If you have not seen it, I would highly recommend checking it out. There are many things I like about this show, but in short, what I perhaps like most about it, is the show's ability to have a moral and message in every episode that the viewer can relate with and sympathize with, thereby allowing them to take away something from the story, and use it to reflect, change, and grow.
One thing the show encouraged me personally to do, is rewatch episodes and search through them, to see how the writers integrated the theme and message of each episode into its story, as well as how it incorporated the characters into the central plot, and what we can learn from them.
These are what I call my analyses, when I look deep into an episode to find its message, how it was conveyed, and search for more themes present that we can learn from. So, here is the first of what I hope to be many installments in my MLP Analyses, we shall start with one of my personal favorites, hope you enjoy it:
Pinkie episodes can be quite difficult to do due to the haphazard nature of her character. Her episodes are usually a hit and miss too, perhaps for this reason. Feeling Pinkie Keen is regarded by many as a miss, though some see it as a hit, Party of One was a huge hit, and Friend In Deed and Baby Cakes were episodes many saw as a miss, but definitely had some great potential. Then came MMMystery on the Friendship Express, an episode that focused on a more humorous tone, as opposed to the serious ones we’ve seen in most of her past eps, and made Pinkie’s character as crazy as possible, and in doing so, showed her off flawlessly.
MMMystery is in essence what Pinkie’s character is, it’s a fun, random, and silly ride that you’ll laugh and giggle at upon first seeing it, but at its center, if you take time to rewatch and think and dig into it, you find a deep heartwarming and wonderful core, one in which you’ll be happy you took the time to find. In keeping up with this, MMMystery is funny and good entertainment on a first watch, but upon more thinking, you can find a lot in this episode in terms of character development and morals, and I loved how this episode incorporated so many different elements and meshed them together so so well.
Let’s focus on the main thing about this episode; Pinkie’s character. Pinkie’s antics in this entire episode were a sight to behold, there was the way she guarded the cake so sternly, the way she imagined the craziest of scenarios in order to accuse the other bakers, and of course, the way she lunged at everyone declared to have taken a part in this mystery ready to attack. As crazy as they were though, we must remember that this in fact how Pinkie’s character works. She believes the unbelievable, does the impossible, and thinks the unthinkable. She’s very much in her own world a lot, and, in the same way that Spike’s central conflict is his dragon instincts fighting with his pony upbringing, Pinkie’s central conflict revolves around the way her own fantasy world she lives in interacts and battles with the real world. This is why she can constantly seem separated from the rest of the world and her surroundings, and why when she’s brought to reality, it can bring for some disturbing results, see the Twitchy Tail and Party of One.
Getting back to the episode though, what I liked a lot about MMMystery in comparison to other Pinkie episodes is that, Pinkie is brought back to reality, but in a way that results in a great breakthrough for her character and solution to her conflict. We have Twilight, who contrasts Pinkie perfectly, trusting in reason, never believing without studying and being 100% sure, and only believing the believable, and she represents reality very well, while Pinkie represents the fantasy. The fantasy is more fun, more enjoyable, and perhaps something we’d all prefer to see, but it’s just that, a fantasy, and not the truth. And Twilight has to let Pinkie know that her ways aren’t real, and aren’t the right way to do things in the real world.
Lead by example, a method that is often said to be the most successful way to teach others, and this is one thing MMMystery shows very well. Twilight doesn’t tell Pinkie what to do or how to do things, contrasting her actions in Feeling Pinkie Keen, she shows Pinkie an example of how you should act in these situations. She shows Pinkie how you should wait and get the facts and get everyone’s side of the story before jumping to conclusions, and once Twilight uses these methods to pick the right criminals, Pinkie is shown firsthand how to handle problems where not everything is clear. It shows a very nice contrast to Pinkie’s accusations with no evidence, that took place before.
The third accusation then is Pinkie’s development, which works so so well. After seeing how to act in reality, Pinkie does not simply mimic Twilight’s actions, she uses Twilight’s actions to learn what to do, but does them her way. She gathers clues, but holds them all in her own hooves, and goes around in all sorts of crazy actions in order to gather and show them off. The importance of this is that, Pinkie has been to reality and done what normal folk do in reality, but in her way, with her fantasy ways still intact, she’s in a sense combined the two into one, so that she can enjoy reality like a fantasy, the perfect solution.
Pinkie has a long way to go in terms of adjusting to the real world with her crazy ways, but she mustn’t change herself in order to do so, she must find a way to stay herself while at the same time being able to still function well and happily in reality, and MMMystery on the Friendship Express is this happening. It is Pinkie seeing that she needs to change her ways in the world, and does so, learning in a very great way, while still retaining her crazy nature, and is a perfect lesson about the real world that everyone needs to learn more of, you don’t have to completely change who 'you' are to be successful in the 'world.'
On top of being funny, having a great message integrated into the plot very well, and being a very great look into Pinkie’s character, MMMystery on the Friendship Express was one of those episodes where, the more I rewatched it, the more I came to love it, and all in all was a wonderful final episode for Pinkie in Season 2.
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