My God, this season constantly manages to out-stupid itself and give me something else to hate about it...
Daring Doubt
Written by Nicole Dubuc
Seriously, what this episode is telling me is that Dr. Caballeron, one of Daring Do's greatest archenemies, is misunderstood? After four episodes prior to this one across eight seasons, all of a sudden, his villainy does not matter anymore and instead, he's a mere researcher? That's literally what people accuse Garble's twist "misunderstood character" status from Sweet and Smoky as being; something pulled out of the writers' collective ass just to allow the story to happen! At least Garble had somewhat of an excuse (though he still should've been shown apologizing to Spike, but I digress).
They even double down on that godawful twist by calling Ahuizotl misunderstood by trying to protect his jungle and the artifacts that Daring Do and Caballeron take from him. Ahuizotl tried to kill Daring Do several times during the course of the books, especially in Daring Don't back in season four, his last appearance, where he almost caused the world to burn for 800 years! How is that misunderstood?
The continuity overall with past episodes is just a mess. Ignoring that A) this episode will likely pander to the Daring Do/Caballeron shippers (yes, they do exist), B) the twist with Caballeron is Groom Q. Q. Martingale is blatantly obvious, and C) Fluttershy's interest in Daring Do seems to come from nowhere, how did the ponies of Equestria not learn back in Fame and Misfortune that A. K. Yearling was Daring Do herself? The Friendship Journal's been out for at least a couple of years, so you'd think they'd have learned about that by now!
Also, the plot is basically Daring Done? (only it was Caballeron trying to tell his side of the story, which makes it worse) mashed up with The Hooffields and McColts (Fluttershy involvement by helping both sides understand each other). I know you're probably sick of hearing me talk about that, but believe me; I'm sick of talking about it as well. If you're low on ideas, take a break for a while and refresh your mind.
Seriously, this was a terrible way to conclude the Daring Do saga. And when the only character that's actually well written is Fluttershy, a character who's never been involved in a Daring Do episode, then you really have a problem.
They even double down on that godawful twist by calling Ahuizotl misunderstood by trying to protect his jungle and the artifacts that Daring Do and Caballeron take from him. Ahuizotl tried to kill Daring Do several times during the course of the books, especially in Daring Don't back in season four, his last appearance, where he almost caused the world to burn for 800 years! How is that misunderstood?
The continuity overall with past episodes is just a mess. Ignoring that A) this episode will likely pander to the Daring Do/Caballeron shippers (yes, they do exist), B) the twist with Caballeron is Groom Q. Q. Martingale is blatantly obvious, and C) Fluttershy's interest in Daring Do seems to come from nowhere, how did the ponies of Equestria not learn back in Fame and Misfortune that A. K. Yearling was Daring Do herself? The Friendship Journal's been out for at least a couple of years, so you'd think they'd have learned about that by now!
Also, the plot is basically Daring Done? (only it was Caballeron trying to tell his side of the story, which makes it worse) mashed up with The Hooffields and McColts (Fluttershy involvement by helping both sides understand each other). I know you're probably sick of hearing me talk about that, but believe me; I'm sick of talking about it as well. If you're low on ideas, take a break for a while and refresh your mind.
Final Thoughts
The writing for this season is just unacceptable at times. If they're not destroying one of the main characters to the point you want them dead, they're throwing continuity out the window. If it's not that, they're rewriting characters just to suit the plot. If it's not that, they're throwing away what made these characters popular to fans. And if it's not that, they're reusing the theme about communication and understanding both sides, something this show has already done multiple times!Seriously, this was a terrible way to conclude the Daring Do saga. And when the only character that's actually well written is Fluttershy, a character who's never been involved in a Daring Do episode, then you really have a problem.
Rating: Atrocious (-8/10)
This is a reason FiM went extremely downhill, don't force reformations/redemptions on villains who have proven to not have any of those qualities themselves, God, this is almost just like Starlight's half-assed reformation in Cutie Re-Mark (where the show jumped the shark, tripped over a cliff and never recovered in my opinion) even, seeing how they just tacked a half-assed twist of her being "misunderstood" (when in reality she's just a bully who stays that way because everyone adapts to her instead of standing up to her) to try to get us to sympathize with her.
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