Make Your Mark: Ali-Conned Review · 3:40pm Sep 29th, 2022
So it is that at last, halfway through the first eight episodes that were dropped, we have our first Sunny focused episode. Weird that they would choose to do so, I can't think of any show that ever started off by not focusing on its main character or characters. Still, it's a Sunny Starscout episode, and one focusing on her ability to turn into an alicorn to boot. Maybe that will be enough to break Make Your Mark: Chapter 2 out of the abrupt dry spell it seems to have found itself after just three episodes, which is not a good sign. Did they succeed, especially given the baggage that comes with Sunny as a character? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins kind of similar to "Today's Gonna Be My Day", with Sunny rollerskating through town to get somewhere important. But this time she's not hitchhiking on the back of a trolley or looking to crash a demonstration at CanterLogic.
Instead, Sunny gathers in the middle of town and basically announces that she's now a health food fanatic. She wants the earth ponies to use their magic to grow fruits and vegetables instead of always eating junk food. But no one will listen to her, because just telling others to eat healthy isn't good enough. Sunny's friends have her back, which is enough to get Sunny all excited. And when she gets excited and passionate, she gains her glowing horn and wings and even gives off a shower of glitter.
As soon as Sunny becomes an alicorn, everypony in towns starts to listen to her, much to Sunny's delight. Meanwhile, Opaline hatches a plan that involves using the locket Misty gave Sunny. Opal will disguise herself as Sunny's reflection and try to manipulate her, swaying her into joining with Opal even thoguh Sunny has no idea who Opaline is.
Opaline then dispatches Misty to help persuade Sunny to embrace her alicorn status. Misty does so by posing as part of a pop star quartet, the leader of which is apparently this childhood friend of Sunny's that she hasn't seen in years. So it's another Countess Coloratura situation.
The plan is soon set into motion as Opaline poses in Sunny's reflection through the locket, convincing her to embrace her alicorn status. And the transformation wears off quite frequently, much to Sunny's worry and frustration. Still, she goes along with Opaline's plan, suspecting nothing. Meanwhile, Pipp is envious of the fact that this pop group is so popular, and of the fact that Sparky is apparently trending on social media while she is not. So she convinces Hitch to let her watch Sparky for a while, hoping that his fame will rub off on her. And maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's a good idea to let a baby be exposed on social media and treated like this popular thing. Plus, does anyone think Pipp knows how to take care of a baby when she can't even put down her phone?
The Pipp subplot amounts to little, that is until Sparky starts throwing stuff at Pipp after she tries to copy him. And that gives Pipp the idea to remix the footage with the idea being that sometimes you have to learn to laugh at yourself. Meanwhile, Misty uses her undercover status to try to persuade Sunny to not only embrace her alicorn status but to use it to assert superiority over the ponies of Maretime Bay.
Eventually, however, Sunny wisens up and decides that she doesn't want any of that. She doesn't like ponies caring about her solely because she's an alicorn. Heartbroken at the thought that nopony cares about her as she is, Sunny goes back to the Crystal Brighthouse to sulk, and she begins to doubt her ability to bring about change. She's a real Rodimus Prime, isn't she?
Fortunately, Hitch, Izzy and Zipp tell her that she's fine the way she is. And they have a surprise for her: They somehow managed to get everypony to chip in and build a community garden in front of the Crystal Brighthouse. Sunny is thrilled that her wish has come true. But Opaline is mad that her attempt to get Sunny on her side failed, and she just throws away the transformation ability even though she could probably use it for more nefarious purposes. This has led some to speculate that Opaline is Chrysalis, which is an interesting possibility. But if it's true that raises the question of what happened to Tirek and Cozy Glow since, if Chrysalis got out, what would stop them from getting out too? And I imagine they would be pretty furious about Chrysalis trying to take over all by herself. Anyway, Opaline decides that she needs to go right to the source of the magic and find a way in to the Crystal Brighthouse.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, I appreciate them toning down Sunny's activist nature and personality here, making it more on the level of a community activist than someone trying to rage against what she sees as propaganda. And I like that they chose to focus on Sunny's alicorn status and what it could mean if she could change back and forth. However, the plot itself is pretty predictable. It's the classic story of being mindful who you choose to associate with, and the dangers of those who only wanna hang out with you because you're popular. If anything, this feels like a plot Pipp would be suited for, learning that not all social media following is good and that there's a price to pay for being popular. At the very least, instead of wasting Pipp on a subplot about her being jealous of a baby (which just makes her look petty and childish), why not have Pipp be the one to warn Sunny about not using her new alicorn status carelessly? Plus, Opaline and Misty give up on the plot way too easily, not helped by the fact that they seem to think they can convince Sunny to join them despite her not even knowing who they are. I wish they would've delved into Sunny's doubts more, instead of her just doubting herself and then being cheered back up within a scene. I get that having leaders who doubt themselves is becoming cliche, which was in and of itself an attempt to subvert the confident, stalwart, heroic leader who always saves the day. But with Sunny especially, given that she was the one to believe in the past and of ponies being able to live together, if she's going to be this "activist" then it makes sense she's going to have doubts about whether she can be a leader, whether she can truly inspire others and make a difference.
In the end, I give this story a C. Being predictable isn't necessarily a bad thing, just because we've seen a story before doesn't mean you can't put your own take on it. FiM was living proof that you can take concepts that seem tired and cliche, and breath new life into them while staying true to the original source material. But this episode, although teeming with interesting ideas, doesn't utilize them all that well in execution. And it doesn't bode well for Sunny when her first focus episode not only comes a ways into the first season, but is also not a particularly strong one. Instead of being the next Twilight Sparkle, Sunny could be in danger of becoming the next Applejack, just being the everyman (or everymare in this case).
Well, as if to make up for not focusing on Sunny up to this point, the next episode is focused on her. But it's also focused on Hitch. It's "The Cutie Mark Mix-Up", which opts to be a sort of Freaky Friday kind of episode, just without the body swapping. But hey, maybe that'll add some shipping fuel for the HitchxSunny shippers?
I agree with the rating, Opaline did give up way too easily
Here’s to hoping that MYM would eventually find its footing as time passes on. It’s not really a terribly bad start for the series, but judging from the reviews it’s receiving, it appears to be a bit of a shaky one.
Sounds to me like this season has been playing it pretty safe so far, kinda like Josh Haber when he first started writing for Friendship is Magic.