Agree with you on many levels ^.^

I still find 2 to be better than 5, not a big fan of "The Cutie Re-Mark" for rushing Starlight's reformation or DT's reformation in "Crusaders", but "Amending Fences" and "The Cutie Map" were amazing, and I'll give "Slice of Life" a lot of credit for putting in a great message.

I'll agree with you on Twilight getting more flavor this season, but a couple of things that really brought the quality of the whole season down for me were the lackluster new characters (yaks, Svengallop, Hooffields and McColts) and general underuse of the new theme.

Why do you think slice of life is seriously underrated? I mean, the majority of people did like it. 

Why do you think slice of life is seriously underrated? I mean, the majority of people did like it. 

Far too many people focus on the fanservice only without paying much attention to the story. Understandable, of course; after all, SoL is a celebratory episode. I like it because the story is very good and, to echo Silver-Quill, more true to real life than most character-centric episodes. Hundreds of stories intertwine purely out of shared space, and that's exactly the case here.

I think this season comes second to season 4 which is till now my absolute favorite

 

 

Now, my order is 5 > 2 > 1 > 3 ≥ 4.

Season 5 is definately a great season, but i have some disagreement with your points and some... agreement too

1. Return of Harmony still the best premiere ever, fantastic villain, high entertainment value. Cutie Map is great premiere, but it is downgraded by the finale (Premiere Starlight > Finale Starlight), but i still love Starlight so...

2. I agree with you.

3. I agree with you, except Applejack's case. Applebuck Season's still her best episode (Amy wrote it too :3)

4. Cutie Remark is better than Twilight's Kingdom in my opinion. Twilight's Kingdom is seriously overrated, Tirek is just some generic power hungry  villain, Celestia's plan is really bad (they know Discord can sense the power and they didnt even break the Glass...). Cutie Remark has more dangerous villain, Starlight is the most "try-hard" villain in the show, but she lacks long term plans, just want to mess with Twilight... You have to agree with me that the Ending music sequence ruined the finale ). Everyone hates that finale for Starlight's "mundane" motivation and quick reformation (due to music sequence).

My favorite finale in order is Canterlot Wedding (the song, the plot twist, fan favorite villain)> Cutie Remark > Magical Mystery Cure > Best Night Ever and Twilight's Kingdom in the bottom.

5. Amending Fence, Lost Mark are Gold/Platinum of the show. 

6. After the finale, Starlight downed to the second best villain in my book (When i watched Cutie Map,I just thought she will dethrone Discord...). Blame the Finale! 

7. I think Putting Your Hoof down should be... Wait... You can hate me, but i love that episode...

8. Season 6 will determine their reformations are good or not. I find Diamond face heel turn a little quick, she must apologize to Scootaloo to complete her Redemption... I hope Starlight is not another "nice Sunset Shimmer", i want that pony still has her egdes.

9. The best characterization in season 5 is Pinkie Pie. I love her performance in Mane Attraction. Pinkie in season 4 is so horrible that i want to skip every scenes she talk (she is my best Mane, i cant stand that). 

10. Season 5 Twilight is the slave of the Map, i dont like that. Her progression as a Princess in this season is not significantly improved. Two episodes are not enough.

I put it off for a really long time (in fact, I just started S5 about a week ago), but so far I'm really liking it. Wish I had watched it sooner.