S06:E10 - Applejack's Day Off

[Thrond 3,263]

Chemistry. Rarity and Applejack's dynamic's very versatile from their differing personalities, tastes, and backgrounds. You can play their dynamic silly or serious just by how different they are. When done right, it can be quite memorable. Their best example is Applejack using a give-and-take metaphor to teach Rarity lessons of sisterhood.

I so often dislike the episodes they share that I forgot about "Sisterhooves Social," which I actually do rather like. I still think it's overdone and takes time away from dynamics we never see, but at least I can grasp the slightest idea of why you all like it so much. 

[Totally Nyx 36,010]

I really liked this episode. Sure it maybe had a couple holes in it here and there, but if you can't enjoy ponies what can you enjoy? I thought Dashie was cute and not completely out of character, and lemme just say "Who's a silly pony? You're a silly pony! Who is? You is, Applejack!" :3

 

And wow Aloe got a ton of screentime and a voice actor. I loved that even though Lotus got only 3 seconds in the entire episode (yes, I counted ).

 

Overall I'd probably rate this episode 7.6/10

Edited May 29, 2016 by ThunderColt

[Silver Letter 1,832]

 

 

As for no one calling Apple Jack on her bizarre technique for feeding the pigs - she was getting the job done.

But inefficiently. Her cutie mark is about taking care of the farm so she should know better than to be inefficient.

[cider float 2,537]

My dirty mind first read the title as jack.... you get the picture.

[Truffles 2,033]

My dirty mind first read the title as jack.... you get the picture.

 

I keep wanting to call it something different as well, though mine is pretty benign: "Applejack's Way Off Day Off." I had to go look that up to see why I kept wanting to call it that and it turns out it's the name of an old Pokemon episode. 

[Rarity Is Best Pony 634]

This episode was very serviceable. I do not think that this episode however was the best choice to follow such good episodes as the ones we got these past two weeks.

 

On to the actual episode:

 

Rarity pruning in the spa confirms she is in fact made of Marshmallow.

I really like seeing the screen time shared between Rarity and Applejack.

Twilight's eagerness to help her friends is always admirable. 

The spa pony had an awesome accent which was totally cute.

Mission Impossible Easter egg was freaking cool!! 

Rainbow Dash vehemently denying that she visits the spa was really cute.

 

 

Overall I liked this episode but my main reaction is "meh" 

Edited May 30, 2016 by Rarity Is Best Pony

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, this was a pretty "meh" episode. I agree that this episode feels like an episode from Season 1, in its kind of simplistic set-up and execution. The moral itself is well taken, if presented a bit ham-handedly, and there's not necessarily anything egregiously wrong with the episode, but it's not just very entertaining. There seems to be a lot of stilted dialogue needlessly spelling everything out, even as there's not really much going on, which leads to a lot of scenes dragging on too long and boredom setting in. Consequently, my observations might be a little "nitpickier" than usual.

 

First, I've mentioned this before, but going to the spa, and especially scheduling regular visits (either alone or with friends) is a totally alien concept to me. I just don't relate to it at all, and that stifles some of my potential enjoyment of the episode. We've seen all the Mane Six and Spike go to the spa before, and apparently at least four of the Mane Six schedule regular visits, and, in at least some cases, multiple visits per week. However, neither I nor (to my knowledge) any of my family has gone to a spa or gotten a massage, and I've heard of any of my friends or acquaintances doing so, either, let alone going there regularly. Is this something a lot of ordinary people do? Am I the weird one for never having gone to a spa and not really seeing how it's worthwhile (in money, time and effort) to schedule regular visits? I don't know. Consequently, while I feel like it's kind of strange for Applejack to want to go to the spa regularly, or for Rainbow Dash and even Rarity to be going multiple times a week, I might be off-base in thinking that.

 

Next, we see Applejack being rather insensitive to Rarity multiple times in the episode. First, in the opening, just how late was Applejack to the spa date, such that she "missed the whole day" and the spa was closing just after she arrived? Was she something like multiple hours late? If that were the case, then we might think that the common courtesy would be to let Rarity know at some earlier point (although I guess something like calling or texting wouldn't be possible). And a bit later, Applejack tells Rarity to go ahead and she'll meet Rarity at the spa later, even though that hasn't worked out multiple times now. We might think that, again, out of common courtesy, Applejack would stop acting like she might make it if she probably won't. And after Rarity and Applejack see how long the line for the steam room is, it seems inconsiderate for Applejack to be so stubborn about getting a steam. After all, Applejack knows that she's been missing the previous spa dates, and she knows that this is a limited-time opportunity for them to actually do something, so I would think that Applejack would be more open to doing the treatments in a different order, or to getting alternate treatments.

 

There seems to be an implication at first that Applejack's work load at the farm has been getting worse only recently. Applejack says in the opening that "I just can't believe how much time my chores are takin' up these days". Rarity also says that "Applejack is so busy these days", and Twilight doesn't realize Applejack has so much to do. And Applejack later says that "the work on the farm has just been takin' up more and more of my time". But then we learn later in the episode that Applejack's chores are taking so long because she's stuck in a rut of making her chores needlessly complicated because of past problems, implying that she's been doing her chores inefficiently for a while. But then how is that compatible with her work load getting worse only recently? Does Applejack have more chores recently for some reason other than her long-standing inefficiency?

 

And, of course, Applejack seems to display a rather unbelievable lack of self-awareness when it comes to her Rube Goldberg-like process of feeding the pigs (and her other chores). For one thing, I would think that Applejack's writing such a long list of steps to feed the pigs would prompt her to think about whether all of those steps are really necessary. And even later, when she's explaining the "reason" for each step while Twilight, Spike, and Rarity point out why those reasons don't apply, the obvious conclusion doesn't dawn on Applejack until after she explains the whole thing. Furthermore, have any of the other Apples had any input into these convoluted processes, or ever seen Applejack doing them and questioned her about them?

 

Finally, the exchanges with Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are painful to watch, and I come away from them wishing that they had just never happened. Yes, Rainbow Dash is being kind of stupid in trying to deny liking spa treatments, even as some of her closest friends catch her in the act. But then Rarity and Applejack have to act smug about it, rather than displaying sympathy or understanding. The two of them could have immediately said something like "Hey, it's no big deal if you like getting spa treatments. In fact, we can even get some treatments together!" or even something like "Hey, don't worry about it, your secret's safe with us!". Instead, Rarity and Applejack just let Rainbow dig herself into a hole while having an attitude of "LOL, we caught Rainbow Dash liking something sensitive and feminine!".

 

Now for a few other miscellaneous observations:

 

I wouldn't think Rarity's horn would get "pruney". Aren't unicorn horns composed of bone or some other hard material?

 

I'm a bit thrown off by Rarity's British pronunciation of "schedule". Has Rarity said any other "British-isms" before?

 

Rather than Spike and Twilight continually being puzzled by each next step on the list, why don't they read through the whole thing first to get a sense of where all the steps are leading?

 

It seems odd for the water pipes to be so visible in what's probably supposed to be an "upscale" spa facility.

 

It also seems odd that Aloe makes no protest or attempt to stop Applejack as she follows the pipes into the back room and the basement of the spa, where customers probably aren't usually allowed to go.

 

Why are ponies getting cold while waiting for the steam room, such that they keep wanting warm towels to wear/use? Do they not normally go around without clothes? Is the building not temperature-controlled to be comfortable already?

 

After Applejack explains the steam problem, why do the spa ponies just let Applejack fix it (with what looks like a temporary solution), despite not even knowing whether she has any plumbing experience? Why don't they tell her "Thanks, we'll call a plumber to take a look at it and fix it"?

 

Aloe asks Applejack whether she's considered a career in the spa industry, but fixing a leak in a steam pipe hardly seems like a typical job that someone with a career in the spa industry would do.

 

Finally, when Applejack is trying to weave a small piece of chicken wire into a hole in the current fence, she might be doing that to save money on having to buy too much new chicken wire, in which case, Rarity's solution of just replacing whole sections of the fence might not necessarily be desirable. However, it could be argued that, if chicken wire is relatively cheap, the labor and time saved by just replacing the whole thing is worth the monetary cost of replacement.

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

I actually quite enjoyed this episode ^-^ One of my favorite Applejack episodes to date
 
First we had Rarity Investigates.. and this time we had Applejack Investigates with the whole spa business

Speaking of Rarity, she's been in a LOT of episodes this season..   Wonder why..

[ShyPie 164]

I just did not enjoy this ep at all. For me this probably goes down as one of the worst in the show's history, or most boring. It was a very drawn out plot of not very much, so much padding to it; somewhat ironic considering the episode was about needlessly padding out work.

 

It just felt that it had very little to say, but tried to use as much time as possible in which to do it. This was an example of an episode written around a lesson (and not a particularly strong one) to be learnt, with absolutely nothing else of note to go along with it. I know and appreciate that this is a kids show, but it's episodes like this for me that give kids shows a bad rep for most adults. The comparisons to last week's episode, especially, is total night and day.

 

With a title like "Applejack's Day Off" I thought it would've been interesting to make it about the things AJ would possibly do if she had a day off. For example, the other Mane characters volunteer to do her chores for her so she can have a day off, AJ struggling to adapt to not doing work at first, but then finds some new and different things that take her interest that she really enjoys. Meanwhile, all the other ponies back at the farm struggle at first (hilarity ensues) before eventually getting to grip with the work, but do admit that they're not as good as AJ and don't know how she does it.

[Megas 27,567]

 

 

Finally, the exchanges with Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are painful to watch, and I come away from them wishing that they had just never happened. Yes, Rainbow Dash is being kind of stupid in trying to deny liking spa treatments, even as some of her closest friends catch her in the act. But then Rarity and Applejack have to act smug about it, rather than displaying sympathy or understanding. The two of them could have immediately said something like "Hey, it's no big deal if you like getting spa treatments. In fact, we can even get some treatments together!" or even something like "Hey, don't worry about it, your secret's safe with us!". Instead, Rarity and Applejack just let Rainbow dig herself into a hole while having an attitude of "LOL, we caught Rainbow Dash liking something sensitive and feminine!".

 

 

But...that's exactly what happened in the end. They had some friendly ribbing, but then they even invited her to join them

[Music Chart Fan 819]

But...that's exactly what happened in the end. They had some friendly ribbing, but then they even invited her to join them

 

 

Sure, that is what happened in the end, after the second exchange; that's why I tried to use the "immediately" qualifier. In the first exchange, Rarity and Applejack could instantly see that Rainbow Dash was horrified and embarrassed to be seen at the spa with her robe and slippers on, and they start off by pointing out how "strange" it is for Rainbow to be there and giggling about it. And that would be fine, but after Rainbow continues to react badly and embarrass herself further by lying and making excuses, that would seem like a good time for Rarity and Applejack to stop her and say something like "Hey, we were just kidding around, we really don't mind. In fact, do you want to join us?". Instead, Rarity and Applejack just smile smugly and let her dig herself into a hole, and then just let her run away and stew in her own embarrassment. And that could have been all that happened - it was a coincidence that the three of them ran into each other again later and ultimately worked it out. I'm glad that they did work it out in the end, but I just didn't find those exchanges funny, and I didn't really like the way any of them reacted to the whole thing.

[Carolina 212]

I agree with the consensus that this episode was incredibly boring. I went in with pretty low expectations, as I've never been particularly interested in Applejack's farm life (even if I like Applejack in general), but I was still fairly disappointed. When I saw the preview clip, I thought Applejack was acting weird because she had finally snapped from all the hard work (hence a need for a day off), so I was bummed that her antics just amounted to her routine to feed the pigs. Still, despite my disappointment with that scene, it still provided some of the only laughs of the episode. The rest dragged and felt like they had too little story to tell for 22 minutes of TV.  I also concur that Applejack seemed uncharacteristically dumbed-down this episode.

 

Is this something a lot of ordinary people do? Am I the weird one for never having gone to a spa and not really seeing how it's worthwhile (in money, time and effort) to schedule regular visits? I don't know. Consequently, while I feel like it's kind of strange for Applejack to want to go to the spa regularly, or for Rainbow Dash and even Rarity to be going multiple times a week, I might be off-base in thinking that.

 

That's also a good point! I go to the spa maybe once a year at most because getting a massage is EXPENSIVE! So yeah, I couldn't really relate to that either. I wish I could schedule regular spa days, but they are usually just for special occasions (such as Christmas or birthday presents).

 

Finally, the exchanges with Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are painful to watch, and I come away from them wishing that they had just never happened. Yes, Rainbow Dash is being kind of stupid in trying to deny liking spa treatments, even as some of her closest friends catch her in the act. But then Rarity and Applejack have to act smug about it, rather than displaying sympathy or understanding. The two of them could have immediately said something like "Hey, it's no big deal if you like getting spa treatments. In fact, we can even get some treatments together!" or even something like "Hey, don't worry about it, your secret's safe with us!". Instead, Rarity and Applejack just let Rainbow dig herself into a hole while having an attitude of "LOL, we caught Rainbow Dash liking something sensitive and feminine!".

 

 

 

This bothered me too, actually.  I even wondered aloud why AJ and Rarity didn't invite Rainbow Dash to hang out with them since they were all at the spa anyway.

 

Lastly, I know this is brought up a lot, but it really bugged me in this episode: for what purpose do ponies keep pigs??? Cows for milk and chickens for eggs, obviously, but what does AJ even do with the pigs? Eat them? Enter them for prizes at the state fair? The fact that keeping pigs is a big question mark just makes her long, bizarre routine to feed them even more pointless.

[MovieLord101 140]

Well, this was an uneventful episode. I was expecting more hijinks like in "Spike At Your Service". At least we have this Saturday's episode with Fluttershy's brother!

[The Nth Doctor 661]

Twilight's much more interesting farm shenanigans are relegated to offhand background events like in Castle Sweet Castle

 

What a shame

 

Would've liked to see her freaking out trying to run the farm rather than Applejack and Rarity shipping

I suppose Friends Forever #17 could have taken place at this time...

[Sonic5421 423]

I actually quite enjoyed this episode ^-^ One of my favorite Applejack episodes to date

 

First we had Rarity Investigates.. and this time we had Applejack Investigates with the whole spa business

Speaking of Rarity, she's been in a LOT of episodes this season..   Wonder why..

 

Perhaps they are giving Rarity a little more love this season?

 

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

Perhaps they are giving Rarity a little more love this season?

 

Perhaps.. But it seems there's too much rarity and not enough of the others.. Where's Fluttershy?

[Sonic5421 423]

Perhaps.. But it seems there's too much rarity and not enough of the others.. Where's Fluttershy?

 

She does have a major role in the upcoming episode involving her brother.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

Yeah. After several eventful, or entertaining episodes (even the subpar ones had SOMETHING I enjoyed or at least grabbed me) this one was kinda, well...dull.

It felt like a Season 1 or 2 episode, and even then I think it would've been boring back then.

 

Also...this is the kind of thing that makes people like backgrounders over poor AJ...

Edited May 31, 2016 by Jangocoolguy

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

Sure, that is what happened in the end, after the second exchange; that's why I tried to use the "immediately" qualifier. In the first exchange, Rarity and Applejack could instantly see that Rainbow Dash was horrified and embarrassed to be seen at the spa with her robe and slippers on, and they start off by pointing out how "strange" it is for Rainbow to be there and giggling about it. And that would be fine, but after Rainbow continues to react badly and embarrass herself further by lying and making excuses, that would seem like a good time for Rarity and Applejack to stop her and say something like "Hey, we were just kidding around, we really don't mind. In fact, do you want to join us?". Instead, Rarity and Applejack just smile smugly and let her dig herself into a hole, and then just let her run away and stew in her own embarrassment. And that could have been all that happened - it was a coincidence that the three of them ran into each other again later and ultimately worked it out. I'm glad that they did work it out in the end, but I just didn't find those exchanges funny, and I didn't really like the way any of them reacted to the whole thing.

This bothered me too, actually. I even wondered aloud why AJ and Rarity didn't invite Rainbow Dash to hang out with them since they were all at the spa anyway.

Each of you missed the point. The joke isn't Dash's discomfort at the spa (she showed not to be at a few points), but Dash's macho attitude as she fails to cover up her reason to go. The more she tried to to act "cool," the worse her embarrassment.

 

Going back to my point earlier in the thread, what makes this much more different than Newbie Dash is:

1. All three know each other very well and understand each other,
2. They clearly show their friendship to the audience,
3. Rarity and AJ tease her without taking it too far.

Newbie Dash makes the "banter" personal by giving her a trauma-laden insult without any indication of friendly banter, and Dash's physical and psychological performance worsened each time someone said it to her. We were supposed to take the insult and scars seriously; if we weren't, then how come ND took a lot of time examining its painful consequences? What happened in the spa scene during ADO is way more lighthearted, doesn't make it personal, and ends shortly thereafter. Consequently, the double-joke in ADO makes sense and it works.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Dark Qiviut

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

This wasn't my favorite episode, but I did enjoy it, it was nice to see Applejack and Rarity bond by going to the spa and I liked seeing them try to have a relaxing time. Also liked seeing Twilight and Spike try to handle Applejack's farm chores, that was rather funny. Seeing Rainbow Dash hide from her friends while at the spa was funny and I think it was just her way of trying to act tough and no feminine. 9/10!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

Bok bok bok.. bok.. BOGOCK!
 

 
Hahaha, Applejack is so silly
...
♪ Who's a silly pony? ♫ You're a silly pony! ♪ Who is? Who is? ♪ Applejack! ♫ 

♫ Dangling off a rope and dancing like a chicken ♪ Who is? Who is? ♫ Applejack ♪

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inaOz64_Q5k

Edited May 31, 2016 by AURAequine

[TheSqueelyOne 157]

I liked this episode. The simplicity reminded me of season 1, which for me is a good thing

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Lastly, I know this is brought up a lot, but it really bugged me in this episode: for what purpose do ponies keep pigs??? Cows for milk and chickens for eggs, obviously, but what does AJ even do with the pigs? Eat them? Enter them for prizes at the state fair? The fact that keeping pigs is a big question mark just makes her long, bizarre routine to feed them even more pointless.

To get rid of leftovers, or to find truffles. The food, not the forum member.

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

For what purpose do ponies keep pigs??? Cows for milk and chickens for eggs, obviously, but what does AJ even do with the pigs? Eat them? Enter them for prizes at the state fair? The fact that keeping pigs is a big question mark just makes her long, bizarre routine to feed them even more pointless.

Or perhaps there is a dark side to Equestria after all..

I mean.. Winona needs to eat something.. right?

Edited May 31, 2016 by AURAequine

[Sonic5421 423]

To get rid of leftovers, or to find truffles. The food, not the forum member.

 

That works for me. Pigs are good for eating up the leftovers instead of leaving them to rot and return to the ground as fertilizer.