On 5/1/2017 at 0:15 AM, Dark Qiviut said:

While there are some issues here, it doesn't change the things it does right. As far as character and progression is concerned, this is some of Fluttershy's best characterization. She had the right idea on what the animals need and is absolutely in the right to call out the people she hired for betraying her word. And despite not having a blueprint, she does know what she's doing, and she's assertive without crossing the line. It's a good episode, but could've done better if the plot was quicker.

Well, things have changed. If you click on the link, notice how the bottom paragraph's crossed out now.

The more I think about it, the bigger the issues surrounding the conflict come up.

What helps create an engaging story is not just the conflict in itself, but also the depth of the conflict. When you have both sides being right and wrong, you help create interest for the viewer. Fluttershy is very assertive here, which she should be after the people she hired turned their backs on her. Yet, her and everyone else being in character doesn't make an episode or story good in quality. There are some huge additional problems with the conflict.

1. It's extremely bare, if not nonexistent. Even though the pacing is really slow (which I'll get to), there's almost no tension here. Whatever tension is there is wiped away because the antagonists are one-dimensional, stereotypical, or both. When there's no tension, you tend to feel annoyed or cross at the antagonists if they do something bad just for the sake of it.
   
   If you're going to make an antagonist a really big dick, add another vessel to enhance that conflict. Two episodes do this right: Rarity Takes Manhattan and The Main Attraction.
   
   In RTM, Suri plagiarized Rarity because she believed that the only way to make it to Manehattan is to take no prisoners. Rarity was visibly shaken and took it out on her friends even though they did nothing wrong. Why? Because she feels psychologically and emotionally betrayed. Rarity's feeling of betrayal and lust to get back at Suri adds depth and tension to the conflict, catapulting when she realizes her friends weren't there and believes her actions cause a fallout. Moreover, there's a small B-plot with a lot of visual storytelling: Coco visibly regretted being involved in Suri's scheme in every scene she was in leading up to the ending.
   
   Svengallop is Equestria's biggest jerk, and Applejack has to prove that he's manipulating Rara. But even though he's self-absorbed, he helped her rise to stardom, and Rara gave out valid reasons to believe him and stick with him directly to AJ. It took AJ's stubborn instincts and help from her friends to catch him in the act.
   
   Both episodes spend their time developing their conflict from the beginning to the end. That doesn't happen in FLI. She hires ponies to help her develop the sanctuary, and when she isn't looking, they go behind her back, and leave after getting caught a few minutes later. Conflict goes in and out.
2. The pacing is really sluggish. When does the conflict begin? About eight minutes in. Remember, each FIM episode is only 22 minutes long. Beginning the conflict more than one-third of the way through is really late. And it's not like they're stuffing in so much detail in the beginning, either. The story leading up to the conflict is extremely straightforward and took plenty of time preparing itself. When your pacing is that slow, then people are gonna get bored. When people get bored, they may stop, fast-forward, or change the channel. No good episode can dawdle to a sterile conflict. I'm not sure if that truly happened here, but the final product feels over-edited.
3. It's so one-sided when it shouldn't be. Fluttershy is portrayed to be one-hundred percent in the right the entire time, when she should've borne some responsibility for this mess. Fluttershy met them together only once to explain what she wants. Then when she and Hard Hat talk together, they spend no time planning or preparing a blueprint. She gives them her ideas and vague guidelines, and that was that. For Dandy, the same thing with the colors she expects. She doesn't talk a lot about what type of patterns she wants, what type of material she wants, whether the material will be safe for the animals. For Wrangler, Fluttershy could've talked with her about not just the cages, but the size and height to keep them all safe and not worry about them running away prematurely. Fluttershy can work with Wrangler alongside Twilight and even Starlight (and perhaps Sunburst) into creating enclosures that can potentially repel Everfree creatures humanely. If she worked with Hard Hat, Dandy, and Wrangler and took their time conversing with each other, then they could've cooperated with each other better and understood Fluttershy's expectations and standards.
   
   This episode feels like it's trying to ride Suited for Success's coattails, this time in the client's point of view instead of the freelancer's. Unfortunately, the primary moral of sticking true to your creative vision even if others try to get in your way doesn't work here. What if Fluttershy has conceptual flaws in her sanctuary? Is everything safe for the animals, and can the sanctuary keep dangerous fantastical animals out? How can you plan it so you have the right measurements, acres, height, and area? Can they test it? Since these animals have some level of sapience in it, and Fluttershy can communicate with them easily, she can ask the animals for advice and be the middlemare to build the best sanctuary possible. There's no such thing as a perfect project. Everything can improve. Because of its shallow, sluggish conflict and Fluttershy's careless mistakes that any responsible client or contractor should pay attention to, the theme and moral they're trying to teach really ring hollow.

After sitting back and thinking about the episode, the flaws become more and more exposed. It did many things right, yet has some major issues with the conflict, both in its plausibility and weight. If one of your most important parts of telling a story has major issues, then your whole story begins to collapse.

Is Fluttershy Leans In bad? No. But is it good, either? No. It's the weakest episode conflict-wise since AJ's "Day" Off, and I would even say FLI's a little worse. At average, it's the worst episode of the season so far.