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Post by acehoneycomb on May 10, 2014 5:38:29 GMT -5
This episode was rather average, but had its good points. We got to see Lancer's house (looks like after 7 episodes he's back with the girls again) and the song was strangely catchy. The unfortunate thing is that parts of it felt like they were cut out of 'Stand by Me' and Teddy was acting like even more of a jerk in this than most episodes (although it isn't as bad as his attitude in Blue Ribbon Blues and anyway, he was mad about the girls not letting him go to Sweetheart's party, wasn't it?). So, let there be discussion!
(By the way, Sweetheart turning 10 is a reference to the MLP brand celebrating its 10th birthday around this time).
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Post by Notes on May 10, 2014 5:57:04 GMT -5
Actually, I believe that MLP turned eight this time. They released the first special in 1984, right?
But I truthfully didn't like this episode very much. Part of why I detest (for lack of a better word) Teddy in most of his episodes is because he gets away with too much. That's because of his supposed heart of gold. In Blue Ribbon Blues, he was an intolerable brat to his gracious hosts (who, I might mention, are family members). Shop Talk degraded him further into a hypocrite. The writers made it obvious that they were slanted in their presentation because he is a total irredeemable bully. He's proven right by uncharacteristic girls, who just dig themselves early graves by affirming his insults in that boat scene. Sheesh. lB.
But that said, I liked Lancer and Sweetheart's interactions, and how Melody and Patch look in those killer shades (which rank second on the coolest shades list for me). The song was the best part, though. Catchy and with amusing visuals. ("Pass the lemon! Charades and statues! Tag!") Seriously, that Tag thing was just... pfft! It was also amusing how everyone shared everyone's voices. Voice-wise, it was just Starlight and Bon Bon singing. But they also crammed in Lancer and Patch. Sweetheart was also adorable in the last few seconds.
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Post by acehoneycomb on Jun 15, 2014 7:06:34 GMT -5
Indeed they did, but I actually meant the tenth anniversary of the MLP toy brand, established in 1982. Since this episode aired in the fall of 1992, that would place it at pretty much exactly a decade after the first toys came out.
In fact, a new thought just crossed my head: Was the episode made for singularly that purpose? It explains why it felt so much like a repeat of Stand By Me with Lancer in. Whilst this episode was better than Shop Talk and Blue Ribbon Blues to an extent for me, it was rather forgettable due to being similar to the said before episode, except Teddy was acting far, far worse in this episode.
But really, it isn't honestly an episode I fully dislike, it just needed to fix a lot of stuff.
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Post by Notes on Jun 15, 2014 8:48:10 GMT -5
Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification.
I doubt it; I can't see how having a rehash episode would fall into an anniversary. A birthday episode would, though.
See, this is my new LEAST FAVORITE episode. Teddy is such a Mary Sue as he was presented in this show... Yet Lancer had an interesting perspective shown in this episode for the analytic fanfic writer, even if it was ignored... urgh... I don't hate any episodes, for the record.
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Post by bobdude on Jun 19, 2014 11:52:36 GMT -5
While I agree that the episode is a rehash of Stand By Me and Blue Ribbon Blues, I still have a fondness for it. Liked that Lancer took charge of the situation and liked his take on the "Lock em in a room until they work out their differences". Plus I love the back and forth between the girls and Teddy, especially Melody's "Well at least I care about something" not even denying Teddy's accusation of being a shallow party girl. My only complaint with the episode is the shortness of the episode. Out of all the Tales episode I would have LOVED to see this episode lengthened, stretching out the back and forth conversation between Teddy and the girls. As for Teddy himself, I always saw the contest thing as getting revenge for the day before at Lancer's house. Or something. Dudes a mohawked 90s version of Dennis the Menace, least thats how I see him. Maybe my thoughts will change when I get to the episode itself for my reviews.
Also, anyone else find it interesting how the girls didn't have any sort of bathing suits for the swim contest? Not in a perverted way mind you.
Also, this episode actually gave us a rough age range for the Mane Seven, that's something.
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Post by Notes on Jun 19, 2014 12:12:05 GMT -5
Yeah, different strokes for different folks, but I think this episode just put Teddy on a pedestal and flanderized the cast at it... The Sweetheart and Lancer moments were awesome, though. And the implications about Lancer's character were... interesting. I'll probably end up doing review type things, where I analyze good and bad points of episodes and make ideas out of them while trying to remain positive.
They had noseplugs, and those silly-pony hats. But I liked the lack of swimsuits for some reason.
And yes, the age range, though somewhat expected, was a good hint.
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Post by bobdude on Jun 19, 2014 12:50:22 GMT -5
Eh, not really seeing the pedestal or fladerization honestly. It's not as if the other girls are all singing Teddy's praises, plus they at least have a history of disliking Teddy. Do you mean stuff like Bright Eyes "Yes I do!" comment? I just see that as more of a different, if seldom seen side of her character: Arrogance. Dunno, will certainly think that about this stuff when I get around to the episode for reviewing. Mind, this isn't the first time I've disagreed with folks when it came to Tales (looks at the YMMV page on Tales).
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Post by Notes on Jun 19, 2014 13:05:43 GMT -5
Yeah, at least the girls aren't falling into the trap, but that's small comfort because the UNIVERSE loves Teddy. Just think about it. Ace gets called a jerk for what he does, and gets proper reprimanding. Melody almost loses her friends over one instance of arrogant behavior. Teddy is never in trouble. To add to that, he is sung about by the writers as a boy with a heart of gold, and they pretty much state that the girls are petty and selfish for not liking him. He was praised for getting Corny in trouble and then getting the courage to bail him out. He learned NOTHING in Shop Talk, even though he was a hypocrite, and I HATE hypocrites. -_- He landed on top with everyone else having something the matter, while in Impractical Joker, while Patch didn't learn a thing, everybody was even, and they were having fun at the end. I could debate it all day, though.
Sometimes I grimly joke that Sweetheart is obsessed with him, but that isn't far from the truth, as unfortunate as it is.
Yes and no. I know Bright Eyes has arrogance, but she wouldn't pour over books in the library if she knew everything. She was just proving Teddy correct where it was unnecessary. A VERY poor choice for the writers, in my opinion.
I'll talk about it in that review if I get to it. I've already decided against doing it in order (I'll just do the episode that has me inspired at the moment) but I'm a bit iffy on having an overall negative episode being first.
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Post by bobdude on Jun 19, 2014 15:25:05 GMT -5
Me thinks you may be projecting just a TOUCH much on Teddy Notes, but that's just me.
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Post by Notes on Jun 19, 2014 15:34:12 GMT -5
Hah, yeah, kind of. When it comes to Teddy's portrayal in the show, you might need to... reel me in, if you know what I mean. Teddy has potential, but, even risking sounding like an analyst, his portrayal was shaky at best for me.
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