S06:E14 - The Cart Before The Ponies

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I kind of rolled my eyes at the chicken cart thing. I mean 'really' DHX really you need to suck up the fans that much.

Applejack may be in character of 'traditional' but does that automatic tralate into out-dated? That that one thing that bugs me about Applejack, if she was in modern life she still be using a fuel burning oven instead of eletricity cause it traditional drives me bonkers. (unrelated I know)

[BlinkZ 1,151]

Well, Diamond Tiara is friends with the Crusaders now, so it is possible she will do something with the Crusaders in the future. After all, she was just as peeved at Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity as the Crusaders were over ruining the derby because the older sisters wanted to be glory hounds. Plus, Diamond Tiara's older teammate was her family butler. Apologies as I forget his name at the moment.

That kind of makes me feel bad for Tira being an only child. I mean her mother does seem the type to stick her nose up as something so 'rough'  but unrelated

[Sonic5421 423]

That kind of makes me feel bad for Tira being an only child. I mean her mother does seem the type to stick her nose up as something so 'rough'  but unrelated

 

However, Tiara did stand up to her back in Crusaders of the Lost Mark, so there is a chance to see Diamond Tiara with a major role again this season, and if not, there's always future seasons.

[Sh Pie 65]

This was a decent episode but it had some problems I would like to point out. Firstly, since this was a CMC focus episode, I was hoping it would continue the plot where they help other fillies get their Cutie Marks. In this case, a racing Cutie Mark would have been appropriate. Instead, it was pretty generic.

 

Secondly, the plot was completely reliant on the CMC choosing the wrong elder ponies and being too submissive to them. I think they chose the ponies they're closer to rather than the ponies best qualified for the job. That could have been the moral if it wasn't completely ignored.

 

Thirdly, the ending was random and made no sense. There was no reason for the adults to be completely exempt from the do-over when they could just be demoted to passengers. There was no reason for Rarity, Rainbow Dash and AJ to lounge idly and casually when they could be cheering for the CMC whose karts they helped to build. And why did they get so dirty building the second set of karts? Maybe there was a deadline since the do-over wasn't scheduled so they had to get their hooves dirty.

 

Despite all the problems, this episode had a lot of comedy like Derpy's wood and nails kart beating Rarity's aesthetically superior kart which probably happened due to lower standards back when they were fillies. This also gives us more backstory for Rarity and explains her motives for hijacking Sweetie Belle's kart. There was also the chicken reference on Scootaloo's kart which has generated many memes.

 

Overall, decent, albeit generic, and at the very least, better than Season 6 episode 7.

[Aurora Storm 83]

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

I thought so   This was my least favorite episode of the season thus far and possibly of the series. It just felt rushed...or maybe forced....Rarity, AJ and RD were being obnoxious to the point were any character development they had in their own episodes was lost.

 

Derpy beating Rarity in the flashback made me chuckle though and I'm not even that big of a Derpy fan, still it was cute/amusing.

 

Edited August 24, 2016 by Aurora Storm

[Lucky Star 972]

One of the first times the show felt like a little kid show. 

Which is weird, I've never had episodes I legit hated or disliked. 

Some are more fun to watch than others. But my opinions were normally positive. 

 

It's just felt so... I don't even know what to say. 

It stopped feeling like an episode of fim and started feeling like the backyardigans. Or at least vibe-wise it did. *shudders*

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

I couldn't watch it all the way. I skipped several parts. It's the worst episode in the season so far other than E4.

 

I never really like CMC episodes because they always miss out on character development opportunities. But this episode, is just awful in a few different ways I can't really describe fully. The closest thing I could say is that the episode had literally 0 depth to it, nothing really seemed to happen, and the characterizations of particularly AJ and Rarity were done horridly. At least in RD's case her character never got developed very well in comparison to AJ and particularly Rarity.

 

Yeah it was done poorly even for a CMC episode.

[Pastel 7,630]

Good ep but RD, AJ and Rarity really acted like jerks before the race...

I really liked the morale, especially when Sweetie Belle said that it's hard to speak up to older ponies.

 

[n1029 227]

A largely tedious episode; redeemed somewhat by RD being adorable at the end

[Jeric 46,850]

Oh. It was a busy time in my life when this episode happened so I never properly gave my thoughts. Outside of a moment with Derpy and Cheerilee, the episode was entirely meh with some dunderheaded moments from three of my favorite character. Hell, I can't even remember lyrics or the melody of the song. Boring and forgettable ... which is the worst crime of all ... 

 

[MystMane 6]

I wouldn't mind the outcome if it wasn't for the fact that they could've just switched karts. Aside from the creative cart (which were also both modeled after birds), the others were identical in design.

Edited March 3, 2018 by MystMane

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

It was an okay Episode, i mean, first of all, that all three would act in the same way, was kind off unbelievable, also they could just switched the Adult Ponys and that would have been the end of it. It was okay over all.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I still have issues with this episode. Rarity just acting all petty and it really doesn't feel like her at all to get caught up in something so frivolous as a cart race. If it was fashion sure but not this. Applejack and Rainbow but heads but they aren't trying to out do each other either. They just steal their sisters spots and act like well children for the sake of the moral to happen.  oh and Applejack "it tradition" nonsense.  That mare has a big issue accepting modern stuff

[Nye 1,652]

I liked this, though it could have been better. The CMC should have been more assertive, and their older sisters shouldn’t have ignored them.

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,628]

I found this one okay, but only cause I like when the CMC are played saner than the adults. Oh, and also cheerleader Cheerilee.

Spoiler

 

[bigbertha 414]

This episode is bad. Not only is it really boring, but the CMC don't just call out their sisters in the beginning, making the episode drag on while we're waiting until the CMC finally say enough is enough and blow up at their sisters. It's so by the books and there are very few jokes to make up for it.

Score: 3/10

[qwerE 96]

I thought the story was a bit too simple, but liked the episode overall. The carts looked so cool and I got to see Cheerilee, who's one of my favourite characters. She doesn't show up so often, but appeared a lot in this episode! 

[bigbertha 414]

This is an episode with literally nothing of value aside from that gag of Rarity losing to Derpy in the past. That's the only thing here that got any reaction out of me outside of yawns. The story is so boring and dragged out. It's painfully obvious that the adults aren't going to listen to the kids, it'll end in a disaster, and the kids will call out the adults. Nothing is done with this story aside from playing it in the most boring way possible. This is an episode that has managed to be so boring that it has transcended into complete frustration. Just like Princess Spike, and that's not a comparison that any episode wants.

Score: 0/10

Edited February 20, 2019 by bigbertha

[HedonismBot 239]

On 8/18/2016 at 1:47 PM, Sh Pie said:

Despite all the problems, this episode had a lot of comedy like Derpy's wood and nails kart beating Rarity's aesthetically superior kart which probably happened due to lower standards back when they were fillies. 

To me it kind of looked more like an example of lower standards for mentally disabled kids, the all-too-common practice of putting them on a pedestal just for existing.

[JMTV99 1,352]

Mario Kart with Ponies? Creative.....? (shrugs)

Eh, this episode didn't really do it for me. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's not the most memorable, either. Plus, I find it jarring that AJ, Dashie, and Rarity were making carts they wanted rather than making carts for the CMCs, and yet they called out the CMCs for not spoken up? It's like, what? The CMCs already spoken up about it throughout almost half of the episode, and you're not even freaking listening to them, and this is the response you gave them? Ugh, the writing in this episode is so all over the place.

To be fair, there are some things that I actually do like. Cheerlee as a cheerleader is so cute, the song was okay, the flashback featuring Derpy winning the tournament was pretty funny, and the carts look pretty cool.

Other than that, it's a dull episode.

[Astralshy 26,418]

Definitely not an example of the best MLP episodes, but then again I really don't hate it either.  I'm having trouble to remember details from this episode except the song, Cheerlee cheerleading and Rarity loosing to Derpy and of course the main plot.

The problem in the main plot is caused from the AJ, RD and Rarity in my opinion and not the CMC. They  speak up by words and later also by actions (during the assembly process). But her sisters (I include RD here) shut completely their eyes and ears. So it's hard for me to blame the CMC. From an adult one could expect more arguments and speaking up, I would agree. Considering the CMC are kids and not adults and the actually adults here are the ones who do not listen, I can't blame the CMC for anything here. Later their three sisters asking the CMC why they did not spoke up? I laughed here it didn't take it to seriously anymore.

For it's target audience this episode is most likely still fine, as an adults you miss something here.

 

 

[Adariousmist 124]

On 2016-08-06 at 10:46 AM, CastletonSnob said:

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

That's my thoughts.  I didn't particularly enjoy seeing any of the adults acting like self centered brats, completely missing the point of their involvement.  Those who were supposed to be racing really got what ... a cameo at the end when they finally got to do what should have been done the entire time?  Not a fan.  Also, the younger ones 'did' speak up, but the adults were too preoccupied with what 'they' wanted to be bothered to listen ... up until the crash when they were not given a choice but to listen.

I do, however, agree with pretty much everything JMTV99  said in their above post, even counting the few positives.

 

[Iforgotmybrain 5,489]

This… is not a great episode. It feels like something out of season 1 with just how simple the plot is and with how the characters act. And doesn’t really have any of that Lauren Faust charm that season 1 episodes had so this is just… boring. Even something I’m not usually critical of, the music/song, just feels… generic. It’s not good, and songs are usually an high point for the show! 
 

Bad episode, easy skip if you’re not trying to watch the entire season. Ugh, and the next episode is a bad one too…

[Antiyonder 1,085]

YouTube upload of the episode: