Personally couldn't help expecting a good deal from "The Maud Couple". Season 8 started off so promisingly with its two parter. Maud Pie is one of my favourite recurring 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' characters and she and Pinkie Pie have frequently shown great sisterly chemistry together. Pinkie Pie has had times where she's annoying or when negative character traits are over-emphasised, but she has also a number of times been very funny and likeable.
She has had funnier and more likeable appearances though than "The Maud Couple". Maud, although she fares better, has had much better episodes too. "The Maud Couple" is far from a bad episode and the good things are a lot. It's at the same time not a great one, there are funnier and more emotionally investable episodes since and especially before. Far from one of the worst episodes of Season 8 but not one of the best at the same time.
"The Maud Couple" does have good things. The episode is beautifully animated, which is not a surprise as that was a near consistent good thing. The colours are always vibrant and beautifully varied, the backgrounds are fine detailed without looking too sparse or cluttered and the facial expressions and reactions are creative visually. The music has nice atmosphere and character, again as usual. Most of the voice acting is excellent, Ingrid Nilson (good comic timing and nuanced) faring best. Andrea Libman gives her all too.
Really did like that it dealt with a subject that is very much relevant and relatable today. It was also territory seldom touched upon before, the subject of romantic dating. Something that was actually depicted very realistically and true to life, also even more mature than usual (amazing considering that 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is the complete opposite of childish). Pinkie Pie has some funny moments as does Maud, mostly an amusing and charming character here (though she has shown both traits in other episodes). The moral is a nice well meaning one.
Was however rather mixed on Pinkie Pie. She does have funny moments and her disapproval is understandable actually (being somebody who has disapproved of a couple of relationships in my time) but the writing does at times go a little overboard on her thoughtlessness and over-eagerness. Maud is also a bit inconsistently characterised. On her own and with Pinkie Pie she is classic Maud, deadpan, funny and likeable. When partnered with Mudbriar though her personality goes.
As for Mudbriar he didn't really do it for me as a character, can see why Pinkie Pie disapproved. To me he came over as too much of an arrogant snob and Adam Kirschner's voice acting seemed somewhat phoned in. While there are funny moments, other parts of the humour are flat as a result of the character writing being dull at points.
Concluding, above average but not great. 6/10.
