Talk:The Perfect Pear/@comment-10390252-20170621130613

That was a sweet episode. It was nowhere near the tour-de-force others seem to think but it was nonetheless nicely written and wonderfully human in all the friendships, rivalries, loves and regrets that were portrayed. That, by the way, was the episode's real triumph: showing just how ponies (like people) can make mistakes that can poison their lives and the lives of so many others just out of pride and an unwillingness to let go of an old grudge (or, in Granny Smith's case, guilt over letting her meaningless spite become so important that it was ultimately responsible for breaking a mare from her father).

I honestly wonder how deep Granny's guilt ran for what happened, given that it is clear that the Apple Siblings clearly knew little about their parents' lives from before their marriage from her or anypony else really. A combination of the feud and the Granny's discomfort at confronting the story and her role seems to have made it something of a forbidden subject.

Willian Shatner actually did very well in the role of Grand Pear at various points in her life whilst I think Tabitha St Germain really struggled to seperate Granny from her 'toothless crone' voice. Maybe the Shatner can offers some lessons? Seriously, though, the cast all did very well in this story.

There were a number of lovely touches - How Bright Mac was an enormously honest stallion but one who was poor with words and that Pear Butter had a talent for helping ponies find what their True Talent might be. We all find echos of ourselves in our parents when we choose to look, I think.

Let's not forget to talk about the song. It was probably the only song in the show canon to date that can be called a 'love song'. It was simple but it did a great job in communicating Buttercup's feelings about Bright Mac. For all that, I don't think that it especially stood out against such hits as I Am Just a Pony, A True, True Friend or We'll Make Our Mark. It is the knowledge of who is singing and about what that really makes it stand out.

Overall, an above-average world-building episode and one that satisfactorally answered the question of who Applejack's parents were.

BenRG's Rating: 8/10 - One of  the better episodes of the season by overall quality. It tells the story in a satisfying way and leaves the door open for us to learn more about this star-crossed couple and their eventual fates.

P.S.: I wonder if there may yet be a golden years relationship of sorts between Grand Pear and Granny Smith. The two share a lot of past luggage, after all and have some healing to do together too.