#patb rant

We had a version of Brain that was completely broken in the future. So broken and driven mad that he thought it'd be a good idea to go back to the past and eliminate Pinky because he believed he was the source of all his problems. He didn't even have a problem with the idea there was a chance he would cease to exist in the process (or that he could create a split in the timeline depending on what theory of time travel you go with; I personally subscribe to the multiverse theory but we're assuming he's trying to rewrite history and erase himself so Present Brain doesn't turn into him).

It gave Present Brain a dilemma that could have been fleshed out or revisited at some point; The World or Pinky

Yea, everything goes back to the spin-off, doesn't it?

He was faced with a choice: Keeping things the way they are, or eliminating who he believes the source of all his problems are.

This was something touched upon in season 2 as well in "Plight of Hand"; The Brain vs The Heart.

In Future Brain, Brain didn't really get to make his choice verbally but attempted to beat himself into submission for even considering to eliminate Pinky from the equation.

And from the ending of the episode, we understand Brain is just doomed to drift towards Pinky, no matter the form

But then that's the last time we see him. Ever.

Absolutely criminal.

It's the PERFECT explanation for his descent into utter madness in the reboot. He got pettier, he stopped growing as a person- all because Elmyra finally broke that man and started making him think humanity was even more incompetent than he initially thought.

I understand why a lot of people hate it, I do too! But it also works as a better connection between Animaniacs and it's reboot than there just being nothing there except Brain working alone for 22 years

It tickles my brain because he clearly cares about Pinky but doesn't want to be vulnerable, and it's worse when he expresses it only to be met with a laugh or Pinky not acknowledging it. Because to be that vulnerable is to relinquish some control of the situation.

His anger never reads as "I hate you!" but as "I hate that you make me feel like I can be vulnerable", as "You make me feel stupid dropping down my walls" and as "Stop making me feel weak".

I feel like there is an incredibly small subsection of Brinky shippers that equates an episode with Brinky moments to being a good episode sometimes, and that's not how any of this works.

Some of the best episodes in the spinoff and reboot have great Brinky moments, but there are also weaker episodes that have good Brinky moments.

Like the Mad Max episode; pretty weak story execution, decent Brinky moments.

The Pinky Protocol; has it's moments but is not very good imo

The alien pen pal episode; plain stupid through and through with some lovely Brinky food

Let's start with some positives:

One thing I forgot to mention was the vocal performances in the episode. I praised to song, but that's not even the half of it. Rob is able to make Pinky sound so sad and innocent at the climax, and Maurice makes being angry look so easy but I know it took so much time and dedication to get to skill he's at. I love those goobers with my whole heart and seriously hope they get another chance to play these characters (maybe we'll finally hear an announcement for a Pinky and the Brain movie in a few years???).

Another thing was that this episode was the second in a series of episodes that tie into Brain's arc I like to call "Brain realizing how much Pinky means to him". The arc consists of the following episodes:

"Run Pinky Run"

"Happy Narfday"

"Plight of Hand"

"Mouse Madness" (the best representation of his arc)

"Narf Over Troubled Water"

This is such an important arc to me because all of these episodes include at least one moment where Brain realized how much he needed Pinky. If y'all want, I can go further in depth about this in a future post, so let me know below!

Okay, now for the negatives (yes, I have more words to say):

If there was ANY episode in the reboot Pinky needed a backbone, it would be this one, but it just isn't there. It's nice that we eventually saw this in "Talladega Mice: The Ballad of Pinky Brainy", but Pinky deserved a chance to put his foot down for ONCE. We got our first Pinky centric episode this season, and the one time we get a Pinky birthday episode, it's not even really about him; it's about Brain tricking him and then they make up. I get that he's more of a reactive character, but that shouldn't mean he lets Brain get away with EVERYTHING.

On another note, thinking about how Brain feels about birthdays, Brain seriously didn't think it was odd that the entirety of March passed and Pinky hadn't brought up his birthday? The way my mind is, I'm torn between being upset at how Brain only cares when it's his only viable option, and eating up his angsty arc about working harder to care about Pinky as if they were in their final moments.