My Little Pony Friendship is Magic General

[Zeldafan2]

Watched it! Finally.

[spoiler]
I agree with ZeldaFan that it wasn't as good as the other premiers. But it was a good episode. There was some pacing issues: The Spike rescue part was too short and rushed, they could have done less with Sombre looming and put it towards the Spike rescue as it didn't accomplish much.
But I liked the part where Twilight goes to get the heart, as well as the parts of the crystal fair. I'm glad we got to see the jousting. Rarity stole the show, she was my favorite in the episodes and the others, except for Pinkie, was all great.

I do have two major problems with the episode though:
One: I hated the 'failure success' song. It was a great song with well done animation. But it didn't fit in the story, as well as the 'Twilight's test' plot device. These two only work together with each other with no connection to the plot whatsoever. The vibe the song gave was off and using a test to force Twilight in making a difficult choice was weak and unnecessary.

Two: They slaughtered Pinkie's character, she was completely OOC. Her randomness always had some form of subtle intelligence and meaning, here it just didn't work. They made her the stereotypical annoying character I was afraid she'd become at the start of FiM and for the first time EVER, my favorite of the main six annoyed me.
[/spoiler]

I agree with you.

[spoiler] I didn't think of it before, but Pinkie Pie did seem a little more annoying than usual. But honestly, I wouldn't say everything Pinkie Pie does has a reason, even a subtle reason. I could list different times in the series I've seen her just be completley random, but I don't think I need to.

I also agree the whole test tie in was rather weak. But all and all, it was a pretty good episode (and yes, Rarity was hilarious in this episode. [/spoiler]

[rocklobster]

You guys have seen that Harry Potter puppets video "The Terrible Ticking Noise", right?
Well someone's ponified it: click here!

[Twister980]

You guys have seen that Harry Potter puppets video "The Terrible Ticking Noise", right?
Well someone's ponified it: click here!

Sadly though, they were terribly out of sync in my opinion.

Also, Gak had more screen time then our villain.

[Bio_Plus]

[spoiler]
It's not that Pinkie has a reason for her randomness, but that there's a reason for it in the context of the episode. Here it feels truly random, just for random sake. But you're right, there was times that they dropped her character in the past, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. But it feels to me that they really didn't do a good job with her this time.

As for King Sombra, he was a looming threat, creating a sense of urgency rather than physical danger. Which is good story wise, but I realize now that this creates a big plot hole. If King Sombra was defeated with the Elements of Harmony before, there is no reason why they couldn't have done it again. Unless it would have caused the Empire to disappear again, but that wasn't explained either. *facehoof*[/spoiler]

[Zeldafan2]

[spoiler]
It's not that Pinkie has a reason for her randomness, but that there's a reason for it in the context of the episode. Here it feels truly random, just for random sake. But you're right, there was times that they dropped her character in the past, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. But it feels to me that they really didn't do a good job with her this time.

As for King Sombra, he was a looming threat, creating a sense of urgency rather than physical danger. Which is good story wise, but I realize now that this creates a big plot hole. If King Sombra was defeated with the Elements of Harmony before, there is no reason why they couldn't have done it again. Unless it would have caused the Empire to disappear again, but that wasn't explained either. *facehoof*[/spoiler]

I didn't think of that before, that's actually a good point.

[spoiler] But I assume they didn't have the ponies use the elements of harmony so they could show more variety in the way the characters would defeat the villains. [/spoiler]

But, in other news, we've got two more episode synposis. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS.

[spoiler] Episode 5: Magic Duel

When Trixie returns to Ponyville, she defeats Twilight in a magic duel, and banishes her from town.

Episode 6: Sleepless in Ponyville

Scootaloo begins to have nightmares after hearing the frightful campfire stories.

Okay, so Trixie comes back, and we have a Scootaloo centric episode.

AWESOME!

*Info taken from wikipedia. [/spoiler]

[Bio_Plus]

But, in other news, we've got two more episode synposis. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS.

[spoiler] Episode 5: Magic Duel

When Trixie returns to Ponyville, she defeats Twilight in a magic duel, and banishes her from town.

Episode 6: Sleepless in Ponyville

Scootaloo begins to have nightmares after hearing the frightful campfire stories.

Okay, so Trixie comes back, and we have a Scootaloo centric episode.

AWESOME!

*Info taken from wikipedia. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]
I saw a possible screen shot from the magic duel and I honestly think it looks and sound like some bad fanfic. I'm excited for Trixie's return, but I do hope they pull it off and I'm worrying for nothing.

On the Scootaloo episode though, I'm sitting at the edge of my seat.
[/spoiler]

[Zeldafan2]

So, regarding "Too Many Pinkie Pies,"

[spoiler] Obviously, I wasn't expecting as much compared to the season premiere, so I was able to enjoy this episode. Again, the pacing felt off, and some of the humor wasn't quite as funny as I hoped. Overall, however, it was an enjoyable episode with Pinkie Pie training the new Pinkie Pies being one of the most enjoyable aspects. And Twilight making things have orange....

My favorite part of the episode, however, was the clone Pinkie Pie retrofying herself. I couldn't stop laughing. [/spoiler]

[rocklobster]

[spoiler]They seriously need to have Dave Polsky stop writing episodes. He sucks at it. On a positive side, did anyone see that Rainbow was reading a Daring Do book? Great continuity[/spoiler]

[Zeldafan2]

[spoiler]They seriously need to have Dave Polsky stop writing episodes. He sucks at it. On a positive side, did anyone see that Rainbow was reading a Daring Do book? Great continuity[/spoiler]

Out of curiosity, what exactly did you really dislike about this episode?

[spoiler] I mean, sure there were many things I would have done differently to make the episode better, but Dave's previous episodes (Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over a Barrel) weren't exactly terrible episodes. (Although I do agree, his characterization of Pinkie Pie is definitley off. [/spoiler]

[FllMtl Novelist]

I actually... enjoyed this episode a lot. It's quite a shift in humor and focus from the season opener, but I honestly don't think there was any real dip in quality.

And orange animals are strangely adorable, if you don't think too hard about it.

[Bio_Plus]

[spoiler]
Dave Polsky!? I didn't even realize he wrote it when I watched the episode. Wow, he has gotten a lot better at it. My usual issues with him is his weak stories, set pieces, and use of the characters. This actually had none of those, the story was well contained in the episode and the characters was solid enough, unlike his other episodes.

On to the episode:
Just what freaky kind of pond is that!? It summoned all the fanon Pinkie Pies into the show!!!
This was a really simple and enjoyable episode that's really easy to watch. Pinkie is back to her usual form (Polsky did a good job this time at using her set character and not forcing something new) and it's easy to identify her from her annoying fanon counterparts. Again we delve a little deeper into Pinkie's problems of self doubt and her inability to handle it, although I would like to see them beginning to resolve this a little more in the future (although not through Polsky if I'm honest).
All-in-all the episode was entertaining and kept my attention all the time.
[/spoiler]

[rocklobster]

I just feel that Polsky doesn't really understand how to make Pinkie Pie work without making her an annoying character. She wasn't as annoying as she is in his other stories, but it was pretty close. I don't think Pinkie is meant to be an annoying character.

[Bio_Plus]

I just feel that Polsky doesn't really understand how to make Pinkie Pie work without making her an annoying character. She wasn't as annoying as she is in his other stories, but it was pretty close. I don't think Pinkie is meant to be an annoying character.

[spoiler]I agree, but I like this episode because we see the regular Pinkie next to a bunch of annoying Pinkies the fandom so easily use. It's not just at the end when the real Pinkie is moping, but throughout the episode. The way the real Pinkie tries to explain to RD about her duplicates, while the first clone just went annoyingly berserk at Fluttershy. The way she tells her clones to 'knock it off' and 'yes, it's fun there'. She sounds natural when she does it. When she avoids RD after seeing all the other Pinkies there and when she feels sorry about what all the other Pinkies are doing to her friends.
By using all the annoying Pinkies we get to see a little of just why Pinkie isn't that annoying type of character.[/spoiler]

[Bio_Plus]

Tears that fall on the bow
Friendship tried but never know
Family ties are gone.

[Zeldafan2]

Tears that fall on the bow
Friendship tried but never know
Family ties are gone.

I'm confused. What exactly does this mean?

Regarding the episode, however:

[spoiler] This was a good episode. I liked the return of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the song was really good as well. The episode had predicitiability written all over it, but it was still fun to watch. [/spoiler]

In other news,

[spoiler] it looks like magic duel will be a one hour episode. [/spoiler]

[Bio_Plus]

I'm confused. What exactly does this mean?

That's just me being bored while waiting for the episode.
Which is a haiku prediction of the episode based on the synopsis, which turned out pretty cool I think.
This is also the first time I've tried to seriously write a haiku. Well, not too seriously, as I just took a quick glance over what makes a haiku and jumped into it, because I wanted to write something. Still, I think I captured the essence of it. What does eveypony think? Good or bad?

In other news,

[spoiler] it looks like magic duel will be a one hour episode. [/spoiler]

This was debunked by the staff unfortunately, the episode length is the same as the others I'm afraid.

On to the new episode:

[spoiler]
Flying and magic!! Woohoo!!! Our girls are growing up. :') Take that haters! They are getting better.

I was really hoping this episode would be better than Ponyville Confidential, but sadly it didn't come close. I think this is the weakest of the CMC episodes so far, but maybe I think that because of my high expectations. I'm going to have to watch it a few more times to make a final decision.

First the fun stuff: Besides enjoying the regular CMC antics, especially Scootaloo at the end XD, and getting to see Sweetie's room and house for the first time. The throwback to the 80s was pretty cool. The song and sequence immediately reminded me of past 80s shows like 'Scooby Doo' and songs like 'My boyfriends back' (not a fan of that one though, but it's the only one which title I remember). And then there was the major A-team montage that just fitted so well, all we needed was for AB to say "I love it when a plan comes together."

Then there was Babs Seed. The character was really rough and made it hard to decide just how you felt about her when you first meet her. At the end of the episode though I think it works out and it does a good job between the balance of falling out and coming back to good terms. But she was mean and real mean, and again we see that she gets away without any kind of punishment. Something that has become a trend in the show and I really think we need some solid episodes saying that sometimes you will get punished even if you learn your lesson and you're a good guy.

There wasn't a lot of humor in this episode and that's understandable. This was a really dramatic episode and there wasn't much time for a lot of joking around. Besides that you spend most of the time feeling bad about how the Crusaders are being treated and you're not really in the mood for jokes anyway. Unlike Ponyville Confidential which had a good balance between humor and drama and you felt sad with the Crusaders and had a very 'daww' ending. While in that episode the ponies that were hurt was partly to blame themselves, in this episode the hurt is very real and focused on the CMC without any fault of theirs.
I wasn't too thrilled by the conclusion of the lesson though, because bullying isn't that easy too solve. It goes a lot deeper than just telling a grown up. Sometimes it is the fault of grown ups that kids bully in the first place. And at other times telling your parents nets you some useless advice like "you got to stay strong" or "just hang in there" without them doing anything about it. But this episode gives a good opportunity for parents and children to discuss bullying and start opening doors for solutions. And that's pretty cool.[/spoiler]

[Zeldafan2]

That's just me being bored while waiting for the episode.
Which is a haiku prediction of the episode based on the synopsis, which turned out pretty cool I think.
This is also the first time I've tried to seriously write a haiku. Well, not too seriously, as I just took a quick glance over what makes a haiku and jumped into it, because I wanted to write something. Still, I think I captured the essence of it. What does eveypony think? Good or bad?



This was debunked by the staff unfortunately, the episode length is the same as the others I'm afraid.

On to the new episode:

[spoiler]
Flying and magic!! Woohoo!!! Our girls are growing up. :') Take that haters! They are getting better.

I was really hoping this episode would be better than Ponyville Confidential, but sadly it didn't come close. I think this is the weakest of the CMC episodes so far, but maybe I think that because of my high expectations. I'm going to have to watch it a few more times to make a final decision.

First the fun stuff: Besides enjoying the regular CMC antics, especially Scootaloo at the end XD, and getting to see Sweetie's room and house for the first time. The throwback to the 80s was pretty cool. The song and sequence immediately reminded me of past 80s shows like 'Scooby Doo' and songs like 'My boyfriends back' (not a fan of that one though, but it's the only one which title I remember). And then there was the major A-team montage that just fitted so well, all we needed was for AB to say "I love it when a plan comes together."

Then there was Babs Seed. The character was really rough and made it hard to decide just how you felt about her when you first meet her. At the end of the episode though I think it works out and it does a good job between the balance of falling out and coming back to good terms. But she was mean and real mean, and again we see that she gets away without any kind of punishment. Something that has become a trend in the show and I really think we need some solid episodes saying that sometimes you will get punished even if you learn your lesson and you're a good guy.

There wasn't a lot of humor in this episode and that's understandable. This was a really dramatic episode and there wasn't much time for a lot of joking around. Besides that you spend most of the time feeling bad about how the Crusaders are being treated and you're not really in the mood for jokes anyway. Unlike Ponyville Confidential which had a good balance between humor and drama and you felt sad with the Crusaders and had a very 'daww' ending. While in that episode the ponies that were hurt was partly to blame themselves, in this episode the hurt is very real and focused on the CMC without any fault of theirs.
I wasn't too thrilled by the conclusion of the lesson though, because bullying isn't that easy too solve. It goes a lot deeper than just telling a grown up. Sometimes it is the fault of grown ups that kids bully in the first place. And at other times telling your parents nets you some useless advice like "you got to stay strong" or "just hang in there" without them doing anything about it. But this episode gives a good opportunity for parents and children to discuss bullying and start opening doors for solutions. And that's pretty cool.[/spoiler]

Oh, that makes more sense regarding the haiku. I actually liked it. It excellently embodies the essence and feel people are supposed to get from the episode.

And, the episode length is really only a half-and-hour? That's what I get when DirecTV shows whatever they want on the future programming guide!

And, I agree with your episode synopsis. I didn't really feel like going in-depth when I posted, but I agree with pretty much everything you said.

[rocklobster]

[spoiler] I really liked the episode. Babs was a great character and I liked the New York accent. And yes, the A-team nod was excellent. I actually thought the twist at the end was good. I certainly didn't expect it.[/spoiler]
From this point on, I'm rating the episodes in cutie marks. Here's my rating: 5 out of 5.

[Bio_Plus]

I don't think I've seen anybody rate the episodes in cutie marks yet. Ingenious! This will become the new FiM rating system!

[Broly Ultimatrix]

I agree but we should do a 6/6 rating in spirit of the messages mane6 and the 6 elements of harmony. I personally love every episode from this season thus far and I truthfully say [SPOILER] the magic fizzle from sweetie and Scootaloo fluttering about [/SPOILER] didn't leave me breathless but hyperventilating.

[Bio_Plus]

[SPOILER] the magic fizzle from sweetie and Scootaloo fluttering about [/SPOILER] didn't leave me breathless but hyperventilating.

It was the greatest day ever! Not you hyperventilating but the spoiler part.

[Zeldafan2]

Magic Duel:

[spoiler]It started out as a really fun episode. Trixie's various antics with various citizens of Ponyville, and taking away Pinkie Pie's voice was funny (even if it had been done before.) However, Trixie (and the episode in general) seemed to lack depth. The entire plot felt like it needed to be more exciting, or have something to make it truly unique. Neither of that really occured. And now I realize Fluttershy seems to have gone backwards in learning to have more courage....
I found the second duel entertaining as well. Even if this new arrary of spells had a simple (if slightly disappointing) explaination, it was hilarious to see the implications of these spells. And Applejack "Turning from a mare to a stallion" was just so LOL."
In the end, I wish we'd seen more of the delegates from Saddle Arabia. It would have been cool to find out more about a land we've only heard mentioned once before (the fact they looked like real horses was amusing, though.) Trixie's reform was eh.... With the exception of Nightmare Moon, we haven't had a villain reform before, and Trixie's felt especially cheesy. Although Pinkie Pie breaking the fourth wall, reminding the viewers she still didn't have a mouth, and Twilight fixing it, followed by Pinkie Pie about to speak until the credits interuppted her was just HILAROUS. Apparantly, Twilight has fourth wall breaking power as well. [/spoiler]

So, overall, I'd say this episode was about average.

[Bio_Plus]

[spoiler]
That was simply the worst episode ever.

The breaking of continuity. Where every episode with Zecora they tried to show that she was only a herbalist, where they tried to keep her out of the stereotype of a witch doctor. Where they explicitly said that the masks and trinkets were artwork from her homeland. All lies now. Now she's just a witch doctor living in the woods and the ponies had every reason to be scared of her.
Apparently the element of magic, a scholar of that very subject and tutored by the ruler of the kingdom knows less about magic than a witch doctor. For the mere purpose of a Star Wars reference.
Fluttershy's entire character reduced to less than she was at the very first episode. Where she could once, by herself put the need of three fillies above her fear, now she needs to be dragged into the forest at broad daylight by her animal friends. And where before she trusted Twilight with her animals in Best night Ever she now don't trust her at all, when she herself told Discord that her trust in her friendship is what keeps her strong.

The episode was cruel. Gilda wasn't ever as bad as Trixie was in this episode. Neither was Diamond Tiara, or Discord, or Chrysalis. Only Sombra comes near her. She enslaved a town, nearly crushed a pony, she let two young school colts pull her around like slaves.
A complete change in Trixie's personality from Boast Busters. But that was the amulet wasn't it? In what way!? There was no indication that she was any different when she removed the amulet, or before she got it, she still wanted to hurt Rainbow.
There was no transition from her being an antagonist to being redeemed. Babs realized what she had done, she realized the true feelings of the CMC and there was true transition between her being a bully to her becoming a friend. We see Trixie realize she was defeated, scene change "I'm sorry please forgive me, aren't I great for redeeming myself."

I do not mind an episode that's is only there for the sake of having an episode, and I do not mind them putting fanservice in an episode. But when the episode is there just for the sake of fanservice, to put in Rule63, to give Zecora magic, to have Twilight break the fourth wall, to have both evil and redeemed Trixie. I won't defend it. This episode did not represent the spirit of the show, it was a sellout to the fandom.

If it wasn't for the clever gags and great visuals this episode simply wouldn't be worth it.
[/spoiler]

[rocklobster]

[spoiler]Right up until Trixie went nice, I liked it. I wanted her to stay bad. But hey, maybe my idea can still happen: I had an idea where Trixie was corrupted by Discord[/spoiler]
my rating: 3 out of 6 cutie marks

[Zeldafan2]

[spoiler]
That was simply the worst episode ever.

The breaking of continuity. Where every episode with Zecora they tried to show that she was only a herbalist, where they tried to keep her out of the stereotype of a witch doctor. Where they explicitly said that the masks and trinkets were artwork from her homeland. All lies now. Now she's just a witch doctor living in the woods and the ponies had every reason to be scared of her.
Apparently the element of magic, a scholar of that very subject and tutored by the ruler of the kingdom knows less about magic than a witch doctor. For the mere purpose of a Star Wars reference.
Fluttershy's entire character reduced to less than she was at the very first episode. Where she could once, by herself put the need of three fillies above her fear, now she needs to be dragged into the forest at broad daylight by her animal friends. And where before she trusted Twilight with her animals in Best night Ever she now don't trust her at all, when she herself told Discord that her trust in her friendship is what keeps her strong.

The episode was cruel. Gilda wasn't ever as bad as Trixie was in this episode. Neither was Diamond Tiara, or Discord, or Chrysalis. Only Sombra comes near her. She enslaved a town, nearly crushed a pony, she let two young school colts pull her around like slaves.
A complete change in Trixie's personality from Boast Busters. But that was the amulet wasn't it? In what way!? There was no indication that she was any different when she removed the amulet, or before she got it, she still wanted to hurt Rainbow.
There was no transition from her being an antagonist to being redeemed. Babs realized what she had done, she realized the true feelings of the CMC and there was true transition between her being a bully to her becoming a friend. We see Trixie realize she was defeated, scene change "I'm sorry please forgive me, aren't I great for redeeming myself."

I do not mind an episode that's is only there for the sake of having an episode, and I do not mind them putting fanservice in an episode. But when the episode is there just for the sake of fanservice, to put in Rule63, to give Zecora magic, to have Twilight break the fourth wall, to have both evil and redeemed Trixie. I won't defend it. This episode did not represent the spirit of the show, it was a sellout to the fandom.

If it wasn't for the clever gags and great visuals this episode simply wouldn't be worth it.
[/spoiler]

To respond to your first point:

Zecora never actually displays any magical ability in the episode. In the scene you do witness to get an idea what the "training" was like, she seems to be helping Twilight to regain control and focus over her potent magic abilities which has been lost in her worries about Trixie.

Your point about Fluttershy, I don't have any disagreement with it. Her character seemed to have all been thrown away, and like you said, she hasn't been this worrisome since the first episode and even then, she wasn't THIS scared.

Now, regarding the amulet. Trixie, immeadiatley after taking off the allicorn amulet and placing the dud on her neck, began to attack Rainbow. This may seem like a complete change of character compared to her normal self in Boast Busters where she was merely a show-off, but this can be explained if you consider what may have bene happening. Trixie's evil corruption by that time had grown to a huge amount. As she attempted to attack Rainbow Dash, the corruption was probably flowing out of her (which explains her newfound meekness after Twilight's explaination of how she defeated Trixe.) It probably just took a few minutes for the amulet's power to wear off (which makes sense, considering how powerful the amulet made her.)

Now, I do agree that the redemption was really weak. Unlike Babs seed, there really was no transition phase, no beliveable transformation, just a scene change with a now recovered Trixie who apparantly feels bad about what she did. But I can't agree that this episode was a COMPLETE sell-out to the fandom, as you said. (Although this episode did drool with fanservice, and was ultimatley one of and possibly the weakest episode in the series.

[Bio_Plus]

Zecora never actually displays any magical ability in the episode. In the scene you do witness to get an idea what the "training" was like, she seems to be helping Twilight to regain control and focus over her potent magic abilities which has been lost in her worries about Trixie.

I would agree with you and it does make sense, I would believe this as my own headcanon. But the problem is that if someone says Zecora is a witch doctor and points to the scene where she fills the cup, you can't argue against that. Zecora not being a witch doctor becomes headcanon now and not canon. And it doesn't help that Seth posted on EqD that Zecora is now a witch doctor.

Now, regarding the amulet. Trixie, immeadiatley after taking off the allicorn amulet and placing the dud on her neck, began to attack Rainbow. This may seem like a complete change of character compared to her normal self in Boast Busters where she was merely a show-off, but this can be explained if you consider what may have bene happening. Trixie's evil corruption by that time had grown to a huge amount. As she attempted to attack Rainbow Dash, the corruption was probably flowing out of her (which explains her newfound meekness after Twilight's explaination of how she defeated Trixe.) It probably just took a few minutes for the amulet's power to wear off (which makes sense, considering how powerful the amulet made her.)

The episode never shows that the corruption leaves her or that she was still corrupted after the amulet was taken off. We have to assume that after the amulet was taken off the corruption ended as there is no way to say that she was still partly corrupted. And it's this lack of information in the episode that's one of the problems. We don't know how Trixie is corrupted, we don't know when she's normal Trixie, we don't know if Zecora can now use magic, we don't know what Zecora was teaching Twilight at the pond, we're unclear about what Twilight means when she says 'the six', we don't know if Trixie was sorry about what she did, we don't know why Trixie says she doesn't trust wheels. She lived on a cart with four wheels! Why wouldn't she trust wheels?
And it's not about not having enough time in the episode to explain them, some of these things are crucial to the story, it has to be in there or you end up with "the Last Airbender" movie. This is just bad writing.

[Zeldafan2]

Zecora never actually displays any magical ability in the episode. In the scene you do witness to get an idea what the "training" was like, she seems to be helping Twilight to regain control and focus over her potent magic abilities which has been lost in her worries about Trixie.

I would agree with you and it does make sense, I would believe this as my own headcanon. But the problem is that if someone says Zecora is a witch doctor and points to the scene where she fills the cup, you can't argue against that. Zecora not being a witch doctor becomes headcanon now and not canon. And it doesn't help that Seth posted on EqD that Zecora is now a witch doctor.

Now, regarding the amulet. Trixie, immeadiatley after taking off the allicorn amulet and placing the dud on her neck, began to attack Rainbow. This may seem like a complete change of character compared to her normal self in Boast Busters where she was merely a show-off, but this can be explained if you consider what may have bene happening. Trixie's evil corruption by that time had grown to a huge amount. As she attempted to attack Rainbow Dash, the corruption was probably flowing out of her (which explains her newfound meekness after Twilight's explaination of how she defeated Trixe.) It probably just took a few minutes for the amulet's power to wear off (which makes sense, considering how powerful the amulet made her.)

The episode never shows that the corruption leaves her or that she was still corrupted after the amulet was taken off. We have to assume that after the amulet was taken off the corruption ended as there is no way to say that she was still partly corrupted. And it's this lack of information in the episode that's one of the problems. We don't know how Trixie is corrupted, we don't know when she's normal Trixie, we don't know if Zecora can now use magic, we don't know what Zecora was teaching Twilight at the pond, we're unclear about what Twilight means when she says 'the six', we don't know if Trixie was sorry about what she did, we don't know why Trixie says she doesn't trust wheels. She lived on a cart with four wheels! Why wouldn't she trust wheels?
And it's not about not having enough time in the episode to explain them, some of these things are crucial to the story, it has to be in there or you end up with "the Last Airbender" movie. This is just bad writing.

Okay, you are correct. Her filling the cup motif does suggest witch doctor (and as you said, sadly, I can't exactly counteract that point.)

And yes, this episode, as you said, had many MANY unawnsered questions that left a lot of plot holes, and things the viewer apparantly was supposed to instinctivley understand and yet, doesn't because no explaination is given.

On a more positive note, next is the Scootasode which I'm really excited for. (I just hope they don't mess it up like Magic Duel.)

[mechana2015]

If you were confused about what she meant by the six you were too busy nitpicking the episode and looking for things to complain about.

[Bio_Plus]

If you were confused about what she meant by the six you were too busy nitpicking the episode and looking for things to complain about.

The six can either refer to the bearers of the Elements, which is confusing because she used Big Mac, Sweetie, AB and Granny Smith to trick Trixie. It could refer to the Elements self, the obvious use for the term, which she didn't use to defeat Trixie. It could refer to her Element magic, which was the opposite of what Zecora meant for her to do. And it could mean the representation of the sixth element - Friendship. Which is confusing because Twilight has never referred the her friends or friendship as such.
The line from Twilight is suppose to be cryptic and mysterious, but instead it only serves to confuse the viewer.

And if we are going to praise the show for excellent story writing, character development, continuity and world building. Shouldn't we admit that an episode doesn't live up to that standard when one comes along? What does it say about our credibility if we say Magic Duel has an awesome story when it really doesn't?

On a more positive note, next is the Scootasode which I'm really excited for. (I just hope they don't mess it up like Magic Duel.)

I'm already sharpening my pitchfork, I'm not as easily pleased as the Trixie fans and I expect them to give me a real, good episode. But 'One Bad Apple' has made me very confident that it will be a good episode.

[Zeldafan2]

If you were confused about what she meant by the six you were too busy nitpicking the episode and looking for things to complain about.

The six can either refer to the bearers of the Elements, which is confusing because she used Big Mac, Sweetie, AB and Granny Smith to trick Trixie. It could refer to the Elements self, the obvious use for the term, which she didn't use to defeat Trixie. It could refer to her Element magic, which was the opposite of what Zecora meant for her to do. And it could mean the representation of the sixth element - Friendship. Which is confusing because Twilight has never referred the her friends or friendship as such.
The line from Twilight is suppose to be cryptic and mysterious, but instead it only serves to confuse the viewer.

And if we are going to praise the show for excellent story writing, character development, continuity and world building. Shouldn't we admit that an episode doesn't live up to that standard when one comes along? What does it say about our credibility if we say Magic Duel has an awesome story when it really doesn't?

On a more positive note, next is the Scootasode which I'm really excited for. (I just hope they don't mess it up like Magic Duel.)

I'm already sharpening my pitchfork, I'm not as easily pleased as the Trixie fans and I expect them to give me a real, good episode. But 'One Bad Apple' has made me very confident that it will be a good episode.

@Mechana: Like Bio already said, there wasn't really anything in this episode that struck me as "really good" or "clever". The entire plot seemed weak as soon as I read the synopsis, and they made many mistakes in writing the episode. Some of the gags and visuals were quite funny, but this episode lacked depth, and went off the mark in terms of characterizations (particualry Fluttershy), and was riddled with various plotholes. I just can't rate this episode anything higher than average.