S06:E04 - On Your Marks

[Princess Book Horse 350]

it also goes very well with the premier.  Both Starlight and Sunburst were trying to figure that out as well.

 

 

 

*yawn*

april first was 8 days ago.

 

It could be a mini theme in Season 6. After all, a certain fast rainbow Pegasus is achieving her dream in 3 episodes from now. :3

[ElegantNerd 39]

1st Derpy sighting of Season 6 (that I've caught)!!!! She's in the audience for the dance recital for one shot.

 

The next time the camera swings over there, the whole row of ponies sitting with Derpy have disappeared.

 

I just don't know what went wrong!

[AzureNightLight 122]

What really irks me is the Applebloom suddenly forgets how to sing, and then is up singing a solo like nothing just happened.

[SaraEH 398]

Im surpriced that applebloom was decent at dancing.. Since she was supposed to be terrible in "the show stoppers" and i havent seen her practice at all .. and well if she did it in secret, well she would know what to do on her own right?  
Im getting to deep into this, but it really bugged me ..

[King of Snake 54]

There were some great little references to famous artists during the part where Tree Hugger is being painted:

 

A Salvador Dali lookalike pony (with his wonderfully distinctive moustache) painting her in a Dali-esque surreal manner.

 

A Picasso pony doing a Picasso type painting.

 

An Andy Warhol lookalike doing an imitation of Warhol's famous Marylin Monroe picture.

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,024]

The episode was quite funny and it was surreal to see them with their marks now, but it was them following their own paths now with was rather cool. YAY for story development 

 

8.5/10

 

Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVWRsl08f8k

[CrystalCarol 16]

hundreds, probably thousands of ponies in Ponyville, seeing as how it's a decent sized town (likely bigger than Appleoosa in way of population), and out of all those ponies, no one's going to have an orange coat?

 

Are all black people related because they share brown skin and black/ dark brown hair? What about Asians? Caucasians?

No? Then how.much less would a magical pony whose genetics are sketchy at best, be?

I'm just saying, because they actually look like they could be twins. They have the same exact color fur, their eyes are pretty similar, and their manes, while not exactly the same, are close. Also they look like they're around the same age, and if you think about it, if Scootalo really is an orphan than it's plausible that she had siblings that she got separated from.

Honestly, I don't think I've seen two ponies that look that similar (colorwise) ever.

 

It's just a theory.

[alpinefroggy 451]

To be honest I have to say this episode is my least favorite since princess spike.  The feel of the episode was fine overall but the dialogue and the progression of the plot seemed clunky and sometimes cringey.

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

Huh, wasn't expecting this episode to have sad moments, but it was interesting nonetheless~ I liked the moral, I remember being in a similar place to Apple Bloom in the past, where not doing everything with all my friends would be a 'bad' thing. I did like the dancing colt as well, especially near the end when he was showing his cutiemark off to the two passing ponies. XD I found it to be an enjoyable episode all-in-all~

[takai 1,060]

Hey it's the "what now?" episode we've all been waiting for. Fairly unimpressive, as most CMC episodes are. But it did answer some striking questions that needed to be answered, like what are they going to do now? How will CMC episodes play out?

 

Looks like we'll be getting individual episodes, similar to the Luna/CMC episodes we've had before.

 

Overall, feel pretty meh on this one.

[Raena_666 2]

Something I noticed was at one point during the beginning of the episode, when the CMC are shouting out what they should do, Apple Bloom says "potion-making". The other two said what I believe is kinda like their special talent besides helping ponies with cutie marks: Scootaloo said scootering, Sweetie Bell said singing. So, if those two said their talents, does that make Apple Bloom's talent potion-making? Sweet.

[ManaMinori 4,143]

I'm just saying, because they actually look like they could be twins. They have the same exact color fur, their eyes are pretty similar, and their manes, while not exactly the same, are close. Also they look like they're around the same age, and if you think about it, if Scootalo really is an orphan than it's plausible that she had siblings that she got separated from.

Honestly, I don't think I've seen two ponies that look that similar (colorwise) ever.

It's just a theory.

with your logic, if you wanna call it that, she looks more like the waiter at the restaraunt, in the previous episode, not Tender Taps

[Swifty 249]

I'm still disappointed of their Cutie Marks. So they are helping others to find their cutie marks or help them to explore the meaning of them. Something any teacher or wise person should be able to do better. They should have sticked with SB as a good singer, Scootaloo as a stuntman and AB with something about apples or farming.

It has a nice message, but all this didnt make me look forward for more tbh.

 

Talking about crushed head canon, eh?

Edited April 10, 2016 by Swifty

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

Guys, I have to apologize. I dropped the ball on the poll, but it has been added. Sorry. ^^;

 

That said the episode was quite good; in my mind.

[Laurel Crown 111]

I really liked the episode even more than the previous ones.

Only downside would be Apple Bloom's exaggerated reaction to the two fillies. It's kinda justifiable but it looked pretty OoC for someone like her.

[Thaliel 116]

Is it just me or was this supposed to take place in the last season originally? cuz I remember the CMC saying "We're bored" after lost mark, and this speisode felt like it either led up to that

[Nagisa452 182]

The episode was not at the height of the last CMC episode, but it was somewhat alright I guess

I agree. And I agree with everypony else who said that the episode touched up on what they are gonna do next. The CMC got together because they were blank flanks, now that they have their cutie marks, technically they still aren't CMC? But then again, CMC will still help others find, or understand their cutie marks, which was the whole point of their groups creation. Either way good episode, wondering what the next CMC episode will be. Also that dancing filly, dude he got made skills

[Tao 6,738]

I think the ep touches on learning to stand on feet and exploring who you are at points in the life.  Apple Bloom sadly it seems in the last seasons has not touched on such things in exploring more of herself or if they did,  they in this ep just made it dust in the wind.     The song was nice I will bow to that.

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I really liked this episode, it's interesting to see the CMC try and branch out and do things on their own instead of always hanging out together, and I can relate to Apple Bloom with that. I loved the moral of the episode and the song was very good. I really liked the tap dancing pony and could relate to him 100% with having stage fright. All in all a good CMC episode 9/10!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Nth Doctor 652]

I liked the episode, but it has a few logic issues:

 

 

This is a big problem. The Cake twins look even younger here than they did in "Slice of Life."

 

 

This is an even BIGGER problem. I refuse to believe the CMC have gone 11 months (the time it took Flurry to be born) without even once going back to discuss their new cutie marks.

 

Like you, it only makes sense that this episode is out-of-order with the season timeline and actually does in fact take place a day after "Lost Mark," maybe right after their Cutecenera.

 

 

Other plot issues include:

 

- It took too long for Apple Bloom to notice Tender Taps was missing his cutie mark.

 

- Apple Bloom goes from not being able to sing at all to doing her own musical number in a matter of moments.

 

 

 

On the other hand:

 

 

This is one of the most hilarious bits of background comedy we've gotten from the series. I had this voice of Tender Taps in my head thinking to himself, "Check out my butt! Isn't it totally awesome? Have you fine mares ever seen such a fine specimen?"

 

Meanwhile the look on Sea Swirl and Sassaflash's faces says it all:

 

"I think this colt is hitting on us or something, like maybe he wants us to rub his butt?"

"Ewww, what a little pervert! Let's just act natural and quietly get as far away from him as we can..."

 

 

I'll have more comments about the episode after I watch it again, though I wanted to see the CMC go all Lesson Zero and try to create some cutie mark problems to fix. (Starlight's special talent might come in handy in that regard...)

Actually, I like the smiles on the mares' faces after their initial "WTF" response (You can barely see it in that gif though)

 

They're happy he got his mark, if a little disturbed by the...erm...presentation

 

It's adorable how much he loves dancing and how happy he is when he gets into it

 

 

HAPPY HORSE NOISES!

[Fawkes The Phoenix 737]

Just as good, if not better than the premiere. I liked the conflict, it's part of growing up, and it was really well done, AB's song was alright, and I loved the dancing music, I like how they're using different soundtracks in the ending this season, I hope they keep it. Also, that kid whose name I forgot is adorable, I'm glad he got his cutie mark in the end. I'll probably watch it again later to organize my thoughts about it, but so far the first impression was pretty great.

 

PS: Guys, be a little more careful with spoilers please, even if they're vague. I know you're excited for whatever reason about the next episodes, but this thread is to talk about this specific episode. 

[Jangocoolguy 433]

After an unimpressive premiere and standard episode with some good moments, this was the kick in the pants this season needed.

 

It addressed something we've been wondering about even before they got their marks about what happen after that, and even different ways. Some nice cameos too. Though I'm not sure I buy Applebloom being so codependent (especially after "Somepony to Watch Over Mer")

 

Also, seeing the CMC with Bulk Biceps of all ponies was hysterical!         

They should do that kind of thing with Derpy next

Edited April 10, 2016 by Jangobadass

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

I liked the Episode.

 

Im really bad at writing reviews, so im just gonna...the Episode was cute and funny.

 

Thats all i can think of. 

 

The Story that they go a little bit separate ways from now on, made sense to me.

 

Umm...yeah. Was entertaining. 

I just found the Step Dancing to be a little bit over the top and that he walks away while step dancing, was a little unneeded in my Opinion.

It didnt made me laugh, it just looked weird...

[Music Chart Fan 818]

Overall, this felt like a necessary episode to advance the CMC's character arcs in the wake of their getting their cutie marks, but ultimately, I also didn't feel very entertained by it. It's difficult to explain exactly why not, though. The major accomplishment of the episode - helping Tender Taps overcome stage fright and get his cutie mark - only occurred in the last few minutes of the episode. Meanwhile, the rest of the episode had us watch the CMC rather aimlessly try to figure out how to implement their special talent in practice, watch the CMC try to find activities to do together without really succeeding at finding one, and watch Apple Bloom mope around after Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle go off to do their own things. So, while these do feel like things the CMC needed to do, and it mostly makes sense that they did them, all of this also feels mostly like setting up how the CMC will act in the future, without any particularly satisfying payoff in this episode.

 

Regarding the CMC not realizing at first that they can do fun activities that aren't cutie mark-related, and that they don't all have to do everything together, on the one hand, it seems strange that the CMC seemingly never considered what they would do in their free time after getting their cutie marks. But, on the other hand, we could always say that they're only kids, so they may not really have thought that far ahead. It also seems a bit strange that Apple Bloom at first can't find any solo thing to do that would be fun. Her enjoyment of dancing also seems to come out of nowhere - I don't recall her showing interest in it previously, and it doesn't seem especially compatible with her character. She's been shown in this episode and previous ones to be good at and like potion-making, so why didn't Apple Bloom think to do more intense study in that? Maybe she could even investigate potions to make the Apples' apple trees fruit bat-resistant or increase yield or something like that.

 

It seems a bit contrived that Tender Taps gets his cutie mark after the first time the CMC push him to overcome his stage fright and perform. I wouldn't think that stage fright can be gotten over that easily, and I think it would make more sense for him to perform on stage at least a few more times before realizing that he actually likes public performance and earning his cutie mark in it. Part of the issue here might be that this arc had just a few minutes at the end to come to a conclusion and wrap up the whole episode.

 

I don't really have much other big-picture stuff to talk about with this episode, but I have a lot of one-off observations I made, which I'll list below.

 

Near the beginning of the episode, Apple Bloom mispronounces the word "ridiculous". But would that be a particularly difficult word for her to pronounce, considering her vocabulary level?

 

Big Mac doesn't seem like the first pony to come to mind who would be having an existential crisis for the CMC to help solve, but I suppose Big Mac might have just been the first other pony that the CMC saw.

 

It doesn't seem like Big Mac's leisurely trot would be nearly fast enough to cause all the apples to fly out of his cart when he "screeches" to a halt to avoid stepping on Apple Bloom.

 

The CMC's generic advice to Pound and Pumpkin Cake about how there's no rush to get their cutie marks, that they'll come when they come, etc. is the same kind of advice that the CMC themselves were given, and yet that didn't stop them from worrying about and trying to get their cutie marks.

 

When the CMC are on the playground, they worry that if they can't find anyone with a cutie mark problem to help solve, then maybe they're not special. Oh, the horror! The CMC might not be special, whatever that's supposed to mean!

 

I almost expected Scootaloo to say tell Bulk Biceps that the Crusader Clubhouse is a "safe space", but she didn't. But I don't know, maybe this episode was written before "safe spaces" became a widespread news topic.

 

I couldn't help thinking that if the CMC are looking for things to do, maybe they should consider whether, and how, they can make a living as adults from their special talent of solving others' cutie mark problems. Because if there's no good way to make a living doing that, then they have to develop other skills that they can use to make a living.

 

Scootaloo tells Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle that, to scooter, "just remember - stomp, kick, and roll!" But then what? Do they have to do anything when actually going around the track, or will their scooters just take the correct route with no further input from them?

 

It's funny that Sweetie Belle is trying and failing to teach the CMC to sing when they've sung several songs together in previous episodes, and Apple Bloom sings a song later in this episode. Did all of those songs not actually happen in the world of the characters?

 

It's quite the coincidence that it appears that Equestria uses the same musical notation that the human Western world has used for hundreds of years - the staff; treble and bass clefs; key signatures; quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes; accents, slurs, and dynamic notation; etc.

 

Considering how (im)precise "a dash", "a drop", and "a drip" are, maybe it shouldn't be surprising that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle can't replicate those measurements correctly.

 

I guess the other four rafters don't mind that Apple Bloom is just dead weight on the raft and not contributing to paddling.

 

Apple Bloom didn't appear to be bad at baking a pie; there just wasn't anyone there at the shop that wanted to share it with her.

 

When Apple Bloom bursts into the dance studio wanting to enroll, I would think the instructor's first reaction would be "Can I talk to your parents?". After all, dance class would be a serious commitment and something that has to be paid for, and I would think the instructor would want some reassurances on those fronts before she starts any serious teaching and before Apple Bloom joins the recital that night.

 

As Apple Bloom is leaving the dance studio after being told that she can't do partnered dancing, we see Tender Taps with his dance clothes on, but literally two seconds later, as he's in the doorway to leave and talk to Apple Bloom, his clothes are gone, probably so that we can see that he's a blank flank. Where did his clothes go in such a short time? Are the dance clothes property of the dance studio and therefore must be removed before leaving the premises?

 

Did Apple Bloom really not realize that Tender Taps didn't have a cutie mark until Sweetie Belle asked about it later? I would think that the CMC would be in the habit of noticing when a fellow pony doesn't have a cutie mark.

 

Apple Bloom tells Tender Taps that he's the best dancer she's ever seen, but how meaningful is that statement? How many other dancers has Apple Bloom seen?

 

Just how long is the recital, anyway? It's apparently long enough for Sweetie Belle, who just started to learn crocheting earlier that day, to crochet costumes, and long enough for the CMC to create a backdrop. It also sure was nice for Scootaloo's bungee jumping instructor to show up and help on such short notice. It sure was nice for whoever scheduled and arranged the recital to allow a last-minute addition to the recital as it was going on, too.

 

Finally, I couldn't help noticing that the background music at the very end of the episode sounds like the background music during the montage of Ponyville residents helping Rainbow to learn the material for the Wonderbolts history test in "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3". That's probably not the only time that similar music has been used in different episodes in the show; I've just watched "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" enough to be able to recognize it this time.

[ggg-2 3,550]

....Did they seriously have to remind us about the bait and switch they pulled on us regarding their talents? (Yeah, i'm still mad about that.)