S01:E06 - Boast Busters

[user1342342 143]

Screw it, I'll just leave this quote here. The mod deleted it in my previous discussion, and It's best suited for here anyway.

 

"The episode was a mess. One of the earlier interviews with Thiesen on EqD, and I believe a reddit AMA, had him say that the original script / layout had to be hacked down and it stuck with him over how much overtime they had to do to make the episode make sense.

In the end, they still fucked up; they accelerated the initial reason for "conflict" so fast/poorly that they made 3 of the M6 look like petty hecklers and gave valid reasons for Trixie to act out on them. They were front row audience of a free show and were making a fuss about it from second zero, before any callouts; nobody that isn’t a jerkass does something like, but the M6 were made to act that way so Trixie would start her challenges. At that point they’re hecklers, and as anyone that’s seen standup comedy knows, hecklers get humiliated and used to entertain the rest of the audience; of course, making the M6 feel bad is a mortal sin for most of the fandom, as we all know from the way people flipped over Gilda making Fluttershy cry.

The merit of how she treated the challenges is contestable, but as far as I’m concerned was fair given the circumstances; AJ made a point of being so much better and used some rope tricks, Trixie used rope tricks on her and put her down a peg; RD got aggressive and used her flight to control the weather, Trixie used magic to control the weather and give her a shock (the same terrible shock, mind you, that Dash uses to "terrorize" innocent bystanders in Nightmare Night, so hush you with any claims she was assaulted); RY called out her style and looks and trashed Trixie’s stage to make herself look better with magic, Trixie user her magic to trash Rarity’s mane to have her look worse. She was challenged with shows of rope use, weather control, and object transformation, and she proved she was better at those things, put some hecklers in their place, and got cheers from the public. If this had been a M6 character putting on the show in front of a hostile audience, we’d be expected to cheer for them; but it’s not, the show’s always had a clear double standard when dealing with what the M6 can do and what other characters can do.

Trixie fucked up by lying about a fantastical event only idiot children or yokels would take seriously in the one town populated by idiot children and yokels that lied on the border of The Forbidden Forest; but the aesop didn’t deal with lies or boasting. RD, AJ, and RY fucked up by heckling a performer during their act and having as big of an as her; but the aesop didn’t deal with not harassing artists or biting down your tongue over pride. The wonderdolts and Spike fucked up by taking the show too seriously, putting their idols on mile-high pedestals, and fighting over them; but the aesop wasn’t about the dangers of fanboyism. In the end the aesop as about how you should feel OK to prove you’re good at something if you think you’re good at something; it was all about Twilight. And the aftermath was Trixie losing her home, her possesions, her job, and her pride, the wonderdolts getting prized with moustaches, Twilight becoming the town hero and Best Pony That Ever Lived, again, and some random pony having to retile their roof.

Oh, and showing that Dash was more than willing to physically beat up Trixie. But let’s just ignore that part lest we spark a debate on all of Dash’s deep faults and how we’re expected to see them as charming character traits…"

[twiia 1,843]

This episode was great. The ursa was sorta scary and Trixie a bit too 'braggy'

[SoulHarmony 43]

All I will say is "We need more of the GREAT AND POWERFUL Trixie" because she was not only the star of this episode but she should have been given more airtime throughout the series 

[Teavvi 627]

This episode was boring in my opinion. And it's not because I hate Trixie, it's because there was nothing to it! Trixie was bragging then Twilight saved the day! It wasn't SUCH a good episode but I guess if I had to rate it it would be: Meh, it was okay.

[Altastrofae 933]

The Great and Powerful Trixie!

[ToxicPunisher 0]

Love the reference to ghost buster. I'm gonna love all the puns in this series

[Guest]

Trixie is such a great character in my opinion Though the episode wasn't that good, I liked the character a lot.

[Dawn Darkness 217]

I saw half of the episode, and thought it was "okay". Snips and Snails are among my "least-favourite ponies", if people says it was their fault of bringing the "Ursaminor" into the town (I'm caling the "Ursa Minor" whole), then I'm alright with it. 

 

And Trixie. The way she calls herself "The Great and Powerful Trixie", along with her third-person voice, got her to be list as one of my top ten list of best ponies. No one could blame her for bringing the Ursaminor, right?

Edited October 16, 2016 by Dawn Darkness

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

Easily one of my favorite episodes. For all her arrogance, I adored Trixie's first episode, much better than her second appearance. I understand why some don't like her and her attitude but at the same time I found her a nice change of pace. Not everyone needs to be so friendly and humble and sweet all the time, it is nice having a character pop out with personality flaws you can play off of and create some dynamics... it gives them some depth and shakes up the regular cast. Plus as we have seen she does grow past some of it while not completely abandoning it.

 

I genuinely laughed at her antics and thought it was fun how she was able to defend herself to her "neighhhhh-sayers" I found Snips and Snails annoying, and their fawning over Trixie tiresome. Also a bit strained that they could just causally by themselves walk into the Everfree forest with no problems or dangers and blunder into the one thing that Trixie bragged about... seriously?

 

The ending was pretty good, although I did not really feel Twilight's anxiety over her fear of her friends not liking her magic and abilities. After the premier, I would have figured she understood they accepted that about her. But that is just a minor quibble.

 

Anyway Trixie easily ranks as one of my favorite characters and this episode ranks right up there with her. I do hope they find more uses for her throughout the series.

[cider float 2,538]

This episode coming right after Gilda kind of made me think whoa there's a lot of annoying villains in this series but that's good, a villain should be someone you should hate a lot and Faust did a good job designing Trixie and Gilda to do what they do best, being mean and arrogant.

[Sovereign Leader Rarity 12,006]

Uuuuuggghhhhhhh...... I REALLY did not like this episode.

 

Forced message, intense hypocrisy by the main 6, butchered morales, hating Trixie for no good reason other than doing what she does, the travesties that are Snips and Snails, all coupled with quite possibly Spike's all-time most aggravating appearance. All he does in this episode is whine and moan and pout. Not to mention, Rainbow Dash angry because Trixie is bragging? Talk about hypocrisy!

 

Apologies to anypony who liked this episode, but I thought it was poorly done and the worst episode of season 1.

[Tropico 226]

Spike's all-time most aggravating appearance. All he does in this episode is whine and moan and pout. Not to mention, Rainbow Dash angry because Trixie is bragging? Talk about hypocrisy!

 

so true for spike and so true for rainbow xD i still dont know why they hate trixie for bragging and they dont hate rainbow dash. thats a squad toxicity xD

 

i just watched and i liked it tho. loved ursa design so much. and this time i aprreciated trixie so much more than the first time (basically cause with S6 we see her as the caring friend from starlight)

 

aside from twilight and starlight I didnt remember that unicorn's magic goes dictated by its cutiemark too like they say in this episode. i've always wanted to be an unicorn for its magic but if i get a shitty cuitie mark then ill get shitty magic use too sob. I wanted twilight level magic xD at least i would have enough magic to use it as hands xD

 

i love the background pony carrot top (golden harvest) and here she appears green at first but later with their usual colours lmao 

 

 

 

 

also i've seen derpy before she was derp xD so happy for that error that made her derp and nows canon

 

the friendship lesson "dont be ashamed to show off your talents" is ok cause its who you are sbut then if you show it too much they gonna hate you like trixie so be careful ??? mess :ninja: im glad more people see it like me xD

 

POST SO TRUE I GOTTA QUOTE IT FULL:

 

 

they accelerated the initial reason for "conflict" so fast/poorly that they made 3 of the M6 look like petty hecklers and gave valid reasons for Trixie to act out on them. They were front row audience of a free show and were making a fuss about it from second zero, before any callouts;

nobody that isn’t a jerkass does something like, but the M6 were made to act that way so Trixie would start her challenges. At that point they’re hecklers, and as anyone that’s seen standup comedy knows, hecklers get humiliated and used to entertain the rest of the audience; of course, making the M6 feel bad is a mortal sin for most of the fandom, as we all know from the way people flipped over Gilda making Fluttershy cry.

 

The merit of how she treated the challenges is contestable, but as far as I’m concerned was fair given the circumstances; AJ made a point of being so much better and used some rope tricks, Trixie used rope tricks on her and put her down a peg; RD got aggressive and used her flight to control the weather, Trixie used magic to control the weather and give her a shock (the same terrible shock, mind you, that Dash uses to "terrorize" innocent bystanders in Nightmare Night, so hush you with any claims she was assaulted); RY called out her style and looks and trashed Trixie’s stage to make herself look better with magic, Trixie user her magic to trash Rarity’s mane to have her look worse. She was challenged with shows of rope use, weather control, and object transformation, and she proved she was better at those things, put some hecklers in their place, and got cheers from the public. If this had been a M6 character putting on the show in front of a hostile audience, we’d be expected to cheer for them; but it’s not, the show’s always had a clear double standard when dealing with what the M6 can do and what other characters can do.

 

Trixie fucked up by lying about a fantastical event only idiot children or yokels would take seriously in the one town populated by idiot children and yokels that lied on the border of The Forbidden Forest; but the aesop didn’t deal with lies or boasting. RD, AJ, and RY fucked up by heckling a performer during their act and having as big of an as her; but the aesop didn’t deal with not harassing artists or biting down your tongue over pride. The wonderdolts and Spike fucked up by taking the show too seriously, putting their idols on mile-high pedestals, and fighting over them; but the aesop wasn’t about the dangers of fanboyism. In the end the aesop as about how you should feel OK to prove you’re good at something if you think you’re good at something; it was all about Twilight. And the aftermath was Trixie losing her home, her possesions, her job, and her pride, the wonderdolts getting prized with moustaches, Twilight becoming the town hero and Best Pony That Ever Lived, again, and some random pony having to retile their roof.

 

Oh, and showing that Dash was more than willing to physically beat up Trixie. But let’s just ignore that part lest we spark a debate on all of Dash’s deep faults and how we’re expected to see them as charming character traits…"

 

 

 

^10/10. amazed rarity and AJ acted that bad at first with no reason. not surprised by rainbow dash cause she's always like that smh xD. so glad fluttershy and pinkie werent in this episode so they remain intact, pure and sinless   

Edited February 24, 2017 by Tropico

[Lil Pip 775]

Youtube reviewers seem to really dislike this episode, perhaps because Twilight was being a jerk, but that doesn't mean anything she was early into learning this friendship thing she was bound to make mistakes, and sounds more like saltyness than anything else. I think it was Mysterious Mr Enter who said the episode was bad, but eh. I love Trixie, I thought Twilight's feat was interesting, I thought it was showing their personalities in a new light. Snips n Snails were unbearable and obviously is sorta pro-feminist at the expense of males is the point with that (she was a 3rd wave feminist at the time I think?) don't think they were entirely unbearably cringey, at least Spike was a decent male and they didn't degrade him with the comic relief. Beyond that tho it was a great episode. It was memorable and what more can you ask for, it didn't demolish the character personalities or anything either.

[Singe 2,111]

Uuuuuggghhhhhhh...... I REALLY did not like this episode.

 

Forced message, intense hypocrisy by the main 6, butchered morales, hating Trixie for no good reason other than doing what she does, the travesties that are Snips and Snails, all coupled with quite possibly Spike's all-time most aggravating appearance. All he does in this episode is whine and moan and pout. Not to mention, Rainbow Dash angry because Trixie is bragging? Talk about hypocrisy!

 

Apologies to anypony who liked this episode, but I thought it was poorly done and the worst episode of season 1.

 

I look back at this episode and it just shocks me at the parallels of this to current events. Upon reflection it fits one aspect of the Mane 6 that occurs in the series from time to time, they're the moral police in the show.

[blackstarraven 142]

2 out of 5.... (On my sliding scale of awesome cartoons)

 

Some one asked why I hate Trixie so much....

I don't...

I hate every pony else in this episode.....

And that.. Might actually by why I don't like Trixie and Starlight to some extent. When they first show up, the almost require the rest of the cast to pass around the idiot ball for the episode.And its a bit of a broken Aesop also.

No its not OK to act like a jerk to anti-jerk or out-jerk a jerk.

Twilight was right, and her friends where wrong...

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrokenAesop

Edited April 1, 2017 by blackstarraven

[Bricks_Ahoy 860]

0/5

This episode was so bad, so wrong. Why is Trixie the bad guy? The whole episode, she did nothing wrong. And the Mane 6 are the good guys? They didn't like the show, fine, but if you don't like something why do you want to ruin it for the person and everyone else. Trixie is a stage magician, it is her job to entertain crowds with her magic*. Snips and Snail are annoying. 

*For those that are going to argue that magic is common in Equestria, so there is no reason to brag: In Earth, we have people who film their lives and make profit. People who talk and make money. People who write and make profit. It is all about how good you are at that. Sure, Trixie is not Twilight-good, but for learning magic herself, she is pretty good. 

[derpy4ever 48]

My problem with this episode is Trixie didn't really do anything wrong. She was just a traveling performer who exaggerated her backstory like they pretty much all do. The mane six showed their dark side in this one as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad Trixie came back in newer episodes and was redeemed by starlight's friendship. 

[JadeSerpent 7]

I did not like Trixie! Idk how anyone can like her! And the 2 little idiot ponies!! It's a good thing Trixie left!

[Midnight Seashell 206]

How big was that fully grown Ursa major anyway? Could it be Godzilla size?

[TwiTracker 973]

Not an episode I can say I necessarily enjoyed.

While Trixie may be one of the most popular characters about, I myself am not a huge fan of her.

Her obnoxious, self-righteous and narcissistic personality just ticks me in the wrong way. While I know this is intentional, I just dont see her in the same way as others do. Its not the fact that she is designed to me a ‘bad’ character that makes me dislike her, no. Infact the majority of my least favourite characters ARE villians.

But Trixie, she just rubs me the wrong way.

Also Snips and Snails were a horrible addition to the already mediocre episode.

One thing I did like is the Ursa Minor. Its design is very aesthetic and I would love if Hasbro would go into more lore and depth with this character, and maybe we can also learn a bit more about the Ursa Major.

Also, no Twilight. Thats not how you milk cows.

[Singe 2,111]

Getting past the radar, Twilight milks some cows and one them says "Call me, dontcha know."

Edited December 28, 2017 by Singe

[Thrond 3,263]

Gotta say, this sat a lot better with me this time. There's a lot of clever gags here, and I've come around to liking Trixie a fair bit. Her boasting is just smug enough that you understand why the mane six were irritated, but also exaggerated enough to be genuinely funny. Right in the "funny jerk" sweet spot for me, and while the episode doesn't actually do anything with it, there's something to the concept of someone's performative boasting getting them into trouble when someone thinks they're being honest. I think the Ursa Major thing really shows how her boasts might not just be performance but also overcompensation, and that's one thing this episode really gets right. 

The problem, for me, is actually Twilight's part of it, which drags this down enough that I start to get impatient by the end. I'm not sure why she thinks that simply using magic would upset her friends, and I'm not sure why her friends get so worked up over some loudmouth performer who's more or less just doing her job. It makes for a decent moral - you don't need to hide your talents, as long as you're not obnoxious - but this isn't a great way to tell it, and it has little to do with Snips and Snails, who drive most of the conflict. They have funny moments, but just as often they're simply irritating, which is a particular problem when they're not really relevant to the moral. 

As a side note, while the mane six are very funny in this, Rainbow Dash and Rarity are both in full jerk mode, which isn't really their most endearing characterization. 

I liked this episode more on this watch than I have in the past, though, so that's not bad at all. 

Score:

Entertainment: 7/10

Characters: 4/10

Themes: 7/10

Story: 4/10

Overall: 55/100

[Forest 35]

i'm not really a fan of trixie, but her design is cute! the best parts of this episode for me where mustache spike lol, and ursa minor and major (so cool!) i'm glad twilight was able to use her magic and save the day!

[Brainstorm 4,108]

Trixie has come a long way since this episode.

[Meushell 52]

The first time I saw this episode, I wasn’t really watching (my son was), so I missed the first part. Watching it from the beginning, Trixie really went from villain to mostly innocent bystander. The only issue I had with her was her treatment of Snips and Snails. I could fanwank that they were irritating the crap out of her by that point. I could forgive her targeting Twilight during the show, since she might have noticed Spike’s repeated urgings for her to take the spotlight.

Between this and Gilda, I’d say the show improved on making bad guys. Gilda and Trixie were opposites. One was bad (well, very rude) without a motive, and the other had a motive, but was more of a victim.