Shadow's Seasons: Party Pooped · 4:23pm Jun 27th, 2015
Hello, this is Shadowmane PX-41, and welcome to the tenth episode in my Season 5 review series.
This time, we're looking at Party Pooped: A sort of odd combination of world-building and humour, that was written by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller.
This episode's conflict revolves around Twilight Sparkle and the gang trying to appease to Prince Rutherford and the Yaks of Yakyakistan. However, despite all atempts, the yaks don't seem pleased with any of the Main Six's contributions. With that in mind, Pinkie Pie goes on a voyage to the far reaches of Equestria to try and see just how Yakyakistan operates.
There isn't much to talk about for the most part, aside from the occasional humour frm the yaks' violent outbursts. A sort of Hulk-esque attitude that demands perfection, much like myself. The humour does seem forced at times, and it barely stifles a laugh. However, there are some moments where I did let out some sniggers.
The world-building unfortunately, is only minimal. We really see Yakyakistan for barely enough time in this episode, and are shown more of places we've already been to in the past, and that Pinkie Pie had some unusual occurrences on her trip. This is sort of disappointing, as the other episodes have done some great world-building on their own terms. In truth, this really seems like more of a small little snippet that could have been added into another episode.
As Pinkie Pie's voyage continues, things start to get worse and worse in Ponyville. With Pinkie Pie out on her quest, the girls keep struggling to appease to the delegates of Yakyakistan. This eventually creates a much more severe conflict that involves a full-scale invasion from the yaks. Now permit me to break out of my professionalism for a moment by saying that going to war is a little extreme, and no other hulk-esque character would go that far when they don't find satisfaction.
Just as we get to the third act, we see just how minimal the world-building is, as we only see one hill up Yaksakistan, and are only teased by entrance to the city before the episode slams Pinkie Pie back at square one.
At the same time, however, Twilight and the rest of the group discover a hidden room underneath Pinkie's housing area in which she has cabinets full of dossiers on each pony in the town. Seeing this, we get a moment that would only make sense if you haven't seen Party of One. The girls tell Pinkie that all of her work was well-appreciated and that she takes great pride in her work. I'm not one for repetition, and so I can't just let this sort of thing slide.
Finally, Pinkie comes up with the moral of the episode. You shouldn't really try to imitate someone's homeland traditions. Instead, you should try making them feel at home instead. I don't really see how this would apply to any other conflict other than a foreign friend coming over from faraway, only to see that how you've tried to make your home seem like theirs end up poorly.
This episode hit a lot of foul notes and unsavoury spots. Repeating a moral that was solid in Season 1, and giving us almost non-existent world building in what could have been a great exploration episode. The end also seems forced, as it they were running out of time, much like how I see the ending of Welcome to the Show.
Party Pooped is an episode that doesn't sit well for those who like world-building. The world is only barely explored, leaving the rest of the time constraint for jokes and failed attempts to try and make things better.
The moral is impressive, but it doesn't really sit well for any other occurrence, and so it's not really one you should take to heart.
The humour is also lacking, with almost none of the jokes making me laugh. It's a bad sign of forcing something down our throat with the jokes are either repeated, make no sense, or just come together like one ungodly centipede.
Prince Rutherford and the Yaks seem almost out of place to me, as their attitudes will subliminally tell you. With what they dressed up as, I expected them to have more of a viking-esque feel to them, instead of being brutes who were incapable of accepting anything other than perfection.
Still, there can be some redeeming quality if you haven't seen Party of One, as the semi-moral in the Piecave will tell you. When you work hard, it's nice to be appreciated, so that you can appreciate your friends back and let them do something nice for you.
However, the rest of these 22 minutes will be rather un-entertaining, sour, and leave a bad impression If you're looking for a world-building episode, try looking for Lost Treasure of Griffonstone or The Cutie Map. And if you're looking for humour, check out another episode.
This episode tries to make you appreciate what little you're given, but this party...
...Will have a lot of poopers...
4/10
Thank you very much for reading, and join me next time, when I'll be covering Amending Fences.
Until then, farewell...
