YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S8 E5 "Grannies Gone Wild"

• Alternate Aesop Interpretation:
  • Old people may be fragile at times, but that doesn't mean they're asking to be smothered.
  • It's not right to generalize all elders as being too tired and too delicate to do anything.
  • Elders may share the same likes as you do, believe it or not.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The episode is punctuated with the ghostly apparition of Applejack's head winking. Some have taken this to mean that Applejack only told Rainbow Dash to be overly protective to mess with her.
  • Another possibility is that Applejack routinely falls for the grannies' nap trick, and that they've been sneaking off from her by pretending to have naps for the last several years. Applejack's advice could all be based around getting fooled into thinking the grannies tire easily.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • One of the magicians, Jack Pot, looks like a male Trixie (coloration, hair style, and even using smoke bombs to make a quick getaway) leading fans to speculate whether or not he's related to Trixie. It was later confirmed in the officially-licensed My Little Pony Ultimate Guide, where Jack Pot is explicitly stated to be Trixie's father. A tweet by Big Jim suggesting that he may not know he has a daughter adds further fuel, with many speculating that Trixie is the product of a one-night stand.
  • Pony versions of Rick and Morty making a background appearance is a goldmine of fic fuel.
• Squick:
  • Some viewers felt rather uncomfortable watching the grannies flirt with various young stallions.
  • Of particular note is one of the grannies sexually harassing a bellhop pony, who has no way to rebuke the advances because he is at work and expected to just smile and be polite just to get a check. Truth in Television for many young men when dealing with drunk older women.
  • There's also the title. It not only sounds suggestive, but it also references a certain show that's... well, let's just say "not PG".
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: This could have been a good episode for Applejack to learn to not be so overprotective, as well as to not treat old mares like they are senile or cannot take care of themselves.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Rainbow Dash's intentions weren't pure, to be sure, but she did simply follow Applejack's instructions to the letter; it's hard to think of anything she'd have done differently without the rollercoaster motivation. As such, it's hard to blame her as much as we're supposed to. Plus, if one applies the episode's intended Aesop, then she would not be doing any harm by leaving the old mares alone for a few hours to ride the roller coaster.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: A Dirty Old Woman flirting with a young stallion, a Literary Allusion Title to a hardcore porn DVD series, a ponified version of an upper-class drug dealer, ponified versions of characters from an adult cartoon, and a tweet from a producer suggesting characters are related by a one-night stand are some of the more glaring things that might make parents uncomfortable about this episode. How this kept a TV-Y rating is anyone's guess.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: Apple Sauce's aggressive flirting with the bellhop is eerily close to the harassment claims that brought down the Presidents Club, which was making headlines while the episode was being made.

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