Am aware that some probably are annoyed with me by now for using the term relatable a lot and fair enough. That aspect is important to me though and necessary to talk about, if there are characters that one sees themselves in or knows what it's like to be in their situation it really helps me connect with them and their situations/stories and with what goes on. 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' often excelled at this and often excelled at balancing comedy and drama and executing both beautifully individually.
"Maud Pie" does all of this and brilliantly. A huge improvement over the disappointing (but not that awful) "Somepony to Watch Over Me" and one of the best episodes of Season 4, along with "Rarity Takes Manehattan", "Pinkie Pride" and the "Twilight's Kingdom" two parter. It features for me the best supporting character of the season, one of the best episodes to have Pinkie Pie as one of the main focuses and is one of Pinkie Pie's "great" appearances of Season 4 (personally found her hit and miss this season).
The animation is typically wonderful. This is another Season 4 episode where the facial expressions are especially good in the animation, very imaginative and fun to watch (Maud Pie's are priceless and also nuanced at times). It is very vibrant and richly detailed and it is another Season 4 episode where one can see how more polished the visuals became overtime. The music is dynamic with the action and has a lot of character and atmosphere.
Absolutely loved the characters and the voice acting. The episode stealer characterisation-wise is Maud Pie, as said she is one of my favourite supporting characters of Season 4 and towards the top of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' supporting characters. She has great comic timing without it being overdone and her more vulnerable moments are touching and easy to relate to. It was great to see more development to Pinkie Pie and see more of her family, Pinkie Pie is on great form too, she is adorable, very amusing with her silliness not being taken to extremes and again relatable. All the characters are in character and all shine in their own way, Rainbow Dash stands out and Applejack is back to the one we know and love. The voice acting is great, especially from Ingrid Nilson.
Writing is spot on too. The humour is dry, but this is an example of dry humour actually working. This kind of humour can easily be interpreted often as condescension, but there is plenty of humour here and all of it works. None of it is forced, tired or misplaced. Balanced with the humour though is a big heart, the more dramatic moments are heart-warming and very poignant and it doesn't come over as too heavy or too sentimental. This balance of humour and dramatic emotion is brilliantly done, one is not favoured over the other, both work equally brilliantly rather than one working and the other not and both work just fine individually. The Rock Poems moment is terrific while the story is great fun and really warms and touches the heart, never less than compelling too. The moral is a great one and while not as explicit as the morals in most episodes of the show this time it didn't feel under-explored.
In short, outstanding episode and a season high point. 10/10
"Maud Pie" does all of this and brilliantly. A huge improvement over the disappointing (but not that awful) "Somepony to Watch Over Me" and one of the best episodes of Season 4, along with "Rarity Takes Manehattan", "Pinkie Pride" and the "Twilight's Kingdom" two parter. It features for me the best supporting character of the season, one of the best episodes to have Pinkie Pie as one of the main focuses and is one of Pinkie Pie's "great" appearances of Season 4 (personally found her hit and miss this season).
The animation is typically wonderful. This is another Season 4 episode where the facial expressions are especially good in the animation, very imaginative and fun to watch (Maud Pie's are priceless and also nuanced at times). It is very vibrant and richly detailed and it is another Season 4 episode where one can see how more polished the visuals became overtime. The music is dynamic with the action and has a lot of character and atmosphere.
Absolutely loved the characters and the voice acting. The episode stealer characterisation-wise is Maud Pie, as said she is one of my favourite supporting characters of Season 4 and towards the top of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' supporting characters. She has great comic timing without it being overdone and her more vulnerable moments are touching and easy to relate to. It was great to see more development to Pinkie Pie and see more of her family, Pinkie Pie is on great form too, she is adorable, very amusing with her silliness not being taken to extremes and again relatable. All the characters are in character and all shine in their own way, Rainbow Dash stands out and Applejack is back to the one we know and love. The voice acting is great, especially from Ingrid Nilson.
Writing is spot on too. The humour is dry, but this is an example of dry humour actually working. This kind of humour can easily be interpreted often as condescension, but there is plenty of humour here and all of it works. None of it is forced, tired or misplaced. Balanced with the humour though is a big heart, the more dramatic moments are heart-warming and very poignant and it doesn't come over as too heavy or too sentimental. This balance of humour and dramatic emotion is brilliantly done, one is not favoured over the other, both work equally brilliantly rather than one working and the other not and both work just fine individually. The Rock Poems moment is terrific while the story is great fun and really warms and touches the heart, never less than compelling too. The moral is a great one and while not as explicit as the morals in most episodes of the show this time it didn't feel under-explored.
In short, outstanding episode and a season high point. 10/10
