Official Discussion Thread - S05E9 Slice Of Life

[TheColtofPersonality]

Brilliant stuff! I thought for sure they'd got Colin Baker and Jeff Bridges for the voices of the Doctor and Lebowski respectively - but anyway, fab-tastic!

 

(Is it me or is Button Mash a somewhat lighter shade of brown?)

 

Holy crap I wasnt the only one who thought Dr. Hooves sounded like Colin Baker, it was what was going in my mind the whole time.

I mean he sure didnt sound like David Tennant nor Matt Smith nor Peter Capaldi  (or Chris Eccleston for that matter) as the new series is more easy to make references but MA larson or someone on the staff must have been more like a classic who fan.

Or knew enough about it to draw the basis of the doctor.

Actually i see Whooves a mix of Tennant in looks, Colin Basker in voice, has Tom Bakers scarf and seems almost a mix of Matt Smith and David Tennant in his personality, with a small side order of Tom Baker my favorite doctor

[QuickLime]

 That episode was beautiful, it was such a love letter to us, and the Mayors speech put tears in my eyes.

[Ciraxis]

Well this is it folks. The moment has come, the fanon and cannon came together closer then even before. One giving ground for the other.

 

Probably others deep though would come but it doesn't matter. We got what we asked for. And for once it was what we wanted too.

[DanielEricIverson]

Well guys.

It happened.

Everyone knows it. I know it, you know it, the animators know it.

 

I don't get it, what is supposed to be so special about this image, you seem to be talking about some specific detail in these screensh- oh.

Huh that shark looks like it is drawn very much in the style of the show, but obviously it is jusy rapidly-made joke fanar- (checks the episode and carefully pauses) oh.

So they are basically admitting it.

I don't know you very well, Dulset Tarn, but it does make sense that this post is from you.

[Mojo]

Just saw the episode....  I am beyond words...  one of THE best eps EVER!!!!!

 

     

[brianblackberry]

Well write a serious reply to the episode late, right now, I just gotta say...
 

Best Friends

"Best Friends"

[SunsetSombra]

So much fun in that whole scene.

[CaptainMcDerp]

I had tons of fun watching this! Like Rosewind said, this episode was a pure love letter to the fans and I totally agree. Not only was the concept a blast, the writing was top notch. This will certainly be one of my favorites. Also I LOVED Derpy's voice. It was so cute. All of the voices were awesome. I kept thinking Bon Bon was Pinkie Pie though but that's not a biggie. Loved the chemistry between Bonbon/Lyra Derpy/Doctor, and Vinyl/Octavia. It made me a huge fan of them all. And the little bickering between Celestia and Luna was adorable. Also interesting to see a little changeling sitting in the back. Weddings are probably an all you can eat buffet for them. And dat Gummy scene. XD I could tell the team had a lot of fun making it so I couldn't help but have fun watching it.

 

10/10. Would hype again

[ShadowWalking18]

There was a changeling? *gods back to show*

I loved this episode. It confirms several fanon into canon, while still

Leaving enough for us to form our own head canons and not too drastically alter interpretations of characters in rps, art, comics or fanfiction.

Bugbear is now something I want to wrestle with in to. Who wants to join me in bugbear wrestling?

The wedding was simply beautiful and I cried a little bit at the end.

Oh just one thing I noticed, though this could just be my own headcanon but through this whole episode Vinyl didn't talk once. Not once! So that makes me wonder....

...is vinyl scratch mute? Can't talk period? Is her music a way of expressing herself due to not being able to speak? Some one tell me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ashton]

I will forgo my usual "everything is wrapping itself up! The series is ending! NNNNOOOO!!!" speech, if you want to see it, look back int he archives, I've made it many times. (though in this case even DHX themselves admited they were jumping the shark, so lol) Though I will say they seem to be pushing the envelope this season... of course each season pushes it more and more, so... celestia help us if this series goes on long enough what it will have hidden in it!

 

My jaw barely left the floor...

 

ALL FANON IS TRUE!!!!! We must dig even deeper into the crazy barrel to find stuff that is not canon! Now I even question if some of THAT stuff will be made canon!

 

Though seriously, while I would of course have liked to see more Dashie (and Scoots) this has got to be the best non-dash episode ever. How they managed to get hasbro to greenlight this is beyond me, so much crap was passed under the radar (not just "parental bonuses" but things hasbro didn't want to say "yeah that kinda really is how it is" like Lyra/bonbon or Scratch/tavi) that I cant even see over it! And to bring back SO many one-off characters, many with speaking parts! (even some without speaking parts that seemed gone forever)  though that seems to be the whole theme of this season in a way...

 

...and then the tiny reveal near the end of the changeling just sitting there and... well "being accepted" is not the word, but the fact there were not torches and pitchforks was a suprise!

 

 

Whaaat? Am I looking at the wrong episode or something?

 

 

You got something special. I dont know if the steam team did it somehow or not, but as per every source (including my bible, TV Tropes) the official credits say "Muffins"

 

 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Yep just watched it... Oh wow! That's all just wow, mind blown too much awesome

[tacobob]

Wonderful episode..I do like how they got Peter New to really flex his vocal talents...And they just need to give Doctor Hooves his own show.. Love his whole set up...There were a couple of bits that made me groan...but all in all, it was a great ep...10 out of 10 tacos.   This is an episode I'll probably be keeping on my DVR for a long time...

[DanielEricIverson]

The third act with the bass-mobile speaker mobile thing was rushed and stupid. Way too fannish and a stupidly actiony fake-climactic ending before the wedding actually starts, and also Vinyl not talking is just annoying at this point. Also making her genre of music principally dubstep is dumbing down her character.

I've watched the episode twice now, and:
The voice acting was probably the best part of the episode. I instantly recognized Peter New (Sunil Nevla) as "Doc".

Bon Bon's backstory was overly Pinkie Pie-esque.

Doc was the only one of the six main ponies here to actually have anything resembling an adventure, and also the only previously personality-less (in canon) character to truly get one. (Well him and Gummy) He actually did something new and different. Lyra and Bon Bon just exchanged some dialogue.

If the fandom had never come up with two names for Bon Bon/Sweetie Drops, this whole secret agent dialogue thing (which didn't amount to anything more than dialogue) wouldn't have sucked up all that pair's time and instead we could've had a real anecdote for them doing something together.

The best and funniest characters here were non-Background Mane 6.
Steven Magnet, Cranky, Matilda, the bowling ponies, the flower ponies, Sweetie Belle. and even Gummy to some degree, altho I think that type of joke where a normally non-talking character introspectively says something deep or thinks it with inner speech is a tired cliché that hardly works, and not so much here. It just seemed like some thirty-odd seconds of filler.

Derpy (credited as Muffins in the end credits) was still underutilized and I am sick of the canon and fanon, including the IDW comics, consistently having ponies depend on her for tasks that she clearly shouldn't be doing, such as delivering mail or invitations. I'd rather have seen her in a scene that actually explains why she has bubbles for a cutie mark.

The fanon and canon both aren't letting her have her own destiny defined. She keeps getting in situations that are a bad fit for her, sort of like... I'm reminded of something from The Simpsons here... Gil from The Simpsons, but it is funny and relatable for Gil because we have some semblance of why he ended up at that place.


Again, at least Tabitha St. Germain voiced her, and voiced her in a pretty way that wasn't a stereotypical "derp" voice.

[SunsetSombra]

Question...how do you dumb down a character who never had any full scenes before ever?

Also she expresses herself via music rather than her voice...thats FAR more original than the fanons you so claim to hate. So really it appears that you are just mad your own headcanon'd version of Vinyl isnt showcanon.

Just let things go...its way easier than holding onto some futile idea about how one shows idea of its character doesnt 'gel' with what you want.

It happens, deal with it.

[LostSanity]

Hi.

 

Stuff like this is why I'm glad I got into this show/series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEST. EPISODE. EVER.

 

 

 

Go celebrate.

 

 

 

[Lux]

Wow! What a great episode! There was so much to look at that I think it begs a second look through. I admit I was leery about a non-main cast episode but this one was very well put together. 

 

 

 

• Derpy- Despite being named Muffins in the credits, I'm still calling her that. The new voice is perfect for her, not too dopey but almost childlike in nature. 
• Lyra and Bonbon aka Sweet Drops - Love the secret spy angle and her ties to the bug bear.
• Vinyl Scratch and Octavia - A great musical number with them followed by an even better run through town and gathering up all the ponies. 
• Steve Magnet - It was great seeing him again especially a nod to the season opener with offering his mustache to Cranky. 
• The bugbear - nice new villain for the main six to face.
• The Big Lebowski - love the reference to the three bowlers especially the pony like The Dude. Also saying man every sentence was classic.  
• Dr. Whooves - Love the accent, his love of science, and his antics. 
• Mayor Mare's speech - this left a tear in my eye as that was a call out to every fan and every original character created and how they can make a difference. 
• Shining Armor crying before the wedding. 
• Luna and Celestia fighting over a misplaced gift. 

 

 

I'm sure I forgot something, but overall this was a nice episode featuring the background ponies we all love! 9000+/10

[DanielEricIverson]

Question...how do you dumb down a character who never had any full scenes before ever?

Also she expresses herself via music rather than her voice...thats FAR more original than the fanons you so claim to hate. So really it appears that you are just mad your own headcanon'd version of Vinyl isnt showcanon.

Just let things go...its way easier than holding onto some futile idea about how one shows idea of its character doesnt 'gel' with what you want.

It happens, deal with it.

You just got too involved in the semantics of the "down" part of "dumbing down". I'm talking about her being dumbed "down" compared to what she could potentially be. As in, having a joke or gag other than just "I am silent dubstep pony who has a wacky cart that will roll rapidly through Ponyville to the setting of the final scene because now this episode needs to get to the ending of its 22 minutes.

 

The part where Doc makes a circle shape which causes her to lead him to a bowling alley is a good joke that I didn't get the first time.

 

I don't have any "headcanons" about Vinyl, so this didn't offend any "headcanon" of mine, what did I say that gave you that idea?. I just wanted the characters that were the principal focus of scenes to actually make those scenes funny or interesting.

 

"Also she expresses herself via music rather than her voice"

 

Rather than her voice? Now that is just a lofty justification for not giving her any lines. The real reason is that they didn't feel like giving her a voice or more things to do because an action-y scene is simpler to come up with.

 

I thought there would be much more characters with speaking parts, or more background character appearances in general

 

....oh wait, now on my third watching, I'm warming up to the Vinyl/Octavia scene (I never really had a problem with the scene from before they exit the house)

 

... I forgot that that scene actually did have a proper transition into going on the fast cart-thing because Octavia did indeed say, "I'm gonna be late!" and Vinyl only responded after that. She didn't just whip out the bass cart just because just to show off and arbitrarily make everything she does inherently electronic music related.

 

I feel as if there could've have been one line in the episode that someone could've said (perhaps Lyra or Vinyl) that could've made for funny lampshade hanging that could've been really funny if it would've came out of left field.

 

For example, after Vinyl makes it into the wedding gazebo, we could see her with her shades disheveled and her looking scared but somewhat calmly saying. "I didn't even know what I was doing just then" (describing how she transported Octavia and herself on the cart) while making a quick nervous glance at Octavia.

 

And then Octavia says excitedly "But Iii waaaas! I was doing the steering!" This could've been a funny and ironic reversal of Octavia and Vinyl's "Red Oni, Blue Oni" duality in which Vinyl Scratch is ordinarily Red and Octavia Melody, Blue. And they totally could have shortened some other things to fit that in. Briefly pooping on Vinyl's "cool as a cucumber" total enigma image (which was canon before the fans did anything with her) would've been funny.

 

I don't usually rate things on scaled of 1 to 10, especially not MLPFiM episodes, but this episode would probably still be rated above "the halfway point" of five. So like at least six.

 

But everyone nows that anything below six is garbage (or maybe that is just for video game reviews).

 

.................

 

The most cringeworthy moment for me is the way Lyra reacted to learning that Bon Bon used to live a secret life before she met her. Bon Bon kept this secret from her, but that does not mean "their whole friendship is based on a lie" (or even their friendship in general without the "whole", unless Sweetie Drops was assigned to specifically befriend her for secret-agent reasons, which was not implied to be the case.

 

Bon Bon's immediate reply was "I'm sorry Lyra, I couldn't tell you for your own protection!" She says this instead of the much more obvious thing to say (even when under emotional pressure to console someone's feelings) would be surprise and "What? No, our friendship wasn't based on anything like that!"

 

Her actual line was made solely so it could lead into Lyra's response "none of that was real?" and the tender moment thereafter.

 

Their whole drama was just unpleasant to watch, and so was Lyra's scoffing attitude of the beginning of her scene at the wedding. It definitely wasn't funny or even fun, it was unfunny and I wanted it to end so the show could move to another character or group of characters.

[Cadabra]

I found the plot a little thin, but I still found it fun. There was really only one thing that made me angry, and that was Steven Magnet's pressure builder at the salon. When he told Matilda that the wedding was more important than the marriage, I couldn't believe it.

Now, I work in the wedding industry. I'm a wedding videographer with seven years of experience under my belt, and capturing the day is important to what I do. However, I am constantly reminding my clients that while the day goes over so fast and watching your video will help you relive your wedding day, your wedding video becomes something of a tool in the hard times of your marriage. I like capturing the words of love and wisdom from family and friends for my couples to watch because these are the couple's support group. It's not the two of them vs the world. It's them, plus their support group, vs the world. In order for a marriage to work, you need to know that you have others to give you advice, others who can guide and inspire you, shoulders to cry on, and much more. While you can have the most extravagant, beautiful, Pintrest inspired wedding your guests have ever seen, it will be all for nothing if love is not there.

My favorite wedding reading comes from 1 Corinthians, saying that without love, I am nothing and that I gain nothing. Basically, you can have all the frills of a beautiful wedding, but it's nothing but a show if you aren't coming from a place of love. When your wedding becomes "all about me" and not about joining together with the love of your life for the long haul, then you do not understand what being married is about.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I want to talk about what I did like. My favorite moment was watching Celestia and Luna bicker over the forgotten gift like an old married couple. I see this from time to time at the weddings that I film and it makes me smile a little bit, thinking about how the couple I am working for will one day run into the same thing. That and the character development for the two princesses was great.

The little nods everywhere were a fun addition. I'm not a Whovian, but I did enjoy the Doctor character and his interactions with Derpy. I also enjoyed Lyra and Bon Bon, Vinyl and Octavia, and especially Gummy's inner monolog. I especially liked Mayor Mare's speech at the ceremony, addressing the crowd. While it was a very touching thanks to the fandom, it also reflected well on what I had stated above about the importance of support in a marriage. All in all, I very much enjoyed this episode.

[DanielEricIverson]

The most cringeworthy moment for me is the way Lyra reacted to learning that Bon Bon used to live a secret life before she met her. Bon Bon kept this secret from her, but that does not mean "their whole friendship is based on a lie" (or even their friendship in general without the "whole", unless Sweetie Drops was assigned to specifically befriend her for secret-agent reasons or was somehow such a naturally non-sociable pony that all friendships exist solely to blend in, in Ponyville (sounds more extreme than Twilight at the first episode), which was not implied to be the case.

 

Bon Bon's immediate reply was "I'm sorry Lyra, I couldn't tell you for your own protection!" She says this instead of the much more obvious thing to say (even when under emotional pressure to console someone's feelings) would be surprise and "What? No, our friendship wasn't based on anything like that!"

 

Her actual line was made solely so it could lead into Lyra's response "none of that was real?" and the tender moment thereafter.

 

Their whole drama was just unpleasant to watch, and so was Lyra's scoffing attitude of the beginning of her scene at the wedding. It definitely wasn't funny or even fun, it was unfunny and I wanted it to end so the show could move to another character or group of characters.

I indeed did done quoted myself, except for the bolded part about making friendships solely to blend in, I added that part just now.

 

"I'm sorry Lyra, I couldn't tell you for your own protection" could just be Bon Bon responding quickly without thinking fully of Lyra's angry question. She may have heard it as "lie" (keeping a secret about her secret agent past) but not so much the "friendship based on" aspect.

But the end result is that Lyra was even more worried that the secret completely invalidated all social interactions in that the secret also involved a pre-planned relationship.

This was written that way just so it would lead to Lyra's second line "none of that was real?" so Bon Bon could make a tender reply.

 

 

 

 

 

They could've added in a line such as "to be quite honest, I needed to earn the trust of a unicorn that could magically take out/deactivate my tracking chip and you fit that criteria at the time" Either immediately before or after "Are you saying our whole friendship was based on a lie?" was asked by Lyra.

That would've made it all the more obvious the extent of what "lies" their friendship was "based on". Also it would've been a badass thing to mention.

[Rosewind]

I think it's possible that looking too deeply at something will make you completely miss the point. This episode was both a thesis of character design that was slowly developed by popular consensus over several years, and a nod of respect, inclusion, and admiration toward that fan-based creativity. The individual components are nothing without the whole, which was the primary message of this episode itself.

[SunsetSombra]

 

 

They could've added in a line such as "to be quite honest, I needed to earn the trust of a unicorn that could magically take out/deactivate my tracking chip and you fit that criteria at the time" Either immediately before or after "Are you saying our whole friendship was based on a lie?" was asked by Lyra.

 

To be honest, this actually sounds far more contrived than anything else the scene itself ever depicted, sorry to say.

[tacobob]

interesting things that could have happened...

 

(From http://www.equestriadaily.com/2015/06/ma-larson-reveals-all-sorts-of-fun.html)

 

• In the first draft Vinyl Scratch's talked, but they told him she doesn't talk, so it was removed in phase 2. 
• The original Vinyl Scratch and Octavia scene involved Vinyl crashing at Octavia's house and destroying her sofa. So she goes to Quills and Sofas to buy a new one. They weren't originally roommates, but The Hub and Hasbro made them roommates. 
• Flash Sentry was originally in the script. He was following Cranky asking why no one likes him.
• Another cut scene was a group of ponies coming in, and a group of their recolor ponies running into them, followed by awkwardness. 
• His original reason for not wanting to bowl, was because he had trauma as a kid where he couldn't figure out the physics behind it, which lead to his science focused career. 
• Sombra appears in front of Octavia, and a "Devil went down to Georgia" song battle starts up.
• Outside of episode 100, there was originally a cut scene where after Twilight is coronated, Rainbow Dash and her fly around Equestria, eventually ending up in dragonland where they do a musical scene.
• There was a scene where Derpy is saying "I don't know what to do doc! I don't know what to do!" and the camera pans over to reveal Dr. Caballeron, revealing Derpy at the wrong table with the wrong doctor.  Gags like this were throughout the entire original script.
• After everyone is gone and in the town hall, the bat ponies and royal guards are outside doing silly impressions of Princess Luna and Celestia. "Every day shall be cake day!". 
• At one point, Lyra tells Bonbon to "stop using that ridiculous voice!" to make fun of her other voices. 
• In the script, Gummy had a french accent. 
• There was a moment where Doctor Whooves is running up to Carousel Boutique, and he sees Opal and Tom. 
• A scene between Coco Pommel and the pony from season one in Boast Busters with the green mane that Rarity accidently insults was cut. She had a full green wedding ensemble on with Coco's stamp of approval, and said she couldn't wait until Rarity saw it as revenge. Coco Pommel then says she doesn't really like green, and asks for anything in pink.
  The original ending had the hugging scene with the mane 6 being their usual end-of-episode corny selves, but the camera pans to the sunset where a changeling army is flying in...

[Noedig]

How to put it definitively?

 

This episode was a wave-crashing overflow of explosions given to fans... for fans. And almost all the fans have burnt up to a crisp with glee.

I was going on constantly throughout the whole episode like this, "Whaaaaat? No frickin' way! They did it! I'm overjoyed!"

I know some people would have preferred Vinyl to speak, but I see her as the silent type.

The changeling at the near ending, I was d'awwing at the poor fella.

Doctor Whooves... just wow. 120% Timelord.

And Gummy... brilliant.