S08:E06 - Surf and/or Turf

[Thrond 3,257]

On 7/7/2018 at 4:53 AM, RaphLuna said:

Twilight tagging along was just creepy, like she was a school warden, obsessed in her school running perfect and had the personally make sure it was flawless. 

She just wanted an excuse to visit. 

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,160]

On 7/7/2018 at 6:53 AM, RaphLuna said:

Twilight tagging along was just creepy, like she was a school warden, obsessed in her school running perfect and had the personally make sure it was flawless.

Well, she IS the School of Friendship's principal. It's her responsibility to make sure Ocean Flow and Skybeak sign that field trip discretion form. If she let the CMCs travel on their own, then their families will rightfully throw a fit.

On 7/7/2018 at 7:13 AM, RaphLuna said:

from reading what others are saying, it sounds like Twilight did all the work, and the CMC got the credit. end result the message, let someone else do all the work, while you do nothing but argue with each other, to busy in your rant with each other to really help. and get all the benefits and rewards for someone else doing all the work. sound like the Liberals and the NWO Adjenda Sneaking in their teachings to the young minds of children.

Those who claim Twilight did the work are overlooking key episode details. Twilight guided the CMCs and gave them advice after their biases made Terramar more confused, but she didn't solve the problem. The CMCs did; after they realized their mistake, they put her advice in practice, convinced Terramar he didn't have to live in one or the other, and led them to the picnic.

The episode's primary moral is to not pressure someone when they're in a dilemma. The CMCs via their own infighting, Terramar's parents via accidental perpetuation. That's why they learned the lesson in the first place. It's nothing to do with "liberal agenda" or some other tired political conspiracy theory.

On 7/7/2018 at 7:13 AM, RaphLuna said:

It was obvious at the start of the problem, that he would chose to live in both places.

Most of FIM's episodes contain an obvious outcome, and that's by design. What works or doesn't is the journey's execution. Sa/oT's resolution is clued by Terramar's name meaning, but how they eloquently approach the topic of divorce through a child's eyes makes it stand out.

Edited July 9, 2018 by Dark Qiviut

[TBD 17,226]

I really like the lesson they portrayed but it's kinda hard to ignore Queen Nova ever to existed when these kind of diversity problem are at present.

[bigbertha 410]

This episode is meh. All of the jokes feel too slowly paced to be funny, and the story is not very interesting. The episode could've gone deeper on how stressed Terramar feels about having to choose where to live, but more of the episode is about Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo getting into an argument about which place is better. It doesn't help that Terramar's conflict isn't introduced until 9 minutes in. 

Score: 5/10

[Varrack 1,080]

This was a lot to take in...the two new settings that we've seen little of (besides the movie), the cultures of the hippogriffs and seaponies, and a couple new characters. Oh, and turning into seaponies again. That seemed somewhat sudden.

This ep kind of speaks to me because my parents have been divorced for a few years and for a time I was really split between both places, as they had 50/50 custody of me. Now though I've completely cut off one world and embraced the other. It's a difficult dilemna to have when you're a kid, but stages like that usually pass as your identity develops.

I think I want to watch this again just to take in the backgrounds and whatnot. It was all kind of fascinating to watch.

 

 

[gingerninja666 487]

I just realized. Is this episode the first time Twilight has kinda gone against the map’s wishes? In Griffonstone she was very adamant. "I can’t go. The map said it was just you two, even though Griffonstone sounds so awesome and I really wanna see it."

When the CMC were sent to Mt. Eris, she comes along with them, and makes multiple excuses for why she’s coming along, even though it’s clear she really just wants to visit it because it's awesome. She even helps them out with the solution at the end.

[Thrond 3,257]

57 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

I just realized. Is this episode the first time Twilight has kinda gone against the map’s wishes? In Griffonstone she was very adamant. "I can’t go. The map said it was just you two, even though Griffonstone sounds so awesome and I really wanna see it."

When the CMC were sent to Mt. Eris, she comes along with them, and makes multiple excuses for why she’s coming along, even though it’s clear she really just wants to visit it because it's awesome. She even helps them out with the solution at the end.

Just proves that there was no reason she couldn't have gone in any of the previous cases...

[gingerninja666 487]

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

Just proves that there was no reason she couldn't have gone in any of the previous cases...

It could show that she's started taking Star's "screw the rules" advice in School Daze a little more to heart.

[Thrond 3,257]

4 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

It could show that she's started taking Star's "screw the rules" advice in School Daze a little more to heart.

Well, if it means she's no longer insistent on nonsense rules that she has no good reason to follow, then it can only be a good thing...

[Senko 459]

29 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

Well, if it means she's no longer insistent on nonsense rules that she has no good reason to follow, then it can only be a good thing...

Unless she moves into this kind of viewpoint

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I loved this episode, it was nice to see the Hippogriff/seaponies world again and Terramar is a great character, I liked seeing him struggle with deciding whether to live on land or live in the sea. The CMC were great as always and the song was fantastic, my only real issue was the bit with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle fighting, but other than that a great episode. 9/10

[Larrydog 320]

an interesting episode again didn't leave much of an impression on me but still interesting how they brought the movie into the mix since I felt beforehand it wasn't canon and I also I liked the new character Terramar he was a pretty cool character

[qwerE 95]

Not too bad, but the plot felt a bit contrived. Lovely visuals and music makes up for it, though. While I'm mostly against MLP:the movie being canon, I could definitely see something nice that can come from it- new places and adventures. Maybe I might even change my mind one day.

I was glad to see ponies' seapony forms again, too. In my opinion, Terramar had one of the nicest seapony forms, along with other original seaponies. Twilight's new look seemed kind of off, though. I feel like the animators could have changed her a bit more, so that she looked less like a pony. She looked like some half mixed version of pony and seapony. It wasn't terrible, but I think it could've been nicer.

[bigbertha 410]

I think the big problem with this episode is that it doesn't do much with its main plot. When we first meet Terramar, he's pretty satisfied going to and from his two homes. When the episode ends, he's learns that he doesn't have to choose between his two homes. His conflict feels really shallow because the episode doesn't develop it.

9 minutes in, he introduces his uncertainty between choosing where to stay, then his story is taken over by the Sweetie Belle vs Scootaloo conflict, then (17 minutes in) Terramar is still uncertain, and then there's one more scene of Terramar being uncertain before his story is resolved. All of the scenes of Terramar say the same stuff of Terramar not knowing where to choose. He says it angrily at one point and he says it hopelessly at one point, but that's not really developing the story. If Terramar thought of running away or going to confront his parents, that would develop the plot and make it feel more substantial. As is, it comes across as shallow. And for what? An argument between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo that doesn't add anything and is resolved really quickly.

And the message is a bit too situational. Sure, if a kid is divorced and both parents live close to each other, this is a message that might help them, but only if they have a problem with it (I was in this situation and didn't have a problem with it) and hadn't already had a talk about it before. But if the kid has their parents live states apart, going to and from is not a viable solution. Plane or train tickets cost money so visits are infrequent. That kid is actually forced to live with one parent for the most part. So in the end, I think this is a message that's going to do nothing for a lot of kids.

The only thing I like here is the design of the Harmonizing Heights. Other than that, this episode is pretty weak.

Score: 4/10

 

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

I enjoyed the Episode quite a lot, probably because i can relate to the Problem in this Episode, since at one point i also had to decide with which parent i want to live with, since my parents split up.

I even cried during this Episode. But i have one Question: Why on Earth are they welcoming Twilight so nicely? Last time she visited, she tried to steal their Version of our Holy Grail, possibly one of the worst crimes to commit, yet everybody likes her now for no reason? What??? 

And worst, they dont welcome her because she is a Hero, but because she is the Teacher? When would a Teacher get this sort of welcome?

Twilight is kinda now like Discord, commit horrible crimes but get forgiven for no reason and everything is fine. Remember children, it is absolutely okay to break into the church and steal the holy grail as long as you say your sorry. Trust me, try it out, it will be fine and everybody will give you a cheering welcome everytime you visit!

[HedonismBot 217]

On 2021-06-17 at 4:35 PM, Reason for Cancellation said:

I even cried during this Episode. But i have one Question: Why on Earth are they welcoming Twilight so nicely? Last time she visited, she tried to steal their Version of our Holy Grail, possibly one of the worst crimes to commit, yet everybody likes her now for no reason? What??? 

Best I can think of is that Novo ultimately came to realize that:

a. Twilight trying to swipe the pearl was purely an act of desperation brought on by thinking that she had no other options for defeating the Storm King, not anything remotely malicious.

b. Refusing to help Twilight take down the Storm King was NOT the right call. I've heard it said that in the movie, there were subtle hints that many of her subjects were not okay with potentially spending the rest of their lives hiding under the sea.

Edited July 16, 2021 by HedonismBot

[Gale Wind 79]

I enjoyed this one. Really like some of the hippogriff designs. 

[PlunderSteed 1,251]

Sweet, who's ready for some more of my eons-too-late commentary?  Nobody, eh?  Cool.  Here it is anyway.

- The CMC summoned by the map?  I was pleasantly surprised, but I feel dumb for being surprised, because this sort of thing was bound to happen.  Also...the CMC burst into the map room as if they know exactly what their glowing butts mean.  Is it common knowledge that the map even exists, let alone how it works???  I mean, I suppose it SHOULD be.  Otherwise the CMC wouldn't know wtf it meant when their cutie marks started glowing.

- Scoots totally, immediately calls out Twilight for tagging along purely because "somepony just wants a vacation."

- AB's janky exposition about Hippogryph lore.  Ehh...it's sometimes necessary to do this kind of thing, given a 22 minute episode runtime.  Christopher Nolan this is not.

- The CMC encounter the same problem the Mane 7 have been struggling with for 4 years: the map gives no context or specifics about what the "friendship problem" actually is.  I'm glad they addressed this right away, and I'm glad Twilight was there to steer them in the right direction.  I haven't read this entire thread (wanted to avoid spoilers), but just from scrolling down, I gathered that a lot of people found Twilight's presence annoying.  I get that, but I don't think the episode would be plausible without her.

- At the festival I'm getting some kind of tension from Terramar.  The subtext seems to be that he's biracial...triracial?... and openly embracing this seems to be frowned upon by the ultra-terran/avian folks who chose to leave the sea permanently.  I'm sure other pointed this out years ago, but his name, Terramar, is a blend of the Latin words for "earth" and "sea."

- "Everygryph" is a term, like "everypony."  I like this.  Everygryph refers to gryphs of all types, in the same way that everypony refers to the 3 types (or 4, if you include Alicorns) of ponies.

- Sky Beak addresses Twilight as "Your Highness", and she takes it in stride.  Has anyone else addressed her in this way?

- Scoots says, "when in doubt chart it out."  This is the most Twilight thing I've ever heard anyone say.  And in this situation, it's an easy, practical way to gain insight.  Good job, Scoots.

- They transform into Seaponies.  It's heartbreaking to see Scootaloo swimming around freely as she says, "this must be just like flying."

- Let's take a moment to appreciate the beautiful musical score as Twilight, Terramar, and the Crusaders go to meet Ocean Flow.  Nice work, William Anderson and Kelly Davidson.

- "Your Heart is in Two Places" is the best song so far this season.  Another solid showing from Daniel Ingram and lyricist Brian Hohlfeld.  This is the first time we've heard Scoots sing since like...season 6?  The singing voice wasn't Madeleine Peters, btw.  It was Arielle Tuliao this time.

- Twilight artfully declines the high-pressure demands from both sides of the surf, and immediately connects this stress to Terramar's problem.  Good job, Friendship Goblin.

- Speaking of all that, are Terramar's parents divorced or what?  They seem friendly (in a genuine kind of way), but they clearly don't interact that often.  Good subtext.

This episode has nuance.  I like that.  And I like how the Crusaders are growing up and gaining adult responsibilities.  They're still immature and shortsighted in their own ways, but so are the Mane 7, who are all at least 10 years older.  Life be like that sometimes.  And we get to see Twilight doing legit Princess stuff, and doing it well.  Great episode!

Edited May 15, 2023 by PlunderSteed

[Props Valroa 25,951]

This was a great simple episode. I often do not think about the Hippogriffs and seaponies. But this helped me appreciate them. I want to know why they are able to shift, is it because of the pearl, or is that something they always knew about? What was their original form if they discovered how to shift? But Terramar is an interesting character as well as his parents, the CMC were great in this episode. Twilight's "research" Was funny too.