#look how smooshy they are….. perfect creatures

[suiheisen]

LOOK AT THESE ABSOLUTE UNITS AT OSAKA AQUARIUM… round…………

also… plotting jailbreaks between bouts of sleep…

[diamond-song42]

Pone Reviews 88: Marks For Effort Good Sunday to you! Welcome back to Pone Reviews! The midseason finale is almost upon us, but for now we will delve into some innocent Cutie Mark Crusader action. Or is it innocent? Anyway, here's Season 8's "Marks For Effort!" Another obscure moral, boy! Here's my interpretation. "You may end up with a different role in a place than what you thought." Obscure but relevant! The Crusaders already know tons about friendship. So why not they pass that knowledge down to School of Friendship students in the form of tutoring? Perfect fit! Guys, there may be a job you want but can't have even if you're super passionate. But you may end up with a job that's an even better fit for you! I'll give you one of my examples. I love to play Pokemon as you all know. But no matter how hard I trained, I never got into the top of any tournaments (and still don't!). When I turned 18, I decided to take the Professor test, and I passed. Now I can share my love of Pokemon with others in a new way that works better for me than just competing. It's a different and unique experience for every person and every creature. You'll find your bliss soon! Now the plot. The CMCs are eager to get into the School of Friendship, but Twilight says they've already mastered the curriculum! Can helping a filly named Cozy Glow improve their chances? This episode makes me feel... uneasy. Not just because Twilight jumping to conclusions about the Crusaders felt out of character. If you haven't seen the rumors flying around, I recommend you stop reading now. See, the season finale paints Cozy Glow as the villain. When I learned she would be in this episode, I expected a genuine act of malice towards the CMCs, maybe a lie about her being enrolled in the School of Friendship. Her initial words to the CMC felt forced, as well ("What's in it for you?"). But no! Her actions to fail the test on purpose were meant to be good for the CMC! She actually seemed remorseful and came clean to Starlight. I've found that recurring villains retain malice or at least show a hint that their intentions aren't the best. Trixie showed it, Starlight showed it, Discord showed it initially, Iron Will sorta showed it. But Cozy Glow just seems naive to friendship! I'm also concerned with the fact that we've never had a villain this young. It's always been grown characters (Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were schoolyard bullies - that's different than trying to take over Canterlot or steal the princesses' magic). Mark Acheson, the voice of Tirek, confirmed Tirek will return in the Season 8 finale. What relationship could he have with Cozy Glow? What I'm basically saying is this episode left me with a lot more questions than answers because of the leaks. Here's some more moments that left me with questions: *The Crusaders can't just... you know... walk into the School? They have to creep around? *The Young Six don't have the same classes at the same time... though they did in the premiere and "Non-Compete Clause." *Either the class ponies have twins or they're somehow appearing in two classes at once. There's a couple ponies in Pinkie's class that then appear in Applejack's class. Though both classes are apparently going at the same time. *Let's go to the School of Friendship because fuck you Miss Cheerilee. *Bon Bon could put a helmet on the cactus... or just not carry it that way. Also the helmet doesn't protect from the bottom spikes. And here are some moments that were as charming as Cozy Glow's design (seriously, the curls on her are amazing): *SPIKE STILL HAS HIS WINGS YAY. I know changes like this and the Crusaders' cutie marks will remain consistent from now on, but it's still nice to see them. *I love my little shy Changeling and cake-eating yak. And Gallus is getting his ultimate bird on about to eat that cupcake. Oh and Buckball! Buckball is back! *Empathy cocoa. And *that* Starlight face. *Did... did they just incorporate a "your mom" joke into Friendship is Magic. 👏👏👏👏👏👏 *Guess Sugar Belle started her internship with Mrs. Cake because she's here making smooshy faces with Big Mac! In short: A high-marked episode with an obscure but okay moral and a character that just doesn't sit right. Empathy cocoa, anyone? 3.75 out of 5 rainbows 🌈🌈🌈% Thanks for reading another edition of Pone Reviews. Join me next Saturday for a look into an applebucker of an episode! Diamond out!