S09:E23 The Big Mac Question

[Sparklefan1234 170,567]

My favorite things from this episode were the outfit Applejack was wearing during Sugar Belle & Big Mac's wedding & 

 

Spoiler

Lyra proposing to Bon Bon! 

 

[Limestone-Pie 188]

It's a joy to see a resolution to Big Mac's relationship with Sugar Belle, it's very wholesome, and the fact that they got married under the pear/apple (pearpple??) tree their parents planted together gives me life. 

Naturally though Discord causes wanton chaos just by being involved in the story, the constant escalation of things up until you have a giant apple monster stomping around is as always very humorous to see. Overall there is a lot to like about this episode, it's hard to think of a better episode to leave off on right before the inevitable crazy train which is the finale, like a calm before the storm as it were. 

[Js250476 1,367]

https://www.equestriadaily.com/2019/10/the-other-happy-couple.html 

 

and Big Mac and Sugar Belle weren’t the only ones who hooked up 💖 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

“The Big Mac Question”

 

This episode was so sweetly adorable. I love that they have the characters telling the story in a similar style to “Saddle Row” episode with commentary and flashbacks from characters. I love that Discord, Spike and Big Mac still have such a fun friendship. I adored the connection to the “Perfect Pear” episode with the parents tree and Big Mac and Sugar Belle taking inspiration from Bright Mac and Pear Butter, That was a perfect touch. I also love the little touches like the engagement ring being around Sugar belle’s neck, that explains so much, the ponies from Starlight’s old village attending the wedding and Ms Cake’s involvement like in the parents wedding given she’s a friend of Pear Butter. It seems to me that the CMC were not separated in the episode with Scootaloo’s parents because the writers had these 2 episodes(this and the "Growing up" one like I mentioned in the last thread) with CMC planned. They could have changed the episode order to allow the CMC to live apart but I like that they stayed together. The only thing that drove me nuts is Applejack has no lines whatsoever in an episode where her own brother is getting hitched!! 

[ChB 18,550]

Nice Jurassic Park and Star Trek references.

[YoshiAngemon 223]

1 hour ago, ggg-2 said:

Do i hear a Shrek reference? Well what do you know, something legitimately funny in a SugarMac episode. Almost excuses the characters' otherwise incompetence. .....Almost. And Sugar Belle wanting to propose to Big Mac? Proposals don't work that way.

I think it was when they were calling each other's names, and Discord coined in "Mrs. Cake!" That might be more SpongeBob than Shrek 2. Still, it was a great episode, and I will have no problems waiting for the Series Finale coming next week.

Edited October 5, 2019 by YoshiAngemon

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

2 minutes ago, Js250476 said:

https://www.equestriadaily.com/2019/10/the-other-happy-couple.html 

 

and Big Mac and Sugar Belle weren’t the only ones who hooked up 💖 

I never noticed this bit at all! Congrats to them! Somebody on MLP staff must really like lesbian couple representation since we have the 2 lesbian aunts and now these 2. I guess they really did mean "partner" when they said "BEST friend" in "Slice of Life" eh? Too funny. 

[Adamgreen 1,129]

While I never got into Mac and Suger Belle's relationship, this was a nice chill episode with minimal conflict. The jokes were pretty simple for my taste but the impact of their relationship at the end makes up for it. 

It was decent all around and I love how they conclude their relationship in this final season. Only 3 episodes left. I may not be ready, but I sure am hoping it'll be a satisfying end   

Edited October 5, 2019 by Adamgreen

[Js250476 1,367]

7 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

I never noticed this bit at all! Congrats to them! Somebody on MLP staff must really like lesbian couple representation since we have the 2 lesbian aunts and now these 2. I guess they really did mean "partner" when they said "BEST friend" in "Slice of Life" eh? Too funny. 

I like to think how wonderful and accepting Equestria is. It doesn’t matter what gender you are your fully allowed to love who you want and you’ll receive no ill feelings from anyone over it.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Not many people commented here, wow! And this is supposed to be a big episode!

I enjoyed it, I had no issues with it! I always love seeing the Guys' Night Trio together - they have an interesting dynamic! The proposal and the wedding was just fantastic! I could tell the wind and the light shining through the Apple/Pear tree was a sign of the parents giving Sugar Belle their blessing!

[Js250476 1,367]

When I saw Bright Mac and Buttercup’s tree I was cheering and crying internally and was handled so wonderfully I’m sure there proud of there son Big Mac. 

[ShootingStar159 2,156]

Hmmm... I don’t know. Other than the LyraBon proposal, I’m just sort of left unsatisfied, not just with the episode, but with Sugar Belle, and the entire relationship.

The episode’s interview theme was nowhere near the level of Saddle Row Review, which is just unfortunate. It’s a bad idea to try and repeat a theme, if it doesn't measure up to the original, it’s comes across cheap and uncreative. And then the episode itself felt like another retelling of Breakup Breakdown, just Discord causing chaos and almost ruining a special moment between the two.

The wedding was unsatisfying since some important characters were missing, like Pinkie and Starlight. Sugar Belle apparently had zero family that she wanted to invite, which, you know, Starlight would know why that is since she was able to convince Sugar Belle to move to the middle of nowhere and give up her cutie mark. Which leads to another thing...

Sugar Belle herself is unsatisfying. We have learned absolutely nothing about her since she was first introduced. She likes baking and now apparently wants to get married to Big Mac because... she loves him, because... she just does. Big Mac lost his parents, yes, but what little we know about Sugar Belle’s past hints at a not so cheery life for her as well, an idea reinforced by her lack of family or friends at her wedding outside of Our Town friends. 

Instead of this cutesy but empty episode, why not an episode that developed Sugar Belle as a character, why not have Big Mac know what happened in her past so he can promise to help her with it? Why not give us something of substance instead of giving us this empty, childish romance? I want to like this relationship, but this only given it’s due to Big Mac, and has completely neglected the other side of this two way street.

Edited October 5, 2019 by ShootingStar159

[Truffles 2,033]

1 hour ago, BrawnyCharger said:

I really enjoyed the episode. This is one of those episodes that everypony else did things wrong. Big Mac and Sugar Belle did everything else right.

They did things mostly right, but only in the end. As soon as Big Mac laid out his plan (or, to be precise - Spike psychically laying out his plan so he doesn't have to speak, lol) I facepalmed. He was making things wayyyyy too complicated and I knew it was going to backfire on him. The big surprise was Sugar Belle was doing the exact same thing with the help of Mrs. Cake and the CMC, and it was hilarious.

Lyra and Bon-bon really had it all nailed down in comparison. Though I suppose it's possible there were also a bunch of hijinks off screen that we didn't see save for the actual proposal.

 

And my ego wants to believe someone on the staff saw my comments after the airing of the "Break-Up, Break-Down" that Spike was now firmly established as a hopeless romantic since he admits it himself at long last. But I suspect the writers already knew that all along.

 

44 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

I love that they have the characters telling the story in a similar style to “Saddle Row” episode with commentary and flashbacks from characters. I love that Discord, Spike and Big Mac still have such a fun friendship. I adored the connection to the “Perfect Pear” episode with the parents tree and Big Mac and Sugar Belle taking inspiration from Bright Mac and Pear Butter, That was a perfect touch.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who loved how this episode pulled ideas from other episodes, and indeed, these are the same three amazing episodes I was thinking of I mentioned in my introductory message yesterday: The Saddle Row Review, The Perfect Pear, and The Break-Up, Break Down. All three of these are episodes I loved so any episode that uses the format, themes, and story from them is going to be an amazing experience.

 

34 minutes ago, FlareGun45 said:

Not many people commented here, wow! And this is supposed to be a big episode!

I'm working on a big follow-up with lots of pics.

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

Watched it when it was leaked. It may be the best episode of the season so far. Cute, funny, great chemistry between the three males, great callbacks to Saddle Row (similar storytelling structure) and Perfect Pear (the show’s best episode). The proposal in itself is beautifully animated; the glow coming from within the tree’s heart says that Bright Mac and Buttercup give both of them their full blessing, and their heart to heart itself is wonderful.

Oh, and the background moment with Lyra and Bon Bon proposing to each other (which previous episodes over the years built up, especially this and S8) is both adorable and subtly foreshadows Sugar Belle and Big Mac’s dual proposal of their own. <3

[Sparklefan1234 170,567]

47 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

The episode’s interview theme was nowhere near the level of Saddle Row Review, which is just unfortunate. It’s a bad idea to try and repeat a theme, if it doesn't measure up to the original, it’s comes across cheap and uncreative. And then the episode itself felt like another retelling of Breakup Breakdown, just Discord causing chaos and almost ruining a special moment between the two.

 

I agree.

I was pretty confused by this choice because I didn't know who they were talking to or why they were talking to them. 

[ggg-2 3,553]

Was that wedding even valid? There were no I Dos.

[Truffles 2,033]

11 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I was pretty confused by this choice because I didn't know who they were talking to or why they were talking to them.

I didn't think it mattered we didn't know who they were talking to. That was part of the suspense, and for the majority of the episode it was enough to take at face value they were simply talking directly to the audience to provide amusing commentary.

[Will Guide 21,360]

11 minutes ago, ggg-2 said:

Was that wedding even valid? There were no I Dos.

Again. You don't have to be traditional to be valid. If they want to legalized the wedding in a different way offscreen, they darn well have the right to. My folks were legally married after signing the marriage certificate. There were no "I Dos" like that and it was still legit.

[Rushing cash 836]

https://derpibooru.org/2158574?q=bon+bon

Best couple

Other then that, the episode was pretty great. I had a lot of fun watching this. 

[MangoFoalix 24,956]

I saw this like a month or so ago. It was a pretty good episode.

[The Nth Doctor 662]

I liked the reference to Night of the Living Apples

[Will Guide 21,360]

2 hours ago, YoshiAngemon said:

I think it was when they were calling each other's names, and Discord coined in "Mrs. Cake!" That might be more SpongeBob than Shrek 2

@ggg-2

The moment in Shrek 2 where they say each other's names is called Rocky Roll Call and it's not strictly a Shrek thing, it's a trope played for comedic or dramatic purposes.

[Jon the VGNerd 885]

This was a really good ep, even though there were shenanigans by Discord by making apples sentient and causing trouble to Ponyville (though not causing any harm besides the usual property damage). And it's surprising that Lyra and Bon Bon (or Sweetie Drops) proposed to each other, which indicate that they're lesbians. And seeing Big Mac marrying Sugar Belle was the most amazing thing ever.

It's a shame that this was the last episode before the final three episodes for next week before the true end of G4 MLP. It has been a long run, and those 8 years of the show ending in a high note is truly a way to go.

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

Well, this is it, the last episode before the series finale next week . I saw it already but still ...

[Ganondorf8 11,303]

It was blatantly obvious that Granny Smith was making numerous references to the original Star Trek series--she wasn't even really trying to hide this--so while it did feel out of place, it didn't really hurt what was going on, and I guess it could be a reference to both John DeLancie and William Shatner, the latter of whom didn't make any kind of vocal appearance. In terms of what this episode did, the interview segments were quite a surprise. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on with them. My initial assumption was some kind of commentary of what had transpired--I was technically correct here--though it was much more than that.

Honestly, I didn't think we would actually get to see the marriage itself. I was expecting it to remain unresolved or at the very least, mentioned in a comic. The fact that we got it speaks volumes, and also brings us back to the tree that Bright Mac and Pear Butter planted when they were married. It made sense to have Big Mac and Sugar Belle get married there given the symbolism behind it and for Mayor Mare to mention that it was her second Apple wedding was a nice touch. We also got to see some characters who haven't been seen for a long time in the form of Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Night Glider. The wedding itself didn't get much time dedicated to it and some might feel it was rushed, but hey, like I said, it speaks volumes that we got it.

In terms of concluding character storylines, this episode definitely helped Big Mac and Sugar Belle. Sure, their relationship happened relatively quickly in that they got together without much build-up, but it was expanded upon in later episodes allowing it to become natural. I've no doubt that these two were meant for each other. On a personal note, Rebecca Shoichet got to voice a character in an episode one last time seeing as she usually does singing duties as Twilight or is voicing Sunset in Equestria Girls. Anyway, both Big Mac and Sugar Belle learned some valuable lessons that they figured out on their own. Everyone else involved in the proposal plan(s) also learned something.

Now some would say that Discord was being obnoxious. Yes, but remember that this is part of who he is. He didn't cause any malicious intent but rather his usual brand of trickery simply because he has to. He was right in that not everything was his fault. Everyone outside of Big Mac, Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith caused a problem on account of doing too much, helping when they didn't need to, cutting corners, using magic, trying to make amends, and so on. Would better planning have been useful? Again, yes. But, secrecy was a big thing here on account that it was a proposal. Also, it was meant to be romantic.

A song would've been nice and at one point I thought they were going to break out into one, but there wasn't one so it's not a complete loss. The lesson at the end is one that we can all relate to in some form. Little mistakes happen all the time but we can use these in order to find out something new about ourselves. Such things can be used to better ourselves and give us a better appreciation for what we have rather than worry about what we don't have and what is beyond our control. Now we know that wedding type episodes can be hilarious if the dialogue, scenery, reactions, and more are done correctly, and with heart put into it.