MLP Liveblog Chat Thingy: "Simple Ways"

How to participate in the liveblog chat:

Option 1: Whenever you watch the episode, comment on this post as you watch with whatever responses you feel like posting!

Option 2: Go to http://webchat.freenode.net/. Enter a nickname, then for the Channels field enter ##rabbitcube, and finally fill in the Captcha and hit Connect! We'll be watching the episode and commenting there starting at just before 2:00 p.m. EST. After the chat, I will update this post with a log of the conversation.

Chat log after the cut!

[14:06] <Froborr> *sigh* I just hope Babs Seed isn't in this one, I don't think I can handle more of her right now.

[14:07] <@Sylocat> I think they said at one of the panels that Babs is gone

[14:07] <@Sylocat> She left when Morrow did

[14:07] <Froborr> Praise Luna!

[14:07] <Froborr> Wait, when did Morrow go?

[14:07] <@Sylocat> Is tonight's post The One?

[14:07] <@Sylocat> Between seasons... no word on if/when she'll be back

[14:08] <@Sylocat> (Larson didn't write for this season either, but he's coming back for S5, so...)

[14:08] <@Sylocat> (2 minutes)

[14:08] <decoy_octopus> season 5 is confirmed?

[14:09] <@Sylocat> Are we ready?

[14:09] <@Sylocat> Yep... another accidental press release from within the company

[14:09] <Froborr> Yeah, s5 was confirmed a while ago.

[14:09] <decoy_octopus> ah

[14:09] <@Sylocat> Everyone buffering?

[14:09] <decoy_octopus> yup

[14:09] <totient> good to go

[14:09] <decoy_octopus> just a few seconds left by my clock

[14:10] <@Sylocat> And... GO

[14:10] <Froborr> go

[14:10] <decoy_octopus> clicked

[14:10] <@Sylocat> World-building!

[14:10] <@Sylocat> And continuity... DJ PON-3...

[14:10] <decoy_octopus> yeah

[14:10] <decoy_octopus> was about to say

[14:10] <@Sylocat> What the...

[14:10] <@Sylocat> That hat

[14:10] <@Sylocat> And that balloon

[14:11] <@Sylocat> ...Wow

[14:11] <Froborr> ...balloon head what?

[14:11] <decoy_octopus> for some reason that got leaked onto the hub's facebook or something

[14:11] <@Sylocat> They cut the credits?

[14:11] <decoy_octopus> seems that way

[14:11] <Froborr> Aw, no credits.

[14:11] <@Sylocat> "Farewell, it is time for me to return to my homworld"

[14:12] <Froborr> (P.S.: Poochie died on the way to his homeworld.)

[14:12] <@Sylocat> More concept art

[14:12] <decoy_octopus> ugh brb dogs won't shut up x_x

[14:12] <@Sylocat> Twilight sounds oddly less-than-enthused

[14:13] <@Sylocat> We have a guest star

[14:13] <@Sylocat> Oh dear

[14:13] <decoy_octopus> back, I guess I'm a minute behind now

[14:13] <Froborr> Oh my.

[14:13] <Froborr> He's an evil time-traveler, isn't he?

[14:14] <decoy_octopus> that horn-ring looks really weird on here

[14:14] <decoy_octopus> *her

[14:14] <@Sylocat> A lot of background continuity references...

[14:14] <@Sylocat> He even LOOKS like John Simm

[14:14] <Froborr> Is his cutie mark plaid?

[14:15] <Froborr> OMG HE DOES LOOK LIKE JOHN SIMM

[14:15] <Froborr> HE IS THE MARESTER

[14:15] <@Sylocat> That was revenge for teasing Twilight about Flash Sentry

[14:15] <decoy_octopus> yeah it is plaid wtf

[14:15] <Froborr> Also, blech, weren't romance storylines one of the things Lauren Faust banned?

[14:16] <decoy_octopus> banned?

[14:16] <@Sylocat> Long-running ones, at least

[14:16] <@Sylocat> Trenderhoof, your City Slicker is showing

[14:16] <@Sylocat> "Au Natural," he says

[14:17] <@Sylocat> Oh for the love of...

[14:17] <Froborr> LOVE TRIANGLE

[14:17] <Froborr> No, that's it, I'm done.

[14:17] <Froborr> Taking down the website, setting the laptop on fire, done.

[14:17] <@Sylocat> Yeah, stop interfering with my RariJack OTP!

[14:17] <Froborr> There really just needs to be a media-wise decade-long moritorium on love triangles.

[14:17] <decoy_octopus> does he have a douchebeard

[14:17] <@Sylocat> Ooh, don't mention apple products in front of Rarity right now

[14:18] <@Sylocat> Oh no

[14:18] <Froborr> I can already tell I'm going to hate this episode.

[14:18] <decoy_octopus> "rarity, why are you crying oil?"

[14:19] <@Sylocat> Yeesh, he's a cretin

[14:19] <Froborr> YOU ATE FOUR OF AN ENDANGERED APPLE

[14:19] <Froborr> YOU ARE A MONSTER

[14:19] <Froborr> HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE

[14:19] <decoy_octopus> spike's face sds

[14:20] <@Sylocat> The moral is going to be "don't let boys come between friendships"

[14:20] <@Sylocat> Ah, a rhyme-subversion lyric

[14:20] <decoy_octopus> froborr what are you flipping out over he seems cute

[14:20] <Froborr> *sigh*

[14:20] <decoy_octopus> incompetent, but cute

[14:20] <@Sylocat> (like Olaf's line about puddles)

[14:20] <@Sylocat> He can't even sing

[14:21] <decoy_octopus> eh, he seems fine to me

[14:21] <decoy_octopus> probably not like a musically-trained actor

[14:21] <@Sylocat> Okay, this is definitely leading up to a smackdown of the entire concept of love triangles

[14:22] <Froborr> I hope it does, I just wish we didn't have to slog through the love triangle to get there.

[14:22] <@Sylocat> Josh Haber is a... weird writer

[14:23] <decoy_octopus> wait how can she fit in the chicken coop what

[14:23] <@Sylocat> Rarity is regressing or something

[14:24] <@Sylocat> Oh for the love of Celestia, this is cringe comedy at its most horrifying

[14:24] <Froborr> This is PAINFUL

[14:24] <totient> ^

[14:24] <decoy_octopus> I really like the lighting in the barn wow

[14:24] <Froborr> ...okay, Rarity does look completely adorable though

[14:25] <@Sylocat> On the bright side, this is truly instructive to the audience: "Don't change who you are just to impress a boy"

[14:25] <@Sylocat> "...because THIS is what happens if you do."

[14:26] <Froborr> Yeah, but a good moral does not a good episode make.

[14:26] <Froborr> I do really like her AWFUL accent

[14:26] <@Sylocat> The badness of the episode might be a meta-moral

[14:26] <@Sylocat> AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH

[14:26] <Froborr> I... but... WHAT IS APPLEJACK DOING

[14:27] <decoy_octopus> oh god apple bloom's hat

[14:27] <@Sylocat> Oh no.. oh dear Flying Spaghetti Monster, NOOOOO HAHAHAHAHAHAH

[14:27] <decoy_octopus> so wait did she steal that from rarity's boutique or

[14:28] <@Sylocat> This episode has gone so far around the bend it's circled around and become awesome again

[14:28] <Froborr> I can't help but read this as the two of them mocking each other, though. It's kind of mean.

[14:28] <@Sylocat> It's a role-reversed "Look Before You Sleep"

[14:29] <decoy_octopus> yeah was about to say

[14:29] <Froborr> ...So Applejack basically used the strategy from the Season 3 finale?

[14:29] <@Sylocat> You know, I always thought Applejack and Rarity reminded me of Benedick and Beatrice

[14:30] <decoy_octopus> >she actually did steal it

[14:30] <decoy_octopus> wow

[14:30] <@Sylocat> So, the cringe-worthiness of the episode was a meta-moral. "Kids, THIS is what happens when you try and change who you are to impress a boy."

[14:31] <Froborr> Yeah, which is great and all...

[14:31] <Froborr> but still doesn't change how cringe-worthy the episode was.

[14:31] * decoy_octopus shrugs

[14:31] <Froborr> So yeah, as far as I'm concerned that was easily the worst episode of the season thus far. Beats Daring Don't easily.

[14:31] <@Sylocat> Wow. Just... wow

[14:32] <decoy_octopus> oh psh

[14:32] <decoy_octopus> daring don't was a nonsensical mess that delivered a horrible message

[14:32] <@Sylocat> Still, Applejack impersonating Rarity was awesome

[14:32] <decoy_octopus> this was an entertaining episode that delivered a /really important message/

[14:32] <totient> I quit around the 10 minute mark, and these reactions tell me that I made the right decision

[14:33] <Froborr> Yes, that one scene was pretty great.

[14:33] <Froborr> The rest of the episode was just... no.

[14:33] <decoy_octopus> meh, to each their own

[14:33] <Froborr> Yeah.

[14:34] <Froborr> I really strongly dislike cringe comedy and feel like Rarity was not being written in character here, so...

[14:34] <@Sylocat> Wow. I looked up Josh Haber on IMDb... he was "Assistant to Mr. Gibson" on The Passion of the Christ.

[14:34] <Froborr> ...

[14:34] <decoy_octopus> fdfg

[14:34] <decoy_octopus> are you sure that's the same josh haber?

[14:35] <@Sylocat> According to IMDb, it is

[14:35] * Sylocat shrugs

[14:35] <decoy_octopus> how do you even go from that to horses

[14:35] <@Sylocat> But anyway... yeah, cringe comedy ain't my cup of tea either, but maybe that was the point

[14:35] <decoy_octopus> I didn't really find it all that cringeworthy really