The Perfect Pear Review (Warning: Prepare for Feels!) · 2:37am Jun 22nd, 2017
Found a pitch corrected version on Daily Motion and watched it, just like with my last review if for some reason you're waiting on the official U.S. release suffice it to say:
The hype for this episode was insanely strong and unbelievable, the Apple parents have been something the fandom has been waiting for elaboration on since the very beginning of the show, and this was one of the first episodes to have a lot of details about it revealed, especially that this episode would feature our guest stars for the season: William Shanter (Captain Kirk from Star Trek and Ozzie the Opposum from Over The Hedge) and Felicia Day, who seems to be a relatively obscure voice actress (she's probably in a different profession and is one of those celebrity voice actors). Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco returned yet again to write this episode, but this is their first episode not focused on the princesses, Twilight and Starlight, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy. Considering how "Honest Apple" turned out, this episode had a lot riding on it. Were Lewis and Songco able to handle an episode everyone and their mothers was looking forward to, or did they somehow crash and burn like they did with "Castle, Sweet Castle" the last major feels episode they got handled? Very much the former, but we'll get to that when we get to that. For now, we've got an episode to review.
We begin with Apple Bloom noticing an old stallion running a pear stand, and she buys a jar of pear jam from him. Said stallion is Grand Pear, voiced by William Shanter (and no, he doesn't sing in this episode, you can be thankful for that). Apple Bloom brings home the jar and offers to put it on the Apple Family's apple flapjacks for dinner, and Applejack and Big Macintosh freak out! Thankfully, this time it's over a legitimate reason as opposed to Applejack's uncharacteristic "Are you an Apple?" attitude in "The Cart Before The Ponies". The Apples and The Pears are involved in a long standing feud, and whenever either Applejack or Big Macintosh asked Granny Smith about it, she'd get so upset and refuse to talk about it.
Deciding that there's only one pony who can help them, the Apple siblings seek out the help of Goldie Delicious. This time, she has the answers they need. As it turns out, the Apples and the Pears were in a feud because of Granny Smith and Grand Pear, who argued over who had the better product and the better farm, and this thinking spread to their families. The only ones who weren't affected by this, were Bright Mac and Pear Butter, who Bright Mac gave the nickname of Butter Cup. We get a scene of them talking to each other as foals (most likely toddlers even though they have the same eyes as the Cake Twins, that is unless the Apples and the Pears don't believe in diapers and just potty train their young when they think they're ready), and they sound like functioning adults, as opposed to what baby Applejack sounded like.
But Goldie Delicious doesn't have all the answers, so the trio seek out Smoked Wood who was friends with Bright Mac. He recounts the story of how Bright Mac was honest to a fault, even to the point where he confessed to Grand Pear about being distracted and toppling a water tower that flooded the pear field. But both Granny Smith and Grand Pear are quite insistent that their families not mingle with each other, making this something of a Romeo and Juliet situation (two feuding families and forbidden love between the son of the head of one family, and the daughter of the head of the other). They then talk to Cup Cake, who was friends with Pear Butter, and we learn that she was originally known as Chiffon Swirl, and it was Pear Butter who convinced her that her special talent was in baking. She also mentions how Pear Butter helped her grow as a baker, serving as her taste tester. So Mrs. Cake a.k.a Chiffon, decided to sneak a cake over to surprise Pear, only to see her and Bright Mac confess their love to each other in secret. This leads right into the song, "You're In My Head Like A Catchy Song", hands down the best song of the season and a clear top three contender, possibly top two (still kind of partial to "The Pony I Wanna Be" and "Pinkie's Lament", those songs were more feels inducing, "Pinkie's Lament" even combining hints of what made the other two so good), a beautiful country love ballad. Suffice it to say guitar playing runs in the Apple Family.
Everything was going good, that is until Grand Pear decided to move to Vanhoover to expand his business and get away from the Apples. Devastated at this, Bright Mac and Pear Butter opted to have a secret wedding in the middle of the night at Sweet Apple Acres, presided over by a young mayor mare (back when she opted to let her naturally pink mane be seen, rather than cover it with dye, seems like she has the opposite problem most have as they age), attended by Chiffon and Smoked (it's worth mentioning that Big Mac gets a few good speaking lines here, which is exactly what he deserves to get in his non focus episodes). But just as the two exchanged their vows and planted seeds in the orchard side by side, Grand Pear and Granny Smith showed up. Bright and Pear stood firm on their recently formed marriage (though even if they were of legal age to be married, depending on the laws of consent the parents could still potentially file an objection, but said objection would likely be dismissed in court even if the wedding took place in secret), and Grand Pear forced Pear Butter to choose between being a Pear and being an Apple, and she chose to follow her heart and be an Apple. Grand Pear stormed off in a huff, while Granny Smith said nothing and just consoled her new daughter-in-law, the pain of it all explaining why she kept it secret all this time, her anger wasn't at the Pears any longer, it was at Grand Pear for abandoning his daughter just because she married his son. And yes, this happens more often than you might think in real life. Parents have been known to break off connection to their offspring in disapproval of who they marry, and the same holds true in reverse. Oh, but the story doesn't end there.
Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom decide the time has come to let Grand Pear and Granny Smith know they know about the truth behind the feud. They first visit Grand Pear, who reveals that he did indeed move back to Ponyville so he could be closer to his grandkids (the parents are basically implied to be dead but we don't know how they died), and the Apple siblings bring him back to Granny Smith who is a bit mad at first, but soon buries the hatchet with Grand Pear. The two then see the trees that grew from the seeds planted by Bright Mac and Pear Butter, the two trees having grown side by side into a heart shape. Something that shouldn't be possible, but is anyway.
And that's the story, do I even need to say what I think of the episode? It's everything we could've hoped for and the celebrity voice actors voiced their roles to absolute perfection. Everyone was in character, the story and pacing were just about perfect (could've been better in a few spots but nothing to majorily complain about), and the feels are indeed strong here. Heck, they even handled the romance perfectly (though I wasn't a fan of the physically appearing hearts, this time they didn't feel needed at all), which is something that admittedly this show isn't the best at. This even improves on the kind of story "Where The Apple Lies" tried to tell, but ultimately couldn't because of its refusal to elaborate on the Apple's parents. I wish I could give this episode something besides an A+, but I can't. Suffice it to say, this is the best episode of Season 7 and my new all time favorite episode. As much as I still adore "Crusaders of The Lost Mark", there is the issue about the lack of prior buildup to Diamond Tiara's family and her nice side, which would've made the emotions there even stronger. This episode was well worth the wait, and I don't know if it'll be possible to be top something like this.
Now that we've had a chance to see the first half of Season 7, expect a few comparison and ranking blogs based on it in the next two to three (maybe even four) days, including one showing how all the episodes in the season and the show stack up.
This is easily the second best episode of the series.
And when number one is still Crusaders of the Lost Mark, and number 3 is A Royal Problem, that's saying something..
4579423 I was sorely tempted to keep "Crusader of the Lost Mark" at number one, believe I was. If there had been any build up prior to it for what we got out of Diamond Tiara in that episode, it still probably would be. Alas, something had to give.
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Honestly, even without that build up, the fact that it made Diamond Tiara likeable at ALL is why it remains number one for me.
That, and the CMC getting their marks.
Ugh! I hated this episode. First of all, why did the animators go back to the original design regarding foals? Applejack looks nothing like the Cake twins in her birth certificate, yet in the flashback in "Apple Family Reunion", she does! Secondly, how is it that ponies are able to play instruments like guitars and pianos? This makes no sense! For Spike, it would be easy because he has fingers. How in Equestria do these ponies play chords with just their hooves?
Regarding Bright Mac and Pear Butter as foals, I hate it when writers have kid characters talk and act like adults. The voice for foal Pear Butter was fine, but the voice for foal Bright Mac was way too adult and deep-sounding to make his appearance believable.
The pacing could have been a lot better. I had a very hard time believing that these two were in love because the romance was way too rushed. Instead of showing these two gradually becoming friends and falling in love, like Cadence and Shining Armor, we're expected to believe they love each other simply because they say they do. This is exactly why I hated "A Canterlot Wedding." Like that episode, there was no build,-up to it. They fall in love automatically, making their love story very hard to find believable and get invested in. I also would have preferred it had the colors for the characters been switched around. I always envisioned the mother looking like Apple Bloom and the father looking either like Big Mac or Applejack. Once again, the offspring, save for Apple Bloom, look nothing like their parents. Then again, aside from Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight, none of the Mane Six look like their parents.
Finally, I hated this episode because once again, the writers gave us no indication regarding what happened to the parents afterward. What hapoened!? Are they dead!? Are they traveling salesponies!? Why aren't they around!? You would think that with them discussing their parents, little Apple Bloom would be curious as to their whereabouts and ask where they are. Nope! And you would expect the others to get teary-eyed when talking about their supposedly dead parents, but they don't! I didn't see a single tear anywhere! I can only guess that Pear Butter died giving birth to Apple Bloom and Bright Mac committed suicide shortly afterward.
Also, how old is Granny Smith!? Seriously!? She's got to be over 100.
FINALLY! We finally get an episode that I would count as amazing! The Romeo & Juliet style of it was a great touch since it's so well known in theaters and plays alike, best episode of the Season hands down and William Shatner was a nice surprise.
The second half of Season 7 will really have to go the distance to keep it up. Oh and in terms of episode ranking, this is going straight into my top 10 at number 3.
4579565 The way ponies talk about them and considering the line "They left us something to remember them by" I think that indicates they're dead, the show just won't outright say it.
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Awesome I like it
4579753 I think it's pretty much been "Word of God" for a long time now. Meghan McCarthy said the shooting stars in "Apple Family Reunion" were meant to symbolize the Apples parents, then there's Applejack's line of "If Mom and Dad were here" in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark". I mean, you could still have interpreted that as them travelling like Sweetie Belle's parents, but the way Applejack was tearing up made more sense with the dead parents angle.
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Ok
4579749 That's what's so infuriating about it! Don't sugarcoat it, just come right out and say, "Ma and Pa are dead." I guess this has to do with the golden rule that you can't say "die" in cartoons, for whatever reason, so they have to opt to use euphemisms like "pushing up daisies" or "taking a dirt nap." Furthermore, I would love to learn how they in fact did die, if indeed they are dead.
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Looking at some of the synopsis for the episodes, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I'm especially looking forward to some of them.
Great way to end the first half of the season, but I don't know why this episode and the episode before didn't aired in the United States yet.
4580305 Beats me, I think it might have to do with Discovery Family wanting to air the first Equestria Girls special this Saturday, when the specials were originally going to be Netflix exclusive.
"Grand Pear stormed off in a huff, while Granny Smith said nothing and just consoled her new daughter-in-law, the pain of it all explaining why she kept it secret all this time, her anger wasn't at the Pears any longer, it was at Grand Pear for abandoning his daughter just because she married his son."
You might wanna change "his" to "her" since it is talking about Granny Smith, not Grand Pear.