History YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple

* AccidentalAesop: You'll be EasilyForgiven if you have a FreudianExcuse.

* NeverLiveItDown:
** Some fans will always remember Babs as a [[TheBully bully]].
** Applejack's [[AdultsAreUseless inaction]] concerning the bullying the CMC faced has also forever tainted her as a bad guardian for Apple Bloom to some fans.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Babs Seed. She's either a [[JerkassWoobie complex, sympathetic character]] or her actions, the [[KarmaHoudini lack of punishment]] for those actions, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and her abominable accent]] have made it difficult to sympathize with her.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Babs Seed. The main point of criticism for the episode is that her treatment of the CMC came off as far worse than what her FreudianExcuse was meant to cover. Her bullying the CMC in excess of, even without, [[PeerPressureMakesYouEvil Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's influence]], and the lack of any visible remorse for her actions while she was bullying them resulted in many finding her [[KarmaHoudini lack of consequences undeserved]] and undermined the anti-bullying aesop. Luckily, her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E9AppleFamilyReunion subsequent appearance]] onward was positive enough to show her deserving of forgiveness, letting Babs increasingly [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap live her bad rep down]].

** Sweetie Belle is more so after she cried [[OcularGushers rivers of tears]] that were done in [[PlayedForDrama non-hammy and heavily dramatic ways]].

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[[AC:Go back to the main page [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple HERE]]]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop:
** Don't try to stand up to a bully. [[SarcasmMode If you do, you're no better than whoever is picking on you.]]
** If you tell an adult about your bullying problem, they will make it stop immediately. However, whether ''this'' Aesop is done well or is unrealistic [[BrokenBase still arouses heated debate]]. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment That's all we gotta say]].

** Some fans will always remember Babs as a bully.

** Some fans also say this for Cindy Morrow despite writing eight mostly well-received episodes prior to this one.

** If you tell an adult about your bullying problem, they will make it stop immediately. However, whether ''this'' Aesop is done well or is unrealistic [[BrokenBase still arouses heated debate]]. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment That's all we gotta say]].

** If you tell an adult about your bullying problem, they will make it stop immediately. However, whether ''this'' Aesop is done well or is unrealistic [[BrokenBase still arouses heated debate]]. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement That's all we gotta say]].

** If you tell an adult about your bullying problem, they will make it stop immediately. However, whether ''this'' Aesop is done well or is unrealistic [[BrokenBase still arouses heated debate]]. [[RuleOfCautiousJudgementEditing That's all we gotta say]].

** If you tell an adult about your bullying problem, they will make it stop immediately. (Which in RealLife, is sadly almost never the case.)

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what we gonna do? Got a bully on our tail, gotta hide, we gotta bail...''
** Of special note: this is the first time since [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E18TheShowStoppers "The Show Stoppers"]] that we hear [[HollywoodToneDeaf Scootaloo]] sing[[note]]not counting [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E17HeartsAndHoovesDay "Hearts and Hooves Day"]] since she didn't actually sing[[/note]], and she has [[CharacterizationMarchesOn improved]] [[SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound greatly]] (although this time, the musical number is rhetorical, not literal).

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Babs Seed. She's either a [[JerkassWoobie complex, sympathetic character]] or her actions, the [[KarmaHoudini lack of punishment]] for those actions, and her abominable accent have made it difficult to sympathize with her.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: While it is not explicitly said, and of course does not excuse Babs' behavior, the CMC came on rather strong in the beginning about their organization and their blank flanks while failing to see that Babs was getting embarrassed about her lack of cutie mark in the face of their enthusiasm.
** As another example, the CMC go way too far in fighting back against Babs and almost get Babs severely injured, but they ''did'' in fact have a legitimate reason to fight back in the ''first'' place. If it weren't for the fact that they had another option (telling Applejack) and didn't take it, some viewers would have felt that the CMC had a point.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Depending on how you interpret the second half of the episode, there are up to three negative messages:

** Being a victim of bullying in the past makes bullying someone in the present okay.

* UnfortunateImplications: The moral, detailed above in FamilyUnfriendlyAesop, has been torn apart in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3VtK-tnQH0 more than one]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXDAzT355Tc review]] and [[Fanfic/PartingWords fanfic]]. The [[WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter second]] and [[Creator/RalphHayesJr third]] in particular are from people who actually were victims of bullying.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Despite what the episode constantly says, and while it ''is'' the first thing one should do, telling an adult is almost ''never'' the absolute solution to a bullying problem, especially in modern schools where victim-blaming and inaction is common.

* InternetBackdraft: The episode infamously ended with the moral of "standing up to a bully will make you a bully as well", effectively portraying the CMC as wrong for trying to defend themselves against Babs Seed. That Babs has effectively spent every waking moment actively hunting the CMC to ruin every second of their day, that the CMC did attempt other means to solve the issue which all failed, that the Crusaders' reasoning for not telling an Adult is fear that it will make the bullying worse (a very valid concern, [[TruthInTelevision as it's often the case in real life]]), and that Babs actually ''threatened to hurt them if they told an adult'', are never given any thought. This episode came under tons of fire with the fanbase, '''''ESPECIALLY''''' fans who were victims of bullying themselves and/or parents whose children are bullying victims. It's heavily implied that this is also the reason why Babs barely appeared in the later episodes aside from brief cameos and mentions here and there.

* AssPull: Babs Seed's FreudianExcuse for bullying the crusaders comes from out of nowhere and it forces CMC to withdraw their plans for revenge. This is especially severe because Babs shows little to no remorse for her actions while bullying them.
** Her shy and nervous demeanor at the beginning of the episode may have been {{foreshadowing}}.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Despite what the episode constantly says, and while it ''is'' the first thing one should do, telling an adult is almost ''never'' the absolute solution to a bullying problem.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: ''Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what we gonna do? Got a bully on our tail, gotta hide, we gotta bail...''
** Of special note: this is the first time since [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E18TheShowStoppers "The Show Stoppers"]] that we hear [[HollywoodToneDeaf Scootaloo]] sing[[note]]not counting [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E17HeartsAndHoovesDay "Hearts and Hooves Day"]] since she didn't actually sing[[/note]], and she has [[CharacterizationMarchesOn improved]] [[MostWonderfulSound greatly]] (although this time, the musical number is rhetorical, not literal).

* TastesLikeDiabetes: Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo drinking their milkshake. [[SweetDreamsFuel Not that it's a bad thing]].

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Twice in the song "Babs Seed", the CMC are being chased on a two-dimensional plane and then the camera angle changes to the edge of the plane, which the CMC fall off, in a three-dimensional fashion!

* InternetBackdraft: The episode infamously ended with the moral of "standing up to a bully will make you a bully as well", effectively portraying the CMC as wrong for trying to defend themselves against Babs Seed. That Babs has effectively spent every waking moment actively hunting the CMC to ruin every second of their day, that the CMC did attempt other means to solve the issue which all failed, that the Crusaders' reasoning for not telling an Adult is fear that it will make the bullying worse (a very valid concern, [[TruthInTelevision as it's often the case in real life]]), and that Babs actually ''threatened to hurt them if they told an adult'', are never given any thought. This episode came under tons of fire with the fanbase, '''''ESPECIALLY''''' fans who were victims of bullying themselves and/or parents whose children are bullying victims. It's heavily implied that this is also the reason why [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Babs never showed up again after season 3]].

** Some fans also say this for Cindy Morrow despite writing 8 mostly well-received episodes prior to this one.

* UnfortunateImplications: The moral, detailed above in FamilyUnfriendlyAesop, is torn apart in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXDAzT355Tc review]] by [[WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter someone]] who ''actually was a victim of bullying''.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Babs Seed. The big criticism of the episode is that her treatment of the CMC came off as far worse then what her FreudianExcuse was meant to cover. Her bullying the CMC in excess of, even without, [[PeerPressureMakesYouEvil Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's influence]], and the lack of any visible remorse for her actions while she was bullying them resulted in many finding her [[KarmaHoudini lack of consequences undeserved]] and undermined the anti-bullying aesop. Luckily, her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E9AppleFamilyReunion subsequent appearance]] onward was positive enough to show her deserving of forgiveness, letting Babs increasingly [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap live her bad rep down]].

* InternetBackdraft: The episode infamously ended with the moral of "standing up to a bully will make you a bully as well", effectively portraying the CMC as wrong for trying to defend themselves against Babs Seed. That Babs has effectively spent every waking moment actively hunting the CMC to ruin every second of their day, that the CMC did attempt other means to solve the issue which all failed, that the CMC's reasoning for not telling an Adult is fear that it will make the bullying worse (a very valid concern, [[TruthInTelevision as it's often the case in real life]]), and that Babs actually ''threatened to hurt them if they told an adult'', are never given any thought. This episode came under tons of fire with the fanbase, '''''ESPECIALLY''''' fans who were victims of bullying themselves and/or parents whose children are bullying victims. It's heavily implied that this is also the reason why [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Babs never showed up again after season 3]].

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Applejack never tells the CMC that Babs was bullied for being a blank flank back at home, because she didn't want her to feel singled out. Even though it is abundantly obvious that the CMC are absolutely obsessed with cutie marks, and they were immediately pestering Babs about it from the beginning.
** Sweetie Belle considers telling Applejack about Babs' bullying but is stopped when Apple Bloom warns her that they could be labeled as snitches.
** Babs rams into Pinkie Pie's float while Pinkie happens to be driving it. Despite now being a witness to Babs' bullying, [[AdultsAreUseless Pinkie doesn't even react]].
** Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon at the end of the episode, insulting the CMC as Applejack is standing ''right next to them''! Sure, it was Babs that stood up to them in the end but Applejack looked ready to do it before Babs jumped in.

* InternetBackdraft: The episode infamously ended with the moral of "standing up to a bully will make you a bully as well", effectively portraying the CMC as wrong for trying to defend themselves against Babs Seed. That Babs has effectively spent every waking moment actively hunting the CMC to ruin every second of their day, that the CMC did attempted other means to solve the issue which all failed, that the CMC's reasoning for not telling an Adult is fear that it will make the bullying worse (a very valid concern, [[TruthInTelevision as it's often the case in real life]]), and that Babs actually ''threatened to hurt them if they told an adult'', are never given any thought. This episode came under tons of fire with the fanbase, '''''ESPECIALLY''''' fans who were victims of bullying themselves and/or parents whose children are bullying victims. It's heavily implied that this is also the reason why [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Babs never showed up again after season 3]].

* Internet Backdraft: The episode infamously ended with the moral of "standing up to a bully will make you a bully as well", effectively portraying the CMC as wrong for trying to defend themselves against Babs Seed. That Babs has effectively spent every waking moment actively hunting the CMC to ruin every second of their day, that the CMC did attempted other means to solve the issue which all failed, that the CMC's reasoning for not telling an Adult is fear that it will make the bullying worse (a very valid concern, [[TruthInTelevision as it's often the case in real life]]), and that Babs actually ''threatened to hurt them if they told an adult'', are never given any thought. This episode came under tons of fire with the fanbase, '''''ESPECIALLY''''' fans who were victims of bullying themselves and/or parents whose children are bullying victims. It's heavily implied that this is also the reason why [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Babs never showed up again after season 3]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: Despite what the episode constantly says, while it ''is'' the first thing one should do, telling an adult is almost ''never'' the absolute solution to a bullying problem.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Babs Seed. She's either a [[JerkassWoobie complex, sympathetic character]] or her actions, the [[KarmaHoudini lack of punishment]] for those actions, and her [[MostAnnoyingSound abominable accent]] have made it difficult to sympathize with her.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Babs Seed. She's either a [[JerkassWoobie complex, sympathetic character]] or her actions and the [[KarmaHoudini lack of punishment]] for those actions have made it difficult to sympathize with her.