The One Where They TOTALLY DID IT YOU GUYS [episode spoilers!] · 4:09pm Oct 17th, 2015
So did anyone else notice how, in the rerun of Crusaders of the Lost Mark, they put the intro in after the first commercial break? This is the worst fucking channel, I swear to god. (And I have to imagine it wasn't that way in the original airing, which I can't quite remember, because today's episode was just fine.)
And today's episode? It's the one GM Berrow wrote! And what a perfect way to follow up an epic game-changer like CotLM: a nice, low-stakes comedy with some real fun moments courtesy of Pinkie. It may not be the most memorable episode, but it's a shade better than the other "not very memorable" season five installments. I'm pleased to see what the Game Master could do. :D
Rating: Good
Honestly, though, I'm having a hard time coming up with stuff to talk about. I mean, the main takeaway is it's a comic inversion of Green Isn't Your Color, and with that in mind, I'm very pleased this episode had its own "FOREVERRRR!" moment. Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Beyond that, I dunno, it felt a tad long, didn't it? Was that just me? I can't quite explain it, but it seemed like they kept mashing more and more things in there for the characters to do when it should have been wrapping up.
But man. More Featherweight. More Mayor (and god was she hitting on Pinkie hard, that mare is thirsty). Sadly not as much linking to the novels as I'd like, though Pinkie's description of the inside of Town Hall jives with the Mayor Mare/Applejack issue of the comics. (That was a surprise!) I think my favorite moment may actually have been "Is it Albert?" Because you know Fluttershy knows at least one albino squirrel. Hell, by that comment alone, she obviously knows more than one!
AND LET'S NOT FORGET DERPY WITH DINKY
Possibly the most interesting thing is getting to see Cadence and Shining interact with someone other than Twilight. That almost never happens, not since the wedding episode. And, yeah, they've obviously been doing it. By the current timeline and standard horse gestation periods, the baby should be born sometime around season 10. Plenty of time for "moody pregnancy" and "hen-pecked father-to-be" episodes starring the royal couple, amirite? :V
Or just a reason to write more Shining/Cadence clop. :B Here's hoping it's Skyla!
Amending Fences
Crusaders of the Lost Mark
Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
The Cutie Map
Rarity Investigates!
Brotherhooves Social
Make New Friends but Keep Discord
The One Where Pinkie Knows
Castle Sweet Castle
Canterlot Boutique
Appleloosa's Most Wanted
Tanks for the Memories
Slice of Life
The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Made in Manehattan
Bloom & Gloom
Princess Spike
Party Pooped
Our Town
The Pony I Want to Be
We'll Make Our Mark
I'll Fly
The Vote
The Rules of Rarity
Sisterhood
Hush Little Sister
Make This Castle a Home
Light of Your Cutie Mark
Dream Flower Song
Decent enough episode, fun though definitely low stakes.
It just felt... off. Kinda like Dave Plosky episodes. not BAD, per se, just... different. Honestly, it felt like something from a YA novel.
But I was most pleased that SHining got more characterization. Him being a bit of a goofball is now more canon, like in the comic.
But goddammit Spike stop being such a goddamn buttmonkey holy shit you burned the damn comic because you forgot you are a dragon that is incompetence on a level we've not see in season one you could cook and clean and organize and be fun and play the piano holy shit fuck you Megan McCarthy what the fuck you ruined him...
3476758
3476754 This episode is a train wreck.
If you want to know why, then check out my review on it: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/551201/shadows-seasons-the-one-where-pinkie-knows
It was a lot of fun. I do have some questions and minor gripes, though:
1. It's good that you mention Green Isn't Your Color, because in that, Pinkie is very confident in keeping that Spike's crush secret. She wasn't bothered in the slightest. And she mentions herself that she never breaks a Pinkie Promise. Why doesn't she, just an idea, Pinkie Promise herself not to say anything? Surely that'd work? Having this ideology in my head throughout the episode, I kept questioning it.
2. I found the baby...isms(?) to be a bit forced. There just so happened to be a pram in this one instance, then there was the mentioning of BABY carrots in another. I know it's pushing forward what the episode is about, and Ponyville's always shifting its priorities all the time, but... yeah. Doesn't really bother me that much, I guess, cos like I said above, I did have a lot of fun with it.
Now all we need is art of Pinkie as Samus breaking down after all the mentions of BABIES.
I just pray to Luna that Hasbro does NOT completely and totally fuck shit up and make Skyla a fuckin Alicorn.
If she is born a Pegasus or Unicorn, I am fine with that. If she is born an Earth Pony, then that just proves that Cadance has been sleeping around. (that filthy whorse!)
So ponies having sex is finally canon.
At last we can write clop guilt-free.
3476810
As if we had that guilt in the first place.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I'm wondering if I should write a Fanfic Writer's Guide to Pregnancy for everyone to ignore...
3476802
No it doesn't.
Yeah. Pony genetics are magic. Just ask the Cakes, poor bakerhorses.
I... actually didn't much like this one. It didn't feel cohesive; it was like G. M. Berrow was trying to fit in a mini-episode in between each pair of commercial break. There were some fun moments, like the Antisocial Polka, but overall, it just didn't impress me. A big part of the problem was the lack of dramatic tension. If they had managed to keep the secret from the audience, it would've worked a lot better. Maybe go the "Swarm of the Century" route and have Pinkie flailing in the background.
3476758
Agreed on Spike. Let's have a callback to one of the worst episodes of Season 1! What could possibly go wrong?
3476758
Well, y'know, that's kinda what she writes...
3476758
Is everyone seriously going to be mad about the comic now <.<
3476810
It's always been canon. o.O First we had WoF, then we had Baby Cakes!
3476832
No, this is a good idea.
I'm a little relieved, honestly. I thought this was a fine episode, quite unlike my opinion of Twilight Sparkle and The Crystal Heart Spell, which I can't write off as "just YA". Harry Potter is YA, MLP is aimed at an even lower age range, and both have tremendously better writing. I know you said some of her other MLP books were better though... I should probably check one of those out.
3476832
Please. Please!
Something to counteract all the lies about pregnancy and birth that mass media is feeding us.
I liked it.
3476909
Uh, what? I loved the Shining/Cadance comics. They're among my favorites. I said I'm glad his goofball personality from those is now closer to canon.
I know. Sorry I forgot my italics...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/12/2/776329__safe_oc_twilight+sparkle_shipping_straight_discord_offspring_princess+skyla_discolight_artist-colon-lopoddity.png
The episode is A LOT funnier if you imagine that all of Pinkies friends think that she's hiding her OWN pregnancy because of all the baby hints she was dropping.
3477232
I think he meant being mad about Spike destroying the comic.
I do hope they don't have an alicorn baby.
Though frankly, I'm not sure if they're going to have a baby at all; they're wrapping up a lot of plot points pretty fast here. Does this mean season 6 is the end?
Not really sure why you thought this was so low-stakes though; them having a baby is actual fairly major plot advancement.
3476758
Spike destroyed a book back in Owl's Well as well.
3476832
Of course! Everyone will love to ignore it!
3477592
Right... and now he did it again.
3477232
No, about Spike destroying the comic. <.< That's what you were referring to, right?
3477390
I already saw this on Longaberry's journal how dare you recycle comments at me D:
3477483
This really needs to be written.
3477592
The end result is a potential game-changer, but the conflict itself -- Pinkie can't keep a secret -- is very low-stakes.
3477778
Yes, but I thought you meant my comments about the IDW comics and Shining's personality. In my critique, I was talking about SPike destroying the comic in the episode.
3477874
Nnnnnnope. :B This is all about the episode here.
3477778 Recycle ALL the comments!
fuck all y'all this episode was fantastic
it's the only time in recent history that I watched an episode all the way through without pausing once
3478783
I generally cannot pause my TV c.c
I liked it, but I did feel really odd about Pinkie having to be reminded to keep secrets when she's been the one so gung-ho about it in the past. I could see her bursting at the seams then having to remind herself, but having somepony else do it? Didn't seem right.
3479180 I get bored easily as go off to do other shit
but this time
ponipone kept me under lock and key
3480647
That's a good thing, then. :D