While there are times where 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' did go overboard with Pinkie Pie's flaws which made her annoying, when she was written well and when the episode was good she was incredibly funny and immensely appealing. When seeing that it was going to be another Pinkie Pie versus the yaks episode, after Season 5's "Party Pooped", expectations were mixed. Having loved Pinkie Pie in that episode but hated the yaks subplot.
Season 7's "Not Asking for Trouble" is a bit of an improvement, though still somewhat uneven. Pinkie Pie was a little more interesting in "Party Pooped", but the yaks on the whole are better characterised and there at least is an attempt at providing an explanation for what was illogical before. "Not Asking for Trouble" however is let down by one not very well written character, a well intentioned but slightly muddled moral and that the conflict still wasn't quite enough.
"Not Asking for Trouble" has a number of good things and they shall be mentioned first. The episode is beautifully animated, which is not a surprise as that was a near consistent good thing. The colours are always vibrant and beautifully varied, the backgrounds are fine detailed without looking too sparse or cluttered and the facial expressions and reactions are creative visually. The music has nice atmosphere and character, again as usual. All the voice acting is excellent, with Andrea Libman's nuanced Pinkie Pie getting the top honours.
There are a number of amusing moments and lines from Pinkie Pie as well as the third person way of talking from the yaks. Pinkie Pie is a fun and likeable character here once again, showing that she is very compelling as a lead character when the material is right. She is also very clever when seeing through Prince Rutherford. Did appreciate that the yaks were less brutish here, likewise with the writers showing their doubts about what Prince Rutherford is telling them and whether to trust him, and that an explanation was provided for the smashing, something though that should have happened in "Party Pooped".
Having said all that, there still could have been much more tension and excitement. The episode doesn't really contain anything that is surprising, the pacing lacks urgency and it plays it too safe. The moral is a well intentioned one and a good one on paper, but is also sadly muddled here due to Prince Rutherford's attitude and what was being said actually doesn't really happen in the storytelling.
Prince Rutherford really didn't do anything for me as a character and it does unbalance "Not Asking for Trouble" badly, have no problem with flawed characters that make mistakes as long as their negative qualities are not overdone and that they learn from them. Do not respectfully agree at all with anybody saying that he shows a heart here, he does not and is too over the top arrogant and selfish (both negative qualities taken to extremes) who for much of the episode refuses to admit that what he is doing is wrong.
In conclusion, decent if unexceptional. 6/10.
