Episode Re-Review: MMMystery on the Friendship Express · 6:40pm Mar 9th, 2021
Fifty episode was quite a feat, though Season 2's second half had been plagued by numerous ups and downs and all eyes were focused on the season finale. Still, Amy Keating Rogers was back and was writing another Pinkie Pie episode. Like Season 2 itself her track record had been very up and down, leading to duds like "The Cutie Pox" but also classics like "The Last Roundup". So, for her last outing in the original three seasons, did Amy send herself off on a high note or just bring her reputation plummeting down? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins by establishing the all important item on which the episode will revolve around, a special cake called the MMM that the Cakes are entering into a dessert competition in Canterlot. Pinkie Pie has agreed to take it there herself, but the cake is really heavy and so she has to rope her friends into basically getting it to the train and then into the dessert car. From there, she basically describes how delicious the cake is. And one by one various competitors show up: A griffon chef named Gustav Le Grande, Donut Joe (formerly Pony Joe) and a mule named Mulia Mild. Each has their own special dish they're entering into the contest: Eclairs, a city of donuts and a chocolate moose.
The train then departs for Canterlot and apparently it'll take all day to get to Canterlot (my guess is the route they usually take is closed and so the train has to be diverted to a longer route). The other chefs head off to bed despite the apparent tension in the room, but Pinkie Pie pleads with her friends to help her stand guard because she's convinced one of the other chefs will try to sabotage the MMM. No one will volunteer though, they seem to think that Pinkie is worked up over nothing. I guess maybe they're a little less inclined to believe her compared to Twilight, if only for what Twilight can do if she really freaks out.
Pinkie stands guard by herself that night, and chases after three different thieves. Each time, however, the thief she's chasing gives her the slip. Eventually, she falls asleep right in front of the MMM and then wakes up in the morning convinced she's done a good job. However, Twilight reveals that the cake has bite marks on and so Pinkie Pie decides it's time to play detective and find out whodunit (apparently, despite Twilight claiming to have read multiple mystery stories she doesn't recognize whodunit is an actual expression).
We get the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson hats (complete with a bubble pipe for Pinkie), but Pinkie says there's no need to investigate since she already knows who did it. Her first accusation is Gustav in a homage to old timey films, complete with tying a damsel (in this case Pinkie) to the railroad tracks and using a saw blade to cut up the cake. Twilight quickly pokes holes in the suggestion, most noticeably how if Pinkie were tied to the tracks that night how did she escape. So Pinkie next accuses Donut Joe in an homage to the James Bond franchise, complete with a spoof of the iconic gunbarrel scene.
Twilight deconstructs this one too, most noticeably that there's no laser security grid and that Donut Joe is too gruff and buffy to be Con Mane (a possible dig at the then official and now retired James Bond actor Daniel Craig, and how many long time fans argue he was better fit to play a villain than Bond himself), though Rarity mentions he would "look rather dapper in a tuxedo." (shameless self promotion). Then Pinkie accuses Mulia Mild in an homage to samurai and ninja films, including rooftop jumping and posing with a sword as the enemy falls behind you.
But Twilight deconstructs this accusation as well and Pinkie admits that her reasons for suspecting the other bakers were solely because none of their desserts were touched (not entirely an unreasonable conclusion but definitely lacking in evidence). After describing each one in detail, Pinkie screams when the train goes through a tunnel and emerges with all the desserts having been consumed. Twilight then tells Pinkie they should swap hats (and thus roles) and look for clues to solve the mystery. However, it should be mentioned that the only way this becomes a mystery is by Twilight refusing to let Pinkie (and thus the audience) look at the clues. It kind of seems like Twilight has an almost condescending view of Pinkie here, as if she doesn't trust her friend or believe a word she says. Maybe that's meant to be a nod to something like say Pinky and the Brain but it is still kind of jarring.
There is also a detail that they get wrong. Twilight mentions that it's the conductor who's shoveling coal, but the conductor on a train actually is in charge of collecting tickets and is in charge of making sure the train arrives and departs on schedule (and communicates with the engineer to avoid trouble, the engineer isn't able to move a train without a conductor's permission). It's the fireman who shovels coal (though the engineer is responsible for keeping an eye on the gauges alongside the fireman to ensure the train is running smoothly and there isn't too much or too little steam or water in the boiler, among other things). Anyway, Twilight seems to have the mystery solved and calls everyone back into the dinner car. She shows off the clues she found, which incriminate Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity respectively.
Each confess and apologize, and Pinkie is apparently easy to forgive (I guess she can't really do much to them on the train). However, there is still the mystery of who ate the other desserts. So Pinkie swaps hats with Twilight and conducts an investigation. She exposes the culprits as the other bakers, though we don't get an "Elementary, my dear Pinkie." or an "Elementary, my dear Twilight." which would've been cool to hear. It's also worth mentioning that there was going to be a scene of Applejack confessing despite leaving no clues, which I wish had been kept since not every criminal leaves behind evidence or clues (and not all evidence or clues always points to a suspect). Anyway, it turns out that the other bakers couldn't help themselves due to the fact that Pinkie made their desserts sound so good. And now, although the mystery is solved, there are no desserts to enter into the contest. However, Pinkie has an idea. She decides to combine all the desserts (or what's left of them) into one and present it as a joint entry. Strangely enough, she actually gives the friendship lesson about not jumping to conclusions to Princess Celestia herself. And Princess Celestia appears ready to take a bite of the cake, before Pinkie devours the whole thing after it wins first prize.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, it's an obvious filler episode. And I'm willing to bet it was intended to be that way so as to avoid a repeat of "Party of One" which overshadowed the Season1 finale. Ironic that Amy Keating Rogers would be chosen to do that here when she wrote "The Best Night Ever" but then again it's likely that her script was just the one chosen to be the last episode before the finale. It should be mentioned that the friendship express was an actual playset that existed in the toyline, so this episode was more or less a promotion for it. In terms of being a filler episode though it's pretty good. Harmless fun. Maybe it's just because when I first saw this episode I was expecting the culprit to be Pinkie Pie (and it is kind of strange that even Twilight doesn't suspect Pinkie did it), but I'm not too bothered by what happens here. Pinkie is definitely the kind of pony who would jump to conclusions (as would Rainbow Dash) and we saw her do it before with Gilda in "Griffon the Brush Off". I'll admit it isn't much of a mystery since we never get to see the clues until they're being presented, which robs us of any chance of suspense or even to think about who it is, but that's a relatively minor blip on the episode. So ultimately, I give this episode an A. It's probably a guilty pleasure but I dare say this is leagues above anything Pony Life could accomplish.
Well, up next is the two parter and season finale that launched an entire genre of accusation fics and one that started a trend of season finales being drama inducing and controversial. I'm of course talking about "A Canterlot Wedding".
Also, the title of the episode is an obvious reference to the famous Agathe Christie story, "Murder on the Orient Express". In fact, I think the entire episode pays homage to Agathe Christie's detective stories.
Being filler and harmless fun pretty much sums this episode up.
That also puts it more in the middle of the season for me, though
As far as that comparison to Pony Life, that's actually a more apt comparison than I thought, though I probably would go back to PL first over this particular episode, simply because it's newer.
I loved this episode. It's just so ridiculous and over the top and owns every second of it. The lack of mystery would bother me more, but that's not actually the focus of the episode, so it's alright.
Especially after the last few episodes have been emotional roller coasters.
Much like I did with Cathy Weseluck in regards to Owl's Well That Ends Well, I asked Amy Keating Rogers on Twitter if Twilight withheld the clues from Pinkie in order to teach her a lesson and she responded by saying "No, she was figuring things out as she went along. Putting the pieces together." Then when I asked if Twilight's behavior towards Pinkie wasn't because she had a low opinion of her, she said "No. Twilight's behavior towards Pinkie was because Pinkie kept jumping to conclusions and wasn't looking at the facts."