My Review of MLP: FIM season 8 episode 9: Non-Compete Clause · 10:52pm Sep 2nd, 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, folks! This is Mr. J back with another MLP episode review for today! This afternoon, I will be reviewing the ninth episode of season 8 entitled: "Non-Compete Clause". Guys, I say this with all my heart and soul...this is one of the worst episodes of the season. Oh my goodness, this episode was such a pain to sit through, and the fact that Rainbow Dash was part of this made it a lot worse. Both Rainbow and Applejack were absolutely unbearable and childish throughout this episode, and to add insult to injury, the Young Six were portrayed as mature and wise to realize when something was wrong and learned what not to do when working together.
The episode starts with Twilight announcing Fluttershy to be the Teacher of the Month for the millionth time before the latter was given an award for her best efforts. Rainbow and Applejack, on the other hand, started to get competitive, and each hoped to be the next teacher of the month. But when Twilight announced a field trip with the objective of teaching the importance of teamwork, both ponies volunteered--eager to get the next award. Fluttershy suggested they go together with the students, the idea of which pleased Twilight.
They hesitated at first but still accepted the task; Twilight believed that they would not be competitive during the field trip to which they promised they wouldn't. They still mischievously giggled...knowing that the challenge was on.
The way they argue and banter with each other was so annoying; girls, you are GROWN PONIES! This isn't high school or middle school! You are supposed to teach the students how to work together and how to solve problems as a group. Even worse, the writer of this episode apparently did not watch the season 1 episode "Fall Weather Friends" where Rainbow and Applejack learned their lesson about friendship being more important than competition. Thus, by returning to their old competitive nature, they regress as characters and put the Young Six in a position where they have to be the adults in the group.
Wouldn't it make more sense if the Young Six were the ones to compete with each other--to prove to their professors that only one of them is the best at working together, or solving problems, or doing some outdoor activities? It would've given Rainbow and Applejack the opportunity to show them where they're wrong and share with them the danger of being too competitive...knowing they made the same mistake a long time ago. Therefore, it would justify their position as teachers of the School of Friendship with the amount of experience they have.
But wait...we can't have good things like this! Let's just make these two into childish idiots with no sense of professionalism and humility.
Anyway, Rainbow and Applejack continuously bicker as to which activity is more appropriate for the field trip or who is more qualified to earn the Teacher of the Month award. Then later on, when Rainbow led the group on river-canoeing while arguing with Applejack, they crashed their boat against the rocks which almost got them all killed. Yona almost drowned due to her inability to swim, so the others had to rescue her. Hey, remember when Neighsay accused Twilight for hiring teachers who were irresponsible at their school? Well, it turns out he was right after all.
When she checked on their progress and discovered what happened, she scolded Rainbow and Applejack for their reckless competitiveness and declared to take over for the remainder of the trip. The latter promised to not be competitive anymore as well as to agree on everything they plan to do for the class.
Then it got even worse thereafter. They try to agree with each other on everything but unsuccessfully. Seeing they could not reach to an agreement, Yona leads the group out of frustration. Then when they reach to a ravine, the teachers build two bridges made out of wood and vines respectively.
Once again, they fail to agree which course of action they need to take next which results in the bridges falling apart and entrapping them in the mix thereof. Right below them was a river filled with deadly bite-acudas, so the students had to quickly plan out in rescuing their professors. They did so, and saved their lives--showing they learned something out of this mess of a field trip, no thanks to those two morons.
So they return back to the school, and the Young Six report to Twilight what they learned. They understood what not to do when working with others and complimented them for being good teachers...in a way. Then when Twilight reveals her knowledge they were still competitive which made the students learn by accident, Rainbow and Applejack resort to another argument as to whose fault it was. And the episode ends...just like that...did they not learn anything throughout this whole experience? Are they that daft?
This was a shit episode, and I cannot emphasize that enough. This gets an F. I'm pretty sure I said this before, and I'll say it again: what's the point in making the Young Six students if they're already learning so much about friendship...more so than the actual teachers themselves?! Screw this episode and toss it to the pits of Kaon.
Peace.
Those two are the perfect example when rivalries get completely unhealthy.
I knew from the start your review on this episode was going to be negative. Heck, I practically smelled it coming.
I agree with you whole-heartily on this. “Non-Compete Clause” is among the episodes I hated, because it basically regressed Rainbow Dash and Applejack for the sake of making the Student Six look good. That, and Ashleigh Ball’s performances as both characters in this episode was equally cringy and irritable.
Maybe it just me, but this episode is one of the prime example that Applejack and Rainbow Dash have the most unhealthy friendship in the main cast of Friendship is Magic
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And yet people ship them
As much as I like the Young Six, Season 8 making most of the Mane 6 so iffy to make the students look good is uh... not looking good for the students..
Honestly, this episode only enforced my support for Neighsay and this is a hill that I'm going to die on.
Good review!
This episode sucks. It's the 2nd Worst Episode of Season 8 that remakes Fall Weather Friends but dial up the obnoxious meter and make it intolerable to get through. This proved how unqualified the Mane 6 were for this job and the fact that neither Rainbow or AJ learn anything and continue to bicker annoyed the hell out of me.
My message to the MLP writing staff after watching this garbage:
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They should have gotten this as a response on their Twitter account.