WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Due to an ongoing family health issue and the set-up of my new computer, there was no review for No Second Prances, Newbie Dash, A Hearths Warming Tail or The Saddle Row Review over the last month. The scores of those episodes are noted after the final analysis. If you want to hear my full opinions on those episodes, don't hesitate to drop a comment below and I will reply as quickly as possible.
Due to an ongoing family health issue and the set-up of my new computer, there was no review for No Second Prances, Newbie Dash, A Hearths Warming Tail or The Saddle Row Review over the last month. The scores of those episodes are noted after the final analysis. If you want to hear my full opinions on those episodes, don't hesitate to drop a comment below and I will reply as quickly as possible.
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*shudders* That face in the banner is both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Kids, don't do drugs or steam for that matter. It will not end well for you.
Anyway...
It's been a long, stressful month for me, but it feels great to get back to these reviews again. It's surprising to find that after quite a few episodes of awkward tension and a wonderful musical showcase, the season has finally decided to calm down, or at least give off that perception anyway.
The idea of the workhorse of the Mane Six getting a day off is preposterous, hence the quotation marks and the reference to Ferris' Bueller to seemingly allude to something more happening than meets the eye. With Twilight and Spike taking over duties on the farm from our resident farm lass, will this episode be as awkward as the synopsis dictates, or are we in for a more interesting tale than it lets on? Whether a farm outing and a spa day will warrant enough entertainment for this episodes runtime is something that will have to be judged. Lets get down to work, so the relaxation later can be ever so duly earned.
The idea of the workhorse of the Mane Six getting a day off is preposterous, hence the quotation marks and the reference to Ferris' Bueller to seemingly allude to something more happening than meets the eye. With Twilight and Spike taking over duties on the farm from our resident farm lass, will this episode be as awkward as the synopsis dictates, or are we in for a more interesting tale than it lets on? Whether a farm outing and a spa day will warrant enough entertainment for this episodes runtime is something that will have to be judged. Lets get down to work, so the relaxation later can be ever so duly earned.
STORY AND NARRATIVE
Calling a modern day MLP episode boring may seem crazy and unjust to some, however when the high point of the episode is watching Applejack fix the spa's plumbing, then it really says a lot in how the entertainment was lacking. While there were some sprinkles of occasional comedy (which I will get to later), and a nice montage scene to break up the mundane nature of the episode, it trundled along at a snails pace for 90% of its duration. As a watching experience it was lifeless, dull and bland. I can compliment the use of Todorov's theory of equilibrium to compliment the structure of the episode, it's the only positive thing I can muster. To have that be the sole good element is depressing.
In all fairness, the original prediction I had with Applejack constantly worrying about the farm and Rarity stopping her from enjoying the spa while Twilight and Spike are shown messing things up would have been a much better execution of the story. Sure, it would have been predictable as sin and be a re-telling of last seasons "Castle Sweet Castle", but it would have been more entertaining. While this episode tried to do something on its own, the vocal foreshadowing displayed throughout also made it just as predictable to what I just suggested, compounding how much of a chore this episode was to watch unfold.
Rarity's pruned sauna face in the banner adequately works as a nice symbolic metaphor for how I feel about this category and I'm incredibly disappointed as a result.
RATING: 0 out of 5.
Friendship Is Magic has built a reputation to have its episodes do 'slice of life' well, especially in its earlier seasons. Making the mundane activities of the ponies seem somewhat exciting by letting the comedy and character interactions make the story flow. Hell, the folks at Hasbro and DHX named the shows 100th episode after this style of anime genre. After six seasons, I'd be thinking they'd be able to have this balance down. However, in the case of this episode, while the subject and synopsis made this one seem intriguing, it proved to be lacking on a lot of fronts.
Calling a modern day MLP episode boring may seem crazy and unjust to some, however when the high point of the episode is watching Applejack fix the spa's plumbing, then it really says a lot in how the entertainment was lacking. While there were some sprinkles of occasional comedy (which I will get to later), and a nice montage scene to break up the mundane nature of the episode, it trundled along at a snails pace for 90% of its duration. As a watching experience it was lifeless, dull and bland. I can compliment the use of Todorov's theory of equilibrium to compliment the structure of the episode, it's the only positive thing I can muster. To have that be the sole good element is depressing.
In all fairness, the original prediction I had with Applejack constantly worrying about the farm and Rarity stopping her from enjoying the spa while Twilight and Spike are shown messing things up would have been a much better execution of the story. Sure, it would have been predictable as sin and be a re-telling of last seasons "Castle Sweet Castle", but it would have been more entertaining. While this episode tried to do something on its own, the vocal foreshadowing displayed throughout also made it just as predictable to what I just suggested, compounding how much of a chore this episode was to watch unfold.
Rarity's pruned sauna face in the banner adequately works as a nice symbolic metaphor for how I feel about this category and I'm incredibly disappointed as a result.
RATING: 0 out of 5.
WRITING AND VOICE ACTING
I mentioned earlier that while this episode comes across as bland, there were some sprinkles of comedy that made me happy that the episode delivered. That came about predominantly in the form of Ms. Rainbow Dash.
Having the Wonderbolt Pegasus be used as comedic folly by having her tomboy personality be undermined through her usage of spa treatments did its job in bringing this episode to occasional, intermittent, joyous life. Comedy can also be found in Twilight and Spike amazingly not being able to boss a checklist (I know, it's mad), and Applejack's visual symbolism from her protracted chores in context of the episodes message proved enough to warrant a laugh. When you factor in Bulk Biceps cameo and the exclamation by the Spa's newly introduced male character, it at least provided something to break up the dullness. The same couldn't be said for Rarity, Aloe and Lotus Flower though.
The Spa Ponies position in the episodes as relayers of exposition and information for the rarely explored Spa building and stood for nothing more. Rarity may have been one of the stars of the episode if the pre-title sequence was any indication, but as Applejack took prominence, her presence diminished as it wore on, with her role as a pseudo antagonist driving along the lack of time with her constantly complaining made her appearances and dialogue cumbersome to sit through. The fact that this happened pretty much from the pre-title scene to the end made her role one that I don't want to be reminded of in a hurry, as it was as one dimensional as I've seen her throughout this shows run.
On the voice acting front, not much sprung out either. While the Spa ponies forced Eastern European accent was irritating to begin with, having not heard their voices so regularly before, I could let it slide as they added extra flavour to an episode with very little to show. While Rarity's writing was not to my liking, her voice acting was the opposite. I can thank Tabitha St. Germain for that, by using a deeper tone and hushed delivery of lines peppered with frustration, which was a change from the chirpiness that this fashion concious unicorn has shown in recent episodes. The same could also be said with Applejack and Ashleigh Ball's performances as well, albeit to a lesser degree.
So, while some good comedic writing and voice acting saved this category from bombing to the zero, I can't deny that the character writing and lack of real tone difference in this episode really made its positives hard to shine through, which emblematic of what I've described thus far.
Having the Wonderbolt Pegasus be used as comedic folly by having her tomboy personality be undermined through her usage of spa treatments did its job in bringing this episode to occasional, intermittent, joyous life. Comedy can also be found in Twilight and Spike amazingly not being able to boss a checklist (I know, it's mad), and Applejack's visual symbolism from her protracted chores in context of the episodes message proved enough to warrant a laugh. When you factor in Bulk Biceps cameo and the exclamation by the Spa's newly introduced male character, it at least provided something to break up the dullness. The same couldn't be said for Rarity, Aloe and Lotus Flower though.
The Spa Ponies position in the episodes as relayers of exposition and information for the rarely explored Spa building and stood for nothing more. Rarity may have been one of the stars of the episode if the pre-title sequence was any indication, but as Applejack took prominence, her presence diminished as it wore on, with her role as a pseudo antagonist driving along the lack of time with her constantly complaining made her appearances and dialogue cumbersome to sit through. The fact that this happened pretty much from the pre-title scene to the end made her role one that I don't want to be reminded of in a hurry, as it was as one dimensional as I've seen her throughout this shows run.
On the voice acting front, not much sprung out either. While the Spa ponies forced Eastern European accent was irritating to begin with, having not heard their voices so regularly before, I could let it slide as they added extra flavour to an episode with very little to show. While Rarity's writing was not to my liking, her voice acting was the opposite. I can thank Tabitha St. Germain for that, by using a deeper tone and hushed delivery of lines peppered with frustration, which was a change from the chirpiness that this fashion concious unicorn has shown in recent episodes. The same could also be said with Applejack and Ashleigh Ball's performances as well, albeit to a lesser degree.
So, while some good comedic writing and voice acting saved this category from bombing to the zero, I can't deny that the character writing and lack of real tone difference in this episode really made its positives hard to shine through, which emblematic of what I've described thus far.
RATING: 1 out of 5.
ANIMATION
With this episode being predominantly in the Spa, with the farm appearing periodically, the animation had little area for movement throughout this 22-minute long crawl. However, even with this, it still produced a few moments of clarity that would make even the most lumbered of episodes stand up for awhile.
Rarity's facial expressions were a joy to see, especially the already mentioned pruned spa face, which is arguably the face of the season thus far. The steam effects for the sauna and washing machines added depth to the scenes they were included in, and along with said steam, the lack of reverberation in the sauna space while subtle, made it feel much more authentic than it rightfully should. The scope of the hallway with the sauna queue was impressive to look at and the barren outside of the Spa while many will look at as uninspiring, came across to me as a symbolic gesture to you 'leaving the spa feeling and looking more beautiful than whence you came'. With that amount of symbolism adding to the mies-en-scene, I can't complain. The sight of Applejack's simplistic tool attire added some flair to the situation and the return of Rainbow Dash's dressing gown and Tank slippers from 'Tanks For The Memories' was a nice touch.
However, even with these little pieces being strewn throughout the episode, it did the bare minimum it needed to catch my attention, but nothing more.
Rarity's facial expressions were a joy to see, especially the already mentioned pruned spa face, which is arguably the face of the season thus far. The steam effects for the sauna and washing machines added depth to the scenes they were included in, and along with said steam, the lack of reverberation in the sauna space while subtle, made it feel much more authentic than it rightfully should. The scope of the hallway with the sauna queue was impressive to look at and the barren outside of the Spa while many will look at as uninspiring, came across to me as a symbolic gesture to you 'leaving the spa feeling and looking more beautiful than whence you came'. With that amount of symbolism adding to the mies-en-scene, I can't complain. The sight of Applejack's simplistic tool attire added some flair to the situation and the return of Rainbow Dash's dressing gown and Tank slippers from 'Tanks For The Memories' was a nice touch.
However, even with these little pieces being strewn throughout the episode, it did the bare minimum it needed to catch my attention, but nothing more.
RATING: 1 out of 5.
MESSAGE
Usually, a message for an episode comes through after all the episode is through, leaving you pondering as to whether all you've just seen made sense in the context of what the message is stating. With a lack of story to help it along, the message for this episode needed to subtly spring out at you, which was surprising when it eventually cam to the fold. Even with that being apparent, it still had some problems.
I will give this episode credit for dropping the message on you with Lotus Flower in the spa before Applejack visually emphasised it with her protracted chores. By doing that, it made Applejacks actions more profound and made the message be much more effective having multiple characters and the viewer learn from it. Even with this being a fantastic piece of execution, this message of 'being shown the problems of doing things a certain way' drove the episode along and became blatantly obvious and predictable, which on repeated viewing makes it lose the meaning its initial viewing gave off. Rarity's position as the complaining, relaxation wanting unicorn didn't change despite the other characters finding solutions to existing 'methods' of work, which meant with the messages' unveiling her role in the episode comes across as pointless in retrospect.
Overall, this message was executed well, but thanks to foreshadowing and repeated predictability, it didn't help despite ringing true with few holes. Despite that, getting to the end proved to be forced and as mundane as the rest of it, but I can give it credit for making this episode not just be an empty shell. The message is a good lesson to learn from and will earn an extra mark in how it has been and could be implicated. It might be a kind thing for me to do, but it makes it stand out even more.
I will give this episode credit for dropping the message on you with Lotus Flower in the spa before Applejack visually emphasised it with her protracted chores. By doing that, it made Applejacks actions more profound and made the message be much more effective having multiple characters and the viewer learn from it. Even with this being a fantastic piece of execution, this message of 'being shown the problems of doing things a certain way' drove the episode along and became blatantly obvious and predictable, which on repeated viewing makes it lose the meaning its initial viewing gave off. Rarity's position as the complaining, relaxation wanting unicorn didn't change despite the other characters finding solutions to existing 'methods' of work, which meant with the messages' unveiling her role in the episode comes across as pointless in retrospect.
Overall, this message was executed well, but thanks to foreshadowing and repeated predictability, it didn't help despite ringing true with few holes. Despite that, getting to the end proved to be forced and as mundane as the rest of it, but I can give it credit for making this episode not just be an empty shell. The message is a good lesson to learn from and will earn an extra mark in how it has been and could be implicated. It might be a kind thing for me to do, but it makes it stand out even more.
RATING: 2 out of 5.
MUSIC
Despite the montage scenes containing an upbeat soft country style rock ditty to drive up the pace when it was needed, and the post-title opening scene containing a nice walking tempo piece to give the countryside some vibrance, they were the only elements that sang out to me amongst a sea of predictable orchestral sections pre-commercial break and the elegant and subdued spa music to make the episode feel even more dull. I was going to give the minor pieces of this episode one point for doing their job, but upon reflection, only having just under a minute or two of musical goodness in a 22-minute episode just isn't enough to warrant it. Cruel it may be, but it is justified in this humble viewer's opinion.
RATING: 0 out of 5.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We're six seasons into this journey of seeing friendship become magic, it's come to a point where we've finally found an episode that is both filler and a bland, dire viewing experience all at once. That is a very bad thing, especially given how far into this we are. I never expected an episode from this show to be so easily watchable but be as unmemorable and as bland as this. It's discouraging and irritating in equal measure.
When the episodes' sole existence is to be the vehicle for the message, providing minuscule glimpses of comedy, animation flourishes and musical enjoyment along the way, it doesn't say much does it? I didn't sympathise with any character involved, as they made their own problems and even with those being resolved, I wasn't impassioned enough to care. Even if this episode had gone in a more predictable direction as the synopsis alluded to, a more tense and enjoyable episode would have come through. Instead we got the definition of filler and an example of how not to do a Slice Of Life episode. While a calmer, slower episode felt needed after the bigger and more bloated episodes seen the far over this season, it was too drastic of a shift in tone and pace for it work effectively. Even though watching blindly was fine, upon looking at it critically, this was an empty vessel that even though it did enough to salvage it from the bottom of the pile, came out of said pile looking so dirty that not many would want to touch it. How this episode came across as boring and flat despite having THREE people write it is beyond me.
Applejack's "Day" Off was really an off day for this show, and it will rank alongside this series worst for sure. Considering the number of episodes this season that share similar number and grade, it's not a good sign as it soldiers on, wounded, to its halfway point and hiatus in a few weeks.
FINAL RATING: 4 out of 25.
When the episodes' sole existence is to be the vehicle for the message, providing minuscule glimpses of comedy, animation flourishes and musical enjoyment along the way, it doesn't say much does it? I didn't sympathise with any character involved, as they made their own problems and even with those being resolved, I wasn't impassioned enough to care. Even if this episode had gone in a more predictable direction as the synopsis alluded to, a more tense and enjoyable episode would have come through. Instead we got the definition of filler and an example of how not to do a Slice Of Life episode. While a calmer, slower episode felt needed after the bigger and more bloated episodes seen the far over this season, it was too drastic of a shift in tone and pace for it work effectively. Even though watching blindly was fine, upon looking at it critically, this was an empty vessel that even though it did enough to salvage it from the bottom of the pile, came out of said pile looking so dirty that not many would want to touch it. How this episode came across as boring and flat despite having THREE people write it is beyond me.
Applejack's "Day" Off was really an off day for this show, and it will rank alongside this series worst for sure. Considering the number of episodes this season that share similar number and grade, it's not a good sign as it soldiers on, wounded, to its halfway point and hiatus in a few weeks.
FINAL RATING: 4 out of 25.
LETTER GRADE: E+
In relation to other Season 6 episodes, it lines up as follows:
A HEARTHS WARMING TAIL - 24/25, A
ON YOUR MARKS - 22/25, A-
GAUNTLET OF FIRE - 19/25, B+
THE SADDLE ROW REVIEW - 13/25, C
THE CRYSTALLING - 12/25, C-
THE GIFT OF MAUD PIE - 7/25, D-
NEWBIE DASH - 6/25, D-
NO SECOND PRANCES - 5/25, E+
APPLEJACK'S "DAY" OFF - 4/25, E+
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I've been Freddy Thomas, you've been people reading. This has been an MLP Episode Review for The CC Network Blog. I'll see you all next week for the next review. Cheers!
