S04:E09 - Pinkie Apple Pie

[FirestormCAN 246]

No confirmation of Pinkie's relation, eh? You'd think there'd be some sort of DNA testing in Equestria. Well, at least the shippers don't have to worry about sinking... for now.

 

As far as the episode's concerned, I quite enjoyed this one. It's hard to top last week's ep, but it still had a lot of heart to it.

 

I'm sure the Apple family isn't the only one who's had their road trip scuttled by an unexpected turn of events (our last trip from San Diego to Lubbock comes to mind). And naturally there'd be arguments on who's to blame and what to do next. This episode showed that to a T.

 

I was waiting for the "Apples to the Core" ever since the Comic Con preview and I was not disappointed. It was well put together, well sung, and well written. Easily makes it the best song in the season so far. Come on instrumental version, come out sooner!

 

Goldie Delicious is voiced by Peter New. That's both creepy and awesome at the same time. Seriously, somebody call A&E or Animal Planet!  Look at all those new cat models, that's quite impressive of the staff to make translate those breeds into FiM's art style. Also, anyone wanna speculate what that book they zoomed in on is about?

 

Really run episode all the same.

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

It was a great episode! I've been waiting since last July to see the Apple to the core song in fully animated in color, and I have to say it was pretty awesome. The episode had a lot of humor, and funny facial expressions. I loved it!

[Radiance64 7,053]

Learning about genealogy in Equestria? Check!

All we really learned about Equestrian Genealogy is that it's there, not much else. I don't expect much more out of it in the future either honestly.

[Scootalove 10,689]

All we really learned about Equestrian Genealogy is that it's there, not much else. I don't expect much more out of it in the future either honestly.

I guess you're right. I'm not really expecting more of it either but you never know.

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

I like the crazy cat lady reference from the previous episode.

 

Really good but it didn't stick out as much.

 

First episode where all of the mane 6 doesn't appear.

That would be the Scootaloo episode awhile back(Where only Rainbow Dash appears)

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

That episode was pretty good, I enjoyed the song, Apples To The Core, and seeing the Apple clan just being themselves. I also enjoyed seeing Pinkie so excited during the trip while the others were arguing and struggling to find the way. Pinkie being her usual goofy self was good to see, especially seeing her so excited during the really scary things they encountered. I also am curious now about the whole genealogy thing and now I wonder if they're truly related or what the smudges actually say in the book. All in all a good episode with a great song! 9/10!

 

 

[Vertigo_95 572]

Before I talk about how the episode was, I just want to mention that there would be increased shipping with Applejack and Pinkie Pie (possibility).

 

Now to the episode. Pinkie was her usual, 4th wall breaking, self. That saying means that I enjoyed it. I really didn't like how the apples tried not to argue in front of her when, as showed at the end of the episode, she really didn't care (Argue,Argue,Argue). I also find it a bit weird that the scroll Twilight had, and the book that Applejack's relative had, it happened to be smudged in the same place. Other than that, I would give this episode a 8/10

[Dsanders 5,747]

I've been really looking forward to seeing this for the past month! I sure hope all this waiting and excitement will be worth it. Judging by the fact that Pinkie is literally in the episode's title, this is going to finally give Pinkie Pie that more mature role, personality, and depth that I've been dying to see! 

 

I just need to find a link to the episode!

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

BM: "Uh oh."

PP: "Don't tell me...we're about to go over a huge waterfall?

BM: "Eyup"

PP: "Sharp rocks at the bottom?"

BM: "Most likely."

PP: "...Bring it on."

 

I thought this was a rather adorable episode. Between Apple Bloom and Pinkie Pie, I was going "Aww" every few minutes. I also like how this season Pinkie has been more...I don't want to say "subdued" but I can remember her previously being zany and crazy for no other reason than trying too hard to be funny at all times. She comes off more like a character than a walking punch line.

 

The conclusion was a bit predictable. To be fair though you knew she was never going to be absolutely confirmed to be a member of the Apple Family. It was either going to be "No, the name doesn't read Pie and you are not related to them in anyway" or what we got with "I have no idea. You could be related or not." The story writers feel almost afraid to commit to anything like this and just keep opting out for the safe route of "it could go either way, you make the call.", though the message of "You're always a member of this family to us" wouldn't have changed even if we had been given a definite answer.

 

On a final note, let Big Mac speak already Granny! He was about to say something no doubt profound and you had to shut him up! Now we'll never know what life-altering words he was about to utter! 

[Batbrony 16,052]

Wow, wow, wow, has Season 4 hit its stride or what?!  We've had two phenomenal episodes back-to-back the last two weeks, and I can only imagine things are going to get better from here.  "Pinkie Apple Pie" hit all the right notes and, well, for the first time this season I'm facing a conundrum that I love to face but don't get to that often: I don't know what my favorite episode this season is anymore.  Seriously, between "Rarity Takes Manehatten's" fabulosity and the goofy and heartwarming episode that was "Pinkie Apple Pie", I don't know which is better.  THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!  Ah well, let's get this review started, shall we?

 

 

So, seeing as there's a lot of characters and elements to talk about in this episode, I'm going to go in order of appearance and start by discussing Pinkie Pie, as well as each respective character's conception of family and the lesson they learned concerning it.  So Pinkie Pie probably had her best episode since Season 2.  That's not to say that "Too Many Pinkie Pies" was a bad episode, far from it, but I just thought that this was a better Pinkie-centric episode than that one is all.  The thing I liked about this episode for Pinkie is that she didn't need to learn a lesson, really, or at least not that much of a lesson.  Usually in a Pinkie-centric episode she takes things too far, but here she actually contributed to the lesson learned quite a bit, and only needed a brief reminder at the end that whether or not she and the Apples were blood relatives didn't matter, they're still family one way or the other.  So what I'm saying is, odd as it may sound, Pinkie displayed a bizarre amount of maturity in this episode.  Go figure, right?

 

Allow me to explain.  When Pinkie Pie learns that she might be related to the Apples, most people assumed she just accepted that as fact right from the start, and to an extent that might be true.  But I get the feeling that in the back of her mind, Pinkie realized already that, whether or not she was related, she loved the Apples already and spending time with each and every one of them, and getting the chance to go on a road trip with them of all things?  Well, you all know that Pinkie's going to enjoy herself on a road trip no matter what!  So even though she was confident that she was actually related to them for most of the episode, and ecstatic at the thought, I think even more so, Pinkie being the joyous pony she is who knows how to enjoy any ponies company better than anypony else does was just happy the whole time to be getting to partake in this family outing with the Apples at all.  Think about it?  She was so, so, so happy the whole episode, not just blissfully unaware of things, but sincerely happy!  That's what makes Pinkie Pie such a great character, that it takes so much to get her down at all, and I'd say she's an even happier pony now even more so than when the show started!  That's a big reason that I thought this was a fantastic Pinkie Pie episode, that we got to see her element on display so much without many words being spoken about it.  But anyways, concerning her views on family, I have to respectfully disagree with Flipturn's assertion that "Pinkie has a family now", and that's why she's so happy.  Pinkie had a family already, and while they certainly aren't as fun loving as her, from what we've seen (and might get to see even more when one or both of Pinkie's sisters shows up this season) she really loves her family, even though she moved off the rock farm.  Besides the reasons for her happiness that I already pointed out, the other thing that was driving Pinkie through the roof this episode was the thought of not only having more family than she thought she did, but also having family in her hometown who also happened to be great friends already.  Yet even though the question remains uncertain as to whether or not Pinkie and the Apples are actually family, she doesn't care, because she loves them all the same and had a blast on their trip together.  Pinkie, you truly are the Element of Laughter, and we should all take a page out of your book and try not to let so many things get us down so easily. 

 

Besides those great elements of her character this episode, Pinkie was probably the cutest and funniest she's been all season, and nailed every scene she was in from beginning to end.  Overall, a great Pinkie-centric episode for sure.

 

Four seasons in and I still can't really fathom just how happy and joyful this pony really is 24/7!!!

 

Now, onto the Apple Family, and yes I'm going to lump them all together here (except for Goldie Delicious) because they worked off of each other so much in each scene, no one character really taking the spotlight, even if AJ was at the center of it all.  First, I just have to mention that I LOVE it when the Apple Family gets to share the spotlight together, and I think that this episode did a better job of doing that than any previous episode in the show's entire canon has.  Like I said, none of the Apples, not even Big Mac, really got overwhelmed in screen time by another, and in a road trip episode that worked to perfection!  Oh yeah, let's discuss for a minute the fact that this was a road trip episode.  This was a FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC road trip episode!  It hit the right balance between unbelievable shenanigans and realistic family interactions on the road.  The hijinks on the road and river were a hoot and, as should be in a cartoon, over-the-top, but the family fights and arguing, that was dead on accurate.  I mean, I swear, that's guaranteed to happen in any family when you go on any type of road trip; heck, I could practically see my mom, sister, and I in our trip before Christmas to Green Bay when I was watching the Apples.  That kind of arguing's not a bad thing, so long as family members make up of course, because that's just what families do; they're people you know and love who it's OK to argue with because you love each other enough that of course you're going to make up, and I'm glad that all the Apples, especially AJ (but all of them were reminded of it, again, very, very, very Apple Family centric), were reminded of that and dispelled by the end of the episode with the idea that good family's never fight but run like some picture-perfect clockwork.  Fantastic lesson learned by all the Apples, and I'm so happy that they got to share in that lesson, as well as the one sort of learned by Pinkie Pie, with Pinkie Pie, their new at the very least honorary Apple.

 

Are we doin' what ah think we're doing?

 

Eeyup.

 

That's right... ROADTRIP!!!!!!!!

 

Finally, let's talk about Goldie Delicious briefly.  This character, for the little she appeared at the end, was very, very fun, and a wonderful little addition to the Apple Family.  I loved that she's basically the family hoarder (come on, every family needs one  ) and, on top of that, a crazy cat lady to boot!  She might have been a bit kooky and hoardish, but she seemed like a really sweet character, and she was more than happy to help out ponies she'd just met right out of the blue.  So yeah, fun little addition to the cast, definitely, most definitely.

 

OK, characters and themes are out of the way, so let's talk about the song now.  Oh my gosh, we've had three episodes in a row with music!!!  THAT IS UNHEARD OF, EVEN BY MLP'S STANDARDS!!!!!  The best part is that the songs just keep getting better and better!  "Generosity" was my favorite song of the season last week, but I'm sorry, "Apples to the Core" blew even that song out of the water!  It's probably the most joyous song we've gotten since "Smile" and "True, True Friend", and was just a blast from beginning to end.  You saw real love, I mean REAL, sincere love, from each and every one of the Apples and Pinkie in that number, and just how happy all of them were, not just at the prospect of Pinkie being one of them, but also just to all be together on the road.  Also, I dare you to listen to this song and not clap along, or at least not bop along in rhythm.  It is just that catchy, and even a finer rendition of country than "Raise This Barn" was last season.  Daniel Ingram, you did it again, and I bow in awe to your awesomeness sir.  Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the animation on this number was some of the most gorgeous and lively we've ever gotten in an MLP musical piece; while "Smile" and "True, True Friend" were admittedly bigger and more impressive in their scope, there was A LOT going on in this piece, and seeing as it was only five ponies doing it all, that's impressive.  Dancing along rhythmically with the piece while also appearing to progress along in their journey, that's just dang impressive choreography right there, and my hat's off to the animation team on making the Apples' and Pinkie's movements seamlessly synchronized with the tune itself.  All in all, I got to say that "Apples to the Core" is one of the finest songs in all of MLP's canon to this date, and certainly did not disappoint in the slightest.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wrVTYMGTao

Go ahead, just try and listen to this song without smiling and bopping along, I DARE YOU!!!

 

Animation wise, the characters were lively as usual, and on top of the expected hilarious and adorable faces we got from Pinkie Pie, we also got some great animation from the rest of the Apples as well.  Most notable I'd say was the variety we got from Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, seeing as they're both less seen than Applejack and Apple Bloom, and the number of appearances they made throughout is again a big reason I say this was more an Apple Family-centric episode than an Applejack-centric one.  Besides the characters, it was real nice getting to see more of the Equestrian wilderness, seeing as it's been too long since we really got to see the wilds of Equestria extensively, what with adventures occurring in Ponyville less and less.

 

I simply have to mention how fantastic the pacing here was, as well as in last week's episode.  Pacing is a big but highly underrated part of what separates good episodes from great episodes, and two weeks in a row now we've had fantastically paced episodes, with not too much but also not too little going on, just the right amount of events to fill the episode without it feeling too cluttered.  Hats off to the writers for the phenomenal pacing compared to previous episodes this season, or even in seasons past.

 

Finally, let's talk about the comedy, because in a road trip episode starring Pinkie Pie, you know you're going to get A LOT.  Pinkie Pie was a riot, both in her animations, behavior, and dialogue, not much else to say besides that seeing as she is, well, her.  Heck, with any other character I probably would've called BS on the way she discovered her potential relation to the Apples, but seeing as it's Pinkie, it made all the sense in the world, and just as suitably the hyperactive mare ended the episode by, once again, breaking the 4th wall.  Pinkie, you are a pink riot and I love you for it!!!    As for the Apples, they all had bits, although I honestly thought that Big Mac probably had the funniest performance.  He's probably never talked as much as he did here, and it astounds me how each 'eeyup' can actually be delivered so differently, so kudos to Peter New for bringing character to a character with such limited dialogue.  Still, AJ, AB, and Granny Smith were all whacky as well in their own ways; I died when Granny led them into that cave (which was actually an expertly handled comedic bit, nothing wrong at all with purely audio humor minus the visuals, kind of reminiscent even of the Looney Tunes), AB's maplicious was a hilarious send up to the fans, and AJ was hilarious the entire time as she tried to be the center of the family, similar to her meltdown in "Apple Family Reunion".  Besides the main characters, Goldie Delicious, for the little she appeared, was a hoot, mostly in just everything that was around her in her house, especially her cats (including a bucking cheetah and a deliciously clever Dusty Katt reference, congrats to the manliest brony on getting referenced in the show  ).  Finally, there were A TON of sight gags, especially that recurring eagle sight gag that reminded all of us that, damn, nature is scary!!!    All in all this was a hilarious episode, and might have even been the funniest Apple Family-centric episode ever (although again, that was largely helped by Pinkie's constant presence with them throughout).

 

Overall, this was a phenomenal episode and I loved every minute of it.  It was nice that we didn't need all of the Mane 6 here, and as a couple of people have pointed out, this was the first episode this season in which they all haven't appeared, and I liked that.  Honestly, MLP needs more of that this season, and this was really what I thought "Bats!" should've been, that being, I thought AJ and Fluttershy would get most of the screen time, not the Mane 6 as a whole.  All in all, I think it's safe to say that Season 4 has hit its stride, and I can't wait to see what comes next this season!

 

[Will Guide 21,360]

Also Apples to the core was pretty cool to see in full motion

Yeah, I saw the animanic of this song earlier this summer. It was great on its own esp. with the con audience clapping along. But to finally see it in full motion is awesome!

 

My favorite funny moments are of the map being taken by a fish which is then grabbed an eagle; that happens again with a duck and the steering wheel; As they were going over the waterfall, I was thinking "Pinkie Pie, you should work for Splash Mountain at Disneyland taking the splash photos!"

 

Well, it's official: We've seen all four episodes that were previewed in the animanic this past summer. So for the rest of the season, I'll have no idea what's going to happen. Surprise me, MLP crew!

[DerpyTacos99 115]

This episode was absolutely fantastic! I loved it. I was obnoxious before with my senseless hating on other Season 4 episodes. Now that I took some time to really think and reflect, I've loved all of the previous episodes as well. Season 4 is just awesome!

[crazitaco 596]

Hey look, first episode of the season not to feature all of the mane 6. Huh...

Anyway, I loved it! Second favorite episode of the season, next to Rarity Takes Manehattan!

Pinkie remained positive all throughout the episode, and wasn't as annoying as she's been lately. Seeing her so happy about their shared family bond made me happy as well, and I do hope she's one of them. The song was probably my favorite of the season so far. Very catchy!

 

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, it was pretty funny and had a sweet moral. And super adorbs!! Oh my god so sugary sweet! /)^3^(\ Totally filled my soul with happy feels. I always love slice of life episodes. Also, I like when families fight a bit on tv. It's just a fact of life that families squabble over things.

Edited January 11, 2014 by crazitaco

[Wild Star 141]

migosh. i cant even say how much i.....

 

 

FREAKIN LOOOOVED BIG MAC!

cough, cough. okay, im calm.

 

i really liked this episode. they involved big ma-ahem, all members of the appple family more than they have been in any episodes i have seen. plus, big mac almost got to speak a coherent sentence.

 

someday, he'll speak. you'll all see.

[crazitaco 596]

migosh. i cant even say how much i.....

 

 

FREAKIN LOOOOVED BIG MAC!

cough, cough. okay, im calm.

 

i really liked this episode. they involved big ma-ahem, all members of the appple family more than they have been in any episodes i have seen. plus, big mac almost got to speak a coherent sentence.

 

someday, he'll speak. you'll all see.

He's spoken a full sentence before. Remember applebuck season, when he hurt his back and AJ had to do the work by herself? And Hearts & Hooves, he gets all schmoopy with Cheerilee.

Still would have liked to hear him speak here though.

Edited January 12, 2014 by crazitaco

[PonyHag1 591]

I liked this episode very much. It was nice to see Big Mac get a bit more of a role, and even let him sing. I'd been looking forward to the song since the animatic, and it didn't let me down. I think they should have let Mac write the journal at the end.

[Ampharos 1,009]

Is the episode up anywhere? I really want to see it but I kind of don't have cable...

[null123456 759]

This episode made me smile way more than I was probably supposed to.. But I think this is gonna be a really awesome little change and I hope that we can see more episodes with Pinkie and the Apples? Also, the song was awesome. 

 

10/10 SANDVICHES (POOT TROPHEE HEER)

[Side Bird 566]

Wow!

That was a great episode! One of the bests!

[ping111 124]

Applejack, by attempting to deceive Pinkie into thinking there is zero bickering within her perfectly functional family, yet again proves she is much more Loyal to her family than she is Honest to others.  I know there's nothing we can do about it now, seeing that the Elements are kaput, but it still bugs me kinda.  

[DarligPegasi 315]

Another disappointment. The episode was too quick in my opinion and both 'plots' didn't mesh together very well. We had the 'Is Pinkie related to us' plot which was introduced first and should have been the most prominent, but then it was squashed by the 'Don't let Pinkie know that we aren't a perfect family!' plot. 

 

The song was awesome though. But I'm tired of the writers teasing us with Big Mac's speaking. 

[Radiance64 7,053]

Hm, maybe I was a bit too hard on the episode before... I mean, I still think it was the weakest episode of the season so far, but I guess it got a bit more right than I gave it credit for- the interaction between the Apple family was pretty good, plus the episode had sort of a nice adventurous spirit to it when they were on the river, and there was a subtle fandom reference in there or two, this writer has obviously studied the community a bit. Also, while I enjoyed Bats and Generosity a lot more, Apples to the core is still a pretty great song(Raise This Barn was the better AJ song though, imo). Plus, even though Pinkie was annoying-ish here to me, at times she was pretty endearing like the scrapbook gag parts I mentioned earlier, really funny stuff. Still keeping my 'Meh, it was okay' vote, but it definitely wasn't the worst episode ever, we've had worse I'd say. Still, season 4 has done much, much better imo with the premiere, Castle Mane-ia, Power Ponies, Bats!, and Rarity Takes Manehatten than this episode, it just wasn't up to par with them to me, especially since some of the dialouge felt annoying and forced like Daring Don't. I guess I can bump my score up to a 6.5/10 though, to be generous about it, most I can give it honestly. I can understand why people loved it, and I love these characters too, but this episode I just didn't love so much is all. :/

[DarligPegasi 315]

Is the episode up anywhere? I really want to see it but I kind of don't have cable...

 

It's on Dailymotion but the quality is low and Pinkie Pie looks watered down. 

[Sunlight 357]

Anyone have a HD 1080p stream of it on youtube? I can't find one.

[Skullbuster 1,906]

I liked this episode very much, it was funny and full of good jokes, i think making pinkie pie into a loony toons character was a pretty good decision, her gag at the end, rushing in saying "im arguing! im bickering!" was hilarious