S07:E13 - The Perfect Pear

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

That... that was just... I'm at a loss for words.

For years, people have theorized about the Apple Parents, who they were, what their story was and, most importantly, what became of them in the end. And while that last question will most likely never be answered within the show, what we actually got was better than I could have every imagined.

As someone who personally despises Romeo and Juliet, but loves budding relationships between waring sides, this was everything I could have ever asked for. Everyone who played a role in this episode from the Apple sibliings, to Mrs. Cake, to Grandpa Pear (voice by a sincerely heartbroken William Shatner) deserves to be commemorated for their performance in making this the single most heartwrenching episode in all of Friendship is Magic. 

Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be crying in corner.   

[Jeric 46,851]

3 minutes ago, BrawnyCharger said:

We still have yet to find out what actually happened to the apple parents

Correct, outside of the face they are deceased, the episode didn't specify how. Still have to hand it to the staff for they deft use at the English language in cementing that they have passed away without once saying the words 'dead', 'deceased', etc. 

[PinkiePie97 913]

I really liked this episode. I thought the story about Applejack's parents was quite nice as well as the song.

[Batbrony 16,055]

This was... I mean... perfect.  Just perfect.  I don't have time to write a full review now because my mom and I are doing some volunteering for the rest of the day, but rest assured, this episode is going to get one HELL of a review from me.  It's... buck it, it's my new favorite episode.  There was just something simply perfect, pure, intimate, and sincere about this episode, everything in it, the ideas they were dealing with, that made it not just the perfect introduction to the Apple's parents, not just the perfect handling of romance in MLP, but the perfect MLP episode.  I don't honestly know if we could possibly get one better than this, it was just utterly magnificent in its perfect simplicity and intimacy.  Can't wait to share my full thoughts with all of you guys, until then, revel in this one folks, because we don't get quality TV like this in general very often.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

29 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I'm *not* crying! I...I just have something in my eye. 

Really dusty in here....

[Pinky_Music 66]

I am truly speechless after seeing this episode. All the feels, the 'forbidden' romance, and that Granny Smith accepted Pear Butter into the family after Grand Pear left...I just can't say anything more than what has already been posted here about the episode.

I bow to the writers, animators, Daniel Ingram, William Shatner, and not the least Big Jim...everyone involved in this episode, y'all should be very proud!

[Zachary 5,521]

I really Love This Episode, Totally the best Season 7 Episode so Far!

Glad to Finally see Applejack's Parents!

I'll give it Infinity/10!

[Dark Qiviut 22,398]

I already watched it, but I must reiterate: best episode of S7.

But best in the series? Hmm… I think it is.

[Thrond 3,263]

Not seen this since the early release, but I stand by my primary complaint: I don't like being reminded of what this show can't do. It's frustrating watching an entire episode about death without any unambiguous confirmation that a death actually happened. Even when it's this good. 

But I might be overreacting a little, because the episode is clearly about loss of some sort, and that's still pretty significant. I feel it's not the same without confirmation that the Apple parents are never coming back, but I guess the way everyone talks in this does imply that. 

Going to wait until Netflix for a second viewing, but I'm definitely enthusiastic to revisit this one. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,398]

Anyone noticed the clever Cutie Pox reference near the end?

Quote

Apple Bloom: Oh, can I call you Grand-père Pear?

While infected by the Cutie Pox, she was able to speak French. ("Grand-père" is "grandfather," according to the Collins Dictionary.)

[Music Chart Fan 819]

I've made a few posts in this topic already (here, here, and here), but I'll just add that after some rewatching, discussion with @Truffles and others, and reading others' posts about this episode, even my relatively few initial misgivings have largely faded, and I really do think this is a pretty great episode. So I'm not totally impervious to shifting my opinion on an episode after seeing others' opinions on it! (A similar thing happened regarding "A Hearth Warming's Tail": my initial reaction was a bit more equivocal, but after reading and discussing others' profuse praise of the episode and rewatching it a few times, it really grew on me.)

This episode even inspired me to ask my parents a little bit more about their history when I was visiting my family recently, although, in my family's usual style, we cracked jokes and made sarcastic comments, as opposed to the Apple siblings' kind of reverence and sincerity.

[Jeric 46,851]

5 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

This episode even inspired me to ask my parents a little bit more about their history when I was visiting my family recently, although, in my family's usual style, we cracked jokes and made sarcastic comments, as opposed to the Apple siblings' kind of reverence and sincerity.

That right there is a nice thing to take away from the episode. It actually had a similar effect on my own kids, who were shocked that there were stories I hadn't told over and over again. XD

[Luminance 2,186]

Amazing episode with an amazing song to complement it too. 

[Shrug 9,953]

Amazing episode. It is the best love story that we have ever gotten out of this series. The great chemistry between Pear Butter and Bright Mac was undeniable and it is a story that pretty much prides itself on not only getting the big details so right, but the smaller ones as well. Would this episode be as good if we didn't see stuff like Big Mac coming back to ask Burnt Oak if he could hear some stories about his parents or seeing that the tree at the end had grown to form a heart shape? Definitely not. It would still be a very very great episode, but those little important details help to make this one truly incredible. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,944]

Nothing more to say on my end that hasn't been said already. A well done episode. A very well done episode. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,398]

3 hours ago, King Clark said:

Amazing episode. It is the best love story that we have ever gotten out of this series. The great chemistry between Pear Butter and Bright Mac was undeniable and it is a story that pretty much prides itself on not only getting the big details so right, but the smaller ones as well. Would this episode be as good if we didn't see stuff like Big Mac coming back to ask Burnt Oak if he could hear some stories about his parents or seeing that the tree at the end had grown to form a heart shape? Definitely not. It would still be a very very great episode, but those little important details help to make this one truly incredible. 

This, and I wanna add more to that.

Little details help create shape into the episode, the characters, and the world they live in. They provide a level of charm into not just the writing, but also the production. I can name a whole bunch of episodes that accomplish this.

Suited for Success: The lyrics that hone in the distress freelancers have with their clients (with Rarity as their avatar) and style of animation used to reveal their dresses.

Hurricane Fluttershy: Watch the sequence where 'Shy tries to improve. The level of detail is incredible. The music is great. The conflict is great. The animation is great.

Pinkie Pride: The script and animation were paid a lot of attention to. You have the extravagantly angry expression from Pinkie when she challenges Cheese to a Goof-Off, Cheese and Pinkie performing hilarious jokes, how they try to usurp each other as Dash's party planner before and during Twilight's pre-battle instructions, Cheese stealing The Smile Song and getting called in on it, Pinkie becoming distressed after her dedication was ignored and accidentally insulted, and so forth.

The Cutie Map: The symbolism everywhere. Starlight's rows of houses, the window animation, the equal ponies lined up into two aisles. Our Town inspired by WWII propaganda music and the creepy lyrics within them. Starlight's cool voice vibrating from the loudspeaker, a brainwashing technique used actively by North Korea. The desolate environment. The lack of name given to the town.

Amending Fences: The beginning revealed how long Twilight's been gone and how much she forgot about her past life. Her old dorm's untouched and desolate with dust and cobwebs. Moondancer wears an old sweater, wears broken-framed glasses, and lives in a home and garden that are completely rundown. Helps tell the audience how much of a recluse she is. But the moment that sets things up is Minny, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine accepting Twilight's apology and treating it as no big deal. Just because they were okay with it doesn't mean MD is, and it makes her rant more heartbreaking.

You get the point. When you put in extra details within your story, you turn an episode from good to great or great into amazing.

For Burnt Oak and Big Mac, what makes it important is twofold:

1. Big Mac asking him as everyone left. He's a stallion of few words. So, when he says something, people listen. It tells long-time bronies that hearing stories of his dad matters.
2. Burnt Oak crying afterwards. Evidently, Bright Mac's death left an open gap in his heart, and he misses him so dearly. To him, it'd be an honor to tell his children more stories. Doing so keeps his legacy and memories alive.

As for the tree, so much happens here.

1. Bright Mac and Buttercup planted an apple and pear seed, respectively, on the other family's orchard. This tells us as viewers how much they want this feud to end and how much they love each other. Their planting unites the two rivaling families and themselves.
2. Granny Smith hadn't visited the wedding site since the Pears disowned Buttercup. That site marks a life of tremendous heartache. A reminder of how cruelly the Pears treated one of their own. The fact that Mac and Pear died before her increases the pain.
   
   Secondly, Grand Pear is the show's most tragic character. The night they abandoned one of their own for marrying an Apple is the last time Grand saw her alive. He left her on bitter terms. Now she's gone. This show hammers in the fact that he can never take his actions back nor ever apologize to both of them. He has to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.
3. Although Pear and Mac are gone, their love remains as strong as ever. Their heart within the tree shows us their everlasting love.

---

To call The Perfect Pear incredible is undercutting the quality of this episode. It has a lot of charm, but it's more than that. The Sister Writers and everyone else in the crew delivered a lot of heart. You can tell how carefully DHX worked on this episode to be the best and most memorable as possible. It's refined, complete, yet full of detail you wouldn't find if it was your run-of-the-mill material. Romeo & Juliet gave TPP its backbone, but DHX used that to enrich the pony-'verse. While R&J was a blunt lesson on rushed teenage lust, TPP's romance is the most genuine in this entire franchise and one of the most believable fictional romances of all-time. Even at 22 minutes, time and care were given to develop them and have their romance make sense. I can easily see a romance like this happen; people like @Jeric easily relate with them, if you read his stories.

You're In My Head Like a Catchy Song will likely be the best song of the season and is one of the show's best, period. Sweet and heartwarming. The montage as Buttercup (Felicia Day) sings the tune shows us how much they love each other. The scribble drawing passed to and fro via the blue jay, sneaking off to share a milkshake, dancing to a tune on the phonograph, Buttercup snuggling up to Bright Mac in the rain with disregard of her coat being dry, and Mac spending the night plucking the weeds. That's all real love, bronies.

This episode is about celebrating their lives. How they met, fell in love with each other, and knowing their true selves. Realizing who they really are makes them realize how important they are to their families and community and gives the Apples and Grand Pear a reason to celebrate life (and for Pear, a possibility to move on with his life). TPP marked a closure to a chapter of FIM that dangled over our heads like…

The Perfect Pear isn't merely a perfect episode. It's an experience. A work of art. No, not just the best episode in FIM. Nor the best in all of MLP. It's one of the greatest western cartoon episodes ever. A masterpiece that belongs in a museum. It deserves to be commemorated and forever celebrated.

Joanna Lewis, Kristine Songco, Felicia Day, William Shatner, and all of DHX, TPP is amazing! You should ALL be proud of it!

Edited August 6, 2017 by Dark Qiviut

[bwrosas 252]

can you say " Annie Award" Winner next year.

[Sonic5421 423]

Okay...this episode was, by far, the best episode of the series so far!

Not only do we have William Shatner voicing Grand Pear, but we get some serious backstory on Pear Butter and Bright Mac, Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom's parents. They truly loved each other dearly, despite Granny Smith and Grand Pear's hatred for each other because of the family feud between the Apples and Pears, and willing to go behind their parents' backs and secretly marry was very touching.

The part that really broke my heart was Pear Butter's song. No matter how many times I hear it, I can't help but cry every time. I felt so sorry for Pear Butter when she chose her new husband and the Apples over moving to Vanhoover with Grand Pear and the Pears, and angry at her decision and his hatred for the Apples, Grand Pear disowned her on the spot. Granny Smith quickly came to her comfort and showed she was willing to put the feud behind them now that Pear Butter was an Apple now. As for the final gift that they left behind being the intertwined apple and pear trees by the rock Bright Mac carved their cutie marks on, it was truly a way to help show Granny Smith, Grand Pear, and their grandchildren that Bright Mac and Pear Butter's legacy would continue now that Granny Smith and Grand Pear finally buried the grudge after so long.

This episode gets a 15/10, if not a 100/10 from me, and as for Bright Mac and Pear Butter...this song is for you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GWQ-oDMG6g

Celestia and Luna Bless You, Bright Mac and Pear Butter.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

Sometimes you think FiM is passed its prime and is just going through the motions...then an episode like this will come along to remind you why you liked it in the first place. 

 

That was the most emotional episode we've had a in long time, and one of the sweetest all together. Plus, it was interesting seeing younger versions of older ponies. Now if they could just tell Granny Smith's real name...
Celestria knows that was the best song we've had in years. 

I just wished they'd done this a lot sooner instead of wasting all those years of acting like Ma & Pa Apple didn't exist.  

 

[Choros Isorropai 409]

the ending....sooo beautiful.

still left me wondering about aj's ab's and bm's parents, but also left me in tears...

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

Once every hundred thousand years or so when the sun doth shine and moon doth glow and grass doth grow....there comes a pony episode that it so....um....awesome....I guess?

So, as of the time I'm making this post, there have been 115 votes cast in the poll, and not one dislike or hate.  I believe that's a record.  I don't think I've ever seen an episode without at least one dislike.

This episode was spectacular, hall of fame, through and through.  Probably top five all time for me.  In fact, there's no probably about it.  I was blown away.  When I read the description of this episode, I was extremely worried.  This is an episode I've been waiting for since I first became a brony, and, judging from the rockiness lately, I feared that it was too late for it to be good.  But thank Celestia they did it right.  Holy friggin' crap, did they do it right!

I teared up at four separate parts--I teared up at the song, I teared up at the wedding, I teared up when the three asked Grand Pear if he really came back for a change of scenery and he said no, and I teared up at the intertwined tree.  The feels in this episode, my sweet Celestia, the feels!  This episode was everything I wanted it to be and more.  The Apple parent backstory is one of the stories I wanted told the most, and they delivered so brilliantly.  I only wish it could have been longer, but I tend to wish that about every good episode.  They should all be hour longs.  But even so, they managed to fit in everything and it didn't feel rushed.

So many great things to say about this....where to begin?  Well, I really don't need to pick apart and review anything.  It was all so perfect.  But there's so much it got me thinking about.  Just imagine what life must have been like for Grand Pear.  He felt so betrayed by his daughter that he left, but it probably wasn't long before he regretted it.  He was probably just afraid to face her and the Apples again.  Then imagine when he undoubtedly heard about his daughter's death.  (He must have heard.  It's not like he was expecting to see her when he rolled back into town.)  So, he hears news of her death, and begins to hate himself for throwing away the years they could have had together.  Imagine what that must have been like for him.  He was probably consumed with grief thinking about how he could have gotten to know his son-in-law, but instead missed out on the last years of his daughter's life.  At that point I'm sure he wanted nothing more than to meet his grand kids, but was too afraid to face them.  I mean, if I were him, I'm sure I'd be terrified that they wouldn't accept me, that they would somehow blame me and want nothing to do with me.  And then, of course, he finally realized that he couldn't waste another second without them in his life, so he takes the chance and returns.  The scene when he meets the three of them at the end was so powerful.  The last time he ever saw his daughter was when he turned his back on her at her wedding, and now he can never see her again, but at least he can get to know her children and be a part of their lives.  I'm tearing up again just thinking about it.  Incredible.  And the moment when he forced Buttercup to choose, and she chose the Apples....wow.  That was intense.  This episode was grounded in a deep and profound sense of emotional reality.  When people ask what we bronies see in this show, this is the kind of stuff I point to.

I also think about Granny Smith's situation, and how she must have felt trying to decide whether or not to tell them the whole story.  I suppose that after their parent's death, Granny felt it might be too painful to hear about how their grandfather left.  I have these lingering questions, too--like, for instance, what happened to Buttercup's mom and Bright Mac's dad?  Grand Pear and Granny Smith appeared to be single parents, unless I totally missed something.  So, that's just more backstory I want told.  Of course, I also want the story of Buttercup and Bright Mac's death told, but I know we're not gonna get that.  Headcanons will have to suffice.  There's the dark headcanon that Buttercup died in foalbirth with Apple Bloom, and Bright Mac, consumed with grief, committed suicide.  Eh, I don't care for that one.  I go with the headcanon that a few months after Apple Bloom's birth, they had to leave to deliver an apple shipment and were attacked and killed by timber wolves along the way.  In any case, I'm so glad that they're really dead (oh damn, that's sounds so twisted...) and that they didn't pull some crap and Total Rickall them into existence or something.

I absolutely loved the format of the episode, what with the different townsponies filling in the story.  I loved how Mayor Mare was the one who married them.  And I really loved Bright Mac's old friend.  The dark blue guy.  I forget his name.  His part was so touching.  I loved how Big Mac asked if he could come back and hear more stores about his dad.  That really got me as well.  It was such a beautiful moment.  Having the Apple kids be interested in hearing more about their parents makes them more real and relatable to me in a very meaningful way.

It was just such a fantastic story, and they even did a great job at not creating continuity errors.  It really tied up a lot of loose ends very well.  This episode also seems to answer the question of where Apple Bloom was during Honest Apple.  Answer: she must have existed and just been a baby, and we just didn't see her, and Granny must have gotten a sitter when they all went to the hospital.  It's the only thing that makes sense.  Well, I guess the theory of AB being adopted still works, but if that were the case, wouldn't Granny have mentioned it in this episode?  It just doesn't seem like that would be the case, now that they've established their grandfather's character.

I don't think I have much else.  It was just a masterpiece, plain and simple.  I only have one quibble, and it's pretty superficial: they should have made Buttercup and Bright Mac the standard school pony age when they first met.  So, they should have just been the CMC size.  Having them be baby size with the black marble eyes while talking just looked creepy as hell to me.  They looked just like the Baby Cakes, who can't talk!  So....how old do ponies get before their eyes look like eyes?  Or, how early do they start talking?  I mean, AJ talked at that age, but she sounded baby-ish.  These two sounded like adults but they looked like babies.  Weird.  It was a bad call, imo, but it did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of this masterpiece.

So, that brings me one last thing: how in the name of sweet merciful Gandhi could this episode have been made by the same people who are responsible for that sack of vomit, Hard to Say Anything?  I mean, how in the hell do you go from Hard to Say Anything to The Perfect Pear?  It's like they have two sets of writers: the cheap ones that crank out some crap, and the good ones that they call in when they have a big story that needs to be done right.  But I'll tell you one thing, though--the quality of this episode proves that they've still got it, and it gives me really high hopes for the movie.

 

 

[bwrosas 252]

 

Since the episode finally debut in North America this weekend. I've decided to do updated take on my review of the episode "The Perfect Pear".

 

Comments are welcomed

[Dowlphin 463]

A very run-off-the-mill clichée story, so while I wasn't exactly bored, I also didn't find it particularly moving.

The episode reminded me of a piece I did a while ago though, through the thought that apples and pears aren't so different. They just speak different dialects. ;-)

 

I also fully noticed this:

 

[Phirun Natela 77]

Her hair was windswept as she rode in the black convertible.

Edited June 26, 2023 by Phirun Natela

[Thaliel 116]

Bright mac and buttercup are best loveponies, 10/10 would adopt