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Like my MLP Micro-Series ranking, I'm ranking the Season 4 episodes as we go along. Here, I'm ranking them from most favorite to least favorite. Unlike my mega-sandwiches, these aren't critiqued objectively and observed with more of a subjective eye. (I, however, will call out quality flaws and strengths for my thoughts, but how much they'll influence me is personal.)
Unlike the Micro-Series, I categorized the episode list to six sections: "love it," "like it," "meh," "dislike it," "hate it," and "unknown" (as in not finding a spot yet and will have to think where).
Let's begin!
Love it:
1. Testing Testing 1, 2, 3: Originally, this was fifth on my list, but after a rewatch, it climbed up. After watching the episode more and more, it really climbed up in my favorite rankings. As of today, it's my all-time favorite episode! Of the episodes to be featured this season, this one is by far one of the most mature in terms of morals and theme. "No method of learning is better than another. What works for one may not work for another" is something you don't normally see in any media; it takes guts, and did AKR brilliantly execute it. First, the characters are very in character and three-dimensional; Twilight Sparkle actually showed some character for the first time since Twilight Time, and she was the one to write the lesson in the journal, a brilliant twist to the lessons post-Season 1. The worldbuilding was excellent, including plugging in Faust's most favorite pony, Firefly, into the plot as a Wonderbolt. While sometimes the setting tends to be an arbitrary gimmick to the moral (thus making it pointless), the setting and moral communicate with each other. In addition, the episode contains an incredible balance of humor and drama without making either overbearing. Not to mention the foreshadowing early was very subtle, yet noticeable. Pinkie Pride is one of the best episodes this season, if not the best, but you can argue that TT123 is just as good if not a little better than PP.
2. Pinkie Pride: What else to describe it? This is easily not just one of my most favorite episodes this season, but also among the best of the series. (In fact, it's in my top 5, fourth place behind Sleepless in Ponyville, Magic Duel, and Testing, to be exact.) Pinkie is Pinkie Pie instead of an out-of-character idiot who blubbers randomness all the time for no good reason. This episode did what MMDon't: write a musical in twenty minutes without sacrificing quality. Cheese Sandwich is a wacky name, but fits Weird Al so well, and he was AMAZING. So far, it's the only episode this season where I watched it more than ten times. There are some logical flaws (including a script/storyboarding error in Spike being dropped from the episode during Act 3), but they're so small, they don't detract from the experience. Easily the best episode this season and will stay that way until something grander comes along.
3. Pinkie Apple Pie: Part of the five-episode stretch where three great episodes came out of it. For one of the few times this season prior to Pinkie Pride, Pinkie Pie was very in character. There's a completely big difference between being offbeat (which is a unique style of humor with substance in mind) and random. Pinkie's the former, not the latter; in PAP, she's the former. Excellently portrayed with great humor for the right reasons. the core four Apples are very realistic with their fighting and constant screw-ups, but PP did care because she thought she found family close by and wanted to know the ins and outs. Apples to the Core is a musical masterpiece (although I like the background clapping a tad more, but that's just my preference). While the plot comes out of thin air and Pinkie's status of being an Apple or not is hidden by exposition, it's hidden very plausibly because the characterization, journey, personal reasons for each character, and humor are superb.
4. For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils: Initially, I said RTM was Polsky's best episode. FWtSBT more than likely eclipsed it. The conflict was very believable. Just through the tension, even without SB blurting out the "fifth birthday" comparison, Sweetie Belle had obviously lived under her bigger sister's shadow for some time and was getting tired of it. When the play she worked hard on got overshadowed by Rarity's fantastic dresses, it was as if her work became null. So it made plenty of sense for Sweetie to ignore the consequences of her actions and destroy the headdress. But the consequences she received (the nightmare) was delicious and one of the best examples of "show, don't tell" in the series. Instead of being told the consequences, she was shown, not just through Luna, but also her own angry mind. It's a Christmas Carol reference done beautifully well. Although the ending followed a rather typical cartoon gag of twirling the windows and the cat-and-mouse chase, it all paid off well at the end.
5. Rarity Takes Manehattan: For the first time since Sisterhooves Social, a good Rarity episode. While the song tells too much and puts her generosity front and center, its reprise is fantastic and delivers fresh consequences for her behavior the night before. But her not being so generous to the Remane Five had an extremely fantastic reason. Rarity's generosity was once taken advantage in Suited for Success, but Suri is the first to vindictively do so by plagiarizing Rarity's clothing. As a creator, when your hard work is stolen so cruelly, then it hurts you at the very core and questions your worth creatively and emotionally. It isn't pretty and can get you into a fit of rage. I don't blame Rarity for this. The moral itself is fantastically woven in and deep. It's also a different type of episode for Polsky, as it's more down to earth compared to his original concepts. Good thing, too, because it really helped him create a great episode that paid attention to a fantastic concept and ended with a very relatable moral. To see a longer review, click here.
6. Twilight Time: This is one that caught me by surprise in a very good way, and I'd argue this is the most underrated episode this season. There is humor, but like RTM, the slapstick is rather toned down (except the final scene where the apple exploded). As far as the CMC are concerned, the approach to the conflict was simple but realistic. DT and SS received the attention, and the CMC want it. Any criticism of SB being an incompetent airhead is just, but she felt jealous, collected, and immediately regretted it when things got out of her own control. Each of the CMCs shared tendencies from their sisters/protégés, but weren't identical of them, still being individual yet showing the audience how much they're growing up. Ironically, SS and DT were antagonistic (but unlike One Bad Apple and Flight to the Finish, they were individual characters with separate personalities who didn't go for the typical one-dimensional low blow that marginalized Scootaloo's disability), but it was the CMC who brought the conflict upon themselves. It was also much better to see the Disasterly Duo and the rest of the fillies getting caught in the act. Even better, Twilight demonstrated serious growth without breaking her character. She was geeky, but not so extensively to regress her character, and the continuity from Games Ponies Play wasn't distracting. It was easily her best role in an episode since Magic Duel. The only real hangups are the timing of the fanaticism (if this were like the fourth episode, I'd buy it), DT/SS suddenly worshiping Twilicorn despite her living there for at least a year, Pipsqueak expositing the CMCs' plan, Spike being reduced to Spikabuse (writers, we're tired of this shit! ), and how the week-long progress was reduced to a couple of scenes. That aside, it's simple, but mostly effective and definitely one of the genuinely good episodes of the season. To see my longer observations, head here.
Like it:
7. Castle Mane-ia: As contrived as the traps and gags are, there is so much grand humor to go by. On a personal level, my most favorite thing is how the Sidekick Five (including Pinkie, by association) suffered some hilarious consequences for trespassing the old fortress. One of my biggest pet peeves in the entire series lately is how when a character does some stupid stunt, bullies, or some crime of friendship, it isn't surprising for the character to sometimes not only get away scot-free (Babs Seed in One Bad Apple; the Remane Five in Mare-Do-Well), but also rewarded (Rarity in Sweet & Elite; the Mane Six in Games Ponies Play). The five ponies infiltrated the fortress without prior knowledge from Luna and Celestia and suffered all those booby traps and dark humor as damning punishment for their idiocy. As stupid as the Spikabuse was near the end, this gave the building much more depth. How well it'll hold up remains to be seen.
8. Three's a Crowd: One word: Discord. Without question, the best part. Hilarious and subtly menacing by tricking Twi and Cadance into getting a flower that could've gotten them killed. He may be somewhat of a prankster now, but the charisma and neutral attributions to his character make him a treat to watch, especially when he rubs everyone the wrong way. And Glass of Water ain't exactly a good song, the visuals and franctic pace reinforce his character and disguise de Lancie's lack of singing talent well. Unfortunately, the plot is way too slow. Pinkie's a flanderized airhead. Twi and Cadance were easily convinced by a character they (especially Twi) know she shouldn't trust him. Some — if not all — of the pop culture references during the song are very blatant, giving the scenes great risk of becoming very dated in the future. And the vocabulary is way too repetitive given the franchise's base market (six and up). An above-average episode, but Discord's breathtaking comedy is worth it.
9. Twilight's Kingdom: This is an episode where so much was on the line, as it should. Tirek was ruthless, manipulative, and tyrannical. He wouldn't let anyone interfere in his conquest. The fight between Tirek and Twilight is easily the most action-packed and violent fight in the show; even in its current state, the fact that FIM still retained the TV-Y rating surprised me. And the whole Discord arc arrives full circle, now a part of the family with him gaining Twilight's trust and friendship. When it got epic, it really got epic! That said, the plot is marred by stupidity, poor dialogue, mechanical lyrics from You'll Play Your Part, poor pacing, and unpleasant graphic design featured in the final act in Part 2. I like it, and it's very satisfactorily, but objectively, an above-average finale. You can read my whole review here.
10. Inspiration Manifestation: A bit of a surprise for me. Only the second Spike episode I like nowadays (Secret of My Excess the other). Spike had some nice characterization early on. Inspiration Manifestion (the book) brought some really great moments with Rarity going crazy in her creativity, from doing things small to becoming addicted and imposing her corrupted will on everyone in Ponyville. The yellow-brick-road reference was very clever and contributed to the anticlimax. That said, some big problems. Rarity's overdramatic whining was out of place and flanderized her. The "who" joke never got funny. And the biggest issue: the conflict went too long: By basically tagging along Rarity and glowing praise during Acts 1 and 2, the conflict started to plod on his side. As for Spike himself, there's a line between being naive and being stupid. As he continued to blindly support Rarity, he crossed it, even during his dilemma before the last commercial hit. If he realized it much sooner (maybe midway in Act 2), then you could do something about it. Overall, above-average.
11. Daring Don't: From a quality perspective, it sucks. It's easily one of the worst episodes this season (either third- or fourth-worst in my calculations). Continuity from Read It and Weep (Daring Do being a Dash recolor so Dash can connect to her and become her fantastically) was swiped away. The pacing was all over the place and had absolutely no flow, ruining the foreshadowing. Rainbow Dash's characterization and growth are put into serious question. The fan/creator relationship (even from a meta level) wasn't told well at all. Almost all of the M6 minus Dash and Twi are background ponies. There were plenty of really stupid moments (the M6 watching the fighting scene instead of helping Daring Do, Dash being a bumbling idiot while tag-teaming with Do in Act 2). But I simply can't help but like it. Maybe because of the charm that's there, some of the comedy, foreshadowing, and potential in the worldbuilding. If it weren't for Rainbow Falls, Equestria Games, Somepony…, and It Ain't Easy Bein' Breezies, this would be the worst episode this season.
Meh:
12. Power Ponies: This episode is, well…conflicting. At one point, I was very excited to see how Spike's role as a secondary butt of jokes was going to be stabbed at. While it's done hilariously, it was very poorly paced. The way that can be noticed is by all the info-dumping, especially the repetitiveness of it. When you have to cram this point in the script every few minutes, it becomes moot, and I tell the screen, "Get on with it already!" It also doesn't help when Fluttershy decided to abandon her friends during the middle of an important fight. (As a FS fan, the flanderization here is plain dumb!) But some things were done right: the humor, the henchponies keeping the M6 frozen after every few minutes, the cheesy "mane" puns from Mane-iac, and how Spike was the one saving the day in a self-contained episode. So, personally, average, but a bad performance.
13. Maud Pie: For a couple of days, I had no idea where to place the latest episode, but I do now. Maud Pie is a very interesting and relatable character with a tremendous amount of passion despite showing very little enthusiasm in her voice. The storytelling isn't all that clumsy, and it doesn't rely exclusively on exposition, instead showing the conflicts and consequences. And the fact that Pinkie really desires to have her friends be friends with her sister enforces Pinkie's biggest quality: being happy as the result of the others being happy. The way the social awkwardness (particularly the expectation Pinkie laid out for them) made it all pretty plausible, and I can appreciate them trying to get along better with Maud without trying to look incompetent and stupid. Unlike several other episodes this season (a.k.a., Daring Don't), the Remane Five were there for a good reason and shared plenty of screentime.
On the flipside, there are many issues to cover. Firstly, the climax was contrived: You could've had Dash race to rescue Pinkie while Maud jackhammers through the rock. Its pacing was very wonky, starting from slow and then speeding up to the end. Surprisingly, the animation isn't all that polished, either, as in-betweens and keyframes are much more visible to the naked eye. Spike wasn't written in at all, making his association with the Mane 6 becoming more and more of an afterthought. Although this episode is as much a character study as a comedy, Maud's other interests revolve around rocks, which makes her look very two-dimensional as a first impression; if you varied it and introduced something new that have her focused on other interests, then you could've kept her introverted personality yet make her more interesting upon seeing her for the first time. To make it worse, her introverted passion and overall dryness of the humor are overplayed, risking a severe detachment of her character to many viewers and making her boring; don't beat a dead horse. Also, there's way too much exposition among the Mane Six, forcing the scenes to suddenly pause or end. Because MP tells too much, the morals and overall theme lack focus, going from one to another without any time to delve into them. Lastly, the episode — inadvertently or otherwise — wants you to laugh at how uncomfortable the Remane Five are in response to Maud, but then suddenly criticizes the audience for laughing in the first place. Dry humor has an appeal, but it got too dry sometimes, and it would've been far better if some of the scenes and responses weren't played for laughs.
Compared to IAEBB and StWOM, MP has many good qualities, and there's enough to call it decent, if not good, from an objective quality perspective. On the other hand, because there are many issues that hold MP back and don't fulfill its potential. I don't like it, but I don't dislike it, either. It's a shame, because I was really looking forward to it, and I really wanted to like it. Maybe I will sometime in the future, maybe I won't. That'll depend on my future feelings with MP.
14. Filli Vanilli: I think all of you here know why, but I'll do it, anyway. Fluttershy's stage fright was explored, this time when exposing her singing talent. Big Mac gets a role beyond saying "Eeyup!" all the time. The many continuity nods don't ram you on the head (Flutterguy, Rarity learning from Green Isn't Your Color, Fluttershy the one responsible for spreading the Ponytones's popularity in Ponyville).
But a few problems exist. The Remane Five stared in disbelief over her beautiful singing voice (as if Find a Pet and her other songs don't matter ); sure, you get a subtle clue, but it's too subtle to be noticed immediately, causing the continuity from several episodes (including Hearth's Warming Eve) to overlap. Zecora was Miss Plot Device again. Continuity from Hearth's Warming Eve wasn't fully paid attention to (from that episode, Fluttershy was on stage as a side character instead of a lead role, but she was very important; it would've been better if that was addressed somehow). Lastly, Pinkie Pie was not just an out of character idiot, but an insufferable asshole that the audience was supposed to laugh at and find it okay! Pinkie's behavior wasn't okay in the slightest, and the fact that it was written to be a good thing is inexcusable. And not just breaking character to Fluttershy (disregarding her morals in Griffon the Brush Off and the lessons she learned up to this point), but also to Big Mac by rubbing her victory in knowing that he was sick. In short, what would be loved and good is marred by Pinkie's offensive behavior.
15. Leap of Faith: One of Haber's biggest weaknesses is how he tends to follow the cliché down to a "T" without really altering anything to make it refreshing, a similar problem with CM-ia and Simple Ways. Here, one of AJ's strengths is her characterization to a certain degree. The Flim Flam brothers are still very funny. The moral — telling the truth may be hard and hurt others, but lying hurts even more — is mature. But it's marred by a few things, starting with the formulaic "placebo effect" cliché and lack of subtlety in its subtext. Secondly, Silver Shill doesn't have a strong personality; although he learns his lesson, his realization is weak and relies on formulaic dialogue. Finally, the plan was very obvious from the start and had to rely on stupidity just to fool everyone. By far, season four's most average episode.
Dislike it:
16. Simple Ways: While Trenderhoof isn't a jerk, he's an extremely flat character who served one purpose: to force the plot along. Plot-induced stupidity and incompetence doesn't a good plot make and, after enough viewings, changes the viewing experience from fun to cringeworthy and obnoxious. This is the main issue here — how Rarity and TH turned into incompetent idiots and couldn't really do their job right. While Rarity was funny initially, her forced Southern accent and stereotyping became a chore to watch, while AJ's accent and sensual behavior (even if "accidental") remained a laugh riot. It also doesn't help by how the moral was exposited and rushed, making it all anticlimactic. On the flipside, Spike's character is who he should be: sarcastic, deadpanning, but caring and didn't have his crush on her holding him back. Plus, so much crap went past the radar, I'm surprised it still holds the TV-Y rating. That said, it doesn't save SW from competing with Sweet and Elite as the worst Rarity episode.
17. Bats!: Some things hold up: the M6 suffering bad consequences for forcibly altering the ecosystem, the song itself (Williams's second song this series), some of the humor with Pinkie ('cept her yelling and drilling into the ground ), Flutterbat, and the awesome visuals. Also, this is the first episode this season with a very solid pace from start to finish.
Unfortunately, the fact that AJ and crew were villainized despite having a plausible worry of the bats chewing up the crops and Dash simply thinking of the cider don't help. In itself, the entire conflict was broken in favor of supporting Fluttershy's implausible, idealistic opinions. Moreover, the conflict between animal rights and protecting the farm was a stepping stone for the moral, marginalizing a really sensitive political issue into a hapless gimmick (something this show NEVER gets right!). I once liked it, but the issues bug me more and more, and the way the politics were poorly written hurt this episode (in both quality and enjoyment) tremendously.
18. Princess Twilight Sparkle: Mechanical dialogue really stifles the flow. Then there's Pinkie being flanderized here and there. *glares at her tumbling down the stairs* Twilight, who was able to fly in MMC, was suddenly incompetent; the contrivance kept going for far too long. Zecora and the Alicorn potion is both a Deus Ex Machina as well as a cheap gimmick to push the script along. The pace was inconsistent, namely the second part and very quick flashbacks. The flashbacks and Tree itself hone in the idea that ponies' futures, specifically Twilight's, are predestined, the glaring plot hole that helped make Magical Mystery Cure the worst season finale thus far. The timeline was poorly constructed: While I'm sure McCarthy was trying to say that some time has passed since the pilot, the wording and importance of the event made it feel like only a year passed. Discord's appearance and antics, the action, animation, want to contribute and not screw up, and excellent solution to the Elements of Harmony concept helped prevented the premiere from being a dud. That said, it's still rather weak and possibly the worst two-part opener outside of the pilot.
19. It Ain't Easy Being Breezies: Fluttershy's key episode, and so much doesn't add up. But first, Seabreeze is a jerk, but has a very good reason: He wants to get home before the portal closes, and he's the only one who seems to care about not just where he lives, but also his family. He's the only breezie with a sense of perspective. Secondly, the breezies are cute and don't rip off the G3 ponies. Thirdly, the main moral is very deep. Fluttershy learned that sometimes being kind and keeping someone complacent despite knowing they'd be in grave danger does more harm than good, and being firm is the kindest method. But there are several problems.
The breezies are really cute and decently designed, but they're there for no other reason than to sell toys (both the M6 breezies and the others). Yeah, FIM may be a commercial, but it's a good commercial that usually disguises it. When you disguise it as poorly as Equestria Girls, you're doing it wrong.
There's so much exposition, robbing the episode of any deep conflict and symbolizing the poor pacing throughout.
Plenty of the humor fell flat. Dash's lines are bleh. Rarity's vanity made her look like an idiot. Just poor comedic timing. The only moment was the reversal of Sonic Rainboom in the prologue.
The ending is dumb for a few reasons.
a. It's a DEM.
b. It showed the audience that the episode was almost over and makes this episode a chore to finish and later rewatch.
c. Twilight was a background pony up to this point. Having her barge and memorize a spell we had no idea existed in a few hours is out of place.
d. You question Twilight's character and how the writers resolve conflicts whenever she participates now. you risk making her an extreme know-it-all-type character that the writers can pluck out and solve conflicts five minutes in unless you dial back her IQ. You risk cheapening her other roles simply by having her do these powerful tricks. In other words, a character with a role equivalent to Celestia or Zecora (without the cryptic rhyming).
e. Possible the biggest flaw: It marginalizes Fluttershy's epiphany by pushing her importance to the background.
This episode feel flat from beginning to end and felt a lot like something out of G3. The lack of investment, blatant infomercial that'd give EQG a run for its money, and sloppy writing hurt IAEBB's credibility. Easily the fifth-worst episode in season four.
Conversely, Levinger deserves some credit for doing whatever she can to hide the toyetic being. Rainbow Falls was lazy; Breezies actually had some effort to integrate the breezies, but the overbearing exposition told the audience she was trying too hard to hide the promotions, thus making the plugin more glaring.
20. Trade Ya!: Three words describe TY!: messy, predictable, stupid. For a bit, this was an episode I hated, but not anymore. The plot is very formulaic, falling for every single cliché in their books and filling in . But the biggest problem is the horrendous characterization of the Mane Six. Not only are they out of character. They're also very stupid and incompetent! To quote my comment from its "Pick a Flaw" thread:
Hate it:
21. Flight to the Finish: How far it's fallen, from the low "like it" list to now one of four I hate. Which is a shame because Hearts Strong as Horses took some getting used to, but I've warmed up to it, and I now really like it, especially when Sweetie Belle's singing it. Although Dash doesn't show the professionalism till later, she retained the character growth, especially maturity, from seasons past, including Daring Don't. And Scootaloo's inability to fly was a very daring concept to focus on, and you can definitely relate to her. How Valentine approached Scootaloo's possible disability was really sweet and helped her grow as an individual.
One big problem: DT and SS are flat antagonists again — carbon copies of each other. Because they were flat and were only there to antagonize Scootaloo via the lowest common denominator, they had no purpose to be there. In fact, their presence and low blow underminded the entire conflict. If Scootaloo came to this realization in some other way rather than having an underhanded and predictable bully gimmick intruding FttF, the conflict would've had more weight. As a result, I take this a bit more personally than Simple Ways's stupidity, PTS's sloppy gimmicks, and Breezie's shortcuts. Is it one of the worst episodes this season? Not even close. But I really can't help but feel really stung by it because the Disasterly Duo are catalysts for the main plot.
22. Somepony to Watch Over Me: On the positive side, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are in character. The interruption of the song was absolutely hilarious. None of the Mane Six outside of AJ show up. Some of AJ's actions were funny. In the third act, the visuals, action scene, and chimera's design kick ass.
On the flipside, Good God Almighty, the rest of the episode's a complete train wreck. Acts 1 and 2 revolve around AJ suddenly pampering Apple Bloom when it wasn't needed. When AB read the list aloud, the portrayal was suddenly going to hurt badly. When AJ completely ignored AB and instead replaced her rational, proud, well-thinking brain with the Piñata of Idiocy, she was turned into a complete caricature of herself. If this was a season one episode following Call of the Cutie, it would've worked in nicely and possibly resolve the continuity and characterization issues surrounding Bridle Gossip. It's extremely out of place now and COMPLETELY out of character of Applejack. She may be my least-favorite of the M6, but I like and respect her for being full of personality. That character was sacrificed for contrived stupidity that has no business being here.
If that wasn't bad, the method the moral was approached was destructive. "Apple Bloom made a small mess, resulting in Applejack becoming Applestalker. But the fact that Bloom disobeyed AJ and nearly got herself killed is enough to become independent"? Without a doubt, the worst Applejack episode and third-worst episode in season four. I took the episode apart here.
23. Equestria Games: The second-worst episode of the season and my second-most hated episode overall behind Rainbow Falls. Of the four episodes centering the Games, three of them emphasized it to a degree of major importance. Because of the way seasons three and four (and the web advertisements) hyped the arc, there was a level of anticipation for an event that was consider grander and more important than the Grand Galloping Gala. Instead, it was a pointless backdrop for Spike, concluding an arc that doesn't deserve its disrespect. Add contrived plot points and poor characterization of Spike from the halfway point onward, you got a disaster. Refer to my review for my ripping.
24. Rainbow Falls: Derpy, the griffons, and the scenery were the only bright spots throughout. The rest of it was a bunch of sloppy, lazy bullshit. Objectively the worst episode in season four and my most hated episode of this series so far. Read my review to see how much I tore it.
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