My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. "Hurricane Fluttershy" Review

You know, I find it kind of funny how the hunt for Derpy Hooves in each episode has turned into a search for the love that Studio B and DHX Media gives to us Bronies. After the whole Derpygate debacle and everything else that followed there's been a rabid hunt for Derpy cameos just so we can reassure that the makers of this awesome show still love us. Well, if this week's episode is any indication of it, then Jayson Thiessen and his team love us like their family because I have never seen so many Derpy cameos in one single episode. Yeah alright, this was an all pegasi episode and so we were going to see a butt-load of pegasi but still, she's in every set up. It's like a Where's Waldo book where Waldo is in ever squared inch of picture. Not that this is a bad thing of course, don't missinterpret me. I love Derpy with a firey passion and for all I care she can stay in the animation desk for the rest of the season. This episode pleases me like you don't believe, and not just because pegasi are my favourite type of pony. Lets get down to the review!

The Weather Forecast predicts a possibility of a TL;DR with a high chance of a whole review after it. For those who wish to enjoy the rest of the day off and not read the entire review they can check the TL; DR which will include the answer to two questions. Is this a good episode in Friendship is Magic standards? Yes, it definitely is. Is this the best episode of the season? Let me clarify, it's not my favourite but it's going to be many people's favourite episode and for good reasons, and if we are objective about this it can very easily be the best. And if you hang around and read my review I will tell you all why.

So the episode starts with Rainbow Dash flying over Ponyville as she bombards everypony with pamphlets about how she's tired of Princess Celestia's dominance over Equestria, and her plans to assemble an army of pegasi to take over Canterlot. No, of course not, but don't tell me you didn't have some sort of propaganda flashback when you saw that scene. She flies around Ponyville dropping pamphlets announcing a meeting at Twilight's library that night, and all pegasi must attend. What is this meeting for though we will have to find out after the intro. She even has the power to summon James "The Mule" Wootton back from Season 1, and I have to say that made me happier than it should have. To her pleasure all the pegasi attend the meeting. Well, almost all of them. Fluttershy doesn't want to for some reason and she hides into a tree costume. This is the show makers throwing a brick joke at us and hitting in the right spot. How many kids will link Fluttershy dressed as a tree with her line from "Over a Barrel"? It is certainly one of the best cosplays I have ever seen. Or is the correct term "Leaf Suit"?

It also brings nightmare fuel memories from The Wasteland - Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers.

After the intro we return to Bioshock-wait, what!? No really, it is Bioshock! Or Fallout. Or a P.S.A. from the fifties, but it definitely is an awesome change of style! Notice how the credits for the episode don't start until the film burns. It's a great detail that sucks you into the episode and doesn't break the inmersion. We are presented to an old film that explains how water is transported into the sky in Equestria to create clouds. See, there is nothing like the water cycle in My Little Pony. All that "water evaporates to then turn into rain clouds that then rain over the land and then repeats itself all over again" is something you can't work with when you are dealing with a magic world where the weather is controlled by winged horses. I always wondered how this worked and the answer couldn't please me more. So after Andrew Ryan tells the ponies that they have to create a tornado in order to transport the water to Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash proceeds to outline her plan. She doesn't just want to transport the water, she wants to break the record estasblished by the Fillydelphia team. All the ponies are motivated for this plan, from the smallest to the most buffed up. All of them except for poor meek Fluttershy. The next morning Dash is checking over her team to make sure they are all okay and exercising. She calls out one certain stallion called Thunderlane because he doesn't stop coughing, thinking he is trying to pass for sick. When she notices Fluttershy is not around she darts to her house to bring her out. Despite Fluttershy's efforts to make Dash think she's ill, Dash sees through her charade and tries to get her out of the house. What follows is something that will become the focus of this episode: The relationship between Dash and Fluttershy. We have to take into account that they both have known each other since they were fillies, yet we have seen very little of them together acting like, well, friends. Little touches like Rainbow Dash passing a hoof over Fluttershy's shoulder say a lot about both characters. Dash proves here to be a great friend and tries her best to bring Fluttershy out of her house. It's both heartwarming and funny to see her efforts.

Things turned awkward when she asked her to read a shipping fanfic starring Dash and Soarin'.

Back at the race track Twilight has set up an anemometer to measure the wind speed produced by the pegasi. Through a series of calculations they deduce they will need at least 10 wind/wing power per pegasus in order to both break the record and transport the water to Cloudsdale. I really don't know what scale they are using or if there is any type of solid science behind all of this, but I don't care. It's techno babble and I love it! This is the closest the show ever got to it (that is until they approve my fanfic to be adapted). One after one each pegasus flies before the anemometer to measure their wing power. Rainbow Dash achieves an amazing 16, while the other pegasi go from 5 to 11. However, when it comes to Fluttershy her fears and childhood traumas start to assault her. There is no other way to put it, she does suffer from a childhood trauma. Getting picked on and mocked in "Flying camp" did bury deep into her mind and after flying very poorly in front of Twilight's device she suffers what I can only describe as an anxiety attack. She warps into her own psyche which is shaped like a tunnel made out of eyes, as she breathes heavily and starts crying. That is messed up. I'm not even joking, right there this episode had me gripped hard because I know how that feels. I was picked on in school. I was mocked, I was insulted, and I suffered abuse and bullying before YouTube and Facebook made a big deal about it. It affected me to such point that nowadays, anytime I see a group of teenagers walking on the street I move away or basically stop and let them pass. It is that kind of fear that only those who have suffered it can understand, and I was in heart and soul with Fluttershy right there. She runs away from the training grounds and Rainbow Dash, like the good friend she is, flies after her to try and get her back. Her words have no impact on the meek pegasus, who runs away and leaves Dash with nothing but kicking the air in impotence.

We then cut to what I assume is Froggy Bottom Bog (it looks like it and it has the same pale greens and browns) as we see Fluttershy crying her eyes out while Angel tries to comfort her. I want to think Angel changed after the last episode he was on and is now being kinder to Fluttershy, but I actually think this is him just being him. He can be a jerk to Fluttershy and he can force and abuse her, but when she's really down he is going to take care of her and make sure she's fine. Otherwise, who will get him his food? I'm kidding, it's pretty obvious that Angel does care for her, as well as all the other little critters that try to cheer her up. It was a nice role reversal to see all the squirrels, bunnies and badgers nursing Fluttershy when she is the one who usually takes care of them. That was a really neat touch. So, after a rather short but effective confidence building session, Fluttershy puts on the head and legs bands, plays "You're the best around" in her iPonyPod and starts the training montage. I'm not the biggest fan of training montages but this one was actually pretty funny. There is something about a winged horse getting pulled by a butterfly that makes me giggle. Besides it ends with a beautiful shot of Fluttershy against the sun, and I'm a big sucker for beautiful visuals. With all the power of the eighties in her wings, Fluttershy races the track again and manages to quadruple her previous mark! The only problem was that her previous mark didn't even reach 1. With a tiny 2,3 Fluttershy gives up and goes away, defeated and broken, but she's not the only one. When Spike tells Dash not to worry about it, since they have enough wing power to move the water, Rainbow simply replies:

"If only we could have enough power to move Fluttershy"

Once again their friendship pokes out! That was great. That little allusion right there says that Rainbow Dash doesn't care for the record or the water, she cares for her friend Fluttershy. Those of you who say that she isn't the element of Loyalty, I will always refer to you to this clip to make you shut up. She is loyal and she cares for her friends.

She also cares for how well The HUB's ratings are doing.

The day to move the water arrives and Rainbow gathers her team around the water reserve in Ponyville. Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts (cue Xyro's fanboy squeals) presents herself to supervise the moving and make sure everything is in order. To Dash's dismay she discovers that Thunderlane wasn't just actually ill for real, but he has also passed the sickness onto another seven ponies. With the numbers reduced, and after some more calculations thanks to Twilight's abacus, they find out that they won't be able to both break the record and move the water to Cloudsdale. But this is Rainbow Dash we are talking about, and if she learnt something from the Tank School of Teaching is to never give up. She forgets about the record and focuses on doing the job right. So she gathers her team in a rather irresponsible and stubborn manner (keeping in character) and begins to form the tornado. The column of swirling air grows bigger and bigger as the anemometer's needle rises. I've never seen a rising-needle scene so tense since I last watched "Apollo 13". All that scene needs now is some over the top James Horner music. They are about to get to eight hundred, the minimum necessary to make it work, when one of the ponies inside the tornado passes out from the humidity and low temperatures, and the tower of wind falls apart. It was around there when I saw where they were going with the moral of the episode. Fluttershy then shows up right on time to hear Rainbow Dash deliver one of the most badass lines I have ever heard in a kids cartoon.

"If I'm going down, I'm going down flying! Come on ponies! Let's make it happen!"

I had my heart jumping, and my inner child applauding and cheering. That was awesome and so in her style. So she gathers her team again and they get rolling once more. Fluttershy gets thrown against the machine as Twilight keeps checking the readings. The speed is steady at seven hundred and ninety five, but it doesn't get higher. Twilight shouts to Fluttershy that she has to break through her fears and do this for them, for Cloudsdale, and for herself. Swallowing hard, Fluttershy takes the goggles Twilight gives her and steps inside the tornado. Slowly but surely she starts flying and making the wind go faster. But she is left behind, the memories assaulting her again. Those kids laughing at her, echoing in her ears, mining her confidence. But then she says stop. She just had enough and with a growl of confidence turns those fears into strength. She flies faster, leaving the others behind and making the anemometer pass the eight hundred barrier, thus pumping up the tornado and sending a column of water into Cloudsdale's Weather Factory. The tornado dissolves as the pegasi break formation and they all go to celebrate a job well done. Rainbow Dash rushes to Fluttershy to tell her that without her help they couldn't have done it. In Spitfire's words, even if they didn't break the record they proved to have a lot of guts. The episode ends with Fluttershy delivering a moral that many of us should consider, especially in this day and age. Even if our contribution is small it does count, and we should never give up in giving our best even if we think it's not worth it. Keep your head up, believe in yourself and you will discover that great things will happen to you.

So that was "Hurricane Fluttershy". What do I think about it? Well guys, if I had to use one word to describe this episode I would go for strong. Because this episode is one of the strongest, most powerful episodes of the entire series. Cindy Morrow's writing here is like a punch that breaks through walls of steel. There is no other better word to describe it but solid and striking.  Morrow's work shines like gold and that's not surprising because, well guys, I apologize to those who check my reviews to see what I hated about this episode because I didn't hate anything! This is something that has happened to me with every single episode she has written (yes, even with "Gryphon the Brush Off"). I didn't hate anything of this episode, not even a little bit. There are things I liked a lot, and there are things I liked a little, and since there's a lot of liking let's focus on what I really, really liked.

First of all, Fluttershy. Those who know me and talk to me know that I've been hating Fluttershy a lot lately and that's mostly because of "Putting your hoof down". I don't care how adorable you are, you don't make Rarity cry like this. So I was prepared for this episode to bring back my appreciation for Fluttershy. It did. It so did. The episode didn't even have to finish for me to love Fluttershy again. Half way through I was already invested into what she was going through. It's amazing how well it builds up Fluttershy's lack of confidence, her childhood trauma, her efforts to break through it and finally her victory over her fears. When she runs away and then turns around, with her face covered in tears and her voice broken, I had to choke a gasp. That shocked me, I love when cartoons get brave when portraying mental breakdowns. Like I already said, I'm pretty sure I was getting into it because I know what it feels like to get picked on in school and having those experiences haunt you for the rest of your life. I wasn't a strong guy back there, heck I'm not a strong guy right now, so it didn't take me long to side with the meek pegasus on this one.

Especially in this part. Sweet mother of Luna!!!

I love to see the relationship between her and Rainbow Dash explored in such a subtle way. If you watch the episode again count how many times do you see them calling each other friends. I think they never do, but they don't need to! The way they hold each other, and the way they talk to each other is how real friends act, that's true friendship right there. Yeah I know, Friendship is Magic, it's all about friendship, we've been with these ponies for forty eight episodes, but it feels so natural! You forget that they are colorful pastel colored ponies. There was no spoon-feeding-feel-invested-be-invested-care-for-them attitude during these scenes, it all played out naturally, like if you poked your head through a window to see two friends talking to each other. It's great because you see how much it breaks them when things go wrong. You see how much it shatters Fluttershy to disappoint Dash, and you see how much it hurts Dash to be unable to help her friend. When she rises her hoof to try and call for her, but all she does is kick dust in the air says a lot without a single word. I love to see Dash unable to answer Fluttershy's question about not having enough wing power, and it only makes it sweeter when Dash calls Fluttershy her number 1 flier after they manage to send the water to Cloudsdale.

It's great to see Spitfire showing up again, even if all she did was just standing there and look badass, but then her work is to supervise and make sure that the water gets transported on time, not transport it. So those who might have called her lazy or irresponsible for staying there and not giving a hoof to the Ponyville pegasi, it wasn't her job to do so. She is the supervisor, and she was blown away with the results. If anything she was great for congratulating Rainbow Dash on a job well done. It's awesome to see Twilight bringing in technology and science, always keeping the irony of a magical unicorn talking like a scientist. Spike's acting during the whole episode is hilarious, even if at the end it was kind of weird to see him playing a flute like a satyr, but then again I think there is a mythological reference there somewhere, you guys can tell me in the comments. However, the Grand Winner of the Funniest Thing in this Episode award goes to that Bulked-up White Pegasus with more muscles than wings who could only say "YEAH!". Anytime he showed up in the scene I couldn't control my laughter, he is hilarious. I like how they use him as a background joke instead of giving him dialogue or making rude to the other characters. He is just super motivated and he looks hilarious with his tiny bitty wings and those blood-red injected eyes. It was a lot of fun. It was also pretty funny to know that Twilight doesn't know how to speak squirrel (even though Tara Strong does know how to speak it). And of course, it's pretty cool to see Derpy hanging around the background so much during this episode.

It is a pretty gorgeous episode too! This is probably one of the best looking and most distinctive episodes of the series. The training montage has really good looking visuals, with Fluttershy's silhouette cut against the glowing sun, or her dancing in a field of dandelions. There were a lot of different pegasi in the screen without evidently noticeable clones, but then again I am not one of those people who pauses and freezes every frame in the hunt for goofs. That hallway made out of red eyes was terrifying. I know there had been instances where this show has given some good nightmare fuel (like Discord's head detaching itself and turning into a balloon, or Opal coming out of Angel Bunny's throat) but man... I have to throw an ellipsis there, there's no other way to describe it! Eyes terrify me, they horrify me, so Fluttershy's ghastly expression very well reflects mine when I see that. Jayson Thiessen, guys at Studio B and DHX, your cartoon for little girls just terrified a 27 year old guy who falls asleep watching "Alien". And you guys are proud of it! You rock. It still looks great and makes it a memorable punchy moment. But of course, the star of the show here is that tornado. It appears that anything that looks cool and is cool in the Friendship is Magic universe comes from weather or seasonal events: The Sonic Rainboom, The Zapp Apples, Winter Wrap Up, The Running of the Leaves, and moving the water to Cloudsdale is no exception. "Twister" is my third favourite film of all time (not even kidding, it totally is) and that tornado was awesome. It's sad we couldn't see more of it, but what we got was radical. Pegasus ponies are a bunch of tough guys and girls, no wonder they are so resilient. They must be made out of Chuck Norris or something.

Overall, it was a fantastic episode. My friend called it "Fluttershy's Sonic Rainboom" and I can very well see why. This is going to rank as one of the best episodes of the entire show for how strong the writing is, how beautiful the visuals are and the powerful character relationships. It's one of Rainbow Dash's best episodes, definitely Fluttershy's best episode next to "Stare Master" and "Dragonshy", and without a doubt one of my favourites. If things were as good as this episode is, well, we might as well remove the word "bad" from the dictionary, forever.

We should add "bro-wing" instead.

- Defining Moment: My heart is split between that nightmarish mental break down where Fluttershy warps into a tunnel of eyes, or the whole ending segment with the tornado. Either of those.

- Moral: It doesn't matter how important, how big or how strong you are. Your contribution, though small, will always count and it might even be the one that makes the difference to achieve things.

SNAPSHOTS PROVIDED BY THE MLP:FiM WIKIA.