Afterthoughts: Flurry of Emotions · 6:08pm May 2nd, 2017
art by Jack-Pie
Sometimes, a good episode (or even a great one) can be ruined for you by one little issue. Sometimes, this is a fault of the writing, or a misstep in characterization. Or it may not even be an issue with the episode, but with the person watching it. An episode may touch on a phobia, or may feature a character you have a negative opinion of which, warranted or not, causes you to view everything the character does in an unfairly critical light.
There were a number of fans who reacted exceptionally badly to “Feeling Pinkie Keen” because the moral could be seen in a religious light. Likewise, if an episode should just happen to show a married couple who weren’t a mare and a stallion, like the Royal Couple in this episode, some would welcome it, most wouldn’t care, but a few with royal hang-ups would totally lose their shit. But in any of these cases, while the episode itself may be wonderful, the viewer will be hard-pressed to enjoy it.
“Flurry of Emotions” was such an episode for me. So while the episode was a very good one, and I want to spend the majority of these Afterthoughts looking at all the good in it, I have to state up front the issue I had which may unfairly color my assessment as well as my enjoyment:
Twilight exposed Flurry Heart to an infectious disease.
This appeared to be a children’s disease that bore no serious threat – most likely meant to be the Equestrian equivalent of the chicken pox, which in the real world is almost never a serious threat to infants and young children, and which parents often expose children to intentionally. (Although I cannot help but note that chicken pox is also not treated by hospitalization.) But even if this is the case, it is not the babysitter’s place to make that decision for the baby’s parents. This was reckless and irresponsible and utterly infuriating.
My reaction was augmented because I spent most of the episode firmly convinced that part of the scheduling conflict was grounded in the idea that Twilight just couldn’t take Flurry Heart with her on the visit. (Also probably didn’t help that I was sick that weekend.)
So, sadly, as good as this episode is, and as solid an entry into Season 7, this is not one I’m going to be watching often. But now that the bad is out of the way, let’s talk about all the good in “Flurry of Emotions”!
art by Jowybean
First, I’ve got to say how much I loved Flurry Heart in this episode. The person who warned me that she was “weaponized cuteness” couldn’t have been more right. Flurry Heart was adorable.
But more importantly to me, Flurry Heart was admirable. Maybe she does deserve to be an alicorn, because Flurry is a legitimately good kid with a big heart and levels of generosity and selflessness that are exceptionally rare in young children. Not to mention having the patience of a saint.
She doesn’t dive greedily into the presents. Most children would have seen Twilight pulling the toys from the shopping cart onto the check-out counter as taking his or her toys away, but Flurry Heart doesn’t. And when Twilight wasn’t paying attention to her – which, face it, is the expectation the child should rightfully have and the job description of the babysitter – she doesn’t cry or throw a tantrum. She sees Twilight is preoccupied and decided to entertain herself. Bravo.
She even tries to intervene when two other babies are fighting. First, by trying to get the attention of the adults. And when that doesn’t work... twice… she tries to solve the friendship problem herself. Unfortunately, with the wisdom of King Solomon. And that goes badly.
I felt so bad for Flurry Heart this whole episode. The cuteness was overwhelmed by a sadness for the poor girl. This was a horrible day for her when it should have been an amazing one. The absolute most heartbreaking moment was when she drew a loving picture of her and her aunt having fun, and her aunt erased it.
In fact, Flurry Heart’s highly virtuous behavior would have been too much if the episode didn’t also throw in that scene with the mashed peas. The writers took care not to show Flurry Heart as perfect.
But when Flurry Heart finally does throw a tantrum, not only is it brief and non-disruptive, it is totally deserved and long overdue.
art by DixieRarity
To Twilight’s credit, she didn’t abandon either of her responsibilities. She wasn’t willing to cancel the visit to the hospital. I thought the episode laid out the dilemma very well. Twilight couldn’t let down sick, miserable children who were looking forward to her visit. But how do you say no to your brother and his wife in that sort of situation?
And it may have been selfish for Twilight to indulge in her desire to spend time with her niece when others were counting on her, but this is family. Maybe family shouldn’t always come first, but the people you love are generally the highest priority in your life, and every other commitment and obligation may find itself getting restructured accordingly when loved ones are inserted into the situation.
Moreso, I have to commend Twilight for not getting upset with Flurry Heart when, from her perspective, the baby continuously got into trouble and was causing mounting delays. Many parents, sadly, would not have managed that under stress. Twilight doesn’t become irate until Flurry Heart’s actions actually threaten the safety of other children. And at that point, Flurry Heart actually is doing something deserving of a scolding… even though the situation is entirely the fault of the adult who should have been paying attention in the first place.
art by XDuskStarX
Much can be said for Spike in this episode. In fact, a great many good things can be said about Spike in these first three episodes of Season 7. This is Spike at his best, filling the role he does so well.
I said in my Afterthoughts for Celestial Advice:
Spike was awesome this episode. Not always saying the right thing (“Too soon?”), but showing the strength of his role and the dynamic he adds, including his wonderful sarcasm (“Wild guess: something’s wrong.”) keeping Twilight’s crazy from overwhelming her.
Here, he does much the same, serving as a voice of reason and responsibility. And ultimately, it is Spike who fulfills Twilight’s obligation to the sick children, and does so with aplomb.
I could write a whole blog on how amazing Spike’s characterization has been, and the role he has played. But I don’t have to, because the wonderful Sprocket Doggingsworth has already done so, and far more insightfully and eloquently than I would have. Here is the relevant segment of her blog essay “Help! My Heart is Full of Pony! - Behind the Scenes”, reprinted here with permission:
Somewhere along the line, however, [Spike] went from being the butt of jokes, to being the sarcastic straight man - a voice of reason. The "are you kidding me" looks that he throws have become not only a staple of his humor, and his character, but also a point of relatability.
At the very beginning of this episode, Spike tells Twilight Sparkle what the rest of us already know – that Twilight had already made a commitment to the hospital - that it would be irresponsible to take on more than the two of them could handle - that her overly ambitious plan of juggling these two very big responsibilities was going to blow up in their faces.
Of course, his advice is ignored, but throughout the episode, there he is anyway, right there beside Twilight Sparkle, for glory or for folly, because that is the nature of his relationship with Twilight. He is Sam to her Frodo. He'll follow her to the ends of the earth.
I don't think that's talked about quite enough.
Spike gets a bad rap because a great deal of his episodes tend to be subpar, (even if there are a few excellent ones). However, Spike as a character, shines brightest in episodes that are not, in fact, his own. Whatever other adventures, or hijinks might be going on, Spike is always there to re-organize the books after they get knocked off their shelves, or to clean up the castle after Luna-only-knows what happens to it. He's always doing the actual hard work of friendship and companionship – the sort of unglamorous stuff that is seldom called attention to, in real life, or in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
In a show that exalts loyalty, and dedication, and friendship to the point of mysticism, Spike's unwavering devotion to Twilight is actually downplayed, taken for granted even. Think about that for a minute.
art by PhoenixPeregrine
The lesson of this episode was a great one: when spending time with those you care about, it is the quality of the time, not the quantity, that is important.
In fact, this is a lesson I need to learn myself. I have many friends who are very dear to me. But I feel some of us are drifting, and the fault lies with me. I need to spend time with and on my friends: focused time where we enjoy each other’s company. The random “hugs” in a chat room are not sufficient. And that brings me to the complimentary lesson:
Multitasking isn’t effective. While some are definitely better than others, as human beings, we don’t multitask well. We cannot just divide our time between multiple, simultaneous tasks; we also divide our attention. And what is worse, we lose something in the process of dividing – our overall level of attention degrades with each additional split. In short: the amount of attention we give to multiple projects at once, when combined, is not equal to the attention we can give a single project if it is our total focus.
Sometimes, multitasking is required. But when it comes to spending time with those we care about, we need to be acutely aware of this fact. We are cheating them, and we are cheating ourselves, if we try to spread our attention thin.
art by RacoonKun
Dancing Bears:
Even if exposition-heavy, I really did like how they set up the conflict so swiftly and easily right away, giving each conflicting obligation an appropriate weight. I also loved hearing Nurse Redheart speak again. It had been a while.
I’m also extremely happy that this episode wasn’t a rehash of Baby Cakes.
The telekinetic bear game was delightful. Especially with how the animators showed the difference in finesse between Auntie Twilight’s display and Flurry Heart’s.
I found myself repeatedly impressed by how good the animation in this show has gotten. It has been a subtle and steady improvement. Choices of perspective have regularly been deftly chosen. Action has become much more fluid and evocative. The flight scene with Twilight and Flurry Heart in the castle was beautifully done. And scenes like the hospital chaos, with the 360 degrees pan, really show off the animator’s talents.
Last episode, we learned that Starlight Glimmer’s magical potency is tied to her emotional state. In “Flurry of Emotions” it would seem that Flurry Heart’s magic has a similar mechanic.
The pattern of peas on the wall was fun.
Is racing carts in a toy store really a good idea, Twilight?
I love how they easily explained Twilight’s need to get a book from Cheerilee.
This episode left me with so many questions about linguistics in Equestria. We had already seen that pony writing is English, and this wasn’t the first time ponies had used abbreviations that required the use of the English language… but “pony Latin”?
“With my mouth.”
I cheered the return of Pinkie’s secret party planning cave. The secret entrance this time was wonderful.
Speaking of Pinkie, I love how she immediately matched Twilight’s speed of interaction (or maybe it’s that Twilight had finally sped up to Pinkie’s level).
“That’s what I said. Isn’t that what I said?” I loved how they showed both parents being left frazzled by the demands of parenthood. (By the way: they’re royals; don’t they have royal babysitters?)
“Honestly? All of your friend’s names are very similar.” Great lampshading of the uniformity of the guards. It was also nice that the guard Spearhead was so unique.
“Go to her.”
The side story with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance was nicely done. Having studied art myself, I can both empathize with the confusion that many feel at modern art (“That’s a trash can.”) and agree with Spearhead on the point that art is evocative, and what makes something art, on a personal level, is in the reactions and associations it provokes.
It was likewise fun to see Shining Armor and Cadance inevitably fall victim to the classic parental “away from our child too long” syndrome. Even those of us who are not parents can sympathize and understand: sometimes our friends drive us crazy and we need time alone, but we still like them and want to continue to enjoy their company… just after a bit of a break. (The previous episode’s Starlight could probably go on at length about that.)
So far, this has been the best episode this season. Pinkie was perfect in her role, Twilight was perfect in her role, and Spike was written very well.
I just wish the rest of the episodes so far were this well thought-out.
Flurry of Emotions should be something the writers and animators should be proud of.
Pinkie...you have fallen through the tree of stupids...why? Oh, why, Pinkie? I wonder how you'll react to that episode, Kkat.
Maybe she secretly cast an anti-disease shield on Flurry like in the episode with Discord's Blue Flu? Although in that episode the shield was, you know. Visible and tangible.
I'm willing to assume there was *something* going on behind the scenes to avoid infecting people at the hospital since no one seemed worried about Twilight or Spike catching anything.
I didn't even watch the rest of the episode due to that one issue, but I may go back to it eventually.
Honestly, I figured that Flurry is so magically dense that, like Discord, any disease short of tatzl pox can't survive within her.
And yeah, there was a lot to like in this episode.
Thank Celestia I'm not the only one to notice that.
This put a smile on my face. Come to think of it, a lot of my favorite memories with my closest two friends are times where we were just sitting around throwing one-liners from movies at each other.
This made my day.
I finally got around to watching all the episodes I missed since the season started! This season is off to a great start.
Maybe alicorns are immune to infectious diseases?
Honestly, that's the only explanation I can think about without calling a mishap.
I was going to say "Headcanon: Alicorns don't get sick" but then found that two other posters already came up with the same thing.
Dangit 4517427 Beat me to it. Though the shield was only visible when it was actively blocking something infectious.
Another possibility is that the foals WEREN'T infectious. That this was one of those diseases that is only infectious at certain stages, and after being treated like they had been they could no longer pass on the sickness and were working on recovering from it. Or maybe Equestrian hospitals have all kinds of passive sterilization magic in place that just totally blocks airborne germ transmission.
But yet again you show why you are so awesome, and so damn amazing at looking over the eps like this. Right from the start of this you make clear you truly understand one of the core concepts that eludes so many 'analysts' and 'reviewers' on of the core tenants of making a good, thoughtful, logical piece about any work. That 'I do not like this" =\= "This is bad". Just because there is something to the story you do not like, it does not mean it is a bad story. Somethings really are purely a matter of personal taste, not any inherent flaw in a story. Thank you for getting that, now if only more really did.
As usual, great bits, loved them all, the 'issue' well see above, there are ways around it but yes, was something they writers seemed to just not notice should have been addressed. Everything else was amazing. Flurry really is so adorable and good hearted.
As to "Royal Babysitter" look how frazzled they are, how they talk about how hard cleaning up after her was. They must have legions of ponies eager to help take care of Flurry, but are not foisting off any aspect of being her parent on staff. Taking care of her themselves, and when they need a break, getting family to look after her. Damn they are great parents.
4517426 re: Pinkie. Because she was both extremely over excited, but also desperate on multiple levels. First to get Maud to move to Ponyville so she could be nearby and they could hang out more. Second to get Maud a friend just for the sake of Maud having somepony close to her she can enjoy being around. All leading to Pinkie simply not having room to compute the calm, logical facts and simply reacting without fully thinking it out. Especially when it's Pinkie, a pony that already has a rather loose connection to certain concepts of 'reality'.
4517467 Cant be, if it were Cadance wouldn't have needed that germ shield she used back in season 4.
I mean maybe I'm biased as the son of a teacher, but for me erasing or otherwise ruining a teacher's chalkboard notes, at least to the extent she did, is never okay, so Flurry being sad that her (admittedly cute) drawing was erased was fine by me.
Someone else pointed out that hives are not an infectious disease. They're an allergic reaction. Odd that the entire class would get Horsey Hives at the same time, but maybe they ran into something on a school outing.
In that frame, it's not as bad that Twilight took Flurry to visit them, as she wouldn't be exposed to whatever caused their allergic reaction. Still not good taking an infant into a hospital, but Twilight wasn't being as irresponsible as some folks think.
4517591 Not all diseases are created equal; they could just have really powerful immune systems. Even if you're shielded from normal stuff, would you really want to get sneezed on by Discord?
I third/fourth/fifth/whatever that there was probably no danger of Flurry herself catching anything from that. Still seems sketchy, taking a foal to a hospital, and definitely worth a few raised eyebrows, of course.
Perhaps this is a subtle canon reveal that alicorns have overpowered immune systems?
While I did have the same objection you had regarding Flurry and illness, the messages of this episode were too strong to let that single incident shadow the rest. But that's more because it's a message I needed to hear.
I wish I had something meaningful to add to your post here, but you actually nailed this brilliantly from all the right angles. This episode spoke to me more as a parent than anything else, mainly because multitasking as a parent is something that is all too often required just to live one's life. However, it is easy beyond description to turn this into a lifestyle that one practice every day. Ironically, this last weekend, I found myself frustrated with my own daughter because I was trying to multitask when I should have been paying attention directly to her.
More than anything, the lessons this season has been meting out... they've been really impressive. We've got a lesson that even those we look up to have their own fears and insecurities (no matter how collected they may appear on the outside), that it's okay to be angry with your friends and call them on stupid things and that quality time means so much more than quantity.
These episodes hit every spectrum of those watching. This is amazing way to come out of the gate swinging. We don't need big baddies. We just need good stories. And we're getting that in droves.
"Weaponized cuteness" I like that
An accurate statement for sure
Just curious but does anyone know how you can get alerts for blogs that have been posted? I seemed to get them when I actually go looking on the site but never gotten an email for it. Does it work differently than story updates? Just wondering
Well, if I've learned one thing, it's that My Little Pony can teach you how to be a good parent, as well as teach you excellent life lessons.
That isn't something I would have found myself saying six years ago.
Now that is well-written and balanced take of the episode.