Episodes that pleasantly surprised you?

[Megas 27,811]

Any episode that you were absolutely not looking forward to only to come out surprisingly enjoying.

I was expecting Secrets and Pies to be a complete dumpster fire but once the episode came out I was really surprised to see how much I enjoyed it. For me it became one of the show's funniest episodes

[imawesome 449]

Forever Filly. 

I didn't expect the episode to be as entertaining as it was, while still have the sweetness and sincerity to match Sisterhooves Social. 

[O-78 28,607]

Sounds of Silence

I was expecting this episode to be sappy and boring, but it turned out to be one of the best episodes in the entire show and I loved watching it. Plus, Autumn Blaze is adorable! 

[Oleks 1,993]

The Saddle Row Review - I thought it would be just another Rarity/fashion episode. Oh, how mistaken I was! It was a glorious episode.

A Flurry of Emotions - I definitely wasn't looking forward to a Flurry Heart episode, but it turned out to be surprisingly entertaining.

Horse Play - initially I found the very premise of the episode silly, but when I watched it, I loved it. It's probably my favorite episode of season 8.

[Will Guide 21,364]

Flutter Brutter: the entire 3rd act is a mirror to my life as I identified with Zephyr Breeze and his fear of failure. Seeing him graduate in the end motivated me to do the same.

Especially the song. It's the song I play when I'm feeling unmotivated.

 

[RulesofRarity 493]

The Times They Are A Changeling was an episode I wasn't expecting much from but it ended up being my favorite episode of Season 6, and the best Spike episode to date honestly. Not only did it introduce Thorax, a hero of the finale, it also showed Spike at his best where previous Spike episodes had shown him at his worst. Also in a season filled with bad songs, the song in this episode was surprisingly good.

Edited January 6, 2019 by RulesofRarity

[Odyssey 5,717]

The iMDb synopsis made it sound like that The Breakup Breakdown was going to be a terrible episode. I think it's the funniest episode in the show so far after watching it.

[Metemponychosis 1,262]

It's not an episode, I usually have a good notion if I'm going to like them or not. But, the movie surprised me. I didn't love it, but I certainly liked it more than I expected. It looked stunning and the songs were as great as they usually are in the series.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Metemponychosis

[cmarston1 5,959]

Hard to Say Anything.  That's right I went there.

When the episode aired two weeks early in Canada, a decent amount of fans watched online before it aired in the United States, and as I result I heard some bad things about it before I had a chance to watch it. 

So when I finally got to see it, I was surprised that I actually ended up liking it.

 

[Thrond 3,263]

I agree with "Secrets and Pies." "28 Pranks Later" is another one which stands out as being much funnier than I had expected, though I'm sure many will disagree. I also didn't expect much of "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You," which didn't seem to have an interesting premise, but which really won me over with its lovely ending. 

[Midnight Solace 5,132]

Top Bolt was quite a cool episode that surprised me. Some of the best TwiDash moments of MLP were in that episode, and I always love seeing Twilight and Rainbow together. 

[Cash In 22,551]

I really enjoyed Apple Family Reunion, despite initially thinking it wouldn't be much of an interesting episode. It was much more relatable and full of personality than I had imagined. 

[Tacodidra 61,364]

"A Rockhoof and a Hard Place" is a recent example of this for me. When Rockhoof first appeared in "Campfire Tales", I didn't find him a particularly interesting character. Though finding out Kaita Mpambara (the writer of the amazing "Horse Play") had written it increased my expectations for it, the episode still exceeded all my expectations by far!

Also, several episodes I had read were generally disliked (such as "Spike at Your Service" and "28 Pranks Later") were better than I expected. I definitely don't consider them to be among the best episodes of the series, but I like them more than many others do.

[Dark Qiviut 22,457]

As of late, The End in Friend and Rockhoof surprised me the most in a really good way. TEiF's synopsis doesn't leave very good vibes, more so due to the fact that the Mane Eight have been through so much together and that the teachers becoming the students didn't work out well. Instead, it was NCC done miles better. As for Rockhoof, I knew it was great, but I wasn't expecting it to become, IMO, one of the ten best episodes of the entire show.

[ExplosionMare 18,090]

Surprisingly I liked The End in Friend. What I thought would be a bland episode turned out to be kinda cute. I also liked Where the Apple Lies. I expected it to be a “too honest” thing but it turned out to be a funny episode about teen AJ and Big Mac.

[ShootingStar159 2,157]

Gauntlet of Fire. It was the first time a Spike episode really blew me away and started a new chapter in Spike’s storytelling. 

[gingerninja666 487]

For me personally: To Change a Changeling.

Because when you first read the synopsis, the whole thing sounds like it could be an unmitigated disaster. It was dealing with a whole powder keg of unresolved issues that were left in the wake of TWABA.

And then it came out, and it was not only one of my favourite Starlight performances (her interplay with Trixie, a well meaning and impulsive plan that didn't involve magic, and her rallying speech to the changelings), but I loved Thorax's continuted appearance as a king and Pharynx as a character. I tend to consider it a pretty underrated episode nowadays. Even for those who didn't like it, it definitely didn't seem to be as massively hated as I'm fairly sure it could've been.

Edited January 7, 2019 by gingerninja666

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,597]

@This Whomps @Dark Qiviut @Tacodidra @Sparklefan1234

Flutter Brutter: I had developed a Pavlovian response to seeing Dave Rapp's name appear after the wretched "Newbie Dash", so I was very pleased when this episode came along with it's relatable moral and its positive portrayal of Fluttershy.

Gauntlet of Fire:  Just when I had given up all hope of Spike episodes being any good, "Gauntlet of Fire" came along and changed the tide. Ever since we've been riding on a wave of solid, if not outright great episodes focusing on the little guy.

Buckball Season: Considering that AJ and RD didn't have the best track record in Season 6 and the questionable premise, I was prepared for this to be "The Cart Before The Ponies 2.0", but it turned out to be a funny, entertaining, and good-natured episode where everyone is portrayed positively.

A Flurry of Emotions: I went in expecting this episode to be an even more annoying version of "Baby Cakes" based on the premise and Flurry Heart. Luckily, it turned out to be a hilarious and adorable entry. I was especially relieved with how they made Flurry endearing and avoided a lot of the cliches that plague most "Watching the baby" episodes, like a gag about dirty diapers (Thank god).

Parental Glideance: All of the potential red flags were in the premise (RD centric episode, Wonderbolts, Embarrassing Parents), but what could have been yet another Rainbow Dash torture porn episode turned out to be one of the funniest, most relatable, and heartfelt episodes the series has ever produced.

The Break-Up Break Down: Given that I was less than enthusiastic about "Hard To Say Anything" and that the premise sounded super cliche, you can see how I went in with my nose up in the air. In execution, however, the episode was both hilarious and heartfelt.

The Washouts: What I expected was yet another episode where Rainbow Dash has to get her ego knocked down a peg or two. What I got was a heartfelt, emotional, funny, and deep episode with one of the most touching endings in the series.

Top Bolt: Again, "Newbie Dash" had caused me to develop a Pavlovian response to the Wonderbolts. Fortunately, not only did the episode help me wash the taste of ND out of my mouth, but it also had my two favorite ponies interacting and had a very deep and thought-provoking moral.

Edited January 21, 2019 by TheAnimationFana

[MangoFoalix 25,038]

For me it was the Kirin episode. I didn't know what to expect the first time I watched that, but damn. Was I happy that I experienced it!

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,597]

A Royal Problem: Not that I was expecting it to be bad, but the premise sounded like a basic "Freaky Friday" type episode. So naturally, you can imagine my surprise when the execution turned out to be much funnier and nuanced than I had imagined. The third act cemented it as one of the best episodes in the entire show. 

Bloom and Gloom: This one looked like a rehash of the amusing, but ultimately pointless "The Cutie Pox", I was taken aback by just how trippy and psychological it was.

Dungeons and Discords: "What About Discord" definitely soured the character for me a bit, so this one was definitely a pleasant surprise.

[Tacodidra 61,364]

1 hour ago, TheAnimationFana said:

Flutter Brutter: I had developed a Pavlovian response to seeing Dave Rapp's name appear after the wretched "Newbie Dash", so I was very pleased when this episode came along with it's relatable moral and its positive portrayal of Fluttershy.

"Where the Apple Lies" was a similar case for me. Neither "Newbie Dash" nor "Flutter Brutter" really impressed me, but Dave Rapp's third episode was one of the funniest in season 6. His fourth MLP episode, "The Parent Map", was also a very good episode, but that wasn't as much of a surprise to me.

Also, they're not really episodes, but the Equestria Girls movies were also a positive surprise. I watched the first one with low expectations but I found it pretty good (though I didn't enjoy it quite as much as FIM). And later, "Mirror Magic" and "Forgotten Friendship" surprised me with how amazing they were (both being my favorite EqG content at the time)!

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Discodant Harmony - Because it was written by Fox Bros, and i was very skeptical whenever i saw their name on the episodes. This ep is not just good, it is VERY GOOD. 

Buckball Season - Just expected it to be good fun Saturday cartoon episode but it made Snail likable without changing his personality, amazing!

Saddle Row Review - After the best episode of the season (A Hearth's Warming Tail), i didnt expect to get ANOTHER best episode of season 6. 

 

 

 

[Here No Longer 5,279]

A Rockhoof and a Hard Place. I expected this episode to be another mediocre filler. But it ended up being the best episode in Season 8 and one of the best in the series as a whole.

 

Somepony to Watch Over Me. I was actually initially skeptical of the episode, but now I find it to be an underrated gem that gets too much flak, and I've still yet to understand it after all the attempts that have been made to explain it to me.

 

The Break-Up Breakdown. Thought it would be just like Hard to Say Anything, but it was actually a great episode that took more of a comedic direction to great effect.

 

A Royal Problem. At the time, I was pretty much ready to give up on MLP because the episode quality of Season 7 before that had been... Consistently bad. But I was more than surprised to see a great episode that gave Celestia some character development she quite sorely needed at the time.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Best Gift Ever was the last time I was surprised! Both bad and good. 

Bad, cause I didn't expect Twilight to use her closest friend as bait!

Good, cause I didn't expect a Spike song in the end that was beautiful and most of the fandom liked it!

[SoftHive/Apriline 19]

The Times They Are A Changeling. 

I really didn’t like this episode at first, but now it’s a favorite