Stranger Than Fan Fiction review

Daring Do and the Bitter Fan

These reviews do contain spoilers

So here we are at the second half of season six. This season has delivered some really fantastic episodes such as going to the Dragon Lands and learning more about dragons themselves. Then there were some flops like the disappointing way that Rainbow's arc about becoming a Wonderbolt ended with a terrible way about hazing and showed the worse of the Wonderbolts. Now at the halfway point of the season, we are going back to talking about a character that hasn't been seen since season four; Daring Do.

Since her introduction into the show in season two, Daring Do has become a big fan favorite character. So much so in fact that she ended up with her own episode in the fourth season, Daring Don't. I personally wasn't that big of a fan of that episode since I felt it had a mediocre story, Daring Do's character was kind of boring, and Rainbow was just being extremely annoying and just ended up causing pretty much all the trouble in that episode.

I will say that this kind of Daring Do episode is actually really ingenious, in terms of its setup that is, and that is it taking place during a convention for Daring Do. As someone who has gone to two cons so far, the premise is rather interesting. It's made even better with yet another celebrity voice actor in the show; Patton Oswalt. You may remember him from such shows and movies like Archer, We Bare Bears, and Ratatouille. So can this episode prove to top the other Daring Do episode, or will it be another pitfall for our favorite pony explorer. Let's dive right into Stranger Than Fan Fiction.

Rainbow Dash goes to a convention and meets Quibble Pants, played by Patton Oswalt, who despite being a huge fan of Daring Do, doesn't like her latest adventures. Shocked by what she's heard and determined to prove how great Daring is, Rainbow tries to convince Quibble about her latest adventures and how great they are. Meanwhile, there is another plot going on about one of Daring Do's enemies, Caballeron, trying to find some seven sided chest to use it to sell it to the highest bidder.

Daring Do herself is actually written much better here, and shows she's become a lot different from last time. She's not that generic "lone wolf" mare, but more open to help and while she doesn't have a whole lot of screen time, she is still enjoyable. I did enjoy the mystery that her, Rainbow, and Quibble had to solve to find the treasure. It was actually like something from a Daring do book, and I do love episodes that involve finding some ancient treasure and having to be logical in solving the puzzles.

Rainbow was also written pretty well in this episode. She's still fangirling a bit around Daring, but it's more controlled this time. Unlike Daring Don't where Rainbow is failing to see the seriousness of the situation and causes most of the problems in that episode, this time she is taking things more seriously this time, but forced to deal with the overly critical Quibble Pants.

In a way actually, this is a bit ironic. In Daring Don't, Rainbow was overbearing with how she was overly excited and clingy she was to Daring, and she's forced to put up with Rainbow. Here, Rainbow is forced to deal with Quibble and how overly critical he is and how annoying he can be about it through the whole episode. It's kind some good comedic irony right there.

Speaking of which; let's quickly talk about Quibble Pants. Patton Oswalt gives a very solid performance as Quibble. His reactions in this episode are hilarious and I just love how nonchalant and blunt he is in this episode. Even when he is in danger, he just shrugs it off. Whether it's him being captured and breaking out easily, to dissing Caballeron, he was a riot. The comedy was a major highlight in this episode (Especially with those body pillows of Daring Do), and Patton stole the whole episode with his jokes and interactions with the villains. Also, him talking during the end credits was hilarious and I believe Patton was just having a load of fun in this episode.

His interactions with Rainbow Dash are fun and a great way to show the contrast between a fan who loves the new Daring Do books, and a fan who likes the first series. I feel that Quibble captured the whole fan who thinks the earlier works are superior to the later works motif. His overall feelings towards how the Daring Do books have become less realistic and more over the top action is actually a perfect representation about this fandom, and other fandoms in general, feel about the later seasons of certain shows.

I actually do like the direction the show took with the reason Quibble Pants doesn't like Daring Do as much. Granted, I do admit that his overall criticisms can get really annoying, especially with how he shrugs off Daring Do herself and her trying to solve the puzzles, but I can appreciate how it shows some fans are overly critical. It was really done well, and gives some good insight about fandoms in general with the way he thinks.

I don't think I've ever seen a show actually acknowledge its fan base like this show has done in the past. This episode actually gives us a nice look about how some fans of this show find the earlier seasons superior, and the later seasons inferior. The moral at the end is also pretty clever. While there are fans out there who do love the later works, there are going to be others who can't find themselves to really like it. Even when it comes to this show, there are fans out there who enjoy the lighter, slice of life stuff of the first two seasons, over what the show has become today; a more character driven and more adventurous show.

However, what I do love about this moral is that fans, no matter what they think of what the show has become, can find things they like together about it. In this case it's about Quibble liking Daring Do being more of a puzzle solver, and Rainbow liking the more action packed books, but they are still friends. It's actually a really nice moral that all fans of certain shows can actually agree on.

Stranger Than Fan Fiction may sound a bit odd about its premise and it may turn people off because of how overly annoying Quibble can get, but I feel that this is an episode all fans should see. The story is really well done, the moral is fantastic, Quibble is a very funny character, despite some issues here and there, and gives a good insight about fandoms and their preferences. This is easily one of Rainbow's best outings yet, and considering her track record to me, that's a huge accomplishment. The best Rainbow episode? Not sure yet, but it is better than Rainbow's previous episode. Let's just hope that next week's episode she stars in will build upon this.

FINAL SCORE: 9 out of 10 (A-)