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Twenty Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Eight #5 Rant

Reviewed: 01/16/2025
Edited: 01/27/2025

I'm Thankful For Peppa Pig Still Being Great!

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. Time to resume Peppa Pig as this is officially the eighth series in the last twenty years or so. YAY! Or maybe not! Anyhow, we finish Series Eight with a four part apartments arc featuring Freddy Fox and a lot of characters living there, including a moving day and return of a Series Eight kid! Then from there: singing lessons, singing competitions, a walking bus, a book that doesn't have an ending, a shocking appearance for Thanksgiving and a Christmas card session. YAY! How do these episodes fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!

All the episodes are done by Phil Hall with select episodes done by Matilda Tristam, Seyi Odusanya, Maris P., Ishai Ravid, Moya O'Shea and Jen Upton. Moya O'Shea started as an actress in Heath and Efficiency as Tern's Mother in 1995 and did mostly cameos until becoming a writer in 2001 in Eddy And The Bear. Other credits include: Doctors, Floogals, Tree Fu Tom, Little Princess, and Gordan The Garden Gnome whom also voiced Kylie Gnome. The Glassworker is her most recent credit. The Crown is her most recent acting credit in 2020. She has 13 Writing and 10 Actress credits to her resume. I have nothing on Maris P. Animation is done by Karrot animation.

Living Above the Shops: This episode is #411 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the shops area, only with much more graver detail than usual. Various denizens are walking on the sidewalks as Mummy Pig arrives in her car with Peppa in the backseat. Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Donkey decided to show up for this arc at a table. The car is parked as Mummy Pig and Peppa Pig get out. The narrator gives the whole thing away before Freddy can wave hello at Peppa at a window above Daddy Fox's shop. I would have waited until after Freddy waves hello before speaking Mr. Narrator. Peppa and Mummy Pig go inside to see Daddy Fox attending to the counter. I guess this angle was done to quell the accusations of Daddy Fox being a deadbeat dad, even though I'm the only one making that accusation to begin with. Daddy Fox thinks Mummy Pig is here to buy something, but Mummy Pig isn't. By the way, I'm not buying that it's 4:00 pm even if the grandfather clock in the background reads that. It might have been stopped and sold in sets of one and a half. Peppa and Freddy go to the shelves and one of the shelves is a secret door, with the worst kept secret red button on the side. Even the Nintendo Switch 2 isn't THIS badly kept as a secret. Freddy pushes the red button , the shelf goes backwards and then slides left to reveal the stairs. Freddy confesses that the apartment has a main enterance that is boring. The kids head up and enter Freddy Fox's apartment for the first time in this series. Freddy shows the window area where Freddy was waving at Peppa at the start of the episode. Peppa looks out the window to see Mrs. Cow, Mummy Mole, Mr. Rabbit and out comes Mummy Pig wearing a party hat and carrying a lamp, a giant basket that looks like a giant metal ketchup container and a tea kettle. Daddy Fox grifting strikes again! Peppa waves at Mummy Pig and I hope she's trolling on Mummy this time. Mummy Pig is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Mummy Pig gets a shock and tells the kids to do good. Why don't you tell that to Mr. Fox, you gullible pig!

Everyone says their goodbyes and then Freddy closes the window. Freddy goes through the bathroom for the grand tour, complete with a shower stall with no chance in hell for privacy. Wonder how many times Freddy pranked Daddy when Daddy is in the shower?! Wonder how many times Daddy unintentionally did the same thing to Freddy?! Creepy. We head to Freddy's bedroom, and yes it's four o'clock here, so Daddy Fox's clock was right on the super nose, if you know what I mean. Freddy repeats the title of the episode and then we hear noises, and it's Freddy's neighbours. Freddy then says that they communicate through knocking. If you knock twice, that means "yes, they hear you." If you knock once, that means no, according to Freddy. Peppa has this blank stare like "That's stupid. How can they knock if they can't hear the knock?!" They knock twice, and then the sliding door to Freddy's room opens in the background and it's the return of the Panda Twins. Yes folks, the Panda family lives above the shops in another apartment. Peppa wonders why they are here and the Panda Twins live here. Well, DUH~! Anyhow, we get the tour some more which is where the washing machine is in the background. It's a basement floor that is not in the basement. The Pandas also remind us that a flat is slang for apartment, although they don't outright say that it is. They head into the kitchen. Apparently, the sitting room to them is called the lounge. Okay, good to know. Then in comes Officer Panda as the nickname I have given him has burst into flames. Officer Panda has tea ready and this is probably the only time he doesn't wear his police hat, which is on the table. The Panda Twins want to show Peppa around the apartments, Officer Panda is all right with that. The kids head out into the hallway as Freddy points out the green door to his flat. Officer Panda follows the kids to make sure no one trolls on each other here. Everyone head to the top of the roof through a door.

Then we get another surprise: We see Candy Cat and Mummy Cat on the roof sunbathing. I know this because they have a bottle of sun cream and summer chairs out. I thought, okay; they are visiting someone and decided to have some fun on the roof. It's like Peppa Pig, nothing unusual. Peppa and Candy have the meet and greet. Mummy Cat confirms that they live in the flat below the roof and my mind is blown. Candy Cat -- the least developed character on this show -- finally has a legit residence. This means all the first series kids have residences confirmed now. By the way, I ranted on this episode last among the entire arc, there is one more kid left and he's about to move in. That's not happening until the third episode of the apartments arc though. Everyone exchange notes as they want to do a roof garden, but it's too hot even though no one is selling the heat...AGAIN! In other words, the roof garden will have to wait until the next episode, a message that this is going to be more than one episode. Mummy Cat decides to have everyone have some ice lollies. The next major surprise is Daddy Cat has a job as the owner of one of the shops, which is a cafe. This cafe also has an ice box filled with ice lollies and ice cream! Daddy Cat has black fur, so the show has finally decided that the orange furred version of him is not Daddy Cat unless the show decides to blow the bigots minds again, which in at this point sounds like a death wish. Daddy Cat is now on the phone, he checks his ice box and he has no ice lollies left. Just makes him look like a geek. He suggest trying Mr. Fox and we ring in Mr. Fox who answers the phones. Mr. Fox checks his ice box and there are ice lollies sold in sets of five. Of course! What a fool I am?! Officer Panda uses a blue rope with a basket attached to it and lowers it down onto the sidewalk. Mr. Fox comes out, opens the box, dumps all the ice lollies into the basket and hoists it up. By the way, Mr. Fox claims that the lollies are in sets of five, but there are six lollies in there. SUZY SHEEP~?! You couldn't just redub this line and say packs of six?! Also, one of them is written in by teleport because ALL SEVEN people in this scene are licking ice lollies. SUZY SHEEP~?! Peppa proclaims that this is great. Everyone laughs with their colored ice lollies as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This was a fun episode and of course the ones putting this show on need a logic lesson after that finish. *** 1/2 (70%).

Roof Garden: This episode is #412 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the apartments above the shops as the Pig family is walking on the sidewalk with Mummy Elephant and Doctor Brown Car driving their cars on the street. Out of the door is Freddy Fox and Candy Cat to do the meet and greet. Freddy proclaims that they are making a garden on top of a roof because everyone need a garden regardless of what their house ultimately looks like. There are lots of potted plants on the sidewalk as Peppa and company have to bring up potted plants up to the roof. Daddy Pig of course has to handle the giant fern plant, and they all walk in the lobby and up the steps as Daddy Pig walks up and looks like he's clearly blown up. Even funnier, the elevator door is in plain sight during this. Everyone present is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~, especially Daddy Pig as usual. Everyone goes up to the roof top as the Panda Twins are right there with Mummy Cat to meet and greet. The garden needs more plants and trees as Daddy Pig protests this and then the elevator door opens on the roof and in comes Daddy Cat with a potted plant, making him the smartest anthro in the room. HAHA! Daddy and company head into the elevator as Daddy Pig claims that no one told him there was an elevator even though it was in plain sight when Daddy Pig was going up the stairs. Daddy Pig is dumb. We head outside as we have the appearance of Officer "They don't hate my kids anymore" Panda making sure the kids take the little pots and the adults take the giant pots as Daddy Pig is once again blown up carrying a thinner tree than Mummy Pig is. That pear might really be weighing the tree down as the two adults make it up without incident, outside of Daddy's hilariously bad selling. Apparently, there is more trees and plants written in by teleport, or Officer Panda and Mr. Fox were backing up everyone. Otherwise, SUZY SHEEP~?! Only Mummy Fox is missing as I think the gang wants rocks and grass. Daddy Fox has the plastic rocks on retainer that last for 1000 years, even though real rocks can last that long and more. Grass is a different matter and Daddy Pig is too blown up to do anything judging by his protests, so let's ring up Mr. Bull for assistance. Of course! Mr. Bull has his digger crane/truck combination on retainer containing soil and logs already. How convenient eh?!

Jump cut to Officer Panda blocking the road with pylons and Mummy Wolf being stopped and annoyed. Since I ranted on these episode out of order, this will happen again on the next episode as well. Daddy and George are looking out and George is instantly amused at this red crane. The crane brings up the blue box of soil and hauls it over the top of the roof. Then the bottom of the blue box falls down and the soil lands on the ground. HAHA! At least this deconstruction kink led to something useful. Mr. Bull is becoming more constructive as time has gone on judging by the recent episodes featuring him. Next up, Mummy Cat gives the kids toy rakes and they all rake the ground flatter than my sex life. But wait?! Candy Cat still wants grass and then we discover that those logs were not logs at all, but mats of grass to lay down on top of the soil. I should have guessed since the cut end was all green colored. Mr. Bull drives away in his crane as the emergency is over, as the pylons are removed and Mummy Wolf, Mummy Elephant and Mummy Sheep drive away in their cars. Next up, everyone rolls down the grass. Mummy Cat gets easily into the lead, with the middle kids in second and Peppa and Candy being last. However, at the end, all three manage to roll the grass in a perfect tie. Of course! What a fool I am?! The kids are amused and Pandora Panda wants a little pond. Daddy Pig doesn't think Daddy Fox's plastic pond will work, but Daddy Fox has other ideas. He digs a dog in the shape of the pond, inserts the pond and then uses a watering can to pour water into it. Daddy Pig is a geek, but I repeat myself. Anyhow, there is one thing missing and of course Mrs. Duck arrives to land on the pond and swim in it. By the way, I think Daddy Fox somehow said "shitty" pond, although I'm certain he did not. Now, we can have a picnic as Officer Panda uses a bungie rope to bring up the giant picnic basket up from Daddy Cat who was preparing the picnic since he was wearing an apron. Uh-oh! No! Don't do it, show! The biologists will hate you again! Everyone has the picnic and Mrs. Duck thankfully is not fed. Whew! That's a relief. Everyone laughs as Mrs. Duck does some dunking to end the episode at 4:30. The endings for the entire arc feature stuff from the apartments with colored backgrounds. Nothing special. This episode was really fun, but they were dangerously close to me getting pissed off again at the end. *** 1/2 (70%).

Moving Day: This episode is #413 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the apartments above the shops as various denizens are doing their thing on the sidewalks. I think I saw Doctor Brown Bear driving a car as Mummy Pig arrives with Peppa Pig in her car. Peppa jumps out once the car stops and out comes from the building, Mummy Cat and Candy Cat as Peppa is going on a playdate with her. They hold hands and do the meet and greet. Mummy Pig drives away stage left as Peppa Pig waves goodbye to her. In comes Mummy Elephant with Emily Elephant driving what appears to be a moving truck. When they come out we see that Doctor Elephant and Edmond Elephant come out of the back. Okay, I get that they think Doctor Elephant shamed the family after the puddle jumping contest in The Golden Boots -- never mind that Emily was one of the fourteen kids who cheated Doctor Elephant out of his rightful championship -- but why is Edmond in the back?! Little kids being smart know it alls is funny because they are kids and haven't developed their humble pie skills yet. Besides, it also keeps the know nothing adults on their toes. Edmond and Emily meet and greet with Peppa and Candy. Edmond confirms that they are moving Granny Elephant out of the apartment whom pops out of the window to confirm she is departuring. Yes, this is the same Granny Elephant that was the MVP of the Hippies episode and was living in the apartments. She is wearing a green dress with a white cape as Mummy Cat asks inside if she needs any help. We check the room and apparently, Granny Pig lives off the grid as she doesn't even have a television. She took minimalist to heart methinks as she is living in a house. Hopefully, I can understand the last part she says once I have a clear audio and video source because I don't know what she said here otherwise. Mummy Cat proclaims that she'll miss Granny Elephant and Granny Elephant will miss the noise as in comes Freddy Fox, Peggi and Pandora Panda to hug her in a wholesome Peppa Pig moment. Oh wait...that only works in deathmatches. The room is empty as Granny Elephant gives out one last sigh while Doctor Elephant informs Granny Elephant that everything is in the van and it's time to leave. Yes, Doctor Elephant is the son of Granny Elephant since he keeps saying "mum" to her.

Scene change to outside on the road as everyone in the apartments (including Mummy and Daddy Fox) as the Elephant family say their goodbyes to everyone present. Except for Mummy Panda and Officer "They don't hate my kids anymore, Greg" Panda. Now it's Mummy Elephant, Emily Elephant and Edmond Elephant in the back this time. The moving truck leaves as Mummy Fox bails stage left and Mr. Fox bails into the shop. Peppa wonders what happens now as Candy Cat informs us that she's getting new neighbours. Oh yes, I knew this was coming. Take a guess who's moving in?! Take a guess, it's too shocking! SURPRISE~! It's OKAY, BOOMER~! POW! OUCH! Ummm... Yes, making his return since the World Cruise Ship arc, it's Rohan Rhino! Daddy Rhino is driving the moving truck and we also get the appearance of Mummy Rhino and a cyan blue shirt rhino kid named Riley Rhino, whom also appeared in those segments over the years of Peppa Pig! Peppa identifies him within seconds and we even do a flashback of Peppa and Rohan bouncing on trampolines during the world cruise holiday arc! So, now we know where the Panda Twins, Candy Cat, Freddy Fox (which makes sense since Mr. Fox's shop is there) and now Rohan Rhino live. Rohan's playgroup appearance is coming and it's probably sooner than even I think. Peppa and Rohan do the meet and greet with wholesome nose nuzzling. Daddy Rhino, Riley Rhino and Mummy Rhino are helping with the items out of the truck, they have so much more stuff than Granny Elephant just on Rohan Rhino's thing alone. Peppa introduces her friends who live here, and we do a meet and greet. Mr. Fox is doing some grifting and hard selling on his shop on Mummy Rhino, offering green and red trolleys as Mummy Rhino finally speaks! Daddy and Riley Rhino are trying to get the sofa into the building, but it's too wide. Also, Daddy Rhino speaks! As well as Riley Rhino despite it's name not officially been revealed. I wonder if Riley is going to be non-binary? We'll see. If this show was willing to have two mummies and tease us with two daddies (Daddy Cat and Not Daddy Cat, everyone), than why not a non-binary character?! Paw Patrol already has one such character in their spin-off series! Mr. Fox gives Riley some spammers because they are going to take the sofa out in pieces, bring them into the house and then put them back together again. They are precision Mr. Bulls I see: Deconstruction for the purpose of constructing them back, instead of the fetish Mr. Bull and his brother have.

Sadly, it doesn't work on the piano Mummy Rhino is pushing, struggling. Rohan suggests the spammer hack, but Mummy Rhino waves that idea off. Oh, here comes Officer Panda with his triple hello promo. This is turning into Neighbour Wars, except it's the kindest conflict segment ever. The Panda Twins have a Krackpotkin Plan: put the piano through the apartment window. One large problem: The window is SMALLER than the door. In fact the door is almost wide enough to fit the piano sideways. This has to be a troll move by the Panda Twin, this is a stupid idea. Peppa loves this idea as she suggest Mr. Bull with his crane, so you know she's trolling. Jump cut to Mr. Bull and Mr. Labo having a tea break on the boring road. Also, Mr. Bull's cellphone rings, Mr. Bull answers the phone and accepts the terms. Of course he does! Mr. Bull has a deconstruction fetish and this is a perfect assignment for him, because that GODDAMN WINDOW is TOO FUCKING SMALL~! Jump cut to Officer Panda putting pylons on the road at the apartments and then yells "Stop" as Mummy Wolf stops and looks annoyed. As in "That's Mr. Bull's gimmick, infringer!" annoyed. Mr. Bull arrives with the crane and inspects the situation with Mummy Rhino. Mr. Bulls takes his toolbox and enters the apartment and hits the window frame twice with a hammer and the window frame comes out without incident. If this were pre-Golden Boots, he would have shattered the glass, easily. There is red strip ribbons attached to the piano as piano music is playing in the background, how fitting. Mr. Bull uses a remote control to position the hook of the crane and then the window magically increases in size as Daddy Rhino brings in the piano after the piano is lifted by the crane. SUZY SHEEP~?! The kids all run into the building as Mr. Bull runs in as well to help Daddy Rhino set the piano down gently and that is that. Slow claps abound as Daddy Cat (the real one, not the fake one with orange fur) joins us as Mr. Bull puts back the window frame as it only takes two hammer blows to put it in and somehow not break the glass. Everyone cheers as the move is complete! Mummy Panda runs in with a moving tray of cookies and orange juice as everyone eats and drinks up. Rohan loves this apartment as Peppa loves having new friends and everyone laughs to end the episode at 4:30. This was really great, although Rohan hasn't really done anything of note yet as Riley has done more and we don't know it's name officially yet. I realize that Mr. Bull is getting character development here, but at the expense of his gimmick?! Sod off, show. **** (80%).

Everybody Sleepover: This episode is #414 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the apartments above the shops with Peppa Pig, Mummy Pig and Pedro F'N Pony on the sidewalk, along with Mummy Elephant driving a yellow car and Daddy Wolf driving a cyan blue car. The door to one of the buildings reveal Rohan Rhino and Mummy Rhino waiting for the kids. Yes, one episode removed from Rohan Rhino and the Rhino family returning, they are already doing a sleepover. Pedro and Peppa enter the building as Mummy Pig bails. Out comes Candy Cat and Mummy Cat awaiting Rebecca Rabbit, Suzy Sheep and Mr. Rabbit as the kids go into the building. Mr. Rabbit bails as out comes Mummy Fox and Freddy Fox awaiting the arrival of Zoe Zebra, Danny Dog and Mummy Dog. The kids go into the building as Mummy Dog bails, out comes Mummy Panda, Peggi and Pandora Panda out to greet Gerald Giraffe, Emily Elephant and Doctor Elephant. The kids go inside and Doctor Elephant bails. Emily waves goodbye to Doctor Elephant before officially going in. Jump cut to a hallway as Mummy Rhino and Rohan Rhino lead Peppa and Pedro inside the blue door apartment. Pedro proclaims that there will be shooting stars tonight, but that is tonight as Rohan is excited for it; but wonders what to do in the meantime. By the way, not everyone is having a sleepover. Penny Polar Bear certainly isn't having one. We jump cut to inside Candy Cat's bedroom which is very blue with a green floor. The kids want to play hide and seek, which sounds like a bad idea considering the floor space. Jump cut to Peggi and Pandora's bedroom with Gerald Giraffe want to play hide and seek, so I assume Peppa, Pedro and Rohan are going to do the same. Danny, Zoe and Freddy want to play hide and seek; but Freddy is banned from being the seeker because his nose gives him an unfair advantage. Sounds reasonable to me. Danny Dog will play the seeker and 2:1 odds that he cannot find anyone to save his life nor his brain. Rohan's the only one who lives in the apartments that is the seeker I should note as Suzy is the seeker for Candy Cat and Gerald is playing the seeker for the Panda Twins. Just as well since Gerald's neck gives him an unfair disadvantage. Gerald cannot find anyone as Rebecca and Candy are trying to find a hiding spot. Somehow, Peppa is in Candy's apartment hiding behind a sofa. SUZY SHEEP~?! Peppa bails as we jump cut to the kitchen as Freddy and Zoe want to hide, which is a but of an issue with Mummy Fox drinking tea at the table. Zoe and Freddy bail after a brief conversation to inform Mummy Fox that they are playing seek and go hide.

Jump cut to Mummy Cat in her kitchen as Pedro Pony is in the room. This at least makes sense since Peppa was in the same apartment, but Pedro Pony is clueless. As usual as he hides underneath the table, Mummy Cat is confused. It's 4 PM by the way. Jump cut to outside as Mummy Fox is in the hallway as Suzy runs into Freddy's apartment saying that she's about to catch someone. Probably to chop that damn tree down, knowing her. Mummy Fox is confused as Mummy Panda and Officer "You can't say this show hates my kids anymore" Panda. Officer Panda cuts his usual promo as Mummy Cat rings him up on the cell phone. Officer Panda is the seeker of all, you see. Emily Elephant runs out and then runs upstairs. Mummy Rhino is on her cell phone getting a message as Freddy Fox and Pandora Panda are locked in a wooden cabinet. Ummm, that was not a good hiding spot on a pre-school show, methinks. Mummy Rhino still thinks it's Peggi, so Pandora corrects her. Freddy bails and then Peggi runs in and hides with Pandora Panda. The twins close the door as we jump cut back to Officer Panda on his cell phone as Gerald Giraffe goes upstairs and Mummy Rhino gives up the ghost unintentionally. Ooops! Gerald finds the Panda Twins within seconds after that. Zoe and Freddy are found by Danny Dog in the Panda Twins' bedroom literally seconds after that. Suzy finds Rebecca and Candy Cat literally seconds after that behind the sofa of Candy's apartment and Rohan finds Peppa and Pedro seconds after that underneath the table in Mummy Fox's kitchen. All the kids and adults walk in to celebrate Rohan's first win and the first win for Danny Dog in ages on this show. Danny Dog wants to do this again, but Officer Panda is like nope, I'm tired. Suzy is hungry as Freddy's nose comes in the clutch as he smells pizza upstairs on the top roof of the apartments. Daddy Cat (the black fur one, so this should end the debate for good this time) is baking pizzas using a BBQ oven. The kids all eat pizza at the table of course. Lots of vegan diversity in those pizzas, too. The adults all eat pizza except for Daddy Cat whom is not shown. It's also AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as Rohan notices. The kids all run to the edge of the roof as shooting stars shoot down from the heavens. Mummy Cat tells the kids to make a wish as Mummy Rhino tells them that after that, it is bedtime and the kids all groan. HAHA! Peppa claims that she wants to stay up some more as Mummy Cat tells her not to tell them the wish. Everyone laughs at the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This is not an Everyone's Sleepover, it's just a fun sleepover. *** 1/4 (65%).

Walking Bus: This episode is #415 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the school house on the hill with the bells ringing. In comes cars parking on the steepest sides of the hill...AGAIN! Daddy Pig, Doctor Pony, Mummy Elephant, Mummy Sheep, Mummy Mouse and Captain Dog come out of their cars as Gigi Gazelle comes out of the class room with Peppa Pig, Pedro F'N Pony, Mandy Mouse, Emily Elephant and Edmond Elephant. Mummy Mouse is shown getting out of a car that apparently needs to be fixed, which is good because it covers up the fact that Suzy Sheep, Danny Dog, Gerald Giraffe and Freddy Fox also comes out. Gigi informs the class and parents that tomorrow is walk to school day which means no bus and no cars are allowed. You must walk to school with the children and all the parents complain like a bunch of Karens. Gigi blows them off because she's the ultimate sadistic vampire of this show and thus the walk to school is mandatory. Like dads adoring kids and becoming their playthings is mandatory in a pre-school show. The parents all groan as Peppa wants to go to a bus, and Gigi blows that off. However, Edmond Elephant has a plan: Have Miss Rabbit walk the kids to school in a method known as a "walking bus". Okay, this sounds like a great idea, but why not have MUMMY RABBIT do this instead of Miss Rabbit?! It's not like Mummy Rabbit is doing anything other than taking care of the kids or anything. Why give Miss Rabbit another job in at least hundreds of them already?! Gigi accepts the terms and so we jump cut to the house on the hill in the morning as Miss Rabbit arrives with everyone except Pedro Pony going up the hill. Yeah, these hills are going to be an issue for this walking bus to work, methinks. They are all wearing these raincoat uniforms for no reason that I can think of. I think they are for identification purposes, but the characters are too easy to identify, so what gives?! Daddy Pig and Mummy Pig answer the door as they both weasel their way out of this one as Peppa is confused. The pig adults close the door behind Peppa as Peppa gets a yellow bib to wear and it's time to walk with the walking bus. Miss Rabbit makes engine noises to waste time as they arrive at Pedro F'N Pony's house.

Miss Rabbit rings the door bell while yelling "stop" as Doctor Pony and Mummy Pony come out with Pedro. Pedro seems to not mind this; but the two adults weasel their way out and slam the door. Yup, Pedro is the brave cowboy of this outfit and I had to rinse my mouth out after admitting to saying that, too. Pedro gets a bib and everyone goes down the hill. Literally ten seconds later, Pedro is ill. I think those engine noises have triggered the bus sickness Pedro has in him. Miss Rabbit has to inform Pedro that this is a pretend bus and Pedro suddenly feels well. Once again, Pedro Pony is clueless. Let's sing the Bing Bong song for a while; although they should have sang the Baked Bean song, since Pedro is involved. Then we suddenly stop as Mrs. Duck arrives with the ducklings and yes, Mrs. Duck has white feathers, so this is post-Golden Boots. Yup, duck crossing in progress as the kids are amused by this. At least they didn't feed the ducks, so that is a plus. Everyone says goodbye and the kids all quack in response. Scene change to the walking bus going up a somewhat steep hill as the kids and Miss Rabbit are now blown up. Miss Rabbit decides to take the right path through the woods as a shortcut. I don't think Ash Taylor is going to accept you into the Righteous Path there, Miss Rabbit. Ash already has a woman followerer in the group. They see all sorts of nature, sort of. The kids still complain as they make it at the bottom of the hill near the school house on the hill. YAY! Gigi Gazelle is waiting for them and that stare she is giving is a dead giveaway to the finish. The walking bus decides to do one final push because they can make it, which was funnier when they were going up the hill legit saying that. Here, they just go up making engine noises. The walking bus makes it to the top as Gigi Gazelle is happy to see them. Everyone was happy to see nature as Danny Dog's tail is way too excited seeing wooden sticks. I realize that this makes sense with the spieces, but come on, now! Gigi then informs them at the trip took the entire day and it's now time to walk home. Miss Rabbit has the face that reads "help me" as the kids don't care and laugh. The narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. Just another fine Peppa Pig episode, but Mummy Rabbit needs to be the walking bus. At least that would give her something to do and not make Miss Rabbit look like she's crying for help again. ** 1/2 (50%).

Happily Ever After: This episode is #416 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the school house on the hill at it's 11:00 am on the rainbow clock. Gigi Gazelle is reading a story with the kids sitting down. Kids: Peppa Pig, Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat, Zoe Zebra, Danny Dog, Pedro F'N Pony, Rebecca Rabbit, Freddy Fox and Mandy Mouse. Apparently this story involved a dragon and a missing frog as Peppa has a wet dream of being in the story as the princess with a crown facing said dragon on a cloudy day at a hill. Then both the dragon and Peppa look at the hard camera and Gigi realizes that someone ripped the page of the storybook. The narrator proclaims that Gigi cannot finish the story. Cody Rhodes was like "first time?". Wah-wah! Peppa and Suzy want this story finished, so they have watched WWE before. Gigi's end to this story is that Peppa and the dragon had tea and lived happily ever after, the end. I've heard worse than this, but the kids are not buying this story as their blank stares say it all. The stare that says: "You know you suck when professional wrestling does a better job spinning a yarn than you do." I love how Mandy Mouse claims that she made up the ending despite the fact that the story is a ficitional story, thus it's already made up. Mandy Mouse is the GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Definition of whoosh, right over her head! Gigi claps her hands and everyone goes to the playground outside before any more JAQ'ing off occurs. The kids all skip down the hill as the kids are just death of an writer is story. They sound just like me, only a lot nicer and kinder actually. Suzy Sheep believes that the dragon roared at Peppa. Okay. Then it roared because it's selling a scratch on it's knee. Must be the flesh wound from Monty Python, I guess. Suzy, the nurse run in and puts a blue plaster on the knee and the story is finished. No, not really. Freddy Fox rejects this finish and Zoe asks what is Freddy's finish. Well, the finish is that the dragon roared and then in comes Officer Freddy Fox in his police car that almost looks like it was Mr. Potato's car in design outside the obvious color changes to make it a police car, but looks a lot safer. Freddy does the siren wail to amuse me further. Freddy stops the car, gets out and writes a ticket onto the dragon's leg for a noise violation. HAHA! Officer Grey Squirrel has taught Freddy well, methinks. Now he just needs to write a ticket on the magical object in the way, just to complete the training. The end as the dragon is not happy with this while Freddy claims that they are happy. HAHA! Freddy's teeth smile tells you that what Freddy is saying is bullshit. We head back to reality (no, not really) as Suzy blows this off. Pedro proclaims that a dragon would never listen to a police officer. Okay, that sounds believable even if the dragon is not a heel...Oh wait, it'll listen to a superhero! Yeah, I'll bet Pedro. Not. The dragon roared and so Pedro flies up to his face.

Everyone is expecting him to stare at him with eye contact violence because punching is not allowed on this show. Instead Pedro seemly watched Road Wars recently and the moment when a man goes out of his car in a road rage incident and decided to do freestyle dancing on the angry driver because Pedro sings a lullaby on the dragon. If BS&P was loose like TaleSpin, this would have been as uber funny as the Road Wars segment. However, this is Peppa Pig where BS&P is so tight due to it being a pre-school show, it's not nearly as funny. No shock, it worked. The dragon is asleep, the end. Freddy protests this ending and I don't blame him. Freddy's finish is at least believable. Rebecca decides to add a cooking simulation to this story, making carrot cake because she loves carrots. Of course! The dragon is messy, the end. Danny Dog, the sexist bigot that he is, rejects this story. Oh come on, now; it's more believable than Pedro channeling Jigglypuff and failing. Danny proclaims that the dragon went on a cruise on Danny Dog's pirate ship with Danny and Peppa. Still more believable than Pedro's story though. Mandy seemly would love this story more if the CHEST OF DEMONS contains lots of cheese. Hopefully, sealed up well. Zoe disagrees and it should have a monkey inside of it. Please do not do the two hundred dead monkeys meme, Zoe. You'll cancel this show much worse than two mummies getting cancelled in Russia. Believe me on that one! Thankfully, Danny Dog calls that one out on the carpet. Peppa Pig then has an idea: Just blend the finishes together into one! Why not?! It's not like the story nor this show is real anyway. Well, it doesn't matter because the bell rings and it's back into the school. Danny is helping Mandy up I should note. By the way, the play period outside lasted thirty minutes in Peppa Pig time. The kids all sit down as Gigi returns and has found the page. Damn you, you kind vampire! I was hoping you never find it. Now we have to officially finish the story and it's never going to top whatever Peppa and the kids cook up. Gigi sits down and re-reads the page to make sure it's the right one and we discover that what Gigi said at the beginning of the episode was in fact the finish to the story! I laughed and laughed and laughed some more. The kids just realized with their blank stares, Gigi was telling the truth all along. The kids are not happy about this as Suzy blows it off. Peppa of course retells the story as I expected using all the finishes during the play period outside. Gigi cuts them off after the superhero singing the dragon to sleep, because that would end the story. Personally, if Peppa had a clue, the singing dragon to sleep would be the final sequence of the finish, not the third one. Peppa's got to work on that bit. Peppa cuts Gigi off and continues the story. Mandy is so giddy when the cheese part is included. They all live happily ever after, the end. Gigi loves the new finish as Candy Cat got screwed again because she wasn't even involved in the story, not even as the narrator. Again, Peppa is the star and everyone is a geek. Nothing changes. The kids all laugh as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This was a really fun episode with a fun end of the story that would have been great if Pedro's lullaby was the actual end of the story instead of the third sequence into the end of said story. *** 3/4 (75%).

Singing Lesson: This episode is #417 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the school house on the hill as we head inside. Yup, this is officially Rohan Rhino's debut in playgroup, along with Mummy Rhino playing the piano! Gigi Gazelle is with them as the kids are: Peppa Pig, Rohan Rhino, Suzy Sheep, Pedro F'N Pony, Danny Dog, Freddy Fox, Emily Elephant and Mandy Mouse. Gigi is tuning up her singing voice while the kids are laughing at her. Gigi addresses the students and this was hilarious: When the kids are saying and waving "hello" to Mummy Rhino, Rohan was doing the same thing with the kids and then waves hello and addresses her as mummy. I see Peppa's trolling has infected Rohan and it took less than five episodes to pull it off as well. Danny Dog stands up and proclaims that they have already done this and then he begins to "sing", it sounds like he's trying to literally kill eardrums on purpose. Even Rebecca Cunningham wasn't this brutal and she didn't do this on purpose. The other kids clearly want to be somewhere else. Danny Dog is such a dick! Gigi tells him that he's shouting, not singing and Danny calms down. Mummy Rhino and Gigi talk about singing bringing out emotion such as happiness. Gigi singing is more like chanting as Mummy Rhino plays the piano, the kids giggle. It can make you sad, as they do the same thing, only the mood is different. The kids are sad, Peppa literally teases bawling her eyes out, but just sniffles. Pedro sniffles as well. No tears though. More emotions and piano playing as Gigi literally sings and dances, the kids just bop to the music. Slow claps ensue as Pedro asks if the chanting is the only approved singing method and Gigi says no thankfully. Gigi tells them in order to sing properly, you have to get up and run on the spot. Wait, what?! The only purpose is to have Mandy Mouse do wheelies on her wheelchair again. More exercising ensues and even Danny Dog is questioning this, so you know Gigi is bullshitting them. Gigi claims that this the warmup for the voice. Voice actors: Do you do any of this same routine? I just find it overkill at this point. Danny tries on Reggie's "my body is ready" promo and he fails badly on it. Gigi saids that there is nothing wrong with warming it up a bit more. That sounds like a bad move considering Danny. Anyhow, it's yawning time and the kids all yawn. Next up is lots of raspberries and the kids all run around raspberring each other. Gigi claps back and everyone stops and stands at attention. Now, it's time to practice singing high, high, high!

Mummy Rhino plays high, Gigi sings high and the kids in unison sing "high". As high as they can given their voice boxes. Next up they sing low, which in Gigi's voice sounds like "loo". The kids sing "low" instead. Surprise that didn't get redubbed. Then it's high to low as the kids sing that well. Listen, it's just learning notes and the kids are doing it properly. I have nothing to work with here. Except Danny giggling while landing on his ass. By the way, when they did the "la, la, la!" loud and soft singing, the editor simply lowered the volume of the voices. It's obvious here since the candence is exactly the same and the sound is exactly the same if they had done the voice normally. Then Gigi and Mummy Rhino attempt to harmonize the notes to make different sounds at the same time, as the answer to Mandy Mouse's question about harmonizing. Problem is is that they are signing the same note here, so it's basically different voices doing the same note. It doesn't make it stand out. Danny wonders if they have to do that even though the kids are in awe of it. Gigi says it will be done another time and Danny Dog is relieved. HA! Mummy Rhino proclaims that they are ready for singing as Gigi is in the middle of the group now. The kids are so ready that they want to do some raspberries during the song. Gigi is not exactly happy about this, but the kids all say please. By the way, their song is going to be about singing. Scene change to outside as the parents in their cars have arrived. Daddy Pig is with Mummy Sheep, Mummy Dog, Daddy Fox, Mummy Elephant, and Doctor Pony all go inside. Gigi is waiting for them and proclaims that they have a surprise for them and the parents are interested in said surprise. Mummy Rhino has moved the piano to the side of the stage as all the kids are on stage ready to sing. Mummy Rhino plays the piano as the kids sing about singing. It's as good as kids can do in a concert. Which is, it's kids singing. What can you do?! Danny Dog is literally jumping up and down on stage at the end. They finally stop after thirty seconds and everyone pops as Mummy Rhino calls it brilliant! Hey, it was good for what it was, no complaints! Then Gigi Gazelle proclaims that tomorrow is the singing competition. All the adults are muttering amongest themselves as Mummy Rhino addresses the kids on stage and thus they know singing. The kids get to pick the winner as everyone loves singing. They sing some more without picking a winner as we end the episode at 4:30. The singing goes into the end credits I should note along with music motifs as images. Then it hit me: This episode was a setup for the Singing Competition episode which is the next episode, so this was a two part arc after all! This episode was really fun and Danny Dog still needs to grow up. *** 3/4 (75%).

Singing Competition: This episode is #418 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the theater as the singing competition has commenced. Various denizens enter the theater and sit down. Crowd: Mummy Dog, Danny Dog, Zoe Zebra, Candy Cat, The Panda Twins, Mummy Sheep, Gerald Giraffe, Officer Panda, Rebecca Rabbit, Molly Mole, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, George Pig, Richard Rabbit, Rohan Rhino, Mummy Elephant, Emily Elephant, Wendy Wolf and Not Daddy Cat. On stage is the announcer on the microphone who is Gigi Gazelle with Peppa Pig next to her. The side judges are Mandy Mouse, Freddy Fox and Suzy Sheep. Who gets to figure out the standings? Pedro F'Pony of course! This is going to be a trainwreck, I swear to PZ Meyers. Gigi welcomes us to the singing competition as the crowd pops and claps for it. Gigi explains the situation as our first competitor is Reggie Rabbit on banjo. It's over, it's over, ladies and gentlemen! Oh wait, he hasn't done anything yet. My bias for Reggie Rabbit is really showing now, isn't it?! By the way, all the songs have to be original. Well, that explains why Pedro is out of the competition then! Sad! Reggie then cuts them off and starts singing as the kids are laughing their asses off and enjoying themselves while the adults have blank stares. They know who's winning this one and they don't like it. Gigi then cuts him off and pushes him away because he has been DQ'ed for a song that he made himself that isn't original. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This competition sucks and the adults smile while the kids all groan. I groaned at this too! These rules are the horse's ass, literally. Peppa wasn't amused by these rules either. I already mentioned the tasks of the judging and the clueless scorer already, so I won't repeat it here. Peppa is the host, so she's not in the competition either. Also sad, because Peppa can sing! This is going to be the worst singing competition ever, I can sense it now. Peppa greet the crowd and the crowd pops back as Peppa introduces Mr. Lion, Doctor Pony, Mr. Bull and Mr. Rabbit under rainbow spotlights. So, they are going to do the Bugs Bunny Revue Song?! Betcha this will be a DQ! Well, it sort of was, except no one danced. The singing was good, but the lack of dancing hurt it, so ***. The crowd pops for it anyway, and Rebecca Rabbit loved Mr. Rabbit's performance. The judges thought it was good, Peppa thought it was good, Pedro thought it was numbers and it's 4, 5, 2 and it's clear Pedro F'N Pony is the clueless pony in this biz! Get the hook for this pony, and use it on all the Sony Ponies as well!

Next up, Mummy Panda in sparkles with a flower in her hair. The family pops for her as we get soft music. Her singing was awesome! That's **** 1/2. She's winning this for sure, if Pedro gets the two clicks in making of a clue. The family pops and claps for her and so do I. Peppa calls it a long note. Freddy calls it amazing, Suzy claims that she sang the wrong words well. Suzy's such a bigot now and I'm not surprised anymore since Suzy was angry that everyone else was doing it wrong during Miss Rabbit's Pasta lesson in Peppa Pig Tales! Mandy claims that her teeth are nice and now everyone has given up since Pedro is drawing flowers and cake; the crowd claps except for George who wants a tasty cake break. Yup, this competition is a joke now. Miss Rabbit is next and she brings out a boom box and it's time to rap about her multiple jobs. Can we please give her the win and the prize is that she retires from life, because she is literally crying for help while doing this really awesome rap. It's *****. Okay, she's winning; but it means nothing because the whole competition is a joke now. Bonus points for remembering The Queen and her winning the medal for industry. That was great! Gigi is questioning this, so she's a West Texas Redneck lover and apparently doesn't think rap is singing. The kids all disagree and give her enough to lead; but Pedro has given up and the whole board is a mess of rainbow color drawing. The competition is over now, as I have Miss Rabbit winning by a mile, Mummy Panda second and the men in third place as usual. They might as well be Nintendo fanboys at this point. Look; I get that XBOX Series is in third place, but Nintendo has been in third place more than XBOX ever was in terms of consoles. Portables are a different matter, but no one cares about them. We have one minute left to go as Gigi declares everyone is the winner. At least here, it was all on Pedro's cluelessness and not having a clear winner in storyline and then yanked away like it happens all the time with Danny Dog. Miss Rabbit is not pleased with this; but wait. Out comes Reggie Rabbit on a rope tied around his belly. Okay, the competition is over, so it's no holds barred now! Reggie Rabbit does the same song only with different lyrics, because why not?! It's not like everyone on this show doesn't do this. Pedro Pony would be proud and Gigi Gazelle can sod off! It's all about getting in and out of bed and vice versa. The kids loves it, the insecure adults don't, the secure adult like me loves it more than the kids. Peppa calls it the best song ever as the kids all laugh and enjoy the music while the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This was the worst singing competition ever, but I laughed so hard it was worth it. **** (80%).

Thanksgiving: This episode is #419 on the animation paper and the episode opens at the house on the hill as the show shows their ability to mirror the image without actually mirroring it since the car and front door are now on the western side of the house. We zoom into the kitchen as the family is having cereal, tea and toast for breakfast. Sadly, Daddy Pig is out of cereal in the box and decides to have toast, which Mummy Pig eats the last time. Oh come on, now?! Mummy Pig's teeth smile indicates that she was trolling and trying to act like this was unintentional. Molly Cunningham called and says you suck at this just like you suck at fake crying. Daddy Pig decides to go shopping and then Mummy Pig's cellphone rings. Mummy Pig answers the phone and a woman's voice greets her. Okay, I have been waiting for this moment since doing Series Eight. Guess who is talking to Mummy Pig?! Try and guess, it's too shocking! SURPRISE~! IT'S OKAY BOOMER~! POW! OUCH! Ummm..You once again punched me for making an accurate statement because the woman addressed herself as...wait for it...Auntie...wait for it...Dottie! Yes, that Auntie Dottie, the one character who was only mentioned once in a Series Four episode known as Horsey Twinkletoes. This is her official debut on this show! Does that mean Mr. Hamster will debut at some point?! We'll see, they still have 27 episodes left after this episode to finish up! Not to mention, she wastes no time showing up either as her taxi arrives with her and Miss Rabbit literally seconds later. Auntie Dottie is voiced by Cherise Slivestri who worked on the CGI Smurfs show in 2021 as Azrael, Smurfstorm and Smurfblossom along with an additional voice in Atomic Heart. Chi Girl in 1999 was her official debut and Peppa Pig is her most recent credit. She has 33 Acting credits, 2 Producer credits (The Hankerbox and I Killed You A Dozen Times) and 1 Visual Effects (The Haunted Mansion) credit to her resume. Cherise is also a hoopdance instructor and appeared in Ridley Scott's All The Money In The World. Auntie Dottie is Auntie Pig with glasses and a really SWANK sparkle blue dress. Mummy Pig and Auntie Dottie meet and greet with a hug in a wholesome moment. Daddy Pig takes over the baggage Auntie was carrying as Auntie Dottie has seen Peppa before as a baby, so it's been at least three years in Peppa Pig time since she last seen her, which means she never saw George until right now. Hugs abound as everyone enters the kitchen.

Auntie Dottie has arrived because it's Thanksgiving and we exchange notes on all this. I have already said my take on Thanksgiving on this show in Peppa Pig Tales, so I won't repeat it again. I care more about Auntie Dottie as a character than the angle to set up the debut. Daddy Pig proclaims that they need food and Auntie Dottie decides to join Daddy Pig and Peppa Pig to the supermarket. We head to the supermarket as Doctor Brown Bear is shopping in the market. The car arrives and Daddy, Dottie and Peppa all get out of said car. They take a shopping trolly as Peppa and Dottie are exchanging notes. Apparently, Thanksgiving is almost like Christmas. Well, in the dinner department, yes. Concuss Ball seems to be popular among those parts even in Canada. We head inside the shop and Auntie Dottie is picking out the food items. Everything seems to be good, and then she picks a bag of marshmallows. Wait, what?! Then I got it: Auntie Dottie is going to make a sweet potato casserole, which has marshmallows. Of course! What a fool I am?! Peppa picks out Jelly because a jelly cake not being present at all is like a day without happiness and sastification. Back to the house on the hill as George and Mummy Pig are making decorations in the kitchen, which clearly looks like abstract art. Mummy Pig stops and decides to bring out her cellphone to call Granny and Grandpa Pig. We head to outside the white house on the hill and we see Granny and Grandpa Pig at a patio table drinking what appears to be sparkling apple juice I do believe. The cellphone rings and Granny Pig answers it. Mummy Pig and Granny Pig exchange notes for a while as Granny Pig offers to bring some food and Mummy Pig thanks her despite the fact that Daddy Pig is already on the case. We head back as the last thing they need is a giant pumpkin and they plop it in the cart. We go to the cash register and ring up the items with Miss Rabbit as more notes are exchanged. By the way, Daddy Pig forgot to buy cereal and bread for tomorrow, so Daddy Pig is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Jump cut to George making abstract art out of a paper pumpkin. Mummy Pig then decides to ring up Uncle Pig and Auntie Pig. We head inside the sitting room of Uncle Pig's residence with Baby Alexander and Cousin Chole, with Chole reading a Heart 4 U magazine featuring what appears to be Mummy Mouse. Or maybe not. The phone rings and Uncle Pig answers it. Alexander is making baby noise, probably to talk to Lady Gaga, or something. They exchange notes on the dinner and Uncle Pig offers to bring some food. Before Mummy Pig can say that Daddy Pig has it covered, Uncle Pig hangs up on her. Jerk. Mummy Pig's expression was priceless here.

Daddy, Dottie and Peppa return with the food as Mummy Pig is surprised at the amount needed to cook. Daddy Pig understandably claims that he is hungry since he had no cereal and no toast beforehand. Daddy Pig decides to channel Series One and create another pumpkin pie. Thankfully, no piggies will be bouncing on the pumpkin this time around. Jump cut to outside as Granny and Grandpa Pig arrive in their car. They get out as Granny Pig honks the horn and out comes Auntie Dottie to hug him and Granny Pig in a wholesome Peppa Pig moment. Grandpa Pig brings in a pumpkin pie. By the way, apple pies were originated from Britian and transplanted to America, pumpkin pie originated from North America and transplanted into Britian. Irony. They head inside as Daddy Pig has made a pumpkin pie. Daddy Pig's pumpkin pie with icing is a classic ****, Grandpa Pig's pumpkin pie with artistic leaves is good too, ****. Just because I can and this is my rant: Pecan Pies are also American, but from the southern part of the USA. Peppa don't care, it's more food. Wah-wah. Jump cut to outside as Uncle Pig, Auntie Pig, Baby Alexander and Cousin Chole arrive. Sadly, Baby Alexander is not crying, which means it's not on it's best behaviour. POW! OUCH! Ummmm... Uncle Pig honks the horn as Auntie Dottie comes out and hugs Auntie Pig in a wholesomely ironic Peppa Pig moment. In comes Uncle Pig with his pumpkin pie with a mint leaf, ****. This is literally a toss-up. Maybe I should defer to the folks at Pardon The Interruption to break this three way tie. Peppa Pig loves it and so do it, only in a different context. Wah-wah. Jump cut to the dining room as they made two circular tables with cloths on top to make it bigger. All the food is brought in as Baby Alexander is on the far righr side in his eating chair. Auntie Dottie gets the honors of literally being the piggy in the middle and Cousin Chole gets the left side of the table where if her chair goes backwards due to a backsplash laugh, she's out the door literally since the door is wide open. Peppa and George get to sit next to Auntie Dottie as Daddy and Mummy Pig talk about eating leftovers for weeks. Dottie reveals what she is thankful for meeting the family, Daddy Pig is thankful for the food and Peppa is thankful for everything. Molly would have been thankful that it's Kit's turn to do the dishes. Everyone laughs as Auntie Dottie yells "Happy Thanksgiving" to end the episode at 4:30. What a rush! That was a great episode as they focused on Dottie's debut rather than trying to shoehorn a problematic holiday as an angle. **** 1/2 (90%).

Opening Moment #1: The winter theme Peppa Pig opening is used here.

Christmas Cards: This episode is #420 on the animation paper and the episode opens on a snowy day at the school house on the hill. We head inside with Gigi Gazelle addressing the students as there are snowflake decorations on the windows and various other decorations in the background. The kids are giggling and having fun as the kids present are: Peppa Pig, Suzy Sheep, Danny Dog, Rebecca Rabbit, Freddy Fox, Molly Mole and Pedro F'N Pony, whom is dancing with Peppa just to be Peppa and Pedro. Gigi claps her hands to get the kid's attention and we exchange notes on Christmas as today's lesson is sending Christmas Cards. The card Gigi shows a penguin on the front. Danny and Molly talk for a while and Molly Mole suggests giving Christmas Cards with love and affection to Father Christmas. Gigi blows it off because it's impossible complete with wah-wah sound. Okay, if it's hard because Gigi is panicking due to Father Christmas being not real...Ahem...THEY HAVE ALREADY DONE A CHRISTMAS EPISODE WITH GIGI SEEING FATHER CHRISTMAS~! So, you cannot pretend that Gigi doesn't know Father Christmas is real. This was so stupid. If it's because Father Christmas has no known address, okay, that makes sense. Oh, and the card has to be a giant card and Gigi isn't so upset about that one as she's pacing around. Rebecca wants...Oh my god, NO! I don't want more glitter bomb jokes on this show. Gigi's reaction was far more hilarious than mine. She knows she's cooked when it comes to glitter. Suzy Sheep suggests to ring up Granny Sheep for assistance in making the giant card and Gigi brings out her cellphone. She rings up Granny Sheep, claiming that this Christmas card is an emergency. I don't know why she had to say that, since Granny Sheep accepts anyway. Literally seconds later, Granny Sheep opens the door and brings in her art supplies bag and a giant green card. I betcha she was outside the entire time, which begs the question: How did the card come in and not get soaked with water since it was snowing outside?! SUZY SHEEP~?! Granny Sheep stands up the card as the kids meet and greet her. Granny Sheep brings out white paper and crayons for the kids to draw pictures so they can stick it to said card. How the card is going to fit inside Father Christmas' workshop is a mystery to me because it's rather small. Basically, everyone drew Father Christmas doing his usual spots on Christmas Day. The inside of the card is written by Gigi. Sadly, the kids decide to thank him properly and not troll him like Peppa did in Stamps. Everything is going well, and then Granny Sheep says there is something missing and I'm like...oh no. I'm almost ready to quit on this show because this card needs...wait for it...glitter bomb~!

The kids love it, Gigi's blank stare is like "Are you kidding me?!" No, Granny Sheep is not kidding you. Gigi is panicking badly as Granny Sheep unzips her bag and reveals the dreaded radioactive glitter vial of terror~! Oh come on now, the show has the vial glowing neon green. What else can you deduce from that?! Gigi gets glitter bombed, everyone gets glitter bombed~! Including the giant card and the out of nowhere giant red envelope. Okay, Karrot Animation, you got this out of your system. Don't do this spot ever again, please. It's an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Pedro adds a blue scarf, Rebecca adds carrots (of course!) for the reindeer, Peppa had chocolate chip cookies, and Danny adds the milk. They close the envelope and Gigi writes the address as we hear the clown horns blaring because it's Mr. Zebra the post officer arriving in his van. The door opens and out comes Gigi as Mr. Zebra's face tells the whole story. It's the "I thought this show was over this" look. Granny Sheep brings out the letter, but Mr. Zebra declares it a parcel. However, he doesn't seem to be upset about it after Peppa gives him the address. Mr. Zebra stamps an X on it in a box and adds a parcel claim sheet on the envelope. Okay, what happens next is comedy diamond: Mr. Zebra is forced to put the giant envelope literally on top of the van and drives down the snowy hill. Then we get jump cuts of Mr. Zebra driving his van in a forrest with no snow, then on a ferry boat sailing towards the north pole and then a snowy place with no snow on the ground somehow. Jump cut to Father Christmas in his sitting room sleeping as it's Christmas for him. There is a knock on the door and his selling of a shock is hilarious. Father Christmas walks to the door and he opens it to reveal Mr. Zebra with the giant envelope covered with snow, both sides. Father Christmas is so happy to see this card as Mr. Zebra puts it in the house and that is that. Scene change to the school house on the hill as Mr. Zebra returns in his van, while we jump cut to Gigi Gazelle vacuum cleaning the glitter as Mr. Zebra rings the door bell. Gigi answers the door and in comes Mr. Zebra with the smallest envelope with a small card containing a brown bird in the snow. After all the kids went through the trouble of making a giant card to thank you for all the presents and memories, you send the kids a generic sympathy card?! Father Christmas is such a dick! If I was a kid I would be pissed off. This was so inconsiderate of Father Christmas. The kids don't care anyway as we get a flashback of Father Christmas enjoying the gifts from the kids in his sitting room and thanking them as written in the card. Peppa passes the card to the kids as the narrator says it all to end the episode and Series Eight at 4:30. This was a really fun episode and the best involvement of glitter, but Father Christmas is still a dick! *** 3/4 (75%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well, we finally end Series Eight with a fine to very good bag of episodes. The Singing Competition was awesome with Mummy Panda's pop singing (and her sparkly dress) and Miss Rabbit rapping about how unfair this show is to her. Reggie Rabbit still made me laugh and the kids loved it when he was on screen to piss the living daylights out of the adults. It's fantastic! Thanksgiving was a classic as they debuted Auntie Dottie Pig and brought all the Peppa Pig family tree into a really fun classic generic Thanksgiving complete with more pumpkin pie than you want to eat. The apartments arc was for the most part fun, but Rohan's return in Moving Day was the best of the four episodes. The sleepover was fun, but ordinary and the roof garden was good as well. Christmas Card was also really good, although Father Christmas's giveback made me mad as heck, and the glitter bomb return didn't help any either. I couldn't give it a thumbs up in good conscience. Happily Ever After was Peppa Pig's version of the "Finish The Story" from WWE, only the build to the finish was glorious. Peppa's storytelling sequencing needs work though and Pedro Pony is not that human freestyle dancing during a road rage incident in Road War, that is for sure. One final note: I get that character development is a good thing. Mr. Bull doesn't need character development, he becomes just another guy in this show when you take away his deconstructive tendenices.

Overall, a really good set of shorts to close out Series Eight. Here is the total count of thumbs for Series Eight and overall:

Series Eight: 17 Thumbs Up, 1 Thumbs Down, 34 Thumbs In The Middle.
Overall: 108 Thumbs Up, 21 Thumbs Down, 291 Thumbs In The Middle.

Water Park was the only stinker in this entire run and Caravan Friends started almost the same way. The thread in common: Daddy Pig's fear of height. The joke is not funny anymore and Caravan Friends' opening was so bad, I couldn't suspend my disbelief into thinking Daddy Pig was in any danger. It was so absurd and this angle needs to end right now. That's really the only really bad thing of note in Series Eight. Everything else was nailed really well although Rohan Rhino needs more character development as he looks like just another kid on this show. The Apartments angle really helped the Cat family, especially Candy Cat; along with the Panda Twins and Officer Panda. Those two families really needed the character development that was lacking throughout the show's run. Reggie Rabbit is still awesome. Granny Sheep's debut was awesome, and she did make me laugh at the glitter bomb joke for once. Don't do it again Karrot Animation, that's all I ask. Finally, I have one request to Father Christmas: When someone gives you a giant handmade card, a small sympathy card makes you an asshole. Just thought I would warn you on that. Overall, an awesome Series with about 26 episodes left which will count as Series Nine to me. I'm not letting this show get away with using the 65 episode format. That's TaleSpin's gimmick, you infringer!

Anyhow, that is it for the mainline Peppa Pig series for a long while. Peppa Pig Tales is still ongoing at this point despite having only one episode a week and "Hey, Duggee!" is on the plate for Easter Sadism. In between that, TaleSpin might be back on the docket for the first time in years. So far, there is no updates on the rumored reboot yet and with the USA turning into possible Nazi hell at this point (and Canada being in turmoil in it's own right), I don't know what to do at this point. Also, Nintendo Switch 2 is unveiled and I'm going to wait until April 2nd before making up my mind about the system. Nintendo has not convinced me to throw away my Switch. Not yet, anyway. So...

Thumbs up for Moving Day, Thanksgiving and Singing Competition. Thumbs in the middle for the rest. I'll see you all next time.

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