Foreword: This is a rewrite of my old review. To see the old review, click to this blog (locked from commentating).

After a three-episode stretch that focused on the continuity to the letter, Episode 4 took a break in the form of "Daring Don't." Written by Dave Polsky, Dash anticipates the new Daring Do book to be released, only to be delayed. This leads Dash and her friends on a cluttered, unrealistic, and contrived journey.

Strengths and various likes:

1. The nerdy moment Twilight and Dash had as they explained various moments and scenes of the Daring Do canon cracked me up (and Pinkie following it clearly was a clever touch). As an out nerd, I've been on both ends of the spectrum (in in graphic design and FL9 diesels, out in bus specifications). Funny, yet extremely relatable. Best moment in the episode and so in character of them both.
   
2. Dash gushing over Daring Do was something I could really see her do. Since Read It and Weep, you could tell how close Dash was paying attention to the series as well as all of the details surrounding the DD canon. The little winks of her knowledge and fanaticism from Spike at Your Service were quite nice and reflected the continuity of the series.
   
3. Twilight actually uses her teleportation spell. Must be a holiday.
   
4. Another nice wink of the Indiana Jones series in the form of the Western map.
   
5. It paraphrases a connection fandom and creator has from here to others. Fandom is passionate, crazy, and wild. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. We've seen that so much in so many fandoms, namely sports fanbases like college football, baseball, ice hockey, and soccer.
    
   Likewise, the same applies to the people who authorize the canon. Creators and writers (both official and fan) do owe their fans. Without fans, there's no fandom, no popularity, no fame, and (for the pros) no money. Rowling wouldn't have been a billionaire if Scholastic didn't entice the public and help create the gigantic Harry Potter fandom. Besides the gigantic TV revenue that's scheduled to begin in 2014 (about $1.5 billion from ESPN, TBS, and FOX altogether per year), one of the biggest reasons baseball players get millions of dollars is because fans pay a bunch of dough to sit and watch their favorite teams and players play (and if you're a market like LA; St. Louis; New York; and Boston, win).
   
6. "My mind is officially blown!" Obviously, Twilight.
   
7. Great animation, and the fighting sequences had nice action, humor, and tension. The fights were fast, yet paced well, and there was plenty of foreshadowing to the climax.
   
8. Conceptually, it was a breath of fresh air as far as Dash-centered episodes are concerned. While previous ones focused on her ego and sensitivity, this one focused Dash about how much she wants to put it aside and aid her idol. It was a change of pace for Dash and felt both in character and real for her.
   
9. Daring teasing Ahuizotl Owee-whoever-name-is and Dash's reaction were hilarious.
   

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Weaknesses:

1. Some parts of the episode when there was no fighting felt rather quick. Not so much to disturb the plot (and seriously, the pace here is objectively better than Keep Calm and Flutter On), but enough to miss the plot points and confuse the viewers.
   
2. Dash played the fangirl too long. While she was shown a powerful lesson by inadvertently getting in Daring Do's way, she made up for it. And to be fair, she did think about what Twilight said to her as she followed her, talking back and forth about joining her idol and then doing the best she can to knock herself out cold after realizing she was behaving stupidly.
   
3. Up till the end, pretty much every pony minus Pinkie was in on the action. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were background ponies for the first sixteen minutes of Daring Don't. It would've been better if Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie were the lone characters of the Mane Six in this episode.
   
4. Daring Do was based on Indiana Jones, who welcomed help if needed (according to my research). While it backs up the book Dash read in RIaW (as well as her secret identity and remote location), DD, however, behaved similar to Batman and was out of character as far as the source material is concerned.
   
5. *rolls eyes at hearing the Wilhelm Scream*
   
6. The idea of Daring Do and her adventures being real and happening in a remote area in Equestria is contrived. It's just given to us, and the characters immediately believed it (despite the showing of how the books appeared to be written as "fiction").
    
   Moreover, why didn't Yearling/Do try to smash the ring before Ahuizotl's henchmen showed up? And why were those rings so heavy, when Do was capable of carrying one big ring prior? There were plenty of inconsistencies as far as the plotting was concerned.
   

Overall, below-average to poor quality work. Definitely my most favorite Polsky episode, but Too Many Pinkie Pies is still his best in quality, and this is tied with (or worse than) Princess Twilight Sparkle (both halves) for the weakest episode this season.

P.S.: By the way…

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Source: S04:E04 - Daring Don't