Ranking the 4th episodes

[KH7672 1,604]

There was some pretty good reception to the last thread, so I think I'll continue it for now. Of course I'll still wait for participation and will probably space out the days of the next post to not clog up the sub-forum too much.

Anyways onto your favorite fourth episode of each season. There's probably much less of a clear cut choice depending on character preferences so I'm curious of other's opinions.

As for mine:

1. One Bad Apple- Yes, I absolutely know it's a garbage moral but it's just so entertaining. From Babs' comically over the top bullying, to the Crusaders scheming, to of course the song, I can't get enough of this episode.

2. Rock Solid Friendship

3. Bloom and Gloom

4. Luna Eclipsed 

5. Sparkle's Seven

6. On Your Marks

7. Applebuck Season

8. Daring Don't 

9. Fake It 'Til You Make It-While not as bad as other recent Fluttershy appearances for me it still highlights the personal downsides to her "character progression" Luckily Andrea's impressions really do provide good entertainment value.

Edited September 19, 2019 by KH7672

[Sparklefan1234 172,088]

I'm gonna go with Applebuck Season as my favorite fourth episode.

 

Twilight Sparkle: Rainbow Dash dropped in to see me today.

Applejack: That's quite neighborly of her.

Twilight Sparkle: Yes, except that she crashed onto my balcony after you launched her into the air.

Applejack: Oh, yeah. I wasn't feeling quite myself this morning.

Twilight Sparkle: Because you're working too hard and you need help.

Applejack: What? Kelp? I don't need kelp. I don't even like seaweed.

Twilight Sparkle: HELP! You need HELP!

 

[Lulaypp 2,555]

I think for me:

1. Sparkle's Seven & Applebuck Season
2. Rock Solid Friendship
3. Fake It 'Till You Make It
4. Luna Eclipsed

Everything else is reletively the same.

I might come back and properly give my opinion.

[ChB 18,557]

Tough one. Guess I’ll pick Sparkle’s Seven because of the hype. Daring Don’t and Luna Eclipsed are close seconds for me.

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

Favorite's also the best episode of the group: Sparkle's Seven. Dialogue's top-notch. Humor is perfect. Tone's perfect. How Spike won the challenge is hilarious and smart.

As for my preference list (liked episodes in bold, "meh" in regular, disliked underlined):

1. Sparkle's Seven
2. Bloom & Gloom
3. Luna Eclipsed
4. On Your Marks
5. Applebuck Season
6. Rock Solid Friendship
7. Daring Don't
8. Fake It 'Til You Make It
9. One Bad Apple

Edited September 19, 2019 by Dark Qiviut

[Rushing cash 836]

1. Luna eclipsed- 10\10
2. Bloom & Gloom- 9\10
3. Rock solid friendship- 9\10
4. Sparkels seven- 9\10
5. One bad apple- 9\10
6. Applebuck season- 8\10
7. On your marks- 7\10
8. Daring don't- 6\10
9. Fake it till you make it- 5\10

3-5 are really close to each other and sometimes switch places.

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

1. Luna Eclipsed A+. No doubt about this.
2. Applebuck Season A-. A good standard for a solid vanilla episode.
3. Bloom and Gloom A-. Actually a good exploration of the character's psyche.
4. Rock Solid Friendship B+.
5. Sparkle's Seven B-. Not that much of an efficient storytelling, but wasn't boring.
6. One Bad Apple C. The first episode that confused me and made me skeptical in the middle of the episode.
7. Fake It Til You Make It C-. It left a bad taste. 
8. On Your Marks C-. I never cared if they would get their cutie marks. But even so, after all the buildup, this was weak for a post-cutie mark CMC's episode. This episode and the next one isn't 'bad' as Fake It Til You Make It, but it just lacks it's merit.
9. Daring Don't D. Daring Do's episodes never impressed me when it was about the author's secret identity adventures. I still think how awesome would it be if A.K. Yearling was actually just a great writer and Daring Do was a fictional character.

 

 

[cmarston1 5,959]

1. Luna eclipsed- A really fun episode that was a nice introduction to Luna's character.
2. Sparkle's 7- A really silly episode where I can tell everyone had a fun time making it, and it really shows.
3. Daring Don't- I just found this to be an overall exciting and fun episode, and I didn't really mind Daring Do becoming real, unlike others.
4. Applebuck Season- Overall just a solid episode.
5. Rock Solid Friendship- A good episode, and I really enjoyed Starlight and Maud's friendship, however Pinkie Pie brought it down a bit to be honest.
6. On Your Marks- A solid episode where the CMC question where to go after getting their Cutie Marks
7. One Bad Apple- Catchy song, but nothing much worth talking about.
8. Fake it till you make it- One of the season's weakest episodes.  I don't hate it, but it's not one of the better 4th episodes.  Although I did enjoy all the different Fluttershy personas.
9. Bloom and Gloom- Boring as tar.  I don't care what kind of "deep themes" it has.  Those can't save an episode this tedious to watch. One of my least favorites of the entire show.

Edited September 19, 2019 by cmarston1

[DivineDefender1000 71,372]

Luna Eclipsed because Luna! 

[Misty Shadow 7,940]

Sparkle's Seven had easily the best writing out of any episode on the list in my opinion...but I have to yield and admit that the nostalgia value of Luna Eclipsed can not be replicated. 

[bigbertha 414]

1. Bloom and Gloom- Great moral alongside some really entertaining and interesting dream sequences. This is one of the few highlights of season 5 (8/10)

2. Fake it 'Till You Make It- While there are story problems that hold this episode back, it's still pretty funny (7/10)

3. Sparkle's Seven- It's fun enough to watch, but it doesn't really go far enough in either the comedy or emotion to be anything special (7/10)

4. Luna Eclipsed- Pinkie sucks, but everything else is pretty good (6/10)

5. One Bad Apple- I really don't find the moral to be that bad. Later in life, kids will learn more of the nuances of bullying, but for the moment I think that just learning to always go to authority figures first is fine. And aside from that, the episode is fine. It's not great aside from the song, but it's fun enough (6/10)

6. On Your Marks- It's watchable... That's about it (6/10)

7. Rock Solid Friendship- I really like the stuff with Maud and Starlight, but just like Luna Eclipsed, Pinkie ruins it. Except this is season 7 Pinkie which is way worse than season 2 Pinkie (5/10)

8. Applebuck Season- A repetitive structure combined with pretty lackluster comedy makes a really mediocre episode (4/10)

9. Daring Don't- It's Read it And Weep but worse (3/10)

[Here No Longer 5,276]

Unfirtunately, this selection is far from the show's best. In fact, I really only think 2 of these episodes (Luna Eclipsed and Sparkle's Seven) were actually any good. 6th and down on this list are honestly bad... Worse yet, my least favorite episode in the entire show by and far is on this list.

 

1. Luna Eclipsed

2. Sparkle's Seven

3. Applebuck Season

4. On Your Marks

5. Bloom and Gloom

6. Rock Solid Friendship

7. Daring Don't 

8. One Bad Apple

9. Fake It 'Til You Make It (The worst episode in the entire show)

Edited September 27, 2019 by Angus Delaney

[Thrond 3,263]

I’m indifferent or mixed on most of these.

1. “Bloom and Gloom” - I think there’s a psychological depth to this beyond what you usually see in this show, and the nightmare imagery is interesting.
2. “Sparkle’s Seven” - Mostly I just found this really funny.
3. “On Your Marks” - Funny, and I think this also does a good job of expanding on Apple Bloom’s identity and goals in life.
4. “Applebuck Season” - Funny.
5. ”Daring Don’t” - Not a fan of Dash in this, but the adventure story pastiche is fun. I’m not clear on why people take issue with Daring Do being real. 
6. “Luna Eclipsed” - Luna’s characterization here is one of the highlights of the show, but the moral bugs me. Seems weird that Luna should have to relive her trauma.
7. “One Bad Apple” - I don’t really like the tone of this, but I do like Babs, and I wish this story were told from her perspective.
8. ”Rock Solid Friendship” - This is a pretty serious offender for some of my least favourite trends in the show, and Pinkie is annoying in it, but Maud makes up for a lot.
9. ”Fake It ‘Til You Make It” - This episode doesn’t make any sense. 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Thrond

[Oleks 1,993]

1. Luna Eclipsed – a wonderful combination of great characters, humor, references and lore. Or, and nostalgia too, if I’m being completely honest.
2. Sparkle's Seven – it was simply great, the VAs did a good job, and Spike got the well-deserved appreciation. If only Pinkie really went to space…
3. Rock Solid Friendship – for me, pairing Starlight with Maud as friends worked very well. My only disappointment is the fact that Maud never properly interacted with Trixie, even though they probably had met when Trixie worked at the Rock Farm.
4. Fake It 'Til You Make It – two words: goth Shy.
5-9. Applebuck Season, One Bad Apple, Daring Don't, Bloom and Gloom, On Your Marks – all OK episodes, can’t say I have strong feeling about any of them.
 

[Cash In 22,458]

1. Luna Eclipsed (S2) - I guess this is where Luna turned into a fan favourite. I mean I can see why. This was a really good episode.
2. Sparkle's Seven (S9) - Amazing way to celebrate the 200 episode milestone. God bless the VAs.
3. Applebuck Season (S1) - Lots of slapstick, but I think it works. First Applejack episode is one of the finest of its kind
4. Daring Don't (S4) - I love the Daring Do episodes and this one was no exception.
5. One Bad Apple (S3) - I don't care how bad it is. I liked this one a lot.
6. Bloom and Gloom (S5) - Decent Applebloom episode.
7. On Your Marks (S6) - Average. Nothing special.
8. Rock Solid Friendship (S7) - Same as above.
9. Fake It 'Til You Make It - Meh. It's the only episode that ever came out my birthday, so I guess I was expecting a bit more.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Cash_In

[Megas 27,743]

1) Sparkle's Seven - Unsurprisingly the VAs know their characters the best
2) Applebuck Season - Still one of AJ's most fun appearances
3) Daring Don't - Probably on of the few episodes that have aged better as time went on, namely because they decided to run with the idea of Daring being real
4) Bloom and Gloom - A solid episode, but easily the weakest of the CMC Dream episodes
5) Luna Eclipsed - Luna is a hoot, but jesus christ Pinkie drags it down like no tomorrow
6) Fake It 'Til You Make It - It's Fluttershy trying to different to the point where she becomes a bitch and it's honestly funny to watch. Also for once Fluttershy isn't perfect
7) Rock Solid Friendship - By this point I was getting sick of Maud
8) One Bad Apple - The bullied become the bullies because the plot said so. Shows dealing with bullies rarely go well and unfortunately this part of the episodes that failed miserably. Only reason it's not dead last is because it has a catchy song
9) On Your Marks - A stealth Applebloom episode where she just acts depressed for a 3rd of the episode over a dumb misunderstanding, it stinks

[DonMaguz 1,023]

'Applebuck Season' is my favorite with an amazing tie between 'Luna Eclipsed' and 'Bloom and Gloom' at second place.

[Will Guide 21,362]

I voted for Sparkle's Seven because all the main voice actors got to contribute to the Episode's story

[Astralshy 27,117]

I'm ordering these in that order :> I like all of these episodes :>

1. Luna Eclipsed
2. Daring Don't
3. Sparkle's Seven 
4. Bloom and Gloom
5. Rock Solid Friendship
6. Fake It 'Til You Make It
7. Applebuck Season
8.  On Your Marks 
9. One Bad Apple 

[bigbertha 414]

1. Luna Eclipsed

2. Applebuck Season

3. Bloom and Gloom

4. Sparkle's Seven

5. Fake It 'Till You Make It

6. On Your Marks

7. One Bad Apple

8. Rock Solid Friendship

9. Daring Don't

[Landi 600]

1. Luna Eclipsed - This is an amazing, iconic episode that does a great job at introducing Nightmare Night and developing Luna as a character.
2. Sparkle's Seven - This is a funny episode with and interesting concept. The way each of characters are portrayed and the way they interact with each other is also interesting and entertaining.
3. Rock Solid Friendship - While this is not the most exciting of episodes, I enjoyed the interesting interactions between Maud, Starlight, and Pinkie.
4. Applebuck Season - Just a fun and classic episode that does a pretty decent job at giving Applejack some development.
5. Daring Don't - It's definitely a flawed episode with a strange premise, but it does at least have some entertainment value.
6. One Bad Apple - The story and the moral of this one were definitely poorly executed, which takes this episode's score down in retrospect. However, it does have a good entertainment factor to it.
7. On Our Marks - This is not necessarily a bad episode, but there is nothing really that stands out about it. Just a meh filler episode for me.
8. Bloom and Gloom - I have nothing much to say about this one; it's one of the most forgettable episode in the series for me.
9. Fake it Till You Make It - While this episode can be a little funny at times, it doesn't change that this episode really butchered Fluttershy's character and even made her unlikeable (unfortunately, character assassination was a very common thing in season 8).

This is one of the more balanced sets of episodes in my opinion. It has a few great episodes, a couple of bad ones, and some "meh, it was alright" ones in the middle. It could be better, but it could be worse.

[Sasoriman 139]

On 2019-10-04 at 9:36 PM, Megas said:

1) Sparkle's Seven - Unsurprisingly the VAs know their characters the best

Think I'll go out on a limb here and say that maybe Tara and co. should've been the ones writing S6-9. 

[Lone Traveler 91]

1: Sparkle's Seven (I love absolutely everything about this episode. The chemistry of the characters is PERFECT here, its hilarious, its creative, and overall extremely fun to watch. Easily top 10 material for the whole show, and its my favorite episode in Seasons 6-9.)

2: Daring Don't (Yes really, I love this episode. I was fine with the concept of Daring Do being real since the show did not have anything explicitly contradicting it, and the episode is just plain fun to watch with great action, animation and humor

3: Luna's Eclipsed (All around solid episode that developed Luna well and had a lot of good humor.)

4: Applebuck Season (The plot itself is kinda uninteresting and drags a bit. But it's still a very enjoyable episode because Applejack managed to be really funny sleep deprived and it is full of the Season 1 charm.)

5: Fake it Until You Make It (Guilty Pleasure. Yes, Fluttershy had no motivation for acting the way she did and it was really stupid. But putting the character and story issues the characters she played were really fun to watch.)

6: Rock Solid Friendship (Enjoyable episode if not the most interesting or funny. Pinkie Pie managed to be mostly likable despite doing annoying things and I liked the bond between Starlight and Maud.)

7: Bloom and Gloom (Pretty dull and uninteresting, they didn't really do anything with it being a dream, I wished they represented Applebloom's anxiety in a more creative way.)

8: On Your Marks (Another dull and pointless Applebloom episode, but this one doesn't even have the advantage of having the dream stuff.)

9: One Bad Apple (One of the worst episodes of the show due to it it's botched handling of the moral, and the only Season 3 episode I dislike.)