S03E04 One Bad Apple

[Cptadder]

Reactions in just a second, links in an hour.

Youtube Link

[Cptadder]

Okay my reactions
Babs Seed? I like the few tiny things they do with her character before she has a full sentence. Like twitching her tail over her blank flank, the way she blows her mane out of her eyes and the facial expression she makes.

The way the Cute Mark Crusaders lay it on so thick. Such hyperactive little fillies... Sweetie Belle

And then Babs "joins the dark side" Do the ponies have the force? Oh Star Wars you end up everywhere.

I loved the song less for the song than for the visuals which are hilarious, also The Doctor is going to movie with a pony who is clearly not Derpy but looks close enough I thought it was our Derpy spotting of the episode.

Also did anyone else catch the fact that pony movies have a "Lets all go to the lobby" montage and Babs is later drinking the soda?

And let me quote the EQ Daily reaction thread

Emergency edible boots...

Only you Rarity.

And then there was a an A-Team montage

And Babs was bullied the second act dash. However I have to disagree some over at EQ daily that pooh pooh the lesson. The real lesson is that some bullies become bullies to avoid being Bullied, however we still have Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon who bully because they get off on it. No tragic backstory there, no filly abuse the two of them are just two little shits.

Last comment, when Applejack sad what a hard time she was having in Manhattan I honestly predicted "Dead parents" before "bullies". Comes from the long running fan theory that Mr and Ms Apple are dead.

[Somber]

There are two things that would have made this MUCH better for me. First... at the start... when Diamond and Silver started to dig at Babs, if she was a little more hesitant or torn before finally jumping on the DT bandwagon. Secondly, rather than showing Babs getting "assertive" on the pair, I would have had her smirk and say, "Tell yer folks what a pair of jerks they got fer kids." and then turned her back on em, "And now if youse don't mind, I'm gonna say bye to ponies what deserve it. Youse got a problem with that?" Then DT and SS back off... right off the dock.

[Formis_Fluttergod]

So... GAK.
Anyway.

Episode 3:

[Cptadder]

There are two things that would have made this MUCH better for me. First... at the start... when Diamond and Silver started to dig at Babs, if she was a little more hesitant or torn before finally jumping on the DT bandwagon. Secondly, rather than showing Babs getting "assertive" on the pair, I would have had her smirk and say, "Tell yer folks what a pair of jerks they got fer kids." and then turned her back on em, "And now if youse don't mind, I'm gonna say bye to ponies what deserve it. Youse got a problem with that?" Then DT and SS back off... right off the dock.

The first I kinda disagree with you on, the second I don't and agree that the threat Babs offers was kind off.

On the first point, I'll have to wait for the Youtube link to re-watch it, but I remember Babs looking at the CMC and the bullies and doing a clear visual weighing of the two sides before doing her Heel Face turn. However your right as I wished Babs had not been a bastard the ENTIRE time. I mean seriously she has Applebloom sleeping on hay under newspapers in her own room. I would hope you could show the "other" Babs by having her lighten up a touch in private.

On the second point when she threw that look back I thought for a second she was going to beat the crap out of Tiara and Spoon for a second before she delivered that I'll tell on you line. That... was such a weak comeback.

[Guest]

So there's scene during the song that Babs is smiling at the camera (Well towards the audience. There is no camera in animation.) and this expression she has for some reason immediately had me thinking Rampage. I'm not quite sure why.

Huh, maybe she got a name change something tougher. Something Razor-y.

That's just me though.


Also if I remember correctly there was a little doubt whether the map was accurate.

...a bully from the east

According to the map she's right.

[Katarn]

Well, after their 'A-team' moment, I can't resist, but to do this:

Spoiler:

[Orm]

Well, after their 'A-team' moment, I can't resist, but to do this:

Spoiler:

That's hilarious.

[Formis_Fluttergod]

Well, after their 'A-team' moment, I can't resist, but to do this:

Spoiler:

I see what you did there, and approve.

[Cptadder]

Just rewatched the Youtube link I just posted. It's not a clear heel face turn for Babs Seed but there is something going on with her being polite to the CMC. Then Tiara and Spoon show up and she says nothing at first then physical move to stand with the bullies against the CMC.

Yeah, still not handled great even if the rest is good. Her turn to Heel and her turn to Face were both kinda poorly written.

Also it's very clear on re-watch that Scootaloo's wings ARE bigger. She looks more like a smaller Pegasus than off one now one now.

Screenshots incoming

[Tia]

Spoiler:

nom nom nom............nom nom

[Cptadder]

I take it back about Scoots looking substantial different from early seasons. They are not drawing her wings bigger what they are drawing are her wings tucked in more often.

This is default Scootaloo

With her wings spread out it looks like she has tiny weak misformed wings because of the fact she was in Season 1 and Seasons 2 always walking around and standing still like this.

This is default Pegasus Scootaloo

By tucking her wings in she looks much closer to a small adult than the default chicken look because when she pulls her wings in they look more substantial.

They did draw her like a Pegasus default (IE how Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are draw when not actively flying) in Season 2, in fact that screenshot is from Hearts and Hooves day, but in Season 3 at least in this episode when Scotaloo is at rest she tucks her wings in much more often leading to the impression they have gotten bigger. Not bigger they just switched drawing styles.

[Cptadder]

Also stolen from the EQ thread because Nate Silver predicted it.

[Orm]

The song was released about a day before the episode was released.
So it's not much of a prediction.

[Cptadder]

The song was released about a day before the episode was released.
So it's not much of a prediction.

....Drat... And here I was hoping that ask the CMC was secretly run by a producer for the show.

[CannonFodder]

Dang, if I was in the CMC's position I would lay the beatdown on diamond tiara and silver spoon.

[OneMoreDaySK]

Dang, if I was in the CMC's position I would lay the beatdown on diamond tiara and silver spoon.

Unfortunately, as much as we'd like to see that, that specific thing would just prove that violence can be an answer. They have other options. They just don't ever use them.

@Somber
And I don't think that Babs should have take so long, especially if she's trying to make a good first impression for the two. But yeah, the ending could have been a bit better.

Also, Somber Quotes:

ARGH! Damn it! Why'd they have to do it like that? Not all bullies are victims. Some are complete jerks. Some are evil for their own amusement! There'd better be a doosy of a lesson at the end.

Karma Houdini...

Meh. Least she had a face turn at the end.

Pretty meh though. I would have been more impressed with an Episode of Silver Spoon turning on Tiara. Catchy song though.

"Not all bullies are victims."
How did you get that out of the episode, considering less than half (only one out of three) were actually victims, whereas the other two thirds (Silver and Diamond) were just complete jerks?
Report

I see your point. I do. It's just I was constantly harrassed and bullied most of my life. And to forgive is Equine. It's just hard pill for me to swallow. I would have liked some acknowledgement by Babs that she was wrong to "join em" rather than sticking it with the crusaders. Maybe it would have been different if Babs had been a few seconds more indecisive before joining them. Or some time where Applebloom tried to reason with her and Babs told her "Don't you call me a bully! I know real bullies. I'm never gonna have that happen to me again!" Maybe some tears in her eyes. And then at the end have Babs snap at DT "So what's yer excuse? They're actually nice!"

I don't know.... and it's funny given that I've thought of all kinds of rationalizations for DT and SS's behavior too.... Maybe it was the fact this was presented as a 'bully' episode.' and that changed the metric for me.

Also, Mr. Stein has already come out with a cover for the main song for the episode.

[CamoBadger]

My Late Review:

[Orm]

My Late Review:

I agree with almost everthing in this review.
Babs' voice took some getting used to, but I liked it in the end, it suites her.
And I thought her covering her flank with her tail was so freaking adorable.
Babs is now my favourite CMC.

[CamoBadger]

ARGH! Damn it! Why'd they have to do it like that? Not all bullies are victims. Some are complete jerks. Some are evil for their own amusement! There'd better be a doosy of a lesson at the end.

Karma Houdini...

Meh. Least she had a face turn at the end.

Pretty meh though. I would have been more impressed with an Episode of Silver Spoon turning on Tiara. Catchy song though.

Not to intrude on this, but I would like to put in my 2 cents.
They did show bullies being mean for the sake of it; Diamond and Silver, like they have been the entire show. There are some bullies who do use it as a defense mechanism though. We saw how nervous and scared Babs was as soon as she got off the train, and every time somebody brought up her blank flank (Applebloom), she still hid it in shame. Even though the CMC were being nice, Babs still turned on them because she was tired of being bullied for her blank flank, and didn't want to put up with that anymore.

I see your point. I do. It's just I was constantly harrassed and bullied most of my life. And to forgive is Equine. It's just hard pill for me to swallow. I would have liked some acknowledgement by Babs that she was wrong to "join em" rather than sticking it with the crusaders. Maybe it would have been different if Babs had been a few seconds more indecisive before joining them. Or some time where Applebloom tried to reason with her and Babs told her "Don't you call me a bully! I know real bullies. I'm never gonna have that happen to me again!" Maybe some tears in her eyes. And then at the end have Babs snap at DT "So what's yer excuse? They're actually nice!"

I don't think that would have happened. Despite what we would like people to do, most do not just come out and shout their problems to the world, even if it comes up. They keep it inside because they don't want others to seem them as lower, even if the ones they keep in the dark would love to help them. And call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure the CMC did try to reason with her, but because Babs was in defensive mode, she kept up her bitchy facade.

Plus, remember these are CHILDREN. They aren't full grown adults who will talk out issues. When a kid has a bully, I don't recall them ever telling anyone. They hide it from their families, friends, everyone because they don't want to be looked down on.

I'm of course speaking generally, there are always exceptions, but at least in my childhood there were no parents who were savvy to bullies at school (I would know, because until middle school I was a bully, and never heard a word of complaint from the kids I bullied, the teachers, or any parents). And no, it was not because I had issues at home, I was just a bastard who loved to feel powerful.

...I think I ranted there

[Ketchup]

Just thought I'd put in my two cents on bullies:
People that seem nice to most could bully a certain type of person, like ones who respond strongly. This makes these people laugh because they are sadistic bastards. It makes people feel powerful too, as Camo said. DT and SS are bullies that try to amuse themselves by trying to find "flaws" to make fun of in other ponies to make them feel better about their flaws. That's my theory.

Being labelled a snitch is a terrible label, as portrayed by many shows aimed at a younger demographic. The kind of bullies in those programs openly insult others in front of large numbers of people. I have seen only one person bullied this way, and I feel really sorry for her and only myself, my brother, and a few of the less judgmental and nicer girls seem to treat her civilly. Meanness to her is pretty much ubiquitous among the everyone else but the intellectually challenged, who constitute her friends.

I'm not a target for bullies because I can make rebuttals to them that are correct, but use terms they don't have in their vocabularies. It makes them feel dumb, and it works splendidly. One fellow has some sort of quest to see me to laugh(I adopt a stoic exterior for working conditions, so this is hard), or get me to let him and his pair of literally quite dumb blondes copy my answers to the extent of trying to take my paper away aggressively. Neither have worked thus far. I'm pretty sure he's the only person who could be considered to be a bully towards me. My brother had bigger problems, leading to homeschooling during some of middle school.

[jacky2734]

Okay, first of all I would just like to say I enjoyed the episode, the song, and the references, and nothing I could say would add to the positive comments about the episode that have already been posted.

The only thing that really quirked with me was the episode's Anti-bullying message. Don't get me wrong, bullying is a serious issue that should never be ignored or handled on your own, and the episode handled the message well without it becoming to Soapboxy. My problem with it is simply that everybody and their grandmother on several different networks seems to be doing PSAs against bullying in the past few months and when you get over-saturation of a message like that, it sometimes loses its meaning. I could say more on this, but it would just be my opinions on bullying and I don't think you all want to hear that rant.

Finally, I got a question. What exactly is Babs's accent? I know it's city, possibly East Coast, but I can't pin it down to a specific city.

[Moodyman90]

It's an east coast city accent but they all blend together in my mind. I'm hesitant to say New Yorker.

Course if anything they decided to go with a city accent in general to contrast Babs with Applebloom's country accent and the Orange's upper class accent.

[CamoBadger]

It's supposed to be a Brooklyn accent I believe.

[Moodyman90]

Sounds about right, though I only know about those accents through TV. And once again they tend to blend together at times.

[RoboRed]

Well, after their 'A-team' moment, I can't resist, but to do this:

Spoiler:

It has now been done.

[IncoherentOrange]

I had my run with bullies, as Ketchup said. I was a miserable, pathetic thing from grades five through eight, in which I had a major sleep problem (I still have it, but I've learned to cope with the penalties it brings to my resolve), and the bullies didn't let up, and I became a very different person. I feel very little to no emotional pain delivered from people who are not close to me, who I consider to be friends, or who I want to be friends with. I no longer provide a vulnerable exterior, so I'm no longer a target in high school, along with the fact that most of the bullies have wisened up a little/are too busy using drugs to care about me, anymore.

[CamoBadger]

Well, after their 'A-team' moment, I can't resist, but to do this:

Spoiler:

It has now been done.

Too much awesome for words.
Also, to go with it: Mandatory Music

[Guest]

@Camo

Very Minor Potential Spoiler Involving Future Episode Title:

[Kippershy]

Somber is the absolute worst person to try claim that not all assholes were victimised as children.
I mean, look at Project Horizons! There's only ONE 'bad guy' asshole who does it for shits and giggles! LOL


Seriously though, I'm only kidding.

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