Episode Re-Review: Party of One

So, for the last episode before the big finale, what was in store for us? A Pinkie Pie episode written by Meghan McCarthy, the same Meghan McCarthy who had proven not to have the best understanding of the character given "Green Isn't Your Color". This episode is regarded as a sleeper hit, an episode that no one was expecting to be as good as it was. But has it deserved that reputation? Well, let's find out.

We begin with Pinkie Pie inviting all her friends to Gummy's birthday via actual singing telegrams, and with each friend she visits she changes her outfit. And yes, it's a good thing ponies don't have access to fire arms.

Strangely enough, Pinkie wears herself out doing this and makes a mental note to self to just pass out written invitations next time. The party then gets under way in a loft above Sugarcube Corner, establishing it as Pinkie's room (so that means she's living with the Cakes, though the exact arrangement is up for debate). During the party a record is playing that's basically reusing the track "CMC Go Crusading" which is probably the best thing to have come out of "The Show Stoppers". Anyway, the party is in full swing but Pinkie seems a bit oblivious to her friends' concerns, such as when Rarity spits out her punch after realizing Gummy's been swimming in it or when Pinkie accidentally knocks Twilight and Fluttershy into walls while dancing (I guess you could call it break dancing?). Still, the party is a success. Everyone leaves, but Twilight tells Pinkie they should do it again soon. Pinkie takes this quite literally and decides to hold an after birthday party for Gummy the very next day. Too bad it's not an un-birthday party.

Her first stop is Twilight at the Golden Oak Library, but Twilight declines and claims she's gotten behind on her studies. Pinkie next visits Applejack who also declines, claiming that she's too busy picking apples (I think the word she's looking for is harvesting). Rarity is next and she too declines, claiming she needs to wash her hair and proceeds to stick her mane into garbage (which she had Spike take out for her and then tried as delicately as possible to tell him he needed a bath). Finally, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash decline, claiming they're house sitting for a bear and invent a story they're obviously making up as they go along. However, Pinkie Pie believes this story but finds the other stories her friends give to be rather suspicious. However, she does have good logic behind it. Twilight, Applejack and Rarity would never intentionally let themselves fall behind on their studies, get too busy with harvesting or allow their mane to get dirty. As for why she believes Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's story, it's because she's friends with everyone in Ponyville. But she doesn't always know when someone new comes to town until she meets them. Still, she is rather skeptical and starts to realize that the stories don't add up.

You can probably guess where the episode is gonna go once Twilight shows up at Sugarcube Corner to pick up a box shaped package (because what else would she be picking up from a bakery that fits in a big box?). However, she fails to notice Pinkie listening in on a tin can until she's about to leave, and ends up getting it stuck to her muzzle for a brief second. Pinkie then decides to follow Twilight to see where she's taking the package and what she's really up to, assuming a disguise to avoid being seen.

The package trades hooves many times, and each time Pinkie's disguise gets more elaborate. It starts with Groucho glasses and a fake nose and mustache, then a hay bale, then a trench coat and finally a propeller cap. Fluttershy ends up bumping into the disguise and while she doesn't recognize Pinkie she is rather frightened by what she sees and flies off. Then Rainbow Dash trots past and identifies Pinkie before realizing that wasn't a good idea as Pinkie gives chase.

What follows is basically a sort of similar scene to what occurred during "Griffon The Brush Off" except more serious. At one point Rainbow Dash even hides inside the schoolhouse bell, only for Pinkie to already be there, hanging upside down like a bat.

The chase ends at Sweet Apple Acres as Applejack tries to keep Pinkie from getting inside since the rest of the mane six are in there (and do a poor job of emulating construction noises). Here we see that Applejack may not necessarily be able to lie, but she can stretch the truth (which in a way is sort of lying in another way, just like not telling the whole truth is considered a lie by omission). She manages to fend off Pinkie but not without Pinkie giving her a glare.

Deciding that there's only one way to get some answers, Pinkie abducts Spike and takes him up to her room. She offers him a plate of gems if he talks. Spike does so, and starts acting like you'd expect Pinkie to act in this situation. Eventually, Pinkie Pie tells him to tell her what she wants to hear, so he does. Then Pinkie's mane and tail deflate and her coat color goes dark. It should be worth mentioning that when that infamous grimdark fanfic that this episode seemed to unintentionally acknowledge, Pinkie didn't have a flat mane and tail. But after this episode a flat mane and tail was the standard depiction going forward. Anyway, Pinkie keeps her word and lets Spike have the gems. Strangely, though, come the next scene Spike isn't anywhere in sight and Pinkie is instead hosting a party with inanimate objects: A bucket of turnips, a pile of rocks, a ball of lint and a bag of flour. It isn't long before she starts to lose it, imagining the inanimate objects are actually talking back to her.

It's only interrupted when Rainbow Dash shows up and claims she was in a hurry earlier, thus having no time to stop and talk. Pinkie isn't convinced and Rainbow is noticeably confused by this, watching Pinkie talk to the inanimate objects. She tries to convince Pinkie to leave only to get into a shouting match with the rock pile. It's only after the rocks tumble down that she realizes how silly she looks. But Pinkie still doesn't want to cooperate and even plants her rear firmly on Rainbow Dash's face in protest.

Rainbow recovers, though, and drags Pinkie all the way to Sweet Apple Acres for a surprise party. Pinkie Pie assumes it's a farewell party because she's being kicked out of the group. Her friends tell her that's not the case, they've been skipping Gummy's after birthday party to get everything ready for Pinkie's birthday party. Slowly but surely, Pinkie realizes her mistake and her mane and tail poof right back to normal (and her coat color becomes bright again). She even wonders how she could've forgotten her own birthday, but her friends are just relieved everything is okay. Though I have to ask, couldn't one of them have gone to the after birthday party just to keep Pinkie distracted? They know Pinkie lives right above Sugarcube Corner, so of course she'd find it odd if her friends said they couldn't come to a party and then one of them came to Sugarcube Corner despite saying they were busy. Spike is there too, and the ponies participate in a conga line as Twilight I assume is thinking of a friendship letter she's gonna send to Princess Celestia. The moral is to assume the best and not the worst, trusting that your friends will have your best interests at heart. It's a nice message but a little idealistic, and one that the show itself will kind of contradict at times.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? It's every bit the sleeper hit it was when it first premiered! Meghan McCarthy proved herself to be at her best when writing a character's mental breakdown, and considering how she'd mismanaged Pinkie before it was nice to see that she could do Pinkie Pie justice. The story does become predictable once Twilight shows up at Sugarcube Corner to pick up a cake, but even then it manages to put a unique take on the story. Usually, the forgotten birthday trope is one of two things: A. Everyone is planning a surprise party for the character having the birthday, or B. Everyone did forget about the birthday and are scrambling to put together a party to make up for it. Here though, Pinkie Pie is the only one who's forgotten. And there's so many entertaining moments that the predictable nature of the story doesn't detract. Although probably not intentional, it does feel like Meghan McCarthy was nodding towards that infamous grimdark fanfic that shall not be named (which by now had made the rounds throughout the fandom, hardly anyone didn't know about it). There are some things that feel out of place, such as Spike's sudden disappearance and the mane six not thinking to have someone go to the after birthday party as a distraction. But they don't detract from this episode all that much. This episode easily gets an A+, becoming arguably Season 1's best episode (with only "Suited for Success" and "Sonic Rainboom" to truly rival it for that title).

Well, because this episode was so unexpectedly good that means the intended finale has to even better or at least as good, right? Well, when we come back and take a look at "The Best Night Ever" you'll see how that ultimately wasn't the case.

Comments

[superfun]

This is definitely my pick for the best episode of the season, and easily the funniest.

[Zubric]

Funny enough Thr mention of a house sitting for a bear. And then Harry the bear existed. Found it funny