My Review of MLP: FIM season 8 episode 18 Yakity-Sax · 9:24pm Nov 4th, 2023
Grading Scale:
A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)
Greetings, everyone. This is Mr. J back with another MLP episode review for today. This afternoon, I will be reviewing the eighteenth episode of season 8 entitled “Yakity-Sax”. Folks, have you ever wondered or thought about what it would feel like if you suffered something so excruciatingly painful? Something so painful that it surpasses all the other worst pains you’ve ever felt in your life? It may not be physical, but for my head, this episode certainly managed to accomplish that task. This is what I consider to be the second worst episode of the whole show.
The episode begins with the lovely Fluttershy having a relaxing time with Angel out in the forest. Suddenly, she heard something call out in apparent distress, prompting her to run forward to help out. But as it turns out, it’s just Pinkie Pie playing her new instrument called the yovidaphone. She loves the instrument so much—a little too much as she blows her horn out at the top of her lungs in all the wrong notes.
She blatantly disregards the peace and space of her friends and everyone else around her the more she abysmally plays the yovidaphone. And she continues to play it everywhere she goes—even at nighttime when folks are sleeping. This new hobby of hers has become everyone’s worst nightmare, but for her, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her apparently.
Throughout the entire episode, Pinkie has been insufferable, and she got even worse when her friends try their damn hardest to tell her that she isn’t good at playing the yovidaphone. She apparently takes it well, but she absolutely was devastated in the inside. It gutted her hopes and dreams and turned her into a depressed Pinkie Pie. Not even Pinkiemania!
This was an absolute character assassination at its finest. She would always center her attention on everyone and make sure they are happy. That’s her ultimate purpose and her ultimate source of joy and laughter, not some random instrument she hardly mastered to play. It destroys her character and makes her come across as a girl who doesn’t take criticism, throws a tantrum, and gets upset when things don’t go her way.
So her friends try to cheer her up but to no avail. She ultimately decides to leave Ponyville without saying goodbye and moves to Yakyakistan. Again, it’s infuriating that she’s acting so childish and thinks about herself without ever considering the fact that everyone fears and hates the way she plays it. So not only is she childish but also selfish.
And I didn’t like how dismissive Maud was to Twilight and the others. Judging by her body language, I could easily tell she was pissed at them for what happened to her sister. Babe, Pinkie has no one to blame but herself; she sucks at playing the yovidaphone and she needs to grow the hell up and accept criticism. This whole situation is nothing more than ridiculous and goofy.
Unfortunately, this episode did not end well when it comes to good morals. Her friends apologize to Pinkie and tell her that it doesn’t matter if she sucks at it or not because as long as it makes her happy, they’ll support her. You know what? Fine. That makes perfect sense. I agree.
We’ll just have her play this instrument to the detriment of everyone else, and we’re not gonna scold her for it because it makes her happy! She’ll keep harassing people with the yovidaphone but because it makes her happy, we won’t stop her. I’ll tell this kid to keep misbehaving in public and bully other children because it makes him happy and cool. Why punish him for it?
You get my point? Friends are to support each other, yes, but friends also have to set boundaries for everyone’s well-being and protection. These ponies however threw that away and sacrificed their integrity for the sake of no longer “hurting” Pinkie’s feelings. These guys are pushovers, you know that? Absolute pussies.
Not once did Pinkie ever apologize for her behavior. She was in the wrong this whole time, and yet they are responsible for making her depressed and miserable? It’s not their fault she’s shit at her new hobby. This episode is basically teaching kids that no one should tell you you’re bad at what you do even if it’s hurting other people in some way, shape, or form. You don’t need to improve, just stay at where you are! If it makes people’s ears bleed, screw them!
It is a toxic moral that will enable toxic friendships and families to remain toxic. This is the worst episode Micheal P. Fox and Wil Fox ever wrote. I am 100% convinced they hate comedic characters like Pinkie because they are the same people who co-wrote season 9 episode 14 “The Last Laugh” where Cheese Sandwich was depressed for entirely different reasons. It’s such a shame because they’ve written some of the best episodes of this show such as “Forever Filly” and “Discordant Harmony”. What the heck happened, Fox brothers? They’re brothers, right?
Anyway, fuck this episode. This gets a solid D-!
Peace.
Drop the hammer hard on this one... (Peace sign) Respect, Mr. J
I agree with you on all these points.
Not only was the episode obnoxious with a toxic moral on the side, but it literally did a complete 180 on Pinkie by making her uncharacteristically self-centered and careless. It’s pretty much another reason for why I’m having a hard time discerning how Seasons 8 & 9 are officially canon, because the personalities of many of my favorite characters no longer seemed to be properly represented or intact much of the time.
I believe they are. And you’re right, the episodes you mentioned were truly very well-done and pleasant experiences. It seemed like they were really getting the hang of it all after working on their mostly decent outings in Season 6, only for their talents to later get squandered by terrible management.
My god. F*CK THIS DAMN IN THE EYESOCKET!