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| You have to hand it to Lyra, she catches on quickly! |
S4E20: "Leap of Faith"
Written by Josh Haber
29 Mar 2014
My original rating: 7/10 (=★★★)
IMDb score: 7.3
Thoughts:
Applejack's key episode has never been one of my favourites, but perhaps I was just judging it against S4's really quite consistent run of good episodes. This really isn't too bad, though I still don't think it matches "Rarity Takes Manehattan" or "Pinkie Pride". As I said back in 2014, it's a bit short on snappy dialogue and while Granny's past swimming ability was fun it wasn't exactly something we'd seen before. This is a Josh Haber episode, so I suppose "Let's shove in something out of nowhere for the hay of it" isn't terribly surprising. Still, this isn't the worst of the FlimFlams' later appearances and the song, though not great, is reasonably solid. Big Mac has some nice comic moments – there's a fun animation touch when he slides down the bank and crashes into a briefly unamused Applejack. Silver Shill is a bit of an uninteresting... well, he's not even an antagonist really, just a random pony the FlimFlams had corrupted. The moral was okay, I guess, even if again not terribly memorable. All in all, a reasonably good but not amazing ep. Probably not much different now to how I saw it in 2014, which means it does enough to keep its moderate three-star rating.
Choice quote: Granny and AB: "Hoo-ha, hee-hee, ha-hoo-ha!"
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" which I have always been very fond of. I don't expect that to change.
“Leap of Faith” - Production Changes
ReplyDeleteJosh Haber wrote this one from the start, just like his first two episodes. Spotting a trend here! Though it's quite unusual, given neither the final episode nor any of its earlier version feel much like a Haber episode at all. Not the way his other early episodes, "Castle Mane-ia" and "Simple Ways", do (can't comment yet on "Bloom and Gloom"). And certainly not like his output when he was Story Editor. Most curious.
PREMISE
For the first time in a while (since "Three's A Crowd)", the Premise is vastly different! Better to just summarise it rather then recount the differences.
Applejack wants Granny to take a seniors aqua-aerobics class for her hip. But Granny is terrified, as she’s never swam, and never will, instead convincing them to go see the new cider business the next town over. There, Flim and Flam sell their cider like a snake oil curative, many ponies testifying to its affects. The Apples are aghast at the obvious scam, doubly so when they see all the flyers and everypony in Ponyville raving about it.
Applejack does some digging and finds that the cider is just relabelled Sweet Apple Acres’ cider. Before she can expose this, Granny is swimming like an Olympian, attributing her aqua-prowess to the cider. Applejack reluctantly decides to keep the secret, destroying the evidence, but instantly regrets it once Granny resolves to break the High-Diving record, falling fifty feet into a paper cup. Granny thinks Applejack’s attempt to confess are just her cramping her style, so Applejack has little choice but to get Film and Flam to confess. Despite being caught red-hoofed swapping labels on their cider, they’re not keen on saying all unless Applejack provides them cider at a heavy discount, which she reluctantly agrees to.
Back in Ponyville, the brothers’ attempts to tell Granny they’re con ponies holds no water, and her jump is saved only by Rainbow Dash last second. This reaffirms Applejack’s commitment to honesty, and also shows Flim and Flam the error of their ways. Swearing to be honest from now on, they give Applejack her Key before heading off.
Shares very little outside of the middle chunk of Applejack deciding to keep shtum until Granny steps up to high diving! I need hardly say the end result is far better, especially as Flim and Flam are boring reformed, there's nothing to them beside being cons. Coming up with a new character tailored to the Key role works much better (sadly, the reverse situation happened back with "Rainbow Falls"). And Granny once being a great swimmer better explains her confidence placebo.
[continued below]
[continued from above]
DeleteOUTLINE & 1st SCRIPT
Why the 1st script here too? It and the outline are basically the same, as you'll see.
Episode starts off with the swimming hole scene, though with the Mane 5 & Spike present too. Contributes little outside of a few isolated gags (Rarity, while being fanned by Spike, steering clear of the water until Dash cannonball splashes, at which point they jump in; and Pinkie proclaiming that falling into water is great fun after Granny's tale, doing so). The episode up to the end of the song is basically the same, though the song is longer and contains an Applejack solo that Silver Shill is moved by, but to no effect on the crowd (in the outline only, the Flim Flam Brothers have also swapped their carny attire for minister attire and sing in a gospel style now).
The episode diverts now, with the other Apples debating what to do with the tonic Granny bought (yes, they're denying her something she herself purchased, like she's a schoolflly) and stowing it on the shelf, out of Granny's reach. Next comes the second nighttime sequence at the tent, which is mostly similar, though a lot of the incidental dialogue differs, as does how Silver Shill loses them (the crowd in the outline, while in the script, they see him going in and follow him once he leaves - unnecessary business). Then we get the "Granny swimming in the river" scene, complete with more obstacles, and the nugget that she stood on a stool to get the tonic. Back in the barn, Applejack rummages explains her plan to Apple Bloom - to fight fire with fire, now wearing gospel choir robes (this exposition scene is omitted from the script, where she later has attire similar to the Brothers' carnival clothes).
The Apples set up shop by the Brothers' tent, Applejack reprising their song and winning due to her reminding the crowd she's a trusted local. She and the Brothers up the ante on their wild claims, until the brothers taste it, finding it is just cider. They privately boast you can't out cheat a cheater, and when she refuses their offer to sell their tonic under her name, they expose her. When she explains she planned to reveal all once she'd proved them wrong and beaten them, they retort it's easy to say that when you're crowd. Against the murmuring crowd, Applejack has her rainbow epiphany. The Brothers are about to lead everypony back to their stock when Silver Shill confesses much as in the episode, admitting he overheard Applejack's plan (yes, in the script we flashback to a scene we didn't see). He also gets the lines about trust and confidence being what helped Granny, who is assured can keep swimming, just not high diving. The Brothers' sneaking off isn't seen, but them heading to another town while Applejack writes the journal is.
Only about half of the episode is shared in the 34.7 pages here, and some of that is in scenes in different places or with a rearranged emphasis. I cannot stress how rare this is, not just for the outline, but in the 1st script - thus far this season, even the 1st draft reads as the final episode just with incidental differences, occasionally with one different scene. Never anything like this.
[continued below - these notes are too long for two comments]
[continued from above]
DeleteREMAINING SCRIPTS
The script's 2nd draft gets us back into familiar "only tiny differences" territory, three pages shorter at 31.35 pages. Since this is our first draft draft of this version, there's plenty of differing lines that fulfil the same purpose, mostly in scenes new to this draft, which gets swapped as the drafts progress, par the course. It takes a couple more drafts to settle on the actual recipe of the tonic (old cider, rotten apple juice, then apple juice and beet leaves) and what Shill's Key is (first a tonic bottle, then his prop glasses, and finally the coin). Applejack outright says "no" originally when Apple Bloom asks if she found out the cure, changed a draft later to her not directly lying. Amusingly, one script tries a Road Runner-type gag of Granny getting knocked into the tree in the cold open (which also takes a few drafts to break for the titles where it does in the final episode, rather than here), but reverts.
ANIMATIC & OTHER CHANGES
An extra script a month later corrects all the song lyrics to match (though they weren't hugely different to begin with), thereby shortening the song. Final script is 32.4 pages. It doesn't acknowledge cutting a spoken plea by Applejack midway through the song that got cut, however. Other animatic cuts include:
* The two Apple sisters accosting Silver Shoal was originally split into two parts, both of which he diverted with a steam pipe diversion. The dialogue was condensed down into one snippet, though it meant we lost a funny Apple Bloom line in “Who’d have thought a pony on crutches could move so fast?
* Many repeat visual instances of Granny re-drinking the tonic were added at the board stage, for better clarity for the target demographic.
* The rainbow reflection in Applejack’s eyes originally happened when she first decided the lies had to stop, rather than after saving Granny.
* The journal entry scene did a quick cut away to Flim and Flam riding their steam-powered wagon to the next town - we didn’t see them sneaking away earlier originally, just the aftermath.
* There isn’t many substantial cuts in this one; mostly just a line or sentence of dialogue here and there.
Minimal animatic feedback here. Most notable is removing an unattended candle and making sure the mugs aren’t alcohol mugs, both for Standard and Practises. A few suggestions were given to make visual moments funnier, or to make the drawings/animation make Applejack’s internal struggle clearer. Clearly, the massive overhaul to the script’s 2nd draft worked, judging by how little changed after!
OVERALL THOUGHTS
It's hugely fascinating, to see an episode change THAT much at the script stage. Makes the notion of initially reforming the Brothers in the Premise, among other differences, seem that much more minor (Suri was reformed in the Premise for "Rarity Takes Manehattan", curiously).
Applejack more openly lying, operating her own scam and with her own attire and song all sound promising, but I think I know why this was changed. Time was certainly an issue (it's much harder to cut down a song, and this episode has two lengthy ones that alternate between speaking and singing), and the plot has few moments that aren't essential. The focus on Granny and the swimming totally vanishes in the final act, making the episode seem unfocused. It makes the episode be simply "about" beating the brothers rather than Applejack's honesty, which vanishes from the second tent scene until she's caught. A mixture of time, clarity, thematic focus, character believability (Applejack has little qualms about deciding to lie) and bad behaviour are probably all to credit for the massive change. While I love the notion of Applejack's scam and song reprise, I'm inclined to agree. Feel free to disagree if the episode fell flat for you and this alternate direction is intriguing!
Actual episode review/take time!
ReplyDeleteOutside of introducing Granny Smith once being a professional swimmer (a much milder version of his future tics), there is precious little that marks this as a Josh Haber episode. Is it a bit odd? Aye, but it allows for unusual sides to be shown of a character it's easy to take for granted.
The absolute worst thing I can say about this episode is that it's a minor, low-key episode, light on truly snappy dialogue on memorable moments, which goes some way to explaining why it's flown under the radar for many (myself included in the past). But that ultimately ends up being its real triumph - this episode makes no real mistakes, and remains true the characters, and does different things with them. I think this episode is perhaps a bit too subtle in its points, letting some of them fly over viewer's head, or at least feel undernourished.
One could even argue Flim and Flam are used better here then in their debut episode. Structurally, anyway - the song here may not compare, but it is fun, and beyond that, they're utilised well as a force challenging Applejack, while keeping the episode about her, not about her stopping them (contrary to what I used to think, they do justify their return here, and in Season 6 - it isn't until Season 8 that they descend to lame copy-and-paste returning threats, but that's a known factor - virtually everyone feels the same). Helps that the premise of them as snake oil salesponies, and the episode's use of a placebo effect, is a no-brainer concept.
Silver Shill continued the trend, for me, of unique and interesting Key episode guest stars. Understandable why he never returned, he was designed around the plot here. Which is a terrible idea for returning characters, but can work for once-off roles. And it does here, because of what it allows for Applejack.
It's no secret that Applejack lead episodes are often problematic, due to regressing her character because the writers struggle to have a lesson for her to learn. What struck me with this one was how restrained Applejack was. There were many moments where one would expect, based on most episodes, for her to hell, object or show her stubborn brash side. Yet it's kept in check, in a way that shows her internal dilemma all the more - the many shots of her face twitching as she weighs what to do, while simple given the budget, sell this well. In terms of testing the Bearer's virtue, I cannot fault this (well, outside of positing a "honesty is always right" moral, but it kind of works here, given how the events play out.
Small side note: the brief moments of Granny Smith and Apple Bloom doing synchronised swimming was unexpectedly beautiful. Quite enchanting!
It's unusual to reflect that of the 20 episodes on Season 4 we're looked back on thus far, the Key episodes are the ones that have improved the most for me (well, less so "Rarity Takes Manehattan" and "Pinkie Pride", I always thought they were great). Even "Rainbow Falls", which does has notable issues, shot up a bit. Now I've had space and time to reflect on how these episodes are all constructed, they all do, honestly, a pretty great job of tailoring not only the issue to the featured Bearer, but the moral specifics of how it tests them as fits their personality, and even in having the guest-star suit said's pony's morals, ethics and personality. Rarity's an unexpected benefactor to Coco, the Wonderbolts tempt Dash (should have been new characters as proposed in that episode's Premise, but what can you do), These is an eclectic friendly competitor to Pinkie, Seabreeze's open contempt clashes against Fluttershy's "killing with kindness" tactic, and Silver Shill is positioned as a mirrored reflection of Applejack. It's really quite something.
I always liked this episode, but it's easy to see why it might be a little forgettable. Compared to other key episodes, it's not as over-the-top, funny or action-packed. Compared to the Flim Flam Brothers' first appearance, the song doesn't hold up. (Though it's at least better than the third one!) But I do still look back on it with fond memory. :)
ReplyDeleteMy first thought there was, "Wait, there was a third one?" Shows how memorable that song is! :P
DeleteThis was pleasant enough, and I did like seeing Granny Smith swim. Plus this brought us the super cute bit of AJ splashing around with her family at the beginning. That alone was worth it. The rest was okay, not particularly goo but not bad either.
ReplyDelete