Yakity-Sax · 4:40pm Jul 24th, 2018
Friendship is Magic first impressions review: The Mean Six (s08e13)
by Obake
(SPOILERS!)
Multiple sources have called this one of, if not the, worst episodes of season 8. Given the "yak" in the title, I was expecting a lot of annoyance and/or boredom. There indeed was some annoyance. But not as much of a disaster as I anticipated.
Yakity-Sax is bad, but The Mean Six is worse. Sax at least has a few funny moments in its favor.
Pinkie harasses Ponyville with her awful playing of the Uvittaphone, a Yak instrument akin to bagpipes. When I say harass, I mean it: she plays outside of Fluttershy's hut at night, keeping all of the animals awake, plays inside the boutique as Rarity is trying to sew, and during a Wonderbolts competition, causing Dash and her colleagues to lose 1st place (this should have gotten Pinkie kicked out.) Pinkie's playing is so bad it even causes nearby apples on trees to explode, much to the Apple family's chagrin.
Though Pinkie's actual playing is a discordant mess, it is not that terrible. So the episode is not audio torture.
What it gets wrong is the rest of the Mane 6 telling Pinkie to stop with the Uvittaphone because she's not good at it. Her being bad was never an issue. Pinkie was rudely interrupting privacy and disturbing people at social events. These are all valid reasons for her to be more conscientious, but her friends are treated in the wrong.
Pinkie is so distraught she moves to Yak Yakistan, feeling the only thing to make her happy is hearing masters play the Uvittaphone. It ends up only making her feel worse. Her friends find her, and apologize for their harshness. Again, they had valid arguments for her to stop, but whatever. Pinkie accepts the apology and the episode ends with her playing to an appreciative audience of yaks.
Yes, Yakity-Sax botches its message beyond belief. There is a line between making ourselves happy and rudely interrupting people's sleep and privacy, which the episode forgets. But Sax is not the worst episode of season 8. It is at least mildly entertaining, and has a few slightly funny sight gags (like the bird's feathers exploding off of its body). It is a step up from The Mean Six, which was just aggravating.
Extras:
- The best line comes after a typical country quip from Applejack. Rarity says "Apples-alutely, I mean, absolutely." The delivery is well done.
- There are some disturbing moments early on where Pinkie...caresses the Uvittaphone, in a very uncomfortable manner. Thankfully the episode ditches this after the halfway point, but it is worth mentioning.
- Gummy tied to the balloon at the tea party is cute.
- The Yaks barely make an appearance, which is most likely a positive. Though the old joke of being drunk on non-alcoholic products (ice cream this team) is reused. Which is weird, as the show already used it back in season 1's The Best Night Ever.
- Pinkie's friends not only apologize, but tell her that she should "never stop" playing the Uvittaphone. But how exactly is Ponyville supposed to function if Pinkie rudely keeps everyone awake?
