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S4E17: "Somepony to Watch Over Me"
Written by Scott Sonneborn
8 Mar 2014
My original rating: 7.5/10 (=★★★)
IMDb score: 6.1
Thoughts: A really uneven episode, this one. Scott Sonneborn's debut starts pretty badly, with Applejack's protectiveness towards her little sister turned up to 11 and beyond. Yes, she's shown a bit of that before ("Bridle Gossip") but never like this. I really find it a chore to watch, and if that was all this episode had to offer it might be looking at a one-star rating. Happily it isn't, and after some fun CMC antics AJ's concern about Apple Bloom going missing is much more convincing. Then, of course, we get the chimera stuff. A really dangerous monster, with perhaps the most open death threat any character had received up to this point in the show – and a kid character at that. Some very striking visual design in the flame forest, too. The Cajun town at the very end was a bit strange, but I suppose it served its purpose. I'm more than happy to give the chimera segment a highish three at least, maybe even a low four. Average that out with the unenjoyable earlier AJ scenes and you no longer get the high three-star rating I gave this episode in 2014. You get a moderate two, and overall that's probably what it does deserve. Had its moments without a doubt, but horrendously uneven and oddly paced to (fireproof) boot. Not one of S4's finest.
Choice quote: Scootaloo: "Stop! No time for a song."
New rating: ★★
Next up is "Maud Pie", which I liked a great deal on its first appearance. Maud herself had quite a bit to do with that. I'm hoping I'll still like it as much.
Yeah, I don't think this ep will be getting awards anytime soon. It's not a good final version.
ReplyDeleteAt least AJ's overprotectiveness makes sense both in-universe and as a storytelling device, even though it's ramped up to unbelievable heights (or sinks to ridiculous lows: pick your metaphorical poison).
I'm more bothered by the way they mangle the logic of the moral. By rights, Apple Bloom's stunt with the pie cart should have demolished any chance of being treated as responsible. Even the attempted justification makes no sense: in an emergency situation, the last thing you should do is worry about objects at the expense of your own safety!
Either way, the chimera scene single-handedly saves this episode. Which is a real shame, because the coming-of-age concept of Apple Bloom wanting to be taken more seriously by her motherly big sister is a superb concept for an ep, and also contributes to most of the good side early on.
“Somepony to Watch Over Me” - Production Changes
ReplyDeleteScott Sonneborn wrote this one from day one (perhaps that explains the up-to-11 Applejack overbearing? Being a brand-new writer who wouldn’t yet know the character nuances very well, even though Meghan McCarthy should have nipped it in the bud early).
PREMISE
The Premise is just about detailed enough to be reasonably accurate given its length, differing mostly in incidental details (episode opens on the pie carts being loaded, with Apple Bloom wanting to come and then the idea of herm dining things here alone being decided on; Apple Bloom did enough against the Chimera for Applejack and her to defeat it together). There is also some subtle thematic differences, mostly in Apple Bloom letting the responsibility go to her head a lot more, and the accident being her fault, but Applejack misreads her apology to the CMC for letting it go to her head. And in her attempts to prove herself to Applejack just causing a lot more comical screwups then in the final episode. But not much else - Applejack's overbearing nature is here right from the start.
OUTLINE
There is… honestly very little here that didn't make it through to the script. Just a few small incidental details, like the CMCs helping pack the pie carts, and the specific gags used during the baby-proofing scene (most of which were bettered later. Applejack's overbearing nature is actually minutely more intense here. Easily the only interesting scrapped thing here is the CMCs deception - instead of the other two "sleeping" under the covers, they instead would have operated a Rube-Goldberg contraption from under the bed to fool Applejack (which Apple Bloom didn't think would work, but had to go along with). How it busted during Applejack's heartfelt confession wasn't specified. The whole thing was likened to the plan Ferris Bueller fooled his parents with.
Past that, scenes are identical or just light on detail.
SCRIPT
I have precious little to say on the script, as almost all the differences are things that made it through all drafts, but got cut when animating for time, or visual cues that got reworked to be more visually dynamic. Just a smaller-then-usual handful of dialogue adjustments as the drafts progress. One of the few points here is that Applejack's worry about writing for Apple Bloom to open the drawer to get at what's inside was originally to turn off the light when sleeping (the trip was overnight, not for the afternoon at first), with the "opening the drawer" bit taking the place of the "soup cooling" bit on the list she actually gave.
One funny gag that did get cut from the first draft early was, when Apple Bloom pointed out how overbearing Applejack was to the CMCs, Sweetie Belle tired to put on a brave face, but then admitted it was horrible, and cried waterfalls like in "One Bad Apple" (possibly an episode the new writer had just watched as reference, and it was scrapped for being too obvious). The final script was 30.5 pages, so not nearly as many time cuts were required.
ANIMATIC & OTHER CHANGES
Comparing the script to the animatic, the following changes were made before it was sent to Hasbro:
* What startled Apple Bloom on Applejack’s arrival home was originally seeing Applejack at the window, and the resulting displaced objects were different too (some glass, apparently, though the script specified none were near the ponies, probably to appease Standards and Practises).
* The “training wheels” overbearing bit had three other montage gags: Applejack running on the cider-making treadmill with her; Applejack walking Apple Bloom on a leash while AB walks Apple Bloom while Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon giggled as they passed by - probably cut to avoid VA fees, though they could have been just made silent - and a mini-kitchen in the kitchen that Apple Bloom can reach to put everything away).
[continued below]
[continued from above]
DeleteANIMATIC & OTHER CHANGES - CONTINUED
* The CMCs racked their brains for an idea, with Apple Bloom hanging a lantern and them standing up to get close, as though they’ll get ideas that way (a lightbulb above the head meta joke, basically) - them standing to reach is it what let Apple Bloom see the cat, and get an idea.
* Scootaloo went to the hats-and-bows closet to fetch two bows, rather than from Apple Bloom’s wardrobe.
* The CMCs originally descended out the window via a pony ladder, rather then hay bales being packed up to the first floor window.
* Applejack was shown fetching the items as she rattled them off to the CMCs - a wise cut, makes the reveal more surprising.
* The maps were changed from being fixed to the carts to being hoof-held.
* The cart’s harness originally broke from the chimera ramming it, rather then hitting a rock (I missed this detail in the episode, goes by too quick). Various other changes to the visual action of the chimera sequence in boarding, normal stuff.
* The chimera scene had a lot more dialogue, mostly on additional bickering between the three heads (it also explains that the goat likes ricotta while the other two prefers goats and rats, respectively). Notably, their bickering gave Apple Bloom the opportunity to change the "tie her legs up" order to the lake head to "tie your legs up" - in the final episode this was simplified to her just running around it and it tripping itself up that way.
* There was a cut coda of the goat head being happy that the other two couldn’t argue as she chewed more ricotta, saying she should thank the two ponies - despite being still trapped. Possibly cut to avoid the dark implication that it perished?
A few other fun notes from the animatic emails - Michelle Creber had to do some retakes as she had clarity trouble on the day, sounding like she had gotten a bit of a mush-mouth. There was caution to make the Cajun ponies not have bad or missing teeth (the storyboard artists had fun with them knowing they'd have to be dialled back), and Hasbro suggested Apple Bloom's ear against the door in the opening for clarity. Hilariously, Scootaloo originally said "take shifts" but all takes sounded too much like "take sh*ts", with the director noting the "F" sound always falls away to the ear. They floated possibly emphasising the right mouth shape, but ultimately went with changing it to "take turns".
The big one: the bit with the lion tamer's chair was written as it is in real life, using it to distract or confuse. However, they boarded it as we see in the episode, because they reasoned the chimera was too much bigger for the chair to be believable as a confusion, and they'd already had a hypnotic moment with the snake. Hasbro felt the chair got crushed so quickly it seemed useless, but when DHX explained they rationale and that it would be fine if they extended the chimera being confused and trying to shake it off before crushing it, to let Applejack slip away to another spot to lure the thing, that it would work. Which they approved, obviously.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
The episodes are really getting less remarkable as far as edits go - the script was kept shorter to avoid as many, and almost everything was as it was from the get go. The episode still definitely improved over time (the chimera scene is far more effective with the amount of banter kept lower), ever if its big problem was always present.
I will concede that the basic concept of the episode is fine - the problems comes totally from AJ's overprotectiveness being ramped up to 11, to the point that Ashleigh Ball's line readings get all motherly and "I'm talking to an infant" condescending. Though that moral, as Impossible Numbers points out, does have some pretty problematic concerns - no one should be rewarded for getting those kind of priorities right! It's the same kind of "Convenient wrap up" lazy storytelling device used to put a happy ending on the mess in "Games Ponies Play".
ReplyDeleteI find I have very, very little to add to this one - the chimera half of the episode has been regarded as pretty awesome by everyone from the moment this thing aired, and it's quite a unique, exciting and dangerous set piece in the show's mythos (and I love the implication that it's a regular occurrence for Applejack on her route - the script made sure to note her saddlebags are prominent in the early goings, to indicate she was prepared to deal with the chimera herself).
That said, I did find a few other moments. Contrary to you, Logan, I actually thought it was well paced, or maybe it's just that it didn't spend AS much time on Applejack shouldering Apple Bloom round the farm and babying her as I remembered. To whit, the scene with the CMC in Apple Bloom's run was, at least, some quality writing and interaction between the three, even if one can't quite ignore the episode's context. And there are other fun moments throughout (Apple Bloom politely accepting her new responsibility in the opening, followed by whooping once they're around the corner, is both hilarious and great characterisation).
It's definitely not the worst episode to this point in the show as the IMDb user ratings would have you believe, but I can't argue that it has some serious problems nearly everyone agrees on, which is of course why it has that rating. For me, it falls into "I rate it marginally higher then most" territory, but that's not nearly enough to go and bat for it in any real capacity. Enough works that it just makes that parts and aspects that really, REALLY don't disappointment all the more, especially since the episode's bones are great.
And even as its best, I wouldn't rewatch the whole thing. The pre-titles opening and the scene with the CMCs in Apple Bloom's bedroom onwards, perhaps. Better then some other episodes, mind!
I always found AJ's descent into helicopter-mom-ness to be terribly entertaining. :D And this episode also has one of the best exchanges in the whole show:
ReplyDelete"Scootaloo??"
"Um... no?"
That just... I still can't get over that. XD
But I will admit that it's never been a favorite. Not even the introduction of a (very originally designed!) chimera brought it out of the "episodes I would watch but immediately forget" category.
Can't believe I forgot to mention that exchange of Scootaloo's!
DeleteI believe that was another that played out differently in the scripts, and less funny - Applejack didn't open the door, and Scootallo responded with something akin to "Of course it's not me! Why would Scootaloo be in here?" The storyboarding and pickup tweaking process works!
In some aspects, Applejack's descent into madness does come close to working in isolation for me. It feels like something that totally could have worked, even with her being this overbearing. Just not in the context they chose, is all.
Yep, AJ's protectiveness turned up to 11 was the least enjoyable part of this episode for me, too. But considering that AB proved her older sister's fears reasonable by getting into a deadly situation as soon as she possibly could...
ReplyDeleteAnd I, like everybody else, loved the chimera.
It's a good idea that didn't play out too well, but there's enough enjoyable side material here to still salvage a decent episode. several of the CMC's jokes were really solid, and on the one hand, Applejack's releting at the end may not have made sense for what Apple Bloom did, but on the other, it was a nice touch for her to realize what Apple Bloom was trying to accomplish and back down. No, she's not going to trust her sister to navigate a dangerous swamp anytime soon, but she's more apt to let her take on more responsibility in the relative safety of the farm. This is probably a mid three-star for me, and I don't mind rewatching it at all, though I've always liked it more than most fans seemed to.
ReplyDelete