My Review of MLP: FIM season 8 episode 4 Fake It ‘Til You Make It · 7:29pm Jul 6th, 2023
Grading Scale:
A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)
Greetings, everyone. This is Mr. J back with another MLP episode review for today. This afternoon, I will be reviewing “Fake It ‘Til You Make It” which is the fourth episode of season 8. I recently re-watched this episode on YouTube, and it is honestly one of the more acceptable and serviceable episodes of the season. I mean, it has some eye-rolling moments here and there, but it is still one of the most tolerable episodes of the whole series. How decent is this episode? Let’s take a closer look at it, shall we?
We see Fluttershy having a nice picnic with her beloved animal friends. Then Rarity shows up with great distress on her face; she tells Fluttershy that the Canterlot Royal Fashion show is taking place soon, and she is having difficulty with making a centerpiece dress of a collection she plans to debut shortly. She, Sassy Saddles, and her boutique assistants have to be there at the fashion show, but Rarity For You will be left with no employees to run it while she’s gone. Therefore, she asks Fluttershy to help her out.
The pegasus is surprised at how she of all ponies is selected for this task. Rarity nervously tells her that she tried asking everyone else…but they all say no for various reasons. Not sure why the Cutie Mark Crusaders were among those ponies but whatever.
Fluttershy agrees to help her out, and they both go to Rarity For You to make some preparations. Rarity tells her that three fashion sections—chic, classic, and modern—must all be handled carefully. Once a customer shows up, the pegasus practices her salespony skills. But the moment the customer displays their strong Manehatten personality, she breaks down. So Rarity attends to the customer’s needs and advises her friend to not be timid. She even goes far in saying that clothes make the pony. Thus, she has Fluttershy dress up in a new work attire to get into her role—especially as a way for her to access her inner strength.
And boy, did she take that in a whole new level. Not only did she create her sophisticated, haughty persona but also her Valley girl and Goth personalities! And I’m like: “Wow! There is more to her than meets the eye!”
That is something I’m sure we all have deep down inside our hearts. We may normally be an approachable, accommodating type of people, but we all have an inner personality that we either don’t know we have or we just hide until a special occasion presents itself. I mean, the way Fluttershy went deeper into her characters was absolutely flawless. Even though it worked for her for a while, she sadly took it way too far.
As she was doing her business, she proceeded to insult her customers and their fashion tastes with zero hesitation…something that even concerned her raccoon friends. The moment they made very minor mistakes, she snapped at them and called them rodents. They get offended and rushed to the School of Friendship to call Twilight and the others for help.
Spike and the Mane Four are shocked at what the raccoons revealed to them, and they attempt to reason with her to stop driving her customers away with her arrogant personality. Her characters still hold nothing back from driving them away and managed to pretend that she’s seeing the error of her ways. Thinking they got through to her, her friends rejoice to see their real friend back…only for her to slam the door shut. Honestly, that was kinda funny. Not gonna lie.
Then they went to the Canterlot Royal Fashion Show and informed Rarity of everything Fluttershy has been doing at Rarity For You. Flabbergasted at the news, she runs back with them and sees all the damage she has done. Furious with her attitude and demeanor, she fires Fluttershy…three times in a row!! Haha! Ha, how can Fluttershy teleport from one frame to another, from one place to another?! Did Discord grant her chaos magic?! How can she do that?!
So yes, Fluttershy sees the error of her ways (for real) and apologizes for her actions. Rarity reminds her that tapping to her inner strength while still REMAINING as her true self is the best way to go. They hug it out, have a great fashion show, blah, blah, blah, friendship is magic. Honestly, I tend to be annoyed seeing all that stuff. I’m sorry, it’s just so annoying. I’m not joking.
Warrior of Inner Strength, ladies and gentlemen! And honestly, Fluttershy fits that description more than anyone else. Why? Because as the Element of Kindness, she embodies it perfectly despite her flaws. And I’m proud to consider her as one of my favorite victi—I mean, ponies. I truly do like her.
*Ahem* Yes, so I kinda like this episode. Not great or anything, but it’s definitely above average to say the least. So I’ll give it a solid C+. Will I watch it again? Eh, only on occasion.
Peace out.
Something, something, Batman trilogy. XP
Also...
Think this might be what Skillet's Monster...and now Psycho in My Head songs are referencing. ...but yeah, it's funny how much the series loved to give Fluttershy alternate forms, though granted here it's more in personality than physically. No wonder she was perfect to tame Discord, she secretly has a chaotic side.
Got to admit, her acting skills were impressive.
For me, this episode was quite honestly one of the best to be made after the 2017 MLP movie. It was funny, well-written, had a great moral, and the characters were faithfully portrayed.
Whenever I look back on the episode as a whole, I can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t released as something taking place before the film, and whether Hasbro could possibly reconfigure the episode as such in the future.