Retro Reviews Season 2: Sisterhooves Social · 5:00am Nov 11th, 2014
Before we get on with the review, I'd like to say some things. One is more serious than the other, so I shall stick to the less serious thing first before I get serious and then the review. In good news, Mezza Voce's chapter 2 is now in final editing (my pre-reader/editor) so that is a good thing and can be expected soon. But since they are only really available for a while during weekends... yeah, that might take some time. Chapter 3, meanwhile is getting a second run-through and hopefully it will by all wrapped up by year's-end. Huzzah!
In more serious news, it is once again Remembrance Day (or Veteran's Day to you Americans). This year takes on more significance for acts both a century ago, and far more recent. By a hundred years ago this day, the trenches of the first world war had been dug, as neither side was able to make the other retreat. This would signal the beginning of Trench Warfare, with gasses, machine gun nests, areal bombardments, artillery and the like desperately trying to get one side to bend. It would drag on for four long years until an intercepted telegram from Germany to Mexico would bring the Americans into the war and tip the scales of balance in the allies favour.
Just a few weeks ago, two Canadian soldiers were killed on home soil by misguided and hateful men. One run over by a car in Quebec and the other shot in the back while standing guard over the National War Memorial in the nation's capital of Ottawa. Even if wars the scale of the first or second may not be likely anymore, acts of violence, hatred and extortion are still going on around the world. And so, come 11:00am wherever you are, be it on a plane, in school, or at work, take a moment to pause and reflect on those lost, those fighting, and those dying. For no matter what country they hail from, all soldiers deserve respect for putting their lives on the line for their friends, family and brothers/sisters-in-arms.
Lest we forget.
Some siblings get along better than others: it's a fact of life. Some may fight like cats and dogs and hate each other the rest of their lives, and some may be best friends forever. This episode does a good job of showing both these extremes as well as the underlying current of love that is there in most sibling relationships. Of course, the pony world is a good shade happier and more fair than our own and there is nothing we can do about it. Except maybe try and apply what we learn from the show to our own lives. Maybe.
I'm not sure which is worse: the fact that this is toast, or the fact that Rarity and Sweetie's parents think it's good!
~Story~
Sisterhooves Social begins with Rarity fast asleep in her home when all of a sudden she smells smoke and falls down the stairs to find her little sister, Sweetie Belle, trying to surprise her with breakfast in bed and failing spectacularly. I mean it, she burns AND liquified toast! o_o Anyway, it would seem her parents are going away for a week (Eee! more pony parents! =D) on vacation and have decided to leave Sweetie with Rarity, confirming my belief that they do NOT live together. Rarity is... less than enthusiastic and seeing as how Sweetie is one third of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it's easy to see why. After they leave, Rarity fixes them a proper breakfast, promising to let Sweetie help and forgetting completely, setting up the conflict in this episode very neatly.
Rarity will tell her sister to do something to distract her, but every time she does, somehow the little unicorn manages to do something innocently that screws the older unicorn over, be it washing a one-of-a-kind sweater and having it shrink, using rare gems in an arts and crafts project, or even cleaning up an intentional mess. She runs into Applebloom after getting frustrated and learns about the Sisterhoof Social; a sisters-only fair event hosted at Sweet Apple Acres every year. Sweetie goes to see if Rarity wants to go, to which she does not and even finds the idea uncouth, which results in a row leading to the younger sister leaving in a huff. She spends the day on the farm watching her friend and her older sister Applejack share a very close and happy bond. Meanwhile, over the course of the afternoon, Rarity realizes that... maybe Sweetie didn't mess up as badly as she thought and comes to regret their argument.
Things come to a head when Rarity finds Applebloom, Applejack and Sweetie Belle camping in the orchard the night before the event and tries to apologize, but it comes off as selfish since Rarity has no intentions of doing anything that SWEETIE wants to do, making the younger pony even more angry with her. Applejack pulls Rarity aside and all but spells out that the problem is that she won't relent and let somepony else make the decisions for once, giving her an idea. The next day, at the social, the two Apples and Sweetie enjoy the festivities. When it's time for the relay race, Applejack says that she and her sister run it every year, so to give Sweetie a chance at it, AJ will let her be her sister for the day. (ONE. DAY. As Applebloom puts it.) The two run the race with only a slight hiccup at the start when AJ trips into the first mudhole, but until the end it looks like they'll dominate. However, they lose, but Sweetie doesn't care and knocks off AJ's hat in a forceful hug to find... a HORN!? It was Rarity all along! The two sisters reconcile, having learned a valuable lesson and send off a letter to Princess Celestia (with some mediation from Spike) and come away from it stronger together than ever, the end.
Inside Rarity's head, a tumor the size of a lemon is being born.
~Talking Point~
Being the younger of two siblings myself, I mostly sympathize with Sweetie Belle in this episode. Add to the fact that my sister and I do not get along (it's mostly just, 'oh you exist', but we've gotten better in recent years) very well, and it's easy to see. Personal stuff aside, the way they presented the dynamic is very interesting. On one side, we have the ideal relationship exhibited by Applejack and Applebloom, while Rarity and Sweetie represent a more... realistic sibling relationship. It's only natural for siblings to fight, especially at such an age gap. (Since Rarity lives on her own, we can assume she is a young adult and Sweetie Belle is prepubescent, so about a 10 year age difference in human terms). I'll go a little deeper into it later one, but I was not too fond of the disparity (lol) in how both sibling pairs were represented. Unless AJ and AB were having a good day.
... Isn't that the look Super Villains make in their origin stories? o.o
[Beyond being quite entertaining and confirming that Rarity and Sweetie Belle do not live together (which was a popular notion at the time, as well as a few theories of Sweetie being Rarity's illegitimate foal... ick.) as well as showing their parents, Sisterhoof Social doesn't really... stand out. It's fun and it's well done, but there are far more memorable moments in this season that sort of... eclipse it. Although, the Gone with the Wind reference is very nice. This episode is in an odd limbo since it wasn't as great as the previous three, nor was it terrible enough to gain notice like another upcoming episode. So yeah... not much to say. My apologies.]
*Rarijack Shipping intensifies*
~Likes and Dislikes~
Let's just dive into it this week. First and foremost, I love the design of Rarity's parents! Since Ponyville is not a very affluent town, it makes sense for her parents to be more... rustic. The fact that their accents deviate so much from Rarity's prim and proper upper-class northwest US speech to that of something like Minnesotan is just the icing on the cake. I still think Rarity's accent is fake in the sense that she forced it upon herself where she'd more speak like Sweetie without it. On that note, both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are surprisingly adorable in this episode; more so than in any previous one. (Then, they were just annoying) Oh, and Applejack isn't in the background this episode neither, meaning she does more than act as a set piece or sage and actively contributes to the solution. (Luna Eclipsed is her being sagely, FYI). Finally, I like that they did not need to win the race to have had fun and learn the lesson, which is a good parallel to Fall Weather Friends from last season.
However, I wasn't too fond of a couple of big points. For one, when Applebloom is stomping the grapes into jam and splashes Applejack, Sweetie Belle's reaction is... kind of off. She instantly starts apologizing for her and pleading almost when it looks like she is mad. I've heard it said this hints at abuse and... I don't have trouble seeing it, which makes me sad. Inversely, we have Applejack and Applebloom. Yes, they serve as a good foil for Rarity and Sweetie Belle, but in this episode they come across as... perfect. Heck, even Sweetie said it with that "It's like they're one pony" line. Seriously, you could have had them disagree on something or snark at each other a little and still show a more ideal relationship for Sweetie to covet. In my mind, it sets an impossible goal and message that 'the best sisters never fight' even if, at the end of the episode, Rarity and Sweetie overcome some of the elder's underlying selfishness... some.
"Applejack" and Sweetie taking eggstream care to- *Shot*
~Conclusion~
So, overall, what did I think? Sisterhooves Social is a fun little slice of life episode. It doesn't try to be as epic or awesome as the previous ones and is far more simple in scope. If you were to make me hold my breath while submerged in mud, I would give this episode a squeaky clean 83/100! It fun and entertaining, but it suffers from the ideal party being more or less perfect, which hampers the episode for me in my own opinion.
Next week, Applebloom decides to take the fast-track to getting a cutie mark by seeking help from Zecora (EEE!). Will she learn that shortcuts often lead to getting bit in the ass, or will the Cutie Pox spread? Until then, this is Ciroton saying, "As Celestia as my witness, I will never find that example of uncouth unfunny!"
I also swear that those are the gala dresses in the background.
This points us towards what I assume to be Rarity's real character arc: learning not to be ashamed of her origins. The only way the show runners will let her advance is by having her give up her counter-productive tendency to want to fit in with an elite Celestia herself finds boring, stuffy and shallow. (Why else does she allow the Mane Six to skate on upsetting the applecart every single time?)
I'll admit, I didn't see the twist of this episode coming. I should have, but didn't. So when Rarity is revealed, I clapped.
I kind of agree with you on the Apple Bloom/Applejack relationship, at least in terms of this episode. I think Sweetie just found them on a good day, since even in season 1, Apple Bloom disobeyed Applejack on a few occasions (Zecora's first episode).
I also remember this episode sticking out for being the FIRST one that didn't involved Twilight Sparkle in any way. She didn't even get a name drop! This gave me great hope that the writers were given more freedom to explore the characters without having to shoehorn in the episode lesson/letter.