Best/Worst Episodes of Season 6

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

With the finale a week away (even though a good number of people have already watched it thanks to the leak and spoilers abound), I'm jumping the gun a little bit and asking what people's nominations for best and worst episodes of this season were. Mine would be:

 

Best

1. The Saddle Row Review

2. A Hearth's Warming Tail

3. Top Bolt

4. Gauntlet of Fire

 

Worst

1. Newbie Dash

2. Second Prances

3. Every Little Thing She Does

[Megas 27,050]

Top 5:

- Saddle Row Review

- Stranger than Fan Fiction

- Top Bolt

- Viva Las Pegasus

- Gauntlet of Fire

 

Bottom 5

- On Your Marks

- Every Little Thing She Does

- Newbie Dash

- AJ's Day Off

- 28 Pranks Later

- 

[flutterbard 55]

Best:

Saddle Row Review

Dungeons and Discords

Stranger Than Fan Fiction

No Second Prances

Gauntlet of Fire

 

Worst:

The Cart Before the Ponies

28 Pranks Later

On Your Marks

[Thrond 3,257]

I don't have any strong "worst" contenders this season, as there are only two episodes I particularly disliked and none whatsoever that I outright hated. Still:

 

BEST:

A Hearth's Warming Tail

Top Bolt

The Fault in Our Cutie Marks

Dungeons & Discords

The Times They Are a Changeling

 

WORST:

The Cart Before the Ponies

Applejack's "Day" Off

No Second Prances

[Zachary 5,517]

Mine is

 

Best:

 

1. A Hearth's Warming Tail

2. The Times they are a Changeling

3. The Saddle Row Review

 

Worst:

 

1. Newbie Dash

2. 28 Pranks Later

3. No Second Prances

 

(Although it Might be Changed as I finished Season 6)

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

Haven't seen anything past Buckball Season.

 

Fave:

1: Saddle Row Review

2: Hearth's Warming Tail

3: No Second Prances

4: Stranger Than Fan Fiction.

 

Least Fave:

 

1: Newbie Dash

 

2: 28 Pranks Later

 

In a weird position, since I'd say 28 Pranks is /worse/ than Newbie Dash, but I don't dislike it as much in comparison.

 

3: Cart Before the Ponies

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,151]

Overall I think season was solid, though it definitely felt hit or miss on a few occasions.

 

Fave:

1. To Where and Back Again

2. No Second Prances

3. The Times Are A Changeling

4. Gauntlet of Fire

5. Saddle Row Review

 

Least Fave:

1. Cart Before the Ponies

2. 28 Pranks Later

3. On Your Marks

4. AJ's Day Off

5. P.P.O.V

 

Now, of those bottom five, only Cart and Pranks are ones I actually came close to disliking. The other three were meh or forgettable.

[Sparklefan1234 161,633]

My favorite/least favorite episodes of the season are:

 

Favorite:

 

1. A Hearthswarming Tale

 

2. Gauntlet of Fire

 

3. Gift of the Maud Pie

 

Least Favorite:

 

1. Flutter Brutter

 

2. Applejacks "Day" Off

 

3. Newbie Dash

Edited October 17, 2016 by Sparklefan1234

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

In order from favorite to least favorite

1. No Second Prances - I like Trixie, and and I liked them not only bringing her back, but building upon her. I like that she is reformed, but not sickeningly reformed.
2. 28 Pranks Later -  I don't care what anyone else says, I loved the zombie theme of this episode. Dash's pranks were hit or miss for me, but that was one a hell of a come back by the whole town.
3. The Gift of the Maud Pie = I like Maud. I literally cannot dislike an episode with her in it.
4. Dungeons & Discords - Discord made this one for me. His reactions to things were priceless.
5. Top Bolt - Another great episode. New Wonderbolts and a cute story make this one a winner for me
6. Gauntlet of Fire - This one almost made the top 5 for me...Ember was cute and her and Spike really made some shippable magic. The ending with Gargle having to give hugs was pretty hilarious but he still pisses me off..
7. The Times They Are A Changeling - I liked it, but the episode just felt abrupt and rushed to me. I thought Thorax was great.
8. Buckball Season - Fluttershy an athlete... whodathunkit?
9 - To Where and Back Again - Good finale.. not my all time favorite, but still a lot of moments I genuinely got excited in and found myself holding my breath.
10. The Crystalling - Decent premier... I really liked Sunburst and thought the idea of a Unicorn being really good at understanding magic without being that great at actually doing it themselves was a nifty idea. He alone is what raised the episode up a few notches.
11. Spice Up Your Life - A fun episode. I liked Pinkie Pie's reactions to a lot of things.
12. The Fault in Our Cutie Marks - Not bad at all. gabby was adorable and so damn hyper.. she helped raise this episode up a few notches as well.
13. Where the Apple Lies - It was fun for what it was. I liked it overall, but it also felt like a step backwards in the serious for me in a sense.
14. On Your Marks - Not a bad episode, but again, it felt like a step backwards to me in the series.
15. A Hearth's Warming Tail - Decent episode, But I have heard the whole Scrooge take before.Thanks.
16. The Saddle Row Review - Not bad... just forgettable.
17. The Cart Before the Ponies - see above. Instead of getting all upset, why didn't the CMC just ask to change partners?
18. Viva Las Pegasus - I did not dislike it, but it just never hit me all that well. Plus I really dislike Flim and Flam as characters.
19. Newbie Dash - I don't have the hate for this episode some do... and actually understood the nicknames and saw it for what it is. But like previous episodes, it just felt it was back pedaling upon groundwork that had already been laid before
20. Applejack's "Day" Off - OMG... I barely remember this episode.
21. Every Little Thing She Does - It had it's moments, but again, I just did not find it that interesting.
22. P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View) -  Again, another backwards episode... did the writers forget we had 5 seasons already that laid out a lot of groundwork?
23. Stranger Than Fan Fiction - Quibble... arrgghhh! plus I am at best iffy on Daring Do as a character in the show. I adore her look and personality and such, but she creates so many problems for me on a plot basis.
24. Flutter Brutter - Zephyr... double arrrgghhhh! I just could not stand him or his actions. I hate to say it, but Fluttershy should have left him in the woods.


So there you have it. A couple of these could probably move back and forth among each other, but in general this is how i see them.

[Eggy0 101]

I have a top 3 for both categories.

 

Top 3:

To Where And Back Again

The Times They Are A Changeling

No Second Prances

 

Bottom 3:

The Cart Before The Ponies

PPOV

...And I haven't got a third least favorite season 6 episode. I guess that's bottom 2 then...

[cmarston1 5,951]

My favorites of the season would be Flutter Brutter, The Times They Are a Changeling, Stranger than Fanfiction, A Hearth's Warming Tale and The Fault in Our Cutie Mark. My least favorites would have to be AJ's Day off for being really boring and Newbie Dash for its painful cringe comedy (even if I don't think it is as bad as some people say it is, the second hand embarrassment makes me not want to rewatch it.)

[Luminance 2,181]

Best

The Where and Back Again

A Heartwarming's Tale

The Times are a Changeling

No Second Prances

Spice Up Your Life

Flutter Brutter

The Crystalling

 

Worst

 

Viva Las Pegasus

Stranger Than Fan Fiction

Newbie Dash

Applejack's "Day" off (notice a trend?)

[Thrond 3,257]

In order from favorite to least favorite

Screw it, I'll post that here and edit after seeing the finale this weekend.

 

1. A Hearth's Warming Tail - Possibly the show's greatest achievement from a visual and musical standpoint, and miraculously also a fresh take on this well-worn story. It gives me the emotions, y'know? 
2. The Fault in Our Cutie Marks - Builds up so much tension as it builds up to seemingly inevitable heartbreak, but then subverts that tension for some of the most heartwarming stuff this show has ever offered. Gabby is the cutest. 
3. Top Bolt  - Probably the best of the map episodes, breaking modestly from the usual formula and providing some of the season's most charming new characters yet. Their problems are moving and relatable and both Twi and Dash are pretty solid as well. 
4. Dungeons & Discords - The funniest episode of the season, and also has character development for Discord, of all people. 
5. The Times They Are a Changeling - I'm not sure if this is a perfect allegory for prejudice, but the more people criticize this episode's story, the more I think it works, and even on first watch I found it incredibly deep and powerful. 
6. The Saddle Row Review - Every character is on point, the humour is among the best this season, the narrative format is unique and fresh, and the modern city setting is really interesting. Would be even higher if it weren't so lightweight. 
7. The Gift of the Maud Pie - Makes the unlikely duo of Rarity and Pinkie Pie totally delightful, and the early exposition dump makes their presence in Manehattan feel meaningful. Also loved Maud here - her emotions were subtle but not inscrutable. 
8. The Crystalling - Merits a re-watch, but totally subverts the usual season premiere formula to focus entirely on characters in new roles. I remember this feeling like a rejuvenation of the show a the time, because it really is just that fresh. 
9. Stranger Than Fan Fiction - A total blast. An adventure episode focused less on high stakes and more on the adventure itself. Rainbow Dash is great here, and Quibble Pants is one of my favourite new characters in recent seasons. 
10. To Where and Back Again - Story is a pretty blatant excuse to have these four characters in the lead, but I don't mind at all, because having those four characters in the lead is a lot of fun. Also love how it's an adventure finale which isn't heavily action-oriented. 
11. Flutter Brutter - Probably assumes too much of Zephyr's epiphany at the end, but I do sympathise with the dude, and I actually found watching his poor behaviour to be pretty entertaining. Plus, Fluttershy's characterization here is a revelation. 
12. Spice Up Your Life - Totally formulaic but pretty charming, due largely to its lovely new characters. The South Asian flavour helped a lot to make this feel less stale. 
13. On Your Marks - Mostly directionless and kinda confused, but the humour is on point and I appreciated the (unsuccessful) attempt to give Apple Bloom some depth. These characters need to branch off now, though. 
14. Viva Las Pegasus - Gets a lot of subtle details right that more ambitious episodes get wrong, but that's mostly because this story is pretty stale. Lots of fun moments though, even if the Applejack/Fluttershy dynamic did little for me. 
15. Gauntlet of Fire - Found this mildly entertaining even in spite of it doing very little which is impressive. Ember is a cliche, but putting her on the throne at least has a lot of potential. Clueless why people like it so much, though. 
16. Newbie Dash - Not sure how people find this unsatisfying, because it goes out of its way to invoke just how far Rainbow Dash has actually come. Impressions are hard to watch but I think its characterization of Rainbow is nuanced, and the ending just makes me way too happy to hate this episode. Rainbow made it! 
17. Every Little Thing She Does - Not particularly funny, but it gives Starlight a lot of nuance and takes her in about the direction that I think the show should take her in. Too bad it's not willing to address the implications of that direction. 
18. 28 Pranks Later - While Rainbow is a little regressive here and everything is way too slow and predictable, I found most of the jokes here pretty funny, liked the atmosphere of the zombie part, and dug the moral. This episode also fixes my biggest problem with The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, so there's also that. 
19. Buckball Season - Definitely has its charms, and I really like how the moral is executed, but the middle is really tedious, and I have a really hard time buying into the premise. 
20. Where the Apple Lies - Kinda tedious to watch, but has a lot of neat ideas due to taking place in a flashback. Wish more episodes tried this kind of thing, though I could do without the implication that Applejack became less clever and more closed-minded over time. 
21. Pony Point of View - A fair handful of funny moments in this one, but all of the characterization is terrible. Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity don't act like longtime friends, and Twilight Sparkle's role in the story repulses me. Stop having her exist only as the solution to others' problems, show. 
22. The Cart Before the Ponies - Really struggles to make its characters fit the plot, not very funny, and ultimately way too lightweight to make up for its predictability, especially given how it utterly fails to express all of its lessons. Said lessons are great though. 
23. Applejack's "Day" Off - I will defend Applejack's characterization in this to the death, but the pacing and endless exposition is hard to excuse. Closest thing to a gag is the Rainbow Dash thing, and that's just terrible. 
24. No Second Prances - I have no real investment in Trixie, so her being the one redeeming factor in this did very little for me. Starlight might be better on re-watch now that my suspicions have been confirmed, but she's still too bland here, and Twilight being entirely unsympathetic doesn't go anywhere. All of the humour sucks, too. 

Edited October 23, 2016 by AlexanderThrond

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

>people placing Every Little Thing she does as bottom 5

 

Wat.

the Starlight hate is out of control, her haters can't even judge episodes remotely objectively anymore. 

I can't believe it but I think iv found a faction of the community I dislike even more than Rarity haters, these people are just unable to seperate a character from their judgement of an episode and it's just sad.

it's so weird for me too, another community im a part of, that isn't even a super Starlight love heavy community and is generally fairly harsh with ratings rated that as easily one of the best of the season because they can still see quality regardless of the starring character.

Anyway best

Saddle Row Review: One of the funniest episodes of the show's entire run, every Mane 6 was on point and some more progression for Rarity's business arc

 

Every Little Thing She Does: the Episode that pretty much convinced me Starlight is a much better characterized character than Sunset Shimmer, reformed villains SHOULD still have lots of issues rather than just immidately basically be saints in their next appearance.

 

Viva Las Pegasus: Not the most original plot sure, but executed nearly flawlessly great characterization for Fluttershy and Applejack and great moments from Flim and Flam, the new characters were pretty fun too.

 

Flutter Brutter: I don't give a crap that Zepyhr is pretty unlikable to me this is THE episode that saved Fluttershy as a character to me and that counts for a hell of a ton given how little hope I had for her after S4 and S5. So that earns it a hell of a lot of points. 
 
Hearths Warming Tale: Just a super fun musical Episode, not much else to say about it other than I listen to SAY GOODBYE TO THE HOLIDAYS a ton.

 

Honorable Mention: No Second Prances: Episode finally made me a Trixie fan, I actually enjoyed Twilight's characterization in this more than in the vast majority of post Princess episodes and Starlight was good too.

(I won't rank to Where and Back Again till I get to watch it in HD) 

 

WORST

On Your Marks and Applejacks Day Off: Gonna list these together for the same reason. BORING, BORING, BORING, BORING. Nothing is worse than an episode just being entirely boring to watch. There's plenty of flawed episodes but most of those still have plenty of fun moments these two barely have any. There just dull and mostly forgettable. And in my eyes there's not much worse than that. 

 

Newbie Dash: For once I'll agree with much of the thread, this was an incredibly stupid way to end the "Dash becoming a Wonderbolt arc" it totally failed to celebrate the character the way Canterlot Boutique did for Rarity in the end and mostly just slapped her in the face over and over and gave me the impression the writing staff doesn't care for her much.

 

Cart Before the Ponies: Not really so BAD but just well bellow par, Rarity was the episodes saving grace in that everything she was involved in was pretty damn funny.

Edited October 18, 2016 by M'gann M'orzz

[GeekySonic 1,150]

Dungeons and Discord is my personal favorite, purely because I keep picturing Discord singing Legolas' lines from the Misty Mountains Rap.

 

Stranger Than Fanfiction I liked, because Rainbow Dash episode + Patton Oswalt = guuuud.

 

Saddle Row Review had me laughing almost the whole time I was watching it.

 

Gauntlet of Fire: Probably my favorite Spike episode ever.

 

The Times They are A Changeling: dear God TWO good Spike episodes? However shall I choose?

 

The rest were either okay or meh, except for...

 

Flutter Brutter, Newbie Dash, the Cart Before The Pony, and 28 Pranks Later. I would be fine simply never watching these episodes again.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Season 6 is finished (in UK), this season is really good with a handful of good episode, but I have make a top 5, sadly .

Top 5 best episode:

A Hearth's Warming Tail - A good all round episode, this is an episode I will watch in Christmas.

To Where and Back Again - My favorite finale, not a perfect one but I prefer it over Twilight's Kingdom.

No Second Prances - Starlight and Trixie is a great combination. The humors are so good that I laugh everytime I rewatch. This is my first favourite of season 6.

Saddle Row Review - My list is not original at all... T_T. This the best Nick Confalone episode, unique story telling, great humors, well-written characters.

Flutter Brutter - Surprise!!!!!! Yup, this is my 4th best episode. Fluttershy's characterization is the best of season 6 and this ep is the proof, Sassy Shy confirmed. The lesson is relable to me, I feel ashame of myself after watching this ep so it means Awesome.

Stranger Than Fiction - This ep teach me how to accept haters . This ep is too meta for me, and I love meta humors.

Honourable mention: Spice up your life - I stopped being the hivemind after this ep. In the past, I let other opinions dictate what I think or love sth, but now I have changed, thanks ep.

 

(edited) There are 6 episodes in Top 5 best episodes... Damn, it hard for me to not include episode i loved  Derped list...

Top 5 worst episode:

Applejack's Day Off - That ep is goddamn boring, worse than Princess Spike. Never write this kind of episode or else.........

Cart Before The Ponies - Unnecessary conflict and no carts before the climax. The fact this ep is written by Ed Valentine made me mad.

Crystalling - They should cut Starlight x Sunburst and make them an episode, that would be awesome. Two plots in 40 minutes is not working, Haber, every minute is precious. This is Crytal Empire without villain...

On Your Mark - I dont hate this ep, I just love other episodes more.

Dungeon & Discord - Dang it, just play the game, dont be a dick, Discord. The episode are just dragged out until the climax. They can make this ep an awesome virtual reality board game and let Discord learn the same lesson, but no, they make Discord try to ruin everyone fun for the half of episode and give us the game in last minutes.

Honourable mention: Fault in Our Cutie Mark - Please dont kill me . I dont like Gabby, she annoyed the heck out of me, she is useful at almost everything ( Mary Sue trait???), that girl drinks too much energy drinks that day. ..
No cancer implications? what a wasted.

I m not a professional analysist, dont expect me to write some in-depth reviews.

 

 

it's so weird for me too, another community im a part of, that isn't even a super Starlight love heavy community and is generally fairly harsh with ratings rated that as easily one of the best of the season because they can still see quality regardless of the starring character.

What's community you are talking about? Can you share me?   

Edited October 18, 2016 by Lambdadelta

[snowflame 189]

I have still not seen Flutter Brutter, I update after I have.

 

This season is wierd, I do not really dislike of love more than a couple of episodes. Maybe ranking them all does not matter much since I have such similar mind like feelings about so many of them. But I guess I did not realised only after I started.

 

The episodes that I loved:

 

To Where and Back Again, I loved this one, I enjoy these type of epsiodes so much but I maybe it should not get in detail before the episode officially airs. However the end of part 2 had some issues but I guess I will forgive that completely since I wanted to put it here.

 

Hearth's Warming Tale, This was brilliant as musical episodes always are. It was not that original but in this kind of episode it does not matter.

 

Buckball Season, I do not know why, I just happen to like everythibg about it. And finally some good Fluttershy/Pinkie interaction.

 

Where the Apple Lies, Again another mystery as to why I love this. I mean I alwsdy love flashbacks but I always hate liar plots. But somehow I did not even notice this was that kind of plot.

 

Now the epsiodes I did like a lot:

 

No Second Prances, Good charcater development for all three and interesting plot and moral.

 

Top Bolt, Really charming epsiode and somehow it did not matter that Sky was rather unlikeable most of the time. The conflict was smal for map episode too but it was refreshing.

 

Gift of the Maud Pie, First Rarity/Pinkie Pie epsiode and Maud was great.

 

Epsiodes I liked:

 

On Your Marks

Crystalling

Dungeons and Discords

28 Pranks Later

Spice Up Your Life

The Fault in Our Cutie Marks

 

Episodes I liked but had issues with:

 

Stranger than Fan Fiction

Newbie Dash

Viva Las Pegasus

Gauntlet of Fire

Times They Are Changeling

Saddle Row Review

P.P.O.V

 

Episodes I disliked:

 

Cart Before the Ponies, This was not only boring by kiddie. I guess it was a good idea to have interaction with the three CMCs and their sisters and moral was nice but still I disliked this a lot.

 

Every Little Thing She Does, I guess imperio plot was interesting in theory but so dull and predictable in practise. And this was frankly worse than what she did in her village since there she had convinced people to do something and not forced them. And it was treated as such unimportant issue. I guess the Harry Potter fan in me takes this more seriously than I should.

 

Applejack's Day Off, This epsiodes moral is about not waiting time so why it is waiting mine? The episodes plot had barely enough material for a sub-plot in a ordinary episode.

[Tao 6,706]

I'll just stick to the three for three on best and worst:

 

Top  Three

"Gauntlet of Fire":   This ep  was just a good Spike centered plot and shows all of his strong points we only get moments of,  it also helped him grow up a bit.

 

"No Second Prances":   Throw in a magic show pony who nearly defeated Twilight and a unicorn who even did defeat Twilight in using time travel and is now her student of friendship?   You get gold and even Twilight learning a lesson or two in this turn around.

 

"Dungeons & Discords"  Given I've done the DeD thing,  this ep just got me a laughing.    It was nice to have a ep not all about the ponies but Spike and Mac and a Discord who gets thrown out of his area of comfort. 

 

Worse Top Three

"Newbie Dash"  Not a Dash fan myself but this ep could have just been better in sending a message about bullies  and things that even go in say team settings in schools.

 

"P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View)"  Ok,  it had funny moments but its just somethings just got way over blown.

 

"Flutter Brutter"  This is the one ep I never finished watching.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

Best:

 

1. "A Hearth's Warming Tail" - While standard fare for a kids' series to do a holiday episode culling the plot from one of the classics, especially with A Christmas Carol being the most common (even It's a Wonderful Life and The Grinch are arguably derivative of this story), this one stands out just for MLP being MLP. The technical presentations were top-notch, with the crew doing a different location and visual style. The characters were well-cast in their classic roles, each bringing their own flavor, and the tie-in with Starlight's character arc worked perfectly.
2. "The Saddle Row Review" - It's nice to see Rarity's character arc continuing after achieving her initial goal - it shows how life doesn't end when you get everything you always wanted; it's always a never-ending pursuit of more and that's not necessarily a bad thing when you're putting all your effort into it. Interspersing the main plot of the episode with the interview flashbacks is a nice shakeup of the typical MLP episode formula, allowing the characters to provide commentary on events with a nice self-referential flair. I find this episode deserving of its popularity.
3.  "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" - Continuing on the theme of self-reference, few kids' cartoons are better equipped to comment on geek/nerd culture than this one. To that end, said subject is still a relatively new concept and very few kids' cartoons in general have touched on it tastefully. Thankfully, MLP does it, tying it in with a good moral that may well have been a little bit of what the fandom needed to hear at this time.
4. "To Where and Back Again" - Although Starlight Glimmer's character progression didn't really get enough focus IMO, this episode makes up for a lot of it by showing her apprehension towards her past in a tense situation, as well as touching on making amends with her town; a thread that would have made for a great episode of its own but was virtually glanced over in the previous season finale and didn't even get a regular 22-minute episode this season (seriously, "Applejack's 'Day' Off" gets made over this?). Add fan favorites Discord and Trixie, Season 6 breakout Thorax, and returning main villain Chrysalis and you have a band of unlikely heroes that make for a different kind of two-parter.

Honorable mentions: "The Crystalling", "Gauntlet of Fire", "No Second Prances"

 

Worst:

 

1. "Flutter Brutter" - This is one of those episodes you either really like or really hate, because it came from a good place. The plot is something many of us can identify with, and such is the flaw the focus character of the episode allegedly has. However, fear of failure is the least of Zephyr Breeze's problems; his straight-up laziness and self-centered attitude are the bigger problems and have little, if anything, to do with a fear of failure. The episode proceeds to fall into almost the same trap as "One Bad Apple", but thankfully doesn't cast the Mane 6 in a negative light as that episode did with the Crusaders. It virtually absolves Zephyr of his manipulative diva attitude by blaming it on his fear of failure as "One Bad Apple" did by shifting responsibility for her bullying ways onto her lack of social prowess (never minding that she never attempted to make a real friend as much as she tried to compensate by hanging out with the cool kids). The end of the episode nearly salvages it, but it's not enough to distract me from the notion that it grossly misrepresents the state of mind that the plot of the episode is supposed to be about. Zephyr is not a character who fears failure. He is a character who dislikes responsibility. There's a difference.
2. "Newbie Dash" - My reasons for disliking this episode have changed over time; it's not so much the nicknames or the moral that are the issues with this episode as much as the terrible comedy and slow plot progression. If you don't have much to deal with, you at least have to make up for it in entertainment value (that's what many of the better episodes this season did), but that's not even a problem with this episode; it was paying off one of the biggest character arcs in the series, which was open since the first episode and had its payoff deferred for about three seasons.
3. "Applejack's 'Day' Off" - This episode really, really tried to go too far with a paper-thin plot, and I don't think I've ever seen Applejack flip from showing thrift and ingenuity to inefficiency and irrationality (within her own area of expertise, no less) in the space of a single episode. It's the kind of episode that just feels like it was burned off so they can get to 26 on the season, and with so many better stories that should be told, this one should have hit the cutting room floor.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Wind Chaser

[Baykush 328]

My best episodes:

• The Saddle Row Review. This is one of the weirdest and most experimental episodes of the show, if not the most, and I think it payed off. Having the story being told from so many different perspectives helped it progress more smoothly, and it also made for some pretty great jokes, most of which came from the dialogue and not simply slapstick. This is a Confalone episode after all, what would his episodes be like without the awesome comedy?
• A Heart's Warming Tail. Not so much I can say about it, not all episodes have to be so different to stand out, and this one is just your typical Christmas Carol special. However, it succeeds at using the elements of the show to create its own story, and the way the story was related to Starlight's character wasn't neither obvious not forced. Also, I love musical episodes.
• Newbie Dash. People said there wouldn't be anything else to Rainbow's character arc after she became a Wonderbolt, and it was very satisfying to see that it was not the case. The Wonderbolts weren't being dumb or jerks for once, that's actually a very realistic representation of how military buddies interact and there wasn't any malice behind their actions. The moral was great and mature, and while a lot of people didn't like it, I loved the cringe comedy and the impressions.
• Flutter Brutter. Another controversial episode, and I understand why. It's pretty hard to make you sympathize with a character that introduces himself being a total jerk. However, I can understand why he acts the way he acts, since his parents never were assertive enough to correct him, he grew up with terrible habits which are really hard to break. That's a reason and not an excuse for his behavior though, and the episode does a good job establishing that. At some point you have to step up and get out of your comfort zone, as hard and scary as it might be, and that's a surprisingly mature lesson coming from this show, perhaps the most adult one (seriously, this episode gives me a BoJack Horseman vibe and that amazes me), another reason why I didn't dislike him is because he's kind of charismatic (he also reminds me of Kuzco from The Emperor's New Groove).  Also, I'm pretty sure we all can agree that Fluttershy was amazing here as well.
• Every Little Thing That She Does. Great episode for Starlight's development, and personally I can relate a lot to her fears and insecurities in this one. A lot of people criticize how OP she is, but episodes like this show how that's not her biggest strength but her biggest weakness. Also, the comedy of this episode was gold, the creepiness combined with the absurdity of the situation made it extremely hilarious. 
• The Fault In Our Cutie Marks. The first (kind of) big cutie mark problem ever since Crusaders Of The Lost Mark. I loved the idea of the conflict, seriously, a griffon being inspired by Rainbow's and Pinkie's trip to Griffinstone to get a cutie mark and asking the CMC for help, and also relating that issue to Scoot's disability? It didn't only have a great idea, it had a good execution. Gabriela was a very lovable character, the CMC and Twilight were great, and I liked the moral a lot, "being good at something doesn't mean it's what you have to do".
• No Second Prances. At first I had a problem with the way Twilight was acting, but after seeing Trixie's provocations and also the fact that Celestia was coming and how much Twilght wants to be perfect to Celestia's eyes, I buy it now. Starlight and Trixie also have great chemistry together, I loved seeing their interactions,
• To Where And Back Again, another episode with an amazing idea, which was executed extremely well too. It was nice to see all the former antagonists becoming the protagonists and saving the world for once, and it was also a great end to Starlight's arc this season. This one is easily the best two-parter of the show.

Honorable Mentions: The Gift Of The Maud Pie, On Your Marks, Dungeons & Discords, The Crystalling, Gauntlet Of Fire, The Times Are A Changeling, Buckball Season and Spice Up Your Life.

 

My worst episodes: 

• 28 Pranks Later. Did the writer only watch half of the first season? Also, the episode forced things too much to get to the zombie plot.
• Applejack's Day Off. Talk about a boring episode, even kids would get bored of this, and while I think it had an idea that was interesting it was executed very poorly. 

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

My favourite and worst favourite episodes?

 

Best.

 

1. Dungeons and Discords
2. To Where and Back Again - Both Parts
3. Top Bolt
4. Gauntlet of Fire

 

Worst.

 

1. 28 Pranks Later
2. Flutter Brutter
3. The Cart Before the Ponies

[BadHorse 39]

Favorite:

 

Gauntlet of Fire

Newbie Dash (because shut up)

A Hearth's Warming Tail

The Saddle Row Review

Flutter Brutter

Dungeons & Discords

To Where and Back Again  

 

Least Favorite:

 

Applejack's "Day" Off

The Cart Before the Ponies

Edited October 18, 2016 by BadHorse

[Thrond 3,257]

>people placing Every Little Thing she does as bottom 5

 

Wat.

the Starlight hate is out of control, her haters can't even judge episodes remotely objectively anymore. 

I have serious reservations about how the episode ends, but I have to appreciate how much nuance she's given. Unfortunately, I just think the humour sucks in that episode. Not because it's Starlight using mind control, but just because the gags suck. 

 

 

Newbie Dash ... totally failed to celebrate the character the way Canterlot Boutique did for Rarity in the end and mostly just slapped her in the face over and over and gave me the impression the writing staff doesn't care for her much.

Y'know, I don't plan to change your opinion on this, but I have a lot of reservations about "Canterlot Boutique" as well, and I think I'd like "Newbie Dash" almost exactly as much as that one were it not for the cringe comedy. I do think that the writers were going for something fairly thoughtful with the latter, and because of that I like it even in spite of its issues, but I really wish that they gave us an episode which emphasized her strengths at least a little more; I think that's what everyone wanted from such an episode. 

[Professional Horse 94]

Lists! Who doesn't love lists! Everyone loves lists! Or, well, that's what the writers of clickbait internet articles think.

 

THE EPISODES THAT DOUBLED THE FUN

 

- Saddle Row Review

 

Not my favourite, but pretty gosh darn funny. The setting didn't feel like MLP and I hate Manehattan, but the episode was a festival of hilarity. Because I value comedy the most in this show, it gets a lot of points.

 

- To Where And Back Again

 

The second half was rather meh and had some issues, but holy sweet sunny butt of Celestia, the first part was great. Not perfect, sure, but it built tension wonderfully, had some amazing character interactions, developed Starlight really well and made me like Trixie.

 

Most importantly, Chrysalis was god damn amazing in this two-parter. As a big fan of her hammy character, I was squealing with joy. She was damn perfect. I especially loved how she kept tossing Starlight and shouting at everyone. LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!

 

- Hearth's Warming Tail

 

Why do people complain about this episode using a cliche/classic plot? They didn't play it straight and had some twists in the formula. And even if you had a problem with the same old formula being used, you have to admit that everything in this episode was wonderfully done, especially the music. Although I felt like this was a big wasted opportunity for fleshing out Starlight's character.

 

- Stranger Than Manchildren

 

Strange but awesome, and equally entertaining for both kids and adults. The comedy was surprisingly well written and Quibble's character was a good parody of nerdy fans. I hope more bornies would take its lesson to heart: liking different seasons is no cause for brutal digital warfare.

 

- The Fault In Our Cutie Marks

 

A heartwarming and cute episode. I can't think of any major flaws, really. It felt like pure, refined MLP and I liked that a lot.

 

- Dungeons And Discords

 

Discord is bloody hilarious. That is all.

 

- Top Bolt

 

WHY CAN'T VAPOR TRAIL BE MY WAIFU INSTEAD OF SKY'S AAAGH

 

Ahem.

 

Twilight and RD were great together and Spitfire was an entertaining drill sergeant. Not entirely happy with the plot, but who cares. Vapor Trail is the best pony of 2016.

 

 

The episodes that were an academy record when it comes to being shit

 

- Newbie Dash

 

I don't hate this episode, but I feel like it was a gigantic wasted opportunity of unprecedented size. Dash simply isn't Wonderbolt material and those guys are assholes, so why not tell an emotional story about letting go of your dreams? Or about the price you have to pay to achieve them? Or about anything that isn't about hazing being okay or a yet another lesson about humility?

 

The episode also raises many other questions. Why did Dash make those weird impersonations again? Why did the episode spend less than 1 minute making Dash a Wonderbolt? Why didn't Pinkie watch Dash perform? Why did oh gosh I'm having an aneurysm help

 

- 28 Pranks Later, Applejack's Day Off, The Cart Before The Ponies, On Your Marks, Spice Up Your Life

 

Weird episodes. Really, really weird. Or boring. Or unfunny. Or poorly written. I don't remember because they were so forgettable. Thank the gods for that.

 

- The Crystalling

 

Take all the parts I liked, the parts that include Starlight, Spike and Sunburst. Put them in an episode. Put everything else (esp. the exposition) in the garbage bin. Nothing of value was lost, and now we have a pretty solid 22 minute slice-of-life episode!

 

Seriously, if this hadn't been a two-parter I would've been fine with it. Alas, it was, so I don't like it.

 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

 

This season is disappointing if you compare it to season 5. I talked about why exactly in other threads, but basically I feel like the show is stagnating or even backpedaling. I hope season 7 will be better.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Professional Horse

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

Lists! Who doesn't love lists!

 

People with short attention spans.