Thrond

I find this episode uniquely unpleasant in a way I can't really put my finger on. There's something about a mob of children crowding Twilight that bothers me significantly, and that these particular kids are far more grating than funny certainly doesn't help. The CMC aren't particularly sympathetic, as they manipulate other ponies and exploit Twilight's status all for personal gain, but Twilight is basically a nonentity. The hayburger scene is fun, and I like seeing how happy she is to teach ponies, but she feels kinda opaque here. She's in a mentor role, so she's partially just there as the voice of reason, which isn't really how I like Twilight. When she's the reasonable one, I want her to be snarky, and I like her most when she's *struggling with something*. Otherwise, she just becomes preachy and kinda boring, and to me this is the start of a trend where she grew less and less interesting all the way to the middle of season 5, where she begins to come across more as perpetually stressed out. I like that the CMC learn to take the high road here, but Twilight comes out entirely unchanged, which is fine, except that she hasn't grown an iota all season. Which again might be fine, except the rest of the episode isn't much fun at all. Goddamn, I do not like this one.

Same old Fluttershy episode with a slightly different context. Okay, sure, having an episode about stage fright is nice and all, but for a while it felt like every Fluttershy episode was about her fear of something. I'm sure that people with stage fright can uniquely relate to this, but it still feels like yet another excuse to have Fluttershy be afraid of something. At times it feels like there's nothing else to her as a character. This is where season 4 really starts to lose me. I don't think Pinkie was intending to be mean, however. I think that writing her this way was a bit of a misstep, as I like to think she's learned to be more sensitive, but I also think the was trying to express sympathy towards Fluttershy even as she went too far. Also, the "don't be ridiculous" joke early on more than justifies the setup.

Trenderhoof is grating, as are Rarity's attempts to impress him, and I feel this episode never really succeeds in what it's going for. I appreciate the "be yourself" deal, but it's not really worth the irritation, and its take on a romantic subplot is the least interesting imaginable for this show. I have a hard time imagining how the show could have had a shallower, more uninteresting subplot, especially given the general lack of humour here. Plus, its take on the Applejack/Rarity dynamic is the same as nearly every Applejack/Rarity episode: bickering up to the very last second, when it actually shows friendliness between the two. Of course, as with most Applejack/Rarity episodes, "Simple Ways" has a great denoument, expressing clearly what it's actually trying to say, which was muddled in the climax, where Applejack and Rarity were taking constant shots at each other, which seems to be the only way they interact with each other half of the time. Not a fan of this one.

It's the usual Rainbow Dash episode thing. I respect what this episode is trying to do with Rainbow Dash, but it makes several mistakes in execution. Here, the problem is that it's all so forced. Why aren't there any other reasonable fliers on Ponyville's team? Why is Twilight being so preachy? Why are the Wonderbolts so manipulative? Why does the episode play out this way? Why did anyone think this was the right way for this episode to go? It makes zero sense that Bulk Biceps, Fluttershy, and Derpy are the ponies considered for the Ponyville team, considering all the more capable and more willing pegasi we've seen earlier in Ponyville, and it's severely detrimental to the main plot, because it makes no sense. I presume the idea is having Rainbow conflicted between loyalty and her dream, but wouldn't it be enough without making staying loyal as unappealing as possible? And wouldn't it be enough without having the Wonderbolts written against the values they ought to represent? Also, why does Twilight have to be so preachy? Couldn't Rainbow Dash have that internal conflict of her own accord? Shouldn't her friends be a little more supportive? I really, really, really want to like this episode, because I adore what it's trying to do, but it's not even all that entertaining. I can't even hate it for that same reason, and its base idea (have Rainbow's loyalty challenged by her ambition), but at some point you need to make sure your narrative makes sense in the context of the series. Seriously, why is this episode like this? I used to really like it, but I don't really find it enjoyable enough any more to make up for its faults. The base character arc with Rainbow Dash is still pretty good, though, and I don't see how this can be called one of the show's worst - it's confusing, but not worthless. Addendum: I guess Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy were the only ponies left for the fast flying team, and maybe it's meant to be encouraging, but wouldn't the episode play better if her team wasn't already repelling her? And was there no way that Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps could have been placed in more appropriate categories? While I'm at it: Presenting the issue as "winning vs. friends" seems like a relatively shallow way to present the conflict. I interpreted it as "dreams vs. loyalty," which is a lot more powerful. And as far as Spitfire is concerned? I get that the theme of this season is the main characters inspiring others, but making Spitfire borderline antagonistic seems like the wrong way to do this. Moreover, I don't see a way that inspiring-through-loyalty can work in this narrative, making me wonder if it would be better placed in a different RD episode. Furthermore, her turnaround is a bit too fast, which again links to this motif not really fitting the conflict, and I think that is the reason why Spitfire's weird villainous characterization is here - because Dash needs someone to teach. Again, I have no idea how that theme could possibly fit this conflict, and it was a serious misstep to try to fit it in. I still don't think the characterization is as off as some people have pointed out - there's a few issues with exaggerating personalities, and most characters are understood somewhat shallowly, but I think they'd be fine if the plot was much leaner and didn't have the weird elements that really undermine it. Of course, one of those things is Spitfire's characterization, but the rest of the mane six are fine in my opinion (I find S4 Pinkie really funny), and although RD is more boastful than she's been previously, I think that the core of her characterization here is on point and reasonable, even if nowhere near as effective as it might have been. I don't hate it, and goddamn do I really, really want to like it, but I don't really think I'll be returning to this, because I had a lot more difficulty finding enjoyment out of it this time. I wanted to be there to say "Hey, this episode is much better than everyone says!", because I used to really like it because of RD's character arc, but so much of it doesn't work that it's difficult to enjoy no matter how much I want to. But maybe my previous fondness for it still holds it up for me, and maybe the sheer amount of hate it gets prevents me from having as negative a reaction to it, but I can't bring myself to say I overtly dislike it. But I certainly get why this episode is so hated now. Most of it just doesn't work, and it's nowhere near entertaining enough to compensate for that. How very frustrating - toss it on the growing pile of episodes from seasons 4-5 that stop working on re-watch.

I find this episode kinda insidious. It pretends to be about short-sightedness and tries to be about peer pressure, but it pushes its pseudo-environmentalist subtext so hard that it feels unbalanced and manipulative. Scenes supposed to depict Applejack's side triggering Fluttershy's anxiety come across as demonizing her, because it leans too heavily into the ethical side of the argument. I find it insufferable, as Applejack has a perfectly fine point about the pests hurting her farm, and Fluttershy only briefly counters that in a reasonable fashion. It fails to be properly nuanced, and that weakens its arguments considerably. I like the episode more when it gets sidetracked by Flutterbat, but then the stinger at the end invalidates the conclusion of that subplot, so it's all pointless anyway. Ugh.

Being apathetic about worldbuilding in this show (especially given that I think the show is rather poor at it), I want the map to have a *purpose* beyond just being a lazy excuse to have two characters in one place. I want it to be explained, and more importantly, I want the characters to question it. When the characters just accept it as important and necessary, it feels like an excuse for plots to happen rather than a legitimate plot device in its own right. Sure, at this point they know that the map is leading them to people with friendship problems, but why didn't they question it before? I'd also like the map episodes to have more to do with characters we actually know and care about. I mean, I like Coriander and Saffron well enough, but I'd be much happier if these episodes didn't seem to sidestep proper character development. For a recurring aspect of the show, the map doesn't feel like it pushes the show forward at all.

She's probably just an alicorn because of genetics. I'm guessing there weren't a lot of alicorns for a rather long time, and those that were there tended not to procreate, so alicorn children would be relatively unheard of. As for being a princess, I would initially assume that it's hereditary, but particularly in Cadance's case, the royal title appears to be linked to some demonstration of virtue, so maybe Flurry doesn't inherit the title unless she proves herself.

I don't think the lack of conflict is a real issue with the episode, but you can *only* pull something like that off if you have something to replace conflict, which "Applejack's 'Day' Off" doesn't really have. It actually has really good AJ characterization, really seeming to understand both what makes her tick and her flaws, which is particularly uncommon for her, and I don't see anything wrong with her characterization at the end - sure, her technique is inefficient, but clearly it used to work, and it doesn't appear to be actively detrimental to the farm, and it fits: once Applejack sets her mind to something, it tends to stick.

Seasons, ranked: S2 > S1 > S3 > S6 > S5 > S4 Episodes, ranked, plus numerical scores: Edit: Incorporated most of the rest of S6. Loved "A Hearth's Warming Tail" -- 10/10 "The Fault in Our Cutie Marks" -- 10/10 "Top Bolt" -- 10/10 "Dungeons & Discords" -- 9/10 "The Times They Are a Changeling" -- 9/10 "The Crystalling" -- 8/10 "The Saddle Row Review" -- 8/10 "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" -- 8/10 "The Gift of the Maud Pie" -- 8/10 "To Where and Back Again" - 8/10 Liked "Flutter Brutter" -- 7/10 "Spice Up Your Life" -- 7/10 "On Your Marks" -- 7/10 "Viva Las Pegasus" -- 7/10 "Gauntlet of Fire" -- 7/10 "Newbie Dash" -- 6/10 Lukewarm/Meh "Every Little Thing She Does" -- 6/10 "28 Pranks Later" -- 6/10 "Buckball Season" -- 5/10 "Where the Apple Lies" -- 5/10 "P.P.O.V." -- 5/10 "The Cart Before the Ponies" -- 5/10 Disliked "No Second Prances" -- 4/10 "Applejack's Day Off" -- 4/10 Hated None. Haber did just fine as showrunner, if you ask me.

Okay, chill. It's okay to like things that other people don't, no matter what anyone else might say. I actually rather like S6, and both "Flutter Brutter" and "Spice Up Your Life" are very entertaining episodes. MLP has always been imperfect, and it's very much okay to love something that isn't absolutely perfect. I may have found seasons 4 and 5 unsatisfying, but that doesn't mean you have to. You do you and keep on enjoying the show, alright? You're not wasting anything or doing anything wrong.

I'd like more good stuff from other ponies, but I wouldn't say there's "too much" Rarity, simply because I don't think that's possible.

Visuals and music largely, but also how the story has been remade to fit the world and mythology, as well as how it relates to Starlight Glimmer's character arc.

Early season 1 hasn't aged well, as the show was still finding its rhythm. It's still pretty charming and fun, however. A lot of the two-parters, which were impressive for their scale, are less impressive now that they've been topped. Most of them are still fun, but they're no longer mind-blowing. "Princess Twilight Sparkle" is something of a mess, though, so that one definitely hasn't aged so well. Also, I re-watched one of my S4 favourites, "Rarity Takes Manehattan," recently, and it's nowhere near as interesting as it was at the time. Still fun, though. Having re-watched my season 1-3 favourites, I've found "Party of One," "The Best Night Ever," "Lesson Zero," "The Last Roundup," "Hurricane Fluttershy," and "Sleepless in Ponyville" to hold up especially well.

More of that, yes. They have very different interests, and yet there's a lot of similarities between them. They're both very ambitious ponies who have recently come to achieve their dreams, and I think they hold a lot of respect for each other in spite of their differences. Oh, it is so real. This is the episode where Rainbow Dash takes Rarity out to a fancy dinner, after all.

Of the mane six, Fluttershy has been my least favourite for a while, if just because it feels like her personality has been exaggerated and she's become particularly stagnant. "Flutter Brutter" went a ways towards correcting that, and if she keeps up like this, it might be Applejack at the bottom just by virtue of me liking her slightly less than the others. Outside of the mane six, there aren't really any characters I actively dislike. I think Moondancer and Ember are both wildly overrated, and I don't find Gilda particularly entertaining or interesting as anything other than a villain, but I don't necessarily dislike any of them.

1. Rainbow Rocks Lean yet deceptively deep. Introduces Sunset Shimmer's redemption arc, has the Sirens, still boasts the best songs in EqG. Have seen it like seven times now and it still delights me. 2. Friendship Games Unfocused but ambitious and entertaining. I wish a lot of superfluous elements were cut from this and it focused much more on character development rather than stuffing in so many plot threads, but in some ways this is actually more fun than Rainbow Rocks. If only it could fully realize its deeper ideas. 3. Equestria Girls Pretty unexceptional but charming. This one isn't terrible, but it's probably the least inspired, and the satirical elements its fans cite don't really come through to me. I'd rather a quirky and earnest high school comedy than a relatively bland one like this, but I can't deny that it's still fun enough.

He carries more threat and menace than almost any other FiM villain. Plus I always found the fact that his reign was forgotten by the amnesiac Crystal Ponies creepy. Gives his history an air of dark mystery, and leaves a lot to the imagination.

Character stagnation. It's getting better, but recent seasons of the show have often felt like the main characters aren't growing at all. Given that these characters are why I watch in the first place, it's disappointing to see them get stuck in place and not move forward. I dislike the show playing it safe in general, but I also dislike when it has an ambitious idea that's compromised by the running time. There's points where what the show is going for just doesn't seem to fit into the episode itself, and it's those episodes that I find the most frustrating, because they have a lot of great ideas and admirable bits, but they're not fully realized and are obviously diminished. In addition, I wish that it would introduce fewer new characters and focus on the ones we already have. I appreciate season 6's change in focus towards more character-driven stories, because it goes a long way to correct the main character stagnation of the previous two seasons.

I've actually had an idea where Starlight Glimmer needs to stop a very stressed out, very misguided Twilight Sparkle from making a very bad decision which could seriously endanger Equestria. I think that could be a really interesting role reversal.

I dunno if it'll happen just for the simple reason that it feels a little like overkill. I mean, it's not that it doesn't make sense, but I'm not sure if it'd be narratively satisfying. I mean, Twilicorn itself wasn't narratively satisfying, and there's not a lot of buildup to the other five being alicorns. I do think those mentioning that Twilight worked to become an alicorn are missing that she never actually mentioned wanting to be an alicorn princess. Her ambitions started and ended with learning, be it about magic, history, or friendship. For all we know, she became an alicorn princess entirely without her consent. Certainly fits how much she seems to enjoy it.

That episode expects us to take a lot of things entirely on faith, and I might have been able to accept the necessity of Twilight stalking and harassing her if we had a better idea of how exactly Moondancer was being self-destructive besides shutting herself in. Maybe. Twilight was still blatantly invading Moondancer's privacy for no reason beyond her not wanting to be friends. That's not really what I'm talking about. My main point is that the whole idea that dragons don't make friends really doesn't seem to me to be all that much better than "Dragon Quest" painting dragons in a negative light. The only example of an actively friendly dragon we saw was Ember, and she only came around with Spike's help. "Dragons don't make friends" is both boring and slightly problematic as a characteristic of dragons if it only exists for ponies to show them better. Dragon culture is be considered "wrong" so ponies can show them the "right" way. I guess this would be the difference. Wish I found this arc half as interesting as you do.

I'll accept this; it's the one I consider most dubious out of all of these. I dunno about that. Even if Moondancer did need help (which, I'll admit, she did), Twilight's approach felt a bit invasive to me. Sure, but they still all seemed to fit within the show's general dragon framework to me. Well, it's way better than "Griffonstone" in that regard, even if it still seems to me like the ponies are coming to share their superior values with the dragons. I might have found the episode more interesting if we saw any dragons striving for more acceptance towards ponies, but I don't remember any of that. Ember had to be convinced by Spike, the dragon who has adopted pony values. I don't really read much into the gender dynamics of either episode, but even if Ember's "masculine" traits aren't a macho stereotype, they still strike me as very, very cliche.