Responding to S4E08: "Rarity Takes Manehattan" · 1:02am Jan 5th, 2014
I don't normally do this sort of thing, but whatever. This rambling will encompass the most recent episode of the show, so spoiler alert if you have yet to see it. In fact, if you have yet to see it, what the hell are you doing here? Get your butt over to the 1080p glory that is undoubtedly the strongest episode of the season thus far, if not for quite some time throughout the whole series.
This made me laugh more than it should have.
I probably don't need to tell you why this episode was great, but I'm going to do it anyway and likely butcher my thoughts in the process. So, unlike most other blogs I've seen so far that seem to just be a sudden and uncontrollable splooge of images and disordered exclamations, let's get serious for a moment.
I have never truly liked Rarity. I may not be as vehement with my opinions of her as much as some other people, but I largely perceive her an annoyance. She's often the stereotypical girly-girl, all high about fashion and jewelry and being all around overly dramatic. She can be manipulative, she can be harsh, she can be self-centered, she stretches the truth and is just plain bitchy at times. I'd even argue that while she may be educated, she's not exactly the smartest pony.
And yet I have profound respect for her. Of all the characters in the show, she is undoubtedly the most complex, harnesses the most depth, has some of the fienst voice acting, and is generally unrestricted to herself. Unlike some others, Rarity has a concrete life goal in mind and her personal story, from where she is now to where she wants to go, is in my opinion the cleanest set. As far as favorite ponies go, I must admit that she'd be higher up on my list if I wasn't picky for arbitrary and biased reasons—personalities alone, she's my favorite. But, ho-lee-sheet, this episode doesn't just present her perfectly, it outright shows her off. The moral was well-shown, the pacing was immaculate, the song was catchy and the characterizations were top-notch.
What really strikes me as the most remarkable thing about this episode is how Rarity is her own folly. Twilight Sparkle might breakdown because she needs a friendship report, and Rainbow Dash might crack because she might not think she's "good enough," but these are all mental perceptions of oneself. Rarity's generosity—her very way of living—caused her to act in a vulnerable way with someone was able to take advantage of, harming her in the process. It's such a simple idea, but it's one the show has hardly touched before and even fanfiction seems to stray away from this sort of thing. The problem for the character is either external or internal, but ones where the problems manifest as a result of the character just being who they are are few and far between. And hardly do they pull them off.
Look at these faces. Fucking look at them.
Who wrote this thing? It was Dave Polsky, right? Give that man a medal or something. He deserves it after writing this masterpiece of an episode. Whenever I look for a great example of well-rounded storytelling, I'll point at this episode. Just... damn, it was downright amazing.
The antagonist of this episode, Suri Polomare (shown above), whose name I fail to pronounce, was amazing. She was pretty flat, however, but that's what she needed to be for this episode the work. After all, it's about Rarity. Everyone else, for all intents and purposes, doesn't need a three-dimensional personality, because to do so would distract from the real star the episode is about. Everyone needs to be flat so the viewer pays more attention to Rarity, and they were, but at the same time they weren't in the background. Suri's assistant, Coco Pommel (who I correctly assumed someone would fall in love with when she first appeared), was adorable. We got to see some nifty world building and the ending part where Rarity revealed she intended to remain in Manehattan? Holy crud, this show isn't just progressing, it's maturing.
There were plenty of gags and cuteness throughout, but the one thing that stood out to me the most was how ridiculously meta* this episode was. Rainbow Dash dropping the line, "Ponies just bursting into song in random places at the drop of a hat? Who does that?" and only for Rarity to do just that right then and there? Amazing. I genuinely laughed, which is something this show has rarely done for me beyond giddy smiling and soft chuckling. Then there was Applejack plainly stating how rotten Rarity was, and Rainbow Dash's ensuing commentary was equally hilarious. Those two are just adorable together.
God damn you shortskirtsandexplosions.
This was just, plain and simple, a great episode. There's plenty of things to be nitpicking about with this series, but I cannot find one single thing to complain about with this episode. It was great. It was amazing. It really shows off what these writers and animators are capable of with a program as "basic" as Flash. I'm certainly going to rate this as my favorite of the season thus far, and it's already in my top five for the entire series, and it's going to be a hard act to follow for sure. But I have faith in the staff.
Also, look at this thing; the little technicolor flare even encompassed Rarity's eyes for a moment in the episode. Every episode so far has ended with something like this. What are you planning, McCarthy?
Everything/10 would watch again.
Moral of the story: don't be a dick but don't be a pussy either. Be who you are.
* "Meta" is defined** as self-awareness; for a story to reference upon its own features or subjects, often in parody of itself or of abstract self-analyzing.
** Please, the common notion of "metafiction" pertaining to actual people or events is not actually meta. It's plain old fanfiction. Learn to dictionary.
Obligatory random images:
Holy shit I spent an hour writing that? No wonder I don't publish things as often as I want.
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It's a good journal, don't feel bad :D
I gotta say, I agree on just about every point here. This is also my favorite of season 4, and I can't help but wonder whether the spool of thread and that multicolored flash isn't somehow related to the Sonic Rainboom that brought the Mane Six together in the first place...
Pretty much this.
This was interesting to read. I enjoyed the episode about as much as every other episode in S4, but I don't see it in this light. Maybe a rewatch will help.