MLP:FiM Season 2 Review #14 - The Last Roundup

Applejack has always been criminally underrepresented in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, having relatively few episodes in comparison to the rest of the Mane 6 and simply not being nearly as interesting. Season two has been working to change this somewhat, with Applejack getting a lot more screen time and some interesting character to her name, and The Last Roundup continues that trend by giving her another episode to her own.

...or... does it?

Spoilers after the break.



So we start off relatively simply - the cold open explains the main plot (Applejack going to a rodeo to win a bunch of blue ribbons and such) and sets us up for our Applejack episode! Then we have the theme song...

And suddenly no self-respecting brony cares about Applejack's presence in this episode anymore.

Two words. Two, fateful words that mean EVERYTHING. Now, this is a really big deal. If you haven't watched the episode, I recommend you at least go look it up and watch the first little bit, because this is, quite literally, a history making moment for the My Little Pony show and fandom.

"Careful, Derpy!"

We've been teased with Derpy Hooves being a certain pegasus' name for a while now, and it has been outright said that it was. But this... in an actual episode, Derpy Hooves being named as Derpy and getting a scene to herself, speaking roll and everything...

We, the bronies, made this character. We named this character. This is practically unprecedented.

The Last Roundup will inevitably be remembered as Derpy's episode, and for good reason. This is really a big deal! Let's go on to the rest, though, shall we?

So Applejack promises to spend the prize money to fix the town hall's roof, and heads off tot he rodeo with a big town sendoff by the mayor. Cut to her coming back, when she doesn't. Instead she says shes not coming back to Ponyville! Everyone is upset, Big Mac sheds manly tears, and the Mane 6 (minus AJ) swear to go find her!

Thus they go to do so, and find her at a cherry orchard. They then proceed to pester her incessantly to find out why she's staying there.

Eventually we have out happy ending, with a pretty good moral! The main plot isn't terribly unpredictable, but pulls the episode along at a good pace and keeps enough twists to make it fun.

And by twists I mean Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie completely steals this episode. I can't find it a particularly bad thing, since most of her shenanigans are hilarious, but it almost seems wrong that Pinkie would so firmly have the spotlight most of the time when it's supposed to be Applejack's episode.

The episode certainly didn't do what I expected it to, but that's not really a bad thing when there's so much... fun to be had, even with the relatively predictable plot. From Derpy to Pinkie to a crazy chase scene that reminded me of Indiana Jones, this episode has a lot to like in it.

I gotta say though, Applejack's attitude throughout seemed awfully over-dramatic. It wasn't to the point where she seemed OOC, like Rarity in Sweet and Elite, but it still bugged me a bit. It was obviously necessary to get the moral across, but... maybe it could've been done a little differently.

I guess... I guess that's what it comes down to! Unlike the previous couple of episodes, it manages to be very funny while rarely straying into "completely ridiculous" territory, and it keeps up a good moral and pretty fun plot throughout. There's a lot to like about this episode, and really not a lot to nitpick about.

That's why I'm going to give it a...

9/10

Pros:
-From Derpy to Pinkie, it's full of fun and funny moments
-Speaking of Derpy, Derpy alone is a huge plus for this episode because of her significance
-Paced very well, keeping things moving quickly while not rushing it

Cons:
-Applejack loses the spotlight for most of the episode
-Applejack being totally over-dramatic about things

---

I fee like I should be writing more, but... well, this episode ended up a lot like Hearth Warming Eve, in a way - listing the good points would basically be summarizing the episode, and there aren't a lot of bad points to discuss without nitpicking terribly. I liked this episode a lot, and it grew on me tremendously after the first watch-through.

...is it just me, or is Dinky everywhere in this episode? She's in the crowd during the ceremony, on the train when AJ's going to Canterlot, and she shows up again when the Mane 5's train is stopping to find Applejack. It's just funny to me that the same episode that confirms Derpy's name and gives her a real personality would have her fanon-filly show up so much!

Speaking of Derpy, I'm not sure I like her canon personality and voice all that much. She seems a little too... well, derpy! But I can look past that, as her showing up at all is a huge testament to the brony community and the MLP creators being amazing.

Seriously, this episode is history. Mark it on your calenders - today is Derpy Day.

~ C.O