Daring Done? review

Hanging up the hat

These reviews do contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

In the past couple of seasons, we've seen Rainbow Dash continuously fangirl and be excited over Daring Do; adventurer extraordinaire. Whether it be her going to conventions and buying Daring Do body pillows, or meeting and going on adventures with Daring herself, Rainbow has been at the center of it all. Sometimes, those adventures can be great like Stranger Than Fan Fiction, or it could be dud and make Rainbow extremely annoying like in Daring Don't. Regardless, Rainbow Dash has always been one to have Daring Do's back in the end. Such is the case for another episode doing another pun based on the adventurer's name, Daring Done?.

When Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash read an article about A.K. Yearling, also known as Daring Do, announcing her retirement, the two head over to figure out what's going on. Upon arriving at her house, the two discover that Daring's confidence has been shattered because her recent adventure in Southern Equestria has gone badly from destroying marketplaces, to a statue being destroyed. With the ponies there hating her for what she's done, Daring is ready to abandon her adventurous ways, but Rainbow and Pinkie decide to help show her that she's done far more good than what other ponies think.

Going into this episode, I didn't think it was going to be a Pinkie and Rainbow team up episode. I knew Rainbow was going to be a part of it since every episode with Daring Do has her sharing the focus, but I was kind of hoping that Twilight, being a Daring Do fan herself, would be in on the fun, but sadly gets the shaft again. For the most part, it does play out well for both of them. It may be me, but I'm glad to see one of my favorite team ups show up again since we haven't seen Pinkie and Rainbow team up since season 5.

Rainbow, being how she usually is around Daring, is naturally worried about her favorite adventurer. To be honest, Rainbow isn't coming off as overly annoying again over Daring Do. She's trying to motivate Daring into going back to her adventuring ways. She stands up to Daring when she's feeling down and tries to convince others of her heroic actions. It's some pretty solid characterization for Rainbow to be like this and defend her friends to the end. However, there is one major hiccup to her character in this episode, and I'll get to that in a moment.

Pinkie feels...off in this episode. I feel like in this episode they were trying a little too hard in making Pinkie funny. Some of her jokes aren't bad, but some kind of feel either forced or just miss the mark completely. Like Rainbow in this episode though, Pinkie is around to cheer up Daring and try to help her go back to adventuring. As far as chemistry between her and Rainbow go, it's still solid and they both work well together again. They both want to get Daring back to what she does best, and show her she's still a great adventurer.

In terms of setup, this is actually kind of creative. We've always seen Daring Do be extremely confident in what she does, be able to pull off the impossible, and shrug off any danger. This episode though shows us a far more vulnerable side to Daring as she feels like a failure. This is the first time we see Daring actually fail and willing to give up.

One thing I will grant the episode credit for as well is the use of Daring do feeling remorseful about her own actions the consequences that follow from it. In a hotel she stays at, Daring inadvertently lead her foes to it and caused it to be ransacked. Another action being Daring a marketplace in town and destroying the stand during a fight. She even accidentally destroys a valuable statue. All of these actions, including ones she's been framed for, have shaken her confidence.

I do think this is something the show hasn't really done before. Seeing a hero and an icon struggle with how they've caused more damage and destruction then help is something the show hasn't really explored. It creates a bit of a dilemma about how Daring should act and what to do. This is actually a pretty mature element (not in that kind of way) to have in this show. Showing how our heroes struggle and cope with how their own heroism may have major consequences for others without realizing it. I have to applaud the show for adding something like that into an episode.

Daring Do episodes have always included some world building to an extent, and this episode doesn't disappoint. We get to see more of Equestria in an Egyptian-like village called, Somnambula. It's what you would really expect from a town in the desert; lots of stone buildings, bazaars with lots of ponies hanging out around them, and all the ponies dressing in some middle eastern like clothing. It may not be anything too big, but I always appreciate it when we get some world building around in Equestria and explore more cultures.

Unfortunately, the citizens of Somnambula could have benefited from some common sense and consistency. Throughout the episode, Rainbow is trying to convince the villagers that Daring isn't bad, but I think they have to be the most easily lead crowd I've seen in the show. I mean, I thought the citizens of Ponyville falling for the Flim Flam Bros. scheme in Leap of Faith were easy to lead, but this is nothing compared to that.

In one scene, Rainbow sees another pony talking to the villagers about how bad Daring Do is, and they agree. Rainbow comes in to aid Daring and tell them how she was saving the world, and suddenly start liking her. The hooded pony though comes in and tells them Daring Do is bad, and they immediately hate her. To be fair, Daring does admit she did cause trouble in Sombambula, so the villagers do have legitimate reason to hate her. However, there is something that I can't forgive them for. Again, I'll get to that in a moment.

During the trip into town, we do get to hear another legendary story that wasn't included in Campfire Tales; the legend of Somnambula. As far as the story goes, I think it's honestly the best one yet. The problem with all three stories from Campfire Tales was the pacing be askew. Here in this story, there's more buildup to it and the pacing actually feels fine. The story is simplistic for the most part, but still manages to have a lot of good elements in it.

Somnambula was once a town under the control of a sphinx. The sphinx wanted the village's crops for tribute, and to help out, Somnambula gave what she could to the villagers. Eventually, the pharaoh's son, Prince Hisan, decides to fight back only to be captured. Somnambula manages to convince the sphinx to let her solve the riddle, which she does. Then manages to make it across the goo pit without flying and being blindfolded to save the prince. There's a bit more world building in this story, some more mythological elements in it, and it gives us a bit more of a look into how some places came to be. Again, this is the kind of stuff I love to see in the show and always welcome.

Like our last outing with Daring Do, our villain for this episode is Dr. Cabelleron, who was that hooded pony condemning Daring Do. In all fairness, this is actually a pretty creative plan for the doctor. It's rare to see a villain decide to instead of attacking the hero directly through physical means, they use psychological methods to defeat them. He does manage to succeed in making Daring Do give up and break her confidence. Got to give credit where credit is due and applaud Caballeron's plan for working well.

However, points are taken off for his next part of his plan. After Cabelleron reveals himself to Rainbow,  he revels he caused some of the incidents and blamed Daring for it, including the theft of the Glowpaz necklaces. So to make sure he destroys Daring's confidence once and for all, he decides to capture Rainbow and lure Daring to a secret hideout. This is where the episode really starts to fall apart.

After Rainbow finds out the truth, Cabelleron has his henchmen capture Rainbow to lure out Daring. Rainbow's response to when the henchmen reveal themselves? She let's them capture her without so much as a fight. Yeah, I'm not even kidding. Rainbow Dash, the pony who is always ready for action, is taken captive without so much as a fight. She doesn't put up any kind of a fight at all. She doesn't even bother flying away when the henchmen slowly walk up to her!

Maybe you can argue that she was in shock to see Cabelleron and what he's done, but is Rainbow really like this at all? This is the same pony who is glowing with confidence and is as cocky as you can get. She's always ready to take on any kind of threat. She even tried to take on a dragon by herself in the first season without so much as hesitating. Yet, here she is being captured and doesn't even try to so much as struggle or resist. She just gets captured because the plot demands it.

You know, I get this whole thing was meant to give Daring some confidence to save Rainbow. They could've easily gotten around this whole problem of Rainbow being captured by having one of the henchmen sneak up and knock her out. Whether it be her being in the back of the head, or even chloroform to deal with Rainbow. Having Rainbow give up immediately and not try to fight is not only out of character for her, but it's just baffling that this was the choice they made. If they wanted to make Rainbow a captive, that's fine, but at least show her trying to fight before being taken down.

Cabelleron's plan also takes a bit of a dive as he captures Rainbow. After Rainbow is taken, he bounds her and has his henchmen take her away. You got to love how while he makes sure Rainbow can't fly or move, he never bothers to even gag her at all. This allows Rainbow to yell and cry for help as she is being taken away. Maybe this was meant by Cabelleron on purpose so Daring Do will hear her call for help, but this only raises more problems then. How about leaving a note or something at the ruins of the statue telling Daring to come to this place or her friend will suffer?

This also raises the question as to what the villagers are even doing. Rainbow Dash's cries for help should have caught the attention of the villagers. Cabelleron just walks casually through the town with his captive in tow, and nopony there even so much as sees it, let only hear Rainbow calling for help? What the Hell is wrong with this village? Are kidnappings just a common thing in this village? For a place that seems nice and is rather rich in culture and history, it's a pretty dark town if kidnappings are just a common thing and the villagers don't even bat an eye about it.

This all does lead to the place where Somnambula faced the sphinx to save the prince. It's basically the same circumstances as before with Rainbow being tied at the pillar over the green goo pit, and Daring and Pinkie having to save her. The only difference is no bridge this time. So how do Daring and Pinkie save Rainbow from the sinking pillar? Maybe some clever thinking to swoop in and get her? Nope. Daring and Pinkie just take a leap of faith, and some steam vents carry them to where Rainbow is.

I guess this was supposed to be some sort of tie in to how to "not lose hope", but this is pushing it. Even ignoring how these steam vents, which weren't in the legendary story mind you, could do that, how does that even relate to hope? It's a blind leap of faith that somehow ties into how Daring shouldn't lose hope. For that matter, what were these steam vents doing in this pit of goo? Were they to keep the goo warm or something? Even for the show itself, this rescue makes little sense with how it's played out.

Eventually, Cabelleron is exposed for what he did by stealing the glowpaz necklaces and runs off again. To conclude things, Daring does an honorable act by paying back all the damages her adventure in Somnambula caused. It brings her character arc to a close by deciding to continue adventuring, but also keep in mind the damages she may have left behind. I don't know how she was able to make another Somnambula statue, or have it delivered, but then again, this episode did make me question how nopony saw or heard Rainbow calling for help when being kidnapped. So who knows?

Daring Done? is another solid Daring Do episode, but it's a step down from our previous outing with this adventurous pony. Most of the episode is done well with solid characterization for everyone (although Pinkie was a bit off in this episode), a good story about Daring and some of her own struggles, and some more world building. However, as soon as Cabelleron reveals himself to Rainbow, it all starts to fall apart.

I will credit to the episode for the idea of Daring feeling remorseful for her own actions she caused in Somnambula. It's something we don't see too much in kid's shows these days. It took a risk doing so, and I think it was pulled off well in the end. Daring Do does have a good character arc as a result of this plot element in the episode. The cherry on top was that she went about giving a lot of bits to the places she brought ruin to from the hotel to the village of Somnabula itself.

Rainbow and Pinkie both play their parts well. With Rainbow being the motivator and keeping Daring's spirit up when things are down. Pinkie, despite some of her jokes missing the mark, does her best to help Daring out as well, and does play part in the climax with convincing Daring to go to the rescue. It's just good to see this team up again after long time of being out of the spotlight.

The story about Somnambula is done really well and mixes in some history with a bit of mythology in it. It's probably my favorite legendary story since I feel it had some better pacing with its story and building stuff up. Whereas in Campfire Tales, the three stories felt rushed to an extent. Still, it's good to have some world building around Equestria and get to see the first desert town (I'm not counting Appleoosa).

The third act though is where things start to fall apart. From the villagers being easily led about their feelings on Daring Do, to them not noticing a kidnapping, and some other details. Rainbow being captured so easily is probably the biggest sin in this episode. They really could've gone for Rainbow being attacked and taken captive. Having her just give up without trying feels like a betrayal to the character. She doesn't even say something like, "You'll never get away with this!" or something to show she isn't going down easy.

Add on top of that, the citizens of Somnambula being so nonchalant about kidnapping, which leads to some serious dark implications about this town. The rescue itself and the climax really don't make sense in the grand scheme of things. Even with the intention of it being about not giving up hope, this was really stretching it for the show. It's just a bizarre thing to see that some out of place steam vents somehow saved the day.

As far as ranking goes, this episode is squarely in the middle. I'd say it's below Triple Threat in terms of where it stands. It's a good episode, but doesn't it's a step down from Stranger Than Fan Fiction. The story is solid all around with good characterization for those involved. There's a good character arc for Daring Do about her own struggles about how much damage she causes to the places she goes to. Cabelleron's plan is cunning and he does deserve credit for his methods.

It's just a shame the third act is where things take a dive and that it brings it down as a result. Some tweaks here and there could've benefited the episode and made it better. By no means is this a bad episode, but the third act does bring down the episode somewhat. Still, it's another solid adventure episode for Daring Do that is going on despite its flaws.


FINAL SCORE: 7.5 out of 10 ( B )

Season seven episode ranking list from best to worst:

The Perfect Pear
A Royal Problem
Parental Glideance
Rock Solid Friendship
Flurry of Emotions
Discordant Harmony
To Change a Changeling
Triple Threat
Daring Done? (NEW)
Campfire Tales
Celestial Advice
Forever Filly
All Bottled Up
Fame and Misfortune
Hard to Say Anything
Not Asking for Trouble
Fluttershy Leans In
Honest Apple