Doctor Perseus Reviews: MLP S7E12&13 "Discordant Harmony" & "The Perfect Pear" · 3:51am Jun 28th, 2017
I think we can all agree that the episode releases for Season 7 have been pretty whack. Hopefully things will get back to normal in the second half of the season. Hard to believe that we're already halfway through Season 7. Seems like they're trying to rush out as many episodes as they can before the movie premiere. But, overall, I can say this was a great send-off for the first half of Season 7.
Let's start with Discordant Harmony. I'm always up for a fun Discord episode. Granted, we already got to see Discord in the premiere; but he was mainly a secondary character. Here, we have Discord back in the starring role. Not only that, we get our first episode taking a look at Discord and Fluttershy's friendship since Season 5's Make New Friends But Keep Discord. And what are my thoughts? I liked it.
Granted, this is definitely one of the more calmer and simpler Discord episodes. A good chunk of the episode is just Discord walking around Ponyville shopping for his tea party with Fluttershy. Before, I would have expected something like this to be a little boring. But I actually found myself quite entertained. It was interesting just seeing Discord going about his business and interacting with random ponies in Ponyville. It almost feels like a segment that would have felt right at home in Slice of Life. But, of course, the core focus of the episode is an examination of Fluttershy and Discord's abnormal friendship and why it works. I feel that any exploration of Discord and Fluttershy's friendship after Season 4 has been brilliant. The two are so different yet they bounce off each other so well. Discord's care for Fluttershy's well-being and her respect as well as Fluttershy's fondness for Discord's chaotic personality and antics. This is another episode where Fluttershy shines. There's no way Season 1 Fluttershy would have been comfortable in Discord's home, let alone happy to be around him at all. But Season 7 has so far given us some solid Fluttershy development. We also get to delve a bit into Discord's psyche. Discord's self doubt in himself being able to stay friends with Fluttershy was an interesting topic to tackle. It's clear that he values the opinion of his first true friend in high regard. And I hope that we get to see more of them together in future episodes. It was also interesting to learn that Discord can apparently be wiped from existence if he starts to act "normal" for too long.
So, overall, not an exciting episode but a very fun and interesting Fluttershy/Discord episode.
Now, let's talk about The Perfect Pear. Three episodes later, and A Royal Problem already has some tough competition. I absolutely loved this episode.
It was great to finally learn the backstory of the Apple siblings' parents: Bright Mac and Pear "Buttercup" Butter. And it doesn't hurt that the two of them were one of the most adorable couples this show has given us thus far. I haven't seen a couple this adorable since Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy from the Amazing Spider-Man films. Pear Butter's song for Bright Mac, "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song", was also a great moment in their story. I also like the whole Starcrossed Lovers theme they had going. And while nobody killed themselves, this story does end with a hint of tragedy. I guess one thing that bothered me about this episode was how they never addressed how Bright Mac and Pear Butter died. Death is a hard topic for cartoons to cover and MLP has tried its best at avoiding the subject. The closest we've come to it was Rainbow Dash's reaction to Tank hibernating back in Tanks for the Memories. I mean, at least a quick mention would have sufficed. A disease? An accident? We never learn what happened to them. Their backstory pretty much ends after their wedding. Couldn't we at least have gotten a flashback of the Apple siblings with their parents? But, aside from that, their backstory was handled beautifully; and it even added to the backstories of a few other secondary characters like Granny Smith, Mrs. Cake, and Mayor Mare. Burnt Oak was also a likable character despite us seeing little of him. And it was nice to see Goldie Delicious again. We also got to finally see who William Shatner was voicing this season: Grand Pear. And while we never learned how Bright Mac and Pear Butter died, the clear guilt Grand Pear had for not making up with his daughter prior to her death was presented loud and clear. And, at the very least, their legacy remains in the entangled apple and pear trees they planted at their wedding. Plus, Granny Smith and Grand Pear are finally able to make peace.
Overall, this episode was beautiful. Certainly one that deserves to go down as a classic.
What did the rest of you think of Discordant Harmony and The Perfect Pear?
Discordant Harmony: The idea of Discord fading away from existence if he's normal for too long reminds me of the episode Frannie 911 from American Dad. If you don't know, it's about the Smith family's jackass alien Roger being forced to change his ways and be nice, only to turn out that it's slowly killing him. As he puts it, his people need to let their bitchiness out. Otherwise, it turns to bile and poisons them. Though I'm sure it goes without saying MLP: FIM did this concept so much better. Also, something to note about this episode is not only is it written by the Fox Brothers but it's the first one written by them to feature Fluttershy. That's right, in all of the episodes they've written prior to this one (The Gift of the Maud Pie, Applejack's "Day" Off, P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View), & Forever Filly), Fluttershy has always been absent. Maybe they were worried about writing her poorly?
The Perfect Pear: I think it's safe to say this episode has dethroned whichever previous episode that centered around the Apple family (either Pinkie Apple Pie or Hearthbreakers) as the best of the entire series. While the details of how they passed away were never explained, it was still a treat to finally learn about Applejack's parents as well as find out that she and her siblings are only half apple. Bright Mac and Pear Butter certainly make a great couple, dare I say a lot better than Shining Armor and Cadance. Also, William Shatner was not the only celebrity guest star in this episode as Pear Butter is voiced by Felicia Day. In case you don't know who she is, she was the creator, writer and star of a web series called The Guild. Anyway, this was a fantastic episode.