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5 January 2014

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic "Rarity Takes Manehattan"


Once upon a time I was part of the furry community in a website known as FurAffinity. It’s well known for its constant outages, technical issues, and a crowd so filled with scum and villainy it makes the Mos Eisley cantina look like a church. In there I met some nice people whom have followed me to the Brony fandom, but more often than not I was bullied, attacked, mocked, laughed at and, worst of all, got my art stolen several times only to be accused of stealing some else’s artwork. This went on for over six years until I encountered the MLP Fandom and then realized that people don’t usually attack and eat each other like a pack of cannibalistic hyenas fighting for a prey they didn’t even catch in the first place. Every fandom has problems with art theft, and the MLP fandom is no exception, but every now and then I like to think back to those years  to remind myself where I come from and how bad things could be. I did meet very nice people, I admit that, but I am really glad I put all of that behind me and finally moved into a crowd that I can appreciate and respect as much as they appreciate and respect me. When I write these reviews, or when I draw my pictures, I know there is going to be someone reacting to them and I love hearing their feedback. I like making fans of this show happy and give them something they’d want to add to their favorites, or talk about on Twitter and Tumblr. I don’t aim to become popular, I just like making people happy and give them something to think about. I think you can imagine where this episode review is heading, so let’s get to it.

I am going to bring back my TL; DR’s from 2011, those were faster and less flashy. Is this a good Rarity episode? Yes. Is this the best episode of the Season? Maybe. Is this the best episode written by Dave Polsky? Yes, for the love of Celestia, Luna, the Sun and the Moon, yes it is! And if you want to know why then you should keep reading!



So the episode starts with the Mane Six getting ready for a weekend of fun and fashion in Manehattan, and Rarity is inviting all of them to come along for the ride so they can see her and her designs at the show. She is so generous and excited about it that she is inviting all of them to watch “Hinny of the Hills”, the most popular musical in Bridleway (oh horse puns, you hurt me so). Upon arriving to Manehattan the six friends are rewarded with a city full of activity, interesting ponies, and Mad Men references, and they are so thrilled that they break into song as we see how Rarity’s generosity bursts left and right on the metropolis. At the rhythm of this new tune we see how her good intentions turn smiles upside down, as she fixes a taxi’s broken wheel, gives away her scarf to Daniel Ingram’s voice cameo, and gives considerable tips to bellboys in hotels. Sadly, singing, dancing and pole-dancing on the streetlamps takes its toll on Rarity’s time and she’s suddenly pressured to arrive to the fashion show’s pre-show. In the middle of the rain, and with a shortage of cabs, she seems to be in a desperate situation until the owner of the Taxi with the broken wheel comes in and saves the day! Everything seems to be going alright, until her friends and Spike realize she has forgotten the dresses.


And the prom is tomorrow!
Rarity finally reaches the reception of the fashion show, which seems to be run by the pony version of Janine from “Ghostbusters, as she suddenly realizes that her dresses are not with her. 


Yes! Someone did it!
Right when she thinks she’s completely doomed, the bellboy who was so generously tipped shows up carrying the rack with all the dresses, as Rarity takes them but not before giving him another generous tip. Once at the preshow Rarity is met with a rather stern look from the show’s organizer Prim Hemline who tells her that, due to being late, she will show her designs last. Once Prim dismisses all of them Rarity is then greeted by an old…let’s use the word “acquaintance” to describe this mare, named Suri Polomare, who catches an immediate interest in Rarity’s designs and especially the fabric she’s made them with. Clouded by her generous nature Rarity agrees to giving Suri a roll of her fabric to use for the accents on her own clothes, but little does she know that this obnoxious sounding mare doesn’t want to do just the accents but her entire fashion line out of Rarity’s custom-made fabric! And if you think that’s bad, then things get only worse when we are told that she didn’t make the dresses; her assistant did, a meek looking fashion earth pony called Coco Pommel.

Who is going to win all the awards for Cutest Thing in the World.
Distraught, betrayed, desperate and absolutely heartbroken, Rarity runs to the hotel where she interrupts the celebration of her five friends to tell them that everything is ruined because she has been too generous in a town full of ponies that just look after themselves. Twilight decides to cheer her up and offers the help of all of them to make a new fashion line from scratch no matter what the cost. This leads to Rarity building up a sweat-shop out of her friends (did HotDiggedyDemon predict this or what?) and losing her cool in several occasions after hearing some legit complains from them. Despite all these set-backs and slowdowns the new fashion line is finished and everything seems ready for Rarity to blow everypony’s mind at the fashion show. And, wouldn't you know it, the audience loves it! They seem to adore these designs even more than Suri’s copycat collection, but this doesn’t make Rarity feel any better as she notices that her friends are absent in the audience, surely angry at her for not appreciating their generous help.


I wouldn't blame them, to be honest.
Taken by the concern Rarity leaves the fashion show, despite the complains of Prim Hemline, and rushes to the hotel to look for her friends, but in there the bellboy tells her that they are already gone. Thinking that she’s been left behind by her friends she wanders the streets in the middle of the rain as she breaks into song for a second time, but this time all alone. Once she’s regained her composure and fixed her wet mane, she returns to the fashion show to try and talk with Prim, but instead she’s met with Suri, who tells her that Prim is really furious at her, and her five friends and Spike, who all greet Rarity with the biggest of smiles. As it turns out the Mane Six missed the show because they overslept after a night of hard work helping Rarity, not because they were mad at her. They then tell her that Suri told them that she’s lost the competition, to which Rarity replies that she doesn’t give a flying feather about it. She is just glad that her friends haven’t abandoned her, and Twilight reassures her that what happened the day before hasn't affected their friendship. In order to make up for this ordeal, Rarity takes all of her friends to a private pass of “Hinny of the Hills”. Once the play is over they all wonder how she got tickets for a private pass, and Rarity explains that she cut a deal with the costume designer of the play in exchange of doing all the costumes for the next one. They all congratulate her for the opportunity, although they are also sad since they are not going to be seeing her in a while because of it.


We will miss your bossy ways and the sweat shop's swamp smell.
But then, coming out of one of the doors, enters Coco Pommel, carrying the trophy for the first place winner on the fashion show, which happens to have Rarity’s name on it. What happened is that she actually won, but Suri lied and hoped that, in Rarity not showing up to pick up her trophy, the judges would give her the award in forfeit. Coco then apologizes and tells them that working with Suri made her think that everyone in Manehattan was just out there for themselves, and it wasn’t until meeting Rarity and her friends that she realized how generous they were with each other. She realized that there was something better for her out there, so she quit and moved on. In appreciation for this, Rarity offers her the chance to work with the costume designer of “Hinny of the Hills”, since Coco’s fashion sense would work great in the theater. Rarity returns to Ponyville learning that even though sometimes others might take advantage of your generosity, one shouldn't give up on their generous spirit, and that nothing feels worse than taking advantage of the generous nature of your friends.


"Best Bitchy Pony Award? Well, that's better than nothing!"
Where do I start with this episode? I guess the best way to start is with what I think of it, let’s see the good versus the bad, and figure out why I consider this to be Dave Polsky’s best work to date.


What!? MADNESS!
I have no doubt when I say that this is one of the most hopeful, positive episodes ever put together for this show, if not the most. The whole thing is a build up to that final dialogue between Rarity and Coco, and the speech that the later gives about how generosity is repaid with generosity. It’s something that is present during the entire episode, and we see it happening before our eyes, though they never bash our heads with it. I loved how those who Rarity helped at the beginning, like the Taxi driver and the bellboy, show up later on to help her out. They were small examples that helped build up the sense of support that ended up exploding all over the screen at the end. The tone and rhythm of this episode are perfect. They walk the fine line between comedy and drama really well, and they never let the background swallow the foreground. It kept the cameos and references to a minimum, like the Mad Men ponies or the Grumpy Cat Pony, but they were not the focus and they felt like very nice throw away jokes. The episode kept itself focused on what is important, and that is Rarity and her ordeal to keep her sense of generosity alive in a town that seems to have forgotten it.

"I've forgotten my dignity too! I need a pillow and a Manehattan cocktail!"
Rarity, by the way, is in her prime in this episode. We have seen her act generous before, and become self-absorbed as well, but this episode amped her personality to eleven. She is the way she has always been but with a touch of humility splashed all over her. She can be generous and well-intentioned, but she can also become bossy and angry, to the point of screaming to her friends and not even thank them for their hard work. She shows remorse and laments her attitude, and then finds the courage to walk back in there to ask for forgiveness. She gets her entire fashion line stolen, yet she doesn’t take long to take matters into her own hooves and design an entire new line from scratch. I was particularly worried by how they would portray her in this Season, especially after two years without a Rarity centric episode, but my fears are gone. This Rarity is my Rarity. The Rarity I identify with. The Rarity that I admire because she is as full of virtues as she is flawed, and the one character that is so well written that I easily forget she is a cartoon pastel colored marshmallow tiny horse. She is perfect in how imperfect she is, and she is believable in how cartoony her behavior can be.


Time to break into song! Come Darlings!
But if there is drama and cartoony enjoyment in this episode that is definitely focused on the songs. The show runners are definitely taking a page from the finale of Season 3 and are now using the songs as a very effective narrative resource that both moves the plot forward and establishes a certain mood for the rest of the episode to play. The first song, I will admit, does go on for a tad too long, but it’s very welcoming to see Rarity helping out and being herself in an environment that she certainly finds welcoming. The second song however is perfect. It has a perfect length. It’s short and sweet, but also very somber and dark. It shows how Rarity thinks she has lost everything, her friends, the fashion show, her career, even herself, because she was too focused on wining the competition and angry at Suri for stealing her fabric. It had a feeling of loneliness and despair few other songs had in this show, perhaps the closest we got to this is “I have to find a way”. Short but effective, right through the heart.

With enough wet-mane to compensate for the gloomy atmosphere.
But not only the tone, the rhythm, the songs and the focus were good, but also the story. There is no better setting to tell a story about generosity than the fashion and artistic side of any community. Let’s be fair, artists can be (and are) elitists. We favor and watch only those that touch our sensibilities. We rarely go out of our way to give advice and help out, and we can get to be a pretty obnoxious bunch of self-centered jerks. I am saying “we” because I count myself upon them. I can be like this too, and so can my other artist friends. But those moments of generosity do happen. Yes, I see a lot of selfish behavior, but I also see a lot of good coming from us. I see artists giving away free artwork, and opening charity drives to help other friends and other people with their talent. It is really touching to see that generosity alive out there, and the way they portrayed it in this episode is just perfect. It’s spot on, from the Fashion Show’s organizer Prim Himline being a bit of a stuck up to later on warm up to Rarity, to Coco’s final reveal and telling the truth.

Is this the Cutie Equines Convention Center?
Coco Pommel, by the way, is in my list for Best Things Ever (in this show). She had this parallel character arc that intertwined with Rarity’s, and it was wonderful to see how they tied them both together and made it all work like a symphony. You could see from the very beginning how working with Suri was breaking her, and how telling lies was also rotting her from the inside. The way she looked up to Rarity, and how she speaks to her at the end, is like Coco sees in her what she could have been have Suri not intervened in her life. She was also masterfully voiced by Cathy Weseluck, who gave her the absolute most adorable fragile pony voice. Her final speech, in which she talks about the virtues of generosity, has rendered me to tears every time I watched the episode. There needs to be fanart of this pony right now. There needs to be a plushie of her right now. We need blind bags. We need toys. We need fanfiction. Hell, I don’t read fanfiction, but if there’s any of her I’ll totally read it. This pony is one of my favorite things in this show right now, and she is not just adorable, she had such a good character arc it puts other characters in modern fiction to shame.


Can I have another episode?
*squeeing internally*
No! No episode for you. And stop being so adorable!
In the other corner, Suri Polomare offers an interesting take on the antagonist role. She is what Rarity could have become had she been in Canterlot or Manehattan from the very beginning. She is a self-absorbed bitch with no creativity who doesn’t hesitate to lie and steal from others since her soul and inspiration are dry as a rock. Her attitude is poisonous, especially when at one point of the episode (around the time the Mexican sweat-shop scene starts) Rarity starts to act like her. She is here not only to show what Rarity could have become, but also what she can become if she doesn’t keep her ambition under control. And what’s really remarkable of this is that Rarity and Suri are both voiced by the same person, Tabitha St. Germain. I am not sure if it was intentional, I think I might be reading too much into it, but I like to think this is a very subtle way of telling us that Rarity has the potential to be both. She can either be generous, open, happy and creative, or selfish, self-centered, bitter and a complete copycat.


"I like being next to you Rarity, you make me look so bitchy"
As for other things that I liked I must mention the looks of the episode, and this goes from the production design to the camera angles and the designs of the ponies and the costumes. I thought that seeing a modern day city in My Little Pony (that’s not-fictional like Maretropolis) was a breath of fresh air. It looks slick and busting with activity but it never feels cluttered or messy. It has the perfect amount of detail and never get overwhelming. It was great to see the Statue of Liberty in pony form, as well as that ponified Broadway and even the Madison (Maredison?) Square Garden made a cameo in the background. Cameos were also the keyword of this episode. They went from internet memes (the already mentioned Grumpy Cat pony) to sneaking the ponified cast of Mad Men, a shout out to “The Sound of Music” and a poster of “Cats”. I found this quite interesting, because the whole episode looks and feels like a theater play. It takes place in four locations (the streets of Manehattan, the Fashion Show, the Hotel and the theater) and the camera, the scenes and the choreography are all set up like that of a Broadway musical, all the way down to the singing and dancing.

Pictured up here: Eye candy.
I must say that I really liked this episode even before I started writing about it, but now that I’m done I like it even more. You might argue that my opinion is completely biased, and that I had already made up my mind about it before even watching it. You might be right. I was already putting this episode amongst my favorites even before I watched it, and the fact that Dave Polsky was writing it had no effect on this whatsoever. We have to be fair here and admit that his work on the first season of My Little Pony wasn’t all that spectacular. He wrote one of the episodes that I hate the most (Over a Barrel), and he was completely absent during all of season two. But then came season three, and he signed ingenious episodes like Too Many Pinkie Pies, Keep Calm and Flutter on, and the unfairly hated Games Ponies Play, which gave us a very likable and quite spot-on representation of Rarity. So I knew he’d be a good writer for her, and I knew that Meghan McCarthy was also going to put a lot of effort in portraying her the way she is. After all she wrote “Sweet and Elite”, one of the best episodes of the show and the very last Rarity centric episode we had until this one. It’s a match made in heaven and it worked great, and I am so glad for it I feel like exploding.


Rarity is so good she could even make internet memes work.
This episode is fantastic. It’s a very clever, painfully relatable, gorgeously put together, perfectly acted, well written, funny, touching, hopeful, inspiring, positive, great episode of a, so far, great season. It captures the wonderment and tone of some of the best episodes of this show and it does it in a perfect manner. If this season keeps this up, I am going to have a hard time picking my favorite episode when it ends.

"Oh, wait, hang on. This is the award. Most Hopeful and Positive Episode Ever"
Now all we need to do is figure out what’s up with that rainbow colored thread. This show is throwing more foreshadowing at us than an Edgar Wright / James Cameron movie.


- Defining Moment: Coco’s confession at the end, and her subsequent redemption. I surprised myself when I started sobbing tears of happiness.

- Moral: Just because others want to take advantage of your generosity doesn’t mean you have to stop exercising it.


18 comments:

  1. I agree with you wholeheartedly. This episode was just amazing and it's definitely up there with one of the best episodes of the show.

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  2. Oh sure when it´s a pony you like you write fast enough XP nah, just messing with you...
    Great review as always, very entertaining to read.
    Eh, kind of torn on this episode. I admit it was ruined for me by the constant "two yeaaars!" whining and the irony of a secondary pony taking the spotlight, kinda like Last Roundup.
    You should look around, Coco is apparentely the only thing people take from this episode. Kind of sad when you think about it.
    So, while I don´t share your entushiasm, I can see your point.
    Good work.

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  3. -With his output in S3 (and also Daring Don't), I already considered Dave Polsky to be good. But now, he's one of my top 3 writers on the show (this season or otherwise).
    -"Generosity" is to Rarity what "Smile Song" is to Pinkie Pie.
    -I just read the wiki and it says that Prim Hemline is voiced by Ashleigh Ball. That's kinda hilarious.
    -I love how we already have tons of Coco Pommel fanart.
    -Having Rarity's friends not ditch her because they know her true nature is an appropriately touching twist.
    -I was a little confused with who this designer friend of Rarity was supposed to be. Somehow, I didn't make the connection that she was talking of the costume designer for the musical.
    -"Sure, I'll be a dear." Spike, you are bloody fantastic.
    -That ending with the colored spools of thread..... so much D'AAAAAAAAAAW. I mean, it's nakedly pulling your heartstrings, but COME OOOON IT WAS ADORABLE!!

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  4. Absolutely amazing! This episode is the beginning for the arts for the brony community.

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  5. Not only was this a fantastic episode, but it also gave me hope that the rest of Season 4 will continue on the great streak it's been on. With this episode, I'm now, like, 95% sure I know how the Keys of Harmony plot will be carried out, and I love it.

    Apart from instances where the Elements of Harmony have been directly involved (specifically, in The Return of Harmony), never before in the series have the characters outright acknowledged their own Elements and those of their friends in the same way they did this episode (with Rarity's obvious Generosity and Applejack's Honesty), which immediately drew my attention. So, what I think is clearly going on is that the rainbow-coloured thread is actually the Disguised Key of Generosity, and Rarity got it for staying true to her Element.

    Therefore, later in this season we should also be seeing the rest of the Mane 6 receiving their own disguised keys of Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, and Magic (with the final one probably happening in the season finale). With this in mind, it's already rather clear that Rainbow get the Key of Loyalty in "Rainbow Falls", as the premise of that episode specifically deals with Rainbow having to deal with a conflict of loyalty; I'm certain we'll be seeing Dash receive something with a rainbow shimmer at the end of that episode. Once all the keys are collected, something to due with "Rainbow Power" will happen.

    Why do I love this? Well, it means we're going to for sure be getting more episodes about each of the Mane 6 dealing with their own extremely personal problem, where they have to stay true to their morals despite the world punishing them for it. And that's exactly what I want—I want Season 4 to have a good mixture of personal slice-of-life episodes (like "Flight to the Finish" and "Rarity Takes Manehatten") along with ridiculous and fun episodes (like "Daring Don't" and "Power Ponies"). And that's exactly what they seem to be doing.

    Season 4 has been great so far, and things are still looking up from here. It's awesome, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

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  6. It's funny. A man that once you hated so much, has become one of your favorites. But, I can't disagree, Polsky is a great writer for this show, he gave us some amazing episodes (Too Many Pinkie Pies, Keep Calm & Flutter On and Daring Don't), but this is his best work to date, without doubt. Good job Dave, and good job James for your review. This season is PERFECT so far, and it can only go better.

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  7. This episode wins for me because they took one of the basic of children story plot, the copycat antagonist, and avoided falling into the usual script. I like the fact that Rarity didn't spend all episode trying to prove that Suri took her fabric. She simply bounced back and did what she was good at, drama, well that and designing clothes from scratch on the fly. She won the fashion show because she was a good designer, not because she outed a liar.
    I'm also surprised that aside from not winning and losing her cute assistant, Suri didn't get the usual comeuppance that happens at the end of this kind of plot. I'm pretty sure she didn't learn any lesson from this. Then again, I guess the lesson wasn't about art thieving and more about generosity. I just find that letting the bad guy unpunished is a balsy move for a saturday morning cartoon.

    And now for something completely different...

    I'm always interested in Rarity. She's not my favorite pony but I always find myself looking at her and other people's reaction to her. A common trend in media is that quality such as "generosity" or "kindness" come with the preconceive idea that this attribute is pretty much their only character trait. If someone told me about the pony of generosity, I would immediatly think of a pony who's favorite activity is doing pep rally or blood drives or whatever organisation that gives stuff to the poor. Not a pony that is a designer, is a drama queen or a career woman. This surprises me and got me interested in the idea that there might be different type and levels of generosity. I also like how the fandom seems to have had the same preconceive image of how Rarity SHOULD be and seem to extra analyse anything she does in order to discredit her title.
    In a way Rarity is the opposite of Fluttershy. While Fluttershy is the textbook approach of a character with the "kindness" title to the point that I wondered at times if she was something more, Rarity is a weird variation of the "generosity" title to the point of wondering if she really is.

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    1. Small edit:
      In a way Rarity is the opposite of Fluttershy. While Fluttershy is the textbook approach of a character with the "kindness" title to the point that I wondered at times if she was anything more, Rarity is a weird variation of the "generosity" title to the point of wondering if she really is.

      And while Rarity isn't my favorite I didn't mean that I don't like her. I actually like her very much. Probably top 3 or 5 pony.

      Delete
  8. And so a new Year of Ponies had started in the year of the Horse. Rarity had not any centered episodes about her since December 2011. But now at last Rarity is back and this time with her friends in Manehattan. Rarity is going to star in the fashion week, but her design is stolen. Notice the many BG ponies cameos too. There are many highlights like the return of Rarity's whining, a brandnew song, the return of Manehattan, Nathan's shoutout and on. It also seems like we are building up to the Finale here like we did with the Gala. So there is something for everypony here. Both drama and heart. This Manehattan episode could easily fill two parts as big as this city is

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  9. You know James.... I've to say this: you, Voiceofreason, AnyPony and Mrenter (althought I don't agree with him about Power Ponies at all) are the only good reviewers left in the fandom. So many reviewers have turned into complete jerks and are throwing **** against the S4 for no reasons at all (Tommy Oliver, Digibrony, Paleosteno, Themusicman1012, Kimi Sparke, Ilovekimpossiblealot, PastAnalises... all these reviewers have pratically turned into haters of the show.... what a shame).

    Please, promise me you won't never become like them, ok?

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    1. Kimi Sparkle is a joke reviewer by the creator of Friendship is Witchcraft.

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  10. If there's one thing that the show has proven several times that it can do very good, is take a familiar story and put its own different spin on it.
    I'm sure we've all seen a variant of this story sometime before: small town person with big dreams goes to the big city, only to have the big city change who they are. In this kind of story, the main character usually realizes the error of his/her ways because of an outburst from a friend, family member, love interest, etc. pointing out their shitty behavior and then the main character has to do something to make it up to that person(s). It's refreshing how in this episode, Rarity realizes her mistake by herself; no one needs to point out her bad behavior for her. Also, to elaborate a point I made previously, her friends know how good she can be, they don't leave and be angry at her or wait for her to do something to make up for what she's done.

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  11. Ok season four is slowly turning into an amazing season, not only has Meriwether Williams finally written a good episode, Dave Polsky had written one that even the most nitpicking reviewer has liked. The latest installment was just fantastic which leaves us with another teaser which could lead to a major outcome for season ending, only time will tell!

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  12. I'll be honest and ssay I'm not a big Rarity fan (Don't take that to mean I hate her, I simply just don't feel too strongly for her is all) but good point are good points. It is a good, strong centric episode for her.

    I'll just say I didn't like the first song (Although I liked Dash's little set-up for it) and Coco is cute enough to give diabetes (Really, if she ever has an episode along with Fluttershy, it could be life threatening). Other than that and the Janine pony (I'll admit, I like the idea a lot) it was a good episode. Not one of my favorites, but one I would watch again, even if I may fast forward a bit on the first song.

    Parting thought for the episode: How much luggage was Rarity hauling and how the heck strong is Spike to carry it all by himself?

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  13. Art thieves are despicable.

    I like your review.

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  14. That was one of the best S4 episodes.

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  15. You are so positive about this episode, and it isn't for nothing. I think it is perhaps the best Rarity episode (okay it's an irresponsible statement, but at least since the middle of Season 2). It is also my no. 2 favorite episode from Season 4 (after "Daring Don't"), though it has some major flaws. My rating is 4/5.


    The drama was particularly strong, and prepared the ground well for the moral. The episode was full of the good kind of tension, which makes you better and stronger at the end. There was a real conflict between Rarity and the Mane 5. She was tricked by Suri, she became nervous and forget about her friends, who worked hard on the dresses. Hell, she was an unthankful bitch, but she could make amends to them and became a role model to Coco Pommel, which is a beautiful closing.

    The moral is very complex, it says at least five different things:
    It is worth to be generous.
    Don't let the problems get us down. Our friends are always there to help.
    Our friends are far more important than personal success.
    The good precedent can change others around us. It's never late.
    Even the most generous person can be a big meany sometimes.

    I can't even tell how glad I am. It is extremely rare that an episode has such a strong moral. Well played Dave, well played.

    Rarity as the main character, yay! Her personality was in the focus, which is turned out to be highly rhapsodic. We saw a good comparison of the positive and negative aspects of it. Her emotional outbursts felt a bit forced and uncreative, though. I mean, in the first half of the episode. The second half was more flawless.
    The others were in character too. The Mane 5 didn't turn their backs on her, even after what she said to them, which is a wonderful thing because it teaches us how to become better. Honestly, a very few of us would have reacted like this.

    Now, let's see the highlight of the day: Coco Pommel. There are no words, she is a real sweetheart! I declare her the bestest new character ever in this show. She wasn't portrayed as a completely positive character at first (she works with that Suri Nightmare, and too weak-hearted to protest), but she changed to the good direction at the end and got close to her true personality. She, as well as Rarity, developed before our eyes.
    It may be surprising that I think Suri was a good villain (unlike that previous soulless Nightmare Moon copy). She had a little background story, just enough to place her in the story, and she was an original character with original attitude.
    However, Prim Hemline is quite forgettable.

    The interactions were great, especially between Rarity and the Mane 5. That quarrel in the hotel room is one of my favorite scenes. Coco Pommel's relationship with Suri was also interesting, though, it wasn't in the focus.

    My opinion is divided about the songs. While I think, the first one was too long and pointless, the reprise was a real gem, very touching and my personal favorite from this episode. It has a strong message ... but to hell with that, soaked Rarity is so damn beautiful!

    Epic things (there are much more of them, but this is supposed to be a short list): Rarity in the rain, Rarity's outbursts, hotel chic (that was a really good idea), Mane 5's facial expressions during the dress making, Coco Pommel and her struggling.

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  16. (cont.)
    As I've mentioned, I have some serious issues too.

    The first half of the episode seemed more weaker for me than the second half. Maybe, it is because I didn't like the first song (I'm with Rainbow Dash on that matter), and nothing really happened until the big conflict.
    The real-world references were too much and hurt me seriously. I don't like them, not in this series.
    Manehattan is the direct opposite of Ponyville, and I'm not sure that it fits well in the world of Equestria. Somewhere on the internet, a smart guy wrote: "If you can do something without ponies, then you should do it without ponies." It means, if something isn't pony enough, then you shouldn't force it into the MLP:FIM setting. I feel that's the case now.

    The story was good and complex, but not so twisted and surprising as usual in this season.
    Rarity on a fashion show - okay, I think it is the least original idea ever. I'm fed up with such stereotypes.

    The time-management was a bit messy for me. I could understand it at the end, but it wasn't explained very well.
    When will Rarity start that half-season long fashion work in Manehattan? SPOILER ALERT! [After I've watched the next few episodes, I can surely say that it wasn't stated explicitly anywhere.]
    Rarity got a rainbowy spool of rainbow thread. It looked like RD's mane. However, it remained a mystery to me, why it was so important to Coco (for example, in "Pinkie Pride", these matters were explained so well). The other thing, the bright rainbow on the spool, became clearer after the next few episodes.

    In spite of these problems I think, the good things far outdone the bad ones.

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