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| Candles on hay bales don't strike me as especially safe... |
5 Aug 2017 (in USA; 21 Jun 2017 in Australia)
My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 9.5
Thoughts: Well, here we go. A sizeable chunk of the fandom applies the "Best Episode Ever" tag to this, and on this occasion its IMDb score probably doesn't lie. I'm not going to be all perverse and say I hate it, as no: I also think it's a very fine ep. Having it air six weeks earlier in Australia than the US made it very hard to avoid spoilers, and many (including me) viewed and reviewed earlier than August. It can be hard to recall now, but at this point the idea of finding out about the Apple parents was a huge deal, given there'd been speculation about them for years and years. The expectation was a lot to live up to – but it managed. A lovely story with organic progression, thoughtful and sympathetic characterisation, excellent world-building, a nice guest turn from William Shatner of all people, that very fine song (with a reprise in the end credits!) and some really appealing visuals. But the writing made it great, something you couldn't always take for granted by S7. Yeah, okay fandom, you win. This episode can have a five now.
Choice quote: Goldie Delicious: "Now that's how you make an entrance... or is it an exit?"
New rating: ★★★★★
Next
time, it'll be "Fame and Misfortune", an episode some people loved and others hated. I was in the former camp, finding it much more funny than cringy. That may or may not change. As ever, we shall see!
That they stuck the landing, in the face of both the fandom expectations and the expectations they'd set up within the episode itself, still impresses me - and it still makes me tear up a bit, all these years later. I'm very heartened to see this belated 5.
ReplyDeleteFor real, it's kind of amazing this episode was as good as it was when you consider the hype. :)
DeleteComing to the show nearly half a year after this first aired (in Australia :D), I don't think I ever really was, or ever likely will be, in a position to appreciate how big a deal this was at the time. After almost seven years of nothing beyond their unmentioned absences, a pair of shooting stars in "Apple Family Reunion", and a mention of how proud they'd be in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", the Apple Parents finally appeared in an episode. And, it's bloody brilliant to boot?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what can I even add about this one? The script's structure is immaculate and has consistent emotional resonance and depth. It treats its characters seriously and never short-changes the storytelling for an easy joke. Four new characters are introduced that all leave quite the impression with distinctive personalities (even the Sam Elliot firewood pony is more than the sum of his framing device parts), while familiar faces like Mrs. Cake, Goldie Delicious and even Mayor Mare are fleshed out more too. This episode generates Dumbo-levels of empathy for the Apple Parents' forbidden love, and makes it feels organic and not just a circumstance of plot. The guest VAs shine fierce (William Shatner especially, but Felicia Day's sweet turn as Pear Butter is often overlooked).
And TV-Y rating be darned, even with the typically cheerful background music and sentiments at the end, the Apple parents being unambiguously dead gives the thing a bittersweet feel that makes it feel so much more potent.
In my more cynical moments, I like to say the Lady Writers gave too much of their writing finesse towards this episode, hence why their other scripts this season, and their Story Editor work, is frankly mildew-y. That's going a bit far, perhaps, but even granting that, much like money shots/scenes in animation itself, some episodes will always get more attention than others, it really does beggar belief that an episode this, well… perfect, that nails personality, characterisation, pacing, plotting, continuity, and legitimate emotional resonance could be made in a season overwhelmingly filled with mixed or disappointing efforts.
Despite how big a part of my life FiM it is, and the amount of time I spend on it or media branched off from it, it's never being the biggest, best thing in the world for me. It's a show I enjoy quite a bit, and think it so much better than it had any right to be, but it's not high art like my favourite Disney or Pixar films. And most of the time, I'm largely just intellectually stimulated when watching it. But very rarely, we get an episode like this, which affects me powerfully on an emotional level ("You're In My Head Like A Catchy Song" has almost never failed to stir up bittersweet tears of joy), and the potential of FiM really hits me fierce. Usually candidates for top episode can feel a bit overrated (even I don't know that I adore "Amending Fences" as much as most folks), but this would deserve its praise even had it come out in Season Two rather than as an oasis in this desert.
__________
Bonus: I know it's just a coincidence of scheduling, but how fitting is it that you covered this episode the day before Valentines… eh, Hearts and Hooves Day? Even weirder is the latest IDW comic is a Romeo and Juliet reimagining with Pinkie and Cheese? Not that accusations of this episode being another take on that story really hold much water beyond "two young folks from long-feuding families fall in love and there's a tragic element", but enough folks lazily subscribe to it.
There's another element at work here besides the good writing that makes this an outstanding episode: The six previous seasons.
DeleteThis story could have been told in Season 2, but it wouldn't have had nearly the same impact. A weighty backstory that's front-loaded is almost always a snooze-fest, but after all the time we've spent with these ponies, getting a deeper look at their history (particularly as they themselves are affected by it) is marvelous.
This dynamic was at work in Amending Fences, too. It's a common benefit of having a broad and deep world and characters to work with. If I may be slightly critical of fanfic writers in general, it's also why fanfic is so attractive: The work of building intriguing characters and settings has already been done for us. But that's true for professional fanfic writers, too. Any writer on a long-running show or adapting well-known work (looking at you, Wicked), has the same advantage.
This story could have been told in Season 2, but it wouldn't have had nearly the same impact.
DeleteOh, I wasn't suggesting it should actually have happened then. My plucking Season 2 for the above example was just because it tends to be the most highly-regarded season on average (not by a overwhelming majority, granted, but on average, yes), to show how "The Perfect Pear" would shine even there.
Now, I would say your principle can have diminishing returns if one waits too long, granted – honestly, I don't think this episode would have been any less strong had it happened in Season 5, though not any earlier. And neither should it be taken as a hard-and-fast rule either, as certain cases function differently. Otherwise, that'd be basically saying "always hold your best work back for later". And mean that something like "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" would be automatically better pushed back a few seasons, even though getting that connection between the Mane 6 then is quite crucial to their friendship. But your point is certainly true a fair share of the time.
This dynamic was at work in Amending Fences, too.
Considering how long M.A. Larson had wanted to make it, I do sometimes wonder what it might have been like had he been able to do so before Twilight was a princess. The time gap since she didn't go to Moondancer's party matters, so any earlier than Season 3 would have undermined it. And it uses Twilight being a princess about as well as any episode where it's not a crucial plot point ever does, so I'm fine with when it happened.
But that's true for professional fanfic writers, too. Any writer on a long-running show or adapting well-known work (looking at you, Wicked), has the same advantage.
A principle that, you'd think, would allow professional writers to work wonders in this IP-heavy day and age. And yet, to look around the current media landscape, such quality is rarer than ever, alas (a lot of that is executive meddling, of course, especially for wanting the boost of a given IP but not to truly honour it).
Perhaps using "media" writing as an example was a poor choice, since Hollywood is notorious for having no respect whatsoever for source material. There are literary fanfics out there... Oh. Just flashed on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so yeah...
DeleteStill, as Mr. My Little Pony Pirates, I have no credible way to criticize such things.
(BTW, it you want to see some screamingly funny sendups of the Hollywood writer/produce dynamic, check out the Y'allTube channel Pitch Meeting.)
"Y'allTube channel Pitch Meeting, huh? Well, I bet it's gonna be tough to track that bad boy down."
Delete"Actually, it'll be super-easy. Barely an inconvenience."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, you see, you just follow the clickety link https://www.youtube.com/@PitchMeetings/videos."
"Oh, following clickety links is tight! And how do I do that?"
"You just click on the link."
"Couldn't that just be a coincidentally titled link designed to steal views from the original artist?"
"No, it's not, I decided it's not."
"Oh, OK, then."
"So, do you have a better link for me?"
Delete"Yessir, I do! It's called https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRE-UFLEgWzBuOiqemhEI9b4gmmBbutnC."
"It's gonna be kinda hard to fit that on the poster."
"OK, sir, I'm gonna need you to get all the way off my back about this title."
"Oh, OK, that sounded threatening! Lemme get off of that thing!"
"Whoops!"
"Whoopsie!"
Wow, wow, wow. . . . . wow.
DeleteFun fact: I have heard Pitch Meeting catch phrases quoted on set several times.
I have watched my fair share of Pitch Meeting (mostly on animated films, because look who you’re talking to), and even if I hadn’t, I’d recognise the quotes/paraphrasings from how often they’re used. Because quoting Pitch Meeting is tight!
DeleteAlso, of course you’d casually drop mentions of working on tv/film sets like that. It’s not news, not even slightly. But it is very you.
In a good way, like. Factually representative and open of a wide career while being modest about it.
And I’m rambling again, so that’ll do. While rambling is super-easy, it’s not quite barely an inconvenience, alas.
The Coraline Pitch Meeting is one of my favorites! The other thing I like about the series is that it shows just how easy it is (for a talented comedian, at least) to take apart the logic of a story, even a good one. Those whoopsies don't necessarily make it a bad story.
DeleteI think that most people I regularly have contact with in the fandom know about the VFX thing! In related news, here's a shot of Twilight Sparkle aboard USS Essex from the movie Beyond Whitespace:
Ponies in Spaaaaace!
She was in the far background in one setup, but I watched the finished cut very closely and I couldn't see her. Someday...
The other thing I like about the series is that it shows just how easy it is (for a talented comedian, at least) to take apart the logic of a story, even a good one. Those whoopsies don't necessarily make it a bad story.
DeleteIt's a very delicate act to tear apart a story's logic in a way that a) doesn't feel like the bad, mindless side of internet criticism popularised by CinemaSins, b) is actually fun and/or interesting to read/watch, and c) threads the tonal line of not actually saying the work is automatically worse for these, and these kinds of flaws only matter if you consciously notice them in the act if watching the work, and they thus lessen the effect of the material. It took me a while to get to this mindset (I certainly trudged through my period of mindless internet nitpicking without purpose), but I came out the other side). Of course it's fun to note that Disney's Beauty and the Beast is chronologically impossible with the case events needing several days, if not weeks, and the village events only logically happening in one day. Or that Indiana Jones doesn't influence the outcome of Raiders of the Lost Ark. A good person knows to thread through that these things don't stop these movies from being perfect.
Pitch Meeting not only does this, but this principle is shown with their video on Toy Story, where the producer asks why Buzz still freezes when humans are around if he doesn't know/believe he's a toy, the writer has an existential crisis over this huge logical gulf, and producer assures him it's okay, it's doesn't matter (there's legit concern on both ends, for the story and each other, which makes it all the funnier). It's one of the more unique moments in the show I've seen, and I think quite telling to part of its success.
Otherwise, that's a funny thing you tried (and failed) to get into the film (which I'd never heard of, though the space theme and a pony figure makes me think of the Marvin the Martian figure drifting past the camera in after the initial disaster rips over the space station). Reminds me of when an ad was filmed for an Irish game show at our house (nearly two decades ago, mind) and my dad sneakily left a Pikachu magnet on the iron fan (there was a reason of retribution), and it made its way into the ad! Which was only shown like twice, but it's on the internet somewhere.
My rule is that if you enjoy the movie while it's happening, it's a good story, even if afterward you think, "Hey, that doesn't make any sense!" If you're in the middle of watching it and think, "Oh, come on!" that's when it's a fail.
DeleteYour dad is in good company! It's a grand old tradition to sneak in weird stuff. I had a friend who made container labels for Space Camp, some of which read: Raccoons, Sex Toys, Happy Drugs, and things like that.
In Completely Unrelated News, I'm going down to LA for a shoot this coming week, and I'm taking my little Twilight figure with me... Just sayin'. ;)
YES! :D He has seen the light, haha HA!
ReplyDeleteAs Mike nodded towards in his comment, this is practically a miracle. It's a shockingly great ep for what is essentially a "Romeo and Juliet" narrative, one of the most hackneyed plots conceivable and so amazingly easy to get wrong. I think the first and foremost reason why it lands so wonderfully here is that the story isn't really a love story as such, but a story about community bonds and family heritage tailor-made for the Apples. That's as much evident in the framing device that reignites old memories in many community figures, as it is in the actual love story melting away the chilly and pointless family feud.
It's an affectionate episode, and while not everything about the central couple lands (their first-meet as babies is hella awkward in the wrong way), overall their playful and sweet commitment makes for a lovely anchor to the nostalgia and bittersweet tragedy. It's one of those rare eps that knows how to make the darker, harsher side feel real without sacrificing an earned joyful conclusion. Honesty of the best kind.
I take a dim view of Season Seven and come close to outright dismissing it at times. "The Perfect Pear" is the number one reason why I never do. n.n
Loved this one. Wouldn't call it my overall favorite, but it's in the top few. The characters, the plot, the music, all were so good.
ReplyDeleteRather fitting that you posted this close to Valentine's Day, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I don't think I can add much to The Perfect Pear that hasn't been said already; it's certainly earned its right as one of season seven's best episodes, if not the best episode of the season (I personally prefer A Royal Problem a shade more), and it fulfills the fandom's desire to see what the Apple siblings' parents were like, and then some. (Unlike a certain season nine episode, but that's not for another fifty episodes.)
The timing was coincidental, but I'll take it!
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