Pick a flaw-Putting your hoof down[Season 2,Episode 19]

[Larkybird~ 734]

Hoooo boy. This episode. I'm quite sure most of you have the same flaw for it. Though I could be wrong. But here's mine. That infamous scene where "new" Fluttershy or rather "Flutterbrute" tells her friends Pinkie Pie and Rarity that basically their lives in general meaningless. I just. Wow. And then she goes home head hanging down and has a breakdown, and just. You all know this scene. I will not further speak on it. Like the other this is not a topic to discuss hatred of the episode just the flaw you find in it.

[Shady Bubbles 429]

I picked the abundance of jerks. Fluttershy is just so sweet, I don't understand how everypony can be so rude to her. She would have never became Flutterbrute had she just been showed some decency. It's like she said in the first episode "sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness"

[Scootalove 10,692]

The abundance of jerks, because they were just really mean to Fluttershy which caused her to go to Iron Will in order to be more assertive. Frankly, this episode was really not my favorite at all.

[Larkybird~ 734]

The jerk ponies were quite terrible. Especially the ones at the beginning which begs the question. Where on Earth did any of them come from. I can't recall even seeing them in the background at any point. At least I had seen the ones after Fluttershy became assertive, but where did the ones before that come from. What were they written just so she'd end up getting assertiveness lessons? That's just. That's just stupid. They show up, then disappear from the show entirely and are never mentioned again. Why.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Oh this one is kind of a love or hate one. I've seen people love for how Fluttershy actually does stuff outside of what she regularly does and I've seen people hate it for how mean spirited and out of character Fluttershy was. For me, my biggest flaw was the abundance of jerk characters. The citizens of Ponyville were all acting like kind of jerks the whole time even Angel got on my nerves (then again he normally does) anyway it's kind of weird seeing these jerk characters since i the episode before it, they were all nice and happy and singing the Smile song. Geez, what's up everypony's flanks in this one?

Edited April 30, 2014 by ChikoritaBrony

[JayStorm 40]

While i hate the sudden abundance of jerks, that scene is just too much

[Yellow Diamond 7,579]

Ponyville becoming the capital of assholes was forced enough where it was a noticeable departure from how the town is normally portrayed. I'd like to think it was either just a bad day at the market, or that the ponies weren't so bad but rather were rendered aggressive through the eyes of Fluttershy. Because we have no precedent or indication for the latter, I can only assume jerks emerged in Ponyville because the plot demanded it.

 

The flaw isn't even that grievous, though. The episode is strong enough to withstand Ponyville's unusual behavior.

[Megas 28,367]

Probably Angel Bunny, he was a bigger dick than usual. I usually don't care much about exaggerated flaws(unless they're ridiculously overblown), but I thought hitting Fluttershy was a too much.....

 

 

 

 

 

Even I think it sounds weird to believe this, because normally I don't care much about Fluttershy

Edited April 30, 2014 by Megas75

[Pastel 7,630]

If I remember well, I didn't mind too much about the abundance of jerks, but Fluttershy was too mean to Rarity and Pinkie Pie in the famous scene.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Blobulle

[Flutter's lover <3 8,210]

I'm not too fond of this episode, for obvious reasons. it puts a bad light on Fluttershy, but I'm gonna weigh in here anyways...

 

 

Abundance of jerks, easily. I mean was it Equestrian jerk day or something? You never see the ponies act like that in any other episode, unless it has to do with the story itself and then it's exaggerated as such..It was a plot device really.

 

 

If I remember well, I didn't mind too much about the abundance of jerks, but Fluttershy was too mean to Rarity and Pinkie Pie in the famous scene.

 

You can't blame Fluttershy for that, or blame it as a flaw, since she wasn't herself in the majority of the episode.

Edited May 1, 2014 by :Flutterdash:

[FlutterDash4072 190]

I'll have to go with the jerks. I loved the rest of the episode, but I think it would've been better if they found another reason for Fluttershy to go to Iron Will's seminar.

[Dark Qiviut 22,656]

As much as I still love the episode, it's objectively bad. There's so much wrong to go with it, you can write a whole essay dissecting it. My long, scathing reviews for Rainbow Falls or Equestria Girls could pale in comparison to Putting Your Hoof Down if I ever decide to muster the muscles and type it all down. I decided to put in a vote for the main quality flaw (every pony being a jerk), but I'll explain the one that's the worst along with the one that personally affects me the most first (Fluttershy demeaning Rarity's and Pinkie's reasons for living).

 

As a creative person, the last thing anyone wants to be told that their creative reasons for receiving a profit and their purposes for making others happy is worthless. This is exactly what Fluttershy said to two of her closest friends. There was no reason whatsoever for Fluttershy, even in her broken psyche, to say something this evil. That scene massacred Fluttershy's character, and Fluttershy's reputation as a character hasn't recovered.

 

And to make it more insulting, the damning cruelty Fluttershy inflicted on Pinkie and Rarity was seriously downplayed. Firstly, Iron Will was scapegoated despite the whole thing being Fluttershy's fault one hundred percent. Secondly, there was no good reason for Pinkie or Rarity to return to Fluttershy's side; either they're very forgiving or beyond stupid. Finally, Fluttershy basically got away with what she did, never suffering any realistic consequences.

 

Now for the biggest flaw, the characters:

 

I'll be blunt: Nearly every single character to be presented a role was an asshole. Most of the background ponies, Rarity, Pinkie, and Angel. In what's a supposedly cheerful town and overall lifestyle to a fault, Ponyville is a place of cynical, mean-spirited jerks for no good reason. Both logic and optimism take a backseat in the central contrivance, and most of them haven't appeared or played a relevant role since. This premise contradicts the canon completely. As for Rarity, Pinkie, and Angel:

1. Rarity seduced a nerd stereotype to retrieve asparagus for Fluttershy. Keep in mind, he bought asparagus and wasn't an asshole at all. Although Rarity traded, she performed it underhandedly. This wasn't generosity, and those who claim so are lying to themselves.
2. Pinkie Pie scammed a tomato vendor out of one extra bit. Just because it's a Looney Toons gag doesn't a good joke make. It turned Pinkie into a character she's not: someone who wanted to make others' lives miserable.
3. Angel: He may be rude, but he's not this spoiled or ABUSIVE! Of the three, he was undoubtedly the worst here. First, he punts a salad onto her head. Secondly, he slaps Fluttershy across the muzzle and shoves the cookbook to her face. When it wasn't perfect, he punted Fluttershy — and the salad — out of the cottage.
   
   What the fuck?!

Edited May 1, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[OptimisticNeighsayer 479]

Like DQ, I really like this episode despite its flaws.  The problem for me is that, paradoxically, the flaws actually made me like the episode even more, so I can't really name a genuine flaw without also reminiscing about how funny it was.

 

I guess the thing that bugged me the most was that Iron Will was cast as a villain just by two ponies who apparently never met him before he tried to collect Fluttershy's bill.  That seemed to stick out as too "meta".

Edited May 1, 2014 by OptimisticNeighsayer