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| Maud's sheer contempt for all this is plain to see |
S5E07: "Make New Friends But Keep Discord"
My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.6
Thoughts: There was a fortnight's break between "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" and this, so anticipation was fairly high. The Smooze is a very different creature from his G1 incarnation, but he does a job. Discord's jealousy of Fluttershy is what holds the episode together, though, and both the characters play their parts nicely. I also like how Twilight these days can stand up to Discord more than she did even a season ago. The ep's message about different friends in different settings is simple but well enough told. Tree Hugger (voiced nicely by Nicole Oliver) is fairly amusing, though not that strong a character beyond one episode – plus a lot of the fandom stuff she inspired is stoner humour, which I generally find really boring. Maud has a fun cameo with one brilliant line to deflate Discord's stand-up routine, while Pinkie's energy suits a Gala setting well. I really like her shaking the fourth-wall camera! The CMC are taking another step forward; whether this was deliberate foreshadowing of that moment later this season I don't know, but it could have been. I think my four-star rating in 2015 was too high for what isn't an especially substantial episode – but it's still decent entertainment, so letting it keep three of those stars is a given.
Choice quote: Discord: "I'm actually pretty lukewarm about cake."
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", which of course sees the return of Gilda. I quite liked that one at the time, but looking back from 2021 it doesn't feel like an especially amazing or especially terrible episode. As always, we'll see!
Whenever I think back to this episode, I always remember Maud's line foremost. It was astounding. Who knew she could actually be funny?
ReplyDeleteI first started taking a cursory glance through the Season 5 scripts and similar documents about a year ago, and I had such a strong reaction to the initial Premise of this episode (it was one of several that ditched a sincere angle for wacky hijinks quickly), that I basically wrote off the actual episode pretty quickly thereafter. Around then, I could only focus on the changes made to episodes, and not necessarily why. So I'm glad time and another viewing let me come back around to this. I still think that initial treatment could have worked, possibly even better than what we got. But unlike "Party Pooped" or "Brotherhooves Social", the two other main casualties of this hesitation for fully sincere stories, what we got is still pretty good.
ReplyDeleteAfter "Three's A Crowd" turned out quite tepid and dull, even as regards Discord himself, it's nice to have an episode with him again that's actually funny. Not hilariously so, I will concede, though many of the best gags were board additions (dishes dirtying themselves, vacuuming up Rarity's dress, etc.). And the balance between comedy and sincerity is handled solidly, even if Discord's building rage wears thin a bit before it subsides. This is one of the few Discord episodes after "Twilight's Kingdom" that's actually satisfying in its arc and emotional space. Or, indeed, satisfying at all. So I'll always appreciate it for that. But your rating of a high ★★★ is about right. A good episode, not a great one. Nothing wrong with that, especially given how variable and inconsistent Season 5 starts becoming in just a few episodes.
Logan: Maud has a fun cameo with one brilliant line to deflate Discord's stand-up routine
PP: Whenever I think back to this episode, I always remember Maud's line foremost. It was astounding. Who knew she could actually be funny?
It's in my Production Changes comments below, but I'll state it here it here given how both of you (and Logan in his initial review nearly seven years ago) foregrounded this line. That line was scripted for a random heckling extra! I'm guessing they realised in the booth that Maud did nothing, and Ingrid Nelson was spending many minutes in silence as everybody else got through their scenes, so they decided it would be funnier to give that to her and subvert it. So good too, it's hilarious in Maud's deadpan.
While not as severely as PP, I do find Maud works much better as a side dish reacting in ways only she can to others (it's one of the few saving graces of "The Gift of the Maud Pie", for starters). Bravo, Terry Klassen (the show's voice director, assuming it was his idea), bravo! Or whoever's idea it was.
whether this was deliberate foreshadowing of that moment later this season I don't know, but it could have been.
The first document for "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", the Premise, is dated May 15th, 2014, while this episode's outline (where the CMC were first brought in as being their sisters' +1's, is dated January 24th of the same year. It's possible they'd already decided on having "CMC getting their marks" episode, but if so, it means it was decided even further in advance then we'd think.
"Make New Friends But Keep Discord" – Production Changes
ReplyDeleteThe title was “Discord’s +1” until the 2nd draft. It might have been changed as the focus shifted, but could have also been swapped as the concept of a +1 doesn’t easily translate for kids, especially in foreign dubs.
PREMISE
This is the first Season 5 episode where the initial pitch was more sincere and emotionally probing, and it quickly got overhauled into more of a joke fest. Unlike future results of this impulse (“Party Pooped” and “Brotherhooves Social”, among others), the final episode is still quite solid and fun. Regardless, the initial pitch is most interesting, still having potential for plenty of comedy.
Discord’s ecstatic to get a gala invitation, but having no +1, he tests out potential invitees, all of which comically fail. His first friend’s idea of “chaos” is having alphabetized food (you might say the friendship was forced), Diamond Tiara just wanted to meet Celestia, and a Diamond Dog was using Discord as a distraction to pull off heists. He even considers bringing the Tatzlwurm, but Fluttershy points out bringing a pony-eating creature to an event whose guest list is 99% pony isn’t wise.
Mortified at going alone, Discord decides not to, but the Mane 6 aren’t having it, convincing him that making more friends sometimes means putting yourself out there, even if it means being self-conscious about it. He reluctantly goes, but with their help, enjoys himself, and his antics draw the attention of another solo partygoer. The episode ends on this tease of a potential new friendship.
A month later, a revised premise was drafted, much closer to the final episode. Some parts, like Discord asking the Mane 5 who they’re bringing, and his building fury, aren’t in yet, the focus remaining on his loneliness at Fluttershy having “abandoned” him. And aspects mostly omitted in the final episode (The Mane 5 suspecting Discord’s up to something, him being fair to Smooze and sticking with it since he brought it along) have more focus here. It still had the third act of everypony consoling Discord rather than him snapping. But otherwise, close already.
OUTLINE
Didn’t take long for most major changes in the Premise to mostly morph to what we got. Once we make allowances for Tree Hugger’s early take as an unfazed Martha Stewart type, it’s mostly just fluff, like Discord in the queue or his journey home through portals across harsh landscapes. Amusingly, Pinkie brought Cranky in this draft.
SCRIPT
The 1st draft is pretty close already. Some scenes play out with different dialogue and events: Discord straight-up asks Pinkie who she’s bringing – her mom, who never speaks – his rant at home instead accompanies his voyage home, Twilight and Celestia’s scenes are about Twilight freaking that she doesn’t have this (getting Season 9 ‘Nam flashbacks), and the climax has the ooze flatten everypony against the windows while Discord carries Tree Hugger up a spiral staircase to banish her (Fluttershy catches him in time because he’s slowed de-oozing his finger to do magic – he eventually conjures a water hose by accident). And the epilogue retains Discord giving Smooze the time it deserves and them potentially having more in common.
Almost all the above – including Tree Hugger’s personality – got changed by the 2nd draft. Outside of Tree Hugger calming the Smooze, introduced here, almost all dialogue matches too. Only real difference is a extra scene after the standup, where Pinkie makes a game of splattering herself against the ooze on the wall, and Discord uses this to cover up his comedy failure, but he gets more infuriated when Tree Hugger aces this too, and purposefully unleashes the Smooze (in prior drafts, this was a dance party). The next draft removes this and has Smooze unleashed on its own, alongside a few more dialogue tweaks.
[animatic changes below]
[continued from above]
DeleteANIMATIC & OTHER CHANGES
Because visual gags were added, there’s a decent amount of cuts here:
* In the opening shot on her cottage, Fluttershy is giggling at Discord’s joke, saying she can’t stop laughing long enough to pour the tea. Discord also reminds Fluttershy later to not breathe to anypony else his story about training his right paw to fetch his left leg. Discord reacts more obviously angry at the first mention of Tree Hugger (“aren’t you spreading yourself a bit thin?”).
* When Discord first meets Tree Hugger, and says everyone’s being funny today, he quips if Fluttershy finds a nearby squirrel amusing. Fluttershy responds that Stuffy (the squirrel) is much more left-brain. That’s twice in three episodes that science gags on Fluttershy’s part got cut, though the one in “Tanks For the Memories” was removed at an earlier draft, not for time.
* The mailpony had a longer spiel about how he tried to find his way around Chaosville. Also, Discord starts at reading that the Gala begins in an hour. Finally, the mailpony reacts with horror to something offscreen, and Discord smiles upon turning, a plan forming (the implication is that it is the Smooze). This last moment had feedback concern about the threat level, which might have made it an easier choice to cut.
* When Discord explodes on Fluttershy’s suggestion of a foursome dinner, Fluttershy wonders if the Smooze doesn’t eat. Discord realises she’s inadvertently given him an out, and confirms it to be true (“Restaurants are painful for him for just that reason”.)
* Before Discord leaves Smooze outside, he watches from out the window at Fluttershy and Tree Hugger laughing with others. When Fluttershy sees him, he grabs what’s nearby – Sweetie Belle in this case – laughing as though they were talking. She seems to like it, but Discord drops her once Fluttershy smiles and turns away.
* When Rainbow Dash is struggling in the ooze, Discord makes a feeble display of his magic being equally ineffective on it. Right after, when Applejack calls Rarity out on worrying about her dress, Rarity realises her faux pas and clarifies it’s one of the things she’s worried about. Pinkie then says they have to all stay positive like Maud, who’s as stoic as ever (this last part got substituted for Pinkie using Maud as a raft).
* When Discord admits the humidity isn’t great in the summer, Tree Hugger counters that Ponyville is super mild in the summer. Also, Celestia was about to assist Twilight, not her friends, so it was them that got distracted by more ooze. While Discord and Fluttershy are talking, Tree Hugger does her meditative sounds again to calm Smooze down (this is mostly background visuals to Discord/Fluttershy talking).
* When Tree Hugger accepts Discord’s apology, she says he could make it up by letting her come visit him and the Smooze in their natural environment. Discord then admits her attitude that made his skin crawl earlier is quite a delight now.
[animatic additions continued below]
[continued from above]
DeleteIt’s a Discord episode, so tons of visual gags were added. The most significant additions include:
* More of Discord’s lines go off-script than is normal (minor word things, not worth recounting). Got to hand it to de Lancie, he may hate the fandom and not care about the show at all, but he commits to performing.
* Applejack blowing her nose on Rainbow Dash’s tail after tearing up at Apple Bloom in a dress is a board addition.
* Discord’s entrance into Sugarcube corner was specified as a shadow over the counter, rather than as a box that goes all Metal Gear Solid (“!”) when Pinkie notices him.
* Pinkie originally just shouted “He wants all of the cakes!” to the air rather than shaking the “camera”.
* Understandably, the visual description of Chaosville doesn’t match the episode – it’s not even a void yet.
* In the script, Discord only had the dishes do themselves while fuming in his house – dirtying them was a board gag, and one Hasbro loved.
* The Smooze was specified at NOT changing size in the script, just shape constantly.
* In the script, the scene transitioned from the palace entrance hall to the ballroom AFTER the Crusaders’ cheering, not before.
* Discord vacuuming up Rarity’s ooze and dress, and her shuffling offscreen like she’s in the nip, wasn’t in the script at all.
* A pony coughing during Discord’s standup was a recording addition.
* Maud’s “you’re the most basic of jokes” was originally said by an ordinary heckling extra. Perhaps they realised in the booth that Maud did nothing this episode, and gave Ingrid Nelson something to do. Good thing too: it’s much funnier in Maud’s deadpan.
* Tree Hugger calming the Smooze down was written as a mixture of heigh neighing and calm meditative noises (it was written words in earlier drafts). Nicole Oliver went to town on that!
* The live action sock puppet in the other dimension was a board addition, of course – the script doesn’t even say what’s inside, presumably not considering a cutaway.
Animatic feedback was almost all praise, mostly for Discord’ visual gags and Tree Hugger’s great performance (Jim Miller: “Would you believe that it’s Nicole Oliver? So different from her usual stoic Princess Celestia!”).
OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you’ve ever wondered how different Tree Hugger was in her earlier take (one Larson publicly wishes he’d been able to keep)… she really isn’t. Outside of her calming the Smooze down, every single line of hers is barely different from what we got, the intent and message always the same (and some weren’t changed!) – just a find-and-replace sort of deal. Otherwise, the scripts are very unremarkable, with precious few changes that actually make a difference – even the earlier threads of Discord’ more sincere loneliness, and treating Smooze fairly as he brought it, don’t register much.
…And then there’s the Premise. Unlike future episodes that swapped sincerity for hijinks, this isn’t an obvious mistake, and I do fully see why it was changed, as the episode we got is pretty fun, and does, mostly, still humanise Discord, even if his building rage is a motif that tires fast. What one thinks of this Premise is likely to depend on how much they like the episode we got. But in any case, it clearly had potential for both comedy and emotion, and was structurally sound. A bit thin for 21 minutes, yes, but it’s a Premise.
Most interesting, to me, is how its Act III (Discord moping at home, the Mane 6 console him, he timildy faces the event he’d been fearing and finds a potential hope for the future there) was clearly grabbed for “Tanks For the Memories” instead, and I support this, given how much wheel-spinning that episode’s final third was doing before. This episode started writing production 7 days before “Tanks”, so Larson would have had both on his mind concurrently.
I actually never realized Nicole Oliver voiced Tree Hugger. :O Wow!
DeleteGot to hand it to de Lancie, he may hate the fandom and not care about the show at all, but he commits to performing.
Talk about damning with faint praise... :'D