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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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  • 2 weeks later...

I planned on making a video to discuss this episode, but I never got around to it. Here's the script.
 

"It's pretty much universally agreed that Spike at your Service is pretty much shit. But why? After thoughrough investigation, I have come to the conclusion that it's because Spike is a useless and clumsy little twat. He used to be, you know, competent, but in this episode he's had his brain switched with Derpy.
 
I like the concept of the episode, I do. The problem was it's shit execution. So how can you fix it?
 
Here's how.
 
The episode starts off the same. Spike accidentally lets the balloon loose, him grabbing on, being dragged to the everfree forst, AJ saving hm.
 
Now, here's where it gets different. Instead of the conflict coming from Spike being a bumbling idiot, and AJ wanting him to GTFO, it comes from Spike overworking himself, causing him ill health. He never sleeps in the process of working constantly, hardly eats, ect, being kept going only by his sense of debt to Applejack. Applejack at the beginning lets Spike work only because she'd feels like she'd be pissing in his cereal if she didn't let him pay his debt to her, but later tries to get him to stop, to no avail, because he's working himself much too hard.
 
In the end, they stage the Timberwolf attack, and everything goes pretty much the same from there on out.
 
So now we have two morals in one episode! "Some debts don't need to be repaid "That's just what friends do."" and "Don't work yourself too hard.
 
Hire me Hasbro."

Copyright SonOfTheNorthe AKA HeavyMetalHorseman 2014
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

The only thing I liked was Applejack in the beginning and the CGI Timberwolves (they did out of place, but the actual CGI was pretty nice. Maybe because it reminded me of Wind Waker :P) Otherwise, this episode is filled with horrible humor, idiotic characters and a plot that's been done to death with nothing interesting added in.

 

Worst episode next to Boast Busters imo.

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  • 4 months later...

I thought the episode was rather entertaining. It lacked some more plot in my opinion, but overall, I thought it was good :)

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  • 5 months later...

Well, the plot is certainly overused. I can think of so many more shows that did this kind of episode first, and did it better, to be honest... This episode wasn't great, but it wasn't absolutely abysmal either. It was just... eh. Spike was quite cute though! :pinkie: Everything played out rather conveniently. But hey, I shouldn't rant! I just don't favour this episode too much. I really liked the way it began and ended, though.

Edited by Wolves
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  • 2 weeks later...

I would have to say Spike was annoyingly funny on this one. Poor Twilight, she would have lost her #1 assistant. Great effects in the first though. AJ has some great moves. This was the episode that made me like her.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

While there were some good comedic moments in this episode from the mane 6 and Applejack was especially good in this episode, I can't say that I enjoyed it due to how Spike was presented.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A large part of my judgement of an episode is what I remember about it. When the only things I can remember are the characters doing stupid things, the episode sucks. Such is the case here. The only things I remember are Spike running around making a mess, Twilight being so wrapped up in her books that she ignores Spike (a nasty example of Flanderization IMO--sure she cares about impressing Celestia, but so much that she neglects Spike? I don't think so), Rainbow Dash saying she wants to fly into rocks and actually doing so, hurting herself in the process, and the staged Timberwolf attack. I don't think this episode had any redeeming qualities, unlike most bad episodes. At least some are funny or have good songs. This is just a strain to watch.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

While there were some good comedic moments in this episode from the mane 6 and Applejack was especially good in this episode, I can't say that I enjoyed it due to how Spike was presented.

What worse this episode for spike abuse..or the one where he babysits the pets?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some writing issues here don't really take away from how entertaining I find this episode, especially with one scene near the middle which I keep citing as one of my favourites of the whole show. The conversations between the mane six in this have a natural quality which the show hasn't really matched since - I feel like these ponies need to have organic, low-key conversations more often. Also: Did Rainbow ever finish her Daring Do fanfiction? I wonder how many she's written by now. 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...

This makes zero sense. What even is Spike's "dragon code"? What does "noble dragon" mean? Why is he suddenly incompetent? Why does he do everything asked of him without question? This does fit the absurdity quotient a story like this requires, but the slapstick is so jarringly contrived that it really isn't all that funny, and that makes this drag significantly whenever Spike is on screen. It's really one of the most bizarrely atrocious bits of writing in the show.

But I wasn't kidding when I said this contains one of my favourite moments in the whole show. Take out the Spike bits and the scene in Rarity's boutique is one glorious line after another, and that's hardly the only bit of great dialogue from the mane six, who are all on top form throughout this thing. The ending with the Timberwolves, again, is utterly bizarre, but every single thing the mane six do during it is absolutely golden. If only there as a less nonsensical way to get all of these glorious moments, we might have something more consistently delightful. 

Score:

Entertainment: 6/10

Characters: 5/10

Themes: 4/10

Story: 2/10

Overall: 43/100

Edited by AlexanderThrond
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  • 5 months later...

This episode would have been a lot better if Spike was indeed useful...and if Spike hadn’t had that “I’m a pony” episode. Applejack could enjoy his help while still feeling that it’s not necessary. Maybe she even feels guilty when he helps her. She doesn’t have to ask. Spike would be smart enough to know how to be useful.

I do like Spike complimenting the obviously fake timber wolf, but noting the lack of smell.

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Spike is way too stupid in this episode. This isn't a new criticism but it's definitely true. Aside from Spike's stupidity there are many other things that make no sense. What is the Dragon Code? Why does Twilight act like she knows what that is? Why is Twilight so flanderized? Why does Spike see through the fake timberwolf when he's been an idiot through the rest of the episode. There are genuinely funny jokes here, but it's not enough to save the episode.

Score: 3/10

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  • 2 months later...

A really boring episode overall. The plot just doesn't make sense, and Spike just didn't feel like the Spike we knew all along. This kind of radical, nonsensical change in a character makes the story feel fake and unconvincing. The humour wasn't too bad, though.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I kinda like this episode now, but the story is still completely nonsensical. Twilight gives up Spike because of a dragon code that never existed before this episode. Rarity talks about how great it would be if she had free labor. Unfortunate implications there.

But there's more comedy here than I remember. Spike's incompetence tows the line between annoying and so bad it's funny, while the mane six (except Twilight and Rarity in that one bit) are in top form. There are tons of jokes that work really well like Rainbow's Dash's fanfiction, the rock tower, and the bits with Pinkie.

I'd put this as the same as something like "Sonic Rainboom" and "Keep Calm and Flutter On" where there's one thing that I really like, but too many little problems or one big problem which leads to an episode that isn't good or bad.

Score: -5/10

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Everything about this episode is stupid, but that's what makes it so good. Spike's incompetence is pushed to the extreme until he suddenly sees through the fake timberwolf just because that's what the story needs. The mane six actually think the fake timberwolf is a good idea and Twilight isn't even hidden. She's just hanging out in a clearly visible tree. Twilight somehow knows what Spike's Dragon Code is and takes it seriously. Rainbow Dash and Rarity envy Applejack because she has a slave and proceed to gush about how great it would be if they had slaves. I have no idea how nobody in production saw the issue with this.

All of these aspects are so stupid that it makes this episode one of the funniest of the season. From the actually good jokes to the unintentionally funny moments, every scene has something funny. It's an amazing guilty pleasure.

Score: -9/10

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