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| The moment FiM quite literally jumped the shark... |
S5E09: "Slice of Life"
My original rating: ★★★★★
IMDb score: 9.1
Thoughts: There was a three-week gap between the last episode and this, time for lots of speculation and build-up. In the event, "Slice of Life" was even more remarkable than anyone expected. In the event and as an event. I can't help thinking it does lose a little bit from being seen as a standalone now, years later – for a start, "Derpy speaks again!" will never have quite the impact it did in 2015.1 This is the ep that would confuse you most if you sat down to watch having never seen FiM, but it was explicitly a "for the fans" episode. Lots of great stuff in here, and the LyraBon stuff seems more knowing given what happened to them in canon by S9! (Though I wonder how well the apparent "Ponies With Hats" reference is known now.) Steven Magnet being named on-screen was quite something, too,2 though it's the Vinyl/Octavia sequence that still stands out. As for the actual plot of the episode, involving the Mane Six fighting the Bugbear in the background while the other characters share the limelight for once, with Cranky's marriage to Matilda being the running link? It does its job efficiently enough, as a contrast to all the craziness going on elsewhere. I'm afraid, though it's heretical, I'm not going to give this episode five stars any more. (I only just did so when it was new.) I still find it enormous fun, but I'm not sure it can ever quite be what it was in 2015. Four stars, though, I feel more than happy about. "Slice of Life" hasn't turned into a "so what?" ep since its release, thankfully; it's still very entertaining indeed.
1Although she isn't named in-episode, Hasbro nevertheless made Larson change her name to "Muffins" on the script
2Though in fact the name was seen on official merch as early as 2013.
Choice quote: Cranky: "I told you we should have eloped."
New rating: ★★★★
Next up is "Princess Spike", which was definitely seen as a major downgrade on this at the time. Shall we see whether things have improved any? Let's do that.
Thanks to the interviews and fan dissection around the time, I feel like I have hardly anything new to add, so my comment today will be more stream-of-consciousness than usual. Hope that still works!
ReplyDeleteThis time through watching "Slice of Life", I attempted something perhaps somewhat foolish – I tried to replicate my original viewing experience (about which I remember precisely nothing, given the 50-days-and-change speed of my initial seven-season binge) by just watching the episode as an episode, doing my best to not check off the fandom nods.
It actually met with more success than you might think. The one area where this was a washout was Lyra and Bon Bon, not helped by "best friends, sure" jokes being tedious, but as they're present the least out of the alternate Mane 6 (they don't show up until their main scene, and only get a brief makeup right before the wedding), that's bearable. Otherwise, I found most of everything flowed in a way that still makes sense as a one-off madcap experiment within the show. Other cartoons have sometimes had episodes that switch focus (both Fairly Odd Parents and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends retold an earlier episode from the POV of other characters), and this felt like a wackier version of that impulse. It's so narratively dense and insane, yet still maintaining a certain logic that keeps it from being overindulgent and pandering (as seen below, since most overdone fandom nods got cut for time, only a few were left).
I was surprised at how well Derpy and Dr. Hooves were used as a narrative spine and backbone, and if this ends up having a proper story, it's with them. And while plenty of gags are nods to specifically fandom things, many are just nods to past things in the show, some of which weren't big in the fandom (I mean, I'm sure there's been some content on the bowling Lebowski Ponies…).
It does start to lose a little steam around the middle – the Steven Magnet scene is a bit too random and drags on – but it picks right back up again once we're at Vinyl and Octavia's cottage, and from there through to the end, the episode never lets up. Sustaining this wacky cartoon pace almost perfectly is worthy of praise! The Mayor's ending speech is truly great, whether you read it as speaking to the fandom, or just you as a person. Art and meaning is in the eye of the beholder, and all that.
And of course, Larson, everyone at DHX and the voice cast gave it their all. In particular, the added visual gags are all great, and the storyboarding/layout is some of the best in the whole show outside of action set pieces (the most obvious place for great storyboarding).
The end result is that an episode I had been cool on for quite a while (apparently I liked "Sparkle's Seven" on its airing more then what I thought of this at the time, a decision that reads like the categorical ravings of a madghost) worked much better. Perhaps I just need to return to it only every three years or so, or in the context of a series/season rewatch. The in-jokes mostly work even if you don't "get" them (I don't mind dated humour if it still works, it's this impulse that makes Aladdin's Genie's impressions still land), and as such, this episode will honestly last a lot longer then I'd given it credit for. It's a really good one! I'll never be able to see this the way fans did when it was new, but I'm happy with how it works for me now.
[Side note: A look at the Production Changes is interesting, as even from the final script alone (I wasn't touching the rest, that would take days to cover), much of the "alt-Mane 6" symmetry the final episode has only came from the cuts, what with longer parts for Amethyst, and a whole scene for Carrot Top just to joke-explain her green mane in "Boast Busters". I think the episode possibly stumbled heavily until the the final edit. Praise be DHX!]
Just a bit extra to the above: I still don't think this episode is great, by any stretch, and by Logan's tiering system, this wouldn't even be a ★★★★. Some jokes do kind of just hang there, and it would be wrong to deny it is kind of a structural hodgepodge. I'm struggling to find more reasons why it worked for me this time in a way it hasn't before, but at the same time, "it worked for me this time" and "it's good" are not one and the same. I am super glad this kind of episode never happened again, not even once.
Delete[And to clarify regarding "Sparkle's Seven" – it's still easily one of the best Season 9 episodes. There's still just too much dumb later season writing, especially as regards the logistics of setting up new defences for the castle. But it is one of the few there that isn't an instant write-off. Us ghosts do know how to damn with faint praise.'
I'm also glad that "Slice of Life" was a one-off. I honestly have no idea how I'd have rated it if I didn't have the background of being in the fandom in 2015, since it's almost impossible (for me, at least) to completely separate the episode and the fandom, in a way that isn't the case for any other ep.
Delete"Slice of Life" – Production Changes
ReplyDeleteEARLY TITLES: The Grand Tour of Ponyville (Premise); The Magic of Ponyville (Revised Premise); Wedding in Ponyville (Outline)
Because this episode’s been well-documented in interviews, and it would take far too long to go through the documents, I’m skipping straight to cuts made from the final script. Many of these are already known via interviews. But there are extra details and new facts. As this script is 4 pages longer then the 29-page norm thus far this season, and had dialogue-less parts which need more screen time, lots was lost. Being a very narratively-dense episode, making these cuts couldn’t have been easy! As usual, smaller trimmings are ignored.
One exception – the first outline (by Amy Keating Rogers) had suggested guest stars. David Bowie as a Diamond Dog, Ricky Gervais as Angel’s inner thoughts (he didn’t like being the ring-bearer), Portia de Rossi and Ellen Degeneres as Lyra and Bon Bon, a famous pop singer and rapper as Octavia and DJ P0N-3, Billie Piper as Rose and David Tennant as Dr. Hooves. These were omitted by Larson’s outline, never mentioned again. It’s known David Tennant ALMOST voiced Dr. Hooves, but an unexpected conflict meant Peter New took over.
ACT I CUTS
* When Matilda realises the date is wrong (those lines were order-swapped), and mentions even the Princesses are coming, Cranky grumbles, “What’d you have to invite the princesses for anyway? I mean, other than the gifts.”
* We don’t cut straight to Cranky giving Derpy some verbal, but show him running through town. Pinkie runs past, and Cranky yells after her that Matilda’s looking for her, wondering why she’s in such a hurry (the bugbear, of course).
* Derpy offering Cranky a muffin was preceded by her saying “Gee, I’m sorry, Cranky. I just don’t know what went wrong.” Wow, they really held nothing back, huh.
* In the episode, we see Bulk Biceps and Mr. Waddle at the table. But in the script, we focus on Bulk rubbing his sore back. Waddle tells him he’s got to lift with his legs (he’s been telling him that for years), and Bulk mumbles that he lifts with his wings.
* Derpy was originally talking to Caballeron. After realising her mistake, she moves over to Hooves at another table. This means he’s visually revealed before he speaks. Derpy’s first line is asking what to do as Hooves always gives the best advice. Hooves says she's got to fly her fastest and win that gold medal. Derpy retorts that the Equestria Games were ages ago, and she’s talking about the invitations. Guess specific episode callbacks were easy cut.
* When Hooves gets to the Boutique, he says hello to Opal and Tom (yes, the boulder).
* As DJ P0N-3 leads Hooves away, they pass by Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich. DT has her snout in the air, while Filthy struggles to keep up, laden with all their shopping. He calls out that it’s nice to have some daddy-daughter bonding time, and for DT to wait up. We also see Cranky with a large list, frustrated at needing a caterer over just laying out some hay.
* Hooves’ visualisations of the bowling calculations was originally a flashback of doing the same as a child, where he tried, landed in the gutter and got laughed at. Back in the present, he says bowling was the one thing maths could never explain, and what pushed him into physics (this is the traumatic foalhood incident he mentioned earlier to Derpy which drove him to science). Lebowski pony clarifies they’re not gonna tailor his suit unless they get something out of it, otherwise they’d be tailoring suits all day and wouldn’t be able to bowl. This means Hooves is resigned, rather than his “this might just work!” take in the final episode.
* The cut to outside the bowling alley originally followed Allie Way (the tall unicorn bowling mare) out the door, rather than cutting from her chucking a bowl to outside.
[continued below]
[continued from above]
DeleteACT II CUTS
* After getting nothing from the flower ponies, Derpy is running down the street, fretting, while the bugbear chases Fluttershy in the background. She pases Ace (now there’s an obscure background pony!), racquet in hoof, bemoaning that the wedding and monster attack means nopony’s available to play with him.
* A couple of trims from the Lyra/Bon scene, the only notable one being Bon Bon’s “oh great, another monster attack…” line being preceded by a more sincere sentiment that Matilda can’t be happy about that. Just prior, Lyra had said “Have I ever told you how lucky I am to have a friend like you?” Hey, Larson, old sitcoms called, they want their “best friends, right…!” joke back.
* While Cranky is giving the jeweler pony a load of verbal, we focus on Coco walking past, consulting a paper, looking for somewhere. Then, we get a whole scene lasting 1.3 pages. It starts with Coco in Golden Harvest’s cottage, fitting a pure green dress on her. When Coco says she still doesn’t get why Golden called her in when Rarity lives here, Golden (who already had a wicked smile on her face), goes almost fully mad scientist, saying she wants Rarity to see it for the first time at the wedding. The mirror flashbacks to “Boast Busters”, showing Rarity, with the rat’s nest of a green mane Trixie gave her, running past Golden Harvest with a green mane (animation mistake). Golden’s narration states Rarity’s comment humiliated her, and everypony ridiculed her, enough that she had to dye her mane orange. Golden Harvest laughs evilly, now that hot young designer Coco Pommel has given green the stamp of approval. Rarity will rue the day! Coco then adds she only made it because Golden asked for it, and she’s not all that fond of green. Just like that, all the wind goes out of Golden’s sails, and she adds she isn’t either, asking if Coco has anything in pink. On that note, a pink blur races past the window, and we follow it, revealing it to be Cheerilee. She wonders where Spike is, saying she needs her hat back for the wedding (another super-specific callback, this time to “Secret of My Excess”). This was all played for laughs, of course, especially as regards providing a canon explanation for the green-maned Golden Harvest (which, not really, as she had an orange mane earlier in "Boast Busters", but you know).
* When we cut back to the bowling alley, Lebowski Pony also states Hooves is doing great, given his paralysing fear of bowling. Obviously cut because the backstory earlier was. Also, when he drops the ball, it just went down the gutter, rather than only just failing the 7/10 split.
* When we cut to the spa, Amethyst leaves to tell the musicians once Matilda remembers them. The scene has a few dialogue trims throughout, mostly on the adventures Cranky and Steven used to get up to.
ACT III CUTS
* Gummy’s monologue originally accompanied him watching the Mane 6-Bugbear battle, with the lifeless bodies of Pinkie’s “friends” from Party of One around him. Also, on the booth, Davenport used a quill to play Octavia’s cello alongside her, making a two-in-one sound.
* When the Cakes and Spa Ponies are knocked onto the booth, Amethyst yells after them that they’ll lose their balance if not organised properly, then goes “Oh, shoot” at the lost organising opportunity.
* When everypony lands in Town Hall, the cake lands on Big Mac, who struggles with the weight, a la “MMMystery on the Friendship Express”. Shortly after, a group of wedding guests run into recoloured ponies of themselves. One of the recolours says this is embarrassing.
* Before Hooves shows up, we see royal guards and batponies outside cracking up as they do impressions of Celestia and Luna (“Citizens of Equestria, I declare every day to be cake day!” / “No, you fools! I asked for a crescent moon not a crescent roll! Begone!”).
[continued below]
[continued from above]
Delete* Right before the wedding starts, Berryshine wheels in a cask of punch, and the crowd cheers a la It’s a Wonderful Life.
* During Mayor’s speech, a cameo by Boneless II was cut. Amazingly, the changeling cameo was written! Hooves also did a double take on seeing the Lebowski Pony wearing his suit.
Obviously many visual gags and details were added or changed for this episode. Most notably:
* The bugbear didn’t show up and attack until after Matilda had gotten Amethyst Star to help. Naturally, the battle specifics throughout were largely left for the board artists to invent.
* The script likened Steven Magnet’s laugh to Tom Hulce in Amadeus.
DJ P0N-3 had the DJ booth already on wheels when she pulled it out during the music mix.She also moved it via her magic on the wheels.
* While many gags in the DJ-on-wheels scene were specified, many were added or changed. Jumping a shark and the live-action horse masks part, of course. The first few ponies knocked onto the booth were specified, but the rest were board additions.
* In the script, Steven Magnet hugged Shining Armor, not Bulk Biceps, and they were both into it.
Animated feedback was… extensive, quite the change given it’s been a single page for almost all episodes thus far this season. Ignoring regular Standards and Practises notes (they even brought up the “make sure pony is clearly not dead” note for the “Applebuck Season” nod by the Flower Ponies), they had a problem with DJ P0N-3 not hearing Hooves, as it would encourage kids to have headphones on so loud it blocks out other sounds, which would be potentially dangerous, especially outside. DHX did have Hooves’ muted dialogue recorded so they’d have something to lip-sync to, so they proposed having it very faint. Guess they got away with that!
Otherwise, there was pushback on pronouncing Lyra as “Lie-ra” rather than “Lee-ra” (Hasbro even said “Sorry Canada!”, as though it was a cultural thing), which DHX won due to how they heard fans largely pronouncing it at conventions. There was concern on having too much Mane 6/bugbear action, so the timing was tweaked to still foreground the first bit to toy with viewer’s expectations, then turn them on its head (similarly, the shot of Twilight running originally panned back from her face, but they felt this fast one was being too drown out). And a few “got a better take?” requests.
And LOTS of praise for the funniest moments, even some witty banter thrown in there too.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
What can I even say about this one? Everyone worked their socks off, and despite Hasbro really breathing down Larson’s neck, almost all changes worked for the best. The earlier anthology following Twilight giving a tour of Ponyville might have worked just as well (they cited “22 Short Films About Springfield” for a reason), but the episode we got is all over the place enough to feel much like that anyway. Most things that didn’t make it to the final script were too pandering (Flash Sentry bemoaning no one liking him, Octavia having a music battle with Sombra), and a few of the animatic cuts here were too-specific callbacks (how many Bronies would have recognised Cheerilee referring the hat she gave Spike in “Secret of My Excess”?). The final script was already quite balanced with the pandering, and the cuts mostly eliminate the few overboard instances, achieving quite a lovely balance that, mostly, would work for a non-fandom viewer. Whatever one’s feeling about the concept, it’s a phenomenally well-executed version of that concept.
It’s easy to overrate this episode, but it’s easy to underrate it too.
While I lack the knee-jerk negative response I had the first time I saw this episode, I still think it's pretty pants, definitely not deserving of five stars. It's just a mess, and the most interesting story bits (Time Turner's backstory and Amethyst Star's redemption) are just dropped with no ceremony for... stupid crap. It's a mess of a thing, a checklist of an episode. Sparkle's Seven was way better, fight me. :V
ReplyDeletethe most interesting story bits (Time Turner's backstory and Amethyst Star's redemption) are just dropped
DeleteOh boy… and those were two elements that were far more present in the final script and which got cut for time.
Personally, the Amethyst plot never really clicked for me (I'm guessing, like many things, it plays off a fandom-based backstory for her as regards being an organiser, and I lack that emotional attachment), and weirdly enough, I found her voice ill-fitting. Not that her voice in "The Mysterious Mare Do-Well" was a great fit either, but that was just an incidental role that was likely just "Female Pony 1" in the script and DHX just picked a character model at random, it doesn't count as much as this one does.
@Present Perfect: Nah, you're just wrong. :P
DeleteIt is a mess, but it's a glorious mess. As a regular episode it would have been a failure, but as this ridiculous one-off it's great. Not five-star great any more, but still great. So there. :P
I never really cared for this one. The only thing I liked about it was that for once, they actually had Derpy solving a problem, suggesting she was more than just a comic relief disaster waiting to happen. I appreciated that they made her more than a one-note pony, as they got pretty mean about her at times, which didn't seem to suit the show's theme.
ReplyDeleteI agree about Derpy. I've never much liked fics that show her as an idiot, for similar reasons. Or indeed give her a bad time; I expect I'll come back to that when we reach "Where the Apple Lies" in season 6...
DeleteI'm late, but I just wanted to chip in with my own experience - I caught up with the show just in time for season 5, and at the time this aired, although I'd become a regular poster on MLP Reddit by then I was still mostly unfamiliar with fandom tropes and memes (though I did know about the original *Llamas* with Hats, just not the pony parody, which cast a very different light on Lyra's confession!) - and obviously my children knew nothing at all about the wider fandom. But we all loved this one regardless, both for the madcap pace/memorable set pieces/left field gags, and also the widely shared focus on characters we'd not spent a lot of time with before. It's one that my children still come back to regularly and regard with fondness. Like Logan said, this is just the right amount of This Sort of Thing before getting tediously LOL SO RANDOM zany, but at this dosage I still find it a joy.
ReplyDelete