She learns from Fluttershy that tortoises hibernate in winter and Tank is preparing to sleep. I don't want to go into too much detail about dormancy, but the proper term for reptiles hibernating is "brumating." Rainbow Dash does not believe her, so begins Stage 1 of the Five Stages of Grief: denial. Yeah, to my surprise, the whole episode goes through the Five Stages of Grief all under the course of a 22-minute episode, which I commend it for.
Of course, the next stage comes in: anger. She starts to get angry when her friends keep reminding her of Tank's inevitable brumation.
Then comes this episode's musical number "I'll Fly." I really like it. Rainbow Dash sounds way better than she did in "Castle Sweet Castle" and it really showcases Ashleigh Ball's singing talent. The lyrics match Rainbow Dash's motivation and the music has a pretty nice tune. Of course, here is where the episode bothers me: Rainbow Dash's selfishness.
Has anyone ever seen the fan-made episode "Double Rainboom"? In that one, Rainbow Dash tries out a talent-enhancing potion and uses it to perform a Double Rainboom, but wrecks Ponyville in the process and hardly shows any remorse. This is kind of where the episode goes. She and Tank enter the cloud factory, and Dash just vandalizes the place all because... she wants to play with her tortoise.
Twilight and her friends notice the ruckus going on in Cloudsdale. Ponyville prepares for the worst as...
Twilight said these exact words, so I just HAD to reference it. And before you ask, I still haven't gotten around to watching Game of Thrones. Rainbow Dash's plan backfires as Cloudsdale nukes Ponyville with snow, bringing winter early. That was another thing that seriously bugged me. While the job of the pegasi are done, I am quite surprised that Rainbow Dash did not get arrested afterwards for vandalism and shirking her duties.
The next scene arrives when Rainbow Dash is lying in bed with Tank, as the next stage kicks in: depression. One thing to note before I talk about the rest of the episode: seeing Rainbow and Tank wearing slippers of each other is actually really cute.
Twilight and the others arrive to comfort her. Fluttershy does the opposite by being brutally honest with Rainbow Dash, that her winter is going to be petless. This causes her to cry. Fluttershy's reason for doing so was because Rainbow needed to let it all out, which was a bold, but smart move. Soon, everyone but Twilight and Applejack join in. The reason Applejack is not crying is because she only cries on the inside. Not too much of a stretch, as the closest thing we ever saw her cry was in "Apple Family Reunion," but her eyes were only watering.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash stops as she enters the last stage of grief: acceptance. She says goodbye to Tank and then he buries himself. The last thing she does for him before they part ways for the winter is read a bedtime story. Okay, that's heartwarming enough.
The thing that prevents me from loving this episode more was because of Rainbow Dash herself. She almost went to the level of "Double Rainboom" by doing something so chaotic just so she can play with her tortoise. It's selfish on her part, but to give credit where credit is due, at least she was doing it for her pet, even if it backfired. Her behavior overall infuriated me, but I've calmed down after a couple of more viewings.
However, with that said, I really liked the friendship between Rainbow and Tank in this episode. I could really feel the bond between the two and the last couple of scenes they have together were nicely done. When Rainbow Dash begins to accept the fact that Tank has to sleep for the winter, it redeemed the episode for me.
The way it presents the Five Stages of Grief is, again, commendable. This is probably the closest thing we'll have to an episode about the death of a loved one. The exception is that the character is hibernating, I mean, brumating.
I can't be too angry at this episode; I'm just a little ticked off from one aspect. It's still a good episode, now that I think about it. I give "Tanks for the Memories" a score of...
If the information is correct, the next episode is written by... Dave Polsky? That's enough for me to look forward to it. I'll explain more on the next review. In the meantime, enjoy Rainbow Dash's rage face.
Twilight and the others arrive to comfort her. Fluttershy does the opposite by being brutally honest with Rainbow Dash, that her winter is going to be petless. This causes her to cry. Fluttershy's reason for doing so was because Rainbow needed to let it all out, which was a bold, but smart move. Soon, everyone but Twilight and Applejack join in. The reason Applejack is not crying is because she only cries on the inside. Not too much of a stretch, as the closest thing we ever saw her cry was in "Apple Family Reunion," but her eyes were only watering.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash stops as she enters the last stage of grief: acceptance. She says goodbye to Tank and then he buries himself. The last thing she does for him before they part ways for the winter is read a bedtime story. Okay, that's heartwarming enough.
However, with that said, I really liked the friendship between Rainbow and Tank in this episode. I could really feel the bond between the two and the last couple of scenes they have together were nicely done. When Rainbow Dash begins to accept the fact that Tank has to sleep for the winter, it redeemed the episode for me.
The way it presents the Five Stages of Grief is, again, commendable. This is probably the closest thing we'll have to an episode about the death of a loved one. The exception is that the character is hibernating, I mean, brumating.
I can't be too angry at this episode; I'm just a little ticked off from one aspect. It's still a good episode, now that I think about it. I give "Tanks for the Memories" a score of...
4/5
If the information is correct, the next episode is written by... Dave Polsky? That's enough for me to look forward to it. I'll explain more on the next review. In the meantime, enjoy Rainbow Dash's rage face.
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