My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "A Friend In Deed" - Talkback [02/18]

[The Huntsman]

Today @ 10:00 AM ET on The Hub

I think I'd probably like this episode more if she fails in her mission. I don't think the moral "anybody can be your friend if you keep trying" is applicable in real life. We'll see what happens.

When Pinkie Pie meets Cranky Doodle Donkey, she becomes flummoxed about what to do when the donkey refuses her usual offer of lifelong friendship, so she must decide what to do next about the first creature ever to do such a thing.

[The Nameless]

I hope this episode will be better than the last one (which I thought was pretty meh, even if I do think the moral it imparts would be useful for some).

[JAG]

I think I'd probably like this episode more if she fails in her mission. I don't think the moral "anybody can be your friend if you keep trying" is applicable in real life. We'll see what happens.

I agree, but I don't know how likely that is. She failed at her last goal in Baby Cakes, so the writers may want to give her a victory this time. Though now that I think about it, has she ever accomplished what she's set out to do in one of her focus episodes? Off the top of my head:

Griffon The Brush-Off - Goal: Adjust Gilda's attitude. Result: Miserable failure.

Party of One - Goal: Invite friends to party. Result: Failure resulting in mental breakdown.

Baby Cakes - Goal: Babysit Cake twins. Result: Failure and tears.

So... provided I'm not forgetting anything, that's not a good track record for her. Huh. Maybe she'll lose here after all.

[The Nameless]

I don't think victory here would impart a good moral, anyway.

[TheGunheart]

I'm reminded of how Care Bears actually did something like this, twice, both times with Cheer Bear and Grumpy Bear.

Now, in the old DiC cartoon, it ended with Grumpy cheering up because Cheer didn't give up on him. Adventures in Care-A-Lot, however, actually had Cheer come to accept that you can't force people to be happy, and what you want for someone isn't always what's best for them. I wonder if this will turn out similarly.

[trance2009]

Pinkie sitting on those jacks crack me up. Look at her getting all disney on us, and lampshade the song to boot.

[The Huntsman]

Eh. That's a cheap ending in my book.

[MetroSparkster]

Eh. That's a cheap ending in my book.

I don't know. The accepted friendship wasn't exactly forced. She only managed to make CDD happy by reuniting him with his love. And she learned that she shouldn't go so overboard when trying to make new friends, not to mention that he's not as outgoing as the others.

I did had a feeling that the female donkey (Matilda?) was going to play some role in the end, though. It took me a while to figure it out.

EDIT: Is it just me, or does Cranky sound... familiar? It's like I heard his voice somewhere before.

And loved the animation of Pinky's thought process. It must be what her mind looks like often.

[Dragnatek]

Yeah she succeeded to make him her friend, did not really like that. i think it would have been better if even when she made him happy he still turned down her friendship.

Still I loved the episode besides the end.

[FantasyAlchemist]

Is anyone else sick of all the song sequences in this show? They're just so boring and they last forever. It's like "get on with it so we can move on with the story."

I don't know. Maybe I wouldn't be so butthurt if the voice actors actually sang for their respective characters. Most of the time, they get singers to do the song sequences, and it feels awkward when a character switches from one voice to another so often, and this happens with Pinkie a lot.

[Kookamunga]

Great episode!

There were a lot of songs in this one, including that leaked "Smile, Smile, Smile" song in this episode and they were pretty good. :anime:

Pinkie Pie really shined here with her amazing randomness all throughout the episode! Loved the animation shift while in Pinkie's imagination.

Cranky Doodle Donkey was a great contrast to Pinkie and their interactons were rather humorous. Knew they'd reference the Yankee Doodle Dandy song with him. Especially loved the chase scene that reminded of the Droopy cartoons.

Loved the bits of continuity with once again seeing the Cake twins and seeing Rainbow Dash in Twilight's library enjoying a Daring-Do book.

Loved that Derpy cameo in Cranky's snow globe.

Such an energetic and lively episode! This episode just expressed why Pinkie's one of my favorite characters in the show!

[Juu-kuchi]

Although to be fair, we've already had the outcome of people not accepting friendships in other shows (like The Weekenders and Recess), so maybe this ending can slide. I'm not quite sure. Execution is everything.

I mean at the very least once in a while let somebody have a cake and eat it too and junk.

[army128]

Oh man this episode has everything I need for a Pinkie Pie episode. Very... cartoonish and totally wacky with her clever 4th wall antics. I like how they use continuity here, Baby Cakes, seeing Rainbow Dash reading a book, I don't really see that much in any other episode. I enjoyed the Smile song and all the other ones.


Did I just hear Pinkie said "Roseluck"? Isn't that a fan name? If so, that's the second time they introduced fanon into the show. Not that I have any problem with that. "Extra special friend". Hmm... nah, I'm not gonna bother with that quote. I don't know what's up with Pinkie being too invasive with Cranky's stuff and end up destroying everything. I could understand what he's going through, Pinkie really needs to leave him alone, but of course Pinkie just won't listen. I'm not completely satisfied with the ending. I don't know why. He accepts Pinkie's apology that easily because Pinkie found Matilda, his "special" friend, after all the crap he went through?


Still, this is a pretty awesome episode.

[Juu-kuchi]

I just watched the song after abstaining for lord knows how long from avoiding the leak.

...It's hard to wish for a downer ending where CDD rejects Pinkie's friendship after an infectious song filled with a kind of euphoric joy you cannot hate.

Am sortof busy so I'm just DVRing bits and pieces of it but... wow.

[The ShopSoldier]

Eh. That's a cheap ending in my book.

Agreed.

Overall, I just wasn't feeling it this week. Not helping matters (FOR ME) is that with no new Pound Puppies this week to compete with for my opinion of which is better, I'm inclined to say I was not very entertained this weekly morning.

...Honestly, IMHO, why is it that I get the feeling even Jimmy (main character) of J2S would tell Pinkie to calm down and back off?

I know and understand Pinkie Pie - but there's a fine line between annoyance and charm. Pinkie crossed the annoyance border here.

Now granted,there was some nice slapstick throughout the ep. itself and at least it didn't end with Pinkie completely screwing up like she usually seems to do (when a primary focus is put on her, specifically) , but that does not excuse how annoying she was acting IMHO, whether she was trying to help better this old man's life or not.

That, and the moral, and especially the way it ended felt forced, ruining any sense of anything being learned here today.
Bottom line - I'm starting to realize just exactly why Pinkie Pie is one of my least favorite characters when I think about it more and more, sadly.

Yeah she succeeded to make him her friend, did not really like that. i think it would have been better if even when she made him happy he still turned down her friendship.

You just pointed out how this episode could have ended more realistically, if only so the moral of the ep could feel less forced than I thought it came off. Thank You.

[HEATXZ]

Great episode :anime:
My favorite parts are The Smile Song and all the funny Pinkie Pie scenes XD

[Chaotix12345]

Is it just me, or does Cranky sound... familiar? It's like I heard his voice somewhere before.

That'd be the one and only Richard Newman, also known more popularly as Rhinox from Transformers Beast Wars and M. Bison in the Street Fighter cartoon.

Anyway, I REALLY enjoyed this episode. From the continuity nods to the amazing musical number/montage to the Derpy globe to Pinkie just being Pinkie, I loved every second of it. Definitely one of my favorite Season 2 episodes so far.

[nakak]

I enjoyed it, personally. I love it when this show has over-the-top cartoon moments, and Pinkie always deliver that, especially the chase scene during Pinkie's apology. Noticed some continuities, specifically the Cake twins and Rainbow Dash reading the Daring Do book at the library. I love Cranky Doodle's voice.

Jayson Thiessen posted this picture on his twitter way back in October, so that was actual stop-motion, not South Park style fake.

[The Nameless]

I listened to a bit of "Smile, Smile, Smile" a few months ago, and I was caught off-guard by its appearance here.

The stop-motion sequence reminded me of Chowder.

I thought the ending was kinda sweet, and that Matilda must have meant a lot to Cranky if he was willing to let Pinkie Pie be his friend after all that. Seriously, a lot of this episode was uncomfortable for me to watch (since it consisted primarily of Pinkie Pie acting stupid, which is always uncomfortable for me to watch).

[JAG]

Not bad. It was a little... strange, I guess, but certainly enjoyable enough.

Pros:

- A lot of great Pinkie comedy. I was laughing at one thing or another most of the episode. Her Welcome Wagon was particularly awesome.

- Minor/background characters galore. Cheerilee, Zecora, Rose, the cow, the Cake twins, and probably some I'm forgetting. Plus Derpy's snowglobe cameo.

- Songs! It's about time Pinkie got to sing something significant. 'Smile' might've been a little too long, but it was catchy and Pinkie-ish enough.

- CDD was okay. I expect fanon will turn him into Ponyville's Squidward.

- The obligatory epic chase scene.

- Stuff I'm forgetting.

Con:
- Good intentions aside, Pinkie was pretty rude and intrusive here. Relentlessly forcing her friendship on Cranky I can kind of understand, but digging through his wagon and breaking into his house were going too far.

Still a fun episode, though. 4/5.