MLP:FiM S4E07 - "Bats!" - Grade & Discuss

[Amaris]

Episode Title: "Bats!"
Air Date: Dec. 28th, 2013

Summary: "Vampire fruit bats threaten to destroy the Apple family orchard, but Applejack's attempt to rid themselves of the pest are disrupted when Fluttershy wants to care for the creatures."

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I know absolutely nothing about this episode, and will stay that way until the episode airs. Still, the opportunity to see the adorable fruit bats I last saw in "Apple Family Reunion" is something I eagerly await! So let's talk about things, and such, until the episode airs, at which point we will discuss more things about the things we like!

 

[Gepard]

Pleasebeanarcepisodepleasebeanarcepisodepleasebeanarcepisode...


Ahem. Based on the below alternate summary, this one could be a stepping stone on the way to something...interesting, if certain rumors that circulated before the season premiere are true.

Bats!” — When Applejack’s beautiful orchard falls under attack on Apple Bucking Day, it is clear that the dreaded Vampire Fruitbats have returned and Applejack is ready to take drastic measures to protect the orchard. However, the always compassionate Fluttershy argues for a more humane plan, which causes conflict between the two and could cost them their friendship, on “My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic,” Saturday, December 28 at 10:30 a.m. ET/ 7:30 a.m. PT on the Hub Network.

(Emphasis mine.)

Anyhow, the show is always at its best when the conflict is caused by the casts' differing personalities, which is something we haven't gotten enough of post-"Lesson Zero". Looking forward to this one.

 

[Amaris]

Ooh, I didn't know about that summary. This makes the episode even more interesting!

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Great episode and not what I was expecting. And I think they've set something up.

ETA:A.

 

[DarkHorizon]

Oh, that was really good. Was entirely unsure about it at the start, but once I realised what was happening, it was excellent. A.

 

[Amaris]

Yes!

Spoiler: MLPFiM S4E07

Flutterbat is best bat! I mean seriously, she's so adorable! And that ending, where she still had some of the traits? SQUEE!

This episode was a lot of fun to watch. I had to give it an "A."

 

[Saito S]

This one gets a solid 9 from me. Lots of fun to watch, the song was pretty amusing, and Flutterbat was definitely amazing. I also liked how AJ showed her concern for her friends by being willing to sacrifice that prized super apple, and how at the end, instead of somehow making it so everyone was vindicated, they pretty much demonstrate that Fluttershy was right and they really should have listened to her from the get-go, because that happens in life. Well-meaning and intelligent people/ponies can just do the wrong thing sometimes, and that's what happened here.

I do wonder if they're setting something up at the end, or whether it's just meant to be a fun little addendum to the shenanigans of the episode. Been wondering the same thing about the ending to "Castle-Mane-ia", too...

Loved Pinkie Pie just drilling straight down into the ground like BYE, only to reappear two minutes later!

Also, is it just me, or have the amazing Tabitha St. Germain moments been coming at a higher pace this season? "Fluttershy, sweetness, please come down. And, do stop being a vampire bat."

 

[Amaris]

This one gets a solid 9 from me. Lots of fun to watch, the song was pretty amusing, and Flutterbat was definitely amazing. I also liked how AJ showed her concern for her friends by being willing to sacrifice that prized super apple, and how at the end, instead of somehow making it so everyone was vindicated, they pretty much demonstrate that Fluttershy was right and they really should have listened to her from the get-go, because that happens in life. Well-meaning and intelligent people/ponies can just do the wrong thing sometimes, and that's what happened here.

I do wonder if they're setting something up at the end, or whether it's just meant to be a fun little addendum to the shenanigans of the episode. Been wondering the same thing about the ending to "Castle-Mane-ia", too...

Loved Pinkie Pie just drilling straight down into the ground like BYE, only to reappear two minutes later!

Also, is it just me, or have the amazing Tabitha St. Germain moments been coming at a higher pace this season? "Fluttershy, sweetness, please come down. And, do stop being a vampire bat."

Oh, yes. Tabitha is certainly up on her game. I love Rarity anyway, but Tabitha's just really making me want to call Rarity best pony.

I love the flash to Fluttershy's vampire teeth at the end, and it really does set things up for something else. If you've seen the community comments elsewhere, people are going nuts over that little scene and what it could mean. I have to admit, I'm curious myself!

The song was cool, and had this "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to it. I loved it, as I am a huge fan of Danny Elfman. I also feel that Fluttershy was in the right as well. The bats were a part of the local ecology, and there were ways to preserve Applejack's apple orchard, while allowing for the continued symbiosis between the bats and the trees. My concern over Twilight's idea of zapping the bats so they didn't want to eat the apples made me wonder whether or not they would have eventually starved. So Fluttershy's solution was the best one of a difficult situation, at least for a place like Equestria.

Also, Flutterbat is best bat.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

My babysitting clients watched this evening and also gave it a solid A.

Flutterbat would take down the sparkly vampires from Twilight.

 

[SeerSGB]

Fun episode, would have made a great Halloween episode. Also a episode that's going to launch a thousand Flutterbat fanfics.

 

[Gepard]

Whaaaaaa.....? Well, that certainly was different. I can't believe they went there with turning Flutterssy into a batpony, but it was a lot of fun.

Not much to say about it otherwise, except that it had a ton of season 1 callbacks (yay) and though the plot was really slight, it was well-handled. And once again it was conflicts between members of the mane 6 (and a failing by Twilight in particular) that drove the action; they'd largely abandoned that storytelling approach for seasons 2 and 3, so it's nice to see it making a comeback.

One odd thing: the per-release info on this episode indicated it was written by Meriwether Williams, and she's credited with the song lyrics during the closing credits, but the "written by" at the opening says Meghan McCarthy. I wonder what happened there?

Anyhow, "A" episode.

 

[Saito S]

Oh, yes. Tabitha is certainly up on her game. I love Rarity anyway, but Tabitha's just really making me want to call Rarity best pony.

But everypony is best pony, so it's all good.

I love the flash to Fluttershy's vampire teeth at the end, and it really does set things up for something else. If you've seen the community comments elsewhere, people are going nuts over that little scene and what it could mean. I have to admit, I'm curious myself!

Yeah, I saw some amusing comments on EQD. Honestly, I hope they DO do something with it!

The song was cool, and had this "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to it. I loved it, as I am a huge fan of Danny Elfman. I also feel that Fluttershy was in the right as well. The bats were a part of the local ecology, and there were ways to preserve Applejack's apple orchard, while allowing for the continued symbiosis between the bats and the trees. My concern over Twilight's idea of zapping the bats so they didn't want to eat the apples made me wonder whether or not they would have eventually starved. So Fluttershy's solution was the best one of a difficult situation, at least for a place like Equestria.

Exactly. AJ and Twilight's motivations for wanting to find a quick solution were understandable, but they didn't think it all the way through - not even Twilight did. Which, again, I like because it shows that they can make real mistakes.

Also, Flutterbat is best bat.

Hmmmmm... I do really love some of the adorable and/or badass depictions of the actual "batponies" that I've seen, so this is a tough call for me... hehe.

Fun episode, would have made a great Halloween episode. Also a episode that's going to launch a thousand Flutterbat fanfics.

Ohhh yeah. And not just Flutterbat fanfics per se - on top of that, I bet we'll get a rush of Flutterbat who turns the OTHERS into vampire pony bats, straight vampire (without the "bat") fics, etc.

One odd thing: the per-release info on this episode indicated it was written by Meriwether Williams, and she's credited with the song lyrics during the closing credits, but the "written by" at the opening says Meghan McCarthy. I wonder what happened there?

Meghan actually tweeted about this earlier; apparently, the credit got goofed up somehow.

 

[Gepard]

^Yah, I saw that shortly after I hit "submit" on my post.

Less sane fans are suggesting that they deliberately messed up the credit in order to avoid the Meriwether stigma, and force people to evaluate the episode on its own merits. (And I guess, what, Meghan's tweet is some kind of gotcha?) Okay.

I think I want a plushie of Rarity in her Hazmat suit.

EDIT: *slaps forehead* This entire episode was a riff on (ripoff of?) "Wallice and Gromit's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit." I don't know how I didn't see it, but it's really obvious once all the similarities are pointed out: http://archive.heinessen.com/mlp/thread/15334932

I feel a little let down, now.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Or it's a coincidence. As someone else pointed out in the thread, using a big piece of food to lure a crazy friend is an old bit.

 

[Gepard]

There's quite a bit more than just the giant fruit. Here's all the similarities I've thought of so far:

•Story opens with a giant, overgrown vegetable created to win a prize
•Mutant vermin overrun fields eating the produce and threatening said prize
•An experiment is designed to rid vermin of desire to eat vegetables
•Experiment goes wrong
•Main character mutates into a vermin hybrid, but this fact is hidden from the other main characters for one act
•Attacks on garden continue, this time performed by the hybrid main character
•Aforementioned giant veggie is used as bait to lure hybrid so the procedure can be reversed
•Once all is set right, the vermin are moved to a sanctuary where they can eat to their hearts' content.

That's...a lot of similarities. All the plot points are basically the same.

 

[Amaris]

Well, if it ends up they did do some borrowing, at least they borrowed from an excellent source (I say this as a big W&G fan).

 

[SeerSGB]

"Fruit bat round up, fruit bat round up" gets suck in your head--including Pinkie's voice.

Rainbow Dash needs CA (Cider Anonymous) in a major way.

Weaponizing Fluttershy...damn Twilight you cold.

And here's a thing: If the Vampire Fruit Bats no longer crave apples/fruit, does that mean they'll starve out? Or was the craving replaced with a new one? Cause if the former...damn it Twilight stop committing genocide.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

It sounded like the spell was reversed.

 

[Amaris]

"Fruit bat round up, fruit bat round up" gets suck in your head--including Pinkie's voice.

Rainbow Dash needs CA (Cider Anonymous) in a major way.

Weaponizing Fluttershy...damn Twilight you cold.

And here's a thing: If the Vampire Fruit Bats no longer crave apples/fruit, does that mean they'll starve out? Or was the craving replaced with a new one? Cause if the former...damn it Twilight stop committing genocide.

I had this same concern.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Again, I think the end of the eppie implied that the spell was reversed.