S07:E13 - The Perfect Pear

[Dynamo Pad 11,270]

3 minutes ago, Truffles said:

Perhaps that was meant as a joke, "Catamari?" XD

I like the artistic style of Goldie Delicious' cats. I could find myself watching a TV series just about them alone if they could talk.

Indeed, as I say above I feel like I've known them all their lives now. As an aside, Butter Pear as a teenager during the water tank mishap seems to be reusing Crystal Hoof's (aka Thorax's) torso asset, which I found mildly amusing.

 

 I didn't even think of that. That was perfect and well done, my friend. 

Goldie Delicious' cats are pretty cool. I like how the white cat just blends right in with her mane. Especially the cat that is bigger and tougher than the others. I can't say if that's a bob cat or whatever species of cat, but it sort of reminds me of a guard dog for Goldie.

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes we meet a character and know a bit about them, but then we don't see them again. Sometimes we do, but it's rare at times. Here, we see them enough times to know a bit about them. They're probably one of my favorite parents from the mane 6, in my opinion. I do hope we could get more backstory on each mane 6's parents meeting and how they came to be now. I don't remember that in the episode, "The Times They are a Changeling." After re watching what you meant, I was surprised the show put a sort of adult moment. Especially what Burnt Oak said made sense and it was hilarious. 

[Phirun Natela 77]

This is the last random sentence I will be writing and I am going to stop mid-sent

Edited June 26, 2023 by Phirun Natela

[Jeric 46,850]

On 2017-06-22 at 1:26 AM, Phirun Natela said:

"I don't like sand. It's rough, course and gets everywhere."

True story - a bunch of fans brought Hayden sand bags during this year's Celebration in Orlando. It was a glorious moment. To his credit he was laughing the entire time

[Megas 27,569]

7 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

As beautiful, heartwarming, and emotional the song is, my favorite moment comes from a little before that: when Big Mac asks Burnt Oak if he could stop by every now and then to hear more stories about Bright Mac.

I can't put my finger on it, but that line is getting me choked up. It's such a beautiful touch that copes with death while still remembering the good times and shooting up to the audience.

A nice touch is how Burnt Oak starts tearing up when Big Mac asks him that

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

2 minutes ago, The Undefeated of the Weast said:

A nice touch is how Burnt Oak starts tearing up when Big Mac asks him that

I noticed it just after I posted. That little detail really hones the power of that moment.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

When I see an episode like this get nearly unanimous and overwhelming praise, I get a little bit of an urge to be a contrarian and make a case that's the opposite of almost everyone else. But no, I'll be (mostly) going with the crowd and agreeing that this is a good episode. I'm not really disposed to strong emotional reactions, so this episode probably didn't affect me as much as others, but it is still impactful for me. I think the present-day events of the episode - the Apple siblings going around and hearing the stories of their parents, and Grand Pear and the Apple family making amends - may have resonated more with me than the flashback story of Bright Mac and Pear Butter itself, which did more to activate my skepticism and cynicism. I'll go into more detail about that below.

To start off, I think what makes me a little skeptical of and cynical about the flashback story of Bright Mac and Pear Butter is that the two of them are portrayed in the episode as essentially perfect in every way. Their friends and family recall them with nothing but the greatest fondness. The only strife we see in their relationship comes from external sources - their families' feud and the Pear family's moving away. The idea that these two were the perfect partners for each other and they just so happened to live next door to each other, yet come from two families with a long-standing feud that they must overcome to be together, just comes across to me as being a little too contrived and stereotypical. Watching their story, I can't help thinking "Come on now, nobody is THAT perfect". I suppose that Bright Mac's and Pear Butter's friends and family could be (intentionally or unintentionally) remembering and telling the Apple siblings only the positive memories they have, or maybe Bright Mac and Pear Butter just didn't tell anyone else about any issues they might have had with each other.

On a related note, the scene where the two of them meet as babies/toddlers and Bright Mac first coins Pear Butter's nickname, plus the fact that the two of them remember that meeting and even base an anniversary on it, all seems to me a little too precious for its own good. The episode almost seems to imply that the two of them were "destined" or "made for" each other from a very young age, and I'm not really able to buy into that idea. The lyrics to the song and the scenes shown during the song are also pretty stereotypically mushy, but the music is good, and I'm not averse to listening to mushy love songs, so I'm more willing to give that a pass.

One aspect of the episode that I found interesting is the way in which we and the Apple siblings learn about their parents - by the Apple siblings' going around and collecting stories from their parents' family and friends. As others have pointed out, it's neat how this ties together disparate characters in Ponyville and makes the world of the show seem more connected. It's also very impactful just how sincere the Apple siblings are about wanting to learn about their parents. They all sit and listen with rapt attention to the stories about their parents, and demonstrate a desire to learn as much as they can. And the ponies that are telling the stories to the Apple siblings are all very understanding about it and perfectly willing to share their memories.  I especially like how Burnt Oak realizes what the Apple siblings have come to him about without their telling him, how he says that he hoped they would come to him to learn about their dad, and how he tells Big Mac that he would like very much to share more stories with the Apple siblings in the future.

But in watching all of this happen, I couldn't help thinking that Applejack and Big Mac are pretty old to have apparently not learned about any of this before. (Plus the two of them must have known their parents somewhat, since their parents must have lived at least long enough to have had Apple Bloom.) However, we see both Mrs. Cake and Mayor Mare say that they didn't know when would be a good time to talk about the Apple siblings' parents, and Burnt Oak says that he hoped that the Apple siblings would ask him about their dad. That makes me think that this could have just been an unfortunate case where everyone involved was afraid to ask each other about the situation. The friends and family of Bright Mac and Pear Butter might have been afraid that it would be too painful or inappropriate to bring them up to the Apple siblings, while the Apple siblings might not have realized who to ask, or, perhaps based on how Granny Smith reacted to bringing up the Pears, might have been afraid to ask others about the Pears or the feud. And I think that contributes to the bittersweet, yet ultimately hopeful, feeling of the episode. It's unfortunate that they all might have spent years being too afraid to bring up the Apple siblings' parents or the Pears, and maybe hoping that the others would do it first. But now that the ice has been broken, they all know it's okay to talk about it, and they all can feel good about the Apple siblings' finally getting some closure, and even inspiration, from learning about their parents' history and what their parents were like.

Another aspect of this episode that I'm sort of not sure what to make of is Granny Smith and her reactions to this whole story. At the beginning of the episode, Applejack says that Granny Smith would "get so upset she couldn't talk" whenever she and Big Mac asked about the Pears or the feud. And Applejack and Big Mac seem to be under the impression that Granny Smith gets that upset because she still holds to the feud between the Apples and the Pears. In the flashbacks, we see Granny Smith holding a grudge against the Pears and being upset at Bright Mac fraternizing with Pear Butter. But then, at the wedding, when Pear Butter says she's choosing to be an Apple and staying in Ponyville, we see Granny Smith seemingly sympathizing with and comforting Pear Butter. Going by that moment, then, it might appear that Granny Smith isn't upset that her son is in love with, and married, a member of the Pear family. Does that also mean that Granny Smith isn't actually clinging to, and still upset about, the feud between the Apple and Pear families? Is it possible that Granny Smith's getting upset at the mention of the Pears or the feud is because she's upset at Grand Pear for forcing Pear Butter to choose between her husband or her family, and for essentially disowning his daughter when she chose to stay with the Apple family? Is her initially suspicious reaction to Grand Pear at the end of the episode a result of her being upset with Grand Pear personally, and perhaps believing that Grand Pear might still adhere to the feud, even as Granny Smith herself is willing to forget about the feud otherwise?

Another factor to consider here is that, when Applejack says that she and her siblings have been out learning about their parents, Granny Smith reacts in a shocked and worried way. But what does that signify? Is Granny Smith concerned that the Apple siblings would learn about her petty behavior in enforcing the feud between the Apple and Pear families, and she's embarrassed and ashamed about it? Is it that Granny Smith knows that she should have told the Apple siblings about the story of their parents, but she couldn't or wouldn't because she was unable to keep her emotions under control? It might have been nice to hear a little of Granny Smith's side of the story, but then, there might not have been time in the episode to do that.

Finally, the other character which we don't hear much of the story of is Grand Pear. What are the circumstances around his moving back to Ponyville? We see him selling pear products at the Ponyville market, but those had to come from somewhere. It seems that the Pear family moved to Vanhoover at least a couple of decades ago, so it's hard to imagine that Grand Pear would be able to just restart the old Pear family farm in Ponyville, if it even still exists. Is the pear farm in Vanhoover still operating, but Grand Pear retired from actively managing it to settle down in Ponyville, and perhaps leisurely sell pear products from the Vanhoover farm in Ponyville? The other big question in my mind is where the rest of Grand Pear's family is, if they're even still around. I don't recall seeing Grand Pear's wife at any point in the episode, so did she pass away at some point? (Of course, we could ask the same about Granny Smith's husband, whom I don't recall ever seeing in the episode, either.) Did Grand Pear have any more children other than Pear Butter, and if so, where are they? Grand Pear could have other children running the farm in Vanhoover, I suppose, but it's hard to imagine that Grand Pear would then move away from them to live in Ponyville. It might make more sense that Grand Pear's wife passed away, and he has no other children or immediate family, and so he realized that his only remaining family is the Apples in Ponyville. And that would, again, contribute to the bittersweet, but ultimately hopeful, feeling of the episode. It's unfortunate that Grand Pear let the family feud get in the way of living near and keeping up with his own daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, but now, even as he might have no other immediate family to care for him, he's made amends with his remaining family of the Apples in Ponyville, and they can care for each other.

Now a few other miscellaneous observations:

It appears that Apple Bloom inherited Bright Mac's coat and mane color, Big Mac inherited Bright Mac's eye color and Pear Butter's mane color (if not her curly poofy hair type), and Applejack inherited Bright Mac's eye color as well. However, none of them have Pear Butter's eye color, which might mean that it's a recessive gene. Also, Applejack's orange coat and blonde hair, and Big Mac's red coat, don't seem to have come directly from either of their parents.

We see Bright Mac celebrate the 131,456-hour anniversary of the first time that he called Pear Butter "Buttercup". That works out to about 15 years. So if we assume that incident happened when the two of them were 3 or 4 years old, then they would have been 18 or 19 when they got married. If we then add to that the period of time between their marriage and when they had Big Mac (perhaps 1 or 2 years), plus the age difference between Big Mac and Apple Bloom (perhaps 12 years or so), then we can get a rough idea of how old Bright Mac and Pear Butter might have been when they passed away - perhaps around their mid-to-late 30s.

Grand Pear says near the end of the episode that he "never should've left" Ponyville, but in the flashback, he cites an opportunity to expand the Pears' business, so that decision may not have been entirely unjustified, even if spite for the Apples was a cited reason for doing so.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,350]

This is an episode that I cannot think of a single flaw for. I seriously can't. Everything in it was done so well. The voice acting, the emotional moments, the Apple parents, the classic portrayal of the Remeo and Juliet story, it was all great. I also very much appreciate how they handled the fate of the parents. We all know now that they are dead, the wording in this episode confirms it, and they did not have to say it outright. That is the best way they could have done it.

If there is a 10/10 episode this season, this one is it. Parental Glideance is near that for me as well, but this one just goes a bit further beyond. I am happy.

[Celli 4,338]

That was quite honestly a really amazing episode. I almost teared up a bit a few times myself, heh

[BlueStreak98 828]

If I'm gonna have a beef, it's that they still avoid talking about the fates of Bright Mac and Pear Butter. It's now at the point where it's almost more complicated to avoid it than it is to just discuss it.

Getting that out of the way, this is hands down the best episode of this season so far. Yeah, the pair seemed a little too perfect, but who doesn't look at the good old days through rose colored glasses? I'm very happy with the way this came out. I'm left wanting more.

[Truffles 2,033]

2 hours ago, Dynamo Pad said:

Especially the cat that is bigger and tougher than the others. I can't say if that's a bob cat or whatever species of cat, but it sort of reminds me of a guard dog for Goldie.

I didn't like the way that cheetah/leopard/bobcat was staring her down at the end, ready to pounce and make a meal of her. Instead I'd prefer to imagine the two of them have a continuing contest as to whether she can get to that particular volume or not in a timely manner and he was trying to get the jump on her. 

2 hours ago, Dynamo Pad said:

I don't remember that in the episode, "The Times They are a Changeling." After re watching what you meant, I was surprised the show put a sort of adult moment. Especially what Burnt Oak said made sense and it was hilarious.

Oh, I was being straight-up about the word "asset" - meaning the Flash asset that was used to build the Crystal Hooves puppet.  I was amused that they could reuse a teenage male pony torso interchangeably with a teenage female torso.

However, now that you brought it up, I too noticed the bit of harmless innuendo as to what part of Pear Butter proved to be enough of a distraction to cause Bright to run into the water tank. I guess even in a remarkably romantic story such as this one, it still managed to remind us that he's still allowed to have slightly less-than-romantic thoughts about the pony he's head-over-fetlocks over. 

1 hour ago, Jeric said:

True story - a bunch of fans brought Hayden sand bags during this year's Celebration in Orlando. It was a glorious moment. To his credit he was laughing the entire time

That makes me happy. I don't really follow the behind-the-scenes of Star Wars too much, and the last I had heard he was bummed over how fans had reacted to the prequels. Glad to hear that's not necessarily the case.

 

45 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

I get a little bit of an urge to be a contrarian and make a case that's the opposite of almost everyone else.

Now you're bringing out the critic in me as well. There's a lot to cover, so I'll have to respond to it separately as you brought up some interesting points I hadn't noticed.

 

[Dynamo Pad 11,270]

2 minutes ago, Truffles said:

I didn't like the way that cheetah/leopard/bobcat was staring her down at the end, ready to pounce and make a meal of her. Instead I'd prefer to imagine the two of them have a continuing contest as to whether she can get to that particular volume or not in a timely manner and he was trying to get the jump on her. 

Oh, I was being straight-up about the word "asset" - meaning the Flash asset that was used to build the Crystal Hooves puppet.  I was amused that they could reuse a teenage male pony torso interchangeably with a teenage female torso.

However, now that you brought it up, I too noticed the bit of harmless innuendo as to what part of Pear Butter proved to be enough of a distraction to cause Bright to run into the water tank. I guess even in a remarkably romantic story such as this one, it still managed to remind us that he's still allowed to have slightly less-than-romantic thoughts about the pony he's head-over-fetlocks over. 

 

I could imagine that as well. I think she was climbing up to get the volume, but was probably going to give that cat a stare down. Would have been a crazy cat fight, but it also reminds me of Ahuzotl. He has so many cats and they are friendly and vicious. The same can be said for Goldie Delicious. Now I wonder who would win in that cat fight 

Oh, okay. I haven't seen the episode, so I wasn't sure what you meant. When you put it that way, then it does make a lot of sense. I guess the torso was probably the same, so it was easy to reuse. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest.

That's true when you think about it. Looking back at it, I thought it was funny to catch that harmless innuendo. I was also more surprised because I didn't expect the show to do something like that. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because the show could have done that in earlier seasons and some of us would have never known. 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

6 hours ago, AlexanderThrond said:

It's a flashback. They probably didn't actually speak like that. 

While I wish this episode actually revealed what happened to Applejack's parents, I still found it pretty lovely. The Pear Butter/Bright Mac romance is adorable, hearing more about Mrs. Cake and the Apple family is lovely, and all the hints of melancholy affected me a lot. I cried! This season is finally hitting its stride, it seems, and I couldn't be happier for it. 

Full review at my blog. 

Some people say its just the story narrative. 

If this show had higher rating, i bet they would show how AJ's parents fall from the cliff and die or Buttercup died and Bright Mac is suffering from amnesia or sth lol. Blame tv rating.

What surprise me is Mrs. Cake and Mayor Mare are people who help AJ's parents.

I already read your blog as soon as it came out, your 1st brohoof is mine :,).

Edited June 22, 2017 by Lambdadelta

[Varrack 1,080]

I didn't think it was amazing like most people did, but I'll say I enjoyed it.

The song was SUPER cute. Best part for sure.

There were some flaws though. You would've thought the the Apple family knew more about their parents, but in the episode, it felt like they they were totally oblivious about them. They just suddenly got interested in their parents, and went around the town trying to learn more about them. Like...what? It's their parents...they should've known more. 

Also, that moment Buttercup defected from the Pear family. Just...what? Her father totally just let her daughter go, showing very little remorse, and that was it. He seemed to care way more about keeping his feud with the Apples than about keeping his daughter with them. That was just...insane. Also, nevermind the fact that the parents didn't seem as freaked out about the secret wedding as they should've been. I mean, your son/daughter is getting married...shouldn't that upset you just a little more than they appeared to be?

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

1 hour ago, BlueStreak98 said:

If I'm gonna have a beef, it's that they still avoid talking about the fates of Bright Mac and Pear Butter. It's now at the point where it's almost more complicated to avoid it than it is to just discuss it.

There are multiple ways to tell someone that their loved ones are dead, and this episode highlighted many examples:

1. Talking about their parents in past tense.
2. Fondly telling stories about their parents.
3. Burnt Oak crying after Big Mac asked if he could hear more stories in the future.
4. Granny and Grand crying when referring to them. Losing a relative's rough. Losing your child is beyond rough.
5. "Remember them by."
6. Granny Smith visited the wedding site for the first time in ages.

We don't know how they died, but they're dead.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Dark Qiviut

[BlueStreak98 828]

5 minutes ago, Dark Qiviut said:

We don't know how they died, but they're dead.

That was arguably established a long time ago, but they still haven't really expounded upon it. The episode was set up in a way that would make it difficult to even bring up in the course of the plot, but at the end it still begs the question.

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

11 minutes ago, BlueStreak98 said:

That was arguably established a long time ago, but they still haven't really expounded upon it. The episode was set up in a way that would make it difficult to even bring up in the course of the plot, but at the end it still begs the question.

The show has a history dating back to Wonderbolts Academy of informing us about death without using the word, likely because Hasbro forbids them from using the word "die" in a literal sense. Last year, a character designer for the show (who worked on this episode) told a brony that they passed away. Just because they don't say outright they're dead doesn't mean they're not saying they're dead at all.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Dark Qiviut

[BlueStreak98 828]

Just now, Dark Qiviut said:

The show has a history dating back to Wonderbolts Academy of informing us about death without using the word, likely because Hasbro forbids them from using the word "die" in a literal sense. Last year, a character designer for the show told a brony that they passed away. Just because they don't say outright they're dead doesn't mean they're not saying they're dead at all.

And I'm not debating that. But I can't be the only person who reached the end of the episode thinking "So what happened to them?" nor can I be the only one dissatisfied by a one word response in a live interview.

[Jeric 46,850]

49 minutes ago, Varrack said:

There were some flaws though. You would've thought the the Apple family knew more about their parents, but in the episode, it felt like they they were totally oblivious about them. They just suddenly got interested in their parents, and went around the town trying to learn more about them. Like...what? It's their parents...they should've known more. 

Nope. Nope. Nope. I am still learning stuff about my pops. I didn't even know he served in Vietnam until two years ago. He died in 1995. I actually found out from his best friend at my grandmother's funeral.

And there are things that I don't think my kids are ready to know about their mom that they likely wouldn't think to ask. However if they saw one or two pictures, the images would make them go, huh? Some large families have pasts that they don't like talking about.

My oldest never had the guts to ask one question until this year. "Why did you and Mom have a second wedding ceremony when we were five and six?" 

Things sometimes don't get brought up, because people just don't know how to bring them up (like in the episode). Some people don't bother to question things, or make assumptions (like in the episode). 

 

28 minutes ago, BlueStreak98 said:

And I'm not debating that. But I can't be the only person who reached the end of the episode thinking "So what happened to them?" nor can I be the only one dissatisfied by a one word response in a live interview.

This is the equivalent of two people looking at Starry Night and one proclaiming it is a masterpiece, and another saying they would prefer a different style of depiction. 

The old argument of subtlety vs. exposition perhaps. Personally I don't need the explanation of how they passed. That touches on the immediacy and would arguably take attention away from one of the messages and morals of the episode. Family can survive loss. Family can heal from loss. 

The inclusion of Grand in this episode drives that home hard. Any discussion on how they died would be a narrative mistake based on what they were going for here.

But wanting that stated is not something I can justify as being inherently wrong. It's a style preference in how a story is told.

[BlueStreak98 828]

15 minutes ago, Jeric said:

This is the equivalent of two people looking at Starry Night and one proclaiming it is a masterpiece, and another saying they would prefer a different style of depiction. 

The old argument of subtlety vs. exposition perhaps. Personally I don't need the explanation of how they passed. That touches on the immediacy and would arguably take attention away from one of the messages and morals of the episode. Family can survive loss. Family can heal from loss. 

The inclusion of Grand in this episode drives that home hard. Any discussion on how they died would be a narrative mistake based on what they were going for here.

But wanting that stated is not something I can justify as being inherently wrong. It's a style preference in how a story is told.

Like I said in a previous post, the setup of this episode would have made it difficult to bring up, just because everypony involved would already know. This was a stylistic choice and a clever one that didn't harm the episode in any way. But at this point, the figurative puzzle of the Apples has pretty much been completed--as long as you don't look at the one missing piece right in the middle.

[Thrond 3,263]

1 hour ago, Lambdadelta said:

I already read your blog as soon as it came out, your 1st brohoof is mine :,).

I saw that. 

 

1 hour ago, Varrack said:

There were some flaws though. You would've thought the the Apple family knew more about their parents, but in the episode, it felt like they they were totally oblivious about them. They just suddenly got interested in their parents, and went around the town trying to learn more about them. Like...what? It's their parents...they should've known more. 

Kids know less about their parents than many people realize, and by the time Applejack and Big Mac were adults, their parents were already gone, and Granny Smith seems to have avoided telling them, perhaps because of the pain it brings her. So it seems that they weren't left with too much, and they wanted to hear this story just to have a little more of their parents to keep. 

[Jeric 46,850]

6 minutes ago, BlueStreak98 said:

Like I said in a previous post, the setup of this episode would have made it difficult to bring up, just because everypony involved would already know. This was a stylistic choice and a clever one that didn't harm the episode in any way. But at this point, the figurative puzzle of the Apples has pretty much been completed--as long as you don't look at the one missing piece right in the middle.

That's a good analogy! Imma steal that one. 

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

Hey, anyone up to put Butter Pear in a Fallout Equestria fic? Her VA voiced Veronica Santangelo from Fallout New Vegas  .

Well, definitely on my top 3 episodes of the season, and easily of the whole series. I've liked the overall story, and knowing of AJ's parents, It was touching, has silly moments, but didn't refrain from tragedy. Plus the romance didn't feel bad as many other do in media in general

But I've got a curiosity:

1-I've expected the whole conflict would begin because Grand Pear would become a douche towards Apple Bloom in their first meeting  

2-did you see Twi after Big Mac left after he requested Burnt Oak to share more stories about Bright Mac talking to a mare? I believe that's Fame and Misfortune (the very next episode) happening at the same time as this. Wouldn't be the second time either  

[Ganondox 899]

On 6/20/2017 at 11:40 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

William Shatner's voice!!

Goldie Delicious is back!!

Romeo & Juliet, ponified.

 

Big Mac: SO WE ARE HALF-PEAR?!!

LMAO!!

So, Mrs. Cake's full name's Chiffon Cake!

I like it! ^^

Except it's actually a better love story than Romeo and Juliet. 

On 6/21/2017 at 0:14 AM, SolarFlare13 said:

It was a really cute and emotional episode. I really enjoyed it and it explains why we havent seen Applejack's parents in the show prior to this episode

Besides "All Bottled Up" and "Rock Solid Friendship", this would have to my favourite episode of the season

Besides that, we still dont know where Bright Mac and Pear Butter are

(...or if they will make another appearance in a future episode...)

They ded. It's heavily implied both in this episode and a previous one. 

On 6/21/2017 at 0:34 AM, SolarFlare13 said:

But the thing I don’t get is, Granny Smith and Grand Pear are A LOT older than Bright Mac and Pear Butter. How did they out-lived them?  

They obviously didn't die from old age. 

19 hours ago, Kengo19 said:

I went into this episode not know anything about it.  When they said parents I had to pause the video and process what I just heard. I just wish it said what happened to them.

I wish I gone into this episode not knowing the premise, it would have made the unveil that there mother is a pear much more powerful. 

[Ganondox 899]

18 hours ago, Lambdadelta said:

Hum... So they still put AJ's parents status in Schrödinger's cat box called missing, hum... 

Ok, my first impression of the episode. Well, it's a good one, but i didnt enjoy it as much as everyone do, maybe the fact there are possiblities that AJ's parents can be alive in the end of the episode ruined my experience in the middle of episode, i get carried away by the possibilities that they can be alive instead of enjoying the episode for what it is. I have to rewatch it several times to clear my thought. Ok back to first impression.   

 

Not really, they are pretty clearly dead, it's heavily implied by the dialogue about them, especially with the tree. They just aren't going to flat out say they are dead because of the nature of the show. Also, I don't think they were actually babies in that one part, they just had baby eyes. 

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

6 hours ago, Ganondox said:

'

I wish I gone into this episode not knowing the premise, it would have made the unveil that there mother is a pear much more powerful. 

Damn right, these are some things that are better left untold before the episode airing. It wouldn't be the first time either. What's the best part of A Royal Problem? Daybreaker. What the US promo showed? You guessed it, Daybreaker