Hm, Maybe I have to rewatch it to be sure. But I’m not too sure if I enjoyed this one like most of Season 4.

Okay first off, were the Cloudsdale team portrayed as jerks? Since that was the thing that I said would make or break the episode?

Well I think the answer is yes and no. Soarin’ was the absolute nicest of the three, Spitfire was kinda in the middle. She wasn’t too bad but she did try to persuade Rainbow Dash instead of showing concern for Soarin’. It seemed kinda like Fleetfoot was the jerk on the team, as not only does she probably try harder then Spitfire did to convince Rainbow to join the Cloudsdale team, she also tells Soarin’ who’s already a Wonderbolt to do better before he’s even injured (Though I suppose Fleetfoot was fine enough that she wasn’t too angry when Rainbow decided to join the Ponyville team anyway). What makes or break the episode for me ended up being a mixed bag, meaning I can’t exactly process how I feel about the episode after just one watch.

The ending was predictable, but pretty much if you know this show as soon as that synopsis was announced we knew what the ending was going to be. But hey we got another key to the box, we also got our first substantial appearance from Derpy in the longest time. And at least there was some sense put into this, as they answer why Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps were up for the Relay and not the other Ponyville Pegasi as the others were trying out for different events.

On the other hand it kinda bothered me that Rainbow’s idea for trying to get out was faking an injury which didn’t exactly fool the doctor in Read It and Weep when she tried a similar stunt yet she managed to do a similar bad acting job to fool both her friends and the Cloudsdale team (I think however this one strike against the people who think Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s Elements of Harmony should have been switched).

And it could be argued that the predictability of the episode was made easier as I was concerned about even if it wasn’t to the level that all of the Cloudsdale team are jerks. As it seemed to me that Rainbow finally decided Ponyville was her team because of how she found out the team didn’t check on Soarin and instead immediately made a push for Rainbow Dash. When the episode could of been a little more meaningful in showing that Ponyville is Rainbow Dash’s home now, and that’s what she wants to represent, plus a line that says Rainbow Dash would be looking forward more to competing with the Wonderbolts to see how she stacks up would not have hurt. But maybe that’s asking too specific for an ending. But it’d be a tad more meaningful and be less predictable then “The Cloudsdale team did something bad! I’m staying with my hometown’s team by default!”

Right now I’m thinking this episode and Castle-Mania are my least favorites of the Season. They have good moments in both, but the predictability works against these episodes more then usual. But I’m still feeling good about Season 4 in case you were worried about that. Rainbow Falls wasn’t my favorite but I still found enough to enjoy it over some of the more weaker episodes from the previous seasons. Plus I hope the matchup of Rainbow Vs. Spitfire in the Equestria Games is satisfying enough to make this episode all worth it. Next week we’re getting sick Discord. It’s much harder to predict an episode when Discord’s involved. I’m in particular waiting for that one, since in case you didn’t see the synopsis yet. It’s kinda like a role reversal of the Genie Sickness arc I had on this very blog where Genie Twilight was sick and she had to get Discord to help. I expect a lot of fun in the upcoming episode ^^