Are Merriwether Williams's Episodes really that wretched?

[Anadu Kune 668]

Williams tends to emphasize physical gags over dialogue, creating situations where you can have awesome pop culture references (e.g., Batman Animated Series in "Mare Do Well"; Pinkie Pie using the famous "Duck Season, Rabbit Season" gag in "Putting Your Hoof Down."). There is also a trend in her episodes involving "edgier" jokes and themes, such as the race wars in "Hearth's Warming Eve" (an episode which I quite like) and the unusually dark predicament Spike finds himself in when pressured to break a phoenix egg in "Dragon Quest." I think physical comedy is really Williams' strength; when she drifts into dialogue heavy segments, the characters sometimes exhibit traits which are unusual enough to cause Bronies to point them out.

 

This is somewhat glossed over in "Hearth's Warming Eve" as the Mane Six spend most of the episode impersonating famous figures from their world's history. In "Putting Your Hoof Down" and "Mare Do Well", however, the out of character behavior is more noticable. As such, one could argue that the characters in her episodes tend to suffer for the sake of comedic effect.

 

It is worth mentioning that Williams has written episodes for Adventure Time, and her work there is, in my mind, pretty darn awesome. While I cannot draw a direct connection between her style for Adventure Time and that of MLP: FiM, I suspect Williams is better suited to episodes heavily reliant on sight gags and short, goofy exchanges as opposed to stringing together a typical MLP narrative. In other words, if most MLP episodes were stand alone (i.e., the history of each episode is rather nebulous with respect to the overall story) rather than framed within a growing continuity, the reception to Williams' material would be warmer.

 

She really did earn a degree of infamy with "Mare Do Well" and "Putting Your Hoof Down." I'm not so certain if she'll ever escape their shadows without producing a truly dazzling episode. Some are already calling "Wonderbolt Academy" that kind of episode. I beg to differ, but that particular discussion is better suited for another thread.

Some great points there. Most don't even seem to know(or at least dont acknowledge) her Adventure time work.

 

The Mare Do Well infamy I get, but Putting your hoof down? What is it people hate about that episode? Its not my favorite, but I cant see the complaints. Meaning all anyone ever says is that they hate it, I dont know what it is in general they hate about it. 

[Spring Storm 276]

I don't think Merriwhether's episodes are bad. I didn't take issue with her characterization of Dash in MMDW, because I thought Dash getting an even bigger ego was in-character for her. It was also in-character for the mane five to take issue with it, because we've seen glimpses of them disliking it in the past. What I didn't like was how there wasn't enough build-up to Mare-Do-Well herself. I felt the mane five created her too soon, and the lack of a scene where they try to talk to Dash about her bragging really made it feel like they were pushing their beliefs on Dash a little too much. I don't hate this episode, but it definitely had the most problems.

 

As for the rest? What exactly was bad about them? Hearth's Warming Eve and Wonderbolt Academy were great in my opinion, and Dragon Quest and Putting Your Hoof Down were pretty good too.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Spring Storm

[Yellow Diamond 7,568]

The Mare Do Well infamy I get, but Putting your hoof down? What is it people hate about that episode? Its not my favorite, but I cant see the complaints. Meaning all anyone ever says is that they hate it, I dont know what it is in general they hate about it. 

 

A number of Bronies I've read consider Pinkie Pie and Rarity to be completely out of character in "Putting Your Hoof Down." The major complaint is their apparent willingness to manipulate other ponies in order to get their way. Although both Rarity and Pinkie can occassionally be sly and capable of influencing a social setting, their behavior revealed a disregard for the feelings of ponies.

 

I've also seen others complain about how out of character the whole of Ponyville is, i.e., everypony is suddenly really nasty and rude. This harkens back to the unusual frequency of disasters which suddenly befell Ponyville during "Mare Do Well." As such, there is arguably a tendency for Williams to accentuate what would otherwise be minor points (e.g., how mean certain characters in Ponyville may be) in order to achieve the desired comedic effect.

[Radiance64 7,053]

Yeah Mare Do Well wasn't great, but not completely horrible, none of the episodes really are to me. Hearth's Warming Eve, Putting Your Hoof Down, Dragon Quest, and Wonderbolt Academy, however, were all very good episodes in my opinion. I have also enjoyed her work on Spongebob and Adventure Time.

Edited December 17, 2012 by SBB64

[Emerald Flame 381]

Like many others have said, the only episode Merriwether Williams wrote that I hated was Mysterious Mare Do Well. While I didn't like Hearth's Warming Eve very much, the rest of the episodes were great, especially Wonderbolts Academy.

 

Also some of you guys are absolutely butchering her name. Merriwether is kind of tricky if you aren't familiar with it, though.

[Arcanel 3,041]

A number of Bronies I've read consider Pinkie Pie and Rarity to be completely out of character in "Putting Your Hoof Down." The major complaint is their apparent willingness to manipulate other ponies in order to get their way. Although both Rarity and Pinkie can occassionally be sly and capable of influencing a social setting, their behavior revealed a disregard for the feelings of ponies.

To be fair, in my opinion, Pinkie is a prankster. I don't think something like what she did on PYHD is something she wouldn't be familiar with, especially if she knows that the merchants can be pretty stubborn. As for Rarity, she has done that kind of...er..."usage of charms" before, even in season 1. I think my best example would be in The Best Night Ever.

 

I've also seen others complain about how out of character the whole of Ponyville is, i.e., everypony is suddenly really nasty and rude. This harkens back to the unusual frequency of disasters which suddenly befell Ponyville during "Mare Do Well." As such, there is arguably a tendency for Williams to accentuate what would otherwise be minor points (e.g., how mean certain characters in Ponyville may be) in order to achieve the desired comedic effect.

And I think I can agree that Williams uses points others would probably not use at all. It's like, showing the side of Ponyville we didn't imagine was there, but with such an episode, now we know it IS there. Or something like that. 

[Zygen 6,066]

Well I have never really payed much attention to who writes what episode, but I really only don't like Mare do well that much.

I actually like putting your hoof down kinda. And shes improved quite greatly as her experience has grown, and its shown in newer episodes such as wonderbolt academy!

 

However she certainly isn't the greatest writer of episodes ever, but that doesn't make her terrible.

 

If a writer has wrote atleast 1-2 good episodes in my eyes, then I don't see her as a terrible writer or anything.

 

And alot of the time whether people like episodes or not is up to opinion. Even for mare do well I don't hate it as much as alot of people do.(Actually if anything listening to reviews of the episodes made me dislike it more, I actually kinda enjoyed it first time watching. .)

 

Anyways, i think that not all the writers are going to be totally experts and amazing the first episode they write, but I think Williams episodes have improved and I've grown to enjoy alot of them!

 

I've never actually heard anyone specifically bag on the writers normally though, just mare do well really, and ocationally a few others. I've never heard anyone say "Maryweither williams is a terrible writer" just saying .

 

Then again who knows how valid my opinion is, since I'm pretty easily impressed .

[Cantankerous 106]

I'm going to score each of her episodes on a ten-point scale:

 

The Mysterious Mare Do Well- 1/10

 

Hearth's Warming Eve- 4/10

 

Putting Your Hoof Down- 8/10 (Note she coauthored this one with Charlotte Fullerton)

 

Dragon Quest- 8/10

 

Wonderbolt Academy- 8/10 (this rating is tentative, I'm still mulling the episode over)

 

Average score for her episodes is 5.8/10

 

It's a low score but she's rapidly digging her way out of the pit Mare Do Well put her in. So no, her episodes cannot, on the whole, be called "wretched".

Edited December 18, 2012 by ByTheTides

[Yellow Diamond 7,568]

To be fair, in my opinion, Pinkie is a prankster. I don't think something like what she did on PYHD is something she wouldn't be familiar with, especially if she knows that the merchants can be pretty stubborn. As for Rarity, she has done that kind of...er..."usage of charms" before, even in season 1. I think my best example would be in The Best Night Ever.

 

The exception which could be raised to your point about Pinkie is that her pranks always kept the target's feelings well in mind. "Griffon the Brush-Off" is the standard for displaying Pinkie's willingness to prank another person. Even Gilda did not earn Pinkie's "warth," so to speak, even though she was a bully and a thief. Pinkie is not one to try and "teach" other characters a lesson through pranking and deception.

 

As for Rarity, I don't think the objection is so much to her using her charms but rather to her apparent willingness in "Putting Your Hoof Down" to manipulate others. Nobody would really question Rarity's occasional social ploys; but the scene in the market implied Rarity is more than willing to hoodwink complete strangers (who hadn't necessarily done anything wrong) in order to get her way.

 

The overarching objection is that Pinkie and Rarity's assertiveness lessons boil down to fooling people and leaving them high and dry.

[Cantankerous 106]

People, Merriwether Williams was NOT the only author of Putting Your Hoof Down.

 

Story by: Charlotte Fullerton

Teleplay by: Merriwether Williams

 

You can't foist all the blame on her, which you shouldn't anyway because it's a great episode.

Wait... people actually had a problem with Putting Your Hoof Down?  Fluttershy fans taking issue with her having some character development or something? *Facepalms*

I know

 

annoying

[Yellow Diamond 7,568]

People, Merriwether Williams was NOT the only author of Putting Your Hoof Down.

 

Story by: Charlotte Fullerton

Teleplay by: Merriwether Williams

 

Get your facts out of my thread!

 

When you get right down to it, I doubt any one writer is solely responsible for an episode. They definitely need to edit and revise scripts, so holding Williams entirely responsible---as if she weren't a part of a larger staff---is admittedly an oversimplification

[Arcanel 3,041]

The exception which could be raised to your point about Pinkie is that her pranks always kept the target's feelings well in mind. "Griffon the Brush-Off" is the standard for displaying Pinkie's willingness to prank another person. Even Gilda did not earn Pinkie's "warth," so to speak, even though she was a bully and a thief. Pinkie is not one to try and "teach" other characters a lesson through pranking and deception.

 

As for Rarity, I don't think the objection is so much to her using her charms but rather to her apparent willingness in "Putting Your Hoof Down" to manipulate others. Nobody would really question Rarity's occasional social ploys; but the scene in the market implied Rarity is more than willing to hoodwink complete strangers (who hadn't necessarily done anything wrong) in order to get her way.

 

The overarching objection is that Pinkie and Rarity's assertiveness lessons boil down to fooling people and leaving them high and dry.

Touche on Pinkie, but I also think that they wre separate lessons on what to do to help Fluttershy. Pinkie did what she does best sometimes. Confusing somepony to oblivion. The difference lies in that she KNEW that the stuff shouldn't be that high. And as a plus, it IS a bargain. That alone should justify some things, I think.

 

Although I have nothing for Rarity. I'm willing to believe she was just showing Fluttershy how to be assertive, rather than the scene showing she would do that elsewhere anyway, but I don't think I have a counterstatement for that. From there, it's about how you think Rarity would normally be.

 

The thing about leaving ponis high and dry, was the fact that was EXACTLY what was happening to Fluttershy. But the problem is, I think both Pinkie and Rarity underestimated how shy could Fluttershy be to at least TRY to be more assertive, even through pretty explicit methods. But I'm willing to believe that both at least KNEW that Fluttershy wasn't going to do exactly that, as she's too nice to do so. Just at least do it once to have the little pegasus gain some confidence in the end which, at that moment, failed.

[Stellafera 3,836]

The overarching objection is that Pinkie and Rarity's assertiveness lessons boil down to fooling people and leaving them high and dry.

 

 

To me, part of the point seemed to be that Rarity and Pinkie Pie's versions of assertiveness were imperfect. They both failed against Iron Will, but Fluttershy's simple, honest, and straightforward assertiveness actually got the job done.

 

On another note, their interactions with each other and with Fluttershy were great, I thought. Prior to this episode, there was never any real indication given that Pinkie Pie and Rarity were actually friends on their own terms, and not merely connected by their friendship with Twilight. And it was a good reminder of the fact that Rarity and Fluttershy are BFFs, which had been somewhat missing since Green Isn't Your Color. 

Edited December 18, 2012 by Stellafera

[Anadu Kune 668]

The exception which could be raised to your point about Pinkie is that her pranks always kept the target's feelings well in mind. "Griffon the Brush-Off" is the standard for displaying Pinkie's willingness to prank another person. Even Gilda did not earn Pinkie's "warth," so to speak, even though she was a bully and a thief. Pinkie is not one to try and "teach" other characters a lesson through pranking and deception.

 

As for Rarity, I don't think the objection is so much to her using her charms but rather to her apparent willingness in "Putting Your Hoof Down" to manipulate others. Nobody would really question Rarity's occasional social ploys; but the scene in the market implied Rarity is more than willing to hoodwink complete strangers (who hadn't necessarily done anything wrong) in order to get her way.

 

The overarching objection is that Pinkie and Rarity's assertiveness lessons boil down to fooling people and leaving them high and dry.

Rarity did pay the guy she didnt just trick him out of something and leave him high and dry. People seem not to notice that at all. Though it is a subtle animation.

[Charonex 15]

Deleted by original poster.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Charonex

[Coachskau 5]

I don't think any episode is bad, and I truly enjoyed Mysterious Mare-Do-Well. 

 

Although my least favorite is the S3 premier. Sombra, to me, is the most boring villain. "I am bad so I will do bad things" was really all I got from him.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Coachskau

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

It is worth mentioning that Williams has written episodes for Adventure Time, and her work there is, in my mind, pretty darn awesome. While I cannot draw a direct connection between her style for Adventure Time and that of MLP: FiM, I suspect Williams is better suited to episodes heavily reliant on sight gags and short, goofy exchanges as opposed to stringing together a typical MLP narrative. In other words, if most MLP episodes were stand alone (i.e., the history of each episode is rather nebulous with respect to the overall story) rather than framed within a growing continuity, the reception to Williams' material would be warmer.

 

Truth be told, I found it quite annoying when Rarity had to go an seduce a passerby stallion to get a block of asparagus for Fluttershy in Putting Your Hoof Down. That instance didn't particularly bode too well for my own taste since it tried too hard to assume the best in one's goals when being assertive and leaving the other person stunned.

 

 

That was for comedic value, but this particular scene was too devious to let go. I really did not enjoy her coy look here and I still don't; needless to say the episode lowered my opinion of her a bit. No doubt her character suffered quite a bit in the midst of making this scene look funny. When you decide toy around with a character's personality in hopes of producing something humorous, you have to realize you're going to be one of two things: you're either going to be a genius, or an idiot. And if you don't make it, look out - the second guessing begins.

[The Mane-iac 1,648]

Truth be told, I found it quite annoying when Rarity had to go an seduce a passerby stallion to get a block of asparagus for Fluttershy in Putting Your Hoof Down. That instance didn't particularly bode too well for my own taste since it tried too hard to assume the best in one's goals when being assertive and leaving the other person stunned.

 

That was for comedic value, but this particular scene was too devious to let go. I really did not enjoy her coy look here and I still don't; needless to say the episode lowered my opinion of her a bit. No doubt her character suffered quite a bit in the midst of making this scene look funny. When you decide toy around with a character's personality in hopes of producing something humorous, you have to realize you're going to be one of two things: you're either going to be a genius, or an idiot. And if you don't make it, look out - the second guessing begins.

 

I didn't feel her character suffered at all by doing this, if anything I think it strengthened it because she wasn't shown as just a stuck-up "princess" who is helpless. She has done this kind of thing before, A Dog and Pony Show is the best example of showing that Rarity can be sly, crafty, smart, and is not just the helpless one of the group like the writers seem to use her as 99% of the time (if anything that is the poor writing present when it comes to Rarity). It isn't like she just took the poor sap's asparagus and walked off like she did with the Diamond Dog's gems, she paid him a bit before walking away.

 

This sort of mind game fits her character and is seen being done by many other characters in many other shows all the time, and lets be honest it happens irl as well. But something "ooc" happens in this show and everyone gets bent out of shape because suddenly the ponies are much more three dimensional rather than just filling their part as Twilight's friends so she can learn a lesson and vanquish another foe in the name of Celestia.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

I didn't feel her character suffered at all by doing this, if anything I think it strengthened it because she wasn't shown as just a stuck-up "princess" who is helpless. She has done this kind of thing before, A Dog and Pony Show is the best example of showing that Rarity can be sly, crafty, smart, and is not just the helpless one of the group like the writers seem to use her as 99% of the time (if anything that is the poor writing present when it comes to Rarity). It isn't like she just took the poor sap's asparagus and walked off like she did with the Diamond Dog's gems, she paid him a bit before walking away.

 

This sort of mind game fits her character and is seen being done by many other characters in many other shows all the time, and lets be honest it happens irl as well. But something "ooc" happens in this show and everyone gets bent out of shape because suddenly the ponies are much more three dimensional rather than just filling their part as Twilight's friends so she can learn a lesson and vanquish another foe in the name of Celestia.

 

But it's critical to understand that the mind games with the Diamond Dogs were actually funny instead of being just manipulative of someone's potential attraction towards Rarity herself. She used her wit to get out of a tough spot that time, of course - she was being held against her will in such an instance. In this case however, it didn't give me good vibes knowing that anyone could seduce someone in order to get what they want, an action which made me cringe in the end. That guy in the market was practically led on. Imagine how you would feel knowing that someone perceived to be unattractive was toyed around with and ended up giving away something of value just because they were charmed? It would have never held true, and they were conned as a result. The only decent thing that can be taken out of that scene is that Rarity actually gave some of her own money to the stallion in exchange for the item she coveted. But overall, that's hardly being assertive and wasn't funny to watch at all nor was it appealing.

 

All in all, a dramatic, and somewhat breathtaking episode though it sacrificed some personalities for the sake of driving the plot. For the record, this scenario wasn't OOC enough to warrant a need to portray this kind of an action from Rarity. It was unnecessary and could have been done in another way, as it just cut down on some character integrity and reinforces the belief that Rarity is some manipulative and shallow pony who constantly looks to utilizing sugar-coated words to fulfil her own desires.

 

In the end, Rarity and Pinkie's presumptions of being assertive were amiss. Iron Will's lessons were rather harsh and sometimes cruel, but it was in the right direction. Sure, it lacked the "fun" component in Rarity/Pinkie's methods, but their options would be strictly for them. If seduction was an actual skill, Iron Will would have mentioned it and even taught it. But then again, it's a rather cowardly way to get something that you want instead of facing up to the problem and then taking it. Haggling only works in the marketplace and doesn't help out in the long run. Neither method works to perfection, but putting a foot forward and telling someone off is sure to get someone off-balance. That is why Fluttershy received better-than-expected results from Iron Will's training and failed miserably with Pinkie and Rarity's advice... which was terrible advice to give someone of that sort of shy, meek, and timid nature in the first place.

[Pumpkinbot 69]

Terrible, and should be shunned and retconned? Heck no.

Shamefully bad, and should never be on anyone's top ten? Nope.

Disappointing, but still acceptable? Eh...Not in my opinion.

 

I, personally, don't think they're that bad. I enjoyed Hearth's Warming Eve and Wonderbolt Academy immesely, as well as Putting Your Hoof Down (but that may just be my love for Fluttershy~). I didn't even find too much of a problem withthe Mare Do Well episode, and I just chalk up the fact that Ponyville was so dangerous in that episode as a mix of the Rule of Funny and Amusing Injuries trope, but that's neither here nor there.

 

I, personally, do not hate any episode whatsoever. There are ones that I like more than others, yes, but the episodes that I would put at the bottom of my Least Favorite Episodes list, that does not mean I don't enjoy them. I don't enjoy Show Stoppers as much as Green Isn't Your Color, but I still do enjoy it.

[Megas 27,563]

I still don't like MMDW, that's something that's pretty much set in stone, but Merriwether Williams gets more crap than she deserves. Hearth's Warming Eve was a great history building episode(even if there are things that bug me about it), Dragon Quest was great despite its shortcomings, PYHD is probably my second favorite Fluttershy after Hurricane Fluttershy, and Wonderbolt Academy was excellent development for Rainbow Dash. At this point fans need to stop being anal about everything she writes or trying to find every little flaw to blow out of preportion

Edited December 22, 2012 by Megas75

[Blue Moon 6,341]

She isn't as bad as a lot of people make her out to be. While The Mysterious Mare Do Well wasn't the best episode (it wasn't the worst either), she has improved greatly. Hearth's Warming Eve was a very nice episode that provided good history for Equestria, moments with a lot of heart, and a very heart warming song at the end (no wonder it's called "Hearth's Warming Eve.) Putting your Hood Down is a favorite of mine that had great writing and humorous along with dark moment (this episode surprised me with how dark it got.) Dragon Quest wasn't really a favorite of mine, but it was pretty good and had nice moments (especially from Rarity.) Spike at your Service is probably my least favorite episode from her, but it wasn't that terrible. But she wrote Wonderbolts Academy which was an amazing episode; was my favorite episode in Season 3 actually. That episode had great moments with Rainbow Dash that really showed how much she had grown as a character, And it introduced Lightning Dust who was a pretty nice character which provided a character that represented what Rainbow Dash was like in the start of the show which showed how much Rainbow Dash has grown even more when you compared the two. And it showed a new side to Spitfire that was pretty nice.

 

Overall, Merriwether Williams' episodes aren't wretched at all and it's stupid to use a couple of episodes to represent her ability as a writer when she has proven that she is more than capable of writing a good episode.