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S06:E18 - Buckball Season


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What did you think of the episode?  

159 users have voted

  1. 1. Did you like it?

    • No goal; lame! -_-
      2
    • Could've been way better...
      2
    • Meh; average.
      23
    • That was enjoyable; not bad.
      82
    • MEGA-AWESOME, ALL THE POINTS!!! <3
      50


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I think this episode is a very good example of how to make the mane six flawed without going backwards on their development. The flaws here were within reason and had a genuine catalyst, and it's definitely a plus that Applejack and Dash figured out what was wrong without having to be told. 

 

A pretty good episode. Nothing spectacular, just good. 

 

Also, just to be sure I'm not going crazy, did Snails really just do a kickass job at comic relief in an episode?!?!?!?  :blink:

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I love this episode! Really good lesson in that pressuring your friends can lead them to stress. Snail's appearance was great and redeeming too besides being a antagonist's sidekick. I've also notice the very expressive facial animations in the episode when Fluttershy exploded but it was good for her characterization. Very good and I like this episode.

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This episode was pure enjoyment, and I love every minute of it! Yeah, it's not a standout as Changeling or Gauntlet were, but this one will provide ample entertainment for each rewatch. :)

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So, are the unicorns supposed to be like the goalies? Preventing the other team from scoring?

Yup, but they did an awful job at it. Why? Plot convenience, I suppose. It doesn't make sense that Pinkie and Flutters were the only naturally awesome players at the game while all the unicorns kept dodging the ball.

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I think this episode is a very good example of how to make the mane six flawed without going backwards on their development. The flaws here were within reason and had a genuine catalyst, and it's definitely a plus that Applejack and Dash figured out what was wrong without having to be told. 

 

A pretty good episode. Nothing spectacular, just good. 

 

Also, just to be sure I'm not going crazy, did Snails really just do a kickass job at comic relief in an episode?!?!?!?  :blink:

 

For once I agree with you, Clever!

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I liked it. The lesson was simple, but it applies well to my past. I was blind to the fact that people are receptive to different incentives back in undergrad, so when my partner at the time asked for support with a workout regimen, I put them under all sorts of pressure – the same pressure that I work best under, which ended up only hurting in the end. As it turned out, they worked better with support and praise, but I didn't realize that until way after the fact. Kind of like the whole love languages thing: everyone functions differently, people respond better to certain ways of communicating than others.

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Buckball seems like a cool game...like Quidditch mixed with basketball.

 

Quiddich isn't a sport.  its a plot device designed to glorify a single player, so harry can be a hero.

the scoring system makes one position important, and invalidates all the hard work done by everyone else.

 

Buckball at least gives importance to all the players.

The buckball we saw was not actually that interesting though.  The basket is too easy to defend when the unicorn doesn't move it.  seems like it would be a far more interesting sport if the unicorn was moving the basket to give better angles to the strikers.  There didn't seem to be a rule against that.

 

Fortunately, it doesn't really matter if the game is good or not.  The emotional aspect of competition and team work, and stress would have come through as long as the sport was as distractingly broken as quiddich.  

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So, are the unicorns supposed to be like the goalies? Preventing the other team from scoring?

 

No, the Pegasi are the ones who block the balls. The Unicorns just move the goal to catch the ball.

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Snail's was the standout character this episode. He was "in the zone" pretty much the whole episode, and it was kinda surprising if I'm being honest. As for the rest of the episode, this felt kinda run of the mill. The set-up for most of the gags were obvious from a mile away, though there were a good number of silly expressions, not to mention Fluttershy once again proves why she's best pony by being both adorable and assertive in the same episode. 
 

She almost went Opposite Fluttershy when she lost it. It was quite giggle-inducing.  :squee:

And yeah, Snails was totally archmage of Winterhold here. Maybe he'll go on to be Starlight's magic student when she graduates from Twilight.  :lol:

 

 

 

I was hoping for some more well-known ponies on Braeburn's team, but ah well, it was fun anyway.

Anypony is particular you wanted to see there? :) 

 

 

 

but working hard actually does make you better at sports.   and there's this cultural thing that some people just have natural talent, which is kinda bullshit.  at any high level of sports, you find some people that may have started out naturally talented, but they had to work their butts off to turn that talent into polished skill.

This is why I get a little frustrated when people pass off some of the things I do as natural talent. It's like saying some people are just born able to do things others can't. When in fact I've worked my tail off to get where I am now. Maybe I had a good start, but it's been practice, practice, practice ever since.  :awuh:  

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So, are the unicorns supposed to be like the goalies? Preventing the other team from scoring?

 

No, your unicorn is on your team, on the other side of the field, catching the balls your strikers hit.  

 

This is why I get a little frustrated when people pass off some of the things I do as natural talent. It's like saying some people are just born able to do things others can't. When in fact I've worked my tail off to get where I am now. Maybe I had a good start, but it's been practice, practice, practice ever since.  :awuh:  

 

yup.

the problem is that, at low levels of competition, the natural ability is actually very important.

but it seems that people don't understand that things are different once you get out of the little leagues.

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This was a nice episode to watch, and we learn how putting pressure on someone can cause their skill at something to crumble and make them play worse than better.

 

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were well-skilled thanks to their natural talents at playing Buckball, but upon seeing Fluttershy and Pinkie have a natural knack for it, and being better skilled, Rainbow and Applejack took it upon themselves to train them, but the added peer pressure of having them do well for Ponyville's sake against Braeburn and his team from Appleloosa caused Pinkie and Fluttershy to give into the pressure and that caused them to play terribly.

 

Once on the train, they finally voice their thoughts to Rainbow and Applejack before running away, and feeling terrible at putting so much pressure on their friends, Rainbow and Applejack apologize and ask Pinkie and Fluttershy to play them in a friendly match, allowing Pinkie and Fluttershy to forget about being so pressured to win and regain their self-confidence, not to mention getting some last minute advice from Snails as well with how to help play without being pressured by it like he was doing.

 

Thanks to all that, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Snails win the match against Braeburn, and even give his team some valuable advice about how they were able to win to help him out in their rematch, though it might take a while for it to sink in judging from the shrugs Braeburn got from his teammates.

 

All together, this was a nice episode to watch, and I give it a 9.5/10.

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Anypony is particular you wanted to see there?  

 

My most wishful thinking would have been to have Trixie end up being Braeburn's goaltender. To successfully launch herself into the mouth of a manticore must mean she has really good coordination! Plus, I just wanted to see a scene like this:

 

Rainbow: "Braeburn! You're goal tender is Trixie?!?"

Braeburn: "Yep! She was in town doing her act and she fit the bill perfectly!"

Trixie: "'Tis true - for I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, shall let nary a ball from my team slip by this basket here!"

Edited by Truffles
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I honestly really relate to this moral a lot. I can understand that you're supposed to get better with practice, because practice is supposed to be good, improve your skills and all that, but for some people having pressure put on you for something can be utterly miserable, and suck the fun right out of something.

 

 It's something I actually have experience with. I used to really like writing when I was a kid, I enjoyed writing stories of all kinds. They varied in quality, some were kinda bad, but I started to write some stuff that was overall pretty decent, I was kind of proud of it, even had one teacher call my mom in for a meeting on how good one particular piece was.

 

 Then the pressure came. My mom wanted me to write stories for her, everyone was pushing on me to develop this talent, write better and better, practice, practice, practice. It started to get frustrating, I wasn't really enjoying it anymore. Sure, the practice was good, but the pressure, and the constant pushing to do this thing even when I didn't feel like it just got unpleasant. I would procrastinate writing because I just didn't want to do it anymore, and the quality of it started to go downhill fast.

 

 I probably never would have been a "Professional" writer of any kind, I really doubt that. But it could have been a fun hobby, I could have written fanfic's or something, or if I really stretched I maybe could have gotten a bit of money from writing requests. Except I haven't written anything in years, and I have no desire to. It's just not fun anymore, I think of it as work, it's nothing but a chore, and nothing's ever good enough.

 

 So, I really relate to Pinkie and Fluttershy here. I don't think they wanted to play the game "Professionally", they just wanted to have some fun, I don't think it's that they didn't want to practice at all, but the harsh regime, and all the pushing by everypony to do well got to them. For Rainbow and AJ who are really into athletics, they thrive off this, but for ponies like Pinkie and Flutters, it's detrimental.

 

 Also, Snails was great. I never thought I'd say that, but he was. I'd like to see more of him like this.

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No, your unicorn is on your team, on the other side of the field, catching the balls your strikers hit.  

 

yup.

the problem is that, at low levels of competition, the natural ability is actually very important.

but it seems that people don't understand that things are different once you get out of the little leagues.

This applies to just about any field or craft too. Which is why I encourage others to practice and keep going if they want to be good at something one day. Because people will try something out (drawing, writing, playing instruments, coding, etc) and then compare against people who have been doing those things for years. It's a false comparison and makes people quit before they even know what they can really do yet.  :confused:

Edited by BlackWater627
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Well that episode beat just about every expectation I had for it, really nice first showing for Skelly. Very well paced too.

Fluttershy continues to be vastly more enjoyable for me this season than she had been in the last few.

Edited by M'gann M'orzz
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Buckball Season Written by Jenifer Skelly so lets get right into it.

 

So this episode was ok Its routine for a first time writer, nothing amazing but nothing terribly wrong either. However I will give criticism to the part before the theme. We start with Applejack practicing her buckball, then Rainbow Dash comes in and claims she can play a game shes never heard of before with one wing tied behind her back. Then the episode starts, I felt like things were moving way too fast here like we go from 0 to 60 in 30 seconds. Maybe my personal preference but its something I felt just moved way too fast, rest of the episode was paced well though.

 

Also I feel I should note the lack of Little Strongheart when we were promised her in this episode............... Sorry, I guess? I really didn't realize or care until the stream I was watching pointed it out after the episode ended.

 

Also I really like Snails in this episode, props to whoever though to use him for this, I always preferred him over Snips.

 

I do really like the moral though, its a situation i found myself in when trying to play competitive TF2 back at the end of 2013/ beginning of 2014. I had fun and liked playing as sniper so I tried out for a steel level competitive team and rage quit a scrim once, it wasn't fun for me after I tried to play it competitively. This wasn't due to any stresses put on me from playing competitive, just the simple fact that I was good, just not good enough to play competitive. It wasn't the exact same scenario but It's similar enough that i can sympathize with the characters here. 

 

Decent episode but just decent 7/10

 

Jenifer made a good first impression with her first episode so she can honestly go either way she could become a bad episode writer (Ed Valentine, Fox Bros) or she could become a good episode writer (Mike Vogel, Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco) we'll see what happens from here. 

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This episode was pure enjoyment, and I love every minute of it! Yeah, it's not a standout as Changeling or Gauntlet were, but this one will provide ample entertainment for each rewatch. :)

 

Id rate this one over Changeling actually, I like both but Changeling had some pacing problems, this was one of the best paced episodes I can think of and I think the jokes hit better too.

Edited by M'gann M'orzz
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I never thought I'd see the day when freaking Snails was the highlight of an episode.

 

But not really a shot at the episode, which I really liked. In a sense it reminds me of a sports version of Testing Testing 123, where RD and AJ's methods of playing the game doesn't work for Pinkie and Shy, and work better their own way(playing for fun as opposed to playing under pressure). It was also nice to see AJ and RD both gladly replace themselves with Pinkie and Shy for being better than them, as well as be willing to get their butts kicked to help them improve. Only thing I didn't like was how forced the pressure and conflict, especially with RD and AJ constantly saying how Ponyville is always counting on them, and much like the last episode it suffers from a weak middle part.

 

But otherwise it was a good episode. And hey, finally a good appearance for AJ and RD in this season, thank Christ

 

EDIT: also NO STRONGHEART, YOU FUCKING LIARS

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It was okay. Kinda boring here and there with a few good bits.

 

Snails showing that he was actually useful was nice to look at and he didn't go on my nerves this episode.

 

Rainbow Dash is the loser for me in this episode. She dosen't know how to coach right and forgot that Flutters is a bit sensitive.

 

I liked the little freakout that Flutters had, because i like these moments she has in every other episode.

 

Can't really say more. Nothing really special.

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My most wishful thinking would have been to have Trixie end up being Braeburn's goaltender. 

 

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.  

 

This applies to just about any field or craft too. Which is why I encourage others to practice and keep going if they want to be good at something one day. Because people will try something out (drawing, writing, playing instruments, coding, etc) and then compare against people who have been doing those things for years. It's a false comparison and makes people quit before they even know what they can really do yet.  :confused:

 

i'm just sad that it took the CMC 6 seasons to figure that out!

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My most wishful thinking would have been to have Trixie end up being Braeburn's goaltender. To successfully launch herself into the mouth of a manticore must mean she has really good coordination! Plus, I just wanted to see a scene like this:

 

Rainbow: "Braeburn! You're goal tender is Trixie?!?"

Braeburn: "Yep! She was in town doing her act and she fit the bill perfectly!"

Trixie: "'Tis true - for I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, shall let nary a ball from my team slip by this basket here!"

That would be....amazing! Where's my Trixie emote?! Is the WAU one Trixie? Here, have some Trixie with some free bonus diabeetus.  :icwudt:

medium.png
View on Derpibooru (Original source unknown at time of posting)
 

 

I honestly really relate to this moral a lot. I can understand that you're supposed to get better with practice, because practice is supposed to be good, improve your skills and all that, but for some people having pressure put on you for something can be utterly miserable, and suck the fun right out of something.

 

 It's something I actually have experience with. I used to really like writing when I was a kid, I enjoyed writing stories of all kinds. They varied in quality, some were kinda bad, but I started to write some stuff that was overall pretty decent, I was kind of proud of it, even had one teacher call my mom in for a meeting on how good one particular piece was.

 

 Then the pressure came. My mom wanted me to write stories for her, everyone was pushing on me to develop this talent, write better and better, practice, practice, practice. It started to get frustrating, I wasn't really enjoying it anymore. Sure, the practice was good, but the pressure, and the constant pushing to do this thing even when I didn't feel like it just got unpleasant. I would procrastinate writing because I just didn't want to do it anymore, and the quality of it started to go downhill fast.

 

 I probably never would have been a "Professional" writer of any kind, I really doubt that. But it could have been a fun hobby, I could have written fanfic's or something, or if I really stretched I maybe could have gotten a bit of money from writing requests. Except I haven't written anything in years, and I have no desire to. It's just not fun anymore, I think of it as work, it's nothing but a chore, and nothing's ever good enough.

 

 So, I really relate to Pinkie and Fluttershy here. I don't think they wanted to play the game "Professionally", they just wanted to have some fun, I don't think it's that they didn't want to practice at all, but the harsh regime, and all the pushing by everypony to do well got to them. For Rainbow and AJ who are really into athletics, they thrive off this, but for ponies like Pinkie and Flutters, it's detrimental.

 

 Also, Snails was great. I never thought I'd say that, but he was. I'd like to see more of him like this.

I understand where you're coming from. When it comes to art forms like writing, quality is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, there's a lot of people that think that it is instead objective and push their subjective preferences as law. Enter the lesson from Spice Up Your Life. I'm only a writer to this day because I write what I want and I write to have fun. I determine if I think my writing has issues or not based on feedback, which really annoys the heck out of all those "objective" people that want to dictate my writing directly. There's an old saying though: "The best revenge is massive success." - Frank Sinatra

Every day somebody really enjoys one of my stories and it's revenge all over again.  :icwudt:

 

IKR, about Snails.  :lol:

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So, that returning character is … Snails? Such hype! Much want! Wow! Well, at least he was kinda chill all Buddha-like, so it’s K.

 

The episode was kinda better than the previous Mane 6 ones since it openly acknowledges that mares understand each other and interact accordingly, unlike in some other episodes. Though, I’m not sure about the moral. What it stated is indeed true, but we all have to do many things we don’t like. In the end, having understanding support is more important than having fun. The episode demonstrated that but then it went off the rails with the regular cheesy fluff that doesn’t even involve friendship.

 

P.S: Fluttershy should have been disqualified for using tail extensions.

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