spoiler Signs of Lazy Writing?

[BalanceBrony 259]

So, today's episode was a complete rip-off of Gift of the Magi. Despite good humor, I cringed every time I saw a cloned plot point from this classical tale of gift-giving. Aside from basically stealing a story and putting ponies in it, a completely predictable plot, and a moral that could be known verbatim without even finishing the episode, it seems like the third strike in a row that shows the beginnings of less involved storytelling in MLP:FIM.

 

The other strikes were how Princess Poof was used in the season opener, and the redemption-forgiveness arc that lasted all of 5 minutes, and doesn't look like it's going to be given more screen time after the opener.

 

What do you guys think? Does it seem like the writers are starting to get a bit lazy? Any other occasions that I missed? Or do you disagree with the qualms I had with Flurry Heart screeching a conflict into being, an unsatisfying redemption of a promising villain, and a carbon copy plot?

 

Let me know below.

[ThatAnonymousPony 133]

I actually really enjoyed the episode...

[PiratePony 8,473]

I'm going to have to disagree. Retelling classic plots that are honoring (ripping off?) classic tales is a typical archetype of children's animated series. This especially has been done with A Christmas Carol in several animated series.

 

I think a tale such as Gift of the Magi is a great plot to use for a series such as Friendship Is Magic, and it worked well for these characters today.

 

The moral may be verbatim for you, but it may not be for kids of today, and if episode happens to strike home with them, they'll remember it when they read the O. Henry tale in school one day.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

I'm going to have to disagree. Retelling classic plots that are honoring (ripping off?) classic tales is a typical archetype of children's animated series. This especially has been done with A Christmas Carol in several animated series.

 

I think a tale such as Gift of the Magi is a great plot to use for a series such as Friendship Is Magic, and it worked well for these characters today.

 

The moral may be verbatim for you, but it may not be for kids of today, and if episode happens to strike home with them, they'll remember it when they read the O. Henry tale in school one day.

This. 

 

Little girls have never heard of Gift of the Magi, so it's new to them, and a nod to those who are familiar with the story. What matters is the execution, and here I'd say that was done well.

[Jeric 46,834]

Inspired by is not the same as a complete rip off. It was actually missing the reciprocal since Maud didn't sell Boulder

[Megas 27,050]

Because it's not like FiM has been inspired by/borrowed/parodied/referenced other stories or concepts before, right?

Edited April 2, 2016 by Megas

[ThatAnonymousPony 133]

I'm going to have to disagree. Retelling classic plots that are honoring (ripping off?) classic tales is a typical archetype of children's animated series. This especially has been done with A Christmas Carol in several animated series.

 

I think a tale such as Gift of the Magi is a great plot to use for a series such as Friendship Is Magic, and it worked well for these characters today.

 

The moral may be verbatim for you, but it may not be for kids of today, and if episode happens to strike home with them, they'll remember it when they read the O. Henry tale in school one day.

Yeah, I agree with you completely.

[Castle Bleck 19,163]

Inspired by is not the same as a complete rip off. It was actually missing the reciprocal since Maud didn't sell Boulder

 

Technically, she did reciprocate by returning the pouch in exchange for getting the Party Cannon back for Pinkie.

[Luminance 2,181]

Well, we still have a lot of episodes left in Season 6 and truly the writers are willing to create new stories and re-tell classic stories too. It might not be original, but seeing our favorite characters alluding to other works makes it more interesting and fun to watch. We can't all foresee what Season 6 will be like until it's over.

[Stasis 39]

Well in all hindsight Starlight is pretty much the embodiment of lazy writing.

 

As for today's episode I won't give to much crap too it. They're new writers after all and it's their first episode.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

@PiratePony said all that needed to be said. All kids' shows use a certain set of stock plots. It's style and consistency that counts in those cases. Can the episode tell the same story in a way no other show did? What can the particular characters in question bring to it that's unique?

 

"The Gift of the Magi" is a very common adaptation in kids' TV, just like "The Ransom of Red Chief" ("A Dog and Pony Show" back in Season 1). What did it for today's episode is the character interactions between three familiar and identifiable characters. Conversely, "The Hooffields and McColts" didn't really do anything new and copied the plot without doing anything new with its characters. Like PiratePony said, this is the first exposure for most kids to this story. When they grow older, they'll recognize it when they see it in other shows, its original form, or even real life and apply the memories of their favorite characters in these roles.

how Princess Poof was used in the season opener,

You're being too vague here. What exactly was wrong with it? I saw her as less than the main focus of the episode since more of the spotlight was on Starlight and Sunburst, hence not that big of a deal. I can understand you on Starlight, but please explain this more.

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

Well in that case, for  whom the sweetie Belle toils sucks, because it's a complete rip off of the christmas carol.

 

The episode was okay, but saying that it sucked, because it was inspired by a book, is just flat out wrong.

 

Also, everything has been done before and everybody rips off everything. You just gotta know, what you want to do with the idea that you do.

 

There are no bad ideas, just bad executions.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,328]

By this logic, a lot of media sucks because it's inspired by something else.

 

In this day in age, it's inpossible to not have at least a little similarity to something else in writing. Using this logic can lead you to have a very limited capacity in what to enjoy if you go, "Welp, this looks like this. RIP OFF! Episode is bad."

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

There's plenty of material in TGoMP to criticize, and this show has had its lazy writing in the past.

 

Being a ripoff of The Gift of the Magi and laziness aren't either of them. It didn't completely follow the tale nor was it used to plug in the characters for the sake of it, like Hooffields and McColts. Unlike Rainbow Falls or the EQG films, there's definitely a certain amount of effort penned into this story.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Dark Qiviut

[twiia 1,842]

.I'm not sure about the lazy writing... I guess I just don't notice that much. But the plot was kinda boring...

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this episode.

I too wasn't expecting much going into this episode: I generally HATE the gift of the magic as a story, and I dislike pinkie pie too. But rarity and maud's chemistry really sold me, and I found alot of maud's scenes to be enjoyable.

Plus, the fact that everyone was reacting to pinkie pie like you'd expect someone to react to an annoying sack of ADHD was amusing. (Loved the policemare's interaction with pinkie XD)

[BalanceBrony 259]

I will say the humor is on point, and I only cringed a couple of times. Pinkie Rarity is best Rarity lmao. But I was more stating the plot as an example in a string of meh storytelling decisions. By itself it was an okay episode.

 

@@Wind Chaser, As for my comment about Flurry Heart- it's that she was used not once, but twice  as a lazy plot device.

[Conred 274]

I had the same impression. I think the new writers don't have much talent or even interest in MLP. They just write whatever cliche story for many different tv shows and hope for a quick paycheck. Only Faust, Larson, McCarthy, Amy Rogers, Confalone& Berrow (from new writers) and Jeremy Whitley (from comics) give any signs of being a pony fan outside of their work. Haber shoudn't really become a head writer for this season either. He never cared about ponies and didn't matter to him if he write for Equestria Girls or FiM.

[AmberDust 1,116]

I didn't mind the borrowed Aesop from the last episode, but I felt the pacing was really weird and the characters were kind of caricaturized versions of themselves. :/

[Koumorikichikun 62]

This was a fine episode. Pie sisters and Rarity were really enjoyable and the episode got a lot of laughs from me. Sometimes thats all an episode needs.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Signs of lazy writing? When a moral is obviously repeated. The moral of Friendship Games, and Hooffields and McColts were both morals first used in Winter Wrap Up - talking out your problems instead of fighting about it. Luna Eclipsed, that moral was used in Bridle Gossip - if someone looks untrustworthy or scary, they could be a good friend.

 

So yeah, there are times in the series when morals are repeated, and sometimes the writers can't help it. But sometimes it ain't obvious enough, like the moral was repeated but nobody notices it, then that's a different story.

[BalanceBrony 259]

The other thing I want to say is, I hope they do something with the other sisters instead of just Maud. She's a one-joke pony, and while it's a good joke, I can't help but think that it will become stale. I didn't think about the possibility before, but after watching Jessie Wood's most recent review, I have to agree- this plot could have been far more interesting if we saw a new character being played with rather than a character that we already know everything about. Like Limestone, or Marble. Why Maud? Because people like Maud.

 

Idk. But the CMC episode was promising. So now 3 strikes for laziness and a strike taken back for a good episode. So now 2 strikes for laziness?

 

We'll see more going forward.

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

Glimmerdemption. That is all.

[ManaMinori 4,143]

And Dragon Quest was a complete rip of Spike's Search (see gen 1) yet no one was complaining about THAT, now were they?

[cider float 2,535]

Yes, lots of the stuff being written down didn't seem to have any forethought or care about previous episodes and anything new they brought to the table just comes up generic or boring.

 

Starlight Glimmer is a very good example of this type of writing.