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Post by Shokew on Jun 15, 2014 5:42:25 GMT -5
Regarding Some Assistance Required ITSELF, and Methid Man's valid points:
Despite anything positive I could find here, Methid Man - you raise some good points here about the humans' side of things regarding the fashion aspect of this show and how it makes this show not as good as Friendship is Magic, period (and I'm personally getting tired of saying that, but it's the truth.).
At worst, I can see this episode getting critically beaten up (badly) from a mile away, due to what you pointed out. I can see the writer responsible for it being even more so (Adam Beechen and his overall writing skills regarding this particular show, has developed quite the bad rap if you dare go to certain parts of the internet that talk about this show... I'm not making this up.).
Now, as for my own opinion Some Assistance Required ITSELF: Yeah, I was expecting much worse than what I felt was going to happen - thank God, it didn't. I'm more worried about Episode 4's plot in comparison, personally.
If anything (that I can find negative about this one particular episode), that woman who Blythe took the place of needs to grow a spine if she's going to be a secretary that's likely getting paid better than Blythe at her place of work. Seriously - that's all I can think of to say to that crazy fool. It's best we not see her for awhile, IMHO. After all, any boss who knows they're good at what they do is going to be quite demanding to work with, which Mona herself thankfully admits to Blythe at the end. It was also nice to see Mona's cat again (as well as her being helpful to Blythe); truly a friendly face amidst the madness (when you stay on that someone's good side.)...
In short, this was thankfully NOT as painful as I thought it would be (In fact, this is what I consider to be another High Tier effort, despite my complaints - and from one of the show's weaker writers, surprisingly enough...), especially with how it ended. I still don't see this episode getting a lot of love from anyone else who felt the pets' part in this episode seemed lacking (or that Blythe got a little too much screentime, for that matter...) - while it is nice to see some positive development for both Zoe and Russel and their growing friendship and everything, I'm not going to remember our real villain of the week all that much - save for how he thankfully got dealt with in the end, so there's a plus.
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Post by Methid Man on Jun 15, 2014 8:15:00 GMT -5
There's one other thing about this episode I'd like to add that I forgot to mention before.
In the scene where Blythe constantly tries to hide Mona's face during her meeting, I noticed how the client, Clover Fields, had large sunglasses and a wide-brim hat with mesh. This led me to believe that she had something to hide as well and that once she found out about Mona's face she would eventually expose whatever she may have been covering up herself and then have a proper conversation with Mona, both of them speaking in humbled appearances.
But no, instead we get what I thought was pretty silly. It's a real let-down when you expect something clever to happen in a show and it turns out to be something much less than that.
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Post by Shokew on Jun 15, 2014 22:34:08 GMT -5
No Argument there - especially if this show wants to be remembered in a more positive light than it is in the first place... The fashion industry is not full of tightwads and crazy people like this show unfortunately seems to think for the sake of comedy - which is quite the shame when you go deeper into the issue here.
Makes you understand why the pets are what make this show anything worth talking about, to put it more simply, huh?
Anyway, I still liked this particular episode, but it's not the best I've seen this show do, especially with what you successfully pointed out earlier better than I could have - if anything, I'm more weary of the very next episode.
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Post by penny82ling on Jun 18, 2014 17:40:14 GMT -5
I know this is not an action comic book based show, but I love villain team ups, so maybe in the future Tangler and Ramon, villain team up. If I can just think like a Pound Puppy for a moment with their person for ever pup slogan, if there is a owner or a person perfect for Tangler it is Ramon and vice versa.
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Post by Methid Man on Jun 21, 2014 10:36:38 GMT -5
Wow, up until now I had thought that I wouldn't be able to give this episode a high rating without bias due to the whole love theme, which is something I really dig in cartoons for some reason. But this episode was really entertaining in almost every regard to the point where I would still enjoy it even if I weren't interested in romantic stories. Blythe's tendency to turn into a ditz when love-struck was not only something I expected, it was done comically (and if I may add my own biased compliment, it was cute). We got to see Cyril McFlip again. The SunilxPepper shippers got to see their favorite couple onscreen, even though it was a brief and one-sided. The scene where Russell and Penny-Ling pretended to act lovey-dovey was also funny. Blythe's attempts to unmail her red letter to Josh were fun to watch. The boys in those white suits in the disco setting was awesome. Plus some funny moments like Minka in the mailbox and Zoe succumbing to her dog instincts.
I also wanna touch on the guest pets here. We get a new guest pet of some goat dude (whose name I've forgotten already). I thought he was cute and I really love his coloration, although his baa-a-a-ing was getting old really fast, thankfully we only hear him talk in just one or two scenes. I was also really pleased to see Sugar Sprinkles again. I've always loved the way she talks and the way she acts cool and easy-going toward everything.
Now, this paragraph is pretty much spoilers, so be warned. SPOILER: Sugar Sprinkles is the "secret cupet" that this episode's title refers to. She does this by singing some love song and playing her guitar which, without explanation, makes anyone she aims her music at fall in love. This is pretty much my only real negative for this episode: despite the fact that it causes lots of fun and funny things to happen, it's a little unusual for a show like this to suddenly have magic influencing the characters. It's never explained what exactly Sugar's song and guitar do to turn someone lovey-dovey, or how singing the song backwards has the opposite effect. The only other thing, and this is moreso a nitpick, is how Penny-Ling seemed to be genuinely interested in Russell before he became love-struck and all of a sudden became creeped out by him once he went under the influence. It just seemed a little inconsistent.
Overall, a very fun episode that's very entertaining even if you aren't into romance IMO. Oh, and I also like how Sugar also used her love song to make Josh love-struck toward Blythe in the end. Even though it's only for a couple of seconds, I hope it hints that something will happen between him and Blythe in a future episode. So yeah, not only was this fun to watch, it also gave me much of what I was hoping for in this episode.
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Post by penny82ling on Jun 21, 2014 11:22:11 GMT -5
This is the best episode of the season so far, and this season has been pretty good. It is like love letter to the fandom.
We have a lot nod to the shippers with RussellxPenny Ling, and than later SunilxPepper and VinniexMinka. We have the mysterious cupid and thanks to the spoilers from the promos, I knew it was Sugar Sprinkles. Speaking of which, awesome Sugar Sprinkles back and she was hillarous. I love her being the crazy character but also we got to see a little bit of playing the straight man briefly at the end. Not counting her cameo in the pet jet song, this is the first appearance of Sugar Sprinkles that didn't have Buttercream. Nothing against Buttercream, just stating that travia.
Seeing the guest pet fall in love and how he meet his love, it reminds me of the beginning of 101 Dalmations, anyone else feel the same way?
I love Russell in this episode, first we see Cyril McFlip return, and later he jumped around like Pepi Lepue, that is an awesome nod to a classic. If it wasn't for the specie differences, say they were all human, I could see all the pet pairings work out, I find them all very compatable, though I am not sure about Vinnie and Minka, they might be too much alike to have a long lasting relationship, maybe just a fling.
Now onto the other plot, well it is nice to see Youngmee, she is the only one of Blythe's human friends that I feel contributes something. I like just seeing her and Blythe as this dynamic duo, we don't need the other two. I hope she finds out about Blythe's secret, come on Blythe tell her. Anyway we see how Blythe has really lost it when she sees Josh Sharp. I love her dorky laugh, kudos to Ashleigh Ball for that laugh, has Applejack ever laughed like that? The laugh sounds familar. I didn't like how condecenting they were with the whole kids don't know what letters are. Letters are not obsolute, I get letters all the time. The writers try to hard to be hip sometimes, and this is an example, this is the one flaw that does hold the show down. Anyway we do get develop with Blythe's relationship with Josh, with Josh unknowing to Blythe falls in love with her thanks to Sugar Sprinkles.
And now something new the Jasper countdown. So far we are 4 episodes in and we have not yet see the Ja Ja Binks of the series Jasper, so countdown is up to 4, so we will he appear, nobdoy knows. So keep it coming, hopefully the Jasper countdown can make it to 26.
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Post by Methid Man on Jun 21, 2014 14:34:09 GMT -5
I didn't like how condescending they were with the whole "kids don't know what letters are". Letters are not obsolete, I get letters all the time. The writers try too hard to be hip sometimes, and this is an example, this is the one flaw that does hold the show down. I have to agree with you there and that's something I almost missed as I was watching this episode (I had a few interruptions while watching). The writers are trying a little too hard to appeal to today's generation of young viewers, although my beef is mostly with the acronyms the characters sometimes use a little too often. Come to think of it, I did hear Blythe say "OMG" early in the episode. As much as I dislike the word "gosh", I'd much rather hear "Oh my gosh" than "OMG", which sounds rather stupid. Anyway we do get development with Blythe's relationship with Josh, with Josh, unknowing to Blythe, falling in love with her thanks to Sugar Sprinkles. I would certainly like to see those two paired up in a future episode, but as much as I liked seeing more of Blythe's feelings for Josh, I feel this episode didn't exactly bring them any closer together as I had hoped. Also, if Josh is to ever return her feelings for Blythe, I'd much rather it be with his own natural feelings and not because of being under the influence of something. I only expected that to be a light joke in the episode but I do hope it hints at something. |
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Post by Shokew on Jun 21, 2014 17:48:59 GMT -5
Regarding "Secret Cupet" and my overall thoughts on said episode....
This is a miracle. THIS. IS. A. GODDAMN. MIRACLE - What should have been a GOD - AWFUL episode, both on paper and in practice is THANKFULLY another High Tier episode for Season 3.
However, knowing what type of plot we're dealing with here and the subject matter involved, this is one episode that I feel could otherwise be forgotten easily, unless you only pay attention to what the pets are doing with the screen time given to them...
To sum things up as best as possible...
+ It's good to see Youngmee being so well written and engagingly involved again, as well - She really is the best real friend Blythe has... And probably needs, going by the overall track record of human portrayals on this show and all the (otherwise deserved, unfortunately) flack they seem to get on a regular basis.
+ Yes, Blythe did act stupid here, but it was justifiable - she is hitting on someone. I'm sure we've all went through this. That, and acting any other way about it can be quite difficult without looking fake about it.
+ I also like how they didn't hook up Blythe and that boy at the end. That would have been far too cliche/forced, wouldn't have worked naturally, and ultimately only dragged things down ROYALLY, IMHO.
+ Glad to see Sugar Sprinkles is still her likable and engaging self - she really needs to be on this show more, if only to remind us that LPS is actually good - to - awesome with characters who happen to be cats (unlike far too many cartoons I've seen that mistreat and villanize them for stupid reasons!).
+ Though a minor plus, each and every pet got some actual screen time, and it felt organic in execution, rather than forced like some earlier episodes in Season 1 did to me... That's always a plus in my book.
- I agree with penny82ling and Methid Man indefinitely on this regard... Hence this rant.
Hey, writers! LETTER WRITING IS NOT OBSOLETE. IDIOTS. Seriously, I see this episode getting royally bashed for the whole postcard thing. It's quite condescending to the target audience, as there are people who can only write letters and rely on post offices to get stuff like that done in general. After all, the US is quite the impoverished and backward nation when it comes to wealth, resources, and access to technology, especially if you don't live in a high - middle class or urban are, unlike what this show is set in otherwise.
Now, I'll admit that one negative I've found with this whole thing was thankfully not enough to drag this episode down, but deep down, I know it doesn't give people who want to give this series a chance at this point a reason to do so, nor stick around to see if it can better than this, especially when other shows out there I've seen have handled old - fashioned stuff like letters much better, for example.
Either way, here's hoping Episode 5 can excel much further than this otherwise did, IMHO.
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Post by penny82ling on Jun 21, 2014 17:58:42 GMT -5
This is by far the episodes of the season, and will hopefully stay good from the future episode description that I read gets me excited. The pets are getting heavy focused.
Blythe and the pets are doing stuff together, can't wait for "Snow Stormin" episode.
We get into Blythe's powers and develop on that. Hopefully my suggestion of Youngmee learning about that will come to pass everything I else want seems to be.
The Biskits may get some character development, and they are treated like characters and antagonist characters whose only person is to cause problems like they did in season 2, heck in the next episode they might the victims.
Though one of those Biskits I am really excited about might bitter sweet "Feud For Thought", because of the setting of it, it looks like we will have Jasper in it, hgh. While I hate the letters are obsolete joke, the joke could have worked if it was the Bisktis. It would have worked perfectly with them because they are dumb spoiled girls that without technology and ability to text they wouldn't know what to do, but not with Blythe. |
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Post by Methid Man on Jun 21, 2014 22:39:07 GMT -5
+ I also like how they didn't hook up Blythe and that boy at the end. That would have been far too cliche/forced, wouldn't have worked naturally, and ultimately only dragged things down ROYALLY, IMHO. It's fine if you're not a fan of relationships in shows, but I don't think it would automatically bring the show down if they hooked up Blythe and Josh per se. It depends on how they would go about it. If they make it "funny, playful, and interesting as it is in real life" as Clay Satterfield from ToonZone put it, I could see it adding to the show. If, however, they make it too fairy-tale/Twilightish and they make Josh a Mr. Perfect Gary Stu, then it would deserve criticism. But the idea itself wouldn't be a terrible thing for the show as you make it out to be. Regular Show had Mordecai and Margaret gradually developing their relationship to the point where they eventually started dating and that never hurt the show's popularity as far as I can tell. Now, if they want to do this the right way, they'd first have to carve out Josh's character a little more and expose whatever flaws he may have to bring him to the same level as Blythe. He has that scar on his face; maybe they can bring up how he got that scar and expose a weakness somewhere. |
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Post by Shokew on Jun 22, 2014 9:19:34 GMT -5
...It's fine if you're not a fan of relationships in shows, but I don't think it would automatically bring the show down if they hooked up Blythe and Josh per se. It depends on how they would go about it. If they make it "funny, playful, and interesting as it is in real life" as Clay Satterfield from ToonZone put it, I could see it adding to the show. If, however, they make it too fairy-tale/Twilightish and they make Josh a Mr. Perfect Gary Stu, then it would deserve criticism. But the idea itself wouldn't be a terrible thing for the show as you make it out to be. Regular Show had Mordecai and Margaret gradually developing their relationship to the point where they eventually started dating and that never hurt the show's popularity as far as I can tell.... Let's remember something - these writers are nothing compared to Regular Show - unless they take a page from them and write a proper relationship like they did with Mordecai and Margaret (although I like Mordecai and CJ, better - because CJ is an infinitely more developed and likable female character on that show, IMHO...) in general... Then I'm fine with it not going much of anywhere. Besides, I'd rather see the pets end up in proper relationships first, just show these writers can remember where the real money is at. |
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Post by Methid Man on Jun 22, 2014 11:21:20 GMT -5
Let's remember something - these writers are nothing compared to Regular Show True, but Guy Toubes made this episode that you feared would be terrible into something that worked. This show does seem to have a few gems among its writers. I bet he could make it work if it ever happened. Had another writer given it a shot, this episode could've very well turned out as awful as you thought it would've. My main argument is that it could work as long as it's done right, which is something we already hope they do when they write any other situation. And if they can demonstrate that they can make any episode work even with plots and themes that don't immediately sound good to the viewers on paper, then all the better. We saw this episode pass the test with flying colors for the most part. They just need to continue leaving this show to their best writers. If it's true some of the writers are leaving this show, I would certainly hope that it's the less prolific who are heading out, which if that's the case, it would perhaps serve as a boon, rather than a bad sign, for the show. If everything Clay Satterfield had said about how the show is handled behind-the-scenes is true, then I feel it's reason enough for us to just sit back and enjoy the show without worry. This season is already turning out to be enjoyable so far. This show may be low on the ratings, but I do find it reassuring that the staffers appear to be making active efforts to help this show any way they can rather than just leaving it to rot. Although we may not be the target audience, I get the feeling the staffers are somewhat paying attention to our thoughts. They probably realize that even though this show is supposed to appeal to children, we adult viewers are the only ones who are really capable of providing adequate feedback. As I said before, I'm holding out hope for this show. Besides, I'd rather see the pets end up in proper relationships first, just show these writers can remember where the real money is at. It's true the pets are the main attraction of this show, though I'm of the opinion that romantic stories are better suited to the human characters. They could make a plot where the pets are directly involved in Blythe's interactions with Josh, that way they still get plenty of screentime. But that's just my thoughts. |
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Post by Shokew on Jun 22, 2014 17:57:35 GMT -5
You're right about something(s) - at least these writers are trying hard to give us something to be proud of, if they weren't before - I think that's all an adult like myself can ask for with this kids' show, otherwise...
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Post by Dr. Rockyl on Jun 22, 2014 18:29:19 GMT -5
After reading a few reviews, now I really want to finish up Season 2 -
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Post by VinnieTerrio on Jun 23, 2014 13:27:49 GMT -5
K guys, hi im new and i love Vinnie ;p
The new episode is the one ive personally been waiting for ;3
We see new ships ;3
This episode starts with Gail walking past in love and Zoey doesn't realize which sucks -.- although zoey does get her confused with others ;p
then the Bambi sort of guy (forgot his namesz sry) just fell in love with da cupet and Russell don't like it. He goes into the park to catch it with him posing as Penny lings potential boyfriend as Cyril Mcflip ;DDD. Then we know that Sugar Sprinkles was the secret cupet all along and makes Russell speak spanish and like penny. Then she makes Sunil like Pepper (yay) and Vinnie like Minka (aww, i srsly wanted the secret cupet to get a taste of her own medicine with Vinnie). in the end, she sings her love song backwards and reverses da love spell. Also she makes Josh Sharp love Blythe ;p Yeah Blythe and Zoey try to keep a letter from being delivered to him that says she love him, not that exciting
Quite a good episode, and Jasper free aswell. Yay ;3
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