Please, help me understand something. · 6:52am Feb 23rd, 2013
[Edit:] Ok, yes I get it. I can easily see what I missed for some inexplicable reason. For someone who over-analyzes this show as much as I do, I really am shocked that I didn't look as closely at this one. Possible reasons why I missed this are in the comments.
Why, why, why does everyone hate Mysterious Mare-Do-Well? I don't. I think it was an amusing episode, and it showcased how each most* of the mane 6 has somewhat unusual and exceptional talents, especially Rarity.** I just don't see the horrific train-wreck littered with burning, mutilated, putrefying corpses of kindly old grandmothers being eaten by devil-worshiping lawyers who kick puppies and kittens for fun that everyone else sees. Seriously, when anything bad is being brought up in the fandom, you can always count on some educated-seeming wiseacre saying, "Well, at least it wasn't Mare-Do-Well." WHY?
I Pinkie Promise*** not to be offended by those who disagree with me, because I genuinely want to get to the bottom of this. I am stumped.
*Fluttershy kinda gets overlooked.
**Yeah, it may be a tribute to Darkwing Duck, but MAN does Rarity make that outfit work. Mare-Do-Well looks about a thousand times cooler in that getup than Darkwing ever did.
***Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.
... I KNEW that cloak seemed familiar from somewhere!
It's mainly the way RD is treated. First of all the writer made her into a caricature of herself, then made her friends into a bunch of jerks who felt the need to publicly humiliate and emotionally crush her for daring to want to bask in her 15 minutes of fame
Well, there's the fact that everything Merriwether Williams touches turns to shit.
I think the main source of dislike for the Mare-Do-Well episode is how the issue was dealt. Rainbow Dash gets a big ego due to some heroics and to teach her a lesson the rest of the mane 6 decide to make a costumed hero to do all the same things that Dash did but without sticking around to "bask in the glory" of the good deed.
What really bugs most people is the scene where Dash is being all bummed out about Mare-Do-Well while her friends go on and on about Mare-Do-Well's deeds. Oh wait...that's right. They were going on and on about what they did as Mare-Do-Well. Granted we didn't get to know that until the end of the episode and that kinda changed how the episode came across. Instead of Rainbow Dash learning to be humble about her deeds after being humbled by this masked hero it was more like her friends got fed up with her ego and decided to make a costumed hero to get some attention and then just kinda rub it in Dash's face while she didn't know it was them in the costume.
I'm there with ya, Bravo Papa. I liked the episode myself, with the superhero shout-outs. (ESPECIALLY Darkwing Duck. (Great, now I want to see what Drake Mallard would look like as a pony.)) Granted there were some characterization issues, but I think everyone blows it way out of proportion. I also think the an issue is that everyone wanted the pony under the mask to be Luna and were disappointed.
Generally, though, I think the main issue is that most folk don't get the actual moral here. They see Dash go kinda nuts, and then Dash's friends out-do her and think it's all about putting Dash down after she's become a caricature. They kinda don't realize it's a warning about fame, and how it can change you and make you into something you're not: shallow and vainglorious. And then the episode goes on to show that basing your self-image on that sort of thing inevitably ends up in ruin, as someone will come along who catches the eye of others more effectively, leaving you alone and wondering where it went wrong.
In the end it's a more subtle message than most of the other episodes, and I think that's the chief problem here: most folk just don't catch it, and then there's the herd effect where one guy starts to loudly denounce it, and since most others don't really get the main message and they don't want to appear dumb, so they start to agree with the guy who's yelling the loudest. It reminds me of a story I got up on EQD once, where a guy basically made a long, scathing comment about how terrible it was, but when pressed it turns out he barely skimmed the story and had missed several key plot points that turned his argument inside out. He backpedaled a bit, but the damage was done: half the people who looked at the story just jumped onto the bandwagon and hated on it, most without any new critiques or complaints other than "it's not how I would have done it" or "I don't like that you had Celestia lose a fight". After the Canterlot Wedding stuff I was so tempted to just jump on there and write "I TOLD YOU ****ERS SHE WASN'T AN IMMORTAL, UNDEFEATABLE GODDESS. IN YOUR FACES." But I remembered a bit of advice my grandfather gave me: "Don't confuse 'em with the facts, their minds're made up."
In the end, I think it's just one of those oddities of human behavior that makes me want to rip out my hair and go screaming into the hills. "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" wasn't the best episode, not by far, but it gets a lot of trash talk it doesn't deserve. "Over a Barrel" was poorer, IMHO, though it was nice to see the Settlers' side of the issue displayed for once instead of the PC "White people are EEEVIL" BS.
It basically summed up by the fact that the other five girls immediately went to the passive aggressive plan to teach RD a lesson by having the spotlight yanked off of her without even attempting to really talk to her about her getting a big head, you know, like a friend should.
There's also several other little details about it that irked the fans, like Scootaloo(RD's biggest fan) suddenly abandoning RD when Mare-Do-Well came unto the scene, or the one scene that had the other five pretty much rubbed MDW's accomplishments in RD's face.
Finally, it was the general consensus among many of the fans that this incident should have given RD the right to be severally hurt by her friends lack of trust in her to simply be able listen and understand their concerns. Instead, she shown as the one at fault and apologizes while all of her friends get off scotch free.
Frankly, I think the feelings of that episode were best summed up in this story. Take a read and you'll begin to understand.
Every season has its stinkers. MMDW just happened to be the one for Season 2.
857426 Heh, someone had to point it out to me too, but the resemblance is more than coincidence can account for.
857429 Ok, I think I see my problem/bias right here. As I see her, Rainbow always acts like a selfish jerk and a dunce. I like a majority of background ponies more than her. I struggle writing her for that exact reason. Maybe I should write a fic that centers on RD just to force myself to see her good points.
857451 Language.
857454 Yeah, the subtle bragging was poorly handled. Maybe it could have come across better if they congratulated each-other rather than themselves. On the other hand, I do consider humility a cardinal virtue, and Rainbow definitely needed to be knocked down a peg or five, and HARD.
857467 I would concede the point to you, but, as noted above, I really don't see her acting all that different when fame takes her. It just highlights her massive flaws. Gah, I'm probably wrong. I gotta find some aspect of her character that I can respect...
857488 I will read it, for sure. I must seek perspective.
857490 Hmm... Not very convincing.
857451
Don't you think that's a little unfair and uncalled for.
857467
The problem wasn't that people didn't see to moral of the episode, it's the fact that the other five did the Mare-Do-Well thing before even really talking to Rainbow about not letting the fame go to her head.
Suddenly, Friendship is Magic becomes Backbiting and Public Humiliation is Magic for 22 minutes.
I wouldn't stay friends with anyone who did to me what the rest of the Mane Six did to Rainbow. That's why I didn't like it.
857498
Except by the time they even noticed it, the fame had already gone to her head and she wasn't listening to them anymore.
857493
Well, yes. It highlighted her flaws, that was kind of my point.
857505
Even then, did they try to talk to her? Did they ever once try to really reason with her like a real friend would? And after MDW started taking the spotlight, and Rainbow Dash was getting depressed, did they try to talk to her about it?
Let me answer that for you. No, no, and no. Instead, they kept up the charade, rubbed MDW in Rainbow's face, and tried to keep it a secret all the way up until the point Rainbow unmasked Pinkie.
It was a good episode.
Sure, Twilight and the others went with a rather... unconventional 'solution' to Rainbow Dash's hero-ing-ing, but it was a good episode.
My feelings on MDW are best summed up by Bruce Mane from RealityCheck's Nightmare Night and Nyx:
A brutal, but accurate summation of what, in total, the rest of the Mane 6 ended up doing to RD.
857498>>857501>>857505>>857507>>857517>>857536>>857531 First, careful, let's not get into a fight, tensions are running high.
Second, I don't call doing something necessary that someone else can't do public humiliation. Rainbow got too overconfident and forgot her limits. Mare-Do-Well only stepped in when Rainbow couldn't; she served a genuine need, and she did it better than RD could alone. Also, before the end, it stopped being about saving lives to RD. The victims were just pawns that she was using to keep score. (Just rewatched the episode.)
Also, yeah, Scoot's reaction is a little weird.
This video sums up my issues with that ep. Also, High Hopes is no doubt a broken shell of herself now.
857546 I wasn't trying to start any fights. I was just pointing out that, intentional or not, the rest of the Mane 6 did some pretty mean things to RD in that episode.
Really, the fact that she just brushed it off is kinda shocking. For somepony who represents the element of Loyalty, I'd have thought being shafted in this way, by her own friends, would have caused some serious emotional issues between her and the others. I've read fanfics about this, and they seem more realistic than the episode itself.
857552 Okay, that High Hopes comic was crushing.
857555 Fair point, they were quite mean in the SCC scene. And, yeah, it isn't the epitome of television by any stretch, I just think people get a little too bent out of shape about it.
The Mysterious Mare Do Well commits multiple crimes:
Rainbow Dash has learned nothing since the last time she learned about bragging and ego in Griffon The Brush Off. Her character was changed into being another Gilda for no reason other than to suit the plot.
Dash's friends violate basic honesty and friendship. Rather than pull her aside and explain things, they set up a pointlessly elaborate means to trick and deceive her in order to publicly shame her. The troll her, like enemies, rather than dealing with her as a friend.
The entire episode destroys series continuity and geography. Ponyville is seen in every episode during the titles - it is a flat river bottom land set between distant mountains. Yet there is a completely arbitrary impossible cliff, built with a completely ridiculous road down it's narrow length, apparently for the sole purpose of killing ponies. It exists only for the plot and cannot exist in the world previously established.
The world is further destroyed by the introduction of arbitrary and silly sight gags designed to evoke popular media, such as Darkwing Duck, Batman, and others, where before, in the entirety of the series, the pony universe was established as being a setting of interpersonal drama within a consistent world.
The episode arbitrarily introduces major, large scale post-industrial machinery, constructions and edifices, not to mention electricity, to a world that has been firmly established as being powered by magic and which is set within a Renaissance milieu. This is done to further the super-hero gags that comprise the bulk of the episode and for no other reason.
In every possible way, The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well appears written for another cartoon entirely. It would make a fine episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, or a passable episode of Animaniacs, both of which do not have solid or cohesive worlds, both of which rely on sight gags and topical references, and both of which have nothing truly dramatic or meaningful - such as lessons about friendship - to teach. The moral at the end of the episode is tacked on, and completely inappropriate to the real events that have occurred. In comparison to Dash's boasting, the betrayal of her trust by her friends out to embarrass and humiliate her in public is the real wrongdoing.
This episode may be funny, but it is not consistent in any way with the My Little Pony universe, and indeed appears to have been written for another series and then retro-fitted to My Little Pony in order to meet a deadline or to make money for a languishing script.
This is why it is so very deeply hated by anyone who values Friendship Is Magic as being something more than just an infantile gag cartoon.
I too liked "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well", in fact its one of my favorites (I'm also a huge fan of Darkwing Duck).
I think what really drives dislike for this episode is that we see the story play out from Dash's perspective. We see firsthand how battered her self-esteem gets and we sympathize with her. (I also love the fact that no matter how depressed she gets, the Element of Loyalty never once considers causing disasters for her solve.) And since we feel bad for Dash its easy to transfer that feeling to dislike to what's making her feel bad: Mare-Do-Well (though really its Dash who's making Dash feel bad, much like Pinkie in "Party of One".)
The other thing that causes problems is pacing. Due to the need to play this story out in just twenty-two minutes, things have to be painted in broad strokes. Unfortunately that means the show can't spent five minutes or more showing the Mane Five try to talk things over with Dash. We do see Applejack and Twilight trying to talk to Dash about things during the autograph session. So its not the case they never tried to talk to Dash - we just never get to see more than that very brief attempt.
One thing I absolutely agree with the critics about is the scene with each of the Mane Five bragging on Mare-Do-Well's exploits. It really doesn't fit with the message the episode is trying to preach, especially since each pony lauds her own actions as Mare-Do-Well.
857592
I have to poke you with this one, as it's been shown there is electricity before. There was a Giant Mixer used by the Cutie mark Crusaders in the Sugercube corner. (The Taffy Puller), pinkies pulled out lights, the cake's oven does not seem to be a burner but instead looks like an electric baker. Cutie mark crusaders have a Fan (that isn't powered by magic. Sewing Machine, and a few other bits and pieces here. The show stoppers show's a good deal of them beforehand, and none of them are visibly powered by magic in the least, looking more like modern day set electrics.
I'm with the negative crowd here. It doesn't matter how great the subtle moral was if the blatantly obvious moral is "it's okay to put a friend through public humiliation in order to teach her a lesson". As far as friendship advice goes, that's terrible.
I didn't particularly care for the episode myself. Then I read the comments against, and I finally realized what bothered me about it. Thanks for the clarification, commenters!
AFAIK, it's because a lot of people think that the methods the other five use to prick Rainbow's ego balloon are excessive and even unethical. Others actually think that their motivation wasn't good at all but they were basically motivated by jealousy. At least one author thinks it is unfair to the populace to create a champion for them and then make her vanish when you've achieved your objective of humiliating your so-called friend.
I, personally, would love to read a fanfic where Twilight gets seriously annoyed with her new oh-so-public deification; it's preventing her from really doing any good because everyone is subtly too scared of annoying the new princess to go to her with their problems and the Royal Guard tends to over-react to the possibility of her chipping a hoof. She decides to resurrects MDW in an attempt to be able to go out and do good in secret. Rainbow Dash, seeing her rival return and deciding that all bets are off, persuades Rarity to create a 'Supermare' costume. The path is then set for the birth of the Justice Herd Equestria.
858168
As the younger folks say, THIS.
857592 Somewhat off-topic, one of the reasons I love MLP's setting, is that it does have an odd grab-bag of tech. I would certainly and strongly disagree about it being a Renaissance milieu in general. It generally seems to hover around the late 1800's to early 1900's minus gun proliferation. Electricity is a thing, but widespread electrification has yet to occur. Mechanization is in full swing, witness the phonographs, steam-trains, and AJ's adorable gas-powered sewing machines. Manufacturing is a reality, witness the cloud factory. Agriculture is still a massive undertaking, but is starting to be automated as well, notice the sowing and watering carts used in Winter Wrap Up. MLP allows magic and tech to coexist without putting the emphasis on the tech, and it shows a fantasy world that isn't stuck in medieval stasis, that is rare and precious.
As for the rest of your statement, yes, I stand chastened. As all of you keep mentioning, the girls were very mean-spirited at points.
857648 Agreed.
857612 The perspective is probably why I didn't see what was going on. I already saw Dash as an antagonist and barely deserving of her friends. She constantly belittles them, puts on airs, refuses to listen, and is oblivious to their needs in a majority of episodes. Honestly, many of you have said that you wouldn't be friends with someone who did what the five did to RD, but I probably wouldn't be friends with RD in the first place.
857762 Yeah, 'Shy flies, but it doesn't play to her strengths.
857804 Fair point.
857977 At least this has been educational.
858168>>858362 That would make for interesting drama.
Summary:
I can now see what detractors have against the episode, and they are serious concerns. Two reasons I think I missed the point were, 1. I don't like RD as a person, and I need to learn to have a little more charity for her. 2. I am quite enamored with the idea of Mare-Do-Well as a composite hero.
AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE *CLICKS GUN* WHO LIKED THAT EPISODE?
Something like what Chatoyance said; the tone/context/setting/whatever is just too different from the rest of the series. Equestria isn't stuck in the Middle Ages, but it is still pastoral and pristine; it's managed to have almost-modern technology without the smog or the giant factories or the environmental disruption that Earth requires, and the dam kind of ruins that. I mean, the electricity has to come from somewhere, sure, but it should be something whimsical and lighthearted, like a group of pegasi bucking lightning out of clouds or something, rather than a Symbol Of Modern Industry like a hydroelectric dam.
It's a lack of imagination, really. It feels like Merriweather Williams just went "Okay, I need a crisis" -> boom, baby down the well; "I need another crisis" -> boom, baby off the cliff; "I need another crisis" -> boom, the dam's busted; without thinking about how any of that fits into Ponyville or Equestria. (And, given that MM-D-W appears to be her first episode, this may very well be the case.)
858718
Honestly? It was a 'meh' for me. I neither like or dislike it especially. Rainbow Dash is developing a big head and it is clear that her need to show off is shown putting lives in danger so she can showboat rather than do the job at once. Certainly, that needed to be dealt with. That said, the reset button at the end doesn't really work for me. Too much had happened for it to turn into an 'and we all went to bed and never mentioned it again' scenario.
I would have liked their double-team at the construction site to have shaken all six because the other five realise that, no matter what intentions they went into this, they make a pretty formidable team and because Rainbow Dash realises that, just maybe, there are some things she can't do on her own.
I liked it because I thought Rainbow's ego would come down a lot, but it doesn't, making the whole thing rather pointless. And for you people saying that the rest of the mane 6 were unnessasarily cruel, Dash's ego was already huge, if they tried to talk to her she wouldn't have listened. And as for the random cliff, it's just a cartoon! Cut them a little slack!
858596
That may be true, but these bad traits were at their worst in the episode. And, even if her friends noticed that this is true, it's a bare minimum gesture of respect that her friends would try the direct approach before going through any route that could potentially result in public humiliation.
857490 That's beside the point. The question isn't whether the episode is a stinker or not. It's what exactly makes so many people think it is.