Retrospective Review: The Ticket Master and Applebuck Season · 3:30pm Jan 20th, 2021
S1E3 The Ticket Master
Oh, so many problems with this episode.
Twilight Sparkle may be sheltered, but she should at least know that she got two tickets so that she could take along a date. This could be handled by having her think she's not interested in a date, and would rather go with a friend, allowing the episode's conflict to happen.
And why aren't the national heroes, the ones who saved Equestria and Princess Luna, the living embodiment of the Elements of Harmony, worthy of their own tickets? Especially considering Princess Celestia wants the Mane Six to come to the Grand Galloping Gala to liven it up. Again, this could be explained by the bureaucrat who gives out the tickets not getting the memo yet; Princess Celestia probably has other things on her plate.
Now, let's talk about the others' motives for wanting to go to the Gala:
Applejack: Really bad. Selling food at a catered event? A much better idea: "We've been trying to sell Sweet Apple Acres products in Canterlot for ages, but you have to know somepony to get your hoof in the door, and the Gala might be our chance!"
Rainbow Dash: Really, really bad. She's planning the equivalent of going to a Broadway play and interrupting the performance with an audition. Her motive to meet the Wonderbolts is actually good, but it should be more along the lines of making her name and interest known.
Fluttershy: Good. Although, as a national hero, you'd think she could simply ask to see the gardens, it's well within her character not to do so.
Pinkie Pie: Good. She's the party pony, and wants to experience the greatest party. But you'd think she'd have an idea of what kind of party it is.
Rarity: Really bad. She actually has a really good reason to attend: as an aspiring fashion designer, there is a chance to show her talents on a grand stage, and also to make connections.
The ponies' attempt to butter up Twilight Sparkle are cringe, but it is amusing, later in the episode, where the random townsfolk are trying to get her ticket, and that includes the characters later introduced as Twilight Sparkle's old friends in Amending Fences.
S1E4 Applebuck Season
First, let's talk logistics. You have three main jobs at Sweet Apple Acres: farming/bucking apples, selling apples, taking care of the homestead. You have three adult ponies: Applejack, Big McIntosh, Granny Smith. So one pony harvesting all of Sweet Apple Acres sounds like situation normal.
Interesting to see normal conversation from Big McIntosh before he got Flanderized.
What strikes me on rewatching this episode is how much it focuses on a negative trait, stubbornness, when it could have been focused on something positive, keeping her word.
The setup of this episode was a mistake in my opinion. It leads to the writers saying "Applejack couldn't be in the episode; she'd be too busy on Sweet Apple Acres". It led to Applejack being called a background pony.
Alternate setup: Applejack's family has two farmhands (farmhoofs? farmhooves?). She said that they could handle the harvest this year by working longer, and lets her farmhands visit their family. But then Big McIntosh got injured, and the math no longer works out. But Applejack gave her word, and she won't go back on her word.
Something I'm seeing as I rewatch (and assuming my memory is accurate), there are a lot of things that only appear once. The talking cows are one of them. They are portrayed as more like animals than sapient creatures, and then they talk. What their role is in the world isn't described, but they do not seem to be equal citizens. And they have a recognizable accent. That's problematic, if you think about it. (It would have been better for the show's bible to limit talking/sapience to ponies, mythical creatures, and some small number of other equine creatures based on previous incarnations of the animation and toy lines.)
There's also the throwaway mule joke, but at least there are several other mules/donkeys in the series. Best not to think that a mule is a sterile hybrid of a donkey and horse.
Largely, though, this episode would be fine with a few changes. Applejack is dependable, Applejack keeps her word, but Applejack needs to learn to ask for help from her friends when circumstances change.
Okay, this is some real interesting commentary. Even I know early season one wasn't all that great, but it's usually held pretty sacrosanct regardless. I'm sure some of this comes from hindsight, getting to know the characters after nine years and all, but that's still a pretty solid way to improve Applebuck Season at least. :)
That's what I've always thought. The initial missive is definitely a form letter, and I imagine reintegrating Luna into the nation's government was taking a lot of Celestia's time. She probably sent the scroll to Spike without checking the contents.
Including Lemon Hearts, who organizes the Gala.
I'm all for teaching the folly of honor before reason, personally.
We do see sapient cows once or twice more. I definitely recall Pinkie greeting one later on. But yeah, there's a fair amount of Early Installment Weirdness on display. Like how every member of the Mane Six telekinetically holds her ticket at the end of "The Ticket Master."
5439142 I like the Celestia POV on the whole thing. Since Twilight has not attended any of the Galas to this point, most probably she would not have gotten a ticket to this one *EXCEPT* she saved Luna with her friends, and therefore little Twilight the student is now Very Important Twilight the Pony Which Others Will Demand to Meet if She Is Not There. Celestia tolerates the whole thing every year because it's like a parade of peacocks, and she's sheltered her student from the over-wrought nobility to this point, but *sigh* now it's going to be something even bigger and more overblown, darnit, so I better send her a ticket.
Then she gets a request from Twilight for a ticket for each of her friends, and this is a vast improvement. Not only does Twilight *want* to attend this crashing boredom party, but she's going to bring the rest of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony so they can be introduced to various High Society ponies and show their true talents. This is going to be great!
Then the actual party:
"So, Twilight. Where are your friends?"
"They're around. They each had something different they wanted to do."
"Oh. Well, at least you're here. Get ready to shake hooves."
(time passes)
(disaster occurs)
Best. Gala. Ever.
5439163
And then she tried to find an excuse to break Discord out of his prison so that he could one-up that performance. Because Fluttercord is too important to me as a "Twilight will not outlive her friends" vehicle, so the other potential reason for that is off the table. (Yes, I'm ignoring her stated reason, because it's dumb and canon has borne that out despite not usually punishing stupidity.)
5439237 Celestia's stated reason was pretty clearly an excuse for the public, IMO. I'm giving the episode a clear pass in that regard.