Why "Tanks For The Memories" Was The Best Episode In 2+ Years · 4:18am Apr 26th, 2015
If you haven't yet watched "Tanks For The Memories," make a point to. (After you're done, this super-spoilerriffic image is hilarious.) It was good.
No, let's call it like it is: It's episodes like this that make me excited to be a fan of this show all over again.
(Source. This isn't what makes the episode good — I'm just including it to avoid spoilers in the sidebar summary for the post.)
Seasons 3 and 4 were hard on my appreciation of the show, and I still haven't seen about half of 4, but at this point I'm looking forward to clearing time out of my Saturday schedule for the new ones. Yes, it was that good.
I'll unpack why below the page break. Here be major spoilers! Watch the episode before clicking!
(a little extra spoiler space)
It all comes down to this:
I could criticize the episode for its "Lesson Zero"-like idiot-balling (subtle, it ain't), or the mystifying passivity of the others when Dash goes nuts in public ... but you know what? In the context of the whole episode, I don't care. This is good storytelling, full stop. They pushed a character to the breaking point, and they picked up the pieces.
Seeing how utterly crushed she was even felt like it retroactively justified her decision to sabotage the weather factory: the weight of grief was so heavy that her only refuge was denial. Contrast with the "Lesson Zero" nervous breakdown or, to a lesser extent, the "Party of One" Pinkamena moment: the show has tended to lean on Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome for drama, which makes the ponies feel uncomfortably alien, but here the motivations for ridiculous actions just landed in that sweet spot of authenticity.
More importantly, this is character depth, in a way which Seasons 3 and 4 had seemed to be retreating from. Dash's breakdown immediately reminded me of another episode that gave me a whole new appreciation for a pony I didn't originally care for:
"Sisterhooves Social" asked and answered a big question, perhaps the biggest: when two important principles come into conflict, which one does Rarity choose?
One of the things that defines her character in the show — her dedication to her craft — was hurting her family, and she set it aside to fix the problem. Then the one-two punch came out: that wasn't enough. An apology and a lesson learned would have been enough for a lot of storytellers, but FiM twisted the knife. And, ultimately, we learned that Sweetie Belle was so important to Rarity that she also was willing to sacrifice her other defining characteristic, her meticulous attention to her personal appearance:
The core of a principle isn't what you believe. It's what you're willing to sacrifice for what you believe.
Friendship is Magic's most powerful moments — not all of them, but a substantial number — come when the show is willing to step up and answer that question.
"Hurricane Fluttershy," similarly, pushed a character to the breaking point and picked up the pieces. It was very clear about setting the stakes for Fluttershy's participation in the tornado. What's she willing to sacrifice for friendship? Safety.
At least that was the theory, before they twisted the knife with "two point three," and showed us that her principles had limits. (The end of the episode changed the question, of course, and she did the right thing when her friends' safety was at stake — but what makes that episode powerful isn't that she did the right thing, but the things she overcame, and the thing she couldn't.)
The contrast between "Hurricane Fluttershy" and "Sisterhooves Social" illuminates something interesting here, which explains why both of those episodes worked for me while "Lesson Zero" and "The Last Roundup" got on my nerves. To their credit, those latter episodes also tackled the same big question ... but the characters made the wrong choice.
That in itself isn't bad. When characters reach their limits, they won't always act with perfect maturity, and finding out that they're imperfect (as with Fluttershy) can be every bit as compelling and narratively powerful as seeing them tap into an inner reserve of strength to do the right thing. However, the decisions they make in that moment define who they are, and when the show is ostensibly about six moral exemplars, showing us actions that run contrary to their principles is a dangerous thing. If they're making bad choices for bad reasons, it affects how we have to approach them as fans.
"The Last Roundup", which posed the same question of priorities to Applejack, saw the Element of Honesty breaking a Pinkie Promise in order to run away from her friends. Another one-two punch, showing her doubling down on what's most important to her, by sacrificing things that are also (but not quite as) important:
What did we learn here? Friendship and honesty aren't as important to Applejack as pride.
Let's be clear: "Pride trumps friendship and honesty" is not supposed to be the moral of the episode. Applejack is, of course, wrong, and once she's called out on it, she eats her words and slinks home. That's legitimate: we can learn by negative example. However, seeing Applejack make that choice definitely alienated me from her. She broke not only her friends' trust, but ours as viewers, for superficial reasons. When one of the explicitly named protagonists of your show does that, and the show doesn't follow up on the consequences of it (a predictable consequence of episodic shows), you've got a problem.
On the surface, it seems like "Tanks For The Memories" should suffer from the same issue, but there's one crucial difference: we're shown the pain behind Dash's choices. She chooses wrong, and chooses wrong, and then we get to the twist of the knife.
The principle involved in that scene in her bedroom is her image of strength: "Nothing's wrong." What did Dash sacrifice to that? Her emotions — right up until she no longer could.
This is a wrong choice, I submit, but it's a heartbreakingly common one here in our world, baked into the fabric of our cultural notions of masculinity. It's something that hits close to home for us as adult (largely male) viewers of MLP, because it's one of the things that the show directly challenges. This is what our fandom is about: It's okay to like things. It's okay to be authentic. It's okay to be in touch with your emotions, to wear your heart on your sleeve.
Dash doesn't, and it breaks her, and the chance of that is the tradeoff you make for the ability to put up a front.
So, ultimately, even though Dash is screwing up every bit as badly as AJ or Twilight did, where she's coming from is more understandable on multiple fronts. She's driven by grief instead of pride. The root of her choices is one that many of us have personally seen and/or overcome. We see the instant karma when the situation drives her to the end of her ability to cope.
And is it just me, or is anyone else seeing this as one huge extended metaphor for a pet dying? I don't think it's coincidence that they played up Tank's aged appearance and his gradual slowing down, and sleep-as-death is an analogy with a longstanding history. Dash's helplessness in the face of his passing is doubly profound if you read it that way, and as an owner of a cat on an extended final decline, Dash breaking down sobbing was more than a little cathartic for me.
(image source: I found this on derpibooru, where it didn't have an artist tag, but I'll add one if I can track it down.)
On that note, one parting thought: this is an example of how taking a scene over the top can work to its ultimate benefit. I was literally crying along with Dash (Ashleigh's voice acting for her breakdown was magnificent), and the others were standing around trying to figure out what to do, and the whole scene was magnificently, authentically awkward. And then Fluttershy opened up, and the others joined in because Fluttershy was crying, and the sheer ridiculousness of the chain reaction broke the mood, and the real catharsis began. Laughing your way out of a crying spree is about the most gentle possible way to ground it out, and the banter about Applejack crying on the inside (despite the disturbing fridge-logic implications of it) was the icing on the cake. The scene was masterfully handled, start to finish.
This one jumps right to my personal top tier, though I'll have to see how time dulls its edges; it's not good start to finish like "Sisterhood Social" (or "Luna Eclipsed," which is my permanent #1) but for that scene in Dash's bedroom I'm willing to forgive it a lot. What do you all think?
That crying scene had me laughing hysterically for a solid minute. I am so glad I was home alone, or it would have been supremely awkward.
See, I wasn't emotionally affected at all, but I am impressed with the writers for setting it up for both readings to be true.
The whole "pet dying" thing is all over the place, and everyone seems to jump to that, but that's not what the episode was about. They were pretty explicit in the text with setting up that Tank would be back in the spring, which is a pretty bad way to deal with death, even for a kids show.
The episode was about grief. And while we tend to associate that with death, it can come from many things: a friend moving away (which I think the episode was a better metaphor for,) the end of a period in your life, the end of a romantic relationship, etc.
This is important, because in my view this was the funniest episode in a long time. While you were crying with Dash, I was cracking up at Twilight and AJ and the hysterical pony pile. Making the episode about grief in general, while giving a slightly ridiculous reason for that grief, let them make it comedic in a way that an episode (even metaphorically) about death couldn't have been. And that let people either write in their own understanding of grief, or view Dash as being ridiculous and over the top and still find the episode to be terrific.
(Also, totally agree about The Last Roundup. I wrote a blog post the other day about how I generally set it aside when characterizing AJ. And I have my problems with Hurricane Fluttershy, but I agree that the reasons you stated here are part of what make it a good episode in spite of those.)
Don't forget that Winter is often used as a metaphor for death, and the last thing we see of Tank is pretty much him being buried. It felt like an episode about dealing with death, and things that might otherwise be over the top are more excusable because of it. They did a good job of sending Rainbow Dash through the five stages of grief, something I can appreciate with writing Cubic Zirconia.
The song was also very well done, and I ended up relistening to it several times, though that might not have been the best of ideas. It has some things in common with Wicked's "Defying Gravity", really, which I also love.
I did love the episode, anyways, and I didn't expect to.
--arcum42
I absolutely took it as a metaphor for the death of a pet. The whole time I was watching this episode, I was thinking of the extreme lengths my wife and I went through to keep one of our cats alive after he came down with cancer. We knew it was a fruitless exercise from the very beginning. We knew we would only be delaying the inevitable, perhaps only by a few weeks, and it was going to cost us both financially and emotionally. We lived in this state of semi-denial, knowing it was going to happen but, dammit, it wouldn't happen today. It was only when the painkillers had to be increased to the point where it was impacting his quality of life that we made the difficult choice to have him put down.
So, yeah, this was pretty wrenching to me, and I imagine to anyone else who's lost a pet. Dash's actions were completely understandable, that balance of emotion-driven rationality that says "I refuse to accept the world as it is, so what can I do to change it?"
Also, I love that Fluttershy was the one to knock down her defenses and get the tears flowing. More character development, there.
Yeah, this is one of my favorites so far, and not just of this season. I really loved this episode!
Just to top off the death metaphor, the episode ends with Rainbow Dash quite literally burying Tank. That was a wonderful touch.
Also, five stages of grief was a thing.
AJ's "crying on the inside" was good, but it was Twilight's exasperation with the whole thing that finally got me.
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Just to be clear, I think the fact that you were laughing at the final scene is another mark of how wonderfully it was handled. It was a lot funnier to me on second watch, as well. It speaks really well of the show that the scene was so funny as to both draw you in to the humor and to yank me out of my grief.
Plus, Pinkie Pie walking through the bedroom wall is a narrative goldmine. (So's AJ's "crying on the inside", but my mind is going to go to much darker places with that.)
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Arwhale's already run with the crying on the inside bit, too..
--arcum42
Overall I agree, and what you've said actually makes me appreciate the episode even more.
One thing about Last Roundup, however:
I'd argue that calling Applejack's hangup pride isn't quite accurate. Just like Applebuck Season, Applejack committed to something that, to her own astonishment, she couldn't deliver. The difference being that instead of her slowly drowning in the magnitude of it all, she hit a brick wall at a gallop (albeit off camera). Her solution in both cases was to close herself off and fix it on her own, in this case by not returning home without the promised bits. Yes, she self-justified her way into breaking a Pinkie Promise, but to me it was an example of her extreme desire to be the perfect pony she thinks everyone expects and needs her to be, verses being herself.
… I might also just be sleep deprived, come to think of it.
Heck of a good episode. The only beef I have with it is that it doesn't make any damn sense for this to be Dash's first winter with Tank, but I'm willing to ignore that bit of weirdness for the sake of excellent character stuff.
Well, I wouldn't so much call the mane six moral exemplars as I would call them exemplars of six individual virtues. Twilight's has always been grasping the meaningfulness/beauty of friendship, and in this way I think it differs a bit from the more easily understood virtues of honesty, generosity, kindness, etc. Twilight's virtue is one of understanding, or trust. She gets the big picture. (this is why during Return to Harmony she isn't discorded until she finally loses hope and faith in her friendships, saying "Fine, I don't need you!"). And so I've never felt that Lesson Zero betrays this, at the very least considering the fact that Twilight seeks the aid of her friends multiple times throughout the episode. She reaches her snapping point precisely because she demonstrated her virtue of believing in the power of friendship and it let her down--until the very end, where the others saved her from punishment from Celestia. Twilight's zany actions were a result of what happens when her virtue fails, which can happen since it inherently relies on other people. A Twilight without friends is a very bad thing.
I personally don't find AJ ultimately making the immoral choice a narrative mistake, but I'm too sleepy to go into it atm :P
Anyway, I loved this episode. It was great, and easily topped last week's, which till now was my fave of the season. After the utter disappointment that was Castle Sweet Castle (that was the title, right?), things have been looking up! This one felt like a true season 5 episode, in that we got to see plenty of new along with the old, and I mean that in terms of character portrayal and interaction just as much as anything else. Woo!
The emotional rollercoaster of this episode carried through from start to finish. There were so many sight and sound gags that you can't help but laugh. Mix that with the extremely sensitive and heart wrenching thought of letting go of a friend (death or separation are both valid views to explore), and you have an episode that gets top marks in my book.
The grinch smile, the GoT reference, the "who's on first" interlude — all of these things would have made for memorable moments in a standard episode. Dash sailing through the five stages of grief is where this episode took it to another level.
1) Rainbow Dash starts off by denying that anything is wrong. Winter isn't coming, Tank doesn't hibernate, I'm not mad: these all illustrate rather plainly how she's trying to avoid the issue.
2) Denial turns to anger. She lashes out at her friends and anypony that tries to help her understand the situation. Some may say this seems out of character for her, but I saw it as fiercely loyal and completely in keeping with her theme.
3) Anger turns to compromise. If she can keep winter from coming, then Tank won't have to hibernate. Stop the weatherponies, bring back autumn, and ultimately disable/destroy the weather factory: she does all this to try and avoid or escape the inevitable.
4) Out of options and realizing that she's defeated, depression sets in. The whole scene in the bedroom brought a new level of realness to the show. I didn't think it would keep going for as long as it did, but it was amazing. The entire scene makes a terrible point about the pain one can feel and how devastating a loss can be, even if they did emphasise that the separation was temporary.
5) Finally resolved to her fate, and following a lengthy cathartic episode, acceptance is achieved. I love the way the show ended with the storytime, feel good piece. That was the perfect sendoff for an amazing ride to resolution.
I'm amazed with how wonderfully this season is progressing. I have to give major props to the writers, animators, voice actors, musicians, and everyone involved in any way with this season thus far.
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Yeah, I wasn't sad at all; indeed, it seemed to be played for laughs, because, well, Tank ISN'T dying, he IS coming back, and Rainbow Dash is flipping out over it (and crying for an uncomfortably long period of time, though her crying didn't quite amuse me, Fluttershy's crying making Rarity and Pinkie Pie join in made me chuckle).
As did the line about Applejack crying on the inside (and Twilight being all "So you're going to join in too?" and she's like "Nope.").
That being said, I actually wasn't that fond of the ending of this episode; it felt like the climax was already past and the resolution was nearly a third of the episode. I noted that Magical Mystery Cure's conclusion took a bit long for my tastes, but this basically spent a full third of the episode that felt like it never really hit the high point of blowing up the weather factory.
I think the thing you're ignoring is that in both "Sisterhooves Social" and "Hurricane Fluttershy," Rarity and Fluttershy still learn their lesson from an external source. Rarity realizes what she's doing wrong from Applejack, and Fluttershy is pushed into helping Rainbow by both her animal friends and her pony friends. The biggest difference, I think, is just what parts of the story get told.
Though is is like four in the morning. So take that for what you will.
Changing topics, I thought that Dash's characterization for the first maybe two-thirds of "Tanks for the Memories" was ridiculous and over the top--which it was, though that isn't a bad thing--and that the bedroom scene completely redeems the whole thing by being an extraordinarily important characterizing moment for her, where she lays bare emotions that we really haven't ever seen her express before. Dash has gotten close to full breakdown before, especially when she's by herself, but I think this episode is truly historic in just how much insight we've now gained into her.
Also, pegasi culture, and pegasi culture (or really all pony culture, but pegasi especially) is basically the most important part of this television show. Aside from all the other most important parts, naturally.
I also liked the episode! The part starting with Fluttershy's tough-love message up through the end of the episode was so well-characterized. The writers care as much about the characters as we do. (It also showed growth for Twilight, which has been happening steadily since Lesson Zero.)
Now somepony tell Present Perfect because he didn't like this one much! Educate him with word attack!
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I actually liked everything after the weather factory the best because of how it played off of the characters and what they've learned and how they've grown, particularly the bedroom scene: Fluttershy's tough love; Dash's thick, tortoise-like shell; AJ burying her emotions; the special relationship between Rarity and Fluttershy; Pinkie Pie's insight; Twilight growing more mature.
Heh, you are all weird.
The more I read about peoples' reactions to this episode, especially the crying scene, the more I feel like I have a heart of stone. My reaction was basically Twilight's. Yes, saying goodbye is hard, but Tank would be fine in a few months. The tear-soaked cuddle puddle felt like a transparent attempt to tug my heartstrings. I couldn't get past the fact that, regardless of the intended metaphor, Tank wasn't actually dying.
Also, I was wondering how Dash wasn't fired or imprisoned for wrecking the winter lab.
Moral of the story: Emulating Purplesmart can disrupt one's ability to appreciate good storytelling. Though I did love Fluttershy being the one to break the news to Dash, and quite a lot else.
I liked this episode, but I have to admit, I liked "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3." better. Both had some very strong characterization for Rainbow, who has been known to get a bit shafted there, sometimes.
AJ's actions in "The Last Roundup" don't really kill her for me. Pride, it seems to me, is just as relate-able as Dash's grief. And pride can do that to people, even the most upstanding. I would suspect it's why it is one of the seven deadly sins, because of that. And in that episode, it was a bit more insidious than just being prideful. Her pride had convinced her that she had already broken her promise to others, and drove her to keep doing it. And it's an incredibly hard flaw to overcome. Also, I can't help but think, AJ's admitting that Pinkie's line about crying on the inside being correct ties into AJ and her pride. That right there sheds a bit of light on just about all of Applejack's previoius focus episodes.
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No one ever found out it was Dash, mwahahaha.
Though, she admits it right at the end, doesn't she? Dammit Dash!
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I was actually going to come back today and say something similar, so you make at least as much sense as I do. As some of the text to back you up: In the establishing scene of the episode, AJ is practicing for the rodeo, and she clips a beam on a jump. She finishes, and Apple Bloom starts talking about how she's the best rodeo pony in Equestria and she's sure to bring home blue ribbons. Applejack tries to be modest and lower her expectations, but Apple Bloom will hear none of it. Applejack's pride, such as it is, is not in herself but in living up to (and exceeding) expectations set by other ponies. We can see this in Applebluck Season and Apple Family Reunion as well.
I actually like The Last Roundup as an episode, but it's a contrived mess from beginning to end when it comes to Applejack's character and the reasoning behind the actions in it. I was going to write about how, but there are just so many things and they overlap and ugh. Maybe I'll write a blog post. With just a few changes, the whole thing could have been great and made sooo much more sense (while still pushing AJ to her breaking point.) I hope you don't hold it against AJ, horizon.
I really like how the message was gotten across in this episode, and I agree that it's a worthwhile message (messages, actually) to pursue.
That said, while you make a compelling argument here, the difference between this episode and The Last Roundup pretty much comes down to being entertaining. A stagecoach chase with numerous hilarious moments ("Rarity, catch me!") is leaps and bounds better than an awkward scene where everyone's crying for far too long. (Despite having its own hilarious moment, which merely saved it from being totally unwatchable.)
Awkwardness has its place, but it runs the same risk as showing that a character is bored: your audience is going to experience that same sensation. It's the reason (well, one of many) why Lesson Zero remains in my bottom ten despite being loved by the fandom. I just can't stand sharing the awkwardness and embarrassment of the characters, and with this show, it's hard not to empathize with the characters in everything they do.
Really? I wasn't particularly moved by the episode's grief metaphor: the fact the what Dash was grieving over was such a temporary setback pretty much removed all pathos for me. I essentially had Twi's reaction to the cuddle pile at the end - this is not something to be super-upset about. Even 3017525 's 'a friend moving away' example still implies something more-or-less permanent. This is a friend going to summer camp and you're going somewhere else.
Having said that, the animation, comedy beats, ('who's on first' routine, spy parody, AJ crying on the inside, Dash dancing with Tank while he sleeps through the whole song - I barely heard the lyrics I was laughing too loud) and pretty much every other aspect of the show is waaaay better than previous seasons: even with a weak (for me) storyline, it was a highly entertaining episode with a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Even for the weakest episode of the season, it was still one of the better episodes of MLP overall. I'm really liking the current season.
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New theory: It's not a metaphor for a pet dying, it's a Christian allegory. Clearly Tank is meant to represent Jesus.
3018902 Aren't all stories Jesus metaphors if you reduce them enough?
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I'm not sure about all of them. I don't think Jesus was involved in as many lesbian relationships as I tend to write...
On the sleep-as-death thing: Hibernation isn't one unbroken sleep. Hibernating animals still move, eat, drink, pee, and such, just less often and more lethargically. Rainbow wouldn't really be able to play with Tank or have the extreme outdoor fun she fantasized about, but he wasn't going to be completely gone for the winter.
It'd be the equivalent of Twilight retreating into her home every winter (since the animals are least demanding then) to work on her dissertation. She'd be around less, and she'd be distracted most of the time, but she would still be there and available sometimes. I could certainly see an episode growing out of that sort of thing, but it would be less "I'm grieving for Twilight" and more "I miss Twilight" or "I'm worried about all the work Twilight's been doing."
But hibernation as unbroken sleep is a common oversimplification often presented to the show's actual target audience, so it still works for them, and suspension of disbelief made it work as an episode. It just bugged me.
This is a really great analysis of how the show approaches the individual character studies of the Mane 6. And it's a great point that what these characters are willing to sacrifice when pushed to the breaking point is what really shows us their character. But I have to disagree with you contrasting this with The Last Roundup. It's extremely similar. Applejack misleads her friends and runs away rather than admit she couldn't win enough money to fix town hall. Rainbow Dash abandons her duty to her job and Ponyville to keep her pet from hibernating. She sabotages the weather factory of her home town, and screams and yells at her friends. Just like Applejack was fundamentally dishonest in her episode when she broke, Rainbow Dash betrays everyone else except her pet. Both ponies the end find that no matter what they do, they can't fight the inevitable, and have only done wrong in trying.
The main difference is that Rainbow Dash seems like she gets away without consequences for her actions to a much greater degree than Applejack, but then I can't blame people for being a little less sympathetic towards a pony who only cries on the inside.
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But he did spend years wandering around Israel in the company of a bunch of young dudes showing them "the wonders of the Kingdom of Heaven".
If you know what I mean.
Horizon, what parts of season 4 haven't you seen?
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It's really scattershot. The problem I had was that Hasbro seriously cracked down on the Youtube rips, and my computer at the time was totally unable to play the videos on the official site, so if I didn't see them on the weekend they aired, I never got to see them at all.
So I missed both the bad (Bats!) and the good (Power Ponies). I missed half of the arc stories (Pinkie Pride, Breezies) and some of the one-shots (Twilight Time, Simple Ways, Trade Ya). Hell, I even missed "Equestria Games", which I'm pretty sure means I have to turn in my Harshwhinny badge.
I might put in some effort to catch up via Hasbro or the post-crackdown Youtube rerips or yayponies (or by buying the episodes, though I'm not super thrilled to throw money at a season I'm so ambivalent on). I did watch Power Ponies a few weeks ago. It was pretty good.
3030064 you go home and you fucking watch Pinkie Pride ASAP! Best episode of S4 without doubt.
Absolutely yes. Did from the start. It gave me the stirrings of what Five Hundred Little Murders did to me (Five Hundred was much more personal to me because of the details).
And, as in the picture you linked, five stages of grief clearly portrayed.
3019477 I was a little put off at them burying him in the ground. A box of straw in a nice cool corner of the home (easy in a cloud house, one'd imagine) is more usual for a pet tortoise.
(I've wanted a tortoise for a long time, but hibernation care's always made me nervous; I'd probably get one of the non-hibernating tropical species, like a redfoot. But only if and when I have a home setup that would give him the best life possible.)
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Yeah, 500LM is a great story. (The RCL featured it, back near the beginning.)
On later reflection, the episode is an interesting contrast with A Bird In The Hoof … which makes me belatedly realize that Celestia broke the don't-prank-Fluttershy rule.
