Recap: My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic S 3 E 9 Apple Family Reunion
Can you name everypony?
Granny Smith: Hooo-whee! Looks like the family's grown ten-fold since the last reunion! I'm gonna be busier'n a worm in a rotten tomato tryin' ta get everythin' ready! Applejack: I could always help out. Apple Bloom: Me too! Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
Written by Cindy Morrow
The upcoming Apple Family Reunion is nigh, and it seems to be the biggest one yet: everypony in the Apple family, from Braeburn in Appleloosa to Babs Seed in Manehatten, will be showing up at Sweet Apple Acres! Normally Granny Smith is in charge of the reunion festivities, but Applejack offers to host it this time around so her granny can get a chance to enjoy herself. In fact, odds are not everyone will make it to the next reunion, so she swears to make this one the most memorable reunion yet.With a little help from her friends and family, Applejack gets the entire reunion set up just as Apples from all over Equestria begin coming over. Everypony starts catching up with each other, but Applejack is eager for the ponies to enjoy all the exciting activities in store for them—too eager, it seems, as Applejack's gotten a bit carried away by turning a simple seven-legged race into a full-fledged obstacle course, replacing the granny ponies' rocking chairs with noisy sewing machines so they can finally finish the never-ending quilt, and running the apple fritter-making like an assembly line.Applejack finally calls a break so she can take pictures for the family album, but everypony's too worn out from her activities for her to capture any noteworthy memories. Applejack arranges a family hayride to boost morale, but decides to try something "a wee bit more exciting" than the relaxing one they usually have. Things seem to get better when their bumpy ride takes them to see a colorful colony of (literal) fruit bats...until the bats spot an apple on Aunt Applesauce's hat and swoop down on the ponies. The wagon swerves and comes to a literal crashing halt back at the barn, knocking it down.With her plans wrecked along with the barn, Applejack tearfully thinks she's hosted the worst reunion ever. But as Granny Smith points out, everypony's still here and there's still time to make some great memories. Inspired, Applejack announces one last activity for everypony: raising the barn together so they can take the traditional family photo in front of it. Everypony has a blast, and they all head back home at the end of the day with a family reunion to remember—for all the right reasons. As she and her family fondly look over their new photos for their album, Applejack writes out her letter to Princess Celestia:
Applejack: Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned a great lesson about family. Which, if you think about it, is really the first group of friends you ever make. Turns out, that if you're with folks you care about, you don't have to do much to make that time memorable. Even the simplest of activities can take on a whole lot of meaning! And you'll find, you'll remember the "who" long after you've forgotten the "what." Your humble subject, Applejack.
Absentee Actor: Applejack is the only main character with a prominent role in this episode. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike only get brief cameos (with only Pinkie getting a speaking role), while Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy are nowhere to be seen.
Braeburn returns, but he's relegated to several background cameos, with his only clear line being an "Uh-huh" in a deep voice.
American Accents: Naturally. Wherever there are Apples, there are going to be a wide range of these, including the two Minnesota Nice ponies making apple fritters.*
An Aesop: It's not about the activities you do, it's about the people you do them with.
This is also notably the second (and last) episode of the season someone actually mailed the aesop to Celestia (on-screen, anyway), not since the events of "Too Many Pinkie Pies"..
Rainbow Dash onceagain bounces on a cloud to make it rain and drenches the pony beneath it (in this case Applejack). Said pony also ends up getting charred by lightning.
Babs Seed is in a new school (which, considering the bullying she went through, is really something of a relief), and she's making progress on that Manehatten branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Two of the train- and stagecoach-pulling ponies from "Over a Barrel" and "The Last Roundup" are pulling the hayride wagon (although they don't seem to have learned their lesson about what happens when one has dealings with Applejack).
Characterization Marches On: Remember when Granny Smith didn't speak in coherent sentences and could hardly move? Not so much in this episode, where she's sharp as a knife mentally and does a lot of physical labor without any visible complications.
Cool Old Mare: Granny Smith, as usual, and now her cousin Apple Rose as well!
Comically Missing the Point: Apple Bloom, to a point, who's pleased as punch that every RSVP came back to affirm they will be there. AJ and Granny are more than a bit worried.
Cuteness Overload: Baby Applejack, whom the fans took instantly to heart.
Dramatically Missing The Point: Applejack fails to grasp that the reunion is more about spending quality time with family instead of stupendous activities. For example, she takes Granny Smith's quip on never finishing the family quilt too literally by getting a bunch of sewing machines to speed up the quilting process. The point of the quilt is that it's never supposed to be finished; it's meant to keep growing as family members add to it over the years.
Easily Forgiven: Nopony's mad at Applejack for driving them to exhaustion, all but ruining the reunion, and then putting them to work fixing her mistake. She meant well and the Apples love barn-raising, so it all works out.
Embarrassing Old Photo: Though not to great extremes, Granny Smith isn't entirely fond of the photo taken during her first failed attempt at adding a patch to the Apple family quilt.
Granny Smith: Well, nopony told me you actually had to knot the end of the thread!
False Teeth Tomfoolery: Constantly done by Aunt Applesauce, who lost her original pair long ago and is having trouble with the new set too. (Applejack's shenanigans don't help.)
From Bad to Worse: Applejack's activities go from exhausting to dangerous when the colony of fruit bats cause the hayride wagon to veer off course and crash into the barn. The sad thing is, Applejack doesn't notice anything's wrong until it reaches this point.
Funny Background Event: When Applejack visits the relatives making fritters, one unnamed Apple can be seen eating an uncooked fritter in the background.
Furry Reminder: The 7-legged race being the equivalent of a human 3-legged one.
Granny Smith: Where in the world does that girl have us headin'? The west orchard? Big McIntosh:(looking in the distance) Eeyup. Granny Smith: What?! I was jokin'!
I Can't Hear You: The granny ponies have trouble making out what each other is saying over their noisy new sewing machines.
Granny Smith: Good gracious! Apple Rose: "Golden Delicious"? I think he's racin' with his cousin!
I Was Quite a Looker: Granny Smith takes quite a bit of pride in her brighter and smoother appearance back in her time, and even stretches her face back to recapture some of that youth for a few seconds. Alas, gravity...
Irony: All the fun and games Applejack has planned become hard work for everyone, while an event which is actual work (raising a barn) brings the Apple family together and is fun.
It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: What Applejack plans for the Apple Family Reunion to be. Of course, it goes downhill before Applejack turns things around and makes good on her plans.
Worst Whatever Ever: Heartbreakingly uttered by Applejack before she turns things around.
Late Arrival Spoiler: This episode spoils the fact that "One Bad Apple" ends with Apple Bloom and Babs Seed on good terms, and that Babs is now a Cutie Mark Crusader.
Lighter and Softer: Compared to the episodes in season three that aired prior to it, especially the "CrystalEmpire" storyline.
Loads and Loads of Characters: Kinda inevitable for a show about an Apple family reunion. Though on the other hoof, for a show supposedly about Applejack, there are a lot of ponies who aren't Applejack, and we spend a lot of the episode with them.
Mundane Utility: Applejack works Spike's head like a lighter.
My God, What Have I Done?: Applejack when she accidentally causes the hayride wagon to crash into and destroy the barn.
New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: Hayseed Turnip Truck is apparently a member of the Apple Family, and with the most un-Apple-sounding name. (Granted, Aunt and Uncle Orange are also present, so having an apple-based name/cutie mark/talent is not likely a fixed trait).
Negative Continuity: The flashbacks to Granny Smith's story in "Family Appreciation Day" show she is a full-grown mare when she and her family first settled onto the land that would become Ponyville, yet she appears as a filly in a family photo showing the framework for the barn at Sweet Apple Acres.
Never Say "Die": Granny wants to make this reunion the best one ever, considering that not everypony may make the next one. This is followed by Applejack looking up at the shooting stars with a thoughtful look on her face. Applejack then quickly averts this, commenting that everypony may be too busy to be able to make the next one.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Applejack's decision to send the hayride through a fruit bat-infested orchard, and intentionally wake up said bats, marks the point where all her plans go downhill.
Noodle Incident: Granny Smith alludes to one, exclaiming as some Apples arrive via blimp that "this is more exciting than when it rained frogs".
There's another during the granny ponies' conversation:
Aunt Applesauce: I imagine you two think I have forgotten what you did to my parasol six reunions ago! Granny Smith: We were just usin' it to help break open that piņata!
Granny Smith, when she finds out just how much of the family will be coming.
Twice during the hayride: once by Granny Smith when she finds out they're being taken to see the fruit bats, and again by Applejack when said bats begin attacking the riders.
The brief scene where Pinkie drinks honey from a beehive and then spits out a bee when she burps is possibly a Shout Out to old Winnie the Pooh shorts.
Applejack demonstrates the "Bobbing for Apples" game by stuffing her mouth full of apples, as in APPLE.MOV.
Time Passes Montage: In essence, the group shot photos of all the Apples at the time of each reunion in front of the barn which starts off unfinished.
Took a Level in Badass: Granny Smith is much sharper and physically capable than in previous episodes.
Unusual Euphemism: Granny Smith lets loose with one when she gets frustrated with the quilt in a flashback:
Granny Smith: Oh fingle-fangle!
Up to Eleven: Deconstructed; Applejack thinks that taking the family reunion activities Up to Eleven will make things more memorable, but all it does is make everypony exhausted and destroy her property.
