Secrets and Pies · 4:43pm Oct 14th, 2017
Friendship is Magic first impressions review: Secrets and Pies (s07e23)
by Obake
(SPOILERS!)
This episode wants to be Party of One and Mmmystery on the Friendship Express, but it fails. The premise is too vapid for any sort of drama, and the comedy is stilted and repetitive. Pinkie discovers a pie she baked for Rainbow Dash thrown into the garbage. Wondering why Rainbow would waste food, she recalls that she's never actually seen Dash eat any pies she's made.
Curious, Pinkie goes on an investigation, reaching the conclusion that Dash has only pretended to eat the pies, finding ways to distract her and then discarding them. Pinkie becomes furious. She's spent tireless hours baking for her friend, celebrating events even as mundane as Dash's half-birthday. Then you realize that perhaps Pinkie is a little too obsessive.
Things become a slog after the first half. Instead of confronting Dash about the problem, Pinkie tries over and over to get her to eat pies. Each attempt ends the same, with Pinkie failing. It is almost a relief when she finally snaps, kicking up a fuss at a crowded picnic. She derides Dash for having deceived her, kicking over a tin and storming off.
What perplexes me is that the episode treats Rainbow with as much judgment. Twilight and Applejack are rather harsh, asking her what other things she's lied about. Sorry, but what Dash did does not equate to being huffy. At most, it should persuade questions. The real one to worry about is Pinkie. She's the one who created a huge scene surrounded by strangers.
Pinkie and Dash eventually make up, realizing that they could both be more honest to one another. I do agree that Rainbow could have been more forthcoming. But Pinkie is not guiltless. It is not the fact that she goes crazy that is wrong. The core is that her worries do not hold weight. So what if Dash does not like pies? It does not hold a candle to her worries in Party of One, thinking her friends no longer like her. Nor is it as substantial as Mmmystery's, finding out who sabotaged the Cake's entry for the baking contest. Nor is it a mundane problem that builds into something worse, like Lesson Zero.
It could all be excused if Secrets and Pies was funny, or had mystery. But it is mostly dead air. Jokes that land are few; many are repetitive, especially in the scenes of Pinkie trying to get Dash to eat. It is simply not a good episode.
Extra notes:
- Of the few things I chuckled at, one is this line from Pinkie: “Seems the pieces of the puzzle are plopping into place, but the picture isn't pretty.” (Thinks for a moment.) “P Alliteration Pie.”
- Spitfire calls Rainbow “Crash” here, meaning Dash has adapted to the nickname.
- Not only has Dash fed pies to her pet tortoise, she even has a chute specifically leading to Tank's food bowl. Note how Cherilee says animals are not supposed to eat pony food in this very episode, and you realize how irresponsible Dash is as a pet owner. Yet she is never derided for this, but for lying about eating pies.
- The choreography of Dash's attempts to distract Pinkie are not without question. I know this a cartoon, but flinging three lemon-maringues into the air, towards the direction Pinkie is looking at, should be something she sees, right? (They also don't make a joke about how Dash apparently eats the tins, a missed opportunity.)
- They could have made Pinkie's attempts at getting Dash to eat smarter. How about letting Dash throw a pie away, only to then ask her what flavor it was?
