SPOILERS! Mariusioannesp Reviews: "The Mane Attraction" · 8:02am Nov 22nd, 2015
WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for today’s MLP episode “The Mane Attraction.”
Now, without further ado, here is my review of “The Mane Attraction.”
Applejack is helping set up a concert for the Helping Hooves Music Festival. Pinkie Pie managed to get Equestria’s biggest pony pop star as the main attraction: the one, the only Lena Hall! I mean… Countess Coloratura! Coincidentally enough, Applejack knew the Countess when she was a young filly. When she arrives however, Applejack finds she’s not quite the same filly she went to camp with. She also suspects her manager of having an undue influence on her and is taking advantage of her. Will Countess Coloratura learn what it means to be a true friend and how that relates being true to yourself?
So, what’s the verdict?
See, this is how you do a musical episode!
Yeah, I liked it! I liked it a lot!
We begin with Applejack taking a lead role in putting the final touches on the Helping Hooves Music Festival. Pinkie was able to provide the lineup given her connections when doing the Ponypalooza Rock Concert. Wait a minute! Did the show just make a reference to something that happened in one of G.M. Berrow’s chapter books, specifically Pinkie Pie and the Rockin’ Ponypalooza Party? It appears they did. For anyone who still thinks they’re not canon, you’re wrong. Good on you Amy Keating Rogers for reading the books, I presume. Moving on, Pinkie was able to get the biggest pony pop star in all of Equestria as the main attraction of their music festival. Get it? Main attraction. Anyway, Applejack wonders if it’s Sapphire Shores, but it isn’t. Turns out after all this time, Pony Beyonce is only the second biggest pop star in Equestria. But hey, if you’re going to put a Tony Award-winning fan on the show, you give her top billing. Pinkie was able to get the one, the only Countess Coloratura! Yeah, I don’t know who she is either, and neither does Applejack. This leaves everypony shocked and Pinkie’s frizz is freaked. 
Though Applejack is unfamiliar with the Countess Coloratura, she did once know a Coloratura when she was a filly, noting the irony if this Countess Coloratura was the same as that Coloratura. Pinkie questions Applejack over this Coloratura’s cutie mark with some helpful props. 
Turns out, this Countess Coloratura is the Coloratura Applejack knew. Applejack knows Countess Coloratura! And Pinkie had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get the Countess there because she’s such a demanding diva! Applejack finds that hard to believe; the Rara she knew wasn’t like that. Yeah, she nicknamed her “Rara” because the name Coloratura was too fancy for her. Applejack explains how she met Coloratura as fillies at Camp Friendship and became fast friends. 
They seem a little more than just friends if you know what I mean, but that could just be me. What should we call them? Appletura? Colorjack? Ooh, Rarajack!
Anywho, the one thing Applejack remembers most about Rara was her colorful singing voice. Wait, how can a singing voice be colorful? Maybe it has something to do with her rainbow-colored musical notes cutie mark glowing when she sang. Is that more of this Cutie Mark magic? Sure. Why not? I don't know. They even wrote a song together at camp, a delightful little ditty called “Equestria, Land that I Love.” 
They wrote to each but eventually lost track of each other as childhood friends tend to do. But Applejack remembered how Rara always wanted to go to Manehattan to make it big as a singer. Still, Applejack expects her to be the same down-to-earth pony she remembers. She doesn’t have to wait long because immediately after, Countess Coloratura arrives. And it’s not quite what Applejack expects.
She arrives in a crystal-shaped sedan chair carried on the backs of a collection of muscular, half-dressed stallions. 
Why does this look familiar? 
Oh yeah. Hold on a second! Lady… Countess… Oh my gosh!
Looking at Countess Coloratura, it’s pretty clear she’s meant to be a bit of a send up of many of the eccentric pop stars that are popular these days, like Lady Gaga, Kesha, and Sia (Mostly because of the veil). This becomes even more apparent as the episode progresses.
She is joined by her manager named Svengallop.
No, you heard me right. His name is actually Svengallop! What does that even mean, you may be asking yourself if you’re an uncultured swine. But if you’re one of the literati like I am, then you know the name is a reference to Svengali, the villain of George Du Maurier’s novel Trilby. Svengali is a master manipulator and hypnotist who uses these skills to turn the novel’s eponymous heroine into a diva. So, you can clearly see what they’re going for here. And with such a high-minded reference. I also think it’s interesting we never see Svengallop’s cutie mark because he’s wearing a full-on three piece suit. He sides who he truly is so we can’t know his true intentions.
Applejack can’t believe this pony is Rara, but when she asks her, Coloratura remembers Applejack. However, Mr. Svengallop just has her stamp Applejack with one of her famous “hoofsies,” but she gives those out to everypony.
Ooo, my little monsters pay... lots 'cause I perform this way
Baby, I perform this way
Ooo, don't worry, I'm okay... hey, I just perform this way
I'm not crazy, I perform this way
Svengallop is quite proud of their entrance though he laments it was tarnished by Applejack’s presence. He questions whether Coloratura actually knows her and takes it as a sign of their success that she’s come a very long way since she first met Applejack. Svengallop then sees Pinkie to see if all his demands for Coloratura have been met. Apparently he asked for a little thing from each part of Equestria. Of course, Pinkie has everything because she’s Pinkie Pie and can do anything. Though she didn’t have straws for the twenty bottles of imported water from Rainbow Falls because according to Pinkie Svengallop never asked for straws though he says he did. Luckily, Pinkie happens to have the largest straw collection in all of Equestria.
She calls this one Fernando. 
Are you sure its name isn’t Alejandro, Alejandro, Ale-ale-jandro, Ale-ale-jandro?
Applejack still can’t believe how much her Rara has changed. And then she sees her perform. And it was quite the spectacle. That’s because the song is literally called “The Spectacle.” 
They even use magic to autotune her live. 
Another example of voice altering magic after Twilight’s Sonorous Charm in last week’s episode.
Don't call my name!
Don't call my name, Alejandro!
See. She’s Pony Lady Gaga. She’s Pony Gaga!
I wonder if there’s a Pony Adele.
Hello, it's me
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing
Where was I? Oh, yeah. We got a preview of “The Spectacle.” it’s clearly meant as a take on the pop songs these days that are infused with a bit of EDM. Know what I mean? What do you mean? Exactly! It’s probably indicative how much I go with the flow with certain popular musical trends that I really enjoyed this song and its performance.
Note also that Coloratura’s cutie mark doesn’t glow during this performance. That’s important.
Either way, I like to think that somewhere Cheese Sandwich is writing a parody of this song.
Tutti frutti
Nice and cold
Eat it all up, it’s a popsicle!
Anyway, um, um, where was I? Kinda lost my train of thought. Uh, well, uh, OK. Anyway, Applejack observes the goings on between Svengallop and Coloratura and finds that Svengallop doesn’t really compliment Rara, but all the bells and whistles he arranged for her. Rarity doesn’t think much of it because the effects make Countess Coloratura who she is. Applejack doesn’t think that would be a bad thing. So. the next thing on Coloratura’s roster is a visit to the Ponyville schoolponies. Svengallop wants to get her out of it, but Coloratura insists on doing it. It’s her favorite thing to do at these events. Applejack escorts her to said event, and sees a glimmer of the Somepony She Used to Know. 
Hey look, it’s Photo Finish!
There’s going to be a contest where a lucky schoolpony will win the chance to sing alongside Countess Coloratura. Coloratura meets the Cutie Mark Crusaders and shocks them into incoherence when she reveals that Applejack once wrote to her about Apple Bloom.
Look at their faces!
A problem has been detected and Apple Bloom has been shut down to prevent further damage to your pony.
Applejack happens to overhear Svengallop having an altercation with Pinkie. He’s demanding things for himself now, like premium Appleloosan oats and 500 pre-peeled, pre-cored apples in twenty-four hours. He threatens to pull Countess Coloratura from the festival if his demands are not met. Pinkie goes to Applejack with this problem, but Applejack is sure that Rara can straighten it all out. Applejack shares her concerns about Svengallop with Rara. Coloratura thinks Svengallop is entitled to few things since he works very hard as her manager, and she doesn’t believe Applejack when she says he threatened to pull her from the show. She’s convinced Svengallop supports her charitable efforts. She even has the gall to accuse Applejack of being jealous of her! She just can’t see that Svengallop doesn’t have her best interests at heart and is manipulating her.
After at least making an effort to get the apples ready of Svengallop, Applejack decides she won’t take this sitting down. She’s going to prove to Coloratura the truth about Svengallop. Applejack goes to Countess Coloratura once more and asks her for the chance to prove to her that what she’s saying is true, and she reluctantly agrees. Later on, once Applejack has all her friends ready, Coloratura calls Svengallop and tells him she wants to cancel the contest with the schoolfillies. Svengallop is ecstatic over this because he’s been wanting Coloratura to cancel the contest because it does nothing to promote the image he has created for her. Svengallop goes off with Pinkie to discuss this change in events. Since he won’t have to oversee the contest, he wants her to schedule a spa treatment for him, and if she doesn’t, he’ll pull Coloratura. When he returns to Coloratura, he finds that Twilight Sparkle is now projecting his conversation with Pinkie on a screen with her horn. So, Twilight is a human camera now. That must make it easy to get a Unicorn’s eyewitness testimony in an Equestrian court of law. Anywho, now Coloratura sees Svengallop for who he truly is, how he’s been using her name to intimidate ponies into getting stuff for him. Svengallop insists he deserves it because he made Countess Coloratura who she is; without him, she would have been nothing. She tells him that he knows nothing about who she really is. Svengallop storms off, wishing her luck without him. And that’s the last we see of him.
Applejack feels bad about what happened, and asks her if she’s still up for the concert that night. The show must go on she says. 
However, right before the show, Coloratura is freaking out! She worries that Svengallop has been right all along; he’s the reason for her success because he handled everything. Applejack assures her though that Svengallop turned her into Countess Coloratura so he could pretend to be her friend and reap the perks of her being a star. A true friend helps their friends be true to themselves. That’s the real perk of friendship. And it’s also a lesson I can stand behind!
So Rara goes out there as herself and does an unplugged performance of the song we’ve been waiting this whole episode for. I was all tingly with anticipation. That’s right! It’s a fully-rendered version of the song previewed earlier this year at the San Diego Comic Con! Now officially titled “The Magic Inside.” It will always be “I Am Just A Pony” deep in a soft spot in my heart.
She’s got an orchestra behind her. One of those shadows looks familiar.
Octavia? We do know now she lives in Ponyville with Vinyl.
I like how the Unicorns light their horns like they used to do at concerts in the olden days with lighters. These days people just use their phones. It’s kind of lame if you think about it.
Her cutie mark starts glowing too. So you know she’s finally being true to herself.
This song… “The Magic Inside”... It’s just like MLP’s “Let It Go” moment! If Hasbro puts it up on their Hasbro Shorts Youtube channel, I assure you it will go viral!
And it is just as successful in the episode itself! Rara tells the assembled ponies how when she arrived at the festival, she had forgotten who she truly was. It was her old friend Applejack who reminded her what it means to be a true friend and how you can’t go wrong when you’re true to yourself. Another lesson I can stand behind! But Rara still has a surprise for Applejack. She brings up the CMC, and they all sing her and Applejack’s old song “Equestria, Land that I Love.” She even brings Applejack up at the end to do the triangle.
Awwa. Is Rarajack your OTP yet?
Let’s start these final thoughts by talking a little more about the mare of the hour (or rather half-hour), the artist formerly known as Countess Coloratura.
Coloratura is portrayed by Lena Hall. We all know of Lena Hall by now. She’s the Tony Award-winning Broadway star who ended her acceptance speech at the Tony’s with “Friendship is Magic!” And that shout-out earned her a guest appearance on MLP. Anyway, Lena Hall still brings all that Tony Award-winning acting talent to such a humble role. Her musical talents are also on display as she has to perform songs in two decidedly different musical genres. Either way, she knocks it out of the park. Personality-wise, Coloratura is a rather complex character. She was willing to revamp her entire image at her manager’s request for the sake of success. Still, you notice the little moments where she holds on to those things that make her herself. She may have been manipulated by Svengallop, but she’s not gullible either. Once she knew what was up, she was willing to go off on her own and re-embrace who she truly was as a performer. So, I would love it if Coloratura made further appearances on MLP. How possible that is I don’t know. I haven’t the least idea what else Lena Hall is up to.
Let’s talk a little bit about Svengallop. I had been hoping against hope when I found out what this episode was about that the manager was going to be Zeb from G1 My Little Pony. Of course, that wasn’t the case. Either introducing another Zebra who’d have to rhyme was too hard for the writers or introducing a non-rhyming Zebra character would throw everything off. (In Amy Keating Rogers’ Journal of the Two Sisters book, it’s implied that all Zebras rhyme.) Despite that, naming the manager Svengallop allowed them to make that reference to Svengali so good on them for that. What’s most interesting about Svengallop is that he is another example of what I have called in the past a Real Life Villain. That is a type villain that is likely to be encountered in the real world. For those among us who will be lucky to find success in life, you will most likely run into people a lot like Svengallop. People who pretend to be your friend only to take advantage of your success. What’s even more interesting though is that Svengallop is just the latest of a string of antagonists who are Real Life Villains introduced in just this season, following Starlight Glimmer, Spoiled Rich, and even Principal Cinch in Friendship Games if you want to count that as part of Season 5.
At least some have. Pardon the French by the way. Either way, it is quite the trend that has developed.
As for what is wrong with this episode… Once again, I got nothing. This was a very well-executed episode, and it was a great way to bring the season to a close.
As you also may know, this is the last episode Amy Keating Rogers wrote for MLP. At least she’s leaving on one of Lena Hall’s high notes. That’s the most we could hope for in this situation. I would like to hope Amy Keating Rogers the best of luck on her future endeavors with the House of Mouse. Thank you for all the joy that you’ve brought while a part of MLP.
Overall, “The Mane Attraction” was a great episode. It’s a fitting penultimate episode of the season to start bringing everything to a close. It was a great opportunity for our Tony Award-winning fellow Brony Lena Hall to be a part of MLP, a show we all love very much. And it was the perfect send-off for Amy Keating Rogers.
What did you all think of “The Mane Attraction”?
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
Another episode we both enjoyed.
It is interesting how Season 5 (along with Friendship Games) has put more focus on "real-life" villains. But I suppose the time-traveling antics of Starlight Glimmer will equal that on the magical side of things.
3565275 Yeah, I suppose it will. Starlight will go from "Real-life villain" to "Doctor Who villain."
Yoooooooooo, digga that's brilliant. That needs to be done.