bigbertha

MEH SEASON This season is better than I remember in some ways, but I still think this is a pretty weak season and I'm having a hard time deciding whether this or season 5 is worse. A lot of the problems with this season came from the first half. Aside from Celestial Advice, A Flurry of Emotions, and Hard to Say Anything, the first half of the season was a disaster. The episodes were either insanely boring (Fluttershy Leans In) or insanely annoying (Rock Solid Friendship). So many episodes lacked any kind of substance and felt like they were just going through the motions. Jokes either didn't exist or were horribly executed. The show felt like it was hitting burnout hard. Even those three episodes that I like weren't that good. Celestial Advice was the only episode I thought was good up until The Perfect Pear. Luckily, things picked up starting with The Perfect Pear. The jokes got better and the stories started to gain a bit more substance. But even the better episodes of the season weren't that good. Everything about this season moved towards the middle. Most of the good episodes weren't that good, but most of the bad episodes weren't that bad. It really feels like the show stopped caring. A lot of episodes feel like they're running on autopilot. This is especially sad because season 6 felt so fresh and new. But all of that energy seemed to be sucked away. I also want to mention the jokes. So many jokes in this season suffered from awful timing and general predictability. This is because most of these episodes were so slow and lifeless. Most jokes that required energy fell flat outside from specific episodes that were designated to have more energy. Something that's gotten more noticeable over the past couple seasons are jokes that almost worked but were ruined by some little problem. It takes a lot of effort to get a joke right and episodes running on autopilot didn't have that extra polish needed to make the jokes work as well as they needed to. This lead to a lot of jokes that were timed just a little bit off so they fell completely flat. Sometimes a joke came really close to working but then someone explained it right after. Sometimes the episode was so boring that any attempts at jokes were futile. Now let's talk about characters. Pinkie has returned to having spotlight episodes after a season long break and the break did not help. In fact, this is the first season where I didn't like any of her spotlight episodes. She even had good spotlight episodes in season 4, which was easily her worst season as a whole. But she just couldn't handle being the lead in any of her episodes. Not Asking For Trouble was insanely boring and Secrets and Pies didn't understand why previous comedic Pinkie-centric episodes worked. She still had some good appearances (most notably in Daring Done and It Isn't the Mane Thing About You), but this really is the end of an era for Pinkie. Her voice is still around the same as it was in season 6 except she had more shrilly episodes than tolerable ones. At least it's still not as bad as seasons 4 and 5. Twilight was actually written pretty well as a whole. She was able to escape her mentor role that she seemed to be stuck in last season which definitely helped. She even got a really nice exploration of her character in Once Upon a Zeppelin. She doesn't have the same presence and range of emotions that she had in season 5, but she has improved sine last season. Applejack existed in season 7. She had a presence in Honest Apple, The Perfect Pear, and Fame and Misfortune, but I don't remember her doing anything outside of those episodes. And even in those episodes, I barely remember Honest Apple and The Perfect Pear was more about the Apple family as a whole than Applejack. This was definitely her worst season up to this point. Fluttershy felt like the writers doubled down on Fluttershy being more assertive. She went to the opposite extreme from how she was in the early years yet it lead to the same result. That balance between shy and assertive from season 6 disappeared and season 7 made her boring again. Her best episode was A Health of Information, but that's about it in terms of memorable Fluttershy appearances. Rainbow Dash was not nearly as prevalent here as she was last season, but she still got more to do than a lot of other characters. Her spotlight episode was more memorable than a lot of others and her strong personality was able to break through some other episodes' weak plots. The big winner of season 7 was Rarity. Her personality was strong enough to make It Isn't the Mane Thing About You much better than it had any right to be and made Forever Filly a bit more interesting than it could've been. She didn't appear too often, but at least she left an impression. That's a contrast to Spike who I forgot existed partway through the season. In between A Flurry of Emotions and Triple Threat, he did little to nothing. I'm pretty sure he was in Honest Apple and he was in the beginning of A Royal Problem. That's it. He went from three spotlight episodes last season to one in season 7. It's strange how he got a lot of attention last season but got such a large drop in relevance in season 7. Starlight did nothing to make me like her. She played a part in bringing down episodes that I would've liked more without her and her past was still brought up as something that she supposedly got past even though she continued to make horrible decisions and rely on magic on a consistent basis. So much for To Where and Back Again. At least she got called out for it in To Change a Changeling. The only other notable thing about this season was the arc which I'll talk about more later. Aside from that, this is easily one of the weakest seasons of the show and it's definitely the least interesting. Only a couple episodes stick out both positively and negatively, but let's look at some of those stand out episodes. TOP 5: 5. Campfire Tales: This is mainly on here because of Mistmane's story. It's legitimately compelling and I think it could've supported a whole episode. Other than that, the other legends are decent and the framing device ranges from boring to kinda cute. I do think it overplays Scootaloo's fear though. 4. To Change a Changeling: It pains me to put a Starlight episode in the top 5, but this is a pretty solid episode. It has some of the better jokes of the season(mostly thanks to Trixie) and the moral is better than I was expecting. Also it calls out Starlight for being Starlight which is nice. 3. Once Upon a Zeppelin: Twilight needed this episode. After so many episodes not really dealing with her being a princess, we finally get more in depth look at how she deals with the responsibilities without being played for comedy. There are still jokes in the episode (thanks Iron Will), but Twilight's conflict carries the episode, despite some really bad dialogue and a pretty predictable structure. 2. Fame and Misfortune: This is the only consistently funny episode of the season. I actually laughed out loud multiple times. There's some great commentary on annoying fans and I love how it all comes to a head at the end with that interviewer straight up calling Twilight a character. The song is one of the best of the season both because there aren't many songs to begin with and because of that earworm of a chorus. The only problem is Starlight. I don't know why she's here, but all she does is ruin the experience when she's on screen. She also says that everyone's focusing on the wrong things when that's not the problem. The problem is that they're being disruptive and/or assholes. Also Fluttershy in this episode is hardcore overcompensating which is funny in a probably unintentional way. Other than that, every character has something funny to do there are just so many memorable moments and jokes which is a godsend in such an otherwise dry season. 1. The Perfect Pear: I love me some cheesy romance and that's exactly what this is. It's nice to see the Apple family parents and their relationship is really cute. That's just what this episode is as a whole. It's insanely cute and ends on one of the most emotional moments of the entire show. I think this episode makes the whole season worth it. I still don't like the talking babies though. BOTTOM 5: 5. Secrets and Pies: I don't think this episode remembers that Party of One had more scenes that Pinkie's big freakout. It had, like, actual jokes that were well timed and had a story that mostly made sense. If it's just going for something completely insane like The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, it doesn't work because the comedic energy is not even close to that level. There are some decent concepts and jokes that almost work, but they run into that problem of bad timing or being explained after. Also, just giving Pinkie the bubble pipe and hat from MMMystery isn't enough. If you're going to make Pinkie a detective, give me the TwiPie that goes along with it. And calling attention to the alliteration makes it less charming and funny. 4. Marks and Recreation: Annoying characters can be funny, but Rumble is not funny or any fun to watch. Maybe it's a combination of his obnoxious voice and the way he's written. But it's mostly his obnoxious voice. Also I don't know when "blank flank" stopped being an insult. Its use throughout the episode still bugs me. 3. Fluttershy Leans In: This episode is completely devoid of substance. There is nothing funny or interesting going on. Things just kinda happen on screen while I continue to zone out. 2. Shadow Play: The legend of magic arc sucked. Their individual episodes (or couple minute stories) don't give much of an impression of their personality (except Mage Meadowbrook. Her introduction was pretty good). Shadow Play does not help them since they have basically no personality when they show up. Most of them just spout out exposition, something the episode is already smothered in. Since they have such little personality, it's hard for me to care about them. Especially since hindsight tells me that they don't end up doing anything in the long run outside of one episode next season. Outside of them, the mane six are also pretty much useless. Of course Starlight has to be the one who was right the whole time because Josh Haber wrote the episode. Twilight just kinda fangirls through the whole episode and trusts Starswirl blindly even through ignoring Starlight's concerns lead to the Pony of Shadows being released. Nothing about the story is interesting in any way and this two parter is mostly exposition. It's like Fluttershy Leans In, except now it's 44 minutes. 1. A Royal Problem: More shilling Starlight, but this time it adds ruining Celestia and Luna. Their behavior makes no sense based on what they've been through. Why would Celestia be such a dick to Luna when Luna says that she feels like what she does isn't appreciated enough? Doesn't Celestia remember what that lead to last time? I guess not since we need to rip off the comics except without any of the good comedy and fun. Also Starlight does something horrible and doesn't get punished. That's always nice. In fact, she gets praised for being so reckless. It's not as bad as Every Little Thing She Does since I did smile a couple times while watching this episode, but it's close.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmXlNzq09gc&t=1s Lmao I still haven't watched Evangellion. I also have good memories of watching the movie in theaters. It was the first big thing that happened after I started watching the show.

OKAY SEASON I'm really surprised that I like this season. It definitely has glaring problems, but they're not bad enough to wreck the season as a whole. This season has a style to it that McCarthy's seasons lacked. That's probably because this season marks the reign of a new story editor. Josh Haber did write a couple episodes before this (including The Cutie Re-Mark), and those episodes do have a taste of what this season is like. Simple Ways in particular feels like it would fit right in season 6. It's hard to describe exactly what changed, but the season's tone feels more fresh and full of life. Now it's time for a character check in to see who changed for the better or for the worse. I think the mane six were struck down the middle in terms of having a good year and having a bad year. On the bad side, we start with Pinkie because she had no spotlight episodes. She had co-lead roles, but nothing where's she's the main lead. I don't know why. Maybe Josh Haber just had to sneak in one more episode for his creator's pet. Either way, she was mostly relegated to minor roles and comic relief. I'm not against Pinkie being used for comic relief, but there should also be episodes showing that there's more to her than that. Her only big roles were The Gift of the Maud Pie, Spice Up Your Life, 28 Pranks Later, Buckball Season, and P.P.O.V. And out of those, only The Gift of the Maud Pie and Spice Up Your Life came close to doing any interesting with her in a positive way. She got a couple of other good appearances and even a banger song in A Hearth's Warming Tail, but Pinkie was definitely not a priority in this season. BUT, her voice was much more tolerable in this season. It's not like she was in seasons 1 and 2, but I only hated her voice in The Gift of the Maud Pie and Buckball Season, so that's a big improvement from seasons 4 and 5. Twilight also had a weak year. She returned to having a general lack of personality or presence. Despite the fact that she appeared in most of the episodes in this season, I only remember her being in a few. I'm pretty sure P.P.O.V. was the only episode mostly from her perspective. She did get a decent showing in Top Bolt and The Saddle Row Review, but she also had No Second Prances, so I'd say this was a lackluster year for her. The last one on our bad list is Applejack. She had a similar problem as Twilight in terms of not having much of a presence. She had a couple good appearances (and a pretty good song in A Hearth's Warming Tail), but not much else. On the good side, we have Rarity. This season as a whole didn't care about character drama as much as other seasons, but Rarity didn't suffer from this change. Even though she barely appeared in the back half of the season, Rarity has such a strong presence that she still stood out in most of her episodes. Also she didn't have an episode that screwed with her character. Her and Fluttershy are the only ones who can say that. Fluttershy had a massive improvement in season 6. The season hit a great balance between Fluttershy being more assertive and her still being shy. Her presence felt stronger in this season than previous ones because of how well balanced she was written. Flutter Brutter in particular had fantastic characterization of Fluttershy. But the big winner of season 6 has to be Rainbow Dash. I don't know why, but this season put a lot of effort into working on her character. She got three spotlight episodes on top of a couple of co-lead roles. I'm not saying that all of her episodes were good, but she clearly stood out among the main cast. But the main six weren't the only character focused on in this season. That's right, it's time to talk about the elephant in the room: Spike. But seriously, I didn't really talk about Spike in the season 5 reflection, but there wasn't much to say. He had a spotlight episode in Princess Spike. It sucked. I never really thought of Spike as a super stand out character which is why it confuses me whenever I see people who seem almost obsessive about defending him. But I must admit that season 6 actually gave him stuff to do. He had a kinda cool dynamic with Starlight in The Crystalling on top of three spotlight episodes (and a song). I'm not a huge fan of them (except Dungeons and Discords; that episode slaps), but I respect that they were trying to do. Okay now let's talk about Starlight. I don't like Starlight. She's a creator's pet and has some of the worst episodes of the season. She doesn't start off badly. The Crystalling honestly starts her arc in a sympathetic way and I almost started to care about her. But then No Second Prances and Every Little Thing She Does happened and I stopped caring. No Second Prances had her use her magic to force Big Mac to talk. Gee, I sure hope something like that doesn't happen again. Oh wait. Starlight didn't even realize that mind controlling the main six was morally wrong. She only recognized that the mess her magic caused was wrong. I can't exactly sympathize with that kind of character. It doesn't help that Every Little Thing She Does was the last Starlight episode before the finale. The episode balance in this season as a whole was a mess. Why were there two Rarity/Pinkie episodes? Why were there three Rainbow Dash episodes and no Pinkie episodes? Even outside how badly paced and strangely executed Starlight's arc was, I don't think I'll ever be able to look at her character entirely positively after seeing the leaks about this season. It just lessens her positives and boosts her negatives. It just so happens that there were already more negatives than positives. I know I spent a majority of this review talking negatively about characters, but that's just the stuff I like writing about. That's not really what this season excels in. I mostly like the freshness, the aesthetics, the comedy, and some bits of introspective drama. This season was generally fun and I appreciate it for that. TOP 5: 5. A Hearth's Warming Tail: It's A Christmas Carol, but with great songs and visuals that match the season and fit the mood of each scene perfectly. It's just a ton of fun to watch. 4. Flutter Brutter: Zephyr is a really great character. He's an ass, but he's an ass in a fun way and nobody accepts him being a dick. When he goes too far to his parents, he's kicked out of the house. When he's slacking off, he gets zapped by Dash. His breakdown in the woods and redemption thereafter is really well done and the moral is relatable. 3. The Saddle Row Review: This isn't as funny as I remember, but it's still a ton of fun. I love the interview segments and the overall chaos. There are a lot of little details that add to my enjoyment on top of Rainbow Dash who's absolutely the stand out character in terms of comedy. 2. Dungeons and Discords: This episode introduces an extremely strange dynamic, but it really works. I used to think the second act was boring, but now I think it's just awkward comedy done really well. Everything else is still as good as I remember. I love assertive Fluttershy and the game coming to life. 1. Stranger Than Fanfiction: This episode has everything. It's funny, has a great adventure, an interesting new character who probably wouldn't have worked in he was voiced by anyone other than Patton Oswalt, and a solid message. This is now my favorite episode of the show. Not even kidding. BOTTOM 5: 5. No Second Prances: Twilight acting like she does here is close to out of character territory. She was kinda bothered by Trixie at the end of Magic Duel, but not to this extent. But Trixie also acts really weird. There's nothing wrong with her being bitter about what happened with Twilight, but being so overt about it is off. Also it's a Starlight episode so immediate points off. But seriously, her first instinct to seeing that Big Mac doesn't talk is to force him to with magic. That's not a good way to start an episode where I'm supposed to care about Starlight. 4. Applejack's Day Off: Now we have two episodes that are just really boring. This is one is only better because of the Mission Impossible music. 3. The Cart Before the Ponies: This one doesn't have the Mission Impossible music. Instead, it has a boring and awful song. 2. 28 Pranks Later: I'm more pissed at how out of character Pinkie is than Rainbow. Pinkie made it very clear in Griffon the Brush Off that she only likes pranks that everyone can enjoy. I'm not sure how she laugh along with Dash after a prank that terrified Fluttershy and made her cry, especially since she made it clear that pranking Fluttershy is wrong. 1. Every Little Thing She Does: It's interesting how this season has both my favorite and least favorite episode of the show. Well, I guess it's not that interesting since season 3 used to have my favorite and least favorite. Anyways, this episode has Starlight act insane and only gets punished by having to apologize and spend time with her "friends". I didn't care about Starlight before this episode, but I definitely don't care about her anymore. In fact, this episode makes me hate her.