S05:E04 - Bloom and Gloom

[Rainboom Dash 1,056]

I thought it was an alright episode, and quiet a step down from the previous three. Interesting that we've had a full trilogy of Luna-CMC episodes now.

[BrilliantVenture 334]

Aright now...let's see...

 

Yes. I really loved the episode! 

 

Good writing, good story, part of the plot threw me for a loop (which always makes perfect to me!)

 

and some good development to boot...

 

the ONLY thing I feel is wrong with the episode is the epic troll that hasbro studios/the writers put into the episode.

 

That screenshot of Vinyl, Octavia, and Rarity judging sweetie belle's voice?; yeah...only lasted 10 seconds.

 

I thought there was going to be a full episode based around it, so when I saw it come and go...I was just like..."wait...what?"

 

anyway, good episode overall! Plenty of reason to love the season so far...

 

I give it 4.2 brohoofs out of 5!

[princessrose 36]

That episode really hung the fandom out to dry there. xd I did believe that Apple Bloom was going to get her cutie mark, too bad Hasbros are better trolls than Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash combined. I still loved the episode. It made me feel confused and dizzy, just like Apple Bloom.

[HailTrixie 239]

Loved the episode, although it made me feel a little stupid for thinking that Hasbro would actually give the CMC their cutie marks . Babs getting hers was pretty cool, caught me way off guard.

 

Did Luna's voice acting seem a little off to anyone else?

Edited April 19, 2015 by HailTrixie

[James A Williams 199]

Minor thoughts in 3, 2, 1:

 

Wow. Babs Seed got her cutie mark! (OFFSCREEN!) Was Babs' voice actress hard to bring back into the studio? Is that why we've only seen her for 2 episodes?

 

Yeah, unless you haven't figured it out last season, Michelle Creber hit puberty and from what I can gather, so did Apple Bloom.

 

Ashleigh Ball's singing should be CD album worthy.

 

If there's something strange,

In your neighbourhood,

Who ya gonna call?,

Twittermite-busters!

 

These questions came into my mind:

"Is this gonna be like Groundhog Day?"

"When is Princess Luna gonna show up?"

"Why are Diamond Twat and Silver Sh*t still being prejudice c*nts?!"

 

Wow, not only can Pinkie Pie a good turkey call, but she can also do a good rooster call. Tied to balloons. In her Nightmare Night costume. Yeah, that's absolutely something she would do. No, really.

 

Who has cake for breakfast? Oh yeah, Pinkie. I forgot.

 

Big Mac spoke in full sentences, but it was in a dream. GODDAMMIT!!!!

 

Luna helped Scootallo in Sleepless in PonyVille, then she helped Sweetie Belle in For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, now she helps Apple Bloom here. The trilogy/story arc is finally complete and it's we've predicted since For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils.

 

Is that doors thing a reference to The Matrix?

 

Vinyl! Speak damn it, SPEAK! How hard is it to find a voice for you? Am I really gonna wait until the [clears throat] "background ponies episode" to hear you speak?

 

Is there gonna be an episode about the CMC giving the care package to Babs and conflict could be what give to her? I'd like to see that happen.

[Guest FlyingSparkle]

I just dont like the CMC. I like everything but CMC. Unpopular opinion.

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

Hmm, maybe some actual character? As well as some background on why she's so mean? I really hope so. I would really love to actually have her at least somewhat sympathetic.

Well, Chantal Strand wouldn't tease about Diamond Tiara if it wasn't something big, I think

[Luffyiscool 397]

Ashleigh Ball's singing should be CD album worthy.

Well, she is the singer in a band. (Hey Ocean)

So that kinda came true already

 

 

 

Is that doors thing a reference to The Matrix?

I get more of a Monsters Inc vibe lol

[Persona22 205]

I liked the new angle the approached here with the CMC.

 

Applebloom was not worried that she wasn't going to get her cutie mark.

She was worried that she WAS going to get her cutie mark, but had no idea if she would like it, or if others would, or what her life was supposed to be like after she got it.

[UnknownFry 169]

I found it to be a little bit of drop in quality from the first three episodes this season, but it was still an enjoyable episode that tackled several major issues concerning cutie marks that have been widely expressed  by the fandom in the past, and Applebloom was a good fir considering all this CMC business started with her.

 

8/10

 

The show does seem to imply that the Cutie Mark Crusading club may come to an end once the marks have been earned, but their friendship should remain even if it is tested.

 

I thought the choices for cutie marks used in the nightmares was interesting enough, and I do like the idea of Applebloom possibly being a dolphin trainer, Scootaloo being a chef, and Sweetie Belle a janitor.

 

Princess Luna was fantastic in this one, and she was the star of this episode.

 

I also enjoyed the first nightmare more so than the others one as I found the pest pony aching to retire an intersting character , and there was plenty of action handling the twittermites leading up to the barn being destroyed action. Quite a shocking and revolting experience.

 

Applejack was handled pretty well in her interactions with Applebloom throughout the episode, and it was a nice twist to pull a Ponyville Confidential in the dream of her family disowning her by having Big Mac deliver the news, while AJ just went yep or nope.

 

It was good that they followed through on Babs Seed.

Edited April 19, 2015 by UnknownFry

[James A Williams 199]

Well, she is the singer in a band. (Hey Ocean)

So that kinda came true already

I know Ashleigh being part of Hey Ocean!. I used one of their songs in Ashleigh's birthday video i made last year.

 

[tygerdan 4]

This week's mini PMV

 

 

It was low hanging fruit, but it just had to be done.

At 27 seconds when AB got zapped, she had a whole apple in her stomach? Or was it her apple heart?!

[paradoxical 1,735]

the ONLY thing I feel is wrong with the episode is the epic troll that hasbro studios/the writers put into the episode.

 

That screenshot of Vinyl, Octavia, and Rarity judging sweetie belle's voice?; yeah...only lasted 10 seconds.

 

 

I loved that that was a total troll, I wrote a character list/glossary with about half the details absolute lies to avoid spoilers. . . So I don't mind that type of trolling.

[Time Shield 402]

By the way, did Hasbro team up with IHOP or something? The last two episodes keep giving me pancake cravings! Maybe the theme of the season is actually, "Muffins are for losers; pancakes are where it's at!"

[Ice Fox 1,145]

I think it would have been better if it won't as dream-based as it was. Mind you, I liked the dream aspect, but I think it may have benefitted from having a little more real world story before going into it; or maybe even a bit of real world story inbetween ( as in, Aplebloom has nightmares every night after Cutie Mark expeiences, etc, during the day. )

 

Still good though, and I did enjoy the crazy, unpredictable feeling a dreamworld can have.

[AnonyPoni 564]

Does anyone else think the writers are getting better at pacing? I was impressed at how well they used the 22 minutes.

[lilysavage 4]

I totally thought that Apple Bloom's shadow was actually Starlight Glimmer! That would have made for a good two part episode. Apple Bloom falls under Starlight Glimmer's control or something and the Mane 6 have to fight to get her back. 

 

I liked the episode overall and I'm kinda thinking that the CMC are going to become students of Luna or something. 

[simba86 1,541]

I liked this episode "lets face it I like them all LOL" pretty cool and it had luna in it so extra points, don't you hate those dreams where you think you have woke up but iT is really just another dream? So babs has her cutie mark now,it's a pair of scissors LOL over all it was an interesting episode

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

One thing this episode makes me sad about is comparing Luna and Celestia's importance lately; Luna really has been made center stage in importance lately helping characters grow and develop with episodes like this, SIP and FWTST, but Celestia really has been reduced to being in the background

 

 

Loved the episode, although it made me feel a little stupid for thinking that Hasbro would actually give the CMC their cutie marks . Babs getting hers was pretty cool, caught me way off guard.

 

Did Luna's voice acting seem a little off to anyone else?

 

I've heard that complaint from alot of people; seemingly, she let her Rarity voice creep in a little too much to the performance.

 

I really liked this one. The whole dream sequence really put Applebloom through the wringer, but hopefully she learned her lesson. It was nice to see Luna taking care of dream business once again. And who knew Big Mac could be so mean?

 

Also, something's got to be done about Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, even if they're in a dream.

 

haha, no one likes DT and ST XD

I blame her father. He's not exactly a prize in personality himself.

 

 

I think it would have been better if it won't as dream-based as it was. Mind you, I liked the dream aspect, but I think it may have benefitted from having a little more real world story before going into it; or maybe even a bit of real world story inbetween ( as in, Aplebloom has nightmares every night after Cutie Mark expeiences, etc, during the day. )

 

Still good though, and I did enjoy the crazy, unpredictable feeling a dreamworld can have.

 

 

You mean like have it be applebloom being in the "real" world and the shadow having been an actual entity that took her mark away?

[Echo.Bat 0]

I really liked this episode. Exited to see the CMC and Luna again.

I really liked this episode. Exited to see the CMC and Luna again.

I really liked this episode. Exited to see the CMC and Luna again.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

 

 

When looking at every scene throughout the middle of this episode, you shouldn't look at it without considering it in the context of how Apple Bloom sees the world, not as it actually is. DT and Silver Spoon are up to their old tricks because that's all she knows of DT and Silver Spoon. You can't expect any character development on their part, because technically they weren't actually in the episode, that was all in Apple Bloom's head. The same can be said for those scenes of the other two Crusaders telling her off. That's all her expectation, not to be measured against reality.   Apple Bloom's always been impatient about getting a cutie mark, but this episode dealt with a different manifestation of that. It dealt with her fearing the unknown, and that's very believable for someone in that situation, especially of her age. The kinds of questions she brought up are actually quite familiar to pretty much every Crusaders thread in Show Discussion since the previous season ended, and ones I've been waiting for this show to take on. With this undying devotion to self-image MLP's world has, it never really addresses the concern of a negative self-image too often. This episode finally acknowledges the presence of such a possibility, to spend every hour of your short life working for something that didn't benefit you.

 

I agree. Those are all Apple Bloom's memories mushed up in a screwy dream world of fear. Of course it's all "Old stuff" to us. It's all Applebloom's past. I relate to her fear of the unknown.

 

 

I enjoyed it thoroughly. People who complain about tediousness and repetition obviously have never experienced waking up from a dream and going about your business only to find out that you're still asleep. I've heard of cases where people remember it happening almost a dozen times. And in any case, it's not repetitive: it was actually pretty fun to note the minor differences each time the dream restarted (the breakfast being the most obvious, but there were others).

For anyone complaining about the characters in the dream not having much depth, they are in a dream after all. Dream characters tend to be pretty one-dimensional to begin with, since they reflect how the dreamer sees them. On the other hand, we got to see a lot about AB's thoughts and insecurities here, which was very welcome character development.

Yes! Exactly! Thank you! I didn't find this episode repetitive at all even after a re watch because you notice new things and the repetitiveness is there for a very good reason. I have had dreams that seem to restart like pressing rewind but they never end the same. 

[Ice Fox 1,145]

You mean like have it be applebloom being in the "real" world and the shadow having been an actual entity that took her mark away?

 No, keep that aspect, and indeed, all of the scenes with AB getting a cutie mark, in dreams. But throw in some real world story in between, like, for example, elaborating on why AB should fear what her mark may be.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, I found this episode kind of boring, and it's probably fairly low in the rewatchability factor. Playing out a full separate dream sequence for each of Apple Bloom's worries (getting a cutie mark she doesn't like or others don't like, being rejected by the CMC for having a cutie mark when they don't or vice versa, and being kicked out of her family for not having an apple-related cutie mark) caused the episode to drag, and once I figured out which scenario was going on, I was basically just waiting for it to finish - nothing really interesting or unexpected happened. Consequently, I don't have a whole lot of observations about the episode.

 

The CMCs imagining the horror scenario of getting a cutie mark they don't like is a little baffling to me. My understanding is that cutie marks are supposed to signify ponies' special talents, i.e., those things that they are best suited for doing, that set them apart from everyone else, and that they presumably like doing. How would a pony get a cutie mark in something that he/she has never heard of (like Apple Bloom's pest pony mark) or really doesn't like doing? That would almost seem to be impossible by definition. Really, though, precisely how and why ponies get cutie marks is still rather mysterious. So the CMCs question of "What if we get cutie marks we don't like?" can't be answered without first answering exactly how and why cutie marks are obtained in the first place.

 

Also, I have posted about this in regard to the other two CMC/Luna episodes here and here, but I can't help noting that Luna apparently still has little regard for ponies' privacy in the dream realm. Luna seems to have no compunction about showing the extent of her workload to Apple Bloom, and showing Apple Bloom the private dreams of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, apparently without their consent. We still have no answer as to whether all ponies in Equestria (and their parents/guardians if they're not of consenting age) have preemptively given Luna permission to go through any of their dreams and show them to anyone else for any reason she deems fit. We also don't know if ponies are even informed when Luna shares their dreams with someone else, and what processes are in place for restitution (if any) if they don't approve of Luna sharing that specific dream to that pony.

 

Now for the (relative) handful of miscellaneous observations I made during the episode:

 

Apple Bloom worries that Babs Seed will be spending all her time cutting hair and so can't run the Manehattan CMCs. But does getting one's cutie mark really mean that one has to start doing work related to that cutie mark immediately?

 

Why does Apple Bloom need to be "tucked in" by Applejack? I don't know, to me, she seems a little too mature for that.

 

Apple Bloom switches from her mind racing with worries and questions to feeling tired and falling asleep within 30 seconds or so? I might expect her to lie awake in bed for a while still thinking about those things. And it's hard to believe that Applejack's lullaby would really have that powerful of an effect, especially on a pony as old as Apple Bloom.

 

Applejack only turns the lights out in Apple Bloom's room after the door is closed, so apparently the light switch for her room is outside the room, which is kind of strange.

 

Why does Applejack have no idea what Apple Bloom's pest pony cutie mark means? She demonstrates later that she knows what a pest pony is, so did it just not occur to Applejack that that might be what the cutie mark means?

 

How would the older pest pony have known so quickly that Apple Bloom got a cutie mark in being a pest pony and is hence his replacement?

 

Is calling the twittermites necessary to suck them up? Why would they listen and obey anyway? Is it part of the special talent of a pest pony to be able to call twittermites and have them listen and obey?

 

The dream sequences in the prior two CMC/Luna episodes only lasted about a minute or so before Princess Luna came in, whereas this time it takes almost the whole episode before she does so; I guess that's evidence that, as Luna said, she's been having a busy night.

 

To illuminate Apple Bloom's shadow, Luna moves the moon, which hardly seems like the fastest or most convenient method, not to mention that if the moon is moved, it may not be in a good position to reflect light from the sun in the first place.

 

Finally, why is Applejack singing the lullaby in the kitchen while cooking? I don't know if she's even aware that Apple Bloom is there when she starts singing it, but even if Applejack does know that, why would that be the first thing she says to Apple Bloom? Is the lullaby just so catchy that she couldn't help singing it?

[Grepper 3,192]

I suspected that Apple Bloom was dreaming about fifteen seconds before she "woke up" from her nightmare.

I found the recursive dreams weird, and I don't think this episode is very rewatchable.

I thought it was funny that the pancakes were becoming more decorated in each of the dreams, and were very plain when she really woke up.

[Shadowking58 1,137]

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN