Flutter Brutter Review · 5:58pm Jun 4th, 2016
Well, this is an episode the fandom was undeniably both looking forward to and dreading ever since the tweet from the writers about Fluttershy having a little brother. Considering what happened the last time a character had a brother introduced (in the form of Shining Armor back at the very end of Season 2), this episode had to not only tell a good story, but also sell us on the fact that Fluttershy had a brother she never talked about or mentioned before. And boy did they manage to clear up that plot hole! David Rapp returned to pen this episode, but Meghan McCarthy came back to write the story. Meghan has been absent this season so she can turn her attention to the upcoming movie. Considering the pointless cringe comedy in "Newbie Dash" (cringe comedy seems to be something this show is just incapable of doing well for some reason), was Meghan able to get David on track, or like Dave Polsky was she just not up to the job? Well, let's find out.
Right off the bat, the episode introduces us to Fluttershy's parents, both of whom are retired. Fluttershy's mother likes to grow a flower garden, and Fluttershy's father has been collecting clouds from the weather factory to store in a shed out back. When the subject shifts to Fluttershy's little brother, Fluttershy is suddenly anything but happy. Rainbow Dash (who has accompanied Fluttershy on her trip) comments on how said brother has always been a problem. And then, he shows up and introduces himself as Zephyr Breeze. And is it just me, or does his voice remind anyone of Mushu from "Mulan"?
Zephyr Breeze quickly tries to hit on Rainbow Dash, and explains that he quit mane styling school because he didn't want to conform to the styles they wanted. He quickly starts unpacking, as he moves back in with his parents, much to Fluttershy's disappointment. She tries to talk some sense into her parents, but they decide to let Zephyr stay anyway. On the fly back to Ponyville, Fluttershy confides in Rainbow Dash how "peeved" she is about her brother's behavior (I'll bet she wanted to say something else). She quickly complains about this to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, but it's Rainbow Dash who gives Fluttershy the idea to tell her brother off and send him packing. Fluttershy does so, only for Zephyr Breeze to move into Fluttershy's cottage. Makes me wonder what Discord would think if he found out, after all he and Fluttershy hang out a lot.
Fluttershy refuses to let Zephyr get away with his free loading behavior, and demands that he get a job. When he refuses to do so himself, Fluttershy does it for him. His first job in Ponyville is to work with Rarity on some sheets, but he's so lazy that he tries to make the animals do it for him. Then, Fluttershy gets him a job cleaning the windows in Twilight's castle, but Zephyr "Tom Swayers" Spike into doing it for him. Finally, Rainbow Dash drags Zephyr to Wonderbolt HQ for an unspecified task, only for Zephyr to come home frazzled after getting shocked by a cloud courtesy of Rainbow Dash. Fed up with Zephyr's behavior, Fluttershy kicks him out of her cottage, even though it pains her to do so.
Rainbow Dash convinces Fluttershy she did the right thing, and it soon turns out that Zephyr is so helpless he can't even start a fire on his own. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash find him camped out, and Zephyr confesses he's so afraid of failing that he's never been able to commit himself to anything. After convincing Zephyr they've felt that fear of failure several times, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash take him back to the cottage and during the song "Can Do It On My Own" Zephyr finally commits himself fully to being a mane stylist.
Things seem to be going well for Zephyr, as he returns home to reveal he's graduated from mane styling school, but apparently he doesn't have a place to stay. So he sweet talks his parents into letting him stay there for a couple of days, at least until he finds a job. Hopefully, he'll keep his word, because I can imagine Fluttershy's reaction if he tries to free load again.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, it's probably one of the most adult episodes of the show, and the fear of failure is indeed something that many people suffer from. Fluttershy's character growth was on fine display here, and all of the mane six were in character (I'm not really sure if Starlight Glimmer could've contributed anything here, Pinkie Pie and Applejack only had a brief cameo, and Rarity and Twilight and Spike were only present for one segment each). However, I don't think Spike should've fallen for Zephyr's trick all the way, he's usually smart enough not to be tricked (at least not by someone he's never met before), and Zephyr is incredibly annoying. Being afraid of failing is one thing, but free loading off of others because you don't want to do anything is wrong. In this day and age, it's not easy to find employment and live on your own, but most people who still live with their parents at least try to become independent and get a job. Zephyr, however, constantly tries to make others do his work for him, and even after some coaching from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy he still nearly walks out on a chance to actually finish something. David's cringe comedy is thankfully absent here, though it might have just been because Meghan wrote the story. In the end, I give this episode a borderline C+/B-, putting it above "Applejack's 'Day Off" but below "Gift of The Maud Pie", Zephyr as a character needs some work if he's ever going to be likeable, I just hope he's not supposed to be that way so people will stop complaining about how the writers didn't quite sell us on Starlight Glimmer as a compelling protagonist until recently.
Next week is the final episode before the mid season hiatus, it's a RariPie map mission called "Spice Up Your Life" and it involves a trip to Canterlot to help a father/daughter pair struggling to keep the family restuarant in business, thus driving a wedge between them. I'm glad we're getting more RariPie so soon, "Gift of The Maud Pie" was a great start but Maud took up a lot of focus in the narrative and we only really scratched the surface of Rarity and Pinkie Pie's chemistry. If all goes well, I might just have a new favorite episode, but we'll just have to wait and see.
One more next week?
3998239 Yes, one more episode and then it's hiatus time. Don't worry though, I'm pretty sure the hiatus will only last until Fall.
Ugh! I hated this asshole! I may have liked this episode more if Zephyr wasn't such a selfish, lazy asshole. Not only that, but this guy was just downright annoying as hell. And what was up with him hitting on Rainbow Dash? Can't he see that she loves Fkuttershy? About the only thing I liked about this episode was the reaction of the mother whenever the word "peeved" was uttered. The song was okay. Considering the moral is not being afraid of failure, I feel like this is a moral better suited for somepony, say, like Diamond Tiara, especially given her line in "Light of Your Cutie Mark":
3998253 I don't think Diamond Tiara had a fear of failure on her own, and more what her parents would think if she didn't live up to their insanely high expectations. It's obvious they expect her to run the family business someday, and Spoiled Rich at least expects nothing short of perfection in Diamond Tiara, a standard that is impossible to uphold.
I'm holding out hope that the father/daughter pair in "Spice Up Your Life" will be Silver Spoon and her father (they could handwave it by explaining that she was born in Canterlot, but her mother moved to Ponyville and took Silver Spoon with her since she felt Ponyville was a quieter place to raise a child, but she still sees her father whenever she comes to Canterlot on trips).
3998267 It would be interesting, but it doesn't seem likely. As long as it isn't Plaid Stripes and her father, I'll be okay with whoever else they pick, though I'm really hoping it's Silver Spoon and her father. I'm particularly looking forward to the episode where the CMC go to Manehattan and we get to see Babs again.
3998279 Yeah, I hope that episode comes early into the second half of the season. And that they make sure to bring Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon along for the ride, bad blood doesn't just magically heal overnight.
Well I had low expectations and I said this didn't look promising but now that I've watched it, I have two words...THANK GOD! Fluttershy's character growth was severely lacking in all of her previous focused episodes, but not this time.
And I'll take it back, David Rapp actually does have what it takes to write a good episode, he just needs the right person to watch over him. Even though Zephyr Breeze was bit of a cringe for me, I think this one is my second favourite episode of the Season so far.
3998281 Again, that dkesn't seem likely since they aren't members. There fillies is bad enough, but six? That's overkill. There was a great story about Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon meeting up with Band in Manehattan.
3998297 Six fillies is overkill? Blapshemy!
3998338 It helps that they're all adorable!
I was pretty much the only person who's hopes for the episode were actually increased when I found out that David Rapp was writing for the episode (on an unrelated note, I just realized that means we now have two Daves working on the show: Rapp and Polsky).
I personally found Newbie Dash to be a better episode, but this is pretty close in terms of quality. And both are up there as two of the best this entire season, so I can say that Rapp is the best new writer on the show
In terms of Fluttershy episodes, I found it to be her best one yet.
In terms of comedy, I found it to be one of the funnier episodes of the season.
On top of that, it gave us two great RD faces: This and this
Which makes 3 separate episodes this season where she had the best face:
This episode, Saddle Row Review, and No Second Prances
By the way did anyone notice Link in the background?
I been hearing that he Is the pony with a cart of Rubbies, and a Piece of Heart for a cutie mark.
3998244 UNTIL FALL!!?
This makes no sense. "Spice Up Your Life" is listed as episode number twelve, so we should have another episode before the hiatus. What is episode number thirteen going to be before the hiatus? It can't be "Spice Up Your Life" since that episode is number twelve.
4000282 It's number twelve in terms of air date, but in production order it's thirteen. The episode that is nineth in production order has been delayed until the second half of the season. I suspect it would've aired, had Discovery Family not forced a pointless one week hiatus on the show (even with the marathon leading up to the season four premiere of Transformers: Rescue Bots, the programming block for that show only went up to 9:00 A.M., they could've easily aired an episode at 11:30 A.M. and the show was probably going to do so).
4001638 Uh . . . okay.
4001965 Yeah, I don't get it either. Maybe something went wrong while they were working on the ninenth episode and they pleaded with Discovery Family to give them more time to work on it?
4001985 It better be worth it, that's all I gotta say. I'm talking "Suited for Success"/"Crusaders of the Lost Mark" level of writing.
I thought the ep was nice, it was funny in some scenes, but Zephyr was just a big pain in the butt.
Pardon my language.
But yeah, we all have to do something and live with the prospect of failing that something, but it's what you do next that matters, and I'm glad that even Zephyr pulled it off.
I'm ready to see what tomorrow's ep will bring before we're on a few month long hiatus, followed by a few new episodes after the hiatus, then the fourth and final EQG movie.