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S03:E09 - Spike at your Service


NavelColt

  

55 users have voted

  1. 1. Did you like it?

    • No, I hated it! >:(
      16
    • I didn't like it.
      16
    • Meh. It was ok.
      12
    • I liked it!
      9
    • I LOVED IT! <3
      2


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Basically my thoughts.

 

Pinkie Pie made this episode awesome though - her randomness had Youtube-Poop qualities and that's hard to beat. It's rare MLP makes me laugh that hard, but when it happens it is usually due to Pinkie Pie.

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 Also since when has Spike been this much of a clumsy walking disaster? He's shown how capable he can be working with Twilight, yet here he comes off as somebody who can't walk two feet without tripping over something 

That was my biggest pet peeve with the episode. I feel like maybe he isn't as helpful to Twilight as she makes it appear, but he keeps that whole library organized and clean and he supposedly bakes very very well too since he is always wearing an apron and making fancy snacks (well not always but he has done so). 

 

Other than that, it just felt like a kiddy show. I laughed at the fake Timberwolf scene, but the whole time I was urked by the massive inconsistency. Some stuff is forgiveable for a cartoon but that was a pretty big oversight, I felt. Even if he wasn't making messes and ruining everything, Applejack would have wanted to get rid of him.

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I enjoyed it, it had some great comedy and one of the only episodes i've actually laughed out loud at. The only flaw is that i don't understand how spike is suddenly a terrible assistant :P also, 2 words.....pinkie stache! 

 

 

post-11753-0-17552000-1358379497_thumb.gif

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I disliked this episode and quit after five minutes. Not that My Little Pony in general isn't corny(and that's one of the reasons we love it), but this episode had a layer of cheese that I didn't like. From the very beginning, it seemed like an awkward story that they needed for a filler and could have been cut.

 

I don't know, maybe I need to watch it all the way through before I judge, but it just didn't have that same charm.

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This particular plot storyline trope is used almost to a memetic degree, and regardless of the show book medium that it's used in, the storyline never seems to bend from 'one character saves another, and then spends the rest of the episode event trying to get the debt paid off'. And yet, add pastel ponies and stir, *poof*, it's still a good great fantastic episode!

...the 3D-animated Timberwolves came as a shock surprise, though. I'm not sure I'm on the fence of whether I like it or not.

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I disliked this episode and quit after five minutes. Not that My Little Pony in general isn't corny(and that's one of the reasons we love it), but this episode had a layer of cheese that I didn't like. From the very beginning, it seemed like an awkward story that they needed for a filler and could have been cut.

 

I don't know, maybe I need to watch it all the way through before I judge, but it just didn't have that same charm.

i don't know about you, but i LOVE cheese :3 me gusta layer upon layers of cheesey goodness. i love corn too. as a matter of fact, i think everything is better with a little corny cheese.

i enjoyed this episode, mostly because it had lots of spike. the timberwolves were also really cool looking, although i admit i never expected them to seem so fragile... watching that thing choke and die was kinda disappointing...

Edited by crazitaco
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Definitely my least favorite episode so far. I'm saddened to hear we have one more Spike centered episode still coming this season as so far all of them have sucked. Timberwolves were cool but Spike was out of character (and useless when he shouldnt be) and there just wasn't anything to gain from this whole plot. Twilight and Spike's "breakup" should have been an emotional centerpoint and it wasn't. Why are there no good surprises this season!? 

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I haven't seen the last two episodes. I thought I'd save them for a bit after the last episode. But from what I've heard from both my friends this one and the one with fluttershy are good.

 

..Jokuc why did you read the spoilers in this thread.............

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Ok so I just saw this episode (yeah I know I'm late) and I thought it was alright. It was pretty good but nothing awesome. I thought that Spike is clumsy, but not that clumsy. It became a little bit too much.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've hear quite a few complaints about this episode on places like 4chan and youtube, but I'm gonna be honest here:

 

I feel each of those complaints is overshadowed by the simple fact that we are starting to see new interactions between characters. We've never seen Spike and Applejack interact one-on-one, so it was interesting to see how the dialogue flowed. 

 

I think that's what the writers are trying to do now. They're trying to see how different characters would behave with each other, like the Fluttershy and Discord episode. I'm also reasonably sure that if the episode had more time, Cadence and Rarity would have been more explored in Games Ponies Play

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I've hear quite a few complaints about this episode on places like 4chan and youtube, but I'm gonna be honest here:

 

I feel each of those complaints is overshadowed by the simple fact that we are starting to see new interactions between characters. We've never seen Spike and Applejack interact one-on-one, so it was interesting to see how the dialogue flowed. 

 

I think that's what the writers are trying to do now. They're trying to see how different characters would behave with each other, like the Fluttershy and Discord episode. I'm also reasonably sure that if the episode had more time, Cadence and Rarity would have been more explored in Games Ponies Play

 

I'm glad that they explored Spikes relationships with other characters, It's mainly the fact that  I, much like many of the other complainers, just wish they didn't make Spike into a stooge and incapable of accomplishing tasks that we have seen him complete easily in the past. They could have easily showed how Spike is with other characters and still have it be humorous if they just showed him trying to do tasks that would be foreign to him, such as any form of farm work. I have already written up a pretty lengthy spiel on this episode (it's on page 7)  so I won't go into further detail, as you can just read that instead.

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This is my second favorite episode of season 3. I really love episodes like this where we explore the relationship between two characters, and this was the only one in the whole season to fall into that category.

 

I too was annoyed at Spike suddenly becoming a major klutz. It would have made sense if he had been screwing up while doing farmwork, which he isn't accustomed to.

 

If I had been the one writing this episode I would have made it more of a Spike/Twilight episode then a Spike/AJ episode. We would have seen Spike messing things up at the farm, and not realizing that his help was not required. During the scene where AJ visits Twilight, I would have had the place starting to fall apart with Twilight barely even noticing. They go through with their plan which gets wrecked by the giant timberwolf, but AJ ends up saving Spike again, completely backfiring. So then AJ explains to Spike that she doesn't need his help, but there's someone else who does and she relies on him much more then he knows.

 

Also I really wish the ended had been more like this http://thunderhawk03.deviantart.com/art/The-True-Lifesaver-357372706

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  • 2 weeks later...
(edited)

This was a good episode, I guess. I could never get over two things though. The first being how unoriginal the Dragon Code thing is.

Copy/Paste from TvTropes 'I Owe You My Life' (spoilered to save space)

 

A standard plotline for single episodes would look like this:
Character A saves the life of character B.
While character A does not expect any huge return, character B insists that their strict moral code dictates that they return the favor by becoming A's servant and fulfill their every wish.
Character B's well intended but incompetent "help" soon becomes bothersome for character A, but they are unable to make it stop.
Character A and friends decide to stage a scene where B will be able to (seemingly) save A's life, thus returning the debt.
For arbitrary reasons the faux danger becomes truly life threatening, and B is able to save A's life for real.

 

The thing that ruined this episode for me was Spike being unable to perform simple chores. That's basically his LIFE with Twilight. It would've been fine if he was bad at farm specific chores, but he was unable to blink without something catching on fire. Well, OK, it wasn't that bad, but that would've been pretty cool. Spike episodes are a rarity, and so far a lot of them have been sub-par, so I find it really disappointing when, during what little screen time he has, Spike is represented poorly.

 

The rest of the episode was good as always. Pinkie being Pinkie, Flutters being shy but motherly, Rainbow Dash writing self insertion fan fictions, and Applejack's poorly drawn plan were my personal highlights of the episode. I hope Spike starts getting better episodes, but even if he doesn't his commentary and conversations with the mane 6 is almost always entertaining in any episode.

Edited by Zerobot
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  • 4 weeks later...

I wanted to see this episode for a long time. Finally, THE DAY CAME WHEN I DID!

And I was so happy when I saw it!

I think my favorite part was when Twilight stopped reading just because one of the inkwells was an inch out of place.

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  • 1 month later...

This episode was soooooooooooooo.. ...interesting biggrin.png. Idk why, but after this episode I like ponies much more, than 22minutes ago. biggrin.png

 

 

Well, I found this episode to be quite enjoyable. I found the last episode to be rather eh, but this one, not quite as much. Probably because this is the first Spike-centered episode we've seen yet this season, and I think it was a pretty good take on the old cliche 'save character A's life, and he is devoted to character B no matter what in return'.

 

First and foremost, I love the 3D effect the animators have decided to use with Timberwolves. They look far cooler now than they did back in their debut flashback for Family Appreciation Day, and how they can actually reattach themselves is pretty bad-ass (and expected), too. I thought the whole chase scene where AJ took care of them near the start was pretty cool.

 

Second off, Spike's clumsiness seems all-too in character for him, so I found that to be rather consistent with how he's been throughout the series thus far. And Applejack was the perfect candidate for being stuck with his clumsiness, since she has the most chores and work responsibilities of the Mane Six. Oh, and the 'Spike trying to get through to Twilight, aloof off in book land, causing Spike to tear up and leave with a hanging head' made me chuckle, because again, it's so like them.

 

This episode certainly wasn't as stand-outish as most of the episodes this season, but I think it was a pretty decent Spike episode, and was entertaining. I actually enjoyed it more than Apple Family Reunion.

 

And I-Oh look, Dashie 8D

 

"Mine's about this super awesome pegasus who is the best flier ever, who becomes the Captain of the Wonderbolts."

 

"How EVER did you come up with that ingenious, intricately woven plot-line? :|"

 

"It just came to me x3"

 

Dashie writing? I am so okay with this.

 

Oh, yeah, and I really like how all of the Mane Six got to be apart of this nonsense :3

 

Oh, and it also tickles me on a witty level that yelling to get Twilight's attention will not work, but putting a tiny little something out of place that makes a noise, does.

 

Good ep.

I think the best thing about this episode was that all the mane six(and spike for that matter) were written perfectly and they all had decent screen time even though it was a spike/applejack centred episode.

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It was amusing. It amazes me how ponies do such crazy things (like counting millions of grass blades in minutes), yet can't deal with simple problems. Anyhow, a decently funny Spike and AJ episode.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Personally Im not to much into spike as a character but, this episode was very entreating. I think spike is just too much of a boring character who doesn't really have too many redeeming qualities about him. And did anypony else notice the brohoof at the end of the episode?

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

 

The thing that ruined this episode for me was Spike being unable to perform simple chores. That's basically his LIFE with Twilight. It would've been fine if he was bad at farm specific chores, but he was unable to blink without something catching on fire. Well, OK, it wasn't that bad, but that would've been pretty cool. Spike episodes are a rarity, and so far a lot of them have been sub-par, so I find it really disappointing when, during what little screen time he has, Spike is represented poorly.
 

 

I agree with Zero on this given that what we know of Spike is that he's good at assisting others, specifically Twilight. In fact I would have expected Spike to be incompetent in that he found his approach to chores incompatible to the farm setting (like cooking food Twilight would like instead of basing it on AJ and her family's preferences, labeling jars based on size instead of intended uses, etc). Instead Spike acts like this is his first time doing these chores at all. Not to mention Spike is much more capable in general and is often seen as the voice of reason to Twilight's antics, so it's a little frustrating to see him being the one that is bumbling about.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I didn't see Spike act OOC that much

 

really the only chore he screwed up was baking the pies, and that was less 'clumsy' and more 'in a foreign kitchen'

 

I thought the bit with cleaning the pig was supposed to indicate that yeah, he makes messes and it's not nice to watch, but he gets the job done in the end

 

he's still better than Sweetie Belle anyway

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I didn't see Spike act OOC that much

 

I would say that he acted OOC.

 

Why?

 

Two things mainly:

1.)  I don't think spike would ever want to leave Twilight.  (Remember, it's his "worst nightmare" as seen in the S3 pilot)  She's both his mom and best friend.  I really don't think spike would care so much about the "dragon code" considering the environment in which he was raised (around no dragons.)  He seems to be pretty lax and lazy about everything else until this "code" is brought up.

 

2.)  Spike usually doesn't make as many mistakes as he made in this episode.  I guess you could argue that he's used to helping Twilight so he's not good at anything else, but still.

It's kind how Rarity tried not to hurt Spikes feelings especially since Spike tries to impress her. Maybe Rarity does know that spike "likes" her.

 

Well, remembering back to the ending of "Secret of my excess," I would say that yes, Rarity knows.  She never really acts like she knows around anypony else, which is weird.

Edited by John
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