S04:E21 - Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Can't exactly pick it up when one of the bullies in Sonic Rainboom reminded her of her expulsion from a flight school in Sonic Rainboom.

 

Also, as it's been shown throughout TT123, the methods that don't fit her needs don't help her one bit. Even if there's WB history, it'd still be in one ear and out the other.

I know she'd been expelled from flight school, but I'm not entirely certain flight school doubles as a regular school. Nevertheless, I agree with you that methods that don't suit Rainbow's style will not work at all on her so that could easily explain her difficulty learning.

Rainbow Dash denies that she got kicked out of flight school, remember! We don't know the details about that.

 

And if you ask me, it would make a spectacular episode. Dash finds out she can't possibly become a wonderbolt if she hasn't graduated flight school (a much better excuse for her not being able to join than what we've been given) and has to go back. Not only would it show us a lot more about Dash herself, but it would be able to show what really happened between Dash and her flight school all those years ago. Why would the bullies think she got kicked out and yet Dash denies it? Chances are neither of them is lying, and the truth is much more interesting than that.

 

Buuuuuut I'm pretty convinced the writers forgot about that rather important character bit, and she'll be a Wonderbolt before they even remember she never graduated flight school.

[Luffyiscool 397]

Rainbow Dash denies that she got kicked out of flight school, remember! We don't know the details about that.

When she said it, I took it as her replying back for the sake of argument.

Like when a person gets dumped by their girlfriend, and passively aggressively says "I didn't get dumped, it was a mutual seperation..."

 

The bullies then said that flight school had too many rules and not enough nap times for Dash, implying she got kicked out for skipping too many classes. 

 

 

But I can see where you're coming from. There is most certainly room to expand on what happened at flight school. 

[Night Mist 151]

One of my favorite scenes of season 4 came from this. When Twilight was trying to teach Rainbow about the Wonderbolts and RD started rocking back and forth on the chair? Best thing ever.. probably because I would totally do that. Honestly though I really related to this one. It is hard for me to learn stuff the "traditional way." 

[Bookshy 2]

I loved rainbow dashes music and drawing of twilight

[flutterlex 20]

ong this is the best twidash ep ever!!!!!!!!say twidash hearts if you are a twidash fan!!

[Yukibana 65]

While I wasn't thrilled with all the details of this episode, I did enjoy the main premise and the lesson of it.  It's especially good for kids who might not be understanding they learn in a different way from their friends.

 

The best part of this ep for me though was how cute Dash was rocking on the stool.  I don't know why I loved that so much XD She was just so cute and amused with herself.  And of course her drawing of Twilight XD

[Will Guide 21,325]

I think the best part was how this episode showed that even though Twilight's now an Alicorn, she still has room for improvement. People complaining about her being too perfect (shakes head with a wry smile).

 

All throughout this episode, Twilight was trying to help Rainbow Dash. If Twilight really was too perfect, the solution would have presented itself on the first try. And also, it was only when Rainbow brought up her Sherlock Scan ability did Twilight have the missing piece of the puzzle of coming up with a study method that works for Rainbow.

 

Finally, there's the fact that it's Twilight who wrote the lesson in the Friendship Journal. "Rainbow Dash finally learned the history of the Wonderbolts, but she's not the only pony who needed a lesson. One way of learning isn't better than another. After all, everypony unique and individual."

 

This is one of my most favorite episodes for the simple fact of showing Twilight not being as perfect as some say she's become since becoming an Alicorn Princess.

[PinkieAwesome 65]

Pinkie's rapping was the best part and i hate rap

[Bolo the Red 11]

This has to be one of my favorites episodes of all time.

 

The squeaky chair inspired march - hilarious. As is the whoopie cushion and fishing for the high hoof.

 

The Pinkie Pie rap certainly takes one back and the Rev Run hat....awesome.

 

I love that Twilight perseveres with trying to help even though there are some deliberate and unintentional insults coming from the increasingly despondent Rainbow Dash.

 

But the part that gets me right in the feels, is how Ponyville all answers the call to help Rainbow Dash learn the history.

 

Bonus lols from Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity as Princess Luna's "Nueeeeoooooooooooooooo" at being banished to the moon.

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

I thought the episode was alright. I wasn't too excited about it. 

 

I don't know. I think the moral was alright, about everybody having their own studying methods, but I did not find it that appealing to me. 

[Asuna Belle 5]

What should i put here.IDK

[powerpuff-tsubasa 447]

i think i found this episode interesting (well kind of) i dont remember this episode fully but i guess i liked the new study methods dashie's friends set-up for her

[cmarston1 5,951]

I was surprised how much that I ended up enjoying this episode.

It ended up being one my favorites of season 4.

[Honeysuckle 135]

i did what rainbow dash did when i was in school, procrastinate and just wing it. but i wasn't expecting A's.

i didn't like how they basically said if you procrastinate the whole time n then try super hard RIGHT before the test you'll Ace it.

[Thrond 3,257]

Brilliant ending; it's just too bad that I don't find the episode itself particularly entertaining. That first minute with Dash and Twilight doesn't even remotely click with me. I've gotten used to the Wonderbolts being a military organization, but neither Rainbow Dash's juvenile reactions to Twilight nor Twilight's pedantry really entertained me all that much. The primary school references feel kinda clunky and obvious, and it's all just so rushed, making RD's petulance as well as Twilight's uptightness more annoying than anything. The marching band thing is weird, but it's too random for me. I don't hate random, but it's not what I want from this show. 

 

Fluttershy's segment and Rarity's segment are sorta neat in how they connect to their characters' personalities, but again the pacing just feels way too fast. Not a lot is given the opportunity to sink in, and consequentially it makes Dash feel a bit exaggerated at points. Things pick up when the great Pinkie rap comes in, and everything from Dash's first flight with Twilight forward is absolutely fantastic. Strong thematic resonance, nice emotional payoff, genuinely relatable emotions, character development for Dash - just great. Really makes me wish the first half clicked for me a little more. In many ways, it's a great episode, but I just don't find it consistently entertaining. 

[bluseymoe 258]

Ok I'm sorry but I've seriously got to say this. Why do people love Rainbow Dash so much? Especially in THIS episode...All Twilight wanted to do was help her...But Rainbow Dash arrogantly shunned her help and was a total prick to her...

You're really grasping at straws here. She was understandably frustrated by having a learning method forced on her that she didn't like. Anyone would've felt the same. Being frustrated doesn't make her a jerk.

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

I loved this Episode ! All of the Main 5, trying to teach Rainbow Dash Lessons, was so fun! Even Pinkies Rap was pretty cool! This is one of the Episode in which i liked all of the Characters. Even though i dont understand why Rainbow Dash found Twilights teaching Methods to be boring, she said she wants to watch a Documentary or Movie instead and Twilights teaching, with magic and the crayons, was almost like Watching a Movie for me, with how she presented it.

[TheOpticsDuck 189]

It is one of my favorite episodes. It combines comfy feel good with self improvement. As somebody have pointed it out earlier it did felt closer to S2.

The chemistry between Dash and Twilight was working fine, and the other were executed well.

I have rewatched this ep quite a few times. I can relate to the idea of it.

 

[Thrond 3,257]

Nope, the Twilight and Rainbow stuff in the first half still does very little for me. "Freak-out arias" is funny, as is "I'm not that tall," but the rest continues to irritate me. These jokes don't work for me at all. And I wanted to hear what Twilight was saying, but it's hard to pay attention when there's something else distracting going on in the background, and when music is competing with the dialogue in the mix. Then again, the Wonderbolts being a military organization still irks me, so maybe it's for the best. There's some really neat transitions here, though. 

Still, my engagement level continues to increase when Fluttershy's play starts, although I continue to find the elementary school metaphors grating; Rainbow seems particularly immature to me in this. Fully wins me over with the Rappin History of the Wonderbolts, which is the best thing imaginable, and pretty much everything after that is terrific. Final seven minutes or so are 100/100; the rest of it doesn't really reach that point for me... I admire what it's trying to do, but a good half of this isn't very entertaining to me, and even in the good parts Rainbow's behaviour feels kinda off. When she starts to complain about having no future, this especially starts to feel awkward; isn't Rainbow part of the team which controls the weather? That seems like a job to me. At least the moral is great and there's a lot of scenes I enjoy. 

Score:
Entertainment: 5/10
Characters: 4/10
Themes: 10/10
Story: 7/10
Overall: 65/100

Edited June 22, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[bigbertha 410]

This episode is okay. A lot of it is funny, especially Pinkie's rap, but once it gets to the third act, I start getting bored. And the episode never recovers. All in all, the episode isn't anything special, but it is at least mildly amusing.

Score: 6/10

[Meushell 52]

I really enjoyed this episode. I think my only issue was Rainbow Dash not taking the test seriously at all at first. It seemed like it anyway.

Is this the first episode that establishes the Wonderbolts as military? If so, I hope to see them useful in a fight. Could they at least not be taken out in a second? At this point, Fluttershy of all ponies, could probably take them all out in battle.

[qwerE 95]

Wasn't too bad, and I especially liked Pinky Pie's rap part. But I actually think the show should have shown Rainbow Dash working really hard, instead of making studying seem easy once she found out how.

[bigbertha 410]

This episode is meh. I like some stuff like the play and Pinkie's rap, but most of the other jokes are dull. I'm also not a big fan of the ending. It feels really rushed. The entire episode is about how Rainbow can't figure out how to study and the conflict is really high stakes. If Rainbow doesn't pass, she doesn't get into the Wonderbolts. Yet the ending is pretty anticlimactic. It takes one fly by performance of the history for Rainbow to learn everything she needs despite what's shown of the performance not being that specific. If there was a montage of Rainbow doing this multiple times it wouldn't feel as rushed, but instead it's one time and she knows everything.

Score: 5/10

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

11 hours ago, bigbertha said:

I'm also not a big fan of the ending. It feels really rushed. The entire episode is about how Rainbow can't figure out how to study and the conflict is really high stakes. If Rainbow doesn't pass, she doesn't get into the Wonderbolts. Yet the ending is pretty anticlimactic. It takes one fly by performance of the history for Rainbow to learn everything she needs despite what's shown of the performance not being that specific. If there was a montage of Rainbow doing this multiple times it wouldn't feel as rushed, but instead it's one time and she knows everything.

There's nothing rushed about it. The other methods to try to teach Dash didn't work, because they didn't give her the one thing she needed most: concentration.

1. Twi's classroom setting and flashcards bored her.
2. Fluttershy's stage setting confused her.
3. Pinkie's song and music distracted her.
4. Rarity's physical setting overwhelmed her.

The episode also foreshadowed her strength very early.

Quote

Rainbow Dash: Puh-lease, Twilight. That was the worst sneak attack ever.

Twilight Sparkle: Wha? But—

Rainbow Dash: I saw you giving me the stink-eye from the ground and heard you flying towards me and muttering from a mile away.

She's not only very observant from above, but retains every memory of the events within, and referred to her multi-tasking skills as "essential" in the third act. So, with the proper avenue, she'll be able to learn and have the volume of such work stick quickly. That's why Twilight teamed with the rest of Ponyville to help craft her flight plan.

Edited January 27, 2019 by Dark Qiviut

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

On 1/26/2019 at 10:03 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

There's nothing rushed about it. The other methods to try to teach Dash didn't work, because they didn't give her the one thing she needed most: concentration.

1. Twi's classroom setting and flashcards bored her.
2. Fluttershy's stage setting confused her.
3. Pinkie's song and music distracted her.
4. Rarity's physical setting overwhelmed her.

The episode also foreshadowed her strength very early.

She's not only very observant from above, but retains every memory of the events within, and referred to her multi-tasking skills as "essential" in the third act. So, with the proper avenue, she'll be able to learn and have the volume of such work stick quickly. That's why Twilight teamed with the rest of Ponyville to help craft her flight plan.

I just tonight re-watched this episode. I love your appraisal of it. You said what I wanted to say. I thought the pacing worked well in the episode. The didn't have to go into exacting detail of the method that finally worked for Rainbow. The lesson that not everyone learns the same way was more than enough. 

A big plus though was Pinkie's rapping history lesson. I loved that. I also see how it could confuse and distract. "Testing 1 2 3" is one of my favorites.