MLP episode review: Party of One · 11:17pm Jun 23rd, 2014
Stooges, party of six, seven counting Ted Healy? Musketeers, party of three? Pinkie Pie...
Party of One
Or two.
We open on Golden Oaks. There's a knock at the door, and it's Pinkie Pie with a singing telegram! She's shot, because they still need to find Mister Boddy's killer. no? No. Ah, damn. No Tim Curry, then! Admit it. Tim Curry as a guest star would be awesome! Anyway, she goes from friend to friend with invites to Gummy's one-year old birthday party! I love her switching between costumes and getting more and more tired throughout it. She finally crawls up to her loft in Sugarcube Corner and decides next time, written invitations. Hah! After the credits, it's party time! And overall it's a good party, barring Gummy in the apple-bobbing barrel. Good thing he has no teeth! Actually for his species that's kinda tragic. Rarity asks if it's the same punch for the 'Spring has Sprung' party. Nope, it's Gummy in it! Well, to be fair to Pinkie, he got in there after Dash chucked him off her face.
It's Pinkie's jam and she dances with Twilight and Fluttershy, butt-bumping them into walls. They dance around Gummy, who acts like... Gummy. We cut to that night from day. The party's over and they say it was a great party. Pinkie is... kinda desperate for the party to continue. The others are desperate to leave. Twilight says they should do this again soon, unfortunately within earshot of Pinkie Pie.
Twilight, you FOOL!
The next morning and twilight is woken up by Pinkie Pie. It's 'soon', so now it's time for Gummy's after-birthday party. It's three o'clock this afternoon, as in this afternoon-this afternoon. We have a running gag for the episode, folks. Hold on tight. Twilight passes, says she's behind on her studies and TK's a mess of book into the middle of the library. Pinkie Pie understands, and tells her to read the books, not hit them. Unless it's post-YJK Star Wars novels, then punch them with a flamethrower! Next is Applejack with three carts of apples! Pinkie pops up with an invitation, but nope. She has to... pick apples! And then sell a deed to the Brooklyn Bridge right after and some oceanfront property in Arizona. From her front porch you can SEE the sea! Points to Pinkie for lampshading the whole 'this afternoon' thing, though. Pinkie... stares into Applejack's soul before she buys it. A party is still a party, if only with three guests! At Carousel boutique, Spike is being taken advantage of by Rarity. Rarity, don't make me have your toys face off with my Transformers. It won't end well for you. He's taking out the garbage and she insults him for his efforts. Rarity, prepare to meet my Unicron's!
Yes, multiple Unicrons. Spike floats up and she pushes him away. She spies Pinkie and compliments her hat. Very modern! Anyway, She must wash her hair! Good lords, is this prom season all of a sudden? Anyway, Pinkie calls her out on it and Rarity dunks her head into the garbage! Rarity, you deserve that. So off the the pegasi and we get the bit with them housesitting. It's quite funny. :D They fly off. Back at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie ponders the possibilities of all her friends busy. I love that she finds the housesitting bit to be fine. It's the other stuff that's skeevy to her. They're starting to sound like *Gasp* Excuses!
She looks out and spies Twilight entering. "That doesn't look like studying, OR hitting!" She's picking up a cake. Cup Cake is excited, but Twilight shushes her. Pinkie powers a tin-can telephone receiver to listen in on their conversation. She doesn't want Pinkie to know about this, then notices the tin can and pulls on it. Pinkie's hoof goes down the hole, then the thing's yanked down and Twilight's muzzle is... deformed a bit. Rule of funny, and it works. :D We cut to Twilight sneaking about in an obvious manner and Pinkie following her. She slides on some Groucho glasses, to honor the Master. But her cover's been blown, so she needs a new disguise! Twilight, meanwhile, passes the cake to Rarity. They act all obvious outside, and Twilight doesn't think Pinkie saw her. Despite the tin can. She drops the cake off, literally. Rarity sneaks around with the cake in her coiled and coiffed tail a bit, and we see Pinkie with her new disguise. It's a... hay bale. With the Groucho glasses. Okay.
Rarity sneaks over to Fluttershy and Pinkie overhears them glad to have come up with an excuse not to be at the after-birthday party. It's a standard 'poor communication kills' moment where the words sound mean, but the context is actually different. Still, even through the hay bale, Pinkie looks crushed. Fluttershy gets the cake. Pinkie goes to follow her, but hits her face, stumbles out and Fluttershy spots her. She screams, natch, and flies off. Pinkie's really hurt. Dash walks by, sees through the disguise-or realizes Pinkie's the only one to dress up like that-and says hi. But she freaks and flies off. Pinkie gives chase, but unlike Griffin the Brush-Off it's not really funny. Especially Pinkie as the clapper in the school bell! Dash flies to Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie hot on her hooves. She flies in, and Pinkie bangs on the door. With her muzzle. Ouch...
Applejack opens up the top half of the door and says Pinkie can't come in. Dash went in, though! Applejack lies through her teeth, saying she had 'supplies' for a renovation. She shouts there's lots of construction going on in there! And all of a sudden Hook, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Bonecrusher, Long Haul and Scavenger show up. The ponies inside make construction sounds while Pinkie tries to push her way in by butting against Applejack's muzzle and I'm kinda surprised I've never read about her and Applejack kissing here or something. :D Applejack pushes her out and Pinkie Pie says "Okey, dokey, lokey" really menacingly this time around. One more muzzle bump and she stalks off. the others inside breathe a sigh of relief.
We cut to Pinkie really pissed off about secrets and lies. She knows who to put the screws to. It's Spike. She's got a gem banquet for him, and then here comes the Jack Bauer interrogation. Fun fact, this oftentimes doesn't work. She tells Spike to talk, and he, not realizing how around the bend she is, says it's a great day. No, talk about their friends. According to Spike, Twilight is good with magic but a real brainiac, Rarity is a total knockout and Twilight doesn't think Spike has a chance with her. Fluttershy's afraid of heights. What's up with that. Pinkie snaps and forces him to 'confess', and he does! He spilled juice over one of Twilight's books, used up all the hot water yesterday in a seven-hour bubblebath, and does 'looking real good, Spike!' in the mirror.
Even Pinkie is skeeved out by that last one, but she snaps out of it and into her 'mood'. She tells Spike to tell her that her friends are avoiding her because they don't like her parties. He says that, she feels triumph for a split-second... and then her mane and tail deflates. Ohhai, Pinkamina! Spike asks for the gems and she obliges. And the little background music is sad. :( Excuse me, I must hug Pinkie Pie now.
We come back to... the party. You know, Rocky, Madame Le Flour, Mister Turnip and Sir Lintsalot. It is genuinely disturbing. Pinkie does all the voices, spasms and moves them around. The worst part for me is when the inanimate objects begin speaking by themselves, convince her the others are jerks... and then we snap back to reality and see it all in her mind. There's a knock at the door, and it's Dash, thank Primus! She apologizes for earlier, but is quickly squicked out by the tea party from Hell. She says for Pinkie to come over to Sweet Apple Acres, but nope. Pinkie's spending time with her friends! Good lord that's wrong in this context...
Gummy bounces by on a balloon and Dash says they should get outta creepytown. Should they go to Funkytown? Pinkie shoves the turnip bucket, then the pile of rocks in front of Dash. Dash gets sucked in for a moment before snapping back to reality, flying over and pushing Pinkie Pie by headbutting her... butt. Pinkie lets her rear end rise before slamming it onto Dash's head. Dash decides to do it the hard way and drags Pinkie by the tail all the way to Sweet Apple Acres, Gummy along for the ride.
Inside it's a surprise party! Fluttershy thought she'd be more excited and Pinkie rips into them. She thinks it's her farewell party, because they don't like her anymore!Q Applejack is confused and asks why she'd think that, and she tells them about them avoiding and lying to her all day. Nope. Turns out? This is Pinkie's birthday party! She looks around, spots a pile of presents, a banner and a cake with her picture on it saying, "Happy birthday Pinkie Pie." We zoom in on her, and Pinkie Pie's back!
She pulls them all in for a hug and they breathe a sigh of relief. She hangs her head and asks herself how she could've doubted them. Aww. :) Twilight says it's alright. "It could've happened to any of us." If you mean the mind-breaking, oh yeah! Dash is glad she wasn't replaced by a bucket of turnips. When Twilight goes, "Huh?" "You don't wanna know."
Applejack kicks it into party time and we get my favorite background music. Twilight writes a letter while doing a conga line with the others, sorta like how Kirk can write his Captain's Log while in mortal peril on an alien world. Also, Spike's there. This is before the main 'screwing him over' kicks in, methinks. And for as the brick joke, Pinkie asks if they can have Gummy's after-birthday party now, since it was cut short. He gnaws on a balloon, and end credits.
Thoughts
Ho, boy. How... what do I say about this one? Is it great? Yeah. I still can't believe they did this one. I'm glad they did, mind. But taking the Party Pony and showing her hidden side took guts to do. To show Pinkie like this was just... I'm not sure I have the words. Or if I did they've already been said before by people for more articulate than I.
Pinkie... this is one of those episodes I look to for confirmation that Pinkie is not my least-favorite character and how good she can be. When she was Pinkamina I wanted to go through the fourth wall, hug her and get her some therapy. And no, I am NOT joking about that last bit. She needs some help. Her entire life and validation of said life is around parties and making others happy. If she's not doing it, she feels like nothing. I know most of you reading this either on RPG.net or fimfic will think I'm wrong, but she really does at least need someone to talk to. Therapy saved my life, at least.
I think the others took the surprise party a bit too far. Mileage varies on that, but personally, seeing Pinkie there I would've spilled the beans.
So overall intense, awesome episode. Tune in tomorrow for the season-one finale, as I ask the question, "What did the rest of the Gala attendees do to deserve having their party ruined?" And the answer probably is, "Nothing. Aside from Blueblood they're really not bad ponies at all, and I personally would've preferred the Gala like it was."
Headcanon
Not really much of anything that hasn't been covered already, sorry.
Yeah, might wanna read the first post and my warnings before reading tomorrow's review, folks. *Evil grin* :p
So by your own admission, Pinkie simply suffered from depression and not for a psychotic episode that had her wanting to bake her friends into cupcakes?
2229215 ... Yeah....
2229229
Good, sorry but I had to ask since that whole... meme bugs me to no end.
No mention of how Fluttershy and Dash explain how Harry the Bear wants to go to the beach to play seashells and collect volleyball?
In any case, this does add quite a bit of depth to Pinkie, ironically by emphasizing her shallowness. Without her friends, without guests at the party she has defined as her life, what is she? She cannot answer the question, and a reversal of the quantum norm, collapses until she can be observed again.
2229235 Cupcakes is pretty much a very outre interpretation with a lot of assumptions and holds little value beyond what you want to believe. (Though I like it for being a milestone for what a fandom can produce.) At least one analysis clarified that Pinkamena would never have advanced beyond a second victim, because she's the dumbest, sloppiest serial killer ever. (Going after high-profile ponies? Keeping bodies in the basement of a highly frequented establishment?)
Who counts Ted Healy?
Oh my gosh! The movie Clue. Funny thing is, Clue is owned by Hasbro too. And yes, Tim Curry would be an awesome guest star. I would have liked him for Tirek. But perhaps he could be a good Arabus if they bring him back too.
I also agree that this episode was quite gutsy. It really showed everyone that MLP is not your typical kids show. It remains one of my favorite episodes overall.
This ep definitely added depth to Pinkie.
It showed, like FanOfMostEverything said
That poor girl really needs some help, or at least someone to talk to who thinks she's more than just a party pony.
With just a hair of tweeking, this could have been an awesome Halloween ep.
Its a shame no one seems to want to do them anymore.
The morale of this episode: your childhood stays with you, the good and the bad. Also, Pinkie Pie really is bad, bad, bad at communicating things! She needs a hug.
One amusing thing: if you think about it, it's clear that Pinkie got Gummy as a birthday present a year ago!