YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S2 E14 "The Last Roundup"

---

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Applejack staying out of Ponyville to pay off the prize money she didn't win can be interpreted as "Your loved ones want you rather than material possessions. Don't let your mission to acquire it keep you from them."
  • Mayor Mare insisting on Applejack using her prize money to fix Town Hall, only for the latter to end up falling short can be seen as "Don't make promises you can't keep."
• Accidental Innuendo:
  • Cherry Jubilee is styled like a "madam" of the Old West, and being "boss of Cherryhill Ranch" may give a few different visions of what actually goes down there. Not to mention she can always use "a pony with quick hooves and a strong back".
  • Just before Derpy falls through a hole she created, she tries to save herself by grabbing a hold of Rainbow Dash's flanks. To make matters worse, after Derpy winds up pulling her down as well, we don't see either of them coming out...
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Applejack makes a couple of mistakes during her trial run (hoof hitting the hurdle and couple of tossed hay bales missing the finish line), but doesn't think to try and correct them. Was she over-confident in her skills? Did she think the judges wouldn't notice her flaws?
• Broken Base: This episode has joined the likes of "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" as one of the series' most divisive episodes. Strangely, it wasn't due to the events of the episode itself, but Derpy's cameo, both before and after the infamous edits made to her appearance. Was it a nice tribute to the fans of the show, obnoxious pandering to those fans, possibly offensive to disabled people, or all of the above? Things got at least 10 times worse after the edits^note Which edited out Derpy's name, changed her voice, switched her crossed-eyes to correctly aligned eyes and made Rainbow Dash sound more sensitive. that were made.
• Epileptic Trees: A lot of people began making theories that Tonight, Someone Dies or gets Put on a Bus with this episode, presumably because the word "last" is used as part of the episode title. "The Last Roundup" is a term best associated with death. ^note "Last roundup" tends to be used for when a cowboy is soon to die.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The method of the revenge Rarity promises against Rainbow Dash is a popular fanart topic.
  • Pinkie and Rarity's trip back on the handcar. The two characters are rarely paired up with each other and the stories usually play out like the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope Road To... movies.
  • Pinkie's reaction to a "Pinkie Promise" being broken...
• Harsher in Hindsight: Compare this episode where Granny Smith says "Our little bushel just lost one apple" (in reference to Applejack's desertion) while Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom sob in the background. Mildly sad at the time, but absolutely heartbreaking after "Apple Family Reunion", where it's implied that Applejack's parents are dead.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: This episode appears to be only remembered just for Derpy's cameo, canonization and subsequent de-canonization. Virtually everything else about it (with the exception of Rainbow Dash refusing to turn around for Rarity and Pinkie Pie) is quickly forgotten.
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • The music behind AJ's practice run in the Cold Open is the Bonanza remix first heard in "Swarm of the Century".
  • Also, when the other Mane 6 ponies are searching for Applejack, the background music sounds very similar to the Hammer Bros. theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
  • For the backing music of the cherry conveyor belt scene, there's a play on the well-known "Looney Tunes machine music" (more specifically, the second movement of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse").
• Wangst: It can be a little hard to feel pity for Applejack being rude to her friends, breaking a Pinkie Promise, and leading them on a dangerous desert chase, just because she didn't win first place.
• The Woobie:
  • Applejack. Just listen to how downright heartbroken she sounds revealing how she failed! She feels like she's a complete and utter failure for not getting the awards the town expected her to.
  • The poor telegram pony; it was his birthday! Fortunately, Pinkie eases his disappointment.
  • Pinkie Pie and Rarity when Rainbow Dash leaves the both of them behind.