A brief thought on Applejack in Season 4

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

Has anyone else noticed that AJ has been getting a lot of screentime recently? She's been an focal part of the following Season 4 episodes:
 

EDIT: There are legitimate spoilers in the spoiler tag, open at your own risk.

 

Princess Twilight Sparkle
Castle Mane-ia
Bats!
Pinkie Apple Pie
Simple Ways 

 

Somepony to Watch Over Me

 
It's not a ridiculous amount of screentime, but it is more than in previous seasons. I think that this is because the writers realize now that AJ plays a supporting role very well, and they realize that she can be used as a contrast to the craziness around her. Just a thought.  ​
 
Has anyone else noticed this? Do you think it may just be coincidence? Feel free to discuss (or possibly derail) the topic below!

Edited February 11, 2014 by DryColt84

[Shanks 10,817]

Yes I have, I have noticed it in both season 4 and season 3 and as a long time Applejack fan I am loving it. I wonder if it has anything to do with the AJ fans clamoring for more AJ?

[Jangocoolguy 433]

I've noticed. And she's seems to be benefitting, IMHO

[ghostfacekiller39 23,879]

Hey, AJ is a total badass. I don't mind seeing a lot of her

Rarity has, too, and I'm glad that the two most underrated ponies are getting the attention they both deserve
 

[Anilewe 2,178]

I noticed it and I couldn't be more happy Seriously, after all the "background pony" jokes and ridiculously small amount of the episodes about her in the previous seasons, she really deserves it. And I wonder, if her fans had something to do with it, too. I wasn't a part of the fandom too long, but I know that there always were fans of Applejack, who were ready to defend her no matter what.

 

Also, I'm really glad that she got more screentime, because it's a real proof that there's still a lot to do with her character.

The fandom often complained that she's boring and how all episodes about her tend to be about family, farm and apples. Actually, I think that Simple Ways really showed that there's much more in her. She said it herself, while referring to Trenderhoof, that even she isn't as crazy about farm as he is. And we got a chance to see a different aspect of her personality. She has a real distance to herself and if she wants, she can be just as fancy as Rarity. 

 

Edited February 11, 2014 by Anilewe

[Jammo 986]

I just noticed she doesn't call ponies "sugarcube" anymore.

I can't think of the last time I heard it.

[Singe 2,111]

I just noticed she doesn't call ponies "sugarcube" anymore.

I can't think of the last time I heard it.

 

Applejack should give a nickname to each for her friends.

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I say that's it's about time. After her mediocre season 2 which spawned the oft-maligned background pony joke, she's been getting plenty of screen time and focus. It's not just season 4 either. Season 3 had a heavy hand of Applejack too. Fun fact: She was the only Mane Six pony to appear in all 13 episodes, and two of those were heavily focused on her which is more than what most characters got. With Bats!, Pinkie Apple Pie, Simple Ways, Somepony To Watch Over Me, and a probably key episode, that's at least five episodes where she's a large part of the focus this season. Applejack has always been a great character for starring roles and supporting roles alike so I say the more AJ the merrier.

 

Remember when people used to say that Applejack's character was "fully explored," and that there was "nowhere left for her to go," and that she needed to be "expanded on?" Yeah, if this season doesn't prove that all of that talk was a bunch of baloney, nothing will.

 

I just noticed she doesn't call ponies "sugarcube" anymore.
I can't think of the last time I heard it.

 

If I recall, she called Twilight "sugar cube" in Princess Twilight Sparkle. That nickname is about as alive and well as it's always been but truthfully, she's never used it that much. I remember watching a video of all the times she used that expression throughout the first three seasons and in total she said it about 11 times or so, most of them during the first season. Another one of her more common expressions in the first season was actually "lickety split" and that's been completely obsolete since then.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Sugar Cube

[Anilewe 2,178]

 

Remember when people used to say that Applejack's character was "fully explored," and that there was "nowhere left for her to go," and that she needed to be "expanded on?" Yeah, if this season doesn't prove that all of that talk was a bunch of baloney, nothing will.

 

Exactly This season is really showing that there's still a lot to explore, when it comes to her as a character. I have an impression, that someone just said there's nothing more in her to show and others just picked up that thought and started to repeat it. 

[Scootalove 10,692]

Well, it's about time. Just like her other friends, Season 4 is showing us a lot more about our six favorite ponies and that the writers need to understand that they have a lot of unlocked potential that they have not touched or they did not expand upon. Go AJ!

[FNGRpony 658]

Yeah aj's had more screen time,

not all of it good.

 

I mean there's pinkie apple pie, where literally everything is good

and dare i say the best slice of life episode on the show,

 

and than theirs castlemania..... which is a weak episode,

Aj's not really great in it, but than again it's kind of a stacked deck.

 

She got a bigger role in bats,

but that whole conflict, as my contemporaries on this sight have pointed out is, well lacking.

 

AJ's stance honestly makes the most sense and yet she's painted as the bad guy to flutter shy,

simply because the show has to be done a certain way.

Than again we got that bats song, which we couldn't have with out AJ so yeah,

 

AJ's been a mixed bag of nuts in season 4.

I think she mostly worked in simple ways,

for that episode being a little hit and miss.

I've generally included AJ among my least favorite ponies,

but that said

that's still not bad.

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

Yeah aj's had more screen time,

not all of it good.

 

I mean there's pinkie apple pie, where literally everything is good

and dare i say the best slice of life episode on the show,

 

and than theirs castlemania..... which is a weak episode,

Aj's not really great in it, but than again it's kind of a stacked deck.

 

She got a bigger role in bats,

but that whole conflict, as my contemporaries on this sight have pointed out is, well lacking.

 

AJ's stance honestly makes the most sense and yet she's painted as the bad guy to flutter shy,

simply because the show has to be done a certain way.

Than again we got that bats song, which we couldn't have with out AJ so yeah,

 

AJ's been a mixed bag of nuts in season 4.

I think she mostly worked in simple ways,

for that episode being a little hit and miss.

I've generally included AJ among my least favorite ponies,

but that said

that's still not bad.

 

I didn't interpret 'Bats!' that way, but I understand why someone would. You can check out my opinion in my "Interpreting MLP: Bats!" topic, because I can't go in depth here.