My Review of MLP: FIM season 8 episode 12 Marks for Effort · 8:39pm Sep 23rd, 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 the twelfth episode of season eight entitled “Marks for Effort”. Now this episode wasn’t that particularly bad, surprisingly enough. In fact, I find it to be quite unique when it comes to experiencing friendship and imparting it to another. This also shows us the Cutie Mark Crusaders being taken to a whole new level via character development. However, it has some serious issues and wasted potential that prevents it from being perfect.
The episode starts with the CMCs peeking at the School of Friendship classes. They are so eager to take these friendship classes as they are incredibly bored with Cheerlilee’s class. Thus, they sneak into Twilight’s class and beg to be students there.
But after Twilight denies them, they each attempt to convince their older sisters to bring them to the school, but all their efforts were likewise unsuccessful. Thus, they debate as to what to do next in order to become official students at the School of Friendship. Suddenly, they hear someone crying not far from them; as they look outside their treehouse, they see a random filly weeping next to a tree.
Thus, we are now introduced to this bitch…Cozy Glow.
Oooooohhhhh boyyy…*breathes in and out, restraining my rage*… I’m gonna try so hard not to roast this piece of shit and just focus on her “character arc” in this debut of hers. You guys know very well how much I hate her and that I’ve hated her ever since this episode aired.
Now, right off the bat, she gave so much sus vibes. Her character design alone—especially her eyes—scream deception and evil. The way she was talking to the CMCs was a dead giveaway; it heavily implied that she came to the School of Friendship for some hidden agenda and nothing else.
Although one might assume that she came to the school because she genuinely wanted to learn about friendship; after all, she wanted friendship but didn’t know how to utilize it in her own way. So by learning more about friendship, she can twist it to suit her own needs and gain control through social conduct.
Hmm…I doubt an average viewer may get all that information through this one episode alone. But enough theory time! Back to the episode!
The girls offer to help her learn about friendship by practically showing her the ropes. They assist her in helping other ponies with their chores, recover a kite for a colt, learn what the elements of harmony mean, and so forth. So no, Cozy, magic doesn’t mean control. Definitely not foreshadowing or anything. ;)
But then later on, it is revealed that Cozy failed her friendship test and ran off crying her eyes out. The girls are surprised by this, and they are directly escorted by Twilight herself straight to her office.
Now, this is the very scene that got the vast majority of the fandom angry—that being Twilight rashly scolding and accusing the fillies for apparently sabotaging Cozy’s success on the friendship test out of spite. The girls explain that they taught her all the right lessons, but Twilight refutes them by showing them the wrong answers Cozy wrote on the test.
Mmm, yeah, this isn’t a great scene, I’m afraid. Now, listen, there is only one thing Twilight did right: bringing the CMCs to question because they were Cozy’s tutors to help her prepare for the test. Twilight was trying to fulfill her duty as the principal without letting nepotism cloud her judgment—although she already has some of her closest friends who are unqualified for the position of teachers, but I digress.
But here is the part where Twilight is wrong: she automatically assumed the worst of the CMCs without ever taking into account that Cozy could have been lying. Not to mention that Twilight has known the fillies for a long time up until this point and that they would never do something this malicious, so why would she falsely accuse them for something which even they were clueless about? I believe Twilight should have taken both the CMCs and Cozy in her office together so that they can both explain each other’s side of the story to her in elaborate detail.
The girls could have mentioned that Cozy helped other ponies complete their duties thanks to the lessons they taught her. The writers really didn’t need to drag on this drama for the sake of it. So I can understand why people would be upset by Twilight’s actions and consider her choice to banish the girls from ever entering her school to be severely out of character.
But this isn’t the only thing I have a problem with; the CMCs barely put any effort in defending themselves and fully explaining what actually happened. They basically said, “We didn’t screw her up! Oh wait, she wrote those silly answers? That’s weird…” If they didn’t wanna argue with Twilight because she’s the principal, that’s understandable. But if they know they’re not in the wrong, then they should have tried harder in defending themselves.
Speaking of which, don’t you think it’s a bit weird they weren’t angry with Cozy or Twilight for how they were treated at the end? I’ve read some fanfics on this site where the girls get mad at Twilight and Cozy and decide to stop being friends with them for a period of time. Honestly, it would’ve been a more realistic outcome. Because if I found out someone threw me under the bus after everything I did for them even if they had good intentions, they will get a berating of a lifetime. I’ll tell ya that right now.
So the fact that the girls quickly forgave Cozy (or rather silently forgave her) after she explained herself was just strange to me. I get that forgiveness is a huge part of friendship, but a blow like that should’ve made them upset with her for taking their trust for granted and upset with Twilight for falsely accusing them of an offense of which they’re innocent.
Let’s say this episode ends on a cliffhanger with the girls not accepting Twilight’s apology gift and they sware to not talk to her again. What do you guys think about that? Would you prefer that or the happy ending we all got?
If Cozy wasn’t built up to be the villain for the finale, this episode could’ve been a great start for her individual character arc in trying to understand how friendship works as opposed to her flawed understanding of what friendship is. But I feel like the writers played it safe because they didn’t want to take risks. That would explain why episodes like this tend to be lackluster.
So yeah, in the end, Starlight helps her after she reveals that she failed her test on purpose. She told Twilight about the CMCs giving her the wrong answers to show that they too needed to learn about friendship so they can go to school together. So after getting everything set up for the CMCs to return, the Mane Six and Spike give them honorary diplomas as official graduates of the school without having to attend the institution. Heh, heh, heh, that’s not how that works, but whatever. Friendship is magic, friendship is magic. 🙄
In conclusion, this had a lot of potential for an interesting storyline but it ended up having some…controversial drama and a bullshit ending. I will personally grade it with a C-. Like I said, it wasn’t all that bad, but it could’ve been one of the best episodes of the season if it weren’t for its infamous issues.
Peace!
I had a feeling something about Cozy was untrustworthy... I just wasn't expecting her to be the main villain
Looking back on your reviews of the CMC’s appearances in both Seasons 8 & 9 (outside of “Surf and/or Turf”), I’m starting to think that the Cutie Mark Crusaders may have been among the characters who were getting the worst of it.
Yeah I knew Cozy Glow was acting Sus when I first watched this episode.