Is the first two parter the worst episodes of the series?

[Azureth 687]

Now I understand that it may seem unfair considering it was the very beginning, but apart from giving it pilot leeway do you think the first two episodes are the worst in the series?

[Dark Qiviut 22,447]

Nope. Not even the worst premiere (The Crystal Empire). That title belongs to One Bad Apple, thanks in large part to dangerous, backwards lessons about bullying.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Dark Qiviut

[Megas 27,786]

No, there are plenty of episodes a lot worse than it

It's not even the worst two parter/premiere

[Ganondox 899]

Hell no, those episodes were great, actually two of the best in the series. It performed it's role very well, setting up the rest of the series. Actually the worst episode would probably go to Magic Mystery Cure, where the pacing is so bad that the nonsensical conflict gets completely resolved in the first ten minutes. It was a very poor attempt at introducing Twilight's wings, or at accomplishing anything else. Only good thing about it was the music. 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Ganondox

[Glacies Frost 428]

Can't say they were the worst. I don't have many episodes I can't find a particular flaw in, though there are a couple that make me cringe (Trixie's maiden episode Boast Busters, for example). No, they're not the worst. Not the best, but not the worst by any stretch.

[Snow Frostflame 3,568]

The S3 finale (Magic Mystery Cure) still holds that title in my opinion. Now I'll be honest I was expecting an action two parter since they've done that with every premiere up to this point. Kinda disappointed, but the episodes were decent none the less.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Snowflake Frostflame

[Thrond 3,263]

Not at all! They're a bit odd to go back to after six seasons, but they're still funny, charming, and more innocent than many later episodes. They're closer to the best episodes than the worst episodes - my personal least favourite is "Magical Mystery Cure," 'cause it makes a change which it utterly fails to justify and generally makes no sense. 

[Storm 199]

Naw. I think the worst episode was Green Isn't Your Color.

[Dreambiscuit 10,171]

Celestial Advice seemed pretty generic and uninspired,especially for a season premiere, but certainly not the worst of the series. All Bottled Up was a little better because of Trixie (she's Great and Powerful ya know!) And even though I liked her episode here I was just shaking my head at the fact that the Mane 6 were little more than fan service; just tossed in so nopony could accuse the writers of excluding the starts of the show on the premiere week. 

I know the Mane 6 have accomplished many goals (Twilight becoming Princess, Rainbow as a Wonderbolt, Rarity's boutique, etc.) but that doesn't mean they have no more stories to tell. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering to be fun and entertaining, or out of the question to focus on them rather than yet another Starlight episode. If it wasn't for the inclusion of Trixie and the Mane 6's add-on sequence (which was typically entertaining because they are the true stars of the show) there would be little to cheer about. I hope things pick up from here. 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Dreambiscuit

[sweetolebob18 728]

They're not bad episodes, exactly, just totally meh.  This show is losing its bite.  Someone once said that, if they keep writing long enough, every writer starts sounding like a bad parody of themselves.  MLP is hitting that point.

[K.Rool Addict 718]

No the worst episodes of the series are the following:

#1 worst: The Times they are a Changeling (awesome message but HORRENDOUS execution complete with little to no respect for the viewers intelligence. The only episode of MLP:FiM I ever felt was legitimately written for a toddler-young child)

#2 worst: TIE

Spike at your Service & Cutie Pox (the former was one of the most tired overused crutches used in western animation and done BADLY to top it off. The latter was just painful to watch. Full of awful character interactions, bad writing, and overall just seemed to be the very definition of a "filler" episode)

#3 worst: Baby Cakes (this one might seem a little more subjective, but personally, it was one of the few episodes to make me actually contemplate quitting the series. "Season 2" Pinkie Pie AKA flanderized Pinkie is in full force here, being as annoying, screechy, and just plain cringe-worthy as ever. It pains me to say this considering how much I LOVED Pinkie's bubbly, carefree, and sweethearted nature in Season 1; but ever since Season 2 rolled around, they started writing her like the traditional "omgsorandom" in-your-face cartoon archetype -.-)

#4 worst: Boast Busters (just plain BAD: bad writing, bad morals, bad characters introduced... just awful lol. This was the first episode to make me think about quitting the series, but thankfully I decided to power through, and was delighted at all the other amazing episodes later on. Trixie is horrendous here (thankfully Magic Duel aka the best season 3 episode, fixed most of her shortcomings). Snips and Snails are just "ugh". Need I say more? o,o The Ursa Major/ Minor thing was pretty cool though, I'll give it that)

#5 worst: TIE

Mysterious Mare Do-Well & The Show Stoppers (The former needs no explaination, I'm sure ^^; Show Stoppers was just plain BORING. Just bland writing, bland character interactions, felt much more childish than most other episodes (besides the #1 on this list lol). I have a similar issue with Call of the Cutie, but that episode at least got some things done: set up the whole "cutie mark" factor, and introduced Scoots & Sweetie Belle.)

 

So yeah, that's my top (bottom?) 5 worst episodes for FiM and as you can clearly see, the season 1 two parter is nowhere to be found. Now I am perfectly aware that other people will not share my opinions in this matter, but, hey, just giving my own perspective

The first two eps in the series are certainly weak when compared to the AWESOME eps later on (even in season 1) but they are far from "worst" or even "bad" imo. It's by far the worst opening two parter, that's for sure. But definitely not a bad pair of episodes overall, I'd give them around a 7.5-8.5/10

Here's a little chart I put together a few months ago for reference (I actually didn't look at this before writing my above walls of text so forgive any inconsistencies as my opinions on episodic quality is bound to change slightly over time:

 

 

Edited April 19, 2017 by K.Rool Addict

[Ganondox 899]

1 hour ago, Dreambiscuit said:

Celestial Advice seemed pretty generic and uninspired,especially for a season premiere, but certainly not the worst of the series. All Bottled Up was a little better because of Trixie (she's Great and Powerful ya know!) And even though I liked her episode here I was just shaking my head at the fact that the Mane 6 were little more than fan service; just tossed in so nopony could accuse the writers of excluding the starts of the show on the premiere week. 

I know the Mane 6 have accomplished many goals (Twilight becoming Princess, Rainbow as a Wonderbolt, Rarity's boutique, etc.) but that doesn't mean they have no more stories to tell. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering to be fun and entertaining, or out of the question to focus on them rather than yet another Starlight episode. If it wasn't for the inclusion of Trixie and the Mane 6's add-on sequence (which was typically entertaining because they are the true stars of the show) there would be little to cheer about. I hope things pick up from here. 

The discussion was about the first two episodes in the series, not the season. Also, the Mane 6 had a clear role in the episode beyond fanservice: it was to serve as a foil to Trixie and Starlight's relationship. 

[Olsen1987 133]

Of course not, it's where it all started.

What introduced us to the characters we love (well, most of them).

cant go wrong with Apple Blooms "aren't you gonna stay for brunch?".

or Tia and Luna's reunion.

[Moony the Cat 3,703]

I got both positively surprised and negatively surprised by the first two Episodes.

At first i thought, i really see why everyone prefers this Show over all the other previous Adaptations because it got faster dialog, not as slow to make it understandable for children, like they did in G3, which was pretty boring as far as i remember and they actually introduced a Villain and an interesting concept of their World and Leadership. It thought it might even follow the One Piece formular of having a villain and you work torwards him, until you finally get a reveal and an end fight at the end of the season. I also enjoyed the Jokes, so the first part left a positive impression.

The second part however dissapointed me, all the mystery surrounding Nightmare Moon gets resolved already, with no build up trough the entire Season, as i hoped, the reunion seemed way to fast, for someone who was just banished for..1000 Years or so, i actually believed Luna would just lie to come back later or something and betray Celestia, but..no. The Reunion didnt make much sense to me, i didnt see what made Luna forgive Celestia all of a sudden, just because she got defeated, after all the hatred she collected over the years. She should be even more angry, or not? Since now she had also her powers weakend.

So after the second part, i got more of a G1 feeling, having a villain, defeating the villain pretty quick and than have Episodes that just focus on normal life in between. And i still, to this day, dont see the big reason, why this Version of My Little Pony, is apparently so much better, than everything else. The first Episode of the two parter left a good impression and hope, but the second two parter resolved everything way to quickly in my Opinion, and was bad.

But then again, maybe i just expected way to much for this Series, after all the praise i heard. Because i expected something completely different from past Series and yet, it turned out to be just a faster paced Version of G1.

EDIT : I just realized, that i completely ignored the actual theme of this Thread, ops. XD So, are the two Episodes of the first two parter the worst in the Series? No, of course not, Already introducing interesting concepts and a cool Villain, puts the first Episode already higher up and the second Episode, despite resolving everything to quickly for me, still was interesting at least. So the Episodes are already higher up, than most of the " normal life " Episodes. Also, the worst Episodes for me, are stil the ones, in which they introduced Discord, because i just dont care one bit about him. I didnt found him funny, i didnt found him threatening and i dont care about Star Trek, or whatever it was he appeared in and it was just boring to me.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Lex Destrosio

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

I have to admit these episodes are reasons that i feel hestitate to watch this series in the first place but after rewatching them, i think they are the good set up for the series, part 1 is actually really good, it introduced our mane characters, ponyville, villain and many things that we will love them as the show goes on, part 2 is kinda dumb but not that bad, i guess. In short, Friendship in Magic part 1 is a great introduction of this series and far from the worst episode.

[Baykush 328]

That's entirely subjective, but to me it was decent and actually very enjoyable when I first watched it. It has its nice moments, does a good job introducing the characters and the world, and I adore that little speech Twilight gives when she realizes the mane 5 are her friends, as cheesy as it is. 

My personal least favorite is Tanks for The Memories, it just got me in all the wrong ways and became unbearable to watch.

[cmarston1 5,959]

While they aren't my favorite season premiere, the aren't my least favorite, that would probably have to go to The Crystalling.

Plus there are several episodes I consider to be my least favorites such as Simple Ways, Bloom and Gloom, Princess Spike, Applejack's Day Off, and Appleloosa's Most Wanted for being unbelievably boring, as well as Every Little Thing She Does for proving that Starlight really should have been punished at the end of season 5 instead of being magically forgiven by everyone, as well as how it showed she learned almost nothing during the course of the season.

Compared to those episodes, I would still rather watch the first two episodes.

[Hierok 11,832]

First:

Why is Magical Mystery Cure a bad episode?

Second

No, it isn't. It is old, but still a good episode. You see the characters before there is any development and show you how far they are grown.

Worst episode is 28 Pranks later. Just a discrease to mlp.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

I can understand feeling it is weaker than later installments, because duh... it came first and everything should in theory be better than it anyway if you go by wishful thinking and expectations... after all no one says "I sure hope the sequel is worse than the original!". If everything went perfect, it should be the "worst" of the premiers since each one would be better than the one that came before. That being said, it is still a really funny premier, with an awesome set up and a great introduction to the characters.

I suppose it would be the worst one for me personally speaking, although I truly still enjoy it to this day and find it a fantastic beginning to the series, even if it feels more hurried than I would have liked looking back, and missed an opportunity to create a season long arc possibly, that could have taken the show in a interesting direction.

[Prospekt 11,021]

No way. I think the pilot two-parter is great. Would've made a great made-for-TV movie if they extended it more.

Those 2 episodes weren't the first 2 that I watched, so I was already familiar with the characters and the basic premise of the show, but it's still nice to return to every now and then.

[ggg-2 3,553]

Um.......no? In fact, as far as I know, for being the first standalone season premiere, Celestial Advice and All Bottled Up have been generally well-received.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

Not even the worst two-parter!  (Oh you said the FIRST ONE? Heck, no. IMO it's only second to Season 2's!) That goes to the cringy-as-feasibly-possible premiere of season 6, the Crystalling. I only had to read the plot synopsis to know that it would be bad... Seriously, how could they make baby drama INTERESTING? Nobody. Nobody at all. Though Season 3's premiere was a close second...

Worst episode In my opinion is Magical Musical Cancer Magical Mystery Cure. It was crammed with music I couldn't stand for more than 5 seconds and the plot to me seemed like Hasbro had obviously ran out of ideas for the rest of the show, so they add a poorly explained plot twist for the rest of the series.

Among it's compatriots that are also in the trash bin (my opinion), you'll also find One Bad Apple where the moral is that bullying is okay behavior, the Showstoppers for being absurdly cringy, and On Your Marks for being downright UNWATCHABLE. Seriously, I heard one song mid-episode and I decided I would rather do absolutely nothing than watch the rest of the episode...

 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Nerdy Luigi
Hating the first two parter is blasphemous.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,803]

The first ever premiere was actually pretty good all things considered. It did a good job introducing all the characters, the overall theme, the basis, all that good stuff. Sure it might have a tad bit of awkwardness at parts, but not many things are 100% perfect out the gate.

Newbie Dash takes my version of the 'Worst Episode' prize, with Flutter Brutter being right behind. The upcoming episode with Flurry Heart might try to get some of that cake too.

[pnylvr 185]

Nope. Probably my second-least-favorite two-parter (after The Crystalling), but that's a far cry from worst episode. Honestly, Spike at Your Service is so far below any other episodes that the phrase "worst episode" doesn't apply in plural IMO. Also, other than that one, there have been no episodes I consider truly bad--I've liked all the two-parters including this one a lot.

[Ganondox 899]

6 hours ago, Hierok said:

First:

Why is Magical Mystery Cure a bad episode?

Second

No, it isn't. It is old, but still a good episode. You see the characters before there is any development and show you how far they are grown.

Worst episode is 28 Pranks later. Just a discrease to mlp.

The writing is awful. It's poorly paced (the actual climax happens at around the five minute mark, then it's all downhill from there, it seems here getting wings was supposed to be the climax, but it's just a completely disconnected event, it has nothing to do with the actual conflict of the episode), the conflict doesn't make sense (What exactly is going on with the cutie mark switch? Not only does it violate cutie mark lore, it violates common sense), it's anti-climatic (she gets her wings not for defeating Discord or something, but remembering her friend's cutie marks? What?), and her acquisition of wings is completely unrelated to anything else that goes in the episode or happens earlier in the series. The plot is completely incoherent and ineffective.