So Rarity's absence in the last episode was such a big deal that she needed an episode for her (and Sweetie Belle) this week! I mean, she is the fourth-best-pony, so she needs to have the spotlight on her on a regular basis.
Thus, Sisterhooves Social, the new episode after the brief second hiatus after Luna Eclipsed. Again, I apologize for the late post - I didn't get to see the episode live and was busy most of Saturday.
Spoiler warning as per usual.
The episode begins with Rarity's parents dropping by and dumping Sweetie Belle into Rarity's care while they go on vacation. It's a quick sequence that sets up for the entire episode's premise, and it's fine and all, but I felt it was a little confusing. It throws a lot at the audience and it's kind of hard to catch what the whole deal is on the first watch.
So with Rarity having to sister-sit Sweetie Belle, she promptly gets things set up and done. Sweetie Belle, a bored little filly, wants nothing more but to help, which Rarity finds... taxing, to say the least. Sweetie Belle's apparent inability to actually succeed at doing anything doesn't help matters, as she repeatedly makes Rarity very angry. Like, grinding teeth, hilarious facial expressions angry.
...is it just me, or dot he animators absolutely love to use insane facial expressions in this season? There weren't really all that many last season, but this one is just piling them on left and right.
Eventually, things come to a peak when Rarity denies Sweetie's request that they go to the Sisterhooves Social - an event where sister teams of ponies compete for prizes and glory. Fed up with her sister, Sweetie declares that they are no longer related, and Rarity agrees. Sweetie storms off, Rarity rages privately, all is well and good.
If it sounds a little bit generic, it kind of is. My biggest issue with this episode is that it doesn't bring much new to the table - it's fairly standard fare for a kids cartoon, the typical "episode where siblings get mad at each other and later reconcile". Mind, the whole episode isn't that predictable, especially the conclusion that ends up being very fun and surprising, but the basic plot leaves something to be desired.
Sweetie Belle's frustration with Rarity leads her to seek sympathy in Apple Bloom, who is working on the farm with Applejack. After seeing how well they work together, Sweetie's frustration is only magnified. As Rarity puts it, "Applejack, why do you have be so good and make me look so bad?"
Meanwhile, Rarity finds her spur-of-the-moment anger at Sweetie dissipating with time, and seeks reconciliation. Here's the twist: where typically that would be the end of it, Sweetie adamantly refuses to give Rarity the time of day. Rarity and Applejack has a discussion, and Applejack explains to Rarity what she's been doing wrong, with metaphors that naturally have to do with apples. I mean, what else would AJ talk about - carrots? Hecks naw.
The episode ultimately concludes with a little plot by Rarity to prove herself to her sister and the two make up again, with Rarity having grown to be a better, less generally-awful sister. Happiness and joy abounds!
This episode was kind of a mixed bag, I felt. On one hand, it did wonders for giving AJ and Sweetie Belle some character development through their focus, and Rarity and Apple Bloom were also very great characters in this. The focus on the four of them gave them a chance to really shine, develop, and have awesome character interactions, which is great!
On the other hand, that was really all there was to it. The overarching plot was, as I said, a little bland, and the episode didn't really have a lot of the lasting appeal that the last four did. It felt like it would sit somewhere on par with Luna Eclipsed, if it hadn't starred Luna and hadn't had the awesome Nightmare Night costumes - certainly not bad, but it doesn't have much to let it stand out, unfortunately.
An interesting thing to note is that this episode has less of the Mane 6 present than any other, with only AJ and Rarity showing up, and is the first episode in the entire series to not have Twilight. Part of this is because of Lesson Zero - the ending of that episode had Princess Celestia decree that all the ponies would write letters to her, so instead of Twilight being put in just to send the letter, Spike just shows up at Rarity's place at the end to take the note straight from her. Though I miss Twilight, this turns out to be a really good thing, proving that the individual ponies can stand up on their own very well in more individually-based episodes. Not to mention it lets Applejack finally develop a little, something she's been in desperate need of for a while.
Sisterhooves Social gets a
6/10
Pros:
-AJ and Sweetie Belle get much-needed development
-All the main ponies have great characterizations
Cons:
-Plot seems generic
-Introduction to set up the plot isn't clearly explained
-Overall seems a little same-y, with not a lot to make it stand out
---
Not a bad episode to be sure, but unfortunately I think it's going to be one that is pretty much forgotten as the series goes on. It just lacks that extra "oomph" to really make it something special, I think.
...also, on a semi-unrelated note, does it bother anyone else a little bit how so many ponies in Ponyville apparently have little sisters that are around ten years younger than them? I mean, there were five teams running the race, and possibly more around the Sisterhooves Social... it just strikes me as weird.
Unless, of course, some of the teams weren't really sisters and they were just racing together so that some of the sisterless fillies wouldn't feel left out. Which, coincidentally, makes the explanation for why Dinky Doo would be racing super-easy! Yay fanon!
...but seriously, Dinky will never stop being Ditzy's daughter, even if explaining your canon away includes clones, time travel, or something equally ridiculous! Fanon forever, Hasbro!
...that last part was a joke. Probably.
~ C.O
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