Episode Re-Review: Hard to Say Anything · 4:58pm Jun 12th, 2021
It looked like Season 7 had finally found what could be said to be a central theme for it with "Forever Filly" and "Parental Glideance", family. We had an episode of Rarity going through a mid-life crisis and accepting that Sweetie Belle was growing up which turned out to be better than it had any right to be. But then we had a painfully annoying episode in "Parental Glideance" that way overdid it on the embarrassing parents trope and suggested Rainbow Dash was in the wrong for being mad at her parents because of it (on top of making her parents look like creepy superfans). So you might think an Apple Bloom episode was up next. But nope, just like Season 2 had a Sweetie Belle and then an Apple Bloom focused episode before going to someone else, Season 7 was not going to give Apple Bloom her own episode focused on family (at least not yet). So what did we get? This episode that would introduce a new ship to us: SugarMac. And a brand new writer was debuting here in the form of Becky Wangberg who had previously written for The Fairly OddParents and the ultimate example of how Butch Hartman had fallen from grace that was Bunsen Is a Beast. We'd already had an influx of writers who used to work on The Fairly OddParents as the show began to die a slow, painful death on Nicktoons in the later 2010's, and so far they had not been very successful aside from Ed Valentine's debut. And now we have the hindsight to know that this was part of a trilogy for Big Macintosh. Most people don't seem to think very fondly of this episode, with many regarding SugarMac as a bad ship. But has that reputation been justified? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins with Big Macintosh loading up a wagon full of barrels of apples with which to take on a delivery. Apple Bloom (who has invited Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo over) notices that he's been making a lot of these deliveries lately, but she can't get any answers out of them. Then she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders become interested in playing dress up, before opting to stow away in Big Mac's cart to find out what he's up to. Somehow, they manage to avoid detection because Big Macintosh is so distracted that he doesn't see them even when they're hiding right in plain sight.
They then find out that they're in "Starlight's old village" (seriously, why couldn't the show staff come up with a name for it? It's not that hard. It's not like Scootaloo's disability where you're leaving it vague on purpose, this is more like Flurry Heart being an alicorn in that you don't have an explanation and can't come up with one), and see Big Mac has been making deliveries to Sugar Belle. She mentions how much she appreciates him making these deliveries, allowing her to experiment with new apple based desserts. And it becomes quite obvious to the CMC that Big Macintosh has a crush on Sugar Belle. They confront him about this, and they claim that Cheerilee wasn't really a thing because of the whole love poison incident. If not for the fact that we see them on a picnic during "Just For Sidekicks" and then saw Cheerilee swoon and faint upon hearing what she thought was Big Mac's voice in "Filli Vanilli" this would be fine. But it feels like they just forgot about that and discarded it. Some complain about Marble Pie, but it's hard for me to have ever shipped her with Big Mac when Marble had so little character and was only around for one episode. Still doesn't mean the scene of her being heartbroken come "The Best Gift Ever" needed to exist though.
Big Macintosh agrees to let the CMC help him on the condition of "no love potions", and they accept. Then Sweetie Belle suggests using the cliches from fairy tales, claiming that she loved them when she was younger. This kind of feels like character regression when just two episodes ago it was a plot point that she was growing up and wasn't really a little kid anymore. It feels like this was meant to be Rarity's role, but I think I know why that was not the case since the CMC mention slaying a fercious dragon and then say Spike isn't fercious. If that had come out of Rarity's mouth it would've made her look really bad, it would've made it look like she didn't appreciate his feelings for her even after his confession to her.
So the first cliche is to just pick up flowers and give them to Sugar Belle, but Big Mac gets interrupted by a pony named Feather Bangs voiced by Vincent Tong. Apparently, Feather Bangs is meant to be a ponyfied Justin Bieber. Although, given that he has three mares who swoon and sigh over everything he does, he really seems to give off of more of a Gaston vibe.
Feather Bangs quickly becomes a rival for Big Macintosh for Sugar Belle's affection, and the CMC try to help him compete. They first try having Scootaloo in disguise steal Sugar Belle's saddlebag (even though she's a unicorn and could probably just steal it back with her magic), which Feather Bangs up ends by taking the bag back before Big Mac can catch it. Then we have an admittedly quite disturbing scene where Big Macintosh tries to kiss Sugar Belle while she's sleeping, and Sugar Belle naturally freaks out. Suffice it to say, in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the fall of media moguls like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, this scene isn't all that funny anymore.
Fortunately, the next scene is much less disturbing. We get the song "Battle for Sugar Belle" as Big Macintosh performs a song he wrote for Sugar Belle, but Feather Bangs constantly up ends him with three pop songs that include auto-tuning and back-up dancers. They're all supposedly based on popular Justin Bieber songs from what I hear, though I'm not sure how most of what Feather Bangs is singing is supposed to be romantic. There is also a line that definitely slipped past the censors when he sings "Blood is rushing from my head to my hooves."
Eventually, Big Mac and Feather Bangs try to outdo each other so much that they cause a pie to land on Sugar Belle's head. She gets mad at them as a result and says that she doesn't appreciate such over the top romantic gestures, before kicking them all out.
The CMC wonder what could've gone wrong since they followed the fairy tales, but Big Macintosh mentions that "Sugar Belle is a real pony". Then he realizes something he can do that she would actually appreciate. To that end, Scootaloo poses with just the funny glasses and fake mustache to distract Sugar Belle, with Sweetie Belle keeping a look out and Apple Bloom helping Big Mac do some wood work. It turns out to be for a brand new display counter for Sugar Belle so she can show off all her new culinary creations, and she and Big Mac finally embrace. Feather Bangs then shows up with a record player, blasting out his own affections only to realize too late that he's lost. Maybe he should've played something else.
Then the CMC propose Feather Bangs just get with his three not so secret admirers, but Feather Bangs mentions that actually talking to ponies is really difficult for him. Some question how he can do that yet talk to Sugar Belle no problem. But I think he knows Sugar Belle personally, or at least has seen her enough to be friendly around her. He doesn't know these admirers of his at all, so that's what's so difficult about it. And apparently, he decides to turn to the CMC for help on learning how to do that. I should also mention that this is the first episode of the entire show, and the first of three episodes this season where none of the mane six appear at all (though Rebecca Shoichet voicing Sugar Belle means Twilight's singing voice is accounted for here).
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, I'm still beyond miffed about them just discarding CheeriMac by claiming it was never serious, and I'm really not a fan of the CMC thinking love works like a fairy tale here. Season 1 or Season 2 CMC might be juvenile enough to believe that, but when the CMC are old enough to deal with the possibility of disabilities, living in the shadow of their older siblings and of course have gotten their cutie marks they should be old enough to know that true love is nothing like a fairy tale. It probably wouldn't be as jarring if not for Sweetie Belle getting older being a plot point just two episodes prior. Thankfully, aside from that now very cringey and disturbing scene of Big Mac trying to kiss Sugar Belle while she sleeps, the rest of the episode is enjoyable. I really appreciate the message here: Love isn't a fairy tale or a popularity contest. It's not always about big, dramatic gestures. It's about finding what the object of your affection likes and getting to know them better. Feather Bangs is fine, though I feel like they could play up his rival role more since it feels like he's there solely to be a motivator for Big Macintosh. Personally, I was more of a fan for CheeriMac and Sugar Belle being paired up with Party Favor (who in one scene here appears to be on what looks like a date with Night Glider of all ponies). But I'm not entirely mad that the ships got sunk, even knowing that Sugar Belle would end up marrying Big Mac by the end of the show after just going through the cliche romcom tropes. For the first ever episode not to feature the mane six at all, this episode is quite good and it helps that Big Macintosh actually feels like a complete character again instead of just an "Eeyup" and "Eenope" character. So this episode gets an A.
And now we're gonna skip over "Honest Apple" since my thoughts on that haven't changed (Applejack is horribly out of character and Rarity just lets Applejack do what she does), and go right to "A Royal Problem" which now has a very interesting bit of production history to talk about.
This is one of the funniest episodes of the series.
And during the song, I honestly enjoy Feather Bangs' parts more than Big Mac's.
Also, this is probably just because the internet has ruined me, but now I get a bit of an immature giggle whenever I read his name or see his cutie mark.
Yeah, that "No love potions!" line was pure gold.
Correction, On Your Marks is the first episode without any of the Mane Six. I even brought it up in your re-review. This is actually the first episode not to have any of their voice actresses.
5534284 Well, it still kind of counts because On Your Marks mentioned Rarity when Sweetie Belle talks about learning crochet.
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True, but she along with Applejack were also mentioned in this episode. Remember these lines?
In fact, all of the Mane Six-less episodes mention at least one member in each of them.
To Change a Changeling
Marks and Recreation
The Break Up Break Down
Frenemies
Student Council