Was Applejack ''out of character'' in the latest episode?

[HeroSparks 232]

I don't think so. AJ has shown before that she can sometimes be very overbearing and somewhat of a control freak. The first one that comes to mind for me when she got like this was Apple Family Reunion but I'm sure there's more than just that one

[FNGRpony 658]

Um she was IC,

but i wouldn't call it the kinda apple jack I wanna see more of.

G.E. pointed out she's under developed and this was the writing staff trying to figure out what to do with her,

she may be right,

and that might be why i hated this episode.

 

Yes objectively their were alot good moments in there.  ALOT!  Enough that should made this episode good.

I'm kinda worried we'll see this new AJ re surface.

 

Hyper protective big sister apple jack?  she was the one to said twilight back in the season premiere.

It was funny, but like, if this is the writing staff's only way to give us more apple jack,

 

I'm digging it right now.  It might grow on me?  Ask me again in a couple of episodes.

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

Out of character: is that an accurate description for over-exaggerating a known trait of a character for the purpose of the plot? I'd say not, but that doesn't make it laudable. 

 

In "The Showstoppers", Applejack was perfectly willing to leave Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo alone on a "secluded part of the farm" in a clubhouse one big bag wolf's fart away from collapsing into ruins.

 

 

Yet she's terrified of leaving AB alone for five minutes as full 53 episodes later? If there's such a thing as character deterioration, this surely has to be an example.

 

So, again, I don't see it so much as OOC as in-character but magnified to the point of imbalance, and that is a fault in terms of writing.

Edited March 11, 2014 by SolarFox

[LordDiscord 289]

As Stella said, Applejack did not know that. And also, Applejack really isn't always the type to listen to reason once she's set her mind on something, especially from her juniors. Did she listen to anything Apple Bloom had to say regarding Zecora back in season 1 when they all first saw her? No. Applejack was adamant that Zecora was to be stayed away from, and she stifled Apple Bloom and disregarded her words because she wasn't a "big pony."

 

Applejack didn't baby proof anything prior to this because this was the first time Applejack felt responsible for leaving her sister in jeopardy AND this was Apple Bloom's very first time being at home alone doing chores with no supervision whatsoever.

 

 

Applejack vowed to entrust Apple Bloom next time she was home alone because she realized that Apple Bloom only made that crazy dark voyage in the first place in order to prove that she was responsible enough to do things by herself. And while Apple Bloom didn't necessarily get that particular task done by herself, she was still impressive enough to convince Applejack that she could handle being alone in her own home without everything being baby proofed. Applejack wasn't exactly rewarding Apple Bloom for sneaking off when she's given her a scolding and promised she'd be grounded, but at the same time, Applejack realized how stupid she herself was being and decided to give Apple Bloom the benefit of the doubt in the future. I don't really see the problem with this outcome unless you think on it too much. :/

I never denied that AppleJack can be stubborn, but in the case of ''Bridle Gossip'' AppleJack had good reason to believe that Zecora was evil and that belief is what fueled her paranoia, while in ''Somepony to watch over me'' AppleJacks paranoia was based off of a belief that Applebloom was incompetent to do the most basic of jobs, you know, the kind of jobs you could do at the age of 5.

 

AppleJack had no reason to believe this though, Applebloom had shown many times in the past she was capable of doing the chores around the farm, her being alone should not have changed this. Maybe had a storm or something had come up at the last minute that AppleJack had perceived as ''dangerous'' then that would have at least justified her worrying about Applebloom being alone.

 

If a child with overprotective parents did something as stupid as what Applebloom did, the parents isn't going to admit they were wrong, and tell the child they now trust him/her, no the parents would scold the child and then use even more precautions to ensure the child would not do this again, the problem would be worse not better. And the fact that they had to put Applebloom in the wrong (which in a real life situation would justify AppleJacks behavior)by making her go through a dangerous forest and nearly get eaten only to have AppleJack see she was in the wrong and even said she would have ''Never'' saw her error had Applebloom not did that. That is literally telling the children that it is ok to disobey over protective parents and that they will see their error if you do something stupid. Now don't get me wrong, the moral they were trying to portray is a good moral to discuss but the way they dealt with it was very poor. 

[Freewave 1,145]

Yeah pretty over-the-top and out of character sadly.

[Pixel Stick 927]

In the episode thread, I wrote my own interpretation of Applejack's behavior that I thought explained it very well, but it seems I'm the only person who saw it this way, which makes me wonder if I completely missed something.  So let me try it here and see if it jives with anyone.

 

AJ came across as *extremely* overprotective, to the point of insanity, through about the first half of the episode.  Between her baby-proofing everything and checking on Apple Bloom every few seconds (literally), and then when she found out AB was gone, asking if she'd taken a variety of seemingly random things, I did think she was totally out of left field.  But when they revealed the episode's monster (the chimera), it all suddenly made sense.

 

My theory is that Applejack was scared to death of that pie delivery route.  Perhaps she had met the chimera before and simply didn't want to go out there again, or perhaps she simply was unnerved enough by the route itself, and meeting the chimera for the first time (perhaps unprepared to fight it) sent her into a blind panic.  Either way, it seems reasonable to me that she would then channel her fear into overprotecting Apple Bloom rather than simply admitting she was frightened.  (She is a very proud pony, after all.)

 

It's well known that mothers will often shower their children with extra attention and take extra protective measures around them when they are personally frightened or threatened by something.  To me, AJ simply exaggerated this behavior - I believe she was so scared of something happening to herself or the farm that she took great comfort in "protecting" Apple Bloom from every conceivable form of harm possible.

 

I have more thoughts on this, but I have to zip off to work now, so I'll post them later.

[Blaze Bronson 343]

She was way over protective because the fear of Apple Bloom getting hurt grew way over board. Something that isn't far fetched, as have happened to me sometimes as well.

She isn't out of character, we simply have seen a new side of her.

 

Just because we are in season 4, doesn't mean the mane 6 is fully explored yet. I hope not, then it would be boring.

Now we know that Applejack has strong motherly instincts, and the fear of making bad decisions haunts her.

Maybe that's why she likes the simple and stable life she's living.

 

If anyone could show a scene which proves me wrong, that would be appreciated.

 

This guy showed me this idea, so I won't take credit.

 

Skip to 3:00 if you want only the out-of-character part

 

Edited March 11, 2014 by Blaze Bronson

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

She was a bit out of character but the episode was set up that way to prove a point, sometimes we need to be looked after once in awhile, but not constantly and OCD like what she was doing. I've been down that road before where I was OCD about my nephew's safety when he was 3yrs old. He got into everything and anything that I was paranoid when I babysat him, tha I'd follow him everywhere he went, even tried to control what he played with. By the time he turned 5yrs though he was fed up with it and basically showed me what he actually could handle and what he knew NOT to handle...So I get what the episode was talking about.

 

However this situation easily could have been avoided with: If AJ were that worried but still had to deliever pies, she could have asked any one of her friends to check up on Apple Bloom from time to time just to make sure. They wouldn't have to babysit her, just check in every few hours? But then we wouldn't have a lesson here lol!

[Singe 2,111]

When Applejack is in her stubborn obsessed paranoid mode, she doesn't think rationally. Sure Applebloom can do her chores, but this will be the first time alone. Meaning no one there to step in to stop or save Applebloom if anything went wrong.

 

Even a sane parent would be worrisome if they left a child with a history of mischief and trouble like Applebloom home alone.

[LordDiscord 289]

In the episode thread, I wrote my own interpretation of Applejack's behavior that I thought explained it very well, but it seems I'm the only person who saw it this way, which makes me wonder if I completely missed something.  So let me try it here and see if it jives with anyone.

 

AJ came across as *extremely* overprotective, to the point of insanity, through about the first half of the episode.  Between her baby-proofing everything and checking on Apple Bloom every few seconds (literally), and then when she found out AB was gone, asking if she'd taken a variety of seemingly random things, I did think she was totally out of left field.  But when they revealed the episode's monster (the chimera), it all suddenly made sense.

 

My theory is that Applejack was scared to death of that pie delivery route.  Perhaps she had met the chimera before and simply didn't want to go out there again, or perhaps she simply was unnerved enough by the route itself, and meeting the chimera for the first time (perhaps unprepared to fight it) sent her into a blind panic.  Either way, it seems reasonable to me that she would then channel her fear into overprotecting Apple Bloom rather than simply admitting she was frightened.  (She is a very proud pony, after all.)

 

It's well known that mothers will often shower their children with extra attention and take extra protective measures around them when they are personally frightened or threatened by something.  To me, AJ simply exaggerated this behavior - I believe she was so scared of something happening to herself or the farm that she took great comfort in "protecting" Apple Bloom from every conceivable form of harm possible.

 

I have more thoughts on this, but I have to zip off to work now, so I'll post them later.

Holy crap.... I had not thought to see it that way. You should sent that to Antony C and lets see if him and Bronycurious comes out with one of those ''Mind Blowers' the tend to do in there duel analysis videos. 

[Whatevs 377]

I think so.

Yes, she had been protective in the past but not to this extreme or in this manner.

Same issue I had with Rarity in Simple Ways.

[Singe 2,111]

In the episode thread, I wrote my own interpretation of Applejack's behavior that I thought explained it very well, but it seems I'm the only person who saw it this way, which makes me wonder if I completely missed something.  So let me try it here and see if it jives with anyone.

 

AJ came across as *extremely* overprotective, to the point of insanity, through about the first half of the episode.  Between her baby-proofing everything and checking on Apple Bloom every few seconds (literally), and then when she found out AB was gone, asking if she'd taken a variety of seemingly random things, I did think she was totally out of left field.  But when they revealed the episode's monster (the chimera), it all suddenly made sense.

 

My theory is that Applejack was scared to death of that pie delivery route.  Perhaps she had met the chimera before and simply didn't want to go out there again, or perhaps she simply was unnerved enough by the route itself, and meeting the chimera for the first time (perhaps unprepared to fight it) sent her into a blind panic.  Either way, it seems reasonable to me that she would then channel her fear into overprotecting Apple Bloom rather than simply admitting she was frightened.  (She is a very proud pony, after all.)

 

It's well known that mothers will often shower their children with extra attention and take extra protective measures around them when they are personally frightened or threatened by something.  To me, AJ simply exaggerated this behavior - I believe she was so scared of something happening to herself or the farm that she took great comfort in "protecting" Apple Bloom from every conceivable form of harm possible.

 

I have more thoughts on this, but I have to zip off to work now, so I'll post them later.

 

It could have stemmed from AJ losing her parents. The parents may been killed by a predator on one of their deliveries. Say AJ was left at home with Big Mac while the parents are on their last delivery to never make it back.

 

So AJ is going on this dangerous route with a known predator and she's afraid to leave Applebloom alone without a big sister in her life. She's not just being overprotective of Applebloom, AJ is certainly smothering Applebloom with attention.

[Pixel Stick 927]

(I had meant to continue my thoughts at work, but for some reason I couldn't access the forums from there at all today - kept timing out trying to connect through our firewall.  Oh well...)

 

 

 

Holy crap.... I had not thought to see it that way. You should sent that to Antony C and lets see if him and Bronycurious comes out with one of those ''Mind Blowers' the tend to do in there duel analysis videos.

 

Thanks.   I'm not that involved, but if you're interested in forwarding this idea on to him for consideration, be my guest.

 

It could have stemmed from AJ losing her parents. The parents may been killed by a predator on one of their deliveries. Say AJ was left at home with Big Mac while the parents are on their last delivery to never make it back.

 

So AJ is going on this dangerous route with a known predator and she's afraid to leave Applebloom alone without a big sister in her life. She's not just being overprotective of Applebloom, AJ is certainly smothering Applebloom with attention.

 

That's kinda along the lines of what I was thinking - or even at a more basic level: Since their parents are apparently gone for some reason, Applejack has simply taken on the role of surrogate mother for Apple Bloom and takes that role extremely seriously (perhaps far more seriously than she really needs to).  So, going on the idea that she's either scared to death of the route or she was scared out of her wits by the chimera, she'd likely be so afraid of the mere thought of anything happening to Apple Bloom that she severely overreacts.

 

For me, this was confirmed when she realized Apple Bloom had taken on her route and started asking questions about whether she took these seemingly random things with her.  When that first happened, I thought she was just being totally out of left field - the items had no real logical place in a delivery route, except maybe the lion tamer's chair (if lions or similar creatures were likely).  But ricotta cheese??

 

When the chimera appeared, it suddenly became clear that Applejack knew what Apple Bloom was headed for, and her fear was entirely justified.

 

So, then, why did Applejack show absolutely no fear when she arrived to save Apple Bloom from the chimera?  The fight, while comedic, was definitely one of the more violent fights in the show, and that chimera took quite a beating (mostly from the way it tried to catch Applejack).  But in that whole situation, AJ showed no fear, and was the brave, bold fighter we all had come to expect of her.  That seems a little inconsistent with the deep-rooted fear I alluded to earlier, but bear with me.

 

Again, it's well-documented how dramatically mothers (both human and animal) will change their behavior when their children are threatened.  Threaten the mom, and she might fight back or she may flee.  But threaten the child, and the mother almost invariably turns into a machine that will stop at NOTHING to protect him or her, even if it means sacrificing her own life.  In some cases, moms have said afterward that they don't even clearly remember what happened, and are surprised by the physical violence they inflicted on the aggressors when witnesses told them about it later.

So, consider the fact that AJ knew (and further saw) that her little sister was in deep trouble.  As a surrogate mom, she clearly swooped in to save her sister now that the threat was real.  She put all of her own fear aside and was willing to sacrifice herself to save Apple Bloom.  It was only after the threat was neutralized that she even began to address the situation.  (Also, I think that the seriousness of the threat here - given that this was the first talking monster in the series that wasn't a mainstream villain like Discord or Chrysalis, helps to solidify this idea.)

 

At least in my mind, this all makes sense when you consider AJ's personality flaws: She's known to have quite a stubborn streak (Applebuck Season), a lot of occasionally unreasonable pride (Applebuck Season, Last Roundup), and a strong loyalty to her family.  Additionally, she's already been overprotective of Apple Bloom in the past (Bridle Gossip).  I think "Somepony to Watch Over Me" addressed virtually ALL of these points in a very consistent, cartoonishly-exaggerated way, and rather pointedly addressed that aspect of her relationship with Apple Bloom that needed addressing: The fact that AB is growing up and really is capable of seeing after herself.

 

Now, that's not to say I thought the writers did a perfect job here.  The moral WAS a bit muddled - AB wanted to prove to AJ that she's capable of fending for herself and she doesn't need (or want) to be babied anymore.  But going out and risking your life ain't exactly the best way to do that, and AJ should have properly chastised AB for taking such a foolhardy risk.  I think she came off a bit too soft on that.  But just the same, I'm glad to see that she's realized how overboard she was getting with AB, and I hope they maintain that change in their relationship in future episodes.

 

Also, if what I'm theorizing about here really was what the writers were going for, I think they can be properly criticized for making it too subtle a point (or simply having some bad editing that obscured the point).  I can't claim to know what they really were going for there, but (incomplete thought resumed) this wouldn't be the first time a subtle point has very much changed my perception of an episode.

 

I'm sure there's more to the jumbled mess that is my thought process, but that's all I can come up with right now.  I'll probably condense all these thoughts into a separate blog post at some point.

 

For the record, my wife disagrees with me on this - she didn't think anything quite so deep and subtle had happened.  I'm curious to know what you guys think, too - perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Pixel Stick

[BrilliantVenture 334]

In the episode thread, I wrote my own interpretation of Applejack's behavior that I thought explained it very well, but it seems I'm the only person who saw it this way, which makes me wonder if I completely missed something.  So let me try it here and see if it jives with anyone.

 

AJ came across as *extremely* overprotective, to the point of insanity, through about the first half of the episode.  Between her baby-proofing everything and checking on Apple Bloom every few seconds (literally), and then when she found out AB was gone, asking if she'd taken a variety of seemingly random things, I did think she was totally out of left field.  But when they revealed the episode's monster (the chimera), it all suddenly made sense.

 

My theory is that Applejack was scared to death of that pie delivery route.  Perhaps she had met the chimera before and simply didn't want to go out there again, or perhaps she simply was unnerved enough by the route itself, and meeting the chimera for the first time (perhaps unprepared to fight it) sent her into a blind panic.  Either way, it seems reasonable to me that she would then channel her fear into overprotecting Apple Bloom rather than simply admitting she was frightened.  (She is a very proud pony, after all.)

 

It's well known that mothers will often shower their children with extra attention and take extra protective measures around them when they are personally frightened or threatened by something.  To me, AJ simply exaggerated this behavior - I believe she was so scared of something happening to herself or the farm that she took great comfort in "protecting" Apple Bloom from every conceivable form of harm possible.

 

I have more thoughts on this, but I have to zip off to work now, so I'll post them later.

 

HOLY SMOKES! That's an incredible idea!

Like...legit. But...the only thing that I find fault with in it, is that the episode's "ending/moral" and even the title, suggested it was

simply about being too overprotective n' stuff...so I sadly don't think that's where they were going with it/what they entended it to be...but I like your version a ton better!

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

Out of character: is that an accurate description for over-exaggerating a known trait of a character for the purpose of the plot? I'd say not, but that doesn't make it laudable. 

 

In "The Showstoppers", Applejack was perfectly willing to leave Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo alone on a "secluded part of the farm" in a clubhouse one big bag wolf's fart away from collapsing into ruins.

 

bscap0093.jpg

 

Yet she's terrified of leaving AB alone for five minutes as full 53 episodes later? If there's such a thing as character deterioration, this surely has to be an example.

 

So, again, I don't see it so much as OOC as in-character but magnified to the point of imbalance, and that is a fault in terms of writing.

That's completely different.

There are two other ponies with her... That's not character deterioration, it's just overprotective paranoia. Which she has shown throughout the series already... Such as in Bridle Gossip or in The Showstoppers, actually. She DID care, that was apparent by the fact Applejack FREQUENTLY visited the Treehouse.

 

 

I believe she was on the dot HERSELF. She is the exact same Applejack, I saw no big holes there, in fact, I don't think I saw them anywhere. It's just Applejack's "Lesson Zero" if you will (or her second if you consider "Applebuck Season"). She just got extremely paranoid, and according to that, her stubbornness makes her quite prone to it.

[LordDiscord 289]

That's completely different.

There are two other ponies with her... That's not character deterioration, it's just overprotective paranoia. Which she has shown throughout the series already... Such as in Bridle Gossip or in The Showstoppers, actually. She DID care, that was apparent by the fact Applejack FREQUENTLY visited the Treehouse.

 

 

I believe she was on the dot HERSELF. She is the exact same Applejack, I saw no big holes there, in fact, I don't think I saw them anywhere. It's just Applejack's "Lesson Zero" if you will (or her second if you consider "Applebuck Season"). She just got extremely paranoid, and according to that, her stubbornness makes her quite prone to it.

AppleJack in those instances had logical reasons to become paranoid. In ''Somepony to Watch Over Me'' AppleJacks entire paranoia birthed from the fact that she believed Applebloom wasn't smart enough to figure out how to open a cabinet drawer. It wasn't until the final act of the episode that AppleJack had a legit reason to worry for her sister, but other than that, AppleJack was worrying over Applebloom doing things she as done a hundred times in the past, as well as apparently forgot all of the dangerous stunts they have pulled while trying to get their cutiemarks that she had no problems with before.

[Concerto Dusk 240]

well applejack does like things under control, plus she is a big sister, older siblings do get protective, i know id probably do the same as applejack did, (ami i agreeing with applejack???????????? ugh) but i think it was a fairly accurate side of her

[Singe 2,111]

Put into a different perspective. Applebloom, a child runs off to prove herself to Applejack by delivering pies. She takes the route where Applejack knew that a thief and killer resides. This killer has no quarrel about killing children.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Singe

[Nikkers 29]

I feel like she always looked out for here but never that BADLY. and it felt way different and like a competly different character. It was like an obession. Maybe applejack had to many ciders?

[Shift 4,272]

Twilight was flipping out over a late paper. I think AJ can flip out over her little sister.

[Singe 2,111]

Technically, any character in Ponyville that acts crazy isn't really OOC. The series already forewarned that with Twilight's line from the first episode.

 

Edited March 13, 2014 by Singe

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

In the episode thread, I wrote my own interpretation of Applejack's behavior that I thought explained it very well, but it seems I'm the only person who saw it this way, which makes me wonder if I completely missed something.  So let me try it here and see if it jives with anyone.

 

AJ came across as *extremely* overprotective, to the point of insanity, through about the first half of the episode.  Between her baby-proofing everything and checking on Apple Bloom every few seconds (literally), and then when she found out AB was gone, asking if she'd taken a variety of seemingly random things, I did think she was totally out of left field.  But when they revealed the episode's monster (the chimera), it all suddenly made sense.

 

My theory is that Applejack was scared to death of that pie delivery route.  Perhaps she had met the chimera before and simply didn't want to go out there again, or perhaps she simply was unnerved enough by the route itself, and meeting the chimera for the first time (perhaps unprepared to fight it) sent her into a blind panic.  Either way, it seems reasonable to me that she would then channel her fear into overprotecting Apple Bloom rather than simply admitting she was frightened.  (She is a very proud pony, after all.)

 

It's well known that mothers will often shower their children with extra attention and take extra protective measures around them when they are personally frightened or threatened by something.  To me, AJ simply exaggerated this behavior - I believe she was so scared of something happening to herself or the farm that she took great comfort in "protecting" Apple Bloom from every conceivable form of harm possible.

 

I have more thoughts on this, but I have to zip off to work now, so I'll post them later.

 

That's an interesting interpretation, I like it.

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

That's completely different.

There are two other ponies with her... That's not character deterioration, it's just overprotective paranoia. Which she has shown throughout the series already... Such as in Bridle Gossip or in The Showstoppers, actually. She DID care, that was apparent by the fact Applejack FREQUENTLY visited the Treehouse.

 

 

I believe she was on the dot HERSELF. She is the exact same Applejack, I saw no big holes there, in fact, I don't think I saw them anywhere. It's just Applejack's "Lesson Zero" if you will (or her second if you consider "Applebuck Season"). She just got extremely paranoid, and according to that, her stubbornness makes her quite prone to it.

Two other "ponies" the same age as Apple Bloom herself. If a person isn't comfortable leaving a ten-year-old home alone, they're unlikely to be happy leaving them in the company of two other ten-year-olds either.

 

The screenshot I gave in my previous post was in the cold open. The next time Applejack is seen in the episode is here:

When she comes back to the club house, it's already fixed. So, the evidence we have implies that she left the CMC there all alone long enough for AB to fix the entire place up without ever checking up on them in the interim. You can't claim she was visiting the Treehouse with anything like the every-5-seconds frequency she shows in the latest episode, even if she did check up on once in a while throughout "The Showstoppers", after the clubhouse was clearly no longer in a condition that made it dangerous.

[Captain Brony (MG11) 218]

Whether she is out of character or not is highly debatable.

In Bronycurious' review he makes a good point that in every episode that pertains to Applejack's family being the focus of the conflict seems to turn AJ's brain off, where as any other conflict her brain seems just fine.

Idk, there's some continuity there but you could easily write off every instance previously as her being out of character which would be quite a few episodes.

[Adorkable 2,737]

To be honest? I loved Applejack in this episode.

 

Seriously, bros. I feel like this totally boosted her character like some have been wanting to kill out the "background pony" joke.

 

Really, I feel like she developed a lot in this episode.

 

It actually put her one step up on my list of favorites. ^^