Season 5, Episode 24 Thoughts and Review · 1:02am Nov 22nd, 2015
Spoilers below the cut!
I've been crying since I watched the episode. Goddamn, I don't care how cliche anybody thought it was or if it wasn't that good to everyone else, I loved it and I needed to see it. I'm gonna get on with the review before I break down.
The episode opens with Applejack overseeing the organization of the Helping Hooves Music Festival, with help from her friends. Twilight Sparkle mentions that they have a long list of performers lined up, but thanks to Pinkie Pie, they have managed to book the most popular pop singer in Equestria: Countess Coloratura.
To all the people who DON'T freak out whenever I don't know who a member of pop culture is: THANK YOU for not reacting like this.
Though Applejack doesn't know who Countess Coloratura is, she remembers befriending a pony named Coloratura at Camp Friendship when she was a filly. As fellow campers, the two were close and performed together in a talent show, and Applejack knew Coloratura by the nickname "Rara".
These two are fucking cute. You don't have to ship them to think that.
Even though they eventually lost touch, Applejack remembers Coloratura as a kind pony and dismisses the idea of her becoming a demanding diva.
Rara's eyebrow and eyelash game is ON POINT.
When Countess Coloratura arrives in an extravagant manner, Applejack tries to approach her, but her manager Svengallop's intervention causes her to act aloof and pompous. Svengallop demonstrates his exceedingly high standards further in his interactions with Pinkie Pie when he judges the festival preparations.
Pinkie was great in this episode. I hate how she was treated, but I loved seeing her.
Applejack confides in Rarity that she hardly recognizes the pony she once knew, but Rarity insists she'll change her mind once she sees Countess Coloratura perform.
Lady Rara, everybody.
SOME OF THE DANCERS HAVE EYELASHES. AWESOME.
In her rehearsal for the Music Festival, Countess Coloratura performs a techno-pop song with backup dancers and strobe lights. Her spectacle is met with mostly positive reception, but Applejack finds it too flashy, and all of Svengallop's praise is toward the "bells and whistles" rather than Coloratura's singing.
This is a fabulous eyeroll from a fabulous asshole.
When a meet-and-greet with school foals is next on Coloratura's schedule, Svengallop suggests skipping it, but Coloratura refuses, saying that meeting school ponies is her favorite part of any event. Coloratura happily meets the foals of Ponyville and announces a contest in which the winners will sing on stage with her during the festival. Applejack is pleased that a glimmer of her old friend still remains.
These two are great.
Meanwhile, Svengallop meets with Pinkie Pie and piles more hard-to-meet demands upon her, threatening to pull Coloratura out of the festival if his demands are not met.
This guy was an asshole... I ship him with Suri now. They deserve each other.
Applejack overhears and brings it to Coloratura's attention. Coloratura is in disbelief at Applejack's accusations toward Svengallop, and she thinks Applejack is simply jealous of her fame. The two have a heated argument, after which Coloratura renounces her childhood nickname.
Expect for me to use this gif for upcoming rants.
As Applejack helps Pinkie Pie meet Svengallop's demands, she tries to think of a way to convince Coloratura that her manager is manipulating her. She approaches Coloratura once more and asks for a chance to prove her accusations.
During the festival's final preparations, Coloratura talks with Svengallop and considers cancelling the contest with the school foals. Svengallop is delighted to hear this, finding the contest to be "pointless". As he meets with Pinkie Pie again to make some show adjustments, Twilight spies on them backstage. Svengallop tells Pinkie to cancel the school foals contest, callously referring to them as "brats" and once again threatening to pull Coloratura from the festival if Pinkie does not deliver.
When Svengallop returns to the stage, Twilight magically broadcasts a recording of his conversation with Pinkie Pie to the crowd, and Svengallop is exposed. Furious that Svengallop has been using her name to intimidate ponies, Coloratura fires him, and the former manager angrily storms off.
That evening, without a manager for guidance, Coloratura is incredibly nervous about her performance. Applejack tells her that Svengallop was only promoting a false persona and using her to enjoy the perks of stardom, but a true perk of friendship is being able to be true to oneself.
These two love each other. Maybe not in the romantic way, but dammit, they love each other.
Twilight welcomes Countess Coloratura to the stage, and as the curtains open, Coloratura appears without the veil and makeup that were signature of her stage persona. With a piano and backup orchestra, "Rara" sings a heartfelt song that brings both herself and Applejack to tears. Her performance is met with overwhelming applause.
And me crying like a fucking baby.
Same, AJ.
In a show of her gratitude to Applejack, Coloratura invites the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the stage to sing a reprise of the song she and Applejack wrote together years before.
I ship it. No one can stop the Ship Queen.
So, this episode? I loved it. I know I'm a broken record with how important it is to me to see characters overcome adversity and show who they really are on the inside and getting over the past, but that lesson has never gotten old with me. Going back over my list of favorite characters, I found out that I have a couple of types that these characters fall into, and seeing characters who want to be who they are is definitely far up on that list of favorite types.
Pinkie Pie is my favorite Mane Six character because I love her ability to do as she wants and be who she is. Once she discovered the beat of her own drum, she hasn't stopped drumming for a thing. I've always admired her for being herself and how she's managed to be loved by those around her.
Sunset Shimmer is my favorite EG character because she decided that she could be better than she was and overcame her past, not just with her peers, but with herself. She overcame her own inhibitions about her abilities and helped another to see the light just as she had.
And, as everyone probably knows by now, Elsa is my favorite Disney princess. I know that Frozen has a lot of problems and that if I had the chance to rewrite the movie, I would. Hell, who am I kidding, I have a whole Frozen rewrite in my head I haven't shared with anyone because who cares? Ahem, anyway... I really connected with Elsa's character in Frozen for a lot of reasons and it'd take too long to list why.
Years ago, when I was younger and not so aware of how hard the outside world was, I was so open with my personality and extremely happy with myself. But, as time went on, the more I showed, the more it pushed people away. I would open myself up and all people would do was walk away, not sure how to deal with me. Eventually, once I got in my thick skull that people were scared of me and my erratic behavior, I shut myself down and closed myself off from other people. I still do that now, and it's been so hard for me to learn to let go.
Things haven't been easy for me. I've been more stressed out than usual, to the point where I'm stressed when I have nothing to be stressed about. I've had trouble with trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life and I feel like I'm letting everyone down by not figuring it out sooner. Whenever I think about my future, I get horribly scared and feel like throwing up. I'm just so scared that one day I'm gonna wake up and hate what I've done with my life.
But, seeing Rara up on stage, standing up to everyone who wanted to change who she was and overcoming how she used to be was incredible for me to see. It's never gotten old for me to see a character be themselves and overcome adversity, and it's always a beacon of hope for me to see it.
Also, the animation, the designs, and the fact that AJ got screentime was fucking awesome, too. This was a great way for Amy Keating Rogers to sign off on the show. I hope she does well wherever she goes.
As for the upcoming episode for next week? It's the finale and I'm not ready for it. I don't think it's really set in yet, so expect me to come back in a bit freaking out a bit.
Glad to know you thought it was cute, too. Also, I know how you feel when you wanna express yourself, but people just walk away. But it's what makes you you.
Definitey a good final performance from Amy Keating Rogers.
Do you make all these gifs yourself? You do always seem to be the first person with content from the episode. o.o
I suddenly want to see Pinkie's straw collection. Also I believe Amy is going to Disney.
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Actually, since I go on derpibooru and look up stuff from the episode! I find tons of gifs and nice screenshots that way. I have no clue how to make gifs at all, but I like to think I might learn some day.
3559648 I personally got a kick out of the nagging noises gif. ;)
While I agree that this was a feels heavy episode, and the music was awesome (though Razzle Dazzle is my favorite song from it), and I've already seen it a few times today outside of its initial airing, it can't compete with Crusaders of the Lost Mark, Tanks for the Memories, or Slice of Life for my favorite episode of the season.
It'll likely take fifth place for the season, since the finales usually end up in my top 4.
And judging by the few bits that were shown in the promo for it, this will be no exception.
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I think Pinkie's ... personal ... relationship with the straw Fernando was hilarious. And utterly in character. Remember her strange little flirtation with the statue of King Grover? And, more disturbingly, the party she threw for her imaginary friends?
Svengallop's mane reminded me too much of Donald Trump's hair...
And those backup dancers with their pelvic thrusts xD
3559874 what do you call a terrible, selfish, and generally a bad person who plays the brass?
DAVID TRUMPET
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But what about Ammending Fences!? That episode was grade S freaking fantastic material.
3560189 I forgot about that one.
Then that knocks this episode into fifth place at the moment, with the finale possibly knocking it into sixth
I really liked this episode too ^__^
for me, it was less about Rara overcoming how she used to be (and standing up to others who wanted to change her) because I didn't feel like she really lost herself: she was always about the foals and the charity - it was Svengallop that portrayed her as a diva. (And while I agree he wanted to change her, I figured it was less about her and more about streamlining his job.)
Also I think part of it is Rara originally was down-to-earth and easy-going that it doesn't feel like she was getting away from 'how she used to be' - she's returning to who she was even after all she's learned and been through! Which I find inspiring in alternative ways, and I hope you find your way there
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Well played.
3646235 not really.
It was a bad pun about a bad man, how could anyone find it....
Punny?
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Corner. NOW.
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Are you cold? I get that corners are 90 degrees, but you could always get a coat or a blanket, dear.
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It's fine, the cold never bothered me anyway.
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38.media.tumblr.com/2da40ccb4cc7a3ccb008d6882b7291e2/tumblr_nlvpe89aBU1tb8alro2_500.gif
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And that is just adorable.
3647628 to be fair, is a 90 degree corner really the... 'RIGHT' 'PUN'ishment?! I would prefer ... 'ACUTE' corner!
... Where's the Pun God? I swear I see sans with a trombone whenever I make bad enough puns.
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