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My Little Pony FiM Season 2 |OT| - Quality Has No Demographic

I would have liked this episode if the lesson was "Not everyone wants to be your friend and that's OK."

As-is, "Smile" is the only good part.
 

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
I would have liked this episode if the lesson was "Not everyone wants to be your friend and that's OK."

As-is, "Smile" is the only good part.

Pinkie did kind of accept that moral at one point, but in lieu of friendship she at the very least strives for catharsis, which is what motivated her to follow through with hookin' up ol' Cranky Doodle.

The fact that they became "friends" at the end of the episode doesn't change that moral (though perhaps they could have driven that fact home more). There certainly didn't appear to be the traditional kind of "up-beat" friendship Pinkie is used to between her and Cranky, so perhaps "Friendship" in their case just meant "Acquaintances on good standing"
 

Morgadeth

Member
Pinkie Pie spends half the episode destroying this guy life, then Deus Ex Machina makes her a hero. It's not like she changed her attitude or seemed to actually learn anything. She just bullies this poor old suffering donkey into a psychological hell and then "oh, here's the love of your life".

She meant well, but she's an idiot.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
IMO they could've presented it in a way that she gets what she deserves, since the moral pretty much is good and given (Not everyone is cheerful, and not everyone reacts to the same stimuli). Somehow the lesson was magically learned.
 

brian577

Banned
I kinda am with you guys. Worst episode moral since the one about atheism.

I thought everyone understood that was not what the episode was about

lauren_faust__s_2_cent_on_feeling_pinkie_keen__by_haruonakashima-d4pvsaa.png
 
It's not Owl's Well That Ends Well, but I think this episode was thoroughly below average for the show. The ending, in particular, was a gigantic asspull. You've gotta give me a checkhov's gun or something to pull off a coincidence like that. Replace the cow in the opening scene for Cranky Doodle's love, for example, and it would at least establish a relationship. Sprinkle in some leading dialogue that isn't too transparent and it would be even better. As it is, the show strings together a wildly improbable series of coincidences to salvage a happy ending- and in so doing undermines the moral (Pinkie did not fix things by leaving CD alone).

Add that to the more over-the-top looney tunes esque stuff that felt as out of place here as it did in FPK and there are one too many problems with the ep.

Smile Smile Smile and seeing Pinkie interact with the rest of the town saved it from lowest tier, though.

I thought everyone understood that was not what the episode was about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_of_faith

With that choice of wording, there is absolutely no doubt that there was a writer on board that episode. That the show's point is broadly applicable to non-religious superstition does not change the fact that its rhetoric is downright anvilicious in the context in which it is presented.

I would have liked this episode if the lesson was "Not everyone wants to be your friend and that's OK."

As-is, "Smile" is the only good part.

That is the moral (at least as far as I can tell), but they executed it so ham fistedly I'm not surprised at your confusion.
 
Replace the cow in the opening scene for Cranky Doodle's love, for example, and it would at least establish a relationship.
But the love interest was in the opening segment... Granted, they might've done well to have her reminisce on her lost love, but that might've made things too obvious.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Replace the cow in the opening scene for Cranky Doodle's love, for example, and it would at least establish a relationship. Sprinkle in some leading dialogue that isn't too transparent and it would be even better.

You might want to watch that first scene after the opening credits again....

The cow was a red herring to distract the viewer so they wouldn't really notice the other non-pony character in the scene.
 
I've already said my main beef with the episode was the far-too-convenient resolution, but you can't say she wasn't established earlier in the episode.

I was factually incorrect that they did not attempt to establish it, but their attempt to chekhov's gun was undermined by the unmemorableness of their scene together.
 

Cheerilee

Member
He meant Season 2. As I linked, there are rumors Season 2 is actually 28 episodes long. Otherwise, everything you've said is accurate.

I'm not convinced they WON'T leave Season 3 at 13 episodes, though, because that'd bump the show up to 65 episodes total (or 67, is this 28-episode Season 2 rumor thing is true), which, as I'm sure you're aware, is where most cartoons end. Some get renewed for a season or so beyond that, though, so it's not a completely lost cause - but really, with as many people jumping ship as we have, I'd rather they end it on a high note, before they run entirely out of steam.

Most cartoons are made in multiples of 13, because there are 13 weeks in a 1/4 year, so with 13 episodes you can air once a week for one full season. 52 episodes is 13x4 episodes, which means you can air a show once a week for an entire year without looping. 65 episodes (13x5) means that it's possible to air a show five days a week for an entire season.

Shows are often packaged into 52 or 65 episodes, because that makes scheduling easier, and if you're going to sell the show in syndication, many stations won't buy shows with oddball numbering (although they probably won't say no to a couple of bonus episodes).

DHX made 28 episodes in season 1 presumably because they wanted to jump halfway to the 52 episode mark, and wanted a bit of a safety buffer just in case. If they created another 26 episodes for season 2, the two Discord episodes that got pushed over from season one could push the total episodes created up to 54, and then they could choose if they wanted to have a 28 episode season 2, or just push another pair of episodes into season 3 (which seems more likely, although behind they scenes in-production they would probably be referring to them as season 2 episodes, which would be where the rumor comes from).

Season 3 is slated to only have 13 episodes, because they want to hit the 65 episode mark, but I wouldn't worry about the show getting canned because of that mark. Most shows stop there because that's as far as they can push it. They usually reach that far with their dying breath. MLP:FIM isn't showing any signs of slowing down. And MLP:FIM has network support. The Hub is in a growth stage and they need as many popular titles as they can get. IMO, they'd be fools to cancel one of their top shows, especially since they're limiting themselves to shows based on Hasbro toys. Either that or they don't have enough money to keep going forward, which would be really bad news for the future of the network.

AFAIK, Disney skews the results of the "shows tend to get canned at 65" theory, because Disney is so well-established and ruthless and money-wise that their axe gets pulled out like clockwork. They don't care if they kill a show before it's time, because there are many, many more where those ones came from.
 

McNum

Member
And we haven't seen the last of Luna? Good, good.

And yay for the possibility of the Cutie Mark Crusaders actually getting their cutie marks. I'd love to see that episode. (Plus Hasbro gets to sell new Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo toys with their cutie marks painted on. Limited Edition Cutie Mark Crusaders go!)
 
Looking forward to the Scoot episode.

Here's hoping there's more to her character than just what we've been shown.

...dare I hope for sad/deep stuff about her lack of a sister?

The potential for greatness is there.
 
Looking forward to the Scoot episode.

Here's hoping there's more to her character than just what we've been shown.

...dare I hope for sad/deep stuff about her lack of a sister?

The potential for greatness is there.

She has a sister.
She's actually one of the Wonderbolts, but completely overshadows and ignores Scootaloo.
Her parents basically don't even acknowledge Scoot's existence when her sister is around.
That's why she's so obsessed with Rainbow Dash.
 
I just want to see Scootaloo's family, period. Kid's gone a full season's worth of episodes without one.

BTW, apparently the whole thing was fake. S3's still 13 episodes and we still don't have a Scootaloo episode.
 

McNum

Member
"Oh my birthday isn't for another 75 days!" - Pinkie Pie

So from February 18th we go 75 days forward. May 3rd! Now that's just silly, right? I mean, there's no way that'd fit with anything. Well, actually... "Party of One" aired April 29th 2011. That's about a full year. Now I'd chalk that up as coincidence, except that it's Pinkie Pie. She just might be referencing that. So is Pinkie's birthday between April 29th and May 3rd?

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. Or I read too much TV Tropes. Either or.

A shame that turned out to be a fake. I still hope the last Crusader episode has them get their cutie marks.
 
"Oh my birthday isn't for another 75 days!" - Pinkie Pie

So from February 18th we go 75 days forward. May 3rd! Now that's just silly, right? I mean, there's no way that'd fit with anything. Well, actually... "Party of One" aired April 29th 2011. That's about a full year. Now I'd chalk that up as coincidence, except that it's Pinkie Pie. She just might be referencing that. So is Pinkie's birthday between April 29th and May 3rd?

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. Or I read too much TV Tropes. Either or.
Most certainly the former, considering the airdates for these episodes is by-and-large completely arbitrary. As for the latter, I know that feel.
 
Hoooo am I behind or what? I've been using my free time to mess with my new HTPC.

Also, surprisingly, my sister and I had a little quarrel on Saturday. But after we cooled off, we watched the new episode and things were back to normal like nothing happened. The show really is magic. Fun and ironic that it happened to be an episode about smiling.

Anyway, we really liked it. I dare say, this is probably one of the best episodes yet. Not just the season, but as a whole series. I'd say if it weren't for being a PP-focal episode, this would be a good Jump-in episode for newcomers to try. Great song, animation, and humor.
Carefully venturing into this thread from Comic-GAF land for a little crossover action...

First look at Cartoon Network's DC Nation 'S.B.F.F.' shorts, from producer Lauren Faust

Hinqp.jpg


No doubt this leads to a whole slew of pony/super fanart mashups.

Yeah, it's funny, if MLP wasn't made by Faust and/or it didn't take off as it did, I would've given this a look out of curiosity (I really do love the art style) and that I tend to enjoy DC Animated stuff. I had no idea who Faust was either before MLP. But now she's become one of my most respected people in Animation so I'm probably MORE eager to see it as HER new work, rather than something new from DC.

Oh and yeah Pony Mashups. Considering there's a lot of mashup art already of PPG, Galaxy Girls, and Foster's, yeah there's already going to a lot of pony mashups here. ESPECIALLY if Tara Strong reprises her role as Batgirl here.

Pinkie did kind of accept that moral at one point, but in lieu of friendship she at the very least strives for catharsis, which is what motivated her to follow through with hookin' up ol' Cranky Doodle.

The fact that they became "friends" at the end of the episode doesn't change that moral (though perhaps they could have driven that fact home more). There certainly didn't appear to be the traditional kind of "up-beat" friendship Pinkie is used to between her and Cranky, so perhaps "Friendship" in their case just meant "Acquaintances on good standing"

I really hated the episode, I think it is the only one I actively disliked.
Pinkie Pie spends half the episode destroying this guy life, then Deus Ex Machina makes her a hero. It's not like she changed her attitude or seemed to actually learn anything. She just bullies this poor old suffering donkey into a psychological hell and then "oh, here's the love of your life".

I do have to say the resolution did seem like an easy Deus Ex Machina. But I disagree with the "Bleh! Pinkie's an obnoxious idiot" You have to remember, Pinkie (and the other ponies) still have young minds that are behind their adult bodies. She's very much like a hyperactive 12 year old. She really really means well, but like a lot of kids, she really doesn't know the meaning of subtlety. I really thought that aspect was captured very well. Just the ending was a little weak.


Yeah I love the Flim Flam song because it's so untypical vs. girlie shit - it's an obvious selling song that's pretty much almost a villain song for the series, and we all know Villain Songs >>>>> Anything.

Yeah the more I listen to it, the more I like it. It IS really nice to have a song that doesn't sound like a Disney Princess song (not that they're bad, just liking the change of pace)
 
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