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| Only in Equestria could a dragon burrowing through a cake be considered acceptable |
Written by Cindy Morrow
12 Nov 2010
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 7.6
The one with the "Junior Speedsters" chant.
Thoughts: Until S5, Cindy Morrow's FiM writing debut had an interesting moral: that, regrettably, it's sometimes necessary to cut ties with toxic friends permanently. "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" changed that by redeeming Gilda; I've never been quite sure how I feel about that. Back to this episode, and it sees the effective start of Rainbow and Pinkie's friendship (including a self-referential joke about having no fingers to high-five with), as well as the birth of the "You can't outrun Pinkie Pie" meme. The contrast between Pinkie's concern for Fluttershy and Gilda making the latter cry is very noticeable – though it seems a little odd that Dash would even contemplate the prank, given we find out later this season that she's known 'Shy since fillyhood. As for Gilda herself, she's little better than a bully here (and a thief) and she doesn't engender the sympathy that "Griffonstone" would do for her years later. The big twist – that Rainbow set up the party pranks – is nice, though having it be "dumb luck" that Gilda set them all off strains credulity. Dash's speech saying she'd rather be "Queen Lame-o" than have a bully for a friend is good, though. I've slightly warmed to the episode overall now, hence the three-star rating.
Choice quote: Fluttershy to Pinkie: "I'm a year older than you."
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Boast Busters", which I've never been a massive fan of as I didn't like early-series Trixie – though will I change my assessment looking back from several years of StarTrix fun?
If there was a couple things to note about this episode, it was to acknowledge two among the most known facts of this episode: To establish this bond between Rainbow Dash and her 'true' friends while also making it clear that she's the 'Element of Loyalty' for a reason. While it was unique for the show to introduce us to a new species at the time, a Griffin among many mythological beasts the show would introduce later on, after the first few minutes of her arrival Gilda doesn't exactly make a great first impression. From threatening Pinkie Pie not to get in the middle of her friendship with Rainbow, to pranking ponies in a matter that's not 'fun', stealing food and even making Fluttershy cry... That alone makes her public enemy number one for everyone at the time. This wouldn't be the last time we'd see Gilda within the next few seasons though in all honesty I wasn't exactly a big fan of Gilda anyway. But I'll get to that when we get to that episode featuring her return.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, in the initial run, it seemed as if we already know what to expect from Rainbow Dash: An energetic young flier who comes off as overconfident, a showoff and a bit arrogant. But what we sometimes forget to keep in mind is that beneath the surface she really is a caring pony especially for her friends. Even though we barely know the extent of Rainbow's friendship with an old friend in Gilda, we see that Rainbow Dash greatly admires Gilda to the point where they do the old Junior Speedsters chant (Though the contrast with Gilda's lack of enthusiasm and Rainbow's energy greatly shows). While I do admit that it just seemed very 'convenient' that Gilda just happened to stumble into all the 'pranks' Dash pulled off, which is an even bigger surprise considering that it seemed Pinkie had this set-up as a measure of payback I'll admit on that latter note it was rather clever at best.
It was also in this episode where we see that even a smart pony like Twilight Sparkle can be wrong, especially when it concerns her friends. When Pinkie Pie approached Twilight telling her how mean Gilda was and possibly all the stuff she said, all Twilight thought was that perhaps Pinkie was jealous of the fact Rainbow has another friend to hang out with. And we can understand where that is coming from as it seems Pinkie truly wants to be besties with Rainbow (Among many hints that goes on later), but that assumption at some point has us think that Twilight views Pinkie Pie as a child and not so much an adult. Now granted Pinkie does have this history of being childish at times, but when she knows something that just slips past a pony's mind it be wise to listen. Which is why it bums me out when they make Pinkie Pie more of the comic relief and not acknowledging the fact she has her smarts. Especially since this whole party she made was not so much to get back at Gilda for her behavior, but rather she wanted her to feel welcome amongst a kind group of ponies and to get her to loosen up.
But then it all comes down to the fact that when a friendship proves to be too toxic, even when it's with someone you've known for years, the reality makes it abundantly clear that they need to be let go. And frankly, Rainbow Dash does have the right to be disappointed with the way Gilda lashed out at all her friends at the party especially when she went about accusing Pinkie Pie of being 'Queen Lame-O' for all the pranks she assumed Pinkie put together... Only to get a slap in the face when it turned out it was Rainbow Dash all along. Granted it would've felt worse for Dash if Gilda had told her that to her face, but the moment she did hear Gilda act out as she did... It's only at this point she sees that the friend she knew is not like the one she attended Flight Camp with. And thus Rainbow Dash was the one who gave Gilda a choice: She can be nice, apologize for behavior and treat all her new friends the same as she'd treat Rainbow... OR... She can just leave Ponyville and never come back (Okay maybe not in those words 'exactly', but I hope it's pretty close). In the end, Gilda's desire to retain an image of coolness and stubbornly refusing to change would not only cost her the one true friend she ever had, but it would go on to demonstrate that Griffins severely contrast the nature of ponies (We'd see worse Griffins later on, with a small few who are slightly different... One more than the other, depending how you see it).
ReplyDeleteAs a special bonus: I will admit the pranks that Dash and Pinkie pulled on their friends were funny, especially the part where they messed with A.J.'s apples. Granted Dash would take her pranks 'a little' too far in a future season, but I'll get to that later... Much later.
Had to post the rest in a new comment because it was too big for a single post.
Had to post the rest in a new comment because it was too big for a single post.
DeleteIt was actually longer than my entire post itself! :D
I never used to like this episode until I rewatched S1 myself years ago. I was struck how plain funny it is! Granted, the pranking at the start seems disconnected from the griffon stuff until the party dovetails them, but it's still good character-building for the early show.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's something I'm discovering already in this rewatch. Possibly it feels fresher here than it does later on, possibly it benefits from being less knowing and self-consciously clever. But it works.
DeleteThis episode is a good example of there being pretty fundamental changes in the world-building. Rarity remarks how rare griffons are, and it's a while before we see many of them again, but then they don't seem to be so rare after all. Certainly nobody seems to react to them as if they're a curiosity.
ReplyDeleteA good point. It'll be interesting whether things like that jump out at me a bit more when I watch the whole series in sequence, and without many months of waiting between seasons.
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