Requested by Aidan Murphy

“Party of One”: First aired 29/04/2011

I’ve always been fascinated by the “brony” subculture of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. To think that a show whose target demographic was young girls developed into such a phenomenon among older, mainly male viewers, is undeniably intriguing. As interesting as this is, however, “Party of One” was the first of the show’s episodes I have seen. Upon reflection, I can’t say that I fully understand the reasoning behind the near-reverence in which MLP is held by its fans, but I can certainly applaud it for being what it is intended to be: an endlessly positive, carefree, and morally aware piece of escapism.

The show presumably follows the lives of its eponymous ponies, the names of about two of whom I caught throughout “Party of One”. One of these ponies, Pinkie Pie, throws a party for her pet alligator (crocodile?) Gummy, attended by all of the rest of her pony friends. Pinkie Pie, however, doesn’t make the party a whole lot of fun, irritating all of her guests. The episode’s conflict arises when she decides that she’s going to throw another party the day after.

I can’t be certain, but I would easily bet that at least a fair majority of MLP‘s episodes are based on the same form: one of the ponies is led astray, spurring (honest-to-God that was unintentional, sorry) her friends into action to bring her back, before wrapping up the story with a topical lesson in morality that ties that episode’s theme together. It is clear that Lauren Faust (the show’s creator, although she left at the end of its first season) realised the potential of this structure, and, if “Party of One” is anything to go by, she has honed it down to a T.

It is through a deliberate, methodical process and repetition (“This afternoon this afternoon?”) that the episode falls into a comfortable rhythm indicative of someone with complete control over their craft. I might have known exactly which beats the story was going to hit, and I called the episode’s ‘twist’ (if you can call it that) about ten minutes before it happened (something I was irrationally proud of), but, as far as I can see, the fun in watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is in escaping into its charming, welcoming world.

The show’s technical excellence certainly helps keep that atmosphere intact; the animation is suitably exuberant, with a vivid colour palette similar to that of the likes of Adventure Time, and I cannot commend the performances of the show’s actors enough – as enjoyable as the show may be, I don’t think it would be too out-of-bounds to say that its writing isn’t the most riveting, and the cast really make the most of it. Every pony had a distinctive feel and personality (apart from two I still couldn’t differentiate by episode’s end), enough so that their anthropomorphic nature is surprisingly not too jarring at all.

As I said, the episode’s denouement is not entirely unexpected, and as partial as I was to the cutesy happiness of MLP, things are resolved in an almost sickly sweet resolution. “Party of One” is tied off with a moral lesson which I was prepared to criticise for being way, way too heavy-handed and on the nose, until I came to the realisation that what I had just watched had been intended for youngish children. That My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic can comfortably balance its status as both a kids’ cartoon and a show whose themes adults can enjoy is impressive in and of itself.

I may not have been converted to a devout brony by watching “Party of One”, but I have an unequivocally more coherent grasp of why the show has made the impact it has. You won’t see me arguing with people about how this show is something special anytime soon, but the next time someone identifies themselves as a brony, I won’t be quite as quick to judge.

Grade: B

Some other thoughts:

That being said, I almost turned it off upon hearing the theme song – I appreciate that the show tries its hardest to distance itself from its plastic toy history, but bleh.

Favourite pony? Probably Applejack, or the one with the English accent.

OK, so I counted one male character in the entire episode, and he was a fucking tool. Is there such thing as a Bechdel test for males?