S08:E20 - The Washouts

[Senko 459]

I did like the fact that she only starts to question firing herself up at the cloud when Sweetie suggests a whole list of other safe ways she can get up there. Still all the crusaders have a bit of a track record for wanton destruction especially if you include the comics the number of things they blow up with their attempt at fireworks is impressive and that's during one festival.

As for the episode I do think its meant to be a growing moment for both Dash and Scootallo not just one or the other. Especially with Scoot's "You mean in your wingflaps" moment talking to her and the whole sad confirmation she's starting to believe/accept she'll never fly.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Senko

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,594]

I kind of disagree with the whole older design for Scootaloo argument. I say kind of, because I do think it would have sold it more.

But, it still worked very effectively as is to sell the drama.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

I just watched the episode. (Viewing the episodes sparingly to savor them!) I love Spitfire in this. (Finally forgave her for not helping lift the water to Cloudsville)

"Through a straw!!!" That is now forever burned into my feeble brain!

 

 

[Darkness Void 51]

I didn't even care that I saw thumbnails, Lightning had been my fave flyer since S3 and to have her back had granted my biggest wish.....Well, other than seeing a relative for Scootaloo! Time's running out show, are you going to end with that as a big mystery to get us talking for years to come? If so, you crafty little buggers...

[bigbertha 414]

I think what keeps me from enjoying this episode is how inconsistent Rainbow's motivations are. She flip flops around constantly. Rainbow tearing up the posters and being so unaware of how bad that is is definitely selfish, but then her motivations completely change to being selfless. And when Scootaloo is blaming Rainbow for being super selfish, Rainbow is trying to apologize to Scootaloo so I can't see Rainbow as in the wrong. If the episode kept Rainbow as selfish and then she had a heart to heart with Twilight after, that could've been the moment of her realizing her mistake and becoming selfless. 

And during the first conversation with Lightning Dust, Rainbow is pretty chill about Scootaloo liking the Washouts; she even personally takes Scootaloo to meet them. Yet she's super overprotective again at the prospect of Scootaloo joining the Washouts. That'd be fine if she was like that for the entire scene, but that's not how the episode does it. It comes off as really jarring.

Also, the ending is absolute garbage. It is incredibly rushed and completely ruins any potential Lightning Dust's character could've had with her turning into a child endangering Saturday morning cartoon villain. The episode set everything up in a pretty nuanced way, not immediately condemning the Washouts show, but the ending ruins that. If the problem was that there was no time for a better ending, the obvious solution would be to shorten Spitfire's scene and not do the SNL reference. Kelly Metzger is obviously really trying, but nobody can match Chris Farley.

That said, I appreciate that the episode is trying to incorporate new characters in a meaningful way and make its main characters interesting again. I just don't think it succeeds.

Score: 4/10

 

[Rushing cash 836]

Before the episode aired, I wasn't really interested in this episode because the synopsis sounded kind of boring, however, the moment I heard lightning dust returns I  had to watch it immediately, and it was amazing! The relationship between scootaloo and RD was really interesting with a very mature topic, which got a bit controversial. I was so happy to see lightning dust made her own thing rather then try to seek revenge like trixie. The episode showed why LD is unreliable, she is only interested in her own gain and does not care for others, she did not want to hurt scootaloo intentionally but she was not interested in her well-being, which was shown in wonderbolts academy when she almost killed the mane 6 and hurt others while not understanding what she caused because she is apathetic. Man, was I relived that she didn't reform out of nowhere     

The continuity error when scootaloo did not know that dash and dust really knew each other is not really that big of a deal, as scootaloo said in season 7 that dust was a rival to dash, she did not mention the details so she doesn't necessary know what exactly happened, but they could have worded it better. The mane 6 supporting scootaloo was a bigger issue but you can say that they only wanted to be supportive and boost her confidence. The spitfire scene was great and scootaloo admitting she can't fly was a powerful moment.

The way LD got rocketed in team rocket style was amusing. I hope she returns once again, maybe in a more neutral way, maybe even just a cemeo, like ponies watching the washouts in the background or something like this. I enjoyed her companions as well, really liked this team and idea.

10\10, my favorite episode of season 8, and a top 10 contender for the series.  

Edited July 6, 2019 by Rushing cash

[dashie2020 86]

This episode was great. Probably one of the few good episodes from Season 8. So there was Scootaloo discovering the Washouts. When RD found out about the Washouts and that Scoot was making a Washouts fan club, she got jealous. Now I completely understand why Dashie got jealous. To have someone like Scootaloo act like they don’t find you cool anymore must be very upsetting. But at the same time, I also see Scootaloo’s POV. She probably finds the Wonderbolts cool, but they’d lost their novelty. Meanwhile, there is a cool new flying team that you think is really cool.

 

Now let’s get on to the event. RD’s reasons to dislike the Washouts were ridiculous. However, she ended up growing to like them. And then she saw Lightning Dust. May I just ask how Scoot completely forgot who LD was for a second? In season 7, she wrote about her as part of her report. Anyway, when Dashie saw LD, she knew they weren’t good. The way they spoke about how they don’t care about safety was bad enough, but hey, it’s their choice whether to join or not, right? They ended up convincing Scootaloo to join, which wasn’t a very good thing to do. She doesn’t quite understand how bad the dangers are of joining, and it’s especially bad for her considering that she can’t even fly. So when Dashie ended up getting Spitfire to tell Scootaloo why not to join, that was quite funny. I can tell that Spitfire doesn’t quite know how to deal with kids.

 

Then Lightning Dust forced Scootaloo to do a stunt she wasn’t comfortable doing. Scootaloo was just not sure about the stunt, and that’s probably the moment she realized that LD is not cool. Then comes RD saving Scootaloo. That is probably one of RD’s best moments. That shows how much she cares about Scootaloo. Scootaloo then gave RD a hug which was really heartwarming, and they ended up apologizing to each other. This honestly was a fantastic episode.

 

 

EDIT: Just to clarify, I don’t think that RD was perfect this episode. When Scootaloo initially started the Washouts Fan Club, she did get quite jealous and whatnot. Also, I’m conflicted about Dashie being protective of Scootaloo when Scootaloo joined the Washouts. On one hand, it’s her choice, on the other, it’s not a smart choice.

 

 

94%

Edited April 16, 2020 by dashie2020

[HedonismBot 239]

On 3/30/2019 at 7:46 PM, bigbertha said:

Also, the ending is absolute garbage. It is incredibly rushed and completely ruins any potential Lightning Dust's character could've had with her turning into a child endangering Saturday morning cartoon villain. The episode set everything up in a pretty nuanced way, not immediately condemning the Washouts show, but the ending ruins that. If the problem was that there was no time for a better ending, the obvious solution would be to shorten Spitfire's scene and not do the SNL reference. Kelly Metzger is obviously really trying, but nobody can match Chris Farley.

Not to mention the fact that her whole motivation for joining the Washouts was to find something cool to do with her life despite her condition - that she had accepted that her original life goal (the Wonderbolts) was for all intents and purposes out of reach, and found what looked to her like a satisfying second choice. And then they give us the impression that she was in the wrong for doing so. That's a big steaming pile of horse apples.

Plus there's the "Scootaloo Fan Club" scene at the end, which had no logical connection to previous events. I don't recall Scootaloo having done anything (that is, individually as opposed to as part of the CMC) up to that point that looked fan-club-worthy. It felt like the club was founded out of pity more than anything.  As to what they were going for, it looked like they were trying to suggest that she didn't need either the Wonderbolts or the Washouts - that she should be happy with her life without achieving anything remotely resembling her original dream. If so, that would be severely patronizing. Coupled with the suggestion that joining the Washouts was a poor life choice, this is a textbook example of what NOT to do when dealing with the issue of disability.

A much better ending would be to either reform Lightning Dust, or have one of the others discuss the idea of Scootaloo replacing her.

The episode had its fair share of entertaining moments, but it screwed up its message as badly as "Parental Glideance".

Edited October 18, 2020 by HedonismBot

[CypherHoof 26,482]

I agree. One of my key regrets at the series ending is that we will never get to see the CMC reach their full potential; We know they become teachers at Starlight's school of friendship, but I can totally see each of them becoming famous in her own right.

And if the comics are any indication, perhaps Scoots could use a fixed wing glider to join the wonderbolts, just like Windsock did?

[The Nth Doctor 661]

On 2/18/2019 at 11:02 PM, cuteycindyhoney said:

I just watched the episode. (Viewing the episodes sparingly to savor them!) I love Spitfire in this. (Finally forgave her for not helping lift the water to Cloudsville)

"Through a straw!!!" That is now forever burned into my feeble brain!

 

 

I hate how she's just a Ruby from Steven Universe now

Where did her character go?

[HedonismBot 239]

11 minutes ago, CypherHoof 🐎 said:

And if the comics are any indication, perhaps Scoots could use a fixed wing glider to join the wonderbolts, just like Windsock did?

If nothing else, it'd be a sweet idea for fanfic. You could even get a disability-related moral out of it if that's your fancy: have her academy partner take a look at her equipment and be like "Why do I have to work with a stupid cripple?", and transition to "She gets the job done, who cares if she has to do it a bit differently than everypony else?".

[CypherHoof 26,482]

Fair. but then, who is going to be dumb enough to openly diss the personal protegé of Dashie herself?

[HedonismBot 239]

19 minutes ago, CypherHoof 🐎 said:

Fair. but then, who is going to be dumb enough to openly diss the personal protegé of Dashie herself?

It's plausible that some ponies might have heard of Rainbow's exploits, but not know of her relationship with Scootaloo. It's also possible that at that stage in her life, Scootaloo might not want to leverage her relationship with Rainbow to solve all her problems, wanting to become her own pony.

[CypherHoof 26,482]

2 minutes ago, HedonismBot said:

It's plausible that some ponies might have heard of Rainbow's exploits, but not know of her relationship with Scootaloo. It's also possible that at that stage in her life, Scootaloo might not want to leverage her relationship with Rainbow to solve all her problems, wanting to become her own pony.

Yeah, I can see that. Scoots wouldn't want Dashie to think she couldn't fight her own battles.

[HedonismBot 239]

On 10/18/2020 at 12:10 PM, CypherHoof 🐎 said:

Yeah, I can see that. Scoots wouldn't want Dashie to think she couldn't fight her own battles.

Well, at that point I imagine it wouldn't be about proving herself to Dashie so much as developing her independence from Dashie.

 

Though thinking more near-term: Scootaloo getting her hooves on some form of assistive technology could have been a beautiful way to explore her relationship with Rainbow Dash (on top of a nice lesson in overcoming adversity), with Rainbow helping her practice flying with whatever it is. Certainly better than any episode after "Flight to the Finish" which tried dealing with their relationship.

Edited October 26, 2020 by HedonismBot

[Thrond 3,263]

12 hours ago, Califorum said:

I am one of only 2 people who voted for the 'I really liked it'.

Are you sure? The "really liked it" option seems to have 46 votes - that would be 

Quote

Loved it as much Rainbow and Scoots' sisterly love for eachother! (5/5)

The ones with only 2 votes are the "didn't like it" options. 

[HedonismBot 239]

On 2021-03-19 at 2:09 AM, Califorum said:

I am one of only 2 people who voted for the 'I really liked it'. I really liked it because of Lightning Dust, but RD was really a pompous egotist in this one for sure. Sure, she cared for Scootaloo but she came off with it the entirely wrong way. I hated seeing how she wanted to destroy the posters just because Scootaloo liked something else, but I suppose Lightning Dust was being reckless still but, she is risking HER life for it, she never forced anyone else...until Scootaloo really but, couldn't they have just flown after Scootaloo and rescued her in the air if she kept going?

I'm sure they could have. Plus Lightning Dust's remark of "If I had known you couldn't do it, I would have done it myself" implies that she sincerely believed that Scootaloo could do the stunt successfully. I have no idea how she would have expected Scoots to steer that massive rocket, though. 

[JMTV99 1,352]

While it's cool to see Lightning Dust returns in this episode, but I didn't really care about her character. Though, I wonder why she's in the flashback in Parental Glidence despite Lighting never met Dash until Wonderbolts Academy?

Also, having Scoots be a fan of The Washouts was a bit perplexing to me since she has been a fan of Rainbow for a long time.

[HedonismBot 239]

On 2021-05-03 at 1:34 AM, JMTV99 said:

Also, having Scoots be a fan of The Washouts was a bit perplexing to me since she has been a fan of Rainbow for a long time.

Even then, it's perfectly plausible that she'd explore other things at some point, and a stunt team like the Washouts would certainly appeal to her thrill-seeking nature.

More importantly, they represent a career which she could actually pursue despite the whole "can't fly" thing. Rainbow Dash pretty strongly implied that she was expecting Scootaloo to follow her into the Wonderbolts despite the fact that as far as we'd been shown, there was no realistic hope of that actually happening (the comic with the earth pony Wonderbolt wouldn't come out until about a year after "The Washouts" first aired). It's entirely possible that this had been going on in some form off-camera for a while before Lightning Dust started exploiting it.

[JMTV99 1,352]

1 hour ago, HedonismBot said:

Even then, it's perfectly plausible that she'd explore other things at some point, and a stunt team like the Washouts would certainly appeal to her thrill-seeking nature.

More importantly, they represent a career which she could actually pursue despite the whole "can't fly" thing. Rainbow Dash pretty strongly implied that she was expecting Scootaloo to follow her into the Wonderbolts despite the fact that as far as we'd been shown, there was no realistic hope of that actually happening (the comic with the earth pony Wonderbolt wouldn't come out until about a year after "The Washouts" first aired). It's entirely possible that this had been going on in some form off-camera for a while before Lightning Dust started exploiting it.

Sure, I can see you what you mean.

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

Rainbowdash was egoistical, Scootaloo was surprisingly mean and the safety standards for Equestrian sports seems really low. And then Twilight also allowed for a really dangerous stunt to even happen. I....didnt liked this one.

Also was the Blue Pony supposed to be transsexual? I thought it was a female until it spoke. ( i watched the german dub, no idea about the english one ) I mean, okay, cool.

[Astralshy 26,418]

This one of the best episodes of season 8 and definitely a lovely one to watch.

I love RD and Scoots and their dynamics with each other from the start to the end. This episode has definitely its sad moments when RD almost looses Scoots, but at the end of this episode their bond is ten times stronger.  Having an episode where Scoots develops her interests and also her character like this surprised me when I first watched it. It's maybe not perfect (and couldn't be perfectly done in just one episode) but I think it's  a very well executed episode with a lovely plot.

This episode is also important because Scoots make here a clear state that she's never able to fly. To my knowledge the shown never have it made  so clear that Scoots has a permanent disability to fly.

What else got stuck in my memory from this episodes are two characters and their lines.

"Well, I'd understand if you were. It'd be like if Apple Bloom started lovin' bananas more than apples. [laughs, sotto voce] Y'all tell me if that ever happens, ya hear?"

"You end up in a full body wing-and-hoof cast drinkin' through a straw!"

Actually Spitfire has multiple memorable lines in this episode not only this one

And of course we see Lightning Dust one more time in this episode.

By the way did this episode made a reference to Anger from Upside down ?!

 

 

[Gale Wind 82]

I did have to laugh at the two lines mentioned above, but I can also see where  a lot of the other commented that have been made are coming from. 

[GloryForShame 26]

as a punishment for almost killing a filly...she was sent to the moon, how iconic.

[MadWitchJay 186]

On 2018-08-11 at 6:31 AM, Megas said:

oh oh.... an overprotective RD. Who are you? and what you have done to RD?

First of all as stated before here Character Development and also is it really overprotective to worry about the fact that a stunt team take ZERO protective messures and have no regards for their own or others safety. 

Besides at the beginning of the episode it's more because of jealousy, turning saints into the sea. Sorry. But yeah, then from amazement into anger for the lack of care of safety. 

This is kinda besides the point but I immediatly thought of the word reckless, when I heard that they were ex Airforce srry I mean Wonder Bolts.