I loved this episode so much though it felt like it could've been a season 2 episode (just with Twilights behavior). I love Twipie so much so this was an amazing episode. Also when Granny Smith said "At least somepony knows her apples." the first thing that came to mind was "Dishonor on your family."
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (TV Series)
A Trivial Pursuit (2019)
User Reviews
Review this title5 Reviews
Trivia night time
TheLittleSongbird24 February 2022
Had heard mixed opinions personally on Season 9's sixteenth episode "A Trivial Pursuit". There were people calling it enormously entertaining, deliciously wild and creatively animated. Others were disappointed and felt like Twilight's development had gone backwards rather than forwards, heavily criticised that aspect even. Can see both sides here, this is the sort of episode that will entertain a good deal of fans but infuriate others.
Personally liked "A Trivial Pursuit" a good deal, while not loving it quite as much as the previous reviewers (do mostly agree with what they have said though). While there were instances later on where it is not hard to see why somebody would dislike Twilight in the episode, on the most part "A Trivial Pursuit" is in the former category of being a lot of fun and found a good deal to admire about it. Not one of the best episodes of Season 9 or of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic', but far from being one of the worst on both counts.
"A Trivial Pursuit" has so many good things. The animation is vividly colourful, rich in detail and often imaginative. Twilight's deliciously wild facial and body expressions when she gets increasingly worked up stand out in this regard, goodness the animators were clearly having fun with her. The music has the usual liveliness and atmosphere. The amount of fun and energy that went into the animation is evident in the voice acting as well, Tara Strong plays Twilight to beyond the rafters in the best of ways. Everybody is without fault, but Twilight does hurt, wildness and anger so well and equally as much as she does regal dignity, authority and nuance so well.
Furthermore, the writing is filled with zany humour and at its funniest it is hilarious. Almost all of it centering around Twilight getting freaked out by many things, both trivial and not so much. Applejack and Rainbow Dash also have fun moments in a tiff of their own, Ashleigh Ball excels in bringing out the contrast of the two different personalities. Pinkie Pie is both a lot of fun and easy to feel sorry for and her chemistry with Twilight is amusing and heartfelt on the whole apart from one point that did bring down the episode a bit. The lesson is a good one and well delivered and the story serves well as the slice of life sort of episode that the show did very well in when it did them.
However, it is easy to see where those that criticised Twilight's behaviour are coming from, though it is nowhere near as bad as what the previous episode did with Rainbow Dash. Her freaking out did become disproportionate, and her treatment of Pinkie Pie out of the blue for no reason at one point did honestly leave a bad taste in the mouth (that was too far).
While on the most part very entertaining, some of the humour is also a little overdone, with too much focus on the "Twilighting", and on occasions repetiitve.
In conclusion, good but to me it wasn't quite great. 7/10.
Personally liked "A Trivial Pursuit" a good deal, while not loving it quite as much as the previous reviewers (do mostly agree with what they have said though). While there were instances later on where it is not hard to see why somebody would dislike Twilight in the episode, on the most part "A Trivial Pursuit" is in the former category of being a lot of fun and found a good deal to admire about it. Not one of the best episodes of Season 9 or of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic', but far from being one of the worst on both counts.
"A Trivial Pursuit" has so many good things. The animation is vividly colourful, rich in detail and often imaginative. Twilight's deliciously wild facial and body expressions when she gets increasingly worked up stand out in this regard, goodness the animators were clearly having fun with her. The music has the usual liveliness and atmosphere. The amount of fun and energy that went into the animation is evident in the voice acting as well, Tara Strong plays Twilight to beyond the rafters in the best of ways. Everybody is without fault, but Twilight does hurt, wildness and anger so well and equally as much as she does regal dignity, authority and nuance so well.
Furthermore, the writing is filled with zany humour and at its funniest it is hilarious. Almost all of it centering around Twilight getting freaked out by many things, both trivial and not so much. Applejack and Rainbow Dash also have fun moments in a tiff of their own, Ashleigh Ball excels in bringing out the contrast of the two different personalities. Pinkie Pie is both a lot of fun and easy to feel sorry for and her chemistry with Twilight is amusing and heartfelt on the whole apart from one point that did bring down the episode a bit. The lesson is a good one and well delivered and the story serves well as the slice of life sort of episode that the show did very well in when it did them.
However, it is easy to see where those that criticised Twilight's behaviour are coming from, though it is nowhere near as bad as what the previous episode did with Rainbow Dash. Her freaking out did become disproportionate, and her treatment of Pinkie Pie out of the blue for no reason at one point did honestly leave a bad taste in the mouth (that was too far).
While on the most part very entertaining, some of the humour is also a little overdone, with too much focus on the "Twilighting", and on occasions repetiitve.
In conclusion, good but to me it wasn't quite great. 7/10.
One of the best of the last season!
ericstevenson17 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This episode features Twilight going to win a trivia game. She's won it twice in a row, but this time she has to deal with a new partner...Pinkie Pie! Now that I think about it, Twilight and Pinkie Pie don't interact that much. Twilight believes that Pinkie Pie will be a hindrance, so she decides to get rid of her. She even tries to get the competitors disqualified! I admit that it is weird to see Twilight acting this way.
On the other hand, it's very amusing. The animation was amazing in this. Something about Pinkie Pie's nose just appeals to me. It ends with Twilight and Pinkie Pie reforming into a pair for the trivia contest. They start all over, but with zero points! Twilight says she'd rather lose than not spend time with her. The episode just ends and we never find out if they succeeded! ****
On the other hand, it's very amusing. The animation was amazing in this. Something about Pinkie Pie's nose just appeals to me. It ends with Twilight and Pinkie Pie reforming into a pair for the trivia contest. They start all over, but with zero points! Twilight says she'd rather lose than not spend time with her. The episode just ends and we never find out if they succeeded! ****
Brilliant from start to finish!
abcdefx-408766 May 2020
Back to basics, doing it's classic slice of life episodes with funny jokes and memorable story. Really feels like a much earlier episode of the show, just with more recent characters. While I do enjoy the more serious approach the shows at now, it's nice to see a fun more layed back episode. Also Twilight freaking out never gets old.
BRILLIANT!
BRILLIANT!
Just a purely fun episode
cory-thompson984 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I find that this episode is the funniest of the entire season.
The premise is Twilight is competing in a local trivia game that's played by multiple teams of two. Twilight is the current reigning champion twice in a row and is wanting to win a third time, becoming the first pony in Ponyville to do so. However, when she's paired with Pinkie Pie, all original plans go out the window. In a vain attempt to try and maintain her crown, Twilight fools Pinkie into disqualifying herself. It's only when the same trick is about to played on her that Twilight learns that having fun with your friend is more important than winning.
First off, my laughter in this episode ranged from a few "ha's" to full on wheezing. There was not a single joke or comedic character moment that didn't make laugh, aside from Maud's boyfriend but I refuse to even acknowledge that guy. "Technically you just did acknowl-" BUCK OFF YOU! *ahem* However, the dialogue was also accompanied by, what I'm assuming was, an increased budget for the animation team. It's almost as if the director and writers for this episode just told the animators to go nuts, and they went beyond. Wild facial expressions and crazy body movements are in abundance here.
While the story is pretty simple the lesson, while at first also seems simple, actually holds a lot of merit. I play a lot of Apex Legends, and I can understand the struggle of getting assigned with randoms for a match. One time, however, I got assigned with a guy that made it a point to hype up his squad before we dropped. We played like ten matches in a row, and while we only won one, it was the most fun I ever had in that game. Having fun is far more important than winning.
While the story and lesson were simple and solid, I don't think that's the point of this episode. The point is to just have fun and go crazy, much like the lesson. 9/10
The premise is Twilight is competing in a local trivia game that's played by multiple teams of two. Twilight is the current reigning champion twice in a row and is wanting to win a third time, becoming the first pony in Ponyville to do so. However, when she's paired with Pinkie Pie, all original plans go out the window. In a vain attempt to try and maintain her crown, Twilight fools Pinkie into disqualifying herself. It's only when the same trick is about to played on her that Twilight learns that having fun with your friend is more important than winning.
First off, my laughter in this episode ranged from a few "ha's" to full on wheezing. There was not a single joke or comedic character moment that didn't make laugh, aside from Maud's boyfriend but I refuse to even acknowledge that guy. "Technically you just did acknowl-" BUCK OFF YOU! *ahem* However, the dialogue was also accompanied by, what I'm assuming was, an increased budget for the animation team. It's almost as if the director and writers for this episode just told the animators to go nuts, and they went beyond. Wild facial expressions and crazy body movements are in abundance here.
While the story is pretty simple the lesson, while at first also seems simple, actually holds a lot of merit. I play a lot of Apex Legends, and I can understand the struggle of getting assigned with randoms for a match. One time, however, I got assigned with a guy that made it a point to hype up his squad before we dropped. We played like ten matches in a row, and while we only won one, it was the most fun I ever had in that game. Having fun is far more important than winning.
While the story and lesson were simple and solid, I don't think that's the point of this episode. The point is to just have fun and go crazy, much like the lesson. 9/10
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
