This is an episode I go back and forth on. Be warned, this is off the cuff. But, as always leave any thoughts below.

Getting right into the episode, on the one hand I disliked the way Rarity is portrayed. She was largely just a fangirl chasing a Trend...erhoof. This being a slight problem as Faust said in her rebuttal to Ms. Magazine,Rarity was always meant to be someone who makes her own way with fashion rather than aping trends. And in many ways this is in the same spirit as that.

To me this was a far cry from the Rarity of Best Night Ever, who did fangirl over Blueblood but did so with (relative) restraint. This time around Rarity had to carry the idiot ball. This is my issue, generally speaking. I had a hard time looking past this.

On the other I at least understand the episode had a deliberately unserious tone. The beginning has that other group of contestants wearing absurd outfits, Pinkie Pie getting a big head, Rarity getting roses for simply being chosen as if it were an Academy Award, the awkward scene with Trend staring at AJ, his bad limericks, Rarity's cowgirl get up and AJ laughing at Rarity going full on hick.

But let us talk about other pitfalls and potential pitfalls and tie this all around as well as talk about some overlooked aspects to the episode.

My biggest obstacle to liking the episode was my belief that Rarity was motivated by jealousy and as a result was stealing Trenderhoof from AJ (as she would not have known AJ did not care). Naturally this would be vastly uncharacteristic of the Rarity from Green Isn't Your Color.

However, I now believe this to be an erroneous concern. There really is nothing to suggest Rarity thought AJ liked Trenderhoof, in fact the episode functions as if she did not. She shows up when AJ tries to get rid of Trenderhoof and she is not at all surprised whenever AJ tries to distance herself from Trenderhoof.

And while she does later think AJ is trying to be with Trenderhoof, she uses the term "steal" which to me suggests Rarity mistakenly believed AJ wanted him for herself despite not loving him sincerely.

But ultimately the fact that is AJ's lack of affection for Trenderhoof is never questioned by Rarity (which one would think she would be surprised by if she were trying to steal him away) so I do not believe we as the audience are supposed to believe she was trying to steal Trenderhoof from AJ.

A large bone of contention for many people with this episode was the idea that Rarity had latent disdain for AJ which was reflected by her hick impression. This is a valid concern, but again I believe Rarihick was put in purely for comedic purposes.

In fact at the beginning Rarity tells Trenderhoof that Sweet Apple Acres is the core of Ponyville, and at the end she remarks that AJ looks great and was a great friend to her. So I do not believe Rarity has any real disdain for AJ. And Trade Ya agrees.

So I do like a lot about the way Rarity is portrayed. She was not being invidious in any way.

One aspect of this episode that I do not see talked about is how this episode does emphasize Rarity's generosity, even if it was misdirected. After all, what does it say about her devotion if she was willing to change for Trenderhoof?

The answer is it says a lot. But it is not without its problems as well. Namely this makes Rarity seem insincere (because she was being insincere even if she sincerely cared about pleasing Trenderhoof).

And, there really is no good answer for that. One could point out that her change of heart at the end was brought about suddenly by a fairly mundane thing indicates that her true self would show through without much provocation (another reason I doubt this episode was meant to be taken seriously in any way).

But even so it does get into the main issue with the episode. Rarity was not Rarity. As a character Rarity's best qualities are not her generosity or class (especially not the latter as this is a cartoon) but it is her sincerity in being who she is. This is not to say that Rarity is super-independent-woman-who-dont-care-what-you-think, as a generous and tactful lady does care what other people think, but she does not debase herself like this.

I understand the idea that Rarity had been crushed by this but even so, the primary reason the episode took the route it did was for comedy in my estimation.

Rarity's dramatics have nearly always been done more as a comedic character trait rather than genuine heartbreak. Even when something serious does cause these responses, Tabitha goes so over the top with her performances to take them as anything more than cartoony exuberance. So to base a large part of an episode around a breakdown could only seem comical to me. Perhaps this is wrong on my part.

Had the episode primarily dealt with the idea that Rarity had been emotionally crushed and felt the need to change who she was for Trenderhoof, it could have been a very interesting look at Rarity's character but I suspect it would have had a more sympathetic tone rather than a comical one. This is where the idiot balling came in, in my opinion.

However, this has always been a convention which has dogged Rarity's footsteps as a character. She often has the positive qualities of her character subverted for humor. Season 4 did a good job avoiding this which is why I believe her popularity rose this season by so much and this episode only erred a little. Rarity was acting like a goofball but she was not being mean in any way. Had she been it would have been a real step backwards.

Hopefully Season 5 will understand that Rarity doesn't need to stretched and twisted to fit an episode or scene. She is a naturally funny character, and a naturally engaging character. An episode about her whining was a big hit after all, and her focus episode are still all extremely good. Let Rarity be Rarity.

Ultimately, I have to come down on the negative side of this episode but I can understand liking the episode's humor. It ultimately just did not land for me.