Previously, I said that Dash centred episodes tend to be “interesting experiences.” I stand by that statement, because unlike other characters like Rarity or Twilight, the overall quality of Rainbow Dash episodes tends to run the entire gambit from good or awesome to downright awful, not to mention the fact that the brash Pegasus possibly holds the record for the most contested or controversial episodes to date (Daring Don’t, Rainbow Falls and Mysterious Mare-Do-Well just to name a few off the top of my head.)

With that in mind, I had mixed feelings about Tanks For The Memories, partially due to my nasty habit of always reading the episode synopsis the moment they become available. I knew that Dash’s attempts to stop winter would just get more and more frantic until she escalated to property damage, or would take a page from Twilight’s book from Lesson Zero or It’s About Time. To the episodes credit though, these attempts weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, which is helped by the song Dash sings during these attempts, which I will get to in a moment.

However, within the first five minutes something pops up that bugs me, which is Dash’s line that this is her and Tanks “first winter together.” This line also coincides with Celestia’s line from Princess Twilight about how this is the first Summer Sun Celebration since Luna’s return, both of which attempt to establish the idea that the events from Return of Nightmare Moon to Magical Mystery Cure took place within just barely a year, with the events that followed occurring over the span of a few months.

I personally find this idea very hard to believe. Even factoring in the idea that episodes aren’t necessarily aired in chronological order of events (such in the case of Hearths Warming Eve airing after May The Best Best Win), I highly doubt Winter Wrap Up took place after Hearths Warming Eve, implying that winter has passed at least twice before and that at the very least two full years have passed. Had this episode aired in S3 before Twilight became a Princess then this wouldn’t be too much of an issue, and in the grand scheme of things this doesn’t ruin or sour the episode completely for me, it’s still something I thought I should point out.

Anyway, so I briefly mentioned the song Dash sings as she makes every attempt to sabotage the inevitable, which goes by the title of “I’ll Fly.” This song is similar in theme from Castle Sweet Castle’s song in that the entire song is basically pointing out how all this is a bad idea in motion. Still, it’s easily the best song for the season thus far for me, as while the songs before this have been catchy, none of them have really left a lasting impression on me.

What did manage to leave a lasting impression on me were the mixture and comedy and heart wrenching moments. The scene with the three Pegasi mixing up their names (which I’ve since learned is based on an old comedy sketch) had me in stitches and was a touch bit meta with just how silly some pony names can get.

Another moment that stuck out was when Dash is sabotaging the weather factory, she ends up in a room full of literal lightning in bottles. The scream she lets out when these go off is not only the girliest scream I have ever heard come from Rainbow Dash, it’s in the running for the girliest scream from the show overall.

Oh yeah, there may have also been a Game Of Thrones reference that M.A Larson took full responsibility before on Twitter the day before the episode aired.

Moving on, I got to give points to Fluttershy here, who shows off the character development she got in It Ain Easy Being Breezy in outright telling Dash that she’ll have to the spend the winter without her beloved pet being the kindest thing she could do…before it turns into a snuggling pile of crying ponies that makes me want to reach for a tissue.

Though Applejack apparently cries on the inside, according to Pinkie. Besides the massive fridge logic here of what that could really mean, there was a fic of this idea hours after the episode aired. I don’t even know why I’m surprised any more, the only explanation I can come up with for how people can produce relate art and stories within hours of an episode is through some unknown means of bending the fabric of space-time.

Going back to what I said about this episode being interesting, Tanks For the Memories is a rare example of an episode I like more on a second viewing. The tearjerking moments just seem to hit harder the second time around and the knowledge of just how far Dash actually goes to stop winter elevates some of my initial fears.

Overall, Tanks for the Memories is still a good episode that will have you flipping between laughing hysterically to bawling your eyes out. It has a few hiccups here and there and while I guess Dash’s attitude could rub some people the wrong way, it’s not as bad as how she acted in those controversial episodes I listed at the beginning and was something I still enjoyed watching.