Starlight teasing Twilight in "Horse Play" is priceless – the voice acting (especially Twilight's response) plays a big part in that!

I'd say those five episodes in general represent season 8 at its best.

@Tacodidra Indeed.

And with that in mind, I edited it to get it under the 200-word maximum. Unfortunately, my "Horse Play" example had to be cut. Here is the final version!

Quote

Season 8's Dialogue Quality

By: Dark Qiviut

 

Season 8 is one of the show's best. Its dialogue is an important reason why. Conversation drives much of the season, especially its humor-centric episodes, so how well they write and edit lines determines the overall story quality. What they accomplish is an organic, emotive, and crisp flow of lines full of personality. Allspark plays the characters off against each other, incorporating plenty of snark, occasional teasing, starts, and stops. Four episode examples include:

1. The Break Up Break Down: Spike's and Discord's opposing personalities create lots of organic banter between them.

2. The Mean 6: Snarkle and Chrysalis share wonderful chemistry, with the former exploiting the latter's pride and need for help. Conversely, the ReMane Seven's anger at each other feels raw and real.

3. Road to Friendship: Starlight & Trixie's banter. Nuff said.

4. The Washouts: Dash's concern, Scoot's desire for inclusiveness, and Dust's cleverly woven manipulation spark intense conflict.

Sharp dialogue helped Shadow Play stand atop FIM's tier. From that point forward, it's like Dubuc and Haber expanded upon it for S8, and it really shows in the final product of many episodes. Hopefully, Allspark pursues this strength in S9.

5. Literally everytime Cozy Glow open her mouth.

Dialogues are strong in this season. I expected nothing less from writer who wrote some great Star Wars: Rebel episodes, and Admiral Thrawn.

It's nice to see you haven't changed after all these years. I have thought about giving the second era of FIM another shot but that's another 100+ episodes to go through. I think I'll just wait for 2020. Maybe I'll watch an episode or two of the newer seasons and see how it holds up. Is there any episode I can watch where I don't need prior context to understand it?

On 1/8/2019 at 7:11 PM, chirox the pony said:

Is there any episode I can watch where I don't need prior context to understand it?

Hmm, that's a good question. Off the top of my head, Amending Fences and Crusaders of the Lost Mark from Season 5, The Saddle Row Review for Season 6. There are a lot of really good to great episodes post-S4, but I recommend at least one episode previously to get the context.

On 1/11/2019 at 7:38 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

Hmm, that's a good question. Off the top of my head, Amending Fences and Crusaders of the Lost Mark from Season 5, The Saddle Row Review for Season 6. There are a lot of really good to great episodes post-S4, but I recommend at least one episode previously to get the context.

I watched the Christmas special and I thought it was alright. Doesn't quite match the pre-season 5 stuff but still real good. I'll look at saddle row as I saw season 5 back in 2015.

I *love* the exchange between Rarity and Twilight Sparkle in "Friendship University" when they are discussing their undercover backstories. 

That exchange is so funny to me that just thinking about it makes me laugh. 

I apologize if this isn't what you meant. 

@chirox the pony

Since you finished S5, I'll recommend a few more:

S6: Gauntlet of Fire, A Hearth's Warming Tail, The Fault in Our Cutie Marks, Viva Las Pegasus

S7: Discordant Harmony, The Perfect Pear (this I can never recommend nearly enough!), It Isn't the Man Thing About You, Marks & Recreation

I also recommend The Times They Are A Changeling, A Flurry of Emotions, and Once Upon a Zeppelin, but I recommend watching the two-part The Crystalling first, as Cadance and Shining Armor are parents.

Just now, Sparklefan1234 said:

I *love* the exchange between Rarity and Twilight Sparkle in "Friendship University" when they are discussing their undercover backstories. 

 

That exchange is so funny to me that just thinking about it makes me laugh. 

 

I apologize if this isn't what you meant. 

No apologies necessary. Their humorous exchange works really well.