Mini Re-Reviews: "Hurricane Fluttershy" - Season 2 Episode 22 · 8:30pm Apr 2nd, 2020
DISCORD: "Ah yes, Eye of the Fluttershy. I must say, Fluttershy, once I looked back and saw this moment, I was quite moved, you know. You really did very well, pushing yourself that much. And you look so cute when you're working out too!"
FLUTTERSHY: "Oh! Why thank you, Discord! It wasn't easy to face my fears, but it was totally worth it, for my friends needed me!"
DISCORD: "Also, seeing your animal friends using masks of other ponies as a stimulus was a hoot too! I'll have to remember that one for future chaos."
FLUTTERSHY: "...oh Discord. Don't ever change."
"Hurricane Fluttershy" is to Fluttershy (and Rainbow Dash to a lesser extent) what "Sisterhooves Social" was to Sweetie Belle & Rarity. It is her signature quality episode, the one that leaps to mind when most of us think of Fluttershy episodes. As far as I can tell, ever since its release it has frequently been considered one of the best episodes of the show's best season. Ever after 221 episodes, it's still a frequent contender on top ten lists. Leading up to this rewatch, you might say this episode had a lot to live up to. Could it hold up to that?
I'm happy to report that it did; "Hurricane Fluttershy" fires on all of FiM's cylinders, bouncing from funny to tear-inducing to exhilarating to fun and back again without breaking a sweat the whole way through. It is a character piece, a lore-building episode, sports enough good comedy (some of it of the sports movie variety, happily enough), an exhilarating adventure episode (of sorts) with important stakes, and so on. It is that rare beast, a FiM episode which is many things successfully but rightfully foregrounds the things that matter.
Among the many things the episode does brilliantly, we could do worse then look at the plot: in a season with a few Earth-inspired holidays, the lore here already feels like a refreshing throwback to Season 1 levels of how much the ponies are intertwined with nature, with the concept of an annual ferrying of water from a random reservoir to Clousdale, to keep it stocked enough to produce rainclouds for Equestria. But at the same time, it feels very nicely modern for a sporting competitive event to have been made out of it, though thankfully when push comes to shove later both the episode and Dash have their hearts in the right place when it comes to the event's importance for the land over the glory that comes with it. Also, further confirmation that Equestria is mostly late 19th-century levels of technology with the old film reel.
I mentioned Rainbow Dash earlier, didn't I? While this is assuredly a Fluttershy episode, it straddles the line between the two quite closely (enough that Dash gets more screentime in the first half) and alongside Read It and Weep serves as something of a nice refresh to her jerky moments earlier this season. The big thing is, it's not just some sudden flip as a result of poor writing: as demonstrated by the moment where she catches herself in lashing out to Fluttershy and starts over more gently, this is something she's still struggling with. Even if she doesn't admit it to anyone, she's trying to keep her more negative tendencies in check, and given how often she has to refocus when things go awry this episode, that's beautiful to see.
A complaint sometimes levelled at Fluttershy (though not in this episode) is that her episodes have her learn the same lesson of facing her fears over and over again. It's an irksome complaint (one regretfully taken literally in "Fame and Misfortune") because, firstly, it's not really true - her episode do deal with anxieties, but they're largely different specifics of them, and anxieties don't just all fall down once one of them in conquered. More importantly, that's not how social anxieties works - dealing with them is an ongoing process, and even when a lot of progress is made, it's still a struggle and is prone to backsliding here and there.
I bring all this up because it's something this episode gets and is fully ingrained into its system. There are lots of times throughout the episode where any standard kids' cartoon would go for the overly optimistic solution that nonetheless presents an unrealistic view on life. But that's not something "Hurricane Fluttershy" ever considers. Consider Fluttershy's adorably awesome training montage: she improves immeasurably in her provided wingpower, but is still far behind the rest of the pegasi. And even when she pushes a bit further during the climatic tornado event, it's still not near the 10 wingpower most of the others were a (it seems to be an inch over 5). Likewise, it seems all episode that breaking the record is the main goal; there was no requirement for the subplot of several pegasi getting sick such that it's well beyond reach and even hitting the minimum might be in jeopardy, except it's both a nice touch of realism, heightens the final stakes to more empathetic levels, and allows for a sweet moment on Rainbow Dash's part where she easily shelved losing a chance at the record for the greater good of the task at hand. These and many more are all obvious things any viewer will notice, but together, they really contribute to the episode.
I may not have touched on the episode's emotion much, so rest assured that when it needs to hit, it hits: it's not a massive tearjerker by any stretch, but I'll admit I wept a little during Fluttershy's darkest hour right before her Eye of the Tiger-style training montage. The episode also further demonstrates the great sense of community in Ponyville, both by having all pegasi involved and by having Twilight and Spike as monitors of training and the event itself (boy, good thing this episode was done before S4, eh?). Their usage is another good example of how to use the right character in small side roles. The final event itself it suitably thrilling and visually fast-paced, making for an exhilarating sequence. Literally the only flaw in the episode is the way it presents Spitfire as just standing by while they struggle to reach the quota; all they needed was a shot of her about to spring into action when Fluttershy manages to speed up just enough to do the job. But such a thing is surplus to the episode's ultimate emotional thrust, so it's all good.
Really, though, the episode all comes down to Fluttershy, and I have to once again commend the nuance of her social anxieties as shown throughout the episode. Given how well they're done here, perhaps it's no so surprising people accused later episodes of having her learn the same lesson again, given how well it was aced here. Aced well enough that, when factored in with everything else this episode does, it merits a 10/10, becoming the series' 4th episode to do so around these parts. Season 2, my friends!
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Everyone I've ever asked their favourite episode of who has Fluttershy as their favourite pony has cited this episode. EVERYONE. That shows how well-regarded this episode is, I feel.
- Unless the 8 absent pegasi had an average wingpower of 13.75 (for 110 extra on top of the 800.? they eventually scored, to inch past the record of 910 from Fillydelphia from last year), the group wouldn't have broken the record even with them present. Given the difficulty most of them had in breaking 10, I highly doubt that. I know, I'm such a math nerd, to realise that the instant those figures came up, and remember it enough to write it down here for you all.
- This is also the rare episode from this era that has Muffins/Derpy present in many crowd shots without ever drawing attention to her, which I feel is a good, fine balance (also, she's not portrayed as clumsy in this one at all). Nice for those fans, I guess. Me, I'm more enjoying the introduction of a certain Bulk Biceps. Hilariously funny joke character (also voiced by series director Jayson Thiessen here, and later in "Wonderbolts Academy" and "Equestria Games"; presumably the same union issues that led to Jim Miller not reprising Sombra in S9 also led to Michael Dobson taking over the character thereafter).
I agree with your thoughts on this episode, but I disagree with you saying all the Fluttershy episodes were different. Like, they're not the exact same, but they're usually all related to performing. I think the episodes feel unique enough that it's not a massive problem, but I think it is an issue, and why Post-Season 4 Fluttershy is much better, when they really started exploring more facets of her in her focus episodes, and even in episodes when she's playing a supporting role.