The End in Friend Review · 4:42pm Aug 18th, 2018
It's official, Season 8 is the leakiest of all the seasons. Now we've got France dumping a ton of episodes in French all at once on us, and Sewden will be airing the finale early. At this point just keeping track of what airs when is going to be next to impossible, and it seems Hasbro is quite insistent on nuking any and all early uploads even though they're official airings from overseas (most likely it's because Discovery Family is still quite insistent on having their way). So of course it goes without saying but unless I magically find a way to watch the early uploads in English, my policy is:
Anyway we have only our third RariDash episode of the entire series (assuming you count "Sonic Rainboom" as the first) and it's all about how they don't seem to have anything in common or interact at all. G. M. Berrow is writing this episode, and her last foray into writing was "Grannies Gone Wild" an episode that really doesn't have anything good or bad about it. Berrow seems to be best at handling characters but not so good at writing stories with them. Some have said this was like a response to "Non-Compete Clause" but considering that's the worst episode of the season so far that's not automatically a good thing. Was this episode able to do well in spite of all that? Well, let's find out.
We begin with Rarity and Rainbow Dash being called in to Twilight's class in order to demonstrate friendship through compromise, and the student six mention how they don't seem to ever do anything together. This already kind of weakens the story since I thought the whole point of the school was that it wasn't teaching directly about friendship, it was teaching about the different values of friendship (in Twilight's case using past examples as a way to show how friendship can transcend all kinds of barriers). It seems like almost every time the school theme is brought up this season, the episode involved in it gets dragged down a a result. A shame too, because "School Daze" made it sound like the writers were aware of the criticisms people were lodging at the concept.
Twilight, Starlight, and the student six all try to watch Rarity and Rainbow Dash as they attempt to get along. But it predictably goes wrong. Political scientists even have a term for the idea that an observation or the mere knowledge or presence of those administering a test can make others act in a way they would normally not act, it's known as testing and it can undermine the external validity (the degree of confidence one has that the treatment's results applies to the real world: for example how confident you are that a study on getting into the car with a drunk driver applies to real world situations like it). It also doesn't help that things are kind of uneven. During Rainbow Dash's buckball session, Rarity is distracted trying to come up with new outfits and doesn't even try to pay attention. But Rainbow Dash actually tries to stomach a day of shopping with Rarity and gets fed up with the glitter from her boots getting on her hooves. I can understand that they're being put on the spot, but you would expect them to at least try to get along. Rarity in particular has shown a willingness to put up with those who get on her nerves and has rarely snapped.
They even try to get along while exploring the cave of gemstones but it goes wrong when Rainbow thinks they're on a treasure hunt while Rarity is trying to collect rare gems with a mine cart. It ends with Rainbow flying into the cart and smashing the gems, and Rarity and Rainbow declare they're done being friends. Starlight attempts to use her guidance counselor abilities to play therapist and get the two to vent out their frustrations. Then she suggests they form a best friend's book club and read the book series of their friend (Daring Do for Rarity and Shadow Spade for Rainbow Dash). But Rarity thinks the action scenes are ridiculously over the top and Rainbow finds the dress descriptions boring. It gets to the point where they publicly proclaim they're done being friends and seem to do so in a manner similar to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
Things thankfully start to take a turn for the better when Starlight brings Rainbow and Rarity to Twilight's office, revealing that one of the artifacts entrusted to her by Princess Celestia is gone, specifically one that can control the tides and summon tsunamis. It leads into a mystery as Rarity and Rainbow Dash decide to investigate together, while Twilight and Starlight leave to work on a tracking spell.
The trail leads out of the school and into a swamp, and thankfully it's not populated by a certain ogre.
It suddenly vanishes over a thick, goopy pond (which is thankfully not corossive, just very thick). Rarity manages to assemble a raft using vines and tree branches, revealing that there are things Rainbow Dash doesn't know about her. Once across they meet a strange frog like creature who's very hard of hearing and has terrible breath.
After creating something to cure his bad breath they find that the trail leads up into the sky, more specifically to a cave that has a very familiar carving on the door. Rarity then reveals that her boots have a lock picking device in them, and she and Rainbow Dash realize that they don't have to have everything in common to enjoy each other's company. The trail leads them back to the school via a secret passage, and the culprit is none other than Spike. But in a fairly obvious twist, he didn't steal the artifact, it was all a set-up by Twilight and Starlight specifically to get their friends to come together. And it works. Rarity and Rainbow Dash then agree to spend the rest of the day together, with Rainbow shopping for some fashionable buckball attire and Rarity hoping to get some ideas for a buckball cheerleading costume. But she should really be asking Cheerilee about that.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well it started off as "Non-Compete Clause" but with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, then morphed into something else. It's not as bad as "Non-Compete Clause" since no students lives are put in danger and it does feel like Rarity and Rainbow would have this conflict (though admittedly this is something that should've happened much earlier in the show's run rather than almost the end of it). The student six were decent for their first noticeable non lead role, but I really wish the episode had been more about the investigation from the beginning and less about Rarity and Rainbow's bickering. In the end I give it a narrow B-, putting it just above "The Break Up Break Down" but below "The Parent Map".
Well next week we have a re-run of "Yakity Sax", but then after that new episodes start up again beginning with "The Road to Friendship" a StarTrixie episode. Hopefully it can improve on their friendship after Season 7 dragged it through the mud.
To me, this is the best of the "good, but not amazing" episodes of the season, putting it at tenth place overall so far
It was a very bland, repetitive episode in my opinion XD
G.M. Barrow has been a writer on the show since season five, her first outing being "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows", not this episode. And, honestly, I didn't have a problem with Starlight's friendship with Trixie throughout season seven. It wasn't dragged through the mud, in my opinion.
4921906
So there are 9 amazing episodes so far? I don't see it.
4921980
Parent Map, On the Road to Friendship (though whether this counts or not depends on if you watch the Australia releases), Mean Six, Matter of Principals, Molt Down, Hearth's Warming Club, Marks for Effort, School Daze, and Surf and/or Turf are the amazing episodes from this season so far.
4921942 I know that and I think it's telling when that is her best episode, and it's no one's favorite. I think the problem is, Berrow isn't used to the bigger writing style of the show, she's used to lower key stuff for her chapter books and her writing here reflects that.
4922016
I'd only count 2 or 3 of those as anywhere near amazing, but it's fine to be very positive.
4921980 Agreed! I haven't liked a single episode from this season.
4922266
Now THAT seems a bit harsh. Not a single one? I quite liked most of them, and loved a few of them.
Hmm, well this one wasn't as bad as I thought, a little better than some of the previous ones.
4922316 Nope, not a single one. As bad as it was, even season 6 had at least a couple of episodes that I liked.
I think I misunderstood you here. I took this to mean that you felt the same way I did in regards to season 8.
4922464
Not amazing≠bad
And I loved season 6, what were the couple episodes you liked?