Rating:
In some ways, Over A Barrel is kind of
the first season's forgotten episode. Maybe
not in rule 34-dom, where Braeburn, Bloomberg, and the wing-boner have received attention, but the story and events don’t seem to have had much
effect on anything that’s come after it.
The episode is surprisingly epic for a typical 22 minutes, which
balances out some of the awkward parts of the writing. Yes, we've seen the “outsider becomes leader
of a native tribe” trope many times before, but rarely is a
“world-deciding” conflict shown from both sides where the two make
sense. There are a lot of new characters
here who will probably never return, which is unfortunate even if there isn't much more story left. Although M.A. Larson specializes in similar epic
adventures featuring all of the ponies, Over A Barrel is otherwise unique from
any other episode. Not only does it take
place entirely away from Ponyville, but the mane six get split up early on and
have vastly different experiences because of it. They are outsiders who have to deal with an
unfamiliar situation, and everything isn't exactly handled correctly. A lot of drama and suspense is packed
into the episode, along with a large number of characters and commentary on
issues. Somehow (and quite
surprisingly), writer Dave Polsky made it all work.
The opening scene is probably a bit silly, but thankfully knows that it is. Every time Rarity acts like a stereotypical fashionista here might be cringe-worthy, but she can probably be forgiven since some people do get rather cranky when they’re tired. It’s probably ironic that an average apple tree gets first class treatment in this episode, while the specialized, unique, and fragile desserts in MMMystery On The Friendship Express are lumped together wherever. If the delicacies had this absurd handling, they might have arrived at their destination intact. Of course, Bloomberg doesn't make it anyway (not right away at least), but through no fault of the unnecessary ponies on the train this time.
For some reason, all of the mane six and Spike are accompanying Applejack as she takes an unneeded apple tree out to Appleloosa via train. On the way, a herd of buffalo hijack the train and disconnect the caboose, taking Bloomberg, Spike, and Rainbow Dash with them. The rest of the mane six (excepting a mysteriously absent Pinkie Pie) arrive in Appleloosa and are given a tour by Applejack’s cousin Braeburn. They eventually decide to set off on a quest to save their friends from the buffalo, but immediately find the missing mane six members have returned to town. Surprisingly, they have also brought back the buffalo (Little Strong Heart) who was instrumental in disconnecting the caboose from the train.
Appleloosa is apparently a fairly new settlement, and the ponies have planted a field of apple trees as is typical of the Apple family. This field is a part of the buffalo’s “sacred stampeding ground”, so they are extremely displeased since this blocks their path (and thus ruining tradition). When the mane six meet up again, both are convinced they are on the “good guys”’ side. On one hand, the buffalo’s claim seems kind of silly, since they could just run around it and trees aren’t exactly easy to move. Of course, these idiot ponies built an old west town and planted an orchard that completely blocks an important road for the buffalo. So it makes sense for them to be pissed.
Clearly some sort of mediation is necessary, and certain parties on both sides are willing to talk. This doesn't happen though, mostly thanks to Pinkie Pie. She decides a song will change their minds, and gets into the spirit of things by dressing up like aprostitute
saloon girl. "You Gotta Share”
actually isn't all that bad, but the tune does seem rather inappropriate and doomed
to failure. The next part might be
obvious, but it’s still funny when Chief Thunderhooves and the Sheriff of
Appleloosa get together and finally agree…that the performance is the worst they've ever seen. The “war” is still
on, as the buffalo issue an ultimatum that they’re going to stampede whether
the trees are there or not.
While apparently having second thoughts at the last moment, the chief decides to charge after all once he sees Pinkie Pie again. Since food=weapons in Equestria (especially if it’s the only thing you make), the Appleloosans have taken to defending their city with apple pies. This should be a minor inconvenience at worst, but each buffalo hit with one is felled as if they were bullets. This includes the chief, and there is a collective gasp when he goes down. Since it is a pie after all, the remnants eventually make their way to his mouth, giving him a first taste of this product. Fortunately for everyone, he likes it, and a compromise is finally reached. A path will be cleared through the orchard, and the Appleloosans will have to give a “cut” of the apples to the buffalo, purely for eating purposes. The Appleloosans can stay and keep their apples, and neither party will be heard from ever again.
The opening scene is probably a bit silly, but thankfully knows that it is. Every time Rarity acts like a stereotypical fashionista here might be cringe-worthy, but she can probably be forgiven since some people do get rather cranky when they’re tired. It’s probably ironic that an average apple tree gets first class treatment in this episode, while the specialized, unique, and fragile desserts in MMMystery On The Friendship Express are lumped together wherever. If the delicacies had this absurd handling, they might have arrived at their destination intact. Of course, Bloomberg doesn't make it anyway (not right away at least), but through no fault of the unnecessary ponies on the train this time.
For some reason, all of the mane six and Spike are accompanying Applejack as she takes an unneeded apple tree out to Appleloosa via train. On the way, a herd of buffalo hijack the train and disconnect the caboose, taking Bloomberg, Spike, and Rainbow Dash with them. The rest of the mane six (excepting a mysteriously absent Pinkie Pie) arrive in Appleloosa and are given a tour by Applejack’s cousin Braeburn. They eventually decide to set off on a quest to save their friends from the buffalo, but immediately find the missing mane six members have returned to town. Surprisingly, they have also brought back the buffalo (Little Strong Heart) who was instrumental in disconnecting the caboose from the train.
Appleloosa is apparently a fairly new settlement, and the ponies have planted a field of apple trees as is typical of the Apple family. This field is a part of the buffalo’s “sacred stampeding ground”, so they are extremely displeased since this blocks their path (and thus ruining tradition). When the mane six meet up again, both are convinced they are on the “good guys”’ side. On one hand, the buffalo’s claim seems kind of silly, since they could just run around it and trees aren’t exactly easy to move. Of course, these idiot ponies built an old west town and planted an orchard that completely blocks an important road for the buffalo. So it makes sense for them to be pissed.
Clearly some sort of mediation is necessary, and certain parties on both sides are willing to talk. This doesn't happen though, mostly thanks to Pinkie Pie. She decides a song will change their minds, and gets into the spirit of things by dressing up like a
While apparently having second thoughts at the last moment, the chief decides to charge after all once he sees Pinkie Pie again. Since food=weapons in Equestria (especially if it’s the only thing you make), the Appleloosans have taken to defending their city with apple pies. This should be a minor inconvenience at worst, but each buffalo hit with one is felled as if they were bullets. This includes the chief, and there is a collective gasp when he goes down. Since it is a pie after all, the remnants eventually make their way to his mouth, giving him a first taste of this product. Fortunately for everyone, he likes it, and a compromise is finally reached. A path will be cleared through the orchard, and the Appleloosans will have to give a “cut” of the apples to the buffalo, purely for eating purposes. The Appleloosans can stay and keep their apples, and neither party will be heard from ever again.
Even if the plot probably sounds about as silly
as the first scene, quite a bit still comes from it. With Bloomberg taking up a full room, the mane six and Spike must sleep in the same car. An interesting divide exists here between
the characters who want to go to sleep early (Rarity and Spike, but not for that
reason), and the ones who aren't quite tired yet (everyone else). Twilight Sparkle’s nocturnalness is well
documented (especially her multiple all-nighters in It’s About Time), but the rest are sketchy. Pinkie Pie’s
love of parties highly suggests she has little trouble staying up late, but the Pegasi would probably have to be up at dawn what with living in the
clouds and all. Since we don’t know how
late it actually is, a little leeway
is more than acceptable (especially since the ride almost qualifies as a sleepover). As a member of the club that stays up late, this is a definite comment about the
conflict that can arise between what people think is a normal sleeping
pattern. Not all that much depth is explored
though, as the idea is dropped quickly and not mentioned again. Interestingly, Applejack is completely
missing from this act except for the final few seconds. She’s never shown in the sleeper car despite
the empty bunks, and isn’t in the caboose with Bloomberg since Spike heads
there to get some sleep. She wouldn’t have added too much to the scene anyway, but it still is a strange omission.
The mane five awaken to see what they believe is a coincidental buffalo stampede, but soon realize they’re in for a good old-fashioned train robbery. Something like this was probably foreshadowed when we were shown a group of horses pulling the train. Usually trains run “normally” in Equestria (coal-burning isn’t used so much anymore), but apparently the engine gave out which required some helping hooves. It’s likely this was just supposed to be a Ponyville quirk that didn’t catch on with the other writers . The thought of a group of horses pulling a rather heavy train (which mysteriously gets much larger when Rainbow Dash is trying to stop Little Strong Heart) and running at top speed throughout the entire night with no breaks is a bit hard to accept though.
These scenes clearly set up the buffalo as the bad guys, so the following ones are refreshing when it turns out that’s not the case exactly. Having the buffalo wait on Spike is a bit silly, but perhaps they were afraid he’d bring his teenage friends back with him and try to kill their young (yes, this actually happens in Dragon Quest). The friendship angle is better though, especially when the buffalo explain they just wanted to stop another tree from reaching Appleloosa since the orchard is already a problem. It’s never explained how they found out about the tree in the first place, or why they would take so many buffalo and risk the life of one of their youngest members just for one stupid tree, when that isn’t going to affect the main problem either way. Perhaps they decided to make a show demonstration, and thankfully the buffalo otherwise seem reasonable. Rarely in movies and TV shows is a conflict not divided between clear good and evil sides, even including when we might sometimes understand why the “evil” side is acting as they do. All that was known of the buffalo before this is the stampede just shown, so these scenes completely redefine what is expected of them. Rainbow Dash’s sudden conversion actually makes sense, since from the point of view of the buffalo, they have a legitimate gripe. And because she doesn’t yet know the Appleloosans’ side either.
This thread continues when the mane six are reunited. Since both sides want a reasonable solution to the problem, some sort of compromise should be able to be worked out. But unfortunately not everyone is willing to talk about it. Ironically, the mane six members are argumentative at first, but the respective leaders of each side aren’t much better. This conflict is likely supposed to represent a different one, or is perhaps indicative of why many exist in the first place. Communication could solve a lot of problems, but language or cultural barriers often make this difficult. Maybe the solution was a bit easy this time, but again, such conflicts might also have easier solutions than would be apparent at first. At any rate, this is an effective way of demonstrating a common problem in the context of a “children’s” show, and is a delightful inclusion from somewhere unexpected.
After the disastrous Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over A Barrel is a surprisingly much better effort from Dave Polsky. His first episode earned him a year's suspension from My Little Pony, but he has proven to be one of the show's better writers since his return for the third season. Still, it's a shame we'll probably never hear from the characters or about the events of Over A Barrel again. Little Strong Heart could be a good friend for Rainbow Dash, since the latter doesn’t exactly relate to the rest of her mane six buddies. And Chief Thunderhooves’ deep voice is funny in that James Earl Jones sort of way (“what would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?”). The rest of the buffalo are clearly modeled off a Native American way of life, but more or less respectfully so. They’re portrayed as different but still worthwhile, which is a far cry from how dragons are treated on the series. The Appleloosans might be a bit more annoying and stereotypical, but Braeburn could at least be one of the few actual male characters. Even Bloomberg has a surprising following despite being a tree that does absolutely nothing in this episode. For understandable reasons, I’m not too saddened that “he” won’t be returning.
Over A Barrel may be another sort of guilty pleasure episode, but there's nothing to feel too terrible about. Yes, a lot of the situations are over the top (Rarity is on the stereotypical side again) and not everything quite makes sense. Like why does Applejack go up to Spike while Twilight meets Rainbow Dash when they reunite, or Fluttershy’s rather outgoing reaction in tackling Pinkie Pie right after? These actions should’ve been switched around, especially with Twilight and Spike being as close as they are. Even so, too much is explored and the episode is too good a time for it not to deserve a high rating. Polsky can’t be forgiven for his previous episode, but at least he found productive ways to turn everything around.
The mane five awaken to see what they believe is a coincidental buffalo stampede, but soon realize they’re in for a good old-fashioned train robbery. Something like this was probably foreshadowed when we were shown a group of horses pulling the train. Usually trains run “normally” in Equestria (coal-burning isn’t used so much anymore), but apparently the engine gave out which required some helping hooves. It’s likely this was just supposed to be a Ponyville quirk that didn’t catch on with the other writers . The thought of a group of horses pulling a rather heavy train (which mysteriously gets much larger when Rainbow Dash is trying to stop Little Strong Heart) and running at top speed throughout the entire night with no breaks is a bit hard to accept though.
These scenes clearly set up the buffalo as the bad guys, so the following ones are refreshing when it turns out that’s not the case exactly. Having the buffalo wait on Spike is a bit silly, but perhaps they were afraid he’d bring his teenage friends back with him and try to kill their young (yes, this actually happens in Dragon Quest). The friendship angle is better though, especially when the buffalo explain they just wanted to stop another tree from reaching Appleloosa since the orchard is already a problem. It’s never explained how they found out about the tree in the first place, or why they would take so many buffalo and risk the life of one of their youngest members just for one stupid tree, when that isn’t going to affect the main problem either way. Perhaps they decided to make a show demonstration, and thankfully the buffalo otherwise seem reasonable. Rarely in movies and TV shows is a conflict not divided between clear good and evil sides, even including when we might sometimes understand why the “evil” side is acting as they do. All that was known of the buffalo before this is the stampede just shown, so these scenes completely redefine what is expected of them. Rainbow Dash’s sudden conversion actually makes sense, since from the point of view of the buffalo, they have a legitimate gripe. And because she doesn’t yet know the Appleloosans’ side either.
This thread continues when the mane six are reunited. Since both sides want a reasonable solution to the problem, some sort of compromise should be able to be worked out. But unfortunately not everyone is willing to talk about it. Ironically, the mane six members are argumentative at first, but the respective leaders of each side aren’t much better. This conflict is likely supposed to represent a different one, or is perhaps indicative of why many exist in the first place. Communication could solve a lot of problems, but language or cultural barriers often make this difficult. Maybe the solution was a bit easy this time, but again, such conflicts might also have easier solutions than would be apparent at first. At any rate, this is an effective way of demonstrating a common problem in the context of a “children’s” show, and is a delightful inclusion from somewhere unexpected.
After the disastrous Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over A Barrel is a surprisingly much better effort from Dave Polsky. His first episode earned him a year's suspension from My Little Pony, but he has proven to be one of the show's better writers since his return for the third season. Still, it's a shame we'll probably never hear from the characters or about the events of Over A Barrel again. Little Strong Heart could be a good friend for Rainbow Dash, since the latter doesn’t exactly relate to the rest of her mane six buddies. And Chief Thunderhooves’ deep voice is funny in that James Earl Jones sort of way (“what would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?”). The rest of the buffalo are clearly modeled off a Native American way of life, but more or less respectfully so. They’re portrayed as different but still worthwhile, which is a far cry from how dragons are treated on the series. The Appleloosans might be a bit more annoying and stereotypical, but Braeburn could at least be one of the few actual male characters. Even Bloomberg has a surprising following despite being a tree that does absolutely nothing in this episode. For understandable reasons, I’m not too saddened that “he” won’t be returning.
Over A Barrel may be another sort of guilty pleasure episode, but there's nothing to feel too terrible about. Yes, a lot of the situations are over the top (Rarity is on the stereotypical side again) and not everything quite makes sense. Like why does Applejack go up to Spike while Twilight meets Rainbow Dash when they reunite, or Fluttershy’s rather outgoing reaction in tackling Pinkie Pie right after? These actions should’ve been switched around, especially with Twilight and Spike being as close as they are. Even so, too much is explored and the episode is too good a time for it not to deserve a high rating. Polsky can’t be forgiven for his previous episode, but at least he found productive ways to turn everything around.
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