SPOILERS! Mariusioannesp Reviews: "Pinkie Apple Pie"

WARNING! The following contains SPOILERS for for today’s MLP episode “Pinkie Apple Pie”.

Now without further ado, here is my review of “Pinkie Apple Pie”.

Pinkie finds out that she’s actually distantly related to the Apple Family! She’s a fourth cousin, twice removed by a fifth cousin. So, she's basically their sister. However, there is some doubt to the certainty of this revelation. So, Pinkie joins the Apple Family on a family road trip to find one Apple who can confirm this. Meanwhile, on the off chance that Pinkie is an Apple, Applejack insists that her family presents the best of their family so Pinkie will be more willing to accept being a part of their family. Easier said than done.

So, what’s my verdict.

I really liked it!

There is a lot to like about this episode. First off, there’s the song “Apples to the Core”. This is the only song in the history of MLP that was stuck in my head before the episode aired. And seeing the animatic from Comic Con finally brought to life in fully animated form was just wonderful! It’s clear why they chose this song for the San Diego Comic Con. It is clearly the best song of the season so far! The best part was that they did this little horse dance (or dressage as it is also known). One of the things I liked about the “Helping Twilight Win the Crown” sequence from Equestria Girls was that well humans can dance better than ponies can. I stand corrected. The song gets a nice reprise towards the end of the episode.

WE’RE APPLES TO THE CORE!

Much like the previous episode “Bats!”, this episode features a pairing that has hitherto not seen on the show before, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. I imagine some people might feel that Pinkie Pie was being uncharacteristically silly in this episode. But I like silly Pinkie Pie. She was definitely one of the best parts of this episode. One of the complaints I’ve seen about episodes “Bats!” and “Rarity Takes Manehattan” is that while focusing on one or two characters, it still features all the Mane 6 and they end up not doing much. Unlike those episodes, this one focuses solely on Pinkie Pie as well as Applejack and her family. The only others that appear are Twilight and Spike and only at the very beginning.

Despite how important her family is to Applejack, we haven’t seen much of her interacting with them as a whole. Here we get a good look at Applejack’s family dynamic. As an older sibling myself, I can say the back and forth between Applejack and Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom felt very authentic. They also play around with how Big Mac is a colt of few words. Most of his lines in this episode are “Eeyup” and “Nope” as usual. However, there is one moment where we see Pinkie at the end of a heavy conversation with Big Mac, and she remarks about how deep he is. His response: “Eeyup”. Then later at the end, he attempts to apologize for the mistakes he’s made on their trip, Granny Smith actually quiets him to note that everypony already knows how sorry he is and has forgiven him.

Much like in Applejack’s previous episode “Bats!”, she is the source of the major problem of the episode. However, while the problem in “Bats!” was connected to her stubbornness, which is the source of the problem in most Applejack episodes, that is not the case here. This makes this episode similar to Season 3’s “Apple Family Reunion” in that regard. Here the problem stems from how Applejack wants her family to be at their best so Pinkie Pie would be willing to consider herself part of their family if she is indeed distantly related. It’s quite a fascinating issue really. Applejack seems to feel a little insecure about her family. And she fears Pinkie may abandon them if Applejack’s family doesn’t live up to what she fears may be Pinkie’s high expectations for a family. Recall for a moment that Pinkie’s immediate family includes two other sisters and both parents. It’s like Applejack is aware something is missing from her family. Like her parents who it seems are most likely DEAD! Why don’t you come out and say it already MLP!? They did it in the very first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender! Anyway, in the end, Pinkie Pie tells Applejack how much she loves Applejack’s family and that despite butting heads at times, they still manage to make it through together in the end. She points out how they’re not just family, but best friends as well.

There were some delightfully dark moments in this episode. After their wagon collapses and they build a raft out of it, Apple Bloom drops their map into the river where it is taken by a fish that is subsequently carried away by an eagle! Pinkie takes a picture of it for her scrapbook. Not too long after, Applejack and her family are arguing over control of the raft. They drop the raft’s wheel into the river where it is taken by a duck that is subsequently carried away by an eagle! (Oddly enough as the raft goes over a waterfall, you see a flock of ducks fly by including that very same duck with the wheel. Guess he got away.) So, they follow Grumpy Cat’s appearance in last week’s episode by referencing the viral video “Bunnies can fly… proof”. Twice!

Then there’s this episode’s newest addition to the Apple Family, Goldie Delicious. When she first shows up returning to her home, she is carrying saddlebags filled with cats. When they enter her home, it’s cluttered and filled to the brim with dusty, old Apple Family heirlooms. On top of that, there are cats everywhere, including Ahuizotl’s cheetah! There are even piles of dust shaped like cats! It was so creepy but in a not as creepy way somehow. Goldie Delicious is an extreme cat lady and extreme hoarder.

In the end, Goldie Delicious consults her book on all the members of the Apple Family but is still unable to prove conclusively whether Pinkie is related to the Apple Family due to a smudge on the page. It’s funny ‘cause the scroll that Pinkie initially pointed to as proof she was related to the Apples was similarly smudged. Despite being unable to conclusively prove it, Applejack claims at the end that since Pinkie was able to put up with everything they’ve been through on this trip, she must be an Apple to the core!

It seems they don’t have DNA tests in Equestria. If only Maury Povich was here.

You are the fourth cousin twice removed by a fifth cousin!

That has to become a meme now.

I had just a few nitpicks with this episode. I’m not against the idea that Pinkie Pie and Applejack are related. It’s something I’ve considered possible myself given that they’re both Earth Ponies from farming backgrounds. However, Season 2’s “Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000” already established that Applejack already views all her friends as honorary members of her family. Why is it such a big deal then that Pinkie Pie might be actually related to them? Yeah, I admit it would be cool if one of my best friends turned out to be related to me. I guess I’ve become more of a you choose your own family kind of guy.

Also there was a moment when Granny Smith accidentally has them pass through what she purports is the scariest cave in Equestria. One that supposedly nopony ever comes out of. However, we only hear them scream as we see them pass through it from the outside. I kind of wanted to see what they saw in there. That however would have changed the tone of the episode far too dramatically just to have that visual gag at the end of it. So, it’s really just a nitpick.

At the end, we have the lesson that being a good family isn’t about being perfect and that sometimes your best friends can seem like your family. Those are more lessons I can stand behind. The episode ends with Pinkie participating in the Apple Family’s argument because that’s what Apples do. There is no enigmatic tease at the end of this episode though.

This episode features the last bit of material contained in the spoilers from the San Diego Comic Con. So from henceforth, everything on MLP will be almost a complete surprise.

Overall, “Pinkie Apple Pie” was a great episode! It was good episode for Applejack and for Pinkie Pie as well. It really taught us about what being friends and family is all about.

God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.