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| All this and a well judged flashback scene too! |
10 Oct 2016 (Tiny Pop; 15 Oct on Discovery Family)
My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.2
Thoughts: The end of S6 had a strange release schedule thanks to Tiny Pop here in the UK showing episodes 25, 26 and 24 (in that order) before Discovery Family had shown any of them. Tiny Pop missed out E23 entirely for cider reasons,¹ so "Top Bolt" was in fact the season finale over here! As for the episode, I really liked it in 2016 and I still really like it now. Satisfying characterisation, a nice pacey plot, plenty of action, a fine score, great dialogue, amusing jokes... you name it, really. Rainbow Dash and Twilight team up well to solve the friendship problem, with Dash's Wonderbolts perspective and Twi's classroom expertise giving a nice contrast. Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail are really solid as the very different best friends, too. Angel Wings, the Make-a-Wish Foundation-arranged OC, is a cute one-off character. We even get a montage! The episode's plot is not an especially startling storyline, but Lewis and Songco wrote it very efficiently. "Top Bolt" is just an all-round really enjoyable watch, whether at the end of the season or not. Still a four-starrer for me, and with considerable ease.
¹ It amuses me greatly that this series allows me to write that!
Choice quote: Rainbow Dash: "You can call us T-Sparkz and the Dashinator!"
New rating: ★★★★
Next
time, it's "To Where and Back Again, part 1". The S6 finale was a fairly divisive episode, with some people absolutely hating it. I was not among those people.
It's hard to argue with the take that Season Six is unquestionably not at the same standard as Season Five, locked in stone since it came out (whereas Season Seven being a step back up in quality, um, no, not even slightly). Having virtually no insta-classic episodes doesn't help its case (I'm such "A Hearth's Warming Tail" partisians would like a word with me on that front).
ReplyDeleteBut, there were many solid episodes in there too among the coat-of-paint retreads/regression exercises and misguided new cast crashes. And one area in which it undoubedly bested Season Five were the map episodes. "Spice Up Your Life", which having some character missteps, is still exciting and fun, and "Viva Las Pegasus" gets lots of mileage out of its sunbersions and character pairings. Relative to the fun but mild "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", the drowsy "Made in Manehattan", and the average "The Hooffields and the McColts", it's already impressive enough. And it saved the best for last with "Top Bolt", both the best map episode of the seasons, and honestly, of the whole show (put your pitchfolks down, fans of "A Royal Problem"/"Sounds of Silence").
I can beat around the bush, or I can just say why upfront. One key reason is the Twilight/Dash pairing, a great evolution on their chemistry in "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3", where they often has conflicts in working together even as they got each other. Here, they largely work fine, and only have conflicts when it comes to different approaches to learning, or Dash instinctively knowing what makes a pegasus fly well in a way Twilight wouldn't. And even then, they never fight, but always just rebound to get past it. It allows for so many cool and cute moments on both their parts.
Then there's the OCs, who just plain work. Sky Stinger avoids the jerkiness common to egotastical stallions in the show's past (okay, with Quibble and Zephyr, largely this season) by being honestly concerned about Vapor and just unaware of what she's done. Meanwhile, apart from being so cute it's not fair, Vapor's path of learning to have self confidence and want this for herself, not just for Sky, really helps to define her.
Plus, this all means the friendship problem was caused, or at least heightened, by trying to solve it, as such things often are in real life. Good on the map. That, and the right amount of meta commentary with the twice repeated "I was just there!" moment.
Add to this great character work lots of other side touches like probably Spitfire's least objectionable supporting role, when they finally didn't make her nasty for no reason (I kid: I largely can buy all her past behaviour outside of "Rainbow Falls"), a really cute Make-A-Wish Foundation OC, and it's just a really satisfying episode. I think it lacks the kind of standout phenomonal aspect that would launch it into classic territory, and the pacing, while largely sublime, does end up rushing some areas that could have used a little breathing room (as usual, largely the makeup and aftermath). But that's as far as I'll take it. Great episode, didn't dip from my memories at all.
Now comes a lengthy dark/dim period. Eh… see you at "Parental Gildeance"?
That was me, darnit. What is it with Blogger no longer remembering to auto-select "Google Account" when posting a comment here?
DeleteThe UK airing was also edited, as the bit were Dash says she's going to drink cider with AJ at the end of the episode was cut out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remarked upon that in my older review: for some weird reason, Tiny Pop removed that cider reference but not the one at the start of the episode!
DeleteAnother one that I did like well enough but have never felt a particular desire to rewatch. I did like Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger a lot, and I wish they'd made another appearance later. If the plot doesn't surprise, it still does play things out well. It's a relatable problem they have, and it does one of the better jobs of feeling like they got the nuances of it sorted out well so you don't find yourself saying, "Is that the lesson they really want to teach?"
ReplyDeleteBit of a rant, though: what sense does Vapor Trail's name make? I get that it's associated with flight, but airplanes leave vapor trails for two reasons. One, hot water vapor in the exhaust condenses on contact with the cold air. Two, vapor clouds form around the airplane if it's going near Mach 1, which wouldn't persist long enough behind it to make a trail. Neither applies to her, unless she's spewing hot exhaust... never mind. I could maybe see the latter in general, but part of her schtick is that she's not a fast flyer, and it didn't happen when Dash made a rainboom, so I have to think it just doesn't in Equestria. Given what technology they've been shown to have, even at the upper limit, and I'm surprised they even know what a vapor trail is, since I don't see anything they have that could make one. Though I'll concede I may have missed a rocket (and Dash's astronaut costume may suggest they do know what that is).
What a great episode. :) At least part of the reason I think it resonated so well with me was the disappointment at Newbie Dash and Wonderbolts Academy. Good Wonderbolts-related episodes just don't happen, and no I don't count Rarity Investigates, because that was mostly about Rarity. Dash needs her to look good. :V
ReplyDeleteHard to disagree with the comments thus far that this is indeed another of season six's best. Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco are a great writing duo, yet it baffles me that this year (2016), they gave us two great episodes (the other being Gauntlet of Fire) and the horrible abomination that is Legend of Everfree. Why there's such a great gap in quality between the episodes and film, I'll never understand.
ReplyDeleteWhat's also refreshing in this episode were Twilight and Rainbow Dash. After being written poorly in No Second Prances and 28 Pranks Later, respectively, it felt as though Top Bolt brought them back to form, possibly taking cues from Testing Testing 1, 2, 3. They are one of the strongest Mane Six duos in the show, showing what they can learn from one another. Shame that Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger didn't get any prominence after this episode.