S04:E22 - Trade Ya

[Thrond 3,263]

Mostly, I just find the ridiculous trading quest plot here funny. Reminds me of a video game. The jokes are just consistently great. Pinkie being goofy is fun too, as always... but it might be a problem if she can't even tell when she's being serious. Small observations: 

Wow, Twilight does not want to be a princess. I can just feel her discomfort here. I feel this is one of the show's better attempts at exploring that, but I'm not sure I agree that sentimental value is enough of a reason to hold onto some old junk. Whatever makes her happy, I guess. 

Why did Rainbow think she'd get any traction with the horseshoe? Guess it worked out in the end. 

Double doggo is a good doggo. 

Fluttershy's whistle is amazing, but all the stuff about her giving up her own interests in favour of Rainbow's is deeply misguided. Can she not just say no? And the stuff where she literally trades herself is all kinds of disturbing - the idea is that friendship comes before material goods, but they went way too far with it, and instead it comes across at best like there's some kind of serious imbalance in Fluttershy's friendship and at worst like she's being traded as slave labour. The writers severely missed their target here. 

This is about the most I can enjoy Rarity and Applejack's squabbling, if only because I more or less agree with both of them; they're both completely ridiculous, and it almost immediately descends into them arguing over who's a better friend. Their subplot is arguably the most satisfying to me, and I feel it's the least objectionable expression of the episode's (admittedly quite strong) main theme. 

Anyway, this one's alright. It certainly seems more substantial to me than it initially did, but I have reservations about many of the most significant plot beats. It's fun, at least. 

Score: 
Entertainment: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Themes: 9/10
Story: 5/10
Overall: 73/100

 

[Senko 459]

I do feel sorry for that filly with the broken pen not only did she not get the books she wanted by Pinkie scared her enough she dropped her trade good when she ran away.

I do feel sorry for that filly with the broken pen not only did she not get the books she wanted by Pinkie scared her enough she dropped her trade good when she ran away.

[bigbertha 414]

This is just a pleasant episode. It's nice to watch a day in the life of the mane six. The episode is at its worst when it tries to randomly up the stakes with Rainbow Dash trading Fluttershy. The rest of the episode is very low stakes so a moment like that feels out of place. The episode also has a lot of nice jokes sprinkled throughout.

Oh, and this episode has some of the worst exposition of the entire show. It's so forced.

Score: 7/10

[Meushell 52]

I enjoyed this episode until the end. I can forgive Rainbow Dash because she clearly wasn’t paying attention to what (or rather, who) she was trading away. I don’t forgive her for just bringing a rusty hose shoe in the first place. That was just stupid. They could have easily given a reason as why it was worth something.

I do have an issue with Twilight even considering the trade fair. Er, Twilight, if you are questioning Rainbow going back on her deal, then why not question the book lady going back on the original deal? Book Lady seriously just wasted Rainbow’s and Fluttershy’s time. Why did she wait until the very end to change the deal? Surely, she could have found Rainbow and let her know that she was wasting her time. Was it her plan all along?

At least, Fluttershy got what she wanted in the end. 

[qwerE 96]

I liked the ending of the episode. All the mane 6 were so adorable, especially Rainbow Dash! However, I think the main story jumped from character to character too much. I couldn't properly concentrate or relate to anypony because of it, and that made the episode less enjoyable for me.

[bigbertha 414]

Fun episode. All three stories are enjoyable enough in their own rights and putting them all together keeps the episode from getting too repetitive. The jokes are pretty funny and the ending is sweet.

The main issue is with the sudden jump in stakes when Rainbow trades Fluttershy. It has pretty much no effect on anything since it's resolved right after it's introduced so it makes me think the only point of it is filler. But other than that and some annoying moments from Pinkie, this is a pretty entertaining episode.

Score: 7/10

[DerpyDork898 0]

Trade Ya is my second favorite Pinkie Pie episode.

 

[HedonismBot 239]

On 8/21/2018 at 4:39 PM, Meushell said:

I do have an issue with Twilight even considering the trade fair. Er, Twilight, if you are questioning Rainbow going back on her deal, then why not question the book lady going back on the original deal? Book Lady seriously just wasted Rainbow’s and Fluttershy’s time. Why did she wait until the very end to change the deal? Surely, she could have found Rainbow and let her know that she was wasting her time. Was it her plan all along?

Not to mention it implies that Equestria has no laws against slavery.

[Octavian 5,421]

totally forgot about the time Dash and Flutters ran a fast-food stand in this episode  

generally a cute little ep. The best combo was Dash and Flutters IMO.

 

also Dashie drooling over the book

[Astralshy 26,625]

I liked this one. It had some funny and entertaining moments and also some dark moments. The morale was also a good one and is something my parents taught me when I was a child and nowadays I've got the impression only very people teaching them to their children.

[FriendGuy 43]

It portrays Rainbow Dash incorrectly, surprised it's not rarity trying to trade Fluttershy for some jewelry, or Pinkie trying to get her hoofs on some rock candy...

[Hadrien 950]

Alright, this episode is a lot to unpack, and we haven't have all day, there's trading to do !

So Spike wants a comic book and ends up with a comic book, check.

Fluttershy wants a bird whistle and ends up with a bird whistle, perfect.

Rarity wanted a piece of jewelry and ends up with a piece of jewelry, good.

Applejack wanted a pie tin (why?) and ends up with a pie tin (again, why?), WHY ?

Twilight wanted to get rid of books and ends up with no books, easy.

Rainbow wanted a first edition copy of Daring Do and something or other and ends up with an old paperback copy of Daring Do and the Mcguffin of Doom or whatever, meh.

Pinkie, as always, wanted chaos, and got her honorary title of Salespony non-pareil.

Aaaaaand, done. Sun's down everypony, go home.

8/10, I want to start my own trade chain to see where I end up. Maybe I'll be able to get my hand on an old PIE TIN !

[Antiyonder 1,149]

YouTube upload of the episode despite the title displayed: