The Second Opinion

Kind of a silly thing to debate, but seriously, how does nobody want Bulk Biceps to be a pro-wrestler? He was practically born to play the role. And pairing him with Snowdrop? You could have a great Finlay and Hornswoggle-type team right there! Think about it...

Ooo! Ooo! I think I've got a diagram... *fumbles with papers If you think of it like a line with each friend closest to the ones on either side of them, from left to right, we have Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. (Then Applejack, you could argue, loops back around for an interesting "polar opposites" relationship with Rarity.) Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, is often in her own world and doesn't firmly fit anywhere, though you could argue she's most often just to the left of Rainbow Dash. And Twilight, likewise, is also not fixed at any point, since she's the newest friend, who binds them all closer together, though she most often seems just to the right of Applejack, looping back towards Rarity. ...Thank you. *Takes bow

1. A Canterlot Wedding: Great themes, great visuals, great characterization, and good pacing that brings it all to a very satisfying conclusion, all at the cost of only a couple minor hiccups (like not giving Shining Armor the most convincing introduction). 2. Friendship is Magic: Very underrated. If you went purely by pacing and structure, this would probably have to rank as the best one. Every step builds on the last one, and nearly all the segues are smooth. This is the only time we see Twilight as a loner firsthand, and yet we bear it in mind through the rest of the series, because this episode made her so identifiable and painted such a strong image of her friends gradually pulling her out of it. 3. Return of Harmony: Its strengths are sort of the opposite of FIM. The pacing isn't very good. (Part 1: Discord leads the gang in circles while they put up virtually no fight at all, so we're just waiting for him to finish them. Part 2: Discord waits off to the side while the gang goes about the surprisingly easy task of undoing everything he did and then defeats him.) But it has some of the best individual moments of the entire show. The visual creativity and the obstacles Discord thinks up are knockouts. About equal to FIM. 4. Princess Twilight Sparkle: Much more emotional investment than The Crystal Empire, but part 2 is a little bit of a mess, and the conflict (evil plants) just isn't as interesting as those above. 5. The Crystal Empire: Very good visuals, and it does a great job building the tension bit by bit, but it's all treated much more methodically than the others (and The Failure Song is THE worst). It's the only two-parter that's only good. (I'm not allowed to talk about Twilight's Kingdom yet, so I'm leaving that out, if you were wondering.)

My take is that it's not the story so much as how well you tell it. (Seasons 1 and 2 had their action plots, memes, and references that I had no problem with.) To me, what season 3 lost a lot of, and season 4 was slow to regain, was the genuine sense of inspiration, the fluid storytelling that made the characters feel very organic and fun. And actaully, while you did get a good chunk of my favorite episodes from the past two seasons, you also listed a few I thought were the most guilty of losing that. (One Bad Apple, Magic Duel, Games Ponies Play, Magical Mystery Cure, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Twilight Time...) But then, I was all-in-all pretty satisfied with Season 4 (even if I don't consider it the best), so I might be the wrong one to ask.

Always hard to know if these episdoes actually are overrated/underrated or if you've just heard outlier opinions. But, to the best of my understanding, here're my episodes to complain about being outnumbered on: Underrated: -Friendship is Magic - Still measures up to the best 2-parters. In fact, if you went by sheer pacing and plot structure, it would probably be the best one. -Applebuck Season - The only Applejack episode to explore AND grow her character while weaving it into an entertaining story. So many after this were just pale imitations, playing less like development and more like "Applejack's doing it again!" -Feeling Pinkie Keen - '"There are wonderful things in this world we just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true" = RELIGOUS PROPAGANDA!!!' ...Really? That couldn't possibly be applied to any of the more factual phenomena we don't entirely understand but do exist and once had close-minded figures slowing down progress by claiming they couldn't? You can keep drowning in that, but I'm gonna enjoy the first-rate slapstick. -Over a Barrell - Probably the best one I've seen to weave all 6 characters into one story without really shoving anyone off to the side. Great character moments, a higher-stakes conflict putting everyone to the test, and lots of fun animation. (The climactic pie fight was kind of an odd choice, but nobody complained when Magic Duel turned into a battle of who could show off better.) -May the Best Pet Win - Actually, is anyone underrating this, or was that just a random pair of insanely pessimistic haters? -The Mysterious Mare Do Well - I could go on awhile. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOITwd9IHdw -Family Appreciation Day - Turns out Granny Smith is almost as good at comedy as Pinkie Pie. And her story to the class is one of the show's highlights. -Baby Cakes - Weaves between comedy and characterization with surprising finesse (despite the pig song) -MMMystery on the Friendship Express - Welcome to Pinkie's world, where the conflict is all about dessert villains, all the characters are just a little exaggerated to play off of her, and the animation and one-liners pull no punches, hitting you with full-force comedic creativity. -Keep Calm and Flutter On - I'd rather have Discord with a slightly rushed redemption than not have him at all. And, come on, Discord doing what he does best mixed with Fluttershy taking full possession of her element. What's not to like? -Rainbow Falls - I hate when one character randomly acts stupid for the sake of bad comedy. But everyone at once acting kinda silly and stupid because the story is written with a goofy, carefree tone in mind? I can work with that. -Simple Ways - I kid you not, this hilarious bit of great character interplay, voice acting by Tabith St. Germain, and sharp comedic timing is both my favorite Applejack and my favorite Rarity episode -Filli Vanilli - Remember when Photo Finish, or Rarity, or Fluttershy herself rattled off that stupid, unfunny, obvious line about how the character taking the stage shouldn't be worried, because everyone will be watching them. Sorry, but Pinkie Pie's thing with Fluttershy was a hilarious parody. And Fluttershy finding the joy of performing over the course of the montage is the one and only time I've found her as adorable as her fans seem to. Overrated: -Green isn't Your Color - The used gum of the show. When it's not giving us what Suited for Success already delivered better (Rarity wanting to impress a fashion figure but ultimately proving that she puts her friends first) or weaving the very thin excuse for conflict that is Pinkie Pie's story, it puts every last ounce of energy into hitting us over the head with boring Fluttershy cutesiness. -Sweet and Elite - My first episode, which almost convinced me that the show wasn't worth watching. Pony fashion and friends embarrassing you in front of high society snobs were boring ideas before this show even began. (I guess in that light, it is impressive that this episode just seemed vaguely okay to me, rather than terrible.) -Magic Duel - A Zecora subplot with no point (having her hint at the solution at the end as the excuse), duels that have nothing to do with who can overpower who, and an inexplicable "character arc" for Trixie claiming she wasn't that bad before and wants redemption for no reason at the end. Just passable. -Castle Mane-ia - Great opening, but now you have them in the castle, with no mystery (Twilight explained everything away early on), no danger, and nobody trying to accomplish anything I'm supposed to be invested in? Then... why should I care? -Rarity Takes Manehattan - All the 1-dimensional melodrama of Magical Mystery Cure with none of the high-stakes conflict or payoff as a redeeming factor. -For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils - As much trash as I've talked on this episode, I actually do like it. (Luna ftw!) But Sweetie Belle's depiction was a serious downside.

It might seem inevitable to get a few of these, but I actually think this is a misunderstood episode. (I just did a whole video on why, in fact.)

Totally agree on #3 and mostly agree on #2, although I hardly thought that was the most contrived thing in this story. (The queen's entire plan doesn't really make any sense, if you think about it. She wants Twilight to come to the Changeling Kingdom herself so she and her friends will go through trials, but then she leaves Changelings behind in Ponyville to take over a town for no beneficial reason and attempt to capture Twilight. Then, instead of preparing for Twilight's arrival, she spends all her time messing with the 6 friends, doing just the opposite of "binding them together" and seeming happy whenever something is about to stop them from reaching her kingdom. And why she doesn't just move the cutie mark crusaders to another room is beyond me.) Issue #1 I thought had a LOT of forced comedy, like it was going for "breezy" and "fun-loving" but ended up just plain sloppy half the time. But not so much that I didn't think it was passable. And as a "because why not?" moment, I thought it was more entertaining and satisfying to hear that Spike and Celestia had been fighting invading monsters than it would have been to learn that Celestia was just "away for a few days" or some excuse that's really just code for "come on, nobody wants her to be in the story!" Well, granted, you would have to be careful about legitimately underselling the others that way, making it sound like they're just "not good enough" to figure that out, but it's been done well before. The comet does dodge that bullet by making it a simple case of putting the queen and Twilight in their element (and Rarity, but we've seen with Trixie how that works out), although as a plot device, it does itself no favors by seeming like sort of a rushed Avatar knockoff.