Episode Re-Review: The Big Mac Question · 4:35pm Jul 16th, 2021
For the last arguably stand alone episode and the last before the big finale, we had this conclusion to both the Guys' Night trilogy started in Season 6 and the SugarMac trilogy started in Season 7. Both had had one good episode to their names in the seasons they started in, but had been part of the really cliche and uninspired "The Break Up Break Down" in Season 8. And a lot of people still weren't big fans of SugarMac. But ready or not, this episode was going to have that relationship move to the next step, and Josh Haber and Michael Vogel were collabing together on it. They'd worked well together in the past given "To Where and Back Again", but that wasn't necessarily a top tier episode. And neither does it seem like this episode is in that category. Is it still good though? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins with Spike, Discord, Mrs. Cake and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all talking to what looks like the camera about how things went wrong. Then we're treated to a flashback of Big Macintosh putting the finishing touches on a table and showing off an engagement ring, or rather an engagement necklace. However, Discord shows up and demands to know what's going on.
Spike and Big Mac reluctantly tell him even though they mention that Discord has a tendency to blab. And he proves that point by mentioning that Octavia apparently went on a date with Bulk Biceps (he doesn't say how it turned out though, so shippers can interpret the outcome however they want). Anyway, Big Macintosh is ready to propose to Sugar Belle and intends to invite her over to Sweet Apple Acres for the proposal. Discord initially isn't interested, but Spike more or less volunteers him to help out. The intent is to leave behind apples with little messages tied to them to lure Sugar Belle to Sweet Apple Acres, and it's part of a poem. I mean, it's better than leaving a love note inside a baked pie. I really don't see how anyone thinks that's going to work. I seem to recall a story about a guy who hid a wedding ring inside a Wendy's frosty, and the girl he wanted to propose to swallowed the ring by accident because she didn't know it was inside said frosty. Still, being slightly better than what he tried last time is hardly an improvement for Big Macintosh.
Discord and Spike go off to Sugarcube Corner to leave the first apple for Sugar Belle, but she just runs off without noticing it as Spike goes to see Mrs. Cake to ask for her assistance. Frustrated, Discord makes the apples come to life and instructs them to fan out and deliver their messages. The problem is, he doesn't specify who they're supposed to give them to, so they scare a bunch of random ponies out of their wits. And it gets worse when they accidentally collide and grow bigger.
Spike, meanwhile, finds Mrs. Cake is far too busy with something else to help him. She needs to bake a ton of desserts with messages inside them, and Spike offers to help by using his flame breath to put the messages inside the baked goods. Except he forgets how messages always arrive through him, and this kind of reeks of forced stupidity for the sake of the plot.
Eventually, everyone ends up outside Sugarcube Corner as they confront a giant apple monster. And then we get treated to a different flashback that shows that Sugar Belle had her own proposal plan for Big Macintosh in the form of putting a twist on his pie message. She wanted to bake a lot of different desserts and put a message into each one, and not only was she enlisting Mrs. Cake to bake them all, but also wanted the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help deliver some of the desserts to get Big Macintosh to come to Sugarcube Corner. The CMC are eager to help since they feel kind of responsible for hindering the initial development of the relationship, despite Sugar Belle telling them how important they were to bringing her and Big Mac together. It's weird though that Mrs. Cake seems to be doing this all on her own, neither Mr. Cake or Pinkie Pie appear or are mentioned at any point in time. I'm sure they could've worked in a line or two explaining their absences (like say they're out of town with the twins since we also don't see them). And Mrs. Cake is clearly overtaxed, but Sugar Belle doesn't seem interested in helping despite it being her idea.
However, from here we mostly get random CMC antics as they go all over town looking for Big Macintosh to deliver the pie. They eventually end up at Sweet Apple Acres and ask Granny Smith if she's seen Big Mac, but she rattles on about a dream she had with herself, Grand Pear, Discord and Mudbriar which is a nod to the Star Trek franchise and the fact that both Discord and Grand Pear's VAs originate from said franchise.
Then we get a Godzilla reference as the ground begins to shake and a bucket of water starts to ominously rumble. This is what leads to the giant apple monster somehow getting the pie stuck in its mouth, though we don't get to see it happen directly and the last we do see is of Sweetie Belle holding onto the pie with her magic.
Everyone starts arguing about who's to blame for all of this, before Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle go off alone. There, in front of the joined tree and the rock with the cutie mark carvings, Big Mac breaks down and complains that he wanted to have a perfect proposal just like his parents. But Sugar Belle reminds him that his parents' didn't have the most ideal wedding or even the most ideal proposal.
Fortunately, Sugar Belle doesn't care since she's determined to help Big Macintosh get through the rough patches and both propose at the same time and accept. We then see how the engagement necklace works, so we know how earth ponies propose (unicorns do the traditional ring that they place around their horns). It's too bad we don't get to see how pegasi propose, there must be something unique about the way they do it. Also, in the background earlier we got to see Lyra and Bon Bon having a marriage proposal of their own, albeit in a blink and you'll miss it moment. But considering we saw them together on Hearts and Hooves Day back in "The Break Up Break Down" I think it's safe to say that the show stopped trying to pretend they weren't a couple. And it's great that they didn't draw a lot of attention to it, they kept in the background as a nod to fans.
So a marriage ceremony takes place at Sweet Apple Acres, and we learn that all along everyone's been talking to Applejack for unspecified reasons (she doesn't speak). We also see that aside from Applejack none of the mane six are present at the wedding for unexplained reasons and neither is Starlight, even though Sugar Belle's friends from the village are there for the wedding and Mayor Mare is officiating it. The episode ends by showing that Discord repurposed the talking apples to dangle from a tree and sing, which Spike takes offense to for whatever reason. But hey, it's downright tame and harmless compared to what Discord will do next.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, it's good, no denying that. But it feels like they really cut corners here. Like they wanted to do more but then decided against it. I mean, a lot of the details here feel like a first draft that didn't really get polished. We never learn why anyone was talking to Applejack before the wedding, we never learn how the apple monster was defeated or how it got the pie in its mouth, the CMC are mostly wasted on filler antics and Granny Smith's dream, though a nice reference, does feel like it just pads out the episode. Plus, there's the unexplained absence of both Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie, which just seems to be done so as to make Mrs. Cake work herself almost to the bone because her baking student isn't helping her with a proposal that she wants. It kind of feels like the whole episode has a "Hurry up and get it done" mentality, which seems to apply to a lot of concepts in Season 9. They knew it was the last season, so they just wrote the stories and turned them in as soon as they were done without really stopping to make changes. Spike and Discord do have more of an established rivalry here, and this time around things going wrong thanks to Discord are less him not caring and more him doing a half hearted job because he got volunteered. Heck, he's kind of in the right when he points out that Spike screws up too, though the instance of spike doing so feels like it was done solely for the sake of the plot. Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle are nice here, and their proposal and marriage is very sweet, though it would've been nice if we could've seen them do more than just go through the cliche romcom antics over the past two seasons. This episode is kind of in the same boat as "A Royal Problem" in that it feels like it's holding itself back for whatever reason, though this one doesn't have as many noticeable problems as "A Royal Problem" did. The good easily outweigh the bad, but the bad is still there. So ultimately, I give this episode a borderline B+/A-, it just needed a little more time and polish to become a truly solid episode. But considering what's coming next it looks downright tame and harmless, in fact some would say that this is the last truly good episode of the show (I'm not one of them).
Well, it's about time to start wrapping up, so come back tomorrow for the re-review of the penultimate episode/episodes and the last two parter the show ever did with "The Ending of The End". And oh boy is there gonna be a lot to talk about for all the wrong reasons.
At first, I was unsure about this episode, but more I watch, the more I like this episode and it a good way to end the arc of these two characters relationships which I like. So overall, this episode is one of my favorite in season 9
This is definitely one of the sweetest episodes of the show.
And not only is it the best Sugar Belle episode, it's also the best Guys Night Trio episode.
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I Agree and it a good way to end this Sugarmac and Best Guy Night Trio arc. If you disagree, I understand
Are you going to do a re-review of “The Last Problem” too?
5555849 Yes.
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That’s all I wanted to know.
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So overall, you've skipped a grand total of 34 episodes in these re-reviews of yours.
* S7: 10 (Forever Filly, Parental Glideance, Honest Apple, Not Asking for Trouble, Discordant Harmony, The Perfect Pear, Triple Threat, To Change a Changeling, Secrets and Pies, & Uncommon Bond)
* S8: 11 (Fake It 'Til You Make It, Grannies Gone Wild, Horse Play, Non-Compete Clause, Marks for Effort, The Mean 6, Friendship University, The End in Friend, Yakity-Sax, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place, & Father Knows Beast)
* S9: 13 (Uprooted, The Point of No Return, Common Ground, Frenemies, Sweet and Smoky, Going to Seed, Between Dark and Dawn, The Last Laugh, 2, 4, 6, Greaaat, A Trivial Pursuit, A Horse Shoe-In, Daring Doubt, & Growing Up is Hard to Do)
Also, with this episode being the final speaking appearances of the CMC, Mrs. Cake, and Sugar Belle, I of course feel the need to share their first and last speaking lines.
Apple Bloom
Mrs. Cake
Scootaloo
Sugar Belle
Sweetie Belle
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Eh, Dungeons and Discord is pretty great.
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It's okay, but the middle is a bit too dull for me