S03:E04 - One Bad Apple

[null123456 759]

First episode I fully watched of season 3. It's pretty great. Bab Seed is a great addition to the character line, and I hope to see more of her!

Anyways, did anyone else catch those 'Star Wars' and 'A-Team' references?

[HomuraBL 851]

alright, a few things...

 

first off i had a hard time believing bab seed was a girl, she didnt have the appearance or the voice of a female, she did have a very canadian boyish voice

 

also the bab seed song was different...i think mando pony did this one

 

This has always bothered me about the bronies. Whether it's derpy or babs. The eyes. The eyes are the indicators of whether they are male or female.

 

no eyelashes: Male

Eyelashes: Female

 

I mean seriously, sounding like a boy means nothing.

 

Also, that depends on when mandopony was recruited. This episode was probably made sometime early Season 2.

[Skullbuster 1,906]

This has always bothered me about the bronies. Whether it's derpy or babs. The eyes. The eyes are the indicators of whether they are male or female.

 

no eyelashes: Male

Eyelashes: Female

 

I mean seriously, sounding like a boy means nothing.

 

Also, that depends on when mandopony was recruited. This episode was probably made sometime early Season 2.

 

i didnt even notice that, i was talking more of mane style, and how short the tail was, and the voice

 

male ponies have a more boxy snout, but babs voice was the main thing

[Galex Dj 173]

I actually really liked the episode a lot. It had a good message in their for people going through bullying troubles at the moment. Even though I didn't really like Babs at the beginning, I really liked her towards the end when I found out she was bullied back home before coming to Ponyville. And I can understand her problem of being bullied, and becoming the bully so she won't be bullied by the others. I have had that problem happen to me before, a lot of girls teased me when I was little, so when I grew up I became very mean towards other people. Later I figured out I was being the bully, so I stopped being mean and a few new people started to like me. Of course I had to keep a little part of me mean so I could defend myself if the other girls started to pick on me again. Now nobody makes fun of me anymore, and everything is all right at the moment.

[Shift 4,271]

That song was brilliant...and Mando got hired? Really? Aw...LivingTombstone would have been a better choice....

 

*hides from Mando lovers*

 

Anyway, brilliant episode, currently my favorite CMC one. Mostly because now the Cutie Mark Crusaders is in manehatten.

 

That song was brilliant...and Mando got hired? Really? Aw...LivingTombstone would have been a better choice....

 

*hides from Mando lovers*

 

Anyway, brilliant episode, currently my favorite CMC one. Mostly because now the Cutie Mark Crusaders is in manehatten.

[Batbrony 15,994]

OK, well, if anything, getting to watch this episode was an experience in and of itself! Honestly, the BronyState hacks may very well be the worst instance of hater hatred that I've ever personally experienced since joining the fandom; oddly appropriate, considering the episode was about bullying. I have a feeling that this irony is not coincidental, and that some hacker from 4chan noticed that this weeks episode was about bullying. But whatever, it's done, and I finally saw the episode; I'll just take my business to haxmega from now on, should be safe from hackers there.

 

OK. now down to business; there was a lot, I mean, A LOT, that I loved about this episode!!!!! So let's begin.

 

1) First, it was a joy to see the CMC once again. All three of their VA's have shown that they've further honed and sharpened their skills between seasons, as all three of them stood out tremendously and uniquely in their own ways. Honestly, this might be the best CMC episode yet, largely because it focused both on the CMC organization itself (that'd be awesome if it actually starts expanding into some sort of fraternal-filly society! ), and because it also addressed in a very mature manner the issue of bullying, a relevant topic for all ages, but especially focused in this instance on reaching out to the show's younger audiences. My favorite part about the theme of the episode was that they readily and directly admitted at the end that if somepony is getting bullied, he/she should not be afraid to tell their siblings or parents and go to them for their support, a message that many, many other children's shows, when they handle the issue of bullying, either completely ignore or even screw up when trying to address bullying. This episode delivered a solid message that counter-bullying is no solution to bullying, and instead, the real way to solve bullying is going to those more mature and wise than yourself (i.e. Applejack, Babs's older sister, the threat of going to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's mothers, etc.). The negativity surrounding so-called "snitching" is one of the saddest realities of the kids' world, and totally unwarranted, especially in that it has discouraged tens of thousands of children from taking the most direct and effective route to resolving bullying, and I am immensely impressed at the way that Studio B addressed this very pressing issue, especially for the sake of its younger audience.

 

2) "Bad Seed". Holy crap, this song! This song was bucking amazing!!! Hands down the best song of Season 3 so far, and I'd go so far to say it's the best CMC song yet, even better than "Looking For That Special Somepony"!!! It was certainly a much more complete ensemble than the latter song (because let's be honest, Sweetie Belle pretty much dominated that song in "Hearts and Hooves Day"), and extraordinarily catchy. I especially loved the choreography and visual direction of the song as well, especially the way all three of them were bopping their heads at the beginning of the song. Little stuff like that encourages the audience to get involved in and enjoy the song as well, and its subtle stuff like that that goes to show that the crew at Studio B are truly masters of their craft at this point in the show's production. Especially gotta give props to Daniel Ingram, who delivered a fantastic number yet again, and my gosh, if we get a couple more numbers like that this season, we are in for quite a treat!

 

3) Babs Seed; I liked her character design, her voice wasn't that annoying and actually kinda grew on me, and one can actually sympathize with her situation quite a bit. I'm not sure why she decided to turn so quickly on the CMC when they were making it quite clear that they'd be more than happy to back her up, but she still learned a good lesson and ultimately redeemed herself, so I won't have to destroy the space-time continuum and travel across dimensions to find her and beat the living pulp out of her after she made Sweetie Belle cry (and trust me, if she hadn't, I totally would! Dead-bucking-serious. ). Overall, she learned a good lesson, helped teach the CMC a good lesson, and has officially become the fourth member of the CMC. She's practically family now! That, and she helped deliver the first quadruple brohoof ever, so that alone warrants forgiving her for her bullying!

 

4) VEGGIE SALAD!!!!!!!! Pinkie Pie yet again proved that even if she's only in an episode for about 2 minutes, she can still manage to leave a massive impression and steal the scene in those two minutes alone. AB delivered a hilarious line in that scene as well when she said in total deadpan, "Seriously?"

 

5) The humor in this episode was dead on yet again! Pinkie Pie aside, the CMC were hilarious the whole episode. In particular, their funny little mannerisms and behavior stood out, along with the A-Team-esque scene, Sweetie Belle's evil face when she set off the booby trap, and the gut-busting hilarious CMC initiation scene (between Scootaloo's rocking drumming and Sweetie Belle's hilarious and cute attempts at pronouncing all of those titles for Babs, that might honestly have been the funniest scene in the episode, with the only scene that can really compare being Pinkie's VEGGIE SALAD!!!!!!!). Overall, this episode was really, really funny, and it's great to see that Studio B could keep an episode addressing as serious an issue as bullying lighthearted and fun!

 

6) Return of Derpy Hooves? OK, I have two questions; first, on MLP's wiki it says that she briefly appeared in the jousting scene, but for the life of me, I couldn't find her when I went back and watched it carefully. Does anypony know if she does actually appear in that scene, and if so, where? Second, I was quite sure a few times that I spotted her in this episode (both in the theater with Dr. Whooves, which, if this turns out to be legit, would be the cutest thing ever, and in one of the floats), but I wasn't sure, because, is it just me, or did they drastically change Derpy's design? I'm not just talking about her eyes; her mane looked to be shaped differently, and her mane and coat looked to be somewhat more darkly shaded. Can anypony confirm whether that is really her in those scenes, or if Studio B has indeed changed her design, or is it just the resolution of the vid? If they did change her design, I won't mind, but I just want to know whether or not they did change her design so that I'll know whether or not she really was in the episode. If she was, then I just have this to say...

 

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall, this was an amazing and fun episode with a great message and subject, great new character, great old characters, great visual design, direction, and animation, great music, and great humor, and I anticipate that Studio B will only continue to deliver episodes as good as or even better than this one as the season continues!!!! The CMC are back ya'll and better than ever, and hey, they're expanding! Huzzah!!!!!

Edited November 25, 2012 by Batbrony

[SongBrony 419]

My favorite thing about the episode is tied between either 1) The Bad Seed song or 2) When Bab seed turned on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "Tell your mother's about your bad attitude." Yes Bab Seed, make them quiver with fear!

[Nixter 180]

Second best song IMO

 

Was a pretty good episode, best CMC episode by far, they became much more tolerable to watch, a nice change of pace from me usually ripping my hair out every time I see them.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Diamond Tiara: "Who's the new blank flank?"

 

Babs: "What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little filly? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Equestrian Royal Guard, and I have been involved in numerous secret raids on Changelings, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in equine warfare and I'm the top archer in the entire Equestrian Hooved Forces. You are nothing to me but just another bully. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this farm, mark my bucking words. You think you can get away with saying those feathers to me over the Ponynet? Think again, fillyfooler. As we speak I am contacting Applejack across Ponyville and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, parasprite. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re bucking dead, foal. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hooves. Not only am I extensively trained in unhooved combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Royal Luna Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable flank off the face of Equestria, you little filly. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your bucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn fillyfooler. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're bucking dead, kiddo."

Edited November 24, 2012 by Alfonzo Dennard

[SmileForever^.^ 128]

OMC That was awesome!

 

The puns, the references, the character development! THAT SONG!

The CMC are growing up so fast, *sniff*

I am enjoying every single moment of Season 3, so far the writers are on a roll apart from that King Sombre incident

This was without a doubt my favorite my favorite CMC episode to-date.

[HomuraBL 851]

i didnt even notice that, i was talking more of mane style, and how short the tail was, and the voice

 

male ponies have a more boxy snout, but babs voice was the main thing

 

Ever heard of a tomboy?

 

Of course her look is very masculine because she is a tomboy.

 

Her voice is a new york accent so thats why.

 

Lastly, with fillies and colts, it's really hard to tell from snouts. Just look at snips and snails. They have the same as females.

[DJShy 872]

Though I'm not sure if I can say in my opinion that the song was the best EVER, I CAN say, however, the song, "Babs Seed" was the beat of the season so far.

 

Anypony else agree?

[Circadian 1,273]

This episode has the best camaraderie amongst the CMC. I think this is the most I've laughed out loud at an episode in a while; practically everything that came out of Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell's mouth was hilarious.

 

I still don't forgive Babs though. She jumped on the Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hate bandwagon faster than a june bug on a corn hoe.

 

PROS:

• Rarity's emergency edible boots
• Star Wars reference
• Pinkie Pie's epic stream of vegetable puns
• Scootaloo's extensive vocabulary
• Sweetie Bell's mispronunciations of Scootaloo's extensive vocabulay

CONS:

• Token bullying episode
• Bab's voice
• I have to wait until next week for the next episode

Edited November 24, 2012 by Circadian

[Spartan 433]

I watched it on youtube.. the uploader is Pinkie Pie. But Babs was a realy *choice word* at first, but later she changed for the good.. but i still love on Sweetie Belle's voice cracks sometimes xD

[Inactive01 5,298]

Loved the episode and the song especially. Time to analyze the song!

 

 

What a twist from Daniel Ingram. Normally, his pieces would have implemented an orchestra for conveying different emotions along with plot advancements. When it comes to analyzing songs like this one, we could find allusions to different pieces of the same feeling and see how it advances the plot anyway. We could also analyze the tune itself and how the changes in guitar and percussive intensity impact the direction of the mood and plot.

 

For this song, the very basic premise is that the CMC are avoiding Babs Seed because she's been acting like a huge bully to them. They really wanted to be good friends with her but she's been acting like a real jerk because of those high class socialites (Tiara, Spoon). The very first thing that came to my mind was how similar this song sounded to the Scooby Doo theme song and Dora's "Todos Juntos". I'll explain how they're similar as we progress.

 

First, why is the song so catchy in the first place? The rhythms from the drums and electric guitar are syncopated so that it makes us want to dance to it. The lyrics themselves are very light and catchy and only serve to highlight the CMC's fear of Babs and their futile attempts to avoid her. Such a combination of light lyrics, guitar-based rock, and catchy pop style are characteristic of pop rock. That's why so many kids shows use pop rock to attract families into watching their show: they're "innocent" and catchy, like all those Disney cartoons...

 

Now for the similarities. I'm sorry I couldn't share a Scooby Doo theme song video; it won't let me have more than 2 media files per post...

 

You only need to look at the visuals to notice the similarity between Scooby Doo's theme and "Babs Seed". The characters solve mysteries and have to avoid the "monsters" they encounter. The CMC are running away from Babs and much of the visuals involves avoidance tactics and running away. There's also the mystery of why she's so mean in the first place, although the CMC think she's just a bully (which she isn't...) Even the acoustics are similar. A guitar (electric?) along with some drums keeps the upbeat tempo for both songs.

 

 

Yes I am serious. In fact, there's more similarities between the Babs Song and this one. Not only is the instrumentation the same, the scale of Eb major is also the same. I can also argue that the Babs song will become a Daytime Emmy nominee like "Todos Juntos", but that's for another day. The point is that both songs have mentions of cooperation and friendship, albeit a very subtle one in "Babs Seed". I'm guessing that Ingram wanted to model the success Shakira had with her Dora song because as most of us will admit that such song types are very catchy and upbeat.

 

The last thing I'd like to mention is the structure of the song. Like any rock song, you have a short intro that introduces the mood. The upbeat 4/4 and the "yayaya" gets us fired up. At 0:08, Verse 1 begins with the CMC's thoughts that Babs was somepony nice, but turned out to be the complete opposite. The band becomes the accompaniment where the guitar and drums play a consistent rhythm while the CMC sings. At 0:26, the band plays along with the CMC to get us fired up at the climax where they're running away. Verse 2 then sees the band return to accomapniment before firing up again at a chorus repeat. The bridge from 1:22-1:37 has the bass drum with a continual rhythm where the CMC ponders. "why can't we be friends?" It's a way for the modern band to introduce some level of suspense within the song before they continue with a chorus repeat. For this piece however, they couldn't repeat the chorus so they just made a coda before ending the song with the CMC slipping over a banana peel.

 

All in all, it's a completely different feel from what Ingram normally does. It's the first song where no orchestra was used since "Becoming Popular". And we all know what happened to "Becoming Popular" (Emmy nominee). But I love it. It's very upbeat and brought me back to other very successful and catchy songs of the same feel.

[Motion Spark 7,806]

I think that this was one of the best CMC episodes to date! so here it goes my review of it.

 

The story:

Applebloom is receiving her cousin Bab Seed from Manehattan at her farm to spend a couple of weeks with her. She introduced herself and her friends and Bab seemed to be more worried about her blank flank than being friends with them. When Silverspoon and Diamond Tiara made their usual bully appearances, she prefered to be friends with them out and became a bully out of fear of being bullied by them.

The CMC got bullied by Bab Seed and decided to set her up a trap, but they found out that she was bullied back in Manehattan so they felt guilt and decided to save her. They ended up like victims of their own trap in order to save Bab.

And in the end they became friends and Bab joined the CMC.

7.7/10

 

Song

This episode featured a song. So I'm going to say that I didn't liked it. I didn't liked the melody at all, maybe the lyrics are better. The video that went along with the music was really cool, though they repeated a lot of times the part when they were running to the camera. It wasn't bad, but it can get a bit repetitive.

I much prefer the first song of the CMC or Swettie Belle's version of sleepyhead.

5/10

 

Characters.

 

CMC: I liked them 3, Applebloom was obviously the main character here (actually she's the main character of the CMC) but I wanted to see more of Scootaloo. They all share a very special friendship and I really enjoyed watching them on screen.

 

Babs Seed: Nothing bad to say about her and nothing outstanding either, she's OK.

 

Diamond Tiara/Silver Spoon: I saw them like the 2 typical high school bitches, it was so repetitive to watch them randomly appear out of nowhere and just mock the CMC for no reason, they didn't even were in school! Wehre was this HUGE BITCH Diamond Tiara of "Ponyville Confidential", she was a REAL bitch in that episode. They were very dissapointing.

 

Applejack: Applejack is the voice of reason of the mane6, she wise, hardworker and motherly, she's a mother to Applebloom and it shows in this episodes. Though it wasn't an episode of her, she did a great appearance.

 

Pinkie Pie: She ruined the episode, her lines where REALLY STUPID and this is not the Pinkie what I'm used to see. I would prefer if a random pony were driving that giant lettuce car.

 

The animation

Beautiful, gorgeous. I like how the animators works with both sides of the ponies manes, because most ponies don't look the same of both side of their manes

10/10

 

Voice Acting

The voice acting was fabulous, and outstanding as always, I really dig Applebloom's southern accent and Sweetie Belle squeaky voice. But I didn't like Bab's voice that much, I felt like it didn't fit her. It was too deep and sorry about the word, "retarded" for her. But I'm OK with it since she's a new character.

Who ruined it for me was Pinkie Pie, I don't know if she was voiced by Andrea Libman, but she didn't sound like Pinkie Pie, she didn't feel like Pinkie Pie. I didn't liked her voice on this episode, something was really off with her.

9/10

 

Message

I'm still forgetting the this show is about friendship, but also, the writers wants to get problems in our world to put it in the show in a MLP way, they do such a fantastic job. This time they picked bullying, and it's true that this is a huge problem in our schools with deaths on it's lists, it's really saddening. But I'm also glad that they use this show to portray social issues in our world, still in a very family friendly way.

10/10

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

 

 

This was something I noticed immediately. Pretty clever if the producers just put this in for shits and giggles considering the character is called Babs SEED.

[Lost Profile 644]

I really liked this episode!

 

I can relate to babs... A LOT...

 

Now I must work on a signature with her!

[ShyForever 282]

Diamond Tiara: "Who's the new blank flank?"

 

Babs: "What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little filly? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Equestrian Royal Guard, and I have been involved in numerous secret raids on Changelings, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in equine warfare and I'm the top archer in the entire Equestrian Hooved Forces."

 

LOL

 

Nice one! /)

 

Seriously, people on Youtube can be so stupid. I don't even know why kids started copy-and-pasting that same reply every time they get owned in the comments.

[Squid 100]

Hey, guys, did any of you notice Doctor Whooves?

 

 

Doctor Whooves in a bow-tie

 

 

Doctor Whooves in a bow-tie and dressed as a pear.

 

 

 

You know how the Doctor is about pears

 

I wonder if this is a reference or a crazy coincidence. xD He he

[Skullbuster 1,906]

Loved the episode and the song especially. Time to analyze the song!

 

 

All in all, it's a completely different feel from what Ingram normally does. It's the first song where no orchestra was used since "Becoming Popular". And we all know what happened to "Becoming Popular" (Emmy nominee). But I love it. It's very upbeat and brought me back to other very successful and catchy songs of the same feel.

 

well it may be different from ingram because it might not be him, if you recall, mando pony was hired to do some of the songs, i think mando did this song, it dosnt sound or feel like any of the regular songs, so i think this is from mando

[Inactive01 5,298]

well it may be different from ingram because it might not be him, if you recall, mando pony was hired to do some of the songs, i think mando did this song, it dosnt sound or feel like any of the regular songs, so i think this is from mando

 

I would have considered that if I did not watch the whole episode and see the credits. The credits say it's a Daniel Ingram Song.

[TimeFactor 10]

Doctor Whooves dressed as a pear is either the most stupidest or most awesomest reference on the show.

 

Also, Babs has the ability to turn ponies into pigs. She's just like a cockatrice, only she's a pony who turns things into pigs instead of stone.

Edited November 24, 2012 by RebirthCrusader

[kirbyboi 587]

I just finished watching it! It was amazing, and I actually enjoyed watching a CMC episode! I also loved Bab's accent. :3

 

And the song...so glad to see a song! I swear, the CMC looked just like the Powerpuff girls as they were singing about Babs being a bully. All in all, this was a great episode. Babs became a great character to see, and we might even see her in the future again. Who knows? And, hooray for another Sweetie Belle quote!! Sweetie Belle made me smile when she said 'Why is life so ironic?!'.

 

Great episode, but too bad I had to wait all day to see it until now.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Pixiesong

[Batbrony 15,994]

 

Hey, guys, did any of you notice Doctor Whooves?

 

 

Doctor Whooves in a bow-tie

 

 

Doctor Whooves in a bow-tie and dressed as a pear.

 

 

http-~~-//youtu.be/vGG0RSgJT1I

 

You know how the Doctor is about pears

 

I wonder if this is a reference or a crazy coincidence. xD He he

 

 

 

Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice that!!! I mean, I noticed that he was in the parade, but NOT that he was dressed as a pear. There is no bucking way that was a coincidence!!! Knowing Studio B's track record, that is a Doctor Who reference, and an awesome and (not-so) subtle one at that!!!!! Good eye man, thanks for pointing that out!

Edited November 24, 2012 by Batbrony