S06:E14 - The Cart Before The Ponies

[That Guy with the CMB 5,873]

I think that's my favorite episode of the season. It had the makings of a season one or two episode! c;

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

 

Finally the 1st song in the 2d part of S6. 9/10

[Summer Wish 102]

 

 

........DEEEEEEEEERPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPY!!!!!!

 

:Hoof shake:

 

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

 

You will fall before the power that is Rarity! FEAR HER FOR YOU ARE HER NEMESIS!

 

 

(ok that scene had me laughing so hard my Roomie came to see if I was alright. Perfection DHX, perfection!)

 

...:Glances around:

 

DEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPY!

 

(eat your heart out Shatner.)

[dekutree64 713]

Is it just me, or is this episode kind of bad?

Yeah, it was just kind of frustrating the whole time. If the sisters were going to actually steal the show, they should have succeeded and then felt guilty about it. Seeing them fail was no fun. And the "responsible adult" roles at the end were no fun either. Of course adults should still want to race carts!

 

And if the sisters had listened sooner, then they could have switched partners so they could actually work as teams. Would have been cool to have some bonding time between different pairs than usual. Yes it's better for adults to give up their fun in favor of the kids rather than taking it all for themselves, but it's better still to manipulate the situation to where everypony is doing what they really want to do.

 

And then there's Derpy... why why why not have her work with Dinky? I would have been so happy

 

Rarity's swan cart was the best part of the episode.

[weesh 690]

Yeah, it was just kind of frustrating the whole time...

 

I really wish the DEFAULT was that writers would make episodes that were fun to watch while you were watching them, rather than frustrating you then redeeming them at the end.  

That said, the surprise with the way they redeemed it made me like the ep. 

[Goat-kun 2,527]

This episode was not shiny and chrome.

 

Well, there is at least one thing Rarara and I agree upon: big and bold is indeed the way to go. Too bad our glorious writers didn’t listen to their own advice. It feels like the humor got run over by the lesson again.

 

P.S: Wanna try something different? Construct a wood gas engine and put it into a traditional chassis. Proceed to win all three medals. Perhaps it’s a good thing Twilight and Spike didn’t have time for this buffoonery.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

SPOILER ALERT!!! I really liked and related to this episode. I thought it was adorable! The lesson was great. I really related to the CMC here because I have had certain people in my life who tried to force their own ideas onto me in much the same way Rarity,Applejack, and Rainbow did here. Just like in the episode when I listened to someone else's instinct instead of my own instincts everything went straight to HELL. I loved that the lesson was that older ponies don't always know better because this is so true! I thought the writers made really good use of each character, and their albeit short interactions with the CMC. The class physics scene was actually like my college classes which was hilarious. I enjoyed Applejack's stubbornness and loved the flashbacks with Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Why didn't Applejack get a flashback? The song was cute. The only things I wish they would have done is maybe have the crusaders voice their concerns more loudly but have the adults still not listen as this was more my experience but that is just me. The other thing I wonder about is how the heck did Scootaloo get up to Rainbow's house if she cannot fly? Maybe Rainbow carried her? I loved that Rainbow and Scootaloo did something together again. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by StitchandMLPlover

[ponylaces 1,870]

I would think you enjoyed it quite a bit for the Scoot scenes, Laces. 

It's better than nothing! ;p

[Snow 7,009]

yo anypony else stay up late to watch the livestream? its 3am here XP
totally worth it might i add.

[chronos911 22]

This episode was pretty terrible, there's no way in any known universe that AppleJack, Rarity, or Rainbow Dash would act this way.   They acted like so silly, spoilt and greedy.  What the hell?  They're the elements of harmony for crying out loud, they've learnt countless life lessons through years worth of episodes and they're adult ponies.  They should know better than this.   Add this to the list of episodes that turn the characters completely out of character.   An even if I where to forgive that.  The episode by itself was just boring and pointless.   Give me that Changling episode already.  That's what I want to see, something that has diverse changes on the story and lore and has a serious tone to it.   An preferably not with the characters doing a complete 180 in their personalities.. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by chronos911

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

I LOVED THIS EPISODE!!!!

 

It was nice to see Cheerilee back, we have not seen her in a while.

 

Also, I loved the look on Daimond Tiara's face after the crash. We need an emoji for that face.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

And thus, my hope for season 6 sinks lower....

 

Up until now, I've been hyping Ed Valentine up for his past success. I thought that he, more than anyone else, would be able to turn this season around and save it from its doldrums. And yet, two years after delivering two of the best episodes of season 4, this is what we get now?

 

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were out of character on massively extreme levels. On the one hand, I can sort of see that there's a bit of a catalyst for their behavior in that they want to relive their past glory....or lack thereof. In that sense, the episode delivers on a somewhat fairly understandable flaw for the three of them. But there's no way that this flaw excuses the completely lack of disregard they showed their younger sisters. Hell, that was probably the meanest I've ever seen Applejack. And to think, that this was from the same writer who gave Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo their absolute cutest and most heartfelt moment together. 

 

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are better than this. We know that they are better than this, and so once again, the show decides to go backwards on their development just for the sake of making the plot work. 

 

I am so SICK AND TIRED of this happening!!!!! I want to see our characters GOING FORWARDS, NOT BACKWARDS!!!! 

 

And what probably irritates me the most is just how utterly pointless this episode ultimately was. Why in the hell are we still getting episodes like this now that the CMC have their cutie marks? This episode could have been worthwhile had they included a way for the CMC to utilize their talents, but instead it turned out to be an episode that easily could have been made before they had cutie marks. So ultimately, this episode provided development for ABSOLUTELY NO ONE.

 

So yep, this one is a dud. Two episodes in to the second half of season 6, and I'm already losing faith that it can be turned around. Just perfect...

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

This episode was pretty terrible, there's no way in any known universe that AppleJack, Rarity, or Rainbow Dash would act this way.   They acted like so silly, spoilt and greedy.  What the hell?  They're the elements of harmony for crying out loud, they've learnt countless life lessons through years worth of episodes and they're adult ponies.  They should know better than this.   Add this to the list of episodes that turn the characters completely out of character.   An even if I where to forgive that.  The episode by itself was just boring and pointless. 

 

Why are people so hard on season 6? This episode was great! It was not flat out amazing. It was a simple plot done many times, but it was still good and entertaining! Seriously, be a little lenient, not every episode will be a masterpiece!

And thus, my hope for season 6 sinks lower....

 

Up until now, I've been hyping Ed Valentine up for his past success. I thought that he, more than anyone else, would be able to turn this season around and save it from its doldrums. And yet, two years after delivering two of the best episodes of season 4, this is what we get now?

 

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were out of character on massively extreme levels. On the one hand, I can sort of see that there's a bit of a catalyst for their behavior in that they want to relive their past glory....or lack thereof. In that sense, the episode delivers on a somewhat fairly understandable flaw for the three of them. But there's no way that this flaw excuses the completely lack of disregard they showed their younger sisters. Hell, that was probably the meanest I've ever seen Applejack. And to think, that this was from the same writer who gave Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo their absolute cutest and most heartfelt moment together. 

 

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are better than this. We know that they are better than this, and so once again, the show decides to go backwards on their development just for the sake of making the plot work. 

 

I am so SICK AND TIRED of this happening!!!!! I want to see our characters GOING FORWARDS, NOT BACKWARDS!!!! 

 

And what probably irritates me the most is just how utterly pointless this episode ultimately was. Why in the hell are we still getting episodes like this now that the CMC have their cutie marks? This episode could have been worthwhile had they included a way for the CMC to utilize their talents, but instead it turned out to be an episode that easily could have been made before they had cutie marks. So ultimately, this episode provided development for ABSOLUTELY NO ONE.

 

So yep, this one is a dud. Two episodes in to the second half of season 6, and I'm already losing faith that it can be turned around. Just perfect...

 

Same case as the guy above. Also, if you are angry that the characters are not progressing and growing as characters, blame all the people who hate that Twilight got wings, or the people that hated that the CMC got their Cutie marks. I feel like that is a subtle way of the writers to get back at those people. 

And then there's Derpy... why why why not have her work with Dinky? I would have been so happy

 

It was already proven in Flutter Brutter that Derpy is not Dinky's mom. So not sure why you were expecting that...

[ponylaces 1,870]

What was ???:

Chicken cart: Really? REALLY? A chicken cart? Great just when that meme was dying.

 

But the cart looks nothing like a chicken. It was clearly a Phoenix!

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

But the cart looks nothing like a chicken. It was clearly a Phoenix!

 

That makes a lot more sense.

[Zantetsuken 364]

Before I start this review I want to show you some other episode scores to make a point 

 

Flight To The Finish [Rating 3.2] (please don't attack me on this one, its just my opinion)

Three's a Crowd [Rating 5.0]

 

The Cart Before The Ponies

 

The weeks episode was written by Ed Valentine, a writer who, as I showed above, doesn't have the best reputation with me episode wise. I was hoping this episode would finally be the one that would get back my respect for him. so did that happen.... 

 

NO!

 

No it didn't, as a matter of fact it cemented him as the worst writer the crew has ever had in my opinion, though the Fox bros are pretty deplorable as well. By your third episode of this show, you should know how the characters work and all that, you no longer have the new show writer excuse to stand behind. Ed has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he doesn't care or know how to write this show, but why do I dislike this episode? Well let me explain and stop insulting the person behind the curtain.

 

First off this is another episode with the CMC in a competition so basically Flight To The Finish 2.0.... oh good because I LOVE that episode. However, one thing this episode has over FTTF is that we actually kinda got to see the other competitors this time so that's an improvement and actually made the competition feel like LE GASP... A COMPETITION!

 

However the problems here lie with Rarity Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I'm not gonna mince words here, I think all three were all uncharacteristically selfish and stubborn. The conflict felt overly fabricated and paper then, and the reasoning for the actions of the three ponies were poor as well with Applejack's being the least worst. 

 

Also I feel like this episode could have presented the moral in a better way. I think that if it was explained better and not overly simplified to "older person doesn't always know best" it could have had more weight and be a position that I actually found myself in when writing my first fanfic. 

 

The song was decent though so that's good, Its the first song to come out of a Ed Valentine episode that I actually like. I hated Hearts As Strong As Horses and Glass Of Water (burn me at the stake if you want!)

 

Poorly written, poor characterization, poor presentation, poor conflict, poor idea. 

 

5.3/10

Edited August 6, 2016 by Zantetsuken

[BrawnyCharger 511]

But the cart looks nothing like a chicken. It was clearly a Phoenix!

Scootaloo's new nickname for this race should be "Captain Phoenix!"

[Cleverclover 1,526]

 

 

Also, if you are angry that the characters are not progressing and growing as characters, blame all the people who hate that Twilight got wings, or the people that hated that the CMC got their Cutie marks. I feel like that is a subtle way of the writers to get back at those people. 

 

Uhh, yeah, that makes no sense whatsoever. The writers are forsaking actual character development just for the sake of getting back at people? Bull****. 

 

Also, who the hell hated the CMC getting their cutie marks? 

[KirbyFluttershy 2,523]

I loved the episode although that does make a good reference to Mario Kart and makes a good crossover too which is Pony Kart. When I saw the 1st race, it give me a mario kart & MLP crossover idea which was Pony Kart: Double Dash (or double hooves). I would imagine What's it like if the karts that the ponies made and designed raced on the mario kart tracks.

[VeroxVitrus 70]

Honestly I thought that twilight would be a much suitable pony for this scenario.

 

She is good with physics, which means anything that the CMC did build she could optimize for decent speed and shown in Twilight Time, twilight doesn't step in and do the job all by herself, instead she will just point the pony in the right direction. Would of been perfect in the scenario and would of been the pony I would of went to for help.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,383]

This is an episode I have mixed feelings for. I still enjoyed it for what it was, but I still think it was rather 'meh' overall. The pacing was weird and the ending was a tad rushed, but to me, the worst part by far was the overall tone. It seems like they were just beating us over the head again and again about how much Rarity, RD and AJ wanted to win their specific awards. We had to be constantly reminded of it every other minute and that got old fast. It also just made those 3 look like complete jackasses, but it at least played into the moral, which the moral was good. I liked the songs, the moral was nice and I liked seeing the abundance of other ponies, but this is an episode I would put right into the 'Meh' category. We also did not get to see if the CMC's even won anything. Sure, we can just highly assume that they did, but it would have been nice to see. Instead it closed out on the mane 3, which is odd because I was thinking this was supposed to be a CMC episode. Now I know how they feel.

[weesh 690]

Instead it closed out on the mane 3, which is odd because I was thinking this was supposed to be a CMC episode...

 

Was it?

The lesson didn't seem to be about speaking up, but about listening.  The pot was moved by the CMC, but it was focused on Rarity, AJ, RD.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,383]

Was it?

The lesson didn't seem to be about speaking up, but about listening.  The pot was moved by the CMC, but it was focused on Rarity, AJ, RD.

If the intro was anything to be believed. I had not seen any previews for the episode so upon seeing the introduction, I was really thinking it would be a CMC episode. At the very least we did get the moral, but I think focusing on the other 3 is what brought this episode down, as their characterizations here were pretty bad.

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

Uhh, yeah, that makes no sense whatsoever. The writers are forsaking actual character development just for the sake of getting back at people? Bull****. 

 

Also, who the heck hated the CMC getting their cutie marks? 

 

Obviously, that is not the case. i should have said "I like to think that..." instead of "I think". Though, I know they broke character, but you are missing the point. My point was that you should be angry at the people who want the characters to never achieve goals, not the writers, it was a mistake by the writers and we can forgive them. No need to rage. If anything we should be angry at the people hate character growth. Those people make the writers nervous to have any other character progression. Twilight getting wings: Controversial. CMC getting Cutie Marks: Yes, there are quiet a few people who hated that. Rainbow Dash joining the Wonderbolts: EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL! If we keep this up, the writers will never want to progress the characters again. 

[Megas 27,594]

Obviously, that is not the case. i should have said "I like to think that..." instead of "I think". Though, I know they broke character, but you are missing the point. My point was that you should be angry at the people who want the characters to never achieve goals, not the writers, it was a mistake by the writers and we can forgive them. No need to rage. If anything we should be angry at the people hate character growth. Those people make the writers nervous to have any other character progression. Twilight getting wings: Controversial. CMC getting Cutie Marks: Yes, there are quiet a few people who hated that. Rainbow Dash joining the Wonderbolts: EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL! If we keep this up, the writers will never want to progress the characters again. 

tbh, they're mostly controversial because of the execution. Withe Twilicorn, it was mostly because the episode felt rushed and the reasons for Twilight ascending didn't feel like there was much weight to it. Larson himself admitted that there was more work he could've put into it 

 

And people have been wanting to see Dash become a Wonderbolt for the longest time, the problem though is that it felt like the writers went out of their way to make sure it was as unsatisfying as possible, from the anticlimactic way she becomes a WB, to the plot spending most of the time humiliating Dash on what was supposed to be her biggest accomplishment. Like seriously I can't believe they looked at the goddamn script and thought "yup, this will make everyone happy!"

 

The CMC getting their Cutie Marks doesn't get much heat because it actually had effort put into it

Edited August 6, 2016 by Megas