S04:E05 - Flight to the Finish

[H.P.Lovecolt24 107]

I really enjoyed it. I love a good Scootaloo episode but there was just something about it that keept me from loveing it. Maybe its just because I've been sick. Also I cantget enough of Rainbow Dash geeking out.

[Miser 0]

I'm not good at critiques and I do not have the time to do make this very clean, but here it goes.

 

Let's just get down to the core of the episode; the lesson.

My understand of the lesson is that

(hold on a sec, accidental posted it and don't know how to delete.)

Edited December 16, 2013 by Topyka

[WarriorShy 48]

First Song of Season 4 its awesome, the crusaders were openers of the Music season 

[TheYoungestBrony 45]

Cant say I really like cutie mark crusader episodes, but i'm going though the theme song now, theres no going back.

[Virulence 254]

I loved this episode. Wanna know why? It was the first song of season 4! The CMC really out did themselves with that song. It was the best one by far they've done. The tune was great and it was very catchy to sing along to.

 

The overall episode was great as well. Diamond Tiara is still a meaner, but she didn't win so ha. One of these days, I hope she changes her attitude because she always loses.

 

Can't wait for the next, though not expecting a song, since they just did one.

[Forlong 1,725]

If there's anything I was disappointed in, though, it was this guy:

 

 

Sheesh, what a wuss 

Don't be a jerk.  Lepidopterophobia is totally legit.  Yes, that is a thing; and it's surprisingly common.

[Captain Brony (MG11) 218]

Very well done episode.

It makes me like the CMC again.

[MlpRarity0710 2]

The most awesome!!!!! episode ever. I wish there's season 4 episode 6. My little pony is a best cartoon ever.

Is that Fluttershy butterfly cutiemark?

[Miz-Jynx 14]

ignore this just trying to figure out how to delete a post, will(hopefully) disappear.

ignore this just trying to figure out how to delete a post, will(hopefully) disappear.

ERRRRG HOW DO I DELETE A POST?   somebody teach me please!  I can't do it!    Is it even possible?  I think I did it before though...

[Renon Strike 67]

not sure myself i think only mods can remove posts. back topic at hand never seen butterflys up close but some moths don't look cuddly

Edited December 16, 2013 by Renon Strike

[Luffyiscool 397]

One of the best episodes.
I laughed, i (briefly) cried, i had fun.

Things i loved about it:

- Addressing Scootaloo's disability
- Continuity (Rainbow coach, Harshwinny + the games, Snowflake (Roid Rage), etc)
- The continued high standard of animation/lighting
- A nice song, which is so beautifully sung that i couldn't possibly forget to add it to my ipod.
- Intentional mockery of a bully's simple brain ("We already called them blank flanks!")
- The routine itself, which they did an awesome job with.
- Rainbow's great characterization (and the running joke about her lack of professionalism)
- The cutie mark crusaders FALLING OUT. That's a major plus point right there because it's something they NEEDED to do at some point (IMO).
Even the best of friends fight, and it was GREAT to finally see something like that.
- Rainbow's intervention, while rushed a little bit, was very in-character and came off as pretty damn awesome on her part.
(Also, the element of loyalty said you never leave your friends behind. That was amazing, writers.)
- That heart to heart between Dash and Scootaloo brought a tear to my eye due to the feels.
- Badass scooter montage (which could also possibly be showing that her training made her stronger/faster on the scooter?)

9/10 for sure.

 

 

I stopped watching it around halfway through it

 

[Then how can you have a fair opinion on the episode? Episodes can either improve or decline as they go along. If you don't watch, then you never know.]

 

Now, when I watch the show, I don't care about the plot all too much; I care about the characters and how they're portrayed 100% more. Why? I fell in love with the show because of the characters, and the storyline is generally predictable for each episode. 

 

The main thing being that I fell in love with the show for the characters.

 

[Me too. Which is why i actually loved this episode.]

 

So...2nd RD heavy episode in a row? No. This one was even worse than last week's about that, though. Daring Don't was a good episode to me, and it was moving RD on up in the world in my mane 6, from the 6 hole to the 4 hole.

 

This episode slammed the brakes on her movement up.

 

[Wait, what?]

 

I'm getting really tired of this shit. Really damn tired. 

 

Hell, had this episode been 2 or 3 weeks from now, I probably would've liked it. 

 

I just don't want to see the same damn pony 2 weeks in a row, especially when this episode was pretty much only that mane 6 member.

 

[Did you flip out like this when Rarity and the CMC each had two episodes back to back in season 1?]

 

Scootaloo was good, the other 2 CMCs were meh, DT and Silver Spoon were themselves...

 

...overall, I just didn't like this episode because of the unfairness in character portrayal it had. I hated it.

 

[What are you talking about? The character stuff was this episode's shining merit.]

 

It's in my bottom 5 favorite episodes.

 

It had a great storyline, probably the best in the season so far.

 

[seeing these statements side by side confuses the hell out of me, considering you didn't watch the episode all the way through.]

 

But as for characters, which is the #1 thing for episodes to me, it sucked. (Except for Scootaloo She kicked ass.)

[Like i said, i feel completely opposite. The characters were brilliant in this.]

 

Fingers crossed for next week's episode.

[Yeah, fingers crossed that it can KEEP UP with this one.]

 

[RWB 229]

Really hearts as strong as horses? That is like a midget saying they have a heart as strong as a humans. Out of ANY of the mythical creatures in this show they could have used in this show, they chose a horse for the analogy.

Actually, since horses have actually shown up in the show(as Saddle Arabians), it's more like Americans singing they have hearts as strong as Arabs.

 

...Which is actually a funny thing to imagine.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

One of the best episodes.

I laughed, i (briefly) cried, i had fun.

 

Things i loved about it:

- Addressing Scootaloo's disability

- Continuity (Rainbow coach, Harshwinny + the games, Snowflake (Roid Rage), etc)

- The continued high standard of animation/lighting

- A nice song, which is so beautifully sung that i couldn't possibly forget to add it to my ipod.

- Intentional mockery of a bully's simple brain ("We already called them blank flanks!")

- The routine itself, which they did an awesome job with.

- Rainbow's great characterization (and the running joke about her lack of professionalism)

- The cutie mark crusaders FALLING OUT. That's a major plus point right there because it's something they NEEDED to do at some point (IMO).

Even the best of friends fight, and it was GREAT to finally see something like that.

- Rainbow's intervention, while rushed a little bit, was very in-character and came off as pretty damn awesome on her part.

(Also, the element of loyalty said you never leave your friends behind. That was amazing, writers.)

- That heart to heart between Dash and Scootaloo brought a tear to my eye due to the feels.

- Badass scooter montage (which could also possibly be showing that her training made her stronger/faster on the scooter?)

 

9/10 for sure.

This is a response to each of your things in red, in order

 

1. Just because I didn't finish the episode doesn't mean I don't know what happened. Overall, I feel as if I didn't miss too much after hearing and reading everything I missed.

 

2. That's why I dislike this episode, for reasons stated below

 

3. I find it irritating that she had major roles in back to back episodes. The distribution of screen time since season 2 has been a huge problem in the show, these 2 episodes being a shining example. Now, I have heard that this improves greatly throughout the course of the new season, so I remain optimistic.

 

4. Of course not. Because there wasn't mane ponies being called background characters or going 2 years without a single episode to their name.

 

5. Aside from Scootaloo and RD, the other characters featured in the episode seemed tossed aside.

 

6. Those two statements are side by side with the statement directly below it. I find character portrayal and development head & shoulders more important to overall storyline, because I fell in love with the show for the characters, not the storyline. Now, is that the way I think it should be with everyone? No. People can weigh what's important about the show however much they want. This being the 2nd consecutive episode to have RD in a major role, whilst ponies like Rarity, Applejack, and, to an extent, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, have repeatedly gotten shorted by the CMCs, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, which was the major focal point of why I disliked this episode.

 

7. I've got high hopes after hearing what's to come

[Sectus 246]

I admit, I need to re-watch this episode a few times before my judgement is sound, but for some reason my first impression was boredom. Yes, I know the episode addressed very controversial things (disabilities, limitations as a person, etc), but the first half or so of the episode just seemed like they were going through the motions. My first impression was that the episode delivered a good message, it had an awesome moral, but it could have been done better.

 

I'm going to watch it again a few times with some friends later tonight before I publish my full review, just to be sure I wasn't just really wonky when I viewed it the first time.

 

Edit: Also, the interactions between the CMC and the two bullies are really getting old. The relationship between the two groups seems really forced.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Sectus

[RWB 229]

I admit, I need to re-watch this episode a few times before my judgement is sound, but for some reason my first impression was boredom. 

I have to agree with this.

 

This was a solid episode. Well-written, but pretty boring(and overused) plot, no real twists on an age old formula.

 

Essentially, well-written, no real weaknesses... but also safe and almost outright boring thanks to it.

It really feels like it would be what a new writer for a show, who has a lot of experience on other shows, might try so that he doesn't have to put himself in the way of criticism.

 

On the plus side, that gave him a better intro to the series than Merriweather.

 

But the problem is... Daring Don't might not have quite as solid writing, but it had a lot more life, and a lot more humor to it. The thing about Polsky is that he takes risks with his episodes, and they are always interesting(and full of good humor)- even if they aren't good.

 

Valentine's first episode might be well-written, but it's not really enjoyable. To me, here's the thing- being better written =/= better episode, and this is one of the reasons I really disagree with Polsky being the worst writer the show has. There is few Polsky episodes you won't have an opinion on, but he does things with his episodes. Polsky takes risks. Valentine played this episode insanely safe.

 

Better written but boring is worse than the other way around.

[WsConanRoyal 63]

Concept - The concept of this episode is to bring the Equestrian Games idea back and have the Cutie Mark Crusaders become involved. This alone is an ok concept. Nothing too special until you focus on the continuity. Bringing back the Equestrian Games is a GREAT idea, as is bringing back Ms. Harshwhinny. It reminds me of how the entire first season had continuity with the preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala.

Execution - The execution was really good, but not perfect. I loved the idea of the students vying for the spot of flag carriers, and the focus on the CMC was great. I especially love how Scootaloo was focused on the most, since she hasn't had enough focus in the series yet. I love how the episode began to play on her self-consciousness centering around her inability to fly. Up to this point this self-consciousness hasn't been as big as it should've been, and I love how that was brought to light. A big problem though is that this episode sort of built up to a cutie mark reveal for Scootaloo and didn't deliver with it. I really hope one of the CMC gets their cutie mark this season. 

 

Pros - The concept, execution, focus on Scootaloo, Scootaloo's insecurity, Equestrian Games, Ms. Harshwhinny's facial expressions

 

Cons - Shallow one-dimensional bullies are back, a little too much stuffed into one episode, NO CUTIE MARK FOR SCOOTALOO!

 

Overall Rating - 8/10

One of the best episodes.
I laughed, i (briefly) cried, i had fun.

Things i loved about it:

- Addressing Scootaloo's disability
- Continuity (Rainbow coach, Harshwinny + the games, Snowflake (Roid Rage), etc)
- The continued high standard of animation/lighting
- A nice song, which is so beautifully sung that i couldn't possibly forget to add it to my ipod.
- Intentional mockery of a bully's simple brain ("We already called them blank flanks!")
- The routine itself, which they did an awesome job with.
- Rainbow's great characterization (and the running joke about her lack of professionalism)
- The cutie mark crusaders FALLING OUT. That's a major plus point right there because it's something they NEEDED to do at some point (IMO).
Even the best of friends fight, and it was GREAT to finally see something like that.
- Rainbow's intervention, while rushed a little bit, was very in-character and came off as pretty damn awesome on her part.
(Also, the element of loyalty said you never leave your friends behind. That was amazing, writers.)
- That heart to heart between Dash and Scootaloo brought a tear to my eye due to the feels.
- Badass scooter montage (which could also possibly be showing that her training made her stronger/faster on the scooter?)

9/10 for sure.

 

1. I wouldn't call it one of the best, but it was definitely really good. Of course, I have yet to see an episode I didn't like, lol.
2. I LOVE how they addressed Scootaloo's disability and her insecurities with it in this episode. It's something they've needed to do for a while now.
3. Continuity is always great
4. The song was definitely a good one, but it wouldn't be in my top 5. MAYBE top 10...maybe
5. I didn't even think about how the mockery of the bullies simple brains worked. That's actually a good point.

6. The routine itself? Are you talking about the CMCs flag routine? If so, then I agree it was cool.

7. I wasn't a fan of RD's lack of professionalism running joke until it payed off at the end with Ms. Harshwhinny lacking professionalism, lol
8. I have been awaiting a CMC fall out, but it wasn't done right. It needed to have more focus. There should be an entire episode dedicated to the CMC falling out. The issue in this episode was resolved WAY too quickly and it felt both rushed and forced on us.
9. Rainbow's intervention, again, was WAY too rushed. It did make sense to do it, but it just felt too forced.

10. The hth between RD and Scoots was ok, but wasn't really a big emotional moment for me. And I'm HUGELY emotional, so that's saying something.

11. Scoots' scooter montages are always badass.

 

 

But everypony has their own opinions, so don't take anything away from this besides me just sharing mine. It was still a really good episode and definitely deserves our praise. I just personally felt that it could've been done better.

[Sectus 246]

I have to agree with this.

 

This was a solid episode. Well-written, but pretty boring(and overused) plot, no real twists on an age old formula.

 

Essentially, well-written, no real weaknesses... but also safe and almost outright boring thanks to it.

It really feels like it would be what a new writer for a show, who has a lot of experience on other shows, might try so that he doesn't have to put himself in the way of criticism.

 

On the plus side, that gave him a better intro to the series than Merriweather.

 

But the problem is... Daring Don't might not have quite as solid writing, but it had a lot more life, and a lot more humor to it. The thing about Polsky is that he takes risks with his episodes, and they are always interesting(and full of good humor)- even if they aren't good.

 

Valentine's first episode might be well-written, but it's not really enjoyable. To me, here's the thing- being better written =/= better episode, and this is one of the reasons I really disagree with Polsky being the worst writer the show has. There is few Polsky episodes you won't have an opinion on, but he does things with his episodes. Polsky takes risks. Valentine played this episode insanely safe.

 

Better written but boring is worse than the other way around.

 

It's really sad though, because now every time I see an Ed Valentine episode, I'm going to expect the worst. I honestly don't mind a few mistakes in the writing here and there if the episode is entertaining, but the writers definitely shouldn't sacrifice entertainment for controversial issues. The episode was boring, that's a fact, but we all know it could have been made more fun. Personally, I would've liked it better if there were at least a few sight gags or puns in there. Puns and sight gags are what make cartoons what they are, and I think Valentine needs to re-evaluate what he's writing for before he sets up another episode script.

 

Edit: It also bothers me that they seemed to skim over the Equestria Games as if it wasn't important at all.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Sectus

[PonyRocker95 106]

I thought it was a good episode over all. I thought the song was cute and the lesson learned was a good one, I was pretty surprised to see Rainbow being so calm even when Ms. Harshwhinny wasn't around. I also want to whack DT for seriously trying to find new ways to pick on the CMC!

[Zygen 6,065]

Alright, well overall this episode was pretty good, it was probably despite that still towards the bottom of my favorites this season to be perfectly honest, it wasn't bad mind you, its just not as good as other episodes this season.

 

I did like the episode overall, and i kinda like how they wrapped it up with Scootaloo not flying, because frankly i find it adds more depth to her.

 

I will say the song didn't catch me a ton having heard it the one time, but i have to re listen probably to see if i can appreciate it more, again not bad, but its still not my favorite.

 

I did quite like the animations along with it, however i found the thing a bit repetitious on the chorus with them repeating the whole "We have hearts, as strong as horses" it just felt like it needed a little something to mix it up there. 

 

Still not bad though.

 

Really overall this episode wasn't bad, it just was great, so it was kinda like good, but not great, I don't not like it, but i don't really think it was an awesome episode either, you know what i mean?

 

Who knows though, my opinions are weird, and i wasn't in the best mood watching it the first time, maybe i'll appreciate it more on a second or third watch like i do on other MLP episodes. Same with the song.

ignore this just trying to figure out how to delete a post, will(hopefully) disappear.

ERRRRG HOW DO I DELETE A POST?   somebody teach me please!  I can't do it!    Is it even possible?  I think I did it before though...

You can delete a post by reporting your post and putting it in the request for the report that you just want it deleted, although a good enough reason should be presented.

[rainbowdashgal123 4]

:catface:why is it so important to fly scotaloo??

[Winged Dragon of Ra 55]

I love this episode. They had a great song and it wasn't focused on Twilight Sparkle like the first three episodes were. I love to see the other ponies have their chance to shine too. I like how unique Scootaloo is. She doesn't have to fly she has her awesome scooter

[Jangocoolguy 433]

My reactions:

 

Oh hey, it's our favorite put-upon straightwoman! Didn't think we'd see her again!

Coming soon to Equestria TV: The Odd Couple, starring Rainbow Dash and Ms. Harswhinney!

Hey, Snips and Snails are in the Theme Song group picture (even though they so don't deserve it), so maybe he has a point.

AHA! Some acknowledgement about the Horse thing!

Cutie Mark Crusaders First-Song-of-the-Season-Singers, YAY!

"Um, yeah..."

It's been 58 episodes, Spoon. The CMC is moving on and so are we.

Tiara's may be bitchy, but she DOES have a point.

Aw, cool! Individual episode promo!

See Bronies? Scootaloo DOES have a place. (Now we only someone could find where she stashed her parents)

"There's something you don't see everyday, Little Strongheart."

Anyone else wish the episode ended with Scootaloo looking at her wings seriously

Dash: Not this *bleep* again... -_-

 

All and all, a lively, enjoyable episode in what has been a lively, enjoyable season!

 

I wish they'd gone into more about what's up with Scootaloo, but at this point I'll take what I can get.

 

My biggest issue with the episode with Tiara and Spoon, who are in desperate need of some development. The "bullies" thing is getting old. The really sad part is Silver, who gained some layers in "Family Appreciation Day", only to lose them as if it never happened.. :'( 

[Pizzly 57]

i was honestly expecting snips and snails to win just to screw with us overall it was an ok episode im not a huge fan of the cmc i feel like they've been put in the show to garner a younger demographic but thats neither here nor there glad to see skyroids again wish theyd give him a name and a line other than YEAH!!!!! also apparently horses are a thing

Edited December 17, 2013 by Pizzly

[FirestormCAN 246]

Just a reminder that Sweetie's VA is singing for her as of this season, and... well, listen:

 

Her dad's awfully proud of her, as he should be.

[Mono_Chrome 23]

Everypony check out my review of this episode!