My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Hearts And Hooves Day" - Talkback [02/08] [02/11]

[The Huntsman]

Saturday @ 10:30 AM ET on The Hub

Because this episode is currently legally available on iTunes, I am making this talkback thread early. I trust that everybody who posts in this thread will have paid for the episode, but as a reminder, it is against the rules to link to, mention or reference where illegally uploaded episodes can be found. If you love the show, support it.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders create a love potion to make Miss Cheerilee and Big Macintosh fall in love but quickly regret their actions when the couple starts spouting lovey-dovey baby talk.

[nakak]

And now I'm glad I have an iTunes account.

I must say Cheerilee and Big Macintosh becoming lovey dovey under the spell is hilarious (Peter New must've had a blast reading Big Mac's lines).

This is definitely a CMC-centered episode. None of the main characters appear at all except Twilight, and it was only in one scene in the second act (she gave the love potion book to the girls). And thus Applejack's streak of appearing in every season 2 episode ends, her thunder taken by her siblings oddly enough.

(And I just noticed. During the song sequence Sweetie Belle said that one elderly stallion she sees is too old for Cheerilee. The said stallion was giving eulogy at a funeral.)

[LostAnarchist]

To not spoil anything for anyone who doesn't have Itunes, I'd like to do this. Thank you for understanding.

Spoiler:

I'm just happy we got a CMC episode where they did something/ learned a lesson on good intentions, not for their otherwise unfortunately, selfish and obsessed pursuit of you-all-know-what-by-now.

If we're going to have episodes with them, I expect them to be as good as this one, if not better.

Though the ending (and whole thing, sadly) felt a bit cliche (especially for a love potion-type Valentine's day conflict) to me, I still liked how down to earth it was in its writing and execution overall.

I also hand out extra points for no forced moralization (having to write to Celestia). We're on a roll with that, to be sure.

[Juu-kuchi]

Oh wow, this his a top-flight episode all around. It's a very 'heart'felt tale (no pun intended) and utilized the CMCs and other supporting characters remarkably well. It sortof continues the trend of how the CMCs when they aren't so tunnel-visioned in their Cutie Mark quest to be quite frankly the best written child characters in television as of yet. It's hard not to dislike their eagerness, and if there are more CMC episodes like this with very little of the other mane six, I'm all up for it.

Also loved the main song, and how it was sung. Very down-to-earth and sounds like something within the range of kids their age would sing instead of something bombastic.

Overall, I think this is probably within my Top 3 alongside "Lesson Zero" and "The Last Roundup".

[Undrave]

The song was GREAT! And if you pause during the first pan out you can spot what looks like Derpy and Doctor Whooves off on one of the bridge XD

[Vegard Aune]

Just gonna repost what I said about it on another forum...

Spoiler:

First off, kinda surprised how, aside from Twilight being in one scene, none of the main six appeared in this episode. The focus was entirely on the Cutie Mark Crusaders (thankfully not obsessing over their lack of Cutie Marks for once), Cheerilee and Big Mac. The latter who finally seems to be getting some actual dialogue again after having said nothing but "Yup" or "Nope" ever since Winter Wrap-Up.
So yeah, the plot was as typical and predictable as can be; Ponyville is celebrating Totally-Not-Valentine's Day, Cheerilee doesn't have a boyfriend, the CMC try to hook her up with Big Mac and when they first fail they then proceed to try and brew up a love-potion that's way too effective, and then they spend the rest of the episode trying to undo the damage. We've heard this story a million times... but, like I've said before, the strength of this series has always been in how well it executes its stories, and this episode is a perfect example of that. Did I totally predict the entire story ahead of time? Yes. Does that mean that this episode wasn't a lot of fun? Not at all, in fact I dare say this is the most entertaining episode for quite some time.
And as a side-note, that song-number was adorable.

[Eddy]

I'm glad I grabbed this off iTunes while it was there (it's gone now).

I have to say I really loved this episode. I was at first a little disappointed they were going to take the "love potion" route but, as this team proves time and time again, they're able to take cliches like that and make them feel fresh. Some real hilarious moments in this one, from Cheerilee and Big Mac's "baby talk" to the antics of the Cutie Mark Crusaders themselves. And, I have to say, Sweetie Belle nearly stole the show here. "OH COME ON!" The episode had a very good lesson too and I was happy to see a CMC episode where the words "cutie mark" weren't even said once.

Oh yeah, and I loved the song.

[nakak]

You know, as of late CMC episodes have them doing something other than trying to obtain Cutie Marks.

Of the four episodes so far centered on some or all of the CMCs this season, only one (The Cutie Pox) is actually about cutie marks.

[Jave]

Equestria has video games. Video games!

Ponyville is officially the best place ever.

[King9]

Right off the bat: Big Macintosh is shy?! That's the most adorable thing ever. He's a big shy softie .

I loved this episode (see what I did there)? The CMCs trying to tackle something adult and intimate like creating a relationship was very fun to watch. That song was honestly my favorite in the series I think. I found it especially catchy and fun + Sweetie Belle. Sweetie by the way had some great lines in this one. I'm overjoyed Big Mac got to say something other than 'Yup' or 'Nope' this time, even if most of what he did say was lovey dovey stuff. And I think Oliver did a particularly good job with Cheerilee. Lastly the character expressions were excellent in this episode. You'd need it to express the awkwardness of some of the situations.

Definitely among my favorite episodes for Adorableness, Big Mac and CMC inclusion, All around solid episode.

[TnAdct1]

With the episode accidentally leaked on iTunes, and people already commenting on it, I think that it's safe for me to say that I'm going to pass on this episode.

Sorry, but this was just as a feared: this is pretty much a CMC episode with the Mane Six being left out (save for a Twilight Sparkle cameo), and given how I'm a person who usually don't like episodes where the main characters get little to no screen time at all in the episode, this is a definite "skip" for me.

[Juu-kuchi]

Oh don't be like that. You're shortchanging yourself on what is essentially a spectacular episode.

[Undrave]

Cheerilee is my favorite pony now <3

[The Landstander]

With the episode accidentally leaked on iTunes, and people already commenting on it, I think that it's safe for me to say that I'm going to pass on this episode.

What on Earth don't do that. Watch it. I command you.

[Juu-kuchi]

What on Earth don't do that. Watch it. I command you.

Now i realize it's kindof ironic in a way. A show which has caused many people to open up to the possibilities of being entertained by stories in a while they never thought possible, when they do something that doesn't seem desirable to a few people, they immediately close their doors. C'mon people! Don'd do that.

Also noticed that the old pony is not just speaking at the funeral, but he has a priest's collar. So either Ponyville has some Christian denomination vis a vis the Celestianity presence, or Celestianity (Yeah I'm gonna peg that as the primary religion of worship in Ponyville) has its own clergy.

[Undrave]

Also noticed that the old pony is not just speaking at the funeral, but he has a priest's collar. So either Ponyville has some Christian denomination vis a vis the Celestianity presence, or Celestianity (Yeah I'm gonna peg that as the primary religion of worship in Ponyville) has its own clergy.

Ah but, even tough the Princesses move the sun and the moon, they've never been directly adress as goddess in the show AND they don't rule the after life! Its more than probable the ponies have some other deity involved with takng care of the souls of the departed.

[TnAdct1]

Now i realize it's kindof ironic in a way. A show which has caused many people to open up to the possibilities of being entertained by stories in a while they never thought possible, when they do something that doesn't seem desirable to a few people, they immediately close their doors. C'mon people! Don'd do that.

Probably it's best to explain my actions here: outside of the Return of Harmony two-parter (which I purposely skipped because I felt it would be too much for someone who was still new to the show at the time), I'd actually do go into the new episodes of MLP:FiM blindly and watch them, even for episodes where there's only one or two of the Mane Six (i.e. Sisterhooves Social, which is actually one of the better episodes of the season, and Family Appreciation Day). Even if I'm busy doing something else and record the episode on Saturday, given how I watch these episodes while I wait for my computer to boot up, I'd still watch the episode first.

However, with this episode being leaked accidentally late Wednesday night (and people already commenting on it), comments about the episode have already appeared online, and with me finding out that this is one of those episodes where the Mane Six are pretty much absent from the episode, I decided to skip this episode, as I'm not really into these types of episodes (i.e. ones where other characters are given a storyline at the expense of giving the central characters either a very limited role or no screen time at all) when it comes to shows that are done in an episodic manner (rather than it being one continuous storyline).

If the leak haven't happened, then more than likely, I would have viewed this episode when it aired, posted my comments, and probably deleted the episode from my DVR afterwards.

[Jave]

Joe, honestly, you're missing out on one of the best episodes of the season because of a principle that doesn't really mean anything. I know it's your decision and all that, but at least try giving the episode a shot before dismissing it completely.

I mean, aren't you glad "Sisterhooves Social" didn't leak beforehand?

[Doguineta]

MAN, Sweetie Belle can sing!

I know it was shown in "Show Stoppers" but I really noticed in this song, which was BTW, fantastic and funny, as was this episode. Sweetie Belle stole the show, from "OH COME ON!" to her Revealing there's an antidote right after AppleBloom went into chaos mode, to her actually having most of the ideas in the episode and acting leader-y. Other highlights include Big Mac Pinkie-hopping, the CMC getting the "rainbow glow" (so random, yet funny) and more. So yeah, all in all, great episode that surpassed my expectations and yeah, Sweetie Belle gained tons of points in my pony-ranking. And now I leave you with my favorite quote of the episode, which is from (you guessed it) Sweetie Belle:

Sweetie Belle: "We thought you two would be perfect together! To test it. Together. Soooo we'll just leave you two alone. Together. To test it."

[nakak]

I know it was shown in "Show Stoppers" but I really noticed in this song, which was BTW, fantastic and funny, as was this episode. Sweetie Belle stole the show, from "OH COME ON!" to her Revealing there's an antidote right after AppleBloom went into chaos mode, to her actually having most of the ideas in the episode and acting leader-y.

That's a good point about Sweetie Belle. Especially since most fans regard her as the "ditz" of the three.