My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000: Difference between revisions

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Cue the Flim Flam brothers rolling into Ponyville. They charm and schmooze their way into the town's good graces and introduce [[Title Drop|The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000]], which they claim can make enough cider to satisfy all of Ponyville in a fraction of the time the Apples can even make their daily batch! The Apples maintain their position that quality is more important than speed, but the brothers quickly prove that their machine can make ''very'' good cider, thanks to its built-in quality check system that only uses the best apples and automatically discards the rotten or bruised ones. The brothers offer a "partnership," but when the Apples refuse their blatantly lopsided deal, the two groups make a bet: Whoever can make the most barrels of cider in one hour gets exclusive selling rights in Ponyville! This means if the Apples lose, they'll lose the right to sell cider in Ponyville, and without that money to tide them over in the winter, they won't be able to afford to run Sweet Apple Acres!

As the episode draws to a close<ref>and as Rainbow Dash ''finally'' gets a mug of cider</ref>, Applejack writes her letter...

 

 

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* [[AcCENT Upon the Wrong SylLABle]]: "In this ve-RY community."

** The Twins plan to rename "Sweet Apple Acres" to "Flim Flam Fields".

* [[Adult Fear]]: No scary monsters in this episode, just a couple of shady businessponies almost making the Apple family lose their jobs and home.

* [[An Aesop]]: Subverted in that Applejack already knew the Aesop all along.

* [[Annoying Laugh]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4AUpn-vhYc Flim and Flam]

* [[Artistic License Physics]]: At the beginning of the episode, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly ''sideways'', with their bodies ''vertical to the ground'' at high speed towards the Cider Stand, in order to have a conversation on the way.

** Although this could simply be momentum. Rainbow Dash was pushing Fluttershy through the air until that point (fast enough to make her scream) which means that both have the same velocity. When Rainbow lets go, they should still be travelling at the same speed for a while until air resistance slows them down. They're not so much flying as staying airborne.

** Not to mention that Flim and Flam dance on their hind legs during part of their [[Villain Song]].

* [[As You Know]]: Rainbow Dash explaining Cider Season and how Pinkie always takes the first spot in line to Fluttershy.

* {{spoiler|[[The Bad Guy Wins]]: The Flim Flam brothers do win the contest, but the crappy cider needed to win is what drove them out of town and allowed the Apple family to keep their land.}}

* [[The Bet]]: The Flim Flam brothers and the Apple family bet over the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville.

** Applejack grabbing Rainbow Dash by the tail to hold her back. Seriously, [[Running Gag|it is about the sixth or seventh time she did it since episode 1]].

* [[The Cameo]]: Doctor Whooves is seen a couple times, but specifically one shot with a tie, running the hourglass for the competition. Sibsy, one of the storyboard artists, affirms that this was an intentional nod to the fan-named character.

** He is also seen earlier standing next to Derpy Hooves, fandom-recognized to be his friend/lover/adventuring companion. Coincidence?

* [[Cheaters Never Prosper]]: Once the Mane Six and the rest of the Apple family start to outpace the cider machine during the cider contest, Flim and Flam skip the quality control process to get back in the lead. Though this wins them the contest, the resulting product is so terrible that they get run out of town, which would have happened anyway if they lost. At least if they had lost on even terms, it wouldn't have completely ruined their business.

'''Spike:''' Yeah! That means it's only 30 days until sapphire season! [licks chops] }}

** Also, Pinkie Pie, going on a rave about how good this year's cider was to Rainbow Dash, who's already frustrated and upset at not getting any… despite Fluttershy trying to warn Pinkie.

* [[Cool Train]]: The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 is this.

* [[Cross Cultural Kerfluffle]]: Cider is considered non-alcoholic by default in the United States, and the alcoholic variety is specifically referred to as "hard cider." In other places, however, "cider" is alcoholic. So, to the amusement and/or [[Moral Guardians|horror]] of viewers outside the US, this episode appears to be about ponies getting drunk.

*** This is assuming they really would have been able to get their own supply of apples to produce the cider with.

* [[Expressive Hair]]: Not just Pinkie, but Flam's mustache ''droops'' when things start to go south for the Brothers.

* [[Expy]]: The Flim Flam Brothers, of... every snake oil salesman in television history, [[The Music Man|Harold Hill]] in particular.

* [[Fandom Nod]]: One of the most interested ponies in watching the cider-making, and the one that Flam points out as having a "dry throat, thirsty tongue"? [[The Alcoholic|Berry Punch]]. Cider is frequently alcoholic (though there are no apparent alcoholic beverages in Equestria). This one is most likely intentional, since [[Word of God|the artist explicitly states that]] [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/09/sibsy-stops-by-eqd-irc.html she loves Drunk!Berry Punch].

* [[Faux Affably Evil]]: ''Evil'' might be too far for them, but the Flim-Flam brothers both are polite and charming...while not [[Evil Gloating|gloating]] and [[Kick the Dog|rubbing the Apples' faces.]]

* [[Frothy Mugs of Water|Frothy Mugs of Cider]] (non-alcoholic!)

* [[Funny Background Event]]: The "Jumping Lyra" gag, after being absent thus far in Season 2, finally returns. [[Where's Waldo|Can you spot her]]? <ref>Just as Applejack accepts the help of Twilight and her friends. To be more exact, just as those friends "Yay!"ed after that answer.</ref>

** At the start of the episode, Rainbow Dash yanks the blanket away from Fluttershy, who then promptly looks down and cups her hooves over her chest, blushing. [[Irony|All while the "TV-Y" rating is showing during the television broadcast.]]

* [[Gratuitous French]]: During the Flim Flam Brothers' musical number, they refer to themselves as "nonpareils", or "without equal" in French.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Rainbow Dash initially supports the Flim Flam brothers, until she sees what jerks they are. At that point, she is willing to kick their flanks, but AJ stops her.

* [[Homage]]/[[The Jimmy Hart Version]]: The first act is pretty much a loving nod to Meredith Willson's ''[[The Music Man]]''. Not only do we have the the barbershop quartet-style outfits, red-and-white striped manes, and the use of the song to lure the rest of the town into the confidence scheme; the song itself shares many similar musical elements with the [[Ear Worm]]-worthy "Ya Got Trouble" from the musical, including the eloquent vocabulary and the backing beat of the crowd shouting "Cider! Cider!" Younger tropers [[The Weird Al Effect|may recognize the homage from a more recent work]], the Monorail song from ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "Marge vs. the Monorail."

** The episode's plot itself is an homage to the American folk tale of John Henry.

* [[Hoist By Their Own Petard]]: The Flim Flam Brothers, first by accepting the Mane Cast's choice to help the Apples, then turning off quality control, ultimately leading to their downfall. They also made the contest explicitly about quantity over quality -- claiming they could make cider ''faster'', not better. They won on quantity but ended up with a product that wouldn't sell.

** Actually, she never bets the farm, only the right to sell cider, hardly the Apple Family's only business. Once they win, the Flim Flam brothers just ACT like they've won the farm, and nobody calls them on it. They're just that slick.

* [[Huddle Shot]]: The Apple family gets into one when deciding whether to work with Flim and Flam. {{spoiler|They sneak in on them.}}

* [[Innocently Insensitive]]: Once again, Pinkie Pie is the one behaving this way. Between her "hope they don't run out" remark in the cold opening and her gabbing about how amazing the cider was in front of Rainbow Dash (she bought at least ''ten'' cups of cider), she acts pretty insensitive. {{spoiler|Of course, Pinkie makes up for it in the end.}}

* [[Ludd Was Right]]: ''Subverted.'' Even Granny Smith is willing to admit the Flim Flam Brothers' machine makes good cider (she never ''says'' it, but the look on her face after she tries it says enough); the problem is that the Flim Flam Brothers themselves are greedy, dishonest businessmen who offer the Apple family a "deal" that would financially ruin them, threaten to put them out of business when they sensibly refuse, and [[Pyrrhic Victory|only manage to win the contest by churning out vast quantities of undrinkable product]]. The machine itself is never presented as being inherently malicious; only its unscrupulous creators are.

** And the way they drive it. They owe Granny a fence.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: "Flim Flam" being another term for a confidence scheme.

** Lampshaded by the Flim Flam Brothers threatening the Apple family, saying that they'll need to get jobs that aren't so perfectly suited to their names.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: This isn't the first time ''My Little Pony'' has had two competing juice stands. An episode of [[My Little Pony Tales]], "The Great Lemonade Stand Wars", did it first, including contrasting the main characters' charming little wooden stand with their competitor's sleeker, shinier, mobile one. This time, however, Bon Bon is on the ''other'' side of the counter.

* [[Naked People Are Funny|Naked Ponies Are Funny]]: Rainbow Dash pulls the covers off of Fluttershy's bed, causing Fluttershy to cup her hooves over her "chest" and blush with embarrassment. No real reason for it other than [[Rule of Funny]].

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Maybe not as fast as some, but if the family name is ''Flim Flam''...

* [[Nobody Calls Me Chicken|Nopony Calls Me Chicken]]: Granny Smith doesn't take kindly to being called this and ends up betting Sweet Apple Acres in a cider-making contest.

* [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished]]: The competition is over and Twilight and Applejack collapse in exhaustion. Having chosen not to cheat even in the face of temptation, Twilight compliments Applejack on how proud she is of her and how such integrity would not go unrewarded. Cue victory being handed to the Flim Flam brothers.

** Of course, Twilight was perfectly correct. It just took a little longer than expected for the Apples' honest labor to pay off.

* [[No Endor Holocaust]]: Nobody seems overly concerned with the massive loss of apples that were used to produce Flim and Flams shoddy batches of cider.

* [[Ocular Gushers]]: Pinkie Pie, yet again.

* [[Oh Crap]]: The Flim Flam Brothers when they realize that not only is nopony going to pay one cent for their cider, but the entire town is furious at them.

** The Flim Flam Brothers also have one when they realize that Applejack's friends are helping enough that they might lose the competition.

* [[Pyrrhic Villainy]]: The Flim Flam Brothers win the contest, but they've thoroughly alienated everyone in town, and they used not just so many bad apples, but chunks of apple ''trees'' that no one will buy from them.

* [[Real Estate Scam]]: Near the end, the Flim Flam Brothers reveal their intention to bankrupt the Apple family, force them off their land, and construct "Flim Flam Fields".

* [[Recycled in Space]]: The American folk legend of John Henry beating a track-laying machine risking to put hundreds of men out of work, as retold in the form of a cider-making competition. With ponies.

* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: Flim and Flam are twin brothers, yes? Take a look at their cutie marks. Flim has an apple slice. Flam has an apple with a slice having been taken out of it.

* [[Running Gag]]: Rainbow Dash failing to get a drink of cider.

** The Flim Flam Brothers knock over Granny's fence twice.

** This is the episode that really makes it unquestionable that giving Bon Bon a different voice every time she has a line is deliberate.

* [[Sadistic Choice]]: The Flim Flam Brothers force the Apple family to either accept a deal that would ruin them, or be run out of business. [[Take a Third Option|The contest was pretty much the third option.]]

* [[Second Place Is for Winners]]: Although the Apple family loses the contest, the quality of their cider is realized, and the Flim Flam Brothers' true nature is exposed, which (combined with them stupidly serving the bad batches of Cider they made instead of the first, better batches) forces them to skip town.

* [[Serious Business]]: Sweet Apple Cider is so important that ponies line up for miles to get it and are even willing to camp out in front of the farm to make sure they get some before everypony else.

** In the scene where Flam calls Granny Smith [[Nobody Calls Me Chicken|chicken]], the perspective is placed ''just so'' as to [[Back to The Future|take us back]]...

** Maybe next time, the Flim Flam Brothers [[The Music Man|should try selling band instruments.]] Ya got trouble! Right here in Ponyville! With a capital T and that rhymes with C and that stands for Cider!

* [[Shown Their Work]]: All through the episode. Cider season? A real thing in apple country, and a very short thing, a matter of a few weeks in late fall. Only selling one day's production at a time? Absolutely; cider has an extremely short shelf life before it starts to carbonate and ferment. The big stone wheel Big Mac turns? A real, and very old-fashioned, machine for cider pressing. Truthfully, the Brothers' machine could probably make three to four times as much cider from a given weight of apples compared to the Apples' methods, making that 75/25 split look a lot more reasonable, although it would also cost the Apple family three-quarters of the apples involved.

* [[Single Tear]]: Shed by Applejack as they abandon the field to the Flim Flams.

* [[A Tankard of Moose Urine]]: This would be the best way to describe Flim Flams' cider when they shut off the quality control system. When it's active, the machine turns out cider even Granny Smith clearly approves of.

* [[Tempting Fate]]: A minor example:

* [[Theme Twin Naming]]: Flim and Flam

* [[Ticket Line Campout]]: Not used for tickets, but pulled off in the same way to wait in line for the Apple family's cider. As Pinkie notes, she decided to camp out and then told a few friends about her suggestion. They then decided to follow her example.

* [[Tim Taylor Technology]]: When they start to fall behind in the contest, the Flim Flam brothers increase the power to their machine. The hyperactive machine sucks up whole trees and mangles the apples. The only way they can produce any cider like that is to turn off their quality control sensor, and that only results in undrinkable sludge.

* [[Trope 2000]]: The eponymous cider maker.

* [[Villain Exit Stage Left]]: The Flim Flam Brothers make a run for it after they realize that no one likes their cider anymore.

* [[Villain Song]]: The Flim Flam Bros. song counts, although it's rather upbeat and causes everyone else to join in singing. Also notable as the first [[Villain Song]] of the series thus far.

* [[Visual Pun]]: The Apple family's device for making cider uses actual horsepower.

* [[A Wizard Did It]]: [[Word of God|Lauren Faust stated]], in defining the technology for the show, that if there was a necessary device that needed to work automatically, instead of relying on electricity, she'd claim that one could just assume that some mechanic unicorn infused it with magic. That's exactly how Flim and Flam start up their machine.

* [[Working Title]]: [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/02/operation-fim-musicians-are-awesome.html Apparently was supposed to be called "Cider Horse Rules".]

** You know she's desperate when she ''shoves the dirt it was spilled on into her mouth.''

 

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[[Category:Recap]]