On 5/21/2016 at 2:52 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

Another week, another great episode. The narrative style is very unique for the show, but given how it's around a review of her Manehattan boutique, having the ReMane Six and others being interviewed off in and out during the episode makes a whole world of sense. Mr. Stripes is very pushy, but he also means well for his daughter and wants her to be treated with respect. As nontraditional as her spoon idea was, she's not incompetent.

And this is where the episode works its wonders: the competence of everyone. When the ReMane Six played into their strengths, everything fell into place. When they didn't, everything went wrong. It borrows a little from Castle Sweet Castle this way, but the clever spin in the narrative style and the overall approach really freshened this episode. And by using their strengths, Rarity's new boutique apparently came out much better than even she anticipated.

The comedy is spot on. Rarity's freakout works, because she's stressed out. "NO SPOILERS!" works. Rainbow Dash's imitation works, because she's responding to annoying stimuli and the episode's backdrop is a lot lighter than Newbie Dash's. The Too Many Pinkie Pies references works so well. "Sweep" works. They don't sacrifice character or character dimension for it at all.

I'll write more when it's all processed, but needless to say, this episode really surprised me in a really good way. Easily one of season six's best.

That's what I wrote yesterday. Now that it's processed somewhat, let me dissect two storytelling aspects in TSRR: the comedy and the dialogue.

Even though FIM isn't a comedy show, FIM always has a diet of comedy. Whether the joke works or fails — a.k.a., the objective quality of the joke — depends on the logic behind the joke, the effort put into it, the element of surprise, and not sacrificing the characterization to make it work. In short, your joke must make sense.

In Saddle Row, a great chunk of the jokes works. Why? Well, let's look at a few of them:

1. "NO SPOILERS!" Rarity doesn't want anyone to spoil the review for her. Many of us can relate to her: A good chunk of society doesn't want to be spoiled, whether it's a bit or at all. Personally, even though I don't mind being spoiled, there's one exception for me: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Lastly, the surprise element. Rarity's outburst was sudden, but makes sense under the current circumstances.
2. The snappy dialogue between the J. Jonah Jameson parody and Rarity. He wanted to know everything about how Rarity for You succeeded, but he and Rarity varied in personality. He was quick and wanted to get it done right away, while Rarity wanted to be patient. The interruption was that little click to make the joke work.
3. "DING!" Transition to Twilight. Good opportunity to throw Uncle Charlie in the mix.
4. "Sweep, sweep, sweep." Dusting is tedious, boring, and something all of us wanna avoid. Twilight's little "sweep" jingle fits her character, makes it less boring to her, and corresponds with the party palace in the brownstone's top floor.
5. The Too Many Pinkie Pies reference. Responds to Rarity's scattered wish of having multiple copies of her and that element of surprise after Pinkie ate all those pancakes.
6. Rainbow Dash's imitation of Rarity to the reporter. Dash imitated her friends in Newbie Dash, but it massively failed. Why? Two words: secondhand embarrassment. Dash imitated them, because she was still grieving by the trauma-induced insult and wanted to impress the Wonderbolts. Here, Dash was responding to a stimuli that annoyed her (Rarity's tantrum), and unlike ND, TSRR's tone's very lighthearted. It borrows from Dash's imitation of Twilight from Lost Treasure, but uses the same logic. THIS is how you write an imitation joke correctly!
7. The squirrel waiting in line to enter Rarity for You when it opened. Again, the element of surprise, but consider who's helping to open Rarity for You. Fluttershy is very friendly with the animals and treats them with respect.
8. 
   
    
   Angel!Rarity's halo is literally made of hay. A very excellent pun of the word.

Yeah, a couple of them missed the mark, but a lot more didn't. Why is this important? Two things:

1. To echo above, The Saddle Row Review is lighthearted in tone. With the light atmosphere, the plot doesn't take itself so seriously that it becomes melodramatic, but the humor quality doesn't make TSRR so pretentious that it becomes a poorly-crafted parody of itself. With the high-quality comedy, the audience can laugh its way through. Even a cringe joke like AJ holding a full dustpan with her mouth doesn't feel gross in hindsight, because it comes across as part of the job.
2. The twist in the format. This whole episode is about a review for Rarity for You's grand opening in Saddle Row (a reference of London's Savile Row; thank @PiratePony for explaining it). If you keep the format the same as it was in every other episode, then you can run into big problems. One of them is the humor's weight. In the traditional format, the humor won't have its impact because the review is the centerpiece, but the review enters very late, so the jokes feel more contrived than organic. By having Rarity read the review, flashback everything, and cut it back as a reality TV parody, you create suspense so when the jokes arrive, they fall right into place and the audience doesn't expect it.
   
   Furthermore, the cutbacks are a parody of reality TV. In just about every reality show, you see people do things on reality TV (whether it's the "traditional" reality BS or reality game shows like Survivor), but during the middle, they cut back to interviews so the audience is informed about what they're thinking. Normally, reality TV is supposed to be taken seriously. In TSRR, you have the stake of Rarity wanting to open her Manehattan branch by nightfall, but the destination isn't as emphasized as the journey. Almost all the jokes occur during the journey. The destination is the satisfaction that wraps it all up.

A lot of media in this series have really, really bad dialogue. I'm talking about Trade Ya!, Rainbow Falls, EQG1, Friendship Games, the Rainbow Dash Micro, A Canterlot Wedding, FIM2, Princess Spike, and McColts. Why is bad dialogue so detrimental? Because it stalls the flow of your story. None of the characters are robots; they're supposed to feel emotions like ours. Great, organic dialogue opens up those emotions and can be as powerful as a set piece. Bad dialogue reduces the character's dimension and makes it appear as if the writer quickly penned the script down to exit writer's block. Bad dialogue lacks any polish and can ruin the story.

Saddle Row has easily some of the best dialogue in the series. All of it has a ton of weight put into the episode, even the standard exposition in the prologue. But notice how most of it is very snappy. Quick, not always in complete sentences, pauses here and there, and doesn't stick to one subject. Look at how Dash says one thing and then changes the subject after the reporter writes it in his notebook offscreen. The dialogue also allows the characters to play off one another, like Dash and Applejack commentating on Twilight's "sweep" jingle or the chemistry between the reporter and Rarity. More importantly, snappy dialogue helps carry the story's tone. If each sentence is long, complete, and drawn out, you ruin the joke's timing. Quick, organic talk keeps up the pace without making it feel too fast and opens up lots of opportunities for lots of jokes.

For a recent example outside of FIM, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has very snappy dialogue. Why does it work? The pacing flows from one scene to another, makes the characters feel more real, opens up opportunities for humor, and creates extra impact on the more serious moments when they arrive.

In conclusion, The Saddle Row Review works in many levels, especially the humor and dialogue. You can tell a lot of hard work was put into it to make the story succeed. A very bold, successful effort, to be precise. It's unquestionably Nick Confalone's best episode so far and one of the best of the whole show.

———

Source: S06:E09 - The Saddle Row Review