Thrond

"It Isn't the Mane Thing About You" - Give this better jokes and you have a season 1 episode. Which, to be clear, is a compliment, as the show hasn't felt like this in years. It could also perhaps use a better main conflict, but even as is, I can imagine this actually pretty great if it only had better comedic timing; it avoids the cringe comedy one would expect from this premise. Rarity's also a little off, to be honest, but everything from the climax forward is absolutely aces. I'd be kinder to a lot of episodes if they ended as well as this one did. 

New MLP movie trailer, new sigh from me. Not really sure what you lot are seeing in this. 

"Daring Don't" - I think this actually has some of the better worldbuilding in the show, but it also mistakes constant loud expository chatter for jokes, Daring Do comes across as bland and tediously morose, and the plot is severely undercooked. The dialogue is constantly repeating the episode's themes, but then it cops out of actually dealing with the ideas it set up. This story is about nothing. And why call a character "Somnambula" if she never actually sleepwalks?

Easily the worst Daring Do episode so far. 

To me, the problem with calling any My Little Pony shipping "basically canon" - i.e., close enough to hypothesize that those characters would be in a relationship if the suits permitted it - is that almost all friendships in the show are highly affectionate in ways which inevitably contradict each other. I'd say a few episodes lean more heavily into that than others - "Fall Weather Friends," "Hurricane Fluttershy," "Rarity Investigates!" and "Discordant Harmony" being great examples - but simply because friends in this show tend to regard each other so fondly, it's easy to find ammunition for anything. Which is part of why the LyraBon part of "Slice of Life" wasn't enough, even beyond it being a compromise at best: with romance in this show, there's plausible deniability unless you say it out loud. Do Lyra and Bon Bon really act that differently from other character pairings in this show? I don't think so. And the same is true of any other ship in the show, aside from the hetero pairings which are explicitly stated to have a romantic attraction. We wouldn't have shipping without people using moments in the show to justify themselves, but I think it's silly to suggest your ship of choice is "canon." 

I really don't understand how people can criticize the first Equestria Girls for being cliched and generic and then go on to praise the "Dance Magic" special. 

To be honest, everything which has happened since makes me think I was too hard on "Friendship Games." 

I still think the season 6 finale was both Trixie and Starlight's best showing. 

I'm still confuse as to why "feels like an earlier season" is used as a complaint. Earlier seasons were a lot more entertaining than the episodes usually accused of being like them. 

"To Change a Changeling" - This is really boring storywise - the ponies seem to only be here to mess everything up, and I don't know how the changelings even got the idea they didn't need to defend themselves. Wasn't Thorax inspired by seeing ponies fighting Chrysalis? That's self-defense if I've ever seen it. Plus, I don't really understand what Starlight and Trixie are supposed to have learned from this, and I don't find either particularly relatable here. Good thing Trixie and Pharynx are frequently hilarious, though, and Thorax is still adorable every time he appears. 

I've seen enough people denying the Apple parents are dead that I have a hard time feeling "The Perfect Pear" depicted the issue as well as it could have. 

And if kids can't handle that... I dunno, I just don't like the show reminding me of its restrictions. 

"Campfire Tales" - Has almost nothing to do with why I watch the show, and I didn't find these stories very interesting on their own merits, but it is nice to see some different scenery, and the action scenes mostly keep the episode afloat. Plus, the framing story is mostly a wash. Has its moments, but not super exciting, which is rather disappointing. 

Still waiting for a second Rarity/Rainbow Dash team up tbh. 

Spike episodes, ranked: 

1. The Times They Are a Changeling
2. Dragon Quest
3. Inspiration Manifestation
4. Secret of My Excess
5. Equestria Games
6. Just for Sidekicks
7. Gauntlet of Fire
8. Owl's Well That Ends Well
9. Triple Threat
10. Spike At Your Service
11. Princess Spike

"Triple Threat" - Rather predictable, so I found the tension a little dull, but there's a lot of cute and funny moments in here, and all the characterization is spot-on. Thorax is the best, Ember is pretty funny, and watching Spike stressing out about a task which he's still very new to is sympathetic and enjoyable, although I'm a weirdo who finds it inherently fun to watch these characters panicking about governance. Plus, Twilight yet again is allowed to be quirky, which is a plus. Wish I liked Starlight, though. 

So does anyone else really wanna learn more about Princess Cadance's backstory, or is that just me? 

I keep trying to get on board with the MLP movie's visual style, but it always just looks off to me. Does anyone else feel this way? 

There's an almost sitcom-ish feel to some season 1-4 episodes that I really miss, where the main characters hung out in simple situations and humour was derived from their character interactions. I wish the show had more of that in recent years. 

Current ranking for the seventh season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:

1. "A Flurry of Emotions" - 93/100
2. "The Perfect Pear" - 83/100
3. "A Royal Problem" - 83/100
4. "Parental Glideance" - 80/100
5. "Discordant Harmony" - 80/100
6. "Not Asking for Trouble" - 63/100
7. "Rock Solid Friendship" - 60/100
8. "Celestial Advice" - 50/100
9. "Forever Filly" - 48/100
10. "Fame and Misfortune" - 45/100
11. "Honest Apple" - 40/100
12. "All Bottled Up" - 38/100
13. "Fluttershy Leans In" - 35/100
14. "Hard to Say Anything" - 25/100

I've been very confused lately as to why I'm so much less fond of season 7 than seemingly everyone else. There must just be something about this season's humour which others dig a lot more than I do. 

Did not enjoy "Fame & Misfortune." The last thing we needed was another episode where the conflict is driven by characters being unsympathetic and annoying. Also, am I wrong, or was this actively insulting the fanbase? 

I really hope that MLP continues its recent hot streak, because I'd love nothing more than to completely change my mind about season 7. I don't want to hate it, and I'm glad that I've liked it for four straight episodes now. 

For what it's worth, my own top 5 MLP episodes would be something like "The Best Night Ever," "Lesson Zero," "Hurricane Fluttershy," "Rarity Investigates!," and "A Hearth's Warming Tail." 

People are now calling "The Perfect Pear" the BEST MLP EPISODE EVAH, so I sure hope my contrarian side doesn't ruin that lovely episode for me. Personally, I would have been even more willing to embrace it if it had said the word "dead" even once. 

These Equestria Girls summer shorts still have weird lip flaps, but I've actually liked the last three quite a bit. Seeing where Sunset lives, watching her get a pet, and then getting a little development for Celestia were all great fun, and that last one actually had a little substance to go with its laughs, which is more than I can say for the "Magic" specials. 

Don't really see many more opportunities for MLP's big adventure episodes to have personal conflicts or major character development, so I hope that the season 7 finale has something particularly weird up its sleeve and doesn't just try to top the dark edges and epic action of the past few finales. 

I don't understand what Hasbro is doing with Equestria Girls anymore. I miss Friendship Games.