| One Bad Apple | |
|---|---|
| |
| Season №: | 3 |
| Season episode №: | 4 |
| Overall episode №: | 56 |
| Original airdate: | November 24, 2012 |
| Written by: | Cindy Morrow |
| Storyboard: | Sherann Johnson and Emmett Hall Song: Emmett Hall[1] |
| Featured characters: | Babs Seed |
| Song: | Babs Seed |
| See also | |
| credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation | |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Too Many Pinkie Pies |
Next Magic Duel |
One Bad Apple is the fourth episode of the third season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the fifty-sixth episode overall. In this episode, Apple Bloom is excited for her cousin Babs Seed to visit Sweet Apple Acres, only for their relationship to fall apart when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon intervene. The title is a reference to the proverb "One bad apple spoils the bunch".
Production and development
On July 19, 2012, the show's composer William Anderson released a photo of himself in front of a screen displaying a clip from the episode along with production and time codes.[2]
On October 18, 2012, EW.com published an article stating that an upcoming installment of the show deals with the issue of bullying, quoting show head writer Meghan McCarthy that "[It] explores how you should handle a bully, and sometimes what the source of bullying is," and that "It's wrapped in a story that's really fun and funny, and has music, and doesn't feel heavy-handed."[3]
Cindy Morrow, the writer of the episode, revealed that the original working title for the episode was "Bully For You".[4][5]
The version of the episode shown on Hasbro.com displays production information text followed by a testcard before the opening scene.[6][7]
Summary
A new arrival
At Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom frets over which outfit to wear as she prepares to meet her cousin Babs Seed for the first time at the train station. Applejack points out that neither of the two youths has a cutie mark, prompting Apple Bloom to rush out the door to inform Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo so they can welcome Babs together as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
At the train station, the Crusaders eagerly greet Babs Seed and lead her to their clubhouse for a tour. When she seems hesitant to engage with them, they bring her to the barn to show off a large pumpkin-shaped float that they built for the upcoming Summer Harvest Parade, only for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to show up and begin ridiculing their work. They spot Babs and ask if she's going to join her cousin's club, and after a moment of thought, Babs decides to join the bullies in belittling the Crusaders. She proceeds to damage the float such that it rolls out of the barn and crashes, but when Apple Bloom threatens to tell Applejack about it, Babs denounces her as a snitch and walks off with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, leaving the Crusaders distraught.
Plotting revenge
Afraid of being labeled as snitches, the Crusaders opt not to tell Applejack and instead sing a song where they determine to avoid Babs for the remainder of her visit. When Babs ends up commandeering their clubhouse along with Apple Bloom's bed, however, the girls agree to fight back. They rebuild their float for the Summer Harvest Parade in the shape of an apple, this time rigging it with a booby trap on the assumption that Babs will try to ride it herself.
The day of the parade arrives, and as the Crusaders predicted, Babs commandeers their float just before the procession begins. Applejack sees Babs in the float and commends the girls for letting her ride it, remarking how she has been dealing with bullies back home in Manehattan and had visited Ponyville to get away from the problem. Realizing that Babs turned to bullying only to avoid being victimized by it, the Crusaders rush off to undo their trap.
The girls use Pinkie's float to reach Babs just as the parade of vehicles approaches a cliff. Babs refuses the Crusaders' call to leave the float only to lose control of the steering seconds later when the trap goes off. As she careens toward the cliff, the Crusaders manage to catch up on foot and jump into the float, pushing Babs out just as it runs off the edge and crashes into a pool of mud at the bottom.
Reconciliation
While washing off the mud at Sweet Apple Acres, the Crusaders admit to and apologize for setting a trap for Babs, who in turn apologizes for her bullying. Applejack observes that they should have come to her when the problems started. The group agree to "start over", and after an initiation ceremony in the clubhouse, Babs becomes a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and promises to open a branch of the club in Manehattan.
At the end of her visit, as Babs and the other Crusaders say goodbye at the train station, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approach and lament being left in Ponyville with "these lame blank flanks". Babs defends her fellow club members, threating to tell the bullies' mothers about their attitudes if they have a problem with her new friendship.
Quotes
- For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.
- Apple Bloom: That's her! Oh, wait, no, no, that's not her. Oh! No, tha-tha-that's her! Um, no. Oh, wait, tha– that's not her either, uh...
- Applejack: Apple Bloom, you've never met Babs Seed, remember?
- Sweetie Belle: We have to tell Applejack!
- Apple Bloom: No! We're not snitches!
- Scootaloo: Yeah, and we're not babies!
- Sweetie Belle: Then... why do I feel like crying?
- Scootaloo: Yeah! Fight back! How're we gonna do that?
- Apple Bloom: By makin' her the guest of honor at the Summer Harvest Parade!
- Scootaloo: Yeah! Wait, what?
- Apple Bloom: When you look up 'embarrassed' in the dictionary... her face will be there!
- Sweetie Belle: Teach her to fool with the Cutie Mark Crusaders!
- Sweetie Belle: "We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Babs Seed to join us as a sister, friend, confidaynte, alley, boss-om buddy, gal pal, compader, chum of chums..."
- Scootaloo: [clears throat]
- Sweetie Belle: Well you wrote this.
- Scootaloo: Oh, uh, yeah...
- Sweetie Belle: Sure gonna miss that bad seed.
- Applejack: Bad seed? I thought y'all were friends now?
- Sweetie Belle: No, see, first we called her 'bad seed' as in actually a bad seed, but now she's bad as in good. Get it?
- Applejack: Yea— no.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Raven Molisee (2012-11-25). MLP # 304: One Bad Apple. Retrieved on 2012 November 25.
- ↑ William Anderson (2012-07-19). MLP FIM Poster. Retrieved on 2012 October 28.
- ↑ Hillary Busis (2012-10-18). Attention, all bronies! Exclusive scoop on 'My Little Pony' season 3, which premieres on.... EW.com. Retrieved on 2012 November 2.
- ↑ Everfree Radio. Bronies for Good Charity Livestream - Lauren Faust, Amy Keating Rogers, Cindy Morrow.... Retrieved on 2013 January 14.
- ↑ Cindy Morrow via Twitter. Retrieved on 2013 March 15.
- ↑ 2014-My Little Pony. Retrieved on 2015 March 1.
- ↑ Videos. Hasbro. Retrieved on 2015 March 1.
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| Episode 21 The Isle of Scaly |
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