S04:E10 - Rainbow Falls

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

They should further address Rainbow Dash discovering her hero Spitfire has hooves of clay. If Spitfire drops from the pedestal RD has placed her on, the two have a shot of actually becoming friends.

[Thebronydog 19]

I guess you have a point about that (meltdown) but it is still sad that she can't talk anymore

[Flutter Guy 7]

I'd honestly mark this as one of my favorite episodes in the entire series, for too many reasons to list.

 

 

 

I ADORED the fact that they gave FleetFoot lines! She is my favorite WonderBolt. She sorta sounded like a chain smoker, and I loved it.

Couldnt have said it better hahahaa

[Luna Eclipse 2]

I think this episode was pretty good, not my absoloute fave but pretty good.

[SharpWit 2,660]

This episode left me with 2 questions. Is the wonderbolt academy like space camp where you do some cool stuff but don't become an actual astronaut? And is Equestria's military so messed up that they have just bark and no bite? The wonderbolts are supposed to be the best fliers in all of equestria, but rainbow dash is better than all of them so far in every damn way. Does a formidable force exist in a magical land of technicolor ponies! DERPY <3

[joecal97 340]

@music chart fan

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.

 

It's a spectrum, which can be created by refracting light through transparent objects, like glass, or a body of water.

It splits white light into the colours of the rainbow

[Acchan 232]

All I cared about in this episode was Derpy.

[Galen 1,354]

I can't say this was the best episode by any means, and for once I do agree with Tommy Oliver's take on it (mostly anyways). It was really nice to know Bulk Bicep's real name at last, but it doesn't really make sense for him to be in the tryouts when there are already much more capable fliers in Ponyville. We've seen most of them in Hurricane Fluttershy. And putting that aside, his incompetence as a flier also didn't make sense considering he had qualified to take part in the Wonderbolt's Academy try outs, but in this episode he just looked terrible. I'd have preferred it if he stayed a background character with his YEAHS as that's what made him special.

But I was THRILLED to see Derpy make an epic comeback   Now if only the writers would take the effort of voicing her again and make sure Grey DeLisle is behind that voice.

 

But after the first several minutes of the episode, everything was done really well. RD's internal conflict, trying to avoid the choice of turning down and thus disappointing at least one party that she admired and was loyal to was great. Making the choice between your friends who care about you and your dream is a REALLY tough choice. The episode is practically the same as the few minutes in which RD was being tempted to join the Shadow Bolts all the way back in episode 1 (or was it 2?), but this time developed much more deeply. I will admit that finding out Spitfire and her friend lied to Soarin made for a convenient justification for turning down the Cloudsdale team. Personally, I'd have found the resolution a bit more enjoyable if that didn't happen, but the point does still stand.

 

And did I mention how happy I am to see Derpy again?

[Guest90210 3,568]

and for once I do agree with Tommy Oliver's take on it (mostly anyways)

 

Speaking of Tommy Oliver, a comment I saw on his video made a lot of good points in relation to people saying the Wonderbolts were out of character.

 

"Spitfire, was, being, Competitive.

 

Remember when we first saw Spitfire at the Gala, and Dash thought this was her chance to finally hang out with them? Well, it obviously wasn't because they weren't really there to hang out. There Equestria's fastest flyer's and used that time to more likely gain sponsor's and mingle with people who can actually offer them something. If it was the other way around, we would have seen her talking with more Friend's And Dash more often.

 

Now, remember how in Wonderbolt's Academy when we thought her personalty took a 180? Well, it really didn't. She was a Drill Sergent. It was her job to keep everyone on equal level of discipline and teach them everything they needed And make sure they had the ability to be Wonderbolt's.

 

In this episode, she's competing in the Equestria Game's. This mean's there Title, and everything the Wonderbolt's stand for is on the line. If there was ever a time to seize an opportunity to get a better competitor who you Know is going to either perform at the same level or Better than another, they Have to take it. If you don't believe that, you should really be keeping a better eye on the sport's world, because that's where this drama and idea comes from in the first place.

 

The entirety of this episode has her Completely in character, but people are so easy to jump on them just because she's being Harsh. Not even taking into consideration everything they Could lose if they don't keep there Status and Title. Does that make them Right? Well, that's entirely debatable. But to me, they were just being and doing what they thought was for the Greater Good of the Wonderbolt's. And it wasn't based on a "We need to take these guy's down" situation, which was very refreshing."

[Galen 1,354]

 

 

The entirety of this episode has her Completely in character, but people are so easy to jump on them just because she's being Harsh. Not even taking into consideration everything they Could lose if they don't keep there Status and Title. Does that make them Right? Well, that's entirely debatable. But to me, they were just being and doing what they thought was for the Greater Good of the Wonderbolt's. And it wasn't based on a "We need to take these guy's down" situation, which was very refreshing."

 

I agree with this. The only thing that I believe portryaed Spitfire being OOC in this episode was blatantly lying to Soarin, who's been a teammate with her and the Wonderbolts for the duration of the entire series. Soarin would've most likely understood given the competitor mentality that shouldn't be unique to Spitfire. I can't agree with her action there, and I also don't agree with the mentality of winning at any cost, even if it means sacrificing your friends (which is why I like Rainbow Dash so much in this episode btw), but I agree that it wasn't OOC for Spitfire.

[Luffyiscool 397]

I haven't read this thread, but did anyone else flip out with excitement when the rainbow glows happened again?

KEYS CONFIRMED. KEYS CONFIRMED.

Shining rainbow eyes, and rainbow fadeout. It's smacking us in the face with it.

[34908734bdjofh73 61]

Awesome, Derpy is back! Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy look funny together, lol.

[Sig Hoovestrong 838]

What say abut it, i loved it. Like introduction of new characters and old one's. And story was solid in my opinion. And give Rainbow Dash good dilemma. Making choice be twine her dreams and her friends. And also i just enjoyed episode, for many of small things like your googly eyed friend appearance  for example.

 

And is one episode i watch over and over again. Think going watch again now.  

[Mandizeen 21]

Derpy! <3

I thought they were supposed to remove Derpy in season 4?

Anyway, I liked this episode. Dashie episode, yay! ^^

[Motion Spark 7,807]

And the streak continues, my gosh is Season 4 on a roll!!!  Though "Rainbow Falls" may have been the most divisive episode of the last three, largely because of its theme and the execution of said theme, after having watched it twice and put quite a bit of thought into it, I actually think this episode wasn't as bad for Rainbow Dash's character as some people seem to think it was (though I understand why they would think so).  We've got A LOT to cover in this one, so let's get going; seeing as there are so many characters to cover in this one, rather than cover the overall story, I'm just going to split this one up into a look at the characters, and then, as usual, go over the aesthetic elements to round everything out.

 

So first off-

 

*ahem*

 

What the-

 

 

Oh hey Derpy, how's it hanging?  So, as I was saying-

 

*ahem*

 

What?!

 

 

Now listen here missy, you just wait!  I'll get to you in a little while, but first I gotta cover some other stuff here.

 

 

HEY, don't give me that look!!!   Think of it this way; I'm saving you for last just like the writers did!  So just sit there and be patient, I'll do you justice, don't you worry.

 

 

Good.  Now then, where was I?  Oh yes, characters.  Well, seeing as she was the star of the episode, let's start with Rainbow Dash.  It seems that so far peoples' #1 complaint of RD in this episode was that it covered retread ground in an almost Fluttershy-like manner, that is, we've seen RD's loyalty get tested before, we've seen her have to learn to put her friends before glory.  On the surface, one might easily get this impression from the episode.  BUT, look at it more closely, and I think you'll find that Corey Powell actually put together a rather original conflict for Rainbow Dash, even if it tested her loyalty yet again.  To start, let's reflect on conflicts RD has faced in the past, particularly those related to her element in some way.  In "Sonic Rainboom", Rainbow Dash had to learn to overcome her own insecurity and self-doubt in order to not only do her best, but save her friend and role models in the process.  In "May the Best Pet Win", while RD did learn a lesson about not measuring others by shallow and superficial qualities, that episode was specifically about learning what one should look for in a pet, even though the lesson was applied to friends as well.  "The Mysterious Mare Do-Well" gave RD a much-needed lesson about humility and doing something just because it's the right thing to do, not for the sake of glory and praise.  "Wonderbolts Academy" was more a case of RD applying lessons she'd learned in the past than actually learning one, and while one could argue that that is the episode that proves RD didn't need to learn the lesson that she did in "Rainbow Falls", consider the following; in "Wonderbolts Academy", aside from their pairs, the cadets are not technically on one big team with each other.  They're all sort of competing with each other, and Rainbow is only forced at the very end to once and for all rebuke Lightning Dust's methods (which she'd been uncomfortable with the entire episode) in a split second decision when her friends' very lives are at stake.  So why is this episode actually different from all of those?

 

Well let's look at how this episode starts, progresses, and ends for Rainbow Dash.  First of all, we learn from the get go that RD has taken it upon herself, voluntarily, to lead the Ponyville relay team at the Equestria Games tryouts.  She could have EASILY decided to just be a sprinter instead like Thunderlane and some of the other Ponyville pegasi, but I get the feeling that she took the relay team for two reasons: (1) she likes taking the more challenging of the two, pushing herself to her limits, and (2) she wants Ponyville to be represented in as many events as possible, and as such loyally took the harder of the two events that less pegasi wanted to volunteer for, not to mention it's the event that gets less glory for an individual in the sense that it's a team event, whereas sprinting is an individual event.  This from the get-go shows a remarkable amount of maturity and character growth on RD's part since the series first started.

 

So what else does RD do as the episode progresses?  Well, she starts by trying to keep her teammates focused on their training, which is made all the harder by the fact that her well-intentioned friends keep distracting them (especially AJ and Rarity, they were a little off in this episode in the logic department).  At the same time, she sees how professional the Wonderbolts are training and vies for that kind of skill and effort from her own teammates, and when one of them gets into a life-threatening situation, she saves Soarin's life (yet again) and, with his spot open, receives an offer to train with the Wonderbolts after turning down their initial offer to join them.  Wanting to at least improve her own abilities through said training, even though she still plans on competing with the Ponyville squad, RD accepts their tantalizing offer and begins secretly practicing with them as well as the Ponyville team, though it's clear which she enjoys working with more.  It's very understandable why even the Element of Loyalty would get sucked into this situation: (1) the Wonderbolts are her idols, so it would be crazy for RD to get an offer to train with them and turn it down, plus she still thinks she's going to end up competing with the Ponyville relay team anyway, (2) she's there to qualify (not win, qualify, she knows very well that's the best they can do with what they've got), while her teammates and friends seem to just be there to have fun, and for a competitor that kind of attitude can honestly be frustrating, even for the most patient of ones, and it's taken A LOT for RD to get as patient as she is (which still isn't a lot), and (3) while it might seem to be only logical that the Wonderbolts would later offer her another chance to compete with them, RD has never been the thinker of the Mane 6, and I'm not saying she's stupid, just that in the excitement of being given an offer like THAT, it's easy to see why RD wouldn't consider or draw the conclusion that the Wonderbolts would try to entice her to join them again.  So given all these circumstances, I am more than willing to cut RD some slack for the choices she makes in this episode.

 

So naturally, after training extensively with the Wonderbolts, Rainbow gets an offer to compete with them instead of Ponyville's team yet again.  Now here's where people seem to have the biggest problem with RD in this episode; instead of sticking to her guns and firmly staying committed to the Ponyville team, RD decides to, as Twilight aptly puts it, not choose at all and feigns an injury, putting both the Cloudsdale and Ponyville teams' hopes in jeopardy (though to be fair the Wonderbolts should've just then and there gone to Soarin' since they knew he was OK, but that's stupidity on their part, not RD's).  Now, let me give Rainbow the benefit of the doubt here; she didn't want to say no to Ponyville because that's her hometown and where her friends are from, AND she didn't want to say no to the Wonderbolts because they're her idols who she hopes to someday compete with (though aside from age this episode very much further raised the question why, aside from plot convenience, she isn't one already).  This is really a conflict she's never faced before when you think about it.  The closest parallel was the conflict she faced in "Wonderbolts Academy", but there she was uncomfortable the entire time with LD's methods, and only had to decide to do things the right way in a split second decision when an unexpected emergency arose.  Here, she was sucked in by the older and prestigious Wonderbolts, and after tasting how good it would be to be one of them, in fact coming closer to being one of them than she ever has before, RD was presented with the choice of almost certain glory or betting it all on two very unathletic ponies instead.  This wasn't a split second decision, she had time to think about this, and that made the decision all the harder to make because RD could consider what she'd be giving up if she made one choice or the other.  Being the Element of Loyalty, I can see why RD wouldn't want to let either Ponyville or Cloudsdale down (let's keep in mind that that's who the Wonderbolts were representing, RD's very own hometown which she has quite a lot of love for just like Ponyville, as we've seen in episodes like "The Return of Harmony" and "Games Ponies Play"), because she never wants to let anyone down and after the opportunity she'd been afforded by the Wonderbolts in getting to train with them, one can see why she'd feel just as obligated to them as she would to Ponyville.  So all in all, I can see why RD came to the conclusion that making no choice was the best option of them all, because she'd feel bad either way (though she certainly felt bad doing nothing as well).

 

Thankfully, after realizing that the team she'd committed to in the first place, not to mention the team in which her friends and fellow townsponies were a part of, was the team she should stick by (as well as straightening the Wonderbolts out with their teammate Soarin), RD did the right thing and stuck by her friends.  Bing, bang, boom, lesson learned, as you would assume it would be.  The genius of this episode for RD, in my opinion, is not in the lesson learned; as many have pointed out, that is certainly retread ground, RD HAS had her loyalty tested in the past and had to learn what it means to embody loyalty.  The genius is in the execution; aside from when Discord threatened all of Cloudsdale, I cannot think of another time that Rainbow Dash has faced a more complicated or understandable test of her loyalty.  On one side she was being asked to compete with ponies who didn't seem to be taking their training all that seriously and were not naturally gifted flyers to boot, but were still her friends, while on the other side she was being offered the opportunity to instead train, and later, to compete, with her lifelong role models.  For a competitor like RD who's also the loyalest of ponies, that's a TERRIBLY taxing quandary, and I say bravo to Corey Powell for coming up with one as complex as this was for Rainbow Dash.  Overall, I thought the episode presented Rainbow Dash faced with a terribly difficult choice to make, and I give great credit to the writers for showing her struggling with it as much as she was, because I think that's understandable, even when you take into account how much RD has grown as a character since Season 1.  For me, this qualifies it as one of my all time favorite Rainbow Dash episodes, even if on the surface it appears clumsy or retread.

 

OK, well that certainly was long enough.   Bear with me ya'll, still got a lot to cover here.  Let's talk about the Mane 6 next.  I'll go down from those who performed best to those who, well, didn't have the strongest of episodes.  First up, let's talk Fluttershy.  Good Lord, was this a good Fluttershy episode!  Usually Fluttershy is one of the less capable members of the Mane 6 in a supporting role, because, given her quiet nature, she's easily overwhelmed while in a supporting role by other, more, shall we say, loudmouthed characters, be they in the Mane 6 or otherwise.  But here, my gosh, here she was ON!!!  Honestly, I think this might be Fluttershy's best turn in a supporting role ever!  So from the start we knew that she was on the Ponyville relay team.  Oddly enough a lot of people seem to have assumed that she was bullied into joining it; yeah, I know that in the past in episodes like "Hurricane Fluttershy" that Flutters has been pressured into doing things by RD, but I really don't think that was the case here.  Fluttershy, even though she was well aware that she's not the most physically capable flyer, was excited the entire time to be a part of the relay team and was proud to be competing for the chance to represent her hometown at the Equestria Games.  This is a far cry from the Fluttershy of Season 1 or 2 who would never imagine attempting something like this, and it bespeaks the wonderful character progression she's made since she met her friends.  Fluttershy is no longer a pony unwilling to do that which frightens her; yeah, things might still scare her, but that doesn't mean she's not willing to give it her all as she tries to overcome her fears and do her best, and it's thanks in large part to her friends' support, including RD's, that Flutters has gotten to this point.  On top of her own confidence, Fluttershy was extremely supportive of her teammates the entire episode, not to mention hilarious and adorable in her own usual way.  All in all, there's not a single bad thing I can say about Fluttershy in this episode, and I stand by my assertion that this was her best turn in a supporting role ever.  Good on you butter pony!    

 

Next, Twilight had probably the second best turn in a supporting role of any member of the Mane 6 in this episode, and it was one of her better supporting roles all season.  I think it was very mature of her as a friend and de facto leader of the Mane 6 to advise Rainbow Dash while at the same time not trying to butt in and resolve RD's problem on her own.  She didn't even reveal RD's feigned injury at the end, and might've even kept up the facade for RD's sake up to mere seconds before RD revealed it herself for what it was (although that might've just been a goof on the writers part; I mean, it felt just a bit odd hearing Twilight say "Is that Rainbow Dash?" when she was the one who was most skeptical of her injury in the first place, to say the least).  She was also quite cute and funny throughout, especially in her turn as a cheerleader (although up until then, I wasn't quite sure what she was doing to support the relay team besides her advice she was giving to RD).  All in all, Twilight did a great job as the voice of reason without stealing the spotlight from the episode's main character, and like I said, it was one of her better turns in a supporting role this season, if not one of her best supporting roles in the show as a whole.

 

Pinkie Pie did what she's done a lot this season, just take up a comedic supporting role, but here, unlike previous episodes, it didn't feel needlessly stupid.  She was exuberant and energetic with plenty good reason, because, well, she was filling the role of relay team cheerleader, and she brought an appropriate amount of energy to the role.  Don't feel the need to say much else beyond that; she was funny and had some delightful running gags, and it was definitely one of Pinkie's better supporting roles this season, though she hardly stood out or stole the spotlight.

 

Applejack and Rarity I'm kinda split on.  On the one hand, they were both pretty funny throughout and genuine in their support.  On the other hand, they were also, for their characters at least, kind of, well, stupid.  Applejack started throwing food at characters for no good reason without warning them, and Rarity designed some of the ugliest outfits I've ever seen her make (seriously, they looked nothing like uniforms, and while I know Rarity has a penchant for making stuff fabulous and more feminine, she still takes WHAT type of outfit she's designing and making into account when she does so and so should've made something that looked more like an actual uniform, even if it was bedazzled, instead of those ugly as sin dresses that even as dresses would've been ugly).  They weren't in the episode enough to do anything that was unforgivable, but still, they definitely had the weakest turn in supporting roles of any of the Mane 6 this episode.

 

Well that's the main cast out of the way (and I just realized Spike was nowhere to be found in this episode, guess the little guy got left behind, HA!  ).  Next, let's start by covering the Wonderbolts.  It was great overall getting to learn more about how that group conducts themselves, as a lot of what we saw this episode had never been established in prior episodes.  I gotta call BS on anyone who says they were OOC, because all we've seen of them in previous episodes has been (1) flying for competitions or stunts, (2) attending social events like the Grand Galloping Gala, and (3) in Spitfire's case, taking a turn as drill instructor, which is hardly the same thing as actively participating as a Wonderbolt.  I understand that, maybe as a result of RD talking up the Wonderbolts so much in the first three seasons, people might've idealized them just a bit; heck, I myself was surprised by how they turned out.  But overall, I don't think it was that surprising in hindsight to learn that, at least a number of the Wonderbolts are actually very fierce competitors who, although certainly well-meaning, are willing to do whatever it takes to win, at least within the boundaries of an event's rules.  It's not like they were cheating or anything; having been saved by her once, and having numerous times been treated to her exceptional flying abilities, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin were all well aware from the very start how great a flyer Rainbow Dash was and said as much (a nice bit of continuity if I do say so myself).  So when Soarin was hurt, even though it turned out to just be a minor injury, Spitfire and Fleetfoot simply did what any single-minded competitor would do and found a pony who, under normal circumstances might even be faster than Soarin, and so tried to entice her to join their team.  They weren't even really doing it to go after Ponyville, they were more doing it for their own benefit; I'm not trying to defend their actions, because they were in the wrong and they knew it by the end, but I'm just trying to make sense of them.  Professional athletes have to have a competitive instinct to get to where they are, so it just makes sense that some of the Wonderbolts would act that way.  Thankfully, they were reminded that they should've just stuck by their teammate instead (especially when he was only minorly injured and it was a qualifying round of all things  ), and learned a valuable lesson about loyalty to one's friends themselves.  Nice to see that Rainbow Dash continues to teach her own role models a thing or two.

 

As for the individual Wonderbolts, they were all great in their own way.  I usually never describe any ponies as sexy, but my gosh I gotta agree with CD on this one that Spitfire once again reinforced her reputation as sexiest pony (I don't know how she does it, but she does!).  But besides that, Spitfire was great as team leader, plus it was nice seeing her participating in an actual competition and getting a feel for her athletic side.  On top of that her training sequences were pretty cool.  Soarin was a lovable goof as usual, and definitely the most grounded and personally likable of the bunch (even if he was easily distracted by the ladies  ), and it was a lot of fun getting to see and hear him for the first time since his speaking debut in "The Best Night Ever" wayyyyy back in Season 1.  Finally, Fleetfoot was a fun and welcome addition to the group.  If any of you have read the MLP comic books, then you know that in the two Big Mac issues she had her own fun little subplot there that was quite a delight, so I was especially happy to see her getting a speaking role after that fun little appearance.  Her lisp was quite hilarious, even if it did make her sound a bit like Twist (who I loathe), her design was great, and she definitely had a distinct personality of her own.  In fact, I honestly think she was even more competitive than Spitfire, as it seemed she was the one who kinda goaded Spitfire to an extent to extending their invitations to RD, or at least was more aggressive in her attempts to entice RD.  Overall, all three had great appearances, and I can't wait to see them again; they weren't really antagonists, at least the two mares weren't (Soarin doesn't count, he did nothing wrong except flirt at the wrong time), they were just well-intentioned ponies doing the wrong thing for not necessarily bad reasons, just pragmatic reasons.

 

OK, now we gotta talk about Snowflake, or as his apparently canon name is, Bulk Biceps!  As far as speaking supporting characters go, this guy stole the show, especially the first two-thirds of the episode!  I mean, my gosh, he was talking up a storm and he was hilarious through and through!  The guy was a beefhead, yeah, but he was a lovable beefhead; he was exuberant and just as excited to be representing Ponyville as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were, he was a goofball in every sense of the word, and all in all he was just plain likable.  He and Fluttershy, oh my gosh, BULK BICEPS AND FLUTTERSHY... I don't ship main characters that much, but my gosh, these two are EASY to ship after the episode they had together!  They were one of the cutest pairs I've ever seen in the entire show; not once did Bulk get frustrated at Fluttershy's timidness, not once did Fluttershy show any fear of Bulk's, well, bulkiness, and the entire time it was just a blast watching those two together.  He was also equally supportive of RD, friendly to the rest of the Mane 6, and proved himself all in all to just be a good guy and good pony in general.  It was especially nice seeing him and another certain pony from Ponyville actually contributing to the plot of the episode, because too often supporting characters in episodes are just there for exposition or to be saved by the main characters; that doesn't seem to be the case this season, seeing as we already had Coco, and now Bulk and a certain other pony to boot.  But yeah, obviously the biggest impression Bulk left was the humor he brought to the episode; every second this guy was on screen I was laughing my flank off, and I couldn't have been happier with how he turned out.

 

Well, we've just got one other character left to cover, so you all know what this means.  Brace yourselves ya'll, cause this is gonna be... intense, to say the least.  OK... here we go.  So unlike a lot of people, I did not actually see Meghan McCarthy's tweet from yesterday until after the episode today.  Given that I knew this would be an episode involving pegasi, I was optimistic that a certain beloved character of mine might show up at least in a cameo.  What I couldn't expect, however, was... well, what we got.

 

Suddenly Derpy... just there... right bucking there... in plain sight... waving a flag... I think my heart just stopped.

 

When I saw what we got, this was my reaction for the first second:

 

 

Then this was my reaction for the rest of the seconds, and, well, that basically carried on into the next two hours, give or take.

 

 

This... I mean, wow, this... THIS!!!  THIS bucking piece of amazing was NOT Derpy's best cameo ever.  Why do I say that?  Because I can't call this a cameo.  Let me make one thing, ONE THING, clear: this was a motherbucking SUPPORTING ROLE!!!  Derpy, with full, derped up eyes and without saying a word, was in a supporting role!  You can't call it anything else, you just can't!  She actively contributed to the plot (i.e. stepped in for Rainbow Dash), was addressed by members of the Mane 6 and reacted to said members, and even ended up in the team photo (as any second string member of a team should).  She was in the entire third act of the episode for crying out loud, over 5 WHOLE MINUTES!!!!  This was a supporting role, the first time a background pony as prominent as Derpy (let's be honest, Bulk is awesome, but he's nowhere near as famous as Derpy) has gotten an actual, honest-to-Faust supporting role!!!  THAT I did not see coming this season, it legitimately shocked me!  Upon my second watch I noticed that Ms. Hooves actually showed up a couple of times prior to her supporting appearance in small, hard to spot cameos which I missed the first time, which only increased my joy, but it still comes nowhere near to being as awesome as THAT was.  This... I friggin' love DHX for this, I really do.  I don't even care that she didn't talk, if Derpy doesn't talk again that'll just be fine by me, because she was there, she was a character, she wasn't even just a cameo or a running gag, she was an actual character who DID SOMETHING!  She interacted with the Mane 6 for crying out loud and was ready to step up for her hometown like the rest of them.  That, I, I can't express just how happy I am about that, it practically made me cry.  Of anything that could've happened this season, I did NOT see Derpy in a supporting role coming, and now, who knows, I suppose it's entirely possible that the background pony-centric episode the writers have mentioned this season could very well be about her.  It would actually be really interesting if they had an entire episode in which she didn't even speak that she starred in, and I'd certainly buy it; it would be something different.  But this episode, even more than the Season 3 finale, showed quite clearly that Derpy is here to stay, and even better, it showed that the writers are willing to try to actually expand upon and build her character, give her something more than just a cameo here and there.  That is bucking amazing, and I love DHX for this from the bottom of my heart, as does our lovable little muffin mare.  She was adorable, she was funny, but most importantly, she was a character who did something, who was ready to step up when needed and actually help ponies around her.  Derpy, you rock.  Not much more to say besides that.  You rock... woohoo. 

 

OK, can we all just agree that she's basically the seventh member of the Mane 6?   

 

OK, we're nearing the end of this super gigantic review, I promise you!  Not too much else to cover at this point.  I loved the continuity with the Equestria Games story arc, and can't wait to see when that event actually takes place!  The other pegasi who showed up were all cool, like Thunderlane, Cloud Kicker, the Cloudsdale cheerleaders, and the Doctor Whooves-doppleganger pegasus (he did have a different cutie mark than the Doctor, if you noticed, so it was definitely not the same pony, though I did spot a Carrot Top pegasus at one point which was weird  ).  The griffons who showed up as competitors was a nice touch, even if we didn't get to see much of them.  Besides the extremely cool setting at Rainbow Falls (I love the fact that apparently rainbows are a physical, liquid material in Equestria, which was also shown in "Sonic Rainboom") and the great flying effects during training or competition segments, there wasn't too much particularly notable about the animation (not that it was bad, it's just, there wasn't anything that really, really stood out).  Music as well wasn't too notable.  The humor was spot on in this episode, and although Bulk might've been responsible for the majority of the laughs (along with Fluttershy), it was really spread around, with some great laughs coming as well from Pinkie, Twilight, AJ, Rarity, Derpy, even the Wonderbolts!  Aside from that, I don't really have much else to say about this one (thank the Lord, right?).  While I understand why it would be the most divisive episode of the season so far, for me, after putting much thought into it, this episode has only carried on the fantastic stride established two episodes ago by "Rarity Takes Manehattan", and it's definitely my favorite Rainbow Dash episode this season (and OK, maybe I'm just a little biased by the fact that Derpy showed up for over 5 minutes, so sue me!  ).  In short, I loved it, and that's that.

 

AHHHHH!!! it's so frustrating that I want to read your reviews but you make them waaaaaaaay too long and I really can't read straight that much. I wished you did reaction videos on youtube I'd be a loyal subscriber. 

[~/XC- BRONY\~ 310]

This episode was a huge let down for me, 

 

First, the ponyville team, Ive heard a lot of arguments that said this, and im going to say it as well. Fluttershy would NEVER do an athletic event, Espically one as big and Crowd followed as the equestrian games (which were sure is the olympics) and SNOWFLAKE (not bulging biceps or whatever they called him) wouldnt have done a flying event, im sure they would have had something for him.

 

second, twilight was kind of annoying in this one. i dont have a lot more to say about that, she just annoyed me.

 

Last, They made the wonderbolts villans, and that really bothers me. its ok to make them seem not as great as dash had thought, but to make them look like low life jackasses (sorry for language) like this episode did? it really bothered me.

 

i might of put a lot of hype into this episode, being a fan of the olympics and running events, but it was a letdown. i hope the next episode is better.

[Cwanky 17,584]

Well I can think of at least 3 words to describe this episode:

 

 

 

 

What's that Fluttershy? You're gonna hafta speak up. Try harder.

 

 

That's much better. Also this:

 

Edited January 21, 2014 by Cwanky

[FlutterBat 1]

Ok, I think i have a lead on what the keys are to the box in S4 Ep2. At the end of the recent episodes, a rainbow shined across different objects. Could these be the keys?

[InkyJay 21]

I agree with this. The only thing that I believe portryaed Spitfire being OOC in this episode was blatantly lying to Soarin, who's been a teammate with her and the Wonderbolts for the duration of the entire series. Soarin would've most likely understood given the competitor mentality that shouldn't be unique to Spitfire. I can't agree with her action there, and I also don't agree with the mentality of winning at any cost, even if it means sacrificing your friends (which is why I like Rainbow Dash so much in this episode btw), but I agree that it wasn't OOC for Spitfire.

 

You could also say that Spitfire was only acting the way she did in this episode because of the lackluster performance the Wonderbolts have been putting on. The main 3 members together couldn't even save one unicorn during the young flyer's competition in Season 1 and had to be saved by Rainbow Dash while she was still an upstart, and then there was that incident with Spike in "Secret of my Excess" where they couldn't save that same unicorn from before that was put in danger once again. Normally, at this point, I would start to be skeptical about the overall competence of the Wonderbolts, but still wouldn't be reluctant to support them, but then we cut to "Wonderbolt Academy".

 

The Wonderbolt Academy is supposed to be one of the most prestigious flight academies in all of Equestria, and if the main members played their cards right, they could've recruited both Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, who was around RD's level in terms of physical ability. If the Wonderbolt Academy is supposed to be such a high-ranking flight school, then how is it that they let two Earth Ponies, a pegasus, and two unicorns (one of them being a future ruler of Equestria) come so close to death? There's no way an incident like this would stay under wraps for long, and I'm sure that more than a few sponsors pulled their support away after hearing about an incident like that.

 

The only thing that would make me believe completely that the Wonderbolts are not for Rainbow Dash is if they got desperate enough to let another "accident" happen that would force open a new slot that they would have Lightning Dust fill. Truth be told, I don't think Spitfire or Fleetfoot would be above doing this, and it would be kind of heartbreaking if they were going through all that to do something like preserve the academy since the pulled sponsors meant budget cuts for the school.

 

...Maybe I'm just being too wishful or optimistic right now, but I sure would be shocked if all this happened.

[XxConfusedUnicornxX 834]

The episode was okay I liked it

[Dzastur 1,719]

My reaction after seeing it the first time: pretty good episode.

 

But I'm suspecting that, like all the episodes so far this season, I'll really, really like it after the second or third time I've seen it.

[H.P.Lovecolt24 107]

What I think is really cool is that we are seeing the characters engage in something a little deeper than what we first thought. Superficaly this episode and rarity takes manehatton are about the characters rediscovering their element if you will we also see this discovery happening due mostly through an internal conflict pitting the mane 6s best trait agest their worst, example being Rainbow Dashs loyalty vs her strong competative nature. But what I think is the most interesting part is by resolving this conflict they are teaching others about their element there by spreading it and makeing it stonger. So while they may not be perfectly executed I'm still loveing what their doing in these episodes... and I can't wait to see them open the hell raiser puzzlebox

[Simon 4,557]

I liked the episode the first time around, but the second time I watched it, I really didn't like it.

 

First of all, I really wasn't a fan of how they handled the plot.  I was really confused as to why Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps were even in the race.  I mean we saw in Hurricane Fluttershy that there are like a hundred other pegasi in Ponyville, so why are those two the only ones that can compete in that competition?  Did some sort of pegasi plague spread to Ponyville?  Plus on top of those two just being bad flyers, the entire plot of Hurricane Fluttershy was that Fluttershy hated competitive flying so much, that she was basically immobilized with fear, and now she's seemingly excited about being in the Equestrian equivalent of the Olympics?   It just doesn't make sense.

 

I also thought they did way too much fan-service.  I love Derpy, but Derpy plus all the Bulk Biceps stuff made this feel like it was more about pandering to fans than making a believable episode.  I think they should have spread out some of the fan service between episodes rather than making an episode long brony show.  

 

The other thing I really didn't like was Rainbow Dash's whole conflict.  I think it was just badly written.  First of all, I think that "getting to fly with the Wonderbolts" wasn't believable as a big enough thing to make Rainbow Dash dump her friends over it.  I mean, yeah we've heard Rainbow talk about how she wants to be in the Wonderbolts since S1E1, but there's a big difference between being in that team and flying next to them for 3 minutes.  I think the later isn't a big enough deal to make a realistic conflict out of the situation.  I mean, we saw in Wonderbolts Academy that Rainbow decided to dump any chance of ever getting into the Wonderbolts simply because they didn't put a check on a character that was being reckless.  I think they were giving a watered-down version of that challenge, which really made the moral and conflict unbelievable to me.

 

I personally would have liked it if they had made Rainbow part of a team that had a chance of winning, and she had to decide between leaving their team and disqualifying them from the competition, versus a permanent spot in the Wonderbolts.  I think that would have been a huge conflict for Rainbow, and much better way of serving the episodes goals.

 

Just my thoughts ^^

[PianoOfMuffins 38]

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.

[ThePunisher026 20]

OK, so far I think it's safe to say that Bulk Biceps is the most AMAZING part of this episode!  Every second he shows up I LOL a little harder; I mean, my gosh, this is probably one of the best stallion appearances in the show to date!!! 

TOTALLY agree with you there. I completely lost it when he shouted "P IS FOR RAINBOW DASH!!!"