Rating:
With M.A. Larson on hiatus during the fourth season, Dave
Polsky had to do for a writer to look forward to. And do he did. Rarity Takes Manehattan is the first in depth
look at Rarity’s life in the fashion world since season two’s Sweet And Elite,
and the fourth season’s realistic feel make this positively gripping at
times. Apparently Rarity has been busy
since then, as she has earned an invite to New York Fashion Week without
needing to go through all of Project Runway first. Everyone’s invited, and they’re also going to
check out some crappy musical that’s totally awesome too. The outsides are very strong, including a
song that actually works well within the episode. Unfortunately, RTM suffers in the middle with
the introduction of some stereotypical characters (although fashion types like
them almost certainly exist) and the plotline of Rarity’s fabric getting
stolen. Besides that though, Rarity
remains My Little Pony’s most
compelling character, and this is the first episode since Suited For Success
that takes advantage of it. There really
wasn’t much of a need to introduce a plot, but thankfully it remains ancillary. Like Castle Mane-ia, Polsky lets most of the
episode evolve naturally, which is significantly better than forcing the action
to fit the moral. Also wonderful is
Polsky’s sense of humor, which both made fun of how awkward some of the
previous songs were and found an unexpected title drop. Rarity Takes Manehattan just isn’t consistent
enough to earn a better rating, but the good parts find the perfect tone that
makes the fourth season stand out. Even
if Polsky’s fashion knowledge comes from TV, his characterization is from the
heart.
The first act finds Rarity in a surprisingly Amelie-style
spirit, despite this being contrary to the public perception of New York. She spends her initial moments in the big
city being uncommonly kind, and the deeds actually pay off later on. This means the “generosity” song isn’t
filler, but rather an integral part of the episode. That it delineates RTM’s lesson is also a
plus. Outside of the other events, the
two most important ones are Rarity tipping the hotel bellboy and the mane six
helping to fix a cab driver’s broken wheel.
Whether it was from gallivanting around town too long, or
forgetting about the time change, Rarity almost misses her appointment at the
runway. She barely makes it, but earns
the wrath of fashion hostess Prim Hemline for not being early enough. Later she meets an apparent old acquaintance
named Suri Polomare, whose laid back valley girl accent belies her cutthroat
nature. After Rarity shows Suri her
line, the latter asks for a bit of the fabric to accent her own, but then
quickly disappears upon receiving the gift.
Amazingly enough, Suri is also voiced by Tabitha St. Germain, who spends
a good deal of time talking to herself in this episode without ever sounding
like it. As with Rarity, Suri’s various
“okay”s and other vocal affectations are perfectly placed in a way most people
could never match. Because of this, RTM is
something of a master class in voice acting from her.
Rarity naturally freaks out in dramatic fashion over now
looking like she copied Suri, but strikes quick inspiration by looking around the
hotel room. Needing a new collection in
a day, she enlists the help of her friends, who now unfortunately will miss
their plans. Normally Rarity would
probably care, but not this time. She
guilts them into staying at their various old school sewing machines (including
a spinning wheel straight out of Sleeping
Beauty) by suggesting she’ll be a laughingstock without a line to
show. The rest of the mane six realize
they have little choice but to pull an all-nighter to finish the dresses. Thankfully they do, but Rarity grabs the
clothes and quickly runs out the door without a word of thanks.
Suri’s line is a hit and does look pretty solid despite her
not actually making any of the dresses or the fabric, but Rarity’s goes over
better. Hers is a collection made for
the runway, but the various hotel items (like a lampshade hat) look slightly
awkward. Not that I’m an expert, but at
worst it’s a toss-up, and probably much closer than the crowd’s reaction would
suggest. Unfortunately, we don’t get to
see any of the other lines. Rarity is
happy for the moment, but then notices her friends aren’t at the show. She suddenly realizes her errors, and sets
off to find the mane six while the fashion show is still going on. In previous seasons, Rarity’s terrible attitude
would have been the complete focus of the show, but now it’s only a quick
part. This contributes to the realistic
feel, since Rarity seems to have lost it only momentarily rather than being
forced to act a certain way in the script to prove a point. We’ve all been angry about something before,
only to wonder why we acted like that later, so this departure from Rarity’s
usual character doesn’t feel contrived at all.
It’s one of the little touches that elevates the episode.
Upon hearing that the mane six have left the hotel, Rarity
assumes they returned to Ponyville, which would certainly have been justified. However, they only went to check on Rarity at
the show after having “over”slept (more like actually slept after working all
night). Unfortunately, Rarity is
informed by Suri that she didn’t win the competition, but Rarity doesn’t care
(much) with her friends back in tow. She
is able to secure an exclusive performance of Hinny Of The Hills for just the
mane six, but at the price of staying in Manehattan to design costumes for the
next show.
They are all surprised when Suri’s assistant, Coco Pommel
(these puns), walks in after the performance.
She is carrying the first place trophy for the fashion show, but it has
Rarity’s name on it. As was obvious the
scene before, Suri lied to the mane six to hope that Rarity’s disappearance
would be considered a forfeit, but Coco quit being her assistant and was
somehow tasked with delivering the trophy to the actual winner. After being inspired by Rarity’s kindness to
strike out on her own, clearly some sort of compensation is necessary. As glimpsed from the fashion show, Coco is a
solid sewer herself, and the dresses she made could easily have won. Rarity solves two problems by offering Coco
the costume designer job instead. For
its unexpectedness, honesty, and character development for Coco, this scene is
amongst the best in the episode.
And moments like these are what puts Rarity Takes Manehattan
with the better shows of the fourth season.
Not only does Polsky give Rarity a wide depth of character, but he makes
the minor roles of Coco, the bellhop, and the cab driver feel real instead of
like throwaways. Suri and Prim don’t
fare quite as well, and it’s unfortunate that Suri seems spiteful for no reason
(presumably she was fucked over as well at some point, but such an event is
never alluded to). Although Rarity
winning the fashion show may seem like a nice story, it’s doubtful her line
would have been enough. Politics have
influenced the judges’ decisions on Project Runway before though, so perhaps
the fabric controversy was enough for the judges to overlook Suri. A better moment was reached when Rarity
announced she didn’t care that she lost, but the dialogue with Coco probably
doesn’t happen if it were true.
Twenty-two minutes may not seem like a lot of time, and for
many episodes of My Little Pony it
isn’t, but a surprising amount can still be accomplished in that period. While Williams is having Fluttershy turn into
a bat and McCarthy has Spike explain how totally awesome those super powers
are, Polsky develops the shows best character and those around her. Rarity is both a huge bitch and the nicest
person in New York, while the new supporting characters aren’t just stock or
workers without lives. Spending quality
time with these ponies is preferable to made up fancies with little point. Polsky demonstrates he need not dumb down a
“children’s” show to have a good lesson or provide valuable insight.
Admittedly, “generosity” is contrary to evolution, which is
why a number of today’s success stories have or continue to fuck other people
over in some way. So whether a
philosophy of constantly being kind to everyone would work is debatable. However, networking is also very important
for success, and Rarity did that astoundingly well. Her generosity led her to start meeting new
ponies right away, and they were able to help her out when she needed it. This is all in the spirit of mutual
benefaction, since Rarity ends up sacrificing a good opportunity for herself at
the end rather than only being nice to promote herself. It might be a utopian ideal, but one hard not
to wish for after seeing the philosophy in action.
One
might think my rating for the episode might be in its spirit, but assuredly
this is not the case. Polsky has been
very solid after his disastrous opening outing, but he’s never quite shown the
potential he does with Rarity Takes Manehattan.
The episode is fun and intelligent, while providing great character
moments and having a solid lesson. Not
every character is consistent (Twilight seems a bit too eager, and Rainbow Dash
too open about her apparent love of musicals), and the fashion plot in the
middle is both slightly clichéd and unbelievable. But otherwise it’s hard not to admit that RTM
is Polsky’s best outing to date. In this
case, his four-star rating is very much earned.
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