S08:E05 - Grannies Gone Wild

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

1 minute ago, Batbrony said:

Is... is one of those magicians Trixie's dad?  Like, they had the EXACT same color scheme, coat and mane!  Makes ya wonder if he might show up in another episode later this season.

I was just about to ask that!!!

[YoshiAngemon 223]

1 minute ago, GrimGrimoire said:

Turns out Rainbow Dash is NOT the fun one this time.

If you ask me, she's got TOO Many responsibilities to even be the SAME as Sonic the Hedgehog! I'd say she's more like that nice boy Mario! Sonic the Hedgehog's ONE RESPONSIBILITY is Defeating Dr. Eggman! Rainbow Dash is a Teacher, a Wonderbolt, AND a hero! How can Sonic juggle more than that with his speed? HE CAN'T!

[cmarston1 5,951]

Well I can't say that I ever expected an episode about Rainbow Dash and Granny Smith, but here we are.  Not only that but the title of this week's episode is one that sure to bring unwanted images into the minds of many.  I didn't expect an episode title to be this easy to take the wrong way either, but well here we are again.

Besides that I thought the episode was surprisingly entertaining.  I mean it wasn't the best episode of the entire series, but for one that I had like no expectations for and no one really asked for, it was a pleasant surprise.

 

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

The episode was pretty funny.. my only real complaint was the episode ended a bit more abruptly than I would have liked and left some stuff unanswered. RD got to ride the ride, and admitted she misjudged them, but unless the old gals got to make up for their trip off screen, RD still sort of made a mess of their vacation. I'll assume she made amends though since they invited her into their club.

In bigger news, until someone says otherwise, I am mentally head cannoning first appearance Trixie's father.

[Goat-kun 2,496]

And the trend of subpar episodes continues. More! More! The public demands more!

 

[Batbrony 15,994]

Not a terribly strong episode as far as the lesson goes, or rather, it was just hard to say what lesson at all they were trying to convey.  Not that I'm saying the show always needs to be on the nose with their lessons or anything, this just felt like an episode where the lesson learned itself wasn't terribly important.  That said, it was certainly a step up from last week's episode and was wildly entertaining to boot, especially the antics that Granny Smith and her relatives all got up to!  Would've been nice to see the whole group doing a few different activities at the end of the episode, but overall this was just a fun, solid, entertaining episode for me, and I'm totally OK with the episode for what it was. 

[Zantetsuken 364]

Grannies Gone Wild written by G.M. Berrow 

I am gonna be honest, I was REAL worried about this one. I was expecting to see the episode feature a Rainbow Dash who was wound way too to tight and behaving obnoxiously out of character in an effort to please AJ. Yes, there are small bits of that in this episode but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how rational she was being. I notice Rainbow Dash episodes like this, where she is tasked with doing something she normally wouldn't do, the writers write her very annoyingly, not so here.

I also like the setting as well... I wish Las Pegasus had a bit more scope and was expanded beyond seemingly this one hotel. I also think they should make another DJ pony model besides DJPon3 I mean... damn she is virtually unrealistically EVERYWHERE, ehh, minor nitpick. 

So episode is written well and I am happy about that but sadly I still dislike it. It's not really the episodes fault here, my issue with this episode stems from the story of it. I just didn't like the episodes plot, IDK why. I mean the grannies are not exactly the most compelling characters, they have buckets of personality, sure, but I just just couldn't get past the odd concept of the episode. 

So to summarize, good episode, MUCH BETTER than last week. It defied and rested my worries about it being terrible and for that I am satisfied. However my dislike for the core idea hangs a huge dark cloud over this otherwise perfectly passable episode. Because of that I unfortunately I can't in good faith give it a higher score than 6.8/10 

Edited April 14, 2018 by Zantetsuken

[ggg-2 3,550]

Did i seriously see a pony version of bucking Walter White?

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

At least the roller coaster description by Dash gives off the definition of "extreme thriller."

Oh, and the jokes are are actually quite decent so far.

Quote

Apple Rose: You know, this hot-air balloon ride reminds me of the time I climbed a tree. Have I ever told you that story?

Applesauce: Only about a million times.

Oh, hey, Flim Flam statue!

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

So I saw MLP "Grannies Gone Wild" and I thought it was really good and super cute. It has a good lesson about letting people make their own choices about what they can and cannot do and not being over protective. Nice to see Applejack's over protective side addressed again. It was interesting to see Applejack basically tell Rainbow to treat the elderly ponies in a similar way to how Applejack treated Applebloom in "Somepony to Watch Over Me" with Granny Smith and the others having to sneak away like Applebloom did but here it works even better because Granny Smith is an adult. It reminded me of how I had to learn not to be overprotective of my friend when he had a stroke. I had to remember he was and adult who knew his own body and how much he could handle. The way Applejack pops up in RD's head is hilarious!

[FizzyGreen 908]

This episode hurt alot but the grannies were funny to see. They are pretty cool and i like them talking ^^

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

Quote

 

Applesauce *flirts with bellboy*: Oh, my. You are a strong pony, aren't you, Sugarhocks? *flashes teeth*

*Bellboy gulps*

 

Hi, Apple Blanche!

Quote

Granny: Haha! You're sure your name's not Applesaucy?

My my, we're getting some adult jokes here. XD

-

BTW, the dialogue between the grannies is really, really good so far. It feels very organic.

[Dynamo Pad 10,775]

I found this episode to be pretty funny and enjoyable. I thought it was pretty cool how they started up the episode. I think it was the same intro as it was in "Top Bolt," from season 6. I'm not a big fan of roller coasters, but that ride sounded pretty awesome. I like how it transitioned from Soarin to Rainbow on how the ride was described. I wonder if she explained the ride 4 times to everyone, or went from one group to the next. I was wondering why Big Mac didn't call Winona to help herd the runaway cats. It was cool to see Cherry Berry and the hot air balloon. I guess her job is giving other ponies a hot air balloon ride. I could relate to Rainbow when it came to her being impatient when things were feeling so slow. It's the same for me when it comes to being stuck in traffic. It's great to see Las Pegasus again and it looks like Flim and Flam have kept the place running swell. I like how Granny Smith and the others were able to fool Rainbow to go and play the horseshoes competition. When the two stallions were talking to Granny and the others, it looked like one of them was Trixie's dad. The way he and the other magician made their escape was similar to Trixie's, as well. If so, then I hope we get to see an episode between them this season. I liked how responsible Rainbow was trying to be in the episode. She was doing her best to keep her word to Applejack, but it felt like Applejack was being overprotective of the elderly ponies. When Rainbow explained why she was doing what she did, the elderly ponies just brushed that all aside. The lesson was pretty good and the comedy was pretty hilarious. All in all, I liked the episode and I hope we get to see Rainbow and the elderly ponies hang out in the future.  

[Batbrony 15,994]

40 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

So I saw MLP "Grannies Gone Wild" and I thought it was really good and super cute. It has a good lesson about letting people make their own choices about what they can and cannot do and not being over protective. Nice to see Applejack's over protective side addressed again. It was interesting to see Applejack basically tell Rainbow to treat the elderly ponies in a similar way to how Applejack treated Applebloom in "Somepony to Watch Over Me" with Granny Smith and the others having to sneak away like Applebloom did but here it works even better because Granny Smith is an adult. It reminded me of how I had to learn not to be overprotective of my friend when he had a stroke. I had to remember he was and adult who knew his own body and how much he could handle. The way Applejack pops up in RD's head is hilarious!

I don't think they were trying to critique AJ very much.  Her guidelines may have been overly stringent, but I have a feeling that if she'd been chaperoning them, things probably would've gone smoother just because she knows all of those ponies so well and what kind of fun they can and shouldn't be getting up to way better than RD could.  My theory is that RD was (very justifiably) worried that AJ would kick her ass if she let anything happen to them, and couple that with the fact that she really doesn't know any of these ponies much, not even Granny Smith all that well, it was really easy for her to go overboard.  She needed to watch out for them, but there was a far healthier balance to be struck between chaperoning and having fun with them than she initially achieved.

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

Quote

Apple Rose: But I'm not tired.

Congrats, Apple Rose Nylund, for nearly blowing your cover. XD

[bluseymoe 258]

The most enjoyable episode this season so far. Good Rainbow Dash characterization. Applejack kinda sucked though. 

[Truffles 2,033]

1 hour ago, Batbrony said:

Not a terribly strong episode as far as the lesson goes, or rather, it was just hard to say what lesson at all they were trying to convey.

The lesson I took away from this episode was ponies should pay no attention to Applejack's advice, which is unfortunate because it seems like she (or more specifically, her conscience as perceived by Rainbow Dash) was thrown under the bus to create the main conflict for the episode. She's pretty much never going to live down what happened in "Somepony to Watch Over Me," and it seems like the stick-in-the-mud aspects of her character are what the writers tend to gravitate towards when coming up with ways on how to use her.

It's kind of like how Spike used to get written as being out-of-control of his greed as a plot device, even after it wore out it's welcome.

Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised by this episode, even if a lot of it was predictable. Most of the jokes landed squarely on the mark - even the ones that seem to be grossing out a large part of the fandom with Auntie Applesauce constantly hitting on the younger stallions, going so far as to drop some suggestive innuendo XD )

Rainbow Dash was a victim of sorts and I did feel sorry for her to a point like I thought I might, but the trouble she had to go through was never overly oppressive and she got what she wanted in the end - which I wasn't sure would happen - it could have gone either way of her achieving her goal or having it not work out, but having fun anyway.

I've seen folks wondering why RD would care about a rollercoaster since she's the fastest thing on the planet, but I can see how she'd want to go on the ride. It's one thing to fly around but have to work at it to keep going so quickly. It's another when you can just sit back and let a ride take you on an exciting journey, not being sure of how it will feel or what surprises it has in for you. Plus since the Wonderbolts were the ponies who got her interested in it (yay, Soarin speaking appearance!) I can see how she'd want to be in on the fun they had.

I was amused that they reused the backgrounds for the arcade from "Viva Las Pegasus" and I think some of the same ponies were still there at the machines, lol. And I was totally surprised to see Trixie's "dad" who appears to be a fairly successful showpony. I hope he isn't a one-shot Easter Egg and they work him into a future plot, maybe in the rumored episode where a bunch of the pony families get together?

The Rick and Morty ponies I missed, however, and only saw them in the screenshots posted later.

So if I'm going to sort the GM Berrow episodes, I would put "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows" on top, followed by this one, then "Daring Done?" and pulling up the rear is "Fluttershy Leans In."

Edited April 14, 2018 by Truffles

[Batbrony 15,994]

8 minutes ago, Truffles said:

The lesson I took away from this episode was ponies should pay no attention to Applejack's advice, which is unfortunate because it seems like she (or more specifically, her conscience as perceived by Rainbow Dash) was thrown under the bus to create the main conflict for the episode. She's pretty much never going to live down what happened in "Somepony to Watch Over Me," and it seems like the stick-in-the-mud aspects of her character are what the writers tend to gravitate towards when coming up with ways on how to use her.

It's kind of like how Spike used to get written as being out-of-control of his greed as a plot device, even after it wore out it's welcome.

I disagree with that take concerning AJ, I really don't think this episode or the writers at large have anything against her.  She's frequently depicted as being the most mature member of the group, especially when it comes to basics and practical matters, and her biggest fault is when she overthinks things or gets stuck into a routine even if the routine doesn't make sense.  Here's what I said above about how she was depicted in this episode:

"I don't think they were trying to critique AJ very much.  Her guidelines may have been overly stringent, but I have a feeling that if she'd been chaperoning them, things probably would've gone smoother just because she knows all of those ponies so well and what kind of fun they can and shouldn't be getting up to way better than RD could.  My theory is that RD was (very justifiably) worried that AJ would kick her ass if she let anything happen to them, and couple that with the fact that she really doesn't know any of these ponies much, not even Granny Smith all that well, it was really easy for her to go overboard.  She needed to watch out for them, but there was a far healthier balance to be struck between chaperoning and having fun with them than she initially achieved."

8 minutes ago, Truffles said:

I'm seen folks wondering why RD would care about a rollercoaster since she's the fastest thing on the planet, but I can see how she'd want to go on the ride. It's one thing to fly around but have to work at it to keep going so quickly. It's another when you can just sit back and let a ride take you on an exciting journey, not being sure of how it will feel or what surprises it has in for you. Plus since the Wonderbolts were the ponies who got her interested in it (yay, Soarin speaking appearance!) I can see how she'd want to be in on the fun they had.

I'm sure RD wanted to enjoy the roller coaster, but it seemed that the beginning of the episode was mostly implying that she wanted to ride it since every other Wonderbolt had and she'd feel slightly less a part of the group if she didn't.  Is that kind of petty and shallow?  A little, but if anypony in the Mane 6 would worry about that kind of social acceptance, especially in the group she's been trying to get into her entire life until recently, it'd be RD.  She's always trying to be the best Wonderbolt she can possibly be and has frequently proven that she's willing to take every step necessary, even little ones that might not seem all that important to most ponies, in order to do so.

[Truffles 2,033]

26 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

My theory is that RD was (very justifiably) worried that AJ would kick her ass if she let anything happen to them

RD's motivation was AJ specifically told her she'd miss going on the ride if anything happened to the grannies if they got over-excited. While it's not a direct reflection on AJ (since it's all RD's perception) it still reflects badly on AJ because her overbearing cautiousness was used as a plot device to force RD to act the way she did. The whole thing was a bit of a trope, but like I said earlier it wasn't overly oppressive so I managed to like the episode anyway.

EDIT: Oh you replied, I'll have to see what you wrote and edit this again, lol. XD

4 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

I disagree with that take concerning AJ, I really don't think this episode or the writers at large have anything against her.  She's frequently depicted as being the most mature member of the group, especially when it comes to basics and practical matters, and her biggest fault is when she overthinks things or gets stuck into a routine even if the routine doesn't make sense.

I don't feel they have anything against her (though the rumors about G5 seem to indicate they do have some frustrations with her) and I agree she's the most mature of the Mane 6. But like I said above, her cautiousness (which really didn't show up until "Somepony" ) was the plot device and the only takeaway I got from the reactions by the grannies to finding out RD was acting the way she was acting was due to AJ's advice was that RD shouldn't have listened to AJ in the first place. Or perhaps communicated better with the four of them and told them earlier she was acting on AJ's strict instructions?

11 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

Is that kind of petty and shallow?  A little, but if anypony in the Mane 6 would worry about that kind of social acceptance, especially in the group she's been trying to get into her entire life until recently, it'd be RD.

Agreed. I have no issues with RD wanting to emulate the WB - they are her heroes, after all.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Truffles

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

Just when i thought i might lose interest, this episode comes around and hit it out of the park.

I really like this episode, probably the funniest i have seen in awhile. Applejacks constant appearance as a floating head where great and especially the last one made me laugh hard.

I heard some people complained that AJ was kind of a party pooper in this episode. Well, you might be kinda right. But at the same time, she is only worried about her granny and her friends, since older people in their 80s can not take alot of excitement and are more fragile, so i can see where AJ is coming from.

RD also learned that you can have fun with everyone, even with ponies who are way past her age and are not as agile anymore. I think that's a good lesson, because there are older people who also like to do things that people in their 20s do, like playing video games or in this episodes case, ride a rollercoaster.

I had alot of fun. Best episode of the season so far.

Also:

As Caddicarus once said:

DDR is Everywhere

DDR is anywhere

DDR is even there

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

>Apple Rose moonwalks

>Ox jaw drops

>Picks it up before Applesauce decides to flirt with me

[Truffles 2,033]

9 minutes ago, Mesme Rize said:

As Caddicarus once said:

DDR is Everywhere

DDR is anywhere

DDR is even there

Ponies have it easy! There's only four pads and they have four hooves! One hoof for each pad! =)

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

So first and most important:

WAS THAT TRIXIE’S DAD!?! HOLY CRAP, I THINK THAT’S TRIXIE’S DAD!

Ahem, anyways...

That was fun, it wasn’t anything amazing, but it was a lot of fun. I find it hilarious that AJ doesn’t even need to be there to suck the fun out of anything anymore. Also very much appreciated that the responsibility of juggling teaching duties is something we see Rainbow has to deal with, given all her many other duties.

[Castle Bleck 19,163]

First, Fluttershy had dissociative-identity disorder. Now, Rainbow has schizophrenia (i.e., hallucinates a ghost Applejack). S1 Twilight was right:

Edited August 5, 2023 by Castle Bleck

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

Just realized that the stallion who helped land Cherry Berry's hot-air balloon is an alicorn!

Edited April 14, 2018 by Dark Qiviut