It Isn't the Mane Thing About You review

Bad Mane Day

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

It Isn't the Mane Thing About You brings us something that I'm surprised has taken us this long to get to; the "bad hair day" plot. While not an extremely common type of story, it's still something most shows do within the first few seasons. To be fair, most of these types of stories I've seen on other cartoons have worked pretty well. The Powerpuff Girls (the original one mind you; not that awful revival) and Littlest Pet Shop just to name a few. These kinds of stories aren't bad, but most of them do follow a bit of a predictable kind of set up, with the exception being The Powerpuff Girls one. Regardless, with such a story about a "bad hair day" kind of story, it was only natural that Rarity take center stage for this kind of plot.

Rarity is preparing for a fashion shoot, but when her mane gets messy thanks to Pinkie Pie, she has to find a way to get the gunk out. They both go to Zecora's hut and she gives them each the potion they need; a potion for removing magic and a shampoo for getting the gunk out. When the potions accidentally get switched though, Rarity finds her mane to be a total mess, and now has to find a way to fix it before the shoot happens.

Already, this episode is falling into one of the most common types of elements with the "bad hair day" scenario; a big event. Like a lot of these stories, there's always that big event where our main character has to take part in it and worries about fixing things. In this case, it's a photo shoot for Rarity. It's not really a bad thing at all, but it's one of the more predictable elements in these kinds of stories. So most likely, you already know where this story is heading and the hijinks that are to ensue.

The episode itself actually has a feeling that this was something you'd see from the first few seasons of the show. However, unlike earlier this season with Honest Apple attempting to be an episode trying to recapture the feel of the first two to three seasons, this one does work out a lot better in my eyes. There's a charm to the episode without the conflict or plot getting overly complicated or confusing. It's simply a story about Rarity wanting to fix her mane and that's it. It also helps that unlike Honest Apple, it's not running under some idiot plot with a lot of things making no sense or leaving huge plot holes.

Throughout the episode, Rarity's constantly worrying about her ruined mane, and while one stallion and filly seem freaked out about Rarity's mane, nopony else seems to care at all. Some do get a look at her, but they don't seem very bothered by it. I do applaud the episode for avoiding something this kind of story is guilty of; making fun of the character with the bad hair.

In almost every episode like this, a group of people constantly heckle and laugh at the character, which results in a bit of annoyance and feels like torture to an extent. The episode thankfully avoids that kind of trap and the townsponies don't do that. Sure they may be surprised by Rarity's look, but at least they aren't putting her through the wringer needlessly. It feels like a breath of fresh air after seeing this so much in every other episode with this kind of plot.

This episode doesn't fall into all the cliches involving the "bad hair day" scenario. We still have Rarity frantically trying to fix her mane before the shoot, but nothing about how the event organizer is pressuring Rarity or wanting to see her. It follows a lot of the basic stuff you would expect from someone trying to grow their hair back. Honestly though, with how Rarity was able to make a wig for Cranky Doodle Donkey, I have to wonder why Rarity didn't bother doing that first. Maybe it's because Photo Finish would've noticed and think something was wrong with Rarity's mane, but I think she could've tried to at least make something closer to how her mane looked.

This does bring up the episode's biggest problem. Some of the things feel, for a lack of better term, forced for the sake of the plot. The first instance is with Zecora and about her potions. Both the potions she made for Pinkie and Rarity look the same and she even puts both of them next to each other; thus making them easy to mix up. Zecora blames Rarity for taking the wrong potion, but shouldn't Zecora get some of the blame for not bothering to even label the potions? She had time to tell some story about hair going wrong, but yet couldn't bother to take a quill and write what potion was what.

Also, despite the fact that the synopsis has Zecora mentioned in it, she doesn't play much of a role in this episode. I was hoping with some of the scenes in this episode that she would play some bigger role with the conflict, but sadly doesn't. It's pretty disappointing that once again Zecora is given the shaft and doesn't do much in this episode; despite how it looked she would play some role in the resolution. At least next week's episode is looking to be more focused on Zecora, but we'll see about that.

The next issue lies with Twilight and Starlight. Rarity goes to them in hopes that they can grow her mane back in time for the shoot. However, for some reason other than the plot demanding it, they can't do anything about it. Which I have to call bull crap on because this is Twilight and Starlight we're talking about here, two of Equestria's most powerful mages here, and they can't grow hair back at all? It's even stranger when you consider Twilight was able to give Spike a mustache from way back in the first season.

It's especially baffling considering that Starlight, who rivals Twilight in terms of magical powers, can't do this. I mean, you look at all the stuff she's done in the past and you got to question how she can't do something like hair magic. So Starlight can fly around without wings, mind control ponies, change cutie marks (including the Royal Sisters), and many other types of powerful magic. But the moment she's asked to grow hair she suddenly can't do it? I have a hard time believing Starlight can't do that; especially after all we've seen her pull off. I mean, at least with this contrivance, it does even out Starlight and make her not seem as extremely OP.

Forced plot points aside, the story itself actually doesn't manage to fall into a lot of the cliches of the "bad hair day" kind of story. A good portion of the story does focus on the upcoming photo shoot, but it also gives some focus on Rarity's character. Throughout the episode, we see how Rarity's day goes without her mane. Despite the praise she got in the beginning about advice to others, she's completely ignored and nopony even recognizes her, despite sounding exactly the same. So it's another case of the townsponies being dickish for really no reason.

Rarity herself feels a lot better off in this episode then how she's been in the last few episodes with her having a major focus. One of the problems I've had with Rarity as of late is that her character has felt inconsistent or just dumb. This was more evident in Honest Apple as she was acting like an idiot and blamed Applejack for her own failure. Here in this episode, it feels like a breath of fresh air for Rarity. She's more like her generous and kind self we've seen in the episode. At the start of the episode, she gives out tips and ideas to other ponies. She's helpful towards others and generally feels like her old self to some extent.

Rarity's friends also come to her aid, which was a bit of a surprise since they were absent for half of the episode. However, they all come together and come up with their own creative ways to help Rarity's messed up mane. The best one easily was Rainbow's with the cloud mane and makes me think that Rainbow is really good at styling manes to make it work. It's nice to see them all come together and just help out Rarity and they all try to make her feel better. Even Starlight doesn't hog the focus and shares some of the inspirational speech the group give to Rarity.

Though I'm disappointed that Spike only gets one scene with no dialogue and doesn't even bother to help or interact with Rarity at all. I was kind of hoping for some scenes about him checking up on Rarity the whole time. We could've had him try to make Rarity feel better in his own way like making a wig for her or something. Sadly though, he gets one scene and no interaction with Rarity. It's a really big wasted opportunity to see him interact with her more.

There's some character development though for Rarity. In the episode, she weeps about how she's nothing without her mane and has lost her confidence with how she's being ignored. Through her friends, she does see that her mane wasn't what made her so good, but her own skills and accomplishments. It's some solid character development for Rarity. It's helped by how she manages to turn her ruined mane into a rock star look; thus giving us Rarity as a punk rock star.

What else works in this episode is the comedy shining here. Rarity's freakouts are pretty much the one thing that's consistently funny. Through the episode, her freakouts gets more and more dramatic until she breaks down at the end. It's helped by some of Pinkie's antics in the episode, though she doesn't get a lot of screen time in this episode. Really the episode is driven a lot more through Rarity's freakouts and the visuals of Rarity's insane faces and the various types of manes Rarity tries out.

Of course everything does work out in the end as Rarity's punk rock star look ends up being a huge hit. Though it's kind of odd how it's implied several months passed by and only now do we get to see the magazine only appears now with Rarity taking up the cover. To be fair, Photo Finish was going around Equestria to choose the best mane. I don't think it takes that long to decide on something like that, but I'm not a fashion expert. But at least Rarity' new mane style has caught on. It kind of makes me a bit sad she got her old mane back because she was really rocking that punk look.

While it does fall into some of the cliches of the "bad hair day" type of story, It Isn't the Mane Thing About You does manage to stand on its own merits. Usually, these kinds of episodes follow a pretty simplistic and often predictable type of story, but this episode takes a few chances and does spice it up a bit. I'll give it credit for not focusing completely on the photo shoot and giving some focus on some character development for Rarity in the episode.

The characterization for Rarity feels a lot better then her previous outing earlier this season. In fact, everypony feels in character for the most part. Despite my own issues with how Starlight and Twilight couldn't do hair magic for some reason, I do give it credit for at least not making Starlight even more OP than she already is. I have to admit though that it's disappointing that Zecora just disappears around the third act of the episode and doesn't do much but get the conflict going.

The episode's biggest problem is that some things felt forced for the sake of the plot. Zecora was just dumb in not labeling her potions. Twilight and Starlight somehow not being able to do hair magic feels like a forced contrivance for the sake of the plot. However, these things aren't big detractors or ruin the episode. They do though feel like these things were forced for the plot to work instead of it feeling a bit natural. I honestly think the whole Twilight and Starlight thing could've been fixed is if they didn't appear and were away on business. I could at least buy that instead of them being unable to do hair magic, despite how powerful both of them are.

The comedy is spot on for the most part as it relies on Rarity's descent into madness and the visual gags with Rarity's face does help. The moral about "shining on the inside" is handled well for the most part and I do love how Rarity turned a bad situation into something golden. I have to admit that between Rarity rocking out on that ukulele and the punk rock star look, I'm really hoping we get an episode maybe next season about Rarity either starting a rock band or joining one. Either one would work and be metal as f**k.

This episode definitely ranks among the top of the season and feels like one of Rarity's best episodes in a while. This one doesn't quite edge out Rock Solid Friendship due to some forced elements, but it's a very solid episode nonetheless. It does have problems with how some elements were forced to work in the episode, but it doesn't outweigh the positives. The writing is sharp for the most part with everyone having solid characterization. The jokes are pretty funny for the most part; even if it's relying on Rarity's freakouts mostly. The moral about "shining on the inside" is handled well, and I liked how Rarity's creativity "fixed" her mane. It even has several call backs to earlier episodes ranging from this season to back to the pilot itself.

As an episode that does feel like it's recapturing some elements of the first few seasons, I feel like this episode pulls it off well with everything done. It doesn't fall into a lot of the traps involving the "bad hair day" plot and manages to give a bit of a twist with it. I could see something like this working in the first few seasons of the show, but even late into the show, this episode pulls off the charm and feel of it well. If Honest Apple was a bad early season episode, then it's safe to say that It Isn't the Mane Thing About You feels like a good one. Ironically, both of them star Rarity in it, but at least she shine brightly in this episode unlike the former episode.

FINAL SCORE: 8.5 out of 10 ( B+ )

Season seven episode ranking list from best to worst:

The Perfect Pear
A Royal Problem
Parental Glideance
Rock Solid Friendship
It Isn't the Mane Thing About You (NEW)
Flurry of Emotions
Discordant Harmony
To Change a Changeling
Triple Threat
Daring Done?
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