Hard To Say Anything Review · 4:57pm May 27th, 2017
If you can believe it, this is actually the first episode of the entire show to not only have none of the mane six, but also not have any of their voice actresses in any way, shape, or form (the closest we came to this before was "Hearts and Hooves Day", "On Your Marks", and "The Fault in Our Cutie Marks"). And fittingly enough, it's a Cutie Mark Crusaders episode with Big Macintosh in the spotlight. After the impressive development he got in Season 5, I was disappointed to see him go back to being an "Eeyup" and "Eenope" character for Season 6. With another new writer in the hot seat (today's episode is penned by Becky Wangberg, who also wrote for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and has written for Phineas and Ferb and Busen is a Beast), was this episode able to be good, or was it a dud? Well, let's find out.
We begin with the CMC going through some old costumes from Seasons 1 and 2 (Pinkie's groucho glasses, Mayor Mare's rainbow wig, and Pipsqueak's pirate hat), when they notice Big Macintosh preparing to make a delivery. He's been going to Starlight's old village (and yes that's what they call it in show, really need to pick out a proper name for it) a lot lately. In fact, it's his fifth trip in a week. Apple Bloom doesn't think there's anything odd about it, but Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sure do, and convince Apple Bloom they need to tag along with Big Macintosh to find out what he's up to. Putting on costumes, the three stowaway aboard Big Mac's apple cart.
They arrive in the village and see Big Mac making the deliveries to Sugar Belle, who's very eager to expand her products to apple based baked goods. But she has a very small display counter, so she doesn't get to really show off a lot of her products. The CMC quickly take notice that Big Mac has a crush on Sugar Belle, and decide they're gonna help him confess his feelings for her. Big Mac is quick to make it clear about the "No love potion" rule, considering what happened last time.
Big Mac first opts for the usual offering of flowers, only for Feather Bangs, an earth pony (voiced by Samuel Vincent who also voiced Party Favor, the unicorn who tended to get shipped with Sugar Belle up to this point) to show up and outdo Big Mac. The CMC see him as a threat, and decide Big Mac needs to woo Sugar Belle. Their idea is to act out cliches from fairy tales, and this brings up perhaps the only thing to fault the episode for, considering how old they are at this point, the CMC really should know better than to think romance works like a fairytale. In fact, Rarity is the kind of pony who still has a hard time with learning this lesson, considering she has believed in love at first sight, and twice has had to learn that true love seldom works that way. I suspect she wasn't included in this episode, because the CMC make a comment about how they don't think Spike could be fercious, and if Rarity had said that I could imagine she'd come off as mean, especially given how often she's appreciated Spike's help (even if it times she seems to toy with his affections).
The first attempt is rescuing a damsel in distress, which involves Scootaloo in disguise stealing Sugar Belle's saddlebag, and Big Mac retrieving it. But Feather Bangs comes along, snatches the bag, and takes all the credit. Then the CMC get the idea to have Big Mac go up and give Sugar Belle a kiss while she's sleeping on a cot, and Sugar Belle naturally freaks out at the idea. Feather Bangs comes along and offers her a ride in a carriage, so the CMC decide the only option left is to have Big Mac write a song for Sugar Belle. Worth mentioning is that Feather Bangs is accompanied by a trio of mares who swoon and ah over him, much like Gaston from the animated Beauty and the Beast.
This leads into the song titled "The Battle for Sugar Belle", which uses a variety of genres, as both BIg Mac and Feather Bangs try to out ham each other to win over Sugar Belle's affections. Supposedly, Feather Bangs is based on Justin Beiber, but I don't see the resembelence, if only because Feather Bangs can actually sing decently at first and isn't is like just about every pop star out there (relevant for a little while, then when they fade from glory their life falls apart and they start trashing themselves to stay relevant). It all ends with Sugar Belle's shop being wrecked, and her getting a pie to the face. Furiously, she orders both Feather Bangs and Big Mac out. Worth noting is that while the CMC look for Big Mac, Party Favor and Night Glider are seen on what could be a date (kind of surprised no one ever considered that ship to be honest, Night Glider only ever seemed to be shipped with Double Diamond for some odd reason, and Party Favor if he wasn't shipped with Pinkie Pie or Sugar Belle, would usually be shipped with Double Diamond, though there was one fic that shipped him with Moondancer of all ponies).
The CMC find Big Mac on the hill where Sugar Belle's cot was, and Big Mac comments on how Sugar Belle isn't a fairytale princess. Opting for one last try, the CMC have Scootaloo distract Sugar Belle (very badly I might add, though I'll give Madeline Peters props for her disguised Scootaloo voice) and Sweetie Belle keep watch, while Apple Bloom and Big Mac work on fixing Sugar Belle's display stand to make it bigger. When Sugar Belle sees it, she is thrilled, and she and Big Mac finally confess their feelings for each other, while the CMC apologize for putting him up to all those crazy romantic gestures. Meanwhile, right outside Sugar Belle's cottage, Feather Bangs holds up a phonograph and tries to woo her with music. Maybe he should've taken a note from Deadpool.
Turns out that Feather Bangs doesn't know how to talk to ponies, and he asks the CMC to help him. They agree, and the episode ends with them mimicking his trademark mane flip. Looks like the fandom's found a new waifu stealer.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Honestly, aside from the brief jab at Spike (was that really needed when it took until last season to stop treating him as a joke?) and the CMC regressing in mentality a little (take away their cutie marks and perhaps use somepony from a different location than the village and this episode could easily take place in Season 2 or Season 3), there's not anything that hurts this episode. I especially appreciate the moral, real life romance seldom works like a fairytale, and it's important people understand as soon as possible that romance isn't always about grand gestures, it's about getting to know someone on a personal life and doing what makes them happy. Treat them as an individual, not a prize to be won. It's great to see Big Macintosh get a bigger role and move beyond being the typical "Eeyup" and "Eenope" character he tends to be flanderized as, and Feather Bangs could've easily just been an irredemable jerk trying to snatch Sugar Belle away from Big Mac, but he was actually likeable enough to where his actions never felt too obnoxious. But personally, I'm gonna still ship Big Mac with Cheerilee and Sugar Belle with Party Favor, MacinBelle (or whatever the ship is going to be called) would have to be a long distance relationship, and I don't quite see that being what either would want (Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle seem too tied down to their respective homes to ever truly consider leaving). Still, I have no problems giving this episode an A, putting it just below "Forever Filly" which remains the best episode of Season 7 so far. And speaking of episodes, I think I'm actually leaning towards "Fluttershy Leans In"
to be slightly above "Parental Glidance", seeing as "Parental Glidance" needed some work whereas "Fluttershy Leans In"
had a good set up and pay off, it just needed to work more on the conflict. "Parental Glidance" probably wanted us to sympathize with Rainbow's parents, but they went way too far and made our sympathies go to Rainbow Dash instead.
Now, apparently, despite there being three episodes left to go before the U.S. catches up to Canada (which is now airing re-runs) Discovery Family has decided to leave us with a mid season hiatus here, and I'm scratching my head at the decision. Why not at least wait until "Not Asking for Trouble" or even "The Perfect Pair", wouldn't that make more sense? Edit:
Turns out the hiatus won't be until "Not Asking for Trouble", but I'm still going to watch "Honest Apple" early since I don't think it'll be very good.
Well, for the next three episodes at least, I'm gonna try to watch them online, since I'm not going to wait for Discovery Family to announce the end of the hiatus (looks like all that promotional hype in the first few weeks was just a fluke and now they're back to flat out almost no promotion at all for the show). As for the episodes after that, well it depends on what happens. If they air early in Canada before the hiatus ends, I'll reluctantly watch them there (and if they're good enough I'll come back to them when they air in the U.S.), but if Discovery Family announces the end of the hiatus before new episodes start airing in Canada, I'll wait for the official U.S. airdate unless I say otherwise. So, assuming it hasn't been taken down already, I'll watch "Honest Apple" tomorrow, and if the pattern holds I should see "A Royal Problem" on Monday and "Not Asking For Trouble" on Tuesday, and should have reviews out on those days. If you're going to wait for the U.S. airdate of those episodes, consider this your warning:
Honestly, the only real problems I had with this episode was there was no buildup or any hints to Big Mac having a crush on Sugar Belle in any previous episodes. It just comes out of nowhere, and honestly, I didn't really feel any chemistry here between the two. Let's face it, this show stinks at romance and building up to it, as A Canterlot Wedding shows.
4549016 Yeah, I think the best ships are the ones they don't intentionally set up, but at least give some fuel for. You know, strong friendships like CheesePie, FlutterCord, StarBurst, StarTrixie, that sort of stuff. And at least with CheeriMac they kind of teased us with cameos of it in Seasons 3 and 4.
4549037 Yeah, I noticed. Spoiler Alert, A Royal Problem I can tell you already is the Celestia and Luna episode we've been wanting and waiting for a long time. Starlight doesn't steal the spotlight, it's the sisters who get to do that there.
4549040 I just hope Starlight's behavior isn't too big a distraction.
4549042 It actually kinda helps the episode and it's balanced out by Celestia and Luna's screentime. In fact, one of the things Starlight does gives us an incredible and awesome holy shit moment. That, I won't spoil.
4549016 My problem with this ship is how they gonna make it work if they live in different towns. To me long distance relationships don't last too long
4549045 The only thing I can think of is mail or Sugar Belle moving to Ponyville. Honestly, I can't see what the writers were thinking with this one.
4549047 I agreed. I still consider shipping Big Mac with Cheerilee.
While this was a hilarious episode, its still only number 5 for me, with Royal Problem, Parental Glideance, All Bottled Up, and Rock Solid Friendship being above it
4549045 I think they can work, you just need to be able to make the commitment, and accept the fact that you won't see your lover too often. You also have to be willing to be faithful to him or her, and trust that they'll do the same for you. It takes a great deal of emotional investment, and it's definitely not for everyone.
I'm sorry, what? All they said was that Spike wasn't particularly threatening. How was that a jab at him? I'm not sure that even makes it a joke. They were merely making an observation, and they're right. Given his size, I don't think anypony would find Spike intimidating. (I would have liked to see the CMC dressing up as a dragon as a means to help Big Mac. That would have been cute, and it would have been a nice callback to "Dragon Quest.")
Yet another statement that irked me. My problem with "Forever Filly" was the CMC acting too grown-up. I liked that this episode made them excitable litfle fillies again. The writer of "Forever Filly" seemed to think that just because the CMC got their cutie marks they have to act as if they've become adults, which irks me. The CMC are maturing, yes, but "Forever Filly" made them act as if they had to grow up all at once, which "Hard to Say Anything" seemed to rectify, which I like. Hell, the moral of "Forever Filly" could have been that just because you're growing up doesn't mean you have to grow up all at once. You can still enjoy things from your childhood despite growing up. You can have these characters growing up and maturing, but it has to be done gradually. Don't have them grow up all at once. Remember that these characters are entering their teenage years, so it makes sense that they would want to help Big Mac with his first crush, but approach it from a child-like perspective, like Sweetie Belle did. I Iiked that Sweetie Belle was reading fairy tales and insisted that they do everything by the fairy tale book, because that fit her character. So, no, they weren't mentally regressed. They may be growing up, but they're still children, and they should act like children instead of grown ponies in the bodies of little fillies. I hate kid characters who don't act or sound like kid characters, but more like an adult in a kid's body. (This was one of the reasons why I hated shows like Hey Arnold.)
4549076 It might work, but it's not for me.
Well for me, this was a very nice episode, now we're getting somewhere with the standard of writing. The new writer did a good job with the episode I think. I have no problem in making this my fave episode of the Season so far in terms of writing standards and the execution of the moral.
But I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of the ship they went for here (Long-distance relationships can be hit or miss a lot of the time). Sugar Belle and Party Favor are far more suited for each other than Big Mac.
I picked out one song that accurately describes Feather Bangs' personality and set it to a PMV.
LOOK IN MY EYES PRETTY WOMAN
By Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter
Performed by Tony Orlando and Dawn
Courtesy of Arista Records, Inc.
4549080 No one is saying the CMC need to be adults now that they have their cutie marks, but their behavior here is something that they should have grown out of. Just two episodes ago, Sweetie Belle didn't like being treated like a little filly and playing dress up, this episode she and the other CMC think fairytales are an accurate reflection of real life romance.
4549448 They're ten years old. What do you expect? And Sweetie Belle is most childish out of all three of the Crusaders.
I didn't like this episode very much because the fairytale romance stuff wasn't very interesting and the romance isn't explored beyond they like eachother. I liked all previous episodes better than this one even if it wasn't terrible and Honest Apple was no improvement and probably the worst of this season so far. The 2 episodes after Honest Apple are better and Royal Problem is easily the best we've had this season.
This was the first bad episode of the season, and hopefully only. I'm really tired of crushes being conflated with romances. And Big Mac and Sugar Belle are sooo boring together, almost as boring as FlutterMac.
4550658 How are they boring together? I don't think anything could be more boring than MarbleMac. Marble is just a medicore Fluttershy clone.
4550974 Oh I agree, MarbleMac is worse. But Big Mac and Sugar Belle still aren't different enough to be interesting.
"Big Mac first opts for the usual offering of flowers, only for Feather Bangs, an earth pony (voiced by Samuel Vincent who also voiced Party Favor, the unicorn who tended to get shipped with Sugar Belle up to this point) to show up and outdo Big Mac."
Wrong Vincent, SPB12. Feather Bangs is actually voiced by Vincent Tong aka Flash Sentry. I assume he was cast to play Feather Bangs as part of a reference to Equestria Girls due to Sugar Belle's VA, Rebecca Shoichet, also playing Sunset Shimmer who if you remember correctly dated Flash prior to the events of the first movie.
4552193 Yeah, I found out that fact later on. Sure sounded like Samuel Vincent though.