S04:E14 - Filli Vanilli

[Sparkling Muffin 7]

I haven't seen it, but I'll have to some time.

[lomk 20,663]

Best Fluttershy episode? I certainly think so

 

The return of Flutterguy and she wasn't singing Pinkie's song

Fluttershy being adorable through dance

Glee meets MLP (I don't watch Glee, but the music I've heard from my mom watching it is excellent)

Klutzerguy (thanks to @Shift for that awesome name) ruins the set in the trance of performance and gets seen. And totally loses her marbles

Fluttershy character growth

 

This episode was way better than I thought it would be

 

Only qualm is how well Pinkie Pie knows Fluttershy. Shouldn't she have been a little more sensitive to Fluttershy's obvious stage fright?

 

Although, "No offense, but you kinda sounded like a dude" made me crack up pretty damn hard

 

Also, I think Applejack broke the fourth wall pretty good with that psychic moment. Like, have you been watching the episode the whole time, AJ? 

Edited February 15, 2014 by Space Woona

[Jokuc 8,173]

Haha I liked this episode! As soon as they went to Zecora, I knew what was gonna happen xD I directly understood that we'd get to hear flutterguy again haha. I started laughing directly

 

It's awesome to hear big mac singing! One thing though, I wonder how come we have never heard of the ponytones before if rarity is the leader, that's quite weird.

 

The best moment in the episode was when fluttershy said "flutterguy" xD I was thinking like "YES YES YES YES" in my head :3 I also liked Flutterhy's "last" performance when she sang so awesome big mac couldn't sync his lips to the voice. 

[applejackson007 58]

I thought it was a very well put together episode and I loved the singing by both fluttershy and flutterguy...., even big mac has a great voice which I was surprised to hear.... overall it was a great episode 

[LED Dasher 228]

Pinkie Pie's exaggeration, lip syncing, Zecora, and Fluttershy's voice... This episode had everything! I really enjoyed it.

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

That was a great episode! We got so see Fluttershy, Flutterguy, and even Big Mac sing.

 

This has to be one of the better episodes of Season 4 so far, in my opinion.

[Shift 4,272]

Really nice to see that Pinkie is in the Apple family reunions. Sort of.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

My favorite part was that they actually made a callback to season 1. Dat continuity.

 

Least favorite part: Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.

 

honorable mention favorite part: Rarity smacking Pinkie with the poster

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

One of the best Fluttershy episodes.

[SomariFeyWright 776]

Gotta say, I'm really glad to see Hasbro's getting a better idea of what to do with their characters and their running jokes.

 

Once again, we've been given a fantastic episode out of season 4, and once again, we have one of the best episodes to date.

 

For starters (and automatic favorite), BIG MAC ACAPELLA. I MEAN, SWEET LUNA, THAT WAS A BIG MACINTOSH ACAPELLA.

 

... Okay, all fanboying aside, this episode really was flawed.

 

For starters, it really felt like everypony around Fluttershy really lost all possible sympathy they had for Fluttershy prior to the episode. They all knew Fluttershy was shy... by this point, it was freaking common sense. And yet, the fact that she of all ponies would have stage fright was treated like the rise of Satan himself, in terms of shock value. I mean, yeah, I'd think a pony as shy as Fluttershy would have a little bit of difficulty standing on stage and singing.

 

Worst part of this episode, though, was Pinkie Pie.

I mean, yeah, okay, sometimes Pinkie can get a little wrapped up in her rambling and talking, but... this is really the episode where I really start to understand the people saying she's being flanderized a bunch this season. She had absolutely NO concern for Fluttershy's feeling or the sake of her psychie, even completely lacking the understanding to learn in the first place. I mean, isn't one of the biggest selling points of Pinkie that her biggest concern in the universe is making everypony smile? And yet, here, she was just insensitive and zany. I mean, sure, she wasn't as bad as she was in Three's a Crowd, but... that's really not saying much.

 

 

Despite that, though, this was a really good episode that I absolutely adored. Past the cliche plot, the flanderized Pinkie, there only being two songs, one of which being constantly repeated, this was a really good episode. It was fun to watch, added some development for Fluttershy's arc of growing stronger, and... REALLY THOUGH A BIG MAC ACAPELLA.

 

Despite its flaws, I loved this episode to death. More than passable as an episode. 8/10~!

[~/XC- BRONY\~ 310]

overall a very solid episode! it had me laughing from the return of flutter guy to Applejack and big macs revelation (that was so funny!) only major issue i have with it is Pinkie Pie (what a surprise, i must sound like a broken record).

 

Writers, you DO NOT Have to write pinkie as a hyper, obnoxious, random, annoying pony every single time. it gets REALLY tiring.

 

overall the episode is a 8/10. i really enjoyed it, and i usually dont like fluttershy episodes.

[Aerial~Shot 177]

Wow, did I LOVE this episode~!

 

First off, Fluttershy is my favourite character mainly because I relate to her so much, and now there’s something else to relate to, I’ve always had stage fright but I love performing, although I can’t sing, I act. And I’ve been improving recently. Good development for Fluttershy and she’s becoming more and more of an inspiration to me

 

Now, onto some other things…

 

BIG MACINTOSH SANG. AND IT WAS BRILLIANT. OH MY GOD. DID YOU HEAR HIM?! IT WAS SHORT BUT WOW. HIS VOICE. 

 

We got more Zecora and a callback to Bridle Gossip! I love the Flutterguy voice so much. Not as much as her regular voice but it’s still awesome and sounds great for singing

 

I love the Ponytones song, and Fluttershy’s song in the opening of the episode. I’m gonna be singing Got The Music In You forever

 

That little filly Zipperwhizz was just precious…

 

Fluttershy really enjoying herself when performing was just precious too…

 

*Applejack guesses everything that happened exactly right* Goddammit Applejack

 

“No offense, but ya kinda sounded like a dude” Goddammit Pinkie Pie (also, has “dude” been used before in the show? Is this the first time…?)

 

Baby steps, everypony, baby steps~

Edited February 15, 2014 by Aerial~Shot

[Jokuc 8,173]

oh and two more things I forgot, that little filly with the accent was so cute!

 

Also, I like how pinkie was exaggerating while telling fluttershy about those things, though I do think the writers made it go maybe a little bit too far, I mean it'd be typical pinkie to say some thing but idk it almost made her a bit mean..Even though she didn't try o be mean They don't have to make pinkie very exaggerated and almost stupid, it's enough to make her very silly Pinkie Pride did this very well.

[NightOwl 912]

What an awesome Fluttershy episode. 

 

Things I liked: 

 

- Ponytones

- Fluttershy

- Flutterguy

- That adorable pegasus filly 

- The lesson ( It really spoke to me ) 

- Big Mac singing

- AJ & Big Mac's conversation at the end 

 

Things I didn't like:

 

-Pinkie was a little annoying 

 

Over all 10/10

Edited February 15, 2014 by NightOwl

[Wingnut 6,988]

First reactions. 

 

-Great to see Harry again!

-By this time everypony knows Fluttershy is a very good singer. If we can overlook Twilight’s wings, I can easily see this episode occurring much earlier in the series...but obviously not prior to Bridle Gossip.

-A turkey gobbling contest? The last time I heard a turkey gobble in MLP:FiM was when Scootaloo went ass over teakettle in Sleepless in Ponyville.

-The return of Flutterguy?!   

-Oh, Big Mac is going to lip synch to Flutterguy. Now I see the Filli Manilli angle. 

-How many performances over how many days? I thought Zecora said her remedy would fix Big Mac up in a day. Oh well, he got better eventually.

-"Oh, I didn't know my last performance was my last performance."

-Pinkie unable to see her words are doing more harm than good. 

-And that predictably leads to being exposed.

-The real moral of the episode...quit while you're ahead? ^^;

 

Filli Manilli draws some elements from Hurricane Fluttershy (especially being stared at by disembodied eyes). But unlike that classic, today's episode offers little to endear itself to non-Fluttershy fans. I'm hoping Fluttershy's upcoming key episode does more in that regard.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

oh and the Applejack/Big Mac conversation was the hidden gem of the episode. That bit was great.

[Radiance64 7,053]

So, that was a pretty cool episode. We got a lot of singing, and a lot of Fluttershy being Flutterguy which was funny and a great callback. The episode had at least two really nice songs, a funny, silly storyline, and, well... not a whole lot else. It was a fun, more simple and entertaining episode at its core, I can't really think of any complex points to think about when reflecting on how it was good, because it was just too silly and fun to watch to think about anything else, for me anyway.

There were a few lower points of the episode though, like Pinkie being a bit more of a doof than usual(and this is dialogue coming from the same writer of Pinkie Pride, sheesh), but I suppose it could have been worse. Also, Fluttershy being... well, shy and having stage fright is something just about anyone and everyone would expect, but I guess you can't knock a character for being the character that we all know they are already. The Ponytones' song was also a bit... High School Musical-y, imo, but it was still a whole lot better than that I guess.

Overall, I really enjoyed the episode, a lot of silliness like Flutterguy, the hiding places while Fluttershy was singing in secret for Big Mac, and the running joke of Big Mac always being cut off(I really wanted to hear him turkey call...)and just the fun, singsongy nature of the episode really made something super-entertaining here. A fun, sillier, simpler episode, loved it.

9/10

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

I may have a new contender for favorite Fluttershy episode after "Hurricane Fluttershy". Fluttershy was the epitome of adorable this entire episode, but the beginning also showed how much Fluttershy has grown as a character. Think back to "Green Isn't Your Color" when Rarity pretty much bullied Fluttershy into modeling for her. The same situation is presented here, but Fluttershy shows her character development and doesn't even hesitate to refuse once she can get a word in.

 

I can't really find any real hiccups with the story, thought I freely admit that it was getting incredibly ridiculous that the quartet kept getting booked for the following day for like a week. Also, why did you have to go and jinx it Rarity?! Everything would have gone smoothly but you had to say that there was going no drama, thus ensuring that there would be. I also find it hilarious that the one episode Big Mac finally gets to sing, and he just happens to lose his voice.

 

There were countless moments that sold this episode for me: Zecora, reference to previous episodes with the poison joke (I'm a huge stickler for continuity), Cheerilee swooning at Big Mac "singing" and the incredibly catchy quartet song are just a few off the top of my head. But unfortunately there was one aspect of this episode that kinda soured it for me:

 

Pinkie Pie. It's like the writers ignored any kind of development that Pinkie got in Pinkie Pride and just made her an antagonistic moron. Hell, everyone was readily aware of how idiotic Pinkie was being except for Pinkie herself if the numerous glares were anything to go on.  Other than the idiot ball glued somewhere in Pinkie's mane, this was another fantastic episode.  

[Vertigo_95 572]

New favorite Fluttershy episode, perhaps favorite episode of the season. I loved Big Mac's singing voice. I loved how they brought back the effects of poison joke and Flutterguy. Fluttershy's song was amazing, and although my favorite pony is Pinkie Pie, I did not like how hard she was on Fluttershy. I can totally relate to the friendship lesson (if you can still call it that). I don't usually give episodes a perfect rating, since nothing is perfect, but I definitely give this one 10/10.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

Rarity's singing voice

 

Ughh...I ate breakfast this morning, right? A some greasy bacon and greasy eggs, smothered in salt and pepper, and slapped between two pieces of scalding hot toast.

 

I've got heartburn like no tomorrow, sonny, lemme tell ya, so I'm not going to write a huge, elaborate review right now. I'll just be short and sweet, and might get long later in a blog or something

 

First off:

 

Rarity's singing voice :wub:    

 

Whenever she starts to sing, it's always one of the high points of the whole episode for me Like, only one thing can describe the way I feel when she starts singing, and that's this:

 

Lemme see...it was a very good episode, despite being another "Fluttershy don't be shy" episode. 

However the original storyline, great music, and just overall how I enjoyable I found Rarity, Fluttershy, Big Mac, and for her conversation with Big Mac, Applejack, to be in this episode.
 

There were a couple of things that bothered me:

 

Pinkie was infuriatingly obnoxious in the end with the Fluttershy thing.

 

I would've liked Fluttershy to join to Ponytones instead of "Oh, baby steps." 

 

The latter of which is nothing to really majorly affect my opinion of the episode, though.

 

Overall: 9/10 

 

I dig the title reference, btw
 

[King Sejong 859]

   Hurray for Fluttershy, and huzzah for the Ponytones, this was indeed a good Fluttershy episode, with continuity from "Bridle Gossip" as we get a call back from Zecora, poison joke and Flutterguy returns, to supplement Big Macintosh after he lost his voice performing a turkey call. I loved the music here, with this sort of fifties doo woop, even the nineties had some revival of this style, I remember hearing it everywhere when I was growing up, just to watch Fluttershy sing and perform backstage was splendid, I love how she was animated, with frivolous charisma and warm smile. "Filli Vanili" is quite a good title too, playing on Milli Vanilli who is notorious for lip syncing, but the ponies are good natured and friendly as they did not chastise the Ponytones when they were caught, which was Fluttershy's concern, that and stage fright, which is very normal, celebrities like Hayden Panettierre, Brandy, Cher, and Barbara Streisand, confessed to having stage fright, I know I had stage fright when I had to dance in a fourth grade performance, now I can do anything with some apprehension, but I can speak in public no problem, so I can understand Fluttershy's jeopardy, and in the end her friends came to her help and brought Fluttershy out from her stress, the mane six are so good together, we may get another Ponytones episode, I do hope for a sequel to this episode, next weekend the cutie mark crusaders return in "Twilight Time".           

[Anilewe 2,178]

Rarity's singing voice

 

Ughh...I ate breakfast this morning, right? A some greasy bacon and greasy eggs, smothered in salt and pepper, and slapped between two pieces of scalding hot toast.

 

I've got heartburn like no tomorrow, sonny, lemme tell ya, so I'm not going to write a huge, elaborate review right now. I'll just be short and sweet, and might get long later in a blog or something

 

First off:

 

Rarity's singing voice :wub:    

 

Whenever she starts to sing, it's always one of the high points of the whole episode for me Like, only one thing can describe the way I feel when she starts singing, and that's this:

 

 

Lemme see...it was a very good episode, despite being another "Fluttershy don't be shy" episode. 

 

However the original storyline, great music, and just overall how I enjoyable I found Rarity, Fluttershy, Big Mac, and for her conversation with Big Mac, Applejack, to be in this episode.

 

There were a couple of things that bothered me:

 

Pinkie was infuriatingly obnoxious in the end with the Fluttershy thing.

 

I would've liked Fluttershy to join to Ponytones instead of "Oh, baby steps." 

 

The latter of which is nothing to really majorly affect my opinion of the episode, though.

 

Overall: 9/10 

 

I dig the title reference, btw

 

 

I agree with everything (wow, I do it really often, eh?), maybe except that part about 'baby steps' I actually liked it, because it works like that in real world. I was a really shy person as a child and while now I can say that I'm not shy anymore, I still remember that it took me years to overcome my fears and become more confident. Baby steps are important, you can't go from "oh, I'm so shy" to "wow, I'm the best!" within a few minutes, it takes time. 

Edited February 15, 2014 by Anilewe

[lomk 20,663]

 

 

I MEAN, SWEET LUNA, THAT WAS A BIG MACINTOSH ACAPELLA.

 

Right? Didn't know Big Mac was capable of saying more than a few words except for that one instance in Ponyville Confidential.

 

And yes, I fully agree with the Pinkie Pie thing. Pinkie and Flutters are close friends, just like all the Mane 6. However, it's like Fluttershy's stage fright was no big deal. And this is the pony that couldn't even say her name in her first appearance! But Pinkie Pie! She really lost a number of cookies from me for this episode for every reason you pointed out above...

[FirestormCAN 246]

Well... that just happened.

 

I was expecting the stage fright plot point from the synopsis, so I wasn't getting hyped for this one. Boy did I get a big surprise. No only did Big Mac making his mark in the Ponytones surprise me, but the return of freaking Flutterguy. That was totally unexpected. Really liked the music that accompanied this episode.

 

Pinkie... goddammit girl, you were sooo good two episodes ago, what the hell happened here? Did that turkey call make your brain take a nap today? I wanted to give her a smack in the back of the head. Clearly Rarity's little bop on the head at the start didn't do a thing.

 

I'd really like this episode if Pinkie wasn't being such a twit.

[spezzzzzhdafuigb 49]

I honestly think season 4 is the best season so far!

 

   I loved how they kept Fluttershy's character, even in the ending. Pinkie Pie may have seemed like a jerk, but that's what Pinkie Pie does. I found it really funny actually. "You kinda sounded like a dude." I really liked the flashback to Bridle Gossip, and the quartet sounded AMAZING. there were so many things that I liked about this episode, and I kinda felt Flutter's pain when she turned into complete spaghetti after the curtain fell, then after Pinkie "comforted" her  . A lot of people were complaining that this was a "no key" episode, but hey, you can't have every episode having massive plot development! Plus, we might see the Ponytones in a later episode, so keep your eyes open for that. There were a few flaws, but they were easily overlooked, all in all, this can still keep the streak of beautiful episodes alive.

 

 

Dat assssssssss