Thursday, 18 May 2017

Episode review: S7E09: "Honest Apple"

Rarity and Applejack meet Strawberry Sunrise
No mention of peaches...
Another new writer this time, in the person of Kevin Lappin. The synopsis for this episode seemed a little bit on the uninspired side. It felt like something that belonged in Seasons One or Two. That said, when an old-fashioned episode is done really well, I can enjoy it as much as anything else. "Buckball Season" is the best example from S6. As for "Honest Apple"... see after the break.

Happily, this one was done nicely. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a classic, but I enjoyed it pretty well. It was about a member of the Mane Six, for a start. I'm all in favour of S7's look at other ponies, but it's nice to have some eps that focus on members of the core cast. In keeping with the old-school feel, we also got the return of both Photo Finish and Hoity Toity. PF in particular was great fun.

I wasn't so keen on the competitors in the contest Applejack was helping judge. I didn't really warm to any of them, though I'm not sure how much I was really supposed to. It didn't help that the ending was a right cop-out of the "everypony wins" school. The guest characters served the plot, though. Plus allowed a punch-the-air moment for me near the end, when AJ issued that gentle correction about the use of "literally". Yes! :D

The contest designers look at a plain dress
"Now lookee here at what she made, I think that it's a dress"
Applejack's unvarnished honesty was, of course, the main point of the episode. I'm not entirely sure I buy her totally dismissing fashion these days – as we saw back in "Suited for Success", her judgement on the issue is not infallible. Still, her gradually increasing bluntness worked quite well. Also, she had it thrown back in her face when confronting the awful truth that somepony didn't like apples!

I have no idea what possessed the makers to include that sequence where Rarity shows off her guitar skills, but I'm so glad they did. Given that Maud alluded to shredding recently, is there a theme emerging here? :P Talking of which, Pinkie had a rather odd supporting role in this episode, but it didn't bother me. Really, the only thing I found a bit annoying was the Sparity at the start, but that soon faded out.

Well, that and the fact that Fluttershy's "freaky knowledge of sewing" has still not been remembered by anyone currently making the show. When was the last time 'Shy made even the slightest comment about style or fashion? We badly, badly need a Fluttershy/Rarity episode, stat. But enough of my moaning. This was a nice, entertaining episode. And it's honestly hard to complain about that.

The three contest entrants
Cute how Inky Rose doesn't join in the smiling
Best quote: Photo Finish: "I faint!"

Yays
  • All-round solid entertainment
  • Photo Finish is back!
  • Rarity's guitar hero moment
Neighs
  • Sparity really just seems cruel now
  • Making the contest a draw was a cop-out
★★★
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7 comments:

  1. Present Perfect18 May 2017 at 12:36

    Story idea: After earning her cutie mark, young Rarity took a sojourn to Manehattan to immerse herself in high fashion and learn both the trade and the biz. Because she was like, what, seven? she was understandably very Coco Pommel about the whole thing. Then a travelling minstrel came along and taught her both martial arts -- for self defense and self confidence -- and music -- for wicked guitar solos. Neither skill is one she practices much today, but they come out in equal measure when she gets angry (or Discorded) enough, and she will never forget that mysterious rock star who was her sensei.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Logan18 May 2017 at 15:17

      And would solving a new fashion problem unlock a new karate move? :P

      Delete
    2. Present Perfect18 May 2017 at 19:14

      Only if it's a Final Fantasy X-2 crossover.

      Which is not out of the question, just sayin'.

      Delete
    3. Logan18 May 2017 at 19:36

      I have no idea. Just channelling Quibble's suggestion. :P

      Delete
    4. iisaw18 May 2017 at 21:30

      Headcannon: Accepted!

      Also: Spike confirmed for creeper. :(

      Delete
  2. Pascoite5 June 2017 at 14:09

    I liked this one, and it was nice to have a return to a S1-type exploration of who the characters are, though I know they've moved beyond a lot of that in the show and am not one of the people moaning about how the show will be crap until such point as they return to that model.

    Anyway, yes, they do seem to have forgotten that Applejack learned her lesson on fashion long ago, though to be fair, she was on board for practicality, and she did find her Gala dress practical. If anything, I would have preferred Rarity shred on keytar to preserve the Equestria Girls parallel.

    Odd thought: If Pinkie stores a guitar in her mane, why didn't she have other instruments? I'm looking at you, "Swarm of the Century." And an alternate dimension where you can store stuff in pink hair. Is Pinkie related to Lion in Steven Universe?

    I would have liked to see Applejack pick out a single winner, though that would have worked better if they hadn't had such disparate designs. We can't have the show saying that goth is better than avant garde, after all, but if it was a choice between two similar types, it'd be easier to handle. Now I'm going to have to go look at a screencap to find the moment Photo Finish took her glasses off so I can see what her eye color is.

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    Replies
    1. Present Perfect5 June 2017 at 14:16

      I'd imagine she learned her lesson after Swarm.

      > pink hair

      > Lion

      Holy shit, you just blew this wide open! :O

      Delete

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