Mediocre: Don't Watch First

Welcome to Stellafera Reviews Littlest Pet Shop, where one of the less well beloved shows on the hub gets its chance to shine in the spotlight! Today we review the pilot, which may have been the first (and last) episode many of you have watched. Well, I'm here to tell you that its not the best episode of the show, and you probably shouldn't see it first. Obviously, spoilers ahoy!

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Episode 1 begins on a high note, what with the deformed looking bird flying in the clouds and all. Wait, I guess the good stuff starts a little later. After that, Blythe, our teenage protagonist, narrates about her idyllic small town life and idly remarks to a dog that she wishes that she could understand it. No worries though, she'll fall from the sky into a nearby forest soon and get rescued by butterflies and hold on I think I'm getting my shows confused here.

Obviously, things won't stay that way. Blythe's father just got a new job opportunity in the city, and they're moving! He's excited about this, whereas Blythe is understandably not so. Blythe comes across as very likable in this scene, with dialogue that could conceivably happen in real life. Despite being a pilot, Blythe's dad is a hilariously terrible driver and somehow manages to ride through the sidewalk, through the subway station, into the air, and onto a tow truck. That takes a very special kind of talent.

Turns out that they are living in an apartment above the Littlest Pet Shop, which is on the verge of going out of business. I'm not making this up. They seriously have that obvious of a title drop. And guess who pops up out of nowhere?

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asdasdasdsdaasdadadd1Evidently the two most heroic characters in the show.

Whitney (black hair) and Britney (white hair) Biskit, in their least entertaining and interesting appearance in the entire season at the time of writing. They are just stereotypically mean here. The music is pretty epic throughout this scene, which saves it from being completely terrible.

After this, Blythe is left alone in her new room. Instead of unpacking, she decides to horrifically abuse her poor guitar and use it to open a crack. Predictably it breaks and is never seen again. On the bright side, this reveals a dumbwaiter and Blythe's life is completely changed by what happens when she goes down it, so I guess in the end it wasn't too stupid of an idea after all. Still makes any music fans cringe.

Blythe crashes at the bottom of the dumbwaiter, and hears... people? Nope, animals! And they are talking? Well, we don't know who these animals are (well, supposedly, unless you saw my previous post), so the purple dog who looks like Twilight Sparkle is going to sing to you a rough description of each character!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOfsDbDSrBE

Yep, Daniel Ingram is on this show, and yes the songs are just as awesome as MLP's. Despite the song's best efforts though, you still might have trouble remembering each of the pet's names. One of the most reoccurring problems in this show is pacing, and it shows. The only pets we get a really good sense of from the pilot are Zoe and Russel (maybe Vinne), which is a shame. This is one of the reasons why I do not recommend the pilot as an introduction to the series; it doesn't show off each character's personality very well. Anyways, moving along...

The society in LPS unfortunately does not have quite the enlightened viewpoint on speaking to other animals that Equestria does, and Blythe believes she has gone absolutely, 100% bonkers. We get a hilarious sequence where she runs out of the shop like a chicken with her head cut off, and discovers that she can now understand all animals in the most comedic fashion possible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGSbi70Zb5M

While Blythe is having a nervous breakdown, a rude businesswoman comes in and tells the owner of Littlest Pet Shop, Mrs. Twombly, about her plans to open up a sweet shop once the space is open. The pets, who routinely go to daycare here, are not happy about hearing this news. Once Blythe returns, they tell her about their dilemma, and part 2 of the pilot begins.

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sssssssssssssssssssssssssThese pets are either aliens, drug users, or both.

The pets can't figure out a plan to save the shop that doesn't involve somebody showing off their talents, and Blythe has to go to school. There she finds her new friends while having locker trouble. They are pretty bland, although they get better in later episodes. We find out in some exposition that the reason why Littlest Pet Shop has been doing so badly has been competition from the Largest Ever Pet Shop, owned by the Biskit family. The same one. In even more of a coincidence, the Biskit twins, as it happens, go to this school, and proceed to bully Blythe about her fashion designs. You know, for being some of the best characters in the show, their first few scenes really do suck. But they'll get better, I promise.

Blythe has an idea though. She'll hold a fashion show and that'll draw a crowd somehow and drum up business for Littlest Pet Shop. Fashion show preparation montage! Vinnie demonstrates that he's a smooth criminal and Minka breakdances. Blythe puts up posters to the fashion show everywhere, including (stupidly enough) the entrance to Largest Ever Pet Shop. The Biskit twins decide to write "Come get free money" on each of the posters, which brings a huge crowd that will be very angry once they realize that there's no free money and will be there to see them dump cat litter on Blythe's head. You've got to love that kind of creativity. Time for a good Biskit twins scene!

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asdddddddddd"OMG, Britney. Be careful with that. I worked on this cosplay for like, weeks!"

Apparently, in Whitney's strange mind, their furry suits were supposed to help them blend in. This kind of insane troll logic is a hallmark of the Biskit twins and it makes them a true joy to watch. Shannon Chan-Kent has got to be having a blast voicing them. Following the laws of cartoon stealth, everybody who passes by falls for it.

The fashion show itself is... not that great. Blythe, I'm sorry, but although you do have a good sense of style with humans, most of your outfits you make for the pets are less than amazing. That color combination on Penny... ouch. I like Minka's and Vinne's though.

Russell, as the backstage guy, notices a few crumbs left by the Biskit Twins, and goes and saves the day. No, really. He's the one who stops their plan and turns the tables on them, so that they fall down and get cat litter dumped on them, instead of Blythe. Blythe didn't do anything. Hurrah for Russell!

So the pet shop is saved, and Blythe now works there. Overall? The pilot was funny, but insubstantial. It doesn't follow the typical plot style of the show (which will be revealed next episode) and had somewhat flat characterization. Part 2 was definitely the better of the two, but neither I would particularly recommend.

Merry Christmas, and next review I'll be looking at... aw man, another mediocre episode. It does get better after this, I promise! Next episode's just the The Ticket Master of the show.