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| That middle filly who's realised this means time off school... |
S7E03: "A Flurry of Emotions"
My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.2
Thoughts: It's been a while, hasn't it? Fortunately, a gentle reminder from a certain ghostly presence has led me to sort that out – and so here we go! Let's be honest, Flurry Heart isn't exactly universally loved, and I remember being concerned (as were several) that this would be a reheated "Baby Cakes". In the event I enjoyed it more, both then and now, than I did that episode. It's not bad. Nice visually, some genuinely cute stuff with Flurry, Spike having one of his better "voice of reason" Twi-nudging roles, a solidly written Pinkie cameo, Spearhead's amusingly overblown art show... and even that first-for-G4 callback to Grogar. Little did we know...! On the negative side, Twilight herself was rather irritatingly full of herself about her "Best Aunt Ever" status, Flurry still isn't interesting enough to be an ep-long central figure, plus the episode's moral was a bit clunky. I think it still manages a three, but it's a fairly low one now. The ep doesn't have enough staying power for more than that.
Choice quote: Cheerilee: "Great! Now I'll just write it up again... with my mouth."
New rating: ★★★
Next
up, we have "Rock Solid Friendship". This episode has a pretty good reputation in the fandom, so I was mildly surprised looking back to find I'd "only" given it an upper three-star rating in 2017. It'll be interesting to see whether I stick with that this time.
Oh hey, our opinions do overlap sometimes. :P
ReplyDeleteReally, you took most of the words out of my mouth. Flurry Heart seemed to me a terrible idea on at least a couple of levels, but here that's mostly toned down to make her a well-intentioned, precocious little scamp, so... I can tolerate her, at least. Even find her moments with Auntie Twi pretty cute and fluffy. (Although seriously, what are the rules for ageing with ponies/alicorns?)
and I remember being concerned (as were several) that this would be a reheated "Baby Cakes".
As the freak who outright likes "Baby Cakes", I can't count myself among that happy number. Then again, my attitude to early-seasons Pinkie is weird compared to most people's (I find "Party of One" less entertaining than the consensus, for example).
Regardless, the comparison is apt, given both have a moral about biting off more than you can chew responsibility-wise. "Flurry" goes for a fair-enough "both sides have a point" approach between dumping a duty on someone else and taking it without checking it's doable, so on examination it's more well-rounded than hammering Pinkie with an unwinnable task no matter what she does.
On the other hand, it feels more out-of-character (and old-hat by now) for Twilight to not know how to handle responsibility, so this episode doesn't feel entirely convincing. Whereas Pinkie actively swimming out of her depth on purpose I find far more interesting, especially since it was one of the few times her carefree approach to life was directly challenged, and it revealed she had a streak of pride under the playfulness.
"Spearhead's amusingly overblown art show"
Spearhead is on a whole other plane of existence, man. XD
Credit to this episode: this was the point where Cadence and Shining actually started feeling more interesting as characters rather than as plot devices. I love how they're so awkwardly polite around the incomprehensible art, and the mere fact that Shining and Spearhead are friends shines a light on the former's character, especially how weirdly nostalgic and weepy Shining gets. Not sure what to make of their obsessing over Flurry, but seeing them both so tired and silly ("Mashed peas, her favorite!... wait, did I say that already?") makes me regret they weren't used more often or developed more as actual characters. (Seriously, Shining's dorkiness might just be the best thing about him).
Oh yes, and Spearhead was pretty fun too. It shows the potential for side characters hadn't run out yet.
Spearhead: Say no more. My art has always spoken to me about what I love. But knowing that it spoke to you about what you love speaks to me.
Shining Armor: What...?
:D
"and even that first-for-G4 callback to Grogar. Little did we know...!"
That this series is incapable of letting in-universe stories remain in-universe stories. Honestly, didn't they learn anything from the Daring Do debacle?
"On the negative side, Twilight herself was rather irritatingly full of herself about her 'Best Aunt Ever' status,"
Personally, my biggest criticism would be the idea that Twilight one-sidedly owes Flurry an apology for scaring her, even though Flurry was causing chaos in a children's ward in a hospital. Come on, as much as Twilight's distractibility caused the toy to get lost in the first place, the kid's response was overkill. Auntie Twily's gotta put her hoof down somehow. Especially around an overpowered baby who's clearly too powerful for her own good. It was a bit of a sour note for a mostly sweet episode.
On a lighter note, this ep was pretty nice for cameos and side characters. Not just Pinkie and Spearhead, but Cheerilee and Nurse Redheart get their moments too, and Spike fared pretty well (seriously, his and Twilight's rapport and mutual support needed to be emphasized more throughout this show).
"I think it still manages a three, but it's a fairly low one now. The ep doesn't have enough staying power for more than that."
I also agree. What a double Whammy.
A fun episode, as I recall, though in an odd inversion to the one before it, the B-plot about the art gallery was considerably more fun. :)
Delete(Seriously, Shining's dorkiness might just be the best thing about him)
Absolutely!
They easily could have made him just serious military man, one-note, one-off forgettable why-did-they-even-introduce-this character, or another dopey older brother stereotype, a more talkative Big Macintosh. But you say this, and my mind immediately flashes to Shining making horse noises while hugging a comic book in a later episode. Forgettable characters don't make for instantly memorable moments like that. :)
@IN: Hey, what fun is there in agreeing? I expect there'll be plenty of times we don't, of course, even if they're episodes where you have no desire to comment at all (yeah, that one for a start), but I'll take a bit of agreement where I can get it! :D
DeletePersonally, my biggest criticism would be the idea that Twilight one-sidedly owes Flurry an apology...
Yep, both you and Mike have mentioned this and it's not something I can disagree with. Mind you, are horsey hives infectious, as the picture at the start seems to suggest? Because if so, that raises questions about why Twilight is going to the hospital ward with Flurry in the first place...
@PP: Yeah, dorky Shining is best Shining. Right back to the "Neigh Anything" comics, at least.
Fortunately, a gentle reminder from a certain ghostly presence has led me to sort that out
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't intended that way – I figured if you hadn't posted it you were just busy, so what I'd said was just banter of the moment. Hope that didn't mean you overhauled your plans yesterday to squeeze in this rewatch!
Between yourself and Impossible Numbers, I don't have too much to say here. It's telling how little interest all parties involved had in Flurry Heart that this was her only real episode, what with her being a prop in "The Crystalling". But, they at least gain some mileage out of her being a mischievous tyke here. It was weird revisiting this after reading quite a few fics with the character that (as most do) age her up, but it's an alright episode. Simple, uncomplicated, and while the low ambition and rather slack and repetitive dialogue and visual/written pacing means it's rarely properly engaging, and certainly not really memorable, there's nothing to actively irritate either. Making it easily the best episode of the three thus far. And all it took was returning the focus to (mostly) the old cast! Hm…
Like Impossible Numbers, I too actually like "Baby Cakes", and apart from it having far more energy in the writing and animation timing, that comes down to it being far more thematically sound in the conclusion of Pinkie getting in too deep. Whereas this doesn't really conclude or even escalate there so much as just repeat the same note, made a bit more sour by the absolute flop sweat in the writing of Twilight's one-sided apology to Flurry over scaring her. Some other writers or Story Editors could have found a way to show Flurry deserves some blame still, no question.
On Spearhead and his art show, it's a subplot I tend to forget, but it's a fun one. Technically, pure padding beyond Shining and Cadance coming to miss Flurry. But as noted, giving them enough personality for more than an isolated line or gag to feel like proper characters is a lot of that. And for an experimental art show you don't get? Sure, why not!
Good side moments from Pinkie, Cheerilee and even Nurse Redheart round out the package, but I do feel it appropriate to raise a few points on Season Seven's "style". I've said before how a hefty chunk of the S7 episodes, primarily ones on the old characters, really try to go back to the simpler, uncomplicated, domestic slice-of-life style of the early seasons. And despite entering around a character only a season old, that's very true here, from the "Baby Cakes" style plot to Ponyville citizens popping up to facilitate select scenes (Season Two was where Cheerilee was a regular player, appearing in seven episodes). And there's nothing here, not even throwaway moments, that incorporate either the Friendship Castle or Twilight being a princess.
Of course, the writing and visual/tonal execution has changed far too much for such efforts to truly stick the landing; the Cartoon Network comedy is very rare by now, the animations and visual scope is larger but also less snappy, and the shorter scripts that are far more cyclical and straining to fill the runtime rather curtail the energy (if not an 11-min episode stretched out, relative to other examples, it certainly feels stretched by a few to reach the goal). It's by no means a dull episode, but all the featured moments tend to register as being amusing rather than feel amusing, if you get me. It's a weird thing for an episode written by two writers of "The Loud House", but many one-off and temp writers migrating from Nick/CN cartoons past the Faust era clearly strained to match the tone and produced rather watered-down efforts.
Still and all, the episode's fine (like, a good kin of fine) and has just enough minor grace notes to leave one feeling positively disposed towards it, even with a subtly but pervasively off Twilight (though Spike is on point here). It doesn't speak well of this season that this passable episode will likely be in the top the come ranking, but that's no slight on it.
Hope that didn't mean you overhauled your plans yesterday to squeeze in this rewatch!
DeleteNo, it's fine. The weather was dismal here yesterday, so watching some Pony was a nice option. I'm quite grateful for the (even if unintentional) nudge, actually!
it's an alright episode. Simple, uncomplicated, and while the low ambition and rather slack and repetitive dialogue and visual/written pacing means it's rarely properly engaging, and certainly not really memorable, there's nothing to actively irritate either.
Seems fair enough. I don't know of anyone who'd put this episode in a list of classics (though I'm sure such people do exist in such a large fandom) but I've rarely encountered people who despise it either. It could have been better, even as a Flurry episode, but it also could have been worse.
Good side moments from Pinkie, Cheerilee and even Nurse Redheart
Maybe they were just softening up Cheerliee to make up for the "Oh, you're a professional teacher? None of that at our school, please!" thing next season. ;)
It doesn't speak well of this season that this passable episode will likely be in the top the come ranking, but that's no slight on it.
Is "top the" a typo for "top three"? If so then (as you may expect) I don't think it'll come that high up for me. Top ten, perhaps, given my lack of enthusiasm for the Pillars later in the season. For a start, I'd be disappointed if the very next episode didn't still rank higher in my affection. We'll see! (Eventually...)
Maybe they were just softening up Cheerliee to make up for the "Oh, you're a professional teacher? None of that at our school, please!" thing next season. ;)
DeleteYou've reminded me that Cheerilee gets all of one "proper" appearance in the two School of Friendship seasons, and it boils down to being scared by a cragadile before Scootaloo's mom wrangles it in "The Last Crusade".* Closest other one is being a background character when Starlight fetches the CMCs from their school in "Marks for Effort". What a showing.
[* Speaking of later seasons almost writing out older stuff, did you know that "The Last Crusade" is one of only three Season Eight/Nine episodes that is not timeline locked to there? Many candiates you'd think would do are disqualified off the School being in the background beside Twilight's castle, with many others done in by unneeded dialogue callbacks. The other two are "Common Ground" (totally outside of Ponyville), and "Daring Doubt" (only Rainbow Dash's cloud house there). Out of fifty-two episodes. Fifty-three if accounting for "The Best Gift Ever".]
And yes, "top the" was a typo for "top ten". It would take (for me, not saying this applies for everyone) a season like Season Nine for a passably enjoyable episode like this to make the top three! Season Seven's not nearly that dire.
But yeah, except some choice words from moi on the mangled hot mess that is the Pillars when you get there in early 2024…
Unfortunately, they never did develop Flurry Heart enough as a character for her to have any interest for me, so I was always bored by episodes that focused on her. The B-plot here was okay enough, but I really remember very little about this episode, just that Spike finally got some respect. Other than that, I just found this one not bad but very forgettable.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably in the minority on this in hindsight, but I've never really understood the hate towards Flurry Heart. I mean, we're talking about a fictional character who's a baby, so what's the big deal here? If Flurry wasn't a baby, yet still had all of her other traits, I think she'd have been downright unbearable!
ReplyDeleteThat aside, and although it's this early on in the season, I'd call this one of my favorites overall. I just loved seeing Twilight and Flurry spending time together, and after the former's treatment in the previous season, it's a step in the right direction for her character. Shining Armor and Cadence's subplot was also pretty good, miles above the Mane Six's in All Bottled Up.
I can't find anything majorly wrong with the episode; it definitely helped to bring season seven back on the track after the previous episode's bad subplot.