S06:E11 - Flutter Brutter

[Justin_Case001 4,888]

Yes, I also (and still believe I) would have preferred if Fluttershy didn't talk about her family because she was estranged from them after she decided to live like an Earth Pony instead of becoming a great flyer. That would have worked better to explain why she never talked about him before. Of course, that would make her parents seem like jerks, but it could have been something they worked out in the episode along with fixing her brother's slimy moochiness.

Oh, now I'm gonna be haunted by my typo.  If you look at that piece you quoted of mine, it says "Fluttershy, I did know you had a brother", when I meant didn't, obviously.  Arg!  I'm usually so good about proofreading my posts.  Well, I fixed it in the original, and I never would have caught it if not for your quote.  Thanks, good sir.  But now it's still immortalized in the quote....unless you wanted to fix it for me?      That may a be a forum first; someone requesting another member to edit their post and fix a typo in their own quotation.  Lol.  That's me for you!

 

Anyway, that's the route I would have preferred as well, but they wouldn't have needed to make her estranged from her parents.  Just her brother.  There are plenty of reasons why that could have happened, too, and all it would have taken is a few seconds of exposition.

 

 

Sure, it made no sense for him to suddenly show up out of thin air

Thank you.  At least somebody else noticed.

[Heavenly Inexplicit 309]

I love this episode! It's one of my favorite episodes ever.

This episode motivated me to get off my butt and get my

first job. The lyrics in that song at the end have a lot of

truth in them.

 

Also, Fluttershy has so much character in this episode!

This episode really shows how Fluttershy has changed

since season one.

 

And the most important thing is that this episode had

plenty of cute ponies, and a good moral lesson to teach.

 

Edited September 30, 2016 by Heavenly Sun

[Truffles 2,033]

That may a be a forum first; someone requesting another member to edit their post and fix a typo in their own quotation.

Mwahaha! Now I shall have the immeasurable power of controlling forum members by exploiting the typos in the quoted replies to their posts, leveraging it into complete world domination! Ahahahaha-cough.. gasp.. Oh, wait - I already fixed the message. Never mind! XD

 

If the show had a proper bible that defined all the backstories of the characters and their families, we would have this problem since the writers would have dropped hints about him in earlier episodes.

 

I suppose the show runners would probably come back and say doing a complete bible would be too limiting, however, since they would be forever tied to that continuity and would have to break it to do otherwise.

 

Case in point: the Ferengi on ST:TNG. Originally the show bible had them planned as this bad-ass species that everyone feared and was hinted as much in the show pilot.

 

When it came time to actually show them, they ended up being space-faring versions of Flim and Flam... 《facehoofs》

[Heavenly Inexplicit 309]

When it came time to actually show them, they ended up being space-faring versions of Flim and Flam... 《facehoofs》

At least Flim and Flam are good singers!

[Baykush 328]

I never really appreciated the song so much until now, suddenly I find it extremely inspirational. Can we take a moment to appreciate it?

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

This was my second to least favorite episode of S6. I know a Zephyr, and Jesus in a moon buggy do I want to throttle both him and his clueless family like you would not believe.

 

It is the same tired excuses of "he is trying to get back on his feet" or "he is just having so many struggles".

 

Yeah when you pass on, his struggles will really begin I am going to say. I dislike the lazy and the crap excuses they toss out and hold equal disdain for the enablers.

[vanillapudding 44]

I'm really curious as to how Zephyr ever got a cutie mark.

 

Like, getting a cutie mark means you realized your 'true calling' right? The only exception we've ever seen was Trouble Shoes because even though he got his he completely misinterpreted it. Diamond Tiara kind of almost was like this, but she knew she liked to lead, she just didn't know how to be a good leader. So she knew her talent, but not how to use it. 

 

The whole cutie mark thing never comes up with Zephyr but if he's this lost then clearly he hasn't realized his talent. Which is apparently hair dressing? Only not really, that's just something he dedicates himself to at the end. And a feather with some breezy lines has nothing to do with hair dressing anyway. So what is his true talent? I want to hear his cutie mark story. Because from what we see, he's completely clueless and lost, which should point towards an adult pony who shouldn't have a cutie mark. 

 

[Clare Chan 5]

Title: Flutter Brutter

Air Date: June 4, 2016

Written by: Dave Rapp

Synopsis: When Fluttershy’s self-absorbed brother starts freeloading off their parents, she encourages him to move out. Unfortunately, he moves in with her instead, forcing Fluttershy to stand up to her brother and help him get over his fear of failure.

 

Of course remember to join us at the CMC Clubhouse on Equestria.tv!

 

I give this episode a 5/10.

[Zachary 5,521]

I gave this episode a 4/10

 

Also, this Episode made me hate Zephyr Breeze permanently.

 

Hoping to God I don't want to see him Again in Season 7.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Zachary

[Will Guide 21,360]

Guess who has 2 thumbs (in Real Life) and just graduated from college after 5-8 years with an Degree in English?

<--- THIS GUY

 

I'll have to wait until Spring 2017 to formally do the ceremony but for now, the final scene in the episode mirrors my life right now!

Zephyr Breeze/Me: Guess who's graduated from Mane Therapy Training!/ Guess who's passed the last of his classes to graduate!

...

Mr. Shy/My father: Congratulations, son.

...

Fluttershy/My Stepmother: I'm so proud of you, Zephyr/ William.

....

Zephyr/Me: ...And I wouldn't have [done it] if it weren't for you.

(Hugs her)

Fluttershy/My Stepmother: Oh, I just gave you some encouragement; you did this on your own.

 

During the Spring 2016 Quarter when this episode came out, the grades in the classes I was taking were D's and F's. Back then, I wrote a whole post about my struggles and the parallels between Zephyr and me.

 

But this past Fall Quarter, I finally succeeded with B's and C's.

 

This awesome video was fanmade shortly after the episode's release, and the talk within really speaks to me...

especially from 1:53-2:22

 

To me, Zephyr Breeze was a surprisingly relatable character once it's revealed that he's so afraid of failing, that he doesn't even try. Seeing Zephyr succeed by the end of the episode made me realized that if this guy (who's been acting like a jerk to mask his insecurities) can succeed, then so can I! And I ultimately did!

 

Thank you, Zephyr for being such a surprisingly relatable character!

Thank you, my parents for encouraging me like Shy and Dash did for him!

Thank you, Dragonfoxgirl for your fanmade video!

Thank you, MLP Staff for creating a great episode!

Edited March 29, 2017 by WiiGuy2014
Update due to loss of youtube clip

[Brainstorm 4,108]

I'm glad Zephyr turned himself around, because Fluttershy is right, he's smart and talented, his only problem was lack of confidence, but, he finally found it. 

[Tropico 226]

I like it.

I dislike Z main personality so much but i love his design so much, its so cool! that bun, 1-day beard, being tall and slim..<33

while i dont like how he acts with their family and everypony (specially treating the parents that bad), nor like his big ego. i do understand why he always quits at the first fail. he just feels that cant do anything, and if he does he thinks he will fail, so why bother trying anyways. also the fear of being a failure, feeling wortless, knowing everyone is better than him (when he mentions that fluttershy saves equestria) etc. i feel the same with all of that, i relate. so i really like the solution of the episode, and how they help him: encouraging him, giving him support.

 

im glad more people understand that. so glad you graduated, @WiiGuy2014 CONGRATS, you deserve it!

 

Edited March 29, 2017 by Tropico

[ChocolateCrane 156]

One of the worst episodes of season 6, yet I still give it around a 7/10

The quality in FiM has been increasing so much lately that even the weakest episodes are "average" at worst (well, with an exception to The Times they are a Changling, that is *shudders* e.e)

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

9.5/10 one of the best episode this season and the 3rd best Fluttershy episode. The uncannily realism in this ep made me uncomfortable but i love it, i love episode that engage me in personal level.

About Zerphyl, that guy is an ass, i hate him as a person, but i like him as a character, he served his purpose in the story, he is a perfect challenge for Fluttershy Element of Kindness. 

About Fluttershy, she is amazing, she has many expressions during the episode, anger, sarcastic, caring, sympathy. Her lessons in It aint easy being breezes are put in practice. David Rapp nailed Fluttershy in this ep *clap clap*

Bonus: the song is so good, when i am doing something and feel like giving up, i listen to this song.

[Tacodidra 61,155]

It was not a bad episode but I found it by far the saddest one to date. I guess it hit a little too close to home for me. The first time an MLP episode hasn't made me happy but quite the opposite...

Edited September 9, 2017 by Tacodidra

[Pastel 7,630]

While I loved that we finally got to see Fluttershy's parents, I didn't really like this episode. Mainly because of Zephyr, it's just...not the kind of characters I like.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Blobulle

[n1029 227]

I'm not sure if I'm fully on board with how Fluttershy and especially RD so rapidly shifted their tones from irritation to full-blown encouragement toward such an obnoxious personality like Zephyr's, but I guess that really is what you have to do if someone needs help. They really are much better people than me.

[Nye 1,652]

I like the bits of backstory given in this episode through meeting her brother. I also enjoyed the ongoing joke directed at Rainbow Dash. 

This episode accurately depicts the mentality of a couch potato.

Peeved.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Nye

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,628]

It was kind of funny to see Fluttershy get so frustrated, or should I say peeved.

Zephyr was obnoxious and a bit irritating to watch, but his struggle was pretty realistic and relatable.
So, overall I liked it.

On another note, there's no way those can be Fluttershy's parents. Neither have the same fur or mane color as her.

[Will Guide 21,360]

On 2/24/2018 at 4:19 AM, Panzy, Scoffer of Rings said:

It was kind of funny to see Fluttershy get so frustrated, or should I say peeved.

Zephyr was obnoxious and a bit irritating to watch, but his struggle was pretty realistic and relatable.
So, overall I liked it.

On another note, there's no way those can be Fluttershy's parents. Neither have the same fur or mane color as her.

Fluttershy got's her mother's yellow fur. Zephyr's got his father's green color. They ARE her Parents

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,628]

3 hours ago, We. said:

Fluttershy got's her mother's yellow fur. Zephyr's got his father's green color. They ARE her Parents

That ain't yellow. Her fur is like flesh/sand colored. I'll admit, that Mr. Shy is her father, cause they share similar eye color.
But, no way does sand/flesh fur + green fur = pale yellow fur

[Will Guide 21,360]

9 minutes ago, Panzy, Scoffer of Rings said:

That ain't yellow. Her fur is like flesh/sand colored. I'll admit, that Mr. Shy is her father, cause they share similar eye color.
But, no way does sand/flesh fur + green fur = pale yellow fur

You don't mix the colors together. The daughter got her fur color from the mother and the son got his color from his father.

Besides the mother's fur is a slightly different color because she's older. I guarantee Fluttershy fur will become more like her mothers' when she reaches her age.

Genetics work differently in Equestria, so really it's not worth debating this.

Edited March 17, 2018 by We.
More specific

[bigbertha 414]

This episode is fantastic. Fluttershy is great, the story is great, and Zephyr may not be likeable, but he's still well written. My only problem before was the song at the end, and while it still comes out of nowhere, I warmed up to it.

Score: 10/10

[qwerE 96]

The song at the end was really nice. However, while the story was motivational, so much of the episode showed Zephyr being useless that the most of the episode was boring. Zephyr being a jerk wasn't that funny and just made him look bad. I think it would have been better if he changed sooner.

 

[Thrond 3,263]

There's a lot to like here, but Zephyr's behaviour is so extreme that it doesn't seem to suit the moral very well. He's not just lazy, he's rude and manipulative; the anxiety that all of this is supposed to be about just doesn't register. When he quits all the jobs, you can start to see hints of it, but it's repeatedly undercut by the ways he gets other people to do work for him. The episode doesn't let us in his head enough, is what I'm saying, and unfortunately, it makes him slimy enough that getting in his head doesn't sound terribly desirable in the first place. 

The last four minutes do a better job; they reduce the bad behaviour and increase the anxiety. At that point I think the episode starts to achieve some resonance, as there really is something relatable in Zephyr's exaggerated fear of failure. It's a good moral which could have been communicated more elegantly. And sue me, I still think Zephyr is funny, especially in the first third or so. He's a little less funny when he's just destroying his parents' stuff, but when he's just being smug and egotistical I find him genuinely hilarious. And of course, Fluttershy is great. She stands up for herself without ever giving up her sensitivity and gentle demeanour. Later episodes like "Fluttershy Leans In" start to feel a bit too different, but here it feels perfectly organic. 

The song sounds kinda like every other song in this show, but it's upbeat and pleasant. This show could still use some more diversity in musical compositions. 

Score:
Entertainment: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Themes: 7/10
Story: 5/10
Overall: 68/100