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| "Say, AJ, you're never gonna believe what happens to us when the show ends..." |
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
28 Jan 2011
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.1
The one with
Thoughts: Viewers had to stick it out for three weeks for this episode, but it was worth the wait. Here we see Applejack and Rainbow Dash's long-running rivalry truly get started. The Iron Pony contest itself is great fun, with so many little touches, not least a very nice bit part for Fluttershy on scoreboard duty. (Some of it's rather less fun for Spike, though!) Then it's on to more lore: the Running of the Leaves. I love that Twilight's race number is 42. Applejack's battle with Rainbow Dash is always very watchable, though Dash does seem to bend the rules rather more than AJ does. Pinkie and Spike add some hilarity in their commentary balloon. The episode is visually lovely by S1 standards, with the reds and golds of the autumn leaves bringing a beautiful look to the woods. As for the finish, making Twilight come in fifth is so much better than the clichéd alternative of having her win the race. I've always found this episode very satisfying, and I haven't changed that opinion at all.
Choice quote: Celestia: "Fall is one of my favourite seasons."
New rating: ★★★★
Next up is "Suited for Success", which is an episode I've been looking forward to reaching since the start. Will it live up to my high hopes?
W-what is... "rubber tapping"? c.c;
ReplyDeleteIt's a very brief scene, but at one point the ponies run past a bunch of trees with buckets and chutes attached. That's the process (in our world, too) by which you collect latex from a rubber tree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_tapping
DeleteBut surely those are maple trees, and they're gathering sap for syrup and such.
DeleteThis was a fun episode, but what bugged me the most about it was how oblivious Dash was to most of her cheating. Like she didn't seen anything conceptually unfair about a mud pit she couldn't fall into. Trying to explain it away is one thing, but having her simultaneously take advantage of it and not even get the unfairness was a little off-putting to me.
Yeah, I'm not as enthusiastic about this one. It's OK, just not one of my favourites compared with what else this season has to offer.
ReplyDeleteOn the good side, it's got plenty of nice touches, especially in the world-building department. The Running of the Leaves is obvious, but there's also the sap-tapping and Applejack's "years of apple-bucking". I'm not a huge fan of the tangential Pinkie humour here, but Spike's reactions to the sacrifices of commentating privileges were amusing enough. Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy get some great moments of their own too. And it is a nice autumnal look for the episode.
Any other episode, it'd guarantee favourite status. Except for one big problem. Rainbow Dash.
It's like Pascoite said, but I found her near-insufferable at times. Her blatant sourness and unfairness is so annoying, so abrasive, and so provocatively blatant that there are moments where I'm legitimately angry with this episode. As a result, it brings down my enjoyment and very nearly suffers the same fate as "Swarm of the Century". At least it's nowhere near that often or that episode-breaking, but unfortunately, that still costs it points on my personal like-o-metre.
It's funny how this rivalry between Applejack and Rainbow Dash was more touched on during this episode during the season. True, they have always been competitive (Such as when they had a hoof wrestle to determine who gets Twilight's second ticket). But it's during the Iron Pony contest where they compete to determine who's the best that they both have something to prove. Rainbow Dash wanting to prove to Applejack that she truly lives up to be the 'Iron Pony' no matter what she has to do to win, whereas Applejack wanted to prove that a true 'Iron Pony' is one who actually plays by the rules (Though A.J. does contradict that during the race). In speaking of the 'Running of the Leaves', that was arguably among my favorite part of the episode.
ReplyDeleteWe not only get to see bit of additional lore with how this event marks the Autumn season (Also Celestia's favorite time of the year) but it's here we see that when two friends get too invested in their competition, no pony truly wins. Heck, they never would've stopped to think that Twilight Sparkle would get farther up the ranks even though she only placed 5th. I do agree that if they had made her the first place finalist, the ending itself would be rather cliché (Sometimes, winning is not all that truly matters).
As for the commentary and banter between Pinkie Pie and Spike, it's not often we see those two share scenes together but they were humorous to watch. Just imagine making them commentators for a wrestling event... That would be something.