Radio static.
Hello, Mutants. This is JAC on the Attack with my lovely co-host, Kieral the desirable... for co-hosting. Today we've got a very special episode all about grief and losing a pet for hibernation. As you all know, my sibling Noah actually hibernates for the Winter. And the Summer. And the Fall and Spring. Really, damndest thing.
KIERAL
Hello guys! Yeah man, so this episode is very relatable to you.
Basic Summary:
So, in mlp episode S5 E5 we got winter coming and Rainbow Dash discovering that turtles, like Tank, hibernate. Rainbow Dash has a really hard time accepting this, because she had so many fun winter things she was planning to do with him. First we got denial, and we got anger, then.. Rainbow Dash tries to stop winter. This fails and eventually she has to accept the inevitable.
Review:
JAC
So, DABDA, the five stages of grief. Those are, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
First part of the episode has her denying the hibernation will even happen, where she's interrogates both Fluttershy and Spike about reptiles. Spike says that he's a dragon and Rainbow Dash says, "Yeah but you're both reptiles, and you both look the same. Now you two scale sisters should be related enough, meaning if you ain't hibernate, neither does he." Spike's like, "that's not how that works". "Well what would you know, you're a dragon, not a tortoise." She tries to keep everyone from saying hibernate. She gets angry and begins screaming.
Then we get around towards the bargaining part, where she tries to get Tank to stay awake, and then realizes she can keep him awake so long as she shatters the factory. However, you can't fight fate, and instead, she just blows up the factory. Quick detour, one of my favorites parts of all Rainbow Dash episodes is the action sequences. She's really made for action comedy, because she always does these over the top schemes, like stealing a book.
This might be weird, but Bob's Burgers does the same a lot with Louise, where she always has some weird scheme.
KIERAL
Yeah so, on this part, we get a mini mission impossible bit where Rainbow Dash sneaks into the weather labs. That's right. We get to see all kinds of cool machinery, and how clouds are made. Personally I've been wanting to see what those pegasi get up back there to since the very beginning so I was pleasantly surprised.
JAC
For some of you who maybe never saw other generations, the idea of the weather factory isn't new. They actually in one show I remember, put salt on conveyor belts, so that would enter the clouds and cause some snow.
KIERAL
You know, from mlp, I woulda expected sugar or something.
JAC
Fair enough. Anyway, next up is the depression part, where we see Rainbow Dash wrapped up, and curled up with Tank. The girls all stand together, and Fluttershy says, "Rainbow Dash, for this winter, you're going, petless." Cruel to be kind with the Fluttershy.
Everyone starts crying, but this scene gets hilarious. Like, Fluttershy cries with Rainbow Dash, then Rarity starts crying, and Pinkie Pie starts crying, and Twilight's like, "Applejack-" "No I'm good." Pinkie reveals she's crying because Twilight's not crying, and Twilight said, "What about Applejack." "Applejack cries on the inside, Twilight." And Applejack says, "It's true."
As a note, I've always liked how they remember Rarity's mascara, so she cries gray.
KIERAL
With Rarity it's a great detail, it works too because it helps her tears be more visible on her white coat.
So, as it goes with these things, Rainbow Dash eventually cries it out and we get to acceptance. Poor tank finally gets to hibernate. How long has it been? A day? They were throwing off leaves at the start of the episode and now everything's snowed over. Those ponies work fast.
JAC
To be fair, they literally dropped an atomic snowball.
KIERAL
That's very true.
JAC
I thought this was a hilarious episode if I'm being real here.
KIERAL
Yeah, in addition to the writing there was some physical comedy with tank constantly trying to sleep and rainbow dash doing anything she could to stop it. At one point she has a song about how she'll stop the winter, and tank's pretty much sleeping through the whole thing.
JAC
The episode actually pretty cleverly plays with grief. For one, I started doing the DABDA count as a joke, but also, the episode is really about Rainbow Dash' feelings. For the most part, we don't see Tank, and I don't think he's even appeared for almost three years. However, now the episode plays with Rainbow Dash's emotions, how she feels. Tank feels asleep. Rainbow Dash feels desperate. Her crying is actually one of very few times we've seen her in despair, without this being about her self-esteem, instead, she's focused on losing someone else. She had plans, she doesn't want to lose her pet for several months.
KIERAL
Something I liked about this episode actually, since tank was missing from the show for a while, was it really did focus on plans rather then coming up with a bunch of off screen memories. There was also the implication that Rainbow Dash spends a lot of time with Tank when indoors ("Did we stay up too late from all the daring do books?"), doing the things we know Rainbow dash would normally do. Losing future plans can be devastating in its own way. It can leave someone with an aimlessness, which can lead to a depression like Rainbow Dash's.
JAC
One more thing to mention is Fluttershy being the one who breaks the news. Not Applejack, element of honesty, not Twilight, the base, instead, Fluttershy. This goes back to the plan of "being cruel to be kind" that she learned all the way in the Breezies episode, (which was an awful one episode, but at least she learned a moral). Fluttershy, being the animal person, probably has a lot of firsthand experiences with harsher realities of nature (We see her feeding otters fish for example).
I also would like to point out, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both bring the other towards the center. Rainbow Dash becomes more gentle around and with Fluttershy, (gently coaxing Fluttershy in "Hurricane Fluttershy") while Fluttershy becomes way more energetic around Rainbow Dash ("Yay" - Screaming when Rainbow Dash Rainbooms.) Fluttershy here is the only one who can break the news because Rainbow Dash trust her. Fluttershy comes through for her with hurricanes and rainbows, literally.
KIERAL
Very true. Fluttershy was honest and straightforward to rainbow dash in this one since the start.
Star Rating:
JAC
5/5
So for this episode, I think I have to give this the first illustrious 5/5 stars of the season. I just thought this episode did a whole lot well. They really got away from some of the cliches and problems they could have had, and swerved from them expertly while focusing on Rainbow Dash's relationship with Tank, and showed her in a way that's never been done before.
There's also just a lot of hilarious moments without really any flaws.
KIERAL
5/5
A very solid episode, with earned emotions and a variety of humor. What could of been this episode's biggest weakness- the lack of actual memories with tank- was gracefully avoided with something that actually could cause grief in this moment. And as a bonus, we got to see some locations we don't usually see. This one likewise gets a 5/5 from me.
JAC
Recommendations:
I feel like this is a good episode for emotion in general. That is sorrow and humor. Neither one is traded in for the other, and tragedy is another part of comedy.
This is also one of the best characterizations of Rainbow Dash period, along with Fluttershy.
So if you think bros before hos, with these two, then yeah, good or great episode, if you just lost a pet with hibernation, might wanna step out.
KIERAL
I definitely recommend this one as one of the more solid episodes MLP has to offer, especially as far as characterizations and humor go. It also features a little bit of adventure and epicness. If you dig those things, you'll likely like this one.
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