S08:E03 - The Maud Couple

[Rhythm Red 6,484]

Hello, fillies and gentlecolts and welcome back to RHYTHM RED’S RADTASTICAL REVIEWS! 

Today, we’re gonna have a quick look at the newest episode of pony, ‘The Maud Couple’! 

LET’S GO!  

 

So first off, I must say that I was particularly excited for this episode. Maud Pie is one of my favorite secondary characters, and she never fails to make me laugh. (Though that crowd at the beginning didn’t find her too funny )

Aaaaaanyway, I like Maud. And her getting a BOYFRIEND?! That’s gotta be good, right? I mean, who in Equestria would be the perfect match for such a unique pony? HILARITY should ensue, right? 

The first part of the episode was basically a big game of unintentional hide and seek, which is CLASSIC Pinkie. But instead of finding Maud, she found a strange stick-loving pony that she immediately took a disliking to! I think she may have been a little too quick to judge him, personally. And she acted a little out of character, too. Shoving him out the door? That isn’t classic Pinkie. But beside that, I think the encounter did a good job of introducing our new character.

That entire re-introduction conversation was hilarious! (Stick abuse?! Come on, that’s funny!) 

Toward the end of the episode, Pinkie goes to the rock farm, and gets some solid padvice from Limestone Pie. That geode metaphor was perfect! And it’s always good to see more of the other Pie sisters as well, even though they were only in the episode for a couple of minutes.

And Limestone. Holy cow. We saw a side of Limestone that we haven’t really seen before and I sincerely hope we get to see more of it. Wow.

After getting that advice, Pinkie goes back to Ponyville and helps Mud Briar plan a special party for Maud that he knows she would enjoy. Maud enjoyed the party (and by enjoyed, I mean watched from far away ), and Pinkie and Mud Briar began to accept each other. I think that’s a pretty good ending, personally.

 

But, of course, there are negatives!

- Though the episode had some moments that were definitely really funny, overall, it wasn’t as entertaining as I was hoping. I don’t know exactly why. I guess I was just expecting more.

- Mud Briar really isn’t that interesting of a character.

“But Rhythm, he’s supposed to be the same as Maud, what are you talking about?”

Well, you see, Mud Briar is missing two crucial things that makes Maud such a likable character. A unique sense of humor, and a caring personality. I think there’s a LOT of potential for Mud Briar. He had a couple funny lines in there. I just feel like they could’ve done more with him.

 

Anyway, good episode overall! I give this one a 7.5/10!

l thought it was pretty good, but it just didn’t pack the amount of comedy that I expected from an episode with Maud and Pinkie in it. 

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week for another RHYTHM RED’S RADTASTICAL REVIEWS!!!  

Edited April 4, 2018 by Rhythm Red

[Thrond 3,263]

4 hours ago, Cash In said:

I found Mudbriar tolerable and I honestly believe that his character developed throughout the episode. Yes, he was a bit of a (I apologize if someone already made this joke), stick in the mud, but I would be interested in seeing him in another episode and see him develop further. Although, I do think he should've been introduced slightly earlier (Perhaps Pinkie Pie running into him at the start of the episode?).

Don't think you need to apologize when his cutie mark is literally a stick in a puddle of mud. 

 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

So I saw "The Maud Couple". I liked it and thought it was a rather mature topic for MLP. What I found most interesting in this episode was how Pinkie once again doesn't really "get" Maud like in the episode where she moved to ponyvile and how she seems to think things have to be done her way for her to keep her friends as friends. 

[BrawnyCharger 513]

I really enjoyed this episode. It was cool seeing Pinkie complaining about Mudbriar being "strange" and "dull" and "boring" when she completely fails to realize that those are traits that also describe Maud. Kudos to Starlight for trying to explain it, but Pinkie for some reason doesn't pay attention.

A strong case of Laser Guided Karma in this episode.

[Nyactis Mewcis Catlum 672]

It's all right. There are things to like about it, a lot of things to dislike about it.

I usually try to play the devil's advocate and say the opposing view just to get people thinking, but I'm honestly going to have to go with the crowd on this one: Mud Briar is not only very much Sheldon Cooper, but he's reminded me of why Sheldon is a horrible character. It's not the fact that he's socially awkward or stunted. I have no problem with Maud (even in this episode, even if I do think it was really a dick move for her to basically ditch Pinkie Pie when they had morning plans) and she's got something similar. But there's something you can read from Maud that you can't read from Mud (or at least, I was unable to read until that final act).

To put it simply, when Pinkie was describing Maud as caring and warm, she was right.

Maud may not be emotive, but from the way she speaks to Pinkie, even in this episode, you can tell that she really does care about her sister. She puts investment in conversations that you can tell take energy from her, she does willfully attempt to make a bridge to others, and she lets others speak.

I think it's in that stupid "technically" quirk. Someone else put down Pinkie Pie for getting upset at that, but... You can kinda get why. The way he says it is super condescending. I know the last act tries to spin it as if it's not, but I'm sorry, you don't use that wording unless you think you're smarter than the person you're talking to. Not to mention his comments are the "peanut gallery" type; literally made just for the sake of correcting someone or inserting your own input when it's clearly not wanted.

His character is redeemed a little by the end. I noticed the "See you later" thing, and it was one thing I actually really liked about the episode. Pinkie's sisters were also amazing and I'm really glad to have seen them again. And Pinkie's little, uh...breakdown...was kind of entertaining, even if it caught me completely off guard. I'm kind of glad I didn't look at this thread when it happened so I was completely blindsided by the floating Mane 5 heads saying the opposite of their biggest character quirks. (I kinda like the style those heads are drawn in, actually. Huh.)

It's an...okay lesson. I know people are saying that it's "mature", but (and here Scootaloved goes, into personal shit again when we're talking about cartoon ponies...) I've had an experience where I learned about someone's significant other, and there was something really off about the relationship, and I was told not to question it because clearly my friend was being made "happy" in that situation. Turned out, that relationship was abusive as all get-out. I'm not saying that that should be your immediate thought whenever someone's significant other rubs you the wrong way, but it's something to note that your gut reaction about a person is not always wrong and you shouldn't just fully dismiss it. I think it's something you should legitimately weigh. The resolution was a bit too quick to go into that particular nuance, but... To be honest if they trimmed the fat on the jokes they probably could've at least brushed upon that particular issue.

 

Last, this is the first episode to implement that new intro. The rhythm junkie in me hates it. The continuity junkie in me loves it. I can't decide how to feel. 

 

Oh, and this cute little tidbit:

"So you're saying I should crack open Mud Briar like a rock..."

 

I'm already waiting for the grimdark fanfictions.

[Hierok 11,832]

Haven't watched it yet, but normally I am not as excited about Maud episodes. Hopefully this one will be different. 

It was alright, but I think Pinkie should be more optimistic. She almost immidiatly doesn't like him. Also the part where the mane 6 faces spoke to Pinkie was weird. I liked seeing Marble and Limestone again. 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Hierok

[CypherHoof 26,483]

1 hour ago, Scootaloved said:

It's all right. There are things to like about it, a lot of things to dislike about it.

I usually try to play the devil's advocate and say the opposing view just to get people thinking, but I'm honestly going to have to go with the crowd on this one: Mud Briar is not only very much Sheldon Cooper, but he's reminded me of why Sheldon is a horrible character.

I am trying to work out how much of what I hate about this character is because of my dislike of the Sheldon character; given this is almost literally just Sheldon in a pony suit.

That he is interacting this badly mostly with Pinkie, who is usually one ill-considered comment away from a full-on breakdown at the best of times, just makes that worse.

[Megas 27,821]

Mud Briar is a prick and I fucking love it

[FlutterForever 330]

I honestly can't say I liked this episode, I get the meaning behind it, but it just seemed so.......cringy. The character's cutie mark says it all; a stick in the mud, I don't care for over hypo characters like Pinkie, but I don't exactly like characters that are the opposite of that either. All in all, I get the lesson here, but could have been a lot better.

[Totally Nyx 36,231]

Not gonna lie, this is the most I've cringed at an episode since I started the series. I'd give it a solid 1/10, only above 0 because it had a good Lyra scene in the first minute.

[gingerninja666 487]

I'm going to bust out the "What about Discord" defense. Now, I know this is a bold tactic considering how much people hate that episode, but stick with me here.

 

I was always more lenient ith that episode because I felt like I appreciated what it was going for and could empathize with it. Not explaining Discord's joke at any point, in my eyes, was a good thing for making you get where Twi was coming from. It was utterly insufferable and you just wanted them to shut up and explain it. Because it JUST WASN'T that funny dammit! But see, that's exactly how Twi was feeling.

I felt like not "getting" mud almost makes the episode better on some level. I adored him, but if he rubs you the wrong way then you're right there with Pinkie, and in the end you can see that even if you really REALLY don't like him, it's still clear that he and Maud get along and he makes her happy. I really liked their "flirting".

[ChB 18,562]

17 hours ago, ShootingStar159 said:

In the middle of a rewatch to gather my thoughts, just wanted to point this out.

In the scene where Pinkie runs off crying, Mud Briar says “See you later,” which is interesting given his earlier conversation with Pinkie in the baking supply store. It means he wants to see her again later, which is pretty sweet.

I noticed that, too. It really showed me that despite how inconsiderate and rude Mud Briar appears on the surface, he really does care about Pinkie Pie. 

[gingerninja666 487]

"You look as miserable as I feel all the time."

 

(cuddles Limey) God, that line, That's so sad.

[Nye 1,652]

I'd say this is a great character developing episode. Maud had a never before seen smile that was almost a big smile!  

 

[JH24 385]

I enjoyed the episode. There was a lot going on and there were quite a number of entertaining moments. Pinkie sometimes still overdoes it with her excited behavior and high-pitched voice (which sounds great when she's not screaming) but many other scenes were very well done.

Edited April 1, 2018 by JH24

[Ganondox 899]

11 hours ago, Scootaloved said:

I think it's in that stupid "technically" quirk. Someone else put down Pinkie Pie for getting upset at that, but... You can kinda get why. The way he says it is super condescending. I know the last act tries to spin it as if it's not, but I'm sorry, you don't use that wording unless you think you're smarter than the person you're talking to. Not to mention his comments are the "peanut gallery" type; literally made just for the sake of correcting someone or inserting your own input when it's clearly not wanted.

Eh, not really. You might think his word choice implies thinking one is intellectually superior, but it really doesn’t. After all, you aren’t going at this from the perspective of someone who actually cares about technicalities, but from the perspective of someone who is annoyed by people bringing it up. If we look at what is established about Mud Briar’s character as it’s eatablished in the episode there is really nothing that implies he thinks he’s smarter than anyone else, but the very first thing that’s established with him is that he’s very precise with language and refuses to do anything contradictory to the actual events. He brings up the technicalities not because he believes he is smarter and must demonstrate it, but because what he heard was wrong and he cannot tolerate wrongness. He thinks he’s doing Pinkie a favor as now she knows something she didn’t know before, and now she can be more precise with her own language and thus more correct. It doesn’t make it his behavior any less obnoxious, but maybe you cam find him a bit more sympathetic.  

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Hello everyone.

Wow, this episode was great! It's difficult for me to describe why did I find the episode so good, so I'll just list the things I remember that I liked the most (and a few moments I disliked).

- I liked Pinkie a lot, she got a bit annoying in a few moments but it was never too much and almost instantly she said or did something awkward or funny to go back at adorable Pinkie mode.

- Mud Briar was an awesome character to add. I was sold to his relationship with Maud the moment they explained how the met.

- Maud saying they're 'in like' gave me a huge grin and then her big smile to her boyfriend was beautiful.

- Starlight was ok, great episode to be a supporting character.

- Pinkie imagining her friends as opposites was so funny!

- Limestone and Marble were amazing! I felt a bad for Limestone saying she's miserable ALL THE TIME, that's pretty heavy stuff. But then Marble and her had the perfect way to show Pinkie how she was being selfish and to give Mud Briar a chance for the sake of Maud.

- Pinkie's party planning cave (yes I'm still calling it a cave) scene was awesome, and the way she surprised Mud Briar with the slide was hilarious. The reference to Sherlock was also on spot.

- The stick abuse thing had me facepalming.

- The resolution to Maud's party was amazing and so relatable!

 

Overall this was an amazing episode and pretty much what I missed about FiM during the hiatus. It had me entertained from beginning to end and left me with a joyful smile.

Edited April 1, 2018 by DonMaguz
Corrected a word.

[Nyactis Mewcis Catlum 672]

9 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

I felt like not "getting" mud almost makes the episode better on some level. I adored him, but if he rubs you the wrong way then you're right there with Pinkie, and in the end you can see that even if you really REALLY don't like him, it's still clear that he and Maud get along and he makes her happy. I really liked their "flirting".

Oh, not getting Mud was most certainly the point, but I think the issue with its execution here is that we don't get any "cheats" that Mud is actually a good guy until the final act, wherein it feels a little rushed. Like, if I went back and watched this episode again, he'd still come off as utterly insufferable in the beginning. There's definitely a way to write a character with that kind of nuance that I feel the episode just didn't quite nail.

1 hour ago, Ganondox said:

Eh, not really. You might think his word choice implies thinking one is intellectually superior, but it really doesn’t. After all, you aren’t going at this from the perspective of someone who actually cares about technicalities, but from the perspective of someone who is annoyed by people bringing it up. If we look at what is established about Mud Briar’s character as it’s eatablished in the episode there is really nothing that implies he thinks he’s smarter than anyone else, but the very first thing that’s established with him is that he’s very precise with language and refuses to do anything contradictory to the actual events. He brings up the technicalities not because he believes he is smarter and must demonstrate it, but because what he heard was wrong and he cannot tolerate wrongness. He thinks he’s doing Pinkie a favor as now she knows something she didn’t know before, and now she can be more precise with her own language and thus more correct. It doesn’t make it his behavior any less obnoxious, but maybe you cam find him a bit more sympathetic.  

But see, it's that feeling of doing her a favor by correcting her that makes it condescending in the first place.

It's a very common tactic in arguments and explanations otherwise to pick on a specific piece of wording and not focusing on the gist of what the person is trying to convey - Mud did this throughout the entire episode, until the last act wherein he outright acknowledged her effort after correcting her on the fact it was not an olive branch (and this was the one time I was okay with him doing it). I have had countless a conversation in which a person picked out one word in what I was saying and didn't address anything else, and that was the feeling that Pinkie was having. It wasn't the fact he was correcting her, it was the fact he was correcting her and conveniently glossing over literally every-fucking-thing else she was trying to say. It dilutes the point of the conversation.

It's hard not to think of it as intentional, and in fact him acknowledging the rest of what she said later in that very same episode makes it even more likely there was intent there as he full well knew what she was trying to say. That's what I'm getting at here. It's not the correcting itself that bothers me, it's the way he goes about correcting. It's the context of the correcting.

If you want an apt comparison to this, think of YouTube arguments in which someone presents a thoughtful argument but happens to spell one word wrong in it, and the next person comments only correcting the spelling of the word and not responding at all to the actual rest of the comment.

[Thrond 3,263]

I didn't dislike Mud Briar, and the episode made at least some effort to give him development at the end, but he seems to have been built up from a negative personality trait for the sake of a moral, which sort of prevents the show from really expanding on him in funny or interesting ways. He exists entirely for the sake of Pinkie's reactions to him, and for the most part I don't find that to be the best way to approach storytelling. The "technically" quirk is also kinda similar to an annoying "well, actually," which isn't the most pleasant of comparisons. Anyway I think this one's pretty funny, but it also seems fairly reliant on just how well you can relate to the moral; I tend to be fairly distant from this kind of thing, so I was somewhat distant from this as well. 

[Nyactis Mewcis Catlum 672]

4 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I didn't dislike Mud Briar, and the episode made at least some effort to give him development at the end, but he seems to have been built up from a negative personality trait for the sake of a moral, which sort of prevents the show from really expanding on him in funny or interesting ways. He exists entirely for the sake of Pinkie's reactions to him, and for the most part I don't find that to be the best way to approach storytelling.

Definitely a good point. That would explain the wooden feeling I was getting from him as well. There was an attempt at a foil there, but he's not a well developed foil, and there's just something off about him that doesn't allow him to play off Maud or Pinkie in interesting ways. I think this is especially evident in the fact that the humor, even if you do like it, tends to be repetitious after a while. Maud sort of lost her effect on me so I didn't find myself laughing at this one very much, but I can see people enjoying it - but they repeated the same joke multiple times within the same episode and kinda phone it in, at least that's what it seemed like to me.

Funnily enough, I actually think Pinkie played off Starlight a bit better than she did Mud in this episode.

[gingerninja666 487]

3 minutes ago, Scootaloved said:

It's a very common tactic in arguments and explanations otherwise to pick on a specific piece of wording and not focusing on the gist of what the person is trying to convey - Mud did this throughout the entire episode, until the last act wherein he outright acknowledged her effort after correcting her on the fact it was not an olive branch (and this was the one time I was okay with him doing it). I have had countless a conversation in which a person picked out one word in what I was saying and didn't address anything else, and that was the feeling that Pinkie was having. It wasn't the fact he was correcting her, it was the fact he was correcting her and conveniently glossing over literally every-fucking-thing else she was trying to say. It dilutes the point of the conversation.

It's hard not to think of it as intentional, and in fact him acknowledging the rest of what she said later in that very same episode makes it even more likely there was intent there as he full well knew what she was trying to say. That's what I'm getting at here. It's not the correcting itself that bothers me, it's the way he goes about correcting. It's the context of the correcting.

If you want an apt comparison to this, think of YouTube arguments in which someone presents a thoughtful argument but happens to spell one word wrong in it, and the next person comments only correcting the spelling of the word and not responding at all to the actual rest of the comment.

He does it so constantly though even in his first scene that it felt like an earnest habit to me.

Mudbriar: Technically, they're very different. "See you later" implies an event in the near future wherein we see each other. "Goodbye" expresses good wishes where parting or at the end of a conversation.

Pinkie Pie: Yyyyyeah, same thing.

Mudbriar: I will not apologize for speaking with precision.

 

[ManaMinori 4,145]

This episode really didn’t impress me at all. Not only does it have a really forced setup in its story, for the sake of conflict, but it also tramples on Pinkie’s character, making her completely ooc for most of the episode She KNOWS better than to see the worst in ponies and jump to conclusions- this was covered in “A Friend In Deed”. And in “Bridle Gossip”, which she was there for during a majority of the episode. This setup with Mud Briar isn’t in her character at all, and that’s what ticks me off.

 

Also, I speculated on Maud’s possible boyfriend being-

Read the full review here: https://happypastelponies.tumblr.com/post/172494980738/mlpfim-the-maud-couple-review

[Thrond 3,263]

11 minutes ago, Scootaloved said:

Definitely a good point. That would explain the wooden feeling I was getting from him as well. There was an attempt at a foil there, but he's not a well developed foil, and there's just something off about him that doesn't allow him to play off Maud or Pinkie in interesting ways. I think this is especially evident in the fact that the humor, even if you do like it, tends to be repetitious after a while. Maud sort of lost her effect on me so I didn't find myself laughing at this one very much, but I can see people enjoying it - but they repeated the same joke multiple times within the same episode and kinda phone it in, at least that's what it seemed like to me.

It's just that he's so one-note. Maud has been developed to be a lot more sensitive and socially aware than she was in her debut, but you don't see any of that in Mud Briar. He's really just one joke, and the episode has nothing whatsoever to say about him as a person. I certainly see the point of having Pinkie experience how her friends perceive Maud, but I didn't really enjoy Maud's first episode, so I never felt the need to see that. I suppose, though, that it feeds into an interesting idea of how your perception of someone changes when you know them very well; I just think that's undercut when the episode claims Pinkie doesn't know Maud nearly as well as she thinks she does. 

[Jeric 46,866]

36 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

He does it so constantly though even in his first scene that it felt like an earnest habit to me.

Mudbriar: Technically, they're very different. "See you later" implies an event in the near future wherein we see each other. "Goodbye" expresses good wishes where parting or at the end of a conversation.

Pinkie Pie: Yyyyyeah, same thing.

Mudbriar: I will not apologize for speaking with precision.

 

And that was a hugely critical moment to establish a very subtle payoff much later, when he told Pinkie Pie, "See you later." Update the delivery and you have smart dialog that would fit in some of the most heralded romantic comedies. 

 

The general construction of the episode's dynamics were pretty nice. The purpose of Mudbriar's characterization is to give him a trait that the audience would also find annoying, so that they can either forgive or empathize with Pinkie. At the same time there was some nice smile animations on Maud that would show us that there may be something there. Then you have the line that is a bit smarter than the audience in Mudbriar's parting shout to Pinkie Pie. The Limestone and Marble scene was to include a less nuanced moral for younger viewers, but it was well executed. 

People say they don't like know-it-all correcting types ... except ... House, Sherlock, Iron Man, and others beg to differ. Perhaps people don't like those characters, but damn they sure can't stop watching when they are on screen. Howard Stern effect perhaps?

 

[gingerninja666 487]

I still feel weird in liking him. It's like all these things about him being boring, or one note, or literally just Maud but a guy. I never saw it. Even on the second viewing I loved his interactions with pinkie.

 

It's weird is all.