's least popular episodes, Princess Spike and What About Discord?, both of which you yourself mentioned to not be very fond of. In your review of the latter episode, you said you would give him a third chance to write an episode and that if he failed it, then he would end up becoming your least favorite writer of the show. So Doctor Perseus, what is your verdict for Mr. Dusedau?
3979339
Hard to say. I didn't consider this episode a failure. Just okay. I think I'll be fair and give the guy another chance before I decide whether or not I should start dreading episodes with his name in the credits.
3979641
I get what you're saying. Because this is a collaboration, you can't really identify which writing style aspects are used by which writer since they help each other play up their strengths while also covering their weaknesses. Basically, you'd rather judge Neal's writing quality solely by the episodes he produces on his own because then you know what works and what doesn't.
3980107
Exactly.
3980207
Okay, so turns out I may have made a bit of an error. Similar to Newbie Dash where Dave Rapp was the writer while Dave Polsky was only credited for the story, the Fox Brothers were the writers while Neal was only credited for the story here. That might be another reason why you couldn't properly judge Neal's quality in this episode, since he technically wasn't involved in the episode's writing process. My bad. Though to be fair, the Fox Brothers' first episode The Gift of the Maud Pie had a similar case with Josh Haber being credited with the story they wrote.
I also thought this episode was okay, but I liked it a lot less than you did. Like a lot less. I go into why my molecular review. You know, because it's down to the molecule.