This review will contain spoilers for those who have not seen the latest episode.
The premise of this episode is that Applebloom tries to convince Applejack that she doesn't need her to constantly watch over her all the time.
From that brief description of the premise, you can tell that this episode is going to heavily feature the relationship between Applebloom and Applejack, and on that note I couldn't be more excited for this episode. These two were literally the first siblings introduced in the series and yet, in spite of that, we've had virtually no time whatsoever devoted to their relationship aside from episodes showing the two more as side-characters, or how Applejack regards her family as a whole. This always bugged me as we've seen in the past that episode focusing on siblings, like in "Sisterhooves Social" or my personal favourite episode "A Canterlot Wedding", that such stories can be very good. As such, regardless of what else I may feel about it, I praise the episode for dealing with a relationship that's been sorely neglected.
In addition to that we have a follow-up to an aspect of Applebloom's character that's only been hinted at in the past, her need for independence. Back during her debut episode, "Bridle Gossip" (which I'm counting as her debut since her role in the Pilot was little more than a cameo), Applejack constantly worrying over her was something that bothered her a great deal, and by the episode it was proved to be unfounded, given that Applebloom was fine by the end of it. As I'm sure many young people can attest to, having our elders constantly worry or watch us can be somewhat trying at times, so what they have Applebloom go through is a very realistic situation for someone of her age to be in.
The issue of how much one's elders should or shouldn't look out for us is one that's been looked at by many works of fiction in the past, so there's very little that this show can really add to it, yet it still manages to frame the issue very well and, in a move I especially like, doesn't take a side. It's something that MLP has done a few times before, but in many cases it will never present one side as being entirely wrong or right, instead opting for a middle ground. I find this to be a good road given that it's primary audience are young children, thus making it so they won't see those of one side of the argument as being "the bad guys" as many other kids shows might be tempted to do.
Applejack provided a great deal of the heart of this story, and that's understandable given her position. Much like Applebloom, she's in a very realistic situation, as I'm sure many of us have had to be responsible for a younger person at some point in our lives. The kind of worry she experiences, while certainly put in an over-the-top comedic light at times, is nevertheless very heartfelt. You can tell that she truly cares for her sister and worries about her well-being, as would befit a character like her, to whom family has always been so important.
Also, as a side-note, I just want to say just how good this season has been to AJ so far. She's had plenty to do in several episode that have featured her, such as "Pinkie Apple Pie" and in "Simple Ways" and that, coupled with some great moments in her non-focus episodes, have done a lot for her this year. In addition to that, with the fact that we still have her episode of the season arc to explore, and I have no qualms about saying that this season has done more for her character than perhaps nay other MLP season we've had so far, which is great as that's something I've been wanting the show to do for a while now.
The final act of the episode was unexpectedly action-packed, which is fine by me given that this show has been good at that sort of scene when the time calls for it. The addition of what I can only assume is a Chimera, a beast from Greek mythology, was a welcome entry into the series lore, given that I'm a fan of such myths, and it also fits in well with the show's previous use of Greek myths, such as the use of manticores and minotaurs. Applejack's final resolution of the beast was fun to watch, and fits in with her established role as the more action-heavy member of the main cast, as shown back in "Spike at your service" last season.
As for the humour, this episode's funny moments mostly stem around Applebloom and her sister. As I said back in my review of "Twilight Time", most of the humorous moments centred around the CMC characters tend to fall within a lot of tropes and traditions of young-children comedy, and as such your tastes on that sort of thing are doing to determine whether their funny moments are to your liking. Personally, their humour has never been to my tastes, but it was never unfunny or anything like that. However, I will say that Applejack provided some rather unexpectedly effective comedy in this episode, since she isn't normally known for funny moments. They way she goes over-the-top in terms of her protectiveness of her sister was very amusing to watch, and reminded me a great deal of Twilight's frequent bouts of worry. However, it was one of those times when I knew it wasn't the sort of thing I should find funny, given that she's worried for her sibling, but I still laughed.
When it comes to songs of the episode, this week we get only the tiniest glimpse of one before it cuts away as a joke. I rather liked that moment and it further shows how aware the cast are of the tendency to have songs come out of nowhere.
Onto the moral now, and this episode's lesson seems to be not quite as pointed out as much as other lessons this season. There's no journal entry or narration or anything like that, but the overall message seems to be that you should let others have responsibility when they're ready for it and that although it's good to watch out for them, sometimes you can go too far. As I said earlier, this lesson doesn't take sides as to who is right and wrong, and that those who watch out for others are right to do what they do, even if they can go overboard at times. As such it's a very even-handed lesson for the episode.
So, how did the episode fare overall? I actually rather liked this one and felt that it was a step above the previous few episodes we've been given. Both Applebloom and Applejack had a fine chance to shine in this episode and we got a very good look at the kind of relationship the two have with one another. The humour was good and while the final part of the episode was a bit more action-heavy than most episodes tended to be, I rather enjoyed watching it and felt it got very exciting at times. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's one of the season's better episodes, it's nevertheless a very good one and well worth a watch.
The premise of this episode is that Applebloom tries to convince Applejack that she doesn't need her to constantly watch over her all the time.
From that brief description of the premise, you can tell that this episode is going to heavily feature the relationship between Applebloom and Applejack, and on that note I couldn't be more excited for this episode. These two were literally the first siblings introduced in the series and yet, in spite of that, we've had virtually no time whatsoever devoted to their relationship aside from episodes showing the two more as side-characters, or how Applejack regards her family as a whole. This always bugged me as we've seen in the past that episode focusing on siblings, like in "Sisterhooves Social" or my personal favourite episode "A Canterlot Wedding", that such stories can be very good. As such, regardless of what else I may feel about it, I praise the episode for dealing with a relationship that's been sorely neglected.
In addition to that we have a follow-up to an aspect of Applebloom's character that's only been hinted at in the past, her need for independence. Back during her debut episode, "Bridle Gossip" (which I'm counting as her debut since her role in the Pilot was little more than a cameo), Applejack constantly worrying over her was something that bothered her a great deal, and by the episode it was proved to be unfounded, given that Applebloom was fine by the end of it. As I'm sure many young people can attest to, having our elders constantly worry or watch us can be somewhat trying at times, so what they have Applebloom go through is a very realistic situation for someone of her age to be in.
The issue of how much one's elders should or shouldn't look out for us is one that's been looked at by many works of fiction in the past, so there's very little that this show can really add to it, yet it still manages to frame the issue very well and, in a move I especially like, doesn't take a side. It's something that MLP has done a few times before, but in many cases it will never present one side as being entirely wrong or right, instead opting for a middle ground. I find this to be a good road given that it's primary audience are young children, thus making it so they won't see those of one side of the argument as being "the bad guys" as many other kids shows might be tempted to do.
Applejack provided a great deal of the heart of this story, and that's understandable given her position. Much like Applebloom, she's in a very realistic situation, as I'm sure many of us have had to be responsible for a younger person at some point in our lives. The kind of worry she experiences, while certainly put in an over-the-top comedic light at times, is nevertheless very heartfelt. You can tell that she truly cares for her sister and worries about her well-being, as would befit a character like her, to whom family has always been so important.
Also, as a side-note, I just want to say just how good this season has been to AJ so far. She's had plenty to do in several episode that have featured her, such as "Pinkie Apple Pie" and in "Simple Ways" and that, coupled with some great moments in her non-focus episodes, have done a lot for her this year. In addition to that, with the fact that we still have her episode of the season arc to explore, and I have no qualms about saying that this season has done more for her character than perhaps nay other MLP season we've had so far, which is great as that's something I've been wanting the show to do for a while now.
The final act of the episode was unexpectedly action-packed, which is fine by me given that this show has been good at that sort of scene when the time calls for it. The addition of what I can only assume is a Chimera, a beast from Greek mythology, was a welcome entry into the series lore, given that I'm a fan of such myths, and it also fits in well with the show's previous use of Greek myths, such as the use of manticores and minotaurs. Applejack's final resolution of the beast was fun to watch, and fits in with her established role as the more action-heavy member of the main cast, as shown back in "Spike at your service" last season.
As for the humour, this episode's funny moments mostly stem around Applebloom and her sister. As I said back in my review of "Twilight Time", most of the humorous moments centred around the CMC characters tend to fall within a lot of tropes and traditions of young-children comedy, and as such your tastes on that sort of thing are doing to determine whether their funny moments are to your liking. Personally, their humour has never been to my tastes, but it was never unfunny or anything like that. However, I will say that Applejack provided some rather unexpectedly effective comedy in this episode, since she isn't normally known for funny moments. They way she goes over-the-top in terms of her protectiveness of her sister was very amusing to watch, and reminded me a great deal of Twilight's frequent bouts of worry. However, it was one of those times when I knew it wasn't the sort of thing I should find funny, given that she's worried for her sibling, but I still laughed.
When it comes to songs of the episode, this week we get only the tiniest glimpse of one before it cuts away as a joke. I rather liked that moment and it further shows how aware the cast are of the tendency to have songs come out of nowhere.
Onto the moral now, and this episode's lesson seems to be not quite as pointed out as much as other lessons this season. There's no journal entry or narration or anything like that, but the overall message seems to be that you should let others have responsibility when they're ready for it and that although it's good to watch out for them, sometimes you can go too far. As I said earlier, this lesson doesn't take sides as to who is right and wrong, and that those who watch out for others are right to do what they do, even if they can go overboard at times. As such it's a very even-handed lesson for the episode.
So, how did the episode fare overall? I actually rather liked this one and felt that it was a step above the previous few episodes we've been given. Both Applebloom and Applejack had a fine chance to shine in this episode and we got a very good look at the kind of relationship the two have with one another. The humour was good and while the final part of the episode was a bit more action-heavy than most episodes tended to be, I rather enjoyed watching it and felt it got very exciting at times. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's one of the season's better episodes, it's nevertheless a very good one and well worth a watch.
