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Batbrony Reviews "S03:E08 - Apple Family Reunion"


Batbrony

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Sweet applesauce, "Apple Family Reunion" was undoubtedly the best Applejack episode ever!!! Lot of things to cover for this one, so let's begin, shall we?

 

First of all, this episode was wonderfully executed and paced, and that is no small feat considering this episode was covering a family reunion of all things!!! But did this episode just have the family reunion? Heck no, we had back story on the reunion, preparation for the reunion, and the reunion itself of all things, and yet at no point did the episode actually feel rushed! That is incredibly impressive, and I cannot laud praise on DHX enough for how masterful they are at pacing the episodes at this point.

 

 

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MLP: it now makes subtle visual implications that main characters' parents are dead!

 

 

Second, this was the best Applejack episode ever for one very particular reason: it was the best lesson she's ever had to learn, really, largely because this was probably the biggest mistake she's ever made. Yes, she's made mistakes in the past, but they've usually never affected anypony else (except for those worm-muffins she baked with Pinkie in "Apple Bucking Season"), and usually only affect her instead. This time, however, her entire family, I mean, her ENTIRE family, was suffering all because AJ was overdoing it. It just goes to show that over-planning and organizing certain events and affairs, especially those that are meant to be simply fun get-togethers between friends or family, can actually do more harm than good, and AJ learned a great lesson about enjoying the simple and little things, especially with your family, that is a great lesson for anypony, and in some ways, a more pressing issue for older viewers, especially those of us who like to organize things meticulously and run events smoothly. So yeah, that was probably the biggest mistake AJ's ever made, and we all benefited because of it, getting the best AJ episode ever with the best lesson she's ever learned!

 

 

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Moments like these where we just got to see the Apples themselves linking up with each other at the reunion were among my favorite of this episode. Plus, LOOK, BELLY RUB, IT'S SO ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Third, the Apples... there were a lot of them!!! It was awesome getting to see AJ's whole family again, including return appearances by Braeburn and Babs, which is just a nice bit of continuity right there. We even got to hear more about Babs's attempts to open a CMC branch in Manehattan, if ever so briefly. But perhaps my favorite part about all of the Apples was that they weren't all depicted as simply country folk or Western folk. There were some with distinctly cheeseheaded Wisconsin accents (a personal favorite of mine considering most of my mom's family is from Wisconsin), some with city-folk Manehattan accents, Babs's Brooklyn accent (she even said fughed about it, I lol'd so hard!!! laugh.png ). The episode made it clear that the Apples are really from all over Equestria, and really, you get a wide variety of ponies when they're from all over the place, with all sorts of different accents and mannerisms. But despite their differences, they're still family, and love one another dearly; perhaps my favorite part about their family bonding is that the episode showed that usually what happens with big families is that there are some you are closer to than others, such as Granny Smith and Apple Rose, or Apple Bloom and Babs, and it was wonderful to see both old relationships reaffirmed and new ones getting built within the Apple family. What else can I say about the Apples except that they're undeniably AWESOME!!!!!!!!

 

 

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Apples! Apples everywhere!!!

 

 

Four, the song. Well, ya'll knew this one was coming. We begged DHX to give AJ an actual song of her own for the longest time, and once again, Daniel Ingram did not disappoint in the slightest! Ya know what's probably the most amazing part about this particular number? HE DID COUNTRY RIGHT!!! That is no small feat friends; country, especially in a children's show, can easily sound really cheesy, but this song was both delightful and felt very in character for AJ and suitable for her first solo song of the show. I for one loved it; it was probably the biggest number we'd had since "Smile, Smile, Smile" in Season 2. I mean, with all of the Apples singing at the end, it was one big song alright! AJ finally got her own song, and Mr. Ingram, hats off to you, you did it again; "Raise This Barn" was SWEET!!!!!!!

 

 

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Country Swag

 

 

Five, the animation. I always praise the animation, but for this episode my praise is a little different, and has to do entirely with (1) location, and (2) the characters. First, I love Sweet Apple Acres, and I love seeing Sweet Apple Acres, and boy howdy, there was A LOT of Sweet Apple Acres in this episode!!! It's such a quaint locale within Ponyville, but you also always get the sense that it's really, really big, that there's something still that you haven't seen of it yet. I don't know about ya'll, but I for one was very glad to see the episode focused largely on Sweet Apple Acres itself visually, because it's one of my favorite locales in the whole show, and one that I don't think we always get to see enough of. Second, concerning the characters, the variety and yet consistency of the Apple family was really visually impressive. While they all looked unique in their own way, you could, at the same time, tell that they were all supposed to be family, and that's certainly not easy to pull off in a world of technicolored ponies (I for one especially loved it when Apple Octavia showed up, in a word, that was AWESOME). All in all, it was very fun getting to see all of the different Apples once again, especially some of the new stallion designs they came up with, because I distinctly remember not seeing that many stallions the first time we saw the Apple family in Season 1, Episode 1. Kudos to the animation team at DHX.

 

Six, AJ and AB were bucking cute!!! OK, maybe Apple Bloom being cute isn't so surprising, she always is, with her energetic personality, quirky sense of humor, and just overall cute mannerisms. But Applejack?!?! HOLY CRAP, I couldn't count how many times she did something adorable. Her pose in the family picture was adorable, she had quite a few cute moments when she was preparing for the reunion with her friends' help, and of course, she was very cute with her family once the reunion got going on the right track. But the moment that stole the show (and you all what I'm talking about) was... foal AJ. Sweet Celestia, I thought she was cute as a filly in "Cutie Mark Chronicles," but this was too much!!! Heck, it was too much when I saw her alone, but then she TALKED!!! Needless to say, I squeed for about 5 minutes straight. Actually, come to think of it, I think that's actually the youngest canon scene we've ever actually had in the show of any of the Mane 6. I WANT MORE, STUDIO B, MORE!!!!!!!

 

 

Oh my gosh, WHY IS IT SO CUTE?!?!?!

 

 

All in all, this was a great last episode to have before Christmas of 2012, and, in my book, the best Applejack episode we'd ever had. It was funny, it was cute, the animation was amazing, the Apple family was awesome, the reunion was awesome, there was great continuity, the pacing and execution were phenomenal, and it had a great lesson for all ages. What more could ya ask for, really? Hats off to the team on another phenomenal episode for Season 3!!!

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Loved this review, Batbrony. You mentioned everything that I would have for what it probably my personal favorite season 3 episode, and definitely one of my favorite Applejack episodes. This episode has probably done the most justice for Applejack's character since the series began. She is front and center the whole 22 minutes, and there's not another Mane Six Pony or Derpy to "steal" her thunder. :P

  • Brohoof 2
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Loved this review, Batbrony. You mentioned everything that I would have for what it probably my personal favorite season 3 episode, and definitely one of my favorite Applejack episodes. This episode has probably done the most justice for Applejack's character since the series began. She is front and center the whole 22 minutes, and there's not another Mane Six Pony or Derpy to "steal" her thunder. tongue.png

 

Glad you liked it SC, and that I did the episode justice! :)

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