S06:E14 - The Cart Before The Ponies

[Dark Horse 12,961]

For a CMC episode, I found this to be rather pleasant. I can relate to situations where adults size control of a project or any kind of planning simply because they are 'older' and thus figure themselves more knowledgeable and experienced by default. Anyone could tell you that this isn't always the case, and it's incredibly frustrating when it happens. Team efforts are supposed to be just that, and all opinions should be valued and looked at objectively.

 

Asides from that, I also quite liked the designs of the individual karts. Top points for scoots basing her design from a classic 60's era open wheel racer. How did she not win "most traditional" from that?

 

Evidently Derpy had some hand in designing the track layout. Couldn't think of anypony else who would consider crossroads to be a safe and necessary feature, that was an accident waiting to happen.

 

Overall though, very pleased with this one. Quite happy to see the run of decent CMC episodes continue thus far.

[CT-1138 3,182]

Did anypony else notice that Rainbow CHEATED? When I get home I'll look for the actual moment. In a race of gravity powered downhill racers...Rainbow at one point ACCELERATED!

She had some sort of engine in her car!

Pegasus powered pony racers, perhaps? I mean, we've seen what Scoots can do with her undersized wings, imagine what a full grown Wonderbolts level pegasus can do with theirs! 

Edited August 8, 2016 by Dinos4Ever

[Sonic5421 423]

I enjoyed this episode. It had a slice-of-life feeling to it. The episode itself may not have been that special, but it was entertaining with a lot of interesting shots and camera angles, particularly during the race. The episode showed that adults don't always know best and I liked the ending and lesson.

 

It was a nice touch how Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack all had their own reasons why they got so caught up in winning the race in their respective category. Rarity's motivation/flashback was hilarious.

 

Glad to see you enjoyed it, and yeah, each of the big sisters had their own reason for winning the derby, whether it was due to tradition, pride, or past enjoyment, and it was not until the end when the Crusaders called them out on it do the big sisters realize their error and make amends with agreeing to Cheerilee's decision to keep the older ponies out of the do-over, help the Crusaders with their new carts for the second attempt, then taking the time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the race, even if Rainbow did get a little over-excited at the end cheering on Scootaloo.

 

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I really enjoyed this episode, I loved seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders and see them try to enjoy the derby even though their sisters took control of it, in the end everyone learned an important lesson, I also loved the song and seeing the background ponies especially Diamond Tiara's butler. All in all a great CMC episode, 9/10!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Classic Play 232]

Right away, I'll say that the best part of this episode is Cheerilie as a cheerleader pony. Super adorable. This episode was kind of annoying, though. It was good! But, the sisters (plus RD) were just way off base in this episode, it felt like. I was just as annoyed as the CMC, really, lol.

[ImpctR 155]

 

 

We've seen this story in a million different ways before, the "older sibling/parent helping out the youngster with something, and getting carried away by their own ambitions/nostalgia and in the process forgetting what the activity's really about" storyline.  It's not a story thread I'm a particular fan of, for one big reason: it demands that the adult character act more immaturely than the younger character.  This isn't to say you can't do that, you certainly can; adults are often stupid or immature in their own ways, far too often.

 

 

Fully agree, talk about 50s not understanding that 20s can think on their own and often times the former decide worse.

 

 

 

Wacky Races

 

 

The only reference I felt, and this one exactly, yay!

[Zel 56]

Yeah yeah yeah... I liked all the episode this season, it was time an episode what I don't like aired I suppose.

The Cart before the ponies is, for me, the Princess Spike of this season.

It was just bland, boring, poorly written and overall just a meh episode... I even grab a book during the episode since this episode bore me to death pretty quickly and I was just eager to distract myself a little...

 

First the writting was so... repetitive.

The majority of the episode (and I could even say the all episode) was just the same thing repeating again and again and again : the CMCs were not happy with the carts their sisters made, they tell the adults that they think, the adults don't listen. End scene. New scene : the CMS repeat that they don't like the carts. The adults are caught up in their memories and don't listen. End scene. A montage to hammer the fact that thes CMCs don't like the carts their making, the fact that the adults don't listen. End scene. The CMCs talk about the carts, say that they don't like them and that the adults don't listen. End scene. The carts are ready. The CMCs say they don't want to ride in these carts. The adults don't listen. End scene.

For god sake ! There was even a song about it ! All this episode was just characters talking about the same thing again and again and again and again !

 

This episode was just... so empty !

Sometimes I find that episodes are too shorts and that the story was rushed to fit in the 20 minutes time. But in this case it's the contrary, this plot could have been told in a 5 minutes episodes, there was nothing, really nothing. So the writters needed to fill the time with more nothingness and the result is... a very boring episode where nothing happens.

 

You know what ? The worst thing in this episode is the fact what the ending was rushed and a little bit potential was lost.

The sisters realized their errors far to quick and the moral was so blunty say and akwardly introduced in the end of the episode that this episode doesn't feel even a little bit worth the rewatch. The writters could have cut some time in the previous nothingness of the episode to allow themselves to create a real third act after the cart accident where the sisters could have thought about that they've done and understand that they were wrong... But no... They just keep all the first and only act of this episode and decided to end the episode in a one minute realisation + end scene.

 

In the end what happened in this episode ? Nothing.

Nopony learn anything new today really : the CMCs were already shown to doing things like they want to before and not always listen to adults even when they should to; RD, AJ and Rarity were all along familiar with the lesson of the episode and phrased it at the end like they knew it since the start... so they don't learn to step down sometimes, they already knew that.

 

Oh and the humor was pretty terrible excepting Rarity flashback. I naver had seen an intro sequence so bad and so desperetly unfunny since... wow... I don't even know the last time the humor feel to felt flat like that...

 

In conclusion, a terrible episode that I will soon forget.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

Pegasus powered pony racers, perhaps? I mean, we've seen what Scoots can do with her undersized wings, imagine what a full grown Wonderbolts level pegasus can do with theirs! 

Nope, she had an engine. She pushes in the steering column,and the cart accelerates quite drastically. I put together four screen captures as proof. Note, neither Rainbow or Scootaloo have spread their wings. The cart has some hidden power-plant that had nothing to do with Pegasus power. 

 

[Thaliel 116]

Anyone else get the wacky races reference?

[cider float 2,537]

Episode was a bit predictable and getting tired of seeing Rarity and Rainbow Dash in every episode nowadays.

[Classic Play 232]

Episode was a bit predictable and getting tired of seeing Rarity and Rainbow Dash in every episode nowadays.

Except Rainbow Dash has barely been in this season.

[Shigekino 41]

It's was a Strange episode, because in the classic episodes, they seem differents, ( Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash and Rairity ) more mature.

 

Why cheerilee  did ,nothing to make understand that was just a childrens race... it was really special and this is the first episode of the series who is 20% less cool than the others

 

   

[Jangocoolguy 433]

I'll use this as Exhibit B ("No Second Prances" being Exhibit A) on why Bronies like minor characters/incidents over the main characters/plot. I know I did.

 

I liked filly Rarity losing "Most Creative Cart" to Muffins. I liked Snips & Snails, especially when you think about how they have a good point (they seldom actually learn anything at that school... ) . Liked Bulk's cameo. Liked the chicken references from Scootaloo (even she's been swept up in that meme!).

 

...but I DIDN'T like seeing Rarity, Dash, and AJ being completely selfish, inconsiderate, and a little bitchy until the climax. There's being thoughtless, and then there's being those other 3. The worst part was the montage of the older one immediately undoing the CMC's work without talking to them about it or even thinking about it. Not to mention Rarity's exchange with Cheerilee, which was just a bitch move. I know characters have done questionable, uncharacteristic things before because the story & moral required it--which has happened quite a bit in S6 here--but this is just too much.

 

Celestia knows this'll give Applejack's reputation as Worst Pony another shining black eye...

[ManyANewDay_36 178]

GO SCOOTALOO!! WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO

[Prospekt 11,018]

Anyone else get the wacky races reference?

 

Yes! During the song, some of the animations are similar to the Wacky Races opening sequence.

[darkwingmare 1,309]

I'm going to be completely honest here, the episode had it's flaws. 

The song was good only because AJ was singing in it... Obviously. XD We need more singing AJ, because AJ is life. No one can tell me otherwise.

Anyway, I'll always love a cute sister's episode but this one was pretty weak. The three of them, AJ, Dash and Rarity was pretty out of character compared to what they've actually learned through the show. Which.. Happens often, but this was a bit too pushed to make it into a conflict that would only be natural for them. This wasn't very natural and it didn't flow as well as it usually does in a well written episode.

 

CMC have grown as characters, which we clearly can see and that's very interesting.

The lesson was okay, I guess, but as I mentioned earlier they really pushed the conflicts in this one which made it very... Boring to watch.

That chicken reference they made with Scootaloo though........ Why is this meme still going so strong? It's terrible.  :-P

However, I really loved the interaction between the siblings and that they were so creative with the carts. <3 AJ made me chuckle most this episode, and Rarity had also really funny lines. <3 Love those two to bits.

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

The title of this one should have been Absolut Meh.  So meh.  Like beyond meh.  The good thing is that there wasn't anything lore damaging.  It's one of those that I can just once, never again, and then move on, like The Show Stoppers.

 

The problem is that the conflict was forced, and the the older sisters were behaving pretty immaturely for them.  I realize that no matter how old a person gets, they can make mistakes and do dumb things, but they would have noticed their mistake a lot sooner.  They went way to far with it, and by the time they were driving the carts, it was embarrassing.  They've established the ponies as being too smart to act like that, in my opinion.  The older sisters also came off as being very flat and one-dimensional in this episode, which belies their usual depth. They were stereotypes of themselves.  This episode was also horrendously predictable, which belies the show's usual originality.  It just felt like the writers were exhausted, didn't want to think, and let their kids write this one in five minutes.  Flat, bland, predictable, bad.  The only high point was filly Derpy.

[Rarity Is Best Pony 634]

This is the first episode of season 6 that I didn't really like. The standouts from this episode were seeing the older ponies in racing style jumpsuits and the song. Other than that I wasn't really taken aback by this episode. I mean how can Derpy beat Rarity?

[brambleshadow4 35]

I'm going to like, respond to 3 posts at once because that's how I roll

 

It's a shame that the adults needed someone to yell at them.  

The fillies WERE making their desires known, but the adults weren't listening.

As a kid, you shouldn't need to yell, but honestly, it might have helped.

 

This kind of remind me of the satirical “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket. In that series, there’s a joke that all the “responsible” adults are incompetent and that the villains always get away because “no one ever listens to children.” This actually brings up an interesting point, because often in children’s literature, it is the kids that save the day, not the adults. As MLP is aimed towards a younger audience, one wonders if it would be okay for the CMC to save the Mane 6 every once and a while.

However, any kind of adult-child relationship like this is a little undermined by the fact that Rainbow, Rarity, and AJ are the protagonists of the show at large, and the CMC are only secondary protagonists. As protagonists, there is an expectation that it is they who will either save the day or screw up and learn their lesson. Normally CMC episodes choose the former, and one of the Mane 6 step in and help the CMC, but here the latter is chosen which causes the reversal of roles.

In any case, I do agree that it’s awkward, and I know the writers tried to shift some of the fault on to the CMC, but that too backfired in my opinion. Especially so because neither AJ, Rarity, nor Rainbow picked up on the numerous hints that their actions were not what their filly wanted. I mean, how do you not notice the CMC constantly interfering with the cart design?

 

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.

 

Dekutree brings up a lot of interesting ideas in her/his post, and I think it would have been cool if the writers did pair the CMC differently among their sisters. We do know (from Sisterhooves Social) that Sweetie Belle is fond (or used to be) of Applejack after all, so that pairing would work. I don’t know about the others pairings; could Scootaloo really handle Rarity’s personality?

Anyways, I don’t know if it ever crossed the CMC’s minds to ask someone other than their (adopted)? sister. Looking back at the episode, Cheerilee suggests working with the pony you want to ride with, but not the most qualified pony. Only after this line does she even mention the ribbons, and before then the CMC made remarks that they knew who they were going to ask. So the top priority seems to be not winning a ribbon, but just having a good time while working alongside an older, more knowledgeable pony.

But suppose they did mix it up, and Applebloom worked with Dash, Scootaloo with Rarity, and Sweetie with Applejack. In this situation, the motivation behind their actions becomes a desire win the ribbons, instead of just having fun and trying something new. The episode already puts a pretty big emphasis on winning, given the fact that the prizes are custom-designed blue ribbons with a big “1” on them as opposed to plain old prize certificates (which from my experience, are the norm for this kind of thing). With this emphasis on winning, what’s the moral of the episode supposed to be, “winning is magic?” That theme seems rather worse than the “don’t get swept up by your own personal agenda” idea. But who knows? Maybe the writers could introduce some other conflict into the story as well.

 

You know, this episode really touches on an aspect of adulthood that's often overlooked. Experience has its own set of blinders, and they often leave adults unaware of how their actions are perceived by the young people around them. It's incredible how easy it is for us to forget what the generation gap looks like from the other side. Generation X was furious throughout their youth that the Boomers repeatedly accused them of being lazy, disrespectful, and whiny, and now Gen X says the same thing about Millennials. On the same gear (it begins), it's easy to see how easily RD, AJ, and Rarity would lose sight of what the derby was really about. It's not that they've not ever felt like a third wheel (har har) themselves, it's that there's some weird blind spot (oh dear) that makes theory of mind weaker when dealing with younger generations, and from the older side, it can be surprisingly difficult to see when it's time to let go of the wheel, and let the younger generation drive (I can't control it anymore). It's not like RD, AJ, and Rarity don't know what they're doing is wrong; When the consequences of their selfishness are laid at their own feet, though, they immediately able to empathize, and they don't need an explanation of what they did wrong--indeed, they provided much of the rationale for why they ought to have taken a back seat (send help). They were just exhibiting a common trait of the generation gap. So I don't really see it as out of character at all. The way RD, AJ, and Rarity act is downright typical of adults when interacting with youngsters.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It wasn't one of the best episodes, but it was really cute, and the song was one of the best this season. Derpy winning most creative as a foal had me in stitches. My favorite aspect of this episode, though, was Anderson's motif of playing incidental hits whenever Rarity said, "big, and bold." He even repeated it with noticeably less verve when Sweetie Belle mimicked her sister, but without the same enthusiasm. Everyone sleeps on William Anderson, but he consistently delivers in this show.

 

Also, lol at Scootaloo's chicken cart.

 

This is probably the most interesting response I’ve heard about the episode, though I’m surprised ph00tbag doesn’t mention “helicopter parents.” You know, those parents who are so determined to make their kid’s life as great as possible, so they control everything and monitor them 24/7. I think that’s a better comparison to make, as I don’t think the big ponies find the (my) little ponies lazy or disrespectful (in fact, all three are quite industrious and appreciative of the help). Instead, AJ, Rainbow, and especially Rarity, are so consumed by their own vision of what a childhood derby should be like that they impose this vision on their younger sisters without asking. This is the exact same thing as helicopter parenting, and it too is fueled by a desire to create the perfect childhood (sometimes, because the parent didn’t get the childhood he/she wanted, kind of like Rarity didn’t win ‘Most Creative’).

And William Anderson’s music is totally the bomb! When the montage music started playing in the episode, I was thinking “YES! Anderson finally gets another chance to write some super catchy filler music like he did way back in Season One.” When the fullblown song arrived later, I actually was a little disappointed, because I totally was hoping to get a little more Anderson. In the end, I’m just happy the music team is stellar, as always.

 

Anyways, I featured each of these comments on my blog. Check it out if you want.

[Flutter's lover <3 8,205]

Interesting episode. I have one question though...how were the carts powered? Not like they had internal combustion engines on board. But they had to of been powered somehow...I mean Dash made her cart actually go faster when she pushed in the steering column...I've built soap box cars before and their only mode of propulsion is gravity from the top of a hill. AJ's cart moved so slow as well, and it was visibly obvious she had no motor on it.. I mean, the only logical thing is pedal power...and maybe Dash pushing in the steering column changed gears? Seems like the only logical answer...but again, you never seen them move their hind legs to ""pedal"...

Edited August 13, 2016 by Flutter Baby <3

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

I really liked this episode. A good song, a nice message about not living vicariously through others to their detriment, and Cheerleaderilee.  A few inconsistencies to the plot (the CMC acting like they kept quiet when it was clear they did bring up their problems and were just ignored is the major example here) but not really enough to ruin the experience. 5/5.

[ph00tbag 108]

This is probably the most interesting response I’ve heard about the episode, though I’m surprised ph00tbag doesn’t mention “helicopter parents.”

 

Helicopter parenting is another excellent example of what's at play here. Really, though, no matter the example, the core problem is the same: older generations often adopt a position of "I know best because I'm older," and that can be a difficult rationale for younger people to counter. I love that this episode, while letting children know they are allowed to speak up about ways in which the adults in their lives are negatively impacting them, also gently reminds adults that children are more than legacy--they're not just surrogates; children are people, and ought to have a say in their own development.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

Interesting episode. I have one question though...how were the carts powered? Not like they had internal combustion engines on board. But they had to of been powered somehow...I mean Dash made her cart actually go faster when she pushed in the steering column...I've built soap box cars before and their only mode of propulsion is gravity from the top of a hill. AJ's cart moved so slow as well, and it was visibly obvious she had no motor on it.. I mean, the only logical thing is pedal power...and maybe Dash pushing in the steering column changed gears? Seems like the only logical answer...but again, you never seen them move their hind legs to ""pedal"...

I was bothered by Rainbow's cart having a hidden power-plant. There was no hint of any ponies using rear hoof pedals. I an sure if that's what the writers/animators had in mind, they would have shown it.

To me, it looked like the pony of loyalty was...

CHEATING.

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

I liked how I immediately knew traditional would be AJ, stylish would be Rarity and fast would be RD. It was nice when the CMC tried to do something different because I was expecting them to just go with what was most predictable.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

I liked how I immediately knew traditional would be AJ, stylish would be Rarity and fast would be RD. It was nice when the CMC tried to do something different because I was expecting them to just go with what was most predictable.

I loved Scootaloo's reasoning for not going for fastest.