My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Season 7 Episode 7: "Parental Glideance" (SPOILERS) · 3:21pm May 20th, 2017
In which we get a look into the extremely loud and obnoxious past of Rainbow Dash.
Ho boy.
So this episode begins with Scootaloo trying to launch herself to Cloudsdale with a slingshot and the other Crusaders helping her, until at the last minute they remind her that there are a half dozen other, safer ways to get there--far too late, as Scootaloo doesn't get a chance to get out of the slingshot before it sends her flying. But, miracle of miracles, she makes it to Cloudsdale and pops up right in the front yard of Rainbow Dash's childhood home.
Cue. The. Shrieking.
I don't really want to talk about this episode all that much, to be honest. Yeah, it's got some funny moments, but honestly, I was cringing my way through most of this episode. We meet Rainbow Dash's parents, Windy Whistles and Bow Hothoof. They're THOSE parents--the loud, obnoxious ones who overcheer their only child's every accomplishment, no matter how minor. Most of their house is a shrine to their daughter. Scootaloo geeks out at every little thing in the house, especially the creepier, more humiliating things.
Anyway, Scootaloo is writing a report on Rainbow Dash for school, so meeting her parents and learning all this pre-Ponyville stuff about her is a dream come true. But it turns out that Rainbow Dash never told her parents she's a Wonderbolt (Umm. Do pegasi not get newspapers and such?), so it's Scootaloo's privilege to introduce Rainbow's parents to their daughter the Wonderbolt.
Bow and Windy show up at practice and thoroughly embarrass Rainbow Dash. The rest of the Wonderbolts are amazingly cool about it instead of being the raging jerkasses we've seen from past episodes. Bow and Windy being around keeps getting on Dash's nerves to the point where she blows up at them and hurts their feelings. Scootaloo chews her out for it, Rainbow makes up with her parents, and Scootaloo gets a B on her report for having too many pictures and half a moldy sandwich in it.
Oh, and this episode all but confirms Orphanloo as canon, which...I am honestly not especially fond of. I've always hated the Orphanloo trope and have done my best to torpedo it at every opportunity, but here it is pretty much canon now.
But that isn't the reason for my low score on this episode. I give this episode a 5/10 because I was cringing my way through it and because this episode is unnecessarily obnoxiously noisy. The 5 points pretty much go to the cavalcade of continuity nods and cameos, especially the bit where Derpy's eyes derp more and more as she drops lower in the standings.
(The sound effect door is a funny gag, though.)
No, Rainbow, just... no.
Their only sin was caring too much, and you cut them out of your life completely.
Is this the true extent of your loyalty?
*Sigh*
Rainbow's screwups have been particularly epic lately, and I can't help but wonder if the writers actually understand her.
As far as Orphanloo goes; I took Scootaloo's line as more of "my parents aren't very supportive." Which is still terribly sad. I dunno, I just interpreted it more that way.
Honestly, for me, this episode was the best of the season until today's Canadian episode.
And while there IS some cringe, it's the funny kind of cringe that I've come to expect from the show.
As for the Orphanloo thing, I honestly think her parents being dead is a less depressing option than them being around and not having the time for her.
I thought it was established a long time ago that Rainbow liquid is spicy as sh*t.
And the Wonderbolts spin-dried that in front of RD's parents. All of them, like a mace conga line.
I was hoping for a little screaming, at least.
4539942
Now now...be fair. Your relationship with your parents can be your most complicated of all relationships. And it's easy to understand where Rainbow is coming from. Her parents are...a bit much.
So will this be the polarizing episode of the season since I've heard alot of people (including myself) call this the best episode of the season. Course after episode 10 that might just change...
4539942
You can't really blame RD for her being upset at all. Her parents weren't just being overwhelming, over-the-top "supportive", they were being intrusive, disruptive and blind while ruining others' fun for everypony else, as well as being obliviously blind to RD's true feelings.
At this point she needed to put her hoof down HARD, those things NEEDED to be said because they were interrupting her while she was AT WORK. Those fireworks could've hurt someone, and seriously? Cheering over a TOWEL?
Yeah, RD should've been slightly less aggressive, but her parents were basically proving her right in why she didn't tell them in the first place. Heck it was shown in a flashback that even when her parents were aware of her accomplishments they still went overboard with their celebrations.
Not to mention that they as ADULTS themselves should have known better. They basically distrupted the Wonderbolts practice routine as well as their actual shows, and were completely oblivious to how uncomfortable they were making everyone else.
So yeah, RD wasn't in the wrong for snapping here.
4539972
Yes, and I understand that, truly I do. A rocky relationship with one's parents can make things complicated.
The way I see it, the problem is her parents weren't abusive, they were just excessive. I'm aware that the word abuse is an emotionally charged word, and that some people may disagree with me on that point.
But there can surely be no doubt that Rainbow's parents truly love her, even if they didn't show that in an appropriate way.
I just think that Rainbow likewise made a poor decision in the way she claimed her independence.
4539942 No, I'm sorry but Rainbow Dash was firmly in the right, especially with her background story. Her parents TWICE put the Wonderbolts indirectly in danger and wouldn't shut up and leave her alone! She had every right to chew them out, especially if they couldn't see for themselves how bad they were being! I feel like this episode kind of has the same problem I had with "Flutter Brutter" and "Top Bolt", I'm supposed to root for these characters that the episode claims are good characters who just need a little bit of time to learn, but I see nothing to really make them sympathetic. It's not as bad in this case, but I still find the conflict VERY one sided in Rainbow Dash's favor.
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4539986
4539982 The issue I see is that in the episode Rainbow is the only one who has any issues with her parents behavior. No one else voices a complaint and even the other Wonderbolts don't look bothered. I mean okay other ponies in the stands moved away from them but other than that no one seemed to mind.
So given that, Rainbow was wrong to blow up at her parents, if others were as bothered as she was then maybe it would have been justified but instead she should have just talked with them about it like an adult.
4539949
Indeed. All she says that she never had anyone tell her she'd be the best at anything. Admittedly, that doesn't leave many favorable possibilities for her parents—the best option seems to be "overworked"—but there are still plenty of interpretations that leave them alive.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
4539987 And chewing them out is how she should have started, I think, not abandoning them. The impression I got was that she didn't even try beforehand.
A mix feeling episode that tells that being a fan is okay, but fanboyism is horrendous.
What I find interesting is that Rainbow knew all the Wonderbolts and Lightening Dust (will this be her only reminder?) during her childhood while she ascended the podium.
I don't think neither this episode specifically implies Scootaloo's an orphan, just she don't receive as much support as she wish to.
Also spotted Doctor Whooves and Rose Luck together in the booth.
To be fair, the shrieking.... Yeah. But i enjoyed it because the Wonderbolts were finally portrayed the right way and more Derpy backstory.
4539970 That's only if you eat it or, I think this is true, get it in your eyes.
There's only so much "support" one person can take, and Rainbow did the right thing with her parents; they needed that. The door gag was definitely something. Also, the foal Wonderbolts, and Lightning Dust, were a bit out of place, in my opinion. And we should've gotten, maybe, just a bit more of a backstory with Scoots' family.
4539970 Could be that the 'Bolts are using show formula rainbow juice, processed to be pony-safe so they can splash crowds with that move.
4539986 I have no idea why you're bringing abuse into this. Nobody ever even SUGGESTED such a thing. Rainbow's just embarrassed by her parents being too over-the-top.
4540002 You seem to be reading some REALLY extreme things between the lines here. "Rainbow Dash doesn't tell her parents she's a Wonderbolt now" is not the same thing as "Rainbow Dash abandons her parents entirely". It's not even in the same ballpark.
i think dashie had the right to be mad here, snapping at them maybe not. but still her parents needed to back off a bit. other than that im sad that dashies mom is not firefly....."you dashed my hopes most effortlessly sir" i say to hasbro.
The way I see it, Scootaloo could be the middle child of a large family -- say, 5 kids or more. Middle children often get less attention because they're not the first to go through things (eldest) and they're not the last (youngest). We've already seen Scoots' room, which looked a bit lavish for an orphanage. Scoots never said her parents were dead -- just that they didn't give her the kind of attention Rainbow Dash got from her folks.
If anything, what got confirmed to me is RD is an only child. No way two parents devote that much time and resources to more than one kid.
The shrieking was grating, but I have to give Maddie Peters some mad props for not only getting her voice that high, but for the duration of the squeals. Her voice had to be wrecked after recording this episode.
Yeah, the cringe was strong with this eppy. Time will tell where this one ranks in association with the others, and with the series overall. There are others I dislike more -- I'm glaring at you, Spike At Your Service -- but it's too early to say this is the best or worst of Season 7.
Funny enough, your thoughts and feelings on this is mostly the same way I felt about Brotherhooves Social. An episode containing the kind of cringe humor that's just a bit too much for our personal tastes, but the end message and moral (I don't know how you felt about this particular episode's message and moral) is so great that I gotta give it more than half.
As for me, this episode didn't make me cringe as much, as the animation, facial expressions, continuity nods, and gags I felt were legitimately funny more often than not (although the parents firing fireworks in the middle of a Wonderbolt stunt show, especially in the middle of the area where it could hit one of the Wonderbolts, was crossing the line). Then again, I suppose it is personal preferences and tastes.
As for Orphanloo, I feel like the way they said all of this doesn't truly confirm anything. It could mean either way. As Claw in Cursive explained, it could be that Scootaloo is the middle child or just the kind of child that doesn't get as much appreciation from her parents as Rainbow Dash's. Once again, I'm on the fence about the Orphanloo stuff, but the most important thing I took away from this is how Scootaloo isn't appreciated as much as a child should be at the minimum, which is why she not only looks up to Rainbow Dash, but also RD's parents. Whether you believe in Orphanloo or not, it's really tragic when you think about it.
My guess is that Scootaloo is like another creation of the mind that, after admittingly screwing up Dexter's Lab, decided to transform a male antagonist into Trrrrrrrrrrixie Lulamoon in that she's a massively-outnumbered sibling standing in the shadow of a herd of brothers who live lives of being crazy-awesome.
Yes.......that's right......I'm thinkin' Lincoln.
The door gag was the single best part about the episode. I have to agree, Rainbow's parents were immensely annoying and unlike Zephyr Breeze, they weren't sometimes able to get a chuckle out of me. I will give the episode credit though, it does explain why Dash's ego and arrogance rival Vegeta's.
Actually word of god strongly hinted that its more her parents are so uninvolved in her life that she may as well not have parents (comments from the writers seem to support the latter). For her to claim that she had no one to encourage or support her growing up goes way beyond having parents that are simply busy, especially considering the disability Scootaloo has to deal with.
4539961
Explain to me kindly how parents being dead is less harsh a fate than Scootaloo'a parents merely being extremely busy? It is better to have parents who can't always be there, as opposed to parents who can never be there, because they have left the mortal coil.
4541000 The way I see it is this:
Them being way too busy to be there much would make it so that the few times they can be with her are simply teases of what her relationship with them COULD be like, which makes the fact that it can't be that strong even more apparent.
Them being dead prevents those teases of what her life could be like, which means that, as a whole, it's less depressing.
4539996
Actually no she wasn't, her parents interrupted her AT. WORK. And as I said before her parents as ADULTS themselves should have known better than this. They shot off fireworks during their shows and almost hit someone.
So yeah, RD wasn't in the wrong for snapping here.