Mini Re-Reviews: "Read It and Weep" - Season 2 Episode 16 · 11:12pm Mar 14th, 2020
RAINBOW DASH [sighs blissfully]: "The only thing that could have made that moment any better was if I had been able to go into the book and join Daring Do on her adventure!"
DISCORD: "You rang? That can be arranged quite easily, my dear Rainbow Dash."
RAINBOW DASH: "Discord! Nah, it's okay, I've been with Daring Do on several adventures since after we found out she was real."
DISCORD [grunts gruffly]: "Oh, yes, that's right. The fictional character turns out to be a secret autobiography series to fund expeditions that don't even make sense for taking place in modern-day Equestria in the slightest. Geez, and ponies say my return to the show was unwarranted and cheap..."
Is it any real surprise "Read It and Weep" is a extraordinarily well-liked episode for quite a fair shake of Friendship Is Magic fans? The episode's theme is about not knocking something before you try it, and discarding any preconceived notions based on what it appears to be or it being beneath or outside your range. While it's specifically here about reading, one could easily extrapolate it to be about almost anything. Perhaps even about a cartoon staring pastel ponies aimed at young girls. Just something that springs to mind.
Another thing that probably made the episode even more awesome at the time was that, after pieces of some episodes (like "Luna Eclipsed") chunks of "May the Best Pet Win!", and all of "The Mysterious Mare Do-Well" all trafficked in a rather rough and abrasive version of Rainbow Dash that rubbed more then a few viewers the wrong way, this episode finally made her humble without having to make her annoying along the way. It still falls into the formula of Dash's episodes of being about her ego, but it ditches the angle of her showing off her perceived awesomeness that got trotted out time and time again in earlier episodes. No, instead it's about something more. Even more then about Rainbow Dash liking reading, this episode, at the thematic level, is really about Rainbow Dash not feeling someone can be both a physical-minded person and also be a smart person. Not until the end is this spelt out, to its credit, for the theme makes itself softly and effectively felt by that time. And it is so nice and warm that Twilight responds to this worry of Dash's at the end. Being athletic and smart aren't mutually exclusive, and this is another moral that, though it may seem obvious, bears repeating even for adults, due to it often being forgotten. This makes the episode far more then the standard "don't knock it until you try it" stuff, and for me, it hits the sweet notion of stating that side of Rainbow Dash's self esteem without going so in-depth that it weights the episode down.
Like most MLP episodes, this thematic and character nuance remains dormant and as the subtext for much of the proceedings, as it instead indulges in two other very satisfying threads. One is the humour from Rainbow Dash, first as she staves off her boredom, and later whenever she tries to hide the book from others that visit her and send them on her way, and finally during her break-in and break-out attempt of the hospital-cum-prison. There's no shortage of gold here, from the meme game of Rainbow Dash losing the bouncing ball to the other side of the room, to Twilight's knowing looks when Dash tries to feign sleepiness (that Dash keeps going when she sees Twilight is not fooled is laugh worthy shouldn't be a surprise).
The other element is, of course, the imaginary sequences as Rainbow Dash reads the adventure book. I have no shortage of issues big and small with the direction taken with Daring Do in Season 4 and thereafter, but in this episode, it's perfect. It's an obvious Indiana Jones homage, but then again, that itself was an homage to 30's adventure serials (god, give it a decade and we'll have to start adding '19' to the front of that to avoid confusion - there's a sobering thought). Except for the cover image (admittedly distorted) it makes perfect sense she's a Rainbow Dash recolour, given Rainbow identifies with the adventuring heroine so quickly as for her to become a self-insert. There's not much to say on the scenes themselves, they do what they're supposed to and then some. Though the touches like the cinemascope ratio, withered edges and grainy filters are nice, of course, and Auhizotl is a awesomely designed character. Given this is the same season that introduced three Ponified Earth holidays that became series staples, it's fitting it also gave us this lovely tribute to the greatest series of adventure movies ever seen.
While I'm a bit beyond adoring this episode enough to consider it one of the series best (I think it's very consistently brilliant without having that one factor that would make it an unquestionable top-tier contender), it's still an easy 9/10. Fitting for the Rainbow Dash episode we wanted, and the one we deserved.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Incidentally, Twilight's delight as discovering that Dash loves reading now, it mirrors Fluttershy's delight when Dash wanted a pet in "May the Best Pet Win!", both in the level of the character's reaction and the delight it (presumably) provokes in the viewer.
- They could have mentioned the Battleship knockoff by name, given the company that produces it is a Hasbro subsidiary. Fair play for showing restraint there - more then can be said for the 2017 movie and its lame Hungry Hungry Hippos joke.
- Oh, the opening scene was a bit more lax and ordinary in its structure doing an admirable but disposable job of trying to hide the fact that it needed a quick way to land Rainbow Dash is hospital for a few days. That said, at least focusing on the others' reactions gave it something of a kick.
There definitely are a lot of really great things about the episode, but if you think about it, the actual plot is really basic, just being that Rainbow struggled to accept that she likes reading. I feel like the story was just a framing device to deliver cool action scenes. The symbolism is cool, but I feel like you're overselling it just a bit. I personally give the episode an 8.