Fillies, gentlecolts and foals of all ages, welcome once again to another edition of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic recap/review. Well, it took the show two whole years, but the wait is finally over. Rarity is once again the focus of an entire episode. Does the most fashionable pony in all of Equestria truly shine in this episode? Let’s find out as we recap Rarity Takes Manehattan.
Rarity in the big city
The episode opens at the Ponyville train station as Rarity and her friends are set to go to the big city of Manehattan. Rarity is competing in fashion week, and her friends are there for support, while also getting a chance to visit the big city, as well as get a chance to see the Bridleway production of Hinny of the Hills. When they arrive, Manehattan is the bustling community that they had dreamed of. We also get a song showing Rarity’s many acts of generosity.
But all this singing distracts Rarity, causing her to almost miss going to the runway plaza at the correct time. After a major hassle with trying to hail a cab (proving that Manehattan is a fairly accurate representation of New York), she arrives, but without her dresses. Thankfully her friends made sure to get them to her post haste. She meets the fashion week host Prim Hemline, who tells her that she’ll be the last to present her clothing due to being late.
Suri Polomare and Coco Pommel
Rarity also meets with Suri Polomare, an old acquaintance from Ponyville who’s also competing in Fashion Week. Rarity’s generosity proves to be her downfall as she gives Suri some of her fabric. The following day, Rarity learns that Suri stole her fashion designs, with the unwilling help of her Assistant Coco Pommel. With the deck stacked against her, Rarity does what she does best – Have an overly dramatic panic attack. However, when her friends offer to help her make new dresses for the contest, she gets some new ideas.
However, with little time to spare, she puts her friends to work against their will, even guilt tripping them for wanting to go see Hinny of the Hills instead of helping her out. Twilight and company make her new dresses, as Rarity rushes to the plaza without even giving a thank you. She debuts her new Hotel Chic line, which is dresses assembled with everything from hotel keys, lampshades, and even bars of soap. She looks poised to win the competition, but soon discovers that her friends never showed up.
All the pressure causes Rarity to guilt her friends
She gets the idea that Twilight and the others went back to Ponyville due to how she treated them, and goes to tell Prim Hemline that she’ll be dropping out of the competition. However, she learns that her friends had accidentally overslept. They all forgive her for being rotten to them, and she repays them by getting them another chance to see Hinny of the Hills. She also learns from Suri that she lost the competition, however Coco finally decides to quit working for Suri, and tells Rarity that she actually did win the contest. Rarity repays Coco’s honesty by getting her a job making dresses for the director of Hinny of the Hills’ next musical.
The episode ends with Rarity writing in the diary about her experience in Manehattan, and learning that while that there are some ponies that will take advantage of your generosity, you should never let that cause you to abandon your generous spirit. Rarity opens a present from Coco, which is a spool of rainbow thread, that seems to glow with some sort of power.
Like some sort of RAINBOW power (hint hint)
So how does Rarity’s first episode in 2 years handle? Let’s break down some Manehattan style pros and cons.
So how does Rarity’s first episode in 2 years handle? Let’s break down some Manehattan style pros and cons.
PRO
The songs in this episode were once again another great example of how great Daniel Ingram is. It has a bit of this big Disney musical touch to it, feeling completely different from anything we’ve seen in the series before. The reprise version later in the episode was also a great spin, making it sadder. The music this season continues to be some of the show’s absolute best, and since I know of the song for next week’s episode, that trend of top quality is only going to get better.
Coco Pommel was a rather cute character. A mix of Rarity’s passion for fashion, with Fluttershy’s meekness. Put that together, and you get a very likable character that hopefully we won’t see the last of.
It’s no secret that my favorite pony is Rarity, and with episodes like this that really work her character well, it’s no secret as why I like her as much as I do. This was a well written story about Rarity’s element of Generosity, how she loves to help others, even if it could cost her in the end. It also shows Rarity at her worst when it comes to being in a panic over not seeing her dream come true, which makes her lose sight of that generosity. I love episodes that focus more on what makes a pony tick, and this was a great showing of just that.
CON
There’s a stallion with of all cutie marks, a Grumpy Cat cutie mark. I’m all for random marks, but since the show mentions that cutie marks represent one’s destiny, is his destiny to aggravate cats? I can’t wait for next season when we get a doge cutie mark.
I would say not seeing Suri get her comeuppance on screen was a bit of a bother to me too. Yes, in the end Rarity got the trophy and the glory, but after what Suri did to her, you do want to see some visual comeuppance.
Also, while it’s minor, Twilight not being able to get a cab despite being a princess does seem a bit dumb too. I can defend it since it’s supposed to represent how hard it is to get a cab in New York, but it’s another example of how the show is severely downplaying her princess role, and hopefully that will change in the near future.
Rarity Takes Manehattan was a solid character episode. Well written, some very funny dialogue, and plenty of world building with a bigger look into Manehattan. The best pony once again shines in one of the best episodes of season 4. But then again, I could easily just be biased. :P
Rating: 9 out of 10.
Next weeks episode has apples, and pies, and one wild road trip. When Pinkie Pie discovers there may be proof that the Pie family and Apple family are connected, she gets Applejack and company to go on a trip to find the one pony who can answer the burning question. Enjoy a taste of Pinkie Apple Pie next week.
Until next time everypony!