On Your Marks Review · 5:34pm Apr 9th, 2016
Now it's on to our first CMC episode of the new season, and much like how "Bloom and Gloom" set up the next phase for the CMC last season, this season sets up the phase for the CMC now that they've gotten their cutie marks. Keep in mind that they expressed their boredom in "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows", so this isn't out of nowhere. The writer for this episode is one of the only veteran writers from Season 1 left on the show right now, Dave Polsky. Last season, he wrote "Appleloosa's Most Wanted" and "Sisterhooves Social", and two seasons ago he gave us "Twilight Time" and "For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils", so with Amy Keating Rogers' departure he was definitely the next best pick for this episode. However, his collab efforts have been mixed, he hastily rewrote Merriweather Williams' "Spike At Your Service" after Meghan felt Rarity was too mean in the original draft, but when he was paired up with Teddy Anotonio (who was apparently a 15 year old Brony at the time) he churned out a pretty solid episode in the form of "Keep Calm and Flutter On". Why do I bring this up, you ask? Because just like the previous episode, Josh Haber helped pen the story (kind of hope he doesn't do this all season, Dave could've handled this episode on his own).
Anyway, how well did Dave do here, especially since he had Josh Haber helping him out? Was he able to pull off another "For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils" or "Sisterhooves Social", a more mixed bag like "Twilight Time", or a blunder like "Appleloosa's Most Wanted"? Well, let's find out.
We begin with the first post marked Cutie Mark Crusaders episode, and common fandom speculation is that this episode takes place right after "The One Where Pinkie Pie Kows", which would make sense. Anyway, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are distracted by their new cutie marks, and they seem a bit "too" obessed with them.
Apple Bloom eventually snaps them out of it, and after forgetting that they already have their cutie marks, the CMC begin to wonder what they should do next. In a case of "selective amenisa" they forget that there were some things they did as blank flanks that didn't involve trying to get their cutie marks, but decide they'll focus on helping other ponies get their cutie marks or figure out the problem with their cutie mark, as it was what led to them getting their marks.
However, it seems that nopony needs any help figuring out what their cutie mark means. Even ponies like Big Macintosh, the mayor, and Filthy Rich seem pretty content with their cutie marks (Filthy Rich and Big Macintosh make sense, there was always the possibility Diamond Tiara wasn't the only one in her family suffering from not knowing what her cutie mark meant, and Big Macintosh has always been one to keep his problems to himself). And the only ponies that might have reason to worry about being blank flanks are the Cake Twins, and they're not old enough to worry about cutie marks. Just as the CMC are about to give up (after Scootaloo makes an offhoofed remark about why they worried so much about getting their cutie marks in the first place, even if the source of the problem no longer exisits), they find Bulk Biceps moping about on the playground. He has a cutie mark problem, stemming from the fact that he's lifted every dumbbell in Ponyville. Apparently, he didn't pass the Wonderbolt Academy, and his career as a massage therapist didn't work out.
The CMC easily solve Bulk Biceps problem by telling him to lift other things, and teach other ponies how to lift things. This causes Apple Bloom to worry that the CMC won't have anything to do since they can easily solve cutie mark problems, and suggests that they expand their search to all of Equestria. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle object, and suggest they just do things for the fun of it, not because it'll get them a cutie mark. Scootaloo tries to teach Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle how to scoot, using a daredevil track she set up at Sweet Apple Acres, but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle reasonably decide not to risk it. Sweetie Belle suggests they try singing, but it seems Scootaloo can't carry a tune all that well (guess her singing still needs some work, or she's out of practice), and neither can Apple Bloom. And Apple Bloom tries to teach Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle how to make potions at Zecora's hut, but they only succeed in blowing up their pots and getting ash in their face. So, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo propose that the CMC go their seperate ways and do things on their own for a change, each of them doing what they like doing individually. But Apple Bloom doesn't have any ideas about what she could do on her own.
This leads us to our first song of the new season, "On My Own", and it does make sense that Apple Bloom would struggle with finding something she could do on her own. Even when she wasn't crusading, she was always doing something with her family or her friends. During this song, we get a cameo from Tree Hugger, who apparently likes to pose for artists.
At last, Apple Bloom decides to try her luck at dancing, but apparently she has four left hooves and keeps bumping into the other dancers. The dance instructor recommends that Apple Bloom be a solo act, but Apple Bloom (who was hoping for a partner to perform with) walks out. This prompts a shy little colt suffering from stage fright to talk to Apple Bloom and recommend that she keep trying. Apple Bloom, caught up in herself, fails to notice an obvious cutie mark problem, and goes back to the clubhouse to sulk. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo arrive, both of them excited about their own individuals pursutes (bungie jumping for Scootaloo, and croteching for Sweetie Belle). Upon opening the clubhouse door, however, they come across a rather grouchy Apple Bloom channeling some of the passive agressivness of her distant cousin.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo talk some sense into Apple Bloom, reminding her that they'll still be together even if they don't do everything together anymore. They also encourage her to try dancing again, and this causes Apple Bloom to remember the colt from earlier. With the help of the CMC, he's able to overcome his performance anxiety and pull off some impressive dance moves (he even pulls off a bit of parkouring) which gives him his cutie mark. After thanking Apple Bloom and her friends for their help, he encourages her to keep dancing since she can only get better. The episode ends with the CMC agreeing to try things on their own just for the fun of it, but they'll still hang out.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, despite a few moments where it seemed to be forgetting past episodes, this episode was pretty good for the first CMC episode following "Crusaders of The Lost Mark". While it would've been nice to see Diamond Tiara maybe pop up for a bit, the episode did a good enough job of showing how the CMC have matured and giving them some time to develop as individuals. Even in the best of their episodes in the past, when the focus was on the CMC as a group their individual identities didn't always shine through. The Bulk Biceps cameo was alright, but it could've been cut without scarificing anything. The story also feels sort of like two different episode plots cut and pasted together with very little to flow between them. But it's still a good episode with a good song, and a lot of kids do face the problems of going their seperate ways and realizing they won't always do everything together anymore (though Disney's "The Fox and The Hound" did a better job of touching on that theme). In the end, I give a solid A-, putting it above "The Gift of Maud Pie". In comparison to "Bloom and Gloom" which raised some questions it seemed it didn't want to answer, this episode clearly knew what it wanted to address, and how to address it. It just seemed to have two different ideas, and Dave and Josh couldn't decide which one they wanted to go with. This is the first Season 6 episode that beats out all the other seasons episodes in regards to the episode number.
Next week we have "Gauntlet of Fire", where Spike must compete in the titular gauntlet for the title of dragon king in order to save his friends. Oh boy, this episode has the potential to be really good, but at the same time it has the potential to be perhaps the biggest bomb in the history of the show. It's too bad Meghan McCarthy isn't available this season, because she really understand Spike's character. I just hope that whoever gets picked to pen the episode knows what they're doing. I really, really, REALLY hope we don't get another "Princess Spike". It's going to be quite nerve wracking waiting a whole week to find out, but let's try to keep a positive attitude and hope for the best. If it does bomb, you can bet for sure it's going to end up on the fourth installment of my rewrite series.
I also liked the episode. Tree Hugger is a good model.
I hope that next week's episode will show Spike being awesome. Who knows? He might get bigger, grow wings, a combination of the two.
It'll be pretty nice to see what happens.
Well, you already heard my opinions about the episode, so there. Also, I have one thing to suggest. I know there are those who don't like spoilers, so I would suggest that you put "Spoilers" in parentheses in your title, so somepony won't read it if their not fans of spoilers.
To be fair, I doubt most fans can remember when they did stuff for reasons other than cutie marks.
And Diamond Tiara DID actually show up during the song. It was during the bit where AB was making the cake.
3859215 I think most people would know not to read these blog post reviews if they haven't seen the episode yet. It doesn't open directly on a review of the story.
3860189 I guess that's true, but I put mine up as a warning anyways to be safe.
3860202 Eh, I haven't had any complaints yet.
3860233 Okay, I've just gotten those complaints on mine, so I thought I'd give you the heads up. But you can title it how you want.
Question: How did you feel about this being the first episode without any of the Mane 6 in it?
For the next episode, I seriously hope whoever is writing it doesn't pull the "It was all just a dream" cliche.
3860283 Oh, they'd better not. They're better than that.
A very good episode and the song was pretty nice too.
I'm with you on the next one, I'm worried about Spike's treatment since most of the time, Spike-focused episodes have flopped.
I myself was very disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but at least we got to see Silver Spoon taking charge. I would have really liked to see more of them in this episode. I loved the song in this episode. Like "The Pony I Want To Be", it got me choked up to the point where I just wanted to reach through the screen and hug poor Apple Bloom. This episode showed me that me and Apple Bloom are polar opposites; Apple Bloom, like Rainbow Dash, hates being alone, whereas I am not a people person. If I had anything to complain about, it's that I feel that this should have been a season 1/season 2 episode, as it feels weird that they're just now facing this problem, and I'm not surprised that the writers went this route, with the CMC deciding to do things just for fun now, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of that. This is easily one of my favorite CMC episodes, and probably one of Apple Bloom's best moments. I especially love it since Michelle Creber finally got to show off her singing talent.
3859636 The only times i can recall them not doing things to earn their cutie marks was in their season four appearances, those being "Flight to the Finish" and "Twilight Time."
3859025 There are supposed to be some female dragons in this episode, so I'm hoping that we finally get to meet Spike's mother, but that seems highly unlikely.
3864050 I know, and I hope they won't be forgotten. What point would there be in giving Diamond Tiara a redemption if she wasn't going to get a bigger role like Starlight or Discord?
3864157 I do hope she gets a bigger role. I'm really hoping we find out how her home life has improved since her redemption. I don't think she'll be forgotten. It's not like these writers to redeem a character and then drop them like a hot potato. Then again, most of the writers have left the show and, as you said, the only veteran writer we have left is Dave Polsky. As I understand it, both M.A. Larson and Meghan McCarthy have left the show to work on the film. I just hope the new writers don't end up wrecking the show.
3864050 The only problem with the idea that this should have been an early series episode is that it would have required the CMC to get there cutie marks early on in the series prior to it. And season 1/2 CMC did NOT have the character development required to actually earn their marks.
3864168 Meghan's working on the movie, I don't know about Larson he hasn't confirmed anything other than he isn't coming back this season.
3864050 We'll have to wait and see.
3864283 Yeah, but, still, it seems odd that they're just now facing this problem.
3868470 It does make sense, considering they made such a big deal out of getting their cutie marks, and when Apple Bloom started to panic about what would happen after that, she was told to calm down and stop worrying about it so much.
3868474 It wasn't just that. As far as she was concerned, her friends had pretty much abandoned her and she was terrified of what the future held for her. Remember back in "Bloom & Gloom" where she had a nightmare about she and her friends drifting apart after they got their cutie marks? That was becoming a reality in this episode. If this is the way she reacts to her friends being away from her for a little while, I'd hate to imagine her reaction to the news that they will eventually go their separate ways once they want to get a higher education and pursue careers of their own. Of course, this makes sense. Like the Mane Six, these three had been joined at the hip ever since they met. They're best friends, and Apple Bloom, like Twilight, can't stand being away from her friends for very long. She becomes miserable as a result.
3868539 But she learned here that although they might drift apart, their friendship doesn't have to end. They could always stay in touch through letters if worse comes to worse.
3868573 Yes, that's true. I would have really loved to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon comforting Apple Bloom. *sighs* Guess it's up to me. But at least we got to see them hanging out with Peach Fuzz.
3868470 That's because the problem didn't exist for them until now.
3868758 True. I love that these characters are learning more mature lessons, but could we get more Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo episodes? Out of all of the Crusaders, Apple Bloom has had the most out of all of them. Don't get me wrong; I love Apple Bloom, but Sweetie Belle and Scotoaloo have only had two episodes apiece.
3868807 What I'm hoping for, in terms of Scootaloo episodes, is that we end up with her getting 3 episodes in a row.
3868880 Seeing as how Sweetie Belle is my favorite, I hope we get three in a row. I loved how we got three Rarity episodes in a row last season. If we do get a Scootaloo episode this season, I at least hope we get to see her parents. If it's a Sweetie Belle episode, I hope it's an episode centered around Sweetie Belle and Rarity interacting with their parents.
3868884 I do hope we get to see Scootaloo's parents as well.
3860415
According to MLP Wiki, "Gauntlet of Fire" will be written by Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco.
3871275 Well, they only got to write Spike in one of their episodes, and his role there was mostly just to be abused to cover for the idiocrcy of the rest of the mane six (not to mention the pointless flirting scene that made it look like Rarity was delibertly exploiting his crush on her). Still, they've improved fairy well since then, and if Haber's going to help them out (which I wouldn't mind him doing for an episode like this) they should do okay. Anyone's better than Neal Duseadu, I'm sure he could maybe improve if given some pointers from somebody more talented, but I think he should take this season off and come back next season when Meghan and possibly Larson will be back, though he could always ask Dave. Dave Polsky was in pretty much the same boat as Neal, once upon a time.
3871397
I assume you don't count Spike's brief cameo in The Hooffields and the McColts as "writing him"?
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/d/d1/Spike_under_a_pile_of_books_S5E23.png/revision/latest?cb=20151116171456
3871765 Indeed I don't, because he's just there for that one quick scene. It doesn't indicate anything about they might handle him, he's just there for a quick joke.
3868906 I'm also hoping we get to see more of Sweetie Belle and Rarity's parents.
3877022 That would be fun to see.
3877061 Indeed. Maybe we'll see them during the Hearth's Warming episode. If it involves the CMC, I'm hoping it'll also involve Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
3877062 That would definitely be interesting.
3877296 I believe they said the Hearth's Warming episode is supposed to feature a song involving the mane six, Spike, and the CMC singing with background ponies.
3877538 Where did you hear that?
3877578 I believe it was mentioned a few months ago, when they were giving out slight spoilers about events in Season 6.
3877849 Ah.
3877538 Aw, yeah! That's gonna be awesome! Can't wait! And it's only a couple short weeks away!
3881937 From the looks of things, that could be an impressive episode. Assuming they don't screw up in two weeks with "No Second Prances" and taint Twilight's teacher/student relationship with Starlight.
3882173 Hopefully, it'll be better than "Hearthsbreakers." Not that the episode was bad, but we didn't really get a whole lot of information on how Hearth's Warming is celebrated. Maybe that'll change this season.
3882231 Maybe, but it looks more likely to be one of those Christmas themed episodes that tell a traditional holiday story. Sort of like "Hearth's Warming Eve" except without the confusing attempt at world building.