Yeah, these exact things are what bothered me about that episode. That, and how the big timber wolf was defeated…

He screws up when he tries too hard, as seen in “Owl’s Well that Ends Well”, silly fans.

This post has nothing to do with this thread at all.  
>>200000

Maybe…maybe Spike At Your Service actually takes place really early in the canon, and Spike actually becomes good at that stuff specifically because of how bad he was here?

imo, Williams had only 1 bad episode: Mysterious Mare Do Well. When Hearth’s Warming Eve came out, I was floored. I couldn’t believe it was the same writer. Then, she turns around and writes Putting Your Hoof Down. First act aside, this, too, was a great episode. Wonderbolt Academy was great, too–almost as good as Hearth’s Warming Eve. With this one, though, while the OP hits some good points, this episode wasn’t bad at all. I won’t go out of my way to see it again, mind…but, I won’t blatantly avoid it like I do Mare Do Well and the un-Derped version of Last Roundup.

STOP META ON DERPIBOORU  
KEEP A BAZILLION EPISODE THREAD ON ANOTHER FORUM
 
thx.

Stop!BP: Wow, Bronystories really makes a good point and almost sums up my feelings of disappointment in this episode as well. As much as I hate to jump on the Merriwether hate bandwagon, I have to agree with Bronystories that Merri works alot better when it comes to making new stories with different characters or having the mane cast interact with different characters when it’s about the different characters.
 
Anyway, I’m pretty sure Spike is still a good cook even though it only shows him using his fire to help the Cakes put the finishing touches on the food they were cooking in. The only we thing do see that contradicts this post by a little bit is that we actually see Spike’s fear affecting him in some way when he leaves Twilight because of his Dragon Code. If only AJ was actually interested in why Spike is so interested in the Dragon Code suddenly, but alas it seems that she doesn’t want to know any more about the Dragon Code…

Had a look through Spike’s eps. His role in the Cakes’ cooking was primarily as an oven. very robotic, assembly line style work, at which he excels. His clumsiness in pie cooking I attribute to differences between a a well-appointed Canterlot kitchen and a rural Apple Acres kitchen. I also assume he is taking a larger role in unfamiliar territory, making food from scratch rather than his usual role. The rest I attribute to a giddy sense of desire to make up his debt to Applejack and my faggotous ability to see no flaw in MLP.

@BP
 
But they didn’t show him doing farm work, which I would have accepted as something he is bad at. He was klutzy (when he had showed off some pretty graceful dance moves in Crystal Empire) and couldn’t cook or clean without making a mess, which he not only does for Twilight, but we’ve seem him help the Cakes cook, so his cooking is apparently good enough to sell!
 
It’d be like if Rainbow Dash suddenly couldn’t fly straight and they never gave us a reason.

@Stop  
Right. Now I remember why I’m here.  
Anyhow. The only valid complaint up there is Spike’s incompetence. His biggest fear was Twilight not loving him. His leaving her was tearful, but did not break this established love bond.  
As for his incompetence, this I attribute to the new and unfamiliar nature of his chores as well as his hastiness to satisfy his obligation to Applejack. Also plot device.

This would be my least favorite episode due to these two things, but it had some entertaining things like everyone else other than Spike, and the Timberwolves. I still put it above Cutie Pox, which had almost nothing I liked besides the bowling cold opening.

You’re right, I’m off topic.
 
“Spike at your service” sacrificed day one characterization and made Spike explicitly bad at things he has shown great skill it for the purpose of a dry, cliche, boring old story played absolutely straight without anything resembling creativity. You know, at least when “Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000” made everyone an idiot, it at least gave us an interesting story, a twist in the man vs machine idea, and a cool song.

I actually agree with BP in that this is supposed to be about Spike at Your Service.
 
I believe Bronystories made a good argument as to why this episode was pretty disappointing.

Stop!BP: I guess I’ll refer to myself as “Stop!Background Pony” in this thread for a while provided that I can stay up for this long.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP! This entire conversation is getting way out of topic. Even though Dragon Quest is relevent to Merri’s writing, but aren’t we supposed to be discussing about the writing in this particular episode pretty much Spike’s behavior.
 
Yeah the annoying part about this episode is Spike is suddenly being the Klutz which is turn off to most of us due to the fact that for some, the show’s defining traits is the continiuity of the growth of the characters, which is probably the only thing I agree that is bad in this episode. The rest of the cast in this episode was pretty alright. Also, at least we get to see some action in this episode since the Diamond Dogs one.

@dreaper
 
Which highlights the main point of this episode: Merriwether can’t write Friendship is Magic. At all.

@Trick  
Just because he has an explanation for his antagonism doesn’t make him any less of an antagonist.  
His flaws were shortsightedness in picking a resting area and failure to listen to reason when the problem was explained to him.  
He was to some extent justified in almost torching the mane 6, but he nonetheless embodies bad attributes and violent (over)reaction.

This is the first time someone has accused Dragon Quest for being an attack to male gender. I don’t get that impression.
 
The only thing that bothered me about that episode is this: This show highlights femininity in a positive way, the motto is “there is more than one way to be a girl” and I agree, its a great message for the girls. But then we got Spike, a male character who clearly is in touch with his feminine side, and what happens in Dragon Quest??… The girls basically ridicule him for not being dragon enough, and by extension, not masculine enough.

First of all, I’m not sure whether I’d call the episode sexist, but I certainly find the lesson to be murky. They basically take their judgement of a relatively small group of dragons and say, “Well, this is clearly what all dragons act like, so Spike should give up trying to learn about what he is aspire not to be a dragon.”

When you start throwing around phrases like “Feminazi,” you kinda start to sound like a gynophobic jackass.

@BP
 
The green dragon was an asshole yes, but the red dragon is a totally reasonable guy if you look at things from his perspective. You’re sitting down for a little nap, a thousand years is nothing to you, when suddenly these six assholes just march up to your house, interrupt your sleep, hit you in the face, TRY AND STEAL YOUR POSSESIONS and demand you just get up and move on the spot. Yeah the ponies had a good reason for this (except Rarity) but that dragon must have had incredible patience to not just roast these jokers on the spot.

I mean, serpent.

@BP
 
You cant count steve magnet, he is a sea lizard.

@Trick  
Dragons were treated fairly?(Unless you count Steve Magnet)  
They’ve ALWAYS been the big bad. Dragonshy, Owl’s well, Secret of my Excess, and Dragonquest.  
They are a representation of primal greed, immaturity, and ugly, scaly terror. Spike gets a pass because of his youthful innocence.

The real question is why you are choosing to associate the assholish behavior of the dragons with the male gender. These are bully attributes typical of a kids show.  
I see no feminazi here. All I see is some guy who, for whatever reason, feels his gender is under attack. Trust me bro. We’ll be fine.