Daring KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY [leaked episode spoilers!] · 1:28am Sep 4th, 2017
Hasbro done fucked up. :B This fucking season, I swear to god.
I hate to say it, because this really should have been the case well before now, but G. M. Berrow has finally written a good episode. She spent the entire time reminding us that she wrote the real Daring Do books, but I think we can forgive her a little self-indulgence, can't we?
I mean, overall, I'd put this square with Daring Don't in terms of quality: not amazing, but definitely fun. More importantly, it puts the lie to Campfire Tales fucking up its legend format. We get one legend this time, which means there's more depth to it, and more importantly, the framing story of the episode is actually interesting.
That said, it's really fucking weird that they used "Somnambula" as the name of this ancient pony hero. For those of you not up on your G1 lore, Somnambula was the name of a witch (from the episode with the Big Brother ponies) who stole the beauty of various ponies to keep herself looking young. Unabashedly a villain, and an odd fit; I mean, it'd be like the next legend's hero being named Katrina.
Still, I'm excited to see the rest of the Legends of Harmony, if they're not going to all follow Campfire Tales' example. And honestly, why was that episode even done that way? This could have been like the keys from season four, doled out one at a time so we can revel in the richness of Equestrian history and its badass legendary figures! Goddammit, are these people even trying anymore? :|
My one complaint about the episode is that... Okay, well, I have two, but the first isn't really strong. The "hero leaves destruction in their wake trying to stop worse destruction, so the public turns against them" plotline is something I am severely sick of. That said, it was quickly apparent that this was a case of one pony spreading rumors, and obvious Caballeron is obvious. So the actual complaint is how in the fuck did Doctor Accent and the Dipshit Crew capture the Rainbow Dash? Like, she literally just stood there, cowering, not, I don't know, flying away or something into the clear, open sky with no obstacles maybe Rainbow Dash you could have gotten away easily? It wouldn't have been hard for one of them to do... something to get her down.
(I mean, bolas might have been cut by censors, given that the obvious acid was called "slime". Like, what a serious ass-pull to make things kid-friendly. But something could have been done other than make Dash look slow, scared and stupid.)
But yeah, fun times. Probably have a lot to unpack after a rewatch.
Oh yeah, and if you look in the credits, you'll note a "Mrs. Trotsworth". Fans of the official novels will know that's the innkeeper. And her voice? G3 Pinkie Pie. :)
The Perfect Pear
A Royal Problem
Parental Glideance
To Change a Changeling
Fame and Misfortune
Honest Apple
All Bottled Up
Daring Done?
Rock Solid Friendship
Forever Filly
A Flurry of Emotion
Triple Threat
Discordant Harmony
Campfire Tales
Celestial Advice
Not Asking for Trouble
Hard to Say Anything
Fluttershy Leans In
You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song
Best Friends Until the End of Time
We're Not Flawless
Battle for Sugar Belle
The episode was 'meh' for me because of this (the little legend story was nice). Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt. A member of a paramilitary organization that requires intense physical and mental training. The goons should have been a pushover. As for Daring Do being set up, I think they keep linking her to Indiana Jones a bit much (to be fair, she is based off him) and he didn't exactly leave a clean room in his wake while being chased by Nazis. At least Daring Do wasn't responsible for the destruction of at least two ancient temples and just a big statue.
Still, it made the episode predictable. Of course, the show is made for kids, so catering to the more cultured and demanding audience is a bit much for writers who aren't paid all that much to begin with.
4657786
tbh, I kind of wished they had done this more; I was expecting a "leap of faith" solution straight out of The Last Crusade, and instead we got bullshit steam projectors? Like, what even is that?
At least it proves Pinkie can pegasus.
4657815
Well, maybe. If they're going to do that, they'll need to go full tilt, as you suggested. The steam was dumb and Pinkie Pie at least made it amusing.
Still RD was a straight-up wuss this episode and Daring Do completely lacked her usual confidence.
Yeah, Dash got the Distress Ball thrown at her hard enough to get lodged in her skull. Aside from that and the questionable choice in G1 homages, this was an enjoyable episode.
Right there with you on that, especially when it's obvious that even the people most negatively affected are way better off for their involvement. But what they really did to make it worse was that Daring didn't care about the harm she was causing as collateral damage; everything she said and did indicated her problem was that she was unpopular because of it.
I was really hoping it would turn out to be the case that she let them capture her (unfortunately failing in the "making it look good" department) to get Daring back in the game. Unfortunately, there's no indication that that's what happened.
4657815
Yeah, the gas jets were weird and disappointing. Also I was hoping they'd connect it back to the story a bit more, like there was never a bridge there at all or something.
Those aside, Dash worked well, AK was good after she got off the mope train, and Pinkie was employed judiciously and to good effect. Neat to get another legend*, and to just plain see somewhere else in Equestria.
*Though besides the G1 reference, why have someone famous for walking blindfolded named for sleepwalking?
4657851
I mean, I can kinda see a connection? :/
4657815
The steam puff whatever the fucks were the utmost bullshit. I actually was expecting a true leap of faith and it turns out the bridge was magic made out of hope or something, and would have been fine with that.
My only guess is that someone somewhere during the episode's creation brought up the idea that some idiot kid would actually jump to his death making "a leap of faith" if they showed that?
Also I fully expected "Somnambula" to mean Daring would be trapped in some nightmare world where everyone hates her for no reason and Dash and Pinkie had to save her. But what we got was okay too, I guess.
I am happy to see them mix it up with how they treat the legends, and this was easily my favorite of the four we've seen so far. But yeah, my only answer for why they did the first three as they did is that they were pressed for episodes and decided to get them out of the way quickly
This episode also basically made one of my Star Swirl stories canon. I'm happy.
4658077
But it's like... they could have not been pressed for episodes by deciding to make three episodes about three legends. <.< Poor planning this season.
4658030
Yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing I had hoped they'd be going for with that part.
4658116
May as well get poor planning in pre-production and poor planning and implementation in episode distribution/release out of the way in the same season?
4658224
I'm sure there's plenty more to come. :B
It's hard to get behind an adventure story when you know the plot by minute seven. Better than some episodes, but for what is supposed to be a reasonably tense drama it's a lot less tolerable. Especially for the painful trope plot and contrived solutions.
The Sphinx was pretty cool, though. The episode saved itself at the last minute from doing anything egregious, and was only cringey for the tropes. Overall an okay ride.
4657851
Partial agreement. I spent 20 minutes getting ready to agree with you, laughed out loud when Daring belatedly said "Oh, right, I should take responsibility," but was sufficiently charmed by the finale. Daring actually making it right to the people she screwed was the right lesson to learn, even though the line between cause and result there was a bit muddy.
EDIT: Anyone else love that Bad Disguise effectively won, only to blow it by needlessly revealing himself to Rainbow Dash? The monologue trope is fun, but it ain't too believable when the whole plan relies on deception and perception.
4658344
I gotta give it to you and the episode: you're right about the end. But I did not care for the path it took to get there, and the fact that it went down that path in the first place leaves a niggling question about the motivation for her actions at the end.
4658407
Yeah, it just felt... off. I can't fault the episode for brushing over Daring's collateral damage (it didn't), or say she was unrepentant (she was, and changed for the better). And there's also the simple fact she isn't just a plucky adventurer - she causes the damage by saving others from worse fates. But the ep still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I can't easily identify why. Like they should have made the collateral damage soley the baddie's invention (making a shallow, fun episode) or soley Daring's (teaching a mature lesson at the end). As it is I felt like we took the wrong route to the right moral, leaving me confused and vaguely dissatisfied.
I think I just have to leave it at, "the episode was tropey, but okay" and stop overthinking things.
4657786
ftfy fam
Sure everyone likes their fanfic, but the show Wonderbolts have never not gotten their butts handed to them, and that is when they bother to show up. They're like a reverse Harlem Globetrotters, a sports team who shows up off the court from time to time and always loses. If it were up to them, Scooby would have been ewten by the Loch Ness Monster and Fry would be a robot forever.
What they should've done was have strong pinkie pie throw the light Daring do at the platform and HOPED she was strong enough to do that and then she would untie the rope that tied Rainbow Dash up and throw it back to pinkie and have her haul them back up.
Of note is that this is at least the third time Rainbow Dash has gotten tied up in the series. ( magical mystery cure, and fall weather friends)
Kinky fucker.
Execution 9/10 but plot 5/10. I try not to be a jaded old man while watching pastel ponies. Remember that for a huge portion of the audience this is the very first time they're seeing these tropes. However, the over used plot points just didn't stick together strongly enough to excuse their tiredness.
And again they missed an opportunity to highlight how the writing of her novels affects her life. It would have made more sense for her to be deeply affected by what was written about her, but then learn by the end that what's written isn't always the whole truth, like with her daring do books.
I liked it well enough. I, too, was frustrated by just fly up, imbecile!, but the rest of it was okay. Always love seeing Equestria's past, so that was a lot of fun. The sphinx was pretty cool. Wish we'd seen a bit more of her, but, well, 22 minutes. Not awful, but not amazing either. a 7/10 for me.