Retrospective Review: May the Best Pet Win! and The Mysterious Mare Do Well · 6:03am Apr 22nd, 2021
S2E7 May the Best Pet Win!
"You know, each of the main cast has a pet, except for Rainbow Dash."
"What kind of pet would Rainbow Dash have?"
Curious if that's how this episode came about. It doesn't seem like something that was planned from the beginning.
Featured in this episode: Dun dun dun!
I have no idea why Rainbow Dash finds sleeping in trees to be comfortable. If I could sleep on clouds, I would sleep on clouds every single time.
I like the pony pet playdate idea. It shows the very different Mane Six characters bonding over a mundane activity.
The episode really plays up Rainbow Dash being a jerk. Granted, getting a pet to make you look cool is a selfish idea, but throughout the episode, Rainbow Dash is the only one thinking about what kind of pet is right for her. For example, Rarity has Opalescence, a cat that doesn't require a lot of attention. Applejack has Winona, a working dog. They should not have each other's pets.
Fluttershy is the worst at the start, suggesting the pets that she would want to adopt if she were looking for a new pet.
The whole pet challenge is a silly premise for an episode. It's unique, but silly. That said, it's still enjoyable to watch. The pet that shows loyalty is the one that wins over the Element of Loyalty. And in a world of magic, it makes sense that one could make a tortoise fly.
Best not to think of the logic of cloud houses. Sure, pegasi can walk on clouds, but how do clouds support a pegasus' belongings?
S2E8 The Mysterious Mare Do Well
Does anyone like this episode? I think it's terrible, for many reasons.
It is important to remember that MLP: FIM is primarily a kiddie cartoon, and so you see episodes with kid-friendly moral lessons. And you'll see common tropes of kids' cartoons employed in the series. But if you just lazily adapt all of these tropes, you're going to get episodes that don't make any sense, and this is one of those.
"Do good deeds. Get rewarded. Then try to keep getting rewarded, to keep getting that feeling. But it turns out good deeds are their own reward." It's a familiar lesson, but one that really only fits characters who are school-aged. It really, really does not work here.
Rainbow Dash is an adult. As a filly, she performed a flight maneuver that ponies thought impossible. As an adult, she's an elite flyer, master of weather, and has literally saved Equestria twice. But it's saving little Timmy from a well that finally gives her a swelled head. No. This does not make sense.
And you thought Rainbow Dash was a bad pony in the previous episode!
To make matters worse, her alleged friends, instead of calling out her egregious behavior, decide to show her up. It's a far worse way to teach the lesson. And they compound it by pretending they don't know what's going on to Rainbow Dash's face.
There's an inadvertent friendship lesson here, that Mare-Do-Well is better than the awesome Rainbow Dash because it's five friends working together, capitalizing on each other's varying strengths.
So let's move on to the few good things in the episode. Scootaloo running a Rainbow Dash fan club is perfect for her, but it's best not to ask how the hair was gathered for the wigs.
There's a dam and hydroelectric station that don't appear to be doing much.
I guess I'll give the episode credit for introducing masked superhero ideas that led to Power Ponies, but that's about it.
If it weren't for Tank, which pet would have been best for Rainbow Dash? I'm partial to the bat.
A tortoise was apparently in the RD set which is why the show gave her Tank. So as usual a show followed the toy line.
It is the second episode I legitimately did not enjoy, the first being "Owl's Well That Ends Well." It just doesn't work on any level... except the fan club.
Pretty much on both counts.
I didn't like Find a Pet when it aired, but I was probably also in heavy S1 purist mode back then. (Ironically, I now live in S1/2 purist mode 24/7. I can grow as a person!) It's a much more enjoyable episode on rewatches. :)
First point really backs up the idea that ponies are cats that sleep in weird places.
I like the "slice of life worldbuilding" of a pet playdate.
The idea of a "pet competition" is silly but also totally rainbow. It's "forced" but by a character who is totally oblivious as to why it's not a good idea, which makes it fun. Unlike later seasons that would rely on centering around a competition faaar too often.