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PurpleWonderPower [2018-09-01 18:27:36 +0000 UTC]

Leap of Faith was an A+, without a doubt!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

soulsurvivor112 [2014-04-01 03:39:07 +0000 UTC]

when i saw the title all i could think about is assassins creed and their leap of faith. after that i couldn't pay attention to the episode

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

The1King [2014-03-31 22:28:40 +0000 UTC]

Eh....that's fair I guess.

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Rated-R-PonyStar [2014-03-31 16:50:07 +0000 UTC]

I give it a B. I though the episode was strong in what it was trying to sell and that it had it's funny moments as well with the whole "applejack approved" thing going on. Flim and Flam are okay antagonists, but what stops it from getting an A is two things. One is the ending which kind of bothered me a bit, and second why didn't Applejack go to Twilight to study the tonic in the first place? She has a lab and is a scientist so she would be able to say what is and what isn't in it. Other then that, I had no qualms with it.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

evangelian007 [2014-03-31 04:03:11 +0000 UTC]

I saw the episode and I liked it. For some strange reason it reminded me of the Dark Knight rises(without the superheroes) due to it's theme.
Shame that Commissioner Gordon had to learn it the hard way while AJ got it easy.

It's kind of sad to know that there are people like the Flim Flam brothers in real life. Not the characters but people like them. And I've seen it way too many times. What's worse is that those type of people end up hurting others with their lies.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Bonsai-Tree009 [2014-03-31 02:58:07 +0000 UTC]

When I watched the end of the episode, I was surprised that the flim flam brothers were fleeing. So does that mean that the flim flam brothers are going to be recurring antagonists from now on?

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ManaAdvent [2014-03-31 01:28:45 +0000 UTC]

Also, the song this episode wasn't as memorable as the one in SSCS6/debut episode. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

1992andbeyond [2014-03-31 00:54:22 +0000 UTC]

I give it a D

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Deltaonslot [2014-03-31 00:43:59 +0000 UTC]

I thought that this episode was pretty good, but I was kinda hoping that they would of made flim and flam reform or something. Heck it's still better it ain't easy being breezie. I really like that silver shell guy though so he was cool. I would givin it a C or a C+.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ZoPteryx [2014-03-30 21:44:18 +0000 UTC]

I really didn't have a problem with Flim and Flam's attitude, one can just assume they've grown more desperate over the years (though their fancy circus-like setup doesn't suggest so; maybe they're their just renting it).  But I do agree with you on AJ's "lie".  As you said, she didn't lie, she just answered a different question.  Flim and Flam then took this out of context which then made the other ponies feel lied to.   AJ didn't tell the truth like she should've, but she didn't lie either.  She had no reason to apologize; there's no such thing as criminal indifference.  

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ixtaek [2014-03-30 21:33:09 +0000 UTC]

I feel this is a mite low personally, I probably would have given it a B.
I actually liked the song in the context it was in. The whole plot of the episode, yes, was more or less the same as Kronk's New Groove, so the song fit very well because of it's similarities to "Help Me to Help You to Help Me to Help Them". It wasn't the best song, and nowhere near as good as Super Speedy Cider Squeezy, but it fit well with their personalities. Any other kind of song would not have matched, and to just repurpose the Super Speedy song would have been boring and not a wise move on their part. They're conmen; they will keep reusing a scheme, but they will never reuse it the same way twice.

 I also loved Shil; too often the snake oil type plots focus heavily on the conman or the marks, so to see the initial complicity and eventual repentance of the plant was really nice (plus I thought he was cute as far as key-givers went; not over-brightly colored like the Breezies, a little gutsier than Coco (who is my favorite out of all of them), not randomly acting like a bully then changing to being nice like Spitfire, and far more understated than Cheese (who is m least favorite of the key givers)). I also got the impression Shil was a young, wanna-be business pony, not unlike a lot of college students, who really want to control their own life but are stuck with a terrible boss and trying to make the best of it (the way he seems proud to have "no more silly costumes" and is so proud of earning his first bit makes me think this). I think you're doing the bit a little disservice... it's special to Shil because it is his first bit as a business pony. A lot of "family" restaurants in my hometown have their first dollar framed with a picture of their opening day; it is their way of remembering where they started and the excitement of that first successful transaction. Shil giving AJ his first bit AND saying he will go refund the pony shows he is a good pony who just went wrong for a while, or at very least he knows public opinion is important to business. AJ obviously knows the importance of that bit too, and I doubt she will just "toss it in with the others".

I also like how Flim and Flam didn't have to get a massive villain upgrade to come back. They were a little more dishonest, yes, and a lot more pugnacious, but overall they were still just slightly worse conmen, using their persuasion and ability to think fast and talk fast more rather than needing, say, a magical amulet of evil power or suddenly going from gruff to school-yard bullying. Granny might have died from that jump, but she also might have died of starvation or hypothermia when they took over Sweet Apple Acres. They're maliciously greedy, but they aren't evil. They would never outright kill anypony, something a real villain like Chysalis, and maybe even amulet-powered Trixie, would have done without any remorse.

The episode did have weak points. I agree AJ's apology at the end might be a little superflous as she hadn't point-blank lied, but it was important because it acknowledges that sometimes, even if you've done nothing wrong, you need to apologize to people who feel you have slighted them, because at the end of the day its the perception of an action, not the intent behind it, that matters most (you can do the wrong thing with the best of intentions, but that doesn't make it right, nor does it make anyone hurt less for it, and sometimes, apologizing is the best thing to do, even f it isn't the easiest) AJ's silence had cost these ponies a lot of money and also a lot of hope. I feel like they didn't stress that enough. There were ponies with problems ranging from minor bumps, who were just out cash, to being stuck in a wheelchair and would never be able to walk normally again. To them, especially, that apology was due, because they had, on her word, probably really started to hope they could walk again, only to find out it wasn't true, they wouldn't walk again, it had all been a scam. Those were the ones who needed that apology.

Though honestly we really didn't want to see Granny in that swimsuit... then again we see her "naked" all the time, so it's all relative from there I feel like the "you're only as old as you feel" lesson might have been a better one to emphasize, but since the focus was on AJ, it sorts got tossed out in an afterthought. I also would have been grateful had wnot seem those swollen flanks mid-song because, well, it was just gross. Overall, I'd say this episode was good in the places that mattered and "meh" in the places that were not as key. While It wasn't a shining star, I liked it better than many episodes so far this season, and, excepting Rarity Takes Manehattan, the best out of all the "key" episodes. This is just my opinion, of course, and the reasons behind them.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

UMSAuthorLava [2014-03-30 17:26:46 +0000 UTC]

Maybe the Flim Flam Bros.' swindling attitude wasn't AS apparent back in Season 2, but they went and used the acres' apples without permission for attempted profit, as Applejack pointed out. That at least is thievery masked by smooth talk - which is close enough to swindling.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

CHCHcartoons [2014-03-30 16:32:07 +0000 UTC]

I give it a B-, only because it has Scott McNeil in it. That guy is awesome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kacript [2014-03-30 15:10:35 +0000 UTC]

Looks like you and I are on a similar vote this time around. I didn't like this episode. If you'd like to see my problems with episode, check out my review: kacript.deviantart.com/art/Lea…

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Scyphi [2014-03-30 14:36:38 +0000 UTC]

Nah, Flim and Flam were swindlers from the beginning, they were just subtle about it, backed up by a capable device so that it wasn't immediately obvious. But given how they handled business with the Apples? Yeah, they were totally trying to swindle them out of their hard earned bits. I don't see why this is so hard for others to see, but there you go.

But yeah, they are a bit more...dishonest...this time around than before. What gets me is the fact they try it again in Ponyville. Seeing that things went south for them the last time they were in Ponyville, you'd think they'd want to steer clear, since the ponies there would know what they're capable of already...the Apples especially, if only because there's bad blood between them already.

Also, I hadn't thought about it when watching the episode, but I guess you have a point, it doesn't make sense for Applejack to take as much of the blame as she did. Obviously she gets some blame, because she had been a willing participant in Flim and Flam's scheming if only because she didn't stop them sooner and let them blow it out of proportion, but not really as much as she did in the end. Funny thing is that I don't think it was the intention of the writers for it to be that way, it just sort of happened that way. Also, I'm not entirely sure how you'd fix it without muddling the intended lesson further still, which is exactly what it doesn't need, so...:shrugs:

It is true AJ didn't actually lie per say, but it's not that she DID lie, it's the fact that the other ponies saw it that way. Yes, what happened was that they took her words out of context and then Flim and Flam ran with that further still for their own profit, but from their perspective, that's what Applejack said, so from their point of view, AJ lied. And Applejack, to her credit, decided not to beat about the bush trying to explain otherwise (and risk Flim and Flam further taking her words out of context for their own personal gain) and just said "yeah, I lied" so to get to the point. That, and with Applejack being so firm in her stand on honesty, I wouldn't doubt that she probably believed she had actually "lied" under the reasoning that she hadn't really told the truth either.

Despite all of that, though, I'm largely in agreement with your rating for this one. It's really a sort of half-and-half episode; one half had some good ideas behind it, but the other half keeps them from really coming to fruition.

I do have to give them credit that they took a generic plot and put a new twist to it, even if it didn't work out the greatest when all's said and done.

And I liked the song. Wasn't as good as their last song, no, but I like it better than most of the other songs in MLP (but then again I have never watched this show for the songs).

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Melipony [2014-03-30 13:34:16 +0000 UTC]

Only a C?

I never understood why people rate Applejack episodes so low...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Berlioz-II [2014-03-30 13:25:23 +0000 UTC]

So Flim and Flam return and the result is yet again a hum-drum episode at best? Go figure...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

HareTrinity [2014-03-30 13:10:20 +0000 UTC]

It also serves as the unusual (and possibly discouraging) lesson that, if you're going to be trustworthy, it's a massive responsibility. If Applejack hadn't got the "honest farmer" reputation then it's likely her apparent endorsement wouldn't have meant as much. Still, I like that it was a matter she didn't want to be open about, as opposed to a truth she couldn't accept (which was used in Return of Harmony).

Overall I enjoyed the ep, but I adore the Flim-Flam brothers and they kept making me grin whenever they were on the screen! I also liked Doctor Whooves and Lyra as judges! The rest didn't have great pacing, and it involved the least appealing key ep secondary character so far! So much so that most people don't even mention Shill. I know not every character can be Coco or Cheese, but shouldn't he have been more... Likeable?

Headcanon: The losses from their last visit to Ponyville have pushed the Flim-Flam bros towards a life of crime. All makes sense!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Annomaniac [2014-03-30 12:09:43 +0000 UTC]

I watched the episode with a friend of mine, and we also came to the conclusion that it wasn't bad, but also not all too good.

When it comes to the plot, I was pretty bummed. I don't mind too much that the episodes tend to be predictable after the first 5 minutes - that's been the case since season one. The thing was that this plot felt very much out-of-the-can, like a 1970s Our-Little-Farm plot rewritten for ponies. In general I don't mind the episode for it GAVE Applejack the chance to wonder about her element for once at least, though as you show with your review (as well as you did in the last episodes), the writers become a bit too wishy-washy and wonky when it comes to build-up and conclusion.

Also, Flim and Flam. You didn't write about the song at all, would you mind telling me your opinion on it? From what I saw, it weaked Flim and Flam because it stole the good elements Ingram/the team created with the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. That song is a solid more happy version of Music Man's "Ya got trouble" with the difference that it was much more singable and brouth the element of barbershop into the FiM-Universe. However, the song in this episode feels to me more like a weak reprise. For once, it's not that much a song as a musical act that you'd prefer to WATCH instead of singing along. In SSC6000, the public was able to cheer into the song after a while and it made sense, because the refrain WAS easy to remember. In this episode, the ponies do so as well even though it is NOT - I can't even say what the refrain actually is at the moment. Not to forget are the continuous breaks form the brothers when they are talking unharmonically to the music. Season 4 develops a lot of so-called Broadway-dialogue, and I am not thrilled by it. Problem is also that in SSCQ6000, Flim used to be the talker while Flam was more of the singing element. This time, it's actually completely mixed up - both talk and sing, and the whole thing could've been done by one pony. Maybe that's why you didn't talk that much about it - because it isn't a song as much as "Ya got trouble" of the Music Man is nothing I'll be humming for a while.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

MagicMan001 [2014-03-30 11:44:39 +0000 UTC]

I think the shared consensus so far is 'okay, not great'. It tells a solid story, albeit predictable, and with a pretty good moral about honesty. I wouldn't call it lazy, it's a pretty grey area about honesty I'm glad they addressed.

Harber is definitely the 'safe writer' he's been labelled as and I can certainly see why. I can see the problem with it, but still, I'd definitely rather have a safe, average episode than a bad one.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

MitoTheBest96 [2014-03-30 11:44:06 +0000 UTC]

Return of Flim and Flam

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