Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life and back to the Rarity Retrospective. and today, we look at one of my all time favorite Rarity episodes and one of the ones that made me a Rarity fan. From season 2, we have Rarity's other signature episode, Sweet and Elite.
Episode Title
Sweet and Elite
This is a fun title as it's a great reference to what Rarity must choose in this episode.
The Plot
We open in Canterlot as we see that Rarity is staying at the castle as Twilight told Princess Celestia that Rarity wold be coming and made arrangements for her to stay there.
After the intro, we Rarity enjoying a nice drink thinking of what to do for Twilight's birthday as two of the snobbiest ponies in all of Equestira show up, Jet Set and Upper Crust. Oh, I loathed these two when I first saw this episode. They were interested in Rarity's hat until she was embarrassed by Hayseed Turnip Truck and learned that she made it herself. Hmm.
Rarity is distraught over what these flanks said about her hat. So, it's after here that she does some shopping to get materials for Twilight's dress and bumps into Fancy Pants, who according to Rarity is the most important pony in all of Canterlot. (Uh, what about the Princesses?)
And through some misunderstandings and Rarity not clarifying herself, Fancy Pants as a very important pony and invite her as his guest to The Wonderbolts Derby. Even though, she knows that she should be working on Twilight's dress. She goes anyways and I can't blame Rarity as this is what she wants, she's wanted to be a part of the Canterlot Elite all her life. Though her mountain of mess with the fabrications does get bigger as she tells the Canterlot Elite that she knows Fleetfoot is the surefire to win because Rainbow Dash is the trainer for The Wonderbolts.
And we see that Twilight's birthday party is being held inside the castle, which I think it's in the same ballroom as the Gala. Which their party looks like a lot of fun but we see Rarity stretching herself thin going to both parties and thankfully Twilight just thinks that it's Rarity marketing herself.
Which okay does bring me to one point of contention with this otherwise great episode. I feel, when the rest of the Mane Six decide to show the Canterlot Elite, what a Ponyville party is like, the episode makes the rest of the Mane Six that isn't Rarity look dumber than they usually act. Take for example, Applejack's gardening, I'm pretty sure the cowgirl would know difference between gardening and a garden party. Applejack behind Twilight is probably the smartest member of the Mane Six as much as I dislike her, I can credit her with that.
But Twilight's dorky dancing is adorable.
Episode Title
Sweet and Elite
This is a fun title as it's a great reference to what Rarity must choose in this episode.
The Plot
We open in Canterlot as we see that Rarity is staying at the castle as Twilight told Princess Celestia that Rarity wold be coming and made arrangements for her to stay there.
After the intro, we Rarity enjoying a nice drink thinking of what to do for Twilight's birthday as two of the snobbiest ponies in all of Equestira show up, Jet Set and Upper Crust. Oh, I loathed these two when I first saw this episode. They were interested in Rarity's hat until she was embarrassed by Hayseed Turnip Truck and learned that she made it herself. Hmm.
Rarity is distraught over what these flanks said about her hat. So, it's after here that she does some shopping to get materials for Twilight's dress and bumps into Fancy Pants, who according to Rarity is the most important pony in all of Canterlot. (Uh, what about the Princesses?)
And through some misunderstandings and Rarity not clarifying herself, Fancy Pants as a very important pony and invite her as his guest to The Wonderbolts Derby. Even though, she knows that she should be working on Twilight's dress. She goes anyways and I can't blame Rarity as this is what she wants, she's wanted to be a part of the Canterlot Elite all her life. Though her mountain of mess with the fabrications does get bigger as she tells the Canterlot Elite that she knows Fleetfoot is the surefire to win because Rainbow Dash is the trainer for The Wonderbolts.
Sidenote: Does anyone find it weird that horses are watching a horse race? Eh, it's not a big deal but what is a big deal is what follows as we get Becoming Popular. I think this sums up how Miss Rarity was feeling during this number.
But seriously, this song is just so much fun. Honestly, though other than Life Is A Runway, Rarity's songs have all been fantastic. And between the three from the show, I can't decide which is the best. I love them all.
And here things get more complicated as Rarity thinks about heading back to Ponyville to work on Twily's dress but she's invited by those snobs to the Canterlot Garden Party and next to the Grand Galloping Gala, that is the biggest event in Canterlot. Though things take a turn as Rarity's problems continue to grow as the girls from Ponyville come to Canterlot.
Apparently, Twilight asked Pinkie Pie to move the party to Canterlot and yeah, that dress that Rarity was supposed to be making for Twilight. Well, at least she likes it. Oh and poor Opal, don't get used to me saying that.
And we see that Twilight's birthday party is being held inside the castle, which I think it's in the same ballroom as the Gala. Which their party looks like a lot of fun but we see Rarity stretching herself thin going to both parties and thankfully Twilight just thinks that it's Rarity marketing herself.
Which okay does bring me to one point of contention with this otherwise great episode. I feel, when the rest of the Mane Six decide to show the Canterlot Elite, what a Ponyville party is like, the episode makes the rest of the Mane Six that isn't Rarity look dumber than they usually act. Take for example, Applejack's gardening, I'm pretty sure the cowgirl would know difference between gardening and a garden party. Applejack behind Twilight is probably the smartest member of the Mane Six as much as I dislike her, I can credit her with that.
But Twilight's dorky dancing is adorable.
So, it's a give and take. And it's here where Fancy Pants asks Twilight, who made her dress and she tells him that it was made by her good friend Rarity and he stands up for the Ponyville crowd by calling them charmingly rustic. And just like that, those two snobs turn on a dime after Fancy Pants says that every mare in Canterlot will want one of Rarity's dresses and Mr. Snob tells Mrs. Snob that she should get two. Are we sure that these two are ponies and not sheep?
And the episode ends with Rarity telling Princess Celestia, the lesson she learned of being true to oneself and not pretending to be someone you aren't, just to please others. In short, her lesson can be summed up with this song from Mulan.
Oh, I love this episode. There isn't enough praise that I can heap on this episode. When I think of shining examples of what Rarity episodes should be, this, Suited For Success and Rarity Takes Manehattan all come to mind. Those three are what I consider the pinnacle of Rarity episodes. They explore who she is and take her beyond the diva that so many people thought she was going to be in the pilot episode.
Main Character
I'm only looking at Rarity for this review.
Rarity voiced by Tabitha St. Germain
No doubt about it, this was Rarity's episode through and through. And she owned every minute of it. You may have noticed in the past that I sometimes refer to Rarity as Miss Rarity. And well, this episode is part of that reason, I refer to as such because this episode along with Suited For Success have given me the most respect for Rarity out of any of the Mane Six. With Suited For Success, we saw how she learned to stand her ground and here, we see her, learning to be comfortable in who she is. And those two factors led to me thinking highly of Miss Rarity and that is why I sometimes refer to as such.
Music
Becoming Popular
How can you not love this song? It's just so catchy and this is the type of song that encompasses Rarity's personality to a tee. It's just a blast getting to hear Rarity bask in all this popularity that is coming her way and I can't help but be happy for the gal. This is what she's wanted and she deserves it. This is one of those MLP songs that every single time, I hear it, I just have to grin and smile because of how great it is.
My Final Thoughts
This along with Suited For Success, are the first two Rarity episodes I ever saw and the first time I saw them, I knew there was something special about Rarity. The first time I saw her, I thought Rarity was just going to be another stuck up diva character. But Suited For Success and even more so, Sweet and Elite proved me otherwise and gave me one of my all time favorite cartoon characters. Rarity is a character that I deeply admire for who she is and I have this episode to thank for that. I can't say enough good things about this episode. This episode is why Rarity is one of my favorites. Seriously, just go watch this episode. It's so good! Join me next time as we jump ahead two seasons as I look at Simple Ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment