S02:E23 - Ponyville Confidential

[Dixie 21]

"ET TU, GABBY GUMS?!"

 

I loved when Rarity found out Sweetie Belle was one of the CMC writing for the newspaper, it was rather amusing. 

Great moral, great plot, I really liked it

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

This was a pretty good episode. I did find the gossip humorous.

[Pastel 7,627]

Good episode, I especially liked the spa scene, and Big Mac talking normally.

[radPie 7]

Aaaah, yes. This episode. The episode that made me hate Diamond Tiara.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Know what's funny? This is the second time M.A. Larson put the phrase "namby pamby stories" into an episode.

[RainbowTashie 378]

THIS Would be so epic.

yeah! tell me again why they didn't? :/

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

This episode reminds me of the Arthur episode "Citizen Frensky".

[XxCupcake-KillerxX 103]

the episode "ponyville confidential" is a whole lot like the spongebob episode "the krusty khronicle"

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Is it me, or did I find Big Macintosh going off on the CMC funny. No disrespect to the CMC though.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Is it me, or did I find Big Macintosh going off on the CMC funny. No disrespect to the CMC though.

I thought it was pretty fantastic. Though actually my favorite joke in the entire series is this one

 

It's nice to see the writers take expense at Equestria's silly names for once, rather than always relying on cookie cutter horse puns.

 

But Cookie Cutter was a good comedian

 

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

I liked the episode, it was quite enjoyable ^^. I loved Rarity's reaction to her own story . 

[powerpuff-tsubasa 447]

i didnt like this one either. theres nothing enjoyable there

[twiia 1,842]

This episode wasn't bad. The 'gossip' in it was so funny... O.o

[Darthy Hooves 106]

I loved "Ponyville Confidential" because I remember a similar thing like this in my high school years ago. Couldn't stop laughing, especially at Rarity's reaction to Sweetie Belle publishing stuff from her diary!!!

[Prospekt 10,984]

This was one of the weaker Season 2 episodes for me, and I've seen that moral done several times before, but I still enjoyed it.

 

 

I loved "Ponyville Confidential" because I remember a similar thing like this in my high school years ago. Couldn't stop laughing, especially at Rarity's reaction to Sweetie Belle publishing stuff from her diary!!!

 

[Thrond 3,257]

The second episode of the CMC branching off into different stories is the first which I felt I liked much more than the consensus. I'm not bothered by the CMC being ostracised, and that they have to deal with the consequences of their actions in a legitimately meaningful way is something I find particularly satisfying. This is an episode filled with visual details, and its fast pace makes it especially exciting. Many CMC plots are about them getting carried away with something or other, but in this case they're particularly sympathetic, especially when they recognise the consequences of their actions and, in the end, fully own up to them. 

[SoberStarlight 906]

So, I just rewatched this episode of season 2, and I realized how much I loved it. But, I realized something. I'm not sure if it is just bad writing or if I am missing something, but I noticed a flaw in the episode. For those who don't remember, the episode shows the CMC as columnists for the Foal Free Press at school, where the three take on the alias of Gabby Gums. This name keeps the CMC anonymous and keeps them from being hated for all the gossip they are spreading. So, later on, the CMC start to feel bad about the gossip, and decide to do an interview with Spike. The fact that they did an interview means that they went to Spike and asked him questions. This means that Spike would have known who Gabby Gums is. Unless Gabby Gums had a representative or something, but this is not stated at all. This means that we have to assume that Spike knows who Gabby Gums is. This doesn't change the entire episode, but I think that it is just a mistake on the writer's part.

Just something I noticed.

Thoughts?

[Shrug 9,922]

@SoberStarlight Wow! Nice find, dude. I can’t really think of a rebuttal. That actually is a minor plot hole. 

[Singe 2,109]

There should have been a bit more on why Diamond Tiara is so driven to elevate a school newspaper? For a character like her there had to be some kind of pay off.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Singe

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

This Episode was very funny, even though i found it a bit hypocritical, that as long as the gossip was about other Ponys, they found it okay, but as soon as they saw an article about themselves, it was all of a sudden bad. Laughing about others is fine, but its bad if they make fun of you ! You can laugh about them, but they are not allowed to do the same with you. But i guess it was simply meant to be a funny scene.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

Just now, Luna Moon said:

This Episode was very funny, even though i found it a bit hypocritical, that as long as the gossip was about other Ponys, they found it okay, but as soon as they saw an article about themselves, it was all of a sudden bad. Laughing about others is fine, but its bad if they make fun of you ! You can laugh about them, but they are not allowed to do the same with you. But i guess it was simply meant to be a funny scene.

And yet, that IS how almost everypony feels about gossip. That it isn't a good thing is presumably part of the lesson for this episode....

[Thrond 3,257]

This is one of those episodes with a really dark undercurrent which just spoils my fun. There's great visual gags, and the storytelling is just so much more sophisticated than other CMC episodes, but there's a deep-seated cynicism to all of this which I just find unpleasant. So many of the characters here are perfectly happy to laugh at others' expense until it's about them, and then it's a problem. This is usually such an optimistic show, but that seems like a really bleak thing to say about human nature. The CMCs' self-doubt, Diamond Tiara's pressure, and Twilight as the voice of reason all help, but the simple fact that so many characters - including the mane six - were entirely onboard until they were in the paper's crosshairs just sours a lot of what happens afterwards. 

And that's frustrating, because there's a narrative trajectory here that I really like, where the Crusaders are pushed by an unsavoury character to publish unpleasant stories, and right when they become guilty about what they built their names on, Diamond forces them to continue despite being ostracized by those closest to them. But the mane six's hypocrisy just casts a dark shadow over all of that, and gives this a really grim and unpleasant vibe which I don't like, and maybe there's truth in that, but it's really not what I ask for in this show, and I'm not certain it's what the writers were intending. There's definitely something to be said about how the Crusaders rise above all this toxicity, but the general cynicism of this story just seems entirely at odds with what the show is going for. 

Score:

Entertainment: 4/10

Characters: 5/10

Themes: 6/10

Story: 5/10

Overall: 50/100

Edited February 11, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[NathanW200 306]

You Know in the Gabi Gums full free press when they said Fluttershy has tail extensions I kind of believed them because if you haven't noticed Fluttershy's tail is the only one that actually touches the ground none of the other ponies of the mane 6 have a tail that touches the ground so Fluttershy had to of done something to make her tail long enough to touch the ground

[Meushell 52]

I didn’t really like that Twilight was the only one who didn’t like the column from the start. It makes the “ponies getting mad the CMC” scene all wrong. Twilight and Rarity (since it seems her diary was posted) were the only ones who had a reason to be angry.

Rainbow fidgeting for the pedicure before giving up was cute.

Still, the episode was enjoyable to watch. I’d give it an “Okay.”

[bigbertha 410]

This may be a cliche story, but this episode executes it really well. I like that this episode has a subtle side moral along with the obvious "don't gossip" moral. It says that people will be fine with others being made fun of and won't do anything about it unless it effects them. That's much more mature than most of the other morals this show goes for. 

Aside from that, the episode is really funny. Like, one of the funniest episodes of the season.

Score: 10/10