As usual, this review will contain spoilers. Those who have not watched the episode yet, you have been warned.
The premise of this episode is that Rainbow Dash becomes increasingly worried at the prospect of not being able to spend time with her pet tortoise, Tank, when winter comes, prompting her to delay the season.
Okay, first let me say that, what strikes me about this episode is that we have yet another case of a character trying to cope with a big change in their life, which seems to be a running theme with the episodes of this season so far. We start things off with Twilight and the others dealing with the new responsibilities, then Twilight coping with her new home, Apple Bloom struggling to accept what having a cutie mark might mean, and now, Rainbow Dash trying her hardest to stop a change that will affect her pet. I don't know if this was an intentional theme of the episode by the writers, but if it was, then I think it's one that's been handled quite well so far. The issue of dealing with change is particularly interesting when it comes to characters like Rainbow, who, as we've established in many past episodes, is an incredibly stubborn person when push comes to shove. Being told that something is happening that she can't alter would naturally get under her skin in a big way, so I think having her act as she does in this episode is very in-keeping with her character.
On top of that, I have to give credit to the writers to have made an episode focusing on the relationship between Rainbow and Tank. Ever since his debut in season two, I've been wanting to see them interact more, especially since having a pet would make Rainbow grow into a more responsible person. However, aside from one or two interactions over the last few years, we've barely had any time to get to know what they're like together. The little we have seen suggests that it's usually a case of Rainbow caring a great deal for the tortoise, but never wanting to overtly show it in case it damages her reputation, which is fine for the most part. However, this episode does at least get it right to depict Rainbow as somewhat selfish in her actions. She's not a perfect character, she makes mistakes like everyone else, and making big changes to keep someone close to you is a very believable thing for her to be doing.
The idea of trying to change a whole season to suit Rainbow's ends may seem like a step too far, but like I said before, it's understandable, given her situation. We've all, at one point or another, struggled to cope with the idea of, perhaps, someone leaving when we were young that we wanted to prevent. Rainbow's worries over temporarily losing her pet is understandable and well portrayed in this regard. Additionally, since we've known for a long time that pegasi can affect the weather, I'm glad we're finally getting a story that shows not only that this can be done for personal reasons, but why it's also a bad thing for that to happen. It addresses issues like "why do they make bad weather if they control it" and so on. After all, having the power to affect whole seasons is a big thing, and a lot of responsibility when you stop and think about it, so I think the episode does well to show the consequences of when that kind of position is abused in some way.
A couple of reviews ago, I made it a point to say that it?s unlikely that this show will ever try and deal with issues of loss in terms of subjects like death. However, I may have to retract that statement, as a lot of this episode was framed in such a way that it seemed more like Rainbow was dealing with the loss of Tank on a permanent basis, rather than a temporary one. In fact, I daresay this episode actually does a good job of showing the five stages of grief that people deal with when experiencing the loss of a loved one. There's denial when Rainbow refuses to believe tank is hibernating, anger when she lashes out at her friends for bringing up the subject, bargaining when she tries to manipulate circumstances to prevent him from sleeping, depression when she lets out her tears near the end, and then finally acceptance when she's comes to acknowledge his need to hibernate. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the writers, but if it was then I say kudos to them.
As with many Rainbow episodes, the story is largely based on her pre-existing sense of pride, an unwillingness to accept a situation she doesn't agree with. In many ways, this is something she's often shared with Applejack and her episodes. However, while that has been done before, I will give credit that we have Rainbow portrayed in a far more emotional manner than usual. Having her bawling at the end was not only unexpected, but also quite touching, especially when her friends attempted to comfort her. Though I will admit that Applejack's "crying on the inside" bit did somewhat undermine that moment for me. Still, having Rainbow be this devoted to a friend instead of having her pride be for self-serving reasons is a wonderful moment of growth for her character, even if it did end up causing more than a few disasters along the way.
Time to discuss the humour of the episode now, and this week a lot of the funnier moments come from Rainbow's attempts to prevent winter from coming. It's one of those things that you can kind of see coming, that she'll try plan after plan and it'll all end in a somewhat funny way. The episode handles those moments well, all while showing that Rainbow is increasingly bothered and frustrated by the events in question. And then, of course, there's Tank himself. For whatever reason, the little guy just comes across as being, by far, the funniest of all the pet characters. I think it's mostly because of his contrasting nature with Rainbow Dash, how, next to her, his slow movements seem all that more amusing. Plus, and I know this is cruel to say, but his accident-prone nature allows for all sort of funny slapstick moments.
Onto the songs now, and this week, we have a long and enjoyable solo number by Rainbow Dash as she tries to stall winter. I made it a point in an earlier review to say that Rainbow's last song wasn't all that great at time, but that she's nevertheless a good singer overall. Yet again, I find myself going back on something I said, as this song here more than makes up for whatever issues I had in the last song. This is the first time Rainbow has been given a whole song to herself, and she performs admirably throughout. Her actress really puts her all into that voice, and on top of that it was thoroughly entertaining, especially when paired with the imagery. In fact, I'd actually go so far as to say that, so far, this is my favourite song of the fifth season.
As for the moral of the story, this episode seems to be trying to give the message that, while loss can be a difficult thing to accept, sometimes it's necessary, and that putting it off or denying it only makes things worse in the long run. Hand-on-heart, I think this could well be the most adult and mature message that show has tried to give us so far. Not only is it a very important thing to teach youngsters, but I'd even go so far as to say that there's more than a few adults who could stand to learn it themselves. I always admire this show when they try and do stuff like this, and this message is one they just knocked out of the park.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Honestly, I think this was a very impressive outing for them. The animation was top quality as usual, especially with the facial expressions, the character relationship between Rainbow and her pet felt genuine and truly emotional, we had a great song and the moral was one I heartily recommend. I'm finding it hard to say whether I think this is an improvement on last week's episode or not, but regardless, I was quite enthralled by it. I would seriously recommend this episode, if only because of how well it deals with the issue of loss and coping with it. It's an angle more kid?s shows need to take and I'm proud of this show for even attempting it, let alone succeeding. So yeah, a good and engaging episode.
The premise of this episode is that Rainbow Dash becomes increasingly worried at the prospect of not being able to spend time with her pet tortoise, Tank, when winter comes, prompting her to delay the season.
Okay, first let me say that, what strikes me about this episode is that we have yet another case of a character trying to cope with a big change in their life, which seems to be a running theme with the episodes of this season so far. We start things off with Twilight and the others dealing with the new responsibilities, then Twilight coping with her new home, Apple Bloom struggling to accept what having a cutie mark might mean, and now, Rainbow Dash trying her hardest to stop a change that will affect her pet. I don't know if this was an intentional theme of the episode by the writers, but if it was, then I think it's one that's been handled quite well so far. The issue of dealing with change is particularly interesting when it comes to characters like Rainbow, who, as we've established in many past episodes, is an incredibly stubborn person when push comes to shove. Being told that something is happening that she can't alter would naturally get under her skin in a big way, so I think having her act as she does in this episode is very in-keeping with her character.
On top of that, I have to give credit to the writers to have made an episode focusing on the relationship between Rainbow and Tank. Ever since his debut in season two, I've been wanting to see them interact more, especially since having a pet would make Rainbow grow into a more responsible person. However, aside from one or two interactions over the last few years, we've barely had any time to get to know what they're like together. The little we have seen suggests that it's usually a case of Rainbow caring a great deal for the tortoise, but never wanting to overtly show it in case it damages her reputation, which is fine for the most part. However, this episode does at least get it right to depict Rainbow as somewhat selfish in her actions. She's not a perfect character, she makes mistakes like everyone else, and making big changes to keep someone close to you is a very believable thing for her to be doing.
The idea of trying to change a whole season to suit Rainbow's ends may seem like a step too far, but like I said before, it's understandable, given her situation. We've all, at one point or another, struggled to cope with the idea of, perhaps, someone leaving when we were young that we wanted to prevent. Rainbow's worries over temporarily losing her pet is understandable and well portrayed in this regard. Additionally, since we've known for a long time that pegasi can affect the weather, I'm glad we're finally getting a story that shows not only that this can be done for personal reasons, but why it's also a bad thing for that to happen. It addresses issues like "why do they make bad weather if they control it" and so on. After all, having the power to affect whole seasons is a big thing, and a lot of responsibility when you stop and think about it, so I think the episode does well to show the consequences of when that kind of position is abused in some way.
A couple of reviews ago, I made it a point to say that it?s unlikely that this show will ever try and deal with issues of loss in terms of subjects like death. However, I may have to retract that statement, as a lot of this episode was framed in such a way that it seemed more like Rainbow was dealing with the loss of Tank on a permanent basis, rather than a temporary one. In fact, I daresay this episode actually does a good job of showing the five stages of grief that people deal with when experiencing the loss of a loved one. There's denial when Rainbow refuses to believe tank is hibernating, anger when she lashes out at her friends for bringing up the subject, bargaining when she tries to manipulate circumstances to prevent him from sleeping, depression when she lets out her tears near the end, and then finally acceptance when she's comes to acknowledge his need to hibernate. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the writers, but if it was then I say kudos to them.
As with many Rainbow episodes, the story is largely based on her pre-existing sense of pride, an unwillingness to accept a situation she doesn't agree with. In many ways, this is something she's often shared with Applejack and her episodes. However, while that has been done before, I will give credit that we have Rainbow portrayed in a far more emotional manner than usual. Having her bawling at the end was not only unexpected, but also quite touching, especially when her friends attempted to comfort her. Though I will admit that Applejack's "crying on the inside" bit did somewhat undermine that moment for me. Still, having Rainbow be this devoted to a friend instead of having her pride be for self-serving reasons is a wonderful moment of growth for her character, even if it did end up causing more than a few disasters along the way.
Time to discuss the humour of the episode now, and this week a lot of the funnier moments come from Rainbow's attempts to prevent winter from coming. It's one of those things that you can kind of see coming, that she'll try plan after plan and it'll all end in a somewhat funny way. The episode handles those moments well, all while showing that Rainbow is increasingly bothered and frustrated by the events in question. And then, of course, there's Tank himself. For whatever reason, the little guy just comes across as being, by far, the funniest of all the pet characters. I think it's mostly because of his contrasting nature with Rainbow Dash, how, next to her, his slow movements seem all that more amusing. Plus, and I know this is cruel to say, but his accident-prone nature allows for all sort of funny slapstick moments.
Onto the songs now, and this week, we have a long and enjoyable solo number by Rainbow Dash as she tries to stall winter. I made it a point in an earlier review to say that Rainbow's last song wasn't all that great at time, but that she's nevertheless a good singer overall. Yet again, I find myself going back on something I said, as this song here more than makes up for whatever issues I had in the last song. This is the first time Rainbow has been given a whole song to herself, and she performs admirably throughout. Her actress really puts her all into that voice, and on top of that it was thoroughly entertaining, especially when paired with the imagery. In fact, I'd actually go so far as to say that, so far, this is my favourite song of the fifth season.
As for the moral of the story, this episode seems to be trying to give the message that, while loss can be a difficult thing to accept, sometimes it's necessary, and that putting it off or denying it only makes things worse in the long run. Hand-on-heart, I think this could well be the most adult and mature message that show has tried to give us so far. Not only is it a very important thing to teach youngsters, but I'd even go so far as to say that there's more than a few adults who could stand to learn it themselves. I always admire this show when they try and do stuff like this, and this message is one they just knocked out of the park.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Honestly, I think this was a very impressive outing for them. The animation was top quality as usual, especially with the facial expressions, the character relationship between Rainbow and her pet felt genuine and truly emotional, we had a great song and the moral was one I heartily recommend. I'm finding it hard to say whether I think this is an improvement on last week's episode or not, but regardless, I was quite enthralled by it. I would seriously recommend this episode, if only because of how well it deals with the issue of loss and coping with it. It's an angle more kid?s shows need to take and I'm proud of this show for even attempting it, let alone succeeding. So yeah, a good and engaging episode.
