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Why "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" Was A Great Episode


Stellafera

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So, I heard you didn't like The Mysterious Mare Do Well. And you heard that I liked it. And you said that it was a bad episode. More specifically, an episode that was bad for Rainbow Dash. Now, if I were the high-flying pegasus myself, I'd say this in response:

 

 

However, I'll be a wee bit more diplomatic about it. I find a lot of validity in the claims criticizing the actions of the rest of the Mane 6 here, so you aren't going to see me defending that. My main focus is to argue that not only was Rainbow Dash characterized well in this episode (hehe), but it was one of the best characterizations of her.

 

Let's get down to our first order of business. I haven't seen any complaints for the cold open, so I'll just echo everyone else and say that it was sweet, funny, and maintaining continuity. It also introduced RD as a celebrity, which is obviously further developed later into the episode.

 

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asdasdasdsdaasdadadllddddddOkay, seriously, who could hate this?

 

After the theme song, we find Dash lazing around in the clouds. Yet another example of character continuity (RD's laziness), check. Not so OOC now, huh? But when she hears a little filly in trouble, she doesn't even hesitate to dash and save her. I love this scene, and the animators deserve pats on the back for their work here. Her expressions say everything. She is surprised and even a little uncomfortable confronting such a large crowd of spectators, but they press on that she is totally awesome, despite her humble dismissals. And with a blush and a smile, Rainbow Dash begins her fall. In the moment where she flies away, she realizes that she likes this attention. When she deliberately seeks it next time, she's richly rewarded. And again, and again. It's an addiction of sorts. By the time the titular Mare Do Well show up, it's completely consumed her. Rainbow Dash, the hero, is gone. Enter Rainbow Dash, the tragic villain. Tragic, you ask? Why tragic?

 

Because, as she gets worse and worse, I still felt sympathetic for her. It was really more of the unwitting crowd's fault that Rainbow Dash became such an arrogant jerk. Whenever she acted attention seeking, they loved it. They showered praise on her and they seemed to love her even more. Is there any wonder why she became so egotistical and so desperate to get noticed? The love of Ponyville made her feel like the best pegasus in the world.

 

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asdasdasd dddlllPictured Above: Beloved episode, beloved episode, not beloved episode.

 

And if there's any pony who would desire that ego boost, it'd be RD. Sonic Rainboom, sometimes considered to be the definitive Dash episode, displays Rainbow Dash's hidden insecurity. So does Read It And Weep. People loved her in both of those episodes. Why not this one? Everything about her behavior in The Mysterious Mare Do Well betrays a clear lack of any true self confidence and a need to have it be validated. This is part of the reason why her friends' choice to create a persona who exists to make Rainbow Dash feel inferior was kind of a jerk move.

 

Fast fowarding to her monologue on the cloud now. This was a real :( moment for me. Ashleigh Ball gives a great performance, and through almost the entire sequence, you can hear that RD is on the verge of crying. I felt really bad for her. Did she bring it upon herself? Yes, technically, but how would you feel if everyone was your biggest fan, everyone loved you, and then suddenly some new person comes in and your adoring fans treat you like a waste of space? And furthermore, Rainbow Dash has no idea how this happened. All of her attention seeking before made everyone love her! What changed? Rainbow Dash is not exactly someone who has a high level of self awareness. When she tries to figure out why, she lists off only the surface aspects. There's something sad about how shallow she thinks the appreciation of her is.

 

This scene only became better upon rewatch, now that Rainbow Dash has become a much more mature character. There's the answer right in front of her, but she can't quite reach it yet on her own. If this were Season 3, she'd have a moment of realization right there. It took the whole Mare Do Well thing for her to do it here. I just like being reminded of how the characters have grown and changed.

 

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So, I think that while The Mysterious Mare Do Well has its flaws (namely, that it makes you root for the wrong side), it's an episode that really shines a light on some of Rainbow Dash's flaws and her fears. An episode doesn't have to be good all around to have something to offer, and Mare Do Well proves it. Since I was being all serious-y and stuff for most of this blog post, I neglected to mention a few other things I liked about this episode:

  • It's still a visually and audiorially impressive episode even in light of the amazing art quality of Season 3. There are a few odd faces, as the animators were experimenting with some new types of expressions at this point, but you have amazing vistas and some excellent camera angles and framing. The music is also top notch, with little trills and touches to enhance each scene.
  • It's hilarious, one of the funniest episodes in the series. "Another great feat of heroism! I have just saved this grass!" gets me every time. Everyone in the cast was really hamming it up.

So, yeah, that's why I liked The Mysterious Mare Do Well. And if I were Rainbow Dash, well, now I'd say this on behalf of the episode, with Amethyst Star/Sparkler featured as most of the rest of the brony fandom's reaction to it and perhaps this whole analogy:

 

  • Brohoof 5

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How about the fact that a pony in the crowd shouts "The fun has been doubled!"

That is the best line, other than the fact that it shows Rainbow Dash learning a lesson in pride... the episode was all about the coolest-fastest-flyer in all of equestria. :3

  • Brohoof 1
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Well I always sort of wondered what you saw in this episode, so it's good to hear more than bits and pieces of your opinion :).

 

My general issue with the episode has always been generally with the rest of the Six and Scootaloo. I didn't necessarily enjoy Dash's portrayal in this one, but I accept that her flaws are a part of her character and it is only fair for her to have to confront them at some point.

 

Scootaloo was brilliant, until the scene immediately before the parade. To me she seems like an entirely different character than in any other scene that she is in. I didn't feel any sort of build up to it, and there hasn't really been anything before or after that scene that would indicate that she would leave Rainbow Dash so easily.

 

As for the rest of the mane six, I don't even know what to say. I can't understand why they would skip any sort of attempt at reasoning with Rainbow. That would seem to be the logical first step in this sort of situation. I also didn't like how they seemed to not pay any attention to how she was responding to their whole plan, and how their actions are supposed to be portrayed as morally pure and correct.

 

Furthermore, it seems OOC to me that they didn't talk to her beforehand. Rarity had a similar ego trip the previous season, and I would think that she would be interested in heading off the problem before it escalated. The one most hurt by her actions beforehand was even Rainbow Dash. Applejack is the honest one, but there didn't seem to be much honesty in their plan. One of Pinkie Pie's lowest moments came from when she was locked out of the loop and made some very false conclusions, but she didn't seem to pay attention to the fact that a similar thing was happening to one of her best friends. Fluttershy doesn't seem to particularly care that their praising of the Mare Do Well ( apparently complimenting themselves is perfectly acceptable) is really ticking Dash off, and not helping anything. These didn't feel like the characters that I had grown to love.

 

As for the art, agreed. As for the humor, I couldn't say. It was hard for me to laugh when my favorite character was becoming a miserable wreck.

 

I do think it set up some excellent future portrayals of Rainbow, so I have to give it points for that. Generally though, the moral greyness and the questionable characterization of several characters makes it leave a bad taste in my mouth.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I appreciate it a little more than I used to, but I can't say that I'm a fan of it.

  • Brohoof 1
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While The Mysterious Mare Do Well isn't one of my favorite episodes, I don't dislike it either. It is memorable for me because it was the first “all new” MLP:FiM episode I ever watched. Only a couple days earlier one of my best friends, who was already a Brony, had come into town for Thanksgiving. She had me watch the series pilot during her visit. By late December/early January a year ago, I too had become a Brony.

 

Would my perspective on The Mysterious Mare Do Well have been different if I was watching the series all along? Who knows. It wasn't until a bit later when I understood Rainbow Dash's character that I noticed this: In The Mysterious Mare Do Well, RD enjoys her greatest success as the town's hero when she acts out of loyalty to her fellow citizens. It's only when she attempts heroic feats for the sake of outdoing Mare Do Well that she struggles.

 

"Everything about her behavior in The Mysterious Mare Do Well betrays a clear lack of any true self confidence and a need to have it be validated. This is part of the reason why her friends' choice to create a persona who exists to make Rainbow Dash feel inferior was kind of a jerk move."

 

That is exactly the reason most viewers give for hating this episode. RD's friends want her to be humble, so why did they decide that humiliating her was the best way to go about that?  The common sense approach good friends would try first would've been to tap her on the shoulder and say “You know, Dashie...” Perhaps that wouldn't have been strong enough to break the addictive cycle of RD saving the day in return for the adulation of the townspeople.  But you'd think there would be a better way to snap RD out of it than to make her look like a fool. 

 

I wish I had time for more but Big Bang Theory is coming on shortly. Are you going to be putting out these thought provoking episode reviews on a daily basis now? I'll never be able to keep up, lol!

  • Brohoof 2
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Are you going to be putting out these thought provoking episode reviews on a daily basis now? I'll never be able to keep up, lol!

 

Not daily, as you can tell. I review stuff when it strikes my fancy. Right now I'm in the middle of watching a show called Ninjago, which I will certainly review once I am done with it.

  • Brohoof 1
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Not daily, as you can tell. I review stuff when it strikes my fancy.

I was being facetious...I just wrote it like that because of the way you followed up a lovely full length review of Hurricane Fluttershy with a terrific blog on The Mysterious Mare Do Well. :)

 

BTW: It's a good thing I looked here because I didn't get a notification like I normally do when somebody quotes me. I guess that doesn't work for blog entries?

  • Brohoof 1
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