Episode Re-Review: The Last Roundup · 7:50pm Feb 27th, 2021
With the first half of Season 2 now concluded things seemed to be picking up for the show. The Brony fandom was already well established and new episodes were sparking speculation and re-watch threads within hours of them airing. Plus, the show was finally getting a home media release to give it wider attention. And to kick off the second half with style, Amy Keating Rogers was tapped for this episode. But then again, Amy's most recent outing had been the wasteful "The Cutie Pox" and before then she had written "The Best Night Ever" which wasn't exactly a big success. So, was Amy able to get back to the level of quality she'd been known for in Season 1? Well, let's find out.
We begin with Applejack practicing her rodeo skills while Apple Bloom cheers her on (even wearing Applejack's stetson which is really adorable). Apple Bloom boasts about how Applejack has won first place in every rodeo in Ponyville and is sure to repeat her success when she competes at an upcoming rodeo in Canterlot. Applejack tries to play it off and act modest, but she can't help but blush. Then we cut to Rainbow Dash hanging a banner at town hall for a big send off for Applejack, and we get to what everyone remembers about the episode: Derpy's first speaking appearance. Now, I want to clarify something for the record, especially considering Hasbro's apparent later attitude towards fans and fanservice. It was not fans who had a problem with Derpy's appearance. Let me repeat that, it was NOT fans who had a problem with Derpy's appearance. The ones who did have a problem were whinny soccer moms who assumed Derpy was an offensive stereotype of the mentally disabled. It wasn't based on any actual evidence from the clip, but solely because of the name and how some used it to mock the mentally disabled. So what did Hasbro do? They had the scene re-recorded to make Derpy sound less offensive, and altered her appearance so her walled eyes would no longer be present. And this is what fans complained about, censoring a character solely because of an assumption and without bothering to see the actual context.
Now it should be noted that Derpy's voice sounded different between the takes not because of any of this, but because of a misunderstanding on behalf of Tabitha St. Germain. When she was first given the script she assumed Derpy was a boy, and so she used a voice similar to what she used for lots of little boy characters. When she learned that Derpy was in fact female she redid the voice on the second recording to match the character. And it should be mentioned that Derpy was originally going to be called Ditzy Doo in a much different scene that would explain more in detail why town hall was such a mess. It was changed to Derpy because of her popularity within the fandom. And again, fans loved the nod. They only complained when Hasbro caved in to complaints from soccer moms and censored Derpy.
Derpgate aside, the scene is largely the same regardless of whether we're talking about the original version or the "corrected" version that remains the official version on all media except a DVD release made before the controversy. Rainbow Dash scolds Derpy for damaging town hall, and Derpy proves to be rather clumsy. Not by intention since at one point she just sits down at Rainbow's command, a floor board breaks underneath her. While this is going on, a crowd has gathered for a send off for Applejack and Pinkie Pie calls for a speech. Applejack agrees, appreciative of the send off and promising to use her winnings to fix up town hall. Then it's off to the train station to go to Canterlot, Applejack promising to come back in a week with blue ribbons and prize money. We then cut to a week later as Rainbow Dash is hanging up another banner, this time inside of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres since it's going to be a surprise party for Applejack's return. At least it should go better than the last attempt at a surprise party.
There's what I think is meant to be a joke about Fluttershy commenting on the difference between surprised and startled, before Pinkie Pie starts practicing her surprise shouting. However, when everyone thinks Applejack is coming, it turns out to be the mail pony instead (voiced by Cathy Wesluck. Strangely enough, Spike doesn't even appear in this episode or is even mentioned) who thinks the party's for him since it's his birthday today (what a strange coincidence). Twilight takes the letter from him and shuts him out, but Pinkie offers him a slice of cake in compensation. The letter is a telegram from Applejack who mentions she won't be coming back to Ponyville but will send money soon. Everyone is upset by this news, and the rest of the mane six assume something must've happened to Applejack to make her not come back, so they decide to go search for her and bring her back themselves. As the rest of the mane six leave, Granny Smith comments on how "Our little bushel just lost one apple" as Big Macintosh sheds a tear. But it's not like this is the first time Applejack's left home and not wanted to come back.
So the rest of the mane six travel to Canterlot and find the rodeo's all over. They question all the rodeo staff for Applejack's location but no one seems to know where Applejack has gone. Just as it seems they've hit a dead end though, one worker seems to identify Applejack and directs the girls to a far off town in the distance. The rest of the mane six worry about it being another dead end, though Pinkie Pie is distracted by an urgent need to use the bathroom. TheFireyJoker actually mentions that this was the first instance of such a thing in the entire show, the first toilet joke and it was over halfway into the show's second season. That showed quite a bit of restraint considering a lot of shows nowadays seem to think you need toilet humor all the time, no matter how ill fitting it might be. Also, since this episode was airing directly after "Baby Cakes" (though not by intention) some assumed that due to the scene of Pinkie Pie changing the twins' diapers her bladder capacity had somehow been reduced. But I don't see any sort of connection, that's just insane speculation. More likely, it's from Pinkie drinking too much sassperilla. The rest of the mane six then depart at Dodge Junction, and Pinkie immediately rushes to a nearby outhouse only to find it occupied.
Somehow, Pinkie doesn't get a "Pinkie Sense" warning about opening doors when the outhouse door swings open in front of her face but I'll assume her "Pinkie Sense" was jammed from needing to use the bathroom. Anyway, she initially doesn't notice it's Applejack because of her need to go, but she soon realizes it and informs the others. They're glad to see Applejack is okay, but Applejack is acting rather strangely and nonconfrontational. We then get introduced to her new "boss" in the form of Cherry Jubilee, who mentions that Applejack won a lot of ribbons at the rodeo and that Applejack told her she needed a change of scenery. So Cherry brought Applejack to work on her cherry orchard/ranch out here in Dodge Junction. You can probably guess what the problem is already since if Applejack won a lot of ribbons there doesn't seem to be a reason for her not to come back. But of course sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination. And the rest of the mane six do still understandably wonder just why Applejack would suddenly not wanna come back to Ponyville. Unable to get answers out of her though, they decide they'll have to make her spill the beans.
To that end all of them decide to join Applejack in working on the ranch. They're set to work sorting cherries (red and yellow) on a conveyor belt that Applejack powers by running on a wheel. Applejack lays down the condition of no questions about Ponyville, but the rest of the mane six get around it by asking about Canterlot and asking how she met Cherry Jubilee. Applejack provides answers but says she didn't tell Cherry why she didn't wanna come back to Ponyville. As this is going on, Applejack grows more frustrated and makes the conveyor belt speed up. To make matters worse, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are left to try and tackle the increasingly fast flow of cherries all on their own in a nod to a famous scene from I Love Lucy.
When Applejack continues to refuse to provide answers, Fluttershy screams out for Applejack to stop. In the process, several cherries go flying and cause a mess in the sorting room. As the rest of the mane six clean up they decide they've been too nice and that it's time to "Call in the big guns" as the camera ominously zooms in on Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie goes to assist Applejack in harvesting cherries from the trees out in the orchard, and soon starts talking about what she should call a cherry dish she made up herself and then funny words. It turns out that this was intentional on the rest of the mane six's part, specifically intending to make Applejack confess. She relents but asks if they can have the conversation over breakfast. The rest of the mane six are skeptical of this, but Pinkie makes Applejack "Pinkie Promise" and that seems to satisfy everyone. Pinkie Pie seems certain Applejack will fess up even though Rainbow isn't so sure. But when they go to get Applejack for breakfast they find she's already gone, and Pinkie becomes furious.
Sure enough, Applejack's trying to leave and gives orders to a stage coach pulled by four stallions, claiming "I need to get the heck out of Dodge." The rest of the mane six give chase in a wagon that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have to pull, eventually resulting in them bumping up against the side of the carriage. Applejack offers to pay double for the stallions to keep running, Twilight offers to pay triple for them to slow down and Applejack counter offers with quadruple to leave them behind. But her friends still catch up anyway and Pinkie jumps aboard. She demands that Applejack confess and apologize, but Applejack invokes a technacility. She "Pinkie Promised" to tell the truth at breakfast but she didn't come to breakfast, and she did so because she didn't want to tell the truth. Pinkie decides that'll do and will get a real apology later, before she jumps from the carriage to do a blind trust exercise with Rarity that knocks them both out of the cart. Twilight orders Rainbow to go back for them, but Rainbow insists there's no time.
But then, up ahead is a level crossing and a train is approaching. Despite this, Applejack urges the stallions to keep running in what looks to be a game of chicken. She manages to make it across the crossing just before the train can strike the carriage, but the stallions abandon her for rightfully endangering their lives. Applejack is convinced she's safe since the train is still going, but Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are able to fly and leap over the train as Applejack realizes her mistake.
When Applejack tries to make a run for it anyway, Rainbow tackles her and causes Applejack's saddlebags to burst open. Just like Cherry Jubilee said, Applejack won a lot of ribbons. But of course there's every color except blue. Applejack didn't win first place in a single event and thus didn't win any prize money (I'm not sure how rodeos work exactly but I'm guessing they only reward prize money to the one who comes in first place, runner up and below get nothing). So the telegram about money, she was going to earn money and send it back to Ponyville. And Applejack decided to do this without even consulting her family which is a very big part of her character. Fortunately, Twilight and Fluttershy reassure Applejack that they'll find some other way to get the money to fix up town hall, and even Rainbow tears up (and tries to save face by claiming they've got her "actin' all sappy"). Then, as they all take a train back to Ponyville, Applejack I assume is thinking about the friendship letter she's gonna send to Princess Celestia. A letter about how you can't run away from your troubles and how it can be hard to accept when you don't come in first despite being pretty good. Admittedly though, the only reason Applejack even wanted to run away in the first place was because of her promise to Mayor Mare to donate her winnings to fix town hall. And not for nothing, but wouldn't there be a rainy day fund for that sort of thing? Mayor Mare really wasn't right to insist on Applejack using her winnings, especially before they were guaranteed. So there is a sort of unintentional moral about not making promises you can't keep.
But wait, it turns out that no one went back for Pinkie Pie or Rarity any point. So the two have been forced to hitchhike back to Ponyville from Dodge Junction on a rail car. Pinkie Pie is asking Rarity the same question she asked Applejack earlier and Rarity vows to get back at Rainbow when she gets back to Ponyville. We never do find out what this threat involved though.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, between the controversy over Derpy's cameo and Pinkie Pie's antics (she's probably at her comedic best here) it can be so easy to forget that this is actually an Applejack episode. This seemed to start a trend of Applejack focus episodes being remembered for anything except what the actual character of focus did, and when they tried to correct that problem it would often result in episodes where it felt like Applejack was just there because she had to be. This does seem to highlight a problem with Applejack's character, namely in that she has no real goal or motivation that would lead her to seek out conflicts. And her personality also doesn't lend itself to seeking out conflicts on her own (which is why she seemed to start sharing episodes with others more and more as time went by). Oddly enough, this is the last we'd see of Applejack's potential rodeo career, it wouldn't get any kind of mention again until "Appleloosa's Most Wanted" in Season 5 and even then she was filling in for a family member instead of competing in her own right. I wouldn't say Applejack is completely out of character here since pride does still define her, but it doesn't make her look the greatest when she doesn't even tell her family about her decision and repeatedly shuts down her friends' efforts to get some questions they're rightfully entitled to, on top of Applejack repeatedly trying to get out of having to tell the truth (the "Pinkie Promise" kind of comes with the assumption that she would come to breakfast). And none of it would've even been a problem if not for Mayor Mare's insistence on the prize money to fix town hall. Without it, I don't think Applejack would've felt anywhere near as inclined to not come back to Ponyville. Still, at least this is better than when they tried to treat Applejack's honesty as something she came to value later on.
Also, Applejack just kind of comes back to Ponyville with no acknowledgement that she ended her employment with Cherry Jubilee. And I have to wonder how none of the mane six could remember to go back to pick up Pinkie Pie and Rarity. I can understand leaving them behind during the chase in order to catch Applejack, but leaving them behind afterward doesn't exactly make the other mane six look good even if it wasn't intentional. I'll admit, this episode's story is one that would probably have worked just as well or even better for Rainbow Dash, someone who has a hard time accepting when she's lost or that she's not the best at something. It works for Applejack too, but the moral especially is something I think would Rainbow Dash would need to accept. It can be really hard when you think you're really good at something and then you get beaten quite easily. Like maybe you've been good at a game when you just play it friendly, but when you participate in a tournament you get eliminated in your first match and you feel like a little fish in a big pond. And yes, you can't run away from that loss. If you just keep making up excuses you'll never learn how to improve. Ultimately, this is a good episode even when it's viewed through the lenses of an Applejack focus episode and not anything else. But there are some details that, much like the Derpy scene, could've benefitted from a rewrite (the Derpy scene was shortened since just seeing what we see there is enough for us to know how town hall got so messed up, the original planned scene was just way more specific about it and made Derpy look like she wasn't paying attention). So I ultimately give this episode a similar rating of borderline B+/A-.
But up next we have what used to be my least favorite episode of the entire show, and only two episodes are worse than it in my opinion. I'm of course talking about "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000".
The one thing that irks me about this episode doesn't even have to do with the episode itself. It's the fact that it resulted in a handful of fanfics where Rarity seeks revenge on Dash when, by all accounts, it was probably just an accident.
There are a few that do it right (this one being one of my favorites (though the romance is very subtle)), but some of them just take it too far.
As for the episode itself, while it's not bad, it's definitely one of the lesser episodes of the season. Though not outright among the weakest
Soccer moms are the reason why we can't have nice things!
My favorite scene from this episode is when they set Pinkie Pie's motor mouth on Applejack to get her to spill the beans. XD! That always cracks me up! Poor Applejack!
(Fondly gazes at Friendship Express DVD)
I'll never let you go...
5463537 Yup. Classic case of "Keep circulating the tapes".