Episode Re-Review: Putting Your Hoof Down · 6:36pm Mar 4th, 2021
Oh boy, this episode. Even to this day it's still hotly contested with some regarding it as one of the worst episodes (if not the worst) of the entire show (it was one of only two episodes to get negative points when Mr.Enter was just a pony reviewer and one of only two he gave an Animated Atrocity scorecard to during that time) while others seem to regard it more fondly (or at least don't seem to hate it as much). This episode's production history is interesting, Charlotte Fullerton is credited with the story here and there's a reason behind that. Charlotte started working on this episode, but then her husband died unexpectedly in 2011 and she was going through some tough times. As a result, Merriweather Williams was brought onboard to help complete the episode. I'm willing to bet this was the first thing Merriweather did upon being hired by DHX, and I'm guessing it's because all the other writers were too busy. So there was a sort of changing of the guard here, and this isn't the only time such a thing would happen. Of course, by this point Merriweather and Charlotte had widely been regarded as the weak links in the show, with Merriweather having penned two duds and Charlotte's most recent work including "Baby Cakes" which was probably a first draft given the script it replaced. So this episode had a lot going against it even before it really begun. But was it possible that Merriweather and Charlotte could somehow turn it all around for both of them? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins at lunch time at Fluttershy's cottage and all her animal friends are hungry. She tries to get them to stop stuffing their faces since there's plenty to go around, but they don't listen. However, Angel Bunny is rather picky today. He wants a special salad to be made for him and refuses to eat anything else. Fluttershy tries to persuade him otherwise but he slaps her across the face and shoves a book containing the recipe for the salad in front of her. This was probably meant to be comedic, but given the way Angel's acting it comes across more like domestic abuse.
So Fluttershy goes out in town to pick up what she needs to make the salad, and everyone seems to be treating her very poorly. We get a lot of stereotypes such as the valley girls and the nerd with glasses, but what's most interesting is that Pinkie Pie and Rarity happen to be here and they are the only other mane six members who appear throughout this episode. This has led some to speculate that this episode takes place before Twilight moves to Ponyville, but given what happens at the end I don't think that's the case. Anyway, Pinkie and Rarity point out how Fluttershy just lets everyone walk all over her and encourage her to stop being a pushover. Rarity uses her charm to get a piece of asparagus for Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie tricks a tomato stall merchant using a nod to the iconic "Rabbit Season, Duck Season" Looney Tunes skit.
Fluttershy is encouraged to try it when a merchant is selling a cherry, but she makes the biggest mistake any bargin hunter can make by letting the merchant know she needs the cherry. You always want the one selling the product to believe you can get the same thing somewhere else for a cheaper price, even if you can't. If the seller knows you can't get the product anywhere else they have no incentive to try and negotiate a better price and can sell it to you for however much they want. It doesn't help that Fluttershy's attempts to copy what Rarity and Pinkie Pie do fall flat. Reluctantly, she is forced to make the salad without a cherry on top and Angel is so upset that he throws Fluttershy out of her cottage, causing her to realize she's literally become a doormat. However, as luck would have it, she discovers a flyer for an assertiveness seminar hosted by Iron Will. And she vows "Celestia as my witness, I'll never be a pushover again!", again reinforcing the idea that ponies seem to regard Princess Celestia as somewhat of a deity.
The seminar appears to be hosted in the same hedge maze that Discord held his little "game" in (if only because there are no other hedge mazes we know of), and when Iron Will is shown to be a minotaur this becomes an intentional reference to a Greek mythology tale about a minotaur that was trapped in a hedge maze so it wouldn't terrorize a kingdom. Iron Will himself debuts on stage to what sounds like a knock off of "Eye of The Tiger", albeit an almost spot on knock off.
Iron Will is himself voiced by Trevor Devall, though the voice sounds a lot like Hercule/Mr. Satan from the Funimation dub of the Dragon Ball animes. I think they were trying to go for a voice that sounded similar to The Rock, but the impersonation of Hercule is so spot on you might think they got the actual VA at first glance.
Iron Will warms up the crowd before making a claim that satisfaction is one hundred percent or you don't pay for the seminar and the lessons. Then we get a Mr. T reference when Iron Will says he pities the fool who doubts his methods. And it leads into his first lesson "Don't be shy, look 'em in the eye.", then he decides to use a volunteer to demonstrate his teachings. One of his goat assistants refers Fluttershy to him and Iron Will calls her up on stage. We get two questionable pieces of advice "When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock" and "Never apologize when you can criticize", as Iron Will seems to think he can use Fluttershy to help market his teachings by claiming that if they can work for her, they can work for anyone. Fluttershy then puts the teachings to work the next day when the gardener Mr. Greenhooves overwaters her plants. She uses the classic trick of standing on the hose to keep water from flowing, then releases it when Mr. Greenhooves looks into the hose to see what's wrong. However, we never see Fluttershy use her new methods to get back at any of the merchants who were swindling her before, or any of the ponies who were pushing her around at the marketplace. And I can't help but wonder if that was something that would've occurred if Fullerton had written the entire script the way she wanted to, rather than handing it over to Merriweather.
Fluttershy instead knocks over some carts of garbage being hauled by Bon Bon and Cherry Berry (she could fly but it would defeat the point of being assertive), then goes to Sugarcube Corner and scares all the customers after one tries to cut in front of her. Rarity happens to be there alongside Pinkie Pie and yet neither of them seem to have noticed Fluttershy scaring the customers. They are initially impressed by Fluttershy's new assertive attitude, but things quickly take a turn for the worse when Fluttershy thinks Pinkie is laughing at her for making a joke about being "Pleased as punch".
Pinkie Pie and Rarity become concerned that "New" Fluttershy is becoming a problem, and then we see Fluttershy start lashing out at any perceived injustice. This includes attacking the mail delivery pony when he delivers the wrong mail to Fluttershy's cottage (he has glasses so I think it's implied that his eyesight isn't the greatest, though in that case he probably shouldn't be working in a profession where eyesight is important), and hurling a tourist when talking to him causes Fluttershy to drop her letter into a puddle.
At this, Pinkie and Rarity confront Fluttershy over her behavior and we get to what many consider the worst part of the entire episode: Fluttershy verbally berates both her friends for their chosen professions and personalities, calling them "pointless pursuits" and reducing both of her friends to tears. However, I think the episode does a good job of showing that Fluttershy is going too far here, even if they maybe go a bit too far in hammering home that feeling. Also, as strong as this scene is, I feel like it would carry more weight if Rainbow Dash was involved. Rainbow was the first to try to get Fluttershy to stand up for herself and by this point it had been established that she and Fluttershy were childhood friends. I guess maybe they thought it would be too similar to the confrontation with Gilda in "Griffon the Brush Off" or it just never crossed the writers' minds. Anyway, Fluttershy sees her reflection in the same puddle as before and realizes that she's become a monster. With that, she trots back to her cottage as the sky darkens.
It's unclear how much time has passed before Pinkie Pie and Rarity try to talk to Fluttershy only to find her barricaded inside her cottage. It's even revealed that she's had herself tied up and Angel helped her do so. Rarity tries to coax Fluttershy to come out by saying there are ways to stand up for yourself without becoming a bully. However, it's at this point that Iron Will shows up and Pinkie Pie and Rarity both label him a "monster" while clearly blaming him for what Fluttershy became. And I detest that argument with a passion. Yes, Iron Will's advice was questionable and maybe not the best thing to tell someone like Fluttershy who's been kicked and pushed around all her life (when you tell someone like that that they don't have to take it lying down anymore, it's kind of natural that they're probably going to release a lot of pent up rage and may start to see the whole world as out to get them). But he was not around at any point when Fluttershy chose of her own free will to start being a bully. And his reason for showing is simply to demand payment for his seminar, even mentioning that Fluttershy is overdue as it is. He's coming at a bad time, but he's well within his rights to demand payment. Maybe the original Fullerton draft would've done more to make Iron Will an undisputed bad guy? Because as it is he's like the Flim Flam brothers or Trixie in their debut in that the show tells us they're the antagonists, but we never see them do anything to deserve that label despite their personalities.
Rarity tries to charm Iron Will into coming back later but Iron Will just pushes her aside. Pinkie Pie then tries to use the same thing she used on the tomato merchant to make Iron Will come back a full day later, but Fluttershy gives herself away and Iron Will throws Pinkie over a small cliff and into a puddle of mud as one of his goats starts chomping on her tail. Iron Will rips up all the boards on Fluttershy's door, but then he gently knocks on the door to have Fluttershy come out. She does so, and Iron Will again reiterates his request for payment. When Fluttershy tells him no, Iron Will starts to get furious and issues a threat. But Fluttershy calmly uses Iron Will's earlier statement about one hundred percent satisfaction to get out of it, saying that she isn't satisfied. So what does Iron Will do? He first asks Fluttershy if she's sure she's not even just a little bit satisfied, and then when he's told no again he leaves willingly without receiving money he's legally entitled to. Pinkie Pie and Rarity are delighted by this display since Fluttershy stood up for herself and without becoming nasty, and the friends share a group hug. Then Fluttershy narrates a letter to Princess Celestia, which unless this were taking place after "Lesson Zero" I can't imagine her having any reason to do so, thus meaning it can't be before Twilight's moved to Ponyville. As Fluttershy narrates her letter, we see her use her patented stare to make Angel finally behave, at least for now.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Quite honestly, this might be up there with "Baby Cakes" for the most overhated episode of the entire show. The lesson was a much needed development for Fluttershy, and her taking assertiveness too far is something that feels natural. The episode makes it clear that she's crossing lines, and she clearly comes to regret what she says and does. It is kind of jarring to see everyone in town be a jerk to Fluttershy all of a sudden and I think it wouldn't have hurt to see a few examples of kindness, or at least see Fluttershy get even with the ones who actually wronged her. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were odd choices to have in this episode but I think they worked out pretty well, though interestingly Rarity seems to be sort of annoyed by Pinkie's behavior at times. The real problem stems from Iron Will being labeled the villain even though he is most definitely not to blame for what happened, and even then he's rightfully and legally entitled to demand payment. You don't blame the teacher when the student misinterprets the lesson or chooses willingly to disobey or disregard the teacher. It's very likely that some things got lost in translation when the episode changed hands from Charlotte Fullerton to Merriweather Williams, especially since they were probably on a tight deadline given that they had other episode scripts they were likely working on. Even with all the leaks we still don't have even a rough draft of what Fullerton's original script might have been, and I wonder if that would've done things like more clearly establish Iron Will as greedy or otherwise deserving of his antagonist label or have Fluttershy target the swindling shop merchants. It's entirely possible that Merriweather was responsible for adding in stuff like Fluttershy insulting her friends' career paths, thinking it would add more drama (and it did). I still think there's a lot of stuff to like about this episode, so in the end I give it a borderline B+/A-. It seems like a lot of Season 2 episodes are falling into that ranking area, being fairly good but not necessarily the best of the best.
However, next up we have "It's About Time" which was the show's first (but not its last) foray into time travel and it was a Twilight Sparkle focused episode to boot, the first since "Luna Eclipsed".
GREAT SCOTT!
While I don't dislike this episode, I think it's one of the ones that's among the weaker of the season.
Ah yes the most overhated episode of the first 2 seasons. I think it's a really great episode though, and it really does not deserve the hate.
Am I the only one who wanted Iron Will to be voiced by a guest star like said Dwayne Johnson and Mr. T?
I like this episode, I don't think this episode was that bad compared to the episodes in the later seasons.
5467282 It does feel like that was what they were going for, not unlike The Boulder from Avatar: The Last Airbender (who was actually planned to be voiced by The Rock initially, and was ultimately voiced by a close friend of The Rock).
Oh yeah, Mr. Enter was absolutely livid when he initially reviewed this episode and put it at #1 in his Top Ten Worst Episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic video, even going as far as to insult Charlotte Fullerton and Merriweather Williams. Fortunately, he apologized for his callous behavior in his Top 11 Screw-Ups video, and later re-reviewed the episode in a collab with Josh Scorcher where he addressed his issues with it in a more calm and mature fashion.
Also, I know for a fact Voice of Reason did a video on this episode explaining how he personally would've fixed the problems with it. Why don't you check it out and see if you agree with his changes?
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I'll be honest, one of the things I criticized MLP: FiM for is not enough guest stars appeared in the show (well-known American celebrity guest stars like Robin Williams, that is). Heck, none of the cast members of the movie returned to reprise their roles.
5467629 Probably because they were too expensive. That's one of the downsides of having your show be made in Canada.
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I had a feeling that was the case.
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I had a feeling that was the case.