FiM Rewatch: Applebuck Season · 7:28pm Aug 2nd, 2020
Well, here we are at episode four. And it's another hard one to critique, because it's another one that really relies on its jokes. It's actually kind of repetitive, with the bulk of the episode being Applejack screwing up, then Twilight trying to talk to her. I suppose it's a sign of this show's writing strength that I didn't notice until I sat down to analyze it.
The best jokes: Applejack acting loopy when accepting her trophy, Twilight essentially making a non-PC statement (thankfully the mule understands), and the "baked bads" scene. Though Spike enjoying them? I don't think Spike being that much of an omnivore was a thing in later seasons, and I'm grateful.
As I mentioned when I started this, I'm rewatching these episodes was to make a timeline. According to my research, Apple harvesting time differs depending on the apple, but times tend to fall in September and October. If the Summer Sun Celebration is roughly equal to the Summer Solstice (late June), then Twilight would have had to live in Ponyville for over two months and a week at least.
No, I don't get invited to a lot of parties, why do you ask?
Nothing much else to say about this one, except I remember reading somewhere that Applejack was supposed to be ramming the trees with her head, which would have explained some of her symptoms better.
One thing I always thought interesting about this one in hindsight is that it (perhaps with "Family Reunion") are basically "breakdown" episodes for Applejack. Like how Lesson Zero has Twilight go crazy, or how Party of One has Pinkie break down and go nuts. It always was curious to me that, in hindsight, the member of the Main Six who's seen as the most levelheaded is the first one to get an episode that is all about them going to pieces. XD
One of my personal favorite scenes from this episode was the bunny stampede caused by Applejack.
It was confirmed long ago that that was the original plan. They changed it because they didn't want kids to emulate what Applejack was doing. There was also supposed to be a scene of Applejack helping Rarity but it was cut due to time constraints (and probably because it would've been repetitive, breaking the "Rule of Three").
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She doesn't break as badly as the others, and more importantly, her broken personality doesn't overtake her entire character going forward.
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Huh. Never thought about it like that
I am of the opinion that the show order as presented in Friendship if Magic is only loosely correlated with the real order the events happened in Equestria. Some episodes obviously take place before others but others seem to be deliberately out-of-order by the showrunners.
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Given that, in the first season, an episode where winter wraps up comes before an episode on making autumn leaves fall, I'm inclined to agree, at least in this season.
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If I ever get around to writing my horse on Earth story, one of the plot points is that Trixie watches the first two and a half seasons of FiM with the main human character and complains about all the times the show deviates from what really happened in Equestria. The two big deviations Trixie points out are:
Two footnotes to this post:
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I never knew that BTS fact. It's good they went with kicking, that's FAR more intuitive for horses.
Are you timelining these like the episodes are out of order, or are they timelined like they are in order and your just tyring to figure out the length between them?
It's kind of weird to see Big Mac so talkative in the cold open, considering what he would later be known for.
This was a lot of fun, with all of tired Applejack's shenanigans. And we got our first taste of how stubborn and intent on keeping her word she is.
This is where I thought the series started doing what made it good. It was cliche and silly, but it gave a depth to it that you wouldn't expect from the show. Characters complex enough their stupidity was relatable as opposed to contrived, realistic consequences, and meaningful resolution.
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Given that an episode about fall leaves falling comes after an episode about winter ending, I'll have to go with the latter. Or else, Gala tickets are given out two years early.