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

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

Greetings

 

Let's just get right into the dirt and the gems of this episode, shall we?

 

Gems:

 

1. Humor - I found this episode to be very funny; between the face Rarity made when Applejack said her study method wouldn't "work for me, either" to the crying eyes Spike made when the play idea was shot down, to the play itself. It was a very funny episode, and I hold it in high regard for that.

 

2. Rarity - I love her so much! What we saw of her in this episode REALLY got her character down to a T; something that doesn't usually happen in Rainbow Dash episodes. She was a fashionista who was working really hard on the looks, and tried taking her passion and using it to help her friends, on top of some funny dialogue with a few of her "moments." She also wasn't perfect, mind you, her flaws showed just a smidge, but nothing to take away the spotlight from RD. When you get Rarity's character this right, you've won me over in a heartbeat

 

3. Applejack - She really was great in this episode! From talking about apples when everypony else was talking about the Wonderbolts, to her generally brutal honesty, I found her to be one of the best parts She certainly was a gem in this episode.

 

4. The Play - It was very humorous; I found myself sort of chuckling at how goofy the pets were, and Spike pushing Gummy along onto the stage was priceless. This added an extra humor element that was sort of over the top, but not in a bad way.

 

5. Full mane 6 appearance - After Fluttershy showed up, things started to improve over what was a horrid first half of the episode between Twilight and RD. Once Pinkie showed up, things went down a bit. Once Rarity showed up, things kicked into high gear and everything about the whole episode improved. Call me bias, but I honestly (and objectively, mind you) feel that once we started seeing more of the mane 6, the episode itself drastically improved.

 

6. Rainbow Dash - Rainbow Dash is a character I hardly relate to at all. I don't really understand her character all that well. I'll just put that out on the table. Of course, though, I saw the development she got in this episode, and I feel as if I understand her a bit better, even if I still don't understand her that well. That's a plus.

 

7. Twilight Sparkle appearance - Seriously, she's been so underused this season, I feel as if this qualifies as a gem. She's border lining on background pony territory.

 

Dirt:

 

1. The whole first half of the episode - Dear Celestia, before the rest of the mane 6 started to show, this episode was awful! The dialogue was shoddy, it felt rushed, the only shining part was when Owlicious, Spike, and RD made that weird music. Everything else just seemed sloppy; the dialogue, the pacing, the humor, all of it was terrible, almost. The dialogue between Twilight and Rainbow for the first few minutes really stunk. Of course, it picked up later on, as I stated above.

 

2. Pinkie Pie's rap - This just felt so...forced. The rap itself wasn't very good, Pinkie Pie's voice was irritating as all get out, but what really took the cake was how...shoddy the whole thing felt. It could've been done better, I feel, but ultimately fell on its face and ended up taking away from a great episode.

 

Overall  Rating- 

 

:D :D

 

It was a great episode with a couple of glaring flaws, but the amount of positives and the whole second half of the episode made it great and negated much of the irritation I felt at first.. 4/5

 

 

 

 

The rap was supposed to feel forced, everyone was forcing their study methods on Rainbow. I also didn't find the dialogue shoddy  either, personally.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Greetings

 

Let's just get right into the dirt and the gems of this episode, shall we?

 

Gems:

 

1. Humor - I found this episode to be very funny; between the face Rarity made when Applejack said her study method wouldn't "work for me, either" to the crying eyes Spike made when the play idea was shot down, to the play itself. It was a very funny episode, and I hold it in high regard for that.

 

2. Rarity - I love her so much! What we saw of her in this episode REALLY got her character down to a T; something that doesn't usually happen in Rainbow Dash episodes. She was a fashionista who was working really hard on the looks, and tried taking her passion and using it to help her friends, on top of some funny dialogue with a few of her "moments." She also wasn't perfect, mind you, her flaws showed just a smidge, but nothing to take away the spotlight from RD. When you get Rarity's character this right, you've won me over in a heartbeat

 

3. Applejack - She really was great in this episode! From talking about apples when everypony else was talking about the Wonderbolts, to her generally brutal honesty, I found her to be one of the best parts She certainly was a gem in this episode.

 

4. The Play - It was very humorous; I found myself sort of chuckling at how goofy the pets were, and Spike pushing Gummy along onto the stage was priceless. This added an extra humor element that was sort of over the top, but not in a bad way.

 

5. Full mane 6 appearance - After Fluttershy showed up, things started to improve over what was a horrid first half of the episode between Twilight and RD. Once Pinkie showed up, things went down a bit. Once Rarity showed up, things kicked into high gear and everything about the whole episode improved. Call me bias, but I honestly (and objectively, mind you) feel that once we started seeing more of the mane 6, the episode itself drastically improved.

 

6. Rainbow Dash - Rainbow Dash is a character I hardly relate to at all. I don't really understand her character all that well. I'll just put that out on the table. Of course, though, I saw the development she got in this episode, and I feel as if I understand her a bit better, even if I still don't understand her that well. That's a plus.

 

7. Twilight Sparkle appearance - Seriously, she's been so underused this season, I feel as if this qualifies as a gem. She's border lining on background pony territory.

 

Dirt:

 

1. The whole first half of the episode - Dear Celestia, before the rest of the mane 6 started to show, this episode was awful! The dialogue was shoddy, it felt rushed, the only shining part was when Owlicious, Spike, and RD made that weird music. Everything else just seemed sloppy; the dialogue, the pacing, the humor, all of it was terrible, almost. The dialogue between Twilight and Rainbow for the first few minutes really stunk. Of course, it picked up later on, as I stated above.

 

2. Pinkie Pie's rap - This just felt so...forced. The rap itself wasn't very good, Pinkie Pie's voice was irritating as all get out, but what really took the cake was how...shoddy the whole thing felt. It could've been done better, I feel, but ultimately fell on its face and ended up taking away from a great episode.

 

Overall  Rating- 

 

:D :D

 

It was a great episode with a couple of glaring flaws, but the amount of positives and the whole second half of the episode made it great and negated much of the irritation I felt at first.. 4/5

 

 

 

I thought pinkies rap fit perfectly into her character. A spontaneous out of nowhere 4th wall breaker. It felt like something pinkie could go. And as a long time fan of rap, the vhs quality video, along with the late80s/early 90s style beat vaporware rap really got me. It felt like something pinkie would do, and it really showed the level of detail DHX can put into one little segment. 

[Hawk Moth 390]

Now I really have to do a Pinkie Pie gangsta rap parody.

[King Sejong 858]

   Hooray for Rainbow Dash, a wonderbolts reservist, this I can relate to because I was a navy reservist, and just because I was in the reserves, doesn't mean our standards were lower than active military, we had to keep up with them too. We had two exams, a written and field exam, what you know on paper may not be equal to what you do in practise, which is why training was stringent, so we had a saying, if you want work for it, Rainbow Dash was quite similar to the recruits I knew from the navy, they just wing it and try to score high enough, unfortunately the military is not that lenient, particularly if you work with millions of dollars of military hardware. I also liked how Twilight Sparkle learned a lesson too, people have tendency to study one way, and assume it can work someone else, just look at the current education system, I was educated in Canada, by British educators who were there at the time, so I learned all of the study methods, the mane six used, a play, flashcards, films, and yes, music, listen to Johnny Horton, who gave us "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck," they were educational and catchy, plus we learned to focus on one topic at a time, and at our pace, also to have a curious enthusiasm to learn more.

   Rainbow Dash is potentially all of us, we do learn differently, for Rainbow she learned on the fly, which is a style we do tend to learn efficiently from, whether it's the military, technology or building, so I understand her predicament, not only under duress from the exam, but from her friends, pressuring her to cram, and use study tactics that worked for somepony else, not for Rainbow Dash, but I thought this was a good Rainbow Dash episode, and it strengthened the relationship between Rainbow and Twilight, I think they work well together, furthermore I loved how they animated the flying of Rainbow and Twilight through the clouds, it was smooth and elegant, it was pleasant to see the complex nature of Rainbow Dash, who is seen as a boastful, speed bug, but she has shown herself to be more dynamic, which is why I love her, of course she has doubts, and second opinions, it apart of living and learning, thus I end by saying, thank you Amy Keating Rogers, for giving Rainbow Dash a new spin on the fan's image of her.

[Radiance64 7,051]

Part of what made this episode so good was the premise was relatable, I'm sure we've all had the same situation as RD having to study for a test with no motivation. All of those study types were real and the humour is derived from that. People were doomsaying pinkie pie's rap but it was done really well, it was a really nice touch making it 4:3 VHS quality just like how things were in the 90s, just shows the attention to detail DHX put on everything.Additionally, all of the mane 6 were themselves, not over-exaggerated caricatures of their personalities. Just goes to show how much better the writers who have been there since the start are.

:I just copy and pasted this from what I said in a 4chan post.:

 

download.jpg

Also, rarity dressing up as nightmare moon...

Yeah, for like a second. I wouldn't think too much of it though, she was only trying to help her friend learn!

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

I don't mind again that RD has a unique learning method, but all the same, her getting 100% on a test that she really only studied for with less than 12 hours left to study, she must be motherbucking Rain Man or something!  That rubbed me the wrong way, again, it really did; it was a slap to the face of students who put in hard work 24/7 to get excellent grades, or at least just to pass even.  Not saying that RD's stupid or that that method shouldn't work for her, but they should've condemned procrastination much more; if she'd just barely passed, with like a 75% or so, that would've felt more realistic to me.  But that was just way too easy and made the lesson feel a little hollow.

 

That seems kinda nitpicky, don'tcha think. I understand what you mean, but how does that make the lesson about successful study methods and the individuality in them hollow?

[Batbrony 15,994]

That seems kinda nitpicky, don'tcha think. I understand what you mean, but how does that make the lesson about successful study methods and the individuality in them hollow?

 

Again, the episode as a whole I thought was amazing.  It's just that particular set of circumstances that rubbed me the wrong way, her getting 100% when she started studying (successfully) with less than 12 hours to go.  What if instead she'd had a week to prep from when she found a successful method instead?  Then if she'd gotten 100% I wouldn't have minded so much, and her earlier panic still would have been warranted.  Point is, the episode shouldn't have just promoted finding the right study method, it also should've more blatantly made it clear that the best road to success is investing the proper amount of time in any endeavor.  Giving Dash a pretty much perfect eidetic memory when flying sends the wrong message to younger viewers that, find the right study method, and you too will have a photographic memory that will allow you to put off studying until the very last second and still get 100% success.

[Kenny 232]

Holy crap that rap was one of the best scenes in the entire show!

 

The first few minutes had me pretty skeptical at first, but it was all made up for by the end. I like how both RD and Twilight learned something.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Kenny

[spezzzzzhdafuigb 49]

I think Rainbow Dash is the most loved pony in ponyville because she has her own fanclub and everyone was helping her with the studying. Like I WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO ME! Well, there were many things that made this better than Rainbow Falls. With RD being my favorite, it hurts to see her in a mediocre episode. Good thing this wasn't one of them! TwiDash is a pair you don't usually see, and they pulled it off really well. I loved the return of the SWAG shades too! I'm wondering whether they're going to incorporate the wonderbolts into Rainbow Dash's life and make it a recurring thing or if it is just a one episode thing, like "Wonderbolts Academy".

There were so many things they put into this episode, like MC pinkie and everything! For, some reason, the ending seemed kind of forced just to fit all the background ponies in, but that might just be me. But hey, no one was out of character this time! Overall, I'd rate this a 8.5/10.

[Swoony 195]

That rap was hilariously terrible. It was one of the most out of place and hilarious things i've seen in the show. A little reminiscent of the cutie mark crusaders song to me.

 

 

More gangster pinkie please.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Swoony

[Hawk Moth 390]

I thought this episode had one of the most relevant lessons, especially for kids:

 

Everyone has a unique way of learning, and at first you might think you're stupid for not being able to understand what everyone else seemingly gets with ease; what you thought was a weakness might turn out to be a unique strength.

 

I have experienced this so much in school. In high school I thought I was stupid for failing chemistry while everyone else seemed to understand it intuitively. Like Dash, I zone out really easy, and for the longest time, I thought I was just incapable of learning new things. This episode really struck a chord with me.

[Shanks 10,811]

I liked some of the humor in this episode and as someone who grew up with Autism I know firsthand that the message about learning differently is right on even for people that don't have anything like that. What bothered me about this episode though is it continues the increasingly annoying trend of overuse of deus ex machina, the fact that Rainbow Dash learns better while flying because she is able to better relax while flying is believable but the fact that she was suddenly able to remember every little detail right then and there is extremely unbelievable. If she had a bit more time and things were able to start to click after discovering that then it would have been a bit more understandable.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

I thought pinkies rap fit perfectly into her character. A spontaneous out of nowhere 4th wall breaker. It felt like something pinkie could go. And as a long time fan of rap, the vhs quality video, along with the late80s/early 90s style beat vaporware rap really got me. It felt like something pinkie would do, and it really showed the level of detail DHX can put into one little segment. 

 

The rap was supposed to feel forced, everyone was forcing their study methods on Rainbow. I also didn't find the dialogue shoddy  either, personally.

The main problem was it took away from the episode and was more than a tad bit irritating. Nothing more to it than that; the high pitched squeals of "YEAHH!" from Pinkie really took the cake, too, kind of grinding away at my ear drums.

 

Furthermore, musical opinions are nearly entirely subjective. If one was to claim absolute objectivity their opinion of music, chances are they're lying. I can't claim a right or a wrong on the subject of Pinkie rapping, just how I feel, just based off of how subjective musical preferences are.

 

[Declen 118]

Well, this episode may be fun and all, but am I only one who has problem with the moral?

Like, if you can't learn anything it's not beacuse you don't even try, no! It's because you are special! So we must sing and dance around you until we find the way for you to learn without straining even one of your preciously rare braincells.

 

Is that what you want for your children?

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

Rarity: Rainbow, your studying methods are BANANAS. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. And remember, I ain't no hollaback mare.

 

 

 

 

XFizzle, I love you. Just going to put that out there

[Megas 27,067]

Well, this episode may be fun and all, but am I only one who has problem with the moral?

Like, if you can't learn anything it's not beacuse you don't even try, no! It's because you are special! So we must sing and dance around you until we find the way for you to learn without straining even one of your preciously rare braincells.

 

Is that what you want for your children?

I don't know that's how you saw the moral, I thought the moral was that everyone learns/studies differently

[Hawk Moth 390]

The main problem was it took away from the episode and was more than a tad bit irritating. Nothing more to it than that; the high pitched squeals of "YEAHH!" from Pinkie really took the cake, too, kind of grinding away at my ear drums.

 

Furthermore, musical opinions are nearly entirely subjective. If one was to claim absolute objectivity their opinion of music, chances are they're lying. I can't claim a right or a wrong on the subject of Pinkie rapping, just how I feel, just based off of how subjective musical preferences are.

 

 

I think Pinkie's rap was intentionally bad. Think about it, she started rapping right after saying the words, "Musical intervention". There's no way she wouldn't fumble whatever came next. As for Pinkie's voice, that's just personal taste.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

I think Pinkie's rap was intentionally bad. Think about it, she started rapping right after saying the words, "Musical intervention". There's no way she wouldn't fumble whatever came next. As for Pinkie's voice, that's just personal taste.

If it was intentionally bad, than it was bad, and I have a right to feel that way.

 

Makes sense, does it not?

 

Jesus, state one thing you don't like about an episode that everyone else loved, and people jump down your throat.

[Anilewe 2,178]

Well, this episode may be fun and all, but am I only one who has problem with the moral?

Like, if you can't learn anything it's not beacuse you don't even try, no! It's because you are special! So we must sing and dance around you until we find the way for you to learn without straining even one of your preciously rare braincells.

 

Is that what you want for your children?

 

The moral was that everyone have different ways to learn something. Twilight takes notes, Pinkie sings, AJ learns through experience and if she finds something interesting/useful for her, etc. Every way is unique and useful and you need to find your own. 

[RED20 289]

This episode = Great. I actually feel like re-watching it. 

 

I actually never thought of studying like that, I kinda want to try it. Multitasking is really, really important in sports (and in flying airplanes) so I'm good at it (not that I can't work on it).

Edited April 5, 2014 by RED20

[DryGuy84 (Inactive) 927]

The main problem was it took away from the episode and was more than a tad bit irritating. Nothing more to it than that; the high pitched squeals of "YEAHH!" from Pinkie really took the cake, too, kind of grinding away at my ear drums.

 

Furthermore, musical opinions are nearly entirely subjective. If one was to claim absolute objectivity their opinion of music, chances are they're lying. I can't claim a right or a wrong on the subject of Pinkie rapping, just how I feel, just based off of how subjective musical preferences are.

 

 

I never said it was good, I understand that music is subjective so I purposely avoided commenting on that part. I just meant I don't understand how "it felt forced" applies here. I understand your irration. though.

If it was intentionally bad, than it was bad, and I have a right to feel that way.

 

Makes sense, does it not?

 

Jesus, state one thing you don't like about an episode that everyone else loved, and people jump down your throat.

 

No one's jumping down your thoat we're just discussing the episode.

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

It's been awhile since I laughed this hard at an episode. Twilight and Dash are great comedic foils, they work so well off one another. I also liked the inclusion of the other main characters in a way that didn't feel forced (though Pinkie's rap kinda rubbed me the wrong way). I especially liked Applejack's bit of "I learned through experience that took years! Only have a few hours? Well, you're boned.". Something I'd like to make note of actually is the animation, a topic I usually ignore because it often goes without saying that the animation for MLP is guaranteed to be top notch. It especially shows here in the flying sequences between Twilight and Rainbow. They're simple, but there's just something gorgeous about it all and the birds eye view of Ponyville only adds to that.

 

Speaking of the bird's eye view, the conclusion where nearly the entire town turns up to help was heartwarming. With something like this, you'd expect it to involve only the Mane 6, but here the entire town gets in on it. It adds to the credence that Ponyville is a small town where just about everyone knows everyone, so they're more than willing to pitch in when Rainbow needs help with something this important. 

 

So many meta jokes this episode too. Season 4 is quickly turning into "how many lampshades can we hang on this show?" Rainbow's mention of Twilight's Failure Song or her "freak-out aria" as she put it, a namedrop of none other than G1's Firefly (Lauren Faust's favorite pony) and possibly even the rewinding effect seen throughout the episode. Also, of course Rarity would play Nightmare Moon at the end.

 

Season 4 hasn't been kind to either Twilight or Rainbow Dash, but this episode comes and fixes that in one felled swoop with excellent characterization for all involved and jokes that still make me laugh just thinking of them. Another one to add to the Best Episodes list! 

[Forlong 1,725]

I take back every negative thing I said about Filli Vanilli.  I love this episode.  It's a barrel full of several very whimsical monkeys.  But the best part is that Rainbow Dash is now in the Wonderbolts Reserves.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

I never said it was good, I understand that music is subjective so I purposely avoided commenting on that part. I just meant I don't understand how "it felt forced" applies here. I understand your irration. though.

 

No one's jumping down your thoat we're just discussing the episode.

3 people have tried arguing my assesment of Pinkie's rap I usually only have that many people coming after me when I'm defending Rarity

 

The rap itself felt forced is what I was going at, not the rap appearing in the episode, that melded in just fine. All those horrid noises she made and the rap she did could've at least been a bit more quality while still achieving its goal of being humorously bad.

 

Like, the play; that was humorously bad without being irritating. The rap was so bad it was irritating. The play and the rap were both intended to be bad, but only the play did so while having a quality to it that didn't just feel stupid.

[Hawk Moth 390]

If it was intentionally bad, than it was bad, and I have a right to feel that way.

 

Makes sense, does it not?

 

Jesus, state one thing you don't like about an episode that everyone else loved, and people jump down your throat.

 

No, I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU! AGREE WITH EVERYTHING I SAY!