| This extraordinary (even for Pinkie) G3 moment was sadly spoiled by a pre-season trailer, but still |
Written by Dave Polsky
17 Nov 2012
My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 8.6
The one with frog-oranges
Thoughts: "Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!" If you were anywhere near a Pony convention for about a year after this episode came out, you'll have had enough of that to last a lifetime! Anyway, this, Dave Polsky's first writing credit since S1, is an ep I've never really loved as much as a big chunk of the fandom seems to. While it is, well, fun I don't really get invested in it emotionally. Odd, considering there's an existential threat to Pinkie's very existence – Twilight is zapping pink horses with gay abandon. Somewhat worrying when the episode opens with her magic shown to be still very much imperfect. My real complaint, though, is how thick Twi is when she and Spike are trying to work out who the real Pinkie is. It's obvious the only one who actually has emotions beyond hyper-ness is the real one, yet Twilight can't see that. On a more superficial level, it is enjoyable to see so many Pinkies animated, especially given the entertaining little unique touches each one has. The Mirror Pool legend is also fairly interesting, though unfortunately we only ever encounter it once again (in S7's "Uncommon Bond"). The "convenient secret compartment" thing irritates me a bit, though. Really, the whole episode just doesn't click that much with me. As such, I'm going to break with IMDb opinion here; I really don't think this is a classic or even a near-classic. A moderate three-star rating, but no more than that. Amusingly, this entertaining ponyfic appeared some months before the episode. Pure coincidence of course, but a fun one.
Choice quote: Fluttershy: "I can promise to not do anything fun at all if that would help."
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "One Bad Apple", which I've never held in especially high regard among CMC episodes, except for its song. It also contains an apparent joke that nobody seems to understand...
This is one of the most memorable episodes of the show's entire run, and yet it never quite sat well with me. I could never put my finger on why.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree, except I'm even harsher on how they ultimately handled the problem. A definite low three, possibly a two.
ReplyDeleteThe good stuff: in the early going, it's got a lot of nice moments (Fluttershy is extra adorable, of course, but I also enjoy gags like Pinkie splashing "quietly" so's not to disturb Rainbow) and a perfectly fine and interesting conflict. It's also got a lot of - dare I say it - fun in the first two-thirds, but even that much is pretty modest entertainment. Certainly not a classic.
To say nothing of how bad the last third is. This is where the episode always loses me. Twilight and Spike are, yes, incredibly short-sighted in a way that's pretty annoying. Easily the worst part is the incredibly dumb, reckless, and needlessly creepy way they solve the problem.
What makes it worse is that there was actually quite a clever bit of hinting early on that the clones don't come with automatic knowledge of the other ponies. Testing them on that would be a far better way to single out the true Pinkie because she alone is going to have the depth of knowledge that comes from experience and genuine thoughtful interest. It would even have suited the moral perfectly: you don't need to spend every waking hour with your friends to prove you care for them so much!
Instead, they're forcing the clones to do something against their nature, including something extremely hard for the real Pinkie to do. That's insanely irresponsible: it might whittle out the most obvious fakes initially, but with a sample that big and a test that difficult, there's just too much risk of a momentary lapse once it's down to the more experienced clones.
Hell, they get zapped for even the most momentary lapse of concentration, which is just absurdly tight. And the moral boils down to "because friendship is just that strong", which might sound less like blunt shilling for the concept if it weren't being applied to precisely the kind of character who acts like an ADHD candidate. Caring for your friends won't suddenly cure you of fundamental traits like that, nor does it give you extra willpower. It really pisses me off the more I think about it.
There was a lot of fan speculation way back that the last surviving Pinkie was actually a fake and the episode was hiding a downer ending, and frankly it's not hard to see where that idea came from. It's a shame too, because it's otherwise a fine enough episode.
Which is of course confounded by the appearance of the second Pinkie in Saddle Row & Rec.
DeleteAnd also terrible if you consider that season three is where her character kind of went down the toilet. c.c;
I never really liked this one either. Too many characters have to hold the idiot ball for it to work, and while it did have some fleeting enjoyable moments, it's not one I've ever cared to watch again.
ReplyDeleteOne of these is not like the others. A basic type of question on any IQ test, that Twilight fails? Yeah, no. **
ReplyDeletePinkies: "Fun!" "Fun!" "Fun!" "Am I the real Pinkie Pie? How could my friends ever tell? Why do I feel bad about all this chaos? Why!? " "Fun!" "Fun!" "Fun!"
DeleteTwilight: "Well, I'm stumped."
XD Exactly!
Delete