Poll MLP:FIM S6E09 - "Saddle Row & Rec" - Grading & Discussion

[Amaris]

Episode Title: "Saddle Row & Rec"
Air Date: May 21st, 11:30 AM Eastern Time (3:30 PM GMT/UTC)

Summary: "When Rarity opens her flagship store in Manehattan, a tell-tale article threatens to expose how her friends almost ruined the grand opening."


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REMEMBER: NO OPEN SPOILERS UNTIL 3 PM ET (7 PM GMT)

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Ruminations:
So we have a new Rarity episode coming! She sure is getting a lot of love these past few seasons! So we have Rarity opening up yet another Manehattan boutique (I wonder if she's starting a franchise?), but this time she seems to be at the mercy of gossip hounds interested in causing her some financial difficulty by spreading rumors about how her friends nearly botched the grand opening. I'm not sure exactly what that means, or where it's supposed to go, because surely the fact that it's the Elements of Harmony would weigh into this somewhere? I don't know. Actually, there really isn't much to go on for this episode, though it is written by Nick Confalone, who has a solid history with episodes like "Party Pooped," "Hearthbreakers," and "No Second Prances." Regardless, it's a Rarity episode, and I generally like those, so we'll see how things turn out!


EPISODE PREVIEW TRAILER (possible spoilers!):

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[Peach Wookiee]

Looks like mixed signals happened, judging by the preview.

 

[DarkHorizon]

NO SPOILERS!

Another excellent Saturday afternoon's entertainment.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Agreed! A from me!

 

[Amaris]

This episode is definitely one of my favorites of the season. The interview format we saw in this episode is the first time I've ever seen it done for the show in general. It allows for some great moments, solid storytelling, and unique facial expressions. There were plenty of sight gags in this episode. The Pinkie Pie doppleganger in the cafe was hilarious, and had me rolling.

We see our favorite ponies relaxed, casual, and very much themselves. Pinkie's ridiculous overeating (which results in a huge check she pawns off on the reporter), Fluttershy's racoons gobbling up every piece of food in sight, Rainbow Dash's easy going style and tag teaming with Applejack's sardonic wit. Twilight's matter-of-fact recounting of the events only added to the feeling of dread as she regales just how everything seemed to fall apart, and of course Rarity, who tries to make it all sound like it wasn't nearly as bad as it very much was.

I like the message behind this episode: if your friend trusts in you to make a good decision, she wants it to be based on your own reasoning, not on what you think she might like. If she wanted that, she would just tell you what to do. By using their own skill sets, they created a wonderful grand opening for Rarity.

This episode easily gets an "A" from me, and also an award for "Best Faces of Season 6 So Far." Slice of life? I'll take two, please. Pinkie's got the check.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Some fans thought this would be a retread of "Castle, Sweet Castle." I'm glad it wasn't.

 

[TrekAlliance92]

This episode was hilarious! Seriously, I was laughing pretty much throughout. The many comments to the reporter, the duplicate Pinkie gag, Twilight geeking out about organizing, "sweep sweep sweep," the angel/devil Rarity duo and so much more. This is definitely one of my favorites of the season. Writer Nick Confalone and the entire cast and crew knocked it out of the park with this one. A solid and easy A.

 

[Amaris]

I'm a big fan of the Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction cameo in the diner.