I've seen a large number of people express great dislike for "Somepony to Watch Over Me", specifically for what they describe as OOC actions from Applejack. Honestly, I couldn't disagree more, but I will concede that I can see why people would miss it. At the same time, I think that if one reads between the lines enough, you can see why her behavior here would make sense. So without further ado, let's begin my review of "Somepony to Watch Over Me".

Well I suppose based on that introduction that it goes without saying that I loved it, I really did, especially after last week's disappointment of an episode. Certainly wasn't the best episode of the season, but it was definitely up there among the better episodes we've had, and both Apple Bloom and Applejack were great here I thought. Maybe one reason I really liked it was because, as both an older sibling and first-child, I could understand both where Applejack and Apple Bloom were coming from here. Anyways, besides those two I thought it had some great pacing, fun comedy, fantastic animation, especially at the end, and some very unexpected but very appreciated suspense and action, complete with a top-notch baddy in the form of the chimera.

Chores done, house to myself, time to do whatever the buck I want, WOOHOO!!!

To start things off, let's cover Apple Bloom and Applejack, since they were so interconnected in this episode. I think we can all agree that Applejack learned the primary lesson here, even if Apple Bloom had a sort-of lesson at the end about how, just because she can do some things on her own, it doesn't mean she has to do everything by herself, especially if it puts her in danger, but, to be fair, that was mostly AJ's fault. And yes, I DO think that this lesson that AJ learned, that she doesn't have to be overprotective of her little sister as she starts to mature and grow older, doing more and more things on her own, WAS not only a good lesson that was delivered quite well, but was ALSO something she really had to learn. Consider past episodes. The one time we'd really seen Applejack overprotective of Apple Bloom was in "Bridle Gossip", which most concede made perfect sense since they were dealing with somepony who they didn't know and were very afraid of, not to mention that Apple Bloom did run off on her own there. Some quick to criticize this episode have pointed out that we haven't seen that since, ergo, so the argument goes, AJ being overprotective was OOC. But consider this; when else has Apple Bloom really had any responsibilities to handle or been involved in very dangerous situations on her own, that Applejack actually entrusted to her. I'm not talking spur-of-the-moment crises like the float they made getting out of control in "One Bad Apple", that happened in a span of 5 minutes and AJ had no idea it was coming, I'm talking about a responsibility that AJ had time to entrust to her. Can you think of any? Cause I sure can't. Apple Bloom regularly helps around Sweet Apple Acres, even with some hard work, she has to, BUT Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Mac have always been there to keep an eye on her. Playing with the CMC doesn't count either, Applejack usually is aware that they're either on the farm, at one of the CMC's houses, or at least in Ponyville, so there's reason for her to get worried there. This was, as far as I can tell, the first time that AJ has entrusted Apple Bloom with a weighty responsibility to handle on her own for at least a day, maybe two. So, why does she freak out as much as she does, even after entrusting her with the responsibility? Well from what we learn it's clear that Big Mac and Granny Smith convinced AJ this was a good idea in the first place, most likely Granny Smith especially. On her own, I don't think AJ would've felt comfortable with that decision, and as soon as she gets away from Granny Smith's consoling presence and starts over-thinking everything, she works herself up into a fretful state. Again, the question is WHY? Why does AJ get so very worried? I think, if you read between the lines, you can discern why she does and Big Mac and Granny Smith, and it makes perfect sense I think. We know based on what DHX writers have said in the past that the Apple siblings parents passed away some time ago, probably while Applejack was an older filly and Apple Bloom a foal. Now, Granny Smith has seen children and grandchildren grow up and grow into handling responsibilities on their own countless times, so she obviously wouldn't be concerned about Apple Bloom being able to handle this on her own. Big Mac, being the oldest Apple sibling, already saw his first little sister, Applejack, grow into a fine young mare herself no sweat, even after losing their parents, so that explains his cool approach to the situation as well. But Applejack? She's really never seen that in anyone younger than her in her immediate family. One has to imagine that, after losing her parents, Applejack would not only be very protective of all of her family, but especially Apple Bloom, who was no longer just a little sister to her, but, given the new responsibilities suddenly thrust upon her in both running the farm and raising her sister, almost something like her very own child, her FIRST CHILD even. As a first child myself I can tell you that parents are always most protective of the first child since everything's new with the first one. Take that into account with the tragic experience with her parents, along with the fact that AJ's now, more or less, the acting head of the Apple family in the field (seeing as she's more sociable and outgoing than Big Mac and handles much more farm business than Granny Smith), and it suddenly makes perfect sense that AJ would be so overprotective of Apple Bloom when she's for the first time given the responsibility of running the farm all on her own for at least 1-2 days. She's always been there before to make sure Apple Bloom was just fine while helping around the farm, or at least Big Mac or Granny Smith were, so there was no reason for her to fret. But in this situation, deep-buried fears and insecurities of AJ's surfaced quite dramatically, to the detriment of the precocious young Apple Bloom, and even though it was obviously wrong for AJ to worry so much, I understand given both her past and the fact that she's AB's older sister why she became so overprotective. In conclusion, I think that this perfectly explains AJ's behavior here; like I said, it takes some reading between the lines, but I for one think it makes plenty of sense. So even though we didn't get any explicit allusions to their parents, I think that this episode had plenty to do with their parental situation all the same, and I'm glad to see that Applejack learned this lesson about trusting her little sister and not fretting so much as she grows older, eventually into a fine young mare herself ready to take on the world.

So besides her mistake which, I for one think was both believable and hardly OOC (and I hope that others find my reasoning sound, but if you didn't that's fine), there were a lot of other things to love about AJ and AB here. Applejack was pretty hilarious when she was fretting and baby-proofing Sweet Apple Acres, especially with that checking-in gag when she thought AB was taking a nap. On top of that, she was AMAZING at the end when she took down that chimera. Applejack's really been proving this season that she is probably the most physically adept member of the Mane 6, to say the least; sure she might have her strength, but she doesn't have wings, magic, or a ridiculous amount of natural talent like a lot of the other Mane 6 do. She has to work for everything she gets, and it shows; she took down that chimera with both brawn, moves, and smarts, so like I said earlier, ninja AJ was friggin' Batman in that scene and I loved it!!! As for Apple Bloom, she had a great episode too; it was actually the first episode she's had that specifically focused on her alone out of the CMC since "The Cutie Pox" way back in Season 2, and it was far better than that episode. She's really grown in that time and showed yet again why she's the leader of the CMC; she really is quite mature at this point and was very earnestly trying to prove that she could handle herself. The best part of it all? She was doing so at the beginning, and a great job at that! Unfortunately, as so often happens to children or younger siblings, as soon as her older sister came back it just seemed like she couldn't do anything right, or that AJ always found her at the wrong time or in the wrong place (so I could actually empathize with her quite a bit). I also loved the mistake that she made, because it was both AJ and AB's fault, her wandering off into the woods at the end, and those are the most realistic kind of mistakes, especially between family. Oftentimes both parties are to blame for some kind of mistake made, especially something as bad as that one; AJ was being too overprotective, and AB, justifiably upset, made a poor judgment and rushed into a very dangerous situation that she wasn't ready for (though did handle far better than I or AJ thought she would). Basically, what we got here was an Apple Bloom who has significantly grown as a character since Season 1, an Applejack who understandably had to deal with that and accept it, and, what I thought, was a heck of a good episode as a result. As far as sister episodes go, I'd say it's right on par with Rarity and Sweetie Belles "Sisterhooves Social" and Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's "Sleepless in Ponyville".

Me: NO! *I am, actually

*

Besides those two, there were plenty of other things I loved about this episode. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had quite a bit of solid comedic bits, especially in the middle of the episode (that aborted song bit was to die for, seriously!). The comedy, in fact, was, all around, quite delightful, and it was especially fun seeing Applejack being so over-the-top protective, just because we so rarely see her being a silly pony (reference totally intended). The pacing was great, helped largely by the fact that they limited the characters in the episode (something that, at times, has been a problem this season, so it was very wise of the writers here to only utilize the Apple Family, the CMC, and some other minor characters). The chimera was a very B.A. and surprisingly silly antagonist, awesome in design, even if she got her flank handed to her (unsurprisingly) by AJ. That whole sequence in fact was awesome, complete with some great animation, action, and suspense. The Cajun ponies at the end had some great and silly designs, and were a very silly but fun way to round out the episode. All in all, I thought that this was a very different but excellently handled episode. At some points it was slice of life, other points straight up silliness, and at other points it even had some unexpected but very well handled action and suspense. But overall, what I loved most about the episode was the interactions between Applejack and Apple Bloom, and the very good lesson learned by AJ and wonderful character growth evident in both Applejack and Apple Bloom. I thought that the last thing AJ was here was OOC, and I hope after reading the reasoning behind my conclusion that others who've thought otherwise might feel the same, if only because it might make the episode more enjoyable for you.