S05:E23 - The Hooffields and McColts

[EVBP 94]

I liked a lot of things about this episode: Twilight's over-enthusiasm in the beginning; Fluttershy's book club; Big Daddy McColt (pumpkin fritatas ); the trojan cake (sorry, I'm just dying over here).

 

However, there were a couple things that bugged me. The story is a classic trope, a fitting one for the show to tackle but it still felt a little cookie-cutter. It also bugs me, we've now seen two episodes in a row where Twilight - the Princess of Friendship - feels like she can't solve a problem and gets frustrated. I know it's bound to happen to anyone, I guess I just feel like two episodes in a row of Twilight feeling helpless bothers me. Maybe if they had spaced them out differently - Just an idea but swap this episode and "Hearthbreakers" in the sequence and I might feel differently about it.

 

All in all, good. Not great, but good.

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

Took me long enough to find a recording that wasn't de-synched, but overall I really enjoyed this episode. It's a big step up from the "meh" of last week, so there's that. Plus it features Fluttershy and Twilight, the latter of which is in full-on adorkable mode after being sidelined by the map twice already and the former who is always adorable. 

 

Yeah, the episode did have its predictable moments, like the fact that they spell out incredibly early that "We're good at farming, but not building." and "We're good at building, but not farming." 1 + 1 = 2 basically. Not to mention that when Ma rolled up with that cake, first thing out of my mouth was "That's a Trojan Cake, isn't it?"But besides that I think it did a pretty good job of being an entertaining episode.

 

One more thing I just realized is that the pairings for the map (RD + PP, AJ + R and TS + F) were possibly foreshadowed in "Let The Rainbow Remind You", since each pony is standing opposite from their partner for each mission. Or it could be a coincidence, I'm not ruling that out either.

[Starlight Sky 374]

Highlights

 

Fluttershy's lines: 'If you could stop yelling..or using words in general' xD

 

Calling Twilight out for the book overcount was great, too.

 

And Twilight's rational/systematic approach was a treat to see. Her declaration for peace made it clear that you can't just shout your answers at people. It's all too common that we ignore another's argument until we find an opening for our own. This shows again when they're wheeling the Trojan cake over, and Twilight wants to know what part of her argument fixed things.

 

She went on to gather data and explore new angles, but was convinced that they just needed to hear an answer from her portfolio.

 

Sidenote: She was ripping pages from a portfolio; not a book

 

Lowlights

 

Many have already mentioned the resolution feeling weak, which I agree with. Namely, it feels like we've covered this problem already. The environmental aspect adds something, but acts more like an accent to an old theme. There's also the fact that it was too easy. I recognize the time constraints, but that hasn't stopped them from telling their story in stronger ways.

 

It covers a common trope and is filled with some common stereotypes. That dirt eating scene made me stop for a sec.

 

Overall

 

Not the best, not the worst. 7ish/10, I suppose.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Starlight Sky

[EVBP 94]

Hillbillies! Tomaters! Pumkning! And booty.

 

 

Post episode edit: I liked that episode, nice FlutterTwi shipping bonding. Also how did two guys in the middle of nowhere make big families? (I smell incest)

 

LMAO! How did two GUYS make families? The anatomy doesn't quite work. I believe Lauren Faust was quoted at one point that they don't hammer logic too hard on the show. But now I'll never be able to watch this episode without giggling at your observation. /)

One more thing I just realized is that the pairings for the map (RD + PP, AJ + R and TS + F) were possibly foreshadowed in "Let The Rainbow Remind You", since each pony is standing opposite from their partner for each mission. Or it could be a coincidence, I'm not ruling that out either.

 

Whoa. I swear the writers of this show should have a second career in ARG. They are so good at seeding things in episodes!

Edited November 15, 2015 by EVBP

[Broken Gear 29]

 

 

I saw that "Trojan Horse" a mile away.

There's a contradiction in that statement! It wasn't trojan horse! That was trojan cake!

[Soobel 488]

Rumcajs the thief (Czech cartoon from 1980's) are ponified as Big Daddy McColt?

 

[Silver Stream. 708]

I don't really like how Twilight seems to be clueless about friendship this season. Gurl you've experienced that for 5 years now. You should be an expert by now. But typical Twili, has to over think things thats why we love her. You'd think that the princess of friendship would learn by now to go with the flow. Also I loved the overhead angle of Twilight and Fluttershy from when they went to see the McColts in their fortress. They looked extra cute, especially fluttershy. :3 Good episode, pretty much a black n white story, but still good episode.

She didn't seem too clueless to me. All her attempts were pretty much rational and great ideas to solve of a friendship problem. The reason why they didn't work because both families were too irrational and wouldn't listen. Twilight's method did work if you really think about it. Fluttershy was just needed to get the whole story. Once they found the root of the problem, things got better.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, this was a pretty ordinary, cookie-cutter episode - nothing really too positive or negative about it. The basic story and even many of the details (e.g. the Trojan cake) are standard cartoon fare, while Twilight and Fluttershy act more-or-less in character and don't do much of note. I don't really have any other comments about the overall episode, so I'll just write my observations below, in episode order.

 

In previous episodes, other members of the Mane Six figured out that the Cutie Map was summoning them by their cutie marks seeming to vibrate and/or make a sound, but Fluttershy only seems to notice the light from her cutie mark when summoned.

 

Twilight's research involving testing out potential friendship problems and diversifying her solution portfolio didn't have to wait until she was called; it could have been done at any time earlier (e.g. when she was complaining about being bored). It's not like the Cutie Map gives any additional information about the friendship problem to solve or what the possible solutions would be. The only additional information the Map gives is where she's going and who she's going with, neither of which would necessarily have much effect on the friendship problems and solutions that Twilight would be researching.

 

Twilight asks how it would look if the Princess of Friendship couldn't solve a friendship problem, but there have been several previous episodes where no one seemed to notice or care that she's even a princess, anyway.

 

Supposedly the Hooffields and McColts have been living on the Smoky Mountains for generations, and yet Twilight finds nothing about them in any of her books. Twilight's sole source of information makes the Smoky Mountains out to be uninhabited.

 

Fluttershy shouldn't necessarily have high expectations about meeting "animal friends" at the Smoky Mountains; after all, her attempt to make friends with the animals at the Grand Galloping Gala didn't go so well.

 

Twilight seems to have had a good reason for saying "books" twice - because she was saying the contents of each of the four bags as she was pointing to them, and two of the bags presumably contain books. Although if that's the case, Twilight put the book on the Smoky Mountains in the "blankets" bag.

 

This episode shows that Twilight is stronger than Fluttershy, at least when it comes to hauling heavy saddle bags.

 

When Twilight and Fluttershy are hovering in the air, just after the first pumpkin is fired, Fluttershy gets a magical aura around her hair and is moved down out of the way of the pumpkin, as though Twilight is moving Fluttershy out of the line of fire. But Twilight is facing away from the Hooffields' hill where the pumpkin is fired from, and she looks shocked when the pumpkin hits their bags, so how would Twilight manage to react like that and move Fluttershy out of the way? And why wouldn't Twilight move their bags out of the way as well?

 

I'm a little surprised that one of the McColts guarding the entrance to the fort actually noticed that Twilight is an alicorn - as mentioned before, there have been plenty of times when others didn't seem to make that observation.

 

Why does Twilight tear out and zap away potential friendship solutions from her portfolio when they don't work? It's doubtful that the portfolio was tailored specifically to this friendship problem, so couldn't those solutions work in a different situation?

 

It seems a little strange that the Hooffields aren't capable of building minimally structurally sound buildings, but are capable of baking a giant cake and large batches of cupcakes. What did the Hooffields use to bake these things (e.g. some kind of oven), and did they build that themselves? Not to mention that the materials for making such baked goods (flour, sugar, etc.) are not simply grown - some level of processing is involved. Did the Hooffields build the equipment capable of processing the wheat, sugar cane, etc.? I suppose they could have bought those materials from someone else, although the episode seems to portray them as living in the middle of nowhere and not normally getting visitors.

 

In the flashback story, Grub Hooffield and Piles McColt made a promise to each other to protect and preserve the valley for all the animals living in it. But why would that involve planting crops and building shelters? Aren't the animals capable of finding food and shelter themselves already? Those activities would make more sense if they were planning on settling there, making a living with their families, etc.

 

To what extent did the valley and the animals in it really suffer destruction because of the feud specifically? How much of that was just the two families living off the land, perhaps in an unsustainable way?

 

And of course, why do the animals know the whole story of the families' feud while the families themselves don't? The feud is made out to have started generations ago. Are we to presume that the woodland animals passed down the real story of the feud within their own families, while the Hooffields and McColts forgot all the details about it?

 

It's rather eyeroll-inducing that the Hooffields and McColts would refuse to set their family feud aside for the sake of their own self-interests, but apparently would do so for the sake of "teh cute and cuddly animals!!".

 

Finally, it's amazing how much of the local flora grew back in such a short time after the truce was declared. How much time is supposed to have passed, anyway? I wouldn't really expect Twilight and Fluttershy to have hung around (and for their cutie marks not to have given the "job complete" signal) for weeks or months after the truce.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Here are my thoughts on this episode:

 

 

 

TL;DW Overall, I didn't care for it all too much. There were some things I liked, mostly relating to adorable Fluttershy antics, but on the whole there were a lot of things that bugged me about it. 

Edited November 15, 2015 by LZRD WZRD

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

I actually really liked this episode

 

Seeing a new part of Equestria

More spells shown by Twilight

Pretty entertaining to watch

That freeze spell was AWESOME!

Better than the previous episode

Seeing more of Flutters

"You said books twice" ~Fluttershy

and a lot more that I'm too lazy to list right now

 

One of the things I didn't like so much was probably the ending, it was a little anticlimactic..

"FREEZE!! Now shut up and listen to Fluttershy!" ~Twilight

"Ok.. umm.. so here's what happened.." ~Fluttershy

"Oh ok.. We'll stop fighting now and work together because of that thing you said" ~Hooffields and McColts

"Yaaaay" ~Twilight and Fluttershy

*Twi's and Flutter's butts glow*

"Misshun compleet, let's go home" ~Twilight

 

But yeah.. jokes aside i thought this episode was pretty cool and has made it into one slot of my favorites list

 

EDIT: As for the whole families thing, It's pretty clear that they already had families, and they brought them to this place (Likely in attempt to outmatch the other by means of numbers and more efficiency..) After all it's not like they were orphans or something as far as we know, so logically.. they should have a family and relatives.. or at least older members..

Edited November 15, 2015 by AURAequine

[Mesme Rize 15,683]

Here are my thoughts on this episode:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xCg5ljolZM

 

 

TL;DW Overall, I didn't care for it all too much. There were some things I liked, mostly relating to adorable Fluttershy antics, but on the whole there were a lot of things that bugged me about it. 

 

Wow, LZRD wears a cappy, scary. O_o

[BlackWater627 700]

She didn't seem too clueless to me. All her attempts were pretty much rational and great ideas to solve of a friendship problem. The reason why they didn't work because both families were too irrational and wouldn't listen. Twilight's method did work if you really think about it. Fluttershy was just needed to get the whole story. Once they found the root of the problem, things got better.

 

That's a problem I've run into in real life. Even if one person is calm, rational, and willing to put down their pride, it still gets nowhere if the other person is not. Relationships are two-way streets in a sense.

 

Also, I like how Fluttershy was essential to the solution rather than a sidekick. 

[UnknownFry 169]

The Hooffields and McColts

 

Plot and Characterization

 

"Princess Twilight and Fluttershy are called by the map to settle a dispute between two feuding families who can’t even remember why they are fighting.”

 

Twilight was over excited being called on her mission with her usual excess of preparation to boot, but not the point where her behavior was excessive though she seems pretty happy about her title now even if she imposes lofty standards to go with it. Pretty impressive usage of her magic in this episode, and she finally learned that all the answers are not found through books and studies.

 

Fluttershy has a nice and calming presence with her focus on taking care of the animals that ultimately paid off in finding the cause of the feud. Not too shabby.

 

Big Daddy McColt and Ma Hoofield were the only ones of the two feuding families that got much in the way of characterization, and both were depicted as stubborn and set in their ways but in a humorous way that kept the episode engaging and entertaining.

 

The plot and moral was relatively simple and straightforward compared to the past few episodes and this is not bad a thing as it remained engaging throughout the entire episode. The humor and the pacing was certainly on point as well.

 

10/10

 

Animation and Music

 

Background was appropriate to episode capturing the feel of two backwoods families engaged in a feud

 

Aside from the wing animation error towards the start of this episode. animation in this episode was superb with an excellent depiction of the Smoky Mountains, excellent spell effects, fine character designs for the feuding families, and I was impressed by the style used when telling the story of the origins behind the feud. It was amusing to see Twilight and Fluttershy pelted by tomatoes and bales of hay.

 

10/10

 

Voice Acting and Dialogue

 

Voice acting was on point per usual with special nods going to Big Daddy McColt, and Ma Hoofield with their colorful accents.

 

Dialogue was sharp and rather witty while effectively carrying the plot forward and I found several exchanges and lines to be particularly memorable.

 

10/10

 

 

 

 

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Wow, LZRD wears a cappy, scary. O_o

I actually don't, I stole my roommate's cuz I wanted to look cool

[pony.colin 156]

It was okay.

 

Like I don't really have anything to say for this episode.  It wasn't bad or anything, it wasn't terrible at all.  It was just okay.  I guess I'm just saying this because I feel this is really just old-hat and it seems boring.

 

There wasn't even anything memorable to me.  I was kind of guessing this since, episodes revolving around a family feud tend to be boring to me.

 

Wasn't bad, just forgettable.  Some interesting new pony designs for people to be interested in,

 

 

 

I'm a little surprised that one of the McColts guarding the entrance to the fort actually noticed that Twilight is an alicorn - as mentioned before, there have been plenty of times when others didn't seem to make that observation.

 

That was one of the few things that I thought was interesting as well.  It was so blunt for him to acknowledge Twi's status.  It's not exactly new though since its pretty established at this point.  Just seems interesting that he would even bother to notice, but I guess it also suggests that the conflict has been a long isolated event for a while.

Edited November 16, 2015 by pony.colin

[roptiriolg 49]

It was long ago since we saw some adventure episode and they are from my favorite type, especially when Fluttershy and this time with Twilight Sparkle are the featured ones - loved the episode. I think this 2-pony interaction between the two was interesting to see and the behavior between each other was just correct. I could easily call this episode from the best regular episodes of Season 5, that are not based on shipping or the episodes not having connection to the end story or main plot of the season (or it may have a connection?). I guess those who like seeing more relationship than adventure will not like the episode, as  we werent seeing any for the Mane 6.

 

The place they restored to normal, this valley may be of some importance for future episodes and they may get allies from there when it becomes needed, I think the wrestle was funny and the exchange of fruits, pumpkins and hay. The village ponies themselves did not impress, nor did they become known except for their leaders (still haven't learned the names). It's not that much happened in the episode but for a single ep, it was all well timed imo.

[Luffyiscool 397]

Whether it was intentional or not, that's pretty darn cool.

[best poni 1,519]

Even though the ending was pretty predictable, I still like the episode! I loved Fluttershy's role and she had so many cute moments! 

[cider float 2,538]

 

There's a contradiction in that statement! It wasn't trojan horse! That was trojan cake!

 

It's a pun for a show for talking horses

 

And you can call anything that utilizes that sort of tactic as a trojan horse really. The horse is metaphorical.

Edited November 16, 2015 by cider float

[Daring_Do 552]

I don't think they're even technically ponies anymore. Twi and Shy just discovered a brand new species!

Funnily enough, the recent Princess Luna chapter book reveals bat ponies come from caves in the Smokey Mountains...

[Sectus 246]

This episode was very unique. I don't know if it was just me, but the segment where Shy and Twilight were hiding from the two parties attacking each other felt very similar to older cartoons I enjoyed. It was a good feeling and this episode gave me a nostalgia attack in that vein.

 

I also enjoyed the fact that they were unaware Twilight was a princess. A small detail, but a fun one nonetheless.

 

EDIT: Also, foalio.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Sectus

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I really loved this episode, seeing Fluttershy and Twilight go on a adventure was great and the new location was both mysterious and beautiful, I also loved the references and how both groups didn't know about Twilight being a princess, that was quite funny, also the overall lesson and moral taught was good and I loved the two feuding families they reminded me of country bumpkins or hillbillies. 9/10 episode!!

 

also Twilight having pegasus wings seems to happen a lot lol. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

I just wonder if this ep written by Dave Polsky, it definitely will be great (I 'm still mad at his Apploosa episode, he need to write more good ep to redeem himself , Brotherhoove social is not enough). Couple of writers are not bad, I love their Castle Sweet Castle but this ep is their worst episode, they need to be more creative in their next episode (possibly). My favorite writer in this season is Nick Confalone, he writes Pinkie really well :x

[chirox the pony 1,336]

I've never seen such a short topic for an episode before. Probably goes to show how boring this episode was, no one has anything to say. I'd also like to point out that I hated the resolution. "Look at the cute animals!". Yeah because you know being nice to each other wasn't good enough (not that I'm denying the environmental destruction that war brings). And for that matter how did they bring so much destruction? I thought they were just throwing vegetables at each other. 

[Pinkiest Pie 405]

It was ok to see Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle together, as they hardly do anything together without anyone else.

 

But mostly it was quite boring, didn't like it that much. I hope the next episode is better.