S07:E04 - Rock Solid Friendship

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

6 minutes ago, MalekPony said:

Did anyone start to lose faith in Pinkie Pie after this episode?

Nah. I've seen worse. *cough* Filly Vanilli, PPOV *cough*

(Though she's obnoxious as hell here.)

[MalekPony 36]

3 minutes ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Nah. I've seen worse. *cough* Filly Vanilli, PPOV *cough*

(Though she's obnoxious as hell here.)

So, do you think this episode take 3rd place for worst characterization of Pinkie Pie?

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

Just now, MalekPony said:

So, do you think this episode take 3rd place for worst characterization of Pinkie Pie?

Not sure. It'll have to do a lot to get that high.

(In case you're wondering, PPOV's in third place for me, with FV and Trade Ya! taking the top two spots, respectively.)

[MalekPony 36]

1 minute ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Not sure. It'll have to do a lot to get that high.

(In case you're wondering, PPOV's in third place for me, with FV and Trade Ya! taking the top two spots, respectively.)

So do you still have faith in Pinkie Pie since this episode thankfully avoided the dishonor of "Worst Characterization of Pinkie"?

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

Just now, MalekPony said:

So do you still have faith in Pinkie Pie since this episode thankfully avoided the dishonor of "Worst Characterization of Pinkie"?

One episode doesn't hurt, and the season doesn't use one writer. So, yeah, not worried yet.

[MalekPony 36]

7 minutes ago, Dark Qiviut said:

One episode doesn't hurt, and the season doesn't use one writer. So, yeah, not worried yet.

So in other words, Pinkie Pie still has a chance to redeem herself.

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

Just now, MalekPony said:

So in other words, Pinkie Pie still has a chance to redeem herself.

Eeyup! ^^

[Oleks 1,993]

Spoilers below.
I’m gonna be biased here, cause Maud Pie (or Maudalina Daisy Pie, as we now know) is one of my favorite characters, but I loved this episode.

Yes, Pinkie was kinda annoying, but I think it’s understandable – she was obviously passionate about all that “friendship shipping” thing, and didn’t quite know how to handle it. And she was stressed, facing the possibility of Maud not moving to Ponyville, so I wouldn’t be too harsh on her.

Glimmy + Maud was a little surprising pairing for me – after seeing the Lyrabon scene and Maud mentioning stand-up (hat tips to the fans), for a moment I thought they’re gonna make her befriend Trixie – to complete the pandering routine. I was wrong, but don’t regret it.

So, the episode was enjoyable for me, it made me laugh and say “hell yeah!” quite a few times. Also, the kite in Starlight’s room is explained, and Derpy pizza scene was gold.

Spoiler

P. S. I think I’ve seen Pinkie with this hairstyle in a fanvideo long time ago.

 

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

It was mediocre, would have been somewhat good if Pinkie wasn't so irritating...  Starlight in this episode was on point, and I liked Maud more than usual (I never really liked her, I find her to be dull and boring. I feel like she has no personality aside from a fascination with rocks). But I was about to stop watching 5 minutes in because I couldn't stand Pinkie being so obnoxious...

Edited April 29, 2017 by Nerdy Luigi

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

*Pinkie reads Maud's letter and gets upset*

Well, things got a little sad in a hurry.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Dark Qiviut

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

48 minutes ago, MalekPony said:

Did anyone start to lose faith in Pinkie Pie after this episode?

No. because it is one episode. She has had a ton of good ones. It takes more than a bad performance in an episode to make me hate her or her character. If we all gave up instantly when there was a character in a bad showing, Rainbow dash would have no fans left after Newbie Dash. You just have to accept the fact that all of the characters are going to have weak showings sometimes... it is the nature of the cartoon world... you can't love them all. At least most of us can't.

She does not have anything to redeem either since again, it is just one poor showing. I can get over it.

[Dynamo Pad 11,306]

I found this episode to be very funny and enjoyable. It's great seeing Maud graduate from her rock studies and became a valerocktorian. I also like how boulder had his own seat and hoof bumped Pinkie. It's cool to see that Maud is moving to Ponyville. Makes you wonder if we'll see Maud later down the line in this season. Some of the character interactions, like Lyra, Rarity and others was pretty funny. I also like how pizza is canon and it was great seeing Derpy again. The friendship between Starlight and Maud was pretty interesting. I didn't expect them to be friends, but they seemed to click throughout the episode. I like how they talked to each other back in the season 5 premier. Glad to know they had a form of dialogue instead of meeting now for the first time. The comedy was very well done and I like how they put in some references to past episodes and characters. It's also cool knowing that Starlight enjoys kite flying. Besides learning magic and such, it's cool knowing she has other hobbies. The place that Starlight and Maud discovered was pretty amazing. It reminded me of Luna's dream at the end of "Do Princess Dream of Magic Sheep." I'm not sure why, but it felt very reminiscent to me, in my opinion. I'm glad that Maud will be staying close to Ponyville. I'm also glad that the place they discovered in the gem cave will be her new home. The only complaint I had with the episode was Pinkie trying to help Maud to stay. I can understand her way of helping, but I felt she should have let things play out. It seemed as if Pinkie was more worried that Maud wouldn't feel at home in Ponyville and would end up leaving. I feel as though we the viewers could understand the way Starlight and Maud were feeling in the episode. I also find it awesome that Starlight and Maud could understand each other. It seemed as though Maud had found the diamond in the rough when it comes to Starlight. All in all I really enjoyed this episode. I really hope we get to see more of Maud this season. I also hope we get to see more interactions between Starlight and Maud as well. 

[Foliha 395]

1 hour ago, MalekPony said:

Did anyone start to lose faith in Pinkie Pie after this episode?

Heck, no!  It's like Jessica Rabbit said... "I'm not really bad, I'm just drawn that way."  Pinkie's dialog was written and performed loud and obnoxious.  That's OK.  It's one episode.  Pinkie doesn't need redeeming.  We've seen how considered and sensible she can be.  (Of course, she was written and performed that way in those episodes, too.) 

When I first started watching MLP FIM I didn't like Pinkie Pie because she was loud and hyper.  But over time I learned there was a lot more to her than being an obstreperous extra-extrovert.  She went from being my least favorite pony to my most favorite pony.  (And in that tr transition, she and Fluttershy traded rankings.) 

Oh, and I figure that if low-affect, undemonstrative Maud can put up with Pinkie, then she must see what is not immediately apparent to the world at large.  Pinkie thinks deeply about things.  But she also feels deeply about things, and her personality makes her subject to emotional outbursts.  This can be grating for those of us who have a sort of Maud-type personality.  But just as I have learn to tolerate, and even be amused by the egotism of Rainbow Dash, I embrace Pinkie's carryings-on.  I love Pinkie, (and all the mane six), even when she makes my ears bleed.   

 

[Hierok 11,831]

Pinkie was annoying here in this episode, butvI can't blame her. She is just excited for her sister and given how excited Pinkie normally isn't weird for her to act this way.

Also I loved to see those creatures again and the mentioning of rara and more backstory on Starlight.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

honestly, I don't like this episode. By Putting Maude in Ponyville, it pretty much kills the interaction of Pinkie with her other sisters, who need episodes. Parents, too. And omg, too much Starlight Gutter. Is there NO OTHER pony that Maude could've been friends with? Derpy? DJ Pon3? Snips and Snails? Carrot Top? Cheerilee? But no- again, we get oversaturation of Starlight. uggggggh.

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

Well, done with the episode:

Starlight and Maud were the highlights here, without question.

After really bad performances in Every Little Thing and To Where, this is Starlight's third consecutive good appearance, and her growth continues. Trixie's and Starlight's friendship's very energetic, but Starlight's and Maud's friendship is very casual. You can tell she's grown a lot since she first arrived in Ponyville one-plus season ago. More self-assuring than before.

Maud was really good, too. One of her better performances of the show. Her anti-humor was dry when it needed to be, but sincere and serious when it needed to be, too. Maud isn't nor should be merely a vessel for dry humor. She should be more than that to round out her character and not make her one-note.

Their bond was fantastic. Something about Maud Pie the episode that clicks poorly is how much the RM5 tried to get acquainted to Maud, but never do, and try to force a resolution out of it. There was never any genuine growth nor understanding between Maud and the others. When Maud is with a ReMane character, there's some sort of friction. There was a little bit of friction to start here, too, but what this episode does right in comparison to the S4 episode is how the between Maud and Starlight evolves over the course. They have something in common, and, no, it's not the kite. It's how Starlight and Maud not only listen to each other, but understand each other, too. They can imagine the other's point of view — see in each other's shoes. Maud's reasoning for being so close with rocks is very personal, which the show didn't do until today. I'm not sure why it's the case. For a show writer's point of view, could be because Maud's passion for rocks is mostly gag-centric. But for a canonical point of view, it implies that Maud will only do it to those who can relate to her, which Starlight shows.

That said, this episode could've done more to help Maud get better acquainted. Remember, she only became friends with one Ponyville resident. Ponyville's a pretty big village with all sorts of personalities. There are a lot of characters that she can acquaint and have something in common if you can arrange the time. Unfortunately, RSF doesn't delve into that, and it leaves Maud's transition into Ponyville only half-full.

Pinkie's obnoxiousness is understandable. In the beginning, she's super-excited because her sister officially became a doctor, which is very difficult to do. And it's understandable why she butted into Maud's business when trying to explore Ponyville and bonding with others in Ponyville. Nevertheless, that doesn't change the fact how nosy and obnoxious she is. Sure, she may not be completely observant, she's still very sensitive and should understand how Maud needs time to adjust to Ponyville. She should remember how butting into other people's business caused a great deal of problems: Look no further than A Friend in Deed. Rather than try to force a friendship, let it build. Yes, the lessons are different, but the secondary theme remains. Furthermore, her actions suggest that Pinkie doesn't completely trust Maud, even though they're supposedly very close. It's like the episode doesn't completely understand Pinkie. This semi-break of continuity hurts Pinkie's character and bogs down the episode.

The moral itself — "There's no one true way into making friends — is fine. However, this episode feels like there could be an entirely different moral with maybe a more direct theme. Remember the theme of this episode: Maud is trying to decide which place to move to, the Ghastly Gorge or Ponyville. But there's also a side-theme of Pinkie trying to convince her to move to Ponyville over the Ghastly Gorge. Perhaps the theme of the episode could be only trying to convince Maud to move. But rather than Pinkie getting in the way, she just watches from afar and hopes everything moves swimmingly. Use Pinkie's growth over the seasons, her instinct, and trust of Maud to help forge friendships and influence her decision to relocate to Ponyville.

Is it good? No. But is it bad? No. It's above-average.

[Zel 56]

It's a shame... Pinkie Pie is my favorite pony, she always has been the most relatable character of the cast for me, and it's probably why I didn't enjoy the episode as much as some of you. Until now I never find her annoying, even in Filli Vanilli I didn't find her out of character or annoying and she made my smile and laugh by how absurd her reactions were to what was said and what was happening. But this episode... argh... Pinkie was even obnoxious for me which is something I didn't think would be possible @_@

There was some good Pinkie moments : the slow motion mode, the Maud imitation and the "accidental" explosion were pretty good jokes. But she was unbearable the rest of the time. She had her moments in hyper mode in the past and I accepted that, but an entire episode with her in this state ? It's too much. At first I could totally relate to Pinkie, being myself a bit overbearing sometimes when it comes to people I care about. But the episode made Pinkie went really too far in this path and depict her as totally oblivious to the others reactions (even if she is supposedly able to understand the emotions of Maud like no one else) and... she was just annoying during the majority of the episode because of that. Yes at the end of the episode she learn her errors, but this doesn't erase all of the obnoxiousness of the rest of the episode. Even more I would have prefered if Pinkie would have understand by herself what happened instead of needing someone telling her what she did wrong :/

... So... about the rest of the episode. I find it amusing that Starlight is so present in the beginning of this season. I like it. It's just a shame that there were not so many episodes about her last season... Last season it would have been cool to see Starlight having some episodes like this, bonding with characters, overcoming some weakness of her (All bottled up) to prepare for the finale. Now that she has graduated is the time she begin to grow as a character... I find this very strange but hey ('-')...

I like the secret hobby of Starlight and it was not something coming from nowhere since I think we already saw at least a kite in her room before. I like Maud, she was very well written, I especially like the explanation of why Maud like rocks so much it was really sweet and explain a bit more about her character. Their dynamic was good and I believe in their friendship. A shame Pinkie was so poorly written all along, the episode could have been a very good one I could have rewatch sometimes if she was a bit toned down and if the episode wasn't as repetitive as he was (the first half of the episode is basically Pinkie showing Maud some type of rocks without success, the second half is basically Maud and Starlight trying to bond and Pinkie being annoying as fuck). It wasn't a bad episode, but definitively not a great one.

Maybe the fact that I'm a Pinkie's fan is part of why I didn't like this episode ('-')... Like Rainbow's fans didn't like Newbie Dash altought I had no problem with it ^^"

[MissDiamond 157]

Even though I enjoyed the episode, something kept bugging me. Possibility of Starlight's appearance, which I m not really fond of. Pinkie was kinda annoying but I love her nonetheless. 

Overall, the episode was nice, even the Maud expressions changed from time to time, which was a + from me. 

solid 7/10. 

[Prospekt 11,018]

As always, my thoughts on the episode:

https://mlpforums.com/blogs/entry/22198-spoilers-s7-episode-4-rock-solid-friendship/

By the way, did anybody else catch the reference here? At least, I think it's a reference? Apart from the fact that Pinkie obviously doesn't want Maud dead?

[CastletonSnob 3,074]

How would you rate S7 so far?

[Thrond 3,263]

I appreciate Maud as always, and both Starlight and Pinkie have interesting traits here, but I found the former pretty bland and the latter particularly obnoxious. I have a high level of tolerance for Pinkie's antics (I mean, I like her in "Filli Vanilli" for crying out loud), but here she was just too much, even though I found it easy to empathise with her motivations for acting the way she did. She just seemed less sensitive than usual, and it wasn't fun to watch regardless. Maud is seriously amazing here, though, and might be one of my top 5 ponies by this point. There's a lot to like here, and even some funny jokes, but Pinkie just drags it way down, and that makes my other, smaller issues stand out more. Really want to like this one more than I do. 

A little more detail (and assorted nitpicks) at my offsite blog review. 

Additional thoughts:

No, seriously, is Rarity okay? I assumed that Maud had somehow hurt her feelings, but she doesn't even say anything after the tears well up so who even knows. We never even see her again.

Starlight bonds with Maud over being misunderstood, but while the whole "Starlight is a misfit" line is trite at this point, I can't help but think that Starlight brought most of that misunderstanding on herself, and arguably should be grateful that the mane six have been so patient with her. Yet another reason why I wish she had more episodes about trying to fit in, rather than leaving us to extrapolate from often inconsistent messaging. I'm not as bothered by her as many others, but it becomes much harder to ignore when I don't find her recent characterization very exciting. 

15 minutes ago, VG_Addict said:

How would you rate S7 so far?

I've only truly enjoyed 1/4 episodes so far, so not very highly (although I'd still say it's too early to be sure), but I'm glad for its seemingly exclusive focus on slice-of-life stories. Based on these first four, like 5/10, but I'm hoping that'll increase as it goes on. 

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

6 hours ago, weesh said:

when maud told us that she helped starlight enslave her village, pinkie pie muttered, and I heard "awkward as hell", instead of "offer to help"

 

I heard that too! I was like "Did Pinkie Pie just curse?!". But then she clarified and said "Offer to help". I think they did that on purpose.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

34 minutes ago, VG_Addict said:

How would you rate S7 so far?

Too early to tell overall but right now a solid 8/10 for the whole thing with just four episodes in..It is doing fantastic so far.

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

5 hours ago, Truffles said:

Pinkie: "I can't wait till you're old and eating pistachios together and telling your grandfoals about this."

Uh, did Pinkie just ship her sister with Starlight? 

Um, sorry to be the one to tell you this... but it is impossible for two women to have a baby together... 

[IronCaptain19 15]

I feel like there is some fan service in this episode.