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Comments
| wandering_wastrel #1093116 4 months ago |
More like she writes episodes with generic characters then slaps pony names on them almost at random, resulting in episodes with massive out-of-character actions.
Having Twilight go nuts out of fear of being tardy is a believable extension of her 'obsessive student' character. Having Fluttershy behave like a bitch is not (hell, having every damn pony in town behave like a bitch wasn't believable either). The showrunner who took over after Lauren left is not protecting the characters like Lauren did. Yes, I thought the people crying that the show would change when Lauren was gone were at best premature in their wailing, and for the most part the show is still great, but in the case of this particular writer, the wailers were right. |
| Anonymous #1093128 4 months ago |
Ponys being jerks wasn't that bad really. How else were they supposed to push Fluttershy over the edge? Have another member of the mane six do it instead of strangers? The shitstorms that would cause lol... |
| Blaze-Bolt #1093135 4 months ago |
I believe Merriwether also worked on scripts for Spongebob so all the randomness is expected, but it doesn't work in this show.
I'm not a big fan of her because of the Mare-Do-Well episode, there wasn't even a lesson that Rainbow wrote at the end, she winked at the audience and it ended, by far the weakest of the series in my opinion. Thing is, Merriwether can write a good script, but it just doesn't work for this show in particular. |
| gashunk #1093137 4 months ago |
@Anon
You mean like in mare-do-well? |
| Anonymous #1093167 4 months ago |
This episode featured all of Fluttershy's negative traits displayed so far threatening to take over her personality, it was definitely one of the better eps for me. Mare-Do-Well was bad by pony standards, but this was easily in my tops list. |
| peony #1093179 4 months ago |
I dunno, as someone who was pretty much a doormat for a long time, the episode kinda reflects how i remember it. Since its a fluttershy episode, think of it as seeing the world through her introverted, slightly paranoid eyes. Everything is out to get her. She learned to be assertive, but that was only half the battle, she still seen everything as an attack or threat of sorts against her. This made her a bit of an asshole. There is after all only a fine line between being confident, and being an overbearing bitch
The assertive part is only a small aspect of the changes a person has to undergo to become more confident in day to day life, without losing what they have already. This episode demonstrated it very well, plus the whole "theres no quick fix" overtone is sensible. It's kind of a dig at the self help gurus, which is awesome. I would say Merriwether got it spot on, she probably struggled with a stage like that in here life as well, and got through it the hard way - on her own. Most of the people that can't see that probably never had any sort of shyness problems as an adult. |
| Draconequus #1093183 4 months ago |
I think she gives great character development and humour.
Come at me. |
| Blaze-Bolt #1093189 4 months ago |
@peony
I know exactly how Fluttershy feels as you described her, I've been there and I still am, not very assertive though. I usually just keep to myself and isolate myself from people. I know how she feels. |
| Anonymous #1093294 4 months ago |
^^ I agree she's probably my third favorite writer on the show after after Meghan McCarthy and Amy Keating Rogers.
And while Mare Do Well was the worst episode of Season 2, it still got way more shit than it deserved. |
| BUzer #1093308 4 months ago |
Now wait a minute. She wrote "Hearth's Warming Eve", the one of the most epic episodes of all the time! I can forgive anything just because of that. |
| Anonymous #1093355 4 months ago |
Wait what about MA Larson? He wrote so many awesome eps! |
| AppleDash #1093404 4 months ago |
I think there are three main categories into which fans of the show can be placed. There are also 23 subdivisions but I won't get into those now.
1. These fans watch it mostly (although not necessarily exclusively) for the characters, story, problems, and enjoy the thought that at the end of the day everyone learned something. 2. The second group of fans watches it mostly (again, not exclusively) for the humor and the antics. In many cases these fans are reminded of the cartoons of their childhood, but I believe anyone can find the fun of this show without prior experience. 3. The master race, these fans watch the show for the colorful ponies. That's about it. Now, if you are a type 1 diabetic (get it, because if you are a fan of the show you have diabetes from the pony cuteness *nudge nudge* get it?) you are more likely to dislike this writer because in Mare-Do-Well, despite having funny moments, had many out of character moments and a weak moral. The most recent episode also had out of character moments, but I believe that it was more acceptable since the moral was more sound. Type 2 fans don't care about that as much so they can look past it and not let it ruin the otherwise good episodes for them. So, when you see mixed feeling for an episode, you can usually pinpoint who is a type one (a carefriend) and who is a type two (a carenot). Most people fall somewhere in the middle, the two groups are considered the extremes and what the fuck did I just type |
| Anonymous #1093482 4 months ago |
^ I'm in all three categories
.......I think i just ruined you system |
| AppleDash #1093549 4 months ago |
^You are in subdivision 4. If I spelled out my whole system it would kill both my typing fingers and your reading eyes, so I'll just leave it at that. |
| Fuzzy_Logic #1093763 4 months ago |
Sounds like this lady writes the BEST episodes.
"Twilight is so obsessive about education (and subsequently so good at it) that she does not realize what happens when you're tardy and is terrified he rlife will be ruined" is a cute plot. "Twilight drives herself crazy and CREATES problems for herself to solve" is a GREAT plot. "It's out of character"? How do you know it's out of character? Which fucking episodes established "oh by the way twilight NEVER FREAKS OUT about ANYTHING, even though freaking out about things is her thing"? And fluttershy genuinely thinking she's being "assertive" when really she's being "really mean"? How is that unreasonable? Like fluttershy would know what "being really mean' is and how it's different from being assertive! She's never done EITHER! |
| ProfessorOfHoers #1094013 4 months ago |
I think it was a pretty good episode. I do agree that Mare do Well sucked though. |
| Fuzzy_Logic #1094109 4 months ago |
oh wait they wrote mare do well?
well what the shit how can mare do well be the shittiest shit to ever shit on anything and then these other ones are so good? |
| Anonymous #1094212 4 months ago |
Kudos to Merriwether.
This episode was pretty good. Disregard the haters. |
| Anonymous #1094265 4 months ago |
@Fuzzy:
Keep in mind that Mare Do Well was Merriwether's first episode in this show.As one of the new writers of this season,I think it's normal that episode felt a bit off,since she had to adjust herself to the characters,unlike say Amy Keating Rogers or Charlotte Fullerton who have been there since the beginning.I give her props for continuity,though.For using the Pinkie Sense and playing with the abilities and strength of the Mane 6 very well. Now with Hearth Warming's Eve and this new one it seems she's finally keeping up with the rhythm.Mare Do Well wasn't bad,but these two episodes are a lot better. So yeah,Kudos to Merriwether. |
| Anonymous #1094305 4 months ago |
Ponyville always feels off in her episodes. Either the town is a deathtrap or it's full of flankholes. Hearth Warming's Eve worked, but most of that was a story about other characters. The three leaders of the pony tribes were supposed to be jerks. Even with another writer, Merriwether cannot write subtlety. |
| WatermelonRat #1094460 4 months ago |
It was an entertaining episode, but yeah, subtlety isn't Merriweather's strongpoint. I find her episodes more enjoyable when you mentally remove them from your overall perception of continuity. |
| Anonymous #1094709 4 months ago |
^^ Don't forget about how they all acted like they'd never seen Canterlot before while they were riding the train there. |
| Anonymous #1095149 4 months ago |
^ Hey Canterlot's a big city |
| I_Like_Your_Mane #1098200 4 months ago |
All MMW episodes were great IMO. Mare Do Well was great too.
All ponies had their faults and failings when other writers wrote it. People going 'show runners are baadddd' are negative nancies about this. They just WANT to find fault in MWW, instead of it being anything all that legitimate. This cartoon has took liberties with character personalities and setting since the first episodes. |