Mini Re-Reviews: "MMMystery On the Friendship Express" - Season 2 Episode 24

TWILIGHT: "Okay - why am I wearing a bowler hat?"
PINKIE: "Perfect silly question, my dear Twilight. Because the obvious answer is..."
APPLEJACK: "...there is no answer, is there, sugarcube?"
PINKIE: "Nope! Just gotta give the fans the shout-outs they want. Which includes me quoting this very episode!"

Despite it's gleeful parody-heavy nature, "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" was an episode I had largely forgotten about, to enough of an extent that Pony Joe being one of the three other bakers caught me totally off-guard (whereas I did remember the French griffin chef and the old female mule). Heck, I had forgotten enough that I didn't remember aspects of how the mystery was solved until they were happening in front of me. That's the sign of a good whodunit, and make no mistake, this mystery certainly qualifies as one, on top of all the nods and references.

Any discussion of this episode is likely to start with Pinkie's ludicrous accusations towards the other bakers, each one of which had me laughing out loud. Each one being a parody of something specific (silent movie villains, spy flicks, samurai films) is cool enough, and everything about the execution of these sequences, from aspect ratio to colour palette to grainy artefacts, music, on-screen text (did foreign markets change the text, subtitle it, or overdub it?), and so much more. But equally surprising is how entertaining Twilight and Pinkie's Sherlock and Watson comic act proves (I've been saying "Feeling Pinkie Keen" that that are a fabulous comedic duo). There's tons of touches there to love, both in the script, the props, and especially the animation timing (every time the pipe is blown and bubbles come out; the looks one keeps giving the other as they dominate the case; Pinkie growing frustration as Twilight shares absolutely nothing is to die for). The comic timing in Season 2 was something else, folks.

It's illuminating to put a Shout Out-heavy episode like this next to "Slice of Life" and compare them; the latter shouts out to the fandom, but this came early enough (in writing and production, anyway) that the show staff wasn't totally swamped with the fandom quite yet, so instead they draw on all number of tropes, half mystery ones, half spoofing other genres. It definitely works; I was constantly chuckling and laughing throughout this one. If the episode has a flaw, it's that it's so overstuffed with these things that it doesn't really produce anything hugely iconic and memorable, which goes some way towards describing why I had forgotten a lot of the specifics here. Just goes to show that being memorable and quality aren't always one and the same, for this episode is largely quality. For instance, as mystery episodes go, I remembered "Rarity Investigates" a lot more then this one, even though it doesn't spend as much of its runtime on the mystery as is done so here. Possibly it's because that one is also a nice character piece, whereas the lesson here is largely tacked-on and not a hugely organic buildup of the proceedings therein (that said, it managed to stay just this side of Pinkie devouring the final cake being off-putting, instead being a funny note to end on). The character stuff here is mostly of the funny variety, and when you adore these characters to no end, it's often the character stuff that sticks with you. Maybe the casual fans who only watch this series for a good time find this episode far more memorable.

Still, a quality kids' mystery is a quality kids mystery, and that's where I have to applaud this, with every detail being well thought out, and the clues visually running the range from easily guessable (the speedy blur that turns out to be Rainbow Dash) to easy-to-miss (Fluttershy shovelling coal) to easy-to-spot for the unusually attentive (Rarity's mane hiding parts of her face like bangs). Personally, I missed the Fluttershy one this time through, thinking it was Dash again. And then when the audience is satisfied with that, it has some clues that aren't setup (the three other bakers eating various other desserts), but come when we don't really need another whodunit to chew on for a long while.

If this review seems a bit short, there isn't a lot else to say: it's gleefully funny and joyous, and it's only sin is that it is not especially memorable or iconic due to it's parody and shout-out heavy nature. But the entertainment value when watching this one can't be ignored; it's an 8.5/10. Amy Keating Rogers' previous three episodes this season - "The Cutie Pox", "The Last Roundup" and "A Friend in Deed" - have all had something holding them back from Season 2's usual top-tier standard to one extent or another, so it's a relief to see this reach that effortlessly, even if it's not hugely memorable for long past the time of watching it.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- The chef griffin character is a fun one; I'd forgotten he was our only griffin between Gilda and the Griffonstone episode.
- Applejack does nothing in this episode, but originally had a moment where Twilight congratulated her on withholding from sneaking a bite from the cake... only for her to admit she actually did, she just left no clues. Would have meant all six had a role in the episode, but according to Amy Keating Rogers, it was cut for time. Poor farmpony.