I've looked at video games, comic books, movies, social issues, recipes, podcasts, television, and answered a bunch of questions from readers, and I really feel like this thing is just getting started!
So, what's it been like for you guys?
...cute.
So, it's Monday, which means it's still our regularly scheduled programming, but it's appropriate that there's already a Clockwork Orange reference in this post, because this is the penultimate chapter of the first season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic...and they were saving the most insane for last.
Keep in mind I'm saying "most insane" after we've dealt with a bear made of outer space, parasite creatures that were magically transformed to go from eating all the food in town to everything that wasn't food, a supernatural sixth sense, and monsters inspired by David Bowie.
Let's dive in.
...you know what, this requires the right mood.
Consider if you will Pinkie Pie, an earth pony, forced to miss out on magical powers or natural flight like one third of her species. Where others feed off nutrients and protein, she seems to feed off excitement, randomness, and socialization. But she's about to discover that sometimes the party continues with out you, and for anything there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing."
It seems like a normal day in Ponyville, which to any other world would seem like madness. For example, today is the day Pinkie Pie is inviting all of her friends to a birthday party for her toothless pet alligator named "Gummy." There is simply no way to make that phrase sound rational. However, we can make it sound less.
NOT ONLY is Pinkie Pie doing the whole thing in the style of a singing telegram...
NOT ONLY does this involve visiting every one of her friends personally, which at one point requires use of a hot air balloon...
NOT ONLY does she get into costume to do these performances...
She has five separate, unique costumes, some of which seem directly pointed towards the intended recipient.
Needless to say, this tires the pony out, and she laments back at her home that next time she might stick to paper invitations.
Because, obviously, there's no middle ground there.
After the title, we witness a descent to madness that the residents of Ponyville can only describe as a "Pinkie Pie party.". Note, if you will the bobbing for apples that has "other surprises" inside, like spring-back apples, or a certain toothless alligator lying in wait.
Note, if you will, the fact that each bowl of punch is uniquely flavored (perhaps said alligator likes to lie in it), but the vacant, expectant stare from Pinkie Pie denies anybody the chance to turn it down.
Note, if you will the fact that Pinkie's definition of dancing involves hip-checking her friends so hard they break the drywall of her place. Note the fact that apparently, in a world populated by ponies, they somehow managed to invent "drywall."
Day becomes night, and the other ponies head out, leaving a Pinkie Pie asking with a hint of desperation for them to stay. An off-hand comment about "doing this again soon" from Twilight does give her an idea, and the next morning sees her delivering the first invitation to Gummy's "after birthday" party to Twilight. For that very afternoon.
I can't think of a human who has an "after birthday" party. I know several whose birthday bashes seem to last all week, but never an "after birthday" party.
Twilight bluffs her way out of having to go to the party, showing some severe hesitancy at having to go to another "Pinkie Pie Party". Applejack does the same, but not as well (being the embodiment of "honesty" in this world). It seems to cause her actual physical discomfort to have to lie to Pinkie.
Rarity, in what appears to be an act of total desperation, enforces the "I have to wash my hair" excuse by actually sticking her head into a trash can full of old food and refuse.
As for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash? They make up a story about house sitting, and Rainbow Dash draws a watch onto her hoof with a pen in order to say "look at the time, gotta go."
Clearly, these are desperate ponies.
Observe Pinkie Pie as she puzzles through why all of her friends aren't able to make it to her party. The fact that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's excuse (which involved a bear vacationing at the beach) seems perfectly reasonable while the rest are a bit "out there."
Pinkie Pie manages to overhear Twilight buying...something, and starts to follow her friend to find out what's up, and is lead to a meeting with Rarity where a box is handed over. Note the fact that Pinkie's "reasonable disguise" is to wear a hay bale with Groucho glasses, a trench coat, and a baseball cap on it.
Madness.
Rarity winds up passing the box off to Fluttershy, but not before Pinkie hears more evidence that they all were happy to not have to attend another "Pinkie Party" and have something "better" planned without her. Fluttershy winds up losing Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash happens past, and the chase is on as Pinkie wants answers.
Those of you who remember an earlier chase with these two will realize that it's impossible to hide from Pinkie Pie. This includes Pinkie Pie replacing the clapper with herself hanging upside down in the schoolhouse bell, waiting at the top of a tall mountain, and actually keeping up with a character who broke the speed of sound as Rainbow Dash makes a beeline for Applejack's farm.
Applejack tries to stall Pinkie Pie (no pun intended there) at the barn door by explaining that there's heavy renovations going on within, so she can't come in (complete with other characters inside making "tool" sounds that sound suspiciously more like someone strangling a sheep). Pinkie Pie's attempts to peer inside are actually stopped when Applejack slams a barn door on Pinkie's head.
...you'd think Applejack, of all characters, would appreciate possible causes of brain damage, but hey, I didn't write this episode.
Pinkie Pie eventually leaves, and comes up with a master plan to get the dirt on what's going on...by interrogating Spike. An actual interrogation, with Gummy holding Spike to the chair, a spotlight in his eyes, and Pinkie demanding he talk.
One of her best friends, and she seems one moment of frustration away from water boarding him.
A miscommunication ends up with Spike leaving Pinkie Pie the idea that her friends don't like her anymore...and we witness a pony breaking inside.
What happens next is simply watching a pony fall deeper and deeper into utter madness as she tries to compensate for losing all of her friends. An "after birthday" party does get thrown, and all the guests of honor are there. We have a bucket of turnips, a stack of rocks, a pile of lint, and a bag of flour.
The bag of flour, by the way, is served a piece of cake. For some reason, I take real issue to this.
We then get one of the most mind-tripping moments of all time in a cartoon, as we watch Pinkie's mind completely shatter like she fell into a Kubrick movie.
That is terrifying.
Pinkie actually starts to hallucinate that the objects are not just talking to her, but are convincing her that all of her friends are detestable people.
Which is probably the wrong time for Rainbow Dash to show up. This would be the moment when you'd get the glint of a knife, the violins would kick in, and a spray of red goes across the screen. ...fortunately, this is a kids show, so that doesn't happen.
Instead, witnessing Pinkie Pie obviously having suffered a total breakdown, tries to get her to follow her to Applejack's place, including using force to drag her all the way back to the barn. The door opens, the other ponies yell "Surprise" ... and Pinkie starts screaming at all of them, convinced she's now attending her own "farewell" party.
This doesn't last long, and soon Pinkie comes to the realization that in all the excitement over Gummy's "after birthday" party...she forgot about her own birthday. With a quick "poof" of her hair back to normal, and she's quick to forgive her friends for their momentary deceit (and her mental breakdown) and declare them the "best friends ever."
And her mental illness will probably never be spoken of again.
...mind-boggling.
The Good:
This episode is amazing. We get minds shattering like glass, hallucinations, slapstick humor, classic Looney Tunes references...it's like they decided to make My Little Pony directed by Stanley Kubrick. The depths the show goes to show Pinkie Pie's descent into her own world where inanimate objects turn her against her friends (and apparently cannibalize their own kind, looking at you bag of flour) is one that I'm amazed wouldn't leave a small child with a lot more questions than their parents were prepared to answer.
The Bad:
...besides the horror of a cannibalistic bag of flour, I don't really have much.
Well, okay, they are a few nitpicks. We've established that Spike is pretty dense when it comes to understanding how other people work or how they react to things (Pinkie's dancing and singing to try to calm racial relations comes to mind), but the fact he would simply leave Pinkie feeling alone and abandoned does feel a bit out of character. Even a simple "c'mon, they're your friends" might've kept Pinkie's mind from snapping like a dry twig.
Also...I just don't really like Gummy. Yeah, it was funny the first time he showed up, but to see him keep trying to chew things (balloons, balls of yarn, other ponies) makes me wonder if in this world alligators just don't grow their teeth until later, or if Pinkie just removes them every time they come in. With her delicate mental state, I wouldn't be surprised if it was either way.
Overall:
Each character gets a moment to shine in this episode, whether it's the desperation they show in trying to come up with excuses, their moments of humor or suspense, but it primarily manages to have Pinkie Pie at what might be her most extreme and have it be nothing like you'd expect.
The fact that the other characters are planning something for Pinkie is obvious to us, the viewer, but the way the conversations are portrayed between the other characters as Pinkie spies are really well written, and I could understand why the character would understand that instead of it just being a simple "oops" misunderstanding.
If I was ranking these episodes (and maybe I will after the next one when I'm done with this season), this one probably lands in the top five.
So that's my 150th post! ...y'know, it figures that it would involve this show. But hey, at least it was on a good episode, and there's just one episode left! What could it possibly be about?
Well, there's only one bit of series continuity that seems to be left open. We've seen it mentioned in one of the first episodes we looked at, as well as during a look at continuity around halfway through the season.
That's right, we finally get to see the Grand Galloping Gala. Will it be the lovely evening they all hoped it will be?
...what do you think?
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