Season 3 Review Thread

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

This season had been all worth waiting for with One Bad Apple, and Too many Pinkie Pie's as my most watched episodes of this season.

[Batbrony 16,055]

Since it seems like most bronies who've wanted to post Season 3 reviews here have, and this thread will most likely get unpinned soon, I just wanted to say thanks to everypony who took the time to post reviews on this thread!  It was great fun getting to read all of your reviews and compare and contrast everypony's thoughts on the season!  Thanks again ya'll!!! 

 

Edited February 26, 2013 by Batbrony

[NavelColt 22,880]

 

Since it seems like most bronies who've wanted to post Season 3 reviews here have, and this thread will most likely get unpinned soon, I just wanted to say thanks to everypony who took the time to post reviews on this thread!  It was great fun getting to read all of your reviews and compare and contrast everypony's thoughts on the season!  Thanks again ya'll!!! 

I dunno. I don't think there's a super-pressing incentive to upin it immediately, as we're trying to encourage people to give their final wrapped up opinions on this season, both overall and in an individual episode-by-episode sense. I think I'll leave it up until the end of the week.

[Batbrony 16,055]

I dunno. I don't think there's a super-pressing incentive to upin it immediately, as we're trying to encourage people to give their final wrapped up opinions on this season, both overall and in an individual episode-by-episode sense. I think I'll leave it up until the end of the week.

 

Sounds good to me pal, thanks!    Just wanted to get that thank you out there to everypony who'd responded before it got unpinned.  To anypony who has yet to post a review, by all means, please do; I know that I and a lot of other bronies on these forums would love to see your thoughts on the season as a whole! 

[MK15 68]

Well guys. The S3 is over. Now it's time to do our personal rankings. This is mine:

 

1)Magic Duel;

2)Magical Mystery Cure;

3)Keep Calm & Flutter On;

4)Sleepless in Ponyville;

5)Too Many Pinkie Pies;

6)Just for Sidekicks;

7)Wonderbolt Academy;

8)One Bad Apple;

9)Games Pony Play;

10)The Crystal Empire;

11)Spike at Your Service;

12)Apple Family Reunion.

 

That's it. Make your ranking. Bye!

[An Old Head 4,816]

I've given every episode in the series a rating out of 100, so here are my ratings, in order, for each Season 3 episode. These are actually very harshly scored - I'd give half of the episodes 100 on a positive day, but to implement enough perspective to stop these scores becoming arbitrary is something that I had to do.

 

1) Too Many Pinkie Pies - 99/100

 

As I've driven home in past threads, this episode was sensational in terms of comedy, continuity, depth, development, character accuracy, environment and nods to the older audience. I felt so overwhelmingly pleased with every second of it and its genius handling of clones, which is in itself a genius thing to apply to Equestria. And of course, Pinkie Pie got to display some of the prime reasons as to why she's best pony Thrilling - it's my favourite episode of not just S3 but the whole series. All it needed was a song for me to give it the perfect 100.

 

2) Wonderbolt Academy - 92/100

 

Sorely underrated episode, I think this episode really did shine. Great for showcasing how this show isn't just for little girls, a really great concept which they made the most of, brilliant setting, deep antagonist and continuity you could cut with a knife. It silenced those who had initially depicted Rainbow Dash as a shallow show-off, and it also pleased my inner Pinkiedash.

 

3) Magical Mystery Cure - 91/100

 

This episode is love it or hate it. I loved it. The show was missing a musical episode, and Twilight's transition to an alicorn was generally monumental for the series. Wonderful concept, gives us twelve thousand branches of possibility as to Season 4, spectacular animation which they were flaunting heartily. It's damn good.

 

4) Sleepless in Ponyville - 88/100

 

Again, damn good episode. It blended light comedy with heavy heart-warmth, with a camping concept that was really made the most of. Things such as canonised Scootalove and more Luna I initially took to be heavy-handed fanservice, but I've come to appreciate it a lot more. Splendid watch.

 

5) Apple Family Reunion - 83/100

 

A great opportunity for Applejack, a pony who seemed to be lagging behind in terms of development, to show her colours. This was a chance to stick every damn pony from the Apple family into one bright-spirited family reunion, and I adored it - a great song, a welcome reappearance of ye olde collapsing barn and an all-around smile-invoking episode.

 

6) The Crystal Empire - 82/100

 

Of the four two-parters, this one's my least favourite, but I still thought it was a real spectacle. I thought the Crystal Empire was a great place - imaginative, well thought out and intricate, with a populace that you bonded with. King Sombra is one of the best character designs of the entire show, he just bellows bad-ass. Twilight got to flaunt her brilliance with magic, and like any finale it's always great to see the day saved from impending disaster.

 

7=) Keep Calm & Flutter On - 81/100

 

The return of Discord, I greeted with a grin - especially with the idea of the tame and timid Fluttershy tasked with friending up with this chaos mastermind. I was chuckling the whole way through. It was welcome development for Flutters, we got ourselves more older-audience nods (Wonderland) and... well, there's not much else to it aside from being a very enjoyable episode.

 

7=) Just for Sidekicks - 81/100

 

I went into this episode disappointed at first, because we already had Spike over in Spike At Your Service; but I thought this episode was especially good for Spike. Handling every pony's pets all at once? It's a zany and brilliant episode idea, and we all got a great laugh out of it. Could have done a little bit more with it, though, I reckon.

 

7=) One Bad Apple - 81/100

 

Initially scored low because Babs Seed felt come and go, but I've decided it's worth a lot more than the dismissal it often gets. It dealt with a great moral, it entwined the CMC's normal cutie-mark-hunting antics with a genuine issue, and the new character it introduced was pretty sweet. It's far from my favourite, but there's no way it deserves a negative look.

 

10) Magic Duel - 74/100

 

This episode is the most overrated of the entire series, honestly. I'm not saying it's a bad episode by any means - the return of Trixie was a great idea, and there were lots of laughs to be taken from their re-match at the end - but I felt like it was sullied by the saltiness of fanservice along with it not really having a clear moral, or even purpose.

 

11) Games Ponies Play - 73/100

 

As a stand-alone episode, this was far from the best. But as an additive episode to tie in with event sequences from previous episodes and pre-established schemes, I thought it was pretty welcome. Our new character(s) served some decent purpose and could easily make a reappearance, but were weak at making fanon impact. I felt like it was a "had-to-be-put-in" episode to tie up some ends about the Crystal Empire. Nonetheless, I'd watch it again.

 

12) Spike at Your Service - 65/100

 

I think this will be a very predictable last-placer in this thread; there was a lot of issue to take with this episode. The production of a Dragon Code out of nowhere, a very unclear and confusing climax involving Timberwolves and twigs, and... if I may say so, not much purpose at all. It stank of filler. That being said, it gets its points from some nice comedy moments, relatively good fanon inspiration with things like Dash writing fan fiction, and we got to see some 3D animation put into effect.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Flipturn

[Shanks 10,816]

1. Apple Family Reunion

2. Wonderbolt Academy

3. Sleeless in Ponyville

4. One Bad Apple

5. Too Many Pinkie Pies

6. Games Ponies Play

7. Magic Duel

8. Keep Calm and Flutter on

9. Crystal Empire

10. Just For Sidekicks

11. Spike At Your Service

12. Magical Mystery Cure

[Princess_Molestia 1,460]

I don't care what anyone says I thought Spike was hilarious, yeah the clumsiness was strange but when someone nearly dies I imagine they'd be off their game

he's a great character and I always enjoy his character

[Skystrider 11]

-These are the top episodes and i must say, some of my favorite in the entire series. Sleepless in Ponyville was DEFINITELY my new favorite the moment i saw it, and Wonderbolts Academy is in third just behind Luna Eclipsed.

 

1. Sleepless in Ponyville (with Scootaloo being my favorit CMC and Rainbow Dash being my favorite character i knew i would like this episode right when i saw the Synopsis on EQD. But when i watched it i was actually amazed how much better it was than i thought it would be. seeing Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash bonding was friggin adorable...plus LUNA)

 

2. Wonderbolts Academy (REALLY close behind Sleepless in Ponyville! this was another episode i knew i would love right when i saw the Synopsis. it reminds me of AFROTC...sort of xD)

 

3. Apple Family Reunion (before this episode Applejack was my least favorite pony. But after seeing how amazing of a character AJ was rather than just the sort of boring character i thought she was before i couldnt help myself from falling in love with this episode and bumping her up a few spaces on my favorites list)

 

4. One Bad Apple (honestly, the fact that they introduced a new character that i can relate to and packed this episode with humor and, of corse, adorableness, puts this one where it is on my list)

 

-Past this point the episodes are just sort of forgettable for me, not that they are bad by any means, jut not nearly as good as episodes that aired previously in the series.

 

5. Too Many Pinkie Pies (i love the episodes that have Pinkie Pie NOT acting so hyperactive she has virtually no cohesive dialog and just spouts random nonsense like in The Last Roundup)

 

6. Magic Duel (i do think this one is very overrated though, the Twilights vs Trixie thing is cool and all, and the reappearance of Zechora was great but...its not the single most amazing episode ever conjured in the history of Television like many other bronies make it out to be)

 

7. Chrystal Empire (its REALLY hard to follow up on an episode as absolutely spectacular as A Canterlot Wedding, but i feel this one could have gone much worse than it did. overall, not a bad episode.)

 

8. Magical Mystery Cure (if only it were a two parter it may be in my top 5 for this season...oh well. they just tried to pack SO much story into one episode and while i think they did a pretty good job i that respect overall the plot had utterly massive gaps that just had no further information to fill them. seriously, what was it that Twilight did that had apparently "never been done before"? at least this episode was full of great songs)

 

9. Keep Calm and Flutter on (i feel Discord was "reformed" WAY to quickly and now we may never see him again. like Magical Mystery Cure, if this were a two parter it could have been spectacular...oh well...again)

 

10. Spike at Your Service (see below)

 

11. Just for Sidekicks (at least Spike is funny, thats pretty much the only thing that saved this episode and Spike at Your Service from being last and second to last on my list)

 

12. Games Ponies Play (honestly one of the ONLY episodes in the entire series i can truly say i dont really like. i just dont see where this episode came from and what it has to do with anything we saw since. why didnt we get to see the actual Equestria games at some point? hopefully they will be the focus of the Season 4 Premere)

[Concord 1,982]

Hello!

 

1 - Sleepless in Ponyville - 10/10

2 - Magic Duel - 10/10

3 - Wonderbolt Academy - 9/10

4 - One Bad Apple - 9/10

5 - Just for Sidekicks - 8/10

6 - Apple Family Reunion - 8/10

7 - Games Pony Play - 8/10

8 - The Crystal Empire - 8/10

9 - Keep Calm & Flutter On - 7/10

10 - Spike at Your Service - 7/10

11 - Too Many Pinkie Pies - 6/10

12 - Magical Mystery Cure - 2/10

[NavelColt 22,880]

Well guys. The S3 is over. Now it's time to do our personal rankings.

 

As it so happens, we already possess a pinned thread here in Show Discussion, that's dedicated to providing your thoughts on S3 in both a general manner, and in a specific episode manner. I've merged your topic, 'Season 3 final ranking' with 'Season 3 Review Thread'.

[Megas 27,630]

1) Sleepless in Ponyville

2) Wonderbolt Academy

3) Too Many Pinkie Pies

4) Keep Calm and Flutter on

5) Just for Sidekicks

6) One Bad Apple

7) Apple Family Reunion

8) Games Ponies Play

9) Spike at Your Service

10) Magic Duel

11) Magical Mystery Cure

12) Crystal Empire

Edited March 2, 2013 by Megas75

[MK15 68]

Hey there guys. Today I've a question for you: were you satisfied about the third season? 

 

Personally: yes, 7 of the episodes of this season have become some of my favourites, but for what I've seen not so many bronies enjoyed the season as I did...

 

Have you enjoyed the season? 

Edited May 13, 2013 by DashForever

[ToxicNinja78 148]

Meh. It was okay. I understand it got cut down, but they got rid of the wrong episodes. Did we really need two episodes on Spike? I don't think so.

[DJRainbowDash 724]

I still found plenty to like in the season, so I'll say yes. Too Many Pinkie Pies, Wonderbolts Academy, Sleepless In Ponyville, and Magical Mystery Cure turned into favorites of mine 

 

The only gripes I had was there being two Spike centric episodes. I do like him as a character, but I think he was focused on a bit too much. 

[Blue Moon 6,341]

It started out bad, then got amazing, but then it went down a little bit with the Spike episodes, but then it picked itself back up again with Magical Mystery Cure.

 

I enjoyed this season and it has some of my favorite episodes in the series.

[Reani 176]

The season was great. I love this season, not as much as season 2. The only reason this season is SOOOO "controversial" is because a lot of BUTT-HURT Bronies didn't like the idea of Twilight becoming into an Alicorn. They b**ched and wined about the season finale and they still are. Seriously people. Life changes and so do they.

[hawkflame 3,310]

Disappointment for me.  It had IMO at least4 really weak episodes (Crystal Empire parts 1 and 2, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Spike at Your Service, and )-and watching it again, Magical mystery Cure wasn't really that good either. 

 

4 -5 weak episodes out of 26 isn't bad, but out of 13?

[Blazin 49]

It was simply too short... Theres a reason the other 2 episodes (and in fact alot of other seasons) are 26 episodes (or between 20-30 episodes) long...

Also, quite a few of my least favourite episodes were in season 3.

 

And then to finish it off... Twilicorn??? Really???

[Shift 4,272]

This season has not been a disappointment for me.

 

We got  Scootaloo episode.

 

More Luna.

 

Dash and Scootaloo are sisters.

 

Sad Pinkie

 

Pinkamena

 

Sorta-Crazy Twilight

 

References. Oh, the references.

 

New antagonist. (Lightning Dust)

 

New villain (Sombra)

 

I'd say this season has been great.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I guess I was satisfied with Season 3, since it gave me some of my favorite episodes. But, others wouldn't say that they were satisfied.

[Nature's Spell 526]

Given how short the season was I don't think you can fairly compare it to season 1 and 2. If it was the same length I think it would be comparable the early seasons.

[Celtore 2,770]

I am satisfied with the third season, I only wish it was longer. There were some really touching moments in season 3, I really enjoyed the episodes that were done well. Sadly, the episodes that weren't done well were kind of... well... bad... I like Spike, but spike at your service has to be one of my least favourite episodes.

 

I actually loved the season finale; it felt like the animators and the entire team were putting in 120% of their effort into what they were creating.

[silvadel 1,393]

Season 3 can only be thought of as a half-season when compared to the other seasons.  As such I think 2B was the best season followed by 3 followed by 1A, 1B, and 2A.

[Planty 1,053]

Season 3 can only be thought of as a half-season when compared to the other seasons.  As such I think 2B was the best season followed by 3 followed by 1A, 1B, and 2A.

 

I agree 2B was the best season It also came at the perfect time when MLP was just getting publicity!

 

I liked season 3 overall Initially i didn't so much (but I watched the episodes in a rushed ways initially) but going over them again now I realized just how good they where!

 

The animation is also better in S3 then the others, but I have to admit at times it felt a bit weird (IE apple face).