I'm just going to say it, Season 1 wasn't that good

[Swifty 249]

I think season one has aged very well. Only the drawing is worse, but thats normal.

Actually, i wouldnt have watched this show any longer, if it has started qualitywise with season five and three.

[Varrack 1,080]

Yeah season 1 is not my favorite. It's kind of slow paced and awkward at times. When I watched them I thought "...yeah, this was good" but then I watched the other seasons and learned how much potential this show really has.

 

For example, go back and watch "Party of One" from season 1, and then watch "Pinkie Pride" from season 4. There's a *huge* difference in the two episodes. The former is slow-paced, less exciting, and a bit more awkward, but the latter is fast-paced, really exciting and engaging, and overall more enjoyable.

[Singe 2,111]

Season 1 showed the characters' breaking points and other hidden sides to their personality. Which would have been neat to further delve into for future episodes.

 

Edited September 21, 2015 by Singe

[Dark Qiviut 22,457]

Best Night Ever: I would pass it if it weren't for being a season finale, which was subsequently trumped by all other season finale's afterward

Wrong. Even though The Best Night Ever isn't as bombastic, tension-filled, or exciting as the others, it's still the best FIM season finale. Everything was done so well: the characterization, humor (especially the satire), plot development, moral, and easily the best pacing of any episode so far. In every other finale, Twilight is the main focus while the rest of her friends are pushed aside to make her look better. Here, they actually show the audience that Friendship Is Magic.  Rather than being flashy with poor pacing, there's a lot more substance here. It's simple, but works much better than any other finale put together so far.

 

I would allow the "Its just a kid show" line if it weren't for the fact that the other seasons handled characterization BETTER than 1 did. Even 3, though it has its own set of flaws, did better in that department.

Agree in some areas, disagree in others.

 

Fluttershy's best season is easily the first. Initially, you couldn't talk to her without triggering her shyness. By the season finale, she was much more sure and confident in herself. Following Lesson Zero, her shyness was flanderized for the sake of comedy. If not, then it's her aggression. Keep Calm and Flutter On is one of her worst episodes by being able to gain Discord's ability to trust him via psychological abuse. Even worse, every lesson she learned wasn't put to use. Season five is the first season since the first to actually use the development from past years to help her grow, yet not dissuade her essence.

 

Rainbow Dash's best season character-wise is the third, but her worst is her fourth. Sleepless in Ponyville showed her coming of age by turning her into a very mature character, which we saw in Flight to the Finish. Wonderbolts Academy brought that out even more by willing to sacrifice her very dream of being a Wonderbolt because they rewarded recklessness over effort. But in season four, Dash had several horrible moments. Daring Don't devolved her into a stereotype of a fangirl. Rainbow Falls stripped of the maturity she gained and made her an idiot. Trade Ya! devolved her by willing to trade Fluttershy in for a one-of-a-kind book.

 

Season five is easily Twilight's best since the second. But no season can be worse for her than the fourth. During a few episodes last season (including Trade Ya! and Breezies), you can argue that Flash Sentry had more personality and genuine likability than her. During Bats! (easily her worst episode last season), Twilight was one of the central characters responsible for turning Fluttershy into a vampire fruit bat. But she deflected the blame to everyone else.

 

Then there is this "Faust Vision" nonsense. You know what Faust wanted?

 

*image*

 

That is what her original designs looked like. Fluttershy was an Earth pony, Pinkie was named Surprise and was a gaudy shade of yellow, Twilight's mane color and design was an eyesore, and Rainbow doesn't look anywhere near as eye catching as she is now.

Your point right here is easily your weakest section of your OP. As a graphic designer, designers conceptualize ugly drafts all the time. That's a part of the creative process, and it's easily one of the most important. But what crap they draft earlier doesn't mean they're inept. She got the right criticism to refine her well-crafted simple ponies and make them look really nice visually. It's an organic evolution of the creative process, and she was surrounded by great people who helped her out. By stretching this point of the argument to try and claim season one isn't that good, you undermine your entire opinion.

 

She also postulated things like Rainbow would not be a fit sister to Scootaloo, which is clearly false

At the time of when she said this, Faust was completely on point. Dash was the breakout character in season one, but would she have been a good role model for Scootaloo then? Absolutely not. In fact, she would've sucked as one. The reason why SiP and FttF changed that is because they used episodes such as Hurricane Fluttershy to change that approach: tough, yet caring.

 

Racism was never intended to be seen in the episode, nor should it ever have been.

 

The only reason it seems like a racist episode was because bronies made it sound like one

 

The reality is that it's an episode is a classic "our neighbor is from X, and looks/acts weird, they might be evil, but in the end is a really fine person" plot that is used in kid's shows all the time, and because Zecora was a zebra they decided to go with common African imagery

You're factually wrong here.

1. Critique of racism was the focus of Bridle Gossip, and it was pointed out way back when it first aired. In fact, Bridle Gossip was the very first controversial episode of FIM. The controversy died down, but analysts like Mr. Enter, Dr. Wolf, and Cloud Cookoo Country pointed out the allegory again. And they had every reason to.
2. Don't handwave the allegory as merely a "character-acts-suspicious" story. You undermine your entire argument. There's an extremely huge cultural, lifestyle divide between Ponyville and Zecora, from their accents to the house decor. Rarity herself judges Zecora by the stripes of her fur like how racists judge other people by their skin color. The show doesn't spell the allegory out for you, but it's very in-your-face.

Also, just because other episodes use a similar allegory, yet don't attach context criticizing racism, doesn't invalidate the subtext and poor writing here.

 

This used to be a well liked episode until a certain "brony analyst" developed a massive hate-boner for it and saw something in the episode that in all honesty should never even been a thought.

Your opinion on BG dies thanks to your fallacy. Voice of Reason has several solid reasons to really hate this episode, and the lazy approach to the moral is a good one. Thanks to him and the racism critique, we now see its objective quality. If you're going to critique racism, especially in a family show, don't be lazy and screw it up. Show, don't tell, particularly when a very important moral is involved.

 

Kid characters acting silly. Not the best episode ever, but not an affront on humanity bronies act like it is

Analyze why Show Stoppers is horrendous. There's a very big difference between kids being kids and kids being so oblivious and stupid, they can't see their talents even if you tell them directly. Within the first few minutes, we know exactly what their special talents are, but they don't have a clue whatsoever, and the rest of the story obnoxiously shows it. Because of this episode, there's no point for the audience to anticipate them getting their marks. They dropped the ball early, and their journey never recovered. Thankfully, episodes from season two onward rebuilt the CMCs' reputation.

 

Not gonna pull any punches here. Anyone that even believes that "faith" has anything to due with religion, or that the episode is attacking atheism, is a fucking idiot. Having "faith" in a friend has nothing to do with religion or not, it's a normal human instinct, common sense, and believing in friends is often how people live their lives

 

As for the whole "there are just some things science can't explain" part, life and history has proven that to be very true in almost everyone's lives, regardless of your beliefs.

You don't understand the hatred behind this episode. Unfortunate implications exist, and this is one of them. The episode uses words like "science" and "faith" in their context, Twilight being a straw character, and the episode attaching "faith" into Twilight to doing something really stupid, similar to how many people use "faith" as a crutch to do stupid things IRL. Feeling Pinkie Keen proved why you must be careful with your language. Everyone who's been in the fandom long enough knows this episode isn't supposed to attack atheism, but to those who don't venture deep into the core fandom, they don't know that.

 

BTW, by attacking everyone who hated the episode for their implications as "fucking idiots," you only prove the FPK-haters' point.

 

Season wunners

To use phrases like "Season-wunners" puts you at a level no better than the elitists who bully other bronies by calling them "Hasdrones."

Edited September 21, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[Buck Testa 5,505]

 

 

but don't go around saying season 1 was shit and then go looking for acknowledgement. 

I'm not, if you read my post you'll see I said it just wasn't as good as people make it out to be, that its not the end all be all and everything after it is crap like the season 1'ers like to say. 

[Jeric 46,863]

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that most inaugural seasons operate (even if not by design) as foundations for theme, characterization, and other elements. It provides inspiration for future seasons.

 

Season one only has one item that held it back artificially, and Lauren and company course corrected it in season two. It became more of an ensemble show starting with the second season. All the characters started to learn lessons in first person. Twilight was no longer the anchor in most of the episodes. This trend continued and single and dual character focused episodes are common. Character growth feels more natural when you spend more time with one or two characters when they are featured.

 

Also ... Suited For Success still stands as one of the series best episodes to date. I've heard and read enough times that Rarity was often dismissed or maligned until that episode. The Best Night Ever showcased the flaws and potential growth of each character while not deviating from what was already established ... and it was a pitch perfect parody of the Disney fairy tale trope with an ingenious ending.

 

Party of One, Swarm of the Century, the origin of Rarity and Applejack as good friends are just a few critical episodes that looked at key character traits that were later expounded upon in future seasons. There are more, and while I agree that season one had its mediocre episodes ... it also was no stranger to high quality family content and I personally feel that its foundation is responsible for later brilliant episodes as well.

[Buck Testa 5,505]

 

 

Wrong. Even though The Best Night Ever isn't as bombastic, tension-filled, or exciting as the others, it's still the best FIM season finale. Everything was done so well: the characterization, humor (especially the satire), plot development, moral, and easily the best pacing of any episode so far. In every other finale, Twilight is the main focus while the rest of her friends are pushed aside to make her look better. Here, they actually show the audience that Friendship Is Magic.  Rather than being flashy with poor pacing, there's a lot more substance here. It's simple, but works much better than any other finale put together so far.

 

 

Hmm...I'll have to re-watch it. I do like the episode, As far as a finale though I don't remember it quite as well as others. 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,845]

I agree entirely with this. The more the show has advanced, the more obsolete season 1 feels and it is harder to go back. Season 1 is clearly when the show and the creators of it had not fully realized how good it could have been. Season 1 has a lot of really cringe-worthy aspects and the voice acting in some places is inferior to how it is now. It just felt like a season of a show that was not meant to last long which is funny because until we the Bronies came along, it was not going to last long, another reason why I am glad that Faust left.

 

Season 5 shows how far this show has come and I highly prefer how it is now. Season 1 still has a simplistic and nostalgic charm for me, but it is my least favorite season. We went from a party not going as they wanted to as a finale, to Tirek. Yeah.

[Buck Testa 5,505]

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that most inaugural seasons operate (even if not by design) as foundations for theme, characterization, and other elements. It provides inspiration for future seasons.

 

Season one only has one item that held it back artificially, and Lauren and company course corrected it in season two. It became more of an ensemble show starting with the second season. All the characters started to learn lessons in first person. Twilight was no longer the anchor in most of the episodes. This trend continued and single and dual character focused episodes are common. Character growth feels more natural when you spend more time with one or two characters when they are featured.

 

Also ... Suited For Success still stands as one of the series best episodes to date. I've heard and read enough times that Rarity was often dismissed or maligned until that episode. The Best Night Ever showcased the flaws and potential growth of each character while not deviating from what was already established ... and it was a pitch perfect parody of the Disney fairy tale trope with an ingenious ending.

 

Party of One, Swarm of the Century, the origin of Rarity and Applejack as good friends are just a fee critical episodes that looked at key character traits later expounded upon. There are more, and while I agree that season one had its mediocre episodes ... it also was no stranger to high quality family content and I personally feel that its foundation is responsible for later brilliant episodes as well.

Again, not saying its a bad season or that I didn't like it, but I won't say its the best out there and should be the nostalgia tinted standard all other seasons are judged on. 

 

Individual episodes from season one were certainly good, Party of One is still one of my faves, but as far as the season as a whole, like you said, had its own limitations that prevented it from being as good as say Season 2, which was one of my favorite seasons to date. 

[FlootahBabby 265]

When they make a TV show, they usually make an entire season before it airs. (unless you're South Park or something)

And because they weren't aware that there would be so much open minded people about it, they decided to improve it slightly throughout other seasons to make it more obvious that this isn't a little girls show.

Season 1 wasn't made for little girls, but I think it was expected to be for little girls (and it successfully didn't). You know what I'm saying?

[MangaKamen 146]

In all honesty, I don't like to rate the show by seasons, if there's a good episode, I'll just like it. That being said, there is a bit of a nostalgia curse floating around the first and second season, and its been shown by a few of the previous reviewers (or analysts as they like to call themselves) that they put the first two seasons up on a pedestal and either say that the show lost its luster in season 4 and 5 (even season 3 as well) or that the show got worse when Faust left, or other BS reasons.

 

I'm reminded of the Gen Oners from pokemon who say that the first games of the series are the best games of the series, but it all depends on perspective on matters similar to that. If we didn't have a season one or an original game, we wouldn't be here right now discussing it, it set the ground work for show - Giving us characters, lore, and an entire world that has evolved over the past five years, not only thanks to the writing and creative team of the show, but also with the fans who love it as well. That being said, because it was the first, there are flaws. After all, nothing's perfect on the first go - Dialogue was a little clunky, pacing was a little off for some episodes, and some of the jokes were hit and miss to be honest. The show has gotten better after season one, not only with a writing sense, but also with a technical sense as well as we've seen with an evolution of the art style being used and how the characters all don't look like copy paste images with a different color scheme and mane style.

 

Then again, this is all subjective. People are allowed to like the first season, people are allowed to like any season.

 

The only thing that I can't stand when it comes to this is when I see people belittling others for liking/disliking a particular season. I'm not accusing anyone in this thread for that, but we've seen people in the community (or rather, those who were in the community) have a mindset like this.

 

All in all, like what ya like... Nothing wrong with that at all.

 

P.S.

Most of my favorite episodes thus far are in the more recent seasons.

[Marimo 555]

The reason why Pinkie was not named Surprise is interesting:

Pinkie was meant to be a pegasus looking something like this:

She was based off of this G1 pony, also named Surprise:

But somewhere in development, Lauren Faust lost the license for Surprise and based it off of G3's Pinkie Pie:

I know Pinkie and the rest of the mane six were based off of a bunch of G1 ponies, but has she ever stated she was just going to use the G1 characters themself? Because based on what I've seen her say about the early development, it seems like both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were mandatory from the start.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter On is one of her worst episodes by being able to gain Discord's ability to trust him via psychological abuse.

That seems rather harsh and doesn't even match actual psychological abuse. Actual psychological abuse involves lying and threats, and results in trauma. Discord knows exactly what Fluttershy is trying to do, and she's not hiding it: she's being nice and befriending him so that he'll listen to her and see the error of his ways. What Discord felt when he actually listen wasn't the case of someone caving in from a threat. All Fluttershy did was say that she wasn't his friend when he refused to change things back after all she did for him, and the result was him actually realizing that he actually does want to keep a friend. It's not anymore psychological abuse than any other situation where someone rightfully calls off their friendship because of something their friend did.

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

I think it's all good.  Season 1 was good.  Not the best.  The first season of most shows isn't the best.  I think season 2 is still my favorite overall, but a lot of the later stuff has been blowing me away.  I will say that I think the show has matured, and if you go back and watch the two-part pilot and compare it to, say, The Cutie Map, the pilot feels a bit cornier and geared towards younger audiences.  Now it feels much more geared towards all audiences, like Disney, which is a good thing, imo.

 

I think Season 1 had some of the best music though.  Two of my favorite songs, Winter Wrap Up and Art of the Dress, were from S1.

[Dark Qiviut 22,457]

 

 

That seems rather harsh and doesn't even match actual psychological abuse. Actual psychological abuse involves lying and threats, and results in trauma. Discord knows exactly what Fluttershy is trying to do, and she's not hiding it: she's being nice and befriending him so that he'll listen to her and see the error of his ways. What Discord felt when he actually listen wasn't the case of someone caving in from a threat. All Fluttershy did was say that she wasn't his friend when he refused to change things back after all she did for him, and the result was him actually realizing that he actually does want to keep a friend. It's not anymore psychological abuse than any other situation where someone rightfully calls off their friendship because of something their friend did.

No. Here's the line in full:

Fluttershy: I've just been trying to gain his friendship any way I can, so he'd come to trust and listen to me!

Note "any way I can" and the reason why. What she said is she wants to be his friend in order to control him. Controlling friends is not how you gain friendship. What she was doing is domestic psychological abuse, plain and simple.

[Marimo 555]

No. Here's the line in full:

Note "any way I can" and the reason why. What she said is she wants to be his friend in order to control him. Controlling friends is not how you gain friendship. What she was doing is domestic psychological abuse, plain and simple.

I think you're still being harsh. "Any way [she] can" just seems to me to mean that she's being very lenient towards him. She didn't say she was doing it to control him, just so that he will trust and listen to her. It's not just the people who manipulate and control who use trust, friends need to trust and listen to each other too. Fluttershy was trusting Discord throughout the episode, constantly giving him the benefit of the doubt when the others wouldn't. She only got angry and gave up when Discord abused that friendship, getting her to give up the Element but not fixing the mess at Sweet Apple Acres that he caused in the first place even though he said he would.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

I'm not, if you read my post you'll see I said it just wasn't as good as people make it out to be, that its not the end all be all and everything after it is crap like the season 1'ers like to say. 

Fair enough but I got more of an impression that you are saying Season 1 is shit (sorry no other word to describe that's coming to mind. Like I said I think Season 1 is as good as any of the other season, but the show has just changed is all.

 

No. Here's the line in full:

Note "any way I can" and the reason why. What she said is she wants to be his friend in order to control him. Controlling friends is not how you gain friendship. What she was doing is domestic psychological abuse, plain and simple.

Honestly I feel that lines more exposition than anything else since they need to explain what's going on to the audience because they needed to fit this story into one episode. I mean the episode is littered with expositional dumps explaining what's going on instead of showing it. KCaFO's dialog is not it's strong point.

[Magic Note 2,750]

I can definitely agree Season 1 hasn't aged well. While it had its moments, I feel like there were a lot missing to it in some seasons, and really did not like Rainbow Dash this season because she came off as arrogant (which thankfully got addressed in later seasons). It also had what I felt has so far been the weakest season finale in the Best Night Ever.

 

I felt the pacing was all over the place, and other than the songs, the episode was okay at best to me. Even when I first watched it, I was disappointed with it. A rewatch didn't change my opinion one bit on it. I also didn't like Boast Busters and Show Stoppers.

[PacificGreen 1,163]

*reads some of the posts*

 

Wow, some of you guys are REALLY analytical when it comes to these episodes. LOL.

 

Not that that's bad or anything.

 

I usually just go by whether or not I liked individual episodes, like a poster above me said.

[Dark Qiviut 22,457]

@@Marimo, Think of the implications of what she was doing up to the moral. Discord was causing a bunch of hell to Shy's animals/Angel and her cottage, and she played the gullible idiot. But that was her intention. She wanted Discord to pull these stunts, and she acted simple and gullible to emotionally manipulate him. Her tactics were bait for Discord in order to control his actions, force sympathy from him, and gain the upper hand. What she said in the quote above was an admission to this farce. In other words, she trapped him. Similar actions are found in some domestically abusive relationships.

 

I think you're still being harsh.

No. Considering how her methods were championed in a show where these characters are positive role models, I'm not harsh enough.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[PacificGreen 1,163]

As for the season 1 finale, it did seem like a season finale-type episode, although it seems less so mostly because it was neither a two-parter nor really much of a "wham" episode.

[Marimo 555]

@@Marimo, Think of the implications of what she was doing up to the moral. Discord was causing a bunch of hell to Shy's animals/Angel and her cottage, and she played the gullible idiot. But that was her intention. She wanted Discord to pull these stunts, and she acted simple and gullible to emotionally manipulate him. Her tactics were bait for Discord in order to control his actions, force sympathy from him, and gain the upper hand. What she said in the quote above was an admission to this farce. In other words, she trapped him. Similar actions are found in some domestically abusive relationships.

 

No. Considering how her methods were championed in a show where these characters are positive role models, I'm not harsh enough.

This was not an abusive relationship, at least not with Fluttershy being the abuser. Let me put it like this: She lets him walk right all over him, hoping that he'll change. After all the kindness she shows, he still takes advantage of her kindness, so she wants out of their friendship. It's only when he realizes that his behavior is driving away someone he held dear that he decided to change his way. If anyone is abusive in this situation, it's clearly Discord. Fluttershy should not be made the villain for trying to be as friendly as she can be and expecting in return for him to actually behave.

 

You use words like manipulate and how she's forcing sympathy from him, I say this is all an argument presented to Discord on why he should reform. He is offered something he doesn't have, friendship and trust, and its his own selfish actions that drive others away and keeps that friendship and trust away. And even though she started doing this in order to get him to reform, Fluttershy never showed any signs that she didn't also want this to work as an actual friendship.

 

 

Back to focusing on season 1 for me, lots of people compliment BNE, saying the story did a good job focusing on the mane six equally... well yeah, it's basically the same story outline told six times with just a different coat of paint, with them only being all connected at the start and very end. I like the episode, but the way the story was structured made it way easier to give equal focus than if it was just one main conflict being dealt with (like how most episodes in the show are structured), and you can't really do the same thing this episode did that easily without just seeming repetitive.

[Jeric 46,863]

*snickers

 

It's funny because I was about to comment that Fluttershy's method was not successful in the end ... but without the foundation that she started the payoff would not have happened. Hmmm. Where have I heard that argument before.

 

Seriously, this discussion feels like someone who says Act One of Hamlet was weaker than the last few acts because the protagonist wasn't fleshed out. Or that Breaking Bad season one is overrated because the following seasons plumbed the psychology of Walter White better.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just enjoying my forest vista while others talk about how imperfect the tree on the left looks.

 

[Equus 91]

Hey wow, people who agree. Not that Season 1 was bad at all, but I get tired of hearing people praise it endlessly. The nostalgia factor is really the only reason I ever re-watch any early episodes; I don't think I've re-watched more than two or three season one episodes in the entire past couple of years. Seasons two and especially four have been my favorite with this season possibly matching four as my favorite as time goes on. And season three at least had a couple episodes that are among my favorites, more than can be said for the first season.

We'll see how that holds up in the future though. I'll agree with the other poster(s) and just say that S1 has not aged well, at least compared to subsequent seasons.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Equus

[PROJECT: Simon 3,955]

The reason I liked Season 1 because it was the start, and the story gets interesting and interesting~      But for some people, they'd dislike it instead, all of us have different opinions, but I understand and bit agree with you~           

[Buck Testa 5,505]

*snickers

 

It's funny because I was about to comment that Fluttershy's method was not successful in the end ... but without the foundation that she started the payoff would not have happened. Hmmm. Where have I heard that argument before.

 

Seriously, this discussion feels like someone who says Act One of Hamlet was weaker than the last few acts because the protagonist wasn't fleshed out. Or that Breaking Bad season one is overrated because the following seasons plumbed the psychology of Walter White better.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just enjoying my forest vista while others talk about how imperfect the tree on the left looks.

 

You know I wuv ya Jeric, and I'm not saying the O.G "tree" was bad, I'm just tired of the people who are trashing the rest of the proverbial forest and claiming that one metaphorical tree and ONLY that one metaphorical tree is the best and nothing produced afterward will ever measure up to that rose tinted nostalgia goggled standard.