Alrighty, good morning everypony, and welcome to another edition of "Batbrony Reviews". This was a pretty darn good episode we had today, though I did go so far as to vote that I loved it. I did so because I thought that the lesson itself and the way it was delivered earned that, even if the rest of the episode was just perfectly fine and nothing amazing. Without further ado, let's get into "Applejack's "Day" Off".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would describe this, first and foremost, as a quintessential Applejack episode for the problem and lesson learned alone. The problem presented was one that, out of all the Mane 6, Applejack was most likely to fall into, and the way the lesson was learned was also pretty much how AJ of all the girls would learn a lesson like that. The problem and lesson were both quite simple. Applejack got stuck in a lot of work routines she was used to that were adding more work than was needed, and needed to simplify how she was doing things. Pretty straightforward. The reason it worked real well was all in the execution. The problem was set up very nicely in showing Applejack handle a very similar problem for the Ponyville Spa, and it was a nice touch as well that she was the one who inadvertently delivered the lesson of the episode while displaying the same problem. That's pretty much AJ right there; she likes keeping her routines because she's comfortable running her farm in the same manner day in and day out, but she's practical and hard working enough that she'd recognize the wisdom of simplifying things. She just thought she had simplified things as much as she could, so what she needed was the same thing the Spa Ponies needed, an outside party to tell her how she could make things more efficient and make less work for herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest reason I really appreciated this lesson is twofold. One, they were very, very patient in how they taught the lesson. The episode's pacing could be a bit slow at times, but it did make for the lesson being very clear in how it came across. Two, this is a lesson that you rarely see taught in kids shows, mostly because we all like getting into routines, and sometimes it's difficult to know when a routine is doing more harm than good. Routines are comfortable to us because they're something we're used to, so sometimes we really need friends or family to tell us if we need to change things up in how we're doing something. I thought the lesson was very nuanced, thoughtful, and incredibly well-executed in its delivery, and again, the mere subject matter alone is to be commended. This would have been a simple episode no matter what, so they did about as good of a job with it as they could have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides that, there's not a whole lot to cover. It was really nice that we got to see a lot more of Sweet Apple Acres and, especially, the Ponyville Spa, and the fact that the episode was largely centered on those two settings alone meant that we got to spend a lot more time at both (especially the latter) than we normally do and got to see a lot more. Getting to see so much of Aloe and some of the other Spa Ponies was a delight, if only because her accent was adorable, plus it was super fun seeing AJ, Rarity, and even Rainbow Dash at the spa. I really liked the little touch that not only at some point between Season 2 and this episode it was made clear that RD not only got over her hooficure/hoof-touching phobia and started enjoying pampering herself (albeit, in secret, though that seems to have changed by the end of the episode), but also that at no point was Applejack ever once turned off by the idea of going to the spa. The episode made it quite clear that she has routinely enjoyed spa days with Rarity, and given how long all the girls have been friends with each other, that really shouldn't be surprising at this point; after five and a half seasons, it's only natural that AJ would be far more comfortable than she used to be with tapping into her feminine side, plus it makes perfect sense that she'd be cool with the spa since it's a prime place to unwind and relax after a long, hard day's work.

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said, the pacing was a bit slow at times, which was most noticeable since not too much in particular happened, and on top of that I was actually disappointed that we didn't actually get to see Applejack truly relaxing at the spa, just talking about it the whole time with Rarity. That might sound weird, but I don't know, I think I feel that way because I enjoy seeing characters in situations we normally don't see them in; it was nice to hear AJ say how much she was going to enjoy the spa, sure, but it would have been nice all the same to see her actually getting to do it. I think it's comparable to like when Batman and Jim Gordon shared a cup of coffee on New Year's Eve (apparently an annual tradition of theirs) in B:TAS, or the Christmas episode of the Justice League animated series when we got to see Hawkgirl and Green Lantern celebrating at an alien bar, Flash making sure some orphans had a Merry Christmas, and Martian Manhunter spending Christmas with Clark Kent in Smallville and coming to understand it. The charm of these scenarios is that they give us the chance to see sides of characters we don't usually get to see, or just them doing things we don't usually get to see them do. It's a little thing, but those little things can be some of our favorite character moments, so I would have liked if maybe they had sped up some of the episode's pacing just so they could have a bit with the end where we got to see AJ reaping the rewards of her hard work and lesson learned.

 

Other than that, however, I have no complaints. It wasn't an amazing episode, but a perfectly fine one with a very, very commendable and excellently executed message, and one that fit its main character, Applejack, to a T. Nopony felt uncharacteristically stupid, neither AJ nor Twilight and Spike, and it made perfect sense that the latter were stumped by her convoluted list of steps needed just to feed the pigs. It had a very slice of life feel to it and felt like it would have perfectly belonged in Season 1, but it worked plenty fine as a Season 6 episode as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this one for what it was and was trying to be, which I think it perfectly succeeded at: a quintessential, slice of life Applejack episode with a problem and lesson tailor made for her. That's all I got for you today everypony. Until next week, this is Batbrony signing off. I'm off! *cue dramatic exit*