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S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:01 am
by Wayoshi
The CMC can't find a chaperone to go to the Appleloosa Fair. But then...
This thread is for discussion of the episode. This episode airs at 11:30 Eastern / 8:30 Pacific on Saturday, September 28!

Official preview clips and images are okay to post, as is speculation about the episode. Spoilers from illegal leaks are NOT OK to post.

Early spoiler thread: http://roundstable.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2043

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 3:09 pm
by Octavia
But then WHAT :twonk:

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:06 pm
by The Doctor
It's probably going to be some ageing spell/potion, but man would I love them to just stand on each other's shoulders in a trench-coat for the whole episode.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:47 pm
by SlateSlabrock
More vindication for Kimi Sparkle.


Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 11:40 am
by Octavia
Magical mystery flower is the new Zoltar

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:03 pm
by Octavia
The animation assets they used for Cozy Glow, like the pouty lips and chubby cheeks, don't really work on the CMC, so I found that a bit offputting. :nngh:

Other than that, it was another extremely common trope, but done in an interesting enough way that I liked the episode. Also I love Bloofie. :whatsup:

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:04 pm
by The Doctor
Taken on it's own, I think that was a pretty good episode.

Taken in context of being the last CMC episode, I was a bit let down. This felt like a bit of a retread of before they got their cutie marks, wanting to rush things. Being their final episode, it would have been nice to see them really show how much they've matured and grown. Rather than an episode that does just the opposite.


Also, Scootaloo should have gotten to fly. :fluttersmith:

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:11 pm
by PonyHag714
I thought it was good. It was certainly interesting to see the CMC as adults. I like the creature and how it turned into a tornado when excited. Image

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:20 pm
by Fizzbuzz
The Doctor wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:04 pm
Taken in context of being the last CMC episode, I was a bit let down. This felt like a bit of a retread of before they got their cutie marks, wanting to rush things. Being their final episode, it would have been nice to see them really show how much they've matured and grown. Rather than an episode that does just the opposite.
Even then, when you're just at the age where you're beginning to figure these sorts of things out, you still have a whole lot more maturing to do. I remember being 13 years old, back when I thought I knew everything. If I'd remained ignorant and refused to learn anything more (or, y'know, magically aged a decade in an instant), I get the feeling that I'd be just as they were here. More than just a vehicle to show the Crusaders grown up in a way acceptable to Hasbro, it's a final reminder to kids who grew up with the show that responsibility and wisdom aren't something you just get the moment you turn 18, but something you have to consciously learn over many years.

On a more general note I feel like this episode was a lesson for us, the adults, that we bear a responsibility to the youth to be good role models and learn on our own so that we may teach them well. The song gave me that feeling in particular, especially Sweetie Belle's "facts don't matter any more" line.

Two weeks remain. I can't believe the end is almost here.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:13 pm
by SlateSlabrock
Image

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:17 pm
by The Doctor
SlateSlabrock wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:13 pm
Image
The head bobbing...


Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:18 pm
by Fizzbuzz
Now that's a deep cut. :starity:

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:26 pm
by Adiwan
Image

Glorious return of the one!

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:43 pm
by Mr. Big
Poor Glitchy Pony. :fluttersmith:

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:50 pm
by Aramek
THAT WAS ADORABLE

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:05 pm
by Fizzbuzz
SlateSlabrock wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:13 pm
Image
Apparently this was unintentional!

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 1:54 pm
by SigmasonicX
Final CMC episode! Instead of "The Last Crusade".

This was a fun episode, though a bit odd after seasons of episodes emphasizing how mature they can be. Premise-wise, this would have made way more sense in the early seasons, but then it would be missing the added cuteness of their voice actors being much older than at the start of the show.

I like Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's older designs, but Apple Bloom just looks weird for some reason. Perhaps its the bow, which she probably would have ditched by this point if she grew up normally. Also, looking at pictures, out of the three, it feels the most like they just used Apple Bloom's head as a filly and put it on an adult body. About their voices, they changed as adults, but not as much as I was expecting. It's a bit hard to tell without just listening to filly and adult clips one after another. Part of it is that even as fillies, their voices sometimes bled into these tones in previous episodes.

The song was good, with a lot of fun visuals. I especially like Scootaloo eating that candy in front of a filly. There was a lot of standing on back hooves, though. Also, I find that I just can't follow through the entire song from memory, which is to say it doesn't flow as smoothly as it could have.

Glad to see the train station attendant from "Sounds of Silence" return, and he got a post slightly closer to civilization.

The new brother and sister are good. Since they were introduced when the CMC were adults, I didn't realize they were "teenage" ponies until after they reverted.

The Taz-style creature was fun. I laughed at the Dorothy pony getting sucked into its tornado.

The lesson was pretty standard, about growing up being about the things you learned over time and not just being big, but it was presented well.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:41 pm
by The Doctor
Fizzbuzz wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:20 pm
Even then, when you're just at the age where you're beginning to figure these sorts of things out, you still have a whole lot more maturing to do. I remember being 13 years old, back when I thought I knew everything. If I'd remained ignorant and refused to learn anything more (or, y'know, magically aged a decade in an instant), I get the feeling that I'd be just as they were here. More than just a vehicle to show the Crusaders grown up in a way acceptable to Hasbro, it's a final reminder to kids who grew up with the show that responsibility and wisdom aren't something you just get the moment you turn 18, but something you have to consciously learn over many years.

On a more general note I feel like this episode was a lesson for us, the adults, that we bear a responsibility to the youth to be good role models and learn on our own so that we may teach them well. The song gave me that feeling in particular, especially Sweetie Belle's "facts don't matter any more" line.

Two weeks remain. I can't believe the end is almost here.
They are the child characters, and of course, they have more to learn. But I'm of the opinion that, being their last episode, this really should have been them at their best, showcasing how much they've grown.

Instead we get a continuation of a running theme this back half of the season. Character's regressing and needing to get a talking-to by Twilight, because it really need to be hammered home that she's ready to take over the country. That's not, on it's own, a bad thing, but it's coming at the expense of seeing how much other characters have grown.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 4:25 pm
by SigmasonicX
You could mentally switch around this and The Last Crusade.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 4:54 pm
by The Doctor
I feel like this would have been a better pre-cutie mark episode.

I mean, these three are old enough to run what is basically a children's day-camp on their own, unsupervised. They should be old enough to take a train to go to a fair in a city that, at least Apple Bloom, should be familiar with since she has a lot of family there.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 3:56 am
by Applepie2017
I waited in ages for an episode like this

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 9:42 pm
by Mechanical Ape
Something about the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

:sweet: “I can’t believe we’re establishing another scene with ‘I can’t believe ...’!”
• Of the three big sisters, only Applejack is remotely qualified to chaperone children.
• Really hope they ask Starlight to chaperone, that’d be a hoot.
• Never imagined when this series began that we’d eventually have Rainbow Dash lecturing anypony on responsibility. :v:
• CMC are pulling some great faces this week.
• I love how “asking Pinkie Pie” isn’t even on the table. :q:
• This week, young people experiment with strange plants to feel like grown-ups. :snoop:
• Ha, grown CMCs and the VAs can use their normal voices. Righteous.
• Adult Scootaloo still can’t fly. And that’s OK.
• If we didn’t get one last CMC song, I’d have been deeply disappointed. :good:
:yikes: “I was big once, you know. It wasn’t — it wasn’t great.”
• CMCs filming their younger selves is downright Lynchian.
• Why are train dispatchers always the best characters on this show.
• Spur and Biscuit’s design makes my eyes ache.
• Troubleshoes!
• What the hell is Bloofy, anyhow? :ponder: [checks Monster Manual]
• Sweetie Belle teleported! That’s a good trick! :ohboy:
• Fluttershy knows what’s up.
• Lambs: still adorable.
• Oh, Scootaloo had a featured singer!

This episode was real nice. It could’ve happened at any time during the show’s run, but it makes sense it ended up in S9 when the show’s going a little bit more for broke.

Re: S09E22: Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:05 pm
by Hedonism Bot
The Doctor wrote:
Sun Sep 29, 2019 4:54 pm
I feel like this would have been a better pre-cutie mark episode.

I mean, these three are old enough to run what is basically a children's day-camp on their own, unsupervised. They should be old enough to take a train to go to a fair in a city that, at least Apple Bloom, should be familiar with since she has a lot of family there.
My thoughts exactly. Watching them develop over the past several seasons, only to see all that suddenly thrown away, was downright jarring - making it hard to enjoy what could have otherwise been a respectable episode.

The Doctor wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 12:04 pm
Also, Scootaloo should have gotten to fly. :fluttersmith:
Mechanical Ape wrote:
Sun May 10, 2020 9:42 pm
• Adult Scootaloo still can’t fly. And that’s OK.
Well, technically it's still up for interpretation on account of Bulk Biceps.

But seriously: the absolute bare minimum they should have done (especially after "Surf and/or Turf" and "The Washouts") is hook her up with something like Apple Bloom's hang glider from "Call of the Cutie". Plenty of thrust, not enough lift? The solution should be painfully obvious to anyone with a shred of scientific literacy.

Plus it could have been a beautiful way to explore her relationship with Rainbow Dash (who one would assume would be the one to help Scootaloo practice flying with whatever it is) - certainly better than anything we got there after "Flight to the Finish".