S04:E14 - Filli Vanilli

[Thaliel 116]

I died from cuteness overdose very early during this one

 

also, big mac singing! wow! that came unexpected.

 

We also got to see many bg ponies again today, even lyra having a ...date? or is that colt just a good friedn she needed bonbon to be outta the way by playing with a seal?

[Paradise 1]

One thing that bothered me though was that Fluttershy claims to have stage fright......even though she acted and sang beautifully during the hearth's warming eve episode from season 2. Yes, she was scared before she went on, but she acted and sang pretty flawlessly, and that event proves that she has had experience on stage before, and so has sort of faced her big 'nightmare' already. I don't know, maybe she was okay because there were 6 of them all on stage (7 plus spike), but I'm surprised that they didn't at least bring that episode up in this one.

 

Everyone in that theater was singing, and from what Rarity said in that episode there were 100 to 1000 people in the audience. That's like singing the pledge of allegiance to the flag. In this episode the audience would focus on her singing specifically.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Paradise

[Its Rainbow Dash 151]

http://youtu.be/2TkOfhCK4ZoI'm not calling pinkie out to be mean I'm just saying Pinkie can be silly and bring up what you think is bad ok I get that doing so till you make somepony Cry is just a little mean., she could have held it back some.

 

As for the turkey call thing yes she prob did master plan this whole thing but still that didn't even save her from me thinking she was Meanie Pie this episode.

 

At first even before the turkey call part I was thinking pinkie was going to sabotage one of the female ponies to get Fluttershy to step up., but instead it went the Let's bring back Flutterguy route.

 

If it took the other way it might have been able to explore Fluttershy's emotions a bit more.

 

Then again I'm biased I find Fluttershy's voice very lovely and great to listen too., Flutterguy is just worth a chuckle not too much into the music with that one.

 

I'll leave this with the best Flutterguy scene still to me even with all the new Flutterguy this scene above is still the best... 

Edited February 16, 2014 by Its_Rainbow_Dash

[Raucous Hearthstone 0]

This was one of the very best episode of the season! I literally made an account here just to post how good that episode was! The forum I usually use is pretty small and hasn't made a discussion board for the episode yet.
I am shaking I enjoyed the episode so much!  I am probably going to watch it again in an hour or so.

[dekutree64 713]

"Filli Vanilli" was really enjoyable. But before I gush over it, I have a minor complaint to make:

 

For all this episode tries to maintain continuity by having a flashback to "Bridle Gossip," it still utterly falters when it comes to remembering Fluttershy's previous public performances. Fluttershy has sung in front of others multiple times, including on stage in front of a crowd of strangers in "Hearth's Warming Eve." For her to suddenly be so timid that even singing in front of her closest friends freaks her out strikes me as a major incongruity, especially in an episode that tries so hard to use previously-established episodes as a backdrop. It's a minor complaint overall, but it was pretty distracting for me personally.

My headcanon is that she was only moving her mouth in the HWE performance, but not really singing. That's what I would have done in a chorus setting like that But this time she was an essential part of the group's sound. And the Find a Pet song was with Rainbow alone, which is a lot different than having the whole mane 6 there. Plus just having them sneak up on her while she thought she was alone could be really embarrassing even if they had heard her sing before. I guess she did have a solo in the gala song that should have been heard by the entire crowd, though.

 

Anyway, I quite enjoyed the episode. Fluttershy's opening song really was lovely (and the very beginning was almost exactly the same as the opening of Magical Mystery Cure... but I can't think of any deep meaning to it). Big Mac singing and getting more lines was awesome (maybe he damaged his voice from overuse compared to normal ). And of course the callback to Bridle Gossip was awesome. I love continuity.

 

Also amusing is that Bridle Gossip had this classic shot of Fluttershy's rump:

 

And her rump was practically the star of this episode Pretty adorable how it gets bouncing whenever she's really feeling the music But then it started getting totally out of control. Particularly when she mooned Big Mac and an entire classroom of fillies:

 

And then finally led to her own demise:

 

Another funny thing was the similarity between her panic attack and this scene (skip to 3:45 if it doesn't automatically start there):

 

My sister and I are always referencing that scene in relation to real life traumatic memories. The moment it all goes dark (or white, in Fluttershy's case) marks the end of what you'll still remember 10-20 years later

 

I also love that Fluttershy didn't join the band at the end. Very realistic, how her shyness and fears don't just vanish as soon as an episode focuses on them.

 

I'll echo everyone's gripe that Pinkie was uncharacteristically insensitive.

 

Also, Sweetie is no longer the uncontested cutest creature on the show. Zippoorwhill is SO CUTE

I actually thought she was a Breezy at first, but I think it's even better that a regular pegasus can be that cute. Her dad looks pretty cool too. I feel even worse for Scootaloo now, though. Wings can't lift her, parents don't go places with her, no cutie mark despite looking several years older than Zip. Hopefully Rainbow Dash will show up in next week's episode, to give some semblance of a sister relationship.

[Paradise 1]

I don't get the Pinkie hate this episode. This was just a silly running gag that was used to place at least the feeling of conflict this episode needed. I found her hilarious all the way up to her saying "You kinda sounded like a dude!"

 

Fluttershy and Rarity were magnificent this episode, there singing was astounding, and their characterizations were top-notch

Edited February 16, 2014 by Paradise

[Singe 2,111]

Big Mac was all sweaty when Fluttershy is shaking her rump outside the window. lol

Edited February 16, 2014 by Singe

[Brotaku 18]

I absolutely loved this episode!    It's my favorite one of the season so far.

[ZancLife 8]

Cuteness overload with Fluttershy's butt singing talent.

 

I really really love this episode 

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,353]

Very nice episode.

I really liked the music, though I wish we'd have gotten more pure acapella.

The slapstick was awesome as it has been throughout S4.

Minor points taken off for Pinkie being a tad too silly in places.

[Koelath 445]

Now we know why Big Mac rarely talks. Saving his voice XD

 

Pinkie's random flashback appearance (by the stage) was fun. Same with her turkey call and Gummy trying to eat a turkey.

 

I still think Flutterguy is a really stupid joke but I'll let it go because the episode had the cajones to still reference Milli Vanilli in 2014.

 

Fluttershy's creepy stage fright hallucination was awesome.

 

The general premise was garbage: Fluttershy has been seen singing in front of crowds before, so this entire episode is basically stupid amnesia.

 

Best parts were Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

 

"Don't be ridiculous, Pinkie Pie!" "Aw, but I'm so good at it!" - Reminds me of Rinku...She hated this one.

 

"No offense but you kinda sounded like a dude." - The mere fact that "dude" is a term in the MLP universe puts the BIGGEST grin on my face. XD

[spacestorm 183]

I liked this episode, I love singing Fluttershy, she was soooo cute, as always.
I liked that this time they focused on her artistic talent, that gives more depth to her character. I don't remember her really singing before, of course there were many songs sung by each character but I don't think that most of them should be treat as events that occured in reality. You know, like songs in musical movies.
But return of Flutterguy was a big let down for me. I really wish if they let her sing with her real voice. I think that this would worked much better, because how others could appreciate her talent while she didn't used her real voice? The more expected reaction to finding out that she has male voice would be shock of audience, not their admiration.

It was nice to see Rarity and Big Mac in such different and interesting roles. While Rarity is know to have artistic nature, the singing Bic Mac was a big surprise. This shows that he's more than just a simple hard working farm pony and have other interesting talents and interests.

I also disliked Pinkie Pie's behaviour, she used to be the one who cheer up and put smile on others faces, not scare and dispirit them.

[Galen 1,354]

OK, yes. This episode just demonstrated Fluttershy has grown on me to the point of her being my favorite as of now. This was my favorite episode so far afaik. Fluttershy's singing voice, how she lost herself to the music, how she started growing out of stage fright, her cuteness, everything was just so........awesome!

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

 

Must say, they don’t really care
Make believe everyone will stare
It’s play-back, gotta be play-back
Once again play-back, you’ll get over your nightmare

[XxConfusedUnicornxX 834]

Fluttershyguy sounds awesome

Edited February 16, 2014 by XxConfusedUnicornxX

[Metemponychosis 1,260]

Meh... Not the worst, and way far from the best.

Didn't really like the whole Flutterguy thing and Fluttershy's singing didn't sound that great to me.

What I did like was the Pony Tones and Cheerilee... Too bad it wasn't Big Mac singing...

Personally there is something off about this episode that makes me think of "wasted potential".

 

EDIT: Oh... And Pinkie. Dammit, i Hated Pinkie in this episode. How stupid can a pony be?

Edited February 16, 2014 by moonlightavenger

[Wingnut 6,988]

OK, I'm back with some more thoughts on Filli Manilli. I was expecting the usual "Oh Fluttershy is being cute, Fluttershy is afraid, gag, gag" comments from the peanut gallery at first. Yeah, you know who you are. Instead, bringing back Flutterguy struck a very nice chord with the fans.    I mean, really? Who ever thought we would see Flutterguy again? Now I'm just waiting for somebody to accuse the writers of pandering to the fans by doing that.

 

Filli Manilli lacked the emotional impact of Hurricane Fluttershy because the stakes in Hurricane Fluttershy were a lot higher.  Fluttershy had to cope with a great physical disadvantage there in addition to her typical phobia set.  The challenge for Fluttershy in Filli Manilli wasn't as severe. She already has the talent for singing well and thus she "only" had to face stage fright. But even small obstacles can cause problems and the concept was well carried out here.  So while Filli Manilli wasn't as moving for me as Hurricane Fluttershy, it still had some nice feels. I don't like seeing my favorite pony cry. The moral of the story is very true to the series roots. Back in the day, this would've been a nice letter to Princess Celestia. Furthermore, all of us at one time or another have had the desire to do something new but fear, procrastination, or other obstacles held us back.

 

Besides Flutterguy, there were a number of other continuity nods in this epsisode. One was the dad and daughter who invited the Ponytones to sing at her cuteceanera. Another was the request to appear at the next Zap Apple jamboree. Then there was Cheerilee swooning for Big Mac (I hope she was faking). And I loved the face AJ made at Golden Delicious' cats. Applejack's recap of the epsisode's events with Big Mac was also priceless.

 

Finally, watching Fluttershy sway and move as she sang reminds me of this little thing on Youtube.

 

Edited February 16, 2014 by Wingnut

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

Well that's how most tv shows with musicals view their musicals. If these ponies actually heard these songs Queen Chrysalis would have been found out long before that farce of a marriage ceremony.

 

I thought she was alone when she sang This Day Aria though?

[RED20 289]

What is wrong with Pinkie Pie? She's not a jerk and she's not stupid. 

 

What.

[Pixel Stick 927]

I was really afraid they were going to take Fluttershy completely out of character for this episode, but they actually stayed very true to her personality and her phobias, and I can relate very strongly with her here.

 

The phobia she has is a very strange and difficult one.  It's not necessarily fear of crowds, or fear of performance, or even stage fright.  She has those things too.  The fear they addressed here is a fear of recognition and applause.  Exaggerated, of course - she's a cartoon character, after all.  But just the same, I know exactly how that feels.

 

I've written a few songs and done some other creative things myself, but I am almost scared to death to perform them for anyone in real life.  I much prefer to release them on the 'Net and let people discover them more or less anonymously so I don't have to listen to feedback, both positive and negative.  I like performing, but I would prefer to do my piece and then disappear as soon as possible, and let everyone else get the applause.  And this fear of mine has really stifled my creativity over the years - I have lots more ideas for music and stories that I would really like to do, but I kinda shut down when anyone, even my wonderful, supportive wife, encourages me to work on them.  It's a true phobia - it's completely irrational.

 

And my fear with this episode is that people who don't actually have this phobia or know someone close to them who has it, won't understand Fluttershy's seemingly strange actions.  I think the writers did a masterful job addressing this phobia, but it's very difficult to explain it in rational terms.

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

May I just say that I adore Zippoorwill! XD

 

"Meandmynewpuppythoughtitwassuperdupercrazygood!!"

 

Just all kinds of D'AWWW!!

 

Edited February 16, 2014 by ShadOBabe

[Wild Star 141]

Wow. I am shocked that I liked this episode as much as I do. What I didn't like was how pinkie was acting, but even that felt surprisingly in character. (Maybe someone is feeling a little moody without a certian party friend...) also, ugh, flutter shy. Ugh. There were so many times in this episode that made me REALLY annoyed with fluttershy. But she managed to make up for it throughout the ep. I also liked the FEEL of the whole thing, it was just so refreshing, optimistic, and fun. But the thing I LOVED was Big Mac. Oh my gooooosh. He sang! He talked! He was awesome. Also, fluttershy is being a canon thing now. I like Big Mac and fluttershy (although there are some OCs I'd like him to meet...) and they are a cute ship.

 

Also, Big Mac was checking out the plot in the schoolhouse, wasn't he?

Wow. I am shocked that I liked this episode as much as I do. What I didn't like was how pinkie was acting, but even that felt surprisingly in character. (Maybe someone is feeling a little moody without a certian party friend...) also, ugh, flutter shy. Ugh. There were so many times in this episode that made me REALLY annoyed with fluttershy. But she managed to make up for it throughout the ep. I also liked the FEEL of the whole thing, it was just so refreshing, optimistic, and fun. But the thing I LOVED was Big Mac. Oh my gooooosh. He sang! He talked! He was awesome. Also, fluttershy is being a canon thing now. I like Big Mac and fluttershy (although there are some OCs I'd like him to meet...) and they are a cute ship.

 

Also, Big Mac was checking out the plot in the schoolhouse, wasn't he?

Ooooops, double post. Hahaha. (What? It's only supposed to happen to other people!)

[Jangocoolguy 433]

And we hit the ground singing
Jacklope aren't really vampiric? Damn
You should've heard her just before she got her Cutie Mark, Twi
Big Mac in a singing group?!
Hit her again, hit her again! With a hammer!
Wait, so deer aren't sapient after all?
Rarity, you just tempted fate...
*sniff, sniff* I smell sabotage
Zecora's a Flutterguy fan!
...Simon and Paula ponies?
Cheerimac hinting!
My name is Renee Mustanga! You keeled my fawther. Prepare to die!"
LMAO! LMAO so hard!
Darn it man, you're encouraging the Fluttermac shippers!
Spidermare, Spidermare!
Pinkie: Isn't that what I said?; Rarity: Hardly; Me: We're going to discuss this later over a riding crop!
C'mon, Fluttershy! Zap Apples!

I really liked it. Good singing--especially from Fluttershy-- and some really fun moments peppered throughout. I NEVER thought they'd even reference Flutterguy again, let alone bring it back. And for a moment there I almost thought Fluttershy would get her rainbow key.

Though I was actually disgusted with Pinkie this episode. I've been fairly tolerant with her this season and there have been several scenes I liked, but this time she was wasn't just careless or even thoughtless. That was just bucking RUDE! I even have to wonder if she did something to Mac in order to win that turkey calling contest. Some dick moves from a pony who's life's mission is to make people smile...

Edited February 16, 2014 by Jangobadass

[ggg-2 3,552]

i hereby dub season 4 of MLP: FIM "the season of freaking awesome music!!!!!!"

[Singe 2,111]

For the issue about Pinkie Pie in this episode, the series has never gotten around to dealing with that insensitive forceful side of her. A Friend in Deed didn't resolve it, Pinkie just kept pushing and pushing until she made up with Cranky in the end.