S06:E12 - Spice Up Your Life

[Cosmik Vek 764]

I liked today's episode

A nice Pinkie And Rarity episode with not the greatest build up but it works.

The best thing about today's episode was the end. The way the conflict was resolved was done in a neat way and the morale helped it make a stand.

The caracterizations weren't bad, but they could had been better, the critic caracter being the best exemple of a flawed caracter here, with her "jump to conclusion" attitude.

The humour somehow worked at times.

Also, a nice job here on putting Gordon Ramsay in the background, I just hoped he would had talk (me getting my hopes high again )

Although This episode did not made my expectations before being sent into this hiatus, it liked it, but not in such a way like greater episodes this season.

 

TL;DR: Nice episode, with positives being the end, the moral and some of the humour, but the caracterizations were not the best and I could say that this episode missed some kind of spices (see what I did there )

Rating: 8/10

[Jeric 46,834]

Today's episode was about being different and thinking for yourself, right?

Kinda a potpourri honestly. You had a handful of messages in this one ... like I said ... dense episode is dense.

 

Oh and the names of the Indian Ponies are Saffron and Coriander ... two compatible spices that are exquisite and complex.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

spoiler alert:I really liked this one! I thought it was fascinating to find out the Cutie Map had been malfunctioning since Starlight messed with it. It makes perfect sense for it to have been broken given all the timelines etc they went through kind of like a computer freeze but the magical version. I thought it was cool that they paired Rarity with Pinkie Pie again and I think their pairing worked perfectly for the episode plot because of Rarity's knowledge of status and trends in Canterlot and Pinkie being a free spirit. I absolutely loved the 2 pony characters with the Indian accents! They were adorable! My teacher who had a stroke that I wrote about in another thread(he's fine now) is from India and has a relationship with his daughter that is similar so it was like seeing my teacher in pony form! LOL. My teacher really does look like this Just not overweight like that. Does anybody know who does the voice for the male pony with the Indian accent? Is it Peter New? Peter New does good Indian accents so I thought it might be him but I was not sure. I liked the lesson of being unique, and not letting other ponies/peoples tastes decide yours. I liked that Rarity and Pinkie Pie disagreed without them both fighting for the whole episode since it would have been so boring to watch them fight. I liked the song a lot. The song reminded me of "Rubber Bands, Rubber Balls" from Phineas and Ferb. Someone should make a PMV of that Ferb song with these Indian ponies! PLEASE somebody do that and give me the link to the video?! Please! LOL. Is there a hiatus after this episode? Anyone know? 

[Jeric 46,834]

You know what’s funny? Haute cuisine IRL often has many eastern influences, especially Indian, since you know, colony and shit. Besides, what P-Pone and Rarara have been served over and over has only been one dish that looked like a sad example of hors d’oeuvre. I mean, you can go and slander lore and mythology; you can throw heroism into the mud, but never, ever should one insult haute cuisine! See, there are types of food for every occasion. Even great chefs won’t cook complicated dishes for their families and will instead make something similar to what those “Indian” ponies were making. Just because something is good doesn’t meant it deserves stars/hoofs, or every other burekđinica would have bucking stars by now! Burekđinicas and classy restaurants coexist, and anyone, professional writer or otherwise, who still uses this example for their “Adam Sandler” underdog story is an idiot. Culinary criticism isn’t as subjective as one might think, and what they’ve shown was definitely not it, though if I had a dish thrown into my face, I’d probably grade the responsible establishment with zero too.

 

Whooh, just had to get that off my chest. Anyway, it was a nice little story. Nothing special once again, but we’re all kinda used to that by now, aren’t we.

The problem with culinary criticism is that food is tied more to external chemistry and biology as also internal biology and chemistry, unlike a film or book. Then you mix in sociopsychology and conditioning that influences other tastes in art ...

[Zantetsuken 364]

Ok so the Mid-Season finale... Even though history dictates there should be one more episode so I guess we can call the Mostly mid season Finale? Whatever, so season 6 episode 13 12. 

 

We have another Mike Vogel episode who's debut episode I was quite happy with. I had hope for this one, so did it deliver? Well yes and no.

 

I feel like there is an issue with this episode but I don't know what it is, which can mean one of two things. There is an issues with this episode that I cant see or there is no issues and I'm just looking too hard for one that doesn't actually exist.

 

This episode was mostly good, but there was nothing that really stood out to me, except the end. I like how MLP has a tendency to play characters completely straight. I like how that food critic wasn't persuaded to try the food, I thought she would be, sometimes you have to lose to keep things realistic. It's like Hurricane Fluttershy where they got the water up but didn't break the record, and here, they got the restaurant attention but didn't get the critic to try the food. Both are big win, small loss situations, which I like to see.

 

Also I'm not sure if I'm alone on this but when I saw Zesty Gormand I thought of the character, Anton Ego, from Ratatouille, if anyone remembers him.

 

I kind of wish I had more to talk about with this episode but I'm not really sure what else to type. It was good but not great and with nothing particularly outstanding other what I already mentioned, I really have nothing else to talk about.

 

7.3/10 

Edited June 11, 2016 by Zantetsuken

[Allen 1,371]

Mission Success for Pinkie Pie and Rarity for a job well done in Canterlot! They saved the restaurant finally, for every-pony in Canterlot to come visit! Also, the song is revealed in this episode! So I say it's a great episode for today! 

[BlackWater627 700]

Today's episode was about being different and thinking for yourself, right?

Pretty much. I mean there were some other messages too. Like with Saffron and Coriander (the father and daughter). They had to learn to work together again. So there was also that. 

[AlbaTross 1,581]

Great episode for me. I love Indian food, so I'm kind of craving a curry now...anyways, the song is definitely the highlight for me. It's everything last week's song isn't. It's unique, and fun, which kind of ties into the moral of the episode. After listening to the song in last week's episode a second time, I will admit my feelings towards it were a tad harsh as the harmonies between Ashley Ball and Andrea Libman are on point, but I still think it's drab and uninspired, much like the cousine Zesty Gourmand likes, as it just sounds like an amalgamation of quite a few previous songs. In the latest song, Kazumi Evans and Shannon Chan-Kent are also on point, and it's a catchy tune that sets itself apart from past songs. I get that it's probably increasingly difficult to come up with something we haven't heard already in the show's already long run, but clearly it's still possible.

 

I think the rest of the episode is solid too. I wasn't expecting such an adequate explanation for why we haven't had a Cutie Map episode this season until now, so there's that. Hey look, Starlight still exists. I know we've already had a Pinkie/Rarity episode this season, but they make a good duo. I kind of like that they have different ideas, and splitting up reveals just how divergent their thinking is from each other, and also leads to disaster before they reconvene and get on the same page. There's a subtle moral in there about the benefits of friends sticking together if they want to solve anyone else's problem. If they're not on the same page, they can't expect to get the shop owner and his daughter on the same page. Of course the mane moral here is that being unique beats selling out for prestige. I think the way it's presented is a tad exaggerated, but it's a good moral nonetheless.

 

I'm actually looking forward even more to the pairings we'll see later in the season. I'm going to assume we won't have Twilight with Fluttershy again, so Fluttershy will be paired with either Rainbow or AJ. Rainbow and Fluttershy are a pretty cliched pairing, but they work for the same reason that AJ and Rarity do, and we got the latter last season. Plus, then we can have a Twilight and AJ episode, which would be kind of fun, and I kind of want to see that. Alternatively, Fluttershy and AJ hasn't been done much, outside of that Friends Forever issue starring them. Twilight and Rainbow have been done a little, but a cutie map episode starring them could be interesting. I think we'll probably get the latter match ups, but only time will tell, and we have a hiatus to get through first.

[Castle Bleck 19,163]

A very important message to all food critics, or any kind of critics for that matter, like movie critics and t.v. show critics: "Nopony has the right to tell these ponies what to think...Just because you like your food a certain way, there is no reason to tell these ponies that they need to do the same"

 

To be fair, it was explicitly shown that the critic in question actually had some serious weight in determining business success.

 

So Rarity was actually a bit Properly Paranoid.

[Jeric 46,834]

Pretty much. I mean there were some other messages too. Like with Saffron and Coriander (the father and daughter). They had to learn to work together again. So there was also that.

There was also a message about the dangers inherent in conforming, the responsibility and power that comes with critique, using your name recognition appropriately, the hidden complexity and simple things ...

[colt .45 259]

First "The Gift of Maud Pie", and now this! Rarity and Pinkie are proving to have really nice chemistry in the episodes they share.

 

Also, nice to have an explanation for why we haven't seen the cutie map this season. I thought maybe it had gone the way of "the Journal of Friendship" did after season four.

 

Pinkie sure knows good food when she smells it. (think the muffins in "Cutie Map part one, and the scones in "Lost Treasure of Griffonstone") She works in a bakery! But, she wasn't fashionable, or influential enough to draw in customers to the restaurant. Rarity, on the other hoof knows business. Her idea was to mimic the model of what she saw other successful businesses doing. Of course she was wrong in this instance. But, once she embraced the importance of uniqueness, she was able to not only use her influence to draw a crowd to the resturant, but was able to break the spell that Zesty had over Canterlot ponies! Even to the point of other restaurant owners refusing to conform to the standard that Zesty had set. I thought maybe she would have used her boutique to promote the restaurant, with maybe some samples, or bringing her employees lunch, and others smelling it and asking where the food came from. But watching her parade up and down the sidewalk wearing a sandwich board was amusing too.

 

Oh yeah, and the song was good too!

 

After a long track record of Rarity and AJ being a favorite pairing, their last two episodes together ("Made in Manehatten" and "AppleJacks Day Off") were not bad, but lacking that chemistry they had in earlier episodes. The Pinkie/ Rarity episodes seem to pick up where the AJ/ Rarity episodes left off.

[Jeric 46,834]

To be fair, it was explicitly shown that the critic in question actually had some serious weight in determining business success.

 

So Rarity was actually a bit Properly Paranoid.

Serious enough that every establishment was changed to be avoid failure, as evidenced by the smoker and baker at the end.

[twiia 1,842]

I'm watching it tomorrow, as it sounds... not my type.

[CT-1138 3,179]

It was good, though not great. The last minute zinger really was the best part. 

[Jeric 46,834]

Also, weird that a pony named Zesty is so stuck on subtlety in food. All of a sudden my backstory wheels are turning.

[VeroxVitrus 70]

Did any feel that this episode was the writers way of showing hatred towards Gordon Ramsay's kitchen knightmares? 

 

If you watch the series you can see that Gordon changes the restaurant into how he thinks it should look, however this episode feels like it's arguing against Gordon Ramsay and is trying to get through a message that to be yourself not what people want you to be.

[BlackWater627 700]

True that. Trust Pinkie to be on the right track about being yourself.    And also being legit about food tastes. Even Rarity had to admit about those disastrous dishes. 

 

Now they need to give us that Twilight with Twilight episode! 

[Midnight Seashell 206]

The power of Vishnu compels you

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Wow, this episode made me legit kinda mad, it's not my least favorite of the season in that I did still find it entertaining and not dull but man I HATE seeing Rarity written this OOC. She was the WORST character to pick for the role of the "Conformist" goes against everything the character has been about since the first season. 


Man, all that progress she had made with the fans too in recent seasons probably just also took a big hit...

[Batbrony 15,994]

Ponies + Indian Food = This

 

 

Now that that's out of the way, good morning everypony, and welcome to another edition of "Batbrony Reviews," our last for a while I'm afraid given that the Season 6 hiatus is upon us.  Thankfully, I am glad to say that today's episode was most delightful indeed, even if it wasn't perfect.  A nice return to the Friendship Map formula of last season with a fun pair of ponies we've already seen once this season, let's dive into "Spice Up Your Life."

 

 

So, in this case I feel compelled to get what I thought didn't work in this episode out of the way first, because it bugged me as the episode unfolded.  I was honestly having a hard time figuring out what the lesson was supposed to be.  That is not to say that the episode didn't have a message, oh no, it did indeed.  But I think it was the Friendship Map formula in general that threw me off; the presumption was that the quarrel Rarity and Pinkie had to solve was that between Coriander and Saffron.  Now there clearly was a quarrel, but I don't think that's actually what Rarity and Pinkie had to do (though the episode didn't do a very good job of explaining that).  The nature of the quarrel wasn't very well explained; obviously both ponies were fighting a lot since their business was struggling, but I never really got a sense for what Coriander wanted to do differently from his daughter.  Rarity pretty much handled everything in the music montage on his end, and Coriander was just kind of grumpy the whole time.  In the end, the action did not center around those two at all, at least not salvaging their relationship.  It also wasn't just about saving their business, because that's not really a friendship problem either.

 

 

Yelp and RT reviewers manifested as a pony; as one can imagine, she sucked as much as you would think she would  :crackle:

 

No, in actuality, the message is actually quite nuanced, if not a little too subtle until the very end.  I think the friendship lesson that they had to teach was to all of Restaurant Row in Canterlot, not just Coriander and Saffron.  The crux of the conflict was that nopony in Canterlot would even try their food because they didn't have a hoof rating from Zesty Gourmand.  Up till the very end, even after tons of other ponies in Canterlot were trying and clearly loving their food, Zesty still refused, contending that it was beneath her to do so and would ruin her reputation.  What we have here, oddly enough, is a critique of critic culture, specifically critics who write for published and major media sources.  Critics can sway public opinion quite a bit, and that can often be a good thing if the critic is good; but the problem with critic culture, sometimes, is that critics can sometimes become too full of their own opinions for their own good.  They care more about the weight of their critique than remembering that they have their own personal tastes just like everyone else, and sometimes it can be so bad that it even prevents them from giving something new a chance, or judging something based on its own context/what it's trying to be instead of measuring it against things it simply shouldn't be.  An Indian restaurant should be an Indian restaurant, not a place of high, cultured food.  A blockbuster should try to be a great blockbuster, not an arthouse film, just as an arthouse film shouldn't try to be a blockbuster.  Forming one's opinion, especially if voiced in public with the power to sway others, is a heady responsibility that should not be taken lightly, especially if you do have the social standing to sway others, and sometimes it's all too easy for people to forget that they could be wrong or just not like something that most others will if they actually can influence others' opinions.  I very much liked this message, but again, I feel like it was not delivered, until the last few minutes of the episode, in a way that was readily understood, at least as the center of the episode's theme.  Like I said, the friendship problem was not readily apparent at any point in the episode, but I think it came down to the episode title; people shouldn't be afraid of spicing up their lives, trying something new or giving something a chance, and shouldn't let the opinions of others prevent them from trying something if they think they'll like it or actually do like it.  If you have a different opinion or tastes than someone else, that doesn't make you less of a person for it; all it means is that your ideas of what's enjoyable are different from what others find enjoyable.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with that most of the time, and like I said, I really like this message; I just think it could have been delivered better.

 

 

I love this guy!  Coriander just does not have any time for any of your BS, Rarity; don't take it personally darling, he doesn't have any time for anyone's BS, and he thinks that everything is BS 99% of the time

 

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to what I loved.  Really, I loved everything about how this episode looked and felt.  The style was great; getting to see Canterlot again, great; getting to see more Rarity and Pinkie Pie, great; getting a father/daughter conflict, great; father/daughter turn out to be Indian, very unique and awesome to see the writers branching out their character types in such a diverse way; the song, just as unique and awesome, combining familiar musical talents with a style of music we've never heard in the show.  Basically, this FELT and LOOKED exactly as I hope new slice of life MLP episodes should; enough familiar elements combined with new ones to add some great flair and style, with just a dash of nice world building to boot.  Admittedly, Rarity made a few more mistakes than Pinkie Pie, but really they both just weren't doing the right job from the get go; Pinkie Pie was just as bad at attracting customers to a restaurant in Canterlot as Rarity was at preparing the decor of the place, and in that regard the episode again felt a tad confused as to what it was trying to tell us about them.  I think it came down to each of them working off of each other's strengths as the situation demanded; Rarity was still great at converting the restaurant, but that simply wasn't what needed to be done.  Likewise, nobody questions that Pinkie Pie is as friendly as can be, but she wasn't about to attract new customers in Canterlot simply by being outgoing.  This goes back to the episode's message; in Rarity, we see how the opinion of one with social standing can be turned to good in helping nudge others along to trying something new.  In Pinkie Pie, we get obviously the tried and true message that, if you love what you do and know that others can and should love it too, then you shouldn't conform to the point that what makes your product unique and special in the first place is entirely absent from the finished product.

 

 

Pinkie, that's not helping anyone 

 

Coriander and Saffron were a great addition to the show; again, the nature of their conflict with each other wasn't explained the greatest, but Saffron was perfectly friendly and Coriander was a hoot when he was grumpy, with his constant, deadpan expression and complete disinterest in everything (very nicely captured in his movements; I thought the animators did a wonderful job of making Coriander actually LOOK as heavy-set as he was drawn through his very slow, drawn-out movements).  Zesty Gourmand was genuinely unlikable, and it was very nice how the episode showed she was so stubbornly set in her ways and had such a high opinion of her own opinion that she wouldn't even taste Coriander and Saffron's food.  She missed out on a great chance for some great food all because she thought too highly of herself.  As I said, I loved the Canterlot setting, and aesthetically the episode was extremely bright, colorful, and vibrant, very befitting an episode with this title. The music too, as I mentioned earlier, was a real treat and, although unique for the show, felt perfectly at home in it all the same.  Overall, while this was hardly a perfect episode, it was a very delightful episode all the same, and if you can figure out the messages, they're actually very good ones.  They're just a little hard to catch in the episode's actual execution.  Until next time everypony, which may be a few months given the hiatus, this is Batbrony, as always, signing off.  I'm off! *cue dramatic exit*

 

 

That's not helping anyone either, Pinkie 

 

P.S. Before I forget, it was great seeing Starlight at the start of the episode with the rest of the Mane 6, in an actual slice of life episode, and on top of that fixing the Friendship Map with Twilight.  Very nice to see the writers working her in like that finally in a small, supporting role.

[BlackWater627 700]

 

 

She was the WORST character to pick for the role of the "Conformist" goes against everything the character has been about since the first season.

 

Given some of the previous episodes, I might agree. Actually, given Rarity's prominence in this and the last season, I think it would have been better if another character had gone with Pinkie. For example, Rainbow Dash. Even though it meant she'd be out of her element given the city location, it might have made sense. She's proved to be a conformist with the Wonderbolts and she the type to rush to change things in the restaurant to quickly solve the problem as she sees it. That's my own opinion though. 

 

 

 

Pinkie, that's not helping anyone 

 

Pinkie sucks plate. 

Also, the return of Oinky Pie was much appreciated. 

[Jeric 46,834]

Did any feel that this episode was the writers way of showing hatred towards Gordon Ramsay's kitchen knightmares?

 

If you watch the series you can see that Gordon changes the restaurant into how he thinks it should look, however this episode feels like it's arguing against Gordon Ramsay and is trying to get through a message that to be yourself not what people want you to be.

 

No I didn't. To be fair, in that series it is more complicated than that. In fact this episode may actually celebrate that show in a sense. The changes that Ramsey makes are usually as follows.

 

- Increase the flavor and quality of the food

- Address family conflict

- Make restaurant unique and distinguished from local competition

- Simplify food selections. Not every restaurant needs to be fine cuisine.

- Ensure fresh ingredients are used

- Address poor financial management.

- Focus on passion and love for cooking and being a restaurateur

 

That fits with the spirit of the episode, not a cautionary tale against it.

 

Sorry, there is a well known German Bakery in my family so I kinda grew up in the culture of 'food as a business' ... at least a little. My father was the family black sheep since he didn't go into baking and wanted to jump on technology. I smiled a lot at times in this episode since family business dynamics are fairly complicated. It is extremely easy to get lost in what is profitable and forget why you got into the business to begin with.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

 

From the beginning, I could not help but keep making references to Babu Bhatt from Seinfeld.

 

 

Overall, I found this to be a pretty standard setup as far as this season goes. But there were a few highlights worth mentioning, as well as single talking point that's very relevant and may boost the episode's standing for me.

 

• Finally, a map episode in Season 6, after half the season has already gone by.
• Mike Vogel has proven himself to be very capable at writing the best dialogue among the writers still working on this show. The banter between Pinkie Pie and Rarity never once felt forced, cue-carded, or taken from a list of stock phrases.
• Although the lyrics are pretty standard, the song had a very unique melody and introduced a new style of music to Daniel Ingram's repertoire.
• The conflict between Rarity and Pinkie in this episode is very representative of the balancing act some creative people have to handle when juggling art and business, and this especially applies to the visual arts as well: unique enough to stand out, or similar enough to other works to feel a sense of familiarity in order to attract new tastes. Food and music metaphors are usually the best medium to express the dilemmas a lot of artists in different fields face.

Of course, Zesty was going to be a stereotypical "tyrannical critic". However, for once, the type of character she represents is very relevant to the moral. She was obviously meant to be the "hated character", which can be a strength as long as they're still entertaining to watch, clearing up a fine barrier between likable, relatable, and enjoyable. When done right, characters like Zesty and Svengallop should be able to grab the most latter without necessarily reaching for the former, and while Svengallop fell short for me, Zesty comes a bit closer. But an interesting talking point I came up with is how a lot of media, especially for kids, almost always portrays critics as intimidating, uptight, and egotistical figures that need to be humbled. Unfortunately, they seem very justified by people who misuse the medium of criticism in reality.

 

It's often that you see characters like Zesty; self-serving, elitist snobs with a sense of unwarranted self-importance, tyrants with such a need for control that they declare themselves the ultimate authority on what works and what doesn't and look down the nose at anyone who doesn't agree with them. In truth, there are a lot of people in real life that call themselves critics that do this exact thing. On a sampling of notable media reviewers on the Internet, I'm sure at least 5 in 15 of these are exactly like this, or more, including popular ones. On the same token, the comments sections on a lot of sites are chock full of people like this as well, earning certain well-meaning sites a poisonous reputation due to their communities. This is why certain stereotypes exist and are portrayed with such sincerity. Stereotypes exist because of trends, and a lot of time they're based in some sort of truth rather than conjecture.

 

Worse still, there are a lot of people that enable this sort of egotism on the part of critics. People that do not think for themselves and are willing to let so-called "experts", either self-declared or declared by their class, connections, and/or education, make all their decisions, who sell out their own opinions to people with these sort of accolades without any sense of critical thinking, without the desire to bring up the more important questions. Where did they come from? What were their experiences? What are they looking for out of the particular media they observe?

 

Worse yet, there are people who will absolutely turn when the critic they obsess over, or the people in general, don't agree with them. I've had to make posts on the forum reiterating that it's not the fault of the critic or the public, it's the fault of the complainer for not having their own critical thinking skills and not considering the positions of others.

 

It's this sort of blind following that allows certain people given the title of "critic" to abuse their positions, to do exactly what characters like Zesty portray: To write an entire movie review based on a single character, scene, or trailer. To insult and talk down to others who don't share their views. To tangentially use this medium as a personal and/or political platform, as has been done increasingly over recent years, riding the coattails of someone else's work to dupe others into being propagandized. This is also why people unfairly apply this label to honest critics who love their jobs and do the absolute best they can.

 

Honest critics are purveyors of observations, not merely opinions. They are open to broad-based facts, discussions, differing viewpoints, looking where others couldn't, and the never-ending search for "something new". This is why some are so respected. The day where "new things" are no longer a given is incomprehensible to me, unless you're some sort of brooding nihilist or take the first few chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes to heart. Though Zesty starts with an old stereotype, there are far too many people that actually live up to it and are in dire need of a reconsideration of their positions.

 

It's this part of me that wishes the episode was a bit more about Zesty, or that we could have seen her given a small character arc that ends the same way it does for Anton Ego in Ratatouille, with Zesty stopping to consider that her search for fine food may have been misguided and that her heart is in the wrong place. Zesty isn't the best portrayal of a critic in a kids' show, but given context, she represents traits that we all should be paying more attention to when considering media criticism. In short, thinking for ourselves while considering others.

 

For reference, as others have mentioned, here is the Nostalgia Critic's editorial "When Are Critics Wrong?":

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by Wind Chaser

[Jeric 46,834]

 

 

She was the WORST character to pick for the role of the "Conformist" goes against everything the character has been about since the first season. 

 

 

Again, it is more complicated than that. The goal early on became - 'You need success. Michelin Star Horseshoe level success'. Because someone personally doesn't like copying their own work doesn't mean that the same person would not recognize that it can breed success. Nor would it be lost on Rarity that Coriander seemed particularly fixed on the lack of customers. How I am approaching it is that to Rarity, the food tasted good ... so get the people in the place and go from there. 

 

It gets even more interesting in Rarity's first line of the song ... you have to follow the trends. Even a good fashion designer incorporates what is popular in their concepts. Otherwise you get this 

 

 

There is some conformity inherent in Rarity's designs. She draws inspiration from outside sources like her customer as well. She follows trends and approves of them. So it is a mix of uniqueness, meeting what the customer wants (something she doesn't always get), and applying what is trendy as well. 

[Sonic5421 423]

This was a great episode, and I loved the introduction of some India-like ponies in Saffron and her father, Coriander, as they struggled with keeping their restaurant open due to how so many ponies were more into all the places on Restaurant Row that had Zesty's seal of approval with the Three Hoof rating similar to how hotels have the Triple A Diamond ratings and the star ratings for restaurants in real life.

 

Thanks to Rarity and Pinkie, Saffron and Coriander realized they don't need Zesty's seal of approval as they have always cooked together since Saffron was little, and thanks to Rarity and Pinkie pretty much telling Zesty off, a lot of restaurateurs decided to go back to their own unique ideas since they hated the standards they had to stick with for Zesty's respect and approval.

 

Wonderful episode to show the return of the Cutie Map and the first friendship mission for the Mane Six since The Cutie Re-mark, and I give it a 10/10. I hope we see more ponies from faraway lands like Saffron and Coriander again, even the Saddle Arabian delegates would work as well!