Favorite Episode, Underrated Episode, Overrated Episode, and Hated Episode

[WildChildMirai 48]

Favorite: Gauntlet of Fire or The Cutie Remark
HANDS DOWN MY FAVORITES!

Underrated: A Royal Problem honestly feels like it can get overshadowed but I might just be stupid

Overrated: It might be because of the earlier seasons having a more active fanbase, but I personally think alot of the S1-S3 episodes get too much praise

Hated: Cant say I hated this episode, but Pony Point of View I wasn't too much a fan of

[Stancet 674]

Haven't caught up with every episode but I'll go with what I know. 

FAVORITE

Daring Don't. Love treasure hunt stories. Saw Daring Do for only the second time in 4 seasons. Good friendship lesson.

UNDERRATE

Brotherhood Social. I know it's cringey but it's an honest episode about having a midlife crisis. Even if you relate to it the episode is more cringey but that is what midlife crisis are about.

OVERRATED

Princess Twilight Sparkle. The season 4 finale had a good villain and tons of DragonBall type action but the story didn't have any big reveals and the subplot about surrendering the elements of harmony in exchange for another power felt pointless. PS, in hindsight, I think the destruction of the library was a necessary step in Twilights character arc, even though it did make me sad at the time.

HATED

The Cart Before the Pony. Rarity Rainbow and Applejack were offensively inconsiderate and there was a very obvious solution to this problem before it even was a problem.

[Megas 27,064]

Favorite - Sleepless In Ponyville. 3 seasons to finally get Scootaloo’s first episode and it did not disappoint. Funny and heartwarming, growth not just for Scootaloo, but RD and even Luna too

Underrated - May The Best Pet Win. Unfortunately one of the very few times the show treated RD like she was smart enough to come to her own conclusions. Also Tank is adorable 

Hated - Newbie Dash(Shocker!). 5 years it took to finally see RD become a Wonderbolt and the episode treats her like garbage and turns her character arc into a complete joke, as if the writers were actively laughing at the audience for expecting anything of merit. Genuinely the first time where I seriously thought the writers hated the characters, the audience and the show they were working on 

Overrated - Sweet And Elite. An episode where Rarity gets on her high horse ang gets rewarded for it and even gets a song dedicated to it, literally the episode before RD does the same thing and gets put through the ringer for it. Double Standards is Magic

Edited February 24, 2022 by Megas

[AppleButt 8,669]

42 minutes ago, Megas said:

Favorite - Sleepless In Ponyville. 3 seasons to finally get Scootaloo’s first episode and it did not disappoint. Funny and heartwarming, growth not just for Scootaloo, but RD and even Luna too

Underrated - May The Best Pet Win. Unfortunately one of the very few times the show treated RD like she was smart enough to come to her own conclusions. Also Tank is adorable 

Hated - Newbie Dash(Shocker!). 5 years it took to finally see RD become a Wonderbolt and the episode treats her like garbage and turns her character arc into a complete joke, to the point where it had to be intentional, like the writers were laughing at the audience for expecting anything of merit. Genuinely the first time where I seriously thought the writers hated the characters, the audience and the show they were working on 

Overrated - Sweet And Elite. An episode where Rarity gets on her high horse ang gets rewarded for it and even gets a song dedicated to it, literally the episode before RD does the same thing and gets put through the ringer for it. Double Standards is Magic

Oh wow I don’t have to make a list cause this is literally the same list I’d have made except my hated episode is Non-Compete Clause for obvious reasons I think.   I liked Newbie Dash,  haha. 

I most especially agree with the point about your most overrated episode.  That double standard throughout the show was annoying af.  

 

[Will Guide 21,325]

4 hours ago, Stancet said:

Princess Twilight Sparkle. The season 4 finale had a good villain and tons of DragonBall type action but the story didn't have any big reveals and the subplot about surrendering the elements of harmony in exchange for another power felt pointless. PS, in hindsight, I think the destruction of the library was a necessary step in Twilights character arc, even though it did make me sad at the time.

If you're talking about the season 4 finale with the fight against Tirek that's Twilight's Kingdom. Princess Twilight Sparkle is the season 4 premiere that introduced the Tree of Harmony. You got the names switched around

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

Favorite: The Cutie Map (An awesome dystopian cult concept followed by chilling storytelling)

Underrated: On Your Marks (Not many people acknowledge Apple Bloom’s identity struggle in the fandom. Trying to find a hobby outside of work for someone whose work has been their life can’t be easy)

Overrated: Hard to Say Anything (I’m not a fan of Sugar Belle x Big Mac, but a lot of people seem to be)

Hated: Yakity-Sax (Pinkie’s instrument was grating on my ears and she played it nonstop)

[Oleks 1,983]

Favorite: Amending Fences. My favorite episode with my favorite character – Moondancer.

Underrated: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows. In terms of ratings it did fine, but I feel not many people ever talk about it, probably because it came during a season with so many other great episodes. 

Overrated: Shadow Play. I know how much people love some of the characters from this two-parter, but I think it has many problems.

Hated: Can’t say I have one, but there is one episode that I can’t make myself rewatch (even though I like Maud Pie): The Maud Couple.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Favorite: No doubt The Mane Attraction. That episode is just wholesome on so many levels. I mean, you got AJ's friend from camp who has now become a popstar being controlled by some egotistical slob who just wants the money and all that. The overall dynamics of the episode were absolutely superb and you can't leave out that amazing song: The Magic Inside, oh that's on my top 3 songs list. 

Underrated: The Gauntlet of Fire...ah yes, another Spike episode that's...actually...awesome! I really think that the quality of Spike episodes suffered up until Gauntlet of Fire. Dragon Quest was a great episode I can tell you that, but the Spike episodes that followed fell down hard. Gauntlet of fire makes up for those falls. 

Overrated: The Best Night Ever...yeah...I said it. This episode gets a lot of hype but I feel there are a few tweaks that could really make this episode shine.

Hated: Yep...I'll say it once and I'll say it again...Newbie Dash. I don't know what was going through the writers' heads for this episode. Like, we wait 6 seasons for Dash to finally become a Wonderbolt and we're given this dumpster fire of an episode that has a lesson that doesn't even cover the real problem: Dash coping with her nickname. It's like "Shut up, deal with it and man up.", which is pure ignorance due to the fact that it made things a lot worse for Rainbow Dash. That would never work in reality, so many things would've happened and all of them would have resulted in someone getting physically or mentally hurt. 

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

Favourite episode: Too many!

Underrated episode: A lot of Season Five material.

Overrated episode: Most definitely Slice of Life. I hate it when the Mane Six get sidelined and this was way too obviously fan service. I just don’t care about the background ponies like other people do!

Hated: 2,4,6 Greeeat, Non-Compete Clause, The Last Problem.

Edited January 19, 2022 by TomDaBombMLP

[Lone Traveler 87]

Honestly I find the majority of Season 3 to be underrated, considering that 8 of its 13 episodes are among my favorites of the show. I still don't really get the hate for that season. 

(If you're wondering, those episodes are Crystal Empire, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Magic Duel, Sleepless in Ponyville, Wonderbolts Academy, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Magical Mystery Cure)

[Misty Shadow 7,084]

Favorite episode: Sounds of Silence, I will never stop singing this episode's praises for doing a plot about introversion even better than Maud Pie in my opinion, having one of my favorite messages, my favorite songs, starring a great pairing like Applejack and Fluttershy, and of course, introducing the kirin.

Underrated episode: WAY too many to choose from, WAY too many episodes of this show aren't just terribly underrated, they are terribly OVERHATED.  I'm not going with one of the obvious ones though, the best episode in my opinion that is more FORGOTTEN rather than HATED, at least today, is It Ain't Easy Being Breezies. Much better "Fluttershy learns to toughen up" episode than it's given credit for and has a message that has aged like wine. 

Overrated episode: Magic Duel. I NEVER thought this episode was that great, not even when it was new. Trixie returns? Cool. She takes over the town? Cool. She gets outsmarted in a fairly predictable way? Cool. ......Yeah. Of course, I understand why a bigger fan of Trixie would get more into it, but one of the show's best? Not a chance. 

Hated episode: I don't like hating on episodes, big surprise, but the worst to me is still Fluttershy Leans In. Half-baked plot, Fluttershy learns nothing, no memorable jokes to write home about, easily the most flawed episode from a basic writing standpoint to me. 

[Reality Check 627]

Favorite: Triple Threat | I'll just make it short, Spike messes up, Thorax is adorkable, Ember is hilarious, and episode is fun to watch

Underrated: Hearth's Warming Club | What can I say? I love the Young 6. This episode to me is one of the best portrayals of them to me. I'm not exactly sure if this episode is underrated, if at all, though I can't help it feel like it gets dragged down by season 8 as a whole. Besides, I love the mystery aspect of the episode.

Overrated: Luna Eclipsed | Don't get me wrong, I got nothing against the Lunar Princess. It's just that's I don't exactly enjoy it as most Luna fans do. I think the biggest reason for me not liking it as much is Pinkie Pie and her constantly antagonising Luna for 'the fun of being scared'. Way to show your respect towards the co-ruler of Equestria, Pinkie

Hated: Spike At Your Surface | The Dragon Code can go and eat it. There's a lot things I don't like about this episode, not even the rest of the mane 6 or the action sequences can save it for me.

[bubbleteapony 583]

Favorite: Friendship is Magic parts 1 and 2. The first two episodes of the entire show; I always find myself going back to the first episodes of the series when I'm feeling down or just want to see the ponies again

Underrated: May the Best Pet Win. Or Hurricane Fluttershy. There are certainly other underrated episodes out there, but these are just the first two that come to mind. I think there's a fantastic dynamic between RD and Fluttershy in both episodes, and the ponies make huge improvements to their character in both of them! I think they're just very sweet episodes as well.

Overrated: This one's really hard! I don't think there's any episodes out there that I think people over-praise. Everyone has different things in the show that they like and I'm totally ok with that. If I had to pick one though, I think it'd be the season 4 premier episodes "Princess Twilight Sparkle" since... pretty much nothing happens lol. I guess I don't really see the point of the ponies giving up their elements? And then it's like they don't even need them in the season 4 finale ( I really like the finally though, as a kaiju movie lover I loved the fight scenes haha). That or the season 6 premier episodes "The Crystalling." Again, nothing really happened. Also don't really care for Flurry Heart I liked Starlight's friendship lesson in seeing Sunburst for the first time in years though! That's a good one

Hated: I do not like "Non-Compete Clause" or "The Mean 6." AJ and RD are childish and frustrating the entire episode in NCC, and they endanger the lives of their students. Twilight isn't nearly as angry about it as she should've been honestly. I mean, they learned the competing lesson way back in season ONE in "Fall Weather Friends."

And then in The Mean Six. We get an episode of a bunch of miscommunication and in the end they don't even learn that there were fake copies of them. They just accept the fact that their friends were horrible to each other and move on; not even stress from a camping trip can cause that, and trust me, I know well enough about those. And then Chrysalis just kinda leaves. Before Season 9 came out when I watched this episode, and we didn't know Chrysalis was coming back in season 9, I was actually mad. A major villain returns and the Mane 6 don't even interact with her? And then she just leaves? The writing for the dialogue was also just... bleh. Not great. None of the dialogue felt natural, and the mean 6 were just cartoonishly bad (yes, I know MLP:FIM is a cartoon, still). All around just not a good episode, in my opinion.

Edited January 20, 2022 by bubbleteapony

[JMTV99 1,348]

My Favorite Episode: Amending Fences. Flawless episode from beginning to end.

 

Underrated Episode: Bridle Gossip.  It has a LOT of funny moments and it still makes me laugh. I don't care what anyone said, I still love this episode.

 

Overrated Episode: Canterlot Wedding. I used to like this episode back then. But now, I started to dislike it. It's nothing more than just a 45 minute toy commercial that filled with plotholes that doesn't make anything better.

 

Hated Episode: Newbie Dash. Don't get me wrong, 2, 4, 6, Great is complete horseshit. No doubt about it, but Newbie Dash is a gigantic middle finger to anyone's precious time to see Rainbow Dash accomplishing her goals. Fuck that episode! 

[Megas 27,064]

On 2022-01-19 at 5:04 AM, Megas said:

Underrated - May The Best Pet Win. Unfortunately one of the very few times the show treated RD like she was smart enough to come to her own conclusions. Also Tank is adorable 

 

On 2022-01-19 at 5:04 AM, Megas said:

Overrated - Sweet And Elite. An episode where Rarity gets on her high horse ang gets rewarded for it and even gets a song dedicated to it, literally the episode before RD does the same thing and gets put through the ringer for it. Double Standards is Magic

Okay, not to say these were bad choices, I still stand by these takes, but I saw someone mention Apple Family Reunion, and now I'm kicking myself for forgetting it(though I guess that goes without saying lol), I always considered that one one of S3's top 3 episodes and thought it never got enough love

Likewise, never cared for Magic Duel or Slice of Life, never cared for Trixie and thought the episode was just pandering(and all her constant returns from S6 onwards was extreme pandering to get people to like Starlight more) and Slice of Life is literally just the embodiment of some of my least favorite things about the brony fandom and that getting completely validated for what I thought should have been a celebration of the show instead of a brony wankfest

Edited January 21, 2022 by Megas

[WildChildMirai 48]

On 2022-01-19 at 5:04 AM, Megas said:

Favorite - Sleepless In Ponyville. 3 seasons to finally get Scootaloo’s first episode and it did not disappoint. Funny and heartwarming, growth not just for Scootaloo, but RD and even Luna too

Underrated - May The Best Pet Win. Unfortunately one of the very few times the show treated RD like she was smart enough to come to her own conclusions. Also Tank is adorable 

Hated - Newbie Dash(Shocker!). 5 years it took to finally see RD become a Wonderbolt and the episode treats her like garbage and turns her character arc into a complete joke, to the point where it had to be intentional, like the writers were actively laughing at the audience for expecting anything of merit. Genuinely the first time where I seriously thought the writers hated the characters, the audience and the show they were working on 

Overrated - Sweet And Elite. An episode where Rarity gets on her high horse ang gets rewarded for it and even gets a song dedicated to it, literally the episode before RD does the same thing and gets put through the ringer for it. Double Standards is Magic

Can agree actually with most of these save for the Hated Catagory, I feel like Newbie Dash was a good episode, even if it was harsh, it shown that Rainbow Dash is still just as equal as her fellow crewmates.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Favorite: Perfect Pear. This inspiration from Romeo & Juliet is a masterpiece. The song is amazing. The story more amazing. Pear Butter & Bright Mac are a wonderful couple. Grand Pear's the show's most tragic character. No list of FIM's best episodes is complete without it.

Underrated: Two come on my mind as I type this.

• She's All Yak. I praised this episode to high heavens ever since it aired. Equestria has a blind spot when it comes to communicating with creatures from other countries and backgrounds. Yona picked up the idea that she had to be a pony to fit right in, and her teachers (despite their best intentions) didn't help matters. This lesson is one that Equestria needed to learn long ago. Not to mention Sandbar is great here, and the ship is plausible.
• Castle Sweet Castle. This episode has aged better and better over the years. The humor is great. The morals are great. More importantly, the heart is fantastic. The dynamic between Spike and Twilight, especially as they stand before the destroyed library, really carries the episode.

Overrated: Brotherhooves Social. The majority of the episode is Big Mac in drag as an unfunny joke. The jokes are shallow and accentuated the unfortunate implications (transmisogynistic tropes like the Adam's apple reveal) that the show should've been aware of at the time. Both Apple Bloom and Big Mac also come across as really dumb; they work on and host the annual event, so they should've known that stallions, mares that aren't family, and nonbinary ponies can participate.

Hated: The Crystal Empire. Many other episodes from the series are worse than this. Four years ago, I moved TCE out from my bottom-10. But the reason why I still hate it is how the Royal Sisters put thousands of lives in danger just to see if Twilight can lead. The entire episode focuses on her test first and foremost and keeping the kingdom safe from Sombra second.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Dark Qiviut

[Will Guide 21,325]

8 hours ago, WildChildMirai said:

feel like Newbie Dash was a good episode, even if it was harsh, it shown that Rainbow Dash is still just as equal as her fellow crewmates.

I agree. My only problem with the episode that Rainbow Dash could have saved herself a lot of trouble if she just simply told her co-workers she doesn't like to be called  Rainbow Crash. Then they could have told her right from the very beginning that they're not calling her that out of being mean or malicious; everyone in the Wonderbolts have an embarrassing nickname that's actually mostly used as affection and respect. They even told Rainbow herself that she's the best flyer they had in very long time; why would they want her out?

[Will Guide 21,325]

Favorite: a little biased but any episode that has Thorax the Changeling in it is going to be among my favorites. I consider the two-part episode To Where and Back again to be the best two-parter since we see reformed antagonists work off each other to save our heroes even though they're at a huge disadvantage on Changeling Kingdom turf

Underrated: Flutter Brutter. Everybody seems to hate Zephyr Breeze for being obnoxious that they keep overlooking the fact that he has a very understandable fear of failure that everyone can relate to. Heck he's even an example on the Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales trope. And as much as people want to hate on the episode Fame and Misfortune for making the town unlikable and mean to the Mane 6, it brings up a hard truth that no matter what you do that will always be people who will fail to understand your point of view and will stubbornly cling to their misguided beliefs. Not to mention showing the dark ugly side of a fandom

Overrated: it's hard for me to tell which episodes are being overly praised by the majority in my opinion. The episodes that seem to be universally loved by the fandom I agree too. I suppose like the original poster says, the people who claim that only the first three seasons are the only real Seasons and everything went downhill after Twilight became an alicorn are horribly missing out on some good episodes that came out in the many seasons since then

Hated: to me there's no episode that I outright hate and despise. But there are episodes that are forgettable and don't leave an impression on me whatsoever. If anything, I think it's worse for an episode to be well-written yet forgettable rather than poorly written enough to be hated. Because even if you find an episode that you hate you can always think of ways to fix it which can stimulate your creativity. While an episode that is forgetable and not going to be talked about in the future just means a waste of everyone's talent and time working on that episode. In my case an example of a forgettable episode would be This Isn't the Mane Thing About You. Other than Rarity's Rockstar look at the end I can't think of anything memorable about the episode whatsoever. And as universally hated as an episode like Non-Compete Clause is, did provide a nice opportunity for me to rewrite the climatic scene so that the Student 6 actually learn something and a lesson about finding compromise by using both Rainbow Dash's and Applejack's ideas to build a bridge across a ravine 

Also I feel there should be a fifth category for most relatable episode. In my case the number one most relatable episode is Testing Testing 1 2 3 where not a single moment in the episode goes by without me either relating to Rainbow Dash (who I always considered the least relatable of the mane six to me) or to Twilight Sparkle learning that there's more than just her methods of studying. Flutter Brutter is the second most relatable episode to me due to me relating and sympathizing with an otherwise obnoxious character in Zephyr Breeze. And the third most relatable episode is the Parent Map due to me relating to Sunburst's adorkable personality and is frustrated with his mother coming up with a plan for him reminding me of myself feeling restrained by my stepmother at times

[Megas 27,064]

9 hours ago, WildChildMirai said:

it shown that Rainbow Dash is still just as equal as her fellow crewmates.

Boy they sure had an ugly way of showing it 

[Will Guide 21,325]

4 minutes ago, Megas said:

Boy they sure had an ugly way of showing it 

You do know that EVERYONE on the team has an embarrassing nickname, right? heck whatever the nickname Spitfire has, even Rainbow Dash said that that was worse than Rainbow Crash. As I said if Rainbow Dash actually told them she didn't like to be called Rainbow Crash then they would know not to do it, but she never did. Besides they gave everybody else embarrassing nickname that were more out of playful respect and ribbing for each other. Heck even the various militaries in real life get nicknames

[Sparklefan1234 161,860]

Favorite: Magical Mystery Cure: 

 

An episode filled with memorable songs and a memorable moment for our main protagonist.

 

Underrated:

 

Gauntlet of Fire: My two favorite ponies team up to motivate Spike to complete a difficult task. An adventure that's not too big nor too small.

 

Overrated: Twilight's Kingdom and A Canterlot Wedding:

 

"Kingdom" and "Wedding" are two episodes I love and am slowly beginning to dislike over time due to how "epic" they are in the eyes of the fandom.

 

Hated: Ponyville Confidential:

 

It's too mean-spirited. I don't like episodes of shows where characters are mean to each other and hurt each other's feelings.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Megas 27,064]

27 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

36 minutes ago, Megas said:

 

You do know that EVERYONE on the team has an embarrassing nickname, right?

 

27 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

Besides they gave everybody else embarrassing nickname that were more out of playful respect and ribbing for each other.

If they wanted to drive that point home they would have made it a point to acknowledge everyone else’s nickname throughout. But the way it’s depicted throughout the episode, singling out RD and actively calling her it to mess her up throughout, is literally just hazing the new guy(and yes it is hazing, Hasbro even acknowledged it as much). Just makes the Wonderbolts a shitty group with shitty “cultures” and instead of calling this out the show straight up tried to justify it 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Megas

[Will Guide 21,325]

7 minutes ago, Megas said:

 

If they wanted to drive that point home they would have made it a point to acknowledge everyone else’s nickname throughout. But the way it’s depicted throughout the episode, singling out RD and actively calling her it to mess her up throughout, is literally just hazing the new guy(and yes it is hazing, Hasbro even acknowledged it as much). Just makes the Wonderbolts a shitty group with shitty “cultures” and instead of calling this out the show straight up tried to justify it 

Let's just agree to disagree

[Cash In 21,509]

Favourite: Hurricane Fluttershy. Fluttershy at her best in an incredibly endearing story. I could gush about it all day.

Underrated: Flutter Brutter or Gauntlet of Fire. I agree that Season 6 isn't one of the better seasons, but it had some solid episodes sprinkled throughout it. I know the thing that holds Flutter Brutter back for people is the fact that Zephyr Breeze is a bit of an ass, but I think it's good once you get past that. Gauntlet of Fire is hands down my favourite Spike episode. It really feels like such an achievement for the little guy, in terms of both story telling and the fact that it felt like some care went into the writing.

Overrated: The Times They Are a Changeling. Sorry guys, I didn't think this episode was great. I like it, but not nearly as much as most people do. Still, I'm sure that we can agree that in terms of Spike episodes, it's above average.

Hated: Non-Compete Clause. No episode in this show made me feel the same amount of pain that this did. Characters are written awfully and the story is a shitty repeat of Fall Weather Friends from Season 1, which actually was a pretty good episode, which makes this even more insulting.