S04:E20 - Leap of Faith

[Justin_Case001 4,876]

Testing the mane six's elements has been a rather tall order, and some of them could have been better.  Rainbow's episode had a lot of problems, and Fluttershy's test was weak, and a lesson she already learned well.  I'm so pleased to say that I was thrilled with Leap of Faith.  Great episode.

 

There are two important reasons that AJ's honesty test succeeded.  1).  It was a dilemma she has never faced before, so it was a new lesson for her, giving the entire situation much needed credibility.  And 2).  Her response was believable and mature.  The writers did not sacrifice or betray her characterization in order to test her.

 

AJ's dilemma was a real and believable one.  She has never before encountered a situation where a harmless lie may be better than a hurtful truth.  If Granny believed the tonic worked, and that gave her confidence and happiness, why not let her think it?  It's not the decision I would make, but it's a reasonable conclusion, and a predicament often faced in real life.  It seemed to AJ that it would be completely harmless to let Granny believe the farse, and it probably would have been, until Flim and Flam used AJ as an endorsement without her permission.  That's when things got out of hoof, and AJ realized it immediately.  But by then, she wasn't sure how to get out of the mess, or if it would be a good idea to potentially hurt Granny.  Very plausible.  The resolution was also well done.  It was very clear, and AJ's rectification of the situation explicit, and her apology genuine.  That's important in order for the element test to be successful, and the moral properly illustrated.  It was a great moral as well, and one that I think it's important for children to learn, and adults to remember.

 

Great episode, believable dilemma, mature responses, excellent element test and resolution.  I'm thrilled that Applejack was so well handled by the writers, because she often seems to be the one to get a bit less screen time, and a bit less love.

[RainbowTashie 378]

 

Title: Leap of Faith

Air Date: March 29th, 2014

Synopsis: The Flim Flam Brothers' cure-all tonic promises Ponyville citizens a chance to be rid of their ailments. Applejack has her doubts about the merits of the tonic, until Granny Smith begins taking it and appears to be cured of all her aches and pains.

 

---

 

Alright, this looks to be Applejack's key episode. I've been dying for this one and I can't wait to see how it all plays out!

such a true to life ep. we all love a good placebo.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

Absolutely outstanding episode. It had that feeling of the early seasons about it that's been missing for a while, with a valuable lesson presented in a way kids can appreciate: the truth matters, even if a lie feels better. This time AJ has to deal with the Flimflam brothers on her own, and they were as entertaining as I expected in their return. They've never been especially strong characters, but they matter because of what they represent: first shady business practices and this time, false advertising. Applejack is in character all the way, experiences a reasonable emotional conflict, and does the right thing in the end. I'd say this is her best episode since The Last Roundup. 

 

And of course, gotta love that Lyra cameo! 

[Lunar Sapphire 30]

Flim Flam brothers are one of my most favorite characters in the show! I loved this episode!

[Emiko Gale 199]

This episode made me appreciate Granny Smith as a character...And Apple Jack.

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

alright episode. i guess. could've been written well....

[cmarston1 5,959]

This episode was pretty boring.

Outside of seeing more out of Granny Smith's backstory which I liked, there wasn't a whole lot to it.

[PiratePony 8,475]

I have a real soft spot for this episode: it was the second episode of the show I saw, and the one before (Twilight Time) left me confused and not really sure if I wanted to keep watching/let my daughter watch it. But this episode and the Flim Flam Brothers made me instantly fall in love with the show.

[BrawnyCharger 511]

I enjoyed the episode and I'm glad that the Flim Flam Brothers weren't reformed. I wonder if they'll be back to Ponyville anytime soon after this episode. 

 

I also enjoyed the end bit with Big Mac pretending to be a shark.

[Honeysuckle 135]

really showed the power of placebo 

[Thrond 3,263]

As much as I like "Rarity Takes Manehattan" and "Pinkie Pride," they don't exactly provide the freshest angles for their lead characters. Those are both examples of characters forgoing their values because of their own egos and anxieties, and to an extent we've seen that before. I think "Leap of Faith" could quite possibly be the best of these episodes simply because it provides one of the season's few fresh, genuinely unique problems. Here, Applejack lies not for her own sake but for that of Granny Smith, and accepts what she knows to be a lie because she sees that it's making Granny happy. She's never comfortable with it, but it's easy to see why she might struggle with the problem and make the decisions she does, and better still, this is something we've never seen her deal with before. Rarity doesn't spend a very long time struggling with generosity, and Pinkie takes a while to even realize that she's doing something wrong, but Applejack is constantly conflicted. She's constantly worried someone might get hurt, but as long as it's safe, she thinks that maybe, just maybe, it might be okay - she even encourages Granny to go for that competitive swim. If it's not hurting anyone, then maybe she shouldn't worry about it, right? But confidence based on a lie is a dangerous path to go down, and Applejack never fully lets go of that. 

 

The only problem is that she gets over it too easily. Rarity and Pinkie Pie both reaffirmed their values when they realized how they were hurting their friends, but Applejack just sort of gives in to her concerns. The episode would be even better if Applejack had even briefly accepted Silver Quill's thought that "the truth might not be best," and had only changed her mind after saving Granny Smith from the high dive. Without this, Applejack just isn't allowed to be in the wrong like her friends are. Maybe that's just more realistic to her as a character, but it's also why some people find her boring. I guess she was worn down by Granny and Apple Bloom's determination. 

 

Also, I have absolutely no idea why Granny was diving into such a shallow dish of water, but the episode never really acknowledges the absurdity of that so I have to assume that it's just a thing in Equestria. Of course, even she acknowledges how crazy her confidence had gotten to at that point, so who even knows. In any case, it enhances the moral that while a lie might be able to help someone short term, without being based on truth that confidence can go to unrealistic places. It's a great moral in a genuinely nuanced episode, and while it's not nearly as energetic as "Rarity Takes Manehattan" or "Pinkie Pride," that also makes it less likely to become exhausting than those two. It's simply more substantial, and it's still very entertaining in its own way. And while the Flim Flam Brothers have made a big leap from mere shadiness to outright fraud, they always seemed unscrupulous enough to go that extra mile. A truly underrated episode. 

 

Score: 

Entertainment: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Themes: 10/10

Story: 9/10

Overall: 95/100

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

This Episode was okay. I dont know. Dont have much to say to this one.

[Cirrus. 1,089]

Soooo....I just found this and mmediately thought of this MLP episode...

[bigbertha 414]

This episode is boring.

Score: 5/10

[Meushell 52]

This was a great test for Applejack, and as others said, probably the best one.

Granny Smith was amusing here, and I enjoyed watching her swim with Apple Bloom. I hope she keeps swimming with her family.

On 2/20/2018 at 9:32 PM, Cirrus. said:

Soooo....I just found this and mmediately thought of this MLP episode...

I thought of this sport when I saw the episode. I started watching that video, but stopped at the “I only found women riders, so the men must have been smarter” crap. I’m not really sure what else he’d have to say anyway. I think most people would understand immediately that it’s cruel to horses.

[Cirrus. 1,089]

15 hours ago, Meushell said:

This was a great test for Applejack, and as others said, probably the best one.

Granny Smith was amusing here, and I enjoyed watching her swim with Apple Bloom. I hope she keeps swimming with her family.

I thought of this sport when I saw the episode. I started watching that video, but stopped at the “I only found women riders, so the men must have been smarter” crap. I’m not really sure what else he’d have to say anyway. I think most people would understand immediately that it’s cruel to horses.

HAHA! He's joking about the women thing. It's a running joke on his channel. He reviews videos of problems with horses and stuff like that. People in the comments are like, "Rick, why are you always picking on women?!"  He always responds that he doesn't make the videos that people send in for him to review. Most of them just happen to have women in them. It doesn't sound like he's joking here because this horse abuse really was pissing him off. Usually his videos are much funnier..

Edited August 21, 2018 by Cirrus.

[qwerE 96]

Felt like just another ordinary episode. It was nice to Flim Flam brothers again, though.

[bigbertha 414]

This episode... exists. And that's about all that I can say about it. There's nothing wrong here, but it's a predictable story played pretty straight. The Flim Flam Brothers's song is pretty good, but that's overshadowed by their first song. Nothing about this episode stands out. It's just there. I guess that's not a bad thing, but it's also not a good thing. 

Score: 5/10

[Astralshy 26,342]

While I was entertained by this episode I hadn't as much fun as with the other episode of season 4. I don't think there is something majorly wrong here. Actually it had some interesting stuff here like a placebo product sold and its effects on the consumers and some more back story on Granny. Most likely Flim and Flam took the fun away from me :(

But still I don't think it's a bad episode by any means.

[JMTV99 1,352]

Out of all the Rainbow Power episodes of the season, this is the weakest. It's not horrible, but it just kinda boring. While it's nice to see Flim and Flam again, but they're not my favorite villians and Silver Shill is pretty forgettable.

[Tom Gallagher 33,581]

Flim and Flam are my least favourite non-Student Six characters so that majorly brought this episode down for me. 

[Hadrien 950]

Flim & Flam returns to sell snake oils to the habitants of Ponyville, promising that their magical tonic will cure every and all illnesses, diseases and injuries. They rope up Applejack into being their spokesperson, which is a genius move because who would suspect AJ of lying about something, and even got her granny addicted to the juice. They are, by far, the greatest salespony Equestria has every seen, but unfortunately, they use their talents and power for selfish and greddy end. Imagine what they could do with that kind of selling power, they could sell a china vase to a Yakyakistinian.

AJ again falls victim to her own hubris, and doesn't immidieately confess to the charade before it's waaaaay past time, because she's afraid people would resent her for lying. Which is understandable for somepony that puts honesty and self-integrity to such a high regard, but everyone can be mistaken and taken advantage of.

This is also the second to last episode where we get the Rainbow Magical Items of very high importance. We now have almost all the pieces to open the magical Elements box of guess what this is.

6.5+0.5/10, Flim and Flam deserves bonus point for sure. 

[Antiyonder 844]

YouTube upload of the episode: