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S4E08: "Rarity Takes Manehattan"


PrymeStriker

2,785 views

As my childhood slowly comes to a close, I constantly wonder how the fuck I'm going to get myself out of this mess. Turning 18 has got to be one of my biggest challenges, behind fucking one of the Kardashians and watching Equestria Girls. And yet, the inevitable is being laid upon me within due time. I have a mere 6 days of irresponsibility left. I'm gonna have to see what kind of Hell I can put people through before the bills start flooding my bank account. 18 years of bullshit. In the meantime, I'll use what remains of my life to watch an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Because that's the American dream. This week, we tackle "Rarity Takes Manehattan".

 

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I remember having fluctuating opinions about this episode. When I first watched it I hated it for whatever reason, then when I watched it again I liked it, and I haven't watched it since. Let's see what my mood is this time. Also, excuse me if I call this episode "Rarity Takes Manhattan" at any point. It's pretty fucking obvious why I'd make that typo. The episode opens up with the ponies getting on a train going to, you guessed it, the Crystal Empire. Fuckwits. Rarity is entering a [insert convoluted competition title here] in Manehattan and conveniently wants to bring all the other main characters with her. It's at this point in the series that I'm really fucking sick of everyone constantly entering contests to give the plot a reason to exist. The same thing happened last episode with "Bats!" and even in "Flight to the Finish". I've never come across a group of characters so interested in superficial contests in my fucking life, and it's getting really annoying. Alas, that's the whole reason they're going to Manehattan. Also, Rarity bought her friends tickets to a musical. What musical? Who gives a shit, we have a boring, terrible, piece of shit song to endure.

 


At least Rainbow Dash's opening line is hilarious as fuck-all.

 

God, it's times like this when you appreciate the "Bats!" song. This song is so typical it's almost fucking awful. To top it all off, Rarity is being overly generous in this musical number. Like, they're really trying to ham in the fact that she's so giving, which makes her almost out of character. We know Rarity is the element of generosity but she hasn't demonstrated such an overt willingness to give everyone a helping hand unless the plot called for shoving it up our asses. Like here. The odd part is, they don't display this at all anywhere else in the episode. Every other circumstance of her showing generosity seems realistic, and we'll get to that later. I've already spotted another problem with this episode. The citizens of Manehattan......don't give a shit that Princess Twilight Sparkle is in their presence. Like, with Ponyville you expect that considering she's lived there for about a year prior to her upgrade. She's never visited Manehattan and yet the ponies here hardly recognize her. I remember this being a complaint with the early episodes of season four back in the day, and so I just have to assume this is a writing fuck-up.

 

Businesspony_%27Not_likely%27_S4E08.png
"We don't take kindly to purple ponies 'round these parts. Youse should all rot in Hell!"

 

Okay, back to the plot, after some unfortunate circumstances, the people Rarity helped in the crappy musical number come to her rescue when she needs to get to the hotel for the event briefing in a hurry, forcing the song to be "relevant". Alas, she's still berated for showing up a few seconds early or whatever, as the host of the event runs through the basics. The competitors must set up backstage, and then show their designs tomorrow for a chance to....show their designs to top designers in Manehattan I think. Then, of course, they all strip nude and have a blood orgy, right after murdering the mayor and selling their bodies in Mane Street, right? After Hosty McDouchebag leaves, Raritits is greeted by a mare named Suri Polowhatever, who claims to have met her before. She offers a hand moving Rarity's dresses backstage, where she sees the "glorious" designs in all their glorious glory. Suri asks for a swatch for her own collection, in which Rarity generously gives her a whole reel. I think that's the terminology, but I'm not a faggot ass, so don't pin me to it. As you might expect, Suri uses it to basically steal Rarity's ideas. I'm expecting there's a cease and desist letter coming in the mail soon?

 

Suri_presenting_%27her%27_collection_S4E08.png
Last time someone ripped me off, I ripped them off. Literally. I took their dick and tore it off with my bare hands and then forced them to eat it. Preschool was fun.

 

And...this is an interesting place for Rarity to be. Because, yeah, we've seen Rarity be generous here and there, but not to such an extent that being generous has backfired on her. It might be the inevitable pitfall of her elephant of harmony, but maybe it's about time this was addressed. As you might imagine, Rarity gets pissed and confronts Suri the Bitch, raging about her copying her design as well as questioning her ability to make them so fast. This is where we're introduced to Suri's work/sex slave Coco Pommel, who tirelessly worked on the counterfeits for eons and a day. Rarity goes back to her room to sulk, when the other five freeloaders come in to express their joy of being in Manehattan and also to remind the audience that they're still in this episode. They soon console Rarity about the bullshit that's just occurred, but assure her that this is just a phase and that she'll get over it. She does. Immediately. She comes up with a new line and then manages to get all of her friends to help her make them, almost to the point of slavery. That's......odd of Rarity? I mean, I'd love to make another raunchy sex slave joke here but, it's really odd of her to do this to her friends. Not even the circumstances of Suri betraying Rarity's naive trust in other ponies really calls for it. The out of character moments for her seem to be racing to polar opposite sides.

 

Rarity_%27Fine%21%27_S4E08.png
I mean, I can understand enslaving Twilight, what with her being a purple pony and all....

 

So when the others desire a break, Rarity throws a fit and storms off. This guilt trips the others into missing the musical she got them tickets for (dumbass) as they continue working on the dresses. Rarity then collects them all and storms off without not so much as a thank you. After the catwalk runway show of "Hotel Chic" is a rousing success, Rarity realizes that she's been a lickety prickety dickety fag when she sees her friends aren't at the show supporting her. Then she gazes at the empty seats and her eyes begin to glow in rainbows. The....fuck?

 

....

 

OH, WAIT, THIS IS SEASON FOUR. THIS IS THE KEY ARC!

 

Fucking hell, I forgot, when the ponies' eyes glow rainbow colors like their on acid, that indicates that a key to the Tree of Harmony chest is about to be earned. So, this is the first key episode. Not bad. But where's the lock-and-key BDSM, huh? This is a Rarity episode after all. That's what I thought.

 

Rainbow_glow_on_Rarity%27s_iris_S4E08.png
LUCY IN THE SKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYwithvaginas

 

So she goes back to the hotel in search of her friends, when the bellhop she was generous to many eons ago when the earth was flat tells her that her friends headed out this morning. This triggers a gloomy reprise of the "Generous" song which makes me want to create a list of the ways one can successfully commit suicide after hearing terrible music. She goes back to the fashion event to see that her friends are all there, and that they missed the show because they overslept. Of course. At least Applejack acknowledges Rarity was a dick. They all make up there, and when Suri tells Rarity she lost the competition, she notes that she doesn't give a flying fuck, which teaches Coco Pommel that friendship is a side of splooge with green fries. Rarity makes it up to her friends by getting them an exclusive show to that musical they missed, which was paid for by Rarity offering her "services" here in Manehattan for a little while. That's when Coco Pommel barges in like a dickhole on Sunday morning and tells Rarity that she actually won the competition and that Suri was bullshitting. She goes through the whole friendship is magic schtick admitting that she's now quit working for Suri, and gives Rarity a rainbow-colored spindle, which is the first of the six "keys" that no one knows about yet. In return, Rarity gives Coco her job of "servicing" the playwright. Ah, the cycle of prostitution always comes full circle. Insert journal shit here.

 

Rarity_smiling_while_levitating_the_thread_S4E08.png
I'm not sure this key is going to pick her locks. Okay, that one sucked, I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time.

 

And so concludes "Rarity Takes Manehattan".

 

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.....Uhhhh?

 

This episode's kind of polarizing. On one hand, it was interesting seeing Rarity get the shaft for embracing her element, and this episode certainly served its purpose in being the first of the six keys arc. There were no problems with the pacing, moral, or development of...well...Coco Pommel at least. However, on the other hand, Rarity is intensely out of character in two completely different ways here. At the beginning she's way too generous to everyone, and towards the end she's way too controlling, narcissistic, and nasty to her friends. She swings from both sides really quickly without much provocation and in the end we're just supposed to accept that she's back to normal now. I'm no psychiatrist, but that screams bipolar disorder. And Rarity hasn't displayed bipolar tendencies at all in the past. That's Pinkie Pie's mental disorder. If anything else, that whole scene with Rarity slaving the other five into making her dresses was uncomfortable even for me, with all of my indulgence in grotesque imagery. It felt so unnatural. There's other parts of this episode that don't add up, like the lack of Twilight's acknowledgment as a princess in what is implied to be a major city in Equestria. She gets no perks, no paparazzi, not so much as a second glance, but the writers insist she be a part of this episode. So why is she there? Then there's also the shit song, which is kind of overshadowed by this point anyway. At the beginning, I noted that when I first saw this episode I hated it, and then when I saw it again I liked it. Well, upon closer inspection, I find myself disturbed with the parts I once hated but also intrigued by the parts I once liked. All-in-all, I see both sides of the coin now and can honestly say that "Rarity Takes Manehattan" is an overall polarizing but ultimately subpar episode. I'm giving it a 5/10.

 

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Okay, this is it. My next review is on March 10th, which is the day after my 18th birthday, so I've gotta make this ending good so that I can send off my childhood in an epic way. You know, something I can recall years later and ask myself "what the fuck was I smoking?" or "how do I use a toilet?"

 

...Of course! I'll sum up my childhood in one word! That'll do the trick! Now, what word should I use?.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Goddammit".

2 Comments


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and towards the end she's way too controlling, narcissistic, and nasty to her friends. She swings from both sides really quickly without much provocation and in the end we're just supposed to accept that she's back to normal now.

Rarity wasn't OOC at all. Her unconditional ability to lend a helping hand to others was and is her biggest quality. RTM is the first time we saw not only it taken advantage of maliciously, but her intentionally plagiarized, too. When your trust is betrayed or when your work is plagiarized, it can be really devastating. To have both done doubles this anguish. Her attitude afterwards reflects the consequences of Suri's actions and realization of how important it is for her to retain her best qualities.

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Rarity wasn't OOC at all. Her unconditional ability to lend a helping hand to others was and is her biggest quality. RTM is the first time we saw not only it taken advantage of maliciously, but her intentionally plagiarized, too. When your trust is betrayed or when your work is plagiarized, it can be really devastating. To have both done doubles this anguish. Her attitude afterwards reflects the consequences of Suri's actions and realization of how important it is for her to retain her best qualities.

 

I disagree with the second half of that, but not so much on some of your other points. I think you might be misunderstanding the context of her being too generous. I was talking about the overzealous, almost satirical spirit of her generosity in the musical number:

 

To top it all off, Rarity is being overly generous in this musical number. Like, they're really trying to ham in the fact that she's so giving, which makes her almost out of character. We know Rarity is the element of generosity but she hasn't demonstrated such an overt willingness to give everyone a helping hand unless the plot called for shoving it up our asses. Like here. The odd part is, they don't display this at all anywhere else in the episode. Every other circumstance of her showing generosity seems realistic, and we'll get to that later.

In almost every scene of the musical number she's throwing material at other people for minor inconveniences, and we know this isn't just some kind of dream sequence because most of those people (the taxi driver, the bellhop) all come back later in the episode to repay her, which means all of that "generosity" had to been done in the short amount of time that the number implies. This is unsettling given this is coming from the same pony who guilt-tripped Spike's birthday present from him and for days on end refused to sacrifice time in an event for her little sister because she didn't feel like playing in dirt. Now, when we take her out of that sequence, her giving attitude is toned down and given plenty of room to breathe, and her generosity in the rest of the episode is believable. So basically, by saying she's too generous in the beginning, I'm saying the "Generosity" song should've been scrapped. That would've vastly improved the setup of the story.

 

It would've, at least, made for a less drastic swing from all of that "make it rain" crap to downright enslaving her friends, practically trapping them in her room to work on dresses they have no idea how to make whilst denying them any food or rest. That alone is fucked up, but when I was cringing at the scene and wondering why I bother with waking up in the morning, I considered Rarity's past behavior and any one person's realistic behavior. First, the obvious, Rarity's past behavior. When the fuck has she ever shown the slightest tendency in times of hardship to lash out in such a disturbing way at her friends? Did she set out to murder the others when they almost ruined her chances at impressing Hoity Toity and advancing her career in "Suited for Success"? Did she beat Sweetie Belle with a belt when she made a glitter poster of her sewing gems in "Sisterhooves Social"? What would possess her, then, to behave like a Nazi toward the others in a situation where none of them were involved in any way in this episode? Which brings me to realistic behavior. As an example, I think Rarity's reaction to Sweetie Belle wasting her materials was sensible. When a kid ruins an older sibling's work, they yell at them. Especially when there's more than one instance of it in a given day. That's something anyone would do. 

 

HOWEVER: If someone typed out a 50-page document for work and showed it to a co-worker, and that co-worker copies that document and submits it to their shared boss, do you really think that person would go home, sulk, and then call up all of their friends and force them to write a new document for them? Would that person realistically make their friends endure such repetitive tasks for hours on end, without food or rest, doing work they have no knowledge on in the first place, while this "victim of broken trust" stands around giving disapproving looks and not remotely pitching in on the effort? Do you honestly know anyone in real life who would do such disgusting shit, let alone any friends who would stand for that and stick around afterwards? If you do, please feel free to send them to an asylum, because that's fucking insane. When I consider a real-life scenario like that, it's certainly hard for me to excuse Rarity considering she'd effectively done the exact same thing in this episode. Rarity is many things, but she's not mentally unstable, and she's certainly not a sadistic slavemaster despite my prostitution jokes. Being plagiarized does not justify doing something so sick to people you've known for so long and supposedly love. There's no justification for Rarity's behavior in that scene, especially when there's other examples of her reacting in more mature and I'd imagine legal ways in worse situations.   

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