At the time, four new writers were introduced to Friendship Is Magic: Josh Haber, Ed Valentine, Betsy McGowen, and Natasha Levinger. For better or worse, they perform effectively enough to be mainstays in the franchise. (How many episodes McGowen will write, including one on her own, I don’t know.) Come Somepony to Watch Over Me, Scott Sonneborn — a writer with an extensive résumé, from Beevis and Butt-Head to Angela Anaconda to Celebrity Deathmatch to amateur porn — makes his FIM debut. Applejack becomes overprotective of Apple Bloom in a plot full of contrivances, poor characterization, and negative implications surrounding the moral.

Strengths:

1. Throughout the season, the animation has made huge strides to take advantage of as many unique tools as possible; DHX/Top Draw fulfilled that again via making the chimera menacing, the background of Hollow Shades, and the bayou tribute.
    
   Firstly, everything about the chimera is absolutely terrifying, as it should be. When he first arrived, he was a lion silhouette. Then, three pairs of eyes slither onto the screen in front of angry pools of lava. Finally, each of their voices fit their characters: hungry, sly, menacing, egotistical, cocky, and angry. You can tell the chimera not lives in the territory, but conquers it. He blends in the dark shadows and uses it to his advantage, scaring Apple Bloom witless the second she witnesses his prowl towards her.
    
   While the lava pits are scary enough, you need the atmosphere to match the foreground in order to show how creepy Hollow Shades is. That’s the purpose of the background, special effects, and limited color palette. Hollow Shades is monochromatic, relying on tints, hues, and shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown with black as a sharp accent to enhance the mood. There aren’t many bright colors minus the flames, but they don’t need to. Except the bluish-gray leaves, every tree is black and shaped in a way to creep out to the viewer (with success) while dripping dirty green moss off their branches.
    
   The bayou isn’t menacing, but the color composition and rendering of the houses parallel to Hollow Shades well. No bright colors from the sky clue how Applejack and Apple Bloom are forced to navigate back through just to return home. Personally, the most interesting part is the layout of the wooden cabins. As a big fan of those, they each carry plenty of personality and share stories. The most commonplace for each are the tapered roofs: By how warped they are, the cabins look old and weathered; and the environment feels very humid. By this, you can guess that this honors the humid areas of the South during the turn of the Twentieth Century.
   
2. A very hilarious joke pokes fun at how often the show breaks into songs at the drop of a hat. What’s better is how bad the lyrics are before Scoots stops them. Basically, it’s part of The Show Stoppers (one of season one’s worst) done right.
   
3. As it should be, the fight scene is very intense. You can feel the tension dripping out of you as Apple Bloom is running for her life. The music in the background intensifies the life-and-death predicament even further, especially as she’s being chased or when Applejack jumps to her defense.
   
4. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are in character. Apple Bloom grows distressed and angry at how annoying and creepy Applejack behaves, as she should be. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo don’t speak a lot, but still maintain their ambitious, childlike personalities reinforced in previous episodes, including Twilight Time.
    
   On the flipside, seeing Scootaloo as the one to screw up fits her perfectly, and not merely from a humorous angle, either.
   
5. Like Apple Bloom, the tiger head also has a connection with his goat sister. In StWOM, AJ looks over her shoulder constantly. The chimera suffers the same annoyance, only it’s permanent.
    
   Unfortunately, there isn’t much to their own conflict after that, so it becomes filler.
   
6. “Saltwater casserole.” Yeah, not all that appetizing.
   

But after this does the episode really fall apart.

1. Applejack is very out of character. Too often already, there are numerous excuses for her actions, from being protective of Apple Bloom (or others) in the past, to using past events as hidden clues like her shortsightedness in Apple Family Reunion.
    
   But there are many big differences.
    
   AJ defended Apple Bloom in Bridle Gossip because she didn't trust Zecora's attitude and cryptic rhyming. Her appearance and poison joke’s aftereffects didn’t improve her impression in the slightest. Nevertheless, AJ was just as out of character as the others (including Apple Bloom for leaving her for dead in the middle of the Everfree Forest), Zecora and Spike exempt. Her rationality and stubbornness were replaced by irrational assumptions, mean-spirited unlikeability, incompetence, and stupidity. She was just as stupid there as Look Before You Sleep (which made her behave childishly for no good reason). As her inexcusable actions and characterization are contrived just to hone in a story for one of the worst episodes in the series (personally, I rank it second-worst behind One Bad Apple), what she did there doesn’t deserve a defense. I don’t.
    
   In Call of the Cutie and The Cutie Pox, Applejack had a good reason to be worried. The former had Apple Bloom being obsessed with getting her cutie mark, and she was being bullied for being a “blank flank.” Conversely, The Cutie Pox revolved around her getting too many cutie marks, and she was feeling sick.
    
   Apple Family Reunion was about preparing for a grand reunion. What she did wasn't stubbornness, pampering, or overboard stupidity. She planned a layout WAY too grand for everyone’s liking, and her plans and excitement clouded her judgment. In fact, when she saw everyone feeling very exhausted and cramped from his or her activities, she decided to hitch a ride along the west orchard. When she realized she royally screwed up, she learned her lesson and had a memorable time, after all.
    
   As far as StWOM is concerned, three important details are exposited during the story, each of them overlooked way too much.
    
   a. In Act 1, AJ presents her with a scroll with a long set of chores and reminders. Apple Bloom completes everything. She doesn't have to fully monitor Sweet Apple Acres, as they’re already done by the time the others departed. Even if something bad happens, she has lived with them for so long that she should know what to do in case of an emergency.
    
   b. Once the chores are done, Apple Bloom doesn't have to stay at Sweet Apple Acres. She can do whatever she wishes, such as explore Ponyville, eat some lunch, play with SB and Scootaloo, and even visit some of her older friends like Rarity and Twilight.
    
   c. Big Mac and AJ aren't going to be gone for very long. At the very beginning, because of the difficult trek to deliver the pies, Granny Smith says she’s allowed to live at home alone through the afternoon. That means anywhere between six to ten hours depending on the route, conflict, time of delivery, and so on. AJ and Big Mac are prepared for their traveling in case of an emergency, hence the equipment featured in Act 3. They won’t leave unless they know what they’re doing. They will be returning by a little past nightfall.
    
   Applejack’s known AB since the day she was born. AJ knows AB has been without a guardian for stretches of time for a while. Bridle Gossip, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Family Appreciation Day, Ponyville Confidential, One Bad Apple, Twilight Time, etc. Up to this point, she’s been with other fillies or by herself several times, and the Bearer of Honesty comprehends this.
    
   Also, Apple Bloom isn’t a newborn foal in preschool. AJ trusts AB; AB trusts AJ. AJ and AB can cooperate very well. She KNOWS AB is pretty mature for her age, can care for herself, and shouldn't fret, if their in-character relationship in Sisterhooves Social holds any water. Some of the reminders and chores on the lists (or supposed to be) are so mundane, she’s obviously going to be out of character from the start. (As they trek in Act 1, AJ wanted to put on the list a reminder that in order to get a spoon out of the drawer, Apple Bloom needs to open the drawer first.)
    
   To worsen the matters, AJ's out-of-characterization is reinforced by a combination of extreme incompetence and stupidity, an ingredient that doesn't a high-quality story make. Sonneborn was trying to write Applejack as being very worried for her sister, who’s living alone at home for the first time. But AJ’s telling the audience she’s worried. Instead, she’s showing the audience how much of an idiot she thinks Apple Bloom is. As a result, Applejack is the idiot, as well as incompetent.
    
   Plus, it doesn’t make any sense for Applejack to suddenly abandon her duties as a farm owner on the flip of a dime. Because she is partially responsible for running the farm, the pies are a delivery with the purpose of being brought over, preferably on time. If she’s that concerned for Apple Bloom’s well-being, then they could’ve done two things.
    
   a. Alternate the delivery. Have Big Mac deliver the pies first. Once he returns, then Applejack delivers.
    
    
   Then again, this method wouldn’t have worked because the entire premise would have to be altered.
    
    
   b. As they prepare to leave (maybe the night before), Applejack goes to her friends and asks them to look out for her sister while she’s gone. One pony doesn’t have to watch her all day. Merely have the Remane Five at random watch over AB in the background for about five to ten minutes per hour (or two) and then mail a letter to AJ’s destination for updates.
    
   If you're going to dial up a trait, you need to do three things. Make sure it's established. Back it up with a very good reason. Don't make the affected character look like an incompetent idiot.
    
   If Applejack saw Apple Bloom do something that could've gotten her badly injured or killed if she didn't save her, you’d give her some incentive for her over-pampering. If this closely followed Call of the Cutie, then you can reinforce Bridle Gossip and fix this issue of logic and characterization. But many instances of AJ's protection occurred during seasons one and two, and she had very good reasons why. Not to mention, up until somewhere like Dragonshy or even the end of the pilot, many of these characters were somewhat blank slates. We're now in season four; these characters are established and have grown tremendously since the pilot. You can't just create a new light switch or outlet without knowing how to correctly handle the circuit.
    
   As an Applejack fan myself, Applejack in Somepony to Watch Over Me isn't Applejack. It's Twilight in season one with extreme stupidity, incompetence, and no objectively good reason to write her behavior off like this.
   
2. This episode’s intention was to make Applejack look and act morally in the right for pampering Apple Bloom and treating her like an idiot. Instead, by stalking her around, completely ignoring her cries, and babying her, AJ comes off as a major creep. Laugh all you want, it doesn’t change how creepy Stalkerjack is.
    
   To make things worse, the entire plot is supposed to be rather serious. But when you add in stupid humor, it becomes distracting, and the episode’s focus really loses consistency. It’s very difficult to make low-level humor blend in a serious plot, and it fails here.
   
3. While the visuals are fantastic (especially the sharp angle), the surprise cheer from the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the opener lacks the subtlety. Once the shadows appear, the surprise turns into a sudden “3…2…1” countdown. In other words, the timing is rather off. If the shadows don’t appear at all, then the comedic timing would’ve been much sharper.
   
4. The moral’s execution is extremely broken.
    
   a. It’s extremely contradictory. Firstly, she doesn’t realize that she’s frenetically watching Apple Bloom’s move every five seconds. But then at the bayou, Applejack needed Apple Bloom’s pie delivery to be reminded of how she didn’t need to watch over her little sister. Basically, AB’s actions made her realize how stupid she was behaving. AJ was taught the lesson because she was way too stupid to figure it out herself.
    
   Any other factually bad episodes that did a similar method?
    
   i. Bridle Gossip — Zecora warns the Mane Six not to judge the book by its cover although the episode offers no subtlety.
    
   ii. The Mysterious Mare Do Well — The Remane Five tell Rainbow Dash not to brag after not offering her any clue and being passive-aggressive, hypocritical assholes being her back.
    
   iii. Spike at Your Service — After having a whole episode where Spike does a 180 in characterization, both he and Applejack agree that the next time someone saves another’s life, there’s no “servant for life” bullshit. Basically, it’s something they should’ve figured out at the very beginning if they weren’t so stupid.
    
   iv. Simple Ways — Trenderhoof racially patronizes Applejack and the entire Earth pony race with his one-note, stereotypical ego. Even though Applejack wants nothing to do with him, he still does it, only to stop when Rarity tells him not to change who you are to impress someone else to his face.
    
   b. “She caused the jam and soup to spill? Twenty-four hours of supervising a Cutie Mark Crusader who can easily fend for herself in the Everfree Forest and do dangerous tricks simply to get her cutie mark!”
    
   “Deliver pies on a journey that nearly got her killed? Apple Bloom can fend for herself and not have Applejack stalk her every move.”
    
   Well, wouldn’t AB nearly getting herself killed by a chimera be a better reason for Applejack to pamper her and baby-proof the household?
   

This is the fourth season-four episode featuring Applejack as a central or important secondary character.

Applejack in Bats! wants the vampire fruit bats to be rounded up before they destroy the orchard and chew up the food supply. But despite having a good reason to act immediately, she’s vilified and forced to choose the unrealistic and wrong solution for the bats, causing the episode’s quality to significantly drop.

Contrarily, Pinkie Apple Pie pairs Pinkie with the Core Four, and Applejack is the one front and center. Her expectations and wishes to keep the family impressed for Pinkie make the conflict funny, but real. The story concept is weak and full of exposition; but the characterization, humor, interconnection of the humor, song, and pacing more than make up for it.

In Simple Ways, Applejack is the most in character besides Spike, because she wants nothing to do with the love triangle and is focused on doing her job. But to snap out of it, she acts as Rarity in the form of Applejewel, and she’s easily the funniest of the bunch. Unfortunately, Applejack’s humor, Spike’s fantastic characterization, and two hilarious “Getting-Crap-Past-the-Radar” moments don’t save it from being both by-the-letter and stupid.

Speaking of “stupid,” that’s the best word to describe Applejack’s incessant creepiness throughout Somepony to Watch Over Me. While the opening is nicely animated with good tension and decent humor quality, the potential is chucked out the window after Applejack’s unnecessary nervousness kicks in. By having her characterization derailed, the humor transitions from possibly being funny to creepy and stupid, as Applejack stalks Apple Bloom to the point of making Twilight Sparkle from Lesson Zero look sane. At least Twilight had a good excuse backed up by in-character continuity. This orange background pony has no excuse and learns her lesson the hard way because she was too stupid to figure it out herself. On the other hand, the moral’s implications break the whole ending and make the conflict look ridiculous and worthless. Overall, my second-most hated episode this season so far (behind Rainbow Falls) and a poorly written performance in what is hands down the worst Applejack episode to date.