MLP - "Daring Don't" - Review

thejboy88

New member
Aug 29, 2010
1,515
0
0
This review will contain spoilers for those who have not seen the latest episode of MLP.

The story of this episode is that Rainbow Dash and her friends help their favourite author, A.K. Yearling, to finish her latest book.

Let me start this review by saying that I couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment with it. Not the episode itself, let me be perfectly clear about that. No, what I was disappointed with was that this episode did not seem to further the story arc concerning the mysterious box introduced in the season opener. With that arc used during last week's episode, I had high hopes that the episodes of this season would follow a consistent season-long story arc, which is something they?ve never done before. I know it's unfair to hold something like that against this episode, as it was something I was hoping for rather than what I got, but the sentiment remains.

The story we do get however, is one that I enjoyed, as it concerns something I'd hoped they'd be touching on ever since it was established back in season two, and that's Rainbow Dash's love of books, specifically the Daring Do series. Even though her newly-found enjoyment of reading was hinted and shown in a few places in succeeding episodes, in truth it was only a major part of her character for one episode, the one it was introduced in. So to have that aspect of her brought back to the forefront here is a good thing as it means that the show isn't just making changes to these characters to just forget about them later.

In addition to this, reading seems to have become a major passions of Rainbow, perhaps just as much as her other well-established trait of wanting to join the Wonderbolts. That latter desire, although it was used frequently with Rainbow-centred stories, never really came to anything until season three, during "Wonderbolts Academy". And when that episode ended, it seemed that her personal arc regarding that personal dream seemed to have come to an end, or at the very least had been explored as much as they could without becoming repetitive. As such I'd always had a certain worry that, even though that was a great episode in it's own right, they might have figuratively shot themselves in the foot with regards to future development for this character.

That is clear not the case with this episode as you feel Rainbow's passions and enthusiasm for this story she loves so much. And it's something that I can personally relate to, being invested in a particular story you love. After all, the fact that I'm writing episode-by-episode reviews of a cartoon involving pastel-coloured ponies intended for young girls is proof enough that I know just how much a story can grab you. This episode though seems more focused on the kinds of enthusiasm regarding crazes for book series, and indeed, the author in question is clearly based on famed British author, J.K. Rowling. So the hype regarding the Daring Do books can be seen as a sort of animated version of the real-life enthusiasm people had for Rowling's popular Harry Potter books. Having been part of that hype myself at one point, especially since I'm British myself, I can understand how much something like this can become important to you.

Since this episode heavily features the involvement of another supporting character, I'd like to discuss A. K. Yearling, AKA, Daring Do. At first she seems to be a kind of parody of Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, especially with her reclusiveness, but the revelation that she was, in fact, the real Daring Do was a twist I honestly didn't see coming, and I really like it when the show can throw me a curve-ball like that. However, as I said once before regarding Daring's character in her previous outing, there isn't really that much to her character besides her being based on characters like Indiana Jones. Her desire to be alone and work alone was prominent and unexpected, but I'm okay with that given that her previous story had her alone the whole time, so it's understandable that we wouldn't have known about it. Plus, given how Rainbow?s attempts at helping her often ended in a bad way, I?m not really surprised she doesn?t take well to working with others.

However, one thing that did bother me about her character was why she wrote books in the first place. If she is so adamant about her privacy and wanting others to leave her be, why would she continue to write about her adventures, knowing how popular they became? In addition to this, the revelation that both she, and most likely everything she had in her books, was real, does beg the question of how nobody else in this world could have known about that until now. Sure, Daring is shown to be reclusive, but if her adventures have been real this whole time, surely someone at some point might have told others.

Something I feel I need to comment on here is a similarity that I couldn't help but notice between this and another story, and an MLP story at that. The story in question is not from the show, but rather the IDW comics. As such I will warn you that there will be spoilers for those who have not read them. In the story in question, Twilight meets up with a reclusive author of one of her favourite books and, through her involvement, encourages her to continue. The stories are undoubtedly different in many ways of course, but the fact that this one element seemed so similar makes me wonder if there isn't some attempt by MLP's writers to include stuff from the comics into the main show. If that's true, then I look forward to seeing what else they choose to include.

One aspect of this story I enjoyed a great deal was the character dynamics, particularly that between Rainbow Dash and Twilight. As I said in last week's episode, some of this show's best moments have been those times when two characters are interacting with each other, and this episode is no exception. The moments between Rainbow and Twilight were great to watch because, when you think about it, these two haven't really had an episode where they've really connected. True, they might have both been prominent in episodes featuring the other, but these two together as the focus has never been done, so it's nice to see that the show's writers are trying new things with the characters interactions this season. And their shared love of the Daring Do books did allow for some great moments, even though one particular back-and-forth between them did feel a tad too long.

In terms of humour, many of the episodes jokes and funny moments stem from Rainbow's overly-obsessive behaviour regarding her love of Daring Do and her books, but this had both a positive and negative side to it. The good that comes from this is that Rainbow is not often a source of humour in other episodes, at least not as much as others, so it's nice to see her be the funny one for once. And to her credit, she manages to be rather hilarious in several moments, with a slew of new poses and expression being used on her to great effect. However, the downside to all this was that her obsessive tendencies did tend to be rather annoying at times and there came a point when I was very much hoping she'd stop so the story would progress, which isn't a good sign.

In terms of songs, this week we once again have none to speak of which, needless to say, is a disappointment for me.

Onto the moral-of-the-week now and this time it seems to be that even though it's fine to respect and admire others, you shouldn?t let that diminish your own self-worth, and that it's good to put your trust in others sometimes. While both of these are fine lessons I feel that the latter is undermined somewhat by the fact that, as I said before, Rainbow was often more of a hindrance to Daring than a help, only managing to be a real asset to her efforts in the last few minutes of the show. Still, the message is good and, as the first moral to be used using the new journal from last episode, it serves it's purpose well.

So, overall, how did the episode fare? Well, I don't dislike it. There were certainly plenty of things to like about it, like great character animation, a decent twist, and some good moments involving Rainbow Dash. However, compared to the last few episodes we've been given, this one rather feels like a downgrade. While I wouldn't call it a bad episode by any stretch of the imagination, and I did indeed enjoy it as I was watching, it didn't feel like it had anything other than the aforementioned few good points and a few actions scenes to make it stand out. So while I do recommend people watch this one, please know that I don't regard it as one of Hasbro's better efforts.
 

silversnake4133

New member
Mar 14, 2010
683
0
0
I don't know, I really enjoyed it. Mixing a J.K. Rowling reference in with an Indiana Jones themed episode? Also Dashie's fangirling? It was cute and cool at the same time.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
2
3
Country
UK
I'm guessing the reason why she is an author is the same reason why Indiana is also a High school teacher, being an Archaeology doesn't paid well. Yeah I did find it weird that DD books are really her biography since you would think the villains in her book would of harrass the publisher or mailer on how and when DD send them her book.
 

Kristie Laurain

New member
Dec 16, 2013
1
0
0
This is my favorite episode. Rainbow Dash can't wait for a new Daring Do book. The lady in disguise is really Daring Do. Rainbow Dash tries to help Daring Do. But Daring Do wants to help herself. But then she was captured. Rainbow Dash wants to go home and leave Daring Do captured. But her friends need her. And Rainbow Dash agrees. Daring Do is trapped inside the Temple. Daring Do frees herself. But she is about to fall in the water full of pirhannas. Rainbow Dash grabs Daring Do and saves her. Daring Do needs to help Rainbow Dash for taking out the rings in the Temple. And so Rainbow Dash and Daring Do worked together by taking out the rings and breaking it. Daring Do thanked Rainbow Dash for helping her. Rainbow Dash also got her new book of Daring Do and Herself in it. I loved this episode very much!!! Rainbow Dash is the coolest. She's my favorite character. I give this episode 10 Perfect!!!