Episode Re-Review: Party Pooped · 3:45pm Apr 27th, 2021
Season 5 had briefly soared to new heights by the time "Slice of Life" came out, but "Princess Spike" brought it all crashing back down to Earth. Yet we had another new writer immediately making their debut in the form of Nick Confalone, a writer who would prove to ultimately have staying power but also one who would tarnish his reputation in the fandom by penning some forgettable stories and bringing the Equestria Girls spin-off franchise to a low it never really recovered from. Just like "Princess Spike" Nick was only credited with writing, the story was credited to Jayson Thiesen and Jim Miller. So, was Nick able to do good where Neal had done bad? And considering this was Pinkie Pie's first focus episode of the season, could Nick hope to compete with such hits as "Pinkie Pride" and "Maud Pie"? Well, let's find out.
We begin with Twilight insisting that there's nothing to worry about as the mane six are all getting ready to welcome the yaks from a nation called Yakyakistan, a nation that hasn't opened its boarders to Equestria in a long time. And Twilight is hoping to impress Princess Celestia by making the yaks trading partners. The yaks soon arrive, quickly revealing their entire character for this episode: If things aren't perfect they'll get mad and smash everything up. And it doesn't take much to set them off, they get insulted when they're offered a banquet of traditional foods from their homeland and it doesn't taste exactly the same.
As the mane six clean up the mess the yaks made of Twilight's castle, Pinkie Pie reveals that she actually read up on the yaks a fair deal. So she's tasked with showing them a good time in Ponyville, even down to throwing them a party. But no matter what the others try, the yaks are never satisfied because things aren't exactly how they are in their homeland. Even snow (I'm actually legit curious if it's possible for snow to have a different taste to it depending on where and when it falls). Though there is one pretty obvious blunder when Fluttershy opts for a parade of animals in the style of Yakyakistan, and of course they're just normal animals with yak horns on top (I'm honestly surprised the yaks bought it for even a second). So it's all down to Pinkie's party as she's on the verge of completely losing it.
So Pinkie retreats to her bedroom above Sugarcube Corner to ask Gummy what she should do, and ends up settling on the solution to leave Ponyville and go to Yakyakistan to bring something from it back. Unfortunately, that leaves the rest of the mane six in a bit of a bind as they have to stall for time. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie dips into her Bon Bon voice as she more or less narrates her journey aloud. But it isn't long before her trip hits a snag, the train has to stop at Dodge Junction because sheep are blocking the line. Fortunately, salvation comes in the form of Cherry Jubilee who's willing to let Pinkie hitch a ride with her on a stagecoach. Surprised there's no callback to "The Last Roundup" or the chase that occurred during it.
Alas, Cherry Jubilee falls asleep and only just wakes up before the stagecoach plunges over a ravine. Meanwhile, back in Ponyville Spike is playing a piano to try and impress the yaks. But he ends up revealing that it was a player piano, which the yaks take offense to and destroy it (and the stage). Twilight pleads with them to wait a little longer, but the yaks insist they're done waiting and will thus declare war on Equestria. I suppose that would make it Beast Wars (fun fact, Prince Rutherford is voiced by Gary Chalk: Optimus Primal himself).
What about Pinkie Pie, you ask? Well, she provides a narration that explains everything. The stagecoach was rescued by the Wonderbolts who subsequently dropped her off in Manehattan. From there she somehow met the pony version of The Beatles and went through their entire career in a single day, even up to them breaking up over creative differences. Strangely, there's no song despite the fact that The Beatles are arguably the most iconic rock band of all time and this episode's script was likely in production during the fiftieth anniversary of The Beatles debuting in the U.S.
Anyway, Pinkie is now back on track and making her way to the northern border of the Crystal Empire as Princess Cadence makes a cameo appearance to wish her well. Pinkie soon encounters a yeti but thankfully doesn't stick around for long, and soon afterward she discovers the entrance to Yakyakistan. Alas, before she can enter a snowbank collapses and sends her all the way back to Ponyville. Meanwhile, the rest of the mane six have tried to throw their own ad hock party, which isn't going well. Then, upon returning to Sugarcube Corner, they accidentally trigger a trap door slide and tumble into darkness.
It's here that the others find Pinkie Pie's secret party planning cave, a cave full of filing cabinets containing information on everyone Pinkie's ever met and what their likes and dislikes are. She's also got plans for milestones for things like her parents' anniversaries. Rainbow Dash even insists Pinkie might just be more organized than Twilight, which Twilight denies. Kind of a shame they never followed up on the possibility of Twilight being jealous of being out organized by Pinkie of all ponies.
Hearing her friends all praise the work she puts into her parties, Pinkie Pie reveals herself and her friends apologize for having put so much pressure on her to the point where they inadvertently made her leave Ponyville. Fortunately, it's all water under the bridge and Pinkie has figured out what's needed to truly impress the yaks. Then, defying physics, she jumps onto the bottom of the slide and goes back up it as Fluttershy ponders what the rest should do. And as it turns out, the yaks aren't able to go back to Yakyakistan because sheep are still blocking the tracks (I was not aware the yaks traveled by train, but maybe they just want to get back faster for their war declaration?). So they more or less have no choice but to attend Pinkie's party, which is aimed at showing what makes Ponyville so great rather than how great Yakyakistan is (and considering this is for the intent of getting the yaks to be trading partners, that's a pretty sound move). The yaks are impressed and decide not to declare war after all, within earshot of Princess Celestia who gives Twilight a bit of a look.
So the yaks agree to open their borders to the ponies and become friends, and the episode ends with Pinkie trying to give Prince Rutherford a hug. It doesn't go well, he seems upset about the attempt right before he turns around and pulls Pinkie in for a killer hug sort of like the ones Pinkie gives.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, this episode seems to primarily focus on showing off as many crazy visuals and facial expressions from the mane six as it possibly can. The yaks are pretty one note throughout and don't face consequences for their actions despite the fact that they're ambassadors to Equestria (not the other way around). Fortunately, all of the mane six are in character, and while some of Pinkie Pie's antics may be a bit of a stretch it never feels like she's stupid or obnoxious (the closest we get is her startling Applejack and making her drop a hammer, destroying a vase that was just put back together). The establishment of the party planning cave adds a lot of depth to Pinkie by showing just how much effort she puts into her parties, and how hard she works to legitimately make others happy by keeping track of what they like and don't like. It's a reminder of how valuable she is to the mane six and to Ponyville. In a sense she's the heart of the team and the glue that holds them together moreso than any pony except Twilight or maybe Applejack. It is a shame we don't get to see Yakyakistan proper, though in a couple of seasons that would be rectified. Ultimately, this episode gets a B.
Next up is what could be said to be an alternative 100th episode since it was going all the way back to the pilot to revisit a scene, and some might argue it was the true 100th episode "Amending Fences".
This episode, while not exactly great, is still a lot of fun.
I like this episode for sure, but it's not one of my favourites of the season.
Seriously, the only cast member from Beast Wars who has not voiced an MLP character is David Kaye (the voice of Megatron).
5507809 That may be because David Kaye moved to L.A. in the 2000's and hasn't done work in Vancouver since the end of the Unicron Trilogy of Transformers.
5507815
Got it.
Nick Confalone definitely made a better first impression than Neal Dusedau.