Oh Noes the quality is spiraling downward:O

[Anadu Kune 668]

I heard this same thing whilst we were in the middle of season 2. Looking back do you really think the quality spiraled downward. Heck I even heard this when Lesson Zero aired. People were saying that it was indicative of the horrible episodes to come. Oh what horrible episodes we got;D

 

Lets really think about it, have we really had any terrible episodes this season? I dont think so. Heck season three has given me one of my favorite episodes of the show. Even the newest episode despite being my least favorite this season managed to make me laugh and keep me entertained. People really need to stop panicking and poking at things that are not there. It seem that many are so willing to believe the worst. Dont even get me started on the silliness of the pandering complaint.

[Fluffy Pinkie 417]

SO far this season has been my Fav. While i haven't watched the newest episode yet i'm still sure i will continue to like the show.  True there have been some episodes that haven't been the best but every show has it's ups and downs. There aren't too many episodes I really hate and the ones I do have some part of them that I like. In the end sometimes MLP appears to have it's downs but the up's far outweigh the down's.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

This season is probably the best season yet, simply because they are really playing hard ball with darker themes.  I don't understand, when there are "bad" episodes everyone screams 'NO THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL HAS BEGUN!"  It's just a bad episode, all shows have them.

[Party Cannon 876]

MLP across all seasons is a quality show. I think some people jump to the downward spiral thing because this has happened all too many times with great shows. 

 

We have become very attached to the show. You can think of it as a relationship to a person. The longer you know someone, it is easier to point out those person's strengths, as well as their shortcomings.

 

I am not hesitant to call an episode bad, or at least a bad plot point. I don't damn the show ever though.

 

I have indeed some general critiques with specifically Season 3, such as Pinkie Pie's negative portrayals and the lack of some support to core items to the series' plot. However Season 3 has given us some episodes that already made their way to our respective top ten lists.

 

Downward Spiral, I hope not. I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Edited December 29, 2012 by Party Cannon

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

I would say (from my hilariously uninformed position) that new episodes of Season 3 are being compared to dramatic environment-building adventure episodes from previous seasons, or Season finales and Premieres. That isn't exactly fair, that's like comparing a leaf of lettuce to a loaf of bread.

 

What I'm saying with that analogy is "laugh at me, because I've only seen one episode of Season 3 yet I'm trying to develop an opinion on it."

Edited December 29, 2012 by Blue

[Leafeon 2,702]

Let's just hope that Flutters and Discord don't screw us over. I would hate to think that might happen.

 

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who misses Rarity? No episodes for her have been announced.

 

[Sks_Burns 730]

Breaking Bad (arguably the greatest show ever produced) has episodes that just dont live up to the rest of the quality of the series, but it doesnt make it a bad series by any means. You cant judge an entire show by a few episodes that dont live up to expectations are arent as good as previous seasons.

 

look at MLP as a whole, fromy S01E01 to the current episode. its excellent, despite a few low points. 

[Anadu Kune 668]

Let's just hope that Flutters and Discord don't screw us over. I would hate to think that might happen.

 

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who misses Rarity? No episodes for her have been announced.

 

As I said on another thread they did the reform thing with Q on Star Trek and it worked quite well. It opened the way for good character progression with Q. 

 

Yeah no Rarity episodes so far. However she has had plenty in the series and to my memory all of them were great. Sweet and Elite is one of the most entertaining episodes to me and Art of the Dress speaks to me as an artist having had clients far worse than that. Aplejack really needed attention. 

[Leafeon 2,702]

As I said on another thread they did the reform thing with Q on Star Trek and it worked quite well. It opened the way for good character progression with Q. 

 

Yeah no Rarity episodes so far. However she has had plenty in the series and to my memory all of them were great. Sweet and Elite is one of the most entertaining episodes to me and Art of the Dress speaks to me as an artist having had clients far worse than that. Aplejack really needed attention. 

Yes, she has had some great episodes. However, if they end on a two parter, she won't get any this season, unless of course she has a big part in the finale. Which would be nice. The only problem with the line up, is after the Flutters/Discord episode is going to be followed by another Spike/Twilight episode. Hopefully that makes up for this one, but if it doesn't...

[Tall_But_Short_37 233]

I have loved every episode so far with the exception of Spike at Your Service. Other than that, I think every episode has been spot on!

[Nightmare Tsubasa 25]

Season 3 has been great for me personally. I’ll admit that there have been some episodes that weren’t the most greatest but the rest I’m very impressed with. I hope the crew and staff will keep up the great work and continue to give us high quality episodes.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

In a way, no, in a way, yes. It's not really that quality is spiraling downward, it's more to the extent of the content being different. I guess the writers are trying new things with the writing style and what not.

[Champion RD92 8,658]

I honestly think that season 3 isn't as entertaining as the last two seasons. I used to always really enjoy the episodes and when I would finish watching it I would think "Wow that was so good!"

 

Now the episodes are just okay...they just don't seem as enjoyable or entertaining for some reason.

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

I have been saying this multiple times! To me the show has not lost any of its quality from the first episode up until now. The creators of the show have done a magnificent job with creating this show and the quality of season 3 has done just what seasons 1 & 2 did. People nitpick about little things way too much . 

[TooTsaka 43]

The only bad episode for me in this season is the latest one. I was disheartened by it, but I'm not going to see it as a downward spiral. That wouldn't be vary mature at all. I'm just really wondering how they're going to execute the next episode. To me it sounds iffy, but it's it's executed in standard MLP fashion - the one we all know and love - I'll be more than happy with it.

Edited December 29, 2012 by TooTsaka

[Mephala 2,633]

As I said on another thread they did the reform thing with Q on Star Trek and it worked quite well. It opened the way for good character progression with Q. 

 

Yeah no Rarity episodes so far. However she has had plenty in the series and to my memory all of them were great. Sweet and Elite is one of the most entertaining episodes to me and Art of the Dress speaks to me as an artist having had clients far worse than that. Aplejack really needed attention. 

Q was awesome. <3

 

But Rarity's had next to none compared to Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, and a lot of them that were supposed to be centered on her ended up being pushed on to someone else. (Green Isn't Your Colour was mostly Twilight and Fluttershy, A Dog and Pony Show was significantly the others though she did have her moments, etc.) She's only really had Suited For Success and Sweet and Elite as her significant roles in the series.

There was that Octavia/Rarity rumour and even that hasn't been acted upon.

 

Anyways, in my opinion, this season has had nothing to deliver. The characters have become one-sided; we only sort of see their intended image rather than the character beneath. They're also really cheesy, Twilight and Pinkie Pie especially. The writing is AWFUL-"It's gonna be funna-fun-fun!"? What the hell is that? I mean, at least make an attempt to not melt my brain cells. (On that note, they've somehow made Pinkie even more annoying, which is a feat, I must admit.) I didn't mind the Family Reunion episode besides the fact that Babs is a terrible character and should never have existed, but even then...the ones leading up to it were god-awful.

 

I think I may have just grown out of my love for it, but really, it's just the way that they've gone about making it. I still love S1 and 2, and this is wrecking it for me.

Edited December 29, 2012 by Nicolas Cage

[Anadu Kune 668]

Q was awesome. <3

 

But Rarity's had next to none compared to Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, and a lot of them that were supposed to be centered on her ended up being pushed on to someone else. (Green Isn't Your Colour was mostly Twilight and Fluttershy, A Dog and Pony Show was significantly the others though she did have her moments, etc.) She's only really had Suited For Success and Sweet and Elite as her significant roles in the series.

There was that Octavia/Rarity rumour and even that hasn't been acted upon.

 

Anyways, in my opinion, this season has had nothing to deliver. The characters have become one-sided; we only sort of see their intended image rather than the character beneath. They're also really cheesy, Twilight and Pinkie Pie especially. The writing is AWFUL-"It's gonna be funna-fun-fun!"? What the hell is that? I mean, at least make an attempt to not melt my brain cells. (On that note, they've somehow made Pinkie even more annoying, which is a feat, I must admit.) I didn't mind the Family Reunion episode besides the fact that Babs is a terrible character and should never have existed, but even then...the ones leading up to it were god-awful.

 

I think I may have just grown out of my love for it, but really, it's just the way that they've gone about making it. I still love S1 and 2, and this is wrecking it for me.

The writing is awful?.....really? I see no indication of that(at least not on the whole). Is the line "its gonna be funna fun fun" really all that bad considering we've had lines like "Okie dokie loki"  and "frakus". I personally don't find any of those lines are bad in the context of which they are spoken. Characters one sided? Too many Pinkie Pies might just be one of the best episodes for exploring that character, entire essays could be written on it. In fact you might find them in this very forum(heck I may write one). Looking at it from an more objective stand point one could easily make the argument that season three has better structure in its episodes. 

 

Your entitled to have your opinion. However I think just bluntly calling things awful is extremely disrespectful the production staff. 

[SparklingTwilight 109]

I don't think the 'Downward Spiral' has started yet. So far, the episodes in this season have been pretty good, though I have to agree with Nicolas on the Babs issue.... Terrible character! The last one wasn't great, not even that good, either, but every show has its occasional 'bad' episode. And let's face it, the show's not gonna be good forever. It's sad but true. Eventually, the creators aren't gonna have any more ideas and the quality will drop. But that time's definitely not coming anytime soon. And did you guys hear about 'Just for Sidekicks'? Another Spike episode, and still none for Rarity this season! 

[Trinity Erin 32]

I don't really have anything to complain about with the third season. I mean, I haven't noticed anything getting worse or better. I have favorite episodes and not so favorite episodes just like the other seasons. :: shrugs ::

[Mephala 2,633]

The writing is awful?.....really? I see no indication of that(at least not on the whole). Is the line "its gonna be funna fun fun" really all that bad considering we've had lines like "Okie dokie loki" and "frakus". I personally don't find any of those lines are bad in the context of which they are spoken. Characters one sided? Too many Pinkie Pies might just be one of the best episodes for exploring that character, entire essays could be written on it. In fact you might find them in this very forum(heck I may write one). Looking at it from an more objective stand point one could easily make the argument that season three has better structure in its episodes.

 

Your entitled to have your opinion. However I think just bluntly calling things awful is extremely disrespectful the production staff.

Fracas (not "frakus") is an actual word...you do realize that? I'm pretty sure Frakus is a musical group...

 

It explored nothing. She was hyperactive and then sad. Those aren't exactly deeply explored emotions at all in that episode; she made a stupid mistake and then moaned about it. That's not essay material to me. Not to mention they could have asked a personal question rather than an idiotic "test" which could still bear false results.

 

In addition, me having complaints about something being awful does not make me disrespectful. If you hear a song that you dislike and say "I hate this song!" that is the exact same thing and equally disrespectful. In this case, you've probably done that, and it's simply because you don't like the material. Same deal here.

 

You're entitled to your opinion; I do not share it. I don't understand why I'm even reacting to this; it's petty.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Nicolas Cage

[NavelColt 22,881]

People are completely pessimistic, overly cautious and too analytic for their own good, sometimes. This season has had nothing but 'decent' to great episodes, thus far. Even the latest two, which I see as the least interesting, weren't 'terrible', they just weren't 'great'. Hasbro's plan to make shorter seasons with more memorable episodes has worked just swell thus far, for me. Others may feel differently but that's how it's worked for me so far.

[Anadu Kune 668]

Fracas (not "frakus") is an actual word...you do realize that? I'm pretty sure Frakus is a musical group...

 

It explored nothing. She was hyperactive and then sad. Those aren't exactly deeply explored emotions at all in that episode; she made a stupid mistake and then moaned about it. That's not essay material to me. Not to mention they could have asked a personal question rather than an idiotic "test" which could still bear false results.

 

In addition, me having complaints about something being awful does not make me disrespectful. If you hear a song that you dislike and say "I hate this song!" that is the exact same thing and equally disrespectful. In this case, you've probably done that, and it's simply because you don't like the material. Same deal here.

 

You're entitled to your opinion; I do not share it. I don't understand why I'm even reacting to this; it's petty.

"She was hyperactive then sad" misses a ton that is in the episode and is a gross over simplification  Even if she were only hyperactive to begin with there is clearly a progression to her depression. Starting with the realization things had gone awry, to regret, to identity crisis, then to depression, even that's missing a ton. Whatever though I am inspired now to write on it. It should be fun.

 

Stating something is awful is a supposition it is the worst kind of criticism as it immediately assumes poor quality. There is a difference between saying "I hate this song" and This song is horrible". The former states your dislike and the latter assumes objective lack of quality. hence saying the latter is disrespectful to the creators as it assumes their work is objectively horrible. Same goes for the writing of an episode "I hate the writing"is different to saying the "writing is awful"  When I learned to critique to the work of other artists this was one of the first things we learned. To say "this is awful" is essentially useless, to say "I think this could be better because ect" is very useful and a better way to criticize. In essence we step back and take a more objective look at the art.  

 

This is just my perspective on the matter. Im not pushing it or anything but it is a problem I see very often in general.

[Auryn 95]

It explored nothing. She was hyperactive and then sad. Those aren't exactly deeply explored emotions at all in that episode; she made a stupid mistake and then moaned about it..

Pinkie had a pretty serious existential crisis. That's about as deep as a cartoon character pony can get. Her friends had to make a very difficult and potentially dangerous decision to get rid of the copies at what might be the cost of their good friend. Pinkie Pie stared at a wall for much longer than her attention span would normally allow. Her fear in losing her friends hints at a severe issue with abandonment. That episode was very dark at times despite the campy slapstick exterior. Again in Wonderbolts academy, we see that same insecurity as she honestly believes one of her best friends is going to forget her after only a week of separation. This scene might have been comical to most, but her suffering was real.

 

MLP has great character depth for those willing to dive in and explore the characters. I'm just picking Pinkie to discuss because she was mentioned and is probably the best example of the incredible character development in this show.

 

We have to realize that this is children's programming. If they included the level of focus on characters suffering and growing as adults, the target audience would be either bored or deeply disturbed. Look at the comet symbolism of Apple Family Reunion. The writers were able to touch on a VERY mature subject like death in the immediate family without freaking out children watching. Very tricky to pull something like that off. The best we can do is enjoy the morsels the writers give us.

[LensFlare 40]

I find most shows have their off episodes (or "bad" ones), but that doesn't mean the whole show is going downhill. If anything, wouldn't an off episode make the next ones seem ever better? In comparison, one would say "well I didn't like the last episode, but the new one was way better!" making one of the good episodes even better (if that makes sense).

[Phoenix237 353]

Personally season 3 has been great. While the most recent episode wasn't my favorite, it was still entertaining to watch. Now people have opinions and if they say season 3 is horrible, then let them, we all know it's a great season so far.

At least for me it is.