>>29043 out of M6, pinkie feels like the most background one to me, which allows her to act a bit more eccentric so seeing pinkie pie in more natural light while still preserving her childishness was actually relieving to me >They haven't grown on me I don't think they were supposed to, they were just an object in episode centered around pinkie pie. but i do think that writers designed it with parents watching in mind: showing how stressful parenthood can be for two little rascals that shit themselves and scream at things i don't have a kid, but i often babysat for my then baby cousin still, it shows at the ned, and it's truth, that the self-shitting rascals are worth it in the end

>>28995 >how much do they differ from one another? A lot and very little... To me, it comes down to their approach to the material. I agree with the Look Before You Sleep anon, character interactions go a long way towards making a story fun. One of the main strengths of MLP is that it has six great main characters to write about. But it's also for television, and certain rules need to be followed. Each script has the same three-act structure, and they need professionals who can write their stories to fit into those strict guidelines, like Amy Keating Rogers, for example. She began writing scripts in the nineties, and had worked with Lauren Faust on Powerpuff Girls. They also need to be able to write jokes. Comedy makes up a large part of every episode of MLP, and for the most part, the jokes fall into two categories: >character humor >gags There's usually a good mix of both in every episode. Applebuck Season is a great example of this. Applejack's stubbornness is the root cause of all of the gags in that episode (which are foreshadowed during the town hall scene early on.) She's too tired to actually help anyone, but she's also too stubborn to admit that she's not in any state to help anyone. Amy wrote Applebuck Season. Merriweather Williams is another career writer for television. She worked on the show at the same time Amy did, and she also has a good grasp on the characterization of the mane 6, but her episodes tended to be formulaic, suffering from bad writing tropes and cliches that we expected from shows like Care Bears, not MLP. Mysterious Mare Do Well is a good example of that. This was a divisive episode when it aired, but most people hated it. It has good parts to it (first appearance of the Rainbow Dash fan club), and we get a good look at some of Dash's insecurities, but it's all wrapped up in one of the most cartoony plots the writers room ever cooked up. The mane 6 put multiple ponies in danger throughout this episode, and it's all to teach Dash a little humility. The characters are effectively, for a time, rewritten so that they can serve the story. And Merriweather did this a few times, with Spike At Your Service being another example of that. I actually think that episode is funny, because the mane 6 do have some good lines in it, being great characters and all--but it's also a terrible episode too. Sorry if that rambled. That's a hard question for me to answer, honestly. >>29043 You've made me very happy Nonners. I unironically love Baby Cakes. Please write about your other slowburn episode. One thing I'd like to add about Pinkie's character: Twilight. She comes back to help Pinkie out later, but Pinkie denies her. She tells Twilight that she doesn't need any help, she has things covered. Which are all obvious lies. Pinkie is clearly in over her head by this point, but now she's got something to prove, not only to herself but to her friends as well, and that is that she is responsible, that she is grown up, and that she can handle a little babysitting. She kind of digs her own grave by that point, but you also want to see her succeed too. And the Cake twins, I think, are menacing in slightly different ways. Pound is more active, being the Pegasus, and while he's breaking things, Pumpkin is content to stay behind and find something to jam into her mouth. She was the more sinister one. They're not good characters or anything, but I think they're more interesting than, say, the twins from Rainbow Roadtrip.

>>29043 Baby cakes... that scene were one of the babies says pinkie and other says pie makes me teary , also that pinkie pie's face is adorable the whole story of that episode is how hard it is to take care of the children and why you should ask for help to share the responsibility -- slice of life was undoubtedly a fan-service episode for appreciation of brony fandom and it did a very good job of it

>>29143 >>29076 >>29043 guys please don't let this thread to die i am having fun reading your guys' reviews

>>29043 It's Mother's Day so I guess that's a good enough segue into my other underrated episode, which is...you guessed it...Family Appreciation Day. This one's never been as hit-or-miss among fans as Baby Cakes and I've definitely seen more anons over the last few years praising it. Still, it tends to get overshadowed in show discussions by more memorable or memeable episodes. The most common criticism I think I've seen is that the lesson, or conflict, is a little too obvious: why doesn't Apple Bloom stop making such a big deal about Granny Smith and just get over being embarrassed? It's easy to judge as being much ado about nothing from an adult POV but, and this is personal experience speaking, I found it a relatable episode (even as an adult) since I've certainly been embarrassed by family members before...especially growing up as a socially conscious kid trying to fit in at school. I think the strength of the episode is that, while it may come off a little trite or contrived to some on first viewing, it really sinks in after watching it more than once. It grows on you. It's very introspective and not at all flashy in a way that few other episodes of the show are. The flashbacks are fun and don't feel distracting. In fact I really like all the effects and visuals around the zap apples; it's a visually interesting and well-shot episode for a very simple story. It also gave us one of the best pieces of background music in the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu5jqJ5IKNA And that brings me to my next point: it's the best Granny Smith episode in the show, at least in my opinion. She usually shows up in episodes more as a gag than an actual character, so it's refreshing to see her treated like a real pony with a real life and backstory. There are some other episodes that feature her in actual roles, but they're rare, and I don't think any of them do what this one does. Ridicule, fitting in, peer pressure - these are all really powerful factors in human psychology and this episode puts on a solid lesson about loyalty and learning to stand by people close to you even when it isn't convenient. Just like Baby Cakes, I think this is the type of episode that's FiM at its finest.

>>29455 Family Appreciation Day is actually one of my favorite episodes. I think it comes off as contrived on the first viewing because Granny never had a history of embarrassing her family members before, but then Diamond Tiara, an obvious bully, suggests to Apple Bloom that Granny Smith may be a kooky old lady, one that's going to make a fool of her in front of their entire class--and Apple Bloom just believes her. Suddenly, everything Granny does is embarrassing. This isn't unbelievable or ooc or anything like that, especially when a kid as young as Apple Bloom is your main character this time. But as viewers, we know that there's obviously going to be more to the story than that. Still, most of act two is spent on gags centered around Apple Bloom trying to keep Granny from attending Family Appreciation Day. The story beats around the bush here imo (it did give us Scootaloo in a bell hop outfit though. So cute!) The Zap Apple lore, learning about them, helps keep things more interesting than they would have been otherwise, while we wait for Granny's presentation. Like you said in your review, Granny was just a gag character before this episode fleshed her out. She was the eccentric old pony. And after they've established Apple Bloom's fear of being embarrassed by her, they leaned harder into that eccentricity than they ever did. Granny wears a bee beard, she starts talking to glass jars, etc. Of course later we learn that all this kookiness ends up serving different purposes, all of them related to making Zap Apple jam. Apple Bloom doesn't realize any of this though, despite the fact that she's been "looking forward to making Zap Apple jam for years." Growing up on the farm, you'd think that she would have asked about the pink polka dots in the kitchen at least once before. Granny also licks a chalkboard later on, but they don't explain that one. Anyway, the episode is great because Granny's story ends up being captivating. (She's conveniently lucid during its telling, never forgetting any details or tripping over her words or anything like that, not unlike some old people irl.) She was just trying to help feed her family when she went into the Everfree Forest. Instead she went on a journey that ended with her discovering the secrets of making Zap Apple jam. Listening to her, the class realizes that her story is theirs too. She founded their town, they wouldn't be sitting there right now if it wasn't for her. Diamond tries one last time to get everyone to see Granny the way she sees her; she tries to poison their view of Granny, like she did with Apple Bloom earlier. But Apple Bloom gets up in front of everyone and finally sticks up for her Granny. >"She is not a kooky old lady! She is the most amazing pony in all of Ponyville." She's both. And it doesn't matter whether she's telling a great story or forgetting the words to a different one, Apple Bloom will always love her. >best pieces of background music I believe William Anderson did all the background music. Underrated part of the show imo. I don't love all the songs in MLP, but I do love all the background music.

<spoiler> Father knows beast i think this episode could have been so much better if; Sludge was actually spike's father but instead he would become such asshole father and made spike realizing that twilight even she is not his real parent she is a better choice for him as a family -- instead of sludge saying: "spike i am not you're real father" , instead he said "i left you because i did not wanted to take care of you" -- other than that i think the episode was had an interesting idea i liked that it worked on the relationship between spike and twilight but it exceuted badly also at the end it should have been sludge getting his ass kicked by starlight for throwing her out of the window that would be so sattisfying -- what you guys think?

>>29477 Family Appreciation Day was amazing it given us that baby AJ also that raise this barn song which was amazing AB was cute too Granny smith was funny as well babs seeds come back also rainbow fruit bats are kinda interesting too

>>29478 there's something to that writers obviously realised the mystery behind spike's past, though there are way more interesting mysteries, like discord's beginning these little enigmas are sometimes discusses in comics though I feel like detailed story behind him could be explained in a simple two-part IDW comic On the other hand, some things are better when we they leave us guessing, such as picrel for Mombug explaining her past

>>29484 i guess they did not wanted to making it that dark comic writers are much free-er than TV Y writers