Doctor Perseus Reviews: "Newbie Dash" *SPOILERS* · 7:54pm May 7th, 2016
In this week's episode of MLP, Rainbow Dash finally achieves her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. But is her dream everything she really hoped for?
Back in 2010, who could have imagined that MLP would have come this far? Many shows of its nature have had characters with big dreams. Normally, the show would end well before we would ever see said characters achieve their ambitious dreams. The work would then be placed upon fanfic writers and and fan artists to detail these unseen events. But this is not the case with MLP. Within the past few seasons, we have begun seeing these characters achieve their dreams and develop beyond that. Rarity has begun to expand her reach within Equestria's fashion world, the Cutie Mark Crusaders earned their cutie marks, and now Rainbow Dash has finally officially become a Wonderbolt. So, yeah, I liked this episode. Though I do have a couple problems with it.
Firstly, I'll say that Rainbow Dash was pretty spot-on throughout the episode. Her struggles throughout the episode were very relatable and we got to delve a bit into Rainbow's psyche. Here, we got to see the very first time she was ever called "Rainbow Crash". And while she was eventually able to get over it with her childhood bullies, we see old wounds open up when her fellow teammates begin referring to her as such. However, it's here where my personal gripes with the episode lie. And it's not with the writing. It's not with anypony's characterization. It's not even something I can really call a negative with the episode. It's more or less something to do with my own personal tastes as a viewer. A lot of this episode, for me, was very cringy. Not because I found it to be bad, poorly written, or anything like that. It all stems to how Rainbow Dash is treated throughout the episode and the various embarrassing ways she messes up. Now, something like what was seen in this episode is nothing new. But it's always something that makes me cringe no matter what show I'm watching. When I watch episodes like this, I find myself feeling incredibly empathetic with the struggling character in question. I find myself feeling their awkward embarrassment and, as a result, it can make certain scenes hard for me to watch. A lot of parts of this episode felt like extended versions of the anthem scene from Equestria Games. I can't really hold it against the episode as this really depends how empathetic a viewer can allow themselves to be about characters in media. For me, it's usually second instinct. Especially during embarrassing moments.
On that note, let's move on to the Wonderbolts. There's been a running theme for quite some time with episodes featuring the Wonderbolts as the focus showing them as complete assholes. Thankfully, this episode did manage to go against my expectations with the final scene with Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts. Not only was Rainbow Dash's past exploits of saving Equestria acknowledged (thank Christ for that, it seems like it's WAY too often that ponies seem to forget that the Mane 6 have saved Equestria countless times by this point) but the Wonderbolts were allowed to show their more friendly and joking sides. I think the overall message is supposed to be about how everyone has rough first days and it's okay to mess up because you'll get better. Or maybe I missed the message entirely. But I was happy with how the episode wrapped up.
The rest of the Mane 6, Spike, and the CMC got some funny moments throughout the episode and the bit with Rainbow Dash acting like her friends was pretty entertaining. Aside from that, there's not much for me to add.
Overall, Newbie Dash is a fine episode. It probably won't be one of my favorite Season 6 episodes but I enjoyed it enough. Hopefully it opens the door for more interesting Rainbow Dash and Wonderbolt stories in the future.
Next week's episode is A Hearth's Warming Tail!
It's Hearth's Warming Eve and everypony is excited. Everypony except for Starlight Glimmer. Twilight decides that to cure Starlight of her holiday blues, she will read her one of her favorite Hearth's Warming Eve stories, "A Hearth's Warming Tale.
A Christmas episode in May. Why not?
What did the rest of you think of Newbie Dash?
Yeah, the Wonderbolts may be jerks to some people but not to me. They're like us, flawed but still generally good peo-er, ponies at heart. Yeah, Christmas in May why not is right? Heck, I've got a Christmas themed side story for Once a Time lord planned and knowing me it'll probably be released nowhere near winter, or fall for that matter.
"A Christmas episode in May. Why not?"
Don't they plan these out ahead of time?
How hard is it for them just to align the episodes to the actual holidays, seriously. It would be very nice to see an mlp Christmas special during Christmas.
On the topic of the episode, I liked it. The part where she imitated her friends was incredibly cringy, I could barely watch that part I was so embarassed for her for that. But it's not the first time I've shied away from something out of embarrassment.
The rest of it was quite enjoryable. It's nice to see Rainbow actually get into the Wonderbolts, and I hope this leads to some more interesting episodes down the line. There was also a plethora of cute dashie scenes, which I always welcome. I'll most likely end up drawing at least one of those (dibs on filly trash dash).
"I'm pret-ty beat. Y'know, from all the excitement of my big day?"
What black magic is this!?
"Um…is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?"
Something is wrong.
"What could be wrong? I'm finally a Wonderbolt, which means everything has to be totally. Perfectly. Awesome."
Something is most certainly wrong here!
"Oh no, something is wrong. What happened, darling?"
Wait, they actually noticed?
You wanna know something funny? This episode was written by new comer Dave Rapp, who received help with the story by veteran writer Dave Polsky. That's right, 2 writers both named Dave worked together on the same episode. In other words, "Newbie Dash" is a case of...
DAVECEPTION!
I liked this episode as, though possibly a bit more than you did. I go all into why in my own review. Personally, I like those moments when MLP or any show for that matter makes me sympathize with a character to the point that I feel embarrassed for them. Perhaps it's because I have deep concerns for how apathetic I tend to be.
No.