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| This Peanuts homage was one of the episode's few truly good jokes |
S5E16: "Made in Manehattan"
My original rating: ★★
IMDb score: 7.4
Thoughts: Well, that happened. Noelle Benvenuti had previously given us the entertaining "Maud Pie" – but this, her second and last FiM episode, is much less successful. It's frankly dull, really struggling to hold the attention for 22 minutes. You can see that from the length of the really rather uninteresting gardening montage. There are good things here, notably the chance to catch up with Coco again. At the time it was also quite a big deal that Applejack in fact didn't treat her hat as a desperately valuable family heirloom. Plus we could note that this happens at the same time as the next episode, "Brotherhooves Social". But when you have AJ and Rarity in the same episode and there's such a lack of sparky, funny team-up chemistry then you have a problem. This really feels like a five-minute short stretched out to fill a full-length ep. Lots of talking, not enough action. I really can't think of much else to say about this episode, and that tells its own story. A two, and not especially high in that band either.
Choice quote: Coco Pommel: "Oh... I don't wear boots. I find they chafe my calves when I walk."
New rating: ★★
Next
up will be a departure into that strange world where the ponies walk on two legs. That's right: it will be Friendship Games rewatch time! The third EqG movie isn't the most popular, but it has its moments. Or at least it did last time I watched it...
| econd after Sassy's "Everypony loves royalty!" |
S5E14: "Canterlot Boutique"
My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.9
Thoughts: After the first of FiM's
irritating mid-season hiatuses, we did at least have the stalwart Amy
Keating Rogers in the writing saddle for the show's return. It's a good
episode, too, albeit perhaps the least of the run from "Amending Fences"
to "Rarity Investigates!" We see Rarity in her fashion designing mode
more centrally than since "Suited for Success", and personally I prefer
Canterlot as the big target for her than Manehattan as happened later in
the series. Sassy Saddles (voiced by Kelly Sheridan, incidentally) is a
decent sidekick, albeit not one with enough sass to be truly
memorable. A hint of a troubled past career ("another failed boutique"?)
but she was neither unpleasant enough to be a "love to hate" pony or
sympathetic enough for the redemption to really click. I still don't
like the very last joke, which is a bit too close to "let's make fun of
the weird-looking pony" for comfort, though it wasn't AKR's fault. A
couple of the other shop customers were fun, though, especially the
gothy Moonlight Raven. One small criticism of Rarity: the customer who
complained her Princess Dress wasn't what she ordered was correct,
yet she was portrayed almost as the bad guy for saying so. Still,
overall the episode's core plot of "creative job made into a chore" was
fine and appropriate. It was executed pretty well, there's a nice song by Jona Lewie and even though it's not an outstandingly memorable episode it is good. I think it's perfectly worthy of a very solid three. No change to this ep's star rating!
Choice quote: Rarity to Twilight: "In every poll Sassy Saddles took, you were the most popular princess!"
New rating: ★★★
Next
up is another Rarity-centric episode, "Rarity Investigates!" – it's
widely seen as an excellent ep. Certainly in 2015 I agreed with that
consensus. I hope I shall have at least as much fun with it this time
around!
I don't know what the spoiler policy is for these, but I always found it incredibly jarring in the next episode when Granny loudly declares Applejack has "quite a tale to tell" about her trip here - even at the time, the family consensus was "what? No she doesn't."
ReplyDeleteSome nice moments, harmless enough, but yeah, the entire meat of the episode is already in the summary and there's not much gained by actually watching it. It's well acted and sweet, but forgettable, and has never been one of those episodes the children rush to rewatch.
For me, none of the emotional beats really landed; I guess the ending, with the Method Mares performing for nobody, is meant to have the same tragicomic feel as the similar scene in Withnail & I, but it just comes across as" oh, random street theatre". A middling two feels about right.
I don't know what the spoiler policy is for these
DeleteEh, episode's over six years old, I think you're fine. I'd guess Logan's spoiler policy, if he enforces one at all, is "about two weeks to a month", judging by when he goes in for the spoiler-y reviews of the theatrical (or theatrical-intended, in A New Generation's case) movies.
I don't know what the spoiler policy is for these, but I always found it incredibly jarring in the next episode when Granny loudly declares Applejack has "quite a tale to tell" about her trip here - even at the time, the family consensus was "what? No she doesn't."
Ha, I think most people felt that! But they were either too satsified with the Big Mac/Apple Bloom scene at the end to care, or they felt it was such an obvious "yeah, no" that it didn't warrant much discussion. That's how forgettable this one is!
@The Cloptimist: No spoiler policy for My Little Repeats! :) I write here on the assumption that readers have seen everything, right through to "The Last Problem" -- or at least don't mind it being discussed openly.
DeleteSorry, I should have used a less confusing phrase - I wasn't worried about accidentally revealing the plot of six year old episodes to unwary visitors, but I didn't know what the approach was for talking too much about "upcoming" episodes and risking derailing both this discussion and the one when the episode comes around in MLR. Though it's pleasantly ironic that it's happening in relation to this (almost!) most forgettable of episodes.
Delete(Oh, also, I posted a belated reply on Rarity Investigates! too, just to drag a third episode into the mix.)
I don't have any problem with "forthcoming" G4 episodes being talked about in discussions posts here, though ideally without ending up in a 15,000-word discussion about one aspect of an ep from S8! ;) But to be clear, your little comment about "Brotherhooves Social" and Mike's brief reply? That's absolutely fine. :)
DeleteOf all the Map episodes in the whole show, not on average paragons of memorability due to their stale formula, this is the most forgettable one – even “The Hooffields and the McColts”, quite forgettable in its own right, still leaps to mind more easily as the “meh” Map episode. This is almost the platonic ideal of an okay, lightweight filler MLP episode. Even having watched it earlier today, I’m struggling to find much to say. There isn’t even anything really bad about it. It’s just dull. Especially the play at the end – Hasbro were right to note it wasn’t working, and all the visual additions, amplified character animation and foregrounded William Anderson score couldn’t fix that.
ReplyDeleteIt’s the repetition that really hits home here. It’s only our second Manehattan episode and already it’s repeating the “New Yorker ponies sure are rude and self-centred, aren’t they? But if you do the right thing, they’ll be touched and be generous too” plot. Given the result of deviating from this was the even duller “The Gift of the Maud Pie”, maybe they had the right idea. Then again, returning to the rudeness of New Yorker ponies produced whatever “Fake It Til’ You Make It” was… yeah, don’t think this city brings out the best in writers, never mind ponies. All the different attire and accents of the Manehattan ponies remains a minor consolation prize.
The really big issue here, though, is the lopsided focus and pacing, a result of a massive late-game overhaul (to clarify, the early result was no better). In terms of pacing, it takes forever to get to Coco’s apartment and set up the plot, wading through another “bored Twilight has to be a good princess and do what she’s told and stay put” scene on top of two other on the Manehattan streets. Then at the other end, even after the play, there’s three separate endings one after the other (even in a film, that would drag). None of this is helped by how much of the episode is just characters standing around and talking. As for the focus, the episode can never make up its mind if it's an AJ “fish out of water” comedy (only the episode’s middle really sticks with this direction), or a community public service preacher, and thus, neither really lands. On top of everything else, while the plot does make sense for Applejack and Rarity, the episode does not get much comic mileage out of them beyond what a writer could do in their sleep.
There are a decent amount of neat references in this one (though I only noticed Charlie Brown stallion now – yeah, that would have worked better as a colt), and I appreciated some gags, though only to a chuckle level at best. In the end, this episode has so little energy, it just doesn’t stick, for good or for ill. Even if there are duller episodes to come – and there are – this is a very flat episode, and as good an indicator for one of the main differences between the Faust eras of the show and now. Barely an “animated” cartoon at all.
"Made in Manehattan" – Production Changes
ReplyDeletePREMISE
Rarity writes to Coco saying they're coming ahead of time, so the action gets to her apartment almost instantaneously. Here the focus is on Coco having bitten off more than she can chew with her plans for refurbishing the whole neighbourhood, and instead of heeding Applejack and Rarity's suggestion to simplify, she lets her vision expand, backfiring and destroying their progress. She's so put down by this she doesn't bother to try again, but Applejack and Rarity make do, and it's a success, and Coco thus understands that even small acts can make a difference.
Intriguing, having Coco being the one who needs to learn a lesson. 12 days later, a revised premise tightened it up, added some details, removed others and clarified AJ/Rarity realising this is the map mission (a glaring omission!)
OUTLINE & 1ST SCRIPT
Best to cover these together, the overlap justifies it. There's a lot of differences.
* The episode opens on Applejack tending a garden outside Twilight's castle while Rarity struggles to erect a fabric canopy. When they're called, the map scene inside is very brief, with no mention of Twilight.
* Rarity still calls ahead to Coco for somewhere to stay, so there's only one scene of bumping into rude Manehattanites on the way.
* After Coco explains her plan, she says she passed out flyers for a volunteer meeting the next day. We see the trio preparing for the meeting, then fade to later when they're still waiting, and finally to the next morning, when they finally get a knock – but it's just the sign pointing having fallen down.
* All three ponies work to fix up the park, but they keep needing to stop their tasks to help each other, making more of a mess. Not helped by delivery ponies dropping supplies off they're not ready for and not lending a helping hoof.
* The other two convince Coco to simplify, which she does, though she's convinced only fixing the stage won't be enough to bring the community together.
* The play itself has lots of little differences, but most notable is Coco doing the whole ending speech alone, rather than with help from AJ/Rarity. Afterwards, the delivery ponies and one they bumped into earlier are the ones to apologise and vow to help (or in the latter's case, help her own community back home).
* After all these endings, there's an extra one of the duo arriving home to see butterflies made a butterfly garden out of Rarity's canopy fabric. Rarity admits this is better, and they reflect on the difference small efforts can make.
Very strangely, the 1st script is only 24 pages! It gets to Coco's apartment after only 5 pages. This seems like a good thing… but this short length is a byproduct of scenes being largely functional and fragmented, with very little of the jokes, witty characterisation and asides that even a lesser MLP episode like the final cut of this one has. Coupled with the disjointed thematic focus and having far less character moments and doubt for Rarity/AJ (yeah, we adults don't need that, but Hasbro thinks kids do), and small wonder this was totally overhauled.
OTHER SCRIPTS
The 2nd draft is mostly a page-one rewrite. Most scenes now match the final episode, or are a hybrid between it and the prior draft. The major weird part is, before opening on a bored Twilight, we get two scenes of Rarity and Applejack doing standard Boutique/farming duties with frustration at things not going right before the map calls them. Geez, can you imagine this episode taking longer to get to its main plot when Coco shows up? They realised this and scrapped it next draft.
[other scripts continued below, followed by animatic-stage changes and final thoughts]
[continued from above]
DeleteThe polish script corrected most differences that remain, other than differing play dialogue, and also showed Apple Bloom reacting to Applejack missing the Social, and Sweetie Belle commenting "Wow. And Rarity says I'm dramatic." (the "Brotherhooves Social" link was added in this draft). This direct snippet is from the “Brotherhooves Social” script being worked on at the time (so, like how “Just For Sidekicks” and “Games Ponies Play” had some brief direct scene/shot overlap). It was lost next draft, which finally changed the play dialogue and made other small tweaks.
ANIMATIC-STAGE CHANGES
Despite the script’s 32.8 page length, there aren’t many cuts. Or, at least, they’re generally dull, tiny little trims. Bit like the episode itself, really. Only the following catches the eye:
* When Applejack and Rarity set out to recruit volunteers, Rarity has bizarre getup on to impress the Manehattan ponies, and comments dryly on Applejack’s dirty country look fitting her. When her scarf gets trampled on and she discards it, Applejack returns the barb, getting “Touché” in response. Understandably, this page-long scene contributes nothing to the story. Guess the writers thought it was funny enough to keep.
* When Rarity was manning her friendship problem stall a la Lucy from Peanuts, the Charlie Brown pony walking by (should have been a colt to make the joke land) was walking a Snoopy-like dog. Maybe cut for the homage being too obvious? At least they kept Rarity’s “Good grief…”!
* The play scene had only one cut (the food vendor pony noticing it and remembering the flyers, only to be shushed), but the audience moments were shifted to more evenly break up the play.
* Like prior map episodes, the camera lingered on a Tree of Harmony sapling sprouting up in the park at the end. Season finale changes rendered this setup unneeded.
There were a decent amount of visual additions and other changes made to the script:
* The gender of many incidental roles in the script changed in recording. They were likely not intended to be hard requirements anyway. Fitting for an episode about a play!
* The order of the failed volunteer recruits were swapped – originally the food vendor was last. Also, the business pony relaxing on a float was a board addition.
* Applejack’s cleanup montage barely resembled it as written – everything about her hat getting ruined was a board addition. Later, Rarity’s purchase of a replacement hat was added too.
* Following animatic feedback, they plussed the play scene with little visual additions like the puppet birds, and stronger animation acting and relying on score to try and keep it from being too dull.
* Tabitha St. Germain’s wonderful Hispanic accent for the Mother was another booth improv. As was her “I dunno, sugar”. The cast and voice director always nail the wide mix of cultures and accents that make New York stand out, even in Pony!
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This episode's history is a bit like the episode itself. A lot happened, yet… hardly any of it is interesting. The animatic feedback does clarify the early script troubles, hence the major changes in focus after the 1st draft. Yet the episode never recovered from that late-game reboot, suffering from lopsided pacing, requiring too many endings, and just being mostly characters standing around and talking (2,624 words are spoken in the final cut, an easy high for the season). All this seems baked-in from the start. We can be glad they integrated Applejack and Rarity into it better and gave the theme more focus, but it's still just a very neutral, bland, nothing of an episode.
Really glad to see so much agreement that this was a damned nothingburger of an episode. Coco's reappearance couldn't bring it out of the doldrums, nor could hat headcanon destruction cement it as truly offensive. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteApplejack has plenty of calves on the farm, so you'd think she could bond with Coco over that.
ReplyDelete@_@
DeleteSays it all that the thing I remember most about this one (Applejack ruining her hat) was a board addition. Agree with everyone about how tedious and dull this episode is.
ReplyDelete"Like prior map episodes, the camera lingered on a Tree of Harmony sapling sprouting up in the park at the end. Season finale changes rendered this setup unneeded." Interesting. The finale we actually got has "thrown together at the last minute" written all over it. But we'll cover that when we get to it.
As for Friendship Games, its odd placement in the release schedule meant it's final scene ended up being an unintentional (but rather intriguing) teaser for said finale. "Strangest thing that's ever happened to me" indeed.
(Raises hand awkwardly) I actually quite like this one. It's cosy, AJ and Rarity reliably get some laughs out of me, and I thought the "every little helps" moral was both agreeable/surprisingly relevant and actually quite well-integrated into the overall story structure and elements. Coco's return was the icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteI'd quite comfortably give it three stars.
There'll be episodes later on that I like more than (so it seems) everybody else, so no need for the awkwardness. If anything it's nice to know that there are people who enjoyed this episode well enough. I'm just not one of them. :)
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