S06:E20 - Viva Las Pegasus

[Chuckles4lyfe 441]

Season 6 has been on a roll, churning out fantastic episodes week after week ! While the story wasn't anything groundbreaking like last week's, I still enjoyed it immensely.

• I wanted to start off my thoughts by praising the visuals. Las Pegasus was absolutely spectacular and brimming with all the joy and excitement that you expect. From the rides to the arcades (DDR FTW ), everything in this episode was a sight to behold. We've been waiting for years to see what Las Pegasus looked like, and I have to say that the show staff did not disappoint. Lot's of new and cute background pony designs as well. I love how they also threw in the tourist ponies from Spice up Your Life as well as the concession stand pony from Stranger than Fan-Fiction (I guess she has to work all these odd jobs to make ends meet I suppose ). 
• The AJ + Flutters combo worked so well! They have such great chemistry together. My favorite moment was Fluttershy smugly telling AJ that they needed Flim & Flam's help to fool Gladmane. Comedy gold right there. On a side note, I don't think i've ever praised Fluttershy this much before. She used to be my least favorite pony of the mane 6. Lately, she's been on roll and i've had to re-evaluate my mane 6 rankings .
• Speaking of Flim and Flam, i'm glad that our favorite con-artists got to make a return. They didn't break out into song however, so there's go that streak of having a song every time they pop up in a episode. I'm glad they got to use their skills to help out for a change, and am happy that they are still the conniving duo that we've grown to love over the years. I also just love when they ramble on and on. I can just listen to these 2 go on forever! 

I think why I also loved this episode so much was just how unpredictable it was. I never really knew what was going to happen next (just like last week's episode). Who could have predicted that the 4 knew that Gladmane could see through their facade and would boast about it over the intercom? Pure genius!

 

10/10. An episode that I am definitely looking forward to seeing again    . 

 

On a side note, I loved Fluttershy when she was disguised as the Rich family matriarch "Impossibly Rich" (love that name so much by the way )! I wonder how she's related to Spoiled, Filthy, and Diamond Tiara for that matter :diamondtiara:?

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

This is probably the first map episode where both characters felt 100% necessary AND it was shown (in Griffonstone and Made in Manehattan both ARE needed but in Griffonstone beyond Dash's connection to Gilda she contributes almost nothing and in Made In Manehattan, Rarity's needed but her part of the contribution is barely shown) (in the other 2 map eps Fluttershy and Pinkie feel pretty much unneeded, no seriously in Spice up Your Life in Particular all Pinkie does is be right that Rarity is wrong, but she was wrong too at the start and she contributes little to the solution, Rarity drives pretty much every negative and positive action in that episode)

Edited September 18, 2016 by M'gann M'orzz

[Jonny Music 3,395]

An interesting episode with an interesting friendship problem plot. It's definitely a good episode at that.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

The biggest problem with this episode the serious lack of humor, one of episode crimes that bother me since ss 5. Why cant writer write humors anymore? I didnt have a single laugh watching the whole episode Any meme faces? Any funny dialogues? Any stupid animation? Any non-Nick Confalone episode will have a serious lack of comedy this season, that sad. 

 

Comedic aside, i really like how the plot work here. Here is what i liked:

 - No reformation this time, Yay! Flim & Flam are still the best conmen until the end.

 - No stupid song this time 

 - The villain is not stupid, he is just being outsmart by 2 best conmen.

 - Viva Las Pegasus is really cool.

 - Fluttershy & Applejack pairing works in this ep.

 - Silly Apple, you will always lose to those 2 best conmen in Equestria. 

 - And finally, the plot is not totally predictable, well done.  

 

I should give it Flim & Flam out of 10. A decent map episode, i hope Top Bolts will be the best map episode this season. 

The next episode is...                    ...                ... Every little things she does?... OH PLEASE GOD, MEGAHN, BIG JIM, MIKE VOGEL, PLEASE BLESS THAT EPISODE  This is my goddam Starlight episode that i have waited for too long, please dont screw it up, I GAMBLEd MY SOUL FOR THAT EPISODE   Josh Haber, i KNEW you like Starlight, BLESS THAT EPISODE!!! 

[Usual Crypty 4,675]

Wow! Just wow. Actually episode was pretty good.

 

But Glade Mane really reminds me about Trump. If they do it specially, it's a big shame that cartoon has been involved into elections agitation.

 

Also they did very cool anturage for Las Pegasus!

 

Edited September 18, 2016 by Crypty

[Justin_Case001 4,876]

Huh.  I was really hoping for a pop-in from Discord.  Nuts.

 

So, first off, this is what they need to do to the cutie map:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBgeEa3t-uA#t=2m21s

 

That....thing....has become somewhat of a nuisance.  It's just become a pony Mad Lib generator.  But I guess if it has to be here, it's better that they don't spend a lot of time on it.

 

Y'know, if they're not going to get rid of the map - which is what they should  do - then having it only appear for 30 seconds of the cold open seems like the right way to go. Just accept that it's a crutch, and only invoke it when absolutely necessary. 

 

It's still quite obvious that it only exists to keep the plot going along, because there's totally no way that Applejack and Fluttershy would do the exact same things without the map. There probably isn't any other reason why only those two would end up in Las Pegasus, but the only reasonable reason that it had to be only those two is that there isn't enough time in the episode for anyone else. 

You pretty much hit the nail on the head - there's no logical reason you'd ever see these two come together and go to the pony version of Sin City, at least not without the entire Mane 6 in tow as part of some Twilight-induced vacation/friendship lesson get-together. Actually, I would have liked to see all of them together here, but I don't think the pacing of the episode would have been as good since too much time would need to be spent on what the others were doing.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.  Nothing to add.  I agree with all of this.  Both posts.

 

Now that that's out of my system, it wasn't a bad episode.  I wasn't blown away by any means, but it had good characterization, a decent plot, and wasn't too predictable.  I honestly wasn't sure that Gladmane was in fact a colossal douche at first, and then I wasn't sure if the Flim Flam bros had actually been had or if they still had an ace up their sleeves.  It kept me guessing enough that it was pretty entertaining.  I really liked seeing Flim & Flam working with the good side for a bit.  It felt like Magneto teaming up with the X-Men temporarily.  And I was glad that they stayed con-men.  It would have been lame if they were reformed and bestest buds with the mane 6 or something.  What I liked most was how they pulled off the long con and played Gladmane like a fiddle.  I got a kick out of the big reveal, there.  I also thought it was kind of funny how this is the second time they've done the "harp from hell" bit:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSYeaY6DSsk

 

(First time was Mane Attraction)  It was a good bit, but the whole thing hinged on Gladmane not noticing Fluttershy holding down the intercom, which seems a little far fetched.  They got really lucky.

 

So, the only other business here is the fact that there's a continuity error of sorts that's bugging me a bit.  So, for years, I always thought that Las Pegasus was supposed to be a parody of Las Vegas.  Makes perfect sense.  And I used that in my Blue Mare Group gag (as seen on my profile page).  But then one day I noticed that on the map of Equestria,

 

 

Las Pegasus is actually Los Pegasus, and is clearly a parody of L.A., complete with the Hollywood sign.  I was bummed, cause it kind of spoiled my Blue Mare Group thing.  Now I'm happy, because it really should be Vegas.  So, that's nice an all, buuuut, it still kind of annoys me that we have another continuity error hanging out there.  Did the episode writers not look closely at the map, or was in their intention to disregard it and change the canon?  Or are we to believe that there are really two cities by this name with different spellings?  I guess that's entirely possible, but then where is Las Pegasus?  And they've referenced it since way back.  As early as season 2 (It's About Time), and maybe earlier.  So which city were they referencing?  It doesn't matter, but stuff like this kinda bothers me.

 

Anyway, good episode, but nothing to jump up and down about.

[okidoki 12]

this episode felt like that one comic where they help flim flam at the festival, only bigger ><

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

Welp, that was fun! I'm sure I missed a ton of references, since I'm not exactly familiar with Las Vegas, but still enjoyed it nonetheless. Flutterjack made a surprisingly interesting pairing, and I enjoyed seeing all the new secondary characters! The backgrounds were pretty detailed and lively too.

 

I wasn't really too happy about Flim and Flam returning, but at least this time I didn't find them as annoying as I used to. Don't have anything else to say 'bout this one, thought it was an alright episode.

[SparklingSquirrels 21,309]

I was really hoping that we'd be able to see more of Las Pegasus (especially after that panorama in the beginning of the episode), so I was a bit disappointed that almost the entire episode took place inside of Gladmane's.

[Miss 6,222]

Honestly, that has become the only episode of mlp I do not like.

 

Kinda boring. Kinda weak.

Not saying it sucked or that I hate it just didn't like it.

 

The parts that were supposed to be humorous, I'm assuming Flim Flam bros. arguing was not funny. Like 2 or 3 lines they said got a smile out of me. There second appearance in the show in my opinion was enough, but I guess they have to be reformed cuz everypony needs to get a happy ending or something. But yea I didn't care for much about Flim and Flam in "Leap of Faith" but the episode overall was very entertaining. Flim and Flam just made the episode even more drawl with their excessive talking.

 

Little to no entertaining value and 0 rewatchablity. When I first saw Fluttershy and Applejack in an episode together I was like aye!!! This is something we don't see often. But like the episode had no emotional connection/interactions between the two characters. Nothing really stood out through cuteness in the episode either. Except some Flutter faces.

 

The message was kind of expressed in a very meager way too. Not memorable at all. I also thought the "You never lie!" Was super cheesy especially because Applejack has lied a number of times.

 

The scenery was pretty, most of the ponies in the background were new, kind of creative way to get the bad guy, Fluttershy and Applejack were in character. But that's pretty much it.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

That was fun.

 

Having AJ & Fluttershy as the stars was interesting in itself (we don't see just them together much). Having various Vegas references was neat, and it was a treat seeing Flim & Flam again, especially with them at each other's throats, then helping our heroines. It was even better that after the story was over, they went back to tricking ponies for to make a quick bit

 

Gladmane was a nice touch. It's always refreshing to seeing a pony who acts nice, but is actually up to no good like more so many real life scumbags. Heck, I was more into him doing it than Starlight!

 

I am kind of disapointed that the resort was more like a theme park and arcade/fun center than an actual casino, but we kinda should've saw it coming since gambling isn't allowed in children entertainment (I think. I have trouble keeping up with how it's supposed to work)

 

Also...was that Muffin's long lost brother (or her oldest illegitimate offspring)?!

Edited September 18, 2016 by Jangocoolguy

[ggg-2 3,552]

Dammit, guys, don't ruin Elvis for me.

[BrawnyCharger 511]

I really enjoyed the episode. I've been to the real Las Vegas quite a few times so this speaks to me. I'm also real glad that the Flim Flam brothers weren't COMPLETELY reformed. I also imagine that Applejack would have given Flim and Flam an intimidating warning never to show themselves in Ponyville or near the Apple Family or else!

 

A fun episode.

[Redhatbrony 59]

It was a nice episode for me.

But strangely nothing spectacular.

I love both main protagonists, but I missed something.

Besides enjoy my review.

https://youtu.be/dO1trvLE0pc

Edited September 18, 2016 by Redhatbrony

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, this episode was okay. The mystery plot and attractions of Las Pegasus were somewhat cliche, but entertaining enough, and it's nice to see that both Applejack and Fluttershy played integral roles in solving the friendship problem. I'll admit that Applejack's attitude through a lot of the episode was a little off-putting, though. I'm not sure that we really needed to see Flim and Flam again. And I'm also not sure how Gladmane's plan of keeping his employees feuding actually worked, while Flim and Flam's plan might have worked out a little too conveniently.

 

First, I'm not sure that I get Applejack's particular prejudice against Las Pegasus, even before seeing Flim and Flam there. Applejack derisively calls it "a wild vacation spot" and "just one big party", and is eager to just "solve our friendship problem and get back home". Is Las Pegasus really much more of a "loud, obnoxious party" than, say, any other major city that's a tourist destination? I wouldn't necessarily consider it worthwhile to spend thousands of dollars to travel to Las Vegas, stay there, and see the sights/shows/etc., but if I were going there anyway for business or something, I would at least try to enjoy it (and probably would, to some extent). Later, when Gladmane introduces himself as a "friendship connoisseur", Applejack says that he's "not the type of pony I expected to find in Las Pegasus". And after Applejack's and Fluttershy's tour, Applejack says "I figured lookin' for a friendship problem in Las Pegasus would be like tryin' to find a needle in a stack of needles". So Applejack really expects that most or all of the ponies living/working in Las Pegasus are incapable of friendship or being friendly to each other? I don't see what reason there would be for her to assume, a priori, that that would be the case. I wonder if Applejack's seemingly contemptuous attitude toward Las Pegasus and its "partying" is a kid-friendly way of showing that she takes moral issue with the gambling, drinking, titillating shows, prostitution, and/or ostentatiously expensive attractions. Maybe that would make a little more sense, and it might explain why I would have a different attitude about going to Las Vegas or someplace similar, since I don't really have any fundamental issue with those things.

 

Next, I feel rather "meh" about Flim and Flam's inclusion in this episode. I've always found Flim and Flam's musical numbers and fast-talking salesmen shtick to be very annoying (although they don't do a musical number in this episode). But, at the same time, the show seems to have depicted them as being obvious villains, when I don't think that was always the case. Consequently, I can't help feeling that Applejack's hatred of them is at least partially unjustified. Plus, for their characterization as supposedly conniving and savvy salesponies, they've made unbelievably stupid decisions in their previous show appearances. I just find their characterization to be a mess, and I don't necessarily agree with the messages the show seems to be trying to send by using them, so I felt that I would really rather just not see them ever again. And while this episode showed Flim and Flam conniving for a "good" cause, and having it actually work, I really don't care to see what they get up to and still would rather they not appear in the show anymore.

 

I'm also not convinced how Gladmane's "brilliant" plan of keeping his employees fighting with each other actually worked. First, his employees' fighting supposedly kept them stuck working at Gladmane's, and maybe even accepting lower pay, allowing Gladmane to beat the competition by offering so many discounts and freebies. But why would the feuding between the director and the trapeze artist prevent them from taking the show on the road and force them to stay at Gladmane's? Similarly, why would the animal trainers not agreeing on a new act necessarily mean that they have to stay at Gladmane's and can't tour Equestria? Also, Gladmane's manipulation of his employees relies on each of them trusting him more than their longstanding business partners/friends. How did that come to be the case? How did Flim and Flam come to believe Gladmane's accounts of what they said about each other, rather than their own brother's? And the same could be asked for the animal trainers, the trapeze artist and her director, and the other employees.

 

Also, the plan of having Fluttershy hold down the intercom button and broadcast Gladmane's monologue to the employees and guests seems rather precarious. The plan might be ruined if Gladmane were to notice Fluttershy doing that, or if the mechanism to turn on the intercom were more complex than it appeared, or if Gladmane didn't communicate his secret plan quite so obviously. It might be good for them to have a backup of a secret recording device capturing Gladmane's, Applejack's and Fluttershy's conversation. If such technology exists in Equestria, and if Fluttershy and Applejack weren't thoroughly searched prior to going to Gladmane's office, then it would seem simple enough to hide such a recording device under Applejack's hat or in Fluttershy's mane or something like that. I guess they might even have had such a thing, and just didn't need to use it, since plan A worked.

 

Finally, at the end of the episode, Flim and Flam sell tickets to the Ponet Fantastique show, despite there not being any actual performances. But why are there no performances? Are the performers no longer working at Gladmane's, or just not working that day for some reason (too emotionally distraught, unsure of how they'll get paid, etc.)? Also, I'm not sure that this is a con if Flim and Flam stated outright that there would be no performers. It seems like anyone still rushing over to buy tickets to a non-existent performance after that announcement would have themselves to blame for it, although it might be a different story for ponies who bought tickets ahead of time and didn't hear that announcement.

 

Now for a handful of miscellaneous observations:

 

Twilight says that she has "total faith" that Applejack and Fluttershy wouldn't have been called by The Map to Las Pegasus unless they were "the perfect ponies for the job". Those seem like unnecessarily strong words, although I guess Twilight and Starlight fixed The Map and therefore have some idea of how it works, even though we in the audience don't.

 

Gladmane sure seems able to give out pretty significant discounts and freebies. Just in this episode, he announces a three-for-one special on apple fritters in the cafe, everyone getting a free night's stay, and two-for-one tickets to the Ponet Fantastique. It makes me wonder how highly priced those things are in the first place, if Gladmane is able to give such deals on them.

 

I'm a little surprised that Fluttershy doesn't express any animal rights objection to or concern about the prairie dogs being caged and presumably having to perform almost every day.

 

Finally, I don't know what's with the tearing down of the statue of Gladmane. After all, doesn't Gladmane still own the property, and maybe even the business, even as the employees would insist on staying only under different management? Or did Gladmane's being "exposed" necessitate his selling the property and whole business to someone else, seemingly within a day of that occurring?

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

In my humble opinion another one of the more 'classic' episodes about friendship problems, and I really like those .

 

So I rather enjoyed this weeks and it was reflected in my review down below.

 

[Allen 1,387]

Sorry I didn't have time to comment from yesterday, so this is a "great" episode with both Applejack and Fluttershy in Las Pegasus led a key to "mission success" in a cutie map mission (nearly at the end of the episode, when your cutie mark flashes again, I say "Mission Success!") with friendship problem's fixed and the reformation of both Flim-Flam brothers (as I'm not calling them "Flim-Flam Jerks")!  Also with Gladmane, he leaves his job there for not being nice with dealings in the casino.

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

I kind of bad for Gladmane. Yes he was a horrible person. Yes he did bad things. But those were just to stay in business. As soon as he was expose he immediately went out of business... WITHIN THE SAME DAY!!! Yes he was a horrible person, but Fluttershy and Applejack just ruined the guy... 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

I kind of bad for Gladmane. Yes he was a horrible person. Yes he did bad things. But those were just to stay in business. As soon as he was expose he immediately went out of business... WITHIN THE SAME DAY!!! Yes he was a horrible person, but Fluttershy and Applejack just ruined the guy... 

One mistake, you're out, I guess this is how las pegasus works. And Flim & Flam take over this place.

 

"You can have your silly friendship medal,  we will take over this place, thanks to you guys, your mission is the Huge success... for us, ahahahaha." Yup that what think about the ending.

[Luminance 2,186]

"Dance Dance Revolution" is now canon to MLP!

 

A good episode and it has one of my favorite pairings together

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I really enjoyed this episode, it was amazing getting to see Las Pegasus and it reminds me so much of Los Vegas and any other real life locations that are similar. Fluttershy and Applejack were great and I enjoyed seeing the two of them in their adventure. I also loved the cultural references and the background scenery and ponies, Flim and Flam were fantastic and I'm really glad they put their con ways to good use, but then immediately went back to scamming ponies. I found Gladmane to be a really interesting antagonist and someone who seems friendly on the outside, but in reality is downright cold and sadistic. So yeah a overall good episode with a good lesson, 9/10!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

One mistake, you're out, I guess this is how Las Pegasus works. And Flim & Flam take over this place.

 

"You can have your silly friendship medal,  we will take over this place, thanks to you guys, your mission is the Huge success... for us, hahahahaha." Yup that what think about the ending.

 

Yeah, I do not think Flim and Flam will be much less corrupt with running the business... 

[Thaliel 116]

and here I thought flim and flam would finally change for the better *sigh*

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

I don't gamble. but I found it strange that Las Pegasus was full of only "Chuck E Cheese" type games. They even spit out streams of tickets.

[pvbrony 2]

Anyone who sees Gladmane as Hillary, The Donald, or The King is cray-cray.  He may dress like Liberace and talk like Elvis, but look at his actions - he's Colonel Tom, plain and simple.