MEH SEASON

Before I go into general thoughts and trends, I'm going to go through every episode and give my brief thoughts

The Cutie Map: Starlight is definitely the most threatening villain to date and the atmosphere here is great, but this isn't the kind of stuff I come to MLP for. I can see why people love this episode, but I just don't. 7/10

Castle Sweet Castle: Pretty dull overall. There are some good jokes at the beginning and the ending is nice, but that's about it. I think the scene with Twilight and Spike at the ruins of the library should've been longer. 5/10

Bloom and Gloom: I like how this serves as a finale to the CMC and Luna trilogy and some of these scenes are very effective. I think what keeps this episode from being any better is the stuff with the Twittermites. It's not on the same level on her other two nightmares so I think it either should've been shortened or cut entirely. 7/10

Tanks For the Memories: Dash going through the 5 stages of grief works pretty well until she destroys an entire weather factory with no consequences and the emotional climax is turned into a joke. 5/10

Appleoosa's Most Wanted: On top of being extremely boring, Troubleshoes ends up with a career of being laughed at. For some reason, I don't think that's a happy ending. 3/10

Make New Friends But Keep Discord: I think the reason this works is because Discord is the butt of a lot of the jokes and he doesn't spend the entire episode manipulating and making other characters miserable. 8/10

The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone: "Pony hero complex" aside, I think is this one of the better reformations, mostly because Gilda wasn't that bad in her first appearance and she has an actual backstory with Dash. 7/10

Slice of Life: I still don't like the mane six barely being in the episode. Like, at least Pinkie should've had a bigger role since she was the reason Cranky and Matilda found each other. Locking them out at the end is kinda insulting. 6/10

Princess Spike: This is one of the most boring episodes of the show on top of being poorly written. Spike shouldn't be punished for the stuff he did when he was genuinely trying to help Twilight. 1/10

Party Pooped: Did we really need to see so much of the Yaks destroying stuff? More time should've been spent on Pinkie's journey, both because it's funny when we get to see it and because it would make the message actually work. Points for the party cave though. 6/10

Amending Fences: It's all just so insincere. Twilight doesn't even know the names of her friends before she goes to see them. And Moondancer seriously never found out that Twilight was sent to Ponyville by Celestia and that's why she left without saying goodbye? And Moondancer had other friends as well as a sister, so why is her being miserable all Twilight's fault? 2/10

Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep: I have no idea why this show thought it could tackle self harm, but it didn't work. We already got a lesson about forgiving yourself in Equestria Games, and that episode didn't need to go into an obvious metaphor for self harm to do it. 1/10

Canterlot Boutique: This episode doesn't seem to get that Rarity isn't completely in the right. She was wrong to add those gems to the Princess Dress. She should've known that opening a boutique in a big city like Canterlot would mean more work and more orders. But I guess it's just Sassy who's wrong. 5/10

Rarity Investigates: I always love a good noir styled episode and this is no exception. I just wish it wasn't all concentrated in the second act. 7/10

Made in Manehattan: This is a really boring episode. 4/10

Brotherhooves Social: I like the focus on Big Mac and the ending is nice, but the Orchard Blossom stuff just doesn't work for me. 5/10

Crusaders of the Lost Mark: Diamond Tiara is just worse Pacifica Northwest. 4/10

The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows: There is some extremely impressive comedic tension here and the pure energy in this episode makes it stand out from the rest of the season. It may be contrived as all hell, but I think it's worth it when each contrivance leads to more tension and comedy. 9/10

Hearthbreakers: The Pie family is great and I love everything about their traditions and them interacting with the Apples, but the episode loses me once Applejack tries to take over and knocks over Holder's Boulder. The rest of the episode is kinda bleh. 7/10

Scare Master: Fluttershy scaring everyone at the end is great, but it doesn't make up for how slow and boring most of the episode is. 6/10

What About Discord: I really don't understand the appeal of Discord just being an asshole. 1/10

The Hoofields and McColts: Another contender for most boring episode of the show. 4/10

The Mane Attraction: "This song may be familiar, but yet it's totally different. Kind of like me: Rara." 3/10

The Cutie Re-Mark: I hate the self-levitation that started here. Also Starlight is overpowered and the alternate universes have no stakes and thus feel like overly long detours. 3/10

This is the weakest season of the show so far, but it's probably the most interesting to talk about. That's probably because this season is always trying something new with a lot of dramatic and high stakes stories. Let's see how Twilight leaving for Ponyville affected her old friends. Let's see how Luna's guilt from being Nightmare Moon is affecting her. Let's see a mentally unstable unicorn try to destroy the world. How about a cult formed around everyone having the same cutie mark? Even the more mundane episodes do something new or further a character arc in a significant way. The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows announces that Shining Armor and Cadence are having a baby. Party Pooped introduces a new species. Brotherhooves Social focuses on Big Mac. I think that makes this season the most love it or hate it of the show. If the more dramatic style works for you, you'll probably love it. If you prefer more comedic and warm episodes, your mileage may vary.

But even with the episodes I don't like, I don't just dislike them because they're not my thing. Well, not most of them. I genuinely think that a lot of these episodes aren't written well, which shows the dark side of going for more dramatic stories. If the stories don't work, there's nothing to fall back on. In earlier seasons, even weaker stories could fall back on charm or comedy. Over a Barrel or Feeling Pinkie Keen for example. Even The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows in this season barely has a story yet is still funny enough to make up for it. But when you have episodes like The Mane Attraction, which are focused mostly on their stories, if I don't like the story, there's nothing for me to like about the episode. 

In terms of the characters, this isn't an especially great season for any of them. Twilight has more of personality than she did last season, but that's not always a good thing like in Amending Fences. Applejack's strong characterization in season 4 is gone. She never delves to the depths of Rainbow Falls or Somepony to Watch Over Me, but there aren't any Pinkie Apple Pie's or Leap of Faith's. Rainbow Dash is pretty weak in this season. She gets away with destroying a weather factory in Tanks For the Memories and gets overshadowed by her co-lead in both Lost Treasure of Griffonstone and Rarity Investigates. Fluttershy hasn't changed too much since last season. She gets some good moments in Tanks For the Memories and Make New Friends But Keep Discord, along with the great scare in Scare Master, but generally stays in the background. Pinkie is definitely written better than last season, at least in terms of her comic relief. She holds her own pretty well in both of her co-lead episodes and continues to shine in her spotlight episodes, though neither of her episodes have the emotional resonance of her season 4 spotlight episodes. Also I have to mention that she's still incredibly screechy, maybe even more so than season 4. I don't know whether it's a conscious choice of Andrea Libman's or if it's bad vocal direction, but all of her appearances suffer for it. Party Pooped might've actually been a good episode if it wasn't for her screechy voice. At least Pinkie gets her party cave in this season. Rarity probably has the best characterization out of the mane six overall. She can fill her role as comic relief and she can support her own story easily. She also gets the best song of the season. 

So as a whole, I'm not a fan of this season. The stories mostly aren't compelling and there aren't any really great character performances. It may be more interesting than season 4, but it's still a downgrade overall. If season 5 disappeared and the show ended at Twilight's Kingdom, I honestly wouldn't miss it.