S02:E09 - Sweet and Elite

[cmarston1 5,951]

This episode was really good.

Rarity was great in it, and Becoming Popular is one of my favorite songs from the show.

[Teavvi 627]

Rarity was so funny in the first part where she was so happy she started kissing Princess Celestia. And I really liked it. XD.

[Thrond 3,257]

Really charming episode - used to be one of my very favourites, but over time Rarity's actions have seemed less sympathetic to me. I appreciate that she'd be tempted by something she'd dreamed of since she was a filly - I mean, I just praised "The Best Night Ever" for doing essentially the same thing - but I'm not sure all of her lies are warranted, although as I think about them it becomes a bit clearer that she wanted to impress ponies whom she considered "very important." Still, she keeps digging herself deeper, and that her dream here is as abstract as social status makes it seem slightly vapid and selfish... though of course, perhaps that's the point. I mean, it's not like it's hard to relate to that selfish pull; it's a choice we can all imagine having to make. In any case, when she's singing about all of this, you can just *hear* how much it means to her - one of the show's very best songs. 

 

It's really a testament to the writing here that the constant lying, which is irritating almost every other time the show depicts it, doesn't come across as awkward here. The tension's never held for too long, and even when it finally is at the party, the scene is played for maximum silliness, and while Rarity is uncomfortable with that, it's clear that her friends don't really care how they look, and the knowledge that Rarity stands up for *them* later, that the Canterlot ponies are wrong to judge, definitely allows the episode to avoid that secondhand embarrassment which plagues many other MLP episodes. I'm a little surprised that Twilight doesn't have a little more appreciation for how uptight Canterlot high society is, but then, I guess she didn't pay much attention to her surroundings. A bit more frustrating is Applejack, who gets a single throwaway gag which makes her look *really* dim-witted, which is far from what she is in her best appearances. Kinda annoying, but a small thing. 

 

Y'know, as I talk my way through this, I actually find myself appreciating it a lot more than when watching. My next rewatch will probably go a lot better, and I can certainly see myself rewatching it a lot - I mean, it's still a really solid episode, with plenty of charm and depth and a great moral, and although it's not the season's funniest, it brings the laughs where it counts. Good stuff. 

 

Score

Entertainment: 9/10

Characters: 8/10

Themes: 9/10

Story: 8/10

Overall: 85/100

[blackstarraven 142]

4outof5...

Great song.

I love rarity. Its a great lesson.

And the thing is its a lesson that does not require rarity to be stupid or a bad pony for the lesson to work. The show has that issue a lot of time.

 

Rarity just got distracted, it happens to the best ponies.

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

I liked this Episode, even though i found it weird that Rarity learns a wrong lesson, what about her lying? She never even told anyone, that she lied multiple times and she didnt even got called out for that ! She should learn, that lying about her or to her Friends is bad but she doesnt even get punished for it.

[Meushell 52]

I liked this episode. I was internally cringing as the episode went on, waiting for the big humiliation to fall. It’s great that she learned her lesson without it. Twilight loved the dress, and that really was more Twilighty than the original design. Fancy Pants seems like he’s setting up Twilight to laugh at her, but he liked the dress too!  It looks like the snobs Rarity first met might have also learned a thing or two.

[bigbertha 410]

This episode works for a similar reason to "Lesson Zero" does. The entire episode is from the focus character's perspective so no matter what they do, we know why they're doing them and they never get truly unlikeable. Rarity may be doing bad things, but we know her entire thought process and can still sympathize with her. Rarity may not have been punished, but we still know she learned her lesson.

Some people might complain that it has a very cliche plot and doesn't put too much of a unique spin on it, similar to "The Mane Attraction". But, unlike that episode, this episode has more charm, better comedy, and MUCH better writing.

The only issue I have is that the moral at the end doesn't really connect with the rest of the episode. Rarity never forgot about her friends. Even when she was swept up into the Canterlot scene, she still thought about Twilight's birthday. The issue was that she wasn't upfront with Twilight about what she was doing. If Rarity told Twilight what she was doing, everything would've been fine. The episode even shows this with Twilight complimenting Rarity's business strategy.

Score: 8/10

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by bigbertha

[bigbertha 410]

This is a solid episode. Rarity is fun to watch, there are a couple good jokes sprinkled throughout, and the conflict is interesting. It just doesn't do anything really well.

Score: 7/10

[Rushing cash 824]

I really enjoyed this episode, however my main problem is that the high class ponies should be familiar with the main six(if they hang around celestia they should have heard of them, they are painted on the windows in the royal castle!) and the fact that some of them achieved impressive things not counting saving the world, dash saved the wonderbolts and won the young flyers competition with making the sonic rainboom(so why lie about her?) and twilight is princess celestias protege(and later it turns out her brother is captain of the royal guard), come on! I understand if a random pony doesn't recognize them but if they know celestia and are often in the royal castle and came to all those celebration when they saved the world they should recognize them, or at least know about them.

If we ignore all it the episode is actually really good with an amazing song. It was a pleasant surprise that fancy pants is actually really nice and they didn't made him the antagonist of the episode. 7.5\10.  Plus we learned interesting facts about the wonderbolts, fleet foot is the fastest one(before dash joined obviously), I enjoy slice of life facts like that.

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

Cute episode but was kind of meh. 6/10 

Rarity's episodes are kind of boring until like...season 8  

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

My mother's favourite episode.  I can't blame her at all! Very charming, Rarity is hilarious at the start with Celestia, Becoming Popular caught me off guard the first time and it's an amazing tune!  Also, shoutout to the poor bellhop! 

The party scene in particular was so much fun and the music that plays is so good! 

[Astralshy 23,450]

I don't always understand Rarity, but I get her in this episode. The lie in her letter was of cause a big no no and also not necessary but I think she learned her lesson by living through all this stress. I don't like to blame people / ponys anyway.

I love how in the end she's standing by her friends even if she's afraid of getting unpopular; this is it what matter in my opinion. I also really liked Fancy Pants in this episode.

This party scene is epic. The music. The girls just being who they are. Especially Twilight, I love when she stops worrying and just enjoy the moment. While thinking about this episode, I realize of how much I really like this episode.

[Props Valroa 25,971]

Pretty funny episode. Twilight partying is so cute. I love the contrast between the various ponies in this one. Fancy pants is good, Rarity learns a good lesson.

[Cash In 21,489]

Rarity's struggle is quite relatable. You can't always have it all, so sometimes you have to prioritise or you'll please nobody. Rarity was just lucky it all turned out well in the end.  Speaking of which, I'll echo others when I say that the party scene was perfect. Seeing the partying habits of the Mane 6 compared to the fancy ponies was just really funny. 

"Becoming Popular" is also a pretty underrated song. It's one I always forget about, but it's actually really nice.

Great episode. I think it's a solid take on the issue of peer pressure.

Edited February 27 by Cash In
Updated thoughts

[Props Valroa 25,971]

Was a cute episode. I think that it's an important lesson, it's better to stay with true friends and people who get you rather than try to please strangers for social clout or however it might be. Twilight's dress is funny, as well.

[Hadrien 937]

The episode where Rarity learns that being popular and "high-class" isn't as good as having friends. It's a pretty good one, for a Rarity episode, and the fact that Fancy Pants isn't actually a monstrous douchebage even though he's rich is telling a lot by how Celestia runs things. Still, the two other "fancy" ponies were really annoying, just trying to lick the boots of anyone with a higherstanding then them. Never understood that myself, I don't care how great and "high" class you are, you should treat everybody the same, so good on Fancy Pants.

Rarirty really did a banger on Twilight's dress, even for a last minute project, it fits her perfectly.

6+0.5/10, good Rarity episode, and that song has a great beat !