Rate S6.

[baba_booey 4,302]

Out of the first half (rankings):

 

Great Episodes:

1. Hearth's Warming Tale

2. Gauntlet of Fire

3. Saddle Row Review

 

Good Episodes:

4. The Crystalling

5. On Your Mark

 

Meh:

6. Applejack's Day Off

7. Gift of the Maud Pie

8. Spice Up Your Life

 

Bad:

9. No Second Prances

10. Flutter Brutter

11. Newbie Dash

 

As for the season overall, it's pretty good. It's kind of a step down from S4 and S5 imo, but I've still managed to get enjoyment out of a few episodes. Hearth's Warming Tale might even be my second favorite episode of the series, with Gauntlet of Fire and Saddle Row Review not being far off either. However, at the same time, Newbie Dash was one of my least favorites of the series, and I do consider it worse than S5's worst episode, which was Hooffields and the McColts. Maybe I'll go more in-depth on my opinions, but.. eh.

 

I'll probably give the season an 8 or 8.5/10 as a whole. It's a good season, better than 1 and 3, maybe just a bit weaker than 2, but not as good as 4 or 5. My ranking of the seasons in general would probably be 5 > 4 > 2 ≥ 6 > 3 > 1

[Thrond 3,263]

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.

Edited October 23, 2016 by AlexanderThrond

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

6/10.

The premier was pretty underwhelming and meh; it wasn't AS bad as I was expecting (I long ago accepted that the two parters for this season were going to be Starlight power hours with the other characters as cameos, so I was expecting it to be like that, but I actually found flurry heart kind of cute, and Sunburst is MUCH more interesting than starlight, leading to an interesting new character). It hit about a 6/10, still better than the crystal empire, which is nice.

 

On your marks was below average, about a 4/10, but as a CMC episode I kind of expected that too, like not being surprised by the family drunk getting in a crash and being put in jail, you KNEW he was a screw up ahead of time, and Applebloom is pretty much the worst of the group due to having virtually NOTHING going for her apart from the CMC stuff and being the bland "leader" of the CMC.

 

The gift of maud pie was good, and I honestly think its under rated. its a solid 8/10 IMO, and very enjoyable, with good chemistry between Rarity, pinkie and maud. Its not 10/10, but its very solid and has some good intercharacter interaction, and maud and Pinkie are heartwarming together.

 

Gauntlet of fire is a VERY good episode, 8.5/10, that manages to do an author's saving throw for the dragon race as a whole after the HORRIBLE dragonquest, showing us some more nuances to the dragons, introducing TWO great new characters (Dragon lord torch was seriously my favorite character of that episode, I loved his scenes), and, BEST OF ALL, being nonstop Abuse of Garble XD
The fact that Garble never got a punishment in dragonquest was one of the things people found grating about it, and all the garblebuse in the episode was really cathartic.

 

No second prances is a below average episode; Starlight is boring as hell, and while I DID find Trixie enjoyable, that just can't carry itself alone. 6.5/10. Damnit, we need more Twilight/Trixie intereaction though, because those scenes were the best part of the episode.

 

Newbie dash is cancer in animated form. .5/10. Seriously cannot state how much I hated this episode, its MMDW 2.0 with extra helpings of cringe.

 

A hearth's warming tale is better than the previous Starlight episode, but not by much. the songs are good, which props it up, but its still a pretty damned boring christmas carol knock off, 7/10

 

The saddle and row review. MY GOD, the saddle and row review, one of the best episodes of the entire SERIES let alone the season, this thing hits it out of the PARK.  If there were more episodes like this, this season would be the best ever, but sadly its the only one of its class so far. that being said, DAMN is it good. Every single one of the mane six is entertaining and hilarious, the animatics and sight gags are incredible, and just overall it is phenomenal. 9.5/10

 

Applejack's day off... Happened, and that's pretty much the only way to describe it. Its like they decided to do an episode about the mane six fucking around for like 20 minutes and called it a day.
The issues in the episode felt kind of dumb and forced (So you never tried CALLING A PLUMBER when you noticed a steam problem? Because its like your toilet not flushing and just not putting two and two together) and AJ doing all that stupid crap felt HORRIBLY out of character. Like if it was smaller and more nuanced of an action I could see it, but all of her actions just felt forced and asinine.

4/10

 

Flutterbrutter: a solid 7.5/10. Its got some great dash and Fluttershy (Please tell me this didn't count as a rainbow dash episode for her allotment for the season though Usually each pony only gets 3, and if THIS was one of hers, with newbie dash being another, leaving just ONE left, I'll be PISSED), and Fluttershy felt absolutely PERFECT for once, being firm but still kind.

The only thing dragging it down is that Zephyr, even with his fear of failure, was a HORRIBLY unlikeably douche who I couldn't feel sorry for. I just felt relief that he was GONE at the end when he got a job. If I had felt empathy for him and felt sorry for him, with him being a likeable individual who just couldn't succeed in life due to self confidence, I'd put this one at a 9/10, but as is, it can only go to a 7.5/10

 

 

Spice of your life is a VERY solid 8/10. Pinkie and rarity had some good intercharacter chemistry, I found Zesty an enjoyable douche, and the song was actually pretty enjoyable (listened to it more than once). It wasn't a massively memorable episode, but it had a good feel to it.

 

 

So, lets average all that up and you get a 6.29. Pretty damned poor and underwhelming IMO. There's some gems, and its not terrible, but its HUGELY being held back by its starlight focus, as all her episodes (The premier ESPECIALLY) have been underwhelming. Plus, you got crap like Newbie dash and On your marks which is like having a Turd on your horderve tray. Sure you can pick the ones that aren't touching the shit, but a good amount of your horderves are still shit and its ruining your appreciation for the tray as a whole.

Also bummed that we got crap for a meta-plot/theme for this season (Explore equestria LOLWUT when?)

 

 

 

 

 

ADO drags my score down from an 8.5 to an 8. That episode was just too terrible. The premiere and On Your Marks were also pretty flat for me. 

Honestly, I think you over rate how bad that one was; it wasn't great, but it wasn't THAT bad. Its still loads better than Mysterious mare do well or princess spike.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

 

 

Honestly, I think you over rate how bad that one was; it wasn't great, but it wasn't THAT bad. Its still loads better than Mysterious mare do well or princess spike.

 

It's literally the only episode out of the roughly 130 that have aired that is written so poorly it breaks the 3 act structure of the show. We don't get the conflict until like 20 minutes in, and then the conflict itself is that AJ is breathtakingly out of character stupid.  

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

It's literally the only episode out of the roughly 130 that have aired that is written so poorly it breaks the 3 act structure of the show. We don't get the conflict until like 20 minutes in, and then the conflict itself is that AJ is breathtakingly out of character stupid.  

So you're saying it "Unique" then

Its a feature, not a bug!

[Thrond 3,263]

It's literally the only episode out of the roughly 130 that have aired that is written so poorly it breaks the 3 act structure of the show. We don't get the conflict until like 20 minutes in, and then the conflict itself is that AJ is breathtakingly out of character stupid.  

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. 

[Leave a Whisper 703]

6/10 It had some nice episodes and some overdone ones. Really a Christmas Story episode outside of Christmas?

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,435]

I actually really liked this first half of the season!

There have been no episodes that I disliked.

 

So this half-season get's a solid 8.5/10. This season already has a few of my most favorite episodes of the whole series, so that counts a lot as well.

I like how Starlight plays in this season as well, especially in A Hearth’s Warming Tail.

[chronos911 22]

3/10..  Sorry but this season has just been a complete disappointment for me so far. We've had characters going out of character, average at best songs, and worst of all it's just really boring so far.  Nothing really eventful or exciting is happening.  It just feels like they've ran of ideas and are just going into complete randomness mode.    Something needs to happen.   What I want to see from this show is proper compelling emotionally driven story telling that we're normally used to and we're just not getting that at all.    This show would be nothing without good writing.  It wouldn't even have gotten this far without good writing.    An the poor writing it's starting to have a negative impact on the series.. 

 

http://www.horse-news.net/2016/04/season-6-becoming-least-watched-mlp.html

 

I don't want to see this series die a slow painful death, but that's exactly what's going to happen if things don't pick up.     

Edited July 7, 2016 by chronos911

[Thrond 3,263]

This season *might* be starting to push 8/10 for me. I'll have to think about it. 

[Megas 27,544]

Dead fucking last with all seasons considered for Newbie Dash alone. And even then, Spike and Fluttershy are the only characters that really benefited from this season, otherwise it's easily the worst season for at least half the mane cast(Twi, Dash, and AJ), didn't do much for the rest, and it's done a terrible job at getting me to warm up to Starlight

Edited October 23, 2016 by T-SPARKS

[Justin_Case001 4,876]

Overall, I do think it's the worst season of all 6, unfortunately.  (But hey, some season has to be worst, right?)  It's been a rough season with a lot of up and down.  There's been a lot of "meh" episodes, but a few spectacular ones, too.  This season has seen some very inconsistent character writing, with a lot of bad characterization, a lot of characters acting out of character, and a lot of missed or wasted opportunities.  But it also delivered one of my biggest wishlist items, and that was Thorax.  What's say we take an overview of all episodes?  Keep in mind, I'm gonna blast through these with quick, sometimes comical, and often exaggerated snippets.  I've reviewed each individual episode in the appropriate threads, taking the time to consider the redeeming qualities in even the worst episodes.  This is just the broad stroke.

 

• The Crystaling - Starlight good, me want kill Flurry Heart. 
• Gift of Maud Pie - Okay, could have been better.
• On Your Marks - Meh.  CMC doin' their thing.  Okay.
• Gauntlet - Spectacular.
• Prances - Ehhh....okay.  I love annoyed Tia.
• Newbie - Sh*t dripping train wreck covered in manticore vomit.
• Hearth's Warming Tale - Not bad.  I'm never thrilled by this kind of story format.
• Saddle Row - Fabulous, DARLING!
• AJ's Day Off - Weird, kinda dumb, made AJ look stupid.  I loved RD at the spa.
• Flutter Brutter - Infernal spawn of evil.  God damn Zephyr, Total Rickalled piece of sh*t.  Good Fluttershy characterization, though.
• Spice - Zesty, wonderful, delicious.
• Fanfic - I still hate DD being real, but for what it was, it was pretty good.  Quibble is awesome.  Nailed the fandom.
• Cart - *fart noise*  Total meh.
• 28 Pranks - *fart noise* TO-TAL MEH.  Made RD immature again.  Belongs in S1.
• Changeling - Spectacular.  Delivered one of my biggest wishlist items ever.
• D&D - Best Discord ever.  Draconnequs Q is best Q.
• Buckball - Cute with a side order of meh.
• Fault - Brilliant.  Great CMC characterization.
• Las Pegasus - Slow-roasted meh, served over a bed of meh, with a side of meh, sauteéd in meh sauce.
• Every Little Thing - Idk.  Good.  Bad.  I can't decide.  Good, but WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE THINKING?!
• PPOV - Pretty meh, but Captain AJ was perhaps the best thing in pony history.
• Apple Lies - Okay, but I wanted the AJ parent death episode.
• Bolt - Pretty great.  T-Sparks is best nickname ever.
• To Where - Spectacular, but the rushed FIM resolution hat trick strikes again.

 

And there you have it.  If I had to rate the season with a number out of ten, I guess I'd say....6/10.  It's tough to rate the whole thing, since there was so much drastic up and down.  It was the least consistent season, I'd say.  But let's end on a positive note.  I don't think the show has grown stale or too old at all.  Six seasons isn't all that old for a show.  Many shows tend to peak around S8, such as Simpsons and Seinfeld, for example.  There's no reason that S7 can't be the best yet.  These new writers just need to get their act together.  So let's hope for a truly stellar S7, leading up to a spectacular movie next fall.  Hooves crossed.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

3/10..  Sorry but this season has just been a complete disappointment for me so far. We've had characters going out of character, average at best songs, and worst of all it's just really boring so far.  Nothing really eventful or exciting is happening.  It just feels like they've ran of ideas and are just going into complete randomness mode.    Something needs to happen.   What I want to see from this show is proper compelling emotionally driven story telling that we're normally used to and we're just not getting that at all.    This show would be nothing without good writing.  It wouldn't even have gotten this far without good writing.    An the poor writing it's starting to have a negative impact on the series.. 

 

http://www.horse-news.net/2016/04/season-6-becoming-least-watched-mlp.html

 

I don't want to see this series die a slow painful death, but that's exactly what's going to happen if things don't pick up.     

I have only one thing to say: HABER, GET SOME PRACTICE!

[Thrond 3,263]

Tally of ratings this season: 73/100. Pretty respectable, especially given that I'm pretty sure S5 wouldn't have had a score above 60 if I'd started this rating system back then. There's still a few more disappointing episodes than in the show's best seasons, but I enjoyed a highly respectable 75% of it, and several episodes here are among my favorites of all time. It's far from the best season for the mane six, but I honestly thought it started to move characters in the right direction, and while I wish they could move forward having learned from their old mistakes, I prefer so-called "regression" (which I usually don't agree is regression anyway) to the complete flatness which dominated season 5, and even season 4 to a lesser extent. Moreover, this season I find myself disagreeing with the consensus most often on widely hated episodes ("Newbie Dash," "Flutter Brutter," "28 Pranks Later"), which is infinitely more satisfying than being lukewarm-at-best about S5's beloved episodes ("Griffonstone," "Amending Fences," "Mane Attraction"). I'm perfectly happy to be the outlier here, because I'm at least enjoying myself. Additionally, my least favourite episodes of this season are significantly better than my least favourite episodes of just about every season, and in the end, I was having fun.

 

I left the last two seasons mostly strung along by the promise that the next one would be better. I leave this season just wanting more of it. Cue the flying pigs. 

 

Edit: More thoughts on my offsite blog.

Edited October 24, 2016 by AlexanderThrond

[Luminance 2,186]

It's near last for me compared to the previous seasons in story and character development but then a lot of good things did come out like Flutershy's family, the Changelings, Starlight's purpose, and the return of Chrysalis was a big one. A bunch of lackluster episodes span between ok to good ones just like any other season but this one in particular felt like it was just left in neutral. No real big strides to expand our mane 6 protagonists arcs and I believed that it was playing safe for the time being. The side characters in the other hand had great time to develop and to help guide season 6 with new conflicts and such for our established mane characters. If I was to look at it in a emotional standpoint, it wouldn't top season 4 and 5 in terms of emotional moments and those two carried it out nicely.

 

At the end, it's still just season 6 and I can just slot it somewhere near the bottom for now and look ahead for the next one. Season 6 surprised me definitely but not in a way I though it would and I just hoped that season 7 can deliver that better.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

It's a little hit and miss.

Edited October 23, 2016 by heavens-champion

[PonyMage 228]

I'd probably rate it 7/10 or 8/10. Probably on the lower spectrum of favorite seasons, but it was still good fun. We had a few stinkers, we had a few diamonds that poignantly remind me what I love about this show. Granted, the ones I consider diamonds are not popular episodes, but eh. :comeatus:

 

So yeah, it was good overall. And I have good hopes for next season because I think the new writers will have a better grasp on the characters now.

[pnylvr 185]

Medium (maybe 7.5/10?). I found it worse than seasons 1 or 2, but better than 3, 4, or 5. The season had some of the best episodes in the show (Gauntlet of Fire, The Times they are a Changeling, Dungeons and Discords), but also some of the worst (28 Pranks Later, The Cart before the Ponies, and no I don't include Newbie Dash here--I kind of liked it). Then again, what season HASN'T had its duds?

[Flutterbattyyy 331]

6.5/10

 

✮✮✮✩✩

 

I enjoyed it a lot. I wouldn't put it as my favorite season, but it falls nicely in 3rd place.

 

1st-Season 4   >   2nd-Season 5   >   3rd-Season 6    >   4th-Season 2    >   5th-Season 3    >   6th-Season 1

 

I had hoped for more adventure episodes and less slice of life, however. So far, no finale has beat the dramatic, epicness, and emotion that was the Season 4 finale. Season 5's finale came somewhat close, though. 

 

Hoping Season 7 ditches (most of) slice of life for more adventurous and high-fantasy style episodes. I feel that a ratio of 70% adventure episodes vs. 30% slice of life would be ideal.

Edited October 24, 2016 by ElementalFluttershee

[Thrond 3,263]

Hoping Season 7 ditches (most of) slice of life for more adventurous and high-fantasy style episodes. I feel that a ratio of 70% adventure episodes vs. 30% slice of life would be ideal.

Interesting that you say that, because that's the exact last thing I want this show to do. It appears that I watch this show for very different reasons from yourself... I think slice-of-life episodes, especially strongly comedic ones, are where this show excels the most.

[Flutterbattyyy 331]

Interesting that you say that, because that's the exact last thing I want this show to do. It appears that I watch this show for very different reasons from yourself... I think slice-of-life episodes, especially strongly comedic ones, are where this show excels the most.

 

Well, I also enjoy the slice of life episodes. Many of them have been in my top favorites.   I.e. Crusaders of the Lost Mark and Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3. 

 

But I find that the most memorable episodes that I go back watching again and again are the adventure episodes. I.e. the premieres and finales, Daring Don't, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep, Bats!, etc.

 

I love both, really. But its the fantasy elements in the show that make me all hyped up for it. They give it extra "flare." Of course, it does seem that the character interactions in the adventure episodes could use a little bit of work. xD

 

One thing that I'm sure of, is that if it were to go in a more adventurous route, more people would start watching MLP. I know a few people who say they'd love the show if it were more adventurous like the finales.

Edited October 24, 2016 by ElementalFluttershee

[gamecubeguy214 2,512]

8/10. Its episodes were mostly very good, like Stranger than Fan Fiction and Spice up your Life. The only horrible episode was Hearth's Warming Tail, and every episode that people absolutely hated were just OK. There's almost never an episode that I would call "bad".

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

Dead fucking last with all seasons considered for Newbie Dash alone. And even then, Spike and Fluttershy are the only characters that really benefited from this season, otherwise it's easily the worst season for at least half the mane cast(Twi, Dash, and AJ), didn't do much for the rest, and it's done a terrible job at getting me to warm up to Starlight

It's always Newbie Dash with you, isn't it? Seriously man, let it go.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Silvestra Spooner

[Thrond 3,263]

Well, I also enjoy the slice of life episodes. Many of them have been in my top favorites.   I.e. Crusaders of the Lost Mark and Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3. 

 

But I find that the most memorable episodes that I go back watching again and again are the adventure episodes. I.e. the premieres and finales, Daring Don't, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep, Bats!, etc.

 

I love both, really. But its the fantasy elements in the show that make me all hyped up for it. They give it extra "flare." Of course, it does seem that the character interactions in the adventure episodes could use a little bit of work. xD

 

One thing that I'm sure of, is that if it were to go in a more adventurous route, more people would start watching MLP. I know a few people who say they'd love the show if it were more adventurous like the finales.

It's possible, but for me the main draw of the show has always been its characters, and I do feel that slice-of-life type episodes are better for showcasing character interactions, featuring character development, and just having situations which actually have some personal connection to the characters. More action/adventure might draw in more people who are interested in that stuff, but I also think a heavier emphasis on, say, character-driven humour would work just as well, even if fewer people are clamouring for that. Grand adventure just isn't the primary reason why I watch this show, being honest - most of my own favourites are slice-of-life. 

 

So I guess I'm the Quibble Pants to your Rainbow Dash. 

It's always Newbie Dash with you, isn't it? Seriously man, let it go.

Heck, I kinda like "Newbie Dash," so I really wish most people around here would just let it go already. 

[Baykush 328]

It was pretty good so far. I'm not sure how I would rank it compared to other seasons, but it's definitely the kind of quality I expect from MLP. The episodes before the hiatus were all great except for AJ's day off, the ones after the hiatus were more of a mixed bag, but with some gems as well. It's pretty noticeable that most of the old staff is gone (specially Rogers and Larson) , but these new writers are getting the hang of it and I expect they'll get even better next season.

 

Memorable: Newbie Dash, A Heart's Warming Tail, The Saddle Row Review, Flutter Brutter, The Fault In Our Cutie Marks, Every Little Thing That She Does and To Where And Back Again.

 

Good: The Crystaling, No Second Prances, Spice Up Your Life, The Times They Are A Changeling, D&D.

 

Above Average: The Gift Of The Maud Pie, On Your Marks, Gauntlet Of Fire, Viva Las Pegasus, Where The Apple Lies.

 

Average: Buckball Season, P.P.O.V.

 

Below Average: The Cart Before The Ponies.

 

Blacklist: AJ's Day Off, 28 Pranks Later.

 

Mixed Feelings: Stranger Than Fanfiction, Top Bolt. (both would be good is I didn't have a problem with their premise, and sadly I don't enjoy them because of that).

 

If I have to give it a number I'd say 8.5/10, but I'm not totally sure.