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| "What do they mean, 'Final Demand'?" |
S6E09: "The Saddle Row Review"
My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.7
Thoughts: Back to a non-musical episode, but a very popular one and deservedly so. Arguably Nick Confalone's peak for MLP writing, though some might make a case for Forgotten Friendship, "The Saddle Row Review" is a lot of fun despite being set in Manehattan, which by this time was getting too much attention for my liking. Very much a Mane Six ep (no Starlight or Spike), it's full of great dialogue and is one of the most amusing episodes of this era of the show. It even has a rare example of "Here is a meme for you" actually working, with the fandom producing a variety of remixes of Twilight's "Sweep" song. Plaid Stripes is less irritating to me than she was first time around, but her "I am Foreign-Accented Dodgy Landlord" father is more so; I guess they cancel out. Saying "DJ Pon-3" out in full three times is annoying as all hay, though, and the raccoons aren't as interesting as the episode thinks they are. Nor will I ever think "Miss Pommel" sounds right, and I'm sure DHX hated to have to lose "Coco". Still, there are so many fun bits: the Pinkie clone, Pinkie (again) pushing the bill over, "You're not writing this down, are you?", the J. Jonah Jameson guy, "NO SPOILERS!", and so on and so on. The unusual structure works, and all in all this is a very entertaining episode. I'm very happy for it to keep its (strong) four-star rating.
Choice quote: Plaid Stripes: "All our clothes will be made of spoons!"
New rating: ★★★★
Next
time, it'll be "Applejack's 'Day' Off", a much less popular episode than this one overall, though it does have its fans. I wasn't really one of them in 2016. Let's see if I've warmed to it.
Much as I love Plaid Stripes, I'll never understand why this episode trends as popular as it is. It's a huge nothingburger for me, or worse. I mean, that whole "sweep" thing is just top-tier cringe, why do people like it? D:
ReplyDeleteThe "Sweep" thing is glorious. :P
DeleteNice to see you back in the reviewing saddle again!
ReplyDeleteAs for Exhibit DV, it's a curious beast. Rarity's sudden Season Five desire to turn from a standalone shop to a far-reaching franchise doesn't feel properly set up or precedented, even with "Canterlot Boutique" barely a season behind this one, so there's a sense of "wait, we're going in this direction?" whenever I revisit that and Season Six.
And a lot of the obstacles Rarity comes across (most blatantly the dance studio excuse for a Vinyl Scratch cameo) feel incredibly random, especially the way they come together at the end. It's a bit "mad libs", so the eclectic style needs the relatively unusual setting of Manehattan to work (because we haven't seen it all that deeply in the show, so for all we know, this sort of thing can happen in pony New York).
On the other hand/hoof, it's very, very amusing! Showing the behind-the-scenes logistical effort of her new business venture at least makes good sense from that angle, and the resultant escalating comedy of errors benefits to an extent throwing all that cartoony randomness together with more grounded elements. If anything, it's more a shame we don't get more eps like this one, showing the trials of tribulations of growing the fashion business.
The framing device is pretty good for extra gag value, too. Some of the jokes are hit or miss (the "sweep remix" terminology feels sloppy: it's not really a remix, is it?), but they're also generally confident and silly enough to make the ones that work really work (Pinkie's shoulder angel/demon/Rarities always makes me laugh, just for how Pinkie's mind works, and Plaid Stripes' insane "creativity" being pushed by nepotism even adds a bit of low-key real-world commentary on top of her endearingly bizarre enthusiasm).
More impressively, it provides a skilful use of the Main Six where other episodes make them feel shoehorned in, rotating between them at a natural pace (and escalating the problems and the stress in the process) and using them in sometimes unorthodox ways (I don't know why, but I really like the fact that Fluttershy doesn't have it all her own way when confronting Manehattan raccoons - they make 'em tougher cookies in the Big Apple!).
To me, it feels more like an enjoyable piece of a really comfortable puzzle than a standalone gem, but I still regard it as a cleverly edited sideshow and highlight of Season Six. So, I'd probably agree with your rating, or at worst stick it not far back in high three-star territory for twenty minutes of undemanding smiles.
Damn, that was me, sorry. I forgot to change the "Comment as" bit from Anonymous.
DeleteNice to see you back in the reviewing saddle again!
DeleteIt's taken long enough, hasn't it! :P
it's not really a remix, is it?
I suppose not. But then it's an example of how something that builds up credit elsewhere can do things like that and still feel fun.
the "sweep remix" terminology feels sloppy: it's not really a remix, is it?
DeleteNO
IT IS NOT
FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT
This one had some really good... bits... parts... gags. Solid five stars for many of them. But when you take a show set in a land of myth, magic, and monsters and drag it into a direct analog of a mundane, modern American city and the caricatures therein, it throws away most of what makes the entire package enjoyable for me. and the score drops dramatically. Adds up to a high-end three for me.
ReplyDeleteI always liked this one a lot. It's not really a strong story, but the side dishes are all fun and amusing. It holds up well for me on seeing it again, and it's a rare case of so many of the jokes landing for me personally that they add up to lots of goodness. And, as you say, the unusual format lends interest as well.
ReplyDeleteWelp, neglected to take heed of your warning that these were starting up again, and left rewatching this until this post went up. Still, same day, could have been worse!
ReplyDeleteLike quite a few strong episodes from the last few seasons on rewatch, the strong points dominated in my memory to the degree that some iffier aspects dill feel more present on this rewatch, and thus it dipped mildly. Mildly! No denying this is for sure one of Season Six's best efforts. The structure is perfectly fine and solid, and I'll get to that, but it is basically a skeleton for comic bits. Nearly all of these bits do work, but some feel like afterthoughts. Other moments strain a bit to put themselves across (as others have noted, outside of Pinkie's shoulder angel/devil scenes, the dance studio feels a bit much), not least a few meme favourites like the sweep remix.
One of the strained elements is, indeed, the arc of Rarity's fashion expansion; despite technically being planted in The gift of the Maud Pie, that's it's largely confined to the episodes where it happens still makes it feel sudden and abrupt, nothing like Dash's long-term goal of being a Wonderbolt. Joke's on Dash, given Newbie Dash, but a few more side-mentions in Seasons 5/6 leading to this would have been nice. Maybe they tried and were turned down; we know Hasbro was always stubbornly resistant to more Continuity Lockout than was strictly necessary.
Still, this is generally very wry and amusing, and often funny. I think what sets this one apart from other episodes of a similar vein is that enough of the gags are pushing beyond the expected, yet not going too far in knowing, winking territory. This is especially true for the framing device; give Jonah Jameson pony one monologue at the start, throw in a Pinkie clone and a sweeping remix sidesweep, and otherwise keep the cutaways relevant to the characters and action at hand. The other thing would be a tone of self-confidence and assuredness that helps puts the corniness across (I'd totally forgotten about Plaid Stripes, yet off how they have AJ react, she works too).
That said, the structure is pretty solid too; among the litany of episodes of the Mane 5 helping out and causing trouble until they approach it as they should have all along, this is closer to the less obvious in its use, not least for finding wise uses for them all (Rainbow Dash being the lone exception, but it gets gags out of her knowing nothing about fashion, so she gets a pass). To the point that when they regrouped and tackled the problem with their own solutions again, all wrapped up pretty quick, It was more of a mild annoyance than such blatant structural wobbliness had been in past episodes.
I do still find Manehattan quite a large 180 from what I most like about FiM, but I will concede this episode makes good use out of it, and in different ways that other ones, more about the hustle and bustle of late organising than the selfishness of big city ponies. It also helps the more scrappy structure and style fit. Really, only Rarity Takes Manehattan can rival this in quality, the other episodes set here range from mildly enjoyable to dull bores. I'm hovering at a high three-star, but depending on how I feel later, it could rise up. Probably not, as it's still a little shaky as a whole compared to all the good comic bits.
But then, they are very good comic bits, aren't they?
Writer observation of the day: Nick Confalone had a rough start with the show (Party Pooped, No Second Prances, and the divisive Hearthbreakers), but this was his big coming out moment, and from here on, he proved to be the most reliable late-season writer, especially for broadly comic episodes. Did you also know he Story Edited EqG's Choose Your Own Adventure series? I didn't!