Top 25 Episodes of MLP: FiM Season 1 – #25 – Episode 15: Feeling Pinkie Keen
I don’t mean to be a grump when it comes to some of the episodes of this show. Every single one is made of a high quality material, it’s just that sometimes that material isn’t sewed together right or it’s sewed in a way that baffles me to the point of irritation. Such is the case with the episode, “Feeling Pinkie Keen”
Summary
“Feeling Pinkie Keen” starts with Twilight and Spike practicing a new magic spell that turns rocks, leaves, and sticks into a snazzy outfit. This episode aired after “Boast Busters” so I feel it’s a bit of a continuity nod that Twilight, who was afraid of showing off in that episode, is now practicing her spells for all the town to see. However they are interrupted by Pinkie Pie being… well, Pinkie Pie. Zipping around and occasionally tossing worried glances up at the sky before Twilight asks what she’s doing. Pinkie explains that whenever her tail twitches, it means something is going to fall from the sky. That something is a frog which smacks Twilight in the face after plummeting from a basket being carried by Fluttershy, who’s taking a cart load of the creatures to a nearby swamp to help keep the pond from getting crowded.
After a few more predictions from Pinkie Pie, culminating in Twilight getting splashed and covered with mud, she brings Twi home for a bath and explains that her “Pinkie Sense” is a collection of random involuntary muscle spasms that signal equally random events. Twilight, ever the intellectual type, doesn’t believe that such a thing exists, and when Pinkie claims that it’s no different then the magic Twilight does, Twilight argues that Magic is something that can be studied and controlled, and makes specific things happened, and that Pinkie Sense just makes no sense at all. After Pinkie successfully predicts that Twilight would receive a face full of door, Pinkie tells Twilight that she doesn’t believe because she doesn’t understand. Of course the first thing Twilight thinks to do is strap pinkie into a scanner with all sorts of wires and blinking lights, because that’s science right? Of course Pinkie doesn’t have any twitches while she’s strapped down so Twilight just gives up and let’s Pinkie go on her way, but not before Pinkie successfully predicts yet another dosage of pain by door for Twilight.
Twilight, desperate to find some sort of rational explanation for “Pinkie Sense,” begins to follow Pinkie around town, studying her actions and random twitches. Clearly a pony with such curiosity deserves to be punished, with bees, more doors slammed in her face, and an assortment of clique cartoon items dropped on her head. After Twi has been thoroughly beaten and bruised for her trouble, Pinkie get’s a twitch that’s completely new to her, and she claims that some sort of “doozy” is going to happen at the same swamp that Fluttershy was heading to. Wanting to make sure their friend is okay; Pinkie, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack (Who was just passing by in time to see the new Pinkie Sense) head off to find her.
When they finally arrive, they find that Fluttershy is perfectly fine. Twilight gloats a bit that Pinkie was wrong for once, just before a 4 headed monstrosity, identified as a Hydra, erects itself from the swamp waters and gives chase. The four ponies, plus Spike, are cornered at the edge of a cliff and have to jump across some conveniently placed platforms to get to the other side and to safety. Twilight distracts the hydra long enough for her friends to get across, but the platforms are destroyed by the hydra before she can make it herself. After some pleading from Pinkie that Twilight needs to take a leap of faith and try to cross the chasm, Twilight makes it across with the help of a coincidence fairy disguised as a bubble. As the Hydra skulks away, Pinkie reveals that the creature was, in fact, NOT the “doozy” she had predicted. Twilight, finally at the end of her rope, bursts into flame from her irritation before finally admitting that even though she can’t understand it, she believes in Pinkie Sense. This, it turns out, WAS the “doozy” and they all return to Ponyville, thoroughly confused by Pinkie, just like everyone else.
I don’t want to be a party pooper, because I know people who DO enjoy this episode, but for me I just cannot get over what I feel to be a botched handling of the moral and out of character writing for Twilight. Maybe I’m in the wrong mindset whenever I watch this episode, but from where I sit those are some pretty glaring flaws with this episode.
Artistic Design and Animation
Until the last third of this episode, we don’t really see anything new, just a lot of what we were already used to seeing: great animation and expressions on the characters and well designed set pieces. By the third act we get to see a new geographical location, “Froggy Bottom Bog.” It’s nice looking, about as nice looking as a swamp can be but nice looking none the less. The design of the Hydra I felt was a little too simplistic, I mean it’s just 4 snake heads attached to a stomach and a pair of legs.
Humor
As much as I gripe about how the humor in this episode is mostly used to make Twilight look bad, even I have to admit that it’s a great call back to the cartoons of old with all these pratfalls and heavy impacts. It was especially funny to see the classic cartoon motifs of potted plants, anvils, and pianos falling on character’s heads.
Continuity and World Building
It’s great whenever a character is shown to have more talent then what they were originally given that doesn’t completely change what the character is. Pinkie Sense, despite the frustrations it causes for me in this episode, is a perfect tool for Pinkie Pie, and I’m glad they brought it back in season two. It’s also nice for the world it self to branch out with the inclusion of “Froggy Bottom Bog” to the map and The Hydra to the Equestrian Bestiary, even if it’s unlikely we’ll see those places and creatures again. This is also the first instance where Derpy is seen with her eyes purposefully derped.
Story Structure
A few episodes of season 1 seemed to have a problem with a sudden change of tone during the last third of the episode. Here the pacing seemed to be going rather well, as the chain of events follow in a logical order: Pinkie displays a power Twilight doesn’t understand, Twilight expresses her disbelief, Twilight attempts unsuccessfully to try and find a reasonable explanation. Then all of a sudden we’re dropped off in the Everfree Forest, which always seems to be the place where these sudden tonal shifts occur, and we get an action scene with a brand new creature that comes right the hay out of no where. I’m just saying this thing really has no connection to what the girls were doing 5 minuets ago.
Moral
This is where I start to lose it a bit, but I’ll try to keep it brief. I understand that the original intention of the moral was “Keep yourself open minded” and I agree that this is a fantastic moral to teach to… well, everyone. However that’s not entirely what was portrayed in the episode. Sure Twilight seemed a little close minded about Pinkie Sense, and only studied it to try and disprove its existence, but when you say things like “Sometimes you just got to believe in things, even if you can’t figure them out” and “There are many wondrous things in this world that you can’t explain … you just have to choose to believe in them” you go from teaching a lesson of open mindedness, to a lesson of being so open minded that your brains fall out. By all means, except that Pinkie Sense is an actual thing, but don’t “just choose to believe in it,” study it, understand it, and learn from it. I have a habit of questioning everything, not because I doubt it, but because I want to know more about it. I would not have had near as much of a problem with this episode if they had shown that Twilight, despite accepting her friend’s strange power, was still studying it. But nope, she just gives up on it, and THAT is my biggest gripe with this episode: that Twilight goes from being so close minded that she won’t even consider Pinkie Sense a reality, to just giving up and accepting it without any follow up.
Overall Feelings
I don’t “hate” this episode, I’m just really disappointed with it. Open mindedness is a trait I hold in highest regard, and to see an episode botch its attempt to teach this lesson makes me grind my teeth. But what grinds my teeth even more is the arguments that this episode has spawned. I don’t think there are any religious undertones to this episode, I don’t think it attacks scientists, I think it’s attacking the people who refuse to consider any alternative than what they already know, and let’s be honest, there’s people like that in every group. I just don’t think Twilight would be that sort of character. Applejack, maybe, but Twilight seems like the sort who would be more than willing to change her thoughts on something if she was presented with new evidence on the subject.
All and All, a disappointing episode, even if it was funny at times, Pinkie Sense is an acceptable Pinkie Power, and I hope Twilight’s brain doesn’t fall out, I like her brain, it’s so adorkable.
I don’t mean to be a grump when it comes to some of the episodes of this show. Every single one is made of a high quality material, it’s just that sometimes that material isn’t sewed together right or it’s sewed in a way that baffles me to the point of irritation. Such is the case with the episode, “Feeling Pinkie Keen”
Summary
“Feeling Pinkie Keen” starts with Twilight and Spike practicing a new magic spell that turns rocks, leaves, and sticks into a snazzy outfit. This episode aired after “Boast Busters” so I feel it’s a bit of a continuity nod that Twilight, who was afraid of showing off in that episode, is now practicing her spells for all the town to see. However they are interrupted by Pinkie Pie being… well, Pinkie Pie. Zipping around and occasionally tossing worried glances up at the sky before Twilight asks what she’s doing. Pinkie explains that whenever her tail twitches, it means something is going to fall from the sky. That something is a frog which smacks Twilight in the face after plummeting from a basket being carried by Fluttershy, who’s taking a cart load of the creatures to a nearby swamp to help keep the pond from getting crowded.
After a few more predictions from Pinkie Pie, culminating in Twilight getting splashed and covered with mud, she brings Twi home for a bath and explains that her “Pinkie Sense” is a collection of random involuntary muscle spasms that signal equally random events. Twilight, ever the intellectual type, doesn’t believe that such a thing exists, and when Pinkie claims that it’s no different then the magic Twilight does, Twilight argues that Magic is something that can be studied and controlled, and makes specific things happened, and that Pinkie Sense just makes no sense at all. After Pinkie successfully predicts that Twilight would receive a face full of door, Pinkie tells Twilight that she doesn’t believe because she doesn’t understand. Of course the first thing Twilight thinks to do is strap pinkie into a scanner with all sorts of wires and blinking lights, because that’s science right? Of course Pinkie doesn’t have any twitches while she’s strapped down so Twilight just gives up and let’s Pinkie go on her way, but not before Pinkie successfully predicts yet another dosage of pain by door for Twilight.
Twilight, desperate to find some sort of rational explanation for “Pinkie Sense,” begins to follow Pinkie around town, studying her actions and random twitches. Clearly a pony with such curiosity deserves to be punished, with bees, more doors slammed in her face, and an assortment of clique cartoon items dropped on her head. After Twi has been thoroughly beaten and bruised for her trouble, Pinkie get’s a twitch that’s completely new to her, and she claims that some sort of “doozy” is going to happen at the same swamp that Fluttershy was heading to. Wanting to make sure their friend is okay; Pinkie, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack (Who was just passing by in time to see the new Pinkie Sense) head off to find her.
When they finally arrive, they find that Fluttershy is perfectly fine. Twilight gloats a bit that Pinkie was wrong for once, just before a 4 headed monstrosity, identified as a Hydra, erects itself from the swamp waters and gives chase. The four ponies, plus Spike, are cornered at the edge of a cliff and have to jump across some conveniently placed platforms to get to the other side and to safety. Twilight distracts the hydra long enough for her friends to get across, but the platforms are destroyed by the hydra before she can make it herself. After some pleading from Pinkie that Twilight needs to take a leap of faith and try to cross the chasm, Twilight makes it across with the help of a coincidence fairy disguised as a bubble. As the Hydra skulks away, Pinkie reveals that the creature was, in fact, NOT the “doozy” she had predicted. Twilight, finally at the end of her rope, bursts into flame from her irritation before finally admitting that even though she can’t understand it, she believes in Pinkie Sense. This, it turns out, WAS the “doozy” and they all return to Ponyville, thoroughly confused by Pinkie, just like everyone else.
I don’t want to be a party pooper, because I know people who DO enjoy this episode, but for me I just cannot get over what I feel to be a botched handling of the moral and out of character writing for Twilight. Maybe I’m in the wrong mindset whenever I watch this episode, but from where I sit those are some pretty glaring flaws with this episode.
Artistic Design and Animation
Until the last third of this episode, we don’t really see anything new, just a lot of what we were already used to seeing: great animation and expressions on the characters and well designed set pieces. By the third act we get to see a new geographical location, “Froggy Bottom Bog.” It’s nice looking, about as nice looking as a swamp can be but nice looking none the less. The design of the Hydra I felt was a little too simplistic, I mean it’s just 4 snake heads attached to a stomach and a pair of legs.
Humor
As much as I gripe about how the humor in this episode is mostly used to make Twilight look bad, even I have to admit that it’s a great call back to the cartoons of old with all these pratfalls and heavy impacts. It was especially funny to see the classic cartoon motifs of potted plants, anvils, and pianos falling on character’s heads.
Continuity and World Building
It’s great whenever a character is shown to have more talent then what they were originally given that doesn’t completely change what the character is. Pinkie Sense, despite the frustrations it causes for me in this episode, is a perfect tool for Pinkie Pie, and I’m glad they brought it back in season two. It’s also nice for the world it self to branch out with the inclusion of “Froggy Bottom Bog” to the map and The Hydra to the Equestrian Bestiary, even if it’s unlikely we’ll see those places and creatures again. This is also the first instance where Derpy is seen with her eyes purposefully derped.
Story Structure
A few episodes of season 1 seemed to have a problem with a sudden change of tone during the last third of the episode. Here the pacing seemed to be going rather well, as the chain of events follow in a logical order: Pinkie displays a power Twilight doesn’t understand, Twilight expresses her disbelief, Twilight attempts unsuccessfully to try and find a reasonable explanation. Then all of a sudden we’re dropped off in the Everfree Forest, which always seems to be the place where these sudden tonal shifts occur, and we get an action scene with a brand new creature that comes right the hay out of no where. I’m just saying this thing really has no connection to what the girls were doing 5 minuets ago.
Moral
This is where I start to lose it a bit, but I’ll try to keep it brief. I understand that the original intention of the moral was “Keep yourself open minded” and I agree that this is a fantastic moral to teach to… well, everyone. However that’s not entirely what was portrayed in the episode. Sure Twilight seemed a little close minded about Pinkie Sense, and only studied it to try and disprove its existence, but when you say things like “Sometimes you just got to believe in things, even if you can’t figure them out” and “There are many wondrous things in this world that you can’t explain … you just have to choose to believe in them” you go from teaching a lesson of open mindedness, to a lesson of being so open minded that your brains fall out. By all means, except that Pinkie Sense is an actual thing, but don’t “just choose to believe in it,” study it, understand it, and learn from it. I have a habit of questioning everything, not because I doubt it, but because I want to know more about it. I would not have had near as much of a problem with this episode if they had shown that Twilight, despite accepting her friend’s strange power, was still studying it. But nope, she just gives up on it, and THAT is my biggest gripe with this episode: that Twilight goes from being so close minded that she won’t even consider Pinkie Sense a reality, to just giving up and accepting it without any follow up.
Overall Feelings
I don’t “hate” this episode, I’m just really disappointed with it. Open mindedness is a trait I hold in highest regard, and to see an episode botch its attempt to teach this lesson makes me grind my teeth. But what grinds my teeth even more is the arguments that this episode has spawned. I don’t think there are any religious undertones to this episode, I don’t think it attacks scientists, I think it’s attacking the people who refuse to consider any alternative than what they already know, and let’s be honest, there’s people like that in every group. I just don’t think Twilight would be that sort of character. Applejack, maybe, but Twilight seems like the sort who would be more than willing to change her thoughts on something if she was presented with new evidence on the subject.
All and All, a disappointing episode, even if it was funny at times, Pinkie Sense is an acceptable Pinkie Power, and I hope Twilight’s brain doesn’t fall out, I like her brain, it’s so adorkable.
