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| "The red one? Accounts. Now you know why I only have the one cloak" |
I should have known better. "Daring Doubt" was an immensely frustrating episode, not short on fun little moments and nice visual design, but faring less well when it came to coherence and continuity. Am I being harsh when I say that the latter is not a surprise from a Dubuc episode? I don't think I am. I'm also disappointed that we didn't get that RD/FS adventure, not really, even though it was (largely) an adventure featuring those two ponies. We never will now, either.
Starting with something I did enjoy: the first act was really rather fun, barring the odd bit of clunky exposition reminding the viewers that A. K. Yearling and Daring Do were one and the same pony. Here, Rainbow and Fluttershy (two T's) were allowed to operate together for a while, and I revelled in that. I was also pleased that Dash instantly recognised Caballeron under his light disguise, something she failed to do in "Daring Done?" a few seasons ago.
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| "It's one of the fabled Towers of Haynoi!" |
Meanwhile, Rainbow and Daring were racing to stop Caballeron, who they were convinced (rightly, as it turned out) had rather less pure motives in taking the treasures than he'd claimed in his pseudonymous book. (On which score, "Groom Q. Q. Martingale" was a fun parody name.) Naturally, they ran into trouble fairly quickly, in the shape of Daring's other old enemy, Ahuizotl. He misread the absence of the jungle cats (actually tamed by Flutters) as being Daring's work.
Inside the temple, Caballeron's shiftiness as he "cleverly" persuaded Fluttershy to retrieve the Truth Talisman of Tonatiuh couldn't have been more obvious if he'd been wearing a sign saying, "DO NOT TRUST ME", and I do think 'Shy should have been at least a little bit sceptical in S9. Still, before long the Talisman would be a major part of the ongoing story – and on some occasions to considerable comic effect – so I suppose I can let this one go.
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| "In truth... this is a pretty stupid ending, isn't it?" |
And then there's Ahuizotl. Now, this is Friendship is Magic, and a central message since the S1 premiere has been redemption. So I don't absolutely object to his being reformed in some way. But not like this, not in a way that's almost insulting to viewers' intelligence. We saw in S4's "Daring Don't" that Ahuizotl was quite happy to "unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting, sweltering heat!" Those are not the actions of a misunderstood valley guardian.
As for this episode, I'd call it yet another missed opportunity. A true Daring Do adventure with her and Dash bringing today's more-assertive Fluttershy along for the ride could have been wonderful. They never got a map episode together, so surely the show could give me this one? But no. Instead, Dubuc served up a mish-mash. Entertaining ingredients aplenty, but they didn't gel into a coherent dish and in the end they left a less than satisfying taste in the mouth.
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| "Aw, you're so cute. Now, would you like some henchpony steaks?" |
Best moment: Fluttershy being concerned for spider welfare
Worst moment: Ahuizotl, who we'd just been informed was a vital guardian of the valley's treasures, promptly leaving them to go and read books to foals
Yays
- Plenty of funny touches, both verbal and visual
- Fluttershy winning Caballeron's ponies over with her determined kindness
- Continuity. Okay, actual continuity would be a yay. But negative continuity isn't.
- A missed opportunity for a true RD/FS adventure
- Redemption itself is fine. Doing it like this was trite
- There are two sides to every story, sure... but sometimes one side is bad
While I admit that the episode did have a few issues going in, it all centers on one thing more than just making closure: This episode was about the search for truth. On one hand, it was a struggle to know if this was a Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy episode when for all intent and purposes they could've easily made the episode where both were involved at the same time (Not having them split for the middle of the episode, till the end). But throughout the whole series, it was always pretty black and white: Daring Do would secure the artifacts for safety and defeat either Caballeron or Ahuizotl (Sometimes both) because they are the run of the mill bad guys. And along comes this scheme, which obviously had Caballeron written all over it making up all these facts that not only is Daring Do guilty of doing some questionable deeds... But he also tries to ruin the sanctity of the character by revealing that all her escapades are 'real'. It's no wonder why Rainbow Dash would be just as upset as A.K. Yearling, any person who's private life is revealed in someone's book would be rightfully upset... Fluttershy, on the other hoof, is a different case.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning, Fluttershy wanted to know what was really going on with this whole Caballeron debate. True the previous encounters with the guy would prove that he seems 'bad for the sake of being bad' (Even PINKIE PIE would vouch on that) and some would accuse Fluttershy of being gullible and naïve. While all this is rightfully true, actually this is the kind of Fluttershy we'd expect to see. Even when standing face-to-face with ferocious looking monsters who under normal conditions would eat a living being in seconds, she made the effort to reach out to them, offering a hoof in kindness, and when she soon realizes just what was really going on she would do her best to appeal to her better nature. While it's true that Caballeron was going for the treasure for a quick money making scheme, we do get to see some character in the hench-ponies who'd mostly be in the background (Like that one guy who'd rather quit to pursue his dream of being an opera singer). True fans are tired of the whole redemption shtick, that eventually there's going to be a chance to uncover two sides of a story only to realize that one half is truly that bad. But clearly this was not going to happen for this episode.
Now while the episode was by no means perfect under any circumstances, the episode did had it's laughs, it's subtle references, some nice bit of action, and for me I still consider it a fun episode. Now I won't deny there was some questionable deals the episode seemed to overlook, again with Ahuizotl having once threatened the world with blistering heat only to suddenly make him out to be this 'loser' among the Guardians because he couldn't secure all the treasures (A 'Venom' reference). In the end, it all ties back to Daring Do and Caballeron finally getting to work together which in the beginning Daring Do didn't want to on account of the 'I Work Alone' shtick she had seasons ago so relating to that one forgotten note... I'm actually glad to see that rivals 'can' collaborate.
For being an episode that openly flaunts continuity, this was considerably more entertaining than I might have expected. The whole sequence with the Truth Tablet just hit me the right way, right up until... well, you know.
ReplyDeleteI do still compare this favorably to some of the other duds in the back half of this season, if only in a "well, at least it's not that bad" kind of way. Episodes like 2,4,6,Great and A Trivial Pursuit destroyed or otherwise regressed years of growth for main characters. She's All Yak dabbled in a classic and ultimately wrong-headed cultural trope. Ahuizotl's just not an important enough part of the show for me to really get mad that they fucked his last episode.
It's still disappointing. :|
No episode which contains extended sequences of Fluttershy being determinedly kind in a hat can be a total dead loss. :)
DeleteThis is very true. :D
DeleteIt has a lot of the same strengths other Daring Do episodes have, albeit at a much reduced rate (I don't think you can compare the adventuring of the spelunking variety here to that in some past cases) and having to contend with the more recent seasons' staler approach to animation movement, layout and timing (which, oddly, isn't present for the admirably well-executed Indy Hat Grab, for which I was most thankful). But even that is largely undermined by the way this one walks all over past continuity. This is one of Nicole Dubuc's two episodes in the season's back half after she'd quit being Story Editor (leaving Josh Haber to run it solo as he did in S6 once again) and it shows in a script that not only feels like it never got a second draft, but one that doesn't feel like it was QA'd at all. Colour me anxious for the damage she might cook up for Episode 24...
ReplyDeletePerfect Present is right - I'd still put this one above such abysmal duds this season as 2, 4, 6, Greaaat, A Trivial Pursuit and She's All Yak, but it's otherwise firmly in the same camp as Between Dark and Dawn and Uprooted. Bad, just not outrageously so, and the only reason it avoids that is because the episode walking all over the characters of Daring, Caballeron and Auhizotl is far less damaging then doing the same with Fluttershy (who got a good showing here, albeit one whose impact is largely diminished in the 3rd act - see my review for my gripe on the episode abandoning the reformation of Caballeron and his henchponies) or Rainbow Dash (who got a... neutral showing, I guess).
Come on, Season 9, early on you were firmly ahead of Season 8! Not by much, but you were. Now you're lagging behind. Behind Season 8. If you don't put in work overtime for these last five episodes, you'll end the show on a low note!
I'm on the other end. I like this one quite a bit, rough edges aside, and consider THIS one to be the best of the whole Daring Do arc. Dash was written in the wrong without being mocked. Dr. Caballeron is at his most competent.
ReplyDeleteFluttershy was a well-needed introduction to deliver an objective perspective on the triangular conflict between Daring, Caballeron, and Ahuizotl. Without even trying, Fluttershy is able to get Dr. C and his henchmen to appreciate her thanks to her unconditional kindness, and her astute ability to listen helped forge a well-needed truce with Ahuizotl.