), I do love fussing over stats where anything of interest is concerned, Fimfic included. Happily, I’m not alone (because duh 
): Recommendsday blogger, fic writer and all-around awesome chap TCC56 does too, and in his latestEpisode Review: "She Talks to Angel" - Season 9 Episode 18 · 4:18pm Aug 31st, 2019
“Talk to the wing hand!”
A proper Fluttershy episode! No, “Sweet and Smoky” doesn’t count. Today’s writer is Nick Confalone, someone who usually focuses on funny episodes in somewhat unorthodox ways that, you could argue, don’t often feel as much of a place of Friendship Is Magic as they would of other cartoons (“Dungeons & Discords” being a prime example). That said, among recent writers, he’s more reliable then most – only “Party Pooped” counts as a real stinker and that’s due to being a Yak episode. There are other mediocre ones – “The Maud Couple”, for instance, and let's agree not to mention the clusterfudge that is “Spring Breakdown” over in Equestria Girls – but on the whole his presence as writer has me breathing easier then most modern writers.
And wouldn’t you know it, this episode delivers on that. It’s one of the show’s funniest in a while, and while exactly why may be obvious once it starts unfolding, just because the secret to success is handed to the writer (and actor, as we’ll soon see) on a silver platter doesn’t mean they still can’t delight with it. Happily, while still with a different enough vibe to most FiM episodes, it’s somewhat less so then usual for him, so it still feels of a place with this show. This is an episode that lives more for its comedy then its character or arcs, but it takes just enough care with them that they don’t feel neglected. No episode for the ages is this, but with Season 9 trending the way it is, I’m not going to complain.
Short plot recap, since the fun of this episode comes in how it happens, not what happens. Much of the early goings-on show Fluttershy calmly managing her animal sanctuary, despite Angel constantly badgering her for attention. Arriving to deposit a gecko with smoky breath, Zecora suggests she may have something to help them. Fluttershy doesn’t consider it necessary, but reconsiders after Angel drags her to the supply closet… to have medical carrot extract just because he likes it.
This first third of the episode could have proceeded plainly enough, but even though the episode’s main selling point is still to come, it has quite a few things going for it. First is that’s it’s rather an excellent showing for Fluttershy in her element with animals. We’ve certainly seen how far she’s matured in being assertive when necessary and all that over the years, and the opening act does a good job of showing her in her element, being lovely and caring but stern when absolutely necessary. The balance is achieved well here, and it makes for a first act that, while largely just setting up the pieces organically (and perhaps a bit slowly), is very pleasurable, especially so for big Fluttershy fans. Not sure where I fall on that, but I know good character writing when I see it. Do you forget how non-existent the sanctuary and any Fluttershy character arcs, growth, changes or even just moments have been since "Fluttershy Leans In"? No, of course not, but such matters don’t hamper one’s enjoyment here much. It certainly makes it a satisfying final showcase for her, something the rest of the Mane 7 this season thus far generally cannot say (well, perhaps Pinkie if we agree to not talk about "A Trivial Pursuit").
Anyway, the two visit Zecora and she provides them with two bottles of a new potion, so they can learn to appreciate what it’s like being the other. When they take them… they switch bodies. Yep, Freaky Friday, and though a typical plot, this is where the main comedy point of the episode comes to the forefront. Namely, Angel talking but through Fluttershy’s voice. Your mileage may vary, but combine Confalone’s sharp writing of a mute character being finally able to talk properly and all the random hijinks that ensue, and Andrea Libman absolutely going to town on playing another character in Fluttershy’s voice but with a slightly more masculine rasp and dialect (and this works immeasurably well, it’s basically a demo reel for voice actors playing characters in voice/body swap situations like this), and you have a winner of a recipe. Much of the pleasure until the episode’s end comes from Angel-shy getting to hamm it up as he tackles Fluttershy’s chores at the sanctuary with expected apathy. Even I found him acting like a spoiled teenager funnier then expected, I must confess.
To a degree, in terms of structure and plot, this isn’t an airtight episode. The protracted first act means the rest of the episode is slightly rushed, and while that mostly doesn’t impede Angel-Shy’s ability to make magic of the lines he gets to say, it does somewhat diminish the theme’s resonance of Angel learning to appreciate everything Fluttershy does more. During the half of the episode where they’re swapped, he gets a lot more screentime then Flutter-Bunny does tracking back to Zecora in the Everfree Forest – understandably, as she can’t communicate with words now. This means that though she does technically learn to appreciate how hard it is for Angel to get around anywhere on his own, this is accorded a lot less weight until the end before they swap back. In essence, this ends up being more of an Angel episode then a Fluttershy one, though not by a huge degree. Die-hard Fluttershy fans may take grieve with that, but I found it was executed well enough.
There are other issues, and they mostly boil down to some minor corners cut in order to allow the comedy and fun, and Angel-Shy, to dominate. The gecko only being revealed as a fire lizard at the end, and that Dr. Fauna just forgot, is an obvious example. They’re mostly of the plot and structural variety, rather then ones that heavily cheapen characters as such moments often have these last two seasons. In the end, your lasting impression of the episode’s likely to come down to how much watching Andrea Libman getting to hamm it up playing Angel through Fluttershy’s voice appeals to you. If it does a lot, you’re in for a real good time. Otherwise, you have a solid, funny episode, just perhaps not a keeper for the ages. It certainly might diminish its effect with repeat viewings. But for the second week in a row, it’s an episode where I have no major reservations on the entertainment side of things, and given where Season 9 was prior to that for a decent stretch, I’m not going to turn my nose up at that.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- The episode benefits quite a bit from actually having serious things to say about Fluttershy and Angel's relationship (and making Angel somewhat more sympathetic, but not fully), and balancing them around the plot and comedy of the episode quite well.
- You know you’ve watched too much animations/special effects over the years when you instantly recognise the stock “throaty lizard” sound effect used for the gecko – it sticks out in my mind mostly for an early scene with egg-stealing dinosaurs in Disney’s misbegotten 2000 tech demo, “Dinosaur”. It’s a pretty cool and unique stock sound effect, so I approve. Can we get the Wilhelm scream again before the show wraps, perhaps?
- The random appearance of Twilight and Spike for a scene didn’t do much – sure, it was showing Fluttershy’s growing anxiety and worry at not being able to talk with others, but there were ways to do that without bringing those two in for just a scene, and paying their VA's an episode fee for just that.
- Yes, Angel, while pretending to be Fluttershy, says “I wanna marry Discord”. Yes, the fandom will lose their mind, or perhaps already has. Yes, many will (jokingly for some of them) blow this throwaway line, one intended just to tickle us fans, way out of proportion. Yes, it’s very funny. No, it won’t remain so if and when the fandom drags it into the ground. Me, I just wonder how the hardcore Fluttershy fans that don’t particularly ship Fluttercord, or whatever they call it these days, will feel about this.
Your friendly neighbourhood hardcore Fluttershy fan checking in!
I haven't much changed my opinion from the quick take I posted over on the Equestria Daily comments: a good episode, though not an incredible one, and I enjoyed that there was some more serious explanation of the Flutters/Angel relationship, rather than just silly comedy. And of course Andrea Libman being brilliant.
I've always liked Angel rather more than the fandom average, so I don't mind him taking centre stage this time. I think there was enough Fluttershy stuff (especially in the first act) to satisfy me, and as you mentioned I liked that they made Angel more sympathetic, but not entirely so. He's never going to be a cute li'l fluffybunnykins, and it would have felt entirely wrong if they'd tried to make him into one.
Other than the "feeding carnivores vegan food" thing, there really wasn't much that rubbed me up the wrong way about this. I certainly had a better time than I did with "Fluttershy Leans In", so I'm reasonably satisfied with this being her final focus episode.
That would be me again! I don't have strong feelings -- after all, that was Angel talking, and I wouldn't at all put it past him to say something like that just to wind ponies up. Even if the show runs with it and ends with a Fluttershy/Discord wedding, it's still not going to be something I find unbearable. My guess, though, and that's all it is right now, is that they may just leave it to the imagination -- a bit like with Vinyl and Octavia in "Slice of Life".
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Can you tell that when I wrote that that I had a feeling I'd get a response from you about it? I bet you could, my good friend.
Other then that, yeah, we have a similar take here, if perhaps not-identical reasons for liking the same things - I liked the thematic weight underpinning the comedy more because it prevented the episode from falling victim to a lot of Season 9 "style over substance" flaws then because, in your case, you felt a particular attachment to these characters - not that I don't too. Personally, though, I just found the comedy quite stellar here, truly, if not necessarily the kind that will remain as special rewatch after rewatch.
As for the vegan thing, I guess it'd bother me more if I felt inclined to take this world of magical cartoon pastel equines at face value. That, and I'm so sanitised to cartoons with animals dancing around predator/prey dynamics by now that I didn't feel that affected (also, we don't KNOW that animals here can't change their diet, even if we don't know that they can either). I'll concede them putting so much focus on it didn't help, though. Someone mentioned that in an early season episode Fluttershy once caught some fish for some predators (EDIT: it's the first few seconds of Dragonshy, and not just fish for some ferrets, but worms for some birds too - guess we can chalk it up to Early Instalment Weirdness) - if the showrunners/Hasbro had allowed Confalone to reprise that (I suspect they might not have), and the conflict there had been changed to been more about the predators simply resisting the urge to eat prey they're living with while waiting for mealtime when they can get non-sentient food (and it was emphasised just enough for us to piece the clues together without drawing attention to the logics of how it works), then we could have had that issue fixed, while changing basically nothing else about the episode (other then the moment where the snake relinquishes the cookie snacks, but that shouldn't be too hard).
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Sorry for the late response -- because you deleted an earlier reply and that was the one you replied to in your second post, Fimfiction didn't give me a notification. Not that I have a huge amount to say anyway, but:
I hadn't thought of that -- but given what the likes of M. A. Larson have said about ever-increasing executive meddling as the seasons went by, it does sound very plausible.