What I Thought About "Tanks for the Memories" · 6:07pm Apr 26th, 2015
Spoilers incoming. Episode review
When I first heard this title, one of my first thoughts was that Tank was gonna kick the bucket. Croak. Drop dead. I was both excited and worried about this idea. On one hand, this show has never directly dealt with death (though it's been implied), and I like it when the show explores new territory. On the other hand, well, it'd be easy to screw up and result in a bad episode. Plus, it'd be a bit on the cruel side to have an episode about a character's death and title the episode with a pun on his name.
So I sat down and watched. At first, yeah, it kinda looked like Tank might die, or at least was sick. But then, well, he turned out to just be going into hibernation. Not terribly surprised they didn't kill him, but not disappointed, either. What ended up happening wasn't an episode about death, but it was probably as close to it as this show is gonna get.
As the episode went on, I was a little bit bugged by Rainbow's behavior. At first she she seemed totally, well, selfish, and really let it get the better of her. Not that this behavior doesn't have a precedent set for it when it comes to Dash (it does), it just bugged me seeing her act like that. It was almost like she took it as a personal offense that Tank wouldn't be able to hang out with her all year. Not a bad thing, though, because I think it fits well enough with her character. I've always liked Rainbow the most out of the mane six (she's how I first discovered the show), but she's far from flawless and she's been shown to be pretty stubborn. That, and it really showed how much she has grown to love Tank. Dash doesn't show affection much, so this was cool to see.
I feel like I gotta get something out of the way, here: I never cared much for Tank. Simply put, I never thought he was a good companion for Dash. He's slow, lethargic, can't fly (though that was removed as a factor), and let's face it, tortoises aren't all that cool (or awesome, or radical). This episode only reinforced the idea in my mind that Tank wasn't a good pet for Rainbow, since he also can't hang around and play with her all the time, and she's apparently year-round awesome. Tank just can't keep up. He probably never could. Dash should've kept looking for a loyal pet that could keep pace with her, or maybe a second one. However...
This episode sorta changed my view a little. I mean, I still think that Tank isn't a great choice for a mare like her, but now that all this stuff has happened, well, he's alright by me. They may not be suited to each other much at all, but I can appreciate their friendship. She clearly has a strong bond with the little dude. I mean, Rainbow rarely cries in the first place, so seeing her openly sob because she'd have to say goodbye to her pet for a few months? That can't be motivated by sheer "I want you to do stuff with me" selfishness unless Dash is a just that selfish (and I'm pretty sure she isn't). So yeah, that was a little shocking, but I welcome seeing this more tender side of Rainbow Dash. At first, I was like, "Typical Rainbow, putting Tank in slippers that look like her," but then I noticed that she was wearing Tank slippers. That kinda got to me, a little.
Also, that bedroom moment gave me FlutterDash shipping fuel, and I'm always down with more of that. But what was up with Twilight shoving AJ at Dash? Is Twi an AppleDash shipper? A little weird, there. Applejack internalizing her own grief makes sense, since she's always been the stable rock of the group.
Okay, I know that everybody's gonna talk about the song. I liked it. It felt kinda poppy and whatnot, but I've actually always liked a good deal of pop music (though not so much recent stuff, but that's a different conversation). Not much to say about the song other than that I enjoyed it, and even more the second time I heard it. Combined with the visuals, it gave me both feels and giggles. Nice.
Oh yeah, and that Grinch face when Dash decides to stop winter? Whoa, dude. And then following through with her plan, going so far as to infiltrate the weather factory and sabotage it? Rainbow Dash acting like a villain? Well, how could I say no to that? Did it feel out of character for her? Well, maybe a little bit. It was strange seeing her act like that, but I've always felt she had the potential to go to the dark side if she was pushed, and that she would be pretty dangerous if she were. Was she pushed enough? I dunno. We haven't seen a ton of her bond with Tank before, so I can't really judge. I'm not gonna fault the episode for a lack of clear setup in prior episodes, though, because it made it pretty clear that Rainbow didn't want to lose Tank. I'll give it a pass for now. And as for Dash not getting punished for the damage she did, well, I guess nopony caught her. Besides, she got the crap beaten out of her when the lab was falling apart.
Okay, so now let's get to what I didn't like: the Wilhelm Scream. I freaking hate that stock scream, and it bugs the crap outta me that they put it in every episode. That's just my personal bias, though, so I'll never bring it up again. All in all, I thought this was a great episode. Had a lot of stuff I liked, only a few things that bugged me, and it got me to change my mind about Tank. Nothing episode-specific that I hated, here, or even rather disliked.
And that's the end of my semi-coherent rambling about this episode. Just my impressions and thoughts. Good episode, I liked it. I'd give it a 7/10, solid episode overall. Maybe an 8.5/10 for getting my cold hearted self as emotional as it did. I've lost people, so I can relate to Dash, in some ways. The episode seems strange, and her behavior seems kinda insane, but when viewed as an allegory for dealing with the death of a loved one, suddenly everything falls into place. Props to the staff for making such an episode. So far, Season 5 has been pretty pleasant for me. Here's to hoping the season keeps this up.
P.S.: Okay, I should probably mention the "who's on first?" gag. It made me mentally facepalm, but it also made me smile. It was so dumb, but I love that it pokes fun at the silly naming conventions that the ponies have. So yeah, it's cool with me.
Rainbow's "Grinch grin" was definitely creepy.
Was it creepier than those fake smiles from the season premiere? I don't know yet.
I'd say Dash chose Tank since he cared the most for her out of all the other pets. I think they're pretty good together. But yes, please keep these posts coming. It was nice to read your opinion.
Become an ex-tortoise? *gets shot for making a Monty Python reference*
And, as I said before, this episode was basically a rollecoaster between cute and cringeworthy, at least for me.
Ok, I still love that sound effect, but I very much see where you're coming from in it being overused. Why was it necessary to put it in the town party scene in Cutie Map? It's funny when there's a ridiculously stupid or unfortunate death in the background, but not at a celebration. It's the same thing with Family Guy and Vine where people throw random jokes out there with no relevance to a certain situation simply because it's a joke and they want the oblivious to laugh.
And I loved this episode, it ranks in my top episodes in the show's running. I always value an emotional episode and deep character on tv above all, and that's why episodes like Welcome to the Chum Bucket and Sokka's Master are my favorite episodes in show airings. I'd give Tanks for the memories at least a 9/10, just because I like the way it was crafted and the emotion I got from it. Well, your review not mine.
3018920
Yeah, both were pretty creepy. This season has had some really great expressions, so far.
3018941
Yeah, he's the only one who stopped to help her. I'd guess she certainly values loyalty in a pet. And keep these coming, I shall.
3018947
There were definitely some rough moments. The moment that made me cringe the most, though? Rainbow crying like that. I was like, "Whoa, damn, I've never seen that before." Less cringing because it was poorly done, and more cringing due to shock and feeling bad for her. It really hit her hard.
3019055
It's such a weird scream, yeah. For comedy, okay, I'll tolerate it. But in drama scenes? No way. And don't get me started on Family Guy's crappy, contextless cutaway gags.
Feelsy episodes are often my favorites, especially in shows with a lot of comedy. I like it when the show takes a break and delves into something meaningful, and this did. A few things bugged me about this episode, but yeah, I really enjoyed it. Plus, nobody can complain about me making Rainbow act like a supervillain anymore, because it's canon. Oh yeah.
3019191
Yeah, I was like "don't make Ashleigh voice crying RD again. She's bad at it".
3019191 It seems like each season, except for season 3, has at least one really creepy face.
Season 1: Pinkie's smile during her "party", with her pupils far apart.
Season 2: Twilgiht's grin just before approaching the CMC
Season 4: One of Rarity's faces while she was under the Inspiration Manifestation spell.
Season 5: rainbow's grin
I liked that. Glad I gave the review a chance. I'm not good at judging the quality of TV shows, and I'm not good at deciding if I like it or not. Normally if a watch an in-depth review, I get influenced into not liking the episode because it points out the bad. Maybe that's why I liked this, it was straight forward and gives me something to latch onto.
3021730
Straight-forward is how I like to deliver this kinda stuff. Just lay it all out. And I kinda feel like there are enough people reviewing episodes who focus mostly on the bad (possibly partly due to negativity bias), so I'll likely be focusing more on what I liked and what I found interesting. I probably won't put much focus on less-great aspects unless they really jump out at me or really bother me, and I'm fairly lenient when it comes to a fair few things. Glad you liked the review. I'll certainly be making more of these to share my thoughts.