20 Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Seven #4 Rant

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Twenty Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Seven #4 Rant

Reviewed: 12/18/2021
Additional Commentary/Edited: 10/13/2024

A Weather Station Of Undersea Debuts!

Okay fans; I have now decided to rant on this series full time, because I do in fact like this show enough that I can handle the best and worst of the Pig family from Great Britian. More new episodes ensue as we start talking in German with another debut, then a club featuring Mr. Wolf, a weather station, go to a roller disco, take care of guinea pigs, go to a charity shop, work on some rock gardens, Danny Dog gets his bedroom redone, do some owl watching and finally reveal families that cause bigots to burst into hellish flames. (2024 Gregory Weagle Says: The episode was banned in Italy and it cancelled the series in Russia. Not the first time such a thing has happened since TaleSpin got the banhammer in Russia for a while during it's debut due to the mocking of Russians via the Thembria angle.) Ah, this is going to be fun for me to mock. How do these episodes fare?! Let's rant on shall we..?!

All the episodes are done by Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Hall. Animation is done by Astely Baker Davies animation; with the two mentioned creators and Phil Davies.

Talking: Time for episode #349 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the school house on the hill as all the kids head inside after jumping out of the parent's cars. (They are playing the music for "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" remix which we will hear later on in this very episode.) Nothing unusual, except we have the debut of Mummy Llama and Lottie Llama, in peach fur colors. (Mummy is Mama in German I should note.) Mummy is wearing blue, Lottie is in orange; and as Lottie and Mummy Llama are exchanging notes, they are talking in German. I'm not going to bother translating this, other than to say they are probably wishing each other a good day and the Playgroup is kindergarten. Garten is German for "garden" and Kinder is German for "child". Often misspelled as "Kindergarden"; although if translated properly to English; it would be "Children's Garden". Peppa arrives all confused, as Lottie is kissed on the cheek by Mummy Llama. I'm guessing Lottie is saying "goodbye" in German to Mummy Llama since Lottie waves farewell to her mother and Mummy Llama walks away stage right. (Lottie does say "Auf Wiedersehen", which is goodbye in German.) Suddenly, she sees Peppa, speaks English to Peppa and then walks into school without a second thought. So, the Llamas are German nationals then. Okay. We head inside as Gigi claps her hands while the kids are giggling, except for Lottie who merely smiles. So, we introduce the official debut of Lottie Llama to Peppa Pig, Rebecca Rabbit, Zoe Zebra, Emily Elephant, Pedro F'N Pony, Freddy Fox, Danny Dog and Suzy Sheep. We do the meet and greet; as Gigi tells them to welcome her warmly as they usually do. Peppa Pig breaks the ice to meet Lottie personally as she asks about what she was speaking to her mother and Lottie reveals that she speaks German. We talk German for a while and the kids are in awe of this new language. Hello in German is not that different in English actually. Lottie explains that her Mummy is from Germany, and that's why she speaks German, since Lottie can speak English. To be fair, most of the characters who are not from Britian can speak good English in this world, so Peppa's choice of pupils is very interesting to say the least. We get more German talking for a while as Rebecca eats a carrot for fun. Pedro's attempt at German is hideously hilarious here, it's so awkward; but Lottie don't care about that. (Pedro does a better job than most students in real life trying a language that is not their first language.) Pedro goes over to Gigi Gazelle and shows off his German and it's a lot better. That kind of killed the joke because it's suppose to sound worse.

Then Gigi opens the window and make Pedro look even more clueless than he already was. Not quite as funny is Pedro does it better the next time. Gigi is a Romainian national, and one of the languages is German, so this makes much more sense than it sounds. (Despite having a French accent.) It's partly a joke because in storyline, Gigi is supposed to be a vampire/Jural since her reflection doesn't show up in a mirror in one of the Halloween specials I reviewed years ago. Gigi claims that if you learn languages, you can speak to many people in the world. Except to a psychopath, it only understands violence. Gigi says hello in Italian, a place Peppa went on holiday and created the only time they repeated a spot that was funnier the second time around. It's the spot where Daddy Pig walks out of the house and walks straight into the swimming pool. She also says hello in Chinese, which in Series Six, the creators made a big deal about their debut in China, created Peggi and Pandora Panda Bear, had them do a two parter, and then they appear in a few more episodes and we haven't really seen them since then. (Until Families later on in this rant of course.) Officer Panda is still very much around though, so yeah; that was sad. She also says hello in Portuguese. I hope this means they are teasing a new holiday destination in Series Eight, or something among those lines. Suzy loves this and they clap at Gigi Gazelle's language skills. (But can Gigi speak Canadian?! That would involve Canada being real in the Peppa Pig World instead of being the 51st state in the USA, methinks.) Gigi looks like she wants to be somewhere else. Danny wants to learn languages now as this is a really good progessive move on his part. Gigi decides to let them first learn German, because Lottie is around, she is a better teacher and she's a child, so the relationship will take much better as said teacher. It's play time and the kids all head outside to a bunch of trees as it's clearly spring time judging by the flower blooming. Lottie asks who is good at number and Peppa says she is. Okay, this could be good. Peppa goes to the hopstoch pavement and counts to three in English, Lottie follows that in German, Peppa repeats her in German and it sounds almost perfect. I wonder if Ameile Bea Smith actually studied German as a child?! It would explain why Peppa is so good at German so quickly, as evident in her saying "Hello, I'm Peppa Pig" in German later on. (I missed this: Lottie repeats Peppa's greeting in German, and then snorts like Peppa does. The Peppa Wikia claimed it was an error. It was not. Lottie was repeating what Peppa said and added the snort on purpose.)

Giggling ensues, jump cut back to the school house on the hill with the parents arriving in their cars to pick up the pupils; including Mummy Llama. They head inside and probably the highlight of the episode is the kids singing and dancing to "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes" while singing in German and Gigi is playing guitar. Awesome! (Some portions were in English and some were in German.) The parents clap anyway as we meet and greet for a while. Daddy Pig, because he's so dumb and makes no apologies for it claims that he knows some German words. Daddy Pig says the words and Lottie has this look of "What the hell did he just say?!" Hint: Daddy said the German word "kartoffel". Peppa asks for a translation and Lottie proclaims that he said: "Please, fill my car with potatoes!" BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Daddy Pig confuses potatoes with petro! Gasoline is Benzin and Petro is Felsenbein in German by the way. Daddy Pig is still dumb in two official languages, oh wait, make it three since he's dumb with French as well. (What made this a classic: What Daddy Pig said was not embarrassing in German and sounded like something someone would say in a vacuum. The reason it made Daddy Pig look like a geek is because Daddy Pig was talking about filling the car tank with gas and it had nothing to do with potatoes. I would like to say that Daddy Pig is the GEEK OF THE WEEK~, however...) Mummy Llama is amused by this and she can speak English as well. (Thus my theory that they are German Nationals.) Peppa introduces herself in German and Mummy Llama is so impressed that she speaks German so hard that Peppa is literally blushing when this is all over. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! To wit, this is the exact same thing to happen to Daddy Pig with Mr. Donkey when they introduced Delphine Donkey as a pen pal to the playgroup. I don't think we have seen them since Harley Bird left either. Deutsch is the German word, for German by the way. So, yeah; the troll got trolled. (Yup, Peppa Pig let this skill go rent free into her head and she's our GEEK OF THE WEEK~! A very rare occurrance for our resident troll of the show.) Everyone then does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. This was an awesome debut for Lottie Llama, and the ending was glorious as ever. **** 3/4 (95%). (Sadly, we have not seen Lottie or her mum ever since this episode. I wonder if Peppa Pig is planning a German holiday on the show in future? We'll see. By the way, the duo German/English song for "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" was played during the end credits.)

Woodland Club: We continue on with episode #350 on the animation paper as the episode opens on a wooden lot with Mr. Wolf looking like a boy scout leader. (How apporos considering that wolves were the theme for the boy scouts here in Canada. My headcanon for Mr. Wolf would be having a job as a weather meteologists and expert on wind velocity. Earth to creators: You can have that one for free.) The adults are Daddy Pig, Mummy Sheep, Mummy Elephant, Mummy Pony, and Mr. Zebra. The kids are Peppa Pig, Zoe Zebra, Danny Dog, Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat, Emily Elephant, Pedro F'N Pony and Mandy Mouse. I'm surprised Wendy Wolf isn't here considering Mr. Wolf's focal appearance. The parents walk in while the kids are running in a disorganized fashion. Mr. Wolf takes over as the woodland scouts are standing together while the parents back up; so we can see the conveniently placed easel beside Mr. Wolf. The kids are in awe of Mr. Wolf's story of being raised in the wood by wolves. If Kit said this, it would be a bullshit story, but a more believable bullshit story than any of Monteray Jack's bullshit stories. (The guise of this is that Daddy Wolf once lived off the grind, found it was bullshit and decides to live like an ordinary citizen.) Mr. Wolf is teaching them how to live in the wild, and the kids are in awe. Mr. Wolf tells them to imagine being on their own with no one else around...and Daddy Pig ruins the buzz by drinking apple juice from a box container. There is dumb and then there is being a dick. Daddy Pig is being the later one here and it's not half as funny as his dumb routine. Mr. Wolf asks what to do when it rains and Suzy Sheep says "Get wet"! I died. Mr. Wolf then asks what to do if you don't want to get wet. Peppa: "Go home". I got revived. The trolls are back to wreck havoc on an episode once again. (I might as well have been reading Granny Alverez's list of Undertaker nicknames at this point.) Pedro brings out his umbrella and this was the point where Mr. Wolf decides to draw a tent on the easel, calling it a shelter. Okay, then. Mr. Wolf asks for the kids to bring sticks, and all the kids bail and return with sticks to build a shelter with a leaf as a flag. (At least the kids here are willing to do this with glee and excitement. Other shows would have them bored out of their skulls.)

Peppa can barely fit in there; but guess who tests the shelter. C'mon guess, it's too shocking! Surprise! It's OKAY BOOMER~! POW! OUCH! Ummmm...yeah, it's Daddy Pig. Because Daddy Pig is dumb. Nothing changes, even in Series Seven! (Daddy Pig is our GEEK OF THE WEEK, as usual.) Daddy Pig don't care, so Mr. Wolf takes a watering can out of nowhere and pours water on Daddy Pig's head. HAHA! Swimming has been reborn! All the kids laugh at Daddy Pig's expense, because Daddy Pig is...you guessed it. Mr. Wolf then decides to test the house against the wind. I think we all know where this is going because in storyline, Mr. Wolf's gimmick is that he is literally the Big Bad Wolf from The Three Little Pigs, and he can blow down houses made of sticks. Yeah, shelter gets blown away, making everyone look like a dork and make Daddy look even dumber. (All the kids were written out by teleport. I would yell Suzy's name; but this one was necessary since the kids would have been seriously injured had they been on scene.) The only thing that didn't blow away was Daddy Pig himself. (Mr. Wolf actually breaks the fourth wall and says "Oh dear" like the narrator does!) They talk about bricks, which makes the obvious fairy tale even more obvious. We start the process all over again. But it's not insanity because we are using bigger sticks this time. (Yeah, it's practice. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and loving the same result despite being totally wrong and dangerous. Practice is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Apathy is doing the same thing over and over again and not caring about the result period.) I don't see how this is going to work since Mr. Wolf's gimmick is that the only thing he cannot blow down is a brick house. So, this is insanity. (Nah, it's practice. Both ways.) The kids all bail and find some bigger sticks to work with. I love Peppa's bigger stick, despite being much thinner than Suzy and Danny's stick. Peppa is still trolling us, there is no other explaination.

They bring the big sticks over as Mr. Wolf puts Danny's log of a stick into the ground to serve as the base and all the other kids lay sticks around said base. Then the kids bail to use little sticks to make the roof. Question to Peppa Pig fans in Great Britian: What is Pedro saying when he's picking up sticks?! He sounds like he's saying "echo" before saying sticks. I don't get the reference. (Pedro actually says "ickle" here. A childish British word for "little".) The kids return with the sticks. They cross lace the sticks with the big sticks and then they bail to get more leaves. At least I understood Pedro's promo on the leaves this time around (Bundles and Jumbles) as they return and place the leaves on the shelter. Mr. Wolf offers Daddy Pig a go, but Daddy Pig backs away like a coward. So, the kids all head inside huddled together. Considering that they built the damn thing, they should be the ones to test the damn thing. This is for the best. Mr. Wolf sprinkles water from the watering can onto the shelter, no effect. Then Mr. Wolf decides that he is going to blow the shelter down. He blows the shelter with the exact same amount of force he did previously, only a few leaves got spirited away and the house stays intact. Way to bury Mr. Wolf there, writers! If Mr. Wolf had simply held back completely, we could see the previous house blowing down as a troll move by Mr. Wolf on Daddy Pig. Because that worked so well last time with Daddy Pig rowing the boat blushing a lot while Mr. Wolf was salavating about lunch and being hungry. Nope! Same force, made Mr. Wolf look weak in the process. That bigger house should still have blown down. Everyone pops and then rain starts and all the adults are wet! HAHA! (I guess nature hated the nature of those slow claps by the adults.) Hey, they managed to improve an otherwise crappy finish, so Mr. Wolf deserved what he got there. The kids giggle as we end the episode at 4:30 with the adults wondering where it all went wrong. HAHA! The narrator just makes the ending even funnier. Great episode with a great ending that improved a crappy finish. Nothing is funnier than Daddy Pig playing the role of the little pig while Mr. Wolf looks menacing without killing said pig and looking somewhat kind at the same time as the big bad wolf. **** 1/4 (85%).

Danny's Pirate Bedroom: We march on with #351 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the blue house on the hill as Daddy Pig parks his car and Peppa jumps out. The door opens and out comes Danny Dog woofing it up, so to speak. Also, Mummy Dog and Captain Dog come out for the meet and greet. The parents proclaim that Danny's room is getting a bedroom makeover. If you cannot guess the theme of the bedroom Danny Dog wants, then you haven't watched this show enough. (Danny Dog's wagging tail tells the whole story, along with the teeth smile. He's grifting them today.) Daddy Pig is like this sounds like fun, and then walks away stage right. Probably for the best, if this makeover involves concrete then Daddy Pig's fetish might take over. (You are never going to let Daddy Pig live that one down, aren't you former self?!) Everyone else head inside and jump cut to them entering Danny Dog's bedroom. Outside of Danny's Pirate Boat Bed, and curtains on the window, there is mostly wallpaper rolls and painting stuff. If I were them, I'd remove the curtains and cover the bed with a tarp because things always get messy with Peppa around. Apparently, this was inspired by reality television, not a good sign for this makeover. Danny of course wants the pirate theme as I expected it to be. The purpose of the bed is for Danny to jump in and relax; and it rocks as well. Whatever, Danny. Peppa is awed by this as the plan is to paint the walls and ceiling; and places stars on the ceiling to simulate Danny sleeping on his boat on the sea under the stars. Captain Dog is into his "I love to sail, but the stips prevent me; so I'll use this handy flashback to get around that problem" phase. That's fine, he's only dreaming of sailing, and not actually sailing; so it doesn't violate the stips in anyway. Besides, his dreams are much more exciting than his real world trip and breaks logic a lot less actually. (I love that former self just remembered the debut of Captain Dog without needing copious notes. Also, Captain Dog's tail wags in the dream sequence.) We return to reality (no, not really; because that would violate the stips otherwise.) and Captain Dog is depressed once again. Wow, this might be the first time an adult actually teased shedding a tear...Then he stops and he's happy again. So close, so damn close. (Yeah, you'll have to wait until someone gets married and they'll NEVER EVER let that happen now, won't they?!) Captain Dog gets the paint can and brush as Mummy Dog does cover the bed with a tarp; but not the wooden drawers (NOT THOSE ONES!), for some odd reasons. No removing of the curtains so far either. Captain Dog puts on a red/pink striped overalls because things will get messy and it's not Peppa Pig's doing either. Everyone else gets them as well, with Danny being green and Peppa being yellow.

Mummy Dog paints the ceiling with a big roller and has much better luck than Kit Cloudkicker painting the ceiling of the SeaDuck in the one off comic panel where he needed Baloo to fly the SeaDuck a certain way in order to get the paint on the ceiling. (Wow, that paint in that comic book must have been cheaper (and logic breaking) than most any paint I have ever seen.) Danny and Peppa Pig paint the wall, and Peppa drops paint on the floor, but it's no worse than Mummy Dog with the ceiling, so it's all fine. The parents then proceed to paint storm clouds and waves with different color paint after the sky paint officially dries, which in this show timeframe is less than ten seconds. That might be slower than Bringing Down Babyface. (At least this show has the excuse of jump cuts and Peppa Pig time being wacky all the time. TaleSpin doesn't have that excuse.) Danny and Peppa try to put the stars on the ceiling, but the ceiling is way too high to reach. The parents lift the kids up, as Peppa and Danny proceed to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to kill more time in a five minute episode. There is more storm clouds and some of the star appear on the walls, but that's fine. Apparently, they covered the floor with tarp out of nowhere, because the floor is back to being blue, despite the floor being white since paint was dropping on the floor early on. (SUZY SHEEP~?!) Mummy Dog turns out the light, and the stars are glow in the dark; as Peppa calls them glittering. Peppa seems to have such a fetish for glitter that these "glow in the dark" stars are her sub. Could be worse, I guess. Now, there is a really unfortunate trope in cartooning called "Cartoon Duck Syndrome". It means that an episode is technically done way sooner than the running the time, so they have to do pointless spots in order to get the running time in. In this case, the guise of this is that this reality television show is all about surprising the person who is living in the room, but Danny did a lot of the work so the surprise is ruined. Danny wants to pretend to be surprised and do the promo. Of course! This was Darkwing Duck level stupid, as in REALLY STUPID~! Then it's almost worth it because everyone gets into Danny's bed, they put on pirate hats and pretend to sail the seas. That was a great finish, and it paid off Captain Dog's flashback without killing the stips in the process. Captain Dog's singing was really good, too. Danny calls this the best room ever and the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. A good episode with an awesome finish, and some stupidity. Really, the definition of a fun episode and Captain Dog has a better imagination than I do. *** 3/4 (75%). (Captain Dog and company sing the pirate song at the end of the credits. I am tempted to give this a thumbs up episode, but the cartoon duck syndrome moment denies it.)

Weather Station: We continue this session of episodes with episode #352 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the school house on the hill because it's fall time. We head inside with Gigi Gazelle addressing the pupils by clapping her hands. Today's pupils present are: Peppa Pig, Candy Cat, Danny Dog, Suzy Sheep, Pedro F'N Pony, Rebecca Rabbit, Freddy Fox, Mandy Mouse, Gerald Giraffe in a rare appearance and the Playgroup debut of Penny Polar Bear. (Another playgroup episode where the Zebra Twins don't show up. There has to be a storyline reason for this.) The kids all sit down as Gigi states that today's class is all about weather, and the kids are in awe about it. Gigi proclaims that there is all kinds of weather and that's in Nova Scotia alone. Okay, I made up the Nova Scotia part. She name drops weather conditions as Mandy loves sunny days because she loves going to the beach and we get a dream sequence of Mandy sitting on the beach making a sandcastle. I say dream sequence because she was not in her wheelchair. (Probably the only one she is not in her wheelchair. Considering that she was not in her wheelchair during her birthday when she was riding on the rides in Cheese World, I deduce that it's possible that she either wasn't injured or the creators forgot to put the wheelchair in the scene. All points are valid here.) Danny loves windy weather because he likes to fly a kite in his dream sequence. It's all fun and games until the power gets cut, then the windy day is not so great. (Although it helps keep the bug population in check.) Penny is next with her first real spot as she loves snowy days. Why wasn't she introduced at the Winter Games episode is a mystery to me, that would have been a better debut for her than having Mandy shoulder an already loaded episode sked on her. She was in like FOUR episodes in this rant alone. Her dream sequence is sledding, on a sledge as they say. Peppa loves rain, because it makes muddy puddles. DING! Gigi loves these answers and decides to take it all outside, because the weather is outside. Everyone gets their gear and runs out as they are using the background music from Series One. I have not heard that tune in many years, actually. The kids head up the hill as we see a really Z-grade contraption made of a water bottle, cups and other such bits. Gigi called it a weather station. Damn; I was hoping they would go to a professional station and discover that Mummy Polar Bear works there. That would have been an awesome debut, but apparently not to the creators. (Again, I ranted these episodes out of order since Mummy Polar Bear debuted in Undersea Party and appeared later in Clubhouse Adventure where Penny outed them as her two mummies. Also, maybe have Lottie's mummy here doing her job.) Oh, well. Mandy Mouse gets to turn the arrow towards the sun and Mandy does that. It is sunny; but the thing is supposed to be automatic, so this makes no sense.

The thermometer tells us how hot and sunny it is. Ah, no Gigi. The thermometer tells us how hot or cold it is; not how sunny. (The red line does move slightly when the thermometer is shown.) How does one make that kind of mistake?! Where is Edmond Elephant when you need him?! Suzy asks how hot is it, Gigi checks the thermometer and it's nice and warm. Of course, because children still have problem contextualizing what numbers do when used. (Case in point: It can be sunny and windy at the same time. It can be warm and windy as well.) That's why STEM math is a lot different now than it is decades ago; and I don't blame anyone for doing it that way now. It's like claiming that 1080p is a better resolution than 720p because one is higher than the other, when that works well on televisions; but is considered overkill for a screen you place 3" from your face in portable mode and drains more of the battery. That's why Nintendo didn't opt for a 1080p portable screen because it would drain battery life even more than 720p and battery life is more important for a portable or handheld than a console anyway. This is applying numbers and putting context to real life situations. Sometimes, bigger is not better. Sometimes, it can work against you. (Besides, consistant framerates are where bigger is better, as long as you can maintain the framerate without drops. 30 frames per second all the time is better than 60 frames per second if the 60 frames per second drops down to 50 or less a lot of the time. Context matters!) Then the wind picks up and Danny Dog moves the arrow to windy. Notice that the weather is changing in the exact order the pupils claim to their favorite weather?! I'm guessing Penny Polar Bear is next. The wind gauge is made of sticks and plastic cups. Suzy asks how windy and Gigi just looks and says it's very windy. Of course! Everyone claps, except for Gerald, because god forbid that Gerald will be allowed to do anything at this point. Then it starts to rain, which kills the continuity they were shooting for because Penny is supposed to go on next. It should snow and then change over to rain to let Peppa Pig choose last, and then you end the episode with muddy puddle jumping and give Penny that moment. Nope! It rains and out comes the big umbrella; and finally Gerald gets a spot: holding the umbrella while Gigi explains how the rain collection bottle works. Sigh. A lot of rain is the answer to Suzy Sheep's question. Don't get me wrong, the bottle collector is nice and all; but c'mon now! Yeah; it's time to jump up and down in muddy puddles, just to give Penny her first time of said past time. (Mandy pulls back on the front wheels to simulate the jump I should note.) Penny wishes it snowed as Gigi thinks that this is too much, and sure enough, it starts to snow anyway. (MOLLY ELIZABETH CUMMINGHAM~?!) This weather is more chaotic than in Nova Scotia. I stand corrected, what a fool I am?! Penny moves the arrow to snow. Peppa loves all this weather while everyone does the backsplash laugh, with Mandy Mouse simply arching her back slightly to end the episode at 4:30. Continuity shot otherwise, this was a really fun episode about the weather. Also, a much better outing for Penny Polar Bear. *** 1/2 (70%). (Except for that Clubhouse Adventure moment, but whatever.)

Roller Disco: We continue on with #353 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the sports arena on the hill, only it's for rollerskating. The doors open as Peppa, George and Emily are wearing sparkling outfits and bows and flowers on their necks and ears in that order. (Strangely, George and Richard are here, but not Edmond Elephant. I cannot believe rollerblading is so beneath him considering the science required to do this without hurting yourself.) Dr. Elephant, Mummy and Daddy Pig join in as we head inside as Gigi Gazelle is in charge for safety reasons and everyone is wearing similar outfits on rollerskates, looking like almost complete fools. Except for Pedro F'N Pony, who is wearing his superhero costume and thus is a complete fool. The kids skate around in a counter clockwise circle while Gigi stands in the middle wearing a headband, star glasses and the usual star shirt with a red background. Kids: Suzy Sheep, Mandy Mouse with the wheelchair as her rollerskates, Candy Cat, Richard Rabbit, Pedro Pony, Zoe Zebra, Danny Dog, Rebecca Rabbit, Wendy Wolf, Gerald Giraffe, Molly Mole, Freddy Fox. Adults: Mr. Rabbit, Mummy Zebra, Daddy Mole, Mummy Mouse, Mummy Sheep, Daddy Cat in a rare appearance, Mrs. Fox in a rare appearance, Mummy Dog, Mummy Giraffe in a very rare appearance, and Dr. Pony. DJ's: Belinda Bear and Simon Squrriel wearing bandanas on their heads, Simon apparently wants to be hell's poison in this episode with the black and white skull and crossbones. (I have zero clue what music they are playing in the first sequence since everyone is talking over it.) Peppa and George enter the arena and they no sell help from Mummy Pig because they skate fine. Emily Elephant then enters and she almost falls; but otherwise is fine and doesn't want Dr. Elephant's help. Cut to Simon, whom is having the most difficulty picking which song next to play for some odd reason. The music itself sounds like an old children's song. Simon finds the "Wheels On The Bus" and Belinda is almost ten years old and wants to play grownup music, even though the music they are playing is more than suitable. (Never mind that they won't be grown up until at least eighteen. They are only half grown up, if you know what I mean.) They are rebelling because Gigi wants to play "Wheels On The Bus" and Simon is acting like he doesn't know where it is despite having the record in his hands clear as day. (I'm guessing this is children music request night at the rollerskating rink.) Gigi points it out and Simon gives the record to Belinda and they put it in the record player. This is a really old school disco rollerskating event if they are still using vinyl records at this point. They are also wearing their hats backwards. You wish you were Kit Cloudkicker when wearing the cap backwards actually has two meanings. (Life being ass backwards and the navigator tradition is to wear the hat backwards.)

Belinda blows off the music as babyish despite being in a pre-school show. A bunch of infantists these two kids are. We play the song, the kids wave hello to the parents for awhile. Dr. Elephant proclaims that this is his first time and Daddy Pig has to inform him that they go around like a NASCAR track race hundreds and hundreds of laps. Dr. Elephant isn't thrilled about this. The kids wave at the parents again to pad the running time some more and then Peppa joins Suzy Sheep. They hold hands and skate for fun as Freddy Fox skates in the opposite direction and bonks into Pedro Pony, because of course! Luckly, Pedro's glasses didn't fall off of Pedro, that would have sucked and Pedro would be hating life as we know it. Gigi tells them to go the same directions as the kids giggle and skate some more for a while. We get repeat waving and hellos from the kids and the parents to further waste time as Dr. Elephant is surprised Emily is here. What?! (They are clearly killing time to let the song play in it's entire playthrough, which they usually don't do on this show.) The song is finally over as Simon takes the record and puts it back. Simon then brings out the skull poison record of death because they think they are grownup; but are just insecure babies who project themselves. Pedro comes in and wants "One Potato, Two Potato..." and since the little kids are the guests, they have rights over the music playing and not Simon and Belinda. Belinda brings out the Potato Record of Doom and puts it in the record player, playing it. (Probably the one appearance of Mrs. Potato on the cover since Harley Bird took over as the voice of Peppa Pig.) Belinda sighs and we rollerskate some more. The subplot of the infantiable Simon and Belinda is the only thing keeping this episode past average. (Really former self?! I thought this was a fun episode so far, but it's really going to get good now...) Simon and Belinda are prepared to play their heavy mental music as Danny Dog skates backwards for fun. (And doesn't know why? Maybe he's ass backwards like Kit is.) Then the music stops and somehow the almost ten year olds manage to get the poison record of doom in, and we play it as the beats are so sick, the kids all stop rollerblading and just watch on. Because you see, they don't know how to skate to the beat of an actual disco. (Well, not yet anyway, because...) Gigi then surprises everyone by saying that this is her favorite music, and a disco ball comes down and she dances. Just burying Simon and Belinda right in their tracks. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Belinda Bear and Simon Squirrel are the GEEKS OF THE WEEK~!) The best part is: The parents didn't give a crap at all, they loved the music and once the kids understood what Gigi was shooting for, everyone started dancing and rollerblading. Simon and Belinda don't care either, so everyone won, even me because this was an awesome finish. This was written by someone who actually loves disco music and it was great. We do the "waving and hello" spot again, Danny and Gigi do the moonwalk and the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This episode was awesome and the disco finish was glorious. **** 3/4 (95%). The ending credits were neon-equse signs with the disco music in the background.

Guinea Pigs: This episode is #354 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the school house on the hill as we zoom into the kids giggling and dancing. Gigi has a bunch of guinea pigs in a cage just for the episode. Students: Peppa, George, Edmond, Richard, Mandy Mouse, Gerald Giraffe, Molly Mole returning, Emily Elephant, Zoe Zebra, Freddy Fox, Danny Dog, Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat and of course, Pedro F'N Pony. Gigi shows off the guinea pigs, one of them is named Brian and one of them is named Ginger. Wait, wasn't Ginger Miss Rabbit's goldfish?! I smell a trademark issue commencing in the Peppa World. (Someone apparently felt that there wouldn't be confusion between two legit animal spieces. Then again, I live in a world where WWE got sued by WCW because WWE called their show No Way Out, and WCW thought it meant that the NWO would show up. I wish I was ribbing you. WWE changed it to No Way Out In Texas.) Ginger is clever and Brian has the feels, basically. Gigi needs someone to take care of the guinea pigs while on holiday and Peppa Pig gladly accepts. Because you see, when Peppa visited Mrs. Badger's farm the first time in Series Six which was also voiced by Amelie Bea Smith: Peppa wanted a guinea pig, with Mrs. Badger saying that it wasn't all that hard even though Gigi says the opposite here, but the parents overrule it. This is basically the pay off to that episode. Bell rings as it is home time and the kids all run out to the parent's cars. Except for Peppa and George because they have a cage of animals, duh! Mummy and Daddy Pig walk towards them as Gigi explains the situation. One of the guinea pigs' literally poops on camera. This is why Potty Training was so stupid: a legit animal poops right on camera, but George cannot show any poop despite the whole point of the Potty Training was that George was literally pooping and pissing his pants. I hate moral guardians, they have no morals worth defending at this point. (See Bluey recently. Ironically, the scene in question that got the moral guardians dandruff up is something Peppa Pig would have done before Nickelodeon took over. Bluey is basically the Australian Peppa Pig if done by Disney writers and animators.) Oh, and Gigi's entire stuff is like a junkpile in front of the school. Mrs. Badger would call bullshit on this right on the spot. This is Gigi trolling Mrs. Badger mostly, the others are trolls anyway.

Daddy Pig realizes that he's hosed and he just picks up the stuff and puts it in the car off-screen. Gigi shows off the flow chart and it's only three pages long, which is incredible restraint for a cartoon with that spot. After some more orders the car is basically overflown with stuff as Peppa proclaims that they will do the job. I think Peppa is being genuine here, I don't believe she is trolling anyone in spite of being a wicked troll move on her parents. The family gets in the car, waves goodbye to Gigi and goes down the hill. Literally one second later, they go up the hill to the little house on the hill and somehow, nothing falls out of the boot of the car. Lance Storm would see this and say: "Damn, that is as fake as Daddy Pig's dive into a pool in Swimming." Everyone makes it to the door as the cell phone rings and Mummy Pig answers it. It's Gigi Gazelle at the airport terminal to inform them to buy special guniea pigs food at the pet shop. Sadly, the background noise sort of distorts what the food actually is, I just gave the guise of this. Cameos: Mummy Pony, Dr. Pony, Mummy Dog, Doctor Elephant, Emily Elephant, Mrs. Wolf, Wendy Wolf and Mr. Badger reading Spud magazine. (Also, the usual palette swaps and Not Daddy Cat. Mummy Pony is reading Ezza Magazine.) Mummy Pig understands and hangs up as Daddy Pig opens the door and puts stuff in while Mummy Pig informs him that they need specialized hay for the guinea pigs at the pet store. Peppa gives Mummy Pig the cage as Daddy Pig, Peppa and George get into the car -- which is magically turned around by the way -- and leave Mummy Pig holding the cage. No one is giving anything kind in this episode. (I betcha Mummy Pig is yelling SUZY SHEEP~ as I am at this point.) We head into town at the pet shop as the car arrives. We head inside with Miss Rabbit at the counter reading Ezza magazine, of course! Daddy, Peppa and George are inside as Peppa and Miss Rabbit exchanges notes on the situation. Miss Rabbit actually remembers their names, but doesn't even bring up Ginger the Goldfish. Then again, the show has multiple Miss Rabbits, so why not?! (Yeah, I'm done tallying the jobs of Miss Rabbit at this point.) Daddy Pig wants some hay and of course, Brian and Ginger have expensive tastes with the most expensive hay in the shop. Of course! (It cost $99 by the way.)

We also get Daddy Pig swiping a debit card across the cell computer thingie and that is that. Head back to the house on the hill AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as we head into the sitting room as the guinea pigs have pooped some more and all the stuff so far has been done. (Of course, the lighted window is where the kitchen usually is. SUZY SHEEP~?!) Mummy Pig is sleeping on the sofa to look after the guinea pigs so they get brushed and not get lonely. Everyone else heads upstairs as we jump cut back to outside of the house on the hill. Jump cut to Daddy Pig sleeping in his bed as the cellphone rings. Daddy Pig proves he is a light sleeper by waking up and answering said phone. It's Gigi Gazelle on the beach sitting in a lawn chair drinking, and playing music on the lamest boom box she could find. She is also wearing purple rimmed sunglasses. Gigi reminds them on the brushing as Daddy Pig goes downstairs and wakes up Mummy Pig. They brush the guinea pigs for a while as Gigi asks if they are trouble, the parents white lie of course, and one of them poops on the sofa. Yawn. Mrs. Badger's becoming a bigger troll with every passing second. Morning arises as we head outside with Peppa and George looking after the guinea pigs in a pen filled with mud, a water drinking station, hay, toys and a lot of poop. Peppa and George giggle and are sitting down enjoying themselves. They are loving this as it's been a week since they got the cage. A taxi with Mr. Labo comes up, the doors open and out comes Gigi Gazelle wearing a straw hat and her sunglasses from earlier. (Complete with the limbo dance music!) Gigi meet and greet Peppa as Peppa proclaims that the guinea pigs are happy and it was easy; which causes the parents to do a "yeah right" face take. HAHA! Gigi offers Peppa to take care of them when Gigi goes on the next holiday. The parents tease to say "no"; but Peppa cuts them off and says yes, because Peppa Pig is a troll. Everyone does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. Wow, Mrs. Badger lied after all. Then again, Mrs. Badger is an animal expert, so it would be easy for her at least. (Once you learn something and apply it properly, anything is easy to do.) A fun episode to say the least, although I was expecting them to be more cartoony than this. *** 1/2 (70%).

Grandpa's Rock Garden: Next up is episode #355 on the animation paper as the episode opens on the cyan blue house on the hill, so I guess the place has been repainted since I last saw it. (Nah, it was always this color, former self.) Mummy Pig arrives in her car with Peppa and George in the backseat. The difference is Peppa is holding a toy castle on her person instead of Teddy. Granny Pig comes out of the house to greet them and the toy castle is a fairy-princess in a box, basically. Peppa then asks where Grandpa Pig is and Granny Pig states that he's in the garden. So, every episode involving Grandpa Pig then. Everyone head down the opposite side of the hill to reveal Grandpa Pig stacking up stones. By the way, this show has gone on for 355 episodes and George still addresses Grandpa Pig as "Papa Ig". We exchange notes for a while as Grandpa Pig is making a rock garden. Grandpa Pig explains as we zoom in that a rock garden is a model mountain landscape filled with rocks and flowers. Peppa claims that the toy castle would be a perfect fit for the top of the rock garden. Grandpa Pig tries to state that this won't work; but Peppa cuts him off and places the toy castle on top. George then put Mr. Dinesaur (sic) on the bottom of said rock garden as the kids are really trolling on thick here. Grandpa Pig decides to let them have their cosplay only for today and everyone pops for it. (To be fair, both toys have to go home with the kids, so it's not like Peppa and George can keep them in that garden forever or anything.) Now, it's time to find some rocks and everyone splits up. Everyone finds a rock around the garden as Grandpa Pig finds what looks like a turtle shell. Wait, is that Tiddles?! Nah, couldn't be, if it was Tiddles; he would be up a tree. It's obvious! Grandpa takes the "rock" and everyone heads back to pile on more rocks on Grandpa Pig's rock garden. Grandpa puts the "rock" down and then Peppa really gets inspired as she wants toy cars and unicorns now. Grandpa Pig protests this outrage because this is getting absurd. Which I cannot take seriously since this is the same Grandpa Pig who was buying stamps behind Granny Pig's back. Grandpa Pig just wants rocks and flowers. So Granny Pig calls checkmate and states that it should have bigger flowers and rock. HAHA! (Granny Pig calls the flowers tichy, which is British for tiny.)

Grandpa Pig is confused as Mr. Fox's truck arrives on the hill. (Now has the est. being 2020 since that is the copyright of this show.) Oh goody, it's been awhile actually. Mr. Fox gets out to do the hard sell and Granny Pig wants some flowers. Mr. Fox brings out a pot of flowers -- which need no special care -- because they are as plastic as his relationship with Freddy. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmmm... (I look forward to the four part series featuring Freddy Fox because we find out where he actually lives.) Granny Pig no sells the deal because Grandpa Pig wants real flowers, you see. Mr. Fox does the hard sell on how great these plastic flowers are and I was sold on them singing. Yes, the flowers have faces and can sing the most silliest song since last week. They also bounce and thus Granny Pig buys them. HAHA! Peppa takes the flower pot and comes down the hill; placing them in the rock garden. Peppa, the troll that she is, basically tells the truth about the flowers and Grandpa Pig is confused. HAHA! Grandpa Pig is all flustered as he can take solace that the rocks are real and decides to move the "rock" up further. He takes the "rock" and it wiggles to reveal: Tiddles the Tortoise of course! I know this because Peppa said so, and she would never lie on this show?! Wait, so somehow; Tiddles didn't climb a tree in this episode?! That's a load of bullshit. Tiddles giggles as in comes Doctor Hamster, and now I'm even more incensed. This is the dumbest vet, ever. Doctor Hamster asks where Tiddles is, Grandpa Pig presents Tiddles and Doctor Hamster gets it back, calling it a naughty little pickle. Speak for yourself, Doctor Hamster. Just be lucky Tiddles decided to not climb trees in this episode, I might sic Suzy Sheep with an axe to chop that tree down. (And maybe the writers for aborting the joke.) We exchange notes some more as Peppa actually remembers the best bit, as she turns on the flowers to let them sing. HAHA! Grandpa Pig's expression is priceless. Peppa Pig is a troll, has no one in this series paid attention for the last seventeen years or so?! The writing of this show is just better and the timing of the trolling makes more sense, instead of Peppa just trolling for the sake of trolling. The flowers giggle as everyone does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. Slow episode to start, but it got funnier and funnier once they introduced the singing flowers. *** 1/2 (70%). (Oh, and the plastic flowers sing their wacky chipmunk song through the credits.)

Charity Shop: Time for episode #356 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the little house on the hill as we zoom inside Mummy Pig's office as it is a total mess. (The title screen is multi-colored I should note.) There is also a bag of concrete in the office and Daddy Pig is in said office. HAHA! (Nothing changes, nothing changes!) There is also a broken down tuba that Daddy Pig play, and he would have played no worse if the tuba wasn't broken down. Mummy Pig has had enough of this junk, so some of it is going to the charity shop. Peppa asks what is a charity shop and it's basically a pawn shop; but it's for a good cause. (In Canada, it's often called a thrift shop.) According to Mummy Pig: If a product doesn't bring you joy, it goes to charity. That's way too simple for me. If it brings me no joy; but also is not useful or required, then it goes to charity. Sometimes, you need stuff that doesn't bring you joy, but is required or very useful and thus throwing it away is a bad idea. (You would be extremely surprised how many times I throw away something that I need, but brought me no joy. Sometimes, joy needs to take a backseat to usefulness and requirements!) Mummy Pig agrees to dump the plastic vase into the box for charity. Daddy Pig's items do bring him joy as Mummy Pig has to run in and suggests the infamous fly-infested, broken down love seat, which is another item from an earlier series. I know this because they sold it for a good cause and then Daddy Pig bought it back the same day anyway. (Which we saw in Winter Games earlier in this series! So, there is a storyline reason for this chair to return.) Daddy Pig no sells; but sells an overly complicated book that is very useful, but since joy is the only thing that matters, it goes to charity. It turns out the tuba is going to charity, but not the ratty chair, AGAIN! (Daddy Pig likes old chairs that have zero value, I guess.) The Pig family packs everything into the car outside. (By the way, the car is now pointing in the opposite direction like it always does when we see it the first time.) Daddy Pig, George and Peppa hop into the car and head off to the charity shop in town of course. Head inside the pawn...ERRR..I mean, charity shop as it's a huge waste dump of sorts.

We see Granny Wolf is at the counter in probably her first appearance full time since Wendy Wolf's Birthday. It's been a long time ago, actually. (She's been in a few episodes involving the cosplaying Grannies arc I should note.) There are four plastic vases in front of the counter that are the exact same as Mummy Pig's vase. Zoe's toy monkey is in one of the baskets. The family meet and greet as Granny Wolf is happy and in comes with ducking, Grandpa Giraffe with a tray of tea. Wow, I was expecting Reggie Rabbit or maybe even Gigi Gazelle, but this is Grandpa Giraffe's debut on this show. I was not expecting Gerald to have grandparents of any kind. He even speaks for the first time and then an old male elephant arrives asking about tea on the opposite side, as this is Grandpa Elephant's debut! (I'm surprised that Granny Elephant didn't debut here since she's going to be cosplaying with the Grannies during the Hippies episode in the next rant!) Then, in comes Grandma Cow; a character where they haven't introduced a pupil of that spieces on this show! There is a Mrs. Cow, but no kid student as of yet. (There is a kid cow who often is with Mrs. Cow, but we don't know who it is. No, I'm not counting placeholder names until they get official canon names from the creators.) What is going on here?! Then another female arrives holding a tray of tea as this is Old Mrs. Donkey; the Grandma of Delphine Donkey, whom also hasn't been heard of and rarely seen since the last time Peppa was in France! They all drink tea for a while. This is fine in itself; but still, it's weird that they are introducing new characters in a show already going beyond the limits of remembering who is who. This might work on TaleSpin better since character interaction is much better than this show; but this seems like overkill. Can we relate to Gerald Giraffe, Delphine Donkey and their families more first before we introduce the Grandparents?! Can we formally introduce the Cow family in full first?! That being said, Grandpa Elephant gets a free pass because we have seen enough Emily episodes now with her family to allow for another member of the family to surface. Like when they introduced Charlotte Sheep in Series 6, since Suzy Sheep has been around since Series One, Episode Three. (I'm surprised Granny Sheep didn't debut here considering what is to come for her in Series Eight!)

The old folks explain how the pawn shop works. What is the difference between a charity shop and a pawn shop, besides the fact that it's for a good cause? I just don't see the difference otherwise. Daddy Pig was looking at a boat in a bottle during this as Peppa wants to buy something. I betcha they buy every single thing they pawned off and leave back exactly where they started. (Well, not exactly that, but it's close enough to make Mummy Pig our GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) Mummy Pig is dumb because she didn't say anything about not buying anything at the charity shop. The excuse will always be: It's for a good cause, because that excuse always works! Unless you are an asshole, or a scoiopath. More walking as Granny Wolf explains that anything can happen in a charity shop and I don't doubt her for a second. How about the debut of Grandpa Rhino drinking tea and being the single worst Quality Assurance "expert" of all time?! Oh, and Grandpa Elephant speaks for the second time while holding a box of jigsaw pieces, which is what Grandpa Rhino is counting. Daddy Pig loves the bagpipes, Peppa loves the brown bird gong; so even Peppa is self-aware that haters call this a gong show. George has a fishing gnome that glows in the dark and nods it's head to music. Okay, that was cute and different at least; even if the gnome is just a prop instead of a plot device, which is good, thank you. (The music is all self-contained within the gnome, so even better.) Grandpa Giraffe wheels in a twenty volume encylopedia...the 1956 edition! HAHA! Just to overkill the obvious finish coming up. I LOVE IT~! (I need that to compare to my 1996 edition.) We head back to the house on the hill as everyone runs into Mummy Pig's office with stuff, causing Mummy Pig to be flustered, of course. (Considering that the room is cleaned up and the boxes of stuff Peppa and company bring in is smaller than when they were bringing stuff to the shop, Mummy Pig has lost the moral high ground on this one.) Daddy Pig plays the bagpipes as Mummy Pig is flustered because they are back to where they started. HAHA! You have no one but yourself to blame for that one Mummy Pig. (By the way: The clock is 4 PM despite being missing at the beginning of the episode. SUZY SHEEP~?!) Peppa loves the charity shop, everyone loves the charity shop as everyone giggles and plays their stuff to end the episode at 4:30. Very fun episode, but they did to reel back all these debuts, I'm getting a headache on this. *** 3/4 (75%). Also, the ending credits is the same music, only with Daddy Pig playing the bagpipes as part of the music. HAHA!

Families: We waste no more time than is needed because this episode is #357 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the school house on the hill with Gigi Gazelle addressing the students on families while the kids are all sitting down at the tables with paper and artist tools in awe of this. (Absent: Emily Elephant, Edmond Elephant, Richard Rabbit as usual, Candy Cat, Molly Mole, Gerald Giraffe, Lottie Llama, Zoe Zebra and The Zebra Twins as usual.) Gigi starts by drawing her family on an easel which is basically herself as we HIT THE FLASHBACK to Gigi's house as her sisters arrive to have fun and do stuff. One of the sisters is named Gretel who plays the bass for the Rocking Gazelles; Greta plays drums and Gigi plays guitar of course. Yes; the Rocking Gazelles have first names and join Reggie Rabbit AKA Grampy Rabbit as the only adults who have known first names. Gigi is also implying that her previous family is basically dead as she puts her picture on the wall. (Also, when they were playing, the house bounces up and down like it found a muddy puddle. That was funny! Thankfully, the house is no longer in the tree, that would have sucked, Gigi probably would have hated life.) Gigi then gives the kids a chance to reveal their familes. Suzy Sheep breaks the ice with her and her mummy, since the storyline is that Mummy Sheep is a single parent with a child who pushes Suzy Sheep on a swing as there is a lot of giggling during the drawings for no reason at all. There is a flashback to this scene as well, and it's shorter than Gigi's picture. Along with the fact that Mummy Sheep is completely blown up. No mention of Charlotte Sheep at all here. (This is funny in hindsight because in Series Eight, Granny Sheep and Charlotte Sheep will be moving in and become a three generational family unit, similar to the Dog family was until Captain Dog returned in Series Four!) Suzy puts her picture on the wall. Next up is Mandy Mouse drawing her family as we get the debut of Daddy Mouse as in the flashback playing spotty ball with Mandy Mouse. (Since I found an official video, I don't need to reveal the still photo of the same scene anymore. By the way, Daddy Mouse will make an appearance in Series Eight in a multi-arc story involving a caravan.)

We return to reality (no, not really) as Gigi claims everyone loves playing in the park, stealing the narrator's gimmick! (A note: Mandy drew herself without the wheelchair despite the flashback clearly showing her in the wheelchair.) Next up is Pedro F'N Pony, who has more of a clue than the average Sony Pony. (Just keep twisting the knife on PlayStation's fortunes, you are as much of a dick as Danny is later on in this episode.) Pedro draws his family and I'm shocked he didn't call it a Super Family here. Pedro really really lays the glasses part on thick here and mentions Mummy Pony's contact lenes, and Pedro dots Mummy Pony's eyes for good measure on the artwork. The Pony family was in Doctor Pony's office looking at an eye chart in the flashback. Gigi is somewhat amused by this as next up is the return of Peggi and Pandora Panda after Miss Rabbit's Relaxation Class and a cameo in Perfect Day. (They also appeared in Trampolines. Still, this has been their first speaking appearance in a long ass whomping time.) Yes; the Panda Twins made their one and only appearance this season! (I was far more excited for this than the two mummies.) Anyhow, their flashback is to annoy Officer Panda into playing the siren and getting their way by saying "please". At least they didn't cry like George did. (Probably because they are four years old and four year olds don't cry as per the gimmick.) Mummy Panda is a firefighter, which I don't think I have ever seen her do on the show. Yes, Mummy Panda did in fact ride with the rest of the family in the police car in the flashback and yes, even Mummy Panda likes to do the siren. Oh, and they are riding into traffic of course. (Cameos: Mummy Mole, Mummy Mouse, Mummy Fox, Mrs. Cow, Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Bull, and three palette swaps.) Next up is Danny Dog doing his drawing of Mummy and Captain Dog, making sure to remind everyone that Captain Dog is retired and must adhere to the stipulations of never sailing away on the seas ever again. Danny being a dick son on Captain Dog never fails to make me laugh. (His excited tail and teeth smile proves this so.) Apparently, Danny's flashback involves Captain Dog dogfighting with a monster at sea. Keep in mind, I'm reviewing the audio only version of this episode since it's the only thing available at the moment. I don't think YTV Treehouse has officially aired this episode yet. (If they did, I would never know since the move from Eastlink to Stack TV.) Gigi is instantly amused by this adventure. (And now for the moment that would have surprising if the creators had not aired Clubhouse Adventure before Families...)

Next up is Penny Polar Bear and history is made in this series as we discover that Doctor Polar Bear and Mummy Polar Bear are in fact two mommies. The first same sex couple on Peppa Pig after a long couple of years of petitions wanting this to happen, so the show listened to the fans for a change. This actually makes the unofficial debut of the couple of Undersea Party make sense now, although I wouldn't have known this until Penny said it here. (2023 Gregory Weagle Says: In Clubhouse Adventure; Penny mentions them as two mommies in a throwaway line about growling and making scary noises. I missed that little nuance the first few times I watched that episode, until I watched the episode again more closely after Families, just to see if there was any interactions since Penny Polar Bear and the two mommies were in the episode! How anyone missed that told me one thing: the bigots didn't care about them being two mothers, they basically claimed that two mommies wasn't a family. Also, the rest didn't care about them being two mommies until they were said in the same sentence as a family, when it should have been obvious that they were a family, even if they weren't a same sex couple! Dammit!) I would have thought that they were sisters like Miss Rabbit/Mummy Rabbit. Considering the popularity of the show now, having a same sex couple actually made sense and it was the perfect time for it. I just wish Penny Polar Bear's debut was much better than it was in Undersea Party. The flashback is the family eating pasta -- which is a nice continuity nod from Health Check when Doctor Polar Bear mentions her love for pasta --, which is no different than Peppa's family (a nuclear family) eating pasta since both families love pasta. (Literally the pasta with no sauce to boot!) In hindsight after all the bumps Peppa took, Pedro breaking his leg twice and this great moment; this makes Health Check and the cowardice of not allowing Peppa to get vaccinated outright look even WORSE. Keep in mind, one of the characters in Health Check is Doctor Polar Bear. (I already mentioned it in the Health Check rant and the storybook having Peppa being vaccinated outright.) Gigi is fine with this. Freddy Fox is next and he talks a lot about his father and the van, even remembering to say that everything is in packs of five. I'm going to guess that Freddy Fox is supposed to be the single father family dymanic, but I swear Freddy Fox had a mother. (Actually, it is a nuclear family that lives in an apartment. More on that in Series Eight!)

Rebecca is next as her flashback is with her family of rabbits including Miss Rabbit and Mummy Rabbit being together. Yes, Rosie and Robbie made their contracted appearance in this flashback. (Sadly, they do literally nothing here except the rise up the other rabbits did. Unlike in Peppa Pig Tales and the Carrot Catcher episode. You need to find that episode and see the second half of the episode. It's glorious!) Then the mobile phone rings -- as stated in the actual episode -- and Miss Rabbit answers it to reveal that Grampy "Reggie" Rabbit is stuck on top of a mountain, AGAIN! Did I mention, Miss Rabbit actually appears at the house in her helicopter and leaves the scene in said helicopter. Rebecca actually confirmed that Miss Rabbit is the kids' auntie/aunt during this flashback. Damn, they are STILL doing this gimmick of Miss Rabbit doing all these jobs?! (Shown in multiple picture in picture spots. I'm not mentioning cameos because all of the pictures are stock footage from other episodes in this show.) Gigi asks what they would do without Miss Rabbit? Answer: We have more jobs in this world for other characters. Last up is Peppa Pig (with George Pig beside her at the artist table) and her family is basically a greatest hits version of her life, much like this episode: George's dinesaur (sic) is not scary even though George thinks it's scary. Then we get George bawling his eyes out for no reason other than to make Peppa Pig look like a troll as usual. (Peppa looks at the camera with the "are you serious?" look despite being the one narrating this sequence telling George to bawl.) No mention of puddle jumping at all here, which is ultra weird considering the show's major past time. Peppa puts her picture on the wall as it is almost home time and all the mommies and daddies come in to admire the art their kids just did. (Yes, both mummies made it, although they only show Mummy Polar Bear on the closeup.) George is clearly with Peppa because he giggles when Peppa talks about the difficulty of having a bother I should note. Mummy and Daddy Pig are amused by this, so the entire historic moment is now an afterthought as usual. (Daddy Pig saying that it looks exactly like him is such a geek move on Daddy Pig's part.) Peppa loves families, everyone loves families as everyone laughs to end the episode at 4:30. This was basically a very entertainment flashback of the great Peppa Pig hits of the show and some character development for Mandy Mouse and Penny Polar Bear. **** 1/2 (90%). Sadly, I expect we will not see Penny's family together on camera ever again, although we might see them separately. Unless that rumor of "Haircut" episode is in fact true, but I'm not holding my breath over that one. (The episode involving a barber might still happen in future, but there is no evidence that the episode exists at this time.) I just hope they don't get jettisoned nearly as badly as the Panda Twins have been.

(2023 Gregory Weagle Says: If the two mommies get jettisoned like this then this would be much worse than the two daddies Lena and Violet Sabrewing had in Ducktales 2017, because at least with Ducktales 2017, the two daddies likely wouldn't had existed had Disney given the team a season four like everyone else had wanted. (Although that might have killed Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham appearing in the show.) It would be also worse because Peppa Pig is still ongoing with no end in sight and still going to get new seasons; plus Penny Polar Bear is getting a huge push like Mandy Mouse has gotten when the kids are in groups when the storyline calls for it. So, yeah; they need to incorporate the two mommies into this show as much as they can if they want to continue being a hot show. The bigots can go pound sand, they already bash this show for it's pro-vaccine attitude in Health Check and the book "Peppa Pig Gets Vaccinated". Even worse for Health Check, Elmo got the jab on live television and the show he's on is for the most part, a similar target audience as Peppa Pig since Sesame Street can be for much older kids compared to the more kindergarten audience Peppa Pig delivers.)

(2024 Gregory Weagle Says: I have some good news for 2023 self: The two mummies have appeared in Peppa Pig Tales, and later on in the mainline series including at the end of Igloo and Peppa Pig actually visits Penny Polar Bear and the two mummies' house to watch a Super Potato movie! Yes, they have done more with the same sex couple than the two misters in Ducktales 2017. Hopefully, they will do more with this in future and considering that Peppa Pig will likely have episode until 2027, it looks like a sure thing since Penny Polar Bear has to have a birthday at some point as well.)

The Owl: We continue on with episode #358 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the cyan blue house on the hill AFTER HAPPY HOUR as Daddy Pig drives the car up with George and Peppa jumping out soon after the car has stopped. Out comes Granny Pig and the kids all embrace her; and George still calls Granny Pig, "Ganny Ig". Nothing changes, nothing changes at all. The kids are spending the night at Granny's house as the kids ask where is Grandpa Pig and Granny claims that he's messing around at the bottom of the garden. Everyone walks down as we jump cut to Grandpa Pig building what appears to be an outhouse. (Outside of a slot instead of a crescent moon, it might as well be a porta-potty. It's obviously not, but this is the same show that shows feeces on a regular basis.) Peppa asks what he is doing and Grandpa Pig proclaims that he built the outhouse as an hiding house. (Surprisely, George does not call him "Papa Ig".) Peppa asks why, and the hat he is wearing is clearly the Birdspotting hat of doom because Grandpa Pig is hiding in order to birdspot an owl, hence the title of this episode. Grandpa Pig shows off the birdspotting book once again. I give 1:1 odds that Mrs. Corgi and Mr. Stallion will appear in this episode to mock Grandpa Pig. Owls are also shy, so humans are not the only spieces that have insecurities, so to speak. (Ouch! That was highly not necessary former self. I'm surprised you didn't include elephants in saying that considering Emily was shy when she officially debuted on this show.) This leads to Grandpa Pig, Peppa and George looking for leaves in order to mask the outhouse so it looks more like a forest. They cover the outhouse with leaves and then Grandpa Pig gets into the outhouse and proclaims that he's invisible, and the kids giggles to ruin the buzz. That was funny because Grandpa Pig didn't bring in the kids to the outhouse to complete the hiding, so this is all on Grandpa Pig. Oh, and the narrator doesn't try to whisper yell the entrances of Mr. Stallion and Mrs. Corgi who practice the fine art of not being seen with bushes. (Thus assuring that both of them saw Grandpa Pig's hiding spot.) Please, for the love of hiding: SHUT UP, NARRATOR~! (I watched this again, and the narrator volume was rather low. You overrecated there, former self.) Then Mr. Stallion yells for Grandpa Pig and Grandpa Pig opens the outhouse and scares them. Also funny. (Mr. Stallion had to pretend that Grandpa Pig wasn't there despite hiding in bushes in a position where they would have spotted him.)

Grandpa Pig demands answers to this outrage and the two birdspotting mockers are birdspotting an owl as well. At least this time, everyone has missed the boat on a bird, rather than just Grandpa Pig. Mrs. Corgi of course cannot resist turning this into a zero sum thingie and both mockers leave the area in order to fluster Grandpa Pig some more. Here comes Granny Pig coming down the hill, so the kids and Grandpa Pig all hide in the outhouse. Granny Pig, despite being literally eye to eye with Peppa, has to pretend she cannot find them. This is where volume and prespective design works so well and this show cannot do that at all. (Due to the art style being flat as a pancake.) Grandpa Pig taunts Granny Pig for being colder and then Peppa and George do the jump scare of death from behind. Granny Pig freaks out before turning around. (Granny Pig calls this a good hiding place. Peppa's teeth smile indicates that what she said was bullshit.) Then everyone goes into the outhouse as we see the outhouse from the inside. Then we get the funniest and stupidest moment in Grandpa Pig's life: Grandpa Pig claims that he's looking for a female owl, so he'll use the sound of a male owl to draw the female owl into a tree to birdspot it. He keeps using it and gets more and more lust for this moment, and his owl calls get louder and louder. (To the point that even Granny Pig realizes that this is creepy with that blank stare of hers. That was funny.) There is just one problem: He's responding to a female owl call made by Mrs. Corgi in the bushes. BWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! All the grownups look stupid here, as Granny Pig suggests that they be very quiet because owls are shy. (Mrs. Corgi and Grandpa Pig are the GEEKS OF THE WEEK~!) Everyone goes into the outhouse, which now has TARDIS capabilities. There's no way four grown adults can fit into that thing. (DOCTOR WHOOOOOOO~?!) They shut up for a while as an owl sound is heard and an owl lands on a tree branch, right in front of the spotters. All the birdspotters check off the owl in their books as Peppa's promo is of normal volume and the owl don't care. The narrator whisper yells the end and the second after that happens, the owl does the backsplash laugh! AWESOME! That ends the episode at 4:30. (Yes, this is the first time they did the backsplash laugh off-screen for everyone but the owl. That outhouse is toast now.) This was a fun episode with one of the funniest moments in Series Seven and a funny ending. **** 1/4 (85%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Weather Station was a better debut for Penny even though the continuity was being a little wonky though. Woodland Club is also great, just to continue the always funny Three Little Pigs/Big Bad Wolf feud between Daddy Pig and Mr. Wolf. Talking was awesome in itself, with the greatest "Peppa got trolled" moment of all time as Lottie Llama was great and her mother even more so. After Mummy Llama spoke a lot of German, you never seen a more blushed Peppa Pig in your life. This was literally "Mr. Donkey schooling Daddy Pig for thinking he knows French" only in German, and it was great. I also loved Danny's Pirate Bedroom, mostly for the awesome finish. Families was exactly what it was supposed to be and to be honest, I didn't care much about the two mommies because the return of the Panda Twins was a much bigger surprise than it, mostly due to Penny Polar Bear outing her family in Clubhouse Adventure earlier on. Sigh. The Owl was also very good; but the scene with Mrs. Corgi and Grandpa Pig doing bird calls was awesomely funny and stupid at the same time. Roller Disco was awesome as Gigi outsmarted Belinda and Simon in thinking their grownup music would anger her; but it didn't. I betcha Gigi put that record into their skull and crossbones cover just to play mindgames with them. The disco music was awesome and the kids reaction at first was glorious along with Gigi just having a great time with it. Charity Shop was great, albeit they could have had one new grandparent debut on the show instead of five, since Emily Elephant has more than enough episodes under her belt to allow for her grandfather to debut without being just out of nowhere. Bug Hotel was completely average and nothing more and the rest were fun for the most part. Guinea Pigs deserves a special mention for paying off Mrs. Badger's farm episodes with the pressure moment with the parents and Peppa wanting a guniea pig, much to the parent's panicing. Overall, this was a great set of shorts, none of them were under *** 1/2. Also, look out for more Mandy Mouse; you'll be seeing her a lot more from here on out. So...

Thumbs up for Talking, Roller Disco, Woodland Club, The Owl and Familes. Thumbs in the middle for the rest, and I'll see you all next time.

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