"I have had it with the peeved ponies in this peeved house" |
It turned out rather well, and better than I'd feared, though with one factor that may stop it being an episode I'll watch again and again. That is, of course, Zephyr Breeze. Fluttershy's brother is, until the last few minutes at least, more or less irredeemably awful. This being the show it is, almost nopony is truly irredeemable – although his sudden improvement is rather rushed. I'm glad Rapp showed that it wasn't entirely complete.
The best thing in this episode is Fluttershy. Admittedly I'm biased, but I really enjoy how she behaves here. We've seen her assertiveness go horribly wrong in "Putting Your Hoof Down", but here she gets it right. It's rather more like the tough love she showed to Rainbow Dash in "Tanks for the Memories". She proves that she's grown as a character and turns in her best starring role since "Filli Vanilli". This also gives us some cherishable Flutterfaces.
"Come on... I promise they're not laced with strychnine this time" |
As for "our" Rainbow... it seems that she's a regular guest at the Shys' house, which seems reasonable given how long she's known Fluttershy. Dash enjoys being there, but clearly hates it when
Trivia: the two non-Hearth's Warming songs this season have both had "on my own" in the title. The one in this episode is a solid but unspectacular affair. I love to hear 'Shy sing, but sadly she only gets a couple of solo lines. At least she's able to duet with Rainbow for a while, and some of the animation in those sections is adorable. Zephyr doesn't have a bad voice, either – perhaps he should consider that job!
"And have you noticed that our eye colours match too?" |
This leads me on to one of the things I feel is less successful: the sequence in which Fluttershy takes Zephyr around her friends for jobs. You can see the idea, but it's awfully convenient. It would have been fun to see him working for Mayor Mare or the spa ponies or Octavia or something. On the plus side, at least it means we get to see Opal with a Rainbow Dash-coloured tail and (better still) Zapped!Zephyr.
Other things: "peeved" is apparently a pony swear word. Must remember that for future fics! There was a Link pony, complete with heart cutie mark and cart full of rupees. The Shys' living room wallpaper is G3 Dash's cutie mark. That head/wig is surely a reference to something, but I don't know what. We even got a very brief glimpse of Cheese Sandwich in Pinkie Pie's wallet of a thousand friends.
Zephyr Breeze, mime artist extraordinaire |
Best quote: Fluttershy, angrily: "Zephyr Breeze!"
Yays
- The best Fluttershy we've seen for ages
- 'Shy putting her assertiveness to good use
- Nice, if slightly forgettable, song
- Nice Legend of Zelda reference
- Solid, relatable moral
- Zephyr is almost unbearable at times
- The "get a job" segment is a bit dull
- That title pun is truly terrible
- "Mr and Mrs Shy"? Come on
I will have to say that this episode is growing on me even if Zephry reminds me far too much my youngest brother, I mean he's 23 and he's never had a job cos he's a very spoiled brat.
ReplyDeleteThere's nobody close to me who's like Zeph (thankfully!) but yeah, it may be growing on me as well. It might get an upgrade to four stars eventually.
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