• Member Since 3rd Apr, 2012
  • offline last seen Feb 24th, 2023

TheBrianJ


I am a conglomerate of Engineeriological and Writeological forces with a Ponypreneurial spirit.

More Blog Posts166

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  • 386 weeks
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  • 393 weeks
    Quick notes

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    0 comments · 562 views
Sep
25th
2015

TheBrianJ Reviews - Rarity Investigates! · 12:58am Sep 25th, 2015

THE WONDERBOLTS ARE ASSHOLES.

How many times have we seen in this show that the Wonderbolts are, by and large, a bunch of cocky, stuck-up, full-of-themselves jerks? Even in an episode that paints them a bit better, we find out that older ones were twats, too! Here’s a fun fact, there was originally going to be a chapter in Exit Through Canterlot dedicated to Flanksy vs The Wonderbolts, specifically Spitfire who would represent the typical “All smiles while in front of the camera, horrible person when the cameras are off” stereotype, which would be played off as something most ponies in Canterlot knew but just ignored. The chapter got cut early on in planning because it added nothing to the story, but I still think it would have been fun.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is THE WONDERBOLTS ARE ASSHOLES. Oh, there’s a noirish episode too, isn’t there? I should talk about that. Head on down below for discussions.


Where In The World Is Cararity Horsediego

So before we get to the Wonderbolts, let’s talk about the actual episode. After last week had a really strong message and a surprising amount of depth, this week they went back to a more slice-of-life, lighthearted episode, ironically by parodying the dark noir genre. And let me tell you, the second I learned that this was a noir parody episode, I basically slotted it into one of my “best episodes ever” spots and moved on.

I admit it, I’m a total sucker for noir. I’ve wanted to write a noir story for a while, but I felt like anything that I wrote would end up being a parody of noir rather than a deliberate homage. So when Rarity pulled out the Detective Hat (™) and the screen went black and white, I knew I was going to enjoy the episode.

What kinda stood out to me about it was that the actual lesson, and the way the episode played out in terms of story, was pretty much a retelling of another episode I really liked, MMMystery on the Friendship Express. There’s a mystery, on pony goes about her way of solving it with another pony tagging along, and at the end everything is revealed and a lesson is learned. As I mentioned earlier, this wasn’t the kind of episode that goes deep, it just wanted to have fun.


This may not be relevant but HOLY SHIT GUYS VEGETABLES!

And what I appreciate the most about it is that the writers and animators really used that word “fun” as the driving force. The way that Rarity played everything so over the top, Rainbow Dash constantly lampshade hanging the whole premise of the episode, the reactions of everyone around Rarity as she slips into her own little noir-ish world, all that jazz.

Yeah, it was obvious that Wind Rider framed Rainbow Dash. Rarely is a mystery on My Little Pony surprising. I think I’ve stated this before, but in MLP, it’s all about the journey, and in this episode the journey was just a lot of fun from start to finish. We even got Sassy Saddles appearing! I honestly thought she would never be in the show again, but to appear a week after her debut is awesome! Maybe she’ll become a recurring character any time they’re in Canterlot, that would be excellent. I don’t have a whole lot else to say about the episode in general, other than it’s gotten my noir sense tingling.

But let’s get to the main point about how the Wonderbolts are terrible.


LOOK. LOOK AT THESE ASSHOLES.

I can’t think of an episode that didn’t paint the Wonderbolts in some form of negative light, however subtle they show it. It’s not just stuff like them failing to save Rarity back in Season 1, since that was plot important. No, I’m talking about stuff like getting massages and luring Rainbow Dash away from her team last season (and abandoning Soarin’, the only Wonderbolt who seems like a good guy), Spitfire not raising a hoof to help the Ponyville team get the necessary water to Cloudsdale, or even totally ignoring the pony who saved their lives back at the Gala.

And then in this episode, we see that one of the original wonderbolts is a jealous old man who tries to ruin one career just to keep some pointless record. Yes, starting with Season 3 they tended to apologise for their actions and make amends at the end, but the fact is, they still did those things. They are the definition of celebrities who feel they can live without consequence, then when things do go wrong, they have to frantically apologize.

Am I over-analyzing this? Hell yes, of course I am. But I think that while it makes the Wonderbolts look terrible, it also makes them some of the most interesting characters on the show. As I said, the Wonderbolts can be seen as almost a cautionary tale to not idolize celebrities. Certainly look up to them and be inspired by them, but if I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that ANY celebrity can turn out to be a horrible person. And the Wonderbotls are this wonderful little microcosm of that idea. Yes, they can learn from their mistakes, but having characters held in such high esteem on the show make mistakes is a great teaching point.

That’s about all I have to say on this episode. I’ll be busy this weekend getting more things setup for my jump into the world of Freelancing, but that means I’ll be at my computer all weekend so I plan on getting some more work done regarding a certain story regarding a certain dark horse. See you soon!

-Brian J

I leave you with image of Top #1 2015 Horse Jerk. I really need to write about her one of these days...

Comments ( 4 )

one of the original wonderbolts

I don't think he was an original. He's just old.

And the fact that she still fangasms over them and was so excited to fly with them. I am honestly hoping for a wake up call episode for Rainbow Dash, where she realises how jerky these guys are, and I dunno, decides to do something else with her life. I mean, these guys are ostensibly a military unit (formed under the EUP) who were willing to kick somepony out without trial… well, not even with an investigation.

And in the end, she was still excited that YAY she got to fly with the wonderbolts. For all her ego, Rainbow Dash has zero self respect.

I dunno. Yes, the Wonderbolts have done sucky things before (Rainbow Falls comes to mind), but I think saying "the Wonderbolts are assholes" is a little too over-simplified. I mean, in this episode, the only one who did anything wrong was Wind Rider, and when it was discovered what he had done, he was stripped of his Wonderbolt status altogether by Spitfire. And then there's Soarin, who--unless I've having a major brain-fart--has never really been jerky to anyone.

I won't vouch for everything they've done, and you make a good point about them illustrating that celebrities are far from perfect, but... again, I dunno. I don't think they're bad ponies. They've just made mistakes, which they've been big enough to learn from. And if, say, Fluttershy can be forgiven for her actions in "Putting Her Hoof Down", I think there's hope for the Wonderbolts, too.

Meh. I'm probably over-analyzing your over-analysis, but yeah.

It's interesting how, going by Wind Rider's reaction to the team's reaction to his deceit, the Wonderbolts really are reforming themselves on a fundamental level. And I think Dash is the one to thank for that. The 'Bolts seem to be trying to live up to her example, almost out of shame. They seem to think, "Here's this incredible mare who's so virtuous, her loyalty is a fundamental component of rainbow friendship lasers. And she admires us. We need to get our house in order before we let her in."

Some of them may also add to that, "Otherwise, she's going to be horrified, and then we're going to pay for it."

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