DHX must have gotten Champion RD92's dream journal mixed in with the script pile again. This is happening too often...OR MAYBE NOT ENOUGH.

"Daring Don't" By Dave Polsky

Oh man, I'm really late on this one. The next episode comes on in a few hours as of this writing. I really should have been done this write-up by now. Some would even argue that my opinion may have been "tainted" by the flood of wildly differing assessments that have cropped up since. Thankfully, I never look at any opinion that is not my own ever, because screw perspective.

Joke's on you, I fell asleep during the last 20 minutes of Ratatouille!

I'm guessing there really isn't anything I could add to the conversation that hasn't already been said, though. Overall, it's...okay. It's flawed. Very flawed. Time has decided to be unkind and is slowly revealing more flaws with each ounce of hindsight. Is it as bad as I've heard some people say? Definitely not; I can think of several episodes that are much worse and actively betrayed the show's overall quality. It doesn't even make me angry like "Just for Sidekicks" or that stupid cider ordeal did. There's just really isn't anything to write home about besides its entertainment and production values, but that's true of most of the episodes as this point.

This is a little disappointing, seeing as how it comes from one of my favorite writers on the series. It may not be the more thematically-charged, sort-of-subversive story he's known for, but Dave Polsky can churn out a decent adventure yarn too. But whereas his other episodes of this nature are a pretty decent exercise in plot progression and weaving ideas and morals throughout all the scenes of monster attacks and epic pie wars, "Daring Don't" is really clumsy. Surprisingly clumsy, actually, given the writer. The initial charcater conflict that sets off this story is sort of lost in the ensuing chaos, the fact that the Daring Do mythology is real and totally happening without anyone knowing is weird and isn't dwelt upon nearly as much as it should be, half the Mane Six don't really affect the plot at all and could have easily been written out, and there's a lot of moments that feel odd. And they're not even nit-picky moments, you're actually thinking of this stuff as it happens. Like, the Mane Six don't even attempt to stop the burglars as they walk right past them on two separate occasions, and there's the question as to why Daring even kept the ring around in the first place if she was gonna destroy it anyway.

The oddest moment of all is the tiresome third act sequence when Dash is sitting around feeling sorry for herself, because apparently the one thing everyone took from Toy Story is that we need a mopey scene where the main characters contemplate their regretful actions. I'm looking at you, Mulan. Yeah, I get it, Dash feels bad about Daring getting captured and stuff, and it ties into the who lesson about...

...actually, yeah, that's another problem: the moral is way too generic and murky all at once. Say what you will about Polsky's handling of morals in his pair of S1 episodes, but at least you could tell what he was going for, and they were both mature subjects to talk about, at least within the context of that fluffier first season. Dash's character arc isn't exactly clear here and the final codas here are daft as heck. Something about trust and believing in your own awesomeness or whatever. I think something was said about not putting your heroes on pedestals. Hey, that last one is sort of interesting. Yeah, I can see Polsky doing this thing where a Mane Six-er meets their idol, but they're jerks or something. It's be like that episode of Hey Arnold where Eugene goes all dark because his favorite action star is an asshat, so he puts on a leather jacket and everything.

I miss my childhood.

At least now I can check Hey Arnold and Vampire Diaries off my list of references to make.

But I digress. Overall, the episode's plotting is what brings it down, what with its leaps in logic and suspension of disbelief and the whole "we really wanted to do these specific scenes but didn't know how to elegantly transition to them" vibe sort of hanging throughout the proceedings. Like I said, though, it isn't horrible. It's okay. The script, as clumsy as it is, does get a few nice moments from some of the characters, the fangirling is cute, it moves at a nice pace, the jungle setting and climatic Temple of Doom look pretty (S4 is really pushing environments that create dynamic lighting), many of the Indiana Jones references put a smile on my face, and Polsky's episodes always come handy with a cool action sequence or two, and coming from someone who actively dislikes Twicane and memes of the sort...

...this face is love. This face is life.

So yeah, I don't have an exact opinion on this either way, though I'm leaning towards saying this episode wasn't a bust. If you already don't like Rainbow Dash, this episode isn't gonna work for you at all, and further pondering on this will probably not do the episode any favors, but I enjoyed myself while watching it. Not that great, but not too bad either.

6/10, maybe 5/10 if it doesn't hold up on future viewings

Random Thoughts

- Favorite part was the pony version of Belloq, french accent and all. Was anyone else hoping one of the henchmen would reach into the fire to get the artifact and burn their hand?

"OW!!! This is the worst thing that could possibly happen to me on this mission!"

- To be fair to Toy Story, the mopey scene in Sid's room totally works and actually means something.

- Actually, y'know what, Ahuizotl was awesome. That part where he just charges out of the woods and he's all pissed off was pretty sweet.

- You'd think Celestia would be on top of anything that villain could use to control the sun, or that Daring would know enough to know that having the Elements of Harmony on your side is an obvious advantage over an army of kittens.