S04:E10 - Rainbow Falls

[Candy Blaze 119]

SoarinDash shippers will go insane. I'm saying this from experience.

[Acchan 232]

OMG DERPY!!! I don't even care that she didn't talk. Her presence alone was basically an insult to the soccer moms. I'm glad.

[crazitaco 596]

Also, i forgot to mention Derpy.

Tbh, i think i actually like Derpy more as a sort of mute/charades kind of character than when she speaks.

I love that she communicated via facial expressions in this episode, cause her facial expressions are so adorable.

[Acchan 232]

I'm going to make a Mime Derpy. Yes.

[Frosty Nerd 833]

This is so cool. I loved the episode! Snowflake's real name is Bulk Biceps, AND DERPY IS THERE!    This episode made my day, and it's only 2:00am! Not as good as "Rarity Takes Manehatten", but still, DERPY!

 

I really liked how Twilight councelled Rainbow Dash. She's like a princess or something...OH YEAH , she is!

I LOL'd when Rainbow Dash pretended to be hurt.

[HeroSparks 232]

This episode was super awesome. The character that they gave Bulk was hilarious and it's awesome that he has an actual character now instead of just yelling "YEAH!." Also, Derpy, when she showed up I rewound and watched her with the flag about 5 times out of sheer joy. I was a tad disappointed that she didn't have any lines but after the censor controversy thing that happened I can understand. Just her showing up and being her derpy, adorable self for more than just a really brief moment more than made up for it though. I really hope they give her more roles like this one

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

I LOL'd when Rainbow Dash pretended to be hurt.

 

 

My favorite part of that scene was Pinkie Pie's reaction:

 

"If I get my hooves on that [mumble-under-breath], it'll be in big trouble!"

[Koelath 445]

This episode...Gee, what can I say about it? I'll have to dig into the deepest, most insightful part of my soul for this commentary. Here goes...

 

DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY DERPY

[Duskrunner 22]

Despite most of the continuity for Wonderbolt Academy being preserved I found it odd that Bulk Biceps is, technically, a completely different pony than 'Snowflake' (and did they change voice-actors too? I could swear the fandom does better imitations of his "YEAH!" than what we heard this episode -nevermind. It's the same voice but man doe sthe 'YEAH!' sound different.).
It forces a choice: either the Wonderbolt Academy is for everypony who wants to go (not believable since Dash was nervous about getting in), or Snowflake was retconed from being Cloudchaser's wingpony to a bodybuilder Scootaloo  

[spacestorm 183]

This was very nice episode. Not so awesome but not so bad too.
A bit secondary, Rainbow Dash again face problem related to her element.
What I liked is that Fluttershy wasn't so timid, unconfident and scared like before. Finally she slowly break this scheme.
I don't care about Derpy at all.
 

[Thaliel 116]

what really bothers me: the equestria games were meant to be something like the olypmics, for everypony to participate in. But now that qualification merele consists of an air race, it's more like a pegasus only-event...doesn't really make sense

[Castle Bleck 19,333]

EDIT: This post no longer reflects my full opinion.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Anti-Villain

[VeroxVitrus 70]

Good Episode overall, Had an unique plot and the message was delivered perfectly.

[BT Brony 7]

I loved this episode, really good. Some big highlights of this episode is Bulky Biceps and DERPY!

 

How strong is Pinkie Pie? I mean Fluttershy was pretty much squashed by the big behemoth that is Bulk Biceps, then Pinkie just flicks him to the side! Certainly gave me a laugh. xD

 

I feel that in the future, Rainbow Dash is going to stop looking up to the Wonderbolts, and the Wonderbolts will start looking up to Rainbow Dash. I mean, this is the second time Rainbow Dash has had to pretty much scald them for their behaviour, and they always seem impressed by RD every time she shows up. Seems to me like RD's got some new fans.

 

Overall, I really liked this episode. Funny, background characters introduced, and, what we presume, a new key.

[Forlong 1,726]

Imo, this episode was weak and shallow.

 

First let's discuss a few things.

1) Shoving down how great Dash is.

I bring this up because people complained that Manehattan did that for Rarity

 

2) the callbacks to WA.

Some of you may be tempted to say this signifies character development but it really doesn't. We'll get into why.

 

The episode was competently strung together with some good gags but ultimately it had a predictable plot and a moral lesson that has been done several times before.

The callbacks to WA exemplify this, Spitfire even says this is what happened at the academy. It's the same conflict.

 

I'm okay with recycling conflicts for different lessons to be gained from them, but in order for that to work a different angle on the situation has to be presented. This one did not do that to my knowledge. It was just Dash choosing her idols versus her friends, WA did that more competently.

 

In fact, that episode also rips of RTM's plot progression but executes it poorly.

Both are about the character temporarily going against their element but after seeing how great their friends treated them realize it was wrong and inspire the element in others because of this revelation.

But Manehattan did two things better: it spent a good chunk of time establishing the element in Rarity, introduced a social karma idea to help the audience understand the logic of the plot, and had a good conflict to cause Rarity to forgo her element.

This episode did not imo.

1. Weren't people complaining that no one seemed to know that Rainbow Dash can do the thought impossible Sonic Rainboom?  Now that there are ponies confirming that, you're complaining about it?
2. How was there no different angle being used in this episode?  Lightning Dust was in the wrong because she wanted to upstage everypony to boost her own ego.  The Wonderbolts were in the wrong for lying to Soarin'.  Yeah, that's ALL they did wrong.  They didn't deliberately sabotage the Ponyville team.  They gave RD an offer they thought would benefit both of them.  They were wrong, but not to the extreme that Lightning Dust was.
3. :okiedokielokie:

 

Yay! This was a great episode!

 

Snowflake was soooo awesome with his lines!

 

And that emblem at the end...I think it's another key to the box. 

 

And some of those screenshot moments of this episode were just completely adorable...like this one:

 

Screen Shot 2014-01-18 at 3.03.25 PM.png

Why is Fluttershy sitting right next to Bulk when there isn't room for her?  There are about 6 empty seats right behind her.  What, does she just want to feel Bulk's muscles pressed against her body...

 

OH MY CELESTIA!  WHAT HAVE I DONE!?

 

Also, i forgot to mention Derpy.

Tbh, i think i actually like Derpy more as a sort of mute/charades kind of character than when she speaks.

I love that she communicated via facial expressions in this episode, cause her facial expressions are so adorable.

How did you manage that?  By the way, found this image:

 

It has nothing to do with anything.  I just found it amusing.

 

Ways the writers can redeem themselves after Rainbow Falls:

 

1. Turn Snowflake/Bulk back into The Silent Bob (Just "YEAH!!!" every once in a while was fine, guys.).

 

2. Retcon Spitfire's (and the other mare's (I forget her name.)) behavior here into a Wonderbolts-planned Secret Test Of Character for RD.

 

3. Have RD eventually admit her competitiveness repeatedly affects her emotions and attention span (thus explaining the re-used moral at the end); maybe even make this the basis for an "anger-management"-themed episode.

1. What was wrong with what they did with him?
2. Yeah, because Celestia never got flack for doing that.
3. The only problem is that Rainbow Dash already overcame her competitive nature.

Derpy, if you would do the honors.

[Whofch 128]

Was pretty decent. Felt very much like Sweet and Elite to me but with more humour added in and the little gifts for the fans.

 

It does kind of make me want RD to drop the whole wonderbolt dream, as this episode it doesn't really make them very likable (apart from soarin).

 

Not a great Bulk fan, and the appearance of derpy has no sway over my feelings.

[Revertz 159]

Wow I'm actually going to go out and say this was the best episode ever! idk why i felt sooo flippen happy at the end and DERPY not hidden away in the background where judgmental mothers can't see her and with depy eyes and all! sure she didn't talk but still we got Bulk bicep aka Roid Rage aka Snowflake aka thebackgroundponythatgoesbymanynames and he talked so that was pretty eventful but geez we're the wonderbolts bitches i felt sorry for Soarin. kinda disappointed that Gilda or lightning dust wasn't there would of been some sweet tension going on if they did.

 

Still a big 10/10 GO PONYVILLE!

[Metemponychosis 1,260]

So, I want some honest opinions here. Maybe I should make a new thread about this, but since the character was present in this episode I'm sure this would qualify as off-topic. Anyway...

 

Am I being stupid complaining about Bulk Biceps? When I posted my opinion about the episode I whined complained that he was a bad use of the "big stupid male stereotype" the "gym junkie" kind of character. The reason I'm asking this is because I liked Rarity being all disgusted by the vampire fruit bats. I mean, I like Rarity's "stereotypical feminine" quirks, but this is because she has qualities: she is creative, intelligent, dynamic.

 

Rarity is not defined by her annoying drama queen and feminine side which tends to be portrayed in a bad light by modern society. As BB is defined by the exact opposite of this. This annoys me because I don't like these stereotypes: I think they are sexist by themselves.

 

Am I making sense here?

[Hawk Moth 390]

I thought it was really great! We got a bunch of neat background stuff - from the griffon team to more wonderbolt interaction, this episode was loads of fun! Personally, I can't wait to see more griffons at the Equestria Games. Also how about that one gray mare? heheh

 

Someone in the stream I was watching pointed out Firefly as well. Woo!

 

That all being said, there were some great moments in this episode. The image of Bulk Biceps standing next to Fluttershy was hilarious not only because of the contrast of the two but also the fact that they were both completely clueless. It was funny to see Flutters as Rainbow Dash's arch comedic foil again as well.

 

On a darker note, I can't believe Spitfire went from role model material to conniving, backstabbing jerk in the course of the show. It's one thing for her to put on the tough officer act in Wonderbolt Academy, but her actions in Rainbow Falls were just inexcusable. I had thought that Spitfire and Soarin' were not only the Wonderbolts' ace duo but also best friends, so it's a big freaking deal for her to so brazenly betray him like that. It's especially sad to me since I've always seen Soarin' as the lovably dopey but always dependable type. In a way, I perceived Spitfire and Fleetfoot's decision as being kind of sexist: lose the stallion and get a third mare on the team. I didn't even know Spitfire and Fleetfoot were even all that close. Regardless, it upsets me to imagine think of Spits and Fleet as being two callous harpies who'd gladly ditch such a nice pony like Soarin', grinning all the while.

So, I want some honest opinions here. Maybe I should make a new thread about this, but since the character was present in this episode I'm sure this would qualify as off-topic. Anyway...

 

Am I being stupid complaining about Bulk Biceps? When I posted my opinion about the episode I whined complained that he was a bad use of the "big stupid male stereotype" the "gym junkie" kind of character. The reason I'm asking this is because I liked Rarity being all disgusted by the vampire fruit bats. I mean, I like Rarity's "stereotypical feminine" quirks, but this is because she has qualities: she is creative, intelligent, dynamic.

 

Rarity is not defined by her annoying drama queen and feminine side which tends to be portrayed in a bad light by modern society. As BB is defined by the exact opposite of this. This annoys me because I don't like these stereotypes: I think they are sexist by themselves.

 

Am I making sense here?

 

It's a double standard. You're allowed to portray one negative stereotype as long as it's of a "majority". You can't negatively portray a minority, but it's okay to strike back at the oppressors.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

Bulk, Imma happy for ya gettin' an official name and Imma let ya finish, but to me you'll always be Roid Rage!

P is for Perfect Pinkie (finally)!

Ooh, Griffins!

Have you ever been so drunk you sprouted wings?

I think all those years of steroid abuse are finally catching up with you, buddy.

See kids, this what happens when you fly "distracted"

...wow, the Wonderbolts are kinda sneaky.

Brace yourselves, Fluttershy x Bulk Biceps fanwork is coming...

Ya know there's gonna be montage!

"I wonder if this is how Rarity felt that time at Twilight's birthday party?"

Hear that? That's the sound of 99% of the Herd going ape*bleep*

...My Celestia, these people are whores! Dash, you need a new life goal.

Oh-ho! So it's a rainbow MacGuffin episode, it is?

"No offense" "Hey, I'm just glad to have a role that won't get me in trouble"

If it had been me, I would've told Spitfire to buck off

"*GASP* *WHEEZE* This is what I get for trying to get clean..."

2 down, 4 to go

 

I love this episode. Just as "Rarity Takes Manehatten" did a lot for Rarity, this one did a lot for Dash. Such a fun and lively episode [biggrin]. Really liked that they gave Roid Rage some personality (and more facial expressions). This is THE most I've liked Pinkie all season (and now I'm looking forward to her rainbow MacGuffin episode). And again, I really dug the busy background (Oh, please tell me this will lead to the return of Gilda!)

 

 

Though if I were them I would've made Fleetfoot the conniving one instead of making Spitfire into a bitch. Yeesh!

 

Also...they should've just left Rarity and AJ at home. As much as I'm loving Season 4, they need to stop letting the whole Mane 6 show up in stories where some them don't do squat...

Edited January 19, 2014 by Jangobadass

[joecal97 340]

Pretty sure that this episode was a rerun of wonder bolt academy in its message, but in a different senario, but I still liked it so that's fine I guess.

Rainbows was always gonna pick her friends, I mean come on

Seriously hasbro?

[Hawk Moth 390]

Pretty sure that this episode was a rerun of wonder bolt academy in its message, but in a different senario, but I still liked it so that's fine I guess.

Rainbows was always gonna pick her friends, I mean come on

Seriously hasbro?

 

Rainbow Dash's obsession with winning takes multiple episodes to get in check.

 

With Wonderbolt Academy, Dash was dealing with a question of ethics: "Is it worth succeeding at the expense of morality?" Whereas Rainbow Falls was testing Dash's loyalty to her friends along with her bravery - namely deciding whether or not she could avoid the problem by removing herself from the situation. In the end, she decides she has to stand up for what's right, and that means taking a side and potentially losing a valuable ally in her quest to eventually become a Wonderbolt.

 

In all, I don't think the episodes were all that similar in theme even though they might seem similar in appearance.

[joecal97 340]

Rainbow Dash's obsession with winning takes multiple episodes to get in check.

 

With Wonderbolt Academy, Dash was dealing with a question of ethics: "Is it worth succeeding at the expense of morality?" Whereas Rainbow Falls was testing Dash's loyalty to her friends along with her bravery - namely deciding whether or not she could avoid the problem by removing herself from the situation. In the end, she decides she has to stand up for what's right, and that means taking a side and potentially losing a valuable ally in her quest to eventually become a Wonderbolt.

 

In all, I don't think the episodes were all that similar in theme even though they might seem similar in appearance.

In both she turns down her own goals for her friends, that's all i was saying

And come on, who thought she was gonna ditch her friends?

Everyone who's seen the show up till that point would know that she was ultimately gonna choose her friends

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, par for the course, this episode had its entertaining moments, but I have so many questions and issues about character motivations and actions and what happened to lead up to the events of the episode that it's hard to say that this is a good episode.

 

One of the biggest issues I have that is not ever fully addressed in the episode is why Rainbow Dash is stuck flying on the Ponyville aerial relay team with two "non-winners," as she calls them. Here's what we know. Rainbow Dash says that she's not just being nice in doing this, but rather, she's doing it so the Ponyville team will qualify. Also, at least some of Ponyville's other good flyers are competing in other events, and everyone is restricted to competing in only one event. How many other events are there? Do Ponyville's other competing teams look like the aerial relay team, i.e., bad flyers paired with good flyers who will drag the teams into qualifying? Is Ponyville's goal merely to qualify for as many events as possible, with no regard to trying to win medals in any of those events? Why can't Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in Ponyville, choose to be on a team with higher chances of winning a medal? Might a plan of competing in fewer events with stronger teams that have a higher chance of winning medals be a better strategy?

 

I think the above questions are significant, since they involve the set up of why Rainbow Dash ends up being in such a moral dilemma. As examples, if Rainbow Dash weren't on a team with such bad flyers that they would likely preclude her from winning a medal (or even qualifying), she might not be as willing to join the Cloudsdale team of "winners." On the other hand, if the rest of Ponyville's aerial relay team without Rainbow Dash (including Rainbow Dash's would-be replacement) were at least competent enough to qualify (if not win a medal), then that would be one fewer reason for Rainbow Dash to feel the need to stay on Ponyville's team. In short, I would've liked to have had a little more setup of why Rainbow Dash is put in such a bad position in the first place.

 

Twilight's reasons for Rainbow Dash not to fly with Cloudsdale involving their friends come off as weak, poorly framed, and hyperbolized to try to squeeze more emotional impact out of them.

 

- "Pinkie Pie won't have anypony to cheer for" - I wouldn't think that's such a great loss, but why couldn't Pinkie cheer for Rainbow Dash anyway? Cloudsdale's cheerleaders (and Soarin) cheered for Ponyville's team and collaborated with Pinkie, so it's not unthinkable, especially since Rainbow Dash is Pinkie's well-known friend and Ponyville wouldn't have a team to cheer for in that case.

 

- "Rarity's uniforms will never be seen" - did Rarity only design the uniforms for Ponyville's aerial relay team? If not, then there's really no issue. Even if so, and there ends up being no Ponyville aerial relay team, nothing is stopping Rarity from displaying the uniforms in some other way, perhaps even repurposing them for one of Ponyville's other teams or for some later event.

 

- "Applejack will have slaved over those apple brown betties for nothing" - she could still give some to Rainbow Dash when she competes, not to mention that a lot of them were already enjoyed in the course of practicing. Of course, Applejack could certainly give some of the rest to her friends, or even take advantage of the opportunity to sell them to other spectators. So there are still plenty of things Applejack can do with the apple brown betties she made.

 

Also, Twilight's statement that "You know, choosing not to choose isn't really a decision" seems like it could have been worded better or at least explained a little more. It seems to me that Rainbow Dash did make a decision, one that apparently would have resulted in neither Ponyville nor Cloudsdale having a qualifying team. I think the bigger issue is that rather than Rainbow Dash deciding to help one team and hurt the other team, she decided not to help either, which might have prevented animosity toward her, but hurt both teams. Maybe that would have been the better point to make.

 

When Rainbow Dash comes to the field the next day with her faked injuries, she had had plenty of time to think up a plausible excuse she could give with confidence, but of course, she didn't. Why does she draw everyone's attention to herself if she has nothing planned to say? How did she not think that she would get checked out by a doctor or anyone else? Wouldn't anyone, especially the medics or doctors who looked at her, think to ask who checked her out and bandaged her in the first place, e.g., a different hospital that she went to? Rainbow Dash seemed to have put so little thought into her stunt to get out of flying, yet apparently it didn't even matter, since no one publicly calls her bluff.

 

And of course, there's the whole thing with Spitfire and Fleetfoot. One big thing I wonder is why Soarin just accepted Spitfire's and Fleetfoot's excuse that he couldn't be on the team since he wouldn't be 100% for the qualifying race. Who cares, if all they're doing is qualifying, and all it takes to qualify is to be below some threshold time? In that scenario, they would qualify just fine, and Soarin would be 100% for the actual competition. Trying to make Rainbow Dash a permanent member of their team, even though Soarin was fine to fly for the qualifying race and the three of them apparently all knew it, was a pretty dastardly thing to do, especially to their fellow member of the Wonderbolts. Did Spitfire and Fleetfoot think about what that might do to morale, especially when they have to continue working with and relying on Soarin in the future? Wouldn't the Wonderbolts leaving one of their members behind generate, say, press coverage and curiosity among the fans of the Wonderbolts, leading to investigation that would have a good chance of uncovering the actual story and generating bad PR for the Wonderbolts?

 

For the qualifying races, apparently the judge manually stops the stopwatch to determine a team's race time, but how does he decide when to stop it? When I look at the episode, the judge seems to stop the stopwatch well after the final flyer goes through the rainbow ring with clouds inside. Is that ring not the end of the race, or does the judge just have a really slow reaction time? Of course, we humans have more sophisticated means of determining race times now; I wonder if there isn't a better way of doing so in the world of Equestria.

 

Finally, since when is Bulk Biceps such an incompetent flyer? Previous episodes may not have shown him as a great flyer, but he was at least seemingly able to take off without issue, and stay in the air without getting winded. He also was at the Wonderbolts Academy, which, if it has any kind of screening process, would indicate that Bulk Biceps at least was competent and probably showed promise of being a better flyer. It seems like the creators wanted to include him in this episode, but made him an incompetent flyer to help create the dilemma of the episode, even though that might break continuity.

 

Now, a few quick inconsistencies, etc. that I noticed:

 

Would ponies really carbo-load for the aerial relay race? It's not an endurance event, it's a quick event more like a sprint.

 

What's creating the siren sound when the medic comes to get Soarin?

 

Rainbow Dash has said before that she doesn't like ponies touching her hooves, but the polishing routine of her forelegs comes pretty close, and yet she doesn't even flinch.

 

When Rainbow Dash goes to drink water out of the pool, how is she drinking so much water out of her hoof? How is the water sticking to her hoof like that?

 

I didn't think that a rainbow could be created by light shining through a mass of liquid water; I thought creation of a rainbow required dispersed droplets in the air.

 

The montage cutting between the Ponyville team running the race and the stopwatch seemed off. If both things were occurring in real time, the stopwatch should have been in the red (i.e., past the maximum qualifying time) by the time Rainbow Dash finished and the judged stopped the stopwatch.

[lolololol 65]

Derpy Hooves makes this episode a 10/10 for me