S04:E08 - Rarity Takes Manehattan

[Nohbdy 4,108]

https://mlpforums.com/calendar/event/261-%7B%3F%7D/?module=events

 

Title: Rarity Takes Manehattan
Air Date: January 4th, 2014
Synopsis: Rarity is thrilled to be heading to Manehattan for an important fashion show and brings all of her friends along for a high-class adventure in the city she loves. But when another designer ruins Rarity’s chances at winning the competition, she turns to the rest of the Mane Six for help, not realizing that her anger and ambition are damaging her friendships.

 

 

Sorry for the delay, folks! 

[Mywas 687]

I liked it, At least it was not filled with panda rings

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

This was the greatest episode in the whole SERIES for me!!!

 

I mean, of course that's from a subjective viewpoint; it was just so FUN to see Rarity get the spotlight!! It made me so happy!

 

She was so long overdue for an episode, and Polsky pulled it off perfectly!

 

I don't think any episode of any series has made me feel such joy, yet, managing to keep me on the edge of my seat. She wasn't perfect, but that's what made her good; she was Rarity, and...

 

She was Fabulous.

 

Edited January 5, 2014 by ghostfacekiller39

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

A well-done Rarity episode.

[Frosty Flurry 173]

This was actually a good episode for me

It was quite good to see a bit more of rarity in action!

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Well now that the thread is up I can say that this episode is pretty good. When I watched it I found it kind of meh. But I think that's because there was so much adventure and action in the last few episodes. Thinking about it, this is a really good episode. This is probably the best instance of Rarity showing her element. Also there were a lot of funny moments such as rainbow Dash breaking the 4th wall about musicals or the pun about Broadway. Tabitha did a great job with Rarity's voice this episode with a wide vocal range. Also there were quite a few heartwarming and sad moments. Also there is the rainbow thread at the end. Like most people, I'm guessing it's the first key to the box.

 

There are some flaws though. Twilight can't get a taxi even though she is a princess. It seems a bit off. I didn't really like how Spike was kind of a punching bag like getting his carrot dog stolen by a bird. Also Pinkie's jokes in the beginning I didn't really find that funny. And the antagonist I found kind of meh. I did like Coco though.

 

Overall a pretty good episode. It takes a nice break from the adventure for some more slice of life. I'll give it an 8/10.

[Champion RD92 8,658]

Okay, wow, I might actually have a post on the first page for once.

 

I really liked this episode a lot, it's definitely one of my favorites of the season so far!!!

 

But I have just two issues about it:

 

1. I felt like the "Rarity is generous" thing was kinda forced throughout the episode.

2. When Rainbow Dash said "It was aight" I cringed and facepalmed so hard...why writers...why you do this...Dashie isn't ghetto -__-

 

Anyway, great episode though!!!

[Dr. Mechano 630]

Rarity Takes Manehatten was everything I hoped it would be, and then some. Since it just aired and I haven't had much time to reflect, I can't decide yet if it's overtaken my longtime favorite Sweet and Elite, but if it certainly comes incredibly close if it hasn't.

 

Rarity is the element of generosity, and in this episode, her element is not only exemplified, but also challenged. She sees firsthand what it's like to have her generous nature completely taken for granted when Suri Polomore uses her fabric to copy her entire line. Furthermore, she herself takes the generosity of her own friends for granted in a moment of blind ambition, guilt-tripping them into hastily helping her stitch together a new line in only one night. Here, Rarity is so consumed by her desire to win that she loses sight of what really matters, defying her very nature as well as her element.

 

At the competition, it's apparent that Rarity's friends didn't show up. Of course, it doesn't take Rarity long at all to realize what she's done, and to clearly, profoundly regret her shortsightedness. These are her friends, and ultimately, they matter far more than all the contests and awards in the world. Rarity, in despair, prepares to leave Manehatten to make amends with her friends in Ponyville, no longer concerned at all with the contest. To her surprise, her friends merely overslept, and had intended to come support her all along. Regardless of how she treated them the previous night, Twilight explains that they know Rarity, and understand that her actions - while unjustified - was out of character for her, and that it would take far more than one moment of selfishness to sully their valuable friendship.

 

I think this is wonderful for two reasons: On Rarity's side, it demonstrates how important it is not to take advantage of your friends' kindness. No matter how generous you may be, no one is infallible, and you should always watch yourself to make sure you aren't taking others for granted. I think her friends demonstrate another lesson: That we are to judge our friends and loved ones by who they are as a whole, not just their most recent actions. Rarity may have treated her friends poorly the previous night, but they knew that she wasn't normally like that, which is why they were so quick to forgive her. I think that's a great lesson, and it's important for us to remember that nobody's perfect, and to be forgiving of our friends' occasional shortcomings.

 

I think Rarity's crowning moment in this episode comes in when, after being told she lost the contest, she simply replies that she doesn't care anymore. Consider how important Fashion Week is for her career, and this becomes more significant. At that moment, her friends were the only thing that mattered, not some contest; Not even an incredibly important one. That's the generous spirit Rarity is known for, right there.

 

Of course, Rarity doesn't actually lose, and it's another underhanded trick by Suri. Her assistant (I've forgotten her name, I'll have to catch it once the video goes on Youtube), so moved by Rarity's friendship with the other ponies, risks - and ultimately loses - her job to stop Suri's plan from working, and brings Rarity's rightfully-earned award. This pays off for her, as Rarity hooks her up with a new job designing theater costumes, and all is well! ...Wait, what's this?

 

The episode closes on a shiny rainbow spool of thread. Could this be foreshadowing? Mysterious.

 

I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the new song, "Generosity." I feel this song is to Rarity what "Smile" is for Pinkie, in that it lays out Rarity's entire philosophy and worldview as she goes around demonstrating her element. It's lovely, and is definitely up there with "Art of the Dress" and "Becoming Popular" in my opinion. Kazumi Evans knocks another one out of the park.

 

All in all, the episode is fantastic. It was well worth the wait, and I'm more excited than ever to see what season 4 has in store for us!

[Lyrafinish 72]

I love this episode. Rarity was in character, the music was amazing, and the episode overall was just great.

 

Overall: 9/10

[Shanks 10,816]

The over the top "I am so generous look at me" thing at the beginning was out of character and killed the episode for me. The ending was good and the lesson was good, but nuh uh.

[Static Electricity 729]

It was good... but this part kinda soiled the episode for me:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpnqRHdVVQ&t=5m52s

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

The over the top "I am so generous look at me" thing at the beginning was out of character and killed the episode for me. The ending was good and the lesson was good, but nuh uh.

You're judging the entire episode by one part you didn't like?

 

I'm not going to try and change your opinion, but I'd like to know what bothered you so much about the song other than the fact she was singing about her Generosity that made you hate the whole episode

[JonPear 209]

These were my 3 favorite lines of dialogue, the ones that really cracked me up:

 

Edited January 5, 2014 by JonPear

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

Coco Pommel sure hopes Rarity-senpai notices her today

[Champion RD92 8,658]

The over the top "I am so generous look at me" thing at the beginning was out of character and killed the episode for me. The ending was good and the lesson was good, but nuh uh.

 

I agree that it was over the top, but overall, I thought it was a great episode. One of the best of the season for sure.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I liked this episode a lot, it might have forced Rarity's generosity with the song, but the episode was still pretty solid with Dave Polsky writing the episode. Having Rarity learn from her mistakes and have her element challenged was what made the episode for me besides the song, and it showed that you should never let people take advantage of your generosity.

 

Rarity didn't care about winning the contest, which showed that winning a contest might make her happy, but it wouldn't fix the hole in her heart if she lost her friends. A solid episode anyway, I did feel bad for Coco though.

 

 

Rainbow Dash's face right here made my day.

[Silly 19]

I liked the episode a lot. The lesson was great, the song was great, and it was about time for a Rarity centered episode. Over all it was executed beautifully. One of my favorite episodes for season 4 so far.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Oh yeah I did forget that Rarity's generosity in the song felt kind of forced. It still doesn't effect the score I gave it. 

[Jangocoolguy 433]

"I tried to get tickets to Spider-Colt: Turn off the Dark, but they'd already stopped selling them."

Hmmm...maybe this is why Dash hasn't had her own song...

Is that J. Pony Jameson?!

Not all flank shots are hot, people...

Only Rarity could make clothing from the Smooze

"In other words...SUCKER!!"

"My own element has been used against me!"

Hoity. Sapphire. Photo.

*sniff, sniff* Is that foreshadowing I smell?

I know this is a sad moment, but I must say that Wet Rarity looks just as good as she did in Sisterhooves Social

AH SNAP!

The hills are aliiiiivvveeee with the sound of pooooohhhnnnieeeesss!

"It's a great opportunity! You'll be working on the next Andrew Lloyd Webfoot production!"

Again, I smell foreshadowing...

 

Now that was pretty good. After all these weeks of adventures and bad guys, it's nice to get another "slice of life" story. I like how every facet of Rarity's personality came to play and it never felt forced or out-of-character (at least not to me). I really liked Surrey for being a subtle, unassuming, realistic antagonist(Even the other lesser antagonist were fairly obvious). Even liked how we had completely different backgrounders instead of the usual stchick of the populace of Ponyville being somewhere at the same time as the Mane Six.

 

As much as I likes me some fantasy action, some more episodes like this and "Flight to the Finish" sprinkled here and there would be nice

Edited January 5, 2014 by Jangobadass

[Static Electricity 729]

You're judging the entire episode by one part you didn't like?

 

I'm not going to try and change your opinion, but I'd like to know what bothered you so much about the song other than the fact she was singing about her Generosity that made you hate the whole episode

Usually it only takes one thing to break the suspension of disbelief for someone. Once it's broken, they are no longer immersed in the narrative and instead start to notice all it's flaws.

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

After a string of episodes that weren't really objectively terrible, yet not objectively amazing, either, Rarity steps into the spotlight in Rarity Takes Manehattan. While it was referenced in Cutie Mark Chronicles, One Bad Apple, and Apple Family Reunion, it was shown only in TCMC. This marks its first appearance since then, and the scenery is spotlit more. In the first Rarity-centric episode since Sweet & Elite (and first Rarity-centric appearances in the official media since the Rarity micro comic and Nightmare Rarity chapter — each only above-average at best), Polsky delivers.

———

Strengths:

• Everyone (minus Spike) has a purpose in the story. While not everyone is brim with dialogue, they're not confined as background ponies. They belong and carry an important role in the story. It's especially the case after Rarity finds out Suri Polomare had plagiarized her dress line.
• Suri Polomare (voiced by Tabita St. Germain) is an excellent antagonist. While Rarity's generosity was pushed to the brink before in the form of Suited for Success and Green Isn't Your Color, this is the first time anyone takes advantage of it so maliciously. Suri is every artist's biggest nightmare: a lying, no-good, sleazy plagiarizer, and just about every one has had their work plagiarized before. It's no fun, and Rarity has every right to be pissed.
  
  Suri is written as a lying, manipulative bitch. An anti-Rarity.
  
  Unlike Rarity, whose so many facets create a great character that breaks the snobby fashionista cliché, Suri breaks it, too, by making her so evil. The Diamond Tiara of Rarity, but with extra dimension. (And way more dimension than the generic "character" called Sunset Shimmer.)
• Speaking of Suri, Coco Pommel, her protégé, is just as excellent a foil as Rarity. Unlike Rarity's vast experience, Coco is still grasping of talent and career: designing high-quality dresses within a quick schedule. Like Suri and Rarity, Coco wants to make it in Manehattan, but she's given very bad advice and is commanded all the time. Her will to grow and acknowledgement that Suri is not for her because of her vileness proves how genuinely likeable and well-developed she is, even in her youth. Cathy Weseluck did a fantastic job voice-acting her. I honestly hope she isn't a one-shot, because she has so much potential.
• As a New Yorker, Manehattan really respects the cultures of the city. New York City is a gigantic melting pot of so many cultures in and out of Manhattan. From the popular tourist attractions like Broadway to The Statue of Liberty to Grand Central.
  
  The bridge where the train scuttles past during "Generosity" is possibly one of the following ponifications:
  
  a. Park Avenue Viaduct (connecting both halves of Park Avenue — split by Grand Central).
  
  b. The Manhattan Valley Viaduct (located along 12th Avenue in Manhattanville, before going underground in City College) or northern West Side El (from Inwood’s Dyckman Street to Van Cortlandt Park).
  
  c.
  (an old elevated subway line from the Financial District to Gun Hill in The Bronx. The Manhattan half was demolished in the 1950s (leaving the Lexington Avenue line a victim to an over crowdedness so severe today, the MTA revitalized the constantly delayed 2nd Avenue Subway project; the Bronx portion was closed and later torn down in the 1970s; it was replaced by the Bx55 Limited, which is now the Bx15 Limited).
  
  d. The Metro-North Railroad viaduct (along Park Avenue from 97th Street to the bridge in East Harlem before the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines split The Bronx’s Mott Haven).]
  
  The big bridge crossing from the mainland to Manehattan is likely a reference of the Brooklyn Bridge or Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
  
  (None of the pics/clips are mine.)
  
  While it's mostly fixated in Midtown/Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and the Financial District, the multitude of cultures and classes make the city so grand, from Greenwich Village to Harlem to Flushing to Pelham Bay/Orchard Beach to Coney Island to Richmondtown to Corona to Riverdale and so on. If the team ever revisits Manehattan, I'd love to see them reference the other neighborhoods, especially from the outer boroughs and suburbs.
• Albeit referencing more of the upper-middle-class and upper class parts of Manehattan, it shows the respect and hustle of the city. As a New Yorker, I've seen a lot of people mumble and grumble over it, including the long waits for a cab.
• As a character, Rarity is significantly balanced. There are so many little facets that make her so endearing and complex. RTM takes full advantage of it, from teasing Spike to showing her generosity to the bell hopper, taxi driver, and fellow tourists. She overly dramatized, loved for her friends, wanted to one-up Suri no matter the cost, and realized her crimes in friendship.
  
  Her best moment: the reprise and walking in Manehattan in the storm with nothing to cover her. While she covered herself with a newspaper earlier, she didn't here. That showed how much she grew over the past three-plus seasons, from being pissed off by just touching the mud to taking part in the Sisterhooves Social after being responsible for the strain she caused with Sweetie Belle to worrying more about her friends instead of her vanity. Although her vanity, selfishness, and greed aren't going to go away in a snap, her other qualities shone.
• As for "Generosity," its initial tune really captures the Mane Six's joyous, hopeful spirit. They visit the city, and they're excited and hopeful. Its tone is very upbeat and Broadway-like. With a wide vocabulary and good composition, it foreshadows Suri's plagiarism later on. Conversely, it tells Rarity's element a bit too much, and its lack of catchiness doesn't help.
  
  This is why her reprise works better. It shows the consequences of her actions via the mood of Manehattan, somber score, Rarity's lack of care for herself, Kazumi Evans's sorrowful voice, and subtlety in the lyrics.
• While there is plenty of comedy, it isn't as zany as the other stories Polsky wrote. Even in Too Many Pinkie Pies, his darkest story, his comedy was abundant. The slapstick is much more toned down in exchange for something more serious. According to Polsky, it was a completely different direction compared to his initial concept.
  
  Suffice it to say, RTM's is among the deepest in this series, and Polsky shows his wide talent range. If he wrote RTM similar to his other episodes, the mood would've been way too inappropriate, and all that potential would've been lost.
• One of the biggest criticisms this season — the pace — is all but nonexistent. While there are perhaps a couple of moments where the pace speeds a tad too quickly, it isn't jarring. There is plenty of material to cover, but it flows so fluently, each sequence feels organic. To make it better, unlike PTS, DD, and PoP, the episode has many moments to relax and collect itself without failure.
• While we don't actually see Suri's consequences (i.e., her reaction to being lost and Coco Pommel quitting), doing so would've sensationalized the moral and perhaps make Rarity the bad mare. Because she didn't give a damn about the fashion contest anymore and instead treated her friends to an exclusive performance of the Bridleway musical, Hinny of the Hills, she shows her worth by that alone. Coco sees this, too, and her conversation with Rarity (along with presenting the trophy and gift to Rarity and being the one to design the costumes for the next show) presents good karma. Whether Suri will ever learn her lesson or not, I don't know.
• The morals aren't shoehorned. They're reinforced with each action and consequence, along with the thorough characterizations and goals from the Mane Six, Suri, Coco, and Prim Hemline.
• As a big bonus, RTM actually feels like a community and helps complete the atmosphere. There are so many ponies, both new and reoccurring, appearing here, making Manehattan feel alive. This is something Friendship Is Magic needs: the community interacting with each moment. It's been absent for most of Season 4, leaving a very wide gap that gives the canon life. More interaction with the background ponies, the more complete the canon becomes.
  
  BTW, kudos to the team for plugging in Sapphire Shores, Hoity Toity, Photo Finish, Fancy Pants, and Fleur de Lis!

Weaknesses:

• Spike's role as background comic relief is too old and tiring. After Power Ponies, the development he receives is tossed away. Heck, throughout Season 4, he's basically there just for the audience to laugh, and that marginalizes his character.
  
  Like what I wrote in my Castle Mane-ia review, lay off the Spikabuse, pleeeeeeeease.
• The Grumpy Cat meme is forced and distracting; the criticisms are completely justified. Two key reasons why (one related to the story, the other not).
  
  a. The meme is taken straight out of the Internet and plastered onto the flank as a cutie mark. No ponification. No effort to blend it into the scene. It's the actual face of the meme as a cutie mark. It sticks out way too much and is too in-your-face. It's not like Chanel, Derpy, The Big Lebowski, the Nyan Dash, or Sweetie Bot (in Equestria Girls), as they are blended into the canon.
  
  If you're going to reference a well-known meme like the Grumpy Cat, show some effort by blending it into the canon and ponifying it. Don't rip it off and make people wonder if the artists lack the creativity to include interesting background ponies and organically blend pop culture simultaneously.
  
  b. Instead of letting the previews and writing attract the older and computer-savvy demographics, The Hub is trying to appease them by advertising the episode via a pony with a ripped off meme. Inadvertently, The Hub left RTM with a very bad first impression and made your general audience wonder if it was actually well thought-out and written well, even if for a split second.
  
  Hub, don't pull this stupid stunt again.
• "Generosity" (not the reprise) tells too much and hammers Rarity's element excessively. Combined with it not exactly being catchy, it hurts the song and messages Polsky and Ingram relay. It's good for other reasons (a couple being very well-scored with a strong vocabulary), yet somewhat forgettable.
  
  It's compared to The Smile Song in one way. Like TSS, Generosity is a character exposition song. However, there are some differences.
  
  a. While The Smile Song tells a lot, it's counterbalanced by some very catchy lyrics and a very bouncy score that gets the audience pumped and excited. When it's very catchy, it's very memorable, and The Smile Song works to its advantage partially by the bouncy, upbeat score.
  
  Generosity, on the other hand, is actually quite tame, and that works to its disadvantage. While it also catches the urban, upbeat tune of the city, it doesn't have the giddy bounciness that The Smile Song has.
  
  b. As far as The Smile Song's musical is concerned, you see Pinkie using smaller measures to make her friends happy, but with each lyric, Ponyville catches its happiness, and it became bigger and bigger. Soon, Pinkie Pie's song and ability to make others smile affects everyone.
  
  Generosity, conversely, doesn't do that. While the generosity starts small and ends up with Pinkie and Applejack helping, you don't get to see the results until after it ends. Although it works from a storytelling perspective, it falls flat when self-contained.
  
  Also, Rarity's element works much better when it's a bit more subtle or really demonstrated, as Rarity is a complex character. What she did and sung aren't out of character, but it doesn't fully work for a character whose qualities and characterization are more about showing her rewards and consequences rather than telling everyone who she is and can be, something Art of the Dress and the reprise succeed. Combined with the self-contained rewards being absent and delivery of her messages like a carpenter nailing a wall with a hammer, it doesn't give what she did as much justice in the beginning as hoped.
  
  Generosity isn't a bad song, but it doesn't have that oomph. More show, less tell.
• Twilight is an alicorn princess (and there are only four, all royalty, discounting the animation hiccups), and in a city as big as Manehattan — with all of the tabloids, business of the city, and how the Twilicorn was gigantic news in Equestria entirely — surely Twilight will be more recognizable than Mayor Bloomberg.
  
  While her status shouldn’t be so glorified that Rarity's focus is stolen, at least give her status some recognition (i.e., a taxi colt telling Twilight crossly, “Back of the line, Princess!”). Ignoring it ages Magical Mystery Cure more and more and disserves her growth.
• Pinkie, you left your brain at Sugarcube Corner. Please retrieve it the next time Rarity displays tickets. (Thank Luna Rarity interrupted her.)

Despite the annoyances, the rest of the episode is very well written, and they don't diminish the overall quality significantly. Polsky and crew carefully researched Manhattan to make sure it replicates the real life's atmosphere organically and tastefully. Instead of it being contrived, Manehattan's overall design feels like it belongs: industrialized to a point, yet not abandoning its simplified roots.

In a fresh twist, Polsky trades his usual slapstick comedy for a more down-to-earth, slice-of-life, serious character study, giving him the opportunity to explore Rarity's actions in response to being plagiarized and shortsighted (yet extremely justified and believable) ambition to one-up Suri and claim the top prize. Combined with a solid pace, excellent writing, and fantastic characterization of Suri, Coco, and Rarity, Polsky executes easily not just his best episode to date, but also Season 4's best episode thus far. Rarity Takes Manehattan is a clear home run.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

I liked this episode a lot, it might have forced Rarity's generosity with the song, but the episode was still pretty solid with Dave Polsky writing the episode. Having Rarity learn from her mistakes and have her element challenged was what made the episode for me besides the song, and it showed that you should never let people take advantage of your generosity.

 

Rarity didn't care about winning the contest, which showed that winning a contest might make her happy, but it wouldn't fix the hole in her heart if she lost her friends. A solid episode anyway, I did feel bad for Coco though.

 

 

Rarity's face right here made my day.

Just thought I'd correct that mistake here for you

 

This reminded me of how adorable Rarity's faces were in this episode, though

 

I mean, S4 has been showing off a lot of new facial expressions, but Rarity's were simply amazing in this episode

 

That was one of the small things I loved about this episode  

 

All in all, it's a 10/10, perfect score for me

[spacestorm 183]

This was very very good and fabulous episode! I loved it.
It contains a little overdose of generosity but that compensates underflow of it in previous Rarity episodes.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Just thought I'd correct that mistake here for you

 

This reminded me of how adorable Rarity's faces were in this episode, though

 

I mean, S4 has been showing off a lot of new facial expressions, but Rarity's were simply amazing in this episode

 

That was one of the small things I loved about this episode

 

All in all, it's a 10/10, perfect score for me

Very funny. Your love for Rarity amazes me, her episode just had so many priceless faces.

[~StatesTheOblivious~ 1,795]

While I liked the episode as a whole, especially Rarity's characterization - and even more especially when she realized what she had done to her friends - the only thing I didn't like that much was the song. I mean, I was never one of those who hated on her. Ever. (Sparity forever!) I know that some might need a little reminder that she can be, in fact, very generous, but this was just a bit too much for my taste. I didn't need that! Was catchy, though.

 

But the rest was... simply well done. When that Suri showed up and it became clear what she had done later then, I was just like "What a b*tch! You'll see, Rarity will smash you!" And when Rarity was down after she realized what her actions might had done to her friends, I just wanted to hug her. Just as much as I wanted to slap her face when they made the second set of dresses. And that's good! Why? Well, I like her, and if a single episode is able to actually provoke contradictory emotions towards a single character, I'd say it's a well done job. Good, multidimensional characterization. And I felt sorry for Coco; Poor thing. At least she broke up with that Suri.

 

Congratulations, Dave Polsky. I might think that you are always a "hit or miss" writer, but this time you definitely nailed it.