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| The facial expressions are great in this ep: strong without being overdone |
S8E20: "The Washouts"
8 Sep 2018
My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.2
Thoughts: Nick Confalone is usually a decent choice for a Cutie Mark Crusaders episode, in this case a Scootaloo special, and so it proves here. We have a clearly "rebellious teen" Scoots here, and it largely works. She's no longer obsessed with Rainbow Dash, and that's leaving Dash herself confused and somewhat bereft – obvious analogy of course, but again it largely works. Lightning Dust's part was apparently spoiled in 2018, but you could guess it was coming. It makes no sense that Scoot didn't know about Dusty, though, given "Parental Glideance". Mind you, Scootaloo was superbly animated in her "caught in the middle" role during Dash and Lightning's argument. And, of course, her "I... can't fly!" which was quite something for us fans at the time. Dusty's sidekicks, the Aussie (why?) Rolling Thunder and the well-named Short Fuse, are... mildly fun. Spitfire's rant was inspired by this SNL sketch, and SNL isn't an "everyone will get this" reference in the UK. Twilight, where's the, well, loyalty to Rainbow? And why are you waiting until Scootaloo is potentially going to die before acting? Sod personal responsibility for teenagers at that point. the episode again looks fantastic, with heaps of inventiveness in the stunt setups. A fun episode, but there are enough irritations that four stars was too high. One of those is being cut.
Choice quote: Rainbow Dash, to Twilight: "Please tell me you got that stuff so you could rip it up and throw it off a cliff."
New rating:★★★
Another decent score, and though not without its flaws this episode was enjoyable enough for me to feel good about having watched it again. Next up is "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place", an ep which may have a bit more to do. I'm not that interested in the Pillars on the whole
As I recall, this is a pretty memorable episode thanks to the new characters, but I found the lesson reprehensible.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this was very much a mixed bag. I could relate somewhat to Dash's and Scootaloo's conflict, but a lot of the adults acted very irresponsibly. I came away from it simultaneously pleased and frustrated, and that probably evens out to about a 3.
ReplyDeleteJust rewatched this last night, so got some fresh thoughts on it.
ReplyDeleteIt's far more subtle than the DreamWalking Trilogy (© Ghost Mike), but on this watch, I actually realised we now have a trio of episodes of the CMC's older sisters having to come to terms with their siblings growing up/being able to make their own decisions. Though "Somepony to Watch Over Me" doesn't feel nearly of a place with "Forever Filly" and this, feeling very stylistically different and being at a point where the CMCs weren't yet positioned as "teens, the show just won't change their character models Because Toy Marketing Perpetuity.". Perhaps "On Your Marks" is the better Apple Bloom episode there.
Anyway, "The Washouts" is unquestionably one of Season Eight's best episodes. A solid, workable plot and character angle, it gets lots of mileage out of both the other two Washouts and the visual stunts (your remark on the expressions really just drives home how terrible the Toon Boom-enabled meme faces next season are, when these pushed-but-still-just-right faces were still achieved in Flash), Dusty's return and character is handled well (until it's not), and while Dash herself gets annoying, it's in an empathetic way that isn't annoying to watch. Controlled character annoyance, which has been a spotty track record with her. It's also bereft of bad or annoying jokes, give or take the Spitfire SNL bit going overboard (not helped by Kelly Metzger breaking her Spitfire voice midway through the rant), even if there's less properly funny about it than I remember. And it's paced at a good clip, a rarity for the Season Seven episodes I found myself often comparing this against (we'll get to why in a moment).
That said, I still finished it disappointed: it could have been a great episodes, and the fixes scream for attention, but it misses the mark.
Some may recall I noted many Season Seven episodes have protracted, overlong first acts, and rushed, conclusion-by-fiat third acts. Them being written to actual show length, rather than a little longer and allowing for animatic cuts to tighten them up, is part of the reason. This episode has a similar structural imbalance, but it's less noticeable both because it's entertaining, and because the material along the way isn't wasted. Even the cold open and first acts gets right to business, not faffing around like many of those Season Seven episodes.
Why this matters is, as many have noticed before, the third act is unsatisfying, and I'm convinced some extra runtime could have helped (we cut to act break off revealing Scootaloo as having joined the Washouts with 5:40 to go). But the episode seems to forget the subtleties of its moral and takeaway, beyond Dash having a middle ground to respect Scootaloo but let her be her own pony and Scoots thinking she went too far. Oh, and it turns Lightning Dust into an outright villain incompatible with how the script presented her to that point. The make arc and takeaway for the two leads is still satisfying, but it's a textbook case of a writer doing solid work but never cracking the ending, and having to do a simplistic version. And hey, endings to matter, they leave the final impression.
Still, virtually no late season hiccups, the music and voice acting is strong, and even with a weak ending, it's better than the other mediocre "growing up" episodes for the CMCs. Would only be a mixed-leaning-good episode in the show's first half, but for those who love Scootaloo (read: all of us), it does right by her. She does seem to often get better episodes than her counterparts, doesn't she? "Sleepless in Ponyville" tops its trilogy, and now this. But she deserves it, the li'l chicken.
I didn't reply to this earlier for the door reason that I was basically just nodding along! It wouldn't have fitted in an early season of course as Scoot wouldn't have had the backstory yet, but seeing this setup with the overall quality of the earlier seasons world have been potentially fantastic.
DeleteSimple reason, not door reason. Weird typo!
DeleteI don't know how I keep forgetting to post my thoughts on each episode as soon as you write about them, and I'm about three or four days late, depending on when this comment published!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, The Washouts. I do think the episode has the potential to be good, great even. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are always great to see together, and the fact that Lightning Dust didn't get a redemption is a welcome change of pace, given how often Hasbro redeems their bad guys, half the time undeservedly.
What drags it down for me, however, is the messaging. Earlier, Rainbow Dash is shown to be in the wrong for being overprotective of Scootaloo's safety, yet towards the end, she's suddenly in the right! Even Twilight doesn't do anything to convince Scootaloo out of doing something potentially lethal!
And another thing - how is it that this episode remembers the events of Wonderbolts Academy, which aired five seasons ago, and yet they don't remember Scootaloo talking about Lighting Dust's reckless actions from said episode in Parental Glideance... which aired last season? I sometimes find myself wondering whether I'm the only one who notices that the show appears to have selective continuity! I can't be the only one, right?
So yeah, to sum it up in five words or less: Great concept, sloppy execution. All because they didn't know how they want to present the message.
I remember this one being decent. Lightning Dust works so well in opposition to Dashie, and concern for you lil' sis being taken in the way Dashie sorta was initially works nicely in terms of continuity and realism. It's not quite top tier the way the OG Dust ep was, but it is solid.
ReplyDelete