spoiler Tanks For The Memories: An Allegory For Something Sadder?

[meaples 1]

I think the episode covered all 5 stages of grief quite well but the overall weightage of implied death was IMHO not enough to really strike the heart so to say. The overall message seemed to be more relatable to people who have gone down the same path before but it feels like a somewhat not-quite-there attempt to intoduce the concept to members of the audience who haven't. Maybe it is just me but I was actually leaning towards the following during the episode:

 

1) RD taking a natural occurence and blowing it out of context

 

2) Refusal to listen to advice of friends with credentials (fluttershy is somewhat valid as an anthropologist) and seeking phony corroborative evidence (spike) to back one's false confidence actually flashed more anti-vaxxer/anti-stuff concepts than the grief message of the episode

 

3) Damage to property including causing potential risk of death to the workers at the cloud plant. Being an engineer here really hit some strings that she was not accountable at all for her actions and really put all the plant workers lives at risk. The should make her visit a hospital next episode to show that her actions affected someone else.

 

The episode would definitely be better and much darker than some would like it to be if Tank had actually died as I think everyone would understand the overall message. Then again, this is a kids show with GoT references so maybe I am just looking a little further than usual.

 

+1 because AJ cries inside. We all do AJ.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

Oh yes, it was clear they were dealing with loss.

 

...unfortunately, it's somewhat negated because he'll come back in the spring. People here are saying they've lost pets. So have I, and it's very upsetting. But hibernation is NOT death, folks. More like a seasonal, situational coma used to survive. It's not something to get as worked up over as an actual death. Unfortunately, the creative will never be allowed to actually bring up death, so this as close as they can get. And we're worse off for it

 

Plus...this might make me a terrible person, but I just like Tank enough to care. Sorry, but he hasn't been in enough episodes or gotten enough development for me to be sad to see him go, let alone a temporary absence.

 

Sorry, but that's just how I feel.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Jangobadass

[Grtxkkyz 387]

Why yes, this episode may very well be the closest the show deals about the demise of a loved one. And even if Dash's sabotage was rather nasty, in the end you can't help but feel the pain her sadness causes deep in her heart, which certainly makes you want to give the poor mare a hug. The truth is, we all have acted like Rainbow did in this chapter, each time a loved one has to say goodbye forever, but in the end we learn we just have to let them go, remember the love they had and still have for us, remember the beautiful memories we had with them and hope we will meet them someday again. Yeah, Tank wasn't truly dying, he was just undergoing a natural process for his species, but still, the message's pretty clear. And, as you have said, the way Rainbow reacts to Tank's hibernation certainly adds yet more layers of depth to her character, which hopefully will be explored more deeply in upcoming episodes

Edited April 28, 2015 by Dino-Mario

[Miles 2,512]

I say unfortunately, because I was really hoping such an episode would have focused on Applejack and her parents.

 

Pleeeease noooo...

 

I really would not be able to handle that.  This episode being an allegory worked perfectly.

 

I would go into full fledged dehydration if an episode focused on Applejack's parents...

 

 

 

 

 

~ Miles