Episode Re-Review: Pinkie Apple Pie · 5:53pm Mar 31st, 2021
The new writers kept on coming for Season 4 as the next to debut was Natasha Levinger. And it was both a Pinkie Pie episode and an Applejack episode, both of which came with a lot of baggage and high stakes since both characters were easy to get wrong or easy not to write well. This episode was one of four to have an animatic clip of it shown off at conventions in 2013 to build hype for Season 4, specifically the song that was going to appear in this episode. So, with Season 4 now starting to look better again thanks to "Rarity Takes Manehattan" (though there were some who were not impressed), was this episode able to keep things rolling or bring them to an abrupt halt again? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins in the Golden Oak Library with Twilight doing some research, when Pinkie Pie happens to pop up from behind a bookcase and asks Twilight "Whatcha doin'?"
After overcoming her fright, Twilight explains to Pinkie Pie that she's doing geneological research, which involves the history of ponies and their family trees. There's no real explanation as to why she's studying this now, and while Twilight of all ponies probably doesn't need a reason to do research for something like this it kind of warrants an explanation beyond just "the plot demands it". Also, this entire intro scene mostly just consists of the standard Pinkie Pie and Twilight antics with Pinkie popping in on Twilight at random moments when Twilight is busy with something else. It sort of reminds me of how Tigger was always bothering Rabbit with his constant bouncing.
Pinkie Pie becomes interested in geneology after Twilight and Spike tell her what it is. She takes a scroll from the bottom of a stack, but it doesn't cause the stack to fall down. She unfolds the scroll and reads it, eventually finding out that according to the scroll she's related to someone. That someone is Applejack, who is now a cousin of hers. And Applejack is naturally confused to be presented with this sudden development.
Once the shock has worn off, Applejack welcomes Pinkie into the family as Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith demonstrate their particular skills. Big Macintosh is strong, Apple Bloom is playful and Granny Smith is wise. And Applejack, she's basically just the anchor and the glue that keeps them together. However, Applejack then questions why she was never told this before and upon being given the scroll she's skeptical of its claim because the part Pinkie claims as proof is smudged. Fortunately, Granny Smith proposes a visit to Goldie Delicious who is the Apple family historian in the hopes that she'll be able to confirm a connection (or lack thereof). But if the Apples didn't know until Pinkie showed them a scroll Twilight obtained, it's highly unlikely there'd be proof with Goldie Delicious since that would imply the Apples (and/or the Pies) didn't keep records of every development in their family (or the records were lost or destroyed). Still, Applejack is convinced to let the family take a road trip out to see Goldie.
While Pinkie Pie is off getting ready, Applejack has a talk with her family to encourage them to be on their best behavior and show the best side of them possible so Pinkie will want to belong. It's understandable why Applejack would think this way, but at the same time Pinkie Pie is already happy to be part of the family even when she doesn't know for sure if she's related to the Apples or not. And it's not like she doesn't already know who they are or what they're like. Still, the family agrees and when Pinkie Pie comes back they set off in a wagon (although Applejack is worried that Big Macintosh has overpacked). This leads into the song "Apples to the Core" which is easily the highlight of the episode. It's got great lyrics, a great rhythm, great visuals and everyone sings their part well. But soon after the song ends the wagon falls apart.
Since the family's closer to Goldie Delicious' place than they are to home they decide to keep going, and Granny Smith comes up with the solution to use what remains of the wagon along with trees to build a raft and hold it all together with ropes and sap. As everyone gets onboard, Applejack is surprised to see that Pinkie Pie has a camera and a scrapbook and she claims "When you're family you make the time.", so she knows a thing or two about preserving memories. Then the group sets off as we have a brief scene of Pinkie talking to Big Macintosh (who wears an inner tube, perhaps because he's so big that he sinks like a rock) before a fork in the river approaches. Applejack asks for the map and Apple Bloom goes to retrieve it. She does so but then does a "licious" chant that causes her to lose the map. This is a prime example of why it's not a good idea to use memes in a show, because when this episode was being written various ponylicious videos were all the rage. But by the time the episode came out that trend had begun to dry out. And nowadays it looks downright dated.
Fortunately, Granny Smith decides to take the wheel and claims she knows where to go. But she ends up steering the group right through "the scariest cave in Equestria". We don't get to see the inside of it, we watch everypony go through it from the outside as only Pinkie Pie isn't frightened or terrified and even snaps pictures. But she is the one who literally laughs in the face of danger.
Granny Smith tries to pass off the incident as intentional, but Applejack decides to take the wheel anyway. This leads into an argument as the wheel breaks off and lands in the river behind them, leaving the raft without a way to steer. And then they come to a huge waterfall.
Fortunately, everypony survives. But when Pinkie Pie floats down on an umbrella (after taking several pictures including one of herself with duck lips) the raft breaks up and capsizes. Despite this, they all reach Goldie Delicious' cabin where Pinkie Pie discovers a note on the door.
In a brief bit of flanderization, Pinkie giggles and then admits she was distracted by how pretty the paper was. She then reads the note, which says that Goldie Delicious went to go run an errand. And Pinkie Pie takes advantage of this opportunity to get more paper for her scrapbook (not sure where she's going to get it since there's wilderness all around and no signs of civilization). It's during this absence that the Apple family all apologize and regret that their mistakes have led to this point, creating a road trip they'd rather forget. However, Pinkie Pie is still happy to be part of them because they're still there and they're willing to apologize, showing what true family is. Remember that this was before we had definitive canonical information about Pinkie's family, so popular fandom belief was that she was estranged from her family (or even that her rock farm story was a lie or a half truth). It wouldn't be for another season and a half before we'd see that Pinkie was still on good terms with her entire family.
After this heartfelt scene, Goldie Delicious shows up with several cats in tow. Her design is meant to suggest that she could be the missing link connecting the Apples and the Pies, particularly since she does a lot of what Pinkie Pie does and did in this episode. And it turns out that her cabin is dusty, cluttered with family heirlooms and records and a bunch of cats.
Goldie Delicious manages to find a book containing the records of the Apple family's tree, and gets to the same part about the Apples and the Pies potentially being connected. But the part that could prove for sure if there is or isn't a connection is smudged, meaning Pinkie Pie will never be able to know for sure. Applejack does tell her that it doesn't matter if the book says it or not, she's family on the inside and that's what counts and that's good enough for Pinkie. However, the lack of a resolution to the question this episode presents can make the entire trip feel pointless. Even though "Flight to the Finish" tiptoed its way around confirming or denying if Scootaloo had a disability it at least did so in a way that could leave it open, saying that she could be or she could not be and that she shouldn't be fixated entirely on it. Here, even if the intent was to leave it open for fans to decide, the resolution is basically "We don't know."
So the Apples go back to Ponyville on a small wagon with Big Macintosh towing it. Then Applejack and Pinkie Pie get to write in the journal together about family and what it means to be part of it. Then the episode ends as the family gets into an argument when Apple Bloom volunteers to write even though it's not her journal (yet).
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, it's definitely one of the lower key episodes of the season. In fact, I would say it was the most low key up to this point since nothing was really at stake. Even "Daring Don't", "Power Ponies" and "Bats!" had more at stake and even "Castle Mane-Ia" and "Rarity Takes Manehattan" had conflicts involving characters. Here, it doesn't exactly change much if Pinkie Pie is or isn't an Apple. Initially, I thought the premise would be more of a "The grass is always greener on the other side" kind of plot where Pinkie would want to see what it'd be like to be part of a different family even just for a day. I'm not saying that what they went with here was bad because it wasn't, there's nothing wrong with a low key episode every now and then. But especially when they bring up an interesting prospect and then don't confirm or deny it it can seem like the episode was a waste. There is a saying that sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination, which is true here. It's the characters that are probably what make this episode worth watching, particularly how they interact with one another. Even then though, Pinkie Pie only really interacts with Applejack as she takes lead of the whole family. We do get to see that Applejack's stubbornness isn't necessarily exclusive to her, and that it may be necessary for survival in her family. But I feel like there was a chance to have Pinkie interact more with the other members (Apple Bloom in particular seemed thrilled with the idea of Pinkie Pie being part of the family). It really proves the old saying about family: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. So this episode gets a B+, not a bad start for a brand new writer.
But right as Season 4 was bouncing back, it was going to come crashing down again with "Rainbow Falls" which involved two of the three big seasonal arcs and made the Wonderbolts look really bad.
This episode, while definitely low-key, is still a lot of fun.
Not my favorite, but it one of those episode that didn't made me die and I enjoy it
Wanna see The Fiery Joker rip the next episode apart in the style of RazörFist?
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To be honest I very agree
Aside from that one moment with the note, Pinkie was characterized pretty well in this episode.
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If you're familiar with Voice of Reason, then you know that episode was so bad it ended up dethroning Bridle Gossip as his least favorite of the entire series and stayed that way until A Matter of Principals came along 4 seasons later.
Not my favorite, I wish they could explicitly say that Pinkie Pie and Applejack are cousin, instead just leave it out.
5490252 Even if they didn't want to confirm or deny it, there was a better way to leave it open to interpretation instead of just saying "We're not gonna answer it." That's a cop out.