S05:E19 - The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows

[Thrond 3,263]

This has more creativity than I remembered. It's still just one joke, but there's more decent variations on it than I expected, and pretty much everything around it is genuinely cute and funny. So this is gonna get a much higher score than expected. Pinkie's impatience is not fun, though, and the constant repetition of the same joke over and over is at times painfully unfunny. I like enough aspects of this episode that I wish it weren't so hard to get through. Some of these moments are just so contrived, too, as if the universe itself is out to get her. There's just not enough to ground the intentional sense of discomfort. There's a lot of solid moments, but there's no hidden depth to justify how uncomfortable it makes me feel. The ending about Twilight learning she's an aunt is just way too shallow to give the episode an emotional core. There's also a recurring gag about what Shining and Twilight did in their childhood which actively bums me out. It's funny that Twilight does scavenger hunts to win books, but Shining getting excited about all the childhood stuff in his room just seems off. All it suggests to me is that Shining's relationship with Twilight hasn't evolved since they were children. 

Score:
Entertainment: 4/10
Characters: 5/10
Themes: 4/10
Story: 2/10
Overall: 38/100

Edited November 14, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[Meushell 52]

I enjoyed the episode, though it seems like keeping secrets would be part of Pinkie’s job.

[bigbertha 414]

There's not much to say about this episode, but that's not a bad thing. It's simple but funny. A lot of it is just one joke, but the joke is constantly escalated through the episode leading to some great tension and comedy during the scavenger hunt. My main issue is that there is a lull in the second act. The jokes there are pretty contrived and not as funny. That and the episode is pretty shallow and it's not quite funny enough to be amazing on comedy alone. But still. It's definitely fun for what it is.

Score: 8/10

[Truffles 2,033]

On 10/18/2015 at 5:43 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Furthermore, why is Pinkie in danger of telling random ponies in Ponyville about the surprise? Would they really be excited about that news? Why would the average residents of Ponyville care that Shining Armor and Cadance are having a baby, considering that it's unlikely that they know Shining Armor or Cadance personally or that those two do anything that directly impacts their lives?

My take is the ponies in Ponyville would care because there is a general amount of fame around all the princesses. So the news of cadence being pregnant would be enough to make them excited and possibly spoil the surprise to Twilight.

And it only took about 6 years to come up with a response, lol.

As you saw from my rewatch commentary, I no longer think this episode is flawless. But I still enjoy it to a good extent.

[Astralshy 26,441]

Funny episode, but Pinkie is all over the top. I know the bar is pretty high, but still she archived it. That's why I don't expect everybody to love or enjoy it. But this episode really has it's great moments

I liked this episode