@Mio:How have they changed places? I can see Twilight operating as the Straight Mare, but how has AJ taken Twilight's initial role?

AJ still has the puns down pat :V coughcough s3e2 :V

@Psi That's because she's actually learning from her past mistakes and maturing. Considering that she was already the most mature out of the cast to begin with, that leaves her rather, well, stable. It would be out of character for her to suddenly develop new flaws and quirks just to make her "interesting", and I honestly think that the fact that she's the strong, stable, and sane one out of the group is absolutely necessary.

@Psi 001:And I still feel that the new neurotic Twilight is painfully one-dimensional and unendearing.

@Bluespade: Other then that they really haven't. I guess I just said that to contrast how Twilight was the "sane" one of the group, and now AJ has taken that role while Twilight took her place among the "crazies".

edited 29th Dec '12 12:50:28 PM by Mio

I think it's more Twilight was originally the more down to earth pony, but has sort of taken AJ's original role of being the slightly more comical and versatile rashional pony that has as many Not so Above It All roles as Straight Man ones.

Actually that's a problem I had with AJ concerning her temper, she never really learnt lessons to control it, she just sort of "grew out of it". The other character made better use of developing and maturing from their flaws without outright losing them altogether. No one just stops being flawed.

edited 29th Dec '12 12:50:39 PM by Psi001

I still don´t get why so many people want the entire cast to be crazy all the time. Wouldn´t that be very boring? Lauren Faust put a lot of effort so each girl had a unique personality and thus they will all balance each other and yet so many people want them to be "tardy" all the time.

I admit I´m a little biased because I dislike the crazy ponies joke but a good story needs a straight man someone who will be in control when problems arise and that is Applejack. I know I´m a minority in here but just to set an example of a bad story, The Avengers, the Marvel movie, ALL the characters were the same, none of them have a unique personality, during battle scenes I couldn´t tell who was doing what becaue they were all wearing the same dull colors and doing the exact same boring things, even Hulk was boring.

That is what I consider bad characterization, when everybody is the same so I praise this show when it doesn´t do that and each character gets its own traits and Applejack traits are great to me. She is funny and energic, I don´t find her dull at all.

@Mio Neurotic Twilight is new? She's been like that since the beginning.

@Psi When did she ever have a temper problem?

edited 29th Dec '12 12:53:52 PM by PerpetualLurker

I was responding to Psi who referred to her as "newer".

I just feel AJ has been tamed to the point she has lost her key traits. And as said, I have her Season One form to base it on, which I did like and did have that balance of being more adjusted and lucid but still vibrant and distinct. All the characters have tamed a little but they still have relapses to show they are still the same flawed person (EG. RD has a had a lot of Character Development, but as shown in this episode, she's still an egotistical smartass). AJ just feels like she has lost most of her personality altogether.

I just feel Twilight's main formula and her key flaws such as her OCD-ishness were developed more during Season Two. In Season One the focus seemed more on her Fish out of Water status or being a somewhat haughty Straight Man.

AJ seemed more temperamental in early episodes, in that she was still a nice girl at heart, but had a tendancy to get short or become very overdefensive when she thought she was being insulted or victimized. She put her foot in her mouth more often (eg. making her vow at Big Mac in frustration in Applebuck Season or yelling at Twilight to the point of driving her to tears in Winter Wrap Up) and she took part in most of the Feud Episodes. She just seemed the character most capable of getting wound up, which if anything was the main pivot of her stubborn streak.

edited 29th Dec '12 12:59:31 PM by Psi001

Twilight is still quite sane 90% of the time. Her neuroticness only crops up occasionally.

Despite not liking AJ that much, I don't actually have a problem with her being stable and mature at all. I want the characters to become more competent, not less, so I'm quite happy with her there. In fact that was my big issue with the Apple Family Reunion, I felt like the writers just decided to make AJ suddenly incompetent for the sake of the plot. If the episode had been about her running herself ragged yet competently arranging the reunion I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I like seeing the main characters succeed at things.

My issues with AJ is more with her terribly stereotypical, boring dialogue, and the way the writers fail to use her in an interesting manner.

I'd kind of like to see her become the main "doer" of the group, who fixes problems and gives good advice to the others.

@Psi And Apple Family Reunion didn't demonstrate those flaws well enough? What about in this episode, where she wasn't able to tell Spike how she really felt about his "help", and that made her extremely uncomfortable? I'm still seeing the same character here, honestly. She's not missing anything as far as I'm concerned.

Unrelated, "And I'll wear this mustache!" was too random for me to enjoy it. Not even the funny kind of random, it felt like that line was just thrown in to be in the commercial, in the context it was in.

edited 29th Dec '12 1:02:05 PM by SuperGex

The previous two episodes just felt rather generic to me. AFR just felt like they put her in a Twilight formula while SAYS (funny abbreviation there) felt like there could have been more humorous reactions if Spike was made to serve any other pony.

I just feel AJ's personality fell apart due to losing her main vice, which the other characters managed to keep in good enough moderation throughout their Character Development. She doesn't have her own "formula" so ends up stealing anothers she doesn't quite fit, and even as a reactor, she lacks enough personality to bring proper humor value out of it. YMMV on how accurate that is, but I just think she's rather dull now.

Though as mentioned above it may be more the fact AJ doesn't have as much of a unique form of acting as the others (even as a Straight Man, Twilight's neurotics or slightly pompousness often seep through making her humorous). AJ just seems too reliant on her cowgirl mannerisms for proper personality.

edited 29th Dec '12 1:11:59 PM by Psi001

Well this was a much better episode. Thoughts:

Twilight, Scholar's Touch is a 1st level spell. You could read those books in 72 seconds if you wanted.

Hey, Winona!

And the balloon makes another appearance.

So AJ finally gets to shine. Hopefully this should cut down on the constant E Ps are useless rants. Hey, I wonder what ginger thought.

I love the expression on the pilot pony as she carries the balloon away.

Wow, looks like Spike is taking lessons from Sweetie 'Dumb Fabric' Belle.

"Your wish is my command". Ah wish you would stop helping me!

I wonder if RD's comments will spawn any fanfic reaction images.

This will probably end with Spike saving AJ's life. Though hopefully he'll realize the error of his ways on his own.

Congratluations Spike, you're the new Applejack!

So AJ can't act, but Rarity can. Why doesn't she pretend to save Spike? She's the one who wants a servant anyway.

So real Timberwolves incoming in 3..2..1.. sure enough, called it!

Also, Pinkie's plans are reminiscent of Nale.

Overall, I think it was a pretty good episode. Once again proving that the only time AJ gets a decent episode is when it's not focused on her.

My only real gripe about AJ's overall character at this point is that she lost a bit of her temper from the first season. Her stubbornness issues have been well addressed, but I feel like they could do more with her bluntness. But other than that I have no real complaints. She does work better when she's acting as a foil to other ponies, but I honestly think she'd lose something if she was as quirky as the rest of the cast. It just isn't a part of her character.

As for Rarity, she isn't any worse; she's always been the character whose surface personality is the most abrasive. The issue is that her good side only really becomes obvious when she gets enough time for it to come out, and so far this season she hasn't gotten enough screentime for that to happen.

As said I don't mind AJ being lucid. If anything I prefer lucid characters that can still have heavy Not so Above It All qualities. People forget you can still have a down to earth character that occasionally falters completely in common sense. Still I think a big part of AJ was she slightly abrasive deep down, a bit of a temperamental Calamity Jane type. She certainly leaves Twilight exasperated in her Establishing Character Moment in the pilot.

Most Straight Men have huge vices anyway. They can still be egotistical, neurotic and completely lacking in patience. If anything it works better into their mechanic with the wackier characters, since it gives an excuse no one listens to them and makes their reactions as much the humor as the more abrasive character's antics (eg. I feel Porky Pig's neuroses to Daffy Duck's screwiness were as much the funny part of Looney Tunes as Daffy himself).

edited 29th Dec '12 1:27:12 PM by Psi001

He probably just grabbed one of Twilight's papers to write on, and Twilight's checklists only come in Long and Extra Long, hence the excessive length of the paper.

I believe she was really stubborn on The Last Roundup, refusing to tell the truth and going to ludricuos levels to avoid confronting her friends to the point she risked her life and that of four train ponies to do so! That was her Lesson Zero going to the point she disregard hers and other safety just because she was embarassed and too stubborn to admit she wasn´t the big athlete hero she believed her to be.

That was an excelent episode that unfortunately got overshadow by a certain pegasus whose name I refuse to said.

She has plenty of quicky moments in my opinion and she makes the best reaction faces.

Are people still going on about how she was supposedly overshadowed by Derpy? The idea is ridiculous, Derpy was only in the episode for about a minute. What, did everyone just stop watching after that?

It felt more like the other characters were still driving the plot more in The Last Roundup however. It was a return to character I admit, but still she felt like she was sidelined in her own episode, even without Derpy.

Applebuck Season was more her defining episode, and shown she was able to drive an entire story, but as said that was an early episode where her more temperamental attitude was prominant. Sort of ironic she actually got her defining solo episode before anyone else.

edited 29th Dec '12 1:30:13 PM by Psi001

Like I said, Scholar's Touch. Read one book a round just by touching it.

What's really amazing is how he managed to resplatter eggs everywhere just by tripping over a single bucket after the apples cleaned it all up.

Yeah, in that episode AJ was kinda overshadowed, but it wasn't really because of Derpy; it was more that it was less about her and more about the rest of the cast trying to find her. I kinda wish the episode had played from her perspective.

Behold Spike, last scion of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Sparkle.

And in Apple Family Reunion, the whole thing happened when she let her need to make it the best reunion ever turn the reunion into hard labor.

Screen time ≠ character development. The Last Roundup looked deeper into her motivations than anything else so far, so I fail to see how it failed to be "about" her enough.

edited 29th Dec '12 1:33:15 PM by PerpetualLurker