Review: BATS! (My Little Pony, Season 4, Episode 7)
Who knew an episode called BATS! would be so much fun, at least to me? I have to admit that while I'm a big animal advocate, I don't love them all equally, and I can't honestly say that bats make me rejoice. The Night The Bat Got In sticks out in my girlhood memories, and I also still remember when a flock of bats buzz-bombed an outdoor Shakespeare performance I was watching. The shrieks had to be heard to be believed.
Spoiler spoiler spoiler Big Freaking McSpoiler:
[A serious BIG spoiler]
Check out her cutie mark, by the way--they've changed from butterflies into bats! [Passionate stuff follows.]
Quick summary, because evidently I forgot to do that:
Applejack is looking forward to Applebucking Day, and settles in for a good day of bucking apples when she discovers that her apples are mush. She calls in her friends and explains that vampire fruit bats are attacking the orchards, and while she's never personally seen them before, Granny Smith (who is conveniently absent) has told her horrible stories about the last infestation. They're horrible, ugly monsters. Fluttershy objects to calling any animals "monsters," and a Nightmare Before Christmas song ensues.
Fluttershy suggests that the vampire fruit bats have beneficial qualities, too, and that maybe they could put aside a part of the orchards for the bats. AJ objects. Twilight suggests that maybe instead she could cast a spell that will make the bats not want to suck the juice out of apples. (Here I have to agree with some of the reviewers who wondered why she hadn't learned her lesson about this kind of thing in Swarm of the Century.) The catch is that Fluttershy will have to use her Stare on the bats, and she doesn't want to--she thinks it is wrong. The rest of her friends lean on her about it and she agrees to do it anyway, even though she clearly feels badly about it and objects when Rarity describes the bats as "ikky." Fluttershy uses her Stare, Twilight casts the spell, and while the vampire fruit bats apparently have lost their taste for apples, their qualities have been transferred to Fluttershy, who turns into a vampire batpony.
Fluttershy's friends, especially AJ, decide that they have to save their friend, and AJ sacrifices her prize apple to draw Flutterbat. They turn mirrors on Flutters, and while she is caught in her own Stare, Twilight reverses the spell. Pinkie explains matters to Fluttershy, who doesn't remember anything, and does not make anything clearer. The bat sanctuary is built, and the cast retires to Fluttershy's cottage to write a diary entry: AJ has learned that her short term solution was a bad one, and Fluttershy that sometimes you have to stand up to your friends when you know something is not right. All is well and back to normal!
A lot of people loved Flutterbat, but had a hard time choking down the moral.
Flutters is right.
Her friends are wrong.
And when she tries to say "hang on a second, I know I can get through to them, I have some better ideas," do they listen to her? No, they do not, because they still--still!--do not get it that empathy and kindness don't translate into being a pushover and a fool. It's been grating to me to hear Fluttershy dismissed as an environmentalist hippy freak with no common sense on various forums. See above: Fluttershy turned out to be right and AJ was wrong, and the whole mess could have been avoided if the others hadn't had the knee-jerk response that Fluttershy is *always* too nice for her own good and *therefore* her opinions are stupid and impractical.
Fortunately, the episode knows better, and I actually felt at the end that the ball had been rolled forward a bit in a way it wasn't with Flutterhulk. Both are related, though. Fluttershy is the protector of the defenseless. Have you ever heard Alan Rabinowitz of Panthera talk? His story is that when he was a child, he was so anxious and stuttered so badly that he could not speak at all. He spent all his time "talking" to his stuffed animals. It was the only way he could talk. He promised them that when he grew up, he'd talk for them, and now that's what he does: speak up for those who can't and in the process prevent many big cat species from being wiped out totally. (You can see his interview with Stephen Colbert here.) This is why Flutters didn't hulk out for her friends but did for a firefly that was harmless and was mere collateral damage to a villain for whom it got in the way. If you've seen the most recent version of the Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug, you know what this looks like. It made perfect sense to me. It is *because* she is so shy and anxious that she does become eloquent and forceful where animals are concerned.
It's not that Fluttershy never steps up to control animals if necessary. She's got The Stare, after all. But she's got in the same way the others have their own extraordinary talents. It's a kind of magic, and she's bound to use it responsibly. Forcing her to use that coercive power when she was convinced that it was wrong was a bad idea. You'd have thought Princess Twilight would have learned her lesson from several other episodes before this, but hey--everyone keeps re-learning lessons, and that's always seemed credible to me. (But really, Twilight, casting a spell so an animal won't eat its own food? You don't see a problem with this?) Maybe it's my own sunny interpretation, but I thought the others respected her a little bit more. Forget about the fang. It's a joke--except maybe to hint that Fluttershy isn't a wimp and not to lose sight of that?
I cannot blame AJ at all for being upset. Her love for her farm is bone-deep and she only knows what Granny told her, but that's just it: she only knows what Granny told her. I'm really surprised that people are taking for granted that what Applejack is saying about the bats is plain unvarnished truth and that Fluttershy's is a foolish fantasy. It's the truth as AJ sees it, but that doesn't mean it's objective truth. Her dark Nightmare Before Christmas vision of her farm is obviously not what's really happening, because the next day, her orchards don't look horrible--they look gorgeous. It's important that Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac aren't there, because if they also assessed the situation the same way as Applejack, and especially if Granny Smith said that running off the bats was a good idea, the picture would have been entirely different. Everypony else, though--they should have known better, and their motives were much shallower: bats are ikky, I want more cider, I know better than you do about your own area of expertise. That last one is a particular pitfall for those of us with pieces of paper proving we're smart.
Oh, Flutters, I have never wanted to hug you more after Rarity called the bats "ikky" and you said stubbornly "they're not ikky." This didn't feel like a throwaway gag like Flutterhulk, not that that bothered me. Empathy means feeling with, and that's what she does: she feels with. That's how she can talk to animals, and that's how her friends broke her. By the way, of course she cares about her friends and what happens to them, or she wouldn't have listened to them at all.
Props to AJ for being able to admit that she was wrong AND for really caring about what happened to her friend. But then, I knew she would. She even sacrificed her pride and joy, the flawless Big Apple. (Manehatten?) She's honest and loyal and kind, and I'm glad they worked out something that was good for her farm and humane too.
Anyway, I thought it was very funny and very cool. I loved the atmosphere, and I'm giving Daniel Ingram and/or William Anderson major props for the "church bells" callout in the mirror scene, which I'm pretty sure is Mussorgsky. And as someone who seems to be constantly pushing back against dumb and cruel decisions which always seem to boil down to "the first thing let's do is kill all the cats," it hit me at a gut level. In real life, of course, this often ends in truly horrible stuff that I'm not going to write about here and which would be too much for a kids' show.
My sister gave me a Build A Bear gift card for Christmas and I used it right away to order a Fluttershy. I'm so happy she'll arrive in a few days! Girl will be my mascot the next time I write a letter or do something for cat rescue or saving animals.
Also, Rarity, I do get you. I love animals very much, but sometimes they can seem a teeny weeny little bit ikky and I have personally freaked out completely about bats, so I'm not judging you. Other stuff I loved: Pinkie Pie using her hair to hold her flashlight (I always love it when she does stuff like this) and being the first one to suspect something funny about Fluttershy. The song, which is awfully fun, and the atmosphere is both clever and used psychologically. I'm amazed that they went for truly scary Flutterbat and all those fun bat signals, but I think they trust their slightly older target audience by now. Yep, little girls and boys are capable of enjoying a certain amount of spooky. See Sleepless in Ponyville and a lot of Tim Burton films.
I've enjoyed the whole season, so far. I know I tend to enjoy things, but--well, I guess I enjoy things! I know I'm capable of not liking some MLP episodes, so it just must be that I like 'em all this season.
Spoiler spoiler spoiler Big Freaking McSpoiler:
[A serious BIG spoiler]
Check out her cutie mark, by the way--they've changed from butterflies into bats! [Passionate stuff follows.]
Quick summary, because evidently I forgot to do that:
Applejack is looking forward to Applebucking Day, and settles in for a good day of bucking apples when she discovers that her apples are mush. She calls in her friends and explains that vampire fruit bats are attacking the orchards, and while she's never personally seen them before, Granny Smith (who is conveniently absent) has told her horrible stories about the last infestation. They're horrible, ugly monsters. Fluttershy objects to calling any animals "monsters," and a Nightmare Before Christmas song ensues.
Fluttershy suggests that the vampire fruit bats have beneficial qualities, too, and that maybe they could put aside a part of the orchards for the bats. AJ objects. Twilight suggests that maybe instead she could cast a spell that will make the bats not want to suck the juice out of apples. (Here I have to agree with some of the reviewers who wondered why she hadn't learned her lesson about this kind of thing in Swarm of the Century.) The catch is that Fluttershy will have to use her Stare on the bats, and she doesn't want to--she thinks it is wrong. The rest of her friends lean on her about it and she agrees to do it anyway, even though she clearly feels badly about it and objects when Rarity describes the bats as "ikky." Fluttershy uses her Stare, Twilight casts the spell, and while the vampire fruit bats apparently have lost their taste for apples, their qualities have been transferred to Fluttershy, who turns into a vampire batpony.
Fluttershy's friends, especially AJ, decide that they have to save their friend, and AJ sacrifices her prize apple to draw Flutterbat. They turn mirrors on Flutters, and while she is caught in her own Stare, Twilight reverses the spell. Pinkie explains matters to Fluttershy, who doesn't remember anything, and does not make anything clearer. The bat sanctuary is built, and the cast retires to Fluttershy's cottage to write a diary entry: AJ has learned that her short term solution was a bad one, and Fluttershy that sometimes you have to stand up to your friends when you know something is not right. All is well and back to normal!
A lot of people loved Flutterbat, but had a hard time choking down the moral.
Flutters is right.
Her friends are wrong.
And when she tries to say "hang on a second, I know I can get through to them, I have some better ideas," do they listen to her? No, they do not, because they still--still!--do not get it that empathy and kindness don't translate into being a pushover and a fool. It's been grating to me to hear Fluttershy dismissed as an environmentalist hippy freak with no common sense on various forums. See above: Fluttershy turned out to be right and AJ was wrong, and the whole mess could have been avoided if the others hadn't had the knee-jerk response that Fluttershy is *always* too nice for her own good and *therefore* her opinions are stupid and impractical.
Fortunately, the episode knows better, and I actually felt at the end that the ball had been rolled forward a bit in a way it wasn't with Flutterhulk. Both are related, though. Fluttershy is the protector of the defenseless. Have you ever heard Alan Rabinowitz of Panthera talk? His story is that when he was a child, he was so anxious and stuttered so badly that he could not speak at all. He spent all his time "talking" to his stuffed animals. It was the only way he could talk. He promised them that when he grew up, he'd talk for them, and now that's what he does: speak up for those who can't and in the process prevent many big cat species from being wiped out totally. (You can see his interview with Stephen Colbert here.) This is why Flutters didn't hulk out for her friends but did for a firefly that was harmless and was mere collateral damage to a villain for whom it got in the way. If you've seen the most recent version of the Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug, you know what this looks like. It made perfect sense to me. It is *because* she is so shy and anxious that she does become eloquent and forceful where animals are concerned.
It's not that Fluttershy never steps up to control animals if necessary. She's got The Stare, after all. But she's got in the same way the others have their own extraordinary talents. It's a kind of magic, and she's bound to use it responsibly. Forcing her to use that coercive power when she was convinced that it was wrong was a bad idea. You'd have thought Princess Twilight would have learned her lesson from several other episodes before this, but hey--everyone keeps re-learning lessons, and that's always seemed credible to me. (But really, Twilight, casting a spell so an animal won't eat its own food? You don't see a problem with this?) Maybe it's my own sunny interpretation, but I thought the others respected her a little bit more. Forget about the fang. It's a joke--except maybe to hint that Fluttershy isn't a wimp and not to lose sight of that?
I cannot blame AJ at all for being upset. Her love for her farm is bone-deep and she only knows what Granny told her, but that's just it: she only knows what Granny told her. I'm really surprised that people are taking for granted that what Applejack is saying about the bats is plain unvarnished truth and that Fluttershy's is a foolish fantasy. It's the truth as AJ sees it, but that doesn't mean it's objective truth. Her dark Nightmare Before Christmas vision of her farm is obviously not what's really happening, because the next day, her orchards don't look horrible--they look gorgeous. It's important that Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac aren't there, because if they also assessed the situation the same way as Applejack, and especially if Granny Smith said that running off the bats was a good idea, the picture would have been entirely different. Everypony else, though--they should have known better, and their motives were much shallower: bats are ikky, I want more cider, I know better than you do about your own area of expertise. That last one is a particular pitfall for those of us with pieces of paper proving we're smart.
Oh, Flutters, I have never wanted to hug you more after Rarity called the bats "ikky" and you said stubbornly "they're not ikky." This didn't feel like a throwaway gag like Flutterhulk, not that that bothered me. Empathy means feeling with, and that's what she does: she feels with. That's how she can talk to animals, and that's how her friends broke her. By the way, of course she cares about her friends and what happens to them, or she wouldn't have listened to them at all.
Props to AJ for being able to admit that she was wrong AND for really caring about what happened to her friend. But then, I knew she would. She even sacrificed her pride and joy, the flawless Big Apple. (Manehatten?) She's honest and loyal and kind, and I'm glad they worked out something that was good for her farm and humane too.
Anyway, I thought it was very funny and very cool. I loved the atmosphere, and I'm giving Daniel Ingram and/or William Anderson major props for the "church bells" callout in the mirror scene, which I'm pretty sure is Mussorgsky. And as someone who seems to be constantly pushing back against dumb and cruel decisions which always seem to boil down to "the first thing let's do is kill all the cats," it hit me at a gut level. In real life, of course, this often ends in truly horrible stuff that I'm not going to write about here and which would be too much for a kids' show.
My sister gave me a Build A Bear gift card for Christmas and I used it right away to order a Fluttershy. I'm so happy she'll arrive in a few days! Girl will be my mascot the next time I write a letter or do something for cat rescue or saving animals.
Also, Rarity, I do get you. I love animals very much, but sometimes they can seem a teeny weeny little bit ikky and I have personally freaked out completely about bats, so I'm not judging you. Other stuff I loved: Pinkie Pie using her hair to hold her flashlight (I always love it when she does stuff like this) and being the first one to suspect something funny about Fluttershy. The song, which is awfully fun, and the atmosphere is both clever and used psychologically. I'm amazed that they went for truly scary Flutterbat and all those fun bat signals, but I think they trust their slightly older target audience by now. Yep, little girls and boys are capable of enjoying a certain amount of spooky. See Sleepless in Ponyville and a lot of Tim Burton films.
I've enjoyed the whole season, so far. I know I tend to enjoy things, but--well, I guess I enjoy things! I know I'm capable of not liking some MLP episodes, so it just must be that I like 'em all this season.