So that was ... something · 4:58pm Jul 30th, 2016
Uhm, so Daring Do bondage dakimakura? Someone will buy it. I'm sure.
So, the hiatus is over. How did the first episode stack up? More below the break.
-Spoilers-
Not that well, I'm afraid. At least in my opinion. This might actually be one of my least favorite episodes to date. And it's not for the reason you're probably thinking. You see, I actually liked Daring Don't. Would I have been happier with Twilight Velvet as the writer of the Daring Do books and an episode dedicated to her? Sure. But that's not what we got.
But here's the thing. Daring Don't was a fun episode for me. Stranger than Fan Fiction ... wasn't. The former was fun to watch because it made numerous tongue-in-cheek references to the old Indiana Jones movies. I only spotted one here:
The rest of the episode fell flat for me. Don't get me wrong. The message was decent, but it was just not a fun journey. It's like you're trying to have sex with someone and they spend all the time complaining about the upholstery. (Unless of course furniture dirty talk is your thing. I'm not judging.)
Discussing what works and what doesn't in a work of art is something to do after, not during. Now, I guess the guest VA is a well-liked actor, and he had a fine performance. I'm not complaining about that. But his character was annoying.
Think about it, some nerdy fan who takes the spotlight from both main characters and solves the problems for them while complaining the whole way about the inferior stories that came before. ... Yeah, he's a bad self-insert OC.
This episode ... is actual fan fiction someone at DHX decided to animate. And you can't level the same criticism at Daring Don't, because Rainbow Dash is actually the heroine of the show we're supposedly watching, not someone we've never seen before coming in to save the day. And he didn't have any of the internal struggle Rainbow had in that episode.
Speaking of our rainbow-colored heroine. It's just kind of sad that the average pony STILL doesn't recognize somepony who has saved Equestria a dozen times over and is the newest member of Equestria's elite flying team (who ARE smart enough to know who she is.) Yeah, clearly somepony like that would have no idea of what's actually possible in a world filled with magic and mythical monsters.
So I don't think they put their best hoof forward going into the second half of the season with that one. But, well, it can only get better, I suppose.
What did you guys think? Do you agree with me or did you like the episode? Let me know in the comments below.
Something indeed.
I didn't think it was terrible, but definitely flawed in various ways. Like with Zephyr Breeze, it's an episode all about a newly introduced character who is unlikable by design. It's kinda preachy, and kinda navel-gazing. Patton Oswalt was funny, but it feels like a waste to use him like that on such an annoying character. Caballeron was actually the more entertaining character :s
That said, I was entertained. It was self-conscious dumb pulp adventure, but it was funny. I liked the con scenes especially.
Equestria seems highly... compartmentalized. In Ponyville and Canterlot, things are always happening that threaten the entire world... but nopony in Manehattan ever hears about it. In the Generic Jungle Setting, temples and artifacts of doom are always being lost, found, and stolen... but the rest of the world doesn't know that Daring Do isn't fiction. So this is just yet more weirdness.
I wonder if next week we'll see what Twilight did at the Griffonstone Friendship Summit.
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Yeah, the convention was actually fun to watch, and it felt like a nod towards the fandom. I was enjoying myself until that point, spotting the various background jokes.
It didn't really cross into annoying territory for me until the second act. But boy, did it make up for lost time when it did.
The Daring Do pillow made me do a double take like "Yep DHX knows the brony fandom alright LOL". and as for Quibble Pants I really didn't like him he kinda hogged the spotlight for me especially with how HE solved the puzzle and not Daring Do or Rainbow Dash and was sooooooooo fucking annoying and even though I have nothing against Patton Oswalt but I think Weird Al was the better guest star the show has had so far.
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Yeah, the big difference with Cheese Sandwich is, he wasn't there to steal the spotlight, even if it seemed that way to Pinkie. But his presence was effective in that it did something for Pinkie's character. It made her go through an arc and come to a realization about herself.
We didn't have that here.
Still, I suppose the show's track record with celebrity guest voices reamins overall positive. John DeLancie, Weird Al and Lena Hall were all enjoyable. And again, Oswalt's voice work was fine. The problem with the character was in the script. Hopefully they'll write a better character for William Shatner if he ever makes it onto the show.
There were definitely good jokes in this episode though.
Eh, after seeing the first minute or so, I just decided to replace "daring do" with "mlp' and "quibbles (or what was his name)/Rainbow dash" as "a critical/casual brony", and I have to say, I had fun watching this. I get from your post that you didn't like it so much, but the constant self-awareness and small punches to the watchers (like your image) had me entertained almost constantly.
Also, any thoughts on possible quibble-ships?
Derpy for best villain!
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Well, if you enjoyed it on a meta level, good for you. But from my perspective, it just kinda failed as a story. I like the occasional shoutout and meta joke as much as anybody, but even Slice of Life had a story at its core that could be taken on its own and work.
I dunno. Frankly, I have no idea what his character actually is, apart from being the embodiment of a certain kind of fan. ... Heck, even Flash Sentry has more characterization than that.
So it's kind of hard to ship him, except the obvious threesome with Rainbow Dash and Daring Do that ends with him having a heart attack and dying a happy stallion.
What I wanna know, does he just naturally have the same color scheme as Daring Do, or has he gone to all the trouble of dying his coat and mane just for the cosplay?
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Sure. But jokes alone don't make an episode.
I'm totally with you on this one. This episode was almost a chore to sit through, and part of me feels like what's-his-face was the writers way of taking a shot at some of the people who are a bit more critical of the show.
4122632 Yeah, I agree the show's track record with guest stars is still great and Patton Oswalt put on a good performance. and I do hope we get William Shatner soon.
I havent watched the show since season 4, and that dakimakura is creepy as fuck O.o
Nope, complaining kinda turns me off as much as it would just about anyone. That's why I keep a ball gag handy.
Someone drew my attention to this image today:
derpicdn.net/img/2016/8/1/1214638/medium.png
That's totally what this was really about
Oh, and the other day I saw this bit:
Don't be so gloomy, Tuvok.
Yup.