A Trivial Pursuit (Spoilers for American Fans!) · 6:09pm Jul 14th, 2019
*Sigh*, well you'd better buckle up now, folks. Because oh boy do we have one doozy of a bad episode on our hands! This might just be a contender for the worst episode of the entire show, it is that bad as far as I'm concerned. If that's a deal breaker for you then it's not going to get any better. Our writer is Brittany Jo Flores, the same writer who gave us "Once Upon A Zeppelin" the last truly great Twilight Sparkle focus episode (even episodes like "Shadow Play" have felt more like group episodes that just happen to put Twilight in the lead role). But suffice it to say, she has fallen hard from grace with this episode. So brace yourselves, and let's try to get through this.
The episode begins with Spike expecting to have to convince Twilight to go to sleep before the big trivia gathering tomorrow hosted at the Hay Burger. But Twilight is actually headed to bed because she wants to sleep "in the zone", hoping for a threepeat at the trivia gathering. So yes, this is yet another Twilight freak out episode and they officially lampshade it as such.
The next day, almost everyone has gathered at the Hay Burger, including Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and even Maud and Mud Briar. Sunburst shows up, boasting about his percentage of correct answers, and Twilight reveals she made a chart judging how well she'd be with each partner and how much of a threat they'd be against her. But when Pinkie Pie shows up she reveals that somehow she didn't account for Pinkie at all, never mind the fact that you can't truly account for anyone in a contest of trivia if the categories are randomized and the teams chosen at random. The whole thing is basically one giant randomizer.
Maud and Mud Briar get paired up on the same team, Sunburst with Cranky Doodle Donkey, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash are pitted against each other as Twilight comments that "AppleDash is almost unstoppable", and later they name drop "TwiPie" when she gets paired up with Pinkie, so the writers are referencing some of the popular pairings of the mane six from the earliest days of the fandom. And yes this is not the first time they've done so.
Pinkie Pie proceeds to get her team off to a false start with an incorrect answer that makes them end up with negative points. After only a few rounds, Twilight and Pinkie team is tied with Sunburst's for last. During a snack/bathroom break, Twilight pulls Spike aside and already has gone full "Lesson Zero" on us. But when Spike tries to tell her it's just a game, she instead decides to watch the competition and starts exploiting rules to get other teams disqualified. She also starts taking the buzzer away from Pinkie Pie, refusing to let her answer. Then after a question about sticks and stones, Twilight tricks Pinkie into asking Maud for help and gets Pinkie disqualified. And no, this does not get addressed or called out later on. And you thought her performance in "Marks for Effort" was bad.
Twilight pairs up with Sunburst and starts getting more points, but Sunburst starts trying to take control of the game and does to Twilight what she did to Pinkie Pie, even down to trying to get her disqualified because he sees her as a threat. And I for one would've liked to see that happen, Twilight's behavior is inexcuseable and a poor show of sportsmanship! She calls out Sunburst for his actions, but no one bothers to argue back that it's exactly what she did to Pinkie for an even flimiser reason! And keep in mind we saw ponies react with shock when it happened, yet now none of them are to be seen anywhere! Even Mrs. Cake, who we saw in the audience earlier in the episode, is completely absent now! This puts Twilight yelling at Pinkie in the movie to shame, even that scene was pushing it and wasn't justifiable, but somehow they must've thought we wanted to see this scene play out where no one gets to be called out for their behavior!
Twilight does apologize to Pinkie, but the whole scene just feels half hearted and without any kind of impact since at no point does Pinkie seem to realize that Twilight intentionally got her disqualified just because of a record. Twilight admits she messed up, which is nice, but it doesn't make up for how beyond horribly she treated Pinkie! Yes, Pinkie wasn't helping much, but Twilight pretty much wrote her friend off as a burden right from the get go! They do get to go back in the game and start anew, but even then we don't get to see who actually wins the trivia contest so the whole episode is utterly pointless.
Whew, and that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well it's obvious, isn't it? This episode is a mess, no one is likeable here! It seems like everyone in the trivia contest is so obsessed with winning they'll do anything to get ahead, whether it be accusing others of rigging the game, complaining about the categories, or trying to get other teams disqualified. And when we don't even get to see the end result of it it makes you wonder why they bothered to show us this at all? The only thing this episode does is yet again try to elicit more meme faces from the animation, but I could get that out of much better episodes including "Student Counsel" which also had more substance to it. Twilight's performance here is the absolute worst her character's ever been written, I don't even think flanderization describes it properly, this is straight up character assassination territory. And no, making Pinkie Pie a scatter brain earlier on in the episode doesn't justify what Twilight does, if anything it makes it worse! The only one who's at all likeable when all is said and done is Spike, and he's absent from a good chunk of it all and what time he does get on screen is usually just to be pushed around by Twilight. This episode gets an F, making it the worst episode of Season 9 and only by a hair does it escape the title of worst episode of the show, so congratulations "Secrets and Pies" you get to keep that unfortunate title!
Well, things will hopefully get back on track with the next episode "The Summer Sun Setback" in which Twilight and her friends plan for the final Summer Sun Celebration before Celestia and Luna have to step down, but things go wrong. Michael Vogel is writing the episode, and the Legion of Doom is returning, but some fans have said it's the new "The Mean 6" which does not bode well considering "The Mean 6" was a waste of an episode. But who knows, Michael Vogel has been one of the most consistently performing writers on the show and he wrote "Best Gift Ever", so if anyone can save Season 9 it most certainly could be him.
I actually found Twi's behavior in this episode hilarious just for how over-the-top it was.
As a result of that, it's in my top 8 of the season so far.
5088820 This was neither hilarious or over the top in a good way. Even in her worst of freakouts before, Twilight never did what she did here, and when she came close the episodes made it clear we're not supposed to sympathize with her.
5088821
And I feel like this episode did the same: Make it clear that we're not supposed to sympathize with Twi.
But I found myself laughing at a good chunk of her antics throughout the episode anyway.
Like, if I were to make a list of the funniest two-second clips from the show, her shout of "Bananas" would be on the list.
Yep, this show is going to end badly if only because of the run of terrible writing that has afflicted the last two seasons.
Did the writers get hit with a bad case of stupid or something? Cause it's ruining one of my favorite shows and making idiots out of the characters we all know and love! 
Well, we still have a few episodes left, so... maybe this won't end terribly, right? *looks around* Right?
The first time I watched it, I thought it was fun watching her 'Twilighting' and to see Twilight losing it over a game and get wacky when dealing with Pinkie and the pressure she was imposing on herself. But I liked it less the second time watching it, For a pony that complained about Applejack and Rainbow Dash competing so much, I just thought it a little out of character for her to now be super competitive, even with being a two time champ of the Trivia Trot and going to such lengths to keep winning. I liked Dash and A.J. in competition again; always good for a laugh. Liked seeing a competitive side to Sunburst; a small bit of character development is always good. Maud and Mud was a nice reappearance and seeing them together was cool, It just didn't feel as fun re-watching it even though I wanted to like it more. Or maybe it's just me being a 'stick in the Mudbriar' for it. Just my 1-cent worth of opinion.
I hope you like the next two episodes.
5088967 I hope so too, they're written by promising writers but then again the writer for this episode had previously written one of Season 7's better episodes, and now she cranked out a dud.
5088827
That's what I feel puts this episode above duds like Yakity-Sax and A Matter of Principals. You see, those episodes share a similar problem in that they both feature a character doing something morally wrong (Pinkie disturbing the peace in YS and Discord terrorizing innocent children in AMOP) and expect you to not only find what they're doing funny, but also sympathize with them and see them as being in the right while painting the character(s) who try to stop them (the other Mane 6 in YS and Starlight in AMOP) as being in the wrong for doing so.
In this episode, they make it clear that Twilight is not in the right for getting overly competitive and Pinkie isn't treated as some kind of antagonist. It also helps that Twilight does get karma for her actions when Sunburst gives her a taste of her own medicine, which helps her realize her own mistake and apologize to Pinkie. Plus, unlike Vignette Valencia in Rollercoaster in Friendship, Twilight doesn't end up getting what she initially wanted in the end.
5088821
I won't spoil what happens in The Summer Sun Setback, but let's just say it'll have something in it that will feel like an apology for what happened in this episode.
5088997
We don't actually know what happened in the end, so for all we know, they did manage to win, but I do get what you mean
5089006 I hope they didn't, I really didn't want any of the teams to win with how they were acting. Even Maud and Mudbriar were rubbing in their advantage on one question, which how come no one called them out on that? Heck, Granny Smith even chewed out Applejack for messing up a question that was all but gift wrapped to her. The trivia felt like stuff that would fit an actual "Trivia Pursuit" FiM version, but not something that would make sense in universe.
5089008
Oh, I'm pretty sure they didn't, but unless a later episode specifically addresses it, it's pretty much up to each individual to headcanon who actually won
5089015
Given how the episode ends with Twilight and Pinkie starting over with 0 points, I assume they didn't win.
5089008
The point I was getting at is unlike Yakity-Sax and A Matter of Principals where they wanted you to root for Pinkie and Discord to succeed in their misguided endeavors, this episode does it make it clear that you're supposed to want to see Twilight learn her lesson rather than support her bad behavior.
This was literally the only thing that I liked about this episode.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/7/6/2084200__safe_screencap_bon+bon_fluttershy_lyra+heartstrings_pinkie+pie_sweetie+drops_a+trivial+pursuit_spoiler-colon-s09e16_animated_chinese_chubby_cu.gif
Thankfully, someone did an edit. I like this version much better!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/7/6/2084258__safe_artist-colon-tummygut_edit_edited+screencap_screencap_midnight+snack+%28character%29_pinkie+pie_a+trivial+pursuit_spoiler-colon-s09e16_ad.png
And there's akso this, too! :twilighttsmile:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/7/8/2086280__safe_artist-colon-maxman_edit_edited+screencap_screencap_pinkie+pie_a+trivial+pursuit_spoiler-colon-s09e16_belly_belly+button_big+belly_fat_fa.png
I smell a fanfic coming on!
This confused the crap out of me. The question asked was, "What kind of stone can be used to start a fire?" Maud correctly states that it's flint. Then, out of nowhere, Twilight randomly asks Pinkie about the famous rock in Griffonstone and tells her to ask Maud, which she does, which, for some reason, gets her disqualified.
Twilight yelling at Pinkie in the movie was completely justified given that her friends were acting like idiots and not taking anything seriously, acting like they were just on any old regular adventure when literally the fate if Equestria was hanging in the balance. If anything, Pinkie was out of character in that scene. I wouldn't have had a problem with that scene if it was Applejack telling Twilight off.
To the point where someone literally made a collage of them. No, I'm not kidding.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/7/8/2086311__safe_screencap_applejack_bulk+biceps_cup+cake_lyra+heartstrings_midnight+snack+%28character%29_pinkie+pie_rainbow+dash_spike_sunburst_twilight.jpeg
And this right here sums up why I hated this episode so much. It wasn't just that Twilight was acting like an insufferable jerk, which is painful for me to say seeing as how she's my favorite character. It's the fact that this episode had five minutes of plot and seventeen minutes of nothing but the storyboard artists/animators seeing how many meme faces they could cram into one episode. Not only that, but it seemed to me that the writers were just making up the rules of the game as they went along, to the point where some of the rules are just flat-out ridiculous at best and downright stupid at worst. (Such as "no sticking tongues out" and "no sleeping.") Even the ending felt like it was pulled right out of the writer's ass just so they could tack on that ending.
In my book, this is hardly the worst episode of the show. There are plenty of other episodes (especially from seasons 1-3) that I could name as the worst episode of the show. This episode's only crime was making Twilight unlikable, which they've done before multiple times, so by this point I'm used to it, and I at least can understand why she was acting this way here, though, because, as Celestia once said, "Anypony can get swept up in the excitement of competition."
5088845 You forget that this sbow has new writers. All of the old writers are gone. These new writers know next to nothing about the show and most of them inly have experience writing for live-action shows. This is why we have characters either acting out of character or acting like assholes and why so many of the old episodes have been rehashed for the past two seasons. They're constantly doing callbacks, references, and continuity nods to the previous seasons, but that's probably more due to the fact that they got notes on their scripts about maintaining continuity from the director/showrunner rather than due to them having any actual knowledge of the sbow itself.
5088997
There's one specific line from Celestia in this episode that pissed me off, but we'll get to that when the review is posted.
5089039
I haven't forgotten that the show has new writers. They could've looked at past episodes in the show to see what's been done already and how the characters are. Heck, they could've even gotten input and advice from the past writers. But they give us these hack jobs instead! They're just sloppy! These are professional writers, you'd think they'd be able to do a better job than they have, even if they're more used to live action...
5089039
They missed an opportunity in the movie when Applejack started to consider going back to Twilight. She could have shown off her honesty virtue by admitting that Twilight wasn't wrong, and then we could have had Rainbow Dash demanding if she siding with Twilight, and Applejack would reason with her and the others. Hey, she is a little better at admitting fault then the others ( Though Fluttershy could do it just as well.) Fluttershy could have even been the first to agree with Applejack. Then we have Spike coming over and telling Twilight is in trouble. It wouldn't even been that hard to just write a few lines in like that. I say this because Applejack and Fluttershy didn't exactly do anything by themselves that was bad, they just followed the others. But seriously, there were times where I was like, "Wouldn't Applejack be more suspicious about Capper?" and "Fluttershy barely had any lines aside from screaming, and her "solo" parts in the song were way too short. Even Applejack had a way longer solo."
It was a little hard to enjoy the movie with its truckload of flaws. At least the songs were awesome imo. I wish the movie could have had each Mane Six member have their own "song" in the movie, and they would have an almost equal amount of screentime. In the actual movie, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash got too much spotlight while Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy didn't have enough. I think they spent too much money on hiring expensive voice actors to hype up the movie then the actual writing. Maybe one day I'll consider rewriting the movie.
5089043 As I said, they do make constant references and callbacks and continuity nods to the previous seasons, so it's clear that they have seen the previous seasons. Either that or Jim Miller/Meghan McCarthy gave them notes on their scripts. Also, keep in mind the hectic pace with which this show is run under. Many writers don't get a chance to write more than one draft of an episode before it's handed off to the storyboard artists/animators.
5089049 My thoughts exactly! I absolutely hated this movie, especially since Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack barely did anything, to the point where they might as well not have even been in the movie to begin with. What ruined this movie was its awful pacing, overabundance of characters, and formulaic plot. Having there be six additional songs in the film to the already multiple songs that are in it would've caused me to walk out of it completely. This written review sums up my views on the film perfectly.
5089039
So it's just like pro bending from Legend of Korra where they don't explain the rules and just keep pulling fouls out of their butts because the plot says so.
You forget that Josh Haber was introduced to us back in Season 4, making him the longest lasting writer of the group, and Michael Vogel who joined in Season 6 used to be vice president of Hasbro and wrote the book "Goodnight Baby Flurry Heart" prior to debuting on the show. Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco were introduced in Season 5 and have been off and on again writers since. So not all of the writers are brand new ones from Seasons 6 and 7. And as I said in the review, the writer of this episode penned "Once Upon A Zeppelin" which was one of the better Season 7 episodes, so there's no excuse for messing up on a character you already knew how to write.
5089049
I like the movie despite its flaws, but I'll admit it could've really benefitted from a rewrite, especially since the script feels more like a post Season 4 production than a post Season 7 production. Apparently it took so long to produce because they switched animation companies midway through to use Toon Boom. If that's the case, that was a stupid move on their part, you don't swap production midway through just to look better. The only reason why you'd do that is if the old studio shuts down or goes under. And as much as the Toon Boom style did grow on me, I felt like it robbed pony of its unique identity, and the animators were not given enough time to master it before the movie came out.
5089107
No, I didn't forget. It's just that these writers hardly ever write any episodes anymore that I forget that they're still part of the writing staff.
Except that episode had character problems just like this one did. And season seven was great!
What makes you say that?
Given how good the animation was, I disagree.
5089178
The biggest problem is that if this is taking place after Season 7, how come the ponies don't think to call on any of the other nations they've befriended for help? Where the heck is Starlight Glimmer, she's cameoing in the crowd, but that's the extent of her appearance, she's never seen or mentioned again. And Tempest's backstory is almost a direct rehash of Starlight's, and being slightly better than it isn't much of an accomplishment when Starlight's backstory has made her redemption still one of the biggest dividing points of the whole fandom. Plus, after seven seasons, there is no way you can expect me to believe Twilight would ever willingly say "Maybe I'd be better off without friends like you.", even after Season 4 that would be a stretch.
5089180
The yaks, dragons, and griffons couldn't be bothered to lift a finger to help them. It would be pointless to ask them for help. Sure, maybe Ember and Gilda would be willing to help, but that's it. And getting even more characters involved in this would just add to the already overly abundant cast. Besides that, it's unlikely that they could get the chatacters' voice actors to reprise their roles. Ember only shows up sparingly throughout the seasons and Gilda hasn't been seen since season eight's "The Hearth's Warming Club" and hasn't been heard from since season five's "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone."
The show staff are well aware of how divisive a character Starlight is. That's why she was only reduced to cameos in the film. Also, this film began production as far back as season four, long before Starlight was even thought up as a concept for a character.
It actually makes sense why both would lose faith in friendship after what happened to them, though. Yes, Starlight blaming cutie marks for what happened is silly, but I can at least understand where she's coming from. Like Moondancer, both Tempest and Starlight were hurt very badly and never wanted to be hurt like that again.
The Tempest's Tale arc in the IDW series (#67-68) goes far in fleshing out Tempest's character.
First of all, Twilight was angry and under an extreme amount of stress. Second of all, her friends were acting like morons and weren't taking the threat at hand seriously. No wonder she blew her stack at Pinkie, a character who has a very bad habit of not taking things seriously and acting in a very childish, immature manner. Throughout this entire movie, any time the Mane Six are in danger, such as when she and the others are running away from Tempest in Klugetown, she's grinning ear to ear and I'm sitting here thinking, "What are you grinning about!? You're in danger with a very high likelihood of getting killed! What on Earth about this is amusing to you!?" I mean, for crying out loud, this is a character who was laughing her ass off, outright cackling in glee with a huge grin on her face, while she and her friends were falling to their deaths! This is the film that convinced me that Pinkie Pie is either mentally retarded or just flat-out insane, or maybe it's just both.
5089226
Which proves my point, especially since it seems no one bothered to keep a line of communication between the show and movie writing staff, or they would've known.
5089246 I don't see how the film affected the show in any way. The film and show were not supposed to be connected. The film was supposed to be completely stand-alone. The film is made all the worse due to the fact that they tried implementing it into thr actual show, which in turn made season 8 all the worse.
5089395
I went and read your review and I got to say, those are some really valid points there. I hope you posted it on Fimfiction as well, it deserves more attention. Season 8 only existed because the writers thought it was a good idea to insert the movie directly in the canon show. The Young Six feel like a bit of rehash of the Mane Six at the start of Season 8, and sometimes they still do. Like that Uprooted felt too close to Castle Sweet Castle, minus the clear Hasbro message "Buy our new toy today!" and the feels.
Ocellus: If you were to mix Twilight and Fluttershy into a character, that's what you'll get.
Smolder: Basically Rainbow Dash.
Gallus: I guess if you were to grab some of the unlikable traits of Rainbow Dash and make it better? And add some original character in him too.
Sandbar: Applejack without the cool fighter part of her, her accent, and her high family values. And her common sense, because Sandbar out of the Young Six should have known that you can't just replant a magical and powerful tree. The same one that was planted by legendary Equestrian Heroes that had the sorcerer Starswirl as their member who wrote powerful spells, and the reason why Twilight is Alicorn in the first place. And that it's "fruits" were used against the freaking Lord of Choas and other villians. Not to mention more powerful then the Alicorns that can raise the sun and moon, probably the most powerful items in Equestria. Like, come on man. What happened to Sandbar who outsmarted that pony who was against other species? ( Ya, so forgettable I forgot his name.)
Yona: Probably the most original of the cast.
Silverstream: A toned down Pinkie Pie.
At least they are developing them, though I was like through the entirety Season 8 "Screw the writers if they think they can replace the Mane Six."
5089452
I didn't write this. A former member of this website did. You can find his work here. I'm currently in the process of rewriting one of his fanfics for him.
I never got that impression. The only problem I had with them was that Smolder looks too much like Scootaloo.
Except they were never there to replace the Mane Six and the writers never came off as like they were.
5089708 Except for "What Lies Beneath" having them be tested by the Tree of Harmony, and "School Raze" giving them glows similar to the Elements of Harmony. Heck, "Uprooted" felt like it was originally supposed to be the mane six passing the torch to the student six. I still think that could happen, but the student six seem to have again been forgotten about, most of the episodes featuring them feel like hold overs from Season 8.
5089789 It seems only natural that the Mane Six would pass on their Elements of Harmony to their students. And regarding the season 9 episodes featuring the Student Six feeling like leftovers from season 8, this is probably the writers wanting to maintain focus on the Mane Six to avoid people decrying, "The Student Six are replacing the Mane Six! The Student Six are replacing the Mane Six!"
5090052 Still feels kind of lazy to bring them and the school back only not to do anything with them. In that case they should've just dumped the scripts and admitted the student six and the school didn't work out like they hoped. Sometimes you have to cut your loses.
5090188 That would've been bad writing, though.
I agree with the grade of F for this episode! I know Twilight can be obsessive for knowledge based topics but wow!
5088820
some parts were okay, but the rest just really brought her down as a character.
Twilight's Twiliynanas slowly got worse as the episode progressed, until she got a taste of her own medicine.