Hello, this is Kirb and welcome to another MLP episode review! Today I will be reviewing Mud Maud Pie, the episode where we finally meet one of Pinkie's sisters. Now before I start, I'm just going to say that I am currently writing this review under harsh circumstances--I'm currently at my uncle's house as I moved away from my dumb "parents" yesterday, so I apologize in advance if this review seems rushed. With that said, let's continue.
So like a lot of episodes, we plunge right into the middle of a situation, only this time it's made slightly better from the fact that the rest of the main 6 are about as confused as I am about what's happening. Thankfully, Pinkie is willing to throw the audience a bone, as she explains that her sister Maud Pie is returning from the rock farm for a week to spend with her sister before she goes on an expidition of some sort. Now I'm just going to ask this right now: what's the purpose of a rock farm, anyway? They mentioned in "Call of the Cutie" that Pinkie grew up at an amish rock farm of some sort. It was confusing there and it's still confusing now. How do they farm rocks? And what do with the rocks once they farm them? Thankfully, though, this episode goes into greater detail about the last part, as the rocks they farm are apparently turned into rock candy.
I mean, it's not like my teeth would break if I actually ate rocks! Hell, I think I'll eat a rock sandwich right after I'm finished writing this!
Anyway, Pinkie has her friends do some taste-testing for the rock candy, resulting in all of them getting wicked bad tummyaches. (A Hotdiggedydemon reference, lol.) But Pinkie explains that the reason they're making all this rock candy is because Pinkie and Maud have a tradition of trading rock candy necklaces, and she wants to let her friends in on the tradition because she wants them to bond with Maud. Gee, I don't see how this could backfire in any way. I'm sure it will go completely smoothly, right?
The main 6 set up a picnic for her and bring their pets along too, until finally Maud shows up. I should probably mention that it takes quite a long time for her to walk to the rest of the main 6, lingering on the angle of her walking to them for many seconds. What, did Stanley Kubrick start directing this episode? Though to be fair, it would be fucking awesome if he did. When we finally meet Maud, however, it's well worth the wait. She is by far my favorite supporting character introduced in season 4, and I bet that she's already gaining a fanbase. Something tells me she'll be like the character Coco Pommel from "Rarity Takes Manehattan," gaining a big fan following in a matter of days. So what is this character like? Well, her character seems to be like a pony version of Raven from Teen Titans, only without the superpowers and fanservice. Apart from that, her mind seems to focus on one thing in particular. And I'll give you four guesses as to what that subject matter is. Is it A: anime; B: obscure movies and music; C: the Republican Party; or D: rocks? If you guessed D, NO SHIT! That seems to consume her thoughts for the majority of this episode. I mean, I know she grew up on a rock farm, but geez! She has a pet rock! She writes emo poetry about rocks! I bet if we saw her cutie mark, it would even be a rock! Talk about obsession!
However, the rest of the main 6 don't take to liking Maud as quickly as I do, as they find her quiet attitude and cynical personality hard to get along with. But Pinkie still insists that they will become great friends, as she makes them play a hide-and-seek game with Maud, looking for Maud's pet rock, Boulder. When they finally can't find it, Maud reveals it was in her pocket the whole time.
After a quick montage of them realizing how one-dimensional Maud seems to be, the main 6 reveal to Pinkie that they don't like her, which causes her mane to droop down. I'm not going to make a Pinkamena joke because they're old by now. But Pinkie still has a few tricks up her sleeve--despite the fact that she isn't even wearing a shirt with sleeves--and manages to create an amusement park for them to all get along in. Wow, Disney World should start contracting people like her! Unfortunately, the section she had created for Maud starts a rock slide, which nearly kills Pinkie. Thankfully, Maud comes in as a pony jackhammer to save Pinkie. By the way, you will notice that she's always wearing her dress that obscures her cutie mark, but we see it for a few frames here: I told you it was a rock! Actually kind of predictable.
Maud believes that Pinkie's attempts to bring her closer to her friends were in vain and decides to spend the rest of the week at her parents' rock farm. Or she could move to another city and become a superhero and spend her days fighting crime with four other teen superhero--okay, enough with the Teen Titans comparisons already. After Pinkie goes with her, the rest of the main 6 are more than impressed with Maud's abilities, leading Twilight to realize that they all have one thing in common, that being their love for Pinkie Pie. So they meet up with Pinkie and Maud at their family farm and we get our Care Bears/Full House moment where the sentimental music plays in the background and they explain what they've learned today.
So Maud decides to stay anyway, and apologizes for not expressing her emotions. Presumably she spends the rest of the week there and leaves on the train to reveal that she hasn't eaten any of the rock candy necklaces Pinkie has given her. Why? Because she doesn't like rock candy, but she loves Pinkie Pie. Why doesn't she just tell Pinkie Pie that she doesn't like Rock Candy? I'm not going to make a Pinkamena joke, so just imagine the outcome for yourself.
So that was Maud Pie, and while it's nothing amazing. it's surprisingly a lot better than I had imagined. They seemed to make the best of this scenario. The characters were not OOC, the writing was pretty great, and as I said, I really enjoyed the character of Maud. Apart from her similarities to Raven from Teen Titans, I think a lot of bronies can identify with her, as a lot of them are quiet and sullen. I give this episode a 4/5. It's a really enjoyable one.
