Well, this is going to get interesting!
The Last Roundup
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
If there was one word I'd use to describe the episode, at least from the comedy standpoint, it'd be this; desperate. The plot is basically paper thin, so they had to shoehorn comedy to try and hide it, but it's hit or miss at best and utterly pointless at worst.
What happens is that Town Hall is undergoing repairs and so Applejack goes to a rodeo in Canterlot to earn the prize money to help repair it. She doesn't get a blue ribbon, much less prize money, and desperately tries to gain money to make up for it. It's a fairly relatable conflict for anyone to go through; when you don't live up to your peers' expectations, you're afraid of coming home and seeing many disappointed faces.
However, it's kind of hard to feel sympathy for Applejack when she rudely dismisses her friends' concerns to the point they chase her in the desert, making her border on childish just for failing them. Sure, it's a lesson that needed to be learned, and a good one to boot, but surely there were better ways to pull it off? But, for the most part, there's very little to talk about. It's so average it doesn't really matter in the long run.
What happens is that Town Hall is undergoing repairs and so Applejack goes to a rodeo in Canterlot to earn the prize money to help repair it. She doesn't get a blue ribbon, much less prize money, and desperately tries to gain money to make up for it. It's a fairly relatable conflict for anyone to go through; when you don't live up to your peers' expectations, you're afraid of coming home and seeing many disappointed faces.
However, it's kind of hard to feel sympathy for Applejack when she rudely dismisses her friends' concerns to the point they chase her in the desert, making her border on childish just for failing them. Sure, it's a lesson that needed to be learned, and a good one to boot, but surely there were better ways to pull it off? But, for the most part, there's very little to talk about. It's so average it doesn't really matter in the long run.
Rating: Okay (5/10)
The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
Written by M. A. Larson
Does the episode title really need to be that long?
I don't like it when characters get torment when they do nothing wrong in a specific episode. Case in point, Rainbow Dash. All she wanted throughout the episode was one mug of cider. She wasn't being a jerk about it, nor did she rub it in anyone's face. It almost feels like it wants to constantly kick her until the end when Pinkie finally gives her one.
Oh yeah, and speaking of which, it's yet another episode of Pinkie being an idiot. She basically makes Rainbow's desperation worse by rubbing in her face how much she enjoyed her own cider. Why does she need to buy multiple mugs when she could've simply given Rainbow one from the beginning? Yeah, she did at the end, but it just makes Pinkie look worse than she should be.
And this point is minor, but I'll mention it anyway; why do the Apple family not limit the number of cider mugs to one per pony?
Back to actual problems, there's the moral. I don't think it knows what it wants to be. That's a huge problem with Larson as a writer. For every good message he manages to churn out, there's another that he completely botches up. Is it supposed to be about not letting pride and greed overrule your mind, or quality control? The episode seems to point to the former, but the ending implies it's the latter that's the actual message, not to mention that Applejack seems to learn nothing from the experience.
A lot about this episode is just a confusing mess; for example, Flim and Flam use the apples from their enemies to make their own cider, which is technically Apple family cider. And why is Granny Smith excessively biased because the Flim Flam brothers' cider doesn't compare to Apple family cider? Heck, why did they never consider asking other Apple family members for extra help? Nothing makes sense here!
Most of the episodes I've revisited up to this point at least know what they're trying to tell, but I don't think this episode does. A lack of clear explanation completely kills the enjoyment out of the episode; it's more convoluted than The Parent Map - I'm not kidding. It's laughably bad.
I don't like it when characters get torment when they do nothing wrong in a specific episode. Case in point, Rainbow Dash. All she wanted throughout the episode was one mug of cider. She wasn't being a jerk about it, nor did she rub it in anyone's face. It almost feels like it wants to constantly kick her until the end when Pinkie finally gives her one.
Oh yeah, and speaking of which, it's yet another episode of Pinkie being an idiot. She basically makes Rainbow's desperation worse by rubbing in her face how much she enjoyed her own cider. Why does she need to buy multiple mugs when she could've simply given Rainbow one from the beginning? Yeah, she did at the end, but it just makes Pinkie look worse than she should be.
And this point is minor, but I'll mention it anyway; why do the Apple family not limit the number of cider mugs to one per pony?
Back to actual problems, there's the moral. I don't think it knows what it wants to be. That's a huge problem with Larson as a writer. For every good message he manages to churn out, there's another that he completely botches up. Is it supposed to be about not letting pride and greed overrule your mind, or quality control? The episode seems to point to the former, but the ending implies it's the latter that's the actual message, not to mention that Applejack seems to learn nothing from the experience.
A lot about this episode is just a confusing mess; for example, Flim and Flam use the apples from their enemies to make their own cider, which is technically Apple family cider. And why is Granny Smith excessively biased because the Flim Flam brothers' cider doesn't compare to Apple family cider? Heck, why did they never consider asking other Apple family members for extra help? Nothing makes sense here!
Most of the episodes I've revisited up to this point at least know what they're trying to tell, but I don't think this episode does. A lack of clear explanation completely kills the enjoyment out of the episode; it's more convoluted than The Parent Map - I'm not kidding. It's laughably bad.
Rating: Terrible (-2/10)
Read It and Weep
Written by Cindy Morrow
On the opposite end of things...!
If there was any episode I could point to as the most personal, it'd be this one for sure. Prior to season four airing, I didn't really care much for the show - didn't "hate" it per se, just disinterested. By the time I got to this episode, I felt I didn't give the show enough credit, but I still kept it mostly to myself in real life before opening up bit by bit, starting with my parents.
In this episode, Rainbow Dash went through the same thing I did, but not just with Daring Do, but books in general, and the message she learned was fantastic. That alone makes it my favorite of season two. Yeah, more so than Lesson Zero.
If there was any episode I could point to as the most personal, it'd be this one for sure. Prior to season four airing, I didn't really care much for the show - didn't "hate" it per se, just disinterested. By the time I got to this episode, I felt I didn't give the show enough credit, but I still kept it mostly to myself in real life before opening up bit by bit, starting with my parents.
In this episode, Rainbow Dash went through the same thing I did, but not just with Daring Do, but books in general, and the message she learned was fantastic. That alone makes it my favorite of season two. Yeah, more so than Lesson Zero.
Rating: Excellent (10/10)
Hearts and Hooves Day
Written by Meghan McCarthy
Even before season five, it was really nice to get an episode focusing on the Crusaders that didn't involve them getting their cutie marks. Even nicer is that before season six, the Mane Six weren't involved, barring Twilight; not that I dislike them as characters, but it's nice to get the focus away from them once in a while. Yes, they made the show great, but there's more to the cast than just the six mares. And Spike.
An oddity here is that Scootaloo is all for Big Mac and Cheerilee being together, but before and after, she showed no interest in romance. And it's also rather disappointing that between this and Hard to Say Anything, we're never shown any direct interaction between them - except maybe her fainting by Big Mac's "singing" in Filli Vanilli. Small nitpicks aside, it's a really funny episode, especially the Crusaders' reactions to their mopey-dopey love talk.
An oddity here is that Scootaloo is all for Big Mac and Cheerilee being together, but before and after, she showed no interest in romance. And it's also rather disappointing that between this and Hard to Say Anything, we're never shown any direct interaction between them - except maybe her fainting by Big Mac's "singing" in Filli Vanilli. Small nitpicks aside, it's a really funny episode, especially the Crusaders' reactions to their mopey-dopey love talk.
Rating: Excellent (10/10)
A Friend in Deed
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
Ugh... what was I thinking when I first reviewed it five years ago? A good watch? Funny episode? 7/10?! I must've been a complete shithead when I said those things. Watching this episode with wide open eyes, A Friend in Deed is absolutely horrible! Not horrible in a cruel way like Fame and Misfortune or a "bored to death" way like The Mean 6. No, this episode horrible in a disturbing way.
The first quarter of the episode has little impact on the story. The scene with the Cake twins and the song could've been cut and nothing would change... except we wouldn't have figured out that Pinkie knew of Matilda living in Ponyville.
After the song - the sole highlight because of how fun it is - things quickly go downhill and then off into a bottomless cliff. Pinkie constantly annoys Cranky Doodle Donkey to the point that you end up feeling more sympathetic towards him being harassed by the annoying pink menace than you do for Pinkie Putz wanting for him to be her friend.
It's not helped that she calls out to Ponyville about Cranky's baldness and everypony laughs at him for it. It's not funny because, again, it's all because of Pinkie Putz's stupidity! Does Ponyville have no equivalent to the police?
Then there's the ending which comes off as a slap in the face; Pinkie Putz reunites Cranky with Matilda and he thanks her for it and becomes her friend, despite that throughout the episode, she was an annoying stalker to him the entire day! I know the episode's message is supposed to be "the best thing about friendship is being able to make your friends smile" or whatever, but the message I got regarding Pinkie Putz's behavior was "you can make friends by stalking and annoying the crap out of them." That is a seriously messed up moral, especially for one concerning a show for little girls!
There are episodes that portray Pinkie in a positive light, but this is not one of them. She's been turned into an unlikable manchild to the point you want to slap her, the moral is terrible, and the happy ending feels completely unearned. I call it Pinkie Pie's worst starring role if you take every one of her other roles were she was either an annoying manchild or an intolerable idiot into consideration. It's earned the "honor" of being the worst episode of the second season, and the second worst episode of the entire show.
The first quarter of the episode has little impact on the story. The scene with the Cake twins and the song could've been cut and nothing would change... except we wouldn't have figured out that Pinkie knew of Matilda living in Ponyville.
After the song - the sole highlight because of how fun it is - things quickly go downhill and then off into a bottomless cliff. Pinkie constantly annoys Cranky Doodle Donkey to the point that you end up feeling more sympathetic towards him being harassed by the annoying pink menace than you do for Pinkie Putz wanting for him to be her friend.
It's not helped that she calls out to Ponyville about Cranky's baldness and everypony laughs at him for it. It's not funny because, again, it's all because of Pinkie Putz's stupidity! Does Ponyville have no equivalent to the police?
Then there's the ending which comes off as a slap in the face; Pinkie Putz reunites Cranky with Matilda and he thanks her for it and becomes her friend, despite that throughout the episode, she was an annoying stalker to him the entire day! I know the episode's message is supposed to be "the best thing about friendship is being able to make your friends smile" or whatever, but the message I got regarding Pinkie Putz's behavior was "you can make friends by stalking and annoying the crap out of them." That is a seriously messed up moral, especially for one concerning a show for little girls!
There are episodes that portray Pinkie in a positive light, but this is not one of them. She's been turned into an unlikable manchild to the point you want to slap her, the moral is terrible, and the happy ending feels completely unearned. I call it Pinkie Pie's worst starring role if you take every one of her other roles were she was either an annoying manchild or an intolerable idiot into consideration. It's earned the "honor" of being the worst episode of the second season, and the second worst episode of the entire show.
Rating: Atrocious (-10/10)
Putting Your Hoof Down
Written by Merriwether Williams
Story by Charlotte Fullerton
Story by Charlotte Fullerton
Round two. Ding ding.
You can tell a bad episode is coming when the cold open and first act take a dump on the lead character. All Fluttershy was doing was giving her animal friends their food, and how does Angel respond? By slapping her and later throwing her out just because the meal she made her was missing a cherry. You cannot get more petty than that.
Not only that, but Fluttershy is too much a doormat, even by this season's standards. In other episodes, she had more confidence than what the episode displayed (pre-Iron Will, at least), but when she becomes assertive, they went too far that direction by making her an outright bully. It even gets to the point she insults Pinkie and Rarity making them cry!
Come to think of it, a lot of this episode feels contrived. Heck, in the previous episode, as awful as it was, showed everyone in Ponyville is happy and cheerful with each other. Here? They're jerks for the sake of being jerks. It's almost like everyone got hit with the same switch for this conflict to happen.
The episode tries to salvage things by putting the blame on Iron Will, as if he was responsible for everyone in Ponyville for being scared of Fluttershy. Sure, she might've been influenced by him, but Fluttershy was clearly doing things of her volition! Suppose you're a drunk driver and crashed; what do you blame? The alcohol you drank, or yourself for being irresponsible? If you guessed that it was "yourself for being irresponsible", you win a prize. A digital cupcake.
Also, how does Fluttershy's cottage go from being comfy to live in to outright decrepit within hours? It's not funny in the slightest given what Fluttershy had been through.
It's easy to see why this episode is so hated; the cruelty towards Fluttershy, and then her subsequent bullying to Pinkie and Rarity (if there was any episode where Pinkie should be sympathetic, it shouldn't be here), Angel being the biggest jerkass out of everyone in Ponyville, the botched message - you're not responsible for your actions; the toxic influence is. This episode stinks to high heaven.
You can tell a bad episode is coming when the cold open and first act take a dump on the lead character. All Fluttershy was doing was giving her animal friends their food, and how does Angel respond? By slapping her and later throwing her out just because the meal she made her was missing a cherry. You cannot get more petty than that.
Not only that, but Fluttershy is too much a doormat, even by this season's standards. In other episodes, she had more confidence than what the episode displayed (pre-Iron Will, at least), but when she becomes assertive, they went too far that direction by making her an outright bully. It even gets to the point she insults Pinkie and Rarity making them cry!
Come to think of it, a lot of this episode feels contrived. Heck, in the previous episode, as awful as it was, showed everyone in Ponyville is happy and cheerful with each other. Here? They're jerks for the sake of being jerks. It's almost like everyone got hit with the same switch for this conflict to happen.
The episode tries to salvage things by putting the blame on Iron Will, as if he was responsible for everyone in Ponyville for being scared of Fluttershy. Sure, she might've been influenced by him, but Fluttershy was clearly doing things of her volition! Suppose you're a drunk driver and crashed; what do you blame? The alcohol you drank, or yourself for being irresponsible? If you guessed that it was "yourself for being irresponsible", you win a prize. A digital cupcake.
Also, how does Fluttershy's cottage go from being comfy to live in to outright decrepit within hours? It's not funny in the slightest given what Fluttershy had been through.
It's easy to see why this episode is so hated; the cruelty towards Fluttershy, and then her subsequent bullying to Pinkie and Rarity (if there was any episode where Pinkie should be sympathetic, it shouldn't be here), Angel being the biggest jerkass out of everyone in Ponyville, the botched message - you're not responsible for your actions; the toxic influence is. This episode stinks to high heaven.
Rating: Terrible (-2/10)
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