Group episodes Vs. Pairings and singles

[-Inactive- 78]

Now before I start this, I would just like to say that I am not a brony who is going to complain about new episodes or anything, I love them in their own way compared to the first episodes, but as I rewatch season 1 while season 5 airs I notice the difference of our episodes now (though we can blame that cutie map thing for this and maybe spike too, no I'm just kiding, I won't be so harsh to the little guy). The mane 6 going in pairs and such, which I do enjoy, it's like we are getting little bits of each character before our finale with all of them. I am actually stuck on which I enjoy more, as the old episodes had this whole group thing that felt... connected... maybe it's almost development for both the viewers connection with the characters (or at least that effects how I feel about the show sometimes) and the target age group... but anyway, I wonder if anypony for a start actually agrees with me on the idea that we are getting a bunch of pairings/single character episodes to build up to the finale/last few episodes in which we see the mane 6 all come together and *do something awesome* and if anypony prefers either side over the other, not season <3 vs. season >3 _(*fight*) but if anypony prefers the whole "pony gang" coming together on a problem regularly (and sometimes not even that, as we saw in the last episodes) or single or two character episodes in which they solve a specific problem on their own or in pairs? To try and be honest, we have had an _almost even amount of episodes on both sides of this _{(or maybe my binge watch of episodes has put me out of sync)}

[Megas 27,070]

I always find myself enjoying episodes most when they involve 2-4 main characters(or one main character and several support characters), as opposed to solo episodes and ones that involve the entire group

[cmarston1 5,952]

I enjoy singles episodes and pairings episodes more than those that focus on the entire group a lot of the time.

[Cloud Strife 928]

I think that pairing/solo episodes work better in general than group episodes when it comes to Slice of Life format. In the case of action sequences, group episodes work well (which is why they're used in finales and openers and all that), but if you're focusing solely on character development, it's easier to make the focus as little spread as possible. The issue with having group episodes is that it ends up like Daring Don't, where the majority of the Mane Six don't have anything to do, and only Rainbow and Twilight actually contribute to the plot beyond the keep-away sequence (which could have easily been substituted with Twilight doing it by herself rather than the others doing it). As this is a Slice of Life show, then, the majority of these episodes should be focusing on 2-4 characters at a time, rather than a large group of them.

 

The only episode that I could see an exception to this is the aptly named Slice of Life, but that's because the focus of that episode wasn't on the individual characters or their development, but on their contribution to Ponyville as a whole. Its focus is scattered because life's focus is scattered; it's done that way on purpose. Otherwise, if you want a member of the Mane Six to learn a lesson, that member should either be by themselves or with one other pony. (The same thing with teaching a lesson, too.)

[Marimo 555]

This isn't recent. Season 2 did a lot of the same thing, having episodes that mostly just focused on one, maybe two of the mane six throughout the episode, with the others maybe making small appearances.