My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Season 8 Episode 12: "Marks For Effort" (SPOILERS) · 4:02pm Jun 2nd, 2018
In which the CMCs want PhDs in the ABCs of BFFs.
This episode opens with the CMC practicing their Tower Attacks for the Disgaea LARP they're doing with the O&O gang later. (Actually, they're just sneaking around and spying on the Friendship School.)
We actually get to SEE a class for once! Pinkie Pie is giving her students a lesson in sharing and caring! You gotta share, you gotta care... We also briefly see Fluttershy and Applejack teaching lessons.
Because the School of Friendship looks so much more fun than Cheerilee's school, the CMCs decide they want to transfer. ...I don't think that's how it works...
Spike's apparently having random wingboners. It's okay, Spike. We've all been there.
Twilight rejects the CMCs as students because they don't need friendship lessons. The CMCs decide to prove her wrong by acting like complete and total jerks. Meanwhile, SOMEHOW Spike pulled a fast one behind Twilight's back (that reference tho), and Starlight Glimmer is bored of having nothing to do as guidance counselor but dust her office.
...Scootaloo, the Groucho glasses aren't an effective disguise when your very distinctive Cutie Mark is right there on your bare flank.
Watching the CMCs try to pretend to fight with each other is cringeworthy.
While trying to scheme how to get into the School of Friendship, the CMCs overhear a pegasus filly named Cozy Glow crying in the orchard. She's a student in Twilight's class, but she's finding it too hard. The CMCs decide to help her learn the ABCs of friendship. Cozy Glow needs to do something nice for Bon Bon, Mrs. Cake, and Big Macintosh for an assignment, and the CMCs tag along to make sure it all goes smoothly.
After learning friendship all over Ponyville with the CMCs, Cozy Glow takes her big important friendship test...and fails. As she runs off in tears, Twilight angrily summons the CMCs to her office.
Twilight chews the CMCs out for tutoring Cozy Glow in all the wrong things, which confuses them, because they were teaching her all the RIGHT things--but her test answers are completely off base. The CMCs are ordered to stay away from the Friendship School, and the whole thing looks super confusing.
Cozy Glow visits Starlight Glimmer and confesses to failing the test on purpose because she knew the CMCs wanted to go to the Friendship School, so she thought she'd prove how bad they are at friendship.
With the truth out, Twilight gives the CMCs honorary diplomas, making them the first official graduates from the School of Friendship. They're also given jobs as official friendship tutors.
What IS it with this season and cringe episodes? We're 12 episodes in and so far, half the episodes aired this season have been built around cringe plots.
This episode was so ridiculously all over the place. It just meandered and kept losing its thread, then picking it up again, then losing it again. Ultimately, it just felt like "Hey, we need a CMC episode but we don't really know what to do with them this season" so this. Just...meh. 6/10.
One more episode before the mid-season hiatus!
Starlight made the episode IMO.
The Cult of Spike shall grow in the shadows, and strike when least expected!
"Hey, we need a CMC episode but we don't really know what to do with them this season"
Yup, pretty much.
I felt like the episode was pretty fantastic, with Starlight's scene naturally being the highlight.
For me, it's one of the best episodes of the season.
4874806
Would not be surprised if she turned out to be Chrysalis
"What's this one?"
"Control?"
This episode existed to introduce us to the evil which is Cozy Glow without totally telling us she is the big bad of the season.
4874802 It feels like they're just throwing a lot of episodes out there because they don't really know what to do with the characters anymore. For a school theme that looked like it had potential, it seems like it was more a desperate gasp for attention.
Yeah, this one kinda teaches about the element of fail. The CMCs fail at school transfer, Cozy Glow fails at real friendship, and Twilight fails at seeing what was really going on.
Witness the rise of the Sect of Spike. Also glad to see he's learning how to deal with wings.
Interestingly, Starlight saves this show from going completely off the rails. Not only does she win Best Face (that one she made while sipping her cocoa), she also has the better lesson learned -- she might not be needed all the time, but she does have an important place at the School of Friendship.
I like the idea of Cozy Glow as a secret Big Bad. Seriously, what does a rook chess piece (her cutie mark) have to do with a cozy glow?
4874811
That was my initial thought, but this was not the Chrysalis episode. That's next week.
I really liked this episode, I thought it was alot of fun.
With Cozy Glow even if I hadn't read the synopsis for future episodes it would still be hard not to be suspicious of her. First of all her Cutie Mark is chess piece which automatically triggers a huge red flag but her personality also reminds me of Darla Dimple. For anyone not familiar, Darla is the villain of the film Cats Don't Dance, she is a child actor who acts incredibly sweet and innocent in order to manipulate those around her while hiding her true cruel and ruthless nature. I'm not sure if that's what we'll get with Cozy but that would be pretty awesome.
Also Starlight stole the show this week and continues to prove why she is best pony. Her new face is already earning it's keep:
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4874832
Yup, very apt. Another sign the show should end imho
I wouldn't be surprised that Cozy Glow is Chrysalis. The way she acted through the whole episode was just off and since it's practically open knowledge that she's popping up again next episode, I kept looking for other hints like a green sheen over her eyes or smirks behind other ponies' backs
4874850
Been asking what that cutie market since I saw it. It isn't the king piece so does that mean someone else is pulling the strings?
hmmm could....cosy be you know have autism? her speech and problems with the test i mean
4874967
Dude. She failed the test on purpose. She SAID SO HERSELF.
4874983
oh well i have autism myself her having problems with school and the way she talks reminded me what i went through myself during
when i was in school thats all
Cozy Glow's voice drove me crazy in this episode
Your Mom was the best joke ever, and Starlight's Empathy CoCo was amazing. I question why Twilight didn't bother to hear out the CMC's side of things, because she knows them better than that. It was an okay episode, but it sets up a few things. I can't wait for the NEXT episode if you know what I mean
Personally during season 7 I was hoping to see other characters. thus far I have been skipping the episodes outside of the premier and Parent map as I want to see other characters as I'm currently don't feel invested in the main 6, spike and the cmc.
I would have enjoyed Break up Break down more if Spike and the CMC were nowhere in that episode. Heck I actually want to see a Diamond Tiara episode over the cmc.
if she were Chrysalis, does anyone really think she would have confessed at the end?
4874868
THAT'S THE FACE!
GG, WP.
I very much doubt Cozy Glow is secretly Chrysalis. They would've thrown some hint in there.
4874850
4874957
It could represent her being someone else's chess piece. Not a pawn, but a rook—the piece moving in the most direct manner, all straight lines, battering ahead. It kinda fits, I think. She's actually a clever one with a potential for devious scheming, but at the same time, she's... pretty direct. From just taking Scootaloo's helmet to how she flew after Pip's kite. That's one determined filly.
4875214
I feel almost the exact opposite.,,
I care far more aout the mane 6 Spike and the CMCs.,,,,
I still haven't seen the 7 finale and the Teen 6 are okay.. I'm glad they gave Spike wings....
I only wanted to smack Starlight with a tennis racket as opposed to a baseball or cricket bat.
one thing kinda ruined the whole episode for me twilight's assumptions about what the cmcs did in their tutoring. to me personally it shows a level of cynicism that I don't think twilight has for her to assume that this perceived action was done out of spite. idk twilight just felt way out of character in that moment in the episode.
4874791
She was seriously the funniest part.
I somehow had the feeling Twilight was gonna make the CMCs part of the staff.