S04:E07 - Bats!

[DukeofCanterlot 158]

The song was very Merriwether Williams-esque for a lack of a better word,

The whole Fluttershy vs. the rest of the Mane Six thing, in general, felt very much like something I expect from an episode written by Merriwether.
On the whole, I liked this episode.

I am personally impressed that I haven't given a single episode less than 4 stars this season.. this is one of the episodes which gets 5 out of 5 from me.

Edited December 28, 2013 by DukeofCanterlot

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

First of all, changed my vote from "Liked it" to "loved it".

 

I think that the ponies, for creatures that have such a connection to Equestria's natural systems, they are way too ignorant on how to deal with this and too combative. Their view is way too "anthropocentric" than it should have been.

 

Maybe the ponies should have avoided the whole conflict by:

1) Understanding that the bats are part of Equestria's ecosystem, reverting to Fluttershy's solution.

2) Actually listen to the animal expert.

But I prefer to have a full episode rather than one third of it with the ponies simply agreeing to Fluttershy.

 

However, just as Fluttershy is the animal expert, Applejack is the "farm expert" she knows a plague when she sees one and knows what may come out of this. So... Yeah. A legitimate conflict. Unfortunately they just went with Fluttershy's solution in the end... Twilight botched the spell: the episode had actually nothing to do with their differences of opinion on how to deal with the bats. AJ could very much have said that Flutterhy's solution was still not good enough. I guess that the "thing" here is that all that's happened scared AJ and decided to go with Fluttershy's solution. Well, they had to end the episode. I guess that I'm being too harsh. Maybe they took what happened as evidence that Fluttershy was right, after all, if they did what she said earlier, none of this would have happened. So, I'm cool with that. 

 

Specially because, What is worse, Twilight forgot her lesson fom Swarm of the Century. The problem is not that she didn't listen to her friend, though. She did, and her two friends had differing opinions. But she hasn't learned that magic doesn't solve everything. She made exactly the same mistake from Swarm of the Century. Great job Element of Magic...

 

I still haven't gotten over how Fluttershy now uses the Stare, ignoring that she said in an earlier episode that she can't control it. I'm not against her learning to control this ability, but I would appreciate if we were at least told somewhere that she now can control the Stare.

 

Spike... UGH! Just after an episode saying that Spike is not useless he just comes strutting about saying that it was nothing. UUURGH!

Thinking of ponies... Remember Caprice... Ponies... Ponies... <sigh>

 

Rainbow Dash is officially a raging idiot in my head now. What happened to leaving the Wonderbolts Academy because her friends were put in danger needlessly? She was thinking of the cider and not Applejack's freaking life's work? Cider is more important than her dream? Than Applejack's happiness? That pony needs help! How about continuity with character development too?! Really? This is what I call a forced joke and acting OOC. SHE IS LOYALTY! FUCK! I guess this is what people are complaing when they say that RD and AJ have their elements switched. (oh... wait.. What elements?). Lucky for me that I tend to discard these things as mistakes on part of the producers and not the character.

Yeah. Ponies are perfect. Deal with it. XD JK

 

Now the song. They put a song instead of a back and forth dialog so that Applejack and Fluttershy can voice their opinions. Nice. I liked the song, specially with the visuals they put with it. Applejack sounds l like she is going to get "Little Macintosh" and start handing guns to the others, while Fluttershy is having a PETA breakdown. I just loved the contrast in their views about the bats. Actually, Fluttershy sounded like she really knew what she was talking about while Applejack was a bit biased. Maybe AJ was scared of what it might mean for her family if the bats ruined her apples. But this broke down later because there seemed to be too few bats.

 

Rarity was just great, as usual, all freaked out about the bats. I loved her hazard suit. Pinkie... Was just there... Which is okay this episode. Flutterbat... Sweet Celestia on her throne... That was great! Really liked Flutterbat. The way she looked. The way she acted. Way better than Flutterhulk, in my opinion. But why did using the mirrors work? Was she "passively" using the Stare? Shouldn't that have just freaked the ponies out everytime they looked at her, way beyond being scared? Meh... Silly nitpick.

 

Then there was Twilight's on demand magical presentation screen. For some reason that made very happy. Maybe her explanation of what happened was weak for some viewers, but I thought it was okay. She knows a lot more about magic than I do, after all. It's like pharmacological interactions, i guess.

 

For all the stuff I complained, again, I'd rather have an episode instead of a quick discussion on how to deal with the problem and just everypony agreeing. Great effin-job, staff!

[Lyrafinish 72]

While the moral wasn't very well written, it was a pretty amazing episode. One of my favorites!

 

The song was great, Pinkie Pie was funny and IN CHARACTER, and even though i don't like the stare, it was nice how Fluttershy didn't want to do it in the first place.

 

Overall: 7/10

[Batbrony 16,055]

OK, just got done watching it.  Sorry I wasn't here once again for the premiere everypony; my grandparents were leaving town this morning and we were having breakfast with them at their hotel.  Hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas this past week!   Anyways, let's get this review going.

 

So "Bats!"... this was not my favorite episode of Season 4 so far, nor would I say it was one of my favorite.  I will say that I'm glad that this week's episode addressed a lesson that directly affected the girls' lives themselves, seeing as there were some pretty high stakes in this episode for Applejack at the start and later on for Fluttershy.  But the execution was... not what I expected for this one, and I was kind of di

Edited December 28, 2013 by Batbrony

[Nature's Spell 526]

It was a really good episode. The song was great and flutterbat was a cute twist. I'm not so fond of the failed Twilight spell being used again, but I guess it was a needed plot device. I'm still miffed that we've not seen Twilight in princess mode yet again. I also wonder when the keys will show up again.

[DukeofCanterlot 158]

Also, I always thought "Putting Your Hoof Down" was the episode where Fluttershy learned how to control the stare if you see the moral in the end.

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

"AppleJack - when you go big..you go BIG!"

 

oh lordy

[Forlong 1,726]

Well heres the song from the episode

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjkmV7HiUf4

Having time to look at the song on it's own, I think I see where I had a problem.  When it switches rapidly between Fluttershy and AJ, it feels a bit jarring to hear the tonal shift.  That's where I had a problem with the song.  Still a good one, though.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Having time to look at the song on it's own, I think I see where I had a problem.  When it switches rapidly between Fluttershy and AJ, it feels a bit jarring to hear the tonal shift.  That's where I had a problem with the song.  Still a good one, though.

I felt the tonal shift was great in portraying the contrasting views between Applejack and Fluttershy. It was a programmatic piece rather than a catchy one. Applejack wanted to get rid of the vampire bats which is represented in the minor scale, while Fluttershy wanted to conserve them, represented by the major scale.

 

It was a great episode through and through. It promoted conservation and unity within nature and at the same time boosted a friendship. Plus, Flutterbat... epic.

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I will post some of my thoughts on the episode a bit later after I re-watch it, but I felt the need to point out just how adorably Applejack AJ was. Some people think she's all about apples, farming, and family and that she never leaves her comfort zone. I say she doesn't have to leave her comfort zone to be the most endearing and charming pony in Equestria. I love her just as she is!

 

 

Evidently, Applejack x Apples is OTP.

[Frosty Flurry 173]

You call this thing adorable?

 

Wow they don't look anything I thought they would.

Is it me or do those bats look like, Discord?

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

Also, I always thought "Putting Your Hoof Down" was the episode where Fluttershy learned how to control the stare if you see the moral in the end.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Stare is not even mentioned in that episode.

Are you saying this because Fluttershy learns to be a bit more assertive?

[DukeofCanterlot 158]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Stare is not even mentioned in that episode.

Are you saying this because Fluttershy learns to be a bit more assertive?

She gives Angel a stare at the end when he doesnt want to eat his food.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Now that I think about it a bit more, I can actually imagine my crush doing all that Fluttershy just did. And yes... maybe even the Flutterbat stunt if she was given the right motivation That was what made this episode particularly endearing to me 

[dekutree64 713]

Well heres the song from the episode

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjkmV7HiUf4

You know, looking at the preview image of that video, I'm fairly certain now that Twilight is indeed growing every episode. Look how much taller she is than Rarity! And that neck... I hope this is just an awkward lanky phase

 

I will post some of my thoughts on the episode a bit later after I re-watch it, but I felt the need to point out just how adorably Applejack AJ was. Some people think she's all about apples, farming, and family and that she never leaves her comfort zone. I say she doesn't have to leave her comfort zone to be the most endearing and charming pony in Equestria. I love her just as she is!

 

 

Evidently, Applejack x Apples is OTP.

I love that scene. Even her eye gleams are apples.

Edited December 28, 2013 by dekutree64

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

She gives Angel a stare at the end when he doesnt want to eat his food.

Huh. Interesting. I hadn't thought of it like this. Alright them.

Thanks.

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

Hehe Fluttershy's stare, and her friends pushing her into a choice she didn't agree with... then turning into a bat, now i konw where the pony bat OCs are coming from LOL! But now I'm wondering... does she still have bat vibe in her? Because at the end she still had a fan in her teeth!!!

[Tropical Flower 39]

The bats look like gremlins !

[Hive King 2,001]

So bat ponies and vampire ponies are different, this much we know. Vampire ponies have much larger wings and just look more bestial than the bat ponies. 

 

Anyone notice how the Mane 6's allies are getting increasingly bestial? First Discord, now Vampireshy. I swear if this goes any further, they'll have an Ursa Major helping them out. 

 

The fact that Fluttershy kept some vampire pony features is interesting. What'd be great is if in a later episode, she gets mad to the point where she transforms, and it's revealed that all the spell did was suppress the ability and allow her to control it

[Kyokii_ 31]

so where can i watch this episode

You can find it on DailyMotion

( dailymotion.com )

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

Can't wait for the influx of Flutterbat art and fanfics.

 

I'm checking it out right now haha.

 

 

My new favorite episode. I give it a B+

[Hive King 2,001]

I just realized that in the "Bats" song AJ says "sin". I'm surprised that enraged parents haven't flooded the Hub offices with complaints of such a horrid word

[immblueversion 331]

This was "Bats!" in a nutshell for those who missed it:

 

The first half establishes our conflict. Five of our Mane Six are convinced to deal with the problem a certain way that clearly doesn't seem totally right, despite their valid reasons for it. The remaining pony doesn't share their sentiment and tries to convince everypony otherwise. She also has good reason to feel the way she does, but because she doesn't express it the right way, none of her friends listen to her, and we sit and wait for the problem to inevitably spiral out of control in the second half.

 

Then we get to the second half, which not only threw us a complete curve ball from what we were expecting the problem to go, but was a total blast to watch; perhaps it was even better than we would ever think it'd be. So in the end the day is saved, Applejack apologizes to the sole yet not-totally-faultless dissenter, and the sentiment that everyone else all but apologized as well is swept under the rug as they all laugh their troubles away.

 

So there you have it. Could've sworn I've seen this somewhere else...

Edited December 28, 2013 by immblueversion

[Painted Lattice 131]

Hope Fluttershy's fang stays a thing for the rest of season 4 and ties in with the key box quest

 

I hope so too and that the ominous ending from Castle Mane-ia is also connected.

 

What an amazing episode... I only had a couple tiny gripes with it. Love the dark tone of it, too. One of my favorites of the season so far for sure.

 

 

[Kulstor 254]

Overall I liked the episode but once I heard the basic synopsis I knew they'd wind up having it be that Fluttershy was in the right.  I doubted they'd do the more original angle and have that either Fluttershy was wrong or both of them were wrong, or they needed a 3rd solution neither of them thought of.