Just to say right now before anybody judges, Applejack is not a bad character at all to me. Her character writing is inconsistent, she is often great but she is less so when she either has little to do or has her flaws (stubborness and aggression being the big ones) over-emphasised. Her episodes, or the ones that she is the lead in, are variable in quality too, some great, some good, some mediocre at best and some somewhere in between those extremes.
"Applejack's Day Off" is one of the mediocre at best ones. After two great previous episodes in "A Hearth's Warming Tail" and "The Saddle Row Review", it is sad that Season 6 returned to disappointment in an episode that is every bit as mediocre as "Newbie Dash" and perhaps even more so. That episode left a bad taste in my mouth, but at least it had moments that made me feel something positive. "Applejack's Day Off" is close to nothing in this regard. Not a dreadful episode but not a good one and one of the season's worst, not a good position to be in as Season 6 was one of the show's weaker seasons.
Will start off with the good. The animation is bright, colourful and beautifully detailed as always. The music is characterful and has atmosphere. The voice acting is fine, that is an asset that has never been a problem in 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'.
Despite it being an episode with Applejack as the lead, the best character here is Rainbow Dash who is very humorous here and is written far more tastefully than she was in "Newbie Dash". Rarity and Applejack have some nice dialogue together and the Spoiled Rich cameo was nice.
Too much works against "Applejack's Day Off" sadly. The writing and story are what bring it down significantly, to the extent that they ruin the episode. The writing had moments, but mostly was very awkward (some of the most awkward of the whole season and Season 6 had its fair share of questionable writing) and phoned in. Some of it was bizarre as well, Applejack's way of feeding the pigs was beyond embarrassing. There was a lot of talk here, most of it had nothing to it and didn't sound natural at all. To me, the message is not well delivered. Very obvious and in your face, good on paper but poorly executed.
The story is paper thin and at its worst non-existent, with far too much derivative over-stretched padding. Sadly, a vast majority of it is not interesting at all, is very bland and sometimes irrelevant. If you watch a 'My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic' to be entertained and moved, you are likely to be disappointed on both counts as the episode emotionally is empty. The character writing and interaction disappoints as well, there are moments with the best material going to Rainbow Dash by far, but every single character here has been written far better than here in this season, before and since. Mostly both are bland and while Applejack has been characterised worse to me actually she has been much cleverer before and since and more likeable. She doesn't come over as particularly bright here and is rather stubborn.
Overall, has moments but mediocre. 4/10
9 out of 9 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
