Seasonal.... Rot?

[manic 121]

You know, everyone has their own love/hate episodes and personal ranking. I don't think you could really call it rot unless it was clearly going downhill, which it is not, judging by the sheer amount of opinions on it.

[MAIKUN 262]

Yup. Summer is finally here and this is we (Bronies) HATE monthly breaks, am I right? All I really wanted to watch Season 5 throughout the whole Summer, right?

[The Coffee Pony 1,390]

Yup. Summer is finally here and this is we (Bronies) HATE monthly breaks, am I right? All I really wanted to watch Season 5 throughout the whole Summer, right?

 

Where did this monthly hiatus thing come from?

[ShadowPhoenix 153]

You won't believe this but

 

1. Season 4
2. Season 3
3. Season 2
4. Season 1

The heartening thing is that personally, each season beats the last only marginally. I actually have a scoring system for all the episodes and many episodes I consider to be near perfect. An equitable distribution of such episodes would be Suited For Success, The Best Night Ever, Lesson Zero, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, Wonderbolts Academy, Magical Mystery Cure, Pinkie Pie and Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 (criminally underrated).

 

Not going to list the others which I consider near perfect but there are 8 episodes from the first four seasons which I find beyond perfection as they completely shattered expectations and delivered far more. They are: Sonic Rainboom, Party Of One, The Return Of Harmony - Part 2, Hurricane Fluttershy, Sleepless In Ponyville, Pinkie Pride and Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2.

 

Now Season 5 insofar is only 10 episodes in and here's what I believe. I can confidently add The Cutie Map - Part 2 and Tanks For The Memories to the above 8 to bring the best episodes of the show to 10 and I can benchmark Slice Of Life and The Cutie Map - Part 1 against the near-perfect category.

 

On a more serious note however, I feel like the only person who was not completely amazed by Make New Friends But Keep Discord because Discord's humour and motivations were a bit mixed for me, though the episode was still a strong offering. The least impressive so far was Princess Spike but Party Pooped is airing as I type and I have no doubts that it will rank higher.

 

So no, there is no seasonal rot. Don't ask but I enjoyed the flavour that Lauren brought to the show in subtle moments in Feeling Pinkie Keen and Look Before You Sleep but I also enjoy the snappier dialogue and crisper execution that comes with each passing season.

[Orablanco Account 3,706]

I dunno, maybe it'll happen some day. Go on long enough, and anything great can turn to crap, especially if it's made by the same creative crew and the story and cast of characters never really develop over time.

 

But it ain't happening yet, in spite of all those forumn threads about the show turning to scrap and the random shattering apart. So far this season, I'd only count two episodes this season as not particularly good, which is actually better off than Season 4 was at this many episodes in, in my opinion.

[Freewave 1,145]

I really disliked a lot of season 3 as its1/2 the length and had very uneven episodes and few great ones. Season 4 seemed like more of a return to form (although not better then season 2). Season 5 is pretty weak I feel so far. While i'm happy they are taking mini breaks so they don't blaze through the season I haven't really LOVED any episode this season so far (like top 20 episodes love). That includes the 2-part opener which is kind of weak in the conclusion (but overall good), the Griffonstone which was fun and well needed return of Gilda (but weak in parts), and even Episode 100 seems like a one-off that could be quickly forgotten because the lore was already there, Hasbro just reinforced most of what we had already created. Overall the show this season is just missing that magic, that has been there in the past, to really make it GREAT again in my book. It's sad but I feel that's the case (so far).

Edited June 28, 2015 by Freewave

[Steve Piranha 28,925]

You know I think the entire reason people are finding the show to "decline" in quality is because people are already becoming nostalgic over Seasons 1 & 2. It only takes about one year and a half for nostalgia to kick in.

and this whole issue will repeat itself every season before the show ends  ...... I just hope we don't reach an actual decline in the show by then 

[Pineapple Bloom 511]

Season 4 is my favorite and so is season 5 so far! Almost all of Season 5's  episodes are absolutely awesome; Bloom and Gloom, and Tanks for the Memories, and Make New Friends But Keep Discord are high on my top ten list. Every season has its weaker episodes and I don't see MLP decreasing in quality, nor will it anytime soon I think.

[UnknownFry 169]

I don't agree with the show going through seasonal rot, rather the opposite. The show has gotten better in the more recent seasons as it no longer operates under the same constraints like the first couple of ones did. I do think some people are starting to move on to pursue other interests though.

 

It is a tricky line to avoid the fallacies of nostalgia and recency when it comes to this matter though. 

Edited June 28, 2015 by UnknownFry

[nuneskev 12]

All I know is my hype died after Magical Mystery Cure.

I just didn't get interested in Twilight's journey as a princess. I got to watch most of Season 4, but I felt like there was nothing more for her to accomplish. It's like being a princess is wow, the biggest accomplishment she could get. No more reason for watching. Maybe Lauren was right, maybe the series finale should be Twi becoming a princess. Not the end of Season 3.

Edited June 28, 2015 by nuneskev

[Tom Snyder 4,111]

I've seen every episode so far, but i have yet to see any decrease in quality,