MLP:FIM S5E11 - "Party Pooped" - Grading & Discussion

[Amaris]

Episode Title: "Party Pooped"
Air Date: June 27th, 2015, 11:30 AM Eastern Time (3:30 PM GMT/UTC)

Summary: "It's up to Pinkie Pie's party to save the day when an important friendship summit with some visiting yaks turns into an utter disaster, but it takes an epic voyage of discovery across Equestria to reignite her party inspiration."

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Ruminations:
WORLDBUILDING! ALSO, YAKS! This week's episode involves our beloved pink party pony and a convention of Yaks? Apparently, if my eyes, and the people at TV Guide, are to be believed, Pinkie Pie loses her inspiration for parties! We may get to see some Pinkamena this episode. Either way, the chance for adventure is high, and so are the hijinks! Here's hoping for a great one!

 

[Kemaiku]

It felt too pulled between the Twilight diplomat and Pinkie Pie dilemma storylines, and was very strangely paced. Still a funny episode but a little too divided over the plots it wanted to cover.

 

[Amaris]

An okay episode, this week, IMO. We have Pinkie Pie and Twilight in their respective roles, with Pinkie Pie doing what she always does, which is to reach hyperbolic levels of effort in making a party go off a success. The episode kind of feels, to me, that it's actually two half done episodes that were put together, so it doesn't quite have that polished feel that some of the others have had this season.

The Yaks were interesting, but there wasn't really much to them.
There were some cute little idiosyncracies with Twilight, and some revealed about Pinkie Pie as well.

Otherwise, it just didn't feel that great. Her journey felt glossed over, and really most of the stuff felt tacked on. Still, it was a decent episode, and fun, so it gets a solid "B" from me.

 

[Kemaiku]

Yeah I gave it an A mostly for Twilight and random Cadance out of nowhere. The little Yak was so cute, then that random reverse moment.

It should have been a mid-season two parter to let it breath more, have Pinkie's quest be the middle part of the story.

The Yaks felt far too underdeveloped, and Yakyakistan...they just took Mongolians and the Middle East and kind of slammed them together then didn't flesh out either aspect.

Maybe we'll be seeing more of them now after this and building them up more, finally seeing their homeland later in the season or into season 6.

Celestia's face when she heard Twilight nearly started war though.

And I know how she feels, I hate cheese too.

 

[Amaris]

Good point about the Yaks. Another irritating issue with the Yaks is that everything must be perfect? I'm sorry, you can't deal with people like that, nor should you. The episode's message seemed to be "do whatever you have to do to make someone happy, even if their standards are unreasonable, and they want to murderize you."

 

[Peach Wookiee]

^you shouldn't, but you sometimes have to.
We saw Lesson Zero Twilight again and possible Pinkamena below the surface. I also liked the polite nod to "Cupcakes."
They found the party basement... and it actually was a party basement!

 

[Amaris]

^you shouldn't, but you sometimes have to.
We saw Lesson Zero Twilight again and possible Pinkamena below the surface. I also liked the polite nod to "Cupcakes."
They found the party basement... and it actually was a party basement!

Well, we can see that point, as mature adults, but kids will see it and think "so I have to do everything someone asks me for them to be my friend," which isn't the best message to impart.

 

[Kemaiku]

 

[Peach Wookiee]

^you shouldn't, but you sometimes have to.
We saw Lesson Zero Twilight again and possible Pinkamena below the surface. I also liked the polite nod to "Cupcakes."
They found the party basement... and it actually was a party basement!

Well, we can see that point, as mature adults, but kids will see it and think "so I have to do everything someone asks me for them to be my friend," which isn't the best message to impart.

But how often are kids told to get along?

 

[Amaris]

The moment I saw this scene, a thousand ship fics exploded in my head.

^you shouldn't, but you sometimes have to.
We saw Lesson Zero Twilight again and possible Pinkamena below the surface. I also liked the polite nod to "Cupcakes."
They found the party basement... and it actually was a party basement!

Well, we can see that point, as mature adults, but kids will see it and think "so I have to do everything someone asks me for them to be my friend," which isn't the best message to impart.

But how often are kids told to get along?

Getting along is one thing, but being bullied into fear of violence for not being a "perfect" friend is another.

 

[Taylirious]

Yak SMASH!!!

A

Mainly for Pinkie Pie.

ETA: Have ponies and yaks met before? No pony has been to their land before? I can understand some of what they were trying to do.

 

[Kemaiku]

They implied they did know each other in the past, probably after the Crystal Empire disappeared, maybe because of pony expeditions up there because of it.

But there were "issues" with befriending them and neither have talked for a long time now, until this episode. You can kind of see why now.

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, the Yaks are a bit... demanding. While the Yaks were fun (if annoying), for me the best scene in the episode was toward the end, when Pinkie slid back up the slide, and Fluttershy comments "So, um, do we walk back up the slide or... or what?"

Cracks me up every time.

 

[Kemaiku]

Fluttershy has gotten bolder over the years, definitely. I suppose being practically a mother to Discord for a while now she's had to.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

So how was contact made with the Yaks to get them to come visit?

Yaks were over the top, if they were just grumpy bums you couldn't please that would have been okay but smashing and war threats was too much. Especially as you had to watch ponies trying to appease them to avoid more smashing and appeasement was simultaneously being presented as trying to befriend. Which it is not.

Nevertheless I LOVED THIS EPISODE and gave it an A. Pinkie Pie's Excellent Adventure amused me greatly because it was so ridiculous (to Yakyakistan and back in an afternoon) and it was played that way, lots of comedy with her sliding aaaaaall the way back to her own house. Pinkie was clever and sweet and bursting with ideas and manic and dedicated and hilariously optimistic right up until she thought she had failed.

Party Planning basement with hidden floor drop entrance ftw!

 

[Kemaiku]

Twilight apparently sent an official invitation or something, how it got there I don't know, we're just meant to ignore that bit.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

She should have let smashing yaks lie.