Official Discussion Thread - S04E21Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

[brianblackberry]

It is that time of the week again when we all huddle around our computers and televisions and watch adorable ponies do adorable pony things. In this week's episode, Rainbow Dash is moving forward with her dream, but some egghead requirements stand in her way! :!: How will see overcome? Will she join the egghead side? Well, find out more in just a few hours! Please discuss the episode, but remember to keep the spoilers in the spoilers bracket. Episode airs Saturday 10:30 AM EST on April 5th.

Yes Rainbow Dash, we have decided to start a new rock group! The Village Ponies!

[SunsetSombra]

A lotta hype from various sources on this episode for various reasons...I'm excited!

[RarityDash]

Yeah, this was a good episode I think.

It was certainly more solid than the last RD episode. I think the moral of the episode was an important one. Not everyone learns the same way, so it's important to find the right way for the right person. I think it's kind of interesting that it's Twilight, the teacher, who more learns the lesson than it is Rainbow Dash who learns it. Not that Dash doesn't learn something; she recovers from a blow to her self esteem and learns that she is not dumb and not hopeless. It's effective. I really like how they set it up that as much as the dream is important to Dash, she is physically unable to learn and pay attention the normal way, and alternative ways don't seem to work for her either; Fluttershy's method being too interpretive, her only picking up on the irrelevant parts of Pinkie's fun musical method and not retaining the rest, and her not being able to connect with or find an interest in Rarity's association method.

This was a good episode for all the ponies involved, I think. No one seemed written poorly. Twilight was pitch perfect, Rainbow Dash was comfortably written. The others were all pretty stand out too. Pinkie was perhaps the highlight with her ridiculous and semi-embarassing rap song. Also gotta love what Rarity did, as seeing all the Mane six in fancy uniforms was nice. Curious to see what manner of fan art that might end up generating.

I didn't care very strongly for Amy Keating Rogers last episode, but this one was very funny as well as poignantly crafted. It's an episode where I can really get behind every aspect of it. It maybe wasn't as amusing or silly as some of the other stand outs this season, but it's still one I can really appreciate for what it is. Episodes like this are a much more interesting way to user Rainbow Dash than stuff like Rainbow Falls.

Oh, and there was all that lore too. That was interesting to learn and see. Wonder how we might incorporate that into board lore. We'll have to see, I suppose.

[Mojo]

A LOT to like about this episode:

Rainbow Dash's goofing off in class scenes were CLASSIC comedy! Loved when she started squeaking her chair and then the owl and Spike joined in for some impromptu music! Fluttershy's animal play was a riot! Rapping Pinkie Pie is OFF THE HOOK sensational! (Great to see DJ-Pon3 again too). Not only was this episode highly entertaining, it has a very strong message that needs to be learned by school systems all over the world. Not everyone learns the same way. What works for some folks, doesn't work for everyone. LOVED THIS EPISODE! Not quite a perfect '10', but I'll give it a solid 9 out of 10!

[FrankT]

Alright... a little predictable, but the impromptu music part made me laugh!

[Sailu]

JUST watched it 3 secs ago and i was a bit rushed and didn't get as much out of it as i wanted But it was a great episode and a good moral as well 8/10

[Aelius]

I really liked this episode ^_^ Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle's personalities played off each other quite well, and it was nice to see Twilight utilizing her wings more. I loved the message here, too. Both the episode's main characters learned a good lesson. *snicker* And I can't get 90's rapper Pinkie Pie out of my mind now XD Complete with an SD-rez music video!

[SunsetSombra]

Guess that hype was true afterall. XD

Heck of an episode - much enjoyment had!

[Bellosh]

Fun Fact: if you ever need Applejack to help you study for a Wonderbolts test, she'll tell you everything about apples instead. FRIENDSHIP!

[SunsetSombra]

Friendship is Rap, Apples and cute outfits?

[MetalBronyATL]

The Twilight/Rainbow Dash episode I've always wanted. Loved it, loved it, loved it. A great moral, a backstory for the Wonderbolts, Pinkie rapping, helicopters and movies in the MLP universe confirmed, and of course Applejack was hilarious!. Awesome episode

[YourLittleBrony]

I enjoyed this episode alot more than I thought it would. Plus, very interesting hearing a little backstory behind the Wonderbolts.

One of my favorite morals too. I always thought Rainbow Dash was more of a visual learner, but this method of learning is quite fascinating and suits her perfectly. I did think it silly that Twilight was rather forcing her study methods onto RD, so I do think so that this was more her lesson, than RD's. Teachers need to adapt in order to fit the needs of the student.

Everyone was on point. OMG Applejack and Pinkie Pie. The entire epsiode Applejack might as well have just been saying nothing but "APPLES APPLES APPLES". And 90's rapping Pinkie Pie? Good lord. xD That takes me back.

[rjrgmc28]

Despite being in a depressive flunk over the last couple of days due to the events which happened in my life, I had some time to sit down and watch the new episode this morning through the live streams and although I couldn't concentrate due to the spammers running riot on the Twitter hashtags, I decided to watch the episode again this morning without any distractions.

So with that said and to quote from my tvtag post:

"So Rainbow Dash? Have you been studying for your Wonderbolts Reserves exams? You better have not left it to the last minute and went on a all night cramming session! This is your big chance to achieve your fillyhood dream to join the elite flyers in all of Equestria!"

As always, thoughts on the episode are below:

This episode was was a very good one to watch on the second time around. A lot of memories from my past came flooding back on some of the scenes, mainly my schooling years at the both primary and secondary level. I had trouble studying as well and even though I had two exams to do in my Higher School Certificate, the study for those exams was not easy and I could easily relate to what Rainbow Dash went through.

There were a few scenes that put a smile on my face, one of which was the rap sequence with Pinkie and Vinyl.

The visuals of the rap sequence were amazing and the throwback to the childhood where VHS ruled the home entertainment market and laserdiscs and appliances were expensive due to the Wholesale Sales Tax. But with that aside, who could have thought putting together a sequence based on 1990's technology of physical video mixers, VHS or Betacam broadcast video quality and even emulating the sound of the video tape at the time was a pretty amazing feat in it's self, even right down to the aspect ratio?

More of the technology throwbacks in the episode also included the rewinding sequences when Rainbow Dash was flying with Twilight and the breaking down of a segment of her fight, even right down to the Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC) visit to Sugarcube Corner. The only thing that I would have loved to see in use was the Telestrator to pinpoint and highlight certain parts of the flying segment to cap off the nostalgia trip.

The last scene in the episode was something that was unique in it's self. Watching the scene again this time with full concentration in tow just not only put a smile on my face after the events of the last few days sending me into a depressive flunk, but also brought a few tears to my eyes in the process.

Whether it would be the CMC's and their EUP (Earth, Unicorn and Pegasi) chant to Dash with Scootaloo, helping her out with pride in her voice or when an entire town, after many great years of service to Rainbow decided to repay the favour and help out in her studying by placing signs and even dressing up in the traditional Wonderbolts outfits and giving Dash hints of their history, I can't say much more about this sequence and the episode in general other than, it was a real eye opener for me.

I also have written my full thoughts on the episode itself on my blog, which can be viewed here.

[leapman]

Pinkie Pie's cheesy rap bars made me like this episode though I kind of found it slightly pretentious.

[Rosewind]

This episode was brilliant. I loved it. It's easily in my top three for the season. 10/10 god tier, would watch again.

There's nothing that was lacking about it. Good lesson, pitch-perfect characterization; the last quarter especially was sweet -- Rainbow's friends really, really went out of their way for her. The ending might have been a teensy rushed, but overall it was fantastic.

[kunio18]

amazing i love twi dash stuff

[SteelEagle]

10/10.

[Lux]

As the son and nephew of teachers, I know about how people learn differently. For me, I'm very auditory, so much so that I have trouble when several people are trying to talk to me at once and that I can listen to people while not even having to look at them. This is why I like this episode as it sends a clear message that just because you learn differently it doesn't make you stupid. And to friends, parents and teachers watching it shows that sometimes your way of teaching isn't the best fit for who you are trying to teach.

Overall 10/10!

[arrowghost]

That's a very nice history of the Wonderbolts itself, who knew that the founder was actually Firefly herself.

Lol, during Twilight's teaching, Rainbow goofing around and even Owlowisyous joins in the fun. Well, the play, we can see it's good, but just not good with the direction, hence she's confused. I'm also confused if I were the audience.

Pinkie's Rap, funny scene, no way we'll she'll learn anything from music. Speaking of rap, one of my favorite genres, but my favorite is The Basics of Thuganomics. I'm impressed that the crew pulled it off to make me feel like back in the old days, with video filters to replicate old CRT TV screens and 4:3 ratio indicating the video was made from the 80s or 90s. Oh yeah, Vinyl as our DJ, she's also a nice rapper too, hence the 2 discs are there for a reason.

Good job, FIM crew!

[tacobob]

Another cute one. And zounds. Did they go there?

That's a pretty obscure reference.

[arrowghost]

The allusions from the FIM Wiki already mentioned that when

the title of "Don't Copy of Floppy" is written. I'm surprised the same for Firefly except she's not drawn in person. If Firefly is from the G1 era, so I say Rainbow's mother must be the modern version of Firefly with a number ahead of it like Firefly VII.

[RedCedar]

I was thrilled to see this episode as it touched upon a serious subject as far as education goes: Learning styles. Not everyone is able to just sit down and read and use things like flashcards and it's only been in the last few years that the education system seems to have started to pick up on this (at least from my experience). Watching RD run the gamut of emotions from blowing it off to frustration to having her self-esteem crushed pretty much mimicked the real-world emotions anyone with a non Visual-Auditory learning style goes through when confronted with a text book.

As for the rest of the episode, I loved it, especially the interaction between such polar opposites as Rainbow Dash and Twilight and the attempts of the rest to help Rainbow learn, each with their own particular bend to it. Great episode all around.

[Noedig]

It was good, didn't see any problems with it.

I liked Rainbow Dash's unique learning ability. Observation and listening simultaneously as she observes and listens to another thing... that's cool.

By cool, I mean 20% cooler.

[Ashton]

Finally caught up with the latest episode.

Little suprised, with the season drawing to a close and twilight not having her 'rainbow key' i figured an episode with a name like 'testing' would certainly be her key... of coure it would also make sense for her to be found at the last minute when the fate of equestria hangs in the ballance... no stress at all, twilight!

As for the episode... really fun. Dash as a class clown is expected, though i never thought she'd go as far as the stool gag, and then spike and owlicious joined in. That was great. And the rediculousness of the other study methods the others provided was hilarious! I was suprised to find out that rainbow learned best while flying, but really it makes perfect sense for her. I wonder if she'll stop playing dumb now and admit she's not a complete idiot...

Also throws another intersting wrench into things now... apparently dash is going to join the wonderbolts reserves, which will in theory take her away from her friends... will be interesting to see how this is handled by the team... (of course it could also be that things are building for a final season next time, after all everything's getting resolved nicely in a lot of ponies personal lives...)

[Rosewind]

I don't think joining the Wonderbolt Reserves will take Rainbow away anymore than being a Princess takes Twilight away from her friends. That's why they're reserves; you don't go until you're needed.