S06:E18 - Buckball Season

[pnylvr 185]

Yeah, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Snails were great (as for Snails, talk about comic relief done right!), but could AJ and RD have been any more tone-deaf? They really should have known better. The beginning and end were good enough to make up for that, though.

[Truffles 2,033]

I had some trouble with this one. It started out fine enough, if a little lightweight, but I just couldn't buy into the premise, and worse still it seems intent on telegraphing what its moral is going to be over and over and over again, as if we can't figure it out for ourselves. It got very tedious to me, but at least it has some pretty solid characterization, especially with how it communicates its moral through the characters. That really helps the ending, which in a better episode might have been a season high point. I'm kinda souring on the whole thing as I think about it, though.

 

Yeah, in my overall comments that part you mention is what dragged for me as well. It felt like RD and AJ could have figured out the moral halfway through and the rest of the episode should have been about catching up with old characters and taking on Appleloosa.

 

 

That would have been fun, but WILDLY distracting.  it would have shifted peoples attention from the stress/fun conflict to "whoa there's trixie!"

It would have hurt the whole episode.  

 

I have to disagree a bit. While I do concur having Trixie would have been a distraction, I don't feel it would have sidetracked the moral completely, especially because of how it was hammered into the heads of the audience over and over again. This is especially true if Trixie's appearance was only a cameo where she speaks a few lines.

 

And I feel like it would actually have helped the episode. The reason why she (or some other rarely seen fan-popular pony) should have been on Braeburn's team rather than anonymous ponies is because the ending of the episode REALLY needed a payoff for the audience to cheer about since the game itself was underwhelming. Having a fan favorite there would have left the audience talking, and if you want the moral to be remembered, maybe even she gets involved in helping drive it home (yet again...).

 

I only mentioned Trixie because it makes sense for her to be there, and she's more popular than the other possibility: Flim and Flam. Those three are the only traveling unicorns that come to mind that might find themselves in an Earth pony settlement like Appleloosa.

 

Also note that this is coming from someone who is mostly ambivalent about Trixie. XD

 

Even with the episode as it was, the thing I mostly took away from it because the middle part was so slow: Snails is now officially full of awesomeness! =D

Edited September 4, 2016 by Truffles

[Trinitron Keys 89]

Liking it, but too little time was left for the actual game action. *sigh* Same thing they did wrong in the Equestria Games episode.

I agree with this moral; high-pressure motivation does NOT work for everypony, myself included. This is a good-ep streak though; I don't even remember off-hoof what the last really bad episode was.

 

And I know I'm going to get so many random virtual objects thrown at me for saying this,

but...am I the only one who thinks Sports-Pinky is sexy as hill for some reason?

[vanillapudding 44]

Right from the get-go I started making a list of points for this episode. Overall, I enjoyed it even though I didn't buy Fluttershy being naturally gifted at the sport (maybe working with animals has helped her get better at catching things somehow?). Pinkie Pie I'd buy because she's high strung and always doing zany things, so building up natural abilities that helped her be awesome here isn't far fetched. The lesson(s?) weren't that great and were almost a rehash. Beyond that I don't have one overall thing I want to say like I did last week. So...here's my bullet points. There are many, I am only half sorry. This is the condensed version with much editing to try and shorten it. 

 

• Pinkie Pie's puff balls return! And they are cuter than ever!
• Big Mac's outfit gave it a run for its money though. Actually, all around these last few episodes we've been getting some pretty awesome little bits woven into the story. Spike's Rarity doll, the costumes in Dungeons and Discords, and now these two. It really is the little touches that take things to the next level.

 

• The exposition was handled better than usual since there was a reason for AJ to be giving us the plot - no other pony knew what was going on at all and had to learn right along with us.
• Rainbow's flying keeps getting 20% cooler every season. This episode she showed us that she can fly with just one wing and she can dribble a ball with her wings. Seriously. Does she have secret levitating abilities we don't know about? 
• Though that's nothing to Fluttershy using her hair as an extra limb. They've always had higher than normal levels of control over their tails, but it was always for cute animation gags. This was actually a plot point. It was odd. Well animated and cute to see, but odd.
• Also odd was how Dash and AJ were quick to give up the chance to compete - though it was for the sake of winning so I suppose it makes sense. They recognized they were second best and wanted to beat Appaloosa so they put Ponyville in the best position possible to do so, giving up their own chance to show off. Good growth ladies.
• Seeing Pinkie Pie genuinely nervous about something was a really new concept. Sure she's struggled in the past but it never got her down or broke her demeanor. Well, in Pinkie Pride she got depressed, but that wasn't from the pressure to perform but as an extension of Party of One (the fear of being no longer wanted or needed). This is the first time we've really seen her shaken. Even the great Pinkie Pie can tremble on her hooves sometimes. It's ok love. You have good company, since Fluttershy is very used to this feeling. 
• Snails was a really nice surprise in this episode. When he popped up I started to groan because he's always been so annoying...with Snips. By himself he's actually really cool.

 

Call backs/tie ins to the past:

• First season (Sonic Rainboom) Fluttershy puts the fear of failure into Dash. Later we have Pinkie Pie put that fear into Fluttershy (Filli Vanilli). Now Dash and AJ are having their turns at it. We're just two ponies shy of a full set now.
• So when they made Pinkie Pie cry and Fluttershy shout, I got a feeling harking back to when Big Mac talked for AJ to the CMC. The reversal almost felt out of character (they made Pinkie Pie CRY ok, and holy crap those faces they made!) but at the same time I appreciated it, if only because it also built upon Fluttershy's season one lesson from Green Isn't Your Color. Instead of trying to go through with the game, she went right to Dash and AJ and told them how she felt. Well, angry yelled about it, but we've seen that she can snap under pressure before. But still, they made Pinkie Pie cry. That's a new level of girls your competitive nature has gone too far. There's putting the fear of crowds into Fluttershy levels, and then there's Pinkie Pie is now crying levels.

 

• I also liked seeing AJ sort of pass on her own lesson from season two - sure winning is nice, but it's not the end of the world if you don't. And no one has to exile themselves to a cherry farm.
• On a negative note, didn't Dash and AJ already learn not to impose themselves on others in an earlier episode...this season? Where they ruined all things fun for their little sisters? Hmmmmm? Though as far as addressing that kind of lesson goes, I thought this one handled it better because they came off less like out of touch bullies and more like competitive friends. Maybe because there weren't obviously miserable children involved. 

And just a general note:

• I really hope Brayburn's pegasus there is related to Bulk Biceps. And I loved the design of the unicorn on his team too. What are their names? And now that I have this screenshot in front of me - check out those happy ponies in the back between Braeburn and the unicorn there. They look like they could totally be on a date the way their heads are tilted together like that - it kinda looks like when Shining Armor snuggles up to Cadence. 

 

[weesh 690]

I enjoyed it even though I didn't buy Fluttershy being naturally gifted at the sport (maybe working with animals has helped her get better at catching things somehow?)

Yeah, that was extremely hard to buy...

But it was so fun that I was happy to willingly suspend disbelief.  

[Dark Qiviut 22,378]

*sees Fluttershy making those faces during her rant*

 

Okay, is DHX trying to tell a joke? If they are, it doesn't work. If not, it still doesn't work. We're supposed to treat Fluttershy and Pinkie's external conflict seriously. The "joke" is completely unnecessary and robs the audience of putting weight on what they feel. There's a time and place for them. This is too much and doesn't work for an introverted character like FS. To echo a friend of mine, it makes far more sense for Rainbow Dash to make these exaggerated faces. She wears her emotions, so those faces don't look gross in hindsight.

[Truffles 2,033]

Big Mac's outfit gave it a run for its money though. Actually, all around these last few episodes we've been getting some pretty awesome little bits woven into the story. Spike's Rarity doll, the costumes in Dungeons and Discords, and now these two. It really is the little touches that take things to the next level.

I'm glad you pointed Big Mac's outfit out! It was really interesting to see him dressed that way. Though I have to admit, something about the backwards cap and unzipped jacket make him appear more malevolent than how we know he actually is.

 

 

I really hope Brayburn's pegasus there is related to Bulk Biceps. And I loved the design of the unicorn on his team too. What are their names? And now that I have this screenshot in front of me - check out those happy ponies in the back between Braeburn and the unicorn there. They look like they could totally be on a date the way their heads are tilted together like that - it kinda looks like when Shining Armor snuggles up to Cadence.

 

Interestingly, neither of those two ponies have eyelashes, even though the mare shown to the right of the unicorn does have eyelashes - even with her eyes closed the same way. A happy stallion couple slipped in by the animators, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

Seriously, AJ? A bad miss risks ruining your family's bucking buckball rep?! This is a friendly, for God's sakes! Your only purpose to play this game is for pride, not a championship! Easily the episode's dumbest line so far.

 

I threw my hands in the air when she said that line. First of all, from what I gathered from the exposition early in the episode, this "Buckball" game was newly invented, so what would be such a big deal over losing in a game that has barely been played yet?

 

Secondly, Braeburn is an Apple too, so it really didn't matter who won - an Apple family member would still be a winner! It would have made more sense for her to say to Fluttershy it was personal because of the way it's implied during AJ's story that he was jerk in how he boasted about his winning team.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Truffles

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Ya know you bring up an interesting point. I wonder if Snails did a lot of magic practice since that episode and that's why he's gotten so much better. Back in that first Trixie episode, he had trouble just using a simple horn light. Then again, it has been implied to be years past in Equestria at this point. :idea:  

 

I think both Snails and Snips have probably practiced since seeing Trixie and the year or 2 since that episode only made them better with magic. 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

I liked this episode overall though there was something off about it that I can't quite put my finger on. I liked seeing a lot of Fluttershy though (and I loved her little tail spin move) and it was cool that Snails got so much screen time. Also another massive pony made an appearance so that was interesting too.

 

Best part though, Fluttershy's freak out gave us so many good facial expressions.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Battenberg

[Odd Ball 231]

We now know that Snails can be used on his own without the need of Snips, now the writers need to do the same with Silver Spoon.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

I sure do see a lot of comparisons to the god-awful The Cart Before the Ponies, mostly when describing AJ and Dash's actions. 

 

The flaws AJ and Dash displayed here seemed within character for the both of them, unlike Cart Before the Ponies. They both have a very competitive nature and they have a tendency to let it go to their heads more than it should. They may have been a little jerkish, but they didn't do anything quite as bad as ignore their sisters' existence so that they could hog all the glory for themselves. 

 

Additionally, it's definitely it's better that they realized where they had gone wrong without having to be told, again, unlike Cart Before the Ponies. And I also think they resolved their mistake in a much more satisfying fashion in getting Fluttershy and Pinkie to enjoy the game again. 

 

Additionally, I want to throw in that The Cart Before the Ponies is a god-awful episode that had no business being in season 6. 

[Odd Ball 231]

I sure do see a lot of comparisons to the god-awful The Cart Before the Ponies, mostly when describing AJ and Dash's actions. 

 

The flaws AJ and Dash displayed here seemed within character for the both of them, unlike Cart Before the Ponies. They both have a very competitive nature and they have a tendency to let it go to their heads more than it should. They may have been a little jerkish, but they didn't do anything quite as bad as ignore their sisters' existence so that they could hog all the glory for themselves. 

 

Additionally, it's definitely it's better that they realized where they had gone wrong without having to be told, again, unlike Cart Before the Ponies. And I also think they resolved their mistake in a much more satisfying fashion in getting Fluttershy and Pinkie to enjoy the game again. 

 

Additionally, I want to throw in that The Cart Before the Ponies is a god-awful episode that had no business being in season 6. 

The Cart Before The Ponies had a lot of potential to be great, but instead of focusing on the race it focuses on the sisters arguing over the carts.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Odd Ball

[Jonny Music 3,394]

For what the episode is in my opinion, I thought it was great overall. It certainly gave me flashbacks when I used to be in some school sports teams. The one I enjoyed the most was the swim team in High School when I was in Grade 11. (sighs) Good times.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Jonny Music

[Allen 1,387]

The episode for today is "great", with more exercises and win the ball game competition between Ponyville and Appleloosa! I call it a "success" for Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie; oh and Snails too! Fluttershy did it an exercise with more talents at the ball game for the first time! Also Snails, he did to catch balls with buckets!     

[Steve Piranha 29,412]

While it wasn't as good as the previous two episodes, it was still a solid and enjoyable episode 

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

surprisingly good; I'm not saying its incredible, but I went into this episode with VERY little expectations for it, and found a charming, fun, and comfy episode. its about a 7.5/10, not incredible, but decently enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

Right from the get-go I started making a list of points for this episode. Overall, I enjoyed it even though I didn't buy Fluttershy being naturally gifted at the sport (maybe working with animals has helped her get better at catching things somehow?). Pinkie Pie I'd buy because she's high strung and always doing zany things, so building up natural abilities that helped her be awesome here isn't far fetched. The lesson(s?) weren't that great and were almost a rehash. Beyond that I don't have one overall thing I want to say like I did last week. So...here's my bullet points. There are many, I am only half sorry. This is the condensed version with much editing to try and shorten it. 

 

• Pinkie Pie's puff balls return! And they are cuter than ever!
• Big Mac's outfit gave it a run for its money though. Actually, all around these last few episodes we've been getting some pretty awesome little bits woven into the story. Spike's Rarity doll, the costumes in Dungeons and Discords, and now these two. It really is the little touches that take things to the next level.

 

• The exposition was handled better than usual since there was a reason for AJ to be giving us the plot - no other pony knew what was going on at all and had to learn right along with us.
• Rainbow's flying keeps getting 20% cooler every season. This episode she showed us that she can fly with just one wing and she can dribble a ball with her wings. Seriously. Does she have secret levitating abilities we don't know about? 
• Though that's nothing to Fluttershy using her hair as an extra limb. They've always had higher than normal levels of control over their tails, but it was always for cute animation gags. This was actually a plot point. It was odd. Well animated and cute to see, but odd.
• Also odd was how Dash and AJ were quick to give up the chance to compete - though it was for the sake of winning so I suppose it makes sense. They recognized they were second best and wanted to beat Appaloosa so they put Ponyville in the best position possible to do so, giving up their own chance to show off. Good growth ladies.
• Seeing Pinkie Pie genuinely nervous about something was a really new concept. Sure she's struggled in the past but it never got her down or broke her demeanor. Well, in Pinkie Pride she got depressed, but that wasn't from the pressure to perform but as an extension of Party of One (the fear of being no longer wanted or needed). This is the first time we've really seen her shaken. Even the great Pinkie Pie can tremble on her hooves sometimes. It's ok love. You have good company, since Fluttershy is very used to this feeling. 
• Snails was a really nice surprise in this episode. When he popped up I started to groan because he's always been so annoying...with Snips. By himself he's actually really cool.

 

Call backs/tie ins to the past:

• First season (Sonic Rainboom) Fluttershy puts the fear of failure into Dash. Later we have Pinkie Pie put that fear into Fluttershy (Filli Vanilli). Now Dash and AJ are having their turns at it. We're just two ponies shy of a full set now.
• So when they made Pinkie Pie cry and Fluttershy shout, I got a feeling harking back to when Big Mac talked for AJ to the CMC. The reversal almost felt out of character (they made Pinkie Pie CRY ok, and holy crap those faces they made!) but at the same time I appreciated it, if only because it also built upon Fluttershy's season one lesson from Green Isn't Your Color. Instead of trying to go through with the game, she went right to Dash and AJ and told them how she felt. Well, angry yelled about it, but we've seen that she can snap under pressure before. But still, they made Pinkie Pie cry. That's a new level of girls your competitive nature has gone too far. There's putting the fear of crowds into Fluttershy levels, and then there's Pinkie Pie is now crying levels.

 

• I also liked seeing AJ sort of pass on her own lesson from season two - sure winning is nice, but it's not the end of the world if you don't. And no one has to exile themselves to a cherry farm.
• On a negative note, didn't Dash and AJ already learn not to impose themselves on others in an earlier episode...this season? Where they ruined all things fun for their little sisters? Hmmmmm? Though as far as addressing that kind of lesson goes, I thought this one handled it better because they came off less like out of touch bullies and more like competitive friends. Maybe because there weren't obviously miserable children involved. 

And just a general note:

• I really hope Brayburn's pegasus there is related to Bulk Biceps. And I loved the design of the unicorn on his team too. What are their names? And now that I have this screenshot in front of me - check out those happy ponies in the back between Braeburn and the unicorn there. They look like they could totally be on a date the way their heads are tilted together like that - it kinda looks like when Shining Armor snuggles up to Cadence. 

 

 

Huh, something I just noticed about BM's jacket is that its not just apple family themed, its also Rainbow dash themed, with that lightning bolt on it too.

[Radiance64 7,053]

I totally forgot there was a new episode and only just watched it after work lol

Anyway, really liked it! Always fun to see Pinkie & Fluttershy spotlight, and I liked that Snails was featured rather prominently as well.

[Colourful Blast 67]

I liked snails in this episode. And wow, Fluttershy plays a sport

[Justin_Case001 4,875]

Pretty good.  Not too much to say.  Just a basic, old fashioned comfort episode.  Nothing wrong with that when it's done well, and this was done well enough.  The message is a good one, but it felt a tad contrived.  I'm just glad that they didn't drag out the second act to long, because it seems like AJ would have been sensitive to the issue of town pressure, given The Last Roundup.  Thankfully, RD and AJ figured it out fairly quickly, and on their own as well.  At least they didn't need a third party lecture to see their mistake.  That sort of saved it for me.  Still, I was cringing a bit when Rainbow was yelling at Fluttershy.  How could she not know that that was a bad idea?

 

Otherwise, just fun and charming.  It was a surprise to have Fluttershy be talented at the game, and I felt like her performance under pressure, or rather, despite pressure, served to develop her a bit.  I always wanted to see her develop her singing hobby more, but at least we're seeing that she's getting better at doing things in front of an audience.  I also liked the fact that Rainbow was humble about being shown up in the game, and giving up her place on the team.

 

For me, though, Snails stole the show.  Since when is he a talented telekinetic?!  That was a shock.  I never liked him before, but I gotta admit, now I really do.  He's a simpleton with an unexpected talent.  You know who he totally is?

 

 

 

Also his horn was missing in this shot:

He's more talented than we thought--he's not really a unicorn.  He just pretends to be!

 

And where the hell were the others?  They made a point of excluding every horned pony in the mane cast from the episode.  Could they really not think their way around featuring Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity, but not having them try out and be uncharacteristically bad at magic, or something, so they just left 'em at home?  Come on, dude.  None of them would want to play anyway, but they would all want to come out to support the team.  Or were Tabitha, Tara, and Kelly all out with the feather flu?

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Is it just me, or did Braeburn's voice get deeper?

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Well, it's not a perfect episode by any means, and it's certainly not my favourite of all time, but IMHO it continues the trend of each episode being a slight improvement on the last since the low point of The Cart Before the Ponies. It's a cliched lesson and one that you'd think AJ would know all about, but at least it didn't get preachy and imply that thriving under pressure is wrong, just that not everyone is the same way. Well, ok, it does lay it on a little thick at the end. Also, apparently barely edging out a win after it came right down to the wire is akin to "bucking the hooves right off of" the other team and somehow Moliminous missed that sin. Oh well, I enjoyed this episode well enough so it gets a pass from me.

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

This episode was BUCKING AWESOME!! I didn't really expect much of this one, but it turned out to be cool ^-^ Now I feel like the episode turned me into a buckball fan

 

Also, seeing snails again is great It's nice that a lot of this season has used a lot more background or less used characters and I also love now they also turned Snails into a ninja

 

 

But it is nice that even a character like Snails get their chances to shine

Looking forward to what they end up doing with Snips

 

But yeah, Overall an absolutely awesome episode ^-^

 

Is it just me, or did Braeburn's voice get deeper?

Guess they've finally drop- i mean.. what?

Edited September 4, 2016 by Aura Dust

[FirePuppy 726]

The way I see it in this episode, Pinkie and Fluttershy are like the pink-haired girl pony counterparts of Mario and Luigi, Sonic and Knuckles (Flutters did tell Pinkie she's a year older than her early in the series), and Phineas and Ferb. And no, I'm not talking about Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

I enjoyed this one! I don't believe what I'm about to say, but I really liked Snails in this episode. I found him really funny. A pretty interesting team line-up, I was expecting an AJ-Dash-Twi team to be formed at first, but it was nice seeing some Pinkieshy! (And Snails, surprisingly~) Plus, Pinkie's outfit was just adorable~ No wait, I mean, uncredible

 

This episode also had some pretty good timing for me, I was just thinking earlier today of how I take fun activities (like games) a bit too seriously sometimes, that I forget the fun aspect, just like AJ/Dash did.

 

Wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as the others, since I'm not into sports at all, but I definitely did!

[JonasDarkmane 19,784]

This episode was sadly a meh for me :T. What really saved it for me were the awesome new facial expressions and that panic Fluttershy. But otherwise I just was not interested at all :T. 

 

But I still like the concept of it overall ^w^