S01 E20 "Green Isn't Your Color"

S01 E20 "Green Isn't Your Color"

Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry for the long delay, there's been a lot going on in my life lately, and on top of that...ugh...well. I'll just let you read the next review when it posts. I have 4 of these in the can as of this writing, so expect one every Friday at 5 PM PST for the next month. Anyways...

Episode 20! We're nearing the end of the first season, which I thought would be far further away than this, but thank God it's not. Only 6 more episodes after this and on to Season 2, and even better episodes, hopefully. This episode is another that I have no previous foreknowledge of, and Adam didn't tell me if it was any good or not, so I'll be going in blind once again. I do hope it's one of the better ones though, as he did tell me that of the remaining episodes two were meh and the others were decent...

Once upon a time PONIES

00:13 The episode opens in a salon/spa, where it seems Fluttershy and Rarity have a weekly get-together. You know, now that I think about it, how the fuck does Fluttershy make money? I know this shit isn't free. Does she pet-sit? Are her services funded by Ponyville's public works budget? Is she a vet?

ANSWER ME

Oh yeah, and Rarity, that hat...why

00:38 So Rarity is regaling Fluttershy with the story of how she ran into Photo Finish, a famous fashion photographer. Oh, and Rarity's robe has her logo on it, because of course it does.

00:54 So that ugly-ass hat Rarity was wearing was what convinced Photo Finish to do a fashion shoot at Rarity's boutique, of all things. You know, this is what, the 3rd episode where Rarity's fashion design sense is the center of an episode, and I haven't liked anything she's worn or made since the one with the fashion show nightmare. :/

01:15 Now we're getting to the meat of things-- Rarity wants Fluttershy to be her model for when Photo Finish shows up. Fluttershy is hesitant, naturally.

01:35 So Rarity is playing up the complements and resorts to full on begging, all the while, Fluttershy is using every excuse she can to justify why she isn't qualified. One such excuse is that there has to be someone "more into fashion", and after all that bitching she did about how Rarity designed her dress in Suited For Success, she really can't use that one and have me take it seriously.

02:04 Fluttershy caves, as expected, and she and Rarity leave the spa. On the way out, Rarity talks about how stressed she was trying to find a model, and feels a pimple coming on that she uses as an excuse to return to the spa once again. Rarity must really be raking it in to go to the spa twice in one day. I wonder what Ponyville exports besides apples and rarity's clothes, if anything...

02:48 Rarity already has Fluttershy in an outfit, which admittedly looks a lot better than her other current works. "She's going to want to see attitude and pizzaz!" Rarity says.

So why the fuck did you pick Fluttershy, I thought you chose her because she was pretty! make up your mind.

03:21 Rarity seems to have also dragged Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike into her scheme, demanding more light, more feathers, sequins, ribbons...that kitchen sink gag better make a comeback.

Also, Spike is trolling the shit out of Fluttershy with the ribbons, and she does not look amused, lol

Wait, isn't he spike supposed to have a crush on Fluttershy (or is it Rarity) wtf is going on

03:52 It's more clear now, pin cushion Spike is infatuated with Rarity, which I guess means the pilot's ship tease between him and Fluttershy is out the window. Eh, his feelings for Rarity were established in the last episode, AND GIVEN THAT I LOVE CONTINUITY I'm fine with it.
Twilight seems pretty disgusted and/or annoyed by this, which lol

04:13 So Spike asks Twilight and Pinkie Pie to keep a secret, and after much ado, the secret turns out to be that Spike has a crush on Rarity. Twilight's facial expression is priceless since this "secret" was blatantly fucking obvious to her and to us. Pinkie Pie is shocked beyond belief, but she's probably too busy paying attention to weird body shudders and twitching to notice.

04:29 Pinkie agrees to keep the secret, but Twilight calls bullshit, stating that "everypony already knows". Pinkie Pie is having none of it and makes her swear not to tell, which Twilight grudgingly agrees to, even though she thinks Rarity will figure it out in no time.

Pinkie's rationale for this is that even though Spike's crush is an open secret, Rarity doesn't know, and telling her would betray Spike's trust, and betraying a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend forever. Folks, I think we have a premise and a lesson for this episode.

04:37 THIS. SHIRT. <3

04:41 Photo Finish is here, and she looks an awful lot like Lady Gaga, at least to me.

04:55 Photo is entirely focused on the shoot, ignoring Rarity and setting up immediately. This freaks Rarity out even more and she reiterates ATTITUDE AND PIZZAZ to Fluttershy, who looks scared shitless.

05:30 Many a photo are taken, and every time Rarity tries to get Fluttershy to strike a pose or vogue or whatever, Photo Finish shoots her down and Fluttershy gets all timid, which Photo loves, for some reason. She takes 3 pictures and leaves abruptly, confusing everyone, including me.

06:10 Rarity is despondent when she feels the shoot didn't go well, but Photo Finish comes back as quickly as she departed to tell them that she's found a new fashion star in Ponyville, and that she's going to make her shine at a photo shoot in the park the next day...and takes off once again, assistants in tow this time.

Rarity jumps to the conclusion that it was her that Photo was talking about, as expected, but come on, we all know it's Fluttershy.

06:27 Rarity starts a squee session, jumping up and down and trampling Spike's tail, who seems to be getting off on it in a fucked up S&M kind of way.

06:41 Cut to the park, and Rarity is with Fluttershy getting ready for the shoot. I actually like the outfit she picked for Fluttershy this time.
Also, pretty sure the lesson is going to also involve envy, if the title and recent events are any indication.

06:59 Photo Finish is back, and this time carried like Egyptian royalty by two slave ponies, probably locals who got roped into doing it.

07:34 Photo Finish confirms my suspicions, and tells Rarity to fuck off with her designs and that the one she intends to make shine across Equestria is Fluttershy. Cue butthurt in 3...2...1...

08:01 Back from the mandated commercial break, and Rarity is being a surprisingly good sport about the whole situation! This shouldn't last long...

Oh, and Fluttershy's current dress looks even better than the one Rarity designed imo, so maybe Foto is
on to something...

08:22 Rarity slinks off as Photo tells Fluttershy how much better she looks "without all those sparkles"...

In the very next scene she's working at her sewing machine on some symbolically black fabric.
Rarity... ; _ ;

08:44 Twilight, Pinkie and Spike come to see how things went, and Rarity dons her now completed black hooded cape and melodramatically says that she just wants to be alone. I like your tantrums when they're more over the top, Rarity. :|

08:51 No sooner than those words are out of Rarity's mouth, here comes Spike, shoving Twilight and Pinkie out of the room. Look at this lil' white-knighting motherfucker! Twilight cuts that shit right the fuck out with the quickness tho'. I'm liking Twilight more because of scenes like this, I hope her character solidifies soon.

09:00 No, really, Photo is picking some awesome dresses for Fluttershy.

09:38 Fluttershy has make up applied to her and abruptly removed in a way that makes me think of animal testing for cosmetics, followed by Foto asking how she's feeling about the whole thing. "Distraught", "mortified", and "anxious" all come to mind after a quick glance, Fluttersy goes with "nervous".

09:45 "Nervous? Don't be ridiculous! You're only facing a large crowd of ponies that will be watching your every move and silently judging you!"

Best one-shot character of the season? Foto, I think so. Oh yes.

10:00 Fluttershy steps out onto the catwalk, and forces herself to walk in front of the croud, who quickly take to her "graceful" nature and start eating it up. I didn't see him, but Hoity Toity can be heard saying that Fluttershy would be perfect for his new advertisement, and I appreciate that because I was starting to wonder if they'd do a callback to him.

Also, Fluttershy, you're nervous because why? It was only a handful of episodes ago that you did exactly this same shit in front of ALL OF PONYVILLE, IN A FAR FUCKING WORSE OUTFIT THAN THE ONE YOU ARE CURRENTLY WEARING.

10:05 Blink and you'll miss it Derpy spotting-- She starts with her eyes derped and they go back to normal. Is this where they started doing these background gags with her on purpose?

10:13 Stomping is now officially the pony way to give applause since this is the second time they've done it (that I remember).

10:28 EMO FLUTTERSHY OMG

10:39 Fluttershy and Foto go into some red carpet gala event, and Rarity tries to sneak in with that guady-ass hat on from before, and she gets rejected by the bouncer.

10:49 Fluttershy is in advertisements all over Ponyville, and Rarity is so. fucking. SALTY.

I'm actually kind of glad this is happening. Rarity has had a lot of success in the last few episodes, and while she is my current favorite, I hope she comes away from this episode significantly more humble than she has been lately, especially in Sonic Rainboom.

11:12 Meanwhile, Fluttershy isn't taking her new found fame very well, but being hounded on land and in the air by paparazzi and Stans will do that to you.

11:32 Fluttershy ducks into Rarity's place, and Rarity does her best to pretend that she's totally okay with being out of the loop, even though it's clear that she isn't. See, this is what makes Rarity best pony-- clearly being a hater, but trying not to let her baser instincts get the better of her.

Best pony. Rarity.

12:18 Fluttershy badly puts on a brave face and pretends that she likes the attention, but is more interested in keeping her weekly spa date with Rarity. The instant they confirm that the date is still on, Foto comes and takes Fluttershy away. Once they're gone, some coattail ridin'-ass ponies show up and ask Rarity if Fluttershy was still there. When Rarity tells them that she left, but that she is having a sale, they ask who Rarity even is. This goes about the way you'd expect...you know, rage.

Also, shouldn't EVERYONE know who Rarity is? Even setting aside her recent achievements in the fashion world, she's the only clothing store in Ponyville as far as I know, and Ponyville isn't that big to begin with!

ffffffffffffffffffffffffff

12:58 Fluttershy is at the thing at the place, and Foto is reveling in her own genius as Fluttershy tries to tell her that she has to go so she can get to the spa on time. Foto proceeds to ignore the living shit out of her and drags Fluttershy off to some ballet opening. :(

13:10 Twilight runs into Rarity at the spa, who immediately goes into a bitter rant about Fluttershy thinking she's too good to spend time with her "best friend"--

Wait.

Fluttershy and Rarity are besties? Because there has been literally NOTHING to suggest that until possibly the start of this episode, and even then I was thinking of it in more of a Garak/Dr. Bashir kind of way. Whatevs. :/

13:39 Rarity confesses to being incredibly jealous and how much she hates that she feels that way, then begs Twilight not to tell Fluttershy about her feelings. Betraying a friend, blah blah-- HOLY SHIT PINKIE PIE

14:45 Rarity leaves, and Fluttershy is right behind her, having just missed Rarity. She tells Twilight that she could just scream, and then Fluttershy does that thing where she tries to express emotion and it just comes out as adorable squeals or something.

14:53 Fluttershy's "outburst" did nothing to make her feel better, and she instead confesses that she doesn't like modeling, the attention, any of it, and the only reason she's doing it is because Rarity insisted. It shouldn't take a genius to guess that Twilight is going to totally defy the lesson that they just reiterated not even two minutes ago by telling Fulttershy how Rarity really feel-- HOLY SHIT PINKIE PIE

"Foreverrrrrrrrrrrr!"...Pinkie Pie is pretty funny in this episode. I likes it.

15:27 Twilight and fluttershy are out in town talking about her current situation with Rarity. Twilight tries to tell Fluttershy about how rarity feels again, but is swiftly cock-blocked out of that by Pinkie, who is menacingly eating an apple...well, until she realizes it's delicious.

lol

15:56 Fluttershy suggests that maybe she can get out of modeling if only there were a more suitable alternative, which inspires Twilight, who knocks off Fluttershy's disguise and gets trampled by a herd of fan-ponies.

16:22 Twilight spills the beans on her secret plan to magically sabotage Fluttershy at her next fashion show in order to get her out of her situation, and makes Pinkie swear not to tell. It would be really, REALLY fucked up/funny if it ended up being Pinkie who rats everyone out after all this bullshit.

17:13 Fluttershy and Twilight are backstage prepping for the show, and Rarity walks in to "see what all the fuss is about". Hmmm...

18:08 The plan goes off without a hitch-- Twilight uses her (previously established) body-snatching power and makes Fluttershy do gross and/or ridiculous things to embarass herself, and the audience turns on Fluttershy, one going so far as to demand that she get off the stage. Rarity is horrified at how her friend is being treated, and gives some fierce applause in an act of friendship towards Fluttershy.

D'AWW BESTEST PONY

18:49 Too bad that this actually ends up winning the crowd back and completely ruins Twilight's plan. Poor Fluttershy. :(

20:28 Backstage, Fluttershy is despondant, and Rarity comes to see her. The two confess their true feelings as Twilight goes to greater extremes to stop herself from telling both of them the truth on her own. Oddly enough, it doesn't look like she's doing this on her own...PINKIE CURSED HER, I KNEW IT

20:54 Fluttershy and Rarity are all made up and besties again, and they tell Foto that she's gonna need to find a new model. As soon as they're out of the room, Twilight screams out that Spike has a crush on Rarity and PINKIE IS WATCHING HER FROM INSIDE THE MIRROR WHAT SORCERY IS THIS

21:34 Dear Princess Celestia, lesson of the week, blah blah blah, Spike is stalking Rarity inside the spa like a creeper THE END

TL;DR

Final Thoughts

A decent episode! Not exactly reaching the heights of A Dog and Pony Show, but up there among the more noteable episodes thus far. The writing is steadily improving, and the facial expressions continue to grow wackier every episode. My interest continues to be mild.

See you next time for Over A Barrel!

- Apathy Pony