Dark Qiviut

The answer isn't even close: Discord. Of the main villains here, he's the embodiment of chaos who cares for no one but himself. Besides his free-flowing, menacing, comedic personality, what makes him scarier is the fact that his motivation has no set goal. He wants Equestria to be his own personal playground; if he ever feels bored, he can recreate it whenever he wants, whatever he wants. His ability to improvise lies with a snap of his fingers.

This happens too often in school: the kid gets bullied and gets blamed for the bullying. Still, it doesn't become any less disgusting, and this is no exception. School administration decisions like these do nothing except force him to push his passion for Friendship Is Magic into the closet (something he apparently doesn't want to do, which should be commended) and validate the bullying.

Sure, but Applejack didn't know that. From her perspective, that was all thanks to Applebloom screwing up on her own. She walked in and saw her baby sister with a bowl on her head, surrounded by shards of broken glass. That couldn't help with her paranoia.

That still doesn't give AJ a basis for her paranoia's origin. Starting in the beginning of Act 1, AJ's paranoia was becoming very obvious via the scroll and wish to put in trivial reminders. That's very off because AJ trusts her and knows she's competent, clever, and intelligent. Apple Bloom is capable of caring for herself over the next third of the day, and AJ knows it. If you're going to make her so paranoid that she'll willingly throw all of her trust she has for Apple Bloom away, give a good reason. "Just because the plot says so" doesn't cut it.

Best Pony (Mane 6)

If this question was asked a few weeks ago (around where Pinkie Apple Pie was), I would've easily said Rarity, as her in-characterization was easily the most consistent. But with about two months left, the answer is much tougher.

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie suffer from major characterization problems this season.

• Beyond Twilight Time, Castle Mane-ia, and PTS, her role as an alicorn princess is often either unrecognized or ignored entirely, reducing her to the middle-mare that either gives out bad advice, has no character, or is a DEM.
• Dash's characterization is very inconsistent. In character in Flight to the Finish. Very questionable in Daring Don't. WAY out of character in Rainbow Falls.
• Pinkie Pie has been VERY flanderized this season so far, more than last year.

Rarity has started to become rather flanderized for the sake of drawing out humor (her entire performance in Simple Ways, her inability to design high-quality patterns and uniforms in Rainbow Falls, and thinking of her shiny fashion over the breezies despite being warned about their delicate touch in the intro). The true breath of fresh air came during Filli Vanilli as the support role for Fluttershy.

Despite a massively flanderized personality in Rainbow Falls, Applejack was the most consistent… Then she hit a GIGANTIC brick wall in Somepony…

Fluttershy suffered a major flanderization problem in Power Ponies and then had her fantastical point of view of the vampire fruit bats glorified to hone in a moral that had no purpose being there. In Rainbow Falls, her flanderization appeared again by actually being too developed and involved willingly. On the other hand, she's made huge strides since in Three's a Crowd, Filli Vanilli and It Ain't Easy Being Breezies.

So, I'm stuck between Applejack and Fluttershy, but chose Fluttershy. I might reverse my choice sometime later.

Worst Character

Spike. The Spikabuse has been a royal pain in the ass over the past three seasons. But here, his role is more or less confined to it minus PTS, CM-ia (and there, he still suffered from the slapstick ), PoP, and SW. But even after Power Ponies addressed and criticized his role, he's still there, and that episode is now portrayed as needless filler. His best role was obviously Simple Ways, where he was the one telling Rarity to calm down and got a headache from her stupidity. But that isn't enough.

Second on this list is very debatable because there are so many choices. I'm going to go with Twilight myself because her character hasn't advanced at all. It's at a gigantic standstill where she's becoming the "get-out-of-jail" card for the writers lately. Of course, she's been in this role, but she had to experiment and wasn't very mature. But now she's the middle-mare who has the knowledge and rights. Since the pilot, TT's the lone one to deepen her character.

Best Episode

Easily Pinkie Pride. Objectively, the best episode so far. This did something Magical Mystery Cure failed to do: write a twenty-minute musical without sacrificing objective quality. It's a rather simple story, but there's so much depth, and the characters are extremely in character. Each of the songs is fantastically written, and none of them feel like they've been shortened for time, something MMC did (both figuratively and literally, as admitted by Daniel Ingram last year). On top of that, the animation was definitely out of this world with fantastic lighting, composition, transitions, and movement; the only exception is when Spike said, "I'm sorry," he wasn't seen again (the storyboarders and animators get the blame for this goof).

When I saw this episode the first time, I loved it, and I only loved it more and more after each watch. There's so much depth in the writing, yet its pace is handled beautifully. Cheese Sandwich is an excellent foil to hone in the key, morals, and themes. Rarity Takes Manehattan is great as well, but Pinkie Pride handles the plot, animation, songs, and overall pacing better. RTM is easily in the top fifteen (if not top ten) for being so well-written; PP is in the top five.

And there's more thing Pinkie Pride does so well and makes it stand out compared to the others this season: It keeps the morals ambiguous. You see Pinkie write the lessons she learned in the main journal, but you don't hear her recite them. By doing this, AKR and crew trust the audience into knowing what the morals are, don't let the morals interfere with the conflict, and inform how the lessons don't outweigh the each other.

Worst Episode

Rainbow Falls. Need I say more?

Best CMC

This one is actually a lot more difficult than I'd thought it'd be. Despite FttF being a big flop, Scootaloo was definitely in character, and her relationship with the other CMCs and Rainbow Dash was organic. She was also very hilarious in both Twilight Time and Somepony to Watch Over Me. Then again, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are perhaps the most consistent and best written characters this season. Twilight Time brought them a really subtle, yet much needed change by adapting bits of their mentors' character traits while never abandoning their own.

To play it safe, I went with Scootaloo, but depending on the upcoming episode with Sweetie Belle, that's subject to change.

Best Character Who Has Given A Key

Cheese Sandwich. Geez, was he so good! Firstly, his characterization is so three-dimensional. He have the skillset Pinkie has (if not better), but is a fantastic planner with the ability to make everyone shine and happy, just like what Pinkie did to him when he was a filly. There's a full range of character: happiness, generosity, eagerness, the ability to make others happy, eccentricity, sadness, and guilt. He's Weird Al ponified, and just lights up a room. Furthermore, it was great to see him be a foil, but not an antagonist. (Pinkie Pie's ego and pride share that honor.) When their feud ended, they coexisted and planned the best party anypony could ask for.

Also, the fact he existed demonstrates a very mature theme that wasn't explored in FIM (much less most family entertainment): What if there's another character who shares or uses a very similar skillset or talent to his advantage and does it just as well as, if not better than, you? On one hand, Pinkie Pie is an excellent party planner, but does it more sentimentally and in smaller capacities. On the other, Cheese used that skillset to perfection and really makes the occasion feel like a national holiday.

In turn, Pinkie learned that just because this overlap exists doesn't mean you shouldn't abandon what you love to do nor accuse him or her as an enemy. She should use it to improve herself and better everyone around her. She grew without sacrificing any part of her character nor making her out of character.

Coco Pommel is an easy second on this list because she does so well with so few lines. Right from the start, you can tell how hurt she was for helping Suri plagiarize Rarity's entire fashion line. From her posture, eyes, and overall relationship with Suri, you can tell she slaved over sewing the line. Even afterwards, she looked very uncomfortable with how Suri behaved so smugly. The way Rarity responded to her losing Fashion Week inspired her to make a name for herself and not be Suri's doormat: quitting as her intern and giving Rarity the trophy. As a reward, she got to make the costumes for Hinny of the Hills's next show. Those little moments can change a person and decide what he or she can do for him or herself, and Coco capitalized it.

Best Key Episode

Pinkie Pride. Need I say more?

So Far, Season 4 Is...

Thus far, I'm the only one to vote for this. I don't like how season four has been handled currently. So far, it's my least-favorite and the only one I dislike. If it ended right now, season four is undoubtedly the worst one of FIM so far.

Thankfully, there are nine episodes left and has time to catch up, but not much. There needs to be a better grasp on the quality control to keep it consistent. That said, there's still plenty to discuss what they've done right and wrong.

First, some of the right:

1. Two of the three times, when a bold subject is nailed, it really nails it. Rarity Takes Manehattan and Pinkie Pride tackle a very mature topic for any kind of entertainment, but they take plenty of time explaining it and don't sacrifice objectively good quality.

    

   Filli Vanilli tackles stage fright again, this time by having the crippling phobia from revealing her passion for singing before a large crowd. For the most part, it does a great job, but Pinkie's disastrous characterization ruined the quality. If Pinkie did nothing, it would've rivaled Hurricane Fluttershy as the best Fluttershy episode.

    

   So far, only one story with a really bold concept to truly fail was Flight to the finish for two reasons:

    

   a. The pacing is very wonky. FttF starts off rather slowly, but then starts to speed up before rushing at the end. Performing to wave Ponyville's flag was perceived to be the main conflict, but it's secondary. The main conflict doesn't start until halfway through.

    

   b. HOW the conflict with Scootaloo's possible disability was approached. One of my big peeves in this show is how one-dimensional Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have been lately. In One Bad Apple, they shared perfect "one-note-bully" personalities that help really bog the episode down. If you swap Sunset Shimmer's personality with theirs, they're a near-perfect match.

    

   FttF takes this one step further by shoving those two unnecessarily into the conflict. They not only retain the same lack of dimension, but they go for the obvious kill by attacking Scoots's inability to fly. Yes, they were written for me to hate the Disasterly Duo, but even THIS was too far, even for them. And in every scene up to the end, the story continues to remind how Scootaloo became so determined to fly thanks to their taunts. Their mental presence and attack prior underminded Scootaloo's goal and made the whole conflict cheap and hollow. If Scootaloo came to this realization in some other way rather than having an underhanded and forced bully gimmick intruding FttF, the conflict would've had more weight.

2. The animation rarely slips up. In fact, it's made a tremendous leap in quality, taking advantage of the effects palette and overall composition to make a dynamic scene rather than relying on flat objects. The balcony scene during Pinkie's Lament, Twilight crying over a wounded Celestia during the first flashback, the chimera in Somepony to Watch Over Me, and the moment where the CMCs huddled in Twilight Time help prove how much Top Draw/DHX has pushed the restrictions and took full advantage of its capabilities. Top Draw/DHX aren't using Flash as a cheap gimmick for animation, but an important tool for high-quality animation without the expense.
3. So far, the Cutie Mark Crusaders have been the most consistently characterized this season. Discord himself is as hilarious as ever, taking advantage of his two outings to bring back hilariously dark gags that piss off others. Fluttershy has improved quite a bit since Rainbow Falls.
4. Several of the one-shot characters are fantastic. Suri, Coco, and Cheese Sandwich are fine characters. Mane-iac is a guilty pleasure because she's funny, yet badly written.
5. The Seeds of Discord were tremendous as a villain. Unlike Sombra last season, they were menacing and willing to raise hell once they grew. They did something from beginning to end.
6. There are five undoubtedly good episodes this season: Pinkie Pride, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Twilight Time, Pinkie Apple Pie, and Castle Mane-ia.

So, what went wrong for some of them?

1. As usual, the pacing is a problem this season, although it's a bit better now. Each of the first six episodes have pacing problems.

    

   Sometimes they're too slow (FttF, Three's a Crowd, Rainbow Falls's second act).

    

   Other times, they include some filler (Twilight running back to Ponyville, only to return after Discord played mind games with her; Power Ponies).

    

   Occasionally, the story will flow and then hurry it up to hammer the conclusion and moral (CM-ia, IAEBB, FttF, SW).

    

   Sometimes they go so fast, the story doesn't properly develop (Power Ponies, PTS II, Daring Don't).

    

   Bats! was the first this season with a very solid pace; the beginning, middle, and end flow naturally. It's better now compared to its bad start, but it needs to do better.

2. Quite often, the episodes rely on continuity as a key to write these episode, sometimes relying it so much, it distracts the audience from the rest of the episode. Continuity is very important in this series because the characters aren't static; they develop. But continuity is a tool. If you use it as a big backbone and reference it all the time, you tell your audience that you have no trust in your craft. Trust it, reference continuity when needed, and let the story flow.
3. Starting from Rarity Takes Manehattan, there is much better pacing along with the integration of the community, one of the biggest strengths in seasons one through the first half of the third. However, this makes the first seven episodes and what we see from RTM onwards so disjointed. The first seven episodes feel like an episode on its own island, while RTM onward is season four-and-a-half.
4. The characterization of the Mane Six (plus Spike) is extremely inconsistent. Each of them has suffered some very bad characterization, which I explained earlier. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twilight are the biggest victims of flanderization this season. As much as I hate to say it, Rarity is not far behind.
5. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were major, one-dimensional antagonists for Flight to the Finish. Fortunately, they have dimension in their Pinkie Pride cameo as well as Twilight Time (being the card to bring the conflict upon the CMCs).
6. Way too much exposition. When to exposit so much, you're telling your audience a few things.

    

   a. The episode's pace is off, either really slow or really fast.

    

   b. You risk making the storytelling very clumsy.

    

   c. You take moments where there can be tension and nullify it.

    

   d. Sometimes the dialogue can become redundant and even dumb.

    

   I see so much tell, some moments that could've been really great don't have the impact if it was shown. Pinkie Apple Pie has a moment (twice) where it was told to Pinkie that the bottom of the family tree was smudged. It Ain't Easy Being Breezies relies on so much exposition, the conflict becomes clumsy upon the second act and holds little weight.

    

   DON'T tell us, show us.

7. Far too many episodes not up to par this season. Somepony to Watch Over Me, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies, Flight to the Finish, Rainbow Falls, Daring Don't, Power Ponies, Simple Ways, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and It Ain't Easy Being Breezies are anywhere from poor to downright terrible. Three of the last five are bad, Filli Vanilli and Twilight Time the lone exceptions. The quality control from now to the finale needs major improvement.

Emphatically yes. It wasn't just flanderization, but a complete nullification of not just AJ's character, but also her growth up to this point. Applejack knows how Apple Bloom behaves, what she does, and whatever happens in case of an emergency. For one thing, she's both competent and resourceful, not to mention capable to perform very dangerous stunts. *points at The Showstoppers, Cutie Mark Chronicles, and Family Appreciation Day* Furthermore, she has lived on the farm throughout her entire life and understands the ins and out of both safety and danger there; with her maturity, she's more than ready. After completing her chores, she doesn't need to be at SAA; she could spend the rest of the afternoon with other ponies in Ponyville like the Cutie Mark Crusaders or an extra lesson of Twilight Time if she's that interested in it.

As far as Applejack is concerned, there have been episodes where she was protective, like Bridle Gossip, Call of the Cutie, and Over a Barrel. But in those three, she had thorough reasons for them, Bridle Gossip exempt because she was as out of character as the rest of the Mane Six for being too stupid, unlikeable, and stereotypical. In Somepony…, her worry was overexaggerated without plausible context, making her incompetent and stupid.

Like what DryColt said on the second page, I have a big rebuttal in another thread. You can find it in its entirety here or in the excerpted passage below:

In Bridle Gossip, AJ defended Apple Bloom because she didn't trust Zecora's attitude and cryptic rhyming. That said, AJ was just as out of character there as the others. Her rationality and stubbornness were replaced by irrational assumptions, mean-spirited unlikeability, incompetence, and stupidity. I don't defend her actions there, I certainly won't here in StWOM.
 
In Call of the Cutie and The Cutie Pox, Applejack had a good reason to be worried. The former had Apple Bloom being obsessed with getting her cutie mark, and she was being bullied for being a "blank flank." The Cutie Pox revolved around her getting too many cutie marks, and she was feeling sick.
 
Apple Family Reunion was about preparing for a grand reunion. What she did wasn't stubbornness, pampering, or whatever. It was about putting a layout that is WAY too grand for everyone's liking, and her plans and excitement clouded her judgment. When she realized she screwed up, she learned her lesson; rectified it; and had a memorable time, after all.
 
As far as StWOM is concerned, there are three big details exposited during the story, something I see overlooked way too much already.

• In Act 1, AJ presented her with a scroll featuring a long set of chores and reminders for her to do. Apple Bloom completed everything. She doesn't have to fully monitor Sweet Apple Acres, as they were already done by the time the others departed. Even if something bad happened, she has lived with them for so long that she should know what to do in case of an emergency.
• Once the chores were done, Apple Bloom didn't have to be at Sweet Apple Acres. She could do whatever she wished, such as explore Ponyville, eat some lunch, play with SB and Scootaloo, and even visit some of her older friends like Rarity and Twilight. She did all her chores and was punctual about them.
• Big Mac and AJ weren't going to be gone for very long. At the very beginning, Granny Smith said she was allowed to live at alone alone through the afternoon. That means anywhere from six to ten hours depending on the route, conflict, time of delivery, and so on. AJ and Big Mac are prepared for their traveling in case of an emergency, hence the equipment featured in Act 3. They wouldn't have gone unless they knew what they were doing. They were returning by a little past nightfall.

Applejack has known AB since pretty much the day she was born. AJ knows AB has been without a guardian for stretches of time for a while. Bridle Gossip, Cutie Mark Chronicles, Family Appreciation Day, Ponyville Confidential, One Bad Apple, Twilight Time, etc. AJ knows she's been with other fillies or by herself several times up to this point. And Apple Bloom isn't a newborn foal in preschool. AJ trusts AB; AB trusts AJ. AJ and AB can cooperate very well. She KNOWS AB is pretty mature for her age, can care for herself, and shouldn't fret, if their relationship in Sisterhooves Social holds any water. Some of the reminders and chores that were (supposed to be) on the lists were so mundane, it was obvious she was going to be out of character from the start. (As they trekked in Act 1, AJ wanted to put on the list a reminder that in order to get a spoon out of the drawer, Apple Bloom needs to open the drawer first.) And then to make it worse, AJ's out-of-characterization was reinforced by a combination of extreme incompetence and stupidity, an ingredient that doesn't a high-quality story make.
 
If you're going to dial up a trait, make sure it's established; back it up with a very good reason; and don't make the affected character look like an incompetent idiot. If Applejack saw Apple Bloom do something that could've gotten her badly injured or killed if she didn't save her, you would give her some incentive for her over-pampering. If this closely followed Call of the Cutie, then you can reinforce Bridle Gossip and fix this issue of logic and characterization. But many instances of AJ's protection then occurred during seasons one and two, and she had very good reasons for them. Not to mention, up until somewhere like Dragonshy or even the end of the pilot, many of these characters were somewhat blank slates. We're now in Season 4; these characters are established and have grown tremendously since the pilot. You can't just create a new light switch or outlet without knowing how to correctly handle the circuit.
 
As an Applejack fan myself, Applejack in Somepony to Watch Over Me isn't Applejack. It's Twilight in Season 1 with extreme stupidity, incompetence, and no objectively good reason to write her behavior off like this.

1. The third act of Hurricane Fluttershy. One of the biggest triumphs for her was to glare at the thoughts that resulted in her getting psychologically injured out, pummel right through them, and help the pegasi create enough wingpower to transport the reservoir water to Cloudesdale.

    

   But how was she able to do this? By suddenly having several of the best and fastest fliers on the sidelines because of illness. This is such a contrived form of accomplishing a goal from a writing perspective. To make it worse, Fluttershy is battling a phobia that eats her alive. When you have something sensitive like a psychological phobia, you must take it seriously. Act 3 completely underminded Fluttershy's triumph, the moral, and the whole conflict.

    

   Is it a good episode? Yes. But the poorly executed third act really hurt what it was trying to accomplish.

2. The middle of Magic Duel.

    

   First, Fluttershy was that doormat in the library.

    

   Second, she reluctantly accepted being the guinea pig to help Twilight. However, instead of rushing in to find Twilight, she decided to willingly abandon her in favor of wanting to go back home.

    

   What the hell? Even by Season 2 standards, this was out of character for her. While she was back to being in character quickly after, I still loathe the badly written approach.

Dave Polsky may be known for the controversial flare that’s been infamous in so many FIM episodes: Feeling Pinkie Keen’s poor use of language that resulted in the faith vs. science debacle, the Natives/White Settlers setting in Over a Barrel used as a gimmick for the moral, Too Many Pinkie Pies’s graphic ending, and Daring Don’t contradicting the purpose of Daring Do being a Dash recolor among other contrivances. But his strengths are usually his visual comedy and the timing. But when he writes well, he writes really well, as evident by his low-key Rarity Takes Manehattan (an excellent episode).

It was his turn again for Twilight Time, his first CMC-centric episode. Just like RTM, it’s also very low-key on the slapstick, although not to the former’s extent. But it doesn’t need to. With the communication between all of the characters and Twilight, it’s his second great — and currently my fourth-most favorite — episode of the season.

There are various strengths and intriguing insights:

• Twilight plays in a role similar to Celestia, but with character instead of boring two-dimensionality that Celestia suffers. She still has the love for learning, but simultaneously doesn’t intend to keep it for herself. The Cutie Mark Crusaders don’t communicate on-screen with Twilight too often, but this is the first time where their conversations are approached on a deeper, teacher-mentor level.
  
  Simultaneously, she retains some of the geeky nature of her character without crossing the line. In Hay Burger (a parody of the classic fast food joints we all come to know and love */sarcasm*), she munches on her burgers in the messiest way fashionable (including a funny moment where she wipes the ketchup off her muzzle with a burger). This twist provides some growth into her character, which I’ll get to later.
  
  (And, no, not in the way similar with my Rainbow Falls review.)
• Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are antagonists again, except they’re actually in character and somewhat likeable. One Bad Apple and Flight to the Finish gave each of them absolutely no dimension, following the typical taunts and insults (and for the latter, eventually going ahead to hit Scootaloo with the one-dimensional low blow that really crumbled the episode.) Here, they retain their antagonistic qualities, but don’t cross the line. In a way, they show some form of integrity. Diamond Tiara has the obsession for Twilight Time and the spotlight. SS tagged the same interests in a more toned down perspective. In a way, this is how they should be rather than they were in their last two starred episodes, sans their cameo in Pinkie Pride.
  
  And for once, two things happen.
  
  There’s no "blank flank" taunt to one-dimensionalize them. They play mind games again, but they have a limit to what they do and simply let the Cutie Mark Crusaders let their egos get the best of them.
  
  Karma bites them on the ass after Twilight calls them out for bandwagoning, ending their antagonistic juvenility prematurely. Unlike FttF, which they needed a good piece of punishment, they didn’t do anything so cruel to warrant anything to really send a message. Just Twilight putting them (and the rest of their classmates) in their place was needed.
• Ironically, despite their appearance, they aren’t the conflict, but mostly a minor catalyst. It’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders who bring the conflict unto themselves. They saw the Disasterly Duo’s attention and wanted it, too. When they got it, they ran with it far too long, engulfing their egos. Simultaneously, when they found out it was much bigger than they can chew, they wanted to solve it and get to Twilight to tell them about everything. The fact that they have the wherewithal to figure out the dilemma and try to fix it shows their intellect and naivety without dropping the ball stupidly like in The Showstoppers.
  
  In-characterization is such a beautiful thing, now isn’t it?
• The Cutie Mark Crusaders yearn to search for their cutie marks (*ahem*), but the journey’s reduced to simple wish-fulfillment and instead focused on their egos and abilities. This isn’t in any way objective here, but I usually find the CMCs to be much more interesting when they’re not focused on their cutie marks. When they’re constantly focused on their crusade, the characterization tends to lose plenty of focus and resort to gags and consequences (Ponyville Confidential being a huge exception, which partially failed for other reasons).
  
  More importantly, they’re definitely growing up, which is a good thing because the last thing a continuity-backed show needs is to keep them as kids continually pursuing their cutie marks. Sweetie Belle is learning her magic little by little. Apple Bloom is curious about potion-making. Scootaloo wants to rebuild her unicycle. For the latter, Scoots’s trait doesn’t need to revolve around simply her scooter; it can be multiple vehicles, as well. Hopefully, they capitalize it sometime in the future.
  
  But they’re growing up not just physically, but psychologically, too. Each of the characters adopt specific personality traits from their sisters or protégés. Sweetie yearns for the spotlight. AB has become a voice of reason. Scootaloo wants to be appealing and cool (at this point, her posing with the duckface is my favorite moment in the episode). Yet, Polsky never abandons their own unique characteristics. Instead, he blends them fluidly, allowing the characters to change (and this time, change for the right reasons), yet never being out of character.
  
  Hopefully, if they ever get their cutie marks someday, they don’t drop the ball like what happened with the Twilicorn.
• As for the Twilicorn, her status is finally readdressed and primary to the conflict for the first time since Castle Mane-ia! (Power Ponies and Three’s a Crowd don’t count.) One of the biggest problems this season is how much her status is overlooked and even ignored, simply proving how null MMC was. But the fact that the fillies were the ones to look up to and want to follow the Twilicorn makes so much sense because kids look up to celebrities as role models in real life. It’s a great parallel.
• Even better is Twilight’s character development via a subtle reinforcement of continuity. Like I said before, her geekiness doesn’t cross the line into regressing her character. But her character development’s honed in in two ways.
  
  a. Her response to her sudden celebrity status is extremely mature. If Twilight’s characterization was before Games Ponies Play (or even before The Crystal Empire), chances are she would’ve been confused and might’ve broken down over this because she didn’t know how to keep her composure under intense pressure. But that type of reaction would’ve been very out of character of her here because she learned techniques to calm down and used them to her advantage. Disappointed she showed when Pipsqueak spilled the beans, but she never snapped, embraced the spotlight, and was willing to give the CMCs another chance to remedy themselves after they royally screwed up.
  
  b. How she ate at the fast food joint. Messy, slapsticky, and hilarious. But it is never out of place. While she’s still organized in her reading, books, spells, scrolls, and equipment, having it explored beyond those negates her growth. But the best part is how relaxed she is while there. She was casual and collected — never uptight. It was a great way of showing how she’s no longer so obsessed in keeping everything so nice and orderly.
• As far as the story itself is concerned, it’s simple, but fluid. There are no obnoxious side-plots to distract the audience nor any Mane Six character beside Pinkie Pie and Spike — -_- — giving Polsky the ability to expand his script without adding any redundancies in the conflict. You get the points across where the conflict starts, how it builds up, where the climax is, and the resolution. It isn’t like Daring Don’t or Power Ponies, where they get so extraneous, the idea of telling a quality story takes a back seat in favor of action and animation. It’s a very tame slice-of-life story, as it should be. Often, the best self-contained FIM episodes — Party of One, Winter Wrap-Up, Sisterhooves Social, Apple Family Reunion , Pinkie Pride (yes, I went there) — tell the simplest stories.
• Pinkie Pie only gets one role, but her characterization is a massive improvement over Filli Vanilli. She speaks very few lines, but they’re in character, likeable, bubbly, intelligent, and competent. All five traits that simply fit her!
• The CMCs learn their lesson rather early and try to fix things. Sometimes, the characters presented don’t estimate the consequences of their actions until near the end where the conflict is about to be resolved or in the last minute where they were being too stupid to learn it for themselves. By having the CMCs realize their mistake and try to rectify it, Polsky shows how they learn the moral without having to shove it in, thus allowing the audience to slowly process it. It was a very subtle, organic, effective method of storytelling.
• Continuity is acknowledged without ramming you over the head. Aside from Twilight’s ascension and the CMCs’ absorption of bits of their protégés’ personalities, there are two obvious ones:
  
  a. Apple Bloom's potion-making reference Bridle Gossip, The Cutie Pox, and Hearts & Hooves Day.
  
  b. Sweetie Belle's development for magic, which we’ve seen introduced in One Bad Apple.
• Beyond just the characters and story, the animation’s very fluid. There are no distracting glitches, either, nor does it cause any plot holes. My most favorite animation scene in this episode was this.
  
  
  
  By using very minimal light while the Cutie Mark Crusaders were huddling, it tells the audience how close they are spatially. Because there isn’t a lot of space for the sun to penetrate, not only does the huddle look very realistic, but the background gets really pushed back.

But with the strengths come the flaws.

• The stupid Spikabuse at the end. He makes so many nachos…but when everyone left, his cooking is wasted? This shit’s irritating, writers!
• The story sometimes tends to tell instead of show. Because of its simplicity, there’s a lot of dialogue, so the screentime tends to come with moments or ideas that tend to be exposited or reiterated, such as Apple Bloom telling off Scootaloo for her posing. When you tell a lot, you risk three things.
  
  a. Losing investment of your audience. Telling will often make your audience feel bored and want to flip the channel, and due to humor being in patches, this is the perfect recipe to make them decide what else to watch.
  
  b. Dissolving any form of tension. Surprisingly, TT doesn't get to that point.
  
  c. Hinting of a very wonky pace. While it's solid, the timeskip is the only place where the pace is truly a problem.
  
  Cut down the redundancies. Let the animation and a couple of quips do the trick.
• The continuity is really awkward. Twilight Time is officially the fifteenth episode this season, and Twilight has basically been there since MMC. To have the classmates behave obsessively this late during the season doesn’t make so much sense. Plus, Twilight has lived in Ponyville for over a year, so she is well-known throughout the community. Surely, if they became obsessed, they’d do so much sooner. If Twilight Time was the fourth or fifth episode and have Flight to the Finish relocated to TT’s slot instead, then the timing would’ve made more sense.
• Despite being structurally sound, Twilight Time doesn’t have the oomph to make it stand out. In Rarity Takes Manehattan, you have the atmosphere, uniqueness of Suri taking advantage of Rarity’s generosity, the somber reprise, and so on. Because of its bold message and mature conflict, there were golden opportunities to get invested, and Polsky capitalized it. And there were many great big moments as well as fantastic smaller ones.
  
  Here, you don’t get that. It’s a tame episode, which isn’t bad by any means, but RTM has the strength for the viewer to recall the episode once just to get you invested. But since TT’s in "play-it-safe" mode, the moments often get overlooked. You’ll have to watch it at least twice to recall the best and your favorite moments. The big moments don't shine so much, while the smaller ones do.
• The week-long time skip skips too quickly. You have a week full of events confined to two scenes. Because of this, the time skip is empty and does nothing to capture the audience’s attention. It's filler. If there was something like a montage song, a couple of more events, and/or even Twilight stopping by to visit, then the CMCs’ newfound celebrity status — in their standards — could be more impactful.
• Although Twilight Sparkle’s status is in the center of the story, there isn’t so much expansion. You don’t get into that much depth for what she does as an alicorn princess beyond simply being the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ mentor. She just becomes a celebrity and keeps her personality in check. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and script tell us about her status, and we’ve seen a duty or two already from her. However, we don’t get to see it go into even more depth. Her other duties get glossed over in favor of simply her title and status. In other words, you don’t get to see the potential and may have to rely on Princess Twilight Sparkle, Castle Mane-ia, and maybe the finale to see her new role fully fledged out. Again, Polsky and crew play it really safe, cluing in how they don't really know what to do with her.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t falter the structure quality as well as the nuances that make Twilight Time stand out as one of the best episodes this season. With great characterization, a simple story, and a great conflict, the Cutie Mark Crusaders take a half-page from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s book and become classmate celebrities. Their classmates want to absorb in the fun, so they tag along, and the CMCs play themselves into corner after corner after corner. Simultaneously, they never were stupid — just naïve. And they were all competent, too. Twilight’s characterization balances out her love for learning with a more lax outlook. Altogether, Twilight Time is a story that will depend on your tastes, but its overall quality stands out, thus competing with The Cutie Mark Chronicles as the best or second-best CMC-centric episode to date.

@, You're really comparing apples to oranges on several aspects.

Twilight's psychosis in 'Lesson Zero'

Twilight's loyalty to Celestia and will to perform at her very best puts her under intense pressure as a student, and she always wants to impress her because she doesn't want to look embarrassed before her. Also, she was VERY organized, stubborn, and punctual to a major fault. Lesson Zero culminated this by forgetting to put one VERY important thing on her checklist that she'd submitted on time or early every single week. Twilight's sudden overreaction made total sense because in-character continuity reinforced it without being so forced; she had the right personality, work ethic, and development of characterization up to that point. Therefore, her response was very in character.

Fluttershy's fears in 'Hurricane Fluttershy' and 'Filli Vanilli'

Fluttershy is an extremely different case. She has stage fright, which is a psychological phobia that can literally eat through someone's nerves and overall personality if left unchecked. If succumbed to the intense pressure, then she can have a very nervous breakdown. She's not just shy. She's psychologically injured.

In Hurricane Fluttershy, her stage fright was enforced by the extremely bullying she received as a filly and the graphic animation, and the laughing broke her down into a fit. She tried to skirt out of her civic duty because she felt worthless and will crumble under the pressure. Although she got over it partially, stage fright isn't something to quickly break through, and it was was front and center again in Filli Vanilli because her internal conflict holds her back from showing off a closeted passion. When she screwed up, she broke down. She feels more comfy now; yet, it's still not all there.

Pinkie's breakdown in 'Party of One'

Pinkie Pie's actions are reinforced by her personality, in-character activity, purpose, and morals. The Bearer of Laughter is a gigantic workaholic, spending plenty of time working in Sugarcube Corner and preparing countless events, jokes, and parties for ponies throughout Ponyville to laugh and spend casual quality time. Also, she parties not to make herself happy, but to make others happy. When she makes others happy, she is happy. So when the Remane Five (her closest friends) sloppily excuse themselves from attending Gummy's after-birthday party, Pinkie gets suspicious. Then their sneaking around Ponyville, suspicious dialogue, and constant hiding reinforce her hypothesis of them not wanting anything to do with her anymore. It makes her feel worthless, causing her to mentally break down before Act 2 concluded.

AJ has shown this overprotective/overbearing trait in 'Bridle Gossip', 'Call of the Cutie', 'The Cutie Pox', and 'Apple Family Reunion'.

A few big differences, too.

In Bridle Gossip, AJ defended Apple Bloom because she didn't trust Zecora's attitude and cryptic rhyming. That said, AJ was just as out of character there as the others. Her rationality and stubbornness were replaced by irrational assumptions, mean-spirited unlikeability, incompetence, and stupidity. I don't defend her actions there, I certainly won't here in StWOM.

In Call of the Cutie and The Cutie Pox, Applejack had a good reason to be worried. The former had Apple Bloom being obsessed with getting her cutie mark, and she was being bullied for being a "blank flank." The Cutie Pox revolved around her getting too many cutie marks, and she was feeling sick.

Apple Family Reunion was about preparing for a grand reunion. What she did wasn't stubbornness, pampering, or whatever. It was about putting a layout that is WAY too grand for everyone's liking, and her plans and excitement clouded her judgment. When she realized she screwed up, she learned her lesson; rectified it; and had a memorable time, after all.

As far as StWOM is concerned, there are three big details exposited during the story, something I see overlooked way too much already.

1. In Act 1, AJ presented her with a scroll featuring a long set of chores and reminders for her to do. Apple Bloom completed everything. She doesn't have to fully monitor Sweet Apple Acres, as they were already done by the time the others departed. Even if something bad happened, she has lived with them for so long that she should know what to do in case of an emergency.
2. Once the chores were done, Apple Bloom didn't have to be at Sweet Apple Acres. She could do whatever she wished, such as explore Ponyville, eat some lunch, play with SB and Scootaloo, and even visit some of her older friends like Rarity and Twilight. She did all her chores and was punctual about them.
3. Big Mac and AJ weren't going to be gone for very long. At the very beginning, Granny Smith said she was allowed to live at alone alone through the afternoon. That means anywhere from six to ten hours depending on the route, conflict, time of delivery, and so on. AJ and Big Mac are prepared for their traveling in case of an emergency, hence the equipment featured in Act 3. They wouldn't have gone unless they knew what they were doing. They were returning by a little past nightfall.

Applejack has known AB since pretty much the day she was born. AJ knows AB has been without a guardian for stretches of time for a while. Bridle Gossip, Cutie Mark Chronicles, Family Appreciation Day, Ponyville Confidential, One Bad Apple, Twilight Time, etc. AJ knows she's been with other fillies or by herself several times up to this point. And Apple Bloom isn't a newborn foal in preschool. AJ trusts AB; AB trusts AJ. AJ and AB can cooperate very well. She KNOWS AB is pretty mature for her age, can care for herself, and shouldn't fret, if their relationship in Sisterhooves Social holds any water. Some of the reminders and chores that were (supposed to be) on the lists were so mundane, it was obvious she was going to be out of character from the start. (As they trekked in Act 1, AJ wanted to put on the list a reminder that in order to get a spoon out of the drawer, Apple Bloom needs to open the drawer first.) And then to make it worse, AJ's out-of-characterization was reinforced by a combination of extreme incompetence and stupidity, an ingredient that doesn't a high-quality story make.

If you're going to dial up a trait, make sure it's established; back it up with a very good reason; and don't make the affected character look like an incompetent idiot. If Applejack saw Apple Bloom do something that could've gotten her badly injured or killed if she didn't save her, you would give her some incentive for her over-pampering. If this closely followed Call of the Cutie, then you can reinforce Bridle Gossip and fix this issue of logic and characterization. But many instances of AJ's protection then occurred during seasons one and two, and she had very good reasons for them. Not to mention, up until somewhere like Dragonshy or even the end of the pilot, many of these characters were somewhat blank slates. We're now in Season 4; these characters are established and have grown tremendously since the pilot. You can't just create a new light switch or outlet without knowing how to correctly handle the circuit.

As an Applejack fan myself, Applejack in Somepony to Watch Over Me isn't Applejack. It's Twilight in Season 1 with extreme stupidity, incompetence, and no objectively good reason to write her behavior off like this.

Did you not get that Applejack is the queen of OOC behavior?

I know. When Applejack was out of character then, I was quick to point that out. (I voiced serious displeasure over her flanderization/out-of-characterization in Spike at Your Service, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Falls.) Likewise, her poor characterization here deserves the same flak.

Currently, I really don't like this one. The fiery swamp and chimera were a sweet treat as far as the animation and visuals are concerned, and Scootaloo's "No time for a song" was definitely a hilarious poke at the show. But the first two acts were really grating. Applejack has not behaved like this towards Apple Bloom, who has been without her family (most of it) during stretches of time, since Bridle Gossip. (Then again, BG had everyone out of character, if not seriously unlikeable.) If this happened somewhere after Bridle Gossip (maybe two episodes after Call of the Cutie), then AJ's stupid stick and constantly annoying pampering of AB would have some weight. Here, it really doesn't fit not just AJ's character, but also her and AB's growth since the pilot.

At this point, I'm placing this as my third-least-favorite episode of the season, in front of Flight to the Finish and Rainbow Falls.

DaReaper/Clarity.

^__^

DaQiviut.

Echoing @ and @ above. Trixie is my favorite (in fact, one of my FIM favorite characters, period), and the main reason was how Boast Busters was executed. She was presented to be unlikeable, but the Mane Six's out-of-character, unlikeable behavior counteracted the intention, doing nothing but making her appear very sympathetic. The fact that her trailer got destroyed simply solidified my like for her (and later the beginning of a massive pro-Trixie fanbase that I'm proudly a part of ).

Lightning Dust, simply for being more likeable. She desires to be the best and wants to do it in the way she feels fits her. While we know what she did was wrong, she doesn't see that, so it puts her into a serious gray area. Suri Polomare is a manipulative bitch who knows what she did was wrong just to advance in the world of fashion in any way possible. She's realistic in her own right, but we were supposed to hate her, and it succeeded.

Yup! I tend to watch plenty of them, and they're integral, too. I make an impression after watching it for the first time, rewatch it to formulate a better opinion, and then watch a few analysis videos to see their views. Usually, they don't change my opinion unless their analyses give a very great reason for me to do so, all having to do with how the episodes are constructed with their points in mind. And before I think or rethink, I tend to watch the episode or look at the transcript (either on the FIM Wiki or unofficial .doc) to see if they have a point. If the reasons are solid, they may not influence my opinion (and they usually don't), but it may influence the episode's objective quality. If they don't, they're subject to the typical bite that my comments tend to have.

I watch a few people in the analysis community: Mr. Enter, Tommy Oliver, DigiBro, Voice of Reason, and Dr. Wolf. I prefer my episode or FIM analyses to be more matter-of-fact, to the point, and blunt, whether I agree with them or not. When there's so much extraneous humor padding the review or analysis, it feels like a sitcom (my second-most hated TV genre outside of reality TV) instead, and it's a waste of time.

Also, as a member of the analysis community from the written half, it's very important to see good quality analyses released online (which they do plenty of the time). It's fun and hobby-like to dissect the episodes, but there's a much deeper purpose than that. Friendship Is Magic built itself a set of quality standards, and one of its purposes is to make sure they abide by them. If the episodes are good, then praise them. But if they suck, then it's important to criticize them (and if screwing up in such a way that it becomes insulting, VERY harshly!). I'm in it because I like FIM and desire to see it reach to its fullest potential.

I think that you're a good analyst and all, but don't you ever feel like you ruin an episode for yourself sometimes?

Honestly, despite my harsh standards, I feel FIM deserves it for what it presents to me: a commitment to putting forth quality entertainment to the masses. I'm firm with my standards because people, especially children, need entertainment that treats them with dignity, competence, and respect; and it's important for me to keep those standards nice and strict.

I mean, I doubt you dislike the episode, but don't you feel like you're sometimes too harsh?

I mean this with all due respect, and I'm not saying "Oh, it's bad stop doing it," I'm just wondering.

I actually don't hate this episode (yet), but I don't like this episode, either (yet). IAEBB feels very run-of-the-mill, and despite being a very simple storyline…I'm emotionally confused with what was presented and its quality. I'm going for, at least, one more rewatch just to get a firm grasp of it.

@@ghostfacekiller39, Rarity's moment with the shiny coat isn't out of character. It just comes across as unnecessary.

Some things about this episode:

1. The design of the Breezies were wonderful. I didn't like them to start with, but the image yesterday gave me a much better perspective on them from their design. Seeing them up close today only shows how good their designs are.

2. Loved Seabreeze. He was an apprehensive jerk, but for a very good reason.

3. Really enjoyed the worldbuilding.

4. The M6 breezies were quite cute.

5. Loved how Fluttershy scolded the bees and told them to buzz off!

6. Like KCaFO, Fluttershy didn't need to overcome her shyness, but this time was about knowing when it's time to be firm and know when it's time for them to go.

7. The swearing in breezie language was too funny. XD

8. Excellent callback to Sonic Rainboom in the Intro, but feels fresh so it doesn't distract the audience.

Some problems I had here:

1. Plenty of the humor was very mechanical, relying on poor comedic timing and forced dialogue to get the humor when it wasn't needed.

2. Rarity's moment of humor (the reflective coats) was quite forced and didn't amount to anything.

3. Outside of Fluttershy, Twilight, Dash, the breezies, Seabreeze, and Spike, I wasn't really feeling the dialogue. Not that it was out of character or flanderized, but…I don't know. Unnatural, maybe? Mechanical?

4. The Breezie!M6 was cute, but the process was a major DEM.

After another couple of viewings, I'll get a better perspective, but right now, it doesn't completely click.

The one thing I really don't like about IAEBB at this point is the DEM. It came way out of nowhere with little to no fluid connection to the plot and acted like a fixer upper to end the script. One person on EQD said the breezies need to be in a large enough group to travel, but that throwaway only cheapened the ending more.

Number two on my list is the mechanical dialogue and humor. Instead of the humor coming across naturally, plenty of it was forced through. Plenty of the dialogue also felt pretty unnatural.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1DpUmJzNzJZ

Once more, another Thomas & Friends narration from me, this time my all-time favorite from Series 3, Henry's Forest.

ETA: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0FV8HEPlZCF

Another one, narrating Whistles & Sneezes!

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Q2jYdwGkYc Again with the fake British (presumably Liverpool/Scouse, but I'm unsure) twinge like my short clip from before, narrating the Thomas & Friends story, Trouble in the Shed. (Blame my computer for the clippings. )

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0QrOJqER5m7

Say hello to MY voice!

(I recommend lowing your speaker/earphone volume, I'm afraid. My voice can be a bit too "boom-y." ^^

———

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1h12L0sYA7b Anyone want to hear my voice again, but with a slight, fake British accent? (Acting as if I was narrating Trouble for Thomas/Thomas and the Trucks.)

I think that you are taking that scene way too seriously than the writers did. It wasn't meant to be a serious scene, It was just meant to be a comic relief scene. The CMC freaking out wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

Again, just because it's "comedy" doesn't means it's funny.

Er, not necessarily. Check out this conversation she sparked on Twitter that week.

Re-read the Tweet. "Blame Larson!" was a jab at the "Thanks, Larson" meme. Larson admitted to not having any role this season.

You call making death threats and accusing her of taking away their waifu "criticism?"

I've seen that Tumblr.

• There's no concrete evidence to what he said. Personally, I've seen only one user go out and fully attack and staff from this. Just by the date he registered and his handle, that user was a troll, because he didn't come back. (Not linking the Twitter because the language is VERY NSFW.)
• On your end, "take away their waifu" is an ad hominem and a very ignorant one at that. The real reason Flash Sentry isn't so welcomed is the fact that he isn't a character. He's a plot device. There's little personality to go by. Doing something and having things don't dictate characterization. And since one-dimensional personalities are frowned upon by FIM's roots, it makes Flash look unappealing and boring.
• The Tumblr post does nothing to help his own opinion through several things:

   

  a. Embellishing his point just to make his own opinion look better (when in actuality, makes him look stupid).

   

  b. Use of "butthurt," an inherently homophobic and sexist ad hominem (and passively a threat of sexual assault).

   

  c. Use of "sperglord," (just like "spaghetti") a code term used from the slimiest corners of the 'Net to slander people with mental deficiencies.

   

  d. Use of the word "cunt," a very sexist slur disparaging women.

   

  One user from here called him out twice for his idiocy. And honestly, in that whole Tumblr chain, he's the only one there to use his brain, and his opinion trumps everyone else there.

3) Most bronies nowadays are so caught up in their fantasies and headcanons that they perceive every move made under her watch to automatically ruin the show, even if it wasn't her decision. Equestria Girls. Twilicorn. The Royal Wedding. Those were mainly Hasbro's decision to advertise the relevant toy lines. Marketed towards the kids. The actual target audience. In layman's terms, they're acting like complete fucking morons.

A few things.

• "The show is going against their headcanons" is a terrible strawman. The fandom, for the most part, doesn't give a damn about "headcanon" or not. Luna Eclipsed "destroyed" the "headcanons," but it was written so well, no one cared.

   

  Anytime this strawman is slung, I'm reminded of this: "You hate Twilicorn/EQG because you hate change." Just like this one, the "headcanon" strawman is daft on its own. If it's good, they won't care. If not, they will.

   

  The Royal Wedding, Twilicorn, and EQG weren't done well.

   

  A Canterlot Wedding: a complete blast to watch, very funny, and well-scored. But the pacing was very sloppy. Cadance and Shining Armor are presented flatly. The Sidekick Five were stuck to the sideline most of the time. The characters behaved with the Idiot Ball inside their craniums instead of a working brain (SA's hypnosis at the ceremony is very awkward in the FIM setting; Celestia was out of character). Overall, a very average two-part episode.

   

  *Magical Mystery Cure: You think Keep Calm and Flutter On was rushed. MMC amplified that by cramming two gigantic concepts into twenty minutes. Twilight, for one, was undergoing a completely radical change. An alicorn princess represents not just the power they hold already, but the responsibility of said power. What they say and do affects everyone's lives, and Twilight was ascending to not just a new race, but also a new social class status. Doing so changes not just her physical outlook, but environmental, too. This means you have to execute it well. It wasn't. MMC is personally enjoyable, but a bad episode. If it was good, then the whole Twilicorn debate would've been over before this thread came into existence.

   

  *Besides the lame PR Hasbro assigned her, McCarthy doesn't get the blame aside from the editing. That's on Hasbro for coming up with the terrible concept and Larson for failing to deliver.

   

  EQG: To put it mildly, it's a lazy, soulless movie that insults the roots of FIM and MLP entirely. The very sharp criticism EQG, Hasbro, and DHX received was deserving. Hasbro for coming up with a completely new toyline disguised as FIM. DHX for not showing soul. EQG for being insultingly bad.

   

  Never pull this inane strawman again. It kills your opinion right off the bat.

• For better or worse, executive meddling is a very big problem in family TV. Hasbro has a very mixed record of such. Some things did better, some haven't. But when they're done badly, they're done badly. They're infamous for sticking their noses in past MLP generations, Transformers, GI Joe, etc. Not all the results were good. Their decisions in MLP nearly killed the franchise. Therefore, you should expect many people to feel very apprehensive of whatever meddling Hasbro does, especially ones that can damage a now popular franchise like FIM.

   

  (Although Hasbro behaves like a toy company, they're not just a toy company anymore. They're a toy/media hybrid.)

   

  That said, it doesn't matter what executive meddling Hasbro does. When you have an assignment, you must deliver it well and give it enough justice for it to be a respectable addition to the respective franchises. Just because the higher-ups meddle in DHX's business gives them no excuse to be sloppy in their work. You have aspects of the brony community like the review and analysis ones unwilling to give the writers a pat on the back if they fail to deliver successfully.

   

  If the episodes are good, then the team (from the writer to the editor — McCarthy today, Renzetti in seasons one and two — to the rest of DHX) deserves the praise it gets. That's why you have humungous praise for episodes like Lesson Zero, Sleepless in Ponyville, Party of One, Return of Harmony, Hurricane Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pride.

   

  But if the work is very poorly done (Daring Don't, EQG, Spike at Your Service, Dragon Quest, Boast Busters, Bridle Gossip, MMMystery, Owl's Well), then the team deserves to be slammed, especially if they do a TERRIBLE job with sensitive subjects like racism in Bridle Gossip and bullying in One Bad Apple. Why? Because they — the reviewers, analysts, critics — have standards, know the team can deliver better, expect them to improve on their errors next time, and better research the subjects. If it's a sensitive one, you can't afford to screw up; otherwise, it's counterproductive and may unfortunately enforce those vile ideals.

   

  Despite being a major critic of the Twilicorn, reverting her back to a unicorn is a terrible idea: The last thing the writers needed to do was nullify the progress she made and deliver an obvious mea culpa. Season four was the grand opportunity for them to prove to everyone that her toyetic ascension was worthy. Instead, we're fifteen episodes in, and Twilight Time is the first episode since Castle Mane-ia to truly exploit it. (Power Ponies and Three's a Crowd keep it confined to the background.) Besides Flight to the Finish (for she wasn't even in the episode), her status is ignored and sometimes pretended it doesn't exist. Because she's in a much higher social class now, ignoring it is completely nonsensical. Previously, despite the Mane Six saving the day several times, you could buy it in a way because they each blended in society. But Twilight's status sticks her out like a sore thumb. That's bad writing, and the continued annoyance over them ignoring her status when she's a secondary or tertiary character is deserving. 

• Marketed towards the kids. The actual target audience.

  The FIM toys are marketed towards kids, but the comics and TV show are marketed to all ages. Not just kids, but adults, too. There's no set demographic for the show beyond the base. But the target audience is NOT kids and never will be kids: They're not the ones who'll buy them. FIM's true target audience is any older guardian of children who has an affordable income. And there are plenty of people here who are guardians, so you can figure out the rest there.

   

  EQG's target audience (both the movie and toys) remains the same, but not the market audience; they're marketed to adolescent/tween girls.

   

  Market audience is to attract someone/make them want it, but a target audience is to sell to someone/make them buy it. Far too many people in this fandom don't know the difference, and you're one of them.

   

  But for the sake of it, let's say it IS "for kids." Just because it's written for a base market doesn't give professionals the excuse to not deliver. This was one of the big reasons why Faust helped direct the show in season one and first half of the second: to prove to adults, especially parents of young girls, that the graphics may look saccharine, but still treats the audience young and old with respect.

   

  Any good product worth our time doesn't insult the audience; anytime it does, it deserves the scorn. "Audience" is no excuse for the bad delivery of a product's quality nor Hasbro's decisions to plug in bad toyetic concepts. By using the "audience" trap to excuse EQG's effort, the Twilicorn, and Hasbro's decisions, you're calling FIM an inherently weak product. It's also a major double standard that marginalizes one of the biggest reasons why this show is popular across generational boundaries.

   

  I've seen the copout admitted to be used in practice by the pros themselves for other franchises, like 4Kids for their dubbed anime, HiT Entertainment for Thomas & Friends (Series 8-16), and several Disney movies in the 1990s/2000s (Home on the Range, many of the Direct-to-DVD Disney flicks like Cinderella II and Pocahontas II, Chicken Little). Look at how bad they turned out to be.

So many fans are so butthurt that "their" show is being ruined because of the kids. Well I got news for you, folks. It was never "your" show to begin with.

• Earlier, I called out that Tumblr blog for throwing around the word "butthurt." By using that gay slur yourself, you're telling people you have no credibility in your argument and can do nothing except shoot them down via ad hominems and other ignorant fallacies.
• Once more, "audience" is no excuse for bad production.
• You know why there were plenty of people who were uncertain and/or hopeless for FIM's future following season three? Two reasons:

   

  a. Season three wasn't very up to snuff. It's the weakest of them all because the writing quality wasn't there. There was plenty of lackluster characterization outside of a spare few, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo two of the bright spots. Several bold concepts were rushed on through or used poorly: the half-assed "one-size-fits-all" glove for stamping out bullying in One Bad Apple, Discord's crammed redemption in KCaFO, and MMC's crammed writing throughout.

   

  b. Because Hasbro's toyetic decisions weren't meshing well with the series. EQG was in no way, shape, or form a good quality movie. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying to themselves. You have people like me who hate this movie (and spinoff altogether) for the bad writing, spitting on the pro-feminist roots of FIM, and lying about how FIM-related it is. It was so transparent, you're bound to get plenty of people angry.

• There is a big reason why the fandom sustained its size. Because people young and old saw a cartoon with plenty of charm that not only doesn't follow the tropes that scale the quality backwards, but also critiques it in a way that's understandable for both kids and adults (critiquing not just the common cultures that harm children in TV, but also the executive meddling process like Suited for Success). But when very toyetic directions like the Twilicorn and EQG all but shake up the direction of the show (and, canonically, is supported) and do it so poorly, that hurts FIM's integrity, severs the trust of plenty of people in this fandom, and sends mixed messages to the younger generation.

   

  (EQG may be a separate entity from the main series, but it's canon, and RR will also be canon.)

   

  Professional entertainment isn't just entertainment; claiming so is delusional. They're culture statements. Whatever they publish sends messages to society about what types of cultures — good or bad — they embrace and discourage. FIM was about dispelling hurtful cultures, and that's important because kids are notoriously influenced by what they see and hear. Parents are going to catch that and will decide the entertainment and products for them.

   

  The Twilicorn started off badly, but Season 4 gave the team the chance to make it work. So far, it's unconvincing, because the team either ignores it or tells it far too late in self-contained, TS-centered episodes. (It's still not too late for it to fully work, though.)

   

  EQG embraces an antifeminist culture in the writing (the main selling point), the concept, and especially the awful toyline. The market audience for FIM is sensitive enough. EQG's even more so because tween girls hit puberty at this stage. Any responsible parent would watch over them and smartly judge whether those tween-friendly products are right for them. The movie is inappropriate for its root-bashing tendencies and bad writing. The toys are dangerous partly because the dolls aren't just skinny, but scarily skinny. The dolls send VERY sexist messages, and that pushes society two steps back.

   

  Just because it's FIM-related doesn't make it good.

   

  What would help it instead? A full-length, well-made FIM movie that attracts people of all ages regardless of gender, age, or culture. FIM isn't just "for kids" or "for kids and adults sitting side by side." It's for anyone, age and sex be damned, even if they're willing to watch it alone. FIM is family-friendly for all ages and enjoyable for everyone, so have the team develop a high-quality Flash movie centering on the ponies and developing them via very strong, unique, well-executed storytelling concepts.

   

  Smaller toyetic decisions or ones that enhance the FIM canon are fine. Toyetic decisions from the marketing department that cause major plot contrivances are not.

   

  The fandom is passionate for the product, and they don't want to see dumb decisions hurt the product and segregate the demographics. As poor the wording it is, they know FIM isn't "their" show. "Their show" means the entire audience. Every single member of the audience matters. When one voice is lost, the compass weakens in strength. The "audience" trap that you and so many other people here use in this forum is a good way of telling kids, "Eat up this crap." That's harmful to all family-friendly products out there, including FIM, and disrespects the art forms of reviewing and media entertainment as a whole. Family, all-ages entertainment — and aforementioned toys, if applicable — needs to treat people young and old with intelligence and competence. It needs to be put under higher standards, not lower; one way to enforce those high standards is to never use the main demographics as an excuse for quality again.

What does this have to do with some people criticizing (and for others, disparaging) McCarthy's effort?

Some of their actions weren't excusable the slightest. Be critical all you want, even if it's harsh. Any of the non-trolls who slandered McCarthy (if they exist, which I'm sure do somewhere) are problematic. But your posts in this thread don't help the matter, and liberally using the slur "fanbrat" doesn't make yourself look better, either. By using logical fallacies, the common traps that passively excuse bad writing and overall production quality, the double standard that undermines the growth of this fandom, a Tumblr post with prejudiced and libelous language, use of "fanbrat," and a homophobic ad hominem, you slaughtered your own opinion and silenced your own voice in this thread. By contrast, you only strengthened those who don't like McCarthy's direction and gave them more fuel because they see you as someone who has no clue what he's talking about, is just as bad as those who disparaged McCarthy, or is even worse than them. They'll laugh at you because your ill-informed viewpoint made yourself (and by principle, every single person who brohoofed your posts in this thread) look clueless. Your posts aided in dividing and fracturing the fandom, not uniting them. That's very counterproductive.

There is nothing endearing or funny about this. This poor kid was stuck and wanted to get out…and the teacher records him and mocks him?! There are NO excuses for what the teacher said and did (more like not do). The poor boy didn't deserve the abuse, and her evil only proved why some parents refuse to enroll their autistic children to school.

But what's even more shameful is the fact that the parents interviewed at the end defended her and made light of the allegations. Those three shouldn't be parents for being so clueless, especially the third one. What she didn't WASN'T putting light in the situation. It was bullying, and there are NO EXCUSES FOR BULLYING!

This news disgusted me. Shame on the teacher for bullying, and shame on the principal and three "parents" for enabling it.

The rare times it does come up though I never really refer to myself as a brony. I don't do enough in the community to be even remotely considered a brony. I watched the shows and ogle fanart. That's about it.