Between a Rock and a Hard Place · 5:28pm Apr 29th, 2017
One of the many things I enjoy so much about FiM is this; the character growth. Over the last few seasons, we've seen various character grow up and move around from place to place. From the Cutie Mark Crusaders getting their cutie marks at last, to Starlight moving into Twilight's castle and learning about friendship, and to Rainbow joining the Wonderbolts. So in another attempt to shake things up and break status quo, we have an episode that introduces the possibility of another fan favorite character moving into Ponyville; Maud Pie.
If you have been under a rock the last few seasons (Pun totally intended), Maud is arguably the best Pie sibling of them all. She's stoic, but not heartless. She's obsessed with rocks to the point where she writes poetry about them. Not to mention that considering she can lift huge rocks and break them to pieces in mere seconds, she probably eats mountains for breakfast. Point is, Maud Pie is simply awesome. So her possibly moving to Ponyville could lead to some good changes and more adventures of her.
After graduating from college, Maud considers moving to Ponyville not only because of rocks, but because she's been feeling a bit lonely and wanting to make a friend. With Pinkie along with her, Maud must make a decision to either stay in Ponyville or move to Gastly Gorge to study rocks by herself. Initially, most of the first act of the episode is just Pinkie doing a lot of rock based puns or stuff of rocks for Maud to make her happy. If you were thinking that this would be what the episode would be about, well it thankfully gets away from that after a couple of minutes into the episode as Maud admits she wants a friend.
As soon as we see Twilight's castle, I don't think anybody really was surprised to see Starlight Glimmer show up and end up befriending Maud. Some people say that Rarity or one of the others should have befriended her, but Maud already knows the Mane 7, so that would be pointless. Starlight is not too bad of a choice, but I'm sure some people were expecting Trixie considering some of them ship her with Maud.
To be honest, they do end up working well together. Maud and Starlight, despite their major differing personalities, end up playing off each other well. They each have some good character development and we learn a bit more about them. Some of the stuff Maud does makes you wonder if she's got an alternative motive for something sinister. Not only do we get a small flashback showing Starlight's early days of Our Town and Maud showing her a magic rock, but Maud even says with the right rock, you can rule over Equestria. I got to wonder if Maud is either a geologist or secretly planning world domination.
Some of the characterization is pretty deep too. We get a far more in depth look into Maud's mind and how she views the world as a whole. Her commenting about how rocks don't judge you really gives a good insight about how lonely she must be. It's really handled well, and I commend the episode for showing that, in her own way, Maud feels like she's an outcast to other ponies. I guess part of it also stems from the Mane 7 since none of them are really friends with Maud, but Pinkie is friends with them. I think it's just me though looking too much into this.
The comedy itself is pretty solid too in this episode. Not only is Maud being savage with some of the things she says, but there are some good Looney Tune style gags and slapstick comedy. Pinkie does some good visual gags in this episode that admittedly funny in their own way. Some of the rock puns are pretty good, even if some of them are stretching it a bit, and as Starlight puts it, Maud makes everything funny.
The biggest issue with this episode is Pinkie Pie herself. I get that she's excited Maud may move to Ponyville and, by Maud's own admission, wants what's best for her sister, but this is a bit munch. She gets overbearing very fast with her constantly in the way and just being obnoxious. While some of her jokes and antics are funny in a way, Pinkie ends up getting more annoying as the episode goes on. To be fair though, at least Pinkie learns a lesson about this and her annoyance does have a point in the episode. Unlike Filli Vanilli where her annoying attitude was simply out of character.
Rock Solid Friendship is well...rock solid. It not only has some good character development for Maud and Starlight, but it does end up bringing in another possible recurring character in the form of Maud now. The comedy is well done either with Maud doing what she does best, or it has some funny visual gags. Some of the characterization on Maud's part does get a bit deep and gives us more of a look into her mind. Again, it's major flaw does fall into Pinkie Pie who, despite her best intentions, ends up being far more annoying than entertaining through most of the episode. However, it is saved somewhat by how Pinkie learned to not force others to do things her own way.
Other than that, it does provide some good entertaining moments and fun interaction between Starlight and Maud. However, as much as I do love Maud Pie, I hope we eventually get to see the other Pie sisters get episodes of their own. Will that happen in the future of the show? It's hard to say, but this episode really ends up rocking in more ways than one.
FINAL SCORE: 9 out of 10 (A-)
Um ok when did Spike happen to me Muad. In the comic? Cause if it's in the comics then ok, other then that Spike has never met Muad, or any of Pinkie's sisters.
Didn't Celestia said in both the plot episode and in the season four finally that Equestia is a land? And that there're other lands beside Equestia? So doesn't she mean the world?
Ok when people said it's out of character then they usually mean their don't know the character 100%. In Pinkie case in Fili Vanili, she's hyperactive character and hyperactive characters (like Naruto, Black Star from Soul Eater) Tends to be annoying. That's their character. . .Yes they'll grow over time but the fact remains the will always be that hyperactive character.