S06:E03 - The Gift of Maud Pie

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Well, this was a great episode. 

 

Love the character development here. And Rarity doing that Pinkie Pie impression, that was awesome. This was completely like "The Gift of the Magi" because of situational irony...man...

 

And "fiveever", that was so awesome by Maud. Maud's got quite a bit of Pinkie in her!

[Truffles 2,033]

- Did anypony see Suri Polomare in the background?

 

Really?! What scene was it? 

[Manman20x6 359]

I already stated why I disliked the conclusion of this episode earlier: I didn't like how the trade between the random pony guy, Rarity, and Maud felt like the protagonists were bullying someone. I thought of a way to express my dislike for that scene in greater detail:

 

In the first trade between Pinkie and Pony Dude (That's what I'll call him), Pinkie opened the proceedings by stating what she wants from the trade. Pony Dude then says what he wants in return. The two agree to the terms, and complete the trade. This is a fair trade, since both parties set their terms and agree with the other party's terms.

 

In the second trade with Rarity and Maud, the trade opens with Maud stating both what she will give AND what she will take. Pony Dude has no chance to set his own terms. This is then followed by threats of possible physical harm, which means that Pony Dude has no choice but to accept the trade, even though he doesn't actually WANT to do it. This is unfair, because one party cannot set their terms and does not agree to the terms that were set for him.

 

No matter which way I look at it, I can't see it as anything but bullying.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Manman20x6

[Jinxie Umbra 149]

I understand why people feel Pinkie's antics were a bit repetitive, but remember the target demographic. Of course she was going to make a fuss about the gift. Consider it a small sacrifice for the sake of the plot. And yes, she made a scene multiple times and was embarrassing for Rarity to be seen with. That's a core part of the dynamic between the two of them; the sophisticated businesswoman and the clown.

 

As for bullying the stallion to reverse the trade, well... he's a con artist and clearly manipulated Pinkie. And there's no telling what such a shady character intended to use that cannon for. Rarity may have overdone it with the dramatics, but that's just Rarity. Maud was stern but polite and did not in any way threaten the guy.

 

Overall, I'd give this episode 8/10. A solid debut for the Fox brothers.

[AtomicStone 723]

Not going to lie and I hope I don't get too much hate for this, but I didn't care for this episode all that much.. It wasn't terrible by any means but I found it boring, the pacing was really strange and nothing interesting really happened in my opinion. Hopefully next weeks episode will be better viewing for me.

[Jonny Music 3,305]

The lesson in this episode was good.

 

But overall, I thought the episode was decent.

 

Those faces tho.

[Bellona27 42]

While the episode was cute and funny I think my favorite part may have been the background ponies for me, from pinkie terrifying the Manehattan locals to sad crayon in my soup pony is sad I loved it! Maud is one of my favorites anyway but this episode fabulous background ponies for the win!

Sad crayon in soup pony

 

PoPo Pony

. Sorry didn't upload before....

 

 

Also there's that time Rarity and Pinkie Pie met the mob

 

[Zhortac 1,473]

Much better episode than the season opener. 
And no, not just because the mutant baby wasn't in it.

 

And I lost my shit when Rarity pulled a Pinkie.

And making Maud threatening....SHE CLENCHED HER JAW!!!

[Silver Stream. 708]

I really enjoyed this episode.

 

The lesson was good,but the most I got out it was how to be selfless. I've always admired how mature and helpful Rarity is towards her friends and how she'll do anything to cheer them up. I loved the interaction between her and pinkie pie, but Maud stole the show (duh).

[Scarlet Kitten 28]

I hated it, it was one of the few episodes I could not finish watching to me it felt like the writers are running out of ideas and used this idea as a filler, which is not good, especially after the openner.. I feel as if this will be the last season of MLP:FiM

[Zhortac 1,473]

I hated it, it was one of the few episodes I could not finish watching to me it felt like the writers are running out of ideas and used this idea as a filler, which is not good, especially after the openner.. I feel as if this will be the last season of MLP:FiM

 

They ran out of ideas back in season 2

[Scarlet Kitten 28]

They ran out of ideas back in season 2

That is true, but at least the episodes were watchable (For me at least), this one was just so cringeworthy I ended up watching People's Court instead XD

[twiia 1,842]

it was okay, I guess. Kind of disappointed that there was no legit song, but overall it was okay.

[dekutree64 711]

Well I slept through the actual airing again, but have now watched it, and liked it a lot.

 

A few minor quibbles:

1. Smarty Pants is most likely lost forever to Twilight? Sad. I hope that was just some other similar looking doll, and we see Smarty Pants somewhere around the apple farm again soon.

2. Bullying the cannon back from the shady stallion. It wasn't that bad since it was just a straight up return, no harm done. And at least Rarity didn't go all sexual on him like usual. But I wish they would have taken a more positive direction like maybe his pouch had a loose thread that Rarity could fix, or they could help him with some other problem as a quick apology for bothering him in the first place.

3. I was freaking out that Maud forgot to take Boulder out of the pouch before returning it. Apparently she did, since they never got back to that, but I wish it had been shown... unless next episode is planned to be a rescue mission for both Boulder and Smarty Pants.

 

Those points aside, it was great to see Maud again. Her monotone voice isn't funny, but it is interesting. I love having her around as a regular character and not treated as a one trick pony.

 

The swan boats are awesome. I wish there'd been time for them to ride one. Even better, see Pinkie attempt to ride a live swan first They're not the most friendly of creatures.

 

I also kind of wish Pinkie had gotten yelled at for dumping confetti all over the city throughout the episode I assume it's biodegradable, so in a small un-paved town like Ponyville it's not really a problem. But in Manehattan, somepony's gonna have to clean that stuff up. Maud certainly does know what she can actually get some good use out of

 

And in the end, the lesson was a good one, that gift giving shouldn't be a competition. And the implicit message that over-gifting is worse than under-gifting, because it makes the receiver feel guilty. Though the way it turned out, Maud didn't get anything at all... so it would have been nice if Pinkie spotted something good at the end. Maybe just a nice looking rock off the ground

[frecklesareblooming 225]

I really, really liked this episode. I wasn't a huge fan of the season opener, thinking it was boring and forgettable compared to the others, but this episode brought my hopes up again. Pinkie Pie's expressions, the jokes, and pretty much every scene where Maud Pie spoke was hilarious to me. I'm hoping for episodes with good content like this one ahead.

[Golden Triangle 75]

It's a good thing that the Mane 6 are back (not that I hate Starlight or the other minor characters) but the quality of the story is still a bit lacking and the Mane 6 are still a bit bland (especially Pinkie Pie) as they were in The Crystalling. I'm growing to like this increased quanity of slice-of-life stories that was more empathized in Season Five, but I still like the adventure episodes better. I'm hoping to see more of the mixed episodes (those that are both slice-of-life and adventure, like Rarity Investigates).

Edited April 3, 2016 by Golden Triangle

[CheeryFox 23,811]

A very beautiful episode. 11/10 <3

[Glaive9Gko 82]

Awesome tier episode due entirely to the existence of Maud.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

SPOILER ALERT!!! I don't have to much to say about this episode except that is was so super cute and touching. Maud, Pinkie, and Rarity were an interesting mix together as characters. I did not expect them all to play off each other as well as they did. I liked that Rarity was opening a store in Manehatten. Hopefully that can lead to more interesting plots and open new possibilities. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED when Rarity imitated Pinkie's excited body language so perfectly. It was probably my favorite part of the episode because I was so surprised to see Rarity do that! I loved what a devoted sister Maud is. She always puts Pinkie Pe first above anything else. The idea of Maud having an evil stare and a Maud sense was so cool. The lesson itself was also really touching and very true. 

[TranceBrony 16]

Pretty good episode. I love the episodes with Pinkie and Rarity.

Maud was funny, as always.

Good episode 8/10.

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

Q:  Where the hell does Pinkie keep that cannon when it's not in the shot?

A:  The same place Link keeps 50 beach ball-sized bombs.

 

Not a bad one.  Quite decent episode.  I love seeing more of Maud.  She's a riot.  But this episode seemed really slapsticky to me.  Pinkie is always slapsticky to a degree, but she seemed worse than usual today.  And Rarity was uncharacteristically slapsticky, and I'm not talking about her impression of Pinkie (which was pretty cute, actually).  I dunno, the whole episode was just so face contorting and shrieking.  The whole time, I just found myself going, "Holy F*CK.  Calm DOWN!  Geeeeze!  It's just a freaking present!"  I was a bit miffed at that.

 

But the reason this episode didn't knock it outta the park for me is that I wished they had stuck to the original Gift of the Magi formula.  While I appreciate the writers trying to be unpredictable, I really think that, in this case, complete predictability wouldn't have been a bad thing.  Pinkie was supposed to trade her cannon for the pouch, and Maud was supposed to trade Boulder for the confetti.  That's what anyone familiar with The Gift of the Magi was expecting, which is why they altered it.  Yeah, again, I appreciate that, but I wish they had each traded away their prized possession for the other.  I feel like the story and the moral would have been stronger.  Plus, I feel like they really stretched out the story of Pinkie trying to get the pouch.  It was too little story for one episode, imo.  They should have spent less time on Pinkie, and shown Maud searching for Pinkie's gift.  Still a good moral, though.

 

I also find it a little annoying sometimes when Pinkie comes up with these new traditions to include all of her friends and such, because in real life it would be way too much and impossible to keep up.  (I'm really nitpicking here, forgive me.)  So now it's the Pie Sister's Swap Day With Rarity?  Really?  So they're gonna do this with Rarity every year?  What about the other four?  What about the swap days with the other Pie sisters?  It's just too much, and unnecessary.  Rarity didn't really want to be involved like that.  Now she's stressed at having to come up with a gift for them.  Yeah, I know, de-stressed after Pinkie's reassurance, but still.  Rarity's forced involvement reminded me of Sheldon Cooper's opinion on the institution of gift giving.

 

Anyway....

 

I absolutely love that they're continuing to expand Rarity's fashion empire.  Move over, Vera Wang.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,282]

My favorite new background character is the cop that makes Pinkie stop pounding on the shop door. She's awesome!

 

[Venomous 18,813]

I loved seeing Maud again! She is my favorite Pie sibling and she never ceases to make me laugh. As for the episode itself, it wasn't really anything to remember. It's one of those episodes where watching it once is enough.

 

...I really liked that cop pony, though.

[Snake 515]

I LOVED the episode! Muad and Rarity and Pinkie were a weird combo, but the ending was really really cute! PSSSDWR anyone?

 

It's a good thing that the Mane 6 are back (not that I hate Starlight or the other minor characters) but the quality of the story is still a bit lacking. First of all, why are Pinkie Pie and Maud in Manehatten? We never got any information about that before, so it's kind of confusing (though I didn't really watch the full episode, so I may be wrong).
Does anybody else think that the season's theme(or minor theme at the least) is birthdays?You know, with the birth of Flurry Heart and Maud's birthday?

Um, you didn't watch the whole episode? Why are you commenting then? They explain why they're in Manehatten, and it's not Maud's birthday either.

[Sunny Fox 5,929]

Wait a minute... "The Gift of the Magi"... "The Gift of Maud Pie"... A subtle pun in the title there, nice touch. Pinkie, Rarity and Maud make a great comedic trio. I love this episode.