art by Jack-Pie

Sometimes, a good episode (or even a great one) can be ruined for you by one little issue. Sometimes, this is a fault of the writing, or a misstep in characterization. Or it may not even be an issue with the episode, but with the person watching it. An episode may touch on a phobia, or may feature a character you have a negative opinion of which, warranted or not, causes you to view everything the character does in an unfairly critical light.

There were a number of fans who reacted exceptionally badly to “Feeling Pinkie Keen” because the moral could be seen in a religious light. Likewise, if an episode should just happen to show a married couple who weren’t a mare and a stallion, like the Royal Couple in this episode, some would welcome it, most wouldn’t care, but a few with royal hang-ups would totally lose their shit. But in any of these cases, while the episode itself may be wonderful, the viewer will be hard-pressed to enjoy it.

“Flurry of Emotions” was such an episode for me. So while the episode was a very good one, and I want to spend the majority of these Afterthoughts looking at all the good in it, I have to state up front the issue I had which may unfairly color my assessment as well as my enjoyment:

Twilight exposed Flurry Heart to an infectious disease.

This appeared to be a children’s disease that bore no serious threat – most likely meant to be the Equestrian equivalent of the chicken pox, which in the real world is almost never a serious threat to infants and young children, and which parents often expose children to intentionally. (Although I cannot help but note that chicken pox is also not treated by hospitalization.) But even if this is the case, it is not the babysitter’s place to make that decision for the baby’s parents. This was reckless and irresponsible and utterly infuriating.

My reaction was augmented because I spent most of the episode firmly convinced that part of the scheduling conflict was grounded in the idea that Twilight just couldn’t take Flurry Heart with her on the visit. (Also probably didn’t help that I was sick that weekend.)

So, sadly, as good as this episode is, and as solid an entry into Season 7, this is not one I’m going to be watching often. But now that the bad is out of the way, let’s talk about all the good in “Flurry of Emotions”!

art by Jowybean

First, I’ve got to say how much I loved Flurry Heart in this episode. The person who warned me that she was “weaponized cuteness” couldn’t have been more right. Flurry Heart was adorable.

But more importantly to me, Flurry Heart was admirable. Maybe she does deserve to be an alicorn, because Flurry is a legitimately good kid with a big heart and levels of generosity and selflessness that are exceptionally rare in young children. Not to mention having the patience of a saint.

She doesn’t dive greedily into the presents. Most children would have seen Twilight pulling the toys from the shopping cart onto the check-out counter as taking his or her toys away, but Flurry Heart doesn’t. And when Twilight wasn’t paying attention to her – which, face it, is the expectation the child should rightfully have and the job description of the babysitter – she doesn’t cry or throw a tantrum. She sees Twilight is preoccupied and decided to entertain herself. Bravo.

She even tries to intervene when two other babies are fighting. First, by trying to get the attention of the adults. And when that doesn’t work... twice… she tries to solve the friendship problem herself. Unfortunately, with the wisdom of King Solomon. And that goes badly.

I felt so bad for Flurry Heart this whole episode. The cuteness was overwhelmed by a sadness for the poor girl. This was a horrible day for her when it should have been an amazing one. The absolute most heartbreaking moment was when she drew a loving picture of her and her aunt having fun, and her aunt erased it.

In fact, Flurry Heart’s highly virtuous behavior would have been too much if the episode didn’t also throw in that scene with the mashed peas. The writers took care not to show Flurry Heart as perfect.

But when Flurry Heart finally does throw a tantrum, not only is it brief and non-disruptive, it is totally deserved and long overdue.

art by DixieRarity

To Twilight’s credit, she didn’t abandon either of her responsibilities. She wasn’t willing to cancel the visit to the hospital. I thought the episode laid out the dilemma very well. Twilight couldn’t let down sick, miserable children who were looking forward to her visit. But how do you say no to your brother and his wife in that sort of situation?

And it may have been selfish for Twilight to indulge in her desire to spend time with her niece when others were counting on her, but this is family. Maybe family shouldn’t always come first, but the people you love are generally the highest priority in your life, and every other commitment and obligation may find itself getting restructured accordingly when loved ones are inserted into the situation.

Moreso, I have to commend Twilight for not getting upset with Flurry Heart when, from her perspective, the baby continuously got into trouble and was causing mounting delays. Many parents, sadly, would not have managed that under stress. Twilight doesn’t become irate until Flurry Heart’s actions actually threaten the safety of other children. And at that point, Flurry Heart actually is doing something deserving of a scolding… even though the situation is entirely the fault of the adult who should have been paying attention in the first place.

art by XDuskStarX

Much can be said for Spike in this episode. In fact, a great many good things can be said about Spike in these first three episodes of Season 7. This is Spike at his best, filling the role he does so well.

I said in my Afterthoughts for Celestial Advice:

Spike was awesome this episode. Not always saying the right thing (“Too soon?”), but showing the strength of his role and the dynamic he adds, including his wonderful sarcasm (“Wild guess: something’s wrong.”) keeping Twilight’s crazy from overwhelming her.

Here, he does much the same, serving as a voice of reason and responsibility. And ultimately, it is Spike who fulfills Twilight’s obligation to the sick children, and does so with aplomb.

I could write a whole blog on how amazing Spike’s characterization has been, and the role he has played. But I don’t have to, because the wonderful Sprocket Doggingsworth has already done so, and far more insightfully and eloquently than I would have. Here is the relevant segment of her blog essay “Help! My Heart is Full of Pony! - Behind the Scenes”, reprinted here with permission:

Somewhere along the line, however, [Spike] went from being the butt of jokes, to being the sarcastic straight man - a voice of reason. The "are you kidding me" looks that he throws have become not only a staple of his humor, and his character, but also a point of relatability. At the very beginning of this episode, Spike tells Twilight Sparkle what the rest of us already know – that Twilight had already made a commitment to the hospital - that it would be irresponsible to take on more than the two of them could handle - that her overly ambitious plan of juggling these two very big responsibilities was going to blow up in their faces. Of course, his advice is ignored, but throughout the episode, there he is anyway, right there beside Twilight Sparkle, for glory or for folly, because that is the nature of his relationship with Twilight. He is Sam to her Frodo. He'll follow her to the ends of the earth. I don't think that's talked about quite enough. Spike gets a bad rap because a great deal of his episodes tend to be subpar, (even if there are a few excellent ones). However, Spike as a character, shines brightest in episodes that are not, in fact, his own. Whatever other adventures, or hijinks might be going on, Spike is always there to re-organize the books after they get knocked off their shelves, or to clean up the castle after Luna-only-knows what happens to it. He's always doing the actual hard work of friendship and companionship – the sort of unglamorous stuff that is seldom called attention to, in real life, or in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In a show that exalts loyalty, and dedication, and friendship to the point of mysticism, Spike's unwavering devotion to Twilight is actually downplayed, taken for granted even. Think about that for a minute.

art by PhoenixPeregrine

The lesson of this episode was a great one: when spending time with those you care about, it is the quality of the time, not the quantity, that is important.

In fact, this is a lesson I need to learn myself. I have many friends who are very dear to me. But I feel some of us are drifting, and the fault lies with me. I need to spend time with and on my friends: focused time where we enjoy each other’s company. The random “hugs” in a chat room are not sufficient. And that brings me to the complimentary lesson:

Multitasking isn’t effective. While some are definitely better than others, as human beings, we don’t multitask well. We cannot just divide our time between multiple, simultaneous tasks; we also divide our attention. And what is worse, we lose something in the process of dividing – our overall level of attention degrades with each additional split. In short: the amount of attention we give to multiple projects at once, when combined, is not equal to the attention we can give a single project if it is our total focus.

Sometimes, multitasking is required. But when it comes to spending time with those we care about, we need to be acutely aware of this fact. We are cheating them, and we are cheating ourselves, if we try to spread our attention thin.

art by RacoonKun

Dancing Bears:

Even if exposition-heavy, I really did like how they set up the conflict so swiftly and easily right away, giving each conflicting obligation an appropriate weight. I also loved hearing Nurse Redheart speak again. It had been a while.

I’m also extremely happy that this episode wasn’t a rehash of Baby Cakes.

The telekinetic bear game was delightful. Especially with how the animators showed the difference in finesse between Auntie Twilight’s display and Flurry Heart’s.

I found myself repeatedly impressed by how good the animation in this show has gotten. It has been a subtle and steady improvement. Choices of perspective have regularly been deftly chosen. Action has become much more fluid and evocative. The flight scene with Twilight and Flurry Heart in the castle was beautifully done. And scenes like the hospital chaos, with the 360 degrees pan, really show off the animator’s talents.

Last episode, we learned that Starlight Glimmer’s magical potency is tied to her emotional state. In “Flurry of Emotions” it would seem that Flurry Heart’s magic has a similar mechanic.

The pattern of peas on the wall was fun.

Is racing carts in a toy store really a good idea, Twilight?

I love how they easily explained Twilight’s need to get a book from Cheerilee.

This episode left me with so many questions about linguistics in Equestria. We had already seen that pony writing is English, and this wasn’t the first time ponies had used abbreviations that required the use of the English language… but “pony Latin”?

“With my mouth.”

I cheered the return of Pinkie’s secret party planning cave. The secret entrance this time was wonderful.

Speaking of Pinkie, I love how she immediately matched Twilight’s speed of interaction (or maybe it’s that Twilight had finally sped up to Pinkie’s level).

“That’s what I said. Isn’t that what I said?” I loved how they showed both parents being left frazzled by the demands of parenthood. (By the way: they’re royals; don’t they have royal babysitters?)

“Honestly? All of your friend’s names are very similar.” Great lampshading of the uniformity of the guards. It was also nice that the guard Spearhead was so unique.

“Go to her.”

The side story with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance was nicely done. Having studied art myself, I can both empathize with the confusion that many feel at modern art (“That’s a trash can.”) and agree with Spearhead on the point that art is evocative, and what makes something art, on a personal level, is in the reactions and associations it provokes.

It was likewise fun to see Shining Armor and Cadance inevitably fall victim to the classic parental “away from our child too long” syndrome. Even those of us who are not parents can sympathize and understand: sometimes our friends drive us crazy and we need time alone, but we still like them and want to continue to enjoy their company… just after a bit of a break. (The previous episode’s Starlight could probably go on at length about that.)