HOME | DD

Description
So when I first saw the spoiler clip for this, I thought, "Hmm, it's Stare Master in the West". Fortunately, I was wrong, but it turned out to be more of a copy of Bridle Gossip. I won't sugarcoat it, or wait until the end. This episode is just as mediocre as the rest of the season has been.

So it's the rodeo in Appleoosa, and Applejack is competing. But, like the Equestria Games episode, we're not gonna see any events. It's all about the CMC, and their constantly failed mission of obtaining their cutie marks. This is a bad time for this episode, because we just saw one about Applebloom and her issues with the same subject. What makes it even worse, her dreams pretty much confirmed that her cutie mark will likely end up being related to potions. Which is not something she's going to get at a rodeo. At least Sweetie Bell is hesitant about it. It's nice to see her back to who she is. Instead of going gung-ho into any danger like she had been lately, she's the moral compass of the group, talking them down out of dangerous situations. It doesn't work, of course, but she's there at least.

So, Applejack is competing because Braeburn is injured. Braeburn? I'm glad the writers are trying to take some one-off characters and give them more time to shine, but I could probably riff off a list of about twenty other characters I'd like to see over...Braeburn. But I won't. Because I'm lazy. And sick. Braeburn, as it turns out, is the official babysitter while hurt, because that's a good idea. Take a three-legged pony, and have him look after three fillies known for getting into trouble. All the while, an outlaw by the name of Troubleshoes is on the loose, with "accidents" happening in rodeos around Equestria.

So, as predicted, the CMC sneak away from Braeburn, which was made all the easier by him...sleeping. They go off wandering around a forest, because to really take home the idea that all of this has happened before, the setting has to be exactly the same. Meanwhile, Braeburn delivers the bad news to Applejack, who automatically assumes that Troubleshoes kidnapped the kids. You know, the kids notorious for running off and doing things and getting into trouble. I haven't seen this much adult stupidity since every episode of South Park ever.

The CMC get lost, and take shelter from the rain in a cabin. Which of COURSE turns out to be Troubleshoes' home. First thing we see of Troubleshoes is that he's clearly a klutz, and not bad by any means. Also, he's freaking HUGE. I like the idea of a new concept, but is he even a pony? He's bigger than Big Mac, and he sure doesn't look like a pony. But he has a cutie mark. Do other species get cutie marks?

On the way back to Appleoosa, Troubleshoes shares his story to the kids. He got his cutie mark during a rodeo tryout, and his bad luck follows him wherever he goes. Applebloom gets the idea that he misunderstood his cutie mark, and that he could easily be a rodeo clown. Which makes sense, and again, just what I was thinking. Troubleshoes gets captured, and the CMC are too afraid to tell AJ that he's not a kidnapper. Sweetie Bell shows her progress with her magic, and breaks Troubleshoes out of jail, and sneaks him into the rodeo as a clown. They eventually convince him to join the other clowns to do clown things. It turns out, he has a knack for it. Or does he? Clearly, his clumsiness and bad luck are just causing accidents, and while the crowd doesn't realize this and thinks it's all an act, Troubleshoes' talent isn't clowning. It's still just bad luck.

The mask comes off, so to speak, and the crowd gets ready to lynch the outlaw (no, really, look at the pitchfork). The CMC convinces everyone what's really going on, and finally admit they weren't kidnapped. So everyone can go back to laughing with the clowns. You know, except for the fact they now know that Troubleshoes is just a giant klutz, and so they're now laughing at his problems, instead of blindly laughing at his clowniness. I will say one thing. I had a thought that if the CMC really want to get their cutie marks together, then they just might get them as some sort of therapy-type thing. Helping Troubleshoes figure out who he is, and maybe a little bit of helping out Babs Seed. One-on-one motivational speakers, maybe?

CMC episodes are usually entertaining, usually because they're put into situations where they have to interact with others. Fluttershy, Twilight, even the other fillies. But here, we barely see Applejack, and no other characters are really relevant outside of Troubleshoes. Incredibly predictable, despite having a full episode of dumb adult moments. Boring, to the point where this is really short. And nothing really happens. Applebloom dreaming for most of an episode had more to talk about. Maybe soon we can get back to the mane6 and their adventures.

Description
So when I first saw the spoiler clip for this, I thought, "Hmm, it's Stare Master in the West". Fortunately, I was wrong, but it turned out to be more of a copy of Bridle Gossip. I won't sugarcoat it, or wait until the end. This episode is just as mediocre as the rest of the season has been.

So it's the rodeo in Appleoosa, and Applejack is competing. But, like the Equestria Games episode, we're not gonna see any events. It's all about the CMC, and their constantly failed mission of obtaining their cutie marks. This is a bad time for this episode, because we just saw one about Applebloom and her issues with the same subject. What makes it even worse, her dreams pretty much confirmed that her cutie mark will likely end up being related to potions. Which is not something she's going to get at a rodeo. At least Sweetie Bell is hesitant about it. It's nice to see her back to who she is. Instead of going gung-ho into any danger like she had been lately, she's the moral compass of the group, talking them down out of dangerous situations. It doesn't work, of course, but she's there at least.

So, Applejack is competing because Braeburn is injured. Braeburn? I'm glad the writers are trying to take some one-off characters and give them more time to shine, but I could probably riff off a list of about twenty other characters I'd like to see over...Braeburn. But I won't. Because I'm lazy. And sick. Braeburn, as it turns out, is the official babysitter while hurt, because that's a good idea. Take a three-legged pony, and have him look after three fillies known for getting into trouble. All the while, an outlaw by the name of Troubleshoes is on the loose, with "accidents" happening in rodeos around Equestria.

So, as predicted, the CMC sneak away from Braeburn, which was made all the easier by him...sleeping. They go off wandering around a forest, because to really take home the idea that all of this has happened before, the setting has to be exactly the same. Meanwhile, Braeburn delivers the bad news to Applejack, who automatically assumes that Troubleshoes kidnapped the kids. You know, the kids notorious for running off and doing things and getting into trouble. I haven't seen this much adult stupidity since every episode of South Park ever.

The CMC get lost, and take shelter from the rain in a cabin. Which of COURSE turns out to be Troubleshoes' home. First thing we see of Troubleshoes is that he's clearly a klutz, and not bad by any means. Also, he's freaking HUGE. I like the idea of a new concept, but is he even a pony? He's bigger than Big Mac, and he sure doesn't look like a pony. But he has a cutie mark. Do other species get cutie marks?

On the way back to Appleoosa, Troubleshoes shares his story to the kids. He got his cutie mark during a rodeo tryout, and his bad luck follows him wherever he goes. Applebloom gets the idea that he misunderstood his cutie mark, and that he could easily be a rodeo clown. Which makes sense, and again, just what I was thinking. Troubleshoes gets captured, and the CMC are too afraid to tell AJ that he's not a kidnapper. Sweetie Bell shows her progress with her magic, and breaks Troubleshoes out of jail, and sneaks him into the rodeo as a clown. They eventually convince him to join the other clowns to do clown things. It turns out, he has a knack for it. Or does he? Clearly, his clumsiness and bad luck are just causing accidents, and while the crowd doesn't realize this and thinks it's all an act, Troubleshoes' talent isn't clowning. It's still just bad luck.

The mask comes off, so to speak, and the crowd gets ready to lynch the outlaw (no, really, look at the pitchfork). The CMC convinces everyone what's really going on, and finally admit they weren't kidnapped. So everyone can go back to laughing with the clowns. You know, except for the fact they now know that Troubleshoes is just a giant klutz, and so they're now laughing at his problems, instead of blindly laughing at his clowniness. I will say one thing. I had a thought that if the CMC really want to get their cutie marks together, then they just might get them as some sort of therapy-type thing. Helping Troubleshoes figure out who he is, and maybe a little bit of helping out Babs Seed. One-on-one motivational speakers, maybe?

CMC episodes are usually entertaining, usually because they're put into situations where they have to interact with others. Fluttershy, Twilight, even the other fillies. But here, we barely see Applejack, and no other characters are really relevant outside of Troubleshoes. Incredibly predictable, despite having a full episode of dumb adult moments. Boring, to the point where this is really short. And nothing really happens. Applebloom dreaming for most of an episode had more to talk about. Maybe soon we can get back to the mane6 and their adventures.