S04:E10 - Rainbow Falls

[Luffyiscool 397]

I honestly don't see the problem that others are seeing when it comes to Rainbow in this episode.
I thought she was great, and her conflict actually made me feel sympathy for her.

 

It was a genuinely hard decision and a conflict applicable to real life, and it was too much for her to bear so she tried to quit.

Doing something like that can be GOOD for a character and their development,

because despite being a cartoon, they should be allowed to make bad decisions and mistakes like a REAL person would.

What's important is how they realize they messed up, and how they correct it.
Fluttershy gave her some touching sentiments, and then she came clean in front of everyone and gave another speech to spitfire.
This was doing it WELL, in my opinion. VERY fitting for Dash.

 

Rainbow got extremely motivated in Games Ponies Play because she was thinking of the heartbreak she had as a filly when Cloudsdale didn't get the hosting rights.

She also got very excited at the prospect of training flag-carrier fillies for the games, drawing from the wonderful experience she had as one.

She thrives off competition, she IS a born winner. Her dream is to join the best flight team in Equestria. To make a name for herself.
 

Characters running past her = She says "Oh, are you two having a race? Can i play? 1-2-3-GO!"

Can't decide on a pet = She holds an epically elaborate contest.

 

Her heroes ask her to compete alongside them in a huge public sporting event?
Hmm....decisions, decisions.
OF COURSE i'd expect someone like her to take them up on their offer. It's the natural response.

Some people over-analyze this show and point out the illogical. THAT'S the problem.
A cartoon is supposed to entertain and be viewed as a big picture, not be broken down so much over the tiny details that all the fun and life is sucked dry.

We even find out that Fluttershy would've had NO PROBLEM with Rainbow joining them. She UNDERSTANDS Rainbow because they're such good friends.
THAT'S why i didn't mind Rainbow's indecision, and THAT'S why i think the choice wasn't meant to be obvious.
Twilight tried to TELL US THIS by NOT forcing a stance on Rainbow, telling her to decide for herself. This indicates that both sides held merit.

"Not choosing to choose... isn't a decision" is one of the best moralistic lines this show has ever done.

That's all that needed to be said, and it truly felt like Twilight was channeling Celestia here.

She's becoming the foil and guidance for the characters, which is GREAT because it reflects her changed role and gives her something to do.

Her story arc is OVER now that her studies are complete, and the show is now more about the entire cast than it's ever been before (emphasized by two characters in this ep),

so we should take what we can get when it comes to deciding what to do with her. And personally, i think what we're getting is very nice.

Some of you are saying that Twilight was too soft on Rainbow?
I say that we have completely different understandings on who/what was at fault here, and who was really being a jerk.
(hint: they actually got told off)

[Coffee Cream 74]

I was kind of torn with this episode. On one hand, I think it would be better to be on a team with your friends rather than on a team with people who would ditch you for someone better in a heartbeat. But I also think that it would have been interesting to see Dashie take off (no pun intended) and pursue her dream of flying with the Wonderbolts. It would have to bring out a stronger side of the other main ponies to support their friend even if it means being away from her. Although this would totally go against RD's element of loyalty and we already had a taste of that when Twilicorn was created. I don't know, I kind of get the feeling that RD is being held back from her dreams because of her ties with Ponyville. 

[Ianpiersonjdavis 513]

So far this is the only episode I truly dislike/despise in this Season so far.

 

The whole thing with Spitfire being a jerk rubs me the wrong way as being the leader of the Wonderbolts has given me the expectation that she would be more understanding and disciplined by putting her teammate's own needs before her desires.

 

This also makes me question why Dash would still want to hang out with these jerks.

 

Most of the jokes fell flat for me because I felt like they were forced.

 

It felt like the reasons for the Mane Six (minus Dash and maybe Twilight) were there were contrived to hammer the lesson home and the team Rainbow Dash chose makes her leadership skills Spitfire praised back in Wonderbolts Academy questionable;

 

'Bulk Biceps' can no longer fly well, yet he was doing so back in Wonderbolts Academy and seemed to have no problems doing so and Fluttershy is not really an athlete and her social anxiety would more than likely hinder her during the games knowing that there will be literally THOUSANDS of ponies watching her.

 

This also begs the question of why Dash couldn't have chosen anyone else on the weather team, since they are not flying for Cloudsdale because we find out that is what the Wonderbolt's are doing, so it's not like they all had to fly for their home town.

[Naive Wolf Josh 93]

Next problem what the hell is with all the Snowflake (Don't care wat his real name is still snowflake) and Fluttershy shipping? Where is my DashieXSorin?

It's all fun and games until Bulk Biceps gets a look at her flank, with those evil butterflies, and takes off into the hills screaming.

 

I can't believe I actually agree with shipping DashieXSorin, but considering he's proven to be an exemplar of loyalty in this episode... sure, why not?  At the very least maybe a Rainbow Dash crush.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Naive Wolf Josh

[Sectus 246]

Loved this episode to death, but it feels like Last Roundup in the sense that the main focus character was again overshadowed by Derpy. Not that I particularly have a problem with that once in a while, it's just important for us to remember the episode's intention.

 

Still, Derpy is back and I couldn't be happier.

 

EDIT: I always get those friggin' episodes mixed up. *retires from bronyism*

Edited January 23, 2014 by Sectus

[DerpyFanatic 114]

^ The Last Roundup. not Over A Barrel.

[sgamer82 12]

This episode was mostly middle ground for me.  It wasn't great, but it was uplifted with little details like Bulk Biceps, Derpy, and cheerleader Pinkie Pie & Twilight. 

 

Biggest negative to me, as a self-proclaimed lore-nerd and continuity-double-u-word, is the fact that Bulk Biceps apparently is not a good flier, despite having no apparent problems in Hurricane Fluttershy and being in the Wonderbolt Academy and not doing noticeably worse than anypony else.  I could see it as maybe he's not a skilled flier, which would cause problems in an obstacle course like the relay, but it seemed like he was having trouble staying off the ground.

 

One thing that did occur to me, though, after reading a blog post about Spitfire and how she's been portrayed from episode to episode:

 

It struck me that, in a way, Spitfire is almost like an older, slightly wiser Lightning Dust.  She's learned some of the lessons Dust needs before she can really progress, but not all the lessons Rainbow Dash has come to understand.  As a result, she's a fine Wonderbolt and leader, but prone to mistakes like praising Lightning Dust's recklessness until the consequences become too much to ignore or, as was the case in this episode, being willing to shaft a teammate in the name of victory (something Lightning Dust could easily be pictured doing).

[Dark Dawn 24]

 

I didn't like the backward direction they went with the development of Spitfire's character.  I felt the shift in Wonderbolt Academy was important, and valuable; however, I did not believe her willingness to cast aside a valuable team member and subject another team to likely defeat was necessary.  In fact, her ability to understand what Rainbow Dash was striving for in the aforementioned episode showed a depth and compassion that were cast aside.  As an ex-military member, it is easy to be blind to the faults of those you see merit in, and it's a sign of a good leader to face those faults and rectify them.  I may have read waaaaay too deeply into the previous portrayals of her personality, but I like to see things follow a meaningful and logical path.

 

 

Aside from that... it wasn't bad.  I did like the aforementioned appearances of background ponies, and I love to see the mane six develop.  

[GoldenCal 52]

 

Overall the episode was ok but there alot of unexplained retcons here and with how negative The wonderbolts are being portrayed you have to wonder whether it's worth joining them, she probably good enough to be their leader. I do admit the fluttershy bulk biceps interaction was kinda cool though

[Winged Dragon of Ra 55]

I wish I could have seen how well Derpy would have done in the tournament

[InkyJay 21]

You know, I can't help but feel that Rainbow Dash got the team she got because pretty much all participants were allocated based on a lottery pitched by Mayor Mare, who couldn't be bothered to care about the events since Ponyville tends to lose according to previous years. Just a hunch.

[Whatevs 377]

 

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:

 

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!?

shipfics everywhere.png

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

Hilarious. You addressed none of my points.

Yea the conflict is slightly different but the character conflict and motives is essentially the same as WA: loyalty to friends over dreams.

So it was a retread.

[Life Giver 1,063]

I really love how Bluk is during the episode.... also... Derpy she is back!!!

[Noodles 109]

 

 

Hilarious. You addressed none of my points. Yea the conflict is slightly different but the character conflict and motives is essentially the same as WA: loyalty to friends over dreams. So it was a retread.

 

its not a lesson it was a test! all the key episodes are going to touch on and test each pony's Element. so they are going to look like things the pony's learned before because tests are things each pony should know by now.

[Cantankerous 106]

Two minor things I like about this episode:

 

1) The griffins in the background. It's always nice to see they're around.

2) Soarin was only injured because he distracted himself by checking out some pretty mares. It's the smallest of things but it's pretty meaningful to me. 

 

Oh, and Derpy's back. That's nice too, I guess. 

 

As for the episode as a whole, I'm not sure. I've only seen it all the way through once so far. Critics have been pretty harsh on this episode, and have given what seems to be some pretty good reasons as to why. I hope to be able to come up with some counterarguments, but right now I've got to say I'm leaning towards agreeing with the detractors that this was a bad and perhaps even awful episode. 

 

The Mysterious Mr. Enter, The Voice of Reason, Tommy Oliver, Digibrony, AnY Pony, and even Dr. Wolf all coming out with either lukewarm or scathing reviews is hard to ignore, as these are all smart people who know how to articulate their opinions.

 

But like I said, I'll have to watch this episode again and reflect further on the matter to figure out my own opinion.  

Edited January 25, 2014 by ByTheTides

[Megas 27,677]

Two minor things I like about this episode:

 

1) The griffins in the background. It's always nice to see they're around.

2) Soarin was only injured because he distracted himself by checking out some pretty mares. It's the smallest of things but it's pretty meaningful to me. 

 

Oh, and Derpy's back. That's nice too, I guess. 

 

As for the episode as a whole, I'm not sure. I've only seen it all the way through once so far. Critics have been pretty harsh on this episode, and have given what seems to be some pretty good reasons as to why. I hope to be able to come up with some counterarguments, but right now I've got to say I'm leaning towards agreeing with them that this was a bad and perhaps even awful episode. 

 

The Mysterious Mr. Enter, The Voice of Reason, Tommy Oliver, Digibrony, AnY Pony, and even Dr. Wolf all coming out with either lukewarm or scathing reviews is hard to ignore, as these are all smart people who know how to articulate their opinions.

 

But like I said, I'll have to watch this episode again and reflect further on the matter to figure out my own opinion.  

I thought AnY Pony liked, it sounded like he did at least, though he still admitted that it was one of the weaker episodes

[pinkieshyrose 58]

Derpy....*Hearts suddenly appear fluttering.* But I know what Pinkie was going to use those for!

[Trees 722]

I loved that Fleetfoot finally had a larger roll, I wasn't thrilled about the lisp.

[InkyJay 21]

Two minor things I like about this episode:

 

1) The griffins in the background. It's always nice to see they're around.

2) Soarin was only injured because he distracted himself by checking out some pretty mares. It's the smallest of things but it's pretty meaningful to me. 

 

Oh, and Derpy's back. That's nice too, I guess. 

 

As for the episode as a whole, I'm not sure. I've only seen it all the way through once so far. Critics have been pretty harsh on this episode, and have given what seems to be some pretty good reasons as to why. I hope to be able to come up with some counterarguments, but right now I've got to say I'm leaning towards agreeing with the detractors that this was a bad and perhaps even awful episode. 

 

The Mysterious Mr. Enter, The Voice of Reason, Tommy Oliver, Digibrony, AnY Pony, and even Dr. Wolf all coming out with either lukewarm or scathing reviews is hard to ignore, as these are all smart people who know how to articulate their opinions.

 

But like I said, I'll have to watch this episode again and reflect further on the matter to figure out my own opinion.  

 

Funny you should mention the scene with Soarin. The episode could've focused on how the top members of the Ponyville and Cloudsdale were getting fed up with the behavior of their team members. They could've shown more of the conflict where Bulk Biceps, Fluttershy, and Soarin just weren't taking the event seriously while the other flyers for their respective teams were getting progressively more irritated with their behavior. Rather than getting that scene at the very beginning with the training in Ponyville, they could've shown something else like, say, the teams and members representing Ponyville for each event being decided through a raffle invented by Mayor Mare, who got tired of complaints over 70+ Pegasi all wanting to do the same event. It all could've built up to a lesson about how quitting isn't always the best answer and that, sometimes, having a heart-to-heart with your teammates can be all that's necessary to fix or start fixing most of the big issues that made you want to leave in the first place instead of the tacked on "friends are more important than winning" moral that we did get.

 

It feels like any pieces that could've been used to build a firmer story were cut out for the sake of driving home facts that we knew from either the start of the episode or Season 1. Overall, I like the episode for what it could've been, but it leaves me empty inside. It makes me think that Corey Powell was writing the scripts under the notion that the target audience's level of intellect was much lower than what it really was. It's an insulting slap in the face.

[Luffyiscool 397]

Something I notice about the reaction to this episode is that some people don't like Fluttershy being willingly involved in the event,

saying that it contradicts what's been shown in Hurricane Fluttershy and Hearth's Warming Eve (that she hates performances).

However, by thinking about it from another angle, it isn't really THAT contradictory.
In Hurricane Fluttershy, she was being held back by the childhood trauma caused by playground taunts over her weak flying.

She always had the physical ability to make a great contribution to the tornado, but her mental block reduced her wing power by several levels.

 

In the climax of the episode, she plucked up her courage and jumped into the tornado,

but she was about to be held back again when the childhood chants started swimming in her head again.

Y'know what she did? She defiantly shouted "NO!!", banished the negative thoughts, and blitzed her way to top speed.

She finished the episode being carried away and cheered, while stating the moral about everybody's contribution counting.

 

 

So... WHY can't she take part in the Equestria Games relay, if her performance issues were somewhat tackled in HF?

People have complained at Fluttershy in the past for being too afraid of everything, or not learning/improving/developing.

But now that she shows signs of improving in a certain area? She suddenly gets claims of 'contradiction' thrown in her face!

To me, her participation in the race is actually a nod of DEVELOPMENT influenced by the events of Hurricane Fluttershy.

[Singe 2,111]

With the way this show is going, I'm losing faith that Rainbow Dash's dream will ever fully happen and she will never become a permanent member of the Wonderbolts in the end. Her ideal perspective of the group is slowly being eroded away bit by bit.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

these are my first reactions here here it goes

 1: too much dam fan service.  I like the name snow falke other then whatever they gave him.  and then derpy for no reason..why....or and snowflake constant yelling everything grrrr annoying to no end.

 

2:  oh yeah spitfire..spitfire who is the leader of the wodnerbolts lies to her own team mate, that she clearly flies with all the time and oh yeah sorin a bad flies what the hell.

 

this episode could have been executed better.  sure the moral is nice but gahhh seems so forced to me

Edited January 27, 2014 by BlinkZ

[Luffyiscool 397]

oh yeah sorin a bad flies what the hell.

 

They heavily implied that Soarin was just distracted by the hot cheerleader ponies.

He was looking towards them just before he crashed.

 

Though you're probably talking about when they said "you can do better than that!" + "I hope so..." while watching him train.

Even so, how does that make him a bad flier? Nothing points to this at all.

Their words clearly imply that Soarin is having a slow start or an off day.

They even say that he can do better, so where is the statement of him being a 'bad' flier?

[Brofessional 0]

Rainbow Dash episode. Hell yes.
I think they pushed a little too hard in this episode to make Dash seem like the element of loyalty, due to the fans' constant insisting that Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's elements should be swapped. At first, I think going to fly with the Wonderbolts would have demonstrated loyalty. Specifically, it demonstrated Dash's loyalty to her dreams, ideals, and goals, which is more readily apparent in her character than her loyalty to her friends. If Soarin really hadn't recovered and the Wonderbolts hadn't lied, Dash joining the Cloudsdale team would have been a nice resolution. A lesson in such an episode would probably be something about the importance of pursuing your goals.

[Mintypie 7]

For whoever knows the G3 character I refer to, does anyone else get Minty vibes from the greenish (aqua green? whatever) cheerleader pony's colour scheme? Heck, even the pink and white mane kind of.

 

 

 

Yeah yeah, bleh, but it does remind me of her at least.

I'm not the only one! Well, another pony to add to my "G4 Ponies that look like Minty but aren't" list~