LPS season 4 review thread

[penny82ling]

Petnapping

Wow what an episode, I didn't think the Youngmee arc would be settled so soon, but yeah she has a pet. Over the course of the series, we have seen the Biskits, we have seen Youngmee get pets, when is Blythe getting a pet?

Anyway I do love that we actually get some real villains here, the world of LPS we have jerks, our antagonists, but never anything criminal. I guess the world of LPS is not rainbows and unicorns after all. Though still there were very tame, they didn't have any weapons, when Blythe and Youngmee they didn't tie them up or anything.

Watching the Russell plot, I was like please let's back to the main plot here, it was so action packed, I was at the edge of my seat, granted still it is more little kid movies action, it is hardly like the old Jem and the Holograms cartoon, now that is action, no one was tied up inside a volcano or anything.

And the fact that Nutmeg Dash was too tired to talk, made it feel more like Lassie, and it give Youngmee the chance to show how she can connect with a pet without having Blythe's ability.

As for the Russell plot, I was so happy to see all these cameos, let's see we had Mary Francis, Tootsie, Digby, and Scout Carey It was a funny little plot, though it did fill up time between the action plot.

And it ends with Youngmee getting her pet, I was so happy, this episode this is except for maybe the season premiere, the best episode of the episode, gold tier episode for sure. I wonder if we will see those crocks at the end, I am all for more real villains.

[penny82ling]

Streamed

Well Mrs. T venture finally opens and she mixed up the date. We got to get ready fast.

I can't believe again Madison is looking for work, what happened to the Plaza, I thought she finally found her calling. And Sugar Sprinkles is back, and she is hilarious as always. I still wonder does she have an owner or is she a stray. They are never going to answer that question are they.

We also finally meet the Biskit twins mother, when I first saw the promo I knew that lady was going to be their mother, I just assumed she was Fisher's ex wife, but nope they do something weird, they just retcon everything. Granted though the whole series, we never seen Fisher hit on a woman, flirt with a woman, or anything that hints he was single. I let it slide.

And she is just such an odd ball, with the singing and all, poor Fisher, his whole family is just you know see for your self. But I love they build her up with her entrance like she was the principal of Crystal Prep, but to the twins happy singing is dark and evil. And the kind of 4th wall jokes where have you been the last 3 seasons, hilarious, and the twins assuring Blythe that their mother has always been there. Maybe I am giving the writers to much credit, it is like they are being real with the fans, admitting this is a retcon, you have to deal with it.

Blythe reaction when she found out the twins have a mother, the look in her eye, I know what they are doing, and the reason they retcon the whole Biskit family, this is all to build up the Betty story arc, like those episodes that focuses on another character's relationship with their mother like "Onion's Friend" "Nightmare Hospital" and "Sadie's Song". I am going to make a bold prediction, by the end of their series, either Blythe Baxter or Steven Universe will be reunited with their mother, heck maybe both of them well get to see their mother. Though with Blythe, it can only happen one way, her mother has to be alive all along, there is no magic in this series. Steven has many option to make things work.

Anyway they are trying to develop the Biskits, actually wanting to work in the end, and who knows if this is a one day thing, but I think they left that up in the air of their employee status depending on what the writers to do in future episodes. There is a future that involves Blythe helping the twins mom, maybe in that episode she will change her mind and left them work at the shop. If they Biskits worked there, they would be under Blythe's super vision, a chance for some payback Blythe, getting to boss them around, too good to be true.

Good episode, we saw some character development, and gives me hope they are going to do something with the Betty plot.

Two Peas In A Podcast

This one is not one of my favorites, mainly because I know what they were trying to parody or reference, and that is I Carley, I don't care for that show, so it is not my thing.

Also isn't the plot of the Biskits trying to out stage someone on the internet, that has been done before in "What Meme Worry", only instead of Jasper, they are competing directly with Blythe. And they kidnap Blythe again. Come on, be original and how could Blythe not see though that disguise, is she turning into Ash Ketchem.

And Brittany's impression of Blythe, how right rude, but I found the disguise funny, and just me or she was more like Mabel Pines than Blythe.

I say this, if it will make the Biskits feel any better, I think both podcasts suck. I think I rather watch Ronaldo Fryman's podcast.

As for the Penny plot, it was just dull, Penny wants to tell them something, but the other pets don't listen, but she kind of taking advantage of them, so they are all in the wrong.

Anyway that is all I have to say, not an episode I enjoyed, I just don't care for I Carly, but I did love Fisher Biskit admitting he was a horrible brat as a child.

[guillermogage]

I feel bad about not getting around to seeing these episodes until Tuesday evening.

Well, as anemic(ally small) this fandom has become with these final thirteen episodes, I am still paying attention to what you have to say about LPS, Penny82Ling.

It didn't occur to me until the episode ended that "Steamed" used only three of the seven pets. The entire seven only silently appeared, in the opening seconds of the episode. Not only that, but we didn't even see the Littlest Pet Shop at all in this episode. I suppose this is more realistic; perhaps this opening is taking place on a weekend when four of the owners aren't busy and when Blythe isn't at school.

This episode as well as the one following it, "Two Peas in a Podcast", impressed me with their somewhat familiar LPS humor. It's not the most classic of LPS humor from this series, there were very few action-y hi-jinks in either of these episodes, but I found myself getting sidelined with the choice of lines that came from certain characters.

"That baby has all the bells and whistles a medium amount of money can buy"
Anyone notice the good use of a hyper Minka as a scene transition device around the 6-minute mark of "Steamed"?

I enjoyed getting the chance to hear Sugar Sprinkles's "Pawrista's Coffee of Dreams" song twice, as well as the awesomeness of Pepper being able to create very strong and accurate coffee scents in her sleep.

I also respect the approach they took with having their be a new guest pet Fuzzy Gumbopaws, but him being more of a humorous comic relief character who's presence wasn't some cliché conflict that ended up taking up a whole half of the episode as one of two plot points (altho technically he factored into the plot anyway with at the end with the giant coffee cup prop).

The quality of the voice acting, of Brian Drummond's voice acting, made the character of Fuzzy a good one instead of a forgettable one like so many other, more annoying or unremarkable, guest pets over the past eighty-plus episodes. I can immediately tell what cultural trope he's supposed to be that old-school chillaxed beatnik-y bongo type. (I think it's something like that). I also appreciate that they made him dance at the end to show off some animation in the show rather than him just rolling around like a fat cat.

"Two Peas in a Podcast" has a rather outdated title (who uses the term podcast anymore?) but they snuck in some funny lines, even in the highly predictable Penny Ling plot.

The pine cone game was cringeworthy funny. Them putting up with Penny's suddenly flanderized babyishness reminded me of Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (cue extremely slow and gentle careful push of a wagon down a hill... Weeeeeee!")

"I for one..." "I for two..." "I for three" says three pets.
then when it is Vinnie's turn he says "I... lost count"

"our pencil-thin necks"
"so, is she, like, gonna do it or not?"
It is funny when Francois is seen on the floor grabbing Blythe's ankle and Blythe is inadvertently dragging him into the room when confronting the Biskits. He sure is a terrible security/bodyguard for the Biskits when up against a teenage girl.

[penny82ling]

Go Figure

This episode was okay. At least they are not trying to parody I Carly again. I am not the biggest super hero comic book fan, but seeing Sunil and Vinnie being super heroes was kind of cool. It is no Fairy Woman, it was still funny.

I don't see any real point in the Biskits being in this episode, I mean really the conflict could have happened without them. Some could have found a knocked out Vinnie and put up for auction, I did a chuckle out of Brittany screwing up the knock up the bid plan.

The part when Vinnie said oh no he might have to go with the Biskits, no offense that is not the worst thing in the world for Vinnie, I know what is, the Biskits they would just ignore him and he get to live in a mansion, that is not a bad deal, what would be the worse thing and who should have been Blythe's rival bidder, Alice. Now that would raise the stakes for Vinnie, Alice could do much worse things to Vinnie than the Biskits ever could. That is Vinnie's nightmare, that should have been the threat to Blythe getting Vinnie back.

But Sunil uses his brains to save the day, and the lesson is heroes can be equal in status.

And they parody Marvel's Agents of Shield, they messed up a golden opportunity, if they are going do an episode about a con, they they should have been about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, that would have been hilarious.

As for the other plot, well the B plot have been lacking since the hiatus, but this one is a big improvement over the last two. Though Minka was extra loud in this episode. I wanted the grasshopper to learn that Minka can be zen in her own way.

The episode was okay, better than the last episode.

[penny82ling]

A Doggie Biskit

Well this was an okay episode, were there some messed opportunities yes, but still okay. And the Biskit twins I just can't help but laugh at them in a pitiful way. And is Wiggles really that popular they had to bring him back, I tell you some of the names the pets mention before his introduction are more popular than Wiggles.

Anyway I like seeing Blythe and Mrs. Biskit get along and kind of bond. Seeing that she is so distant from her daughters that is so sad, and fill the void with a dog is kind of sad, but also kind of hilarious, because Whittany and Brittany they are jealous of Poppy Pawsley, it is so obvious. So the twins being jealousy of a dog is just hilarious for some reason, they are like the older sisters, and Poppy is the little sister they are jealousy of.

When I wound Zoey was banned from a dog show, I thought it was a call back to "Bad Hair Day" and that is why Zoey was banned from that dog show. Well either way, Zoey is going to use Blythe and Poppy as her puppets, which I think was funny.

This was a better Biskit plot than the last two Biskit plot, so we are back on track from where we were at "Steamed".

I say wasted opportunity, I wish they would use Elisa to connect her to the Betty plot. For example, when they were talking at the beginning, Blythe could have thought about her mother, or even open to Elisa about her mother, than again Elisa is kind of too goofy to have a serious moment with. But at the very least, when the twins had that little moment with their mother and hugged, I wanted Blythe to have a expression of regret and sadness and envy, something shuttle, like the look Steven gave at the end of the Steven Universe episode "Nightmare Hospital", that episode wasn't about him and his mother, they still pushed that plot in a very shuttle way, they could have done it here. Blythe just have to give one little sad look, that is all she needed to do.

As for the B plot, Wiggles is back yeah. Don't really care for him, he is not that interesting, I guess in a way he was still being a bully only in a more sneaky way without even realizing it. I wonder if we are going to see Wiggles and his lady friend in a future episode.

Anyway better than the last two, so that is a positive. But really when are they going to get back to Blythe and her mom, I can't wait to get back to that plot.

[Rosa Blythe]

Apr 9, 2016 17:54:18 GMT -5 penny82ling said:

But really when are they going to get back to Blythe and her mom, I can't wait to get back to that plot.

Next week, actually.

[guillermogage]

Apr 2, 2016 18:42:38 GMT -5 penny82ling said:

Go Figure
As for the other plot, well the B plot have been lacking since the hiatus, but this one is a big improvement over the last two. Though Minka was extra loud in this episode. I wanted the grasshopper to learn that Minka can be zen in her own way.

Apr 9, 2016 17:54:18 GMT -5 penny82ling said:

A Doggie Biskit
As for the B plot, Wiggles is back yeah. Don't really care for him, he is not that interesting, I guess in a way he was still being a bully only in a more sneaky way without even realizing it. I wonder if we are going to see Wiggles and his lady friend in a future episode.

Read more: littlestrpg.proboards.com/thread/401/lps-season-4-review-thread#ixzz45qFjQSBk

Remember "Petnapped"? Back when B plots were good, every bit as good as the main plot? Those were different times.

I am quite well with how "Steamed" didn't even have a B plot. Well, unless you count the few antics of Russell stacking the dog treats in a tall shape and beatnik cat... Fuzzy Gumbopaws knocking them down.

[guillermogage]

So.... with "Go Figure" They couldn't just demonstrate that Vinnie was obviously a living lizard? He was still able to wiggle around. Also, two episodes in a row of character development with the Biskits with "Steamed" and "Two Peas in a Podcast", and now they, just... are trying to get an action figure.

You could seamlessly edit out the Wiggles McSunbask plot out of "A Doggie Biskit" (apparently tenatively titled "A Leah Rose by Another Name") They've gone without B plots before, and just padded the main plot with more antics and only a set number of pets appearing. Zoe Trent can carry an episode with just Blythe and another animal.

It's like the opposite problem of time constraints for TV that has to fit on a network schedule with commercials. There's too much time, so they have to add a boring B plot. I prefer if they just add more stuff to the main plot. Has there ever been an episode where they didn't do a B plot, and the singular plot was bloated as a result? Game of Groans was good, and so was Pet Sounds and The Tiniest Animal Store; from what I reckon, those were singularly-plotted episodes.

[penny82ling]

It's A Happy Happy Happy Happy World

Okay this was a fun little harmless episode. Was it really ground breaking, no but non offensive.

I thought Sunil flashback to his morning was great, it felt like an old school short from Warner Brothers, Disney, or MGM, though I am more familiar with Warner Brothers, I am more of a Warner guy than Disney.

Anyway angry Sunil is a funny Sunil. The guest pet she was kind of boring, I have seen that type of character before, and I guess the writers thought so too since they wrote her out of the episode, hilarious.

But the pet adventure through Downtown City, that was fun to see, a real LPS adventure, we need more of those.

As for the Blythe plot, again wasted opportunity, I wish Blythe would have told Josh more about her mom, and thus tell us about her mom, I guess not everyone can be like Katara, who would talk about her mother at the drop of the hat.

People say Blythe is a Mary Sue, no she has a flaws, I guess when they do episodes when she competes against the Biskits she looks more Mary Sueish. Anyway if you want a Sueish character look no further than Josh Sharp, he is a Gary Sharp, he is so bland and perfect, he is just boring. He doesn't feel like a character, he is more of a cardboard cut out than a character. He makes Flash Sentury look interesting.

Them all meeting at the same place with the billboard was predictable, but okay. I wish though Blythe got more to do.

[penny82ling]

Race Team: Buttercream

Well Blythe the way she acts without cellphone and loses it, that is another thing she has in common with the Biskits, I can imagine Brittany and Whitney have the same reaction if they lost their phones, though I don't think they would become zen and learn Blythe did temporary. It is dumb, but I can relate to Blythe, when my internet is down, it is torture.

As for the other plot, first of all what is wrong with Buttercream, did she get hit in the head a long time ago and have this side effect. A bell changing her personality, that is not something to laugh at, she should get help, she has a serious mental trauma, all the other pets are jerks for not showing concern and getting her to see a pet psychiatrist.

On another note, this show don't teach sportsmen ship, if this was My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic or even Sofia the First, they would have had Buttercream and Fluffy Lightning gain each others respect and become friends at the end. This show don't teach lessons, they just do comedy, this is for kids, teach them about sportsmen ship, that is not too much to ask, I understand you are going to treat Buttercream split personality as a joke, I can live with that because mental trauma that is kind of too serious, but come on a hand shake, they can't do that? Gasp character development is just to much to ask. It is miracle Youngmee learned Blythe's secret.

We might see Fluffy Lightning again as she is Josh's pet, what can I say Fluffy Lightning has more of a personality than her owner, who has the personality of a log.

On the plus side, it is cool to hear Spike voice in this episode.

[guillermogage]

Apr 23, 2016 16:48:16 GMT -5 penny82ling said:

Race Team: Buttercream
what is wrong with Buttercream, did she get hit in the head a long time ago and have this side effect. A bell changing her personality, that is not something to laugh at, she should get help, she has a serious mental trauma, all the other pets are jerks for not showing concern and getting her to see a pet psychiatrist.

On another note, this show don't teach sportsmen ship, if this was My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic or even Sofia the First, they would have had Buttercream and Fluffy Lightning gain each others respect and become friends at the end. This show don't teach lessons, they just do comedy, this is for kids, teach them about sportsmen ship, that is not too much to ask, I understand you are going to treat Buttercream split personality as a joke, I can live with that because mental trauma that is kind of too serious, but come on a hand shake, they can't do that? Gasp character development is just to much to ask. It is miracle Youngmee learned Blythe's secret.

On the plus side, it is cool to hear Spike voice in this episode.

Meh, she's a cartoon rabbit, I didn't think to really care about the brain health implications of her personality changing from a bell ding.

And I still don't. I think it is funny.

I noticed that the racing lanes are completely physically separated from one another. That takes the "bumping into one another" aspect of racing away.

This episode was funny, but the exact way in which Blythe's smartphone ended up getting given away as a "trophy" was very arbitrary and sudden. Sunil or Vinnie seriously couldn't have been like "what, that's not yours to give away."? The pets who set up the race couldn't have planned for some other actual trophy or acknowledgement of victory?

[penny82ling]

Something I forogt to mention but I added on.

We might see Fluffy Lightning again as she is Josh's pet, what can I say Fluffy Lightning has more of a personality than her owner, who has the personality of a log.

[penny82ling]

On The Same Page

Well I don't know what to make of this episode. Yes the girls vs boys thing was not needed. We live in a more progressive world now, there is no boys stuff and girls stuff, this is not the 1980's when you have toys and cartoons just for boys, and toys and cartoons just for girls. But I guess the message of this plot anyway.

Normally I don't like characters keeping secrets from other characters in order to "protect" them, but Blythe does know the pets well, so if she told them about her fear of losing her powers, the pets would panic, we seen them panic over less.

I give Youngmee credit she let Blythe have her stress out moment even though unintentionally insulted her, lesser people would have responded "you mean ordinary like me", but Youngmee gets why that is important to Blythe and I can respect that, and I love Blythe's nickname for her Mee, and great to see Nutmeg again.

It was an alright episode simply because we got the journal, anytime the journal or Betty is mentioned, that elevates the episode in my book. But that is my opinion. We better see Betty in "Seeing Red".

[penny82ling]

Paint A Picture It Will Last Longer

One plot this week yes finally. Those are so much better episodes.

Minka's fantasy was hilarious. I have to question why does Blythe bring the painting to school, I guess it so they can be a plot. Dam that Josh look what he made Blythe to. Not only is he bland, but look what he caused.

The Biskit that puppy dog face, don't ever do that again. That is just wrong, I did like though that they reference the blurry picture from before, if you are fan of anime like me you will appreciate that joke. That is a common trope especially in anime, when they show a picture of a character that they don't want to reveal yet, they blur the picture of have the frame picture just where their face is, or have sunlight right at their face, so I love that joke. Thank you writers.

In the end it all worked out, Blythe said it bet herself, they are lucky the Biskits are so dumb. And that moment at the end with the Biskits giving their grandma that portrait , I have admit that is touching.

I have seen this plot done many times, anyway I love Minka in this episode, she is just so awesome. And normally she is not one of my favorites, Minka rocked.

And you know how I used to pick on Jasper, well I have a new target, Jasper is awesome compared to the blandness that is Josh Sharp, at least Jasper as a personality, not a great one, but still it is more than what Josh has. If you are going to feature him so much writers, give him more of a personality. This is Flash Sencentury bad we have here. You are making me nostalgic for the days of Rio Porchaco, yes Rio Porchaco.

[penny82ling]

Bake Boss

So the 100th episode, a milestone episode, too bad it was kind of mediocre. It wasn't bad, but nothing special.

There were some bright spots, like Vinnie more often than not he delivers with the comedy. And they remembered that Sunil's parents wanted him to be a doctor from an earlier episode.

The pets do a medical drama parody which had some good moments.

So Blythe has a celebrity cousin all of a sudden, a distant cousin, it is like how the Biskits mother suddenly appeared. That is one thing Blythe has over the Biskits, she has a celebrity relative, if the twins knew they would be so jealous. Though he is kind of a jerk.

One thing I like to compliment this episode with, is Sweet Delights competitors are unknown people, if this was early in the season, the competitor would have been the Biskits, they used wanted all of the evils in the world to linked to the Biskits, so I am glad that didn't happen. And Blythe's rap that was hilarious.

It is an all right episode, I just wish it was more special giving the occasion, and Sunil's parents are just adorable.