The Mane Attraction review

The Showstopper

These reviews do contain spoilers

Since the preview clip from a couple of months ago, I've been looking forward to this episode. It looked very promising with its catchy song and it had a character we knew nothing about. So when it's revealed that Applejack knows this pony, I was far more intrigued. Now we've all had our fair share of singers on the show, but the fact that Applejack knows said singer makes for a rather interesting premise for this episode.

In The Mane Attraction, Applejack meets a friend she made at camp, but has become a sensational singer. However, she is afraid that the manager of her friend doesn't have her best interests in heart. A special note should be mentioned as well that this is the last episode written by Amy Keating Rogers. So how does her final episode hold up? Does she go out with a bang, or a whimper? Let's take a look.

I will first of all say that it's good to see more development on Applejack's part and see more of her fillyhood by going to camp and making new friends. I always welcome more character development, especially when they were younger and shaped them up to be who they are today. Applejack's feelings for Rara is very apparent from the start and you do see she is concerned and worried about her fillyhood friend.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that both Applejack and Coloratura are fillyhood friends, they sadly don't get a lot of interaction between the two of them until the end. Applejack is instead interacting more with either Rarity or Pinkie Pie. To be perfectly fair, her manager, Svengallop, was getting in the way and they couldn't hang out. However, I think that the episode could've benefited more from Applejack and Coloratura spending a little more time together and Applejack seeing personally how much she's changed.

Speaking of which, let's talk about Coloratura, or Rara as she's known. I do like the idea that while she has become a sensational singer, she still maintains a lot of her softer traits that Applejack said when they were fillies. Most episodes that follow the whole "friend becomes singer" plot line usually have them all the friends be extremely selfish and not caring at all. It's nice to see this change of pace from a plot like this. As far as her singing goes, Lena Hall, the VA for Rara,  does a fantastic job and I'd like to see her more on the show in the future.

Speaking of songs, we get three of them this week. I got to say, all three songs are really good and each have a different tone. One about what I think it supposed to be the Equestria National Anthem, the Razzle Dazzle song, and about Rara changing. Out of all three, I personally liked the second one more. I don't hate any of the songs, but I feel the Razzle Dazzle one was the best with its beat and the way Rara sounded. The songs are really well done though and each have a certain theme and use different genres of music which I like.

The antagonist in this episode is the manager of Rara, Svengallop. Much like the Hooffields and McColts from last week's episode, he's pretty much generic. However, I will give credit for him being a step up from the new characters we got last week. Unlike the two families, Svengallop is actually given more time on screen to develop his character. Granted he's more or less the standard manager keeping his agent on a short leash, but he does at least develop some character that he's somepony who only wants the perks of working with a star only. And at least unlike Sassy Sandals, he doesn't get a surprise face turn/redemption. It does open up the possibility of him maybe returning to have revenge against Rara or maybe Applejack.

The strongest point in this episode though has to be that Applejack really has some of the strongest character development. It's not just from the fact that we know more about her past as a filly, but that she has some strong development that highlights all her best traits. Since she represents the Element of Honesty, the way she thinks about helping her friend out is brilliant and does teach that the truth may hurt, but it can set you free as well. Having Applejack use her element representation like this was well done and shows that Applejack is willing to do whatever it takes to help her friends and show them the truth. It makes for some of the strongest Applejack development I've seen since Apple Family Reunion.

The Mane Attraction is definitely a step up from the last few episodes we had. The new character of Rara is nice and has some good character development in such short time. Applejack has some strong character development of her own and gets a good moment to shine. The songs are really well done and each one sounds unique from the other. About the only complaints I have is that I wish we had more bonding between Applejack and Rara, and the plot felt a little uneven in its pacing.

AKR really did a good job with her final episode on the show. Thank you, Rogers for all the hard work you've done. We will all miss you and went out with a bang.

Next week though, it's the finale. The ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny awaits as Starlight Glimmer makes her return. What is her ultimate motive? Why is she so obsessed with equality and taking cutie marks? Next week, all will be revealed in the season finale.

FINAL SCORE: 8.5 out of 10 (B+)