Official Discussion Thread - S05E6 Appleoosa's Most Wanted

[brianblackberry]

We know this will never happen, but it sure be pretty cool if we did!

 

Saturday is upon us again and with it another new episode of the show we love, so sit back and watch adorable ponies do adorable things! This time we finally return to Appleloosa after four seasons!   There is a rodeo in Appleloosa and that of course means Applejack and the CMC? Why are our mischievous filly trio there?  Who is this mysterious outlaw Troubleshoes Clyde, and why would his mom name him that? Why is Applelossa misspelled in the episode title? How much Braeburn will we get to see and how much will the fandom ship him again? Tune in to find out! The episode airs Saturday 11:30 AM EST on May 2nd. 

 

This thread is dedicated to discussing the episode before, during, and afterwards. As the thread is now open it may indeed contain spoilers. I ask that potential spoilers talked about or shown before the episode airs stay within the spoiler tags please, after the episode you no longer have to use the spoiler tags, but warning, if you haven't seen the episode yet after it airs, this thread no doubt will have all sorts of spoilers in reviews, images, etc. So tread at your own risk. 

[Rosewind]

I thought the first half of the episode was pretty boring/rote, but things picked up in the second half. Apple Bloom continues to be on stage as the CMC leader, which is great. It was nice to see an episode with more focus on stallions as well. I thought it was strange that half of the Apple family was missing at an event that you'd think they would all be present at.

 

Not my favorite of the season, but thoroughly watchable after the sloggy setup of the first half. 7/10. 

[SteelEagle]

 I thought it was strange that half of the Apple family was missing at an event that you'd think they would all be present at.

 

Well, Sweet Apple Acres requires year around care! Can't have it go unattended for long. Besides, they were likely so used to Applejack winning rodeos that the prospect of traveling across Equestria so they can watch her be her winning, awesome, amazing self was less than appealing.

I enjoyed the episode. It wasn't as fun as last week's but there was a lot of fun moments. I am almost the opposite than you, Rose, in how I view this episode- I enjoyed the first half more than the second. Then again, I am biased against potential troublemakers just misunderstanding or being misunderstood.

[Shadowking58]

I wasn't really feeling this episode. It never really got interesting for me. The only parts I really enjoyed were the scenes with the CMC and Trouble Shoes. (And probably Braeburn)

 

That's not to say the entire episode was bad. The part where Applejack showed her trophy and the CMC didn't care were funny. The part where Braeburn fell asleep watching the CMC was funny. The part where the CMC were exploring that dark mysterious landscape was... You see what I mean when I say the CMC was the most interesting part?

 

Oh and Trouble Shoes was interesting as well because we didn't know who he was. I remember the first time I was watching the episode and I saw the horseshoe print at the beginning I thought it was going to be a real horse.

 

The parts with the rodeo practice were awesome, too.

 

I'd give it a 7/10. Not something I'd personally rewatch again. But it's good enough to look up clips of, at least.

 

Also Sweetie Belle using her magic!

[RarityFan1992]

I liked the fact that Sweetie Belle's magic lessons are staring to pay off and I find it funny that in this episode Braeburn was more accident prone than Trouble Shoes Clyde.

[FrankT]

Didn't think we'd see Braeburn again!

 

The "misunderstood criminal" story did seem a little off-putting at first, especially since it's Mr. Clumsy, but I guess it's a good one all round.

[CaptainMcDerp]

And another cutie mark themed episode! This one was pretty good, but I feel like it was the weakest of the season so far. Even so, I really liked Trouble Hooves. I love seeing ponies in the show with actual horse-like patterns and markings. Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed this but... he was sort of GI-freaking-GANTIC. *CaptainMcDerp has evolved into CaptainMcObvious* The storyline surrounding him was pretty interesting too. So now we know a pony can misunderstand their own cutie mark for years, or even forever. That's a little unnerving. Maybe there should be cutie mark counselors...

 

...Cutie mark counselors...

 

...........

 

I gotta stop coming up with ideas I wanna app.

[RarityDash]

I thought it was strange that half of the Apple family was missing at an event that you'd think they would all be present at.

 

Not really anything too new when you consider that absolutely no one went to see Applejack compete in the Canterlot Rodeo in Last Round Up. That Applejack decided to bring her sister and her friends along is actually kind of progress from that.

 

This was a fun one for me. Not the best we've gotten so far this season, but about on level with the episode last week. Good to see the Appleloosa ponies again. Also a good showing for the CMC. I think it's nice as a follow up to Bloom and Gloom, showing the fillies in the wake of what they learned there not just showing optimism about cutie marks but spreading that optimism to others.

 

Trouble Shoes was a pretty amusing new character too with an interesting design.

[Lux]

Like others said, it started out slow but got interesting later on. Nice to see the twist that Trouble Shoes is misunderstood rather that a villain.  

[YourLittleBrony]

Meh. 

 

An alright episode.  Great to see Braeburn and Appleloosa again. A little surprised to see a CMC episode again and so soon.  Maybe this season they'll get a bit more spotlight?  And nice seeing Sweetie Belle trying out her magic.  Here's hoping Scootaloo will develop her wings a bit more.

 

Trouble Shoes read more as a horse than a normal pony to me. And his design was nifty.  That said, the whole gimmick of "the criminal is really just a misunderstood/clumsy character" was really predictable for me.  Even before Trouble was properly introduced, the first thing that came to mind was "he's just super clumsy."   The 1st half of the episode was a bit stale for me, and didnt fully hold my attention which is a little odd for me.  But it did get interesting later, and I got a chuckle here and there.

 

Not a terrible episode, but there really wasnt much going on for me to call it "memorable". 

[rjrgmc28]

Right. Before I start of my thoughts on the episode, I would like to say that I may upset or get people off side with this recap and some people may not agree with it.

So with that said, let's get this out of the road:

"Overall, this episode didn't interest me one bit. I don't hate it as such, but for me it just felt flat for some reason."

That's right. This episode fell flat for me and I didn't like it. Not one bit.

Although it may not be like a total "I hate this episode and everything in it" like Power Ponies was, this episode despite being CMC themed didn't interest me one bit.

Ok, I might be overreacting a bit here, but there a couple of things that I did not like about this episode. Now I am not going to go into every single one and it's faults, if I did that we would be here all night.

However, there are a few things that really burn me up that I need to address.

While there were some scenes that I liked such as Apple Bloom showing objection to being sent home and Sweetie Belle refining her magic skills, I couldn't for the life of me couldn't follow the story or understand on why Troubleshoes, who was promoted in the episode synopsis as a pony who would end up on Australia's Most Wanted would end up being a rodeo clown.

I went into this episode also having some concern about "you know who" in the form of Braeburn:

"Oh great. Here we go. Cue the "we love Braeburn" stuff..."

"So halfway through the and apart from the CMC, this episode isn't working out for me. Like the theme, hate you know who."

"and when I mean by you know who, I am talking about "that" pony. Not Applejack, not Apple Bloom but Braeburn!"

Now while these next couple of sentences may cause people to grab the torches and pitchforks, I was expecting after this episode to see memes and images that would make me cringe.

I mean, what is so special about Braeburn anyway that warrants stuff like that?

Don't get me wrong here. But why is it everytime you hear his name, see a meme or a image of him that automatically you assume that people think of him in that light? For the record, I don't have anything against him, or do I have any hate or dislike for minor characters in the show.

It's just stuff like the memes and some of the image reactions just make me cringe for some reason. Being middle aged (or close to) usually means you have different thoughts and feelings and have a general dislike for the more modern culture that is out there today.

I am not saying that I hate them. If I did hate on everything that the fandom did including reactions to minor characters, then where would the fun stuff come from?

It's just that I am more of a serious person when it comes to watching the show. I don't care if a trend, meme or a image reaction starts. I prefer to look at the bigger picture and write about my thoughts on how I felt about the episode and argue some points if the need arises. I am not into the memes or image reactions as a personal preference.

So with that out of my system, would I see this episode again any time soon?

Not really.

While many people liked the episode, I won't be in a rush to watch this again any time soon.

I have also have written my full thoughts on the episode itself on my blog, which can be viewed here.

 

I have also included some additional thoughts on the episode in this recap video below:

 

[Rosewind]

I agree that the CMC focus has been building. Maybe this is all ramp up for the finale where they'll get their cutie marks? That would be awesome.

[starswirlthebearded]

I agree that the CMC focus has been building. Maybe this is all ramp up for the finale where they'll get their cutie marks? That would be awesome.

 

 

I'm not sure about that. Though I do get the distinct impression that they are ramping up for CM acquisition... I think it is closer to previous seasons where they gave focus to characters in rotation. 

Though I also feel this entire season will focus on friendship (just from what we have seen so far...) The first two episodes were obvious... The third was about the mane 6's ties as a group in the face of tragedy, fourth was about the possible future of the CMC friendships after CM's were obtained, the fifth was about Dash and Tank.

Actually thinking about it, this was the only one without friendship being the central theme. This ended up being about creating a friendship despite false pretenses. But I wouldn't call it the central focus... But I think this will be a constant theme in one way or another, more so than previous seasons. Focusing on trials and tribulations rather than on strengthening bonds in a conventional sense. 

That said... I'd say this is the weakest episode, for me, thus far. It was nice, but it wasn't strong. I did like how they had Trouble be a rodeo clown... It just didn't resonate with me. I'd probably give this one a 6/10.

[TheColtofPersonality]

This episode was rather meh, not bad but not that good

[Mojo]

I know I'm biased, but I loved this episode because FINALLY the cartoon returns to Apploosa! 

 

That being said, this one wasn't the best of the season, but it has a lot to like!

 

Gotta love Trouble Shoes. 

 

This episode is canon proof that not every cutie mark is instantly understood.

 

No song this time, but song not missed.

 

I liked it, but not as much as last week's RD-Tank episode!

 

   

[WillowWisp]

I was happy to see Braeburn. Gotta wonder how he hurt himself. Maybe could benefit from some foalsitting lessons.

[DanielEricIverson]

I avoided looking at the synopsis before watching the episode, and only could guess at what it might be about based on the title.

That being said, this episode very much seems like it could have been a one-off IDW MLP comic. Like the Micro-Series or friends forever. The story was really simple and not much happened in 22 minutes.

I suppose that if MLPFiM were to decay, that this would be the best way to do it. Instead of having embarrasingly stupid episodes such as Simple Ways or Somepony to Watch Over Me, it would be really mild little anecdotes where only a few members of the cast appear and they solve a problem really easily, that problem beong in the form of some character-of-the-week.

Sometimes I wonder how the little comics stories would be if they were episodes... if they would be the proper 22 minutes long if you tried to turn them into episodes, or of they would run too short or long.

I like that owl from the beginning of when they go into the woods.

Also, Braeburn being incompetent in this episode seems like trolling against his horny fanbase that fawns over him.

[ShadowWalking18]

Applejack seems to have a hard time remembering when someone is hurt.

 

Her brother, and now Braeburn. Each got their injury poked by Applejack

 

Two CMC episodes so early in the season? Is this a sign? It was definitely a cute episode. Sweetie Belle has improved on her magic.

 

Also, Troubleshoe reminded me so much of Eeyore.

[LostSanity]

I kind of liked this episode too. It didn't exactly go how I thought it would when I first read the episode synopsis. But that tends to happen for me a lot I guess. I was actually glad to see that the criminal was not really a criminal and actually kind-hearted.

It was kind of interesting to see the CMC help another pony, who was an adult, help them understand something about their cutie mark that wasn't what they originally thought. It was kind of cool to see the CMC help somepony that wasn't a filly or getting into trouble (for the most part anyway).

I don't know what it was about this one, but I just really liked it.

Yet another GREAT episode.

 

[Kulstor]

overall I liked the episode.  It was fun to see Appleoosa again, (or however you spell it).  it was a fun little episode that nothing huge happened but one ponies life was changed for the better.  It was obvious pretty early on what Troubleshoes was best for in terms of rodeoing.  Nice to see the CMC's again.  I like when they have episodes where the main 6 don't all have to appear in. 

[ShadowWalking18]

I kind of liked this episode too. It didn't exactly go how I thought it would when I first read the episode synopsis. But that tends to happen for me a lot I guess. I was actually glad to see that the criminal was not really a criminal and actually kind-hearted.It was kind of interesting to see the CMC help another pony, who was an adult, help them understand something about their cutie mark that wasn't what they originally thought. It was kind of cool to see the CMC help somepony that wasn't a filly or getting into trouble (for the most part anyway).I don't know what it was about this one, but I just really liked it.Yet another GREAT episode.

If you think about it. Even in the real world, adults need the clarity of a child's mind and understanding that we tend to lose as we age to set us straight.

[tacobob]

Probably the weakest episode of the season so far, but I still liked it......And really....Colt Troubleshoes...What a cute little guy.

[Hawkeye12]

Been catching up with the episodes got behind on, so I thought I'd leave my thoughts while they're still fresh.

First off, like most others said, I really wasn't into the first half. The fact that the CMC were at the rodeo just so they could get their marks kinda bothered me. It's like how they were in S1. I mean, don't you think Applebloom would at least be interested in it because she's an Apple and all?

I dunno. Maybe I'm just rambling.

Anyways, the rest of the story minus the beginning I enjoyed. I liked the misunderstood Troubleshoes (or is it Trouble Shoes?) character. Seriously, this season and the last one have been great with them! Except....

Hold on a second....

Wait. Troubleshoes is EXACTLY like a rodeo version of my colt character...

O-okay. I see how it is Hasbro. >_>

Anyways, there's also all the minor things I liked: Sweetie Belle's magic, all the rodeo events, best pony competing in the rodeo, and yeah.

The end I really liked also, since Troubleshoes got what he always Andrés and stuff...and the CMC got what they deserved for sneaking off, which makes the beginning slightly less meh.

Overall this one was okay. I liked it in the end, but it's not the best. Now then, onto the Discord episode!