S06:E12 - Spice Up Your Life

[bigbertha 414]

On 6/26/2016 at 9:37 PM, CrystalRarity said:

Writers went and made Zesty out with her apparently trying to control hungry ponies in Canterlot, rather than her having been writing her opinions, and other ponies liked them and followed them.

This is why the episode fails. Instead of having a realistic and nuanced character, the writers made Zesty a caricature. Not only is this just lazy, but it also hurts the credibility of the message you're telling. Just like with "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" and "The Mane Attraction", the lazy antagonist makes me think that the writers didn't put in the effort of making an interesting or nuanced message.

The rest of the episode is just boring, though I do like the sound of the song, despite the very on the nose lyrics.

Score: 3/10

 

[qwerE 96]

This epsisode was just ordinary. Jokes weren't that fun, and the story wasn't exciting either. I liked the moral that uniqueness has its own value, but the episode just failed to deliver it properly.

[Thrond 3,263]

People who complain about Rarity in this seem to be missing that she ruined the Tasty Treat mostly for the sake of pandering to Zesty Gourmand. I think the problem is less that she's out-of-character and more that it unbalances the narrative. Rarity spends most of the episode just making things worse. And the song, while among the best this season, places way too fine a point on it; Rarity becomes almost antagonistic at times for no good reason. Pinkie failing to get customers just about makes up for that, but that should have been in the song. Besides, shouldn't they have communicated about their game plan? 

The other problem is that I don't understand who Zesty Gourmand's audience is. I can't imagine her preferred type of food has wide appeal, so I question why the Canterlot ponies actually respect her opinions. Most people consider reviews as just one component of their decision-making process, I find, and any critic will tell you that their favourite part of their job is recommending something new. It seems to me that a good critic is actually more open-minded than average people, though I won't pretend that closed-minded reviewers don't exist. History is filled with examples, so this episode's whole "don't let people tell you what to like" thing does have resonance, but like other parts of the episode, I find it unbalanced. 

I still think there's a lot of charm to it, though, especially from Coriander and Saffron, and I like the hints of commentary on the immigrant experience. Pinkie's as delightful as always here, and the hint of flaws for Rarity is a nice change of pace from the usual, even if - like other episodes this season - the episode seems to have a limited understanding of her personality. This one isn't my favourite at all, but it's a pleasant watch, and I love the song despite the lyrics. This show doesn't experiment with its musical style nearly enough, so I treasure this one weird blip of creativity. 

Score:
Entertainment: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Themes: 6/10
Story: 5/10
Overall: 65/100

And so concludes my episode rating project. 

[bigbertha 414]

This is just a boring episode. The message is a good one, but it's delivered in the laziest way possible, choosing to make a stereotype instead of a character. Rarity and Pinkie are dull and none of the jokes are funny. I like the song, but even then the lyrics are terrible.

Score: 3/10

[Cash In 22,305]

I actually liked this one a lot. Saffron Masala and her dad (I forgot his name) were likeable characters and the message behind the episode hit close to home for me.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Cash_In

[Sparklefan1234 170,567]

On 6/11/2016 at 11:20 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

DHX was trying to paint Zesty Gourmand in the wrong in this episode by making her the "petulant critic" stereotype and highly rating generic fine-dining restaurants with poor flavor quality, but in the beginning of Act 3, I found myself agreeing with her harsh words. By trying to make The Tasty Treat succeed, Rarity stripped the place of its authenticity and forced Coriander and Saffron to rip off the others. The New Tasty Treat was a substandard ripoff of the other places with poor service. She had every right to leave and call out Rarity for her creative choices.

 

After rewatching this episode earlier, I 100% agree with everything here. 

[Astralshy 26,625]

This episode was really well made in my opinion. It has no big thing happening or anything. Then I loved the song and Saffron's character is likeable and adorable. I laughed when I saw Gordon Ramsey as a Pony. Maybe the other ponies are also reference to other chefs? I don't know this, but I somehow suspect that.

On 2021-04-20 at 6:15 AM, Starforce Glimmer said:

 

Yes, I also remember Sweet Biscuit from this episode :)

[Adariousmist 127]

I had a good time with this one, even if at first I was raging a bit at Rarity's insistence on conformity and over focus on impressing a social figure.  I really liked Saffron and Coriander.

[MichaelWFX 35]

I noticed the waitress character actually said anyone instead of anypony

[Iforgotmybrain 5,663]

Pinkie knows what’s up. The best restaurants are always the hidden away ones. Love Saffron’s design, she’s adorable. And Coriander’s design is unique as well! Also like that they’re named after spices even if it’s a bit on the nose lol. The song is a banger too.

This episode also really sums up how I feel about fine dining and “high culture” in general. I was on Pinkie’s side 100% from the start. 

A genuinely great episode after two very underwhelming ones.

[Antiyonder 1,150]

YouTube upload of the episode: