As far as episodes go, "Read It and Weep" is pretty standard fare for Season 2, which I'd say is slightly better than an episode typical of Season 1, but not much more exceptional than that. That's not to say it's not a delightful episode, it's just there's nothing that really makes it stand out or a really outstanding episode. So then, what do we got here?

Well, Rainbow Dash discovers the joys of reading; that's pretty much the entire episode in a nutshell. This lesson has appeared in quite a few kids shows over the years, and Rainbow Dash, being the athletic tomcolt that she is, was the obvious choice out of the Mane 6 to learn this lesson. Even the whole "being stuck in bed" trope is pretty standard for this type of episode, but I don't want to say it's cliche; rather, it simply follows an archetype, and follows it perfectly fine, hitting all the right points. Rainbow Dash gets injured. Check. She's stuck in a hospital. Check. She reveals that she thinks reading is lame. Check. When she has nothing else to do, she has to start reading and discovers that, surprise, surprise, it's awesome! Check. Tries to hide it from her friends, but inevitably they discover it after whacky shenanigans ensue and all have a good laugh, plus lesson learned. Check. While the episode certainly isn't that original, it works because it's execution is spot on again and again and again.

Man, I love reading. I mean, I LOVE reading.

The finest parts of the episode honestly probably come in the Daring Do sequences. An obvious homage to Indiana Jones, one can't help but get sucked into her sequences. The grainy animation and exotic setting make it refreshingly unique, and that along with Rainbow Dash's exuberant narration really help visually convey how a good book can quite literally transport the reader to a new land. She also has a lovely design, even if it's a bit redundant of RD's, but it works for an adventurous explorer character like herself, and the color scheme is different enough from RD's that it's not too noticeable. Finally, she's just fun to watch; this is her only appearance thus far, but despite having only a few lines she's really charismatic and her sequences are extremely entertaining. If Daring Do ever pops up in any future episodes (although considering she's a fictional character within the MLP universe itself I doubt that'll ever happen), I for one would have no complaints.

Besides Daring Do, Rainbow Dash is a lot of fun in this episode, particularly when she's learning to love reading more and more and during her hoodie-ninja sequence at the end of the episode. She also has quite a few cute moments, again, most of them as she's discovering how awesome reading is and trying to retrieve the book from the hospital at the end. The Mane 6 are pretty entertaining too for the few scenes they're in (I always find Rarity's comment about a good book being "almost as magnificent as silk pajamas on a Sunday morning" to be especially amusing). Twilight's pretty adorkable as she's trying to sell Rainbow on the joys of reading. But overall there's not too much to say about this episode. As I said before, it's pretty standard fare for Season 2; that's certainly not a bad thing, it's just a fact that it's hardly one of the most standout episodes in MLP. It's just the right amount of funny and exciting blended with a nice, very relevant lesson that's delivered solidly, and I like it just the way it is for what it is.

Reading: it's awesome, plain and simple.

Do it... like, as much as you can. I mean it. Like... right now! Go go, scoot, bury your head in the wondrous pages of a good book young scholars!!!