The End in Friend (s08e17)

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Friendship is Magic Review by Obake

(SPOILERS!)

The End in Friend is in an odd place. It has the same issues as many recent episodes. At the same time, it also hearkens back to the feel of earlier seasons, particularly in regards to its moral. The episode is like an unpolished leftover from season 02.

Remember in The Cutie Pox, when Cherilee and the class skip lessons to instead follow Applebloom around town? Same deal here, only it is the New Six following Rarity and Dash on their day of fun. The students want to know how ponies with such different tastes can be friends. Setting aside that the New Six themselves have diverse interests, the question feels well below their level. But I'll buy that they just want to do well on their assignment.

Of course, Dash and Rarity hardly have fun, arguing relentlessly. Rarity does not pay attention while playing buckball, Dash is not enthused about trying on clothes, etc. Standard stuff.

It gets weird when the two explore a gem cave. Dash calls it an adventure, and starts...searching for hidden doors (she even thinks a jutting rock is a lever.) Now I know this show has magic and other out-there physics. But no reason is given why Dash would assume the cave has hidden passages, let alone functional doors.

Anyways, Dash and Rarity end up so angry that they declare their friendship over for good. This prompts Starlight, Twilight, and Spike to stage an adventure for the two of them to go on, so they can learn to get along again. Yes, it is characters teaching their friends a lesson, a la Mare Do Well! To be fair, though, this last act is the best part of the episode. Rarity and Dash are on the search for an amulet they believe was stolen, leading them from the school, to a swampland, and mystical cave. It is nice seeing the two of them interact on their own, without commentary from the students. The two, of course, learn to work together and are friends again afterwards.

Rating The End in Friend was difficult. It is not as disappointing as Friendship University, or nearly as bad as A Matter of Principals. But it is nothing unique or all that interesting, and the writing is often clunky. Save for a few notable lines, there is not much to to say good or bad about it. I'm putting it just below average.

Extras:

• The episode has at least two clever lines. Dash: "Shoes on a horse are pretty useless." Later on, Rarity: "These boots were not made for trotting."
• That Twilight takes the students wherever Rarity and Dash go on their day of fun shows that the school's lessons are barely structured.
• New creature added to the show's bestiary: the Butogran, a giant, talking frog with quintuple eyes, and bad breath.
• It is obvious that the one who has the "Amulet of Atonement" is Spike, and that the whole thing is a setup. Which is fine, as the focus is not on the mystery, but on Dash and Rarity learning to get along.