Should the show remove exposition?

[Miss 6,239]

I know the show makers want to have younger kids to understand what's happening in the show without having to go back and watch the episode, but seriously the exposition takes a toll on the episodes.

 

Wasting time explaining things that happened before, when it's unnecessary, takes up time that could be spent focusing on the character interactions with more meaningful conversation.

 

"The Times They are a Changeling" honestly had way too much exposition that it was annoying me. I loved the episode, but it could have been so much better if their was less time spent on exposition and more time spent on emphasizing the problem  with prejudice, or Spike's internal struggle, or Thorax's pain, etc.

 

Your thoughts?

[Dark Qiviut 22,592]

Exposition should be used to help accentuate something. To create a flavor. Flight to the Finish has a lot of great exposition, because it's used to flavor the story, explain the pictures, or lead to something else. Times has reason to exposit, and the exposition helps lead to why the characters behave in certain ways, like Shining Armor in response to changelings. Sweetie Belle exposited during her rant when comparing Rarity's dresses showing her up to Rarity overshadowing her fifth birthday, but it wasn't a dump; they put a lot of time making that line meaningful.

 

The big problems with FIM's exposition as a whole are:

1. Often, it's the only thing to rely on. Look at how much Power Ponies, Trade Ya!, Rainbow Falls, EQG1, FG, Mare Do Well, and Bridle Gossip tell the story.
2. When you exposit so much, you ruin the anticipation of the story. It's especially bad when it's done very early. Rainbow Rocks spent a good deal of the prologue and the Sirens' early plan telling us about how evil they are. Yeah, good job killing the mood and making them inherently boring.
3. Poor placement of said exposition. As great and good as Times and Crystalling are (respectively), some of the exposition is very awkwardly placed.

Unfortunately, exposition has never been one of FIM's strongest suits.

[Miss 6,239]

Exposition should be used to help accentuate something. To create a flavor. Flight to the Finish has a lot of great exposition, because it's used to flavor the story, explain the pictures, or lead to something else. Times has reason to exposit, and the exposition helps lead to why the characters behave in certain ways, like Shining Armor in response to changelings. Sweetie Belle exposited during her rant when comparing Rarity's dresses showing her up to Rarity overshadowing her fifth birthday, but it wasn't a dump; they put a lot of time making that line meaningful.

 

The big problems with FIM's exposition as a whole are:

1. Often, it's the only thing to rely on. Look at how much Power Ponies, Trade Ya!, Rainbow Falls, EQG1, FG, Mare Do Well, and Bridle Gossip tell the story.
2. When you exposit so much, you ruin the anticipation of the story. It's especially bad when it's done very early. Rainbow Rocks spent a good deal of the prologue and the Sirens' early plan telling us about how evil they are. Yeah, good job killing the mood and making them inherently boring.
3. Poor placement of said exposition. As great and good as Times and Crystalling are (respectively), some of the exposition is very awkwardly placed.

Unfortunately, exposition has never been one of FIM's strongest suits.

I only meant exposition that explains things that happen in previous episodes. For example, Sweetie Belle, talking about what happened during her fifth birthday doesn't count because we never knew that before until that episode.

 

I do agree that Shining Armor's response about the changelings wasn't bad but they already explained it earlier in the episode, so if they would have taken that out and left the other in that would have been alright with me.

[Dark Qiviut 22,592]

I only meant exposition that explains things that happen in previous episodes. For example, Sweetie Belle, talking about what happened during her fifth birthday doesn't count because we never knew that before until that episode.

 

I do agree that Shining Armor's response about the changelings wasn't bad but they already explained it earlier in the episode, so if they would have taken that out and left the other in that would have been alright with me.

I think I see what you mean now.

 

If anything, no, I don't think they should get rid of it. At least not totally. If you use continuity exposition correctly and don't abuse it, why not. In TCM, the Mane Six exposited about the castle and why it came into form. But it was short and sweet. In Rainbow Falls, continuity exposition was heavily relied on, poorly placed, and contradicted the continuity of the episode it references (Wonderbolts Academy).

[Guest90210 3,569]

Unfortunately, exposition has never been one of FIM's strongest suits.

 

Yup. I specifically remember one of my least favorite episodes, Three's a Crowd, having a mercilessly long opening scene where they used excessive exposition to setup the episode. The episode spent the first 10 minutes of its 22 minutes in the same location (train station) setting up the plot and spilling a lot of unnecessary dialogue. It's one of FiM's weaker aspects. The best episodes use (relevant) exposition to naturally lead into a relevant plot point, rather than tell the story itself

[El Duderino 881]

If it were aimed at an older audience, then they could do a better job with  things like exposition. Even though they do it a lot, I don't see much harm in it. I understand that it helps young viewers understand better, and I am okay with that.

[Thrond 3,271]

It often drags the pacing of episodes down a little bit, and a lot of episodes I already really like would be even better if they didn't use exposition to establish continuity, but the format of the show means that it'd be hard to remove it. One of my favourite episodes, "Rarity Investigates!," is an exception, where the opening is in Rarity's boutique with Sassy Saddles, but the events of tbe previous episide aren't covered even though they inform Rarity's actions. The show's target audience, as well as the channel's insistence on rerunning episodes at random, means that there has to be some establishing exposition in order to maintain continuity in a vacuum. It ain't ideal, but it's far from this show's only frustrating restriction.

[weesh 690]

I think exposition is important few new viewers.  It doesn't bug me, even when it is not necessary for me to understand what is going on.  

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

It could be done a bit shorter and less awkwardly but when you have like a 4 freaking year gap between episodes where a plot point is picked up (which is the case for something like the Times they are a Changling and Canterlot Wedding) you definitely need some to let people who haven't seen the earlier episode understand what the hell is happening, and since the target audience can jump aboard at any time this is very important.

[cmarston1 5,964]

Technically speaking their has to be some sort of exposition in the series in order for some stories to actually function. Especially if it is referring to episodes that took place a couple of seasons ago.