Thrond

Yeah, I like the idea of her using the name as a badge of honor to spite the bullies, but at the same time the episode really should've addressed the baggage behind the name, and maybe add in some emotional punch, something this episode really could've used

Might have benefitted from some more introspection from Dash.

Yeah, that tends to happen commonly in military units and sports teams. Heck, it even commonly happens in construction jobs, office jobs... just about everywhere. People don't get deep psychological scars just from having to mop up floors and getting saddled with embarrassing nicknames. If they do, then there's likely something underlying there in the psyche that the nickname triggers rather than causes. As the 'Bolts displayed, you eventually learn to live with your nickname and accept is as a term of endearment and comradery. If you can't get past a nickname, then you're going to have a very tough time in the real world, where people are typically rewarded for being real assholes. You guys act like the 'Bolts waterboarded her, or raped her in some horrifyingly humiliating act of depraved initiation. Heck, I've read T-rated fanfics where they put Wonderbolt initiates through worse. I think this whole thing is being blown way out proportion. 

It's just a nickname that, as far as the Wonderbolts knew, was merely embarrassing to Dash. Even at the end of the episode, the Wonderbolts had no clue that RD had a history with the nickname, and although the episode's refusal to properly acknowledge what that nickname means to RD is one of the more frustrating parts of it to me, the episode 

1. attempts to have Rainbow Dash reclaim the name as a source of pride, as it now represents that she has achieved her dreams and become a Wonderbolt,

and 

2. shifts to a story about RD not feeling accepted within the Wonderbolts. When the Wonderbolts tell Rainbow that each of them has an embarrassing nickname, I took that as them seriously considering RD's feelings but only understanding them as her feeling disrespected or left out. 

It's frustrating that the episode doesn't engage with the idea at all, but it did not come across to me as "condoning hazing" - all it really defended was the nickname itself, which wasn't really portrayed as being outright harmful to Rainbow Dash. I guess I see the implications more than I did at first, and I certainly don't like any work environment based on making newcomers feel uncomfortable, but that's still not really what I take from this episode. 

Nonsense, I don't think you know what objective means. An objective quality in writing that one could measure would be things like grammar or spelling. We can measure whether or not your spelling is correct, we can't measure 'correct' characterization or plot progressions. This would be like saying that one characters color pallet is objectively better than another characters because this ones adheres to color theory. Color theory is not objective science, just like literary devices or narrative techniques are not objective science.

 

This episode highlighted Rainbows very blatant and obvious narcissistic tendencies beautifully, and closed on a satisfying arc. Everything she did in this episode was very much so believable because she's been shown to do similar things in previous episodes. It doesn't matter if you think it was the right or wrong thing to do, what matters is that it was consistent with her character and one could reasonably assume she would do those things. Sometimes, characters don't act the exact same way in every single situation, especially after learning lessons or even behaving differently in other contextual scenarios, that is not believable because real people don't act that way. Characterization was flawless.

Sure, her actions here are consistent with her actions throughout the series, and I honestly don't think most of what she did was at all unbelievable, but I did think some of her actions ignored some of her character development. Believable? Yes, to some extent; it's recognizably Rainbow Dash, but also no, as some of the earlier boasting in particular seemed to demonstrate character regression. She demonstrates less modesty and (especially) self-awareness than she had in earlier episodes. Not that this character regression is an entirely new development, but for an episode that I'd hoped to be a strong character showcase, it's especially disappointing. 

Your standard for "objective" is unfairly high.

The insistence that I take facts on color philosophy to the standard of measurable light wavelength isn't helpful.  All that does is make it hard to communicate.

What needs to be true for something to be objective is that it is easily and clearly supported by facts without personal feelings or opinions influencing the judgement.  

 

If you really want to hold me to the "red light is 700nm" level of fact, then we don't have enough common ground to have a discussion.  If you are willing to accept that making media has accepted principles that have been studied, analyzed and honed to a fine point, then it isn't hard to make a case that "newbie dash" has SOME elements that are objectively bad.  

Backing your statements up with facts isn't objectivity, it's just backing up an argument. It's easy to make a case that "Newbie Dash" is flawed, but it's not easy to make a case that it's "objectively bad," because that's a value judgement which might not be a significant issue to others. "Good"/"bad" are vague labels which describe personal judgments above all else. They're hardly objective, and the film techniques you talk about are simply things which will assist most people's enjoyment and comprehension of the work. A work doesn't suddenly fall apart without it, as success is relative to an assigned purpose, which in any creative work varies per viewer.  

 

So a lot of people is complaining about Newbie Dash for two mayor reasons:

1- The scene where Dash imitates her friends.

In the first point, the scene is supposed to be cringeworthy. I mean, come on! We’ve had scenes like that before!

That doesn't make it enjoyable to watch. It's drawn out too long. 

I have to disagree. They weren't taunting her or making fun of her. They just wanted to make sure she knew that was her new nickname. Yes, I do think the wonderbolts came off a little more mean-spirited than they intended to, but mostly why it hurt Dash so much was because it was the exact same name ponies around her had given her all her life. It carried a lot of bad memories for her and if the wonderbolts had chosen any other name I think the episode would've gone a completely different direction.

 

 

That being said though, I think a couple things could've been done differently (those impressions were a bit cringeworthy), but overall I really liked the episode. I'd give it a solid 8/10.

It'd be nice if the history of that nickname actually meant anything in the long run. I think the episode's intent with bringing that up was to have her reclaim what was once used to torment her as a symbol of her success, and I actually respect that idea immensely. I just wish the episode showed a lot more introspection regarding that, and maybe had Rainbow Dash actively reveal why the name bothers her so much. I don't think the Wonderbolts had any intent of being mean-spirited; they gave no sign of realizing Dash was seriously bothered by it until the very end. It wasn't a "reminder" that Rainbow Crash was her nickname; it was just what stuck, and all they saw in Rainbow resisting it was a new rookie whose pride had been wounded. Again, it would have worked significantly better with more introspection instead of, say, the impressions scene. 

Still, it's not really what I wanted from this episode. Part of the idea here seems to be to take Rainbow Dash's ego down a peg, but that's what her character development in the past five seasons was for. I think I'd prefer if the episode showed her at her best, ready to meet the challenge that the Wonderbolts's atmosphere provides for her. This is fine too, I guess, but it'd be more fine if it were done a little better. 

I didn't hate it, but wow that was disappointing. So much potential wasted, and it isn't even a particularly strong character showcase for Rainbow Dash. That impression sequence is an okay idea but this was really not the right context for it. Still, there's some interesting touches to Rainbow's characterization, and I kinda enjoyed how it approached acceptance. Not entirely sure that its theme was coherent, which is probably a major reason why people think it condones bullying, but I kinda liked it for some reason. 

Reviewed it on my blog here.

Additional comments:
 

I don't care what y'all say, I thought Spike being caught in the luggage was hilarious. Good ol' slapstick. 

Has Rarity called Rainbow Dash "Dashie" before? this may be relevant to my shippings. I'm still waiting for that pair to get another episode; "Rarity Investigates!" was my favourite of sesaon 5.  

Rank the episodes so far, from best to worst.

1. "The Crystalling"

2. "The Gift of the Maud Pie"

3. "Gauntlet of Fire"

4. "On Your Marks"

5. "Newbie Dash"

6. "No Second Prances"

 

1. Rainbow Dash's sense of maturity is completely nonexistent. One of her best traits is the ability to put her pride aside in favor of doing the right thing. WA is her best performance, because it put out the best in her from the middle onward. You knew it was about to come. Instead, she's become a very flanderized shell of herself with a monumental ego that has to be pegged time and time again. She marginalized her very own integrity by shooting it off early, embarrassing herself in front of the Wonderbolts, and being incompetent.

Easily the most frustrating part of this episode for me. Season 1-3 Rainbow Dash is one of my absolute favourite characters, and much of that maturation and character development is missing from this episode as it has been from many recent episodes. It's extremely frustrating to see such a great character regress and stagnate like this.

Hope "Newbie Dash" doesn't make RD too juvenile. Season 5's "Tanks for the Memories" felt like it took her vulnerability too far and I'm hoping that it feels a bit too weighty than that. I think she's one of the show's most interesting characters, and I'm super excited for her apparently making the Wonderbolts main team, so I'm really hoping that the episode goes smoothly. Been a while since the last really great RD episode. 

"Saddle Row & Rec," while just as interesting, does strike me as something that could rehash elements from earlier seasons. I hope that Rarity doesn't try to save face by distancing herself from her friends. 

"Flutter Brutter" is one of the less interesting synopses revealed so far, although it's great to see more family. Has the potential to be awkward. 

Prepared to not enjoy "Applejack's 'Day' Off." Not a fan of the Rarity/Applejack dynamic. 

I'm also hoping that Twilight and Starlight's character arcs are brought somewhere interesting, because I didn't think "No Second Prances" did much with them, and "A Hearth's Warming Tail" doesn't seem particularly exciting. Hope the writers know what they're doing. 

Given that I was on board with Starlight Glimmer since even the S5 finale, I was really disappointed by how uninteresting I found this episode to be. Starlight's most interesting traits aren't really built upon, Trixie is at her blandest, and Twilight is both unsympathetic and uninteresting. Meanwhile, multiple elements feel rehashed from "The Crystalling." Didn't enjoy any of the attempts at humour, either. Wrote a review on my blog (http://bit.ly/1VZMI57) where I go more into detail about the characterization here. Really disappointed by this after how much potential I saw in the premiere. 

Additional thoughts: 

For an episode which is ostensibly about Starlight, the bulk of its character development and thematic depth is actually focused on Twilight. The apparent focus on conflict between Twilight and Starlight remains way too tame and predictable to be all that interesting. 

Baffling to me that the episode has entire scenes based around Starlight's impulsiveness only to completely fail to address it in any meaningful way. Doesn't help that, aside from the speech spell, most of the impulsive stuff she does is pretty underwhelming. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say that this episode completely failed to make anything of the nuances of these characters. Maybe this kind of setup would be more satisfying if every episode didn't have to be self-contained.

I've been dissatisfied with Twilight's characterization for a long time, and even though a few recent episodes had given me some hope, this could very well be the last straw for me. I enjoy this character because I identify with her; I didn't find her even remotely relatable in this episode, and worse, I didn't even like her at all. Upsets me. 

My comparison between Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer isn't entirely fair, as Starlight is very much not Sunset, but although I do like that Starlight's approach to redemption differs a little, I'm still waiting for something interesting to be made of it.

I think it would be interesting if Twilight's attempts to adjust to the role of a teacher ultimately fail in some horrible way, but I highly doubt the show will go there. Now that she's learned to be hands-off in teaching twice this season, she's gotta actually remember it next time. 

I'm not bothered that Starlight is making jokes at all about her misdeeds, but at some point it just gets boring. If she's not gonna move on, and if she's not gonna be proactive about being a better pony, then at least make something interesting out of her guilt and character flaws. There's some irony in her commenting on how she used to be "evil" while still showing impulsiveness and a lack of consideration for others; I want something to actually be done with that.