"Grannies Gone Wild" Review: The Lewdness You Never Wanted To See

Three weeks after "School Daze", I finally saw my awesome Student Six again! Or, at least three of them..... Yona, Smolder and Sandbar were quite confused over Rainbow Dash geeking out for no apparent reason and without any explanation.
I could only see them for one, short moment, however..... Which is kind of where my issue with this episode lies. Don't get me wrong here, I still like it. I like every episode of the show as I'm highly interested in Equestria. But I want to see the Student Six again, in many more proper episodes with them, and this is now yet another week without one. I'm grateful that I saw three of them for one short moment, at least. But there was no focus on them in this episode.
And this episode dodged an excellent opportunity for having an episode with them..... Applejack agreed to take over Rainbow Dash's classes so she can be in Las Pegasus. But instead of an episode about the Student Six at the Friendship School, we got to see how Rainbow Dash accompanied Granny Smith, Auntie Applesauce, Cousin Apple Rose and Cousin Goldie Delicious on a trip to Las Pegasus.
Which wasn't a bad thing, mind you..... It was interesting to see Applesauce and Apple Rose again after more than four seasons (the last and first time was in "Apple Family Reunion" in S3) and we haven't seen Goldie Delicious often either. And seeing an episode with them was definitely more interesting than a usual Mane Six episode would be at this point. But..... It shatters me a bit how there was such a good opportunity for a Student Six episode and DHX just passed up on it.....
Of course it's still early in the season. For all we know, DHX could have decided to make some more Mane Six episodes before switching to the Student Six as a new manecast to slowly fade out the Mane Six. But hearing this, in combination with seeing Smolder, Yona and Sandbar at the beginning of the episode..... This was an awful teasing. It made the episode feel like it's going to be a Student Six episode and then it wasn't.

I still enjoyed seeing Rainbow Dash (of course, the moment she heard that one isn't a real Wonderbolt if they were never on the Wild Blue Yonder, she just HAD to try it out, cause her ego got triggered), but overall, I was more interested in other ponies we've seen in this episode.
And I was impressed by one particular thing in this episode..... After they checked into the hotel, Applesauce was making advances to the bellhop who carried their luggage to their room, with very clear, sexual metaphors, and Granny Smith called her "Applesaucy" afterwards. I couldn't believe my ears at first when I heard that..... But that's what she said.^^
This is the first time My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic got actually, and intentionally, lewd. It was pukey (although funny too) considering Applesauce's age, but it was very daring from G.M. Berrow to go so far and to put this into the episode. Somewhere, soccer parents equip themselves with pitchforks right now. :P

I like the end of the episode a lot. When Granny Smith and the others complained to Rainbow Dash for ruining their trip, this hit quite in the feels..... Think about it for a moment; Granny Smith and the others are very old and they had finally gotten what they wanted after countless trips to Las Pegasus, to be part of the magic show of Jack Pot and Big Bucks. And, considering their old age, this could have very well been the last trip to Las Pegasus for some of them.
And not only did Rainbow Dash ruin this trip that might become the last one they ever did together, she also robbed them off what was maybe the last chance to properly participate in this magic show, the last chance for some of them as they might not be alive anymore next year..... Taking this into consideration, their angry reactions were much more meaningful and justified than it seemed at first glance.
This was a dramatic and mature touch that made the episode become quite deep at the end.

Another thing I like are the appearances of Lyra and Bon Bon throughout the episode.^^ This episode has a nice, little subplot in the background of them being in Las Pegasus for a romantic trip (perhaps on their anniversary?) and you can watch them doing different activities, from making pictures together when Rainbow Dash photobombed them to having just taken a ride on the Wild Blue Yonder at the end.
And it isn't the first time we saw a subplot in the background like this. "Forever Filly" last season had something similar, when we saw Dinky together with Pina Colada, Noi, Alula, Tornado Bolt, Cotton Cloudy, Berry Pinch, Aura and Liza Doolots (Tootsie Flute) be at various places of the town and hang out together.^^
It's only the second time now we see certain background ponies so consistently throughout an episode that we can backtrace what they did together and I enjoy this a lot. It's things like this that make MLP: FiM so real. :)

And, finally, we even got to know somepony who definitely has familial bonds with another pony we already know for a long time..... One of the stallions in the magic show at the end (it's unfortunately unclear if he is Jack Pot or Big Bucks) looks exactly like Trixie which, in combination with his personality and his profession of being a stage magician, makes quite clear that he is related to her.
Of course there are several possibilities, but he gives me the vibe that he is Trixie's dad. I wouldn't mind him getting a bigger role in the show, which is luckily quite possible with Trixie's own bigger role she has since Season 6. Maybe we see him again soon?

I'm a little surprised that we haven't seen Flim and Flam in this episode, as the ressort Rainbow Dash was in with Granny Smith and the others is apparently the same as the one Fluttershy and Applejack chased Gladmane away from with their help..... But the place is clearly still owned by them, as the statues of them in the entrance hall prove.

And I guess that's it for this episode. It was a little hard to write something about it as I really starve for more episodes with the Student Six at this point after three weeks without a focus or even appearance of them (for the last two), but I think I managed to cover all the important things.
The next episode could be more interesting again, finally, as what I could catch from it so far hints that it's an episode about the Friendship School, which I really hope it is, as well as the first CMC episode of this season.^^
See you next week!