Pone Reviews 70: Fake It 'Til You Make It Hello and welcome back to Pone Reviews. Have you recovered from my appreciation spree of yesterday's episode? I hope you have, because I'm about to flip the script here for today's Season 8 episode. Reversed character development? Maybe. Here's "Fake It 'Til You Make It!" A bit of a blurry moral, but here's what I gathered. "It is better to be yourself and show your inner strength than pretend to be something you aren't." Here's one where... I have no idea where it fits into the realism scale. There are two arguments to this. It's a kid-friendly message that encourages viewers to be themselves. It's something we can't get enough of in this political climate. Be proud of your gender/sexuality/weight/nationality/other thing you should be proud of! Don't put on a mask just to please others. Here's the other side of the coin: What if some of your inner strength comes from not being yourself? Say you're an actor. Acting is your favorite thing to do and you shine on the stage. Well, you aren't exactly being yourself because you're an *actor.* Yet if you were a pony, you'd have a cutie mark in it! There's other professions that could fit in here, I'm sure. The point is that this can be construed two ways. Plot time. Fluttershy is looking after the Rarity for You boutique while Rarity is at a fashion show... but she's nothing like the Saddle Row shoppers! Time to role-play! Unlike "Filli Vanilli" yesterday, this episode gets under my skin because I feel like one of the main points has been established. Fluttershy's experiences with building her assertiveness up have already come full circle. She has not needed to role-play to be strong. Heck, Rarity mentions her progress! I feel like minotaurs and dragons don't come close to snooty shoppers. It's a bit frustrating, too, that Fluttershy also drops her kindness and snaps at the raccoons, calling them "rodents." This is enough for Rarity to confront Fluttershy, and it's clear why. In "Scare Master" and "Fluttershy Leans In," Fluttershy backs off when she realizes her intense actions are hurting her friends. ("Bats!" was different as her actions were out of her control.) How in the world does she not notice this for her animals? Something that can take priority over ponies sometimes (e.g., "The Hooffields and McColts")? The fact Fluttershy has grown may have been established, but they sure seem to throw this to the wind later on. Fluttershy's alter egos may be funny, but they just frustrate me in the end because screw development. Here are some more things that got under my skin in this episode: *"What is the thread count on this?" Uh... there isn't a thread count on the tag or anything? One would think there should be something like that in a Saddle Row shop if Saddle Row is all it's cracked up to be. *Rarity has all her helpers... except Coco Pommel. Miss Pommel. I'M STILL CALLING HER COCO DAMMIT. *That ending felt harsh and abrupt. Why snap at that pony instead of presenting your argument in a calm, Fluttershy manner? It's a fair argument from Blueberry Curls. And here are some things about this episode that I thought fit nicely: *Tim Gunn pony. Also isn't that redheaded pony Lauren Faust? *Fluttershy has a Wonder Woman dress! Please tell me I'm not the only one who thought of Wonder Woman when I saw that "Warrior of Inner Strength" dress. *Goth Fluttershy was something I didn't know I needed. Good job on the acting Andrea Libman. TL;DR: A stylish episode with a double-sided moral and a triple-sided Fluttershy. But what is the thread count on Tim Gunn's coat? 3.5 out of 5 rainbows 🌈🌈🌈% Thanks again for reading Pone Reviews. Come back Saturday for an episode that kicked off something major in the show's continuity! Diamond out!
