S05:E16 - Made in Manehattan

[Meushell 52]

On 8/30/2018 at 4:25 PM, AlexanderThrond said:

Cold open still infuriates me... Twilight can't accompany them because, uh, what reason, exactly? She's a princess! Who's gonna tell her not to go on vacation? And how does Twilight know why the map makes its decisions? As far as we know, this is like the third time it's ever done anything! None of this makes any sense. 

Kind of interesting. If she had gone, I guess she would have fixed everything up, and the issue might not have been solved. Of course, since she didn’t really know that, there was no reason within the show to not go.

This episode was kind of boring. I wonder if it would have helped to have Twilight go, help fix things up, then have them discover why she wasn’t sent. It would have been interesting to see them learn why to listen to the map. Instead, the reason was sort of just dropped into the episode.

[bigbertha 414]

This one is pretty dull. The entire first act is just Applejack and Rarity walking around Manehattan. Some jokes work, most don't, but the important thing to note here is that it doesn't set up the story. It pounds into your head that Applejack doesn't know why she was called to Manehattan, but it doesn't set up the story with Coco. That happens out of nowhere from a flyer flying into Rarity's face. This makes a large portion of the first act seem like filler, especially since the rest of the episode also pounds into your head the same point of Applejack not knowing what to do.

The rest of the episode isn't much better. Most scenes drag on for longer than they need to, especially the scene of Applejack trying to fix the park, and the entire third act is resolution. I have no idea why the actual play takes up so much time, but it gets boring. The episode should've used some of that time to show the process of making the new theater seeing how much time is spent showing how bad the old theater was. Instead, one cut and it's done. That's very anticlimactic.

Also, the main tension of the episode comes from Applejack not knowing why the map sends her to Manehattan, but we don't even know why the mane six follow the map. All of this tension is meaningless because for all we know, she doesn't have to go. There is still no reason given for why anyone cares about the map. If the map only served as a plot device to get characters to places, that'd be one thing, but the map is a part of Applejack's internal conflict. Also Twilight is still moping around at not getting to go to Manehattan when there is nothing stopping her from going. Why is she bored when she can go wherever she wants? 

Score: 3/10

[Astralshy 26,625]

I really love the simultaneously existence of this and the next episode. It's the same like in season three with spike and the pets.

What I also love here was to see Coco again The rest of this episode was good. But there was really nothing memorable else for me. So this was definitely not one of the top tier episode of this season for me.

But this is definitely a good episode with Rarity and AJ

[Rosy Moonlight 369]

The lesson of this episode is incredibly relatable, and things are not any less busy. 

The lesson of this episode is incredibly relatable, and things are not any less busy these days.

I wonder if Mrs. Pear Blossom is related to Pear Butter, and if she has met her.

I'm also curious if Pear Butter visited Manehatten as a filly and her stories inspired Applejack to move there.

 

[Antiyonder 1,151]

The episode is present on this compilation at the 1:04:34 mark:

A solo video will be posted when uploaded.