What episode(s) do you think are underrated?

[Pony Of The Month 534]

What episodes do you think need more appreciation from the fandom? Here are mine:

 

May The Best Pet Win: Even the song in the episode is underrated. This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of the show, but it doesn't seem incredibly popular. I don't think anyone hates it, but I wish it would get more love. It's such a fun episode, and one of the funniest to. 

 

Dragon Quest: I admit, it's not one of my absolute favorites, but I've always wondered why people don't like it. 

 

One Bad Apple: My favorite CMC episode! I love it just for being one of the most adorable episodes ever!

 

Magical Mystery Cure: To be fair, I'm not even sure if I can call this episode "underrated" but it does get a lot of hate. It took me a few watches to finally form an opinion about, but I have to say, that it was a great season finale. Although I don't think it would have made a good series finale, so I'm glad it's not.

[. eris . 1,661]

I may have stated this already, but "May The Best Pet Win" is my favorite episode of all time. (I haven't watched every MLP episode, so bear with me.) I love the song - that, and the Flim Flam Brothers song are my two favorite songs of the show. I'm going to get a lot of Pinkie fans coming after me, aren't I? :/

 

Perhaps not underrated, but definitely not discussed. Whatever happened to The Last Roundup? People remember it for Derpy finally talking, but not much else. I think it's a shame, since I do truly like that episode and thought it very amusing.

[Quilava 1,290]

I would agree with you on the fact that many people *even me to an extent* found the Season 3 finale a bit mashed up.

 

But even with that slight opinion, it would be a huge lie to say that I didn't like that episode at all. In fact, I find True, True Friend to be one of my top favourite songs from the whole series. It could've easily been split into 2 parts, as they did with Season 2, but they still did a great job with the 22 minute finale they aired.

 

One Bad Apple also contains one of my more beloved MLP:FiM songs. I personally liked the fact that they showcased how bullying sometimes turns out to be and ways you should try to *and NOT to* cope with it.

 

I don't really have much to say on Dragon Quest, as it wasn't a particular favourite of mine, but I wouldn't cast it aside as a disliked episode.

 

And ending with May the Best Pet Win, it's a great show to finally bring out a softer side of Dash. Which is probably why it may not have had a strong liking since it kind of brought down Rainbow's overall toughness *but what's a character without some form of soft side*.

[Nayruthepegasister 118]

The Show Stoppers: I think this one's not really spoken about... it made me feel really bad for the CMC and helped them grow as characters...

 

Owl's Well that Ends Well: Owlowiscious (I think I spelled that right) got introduced... even though I still think he was meant to replace Spike so Spike could become more of a main protagonist in later episodes... Spike was developed a little in this episode, and it was nice to see an episode about Spike that finally focused on something BESIDES his greed... 

 

Sisterhooves Social: The development between Sweetie Bell and Rarity was beautiful! I don't know why but this episode is not discussed very often... 

[Dashabel 381]

May The Best Pet Win is one of my favourite episodes. I think that ones not popular however is because the story was too predictable. Many have said they knew right from the start that Dashie would pick Tank. Even if they did... I still think that episodes adorable :3

I'm not sure about Dragon Quest, but it does seem to not be an amazingly popular episode. As for One Bad Apple, there was just loads of fuss over the CMC being mean to Babs, even though they were all forgiven, as always. It's known to have a poor alternative in getting poor Babs back.

Magical Mystery Cure.... Well we know why eveyone *hates* that one! Because everyone's so darn worked up about alicorn Twilight! Goodness knows why of course, but they just can't accept it. Whilst this episode made me shed liquid pride, someone else told me they shot themself in the head. :/ so yeah, that's pretty much the reaction of a lot of Bronies for some weird reason.

Anyway, I couldn't possibly name all the episodes I think go underrated... But pretty much a lot of season 1 and early season 2. I think it's just because they're... Old. This doesn't apply to me, by the way, I LOVE all the episodes, and I guess we all just have different opinions as to which ones become favourites and which ones don't.

[Mars Caramel 319]

The Mysterious Mare Do-Well: I actually enjoyed the episode very much. I was actually scratching my head wondering who it was when I saw that Mare Do-Well had the abilities of magic and flight. I forgot why people hate it, but I actually enjoyed it.

[Blue Moon 6,341]

Griffin the Brush Off- I have no idea why people don't like this episode. It has a lot of funny moments and the writing is very good too.

 

The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well- Another one of my favorites. I do not understand why no one likes this episode. There is nothing wrong with it.

 

Wonderbolt Academy: A very good episode (My favorite from season 3). This episode is much more serious than previous episodes and is just really good. 

[kirbyboi 588]

Magical Mystery Cure- Although there are those who liked the episode, many thought it was rushed and terribly done. I'll agree, some parts seemed a bit rushed, but I loved the songs, and the fact that they did all this in one 22 minute episode is amazing! I loved the episode, the plot was good, and they handled Twilight becoming an Alicorn very well!  

 

Mysterious Mare- Do-Well- I actually enjoyed this episode a lot, the plot was fun to watch! Most people hate this episode because it gives Rainbow Dash a bad impression, but in the end she learns her lesson. I liked the episode and it didn't leave me a bad impression of RD at all!

 

Those are the only two I can think of...everyone else seems to be pretty lean with the others. 

[Righteous Fury 344]

The Cutie Mark Chronicles - the Mane 6 as fillies are ADORABLE, especially Rarity and Pinkie. This was a fantastic origin stories episode.

 

Green Isn't Your Color - This is IMO one of the funniest episodes ever. Pinkie Pie alone would be enough to put this in the top 10 for me, but Photo Finish is PURE AWESOME. It's underrated because although everyone seems to love it, it never really gets much attention.

 

The Crystal Empire - This is what A Canterlot Wedding SHOULD have been. Smart villain that's truly menacing despite his lack of lines, a spooky atmosphere the whole way through, characters who are not Twilight actually DO STUFF, and NOBODY HOLDS THE IDIOT BALL! My second favourite villain two-parter after RoH.

 

Wonderbolts Academy - This is what Griffon the Brush-Off SHOULD have been. Realistic antagonist, Rainbow Dash showing her best qualities, and the whole Wonderbolts plotline actually goes somewhere for once.

 

Dragon Quest - Never understood why people don't like this one. Dragons, phoenixes, Spike SWIMMING IN FREAKING LAVA? Yes please. Sure it could've been better, but it's still a solid episode.

[Quilava 1,290]

The Cutie Mark Chronicles - the Mane 6 as fillies are ADORABLE, especially Rarity and Pinkie. This was a fantastic origin stories episode.

 

Green Isn't Your Color - This is IMO one of the funniest episodes ever. Pinkie Pie alone would be enough to put this in the top 10 for me, but Photo Finish is PURE AWESOME. It's underrated because although everyone seems to love it, it never really gets much attention.

 

The Crystal Empire - This is what A Canterlot Wedding SHOULD have been. Smart villain that's truly menacing despite his lack of lines, a spooky atmosphere the whole way through, characters who are not Twilight actually DO STUFF, and NOBODY HOLDS THE IDIOT BALL! My second favourite villain two-parter after RoH.

 

Wonderbolts Academy - This is what Griffon the Brush-Off SHOULD have been. Realistic antagonist, Rainbow Dash showing her best qualities, and the whole Wonderbolts plotline actually goes somewhere for once.

 

Dragon Quest - Never understood why people don't like this one. Dragons, phoenixes, Spike SWIMMING IN FREAKING LAVA? Yes please. Sure it could've been better, but it's still a solid episode.

 

I don't really see Wonderbolts Academy being an underrated episode. Especially with a ponyfied version of the meme "The Most Interesting man in the world" and, an original meme based off a pic from the ep that gained a bit of popularity when and after the show aired.

[DJRainbowDash 724]

I actually enjoyed the Mysterious Mare Do Well a lot. Sure, it portrays Rainbow Dash as being extremely selfish and power hungry to the point where she actually only tries to save the day for attention, but it teaches a good lesson. She seems to realize this in the end, and it was interesting how she seemed to not fully grasp the lesson, but nevertheless understand it enough to accept it. 

 

It also has one of the saddest moments in my eyes, which is the part where she suddenly realizes that shes all alone. The thing that gets me here is that with her narcissistic qualities, she got herself on a level where she had nobody to comfort or talk to her on said level. So, she really did alienate herself. 

Edited April 3, 2013 by DJRainbowDash

[An Old Head 4,816]

Secret of My Excess by a long, long way. It's tied for my second favourite episode along with Party Of One. It was extremely entertaining, thoroughly humorous, with all that symbolism to nod to the older crowd and pretty much exemplify what we love about this show. Rarity and Spike, a relationship we knew of but never really saw any of, got their first chance for real interaction in a way none of us expected. Extremely hard to fault the episode. Everypony was in character, jokes were on the dot, very satisfying watch. And that ending scene... so moving

 

I would additionally say Too Many Pinkie Pies, but that episode is already a favourite amongst Bronies. I still think it should be the most popular, but hey.

 

Here's some more that I feel deserve more attention:

• Fall Weather Friends. It's just a funny, playful, fully relatable episode, and another episode which shows others that there's nothing too girlish about MLP.
• Swarm of the Century. I notice that early Mane 6 episodes get forgotten for their really good parts. There were hilarious moments to be had from every member, all that parasprite chaos was reminiscent of older cartoon favourites like Looney Tunes; and who could forget the "I'll save you!" scene? n.n
• Dragon Quest, just because I really don't understand why nobody seemed to like it. I thought it was wonderful. It was a look outside the boundaries of Ponyville and Canterlot - it expanded on the universe we loved. The lesson about peer pressure works both on the target audience and Bronies, and it was chock-full of funny moments. Crackle's cousin... what a laugh. n.n

Oh, and one more. The Crystal Empire - why did everyone find this meh? Amazing visuals, great musical number, and that villain was so bad-ass. 90% of how I find Crystal Empire to be underrated is how I find King Sombra to be underrated. He was easily the toughest villain to defeat as of yet. He didn't fool around with his defensive schemes, like standing right in front of the ponies to taunt them. He meant business. He set up incredibly clever defences; he made a passageway only visible to wielders of dark magic, because he had presumed any hero trying to enter it to have no knowledge of dark magic. See, he's tactical. And why do people complain that he didn't have a speaking role or a developed back story? It's called fear of the unknown. The Crystal Empire was one giant adventure, one enormous challenge. I loved all of it.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Cheese Sandwich

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

• Swarm of the Century: An overlooked episode that I don't see discussed that much, but it really is an enjoyable episode with some nice gags and one-liners. Star Trek homage FTW.

Look Before You Sleep: Not quite sure what the general opinion on the episode is, but I've seen many dismiss it as girly and boring. "Girly", yes, but not boring. It's Rarity and AJ bickering for 22 minutes whilst Twilight works her adorkable schtick; how is that not entertaining to everyone?

The Show Stoppers: Aside from the moral of the episode, which the CMC will fail to learn in the slightest, it's a fun, fast paced episode and--you know what, I'm not gonna lie, I just like it because of that awesome rock show.

Over a Barrel: Most people seem to find this episode forgettable, but not me. It's unlike any other episode of the series so far in terms of structure and scope (largest scale conflict outside of the two-parters) and a pretty good blueprint for future adventure stories. We've got some laugh out loud gags and slapstick, a unique setting, and an all out pie war between ponies and stampeding buffalo. It's very entertaining, and offers a pretty good lesson regarding compromise and race relations. It's like a happier version of Princess Mononoke, for kids! Sorta, not really.

The Cutie Pox: It's enjoyable. Probably be better if it wasn't for the whole "CMC can't take a hint" thing, but still decent. I don't roll on Shabbas.

May the Best Pet Win!: Now, I can understand people's complaints that...actually, how is this episode not liked by everyone? It's one of the best in series. Rainbow Dash gets development and some of her best moments in the show, Tank is Best Pet, a bitchin' duet between Dash and Fluttershy (one of the best songs period), and its just plain funny. Predictable, yes, but seriously, I love this freakin' episode!

Secret of my Excess: Funny physical comedy! Godzilla/King King two-for-one homage! Cake Assault! Sparity!(!!!) Da Feels! GWAH-- [dies]

Family Appreciation Day: Not sure why this episode is looked down upon, but I really liked it. It's nice to see a conflict involving Applebloom that doesn't involve crusading, it's funny, and I like the whole founding of Ponyville bit, even if it does lead to that continuity error that seems to get everyone in a tissy. Seriously guys, maybe it's possible that the writers just forgot the "hundreds of years" line. It's not the end of the world.

Hearth's Warming Eve: While this won't apply to everyone, I'm guessing most people dislike this episode because it screwed up their head canon. And yes, it seems a bit confusing just stuck into the history and mythology the show is developing. But taken as its own self-contained story, it's a pretty cool creation myth, the character interaction is fantastic (whether broad or subtle), and Windego's are awesome, DUDE!!! Fun little Holiday episode, even if we later learn it's all a lie.

The Last Roundup: Much better if you view it as a group episode as opposed to a AJ-focused episode. Really fun chase scene at the end, followed by Da Feels. And though it would soon become a cluster-buck, the Derpy cameo was a really awesome gesture from Studio B.

Dragon Quest: Sure, we don't get to learn about Spike's origins or explore dragon culture all that much, but it's a really sweet moment of development for Spike that sets up his continuing character arc into a noble hero (not if Just For Sidekicks has anything to say about it!).

Hurricane Fluttershy: BEST EPISODE. Wait, is this actually underrated? No? Nevermind, then.

The Crystal Empire: The best two-parter thus far. Everyone is in-character (like Righteous Fury said, know one is holding the Idiot Ball), has at least one moment to shine and play a much bigger role in defeating the villain this time, as opposed to Twilight having to deal with everything herself. The production quality is top notch, the story is well-paced (it never feels like it's glossing over something or rushing a plot point), and Sombra is awesome. He may not be charismatic, but he makes up for it by being the most evil entity on the show thus far and for being intelligent and genuinely hard to defeat. Spike is Best Savior.

Apple Family Reunion: It's really good slice of life, Applejack gets a solo, and confirmed dead parents (um, cool???).

Spike At Your Service: Predictable episode, and Spike is overly clumsy, but the interactions between the characters is fun, the timberwolves are awesome, and nobody is too out of character that it breaks the episode for me.

Edited April 3, 2013 by CITRUS KING46

[stainesbrony 219]

Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 is the best episode for two reasons: booze and rivals for the Apple family are introduced. But I like it mainly for the booze. I also like the fan episode Double Rainboom.

[Dashabel 381]

I love Mysterious Mare Do Well! It's a great involvement of all the mane 6 (well, sort of. Rarity only designs the costumes but still) and whislt Dashie gets a little boastful, she learns her lesson. She's allowed to be boastful anyway, I mean, she is the most awesome pony.

 

Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 is the best episode for two reasons: booze and rivals for the Apple family are introduced. But I like it mainly for the booze. I also like the fan episode Double Rainboom.

Whilst it is clearly called apple cider in the episode, I doubt it was actually originally portrayed as alcohol. I think they were referring to the non alcoholic apple cider. But, it is American, so I could be wrong. But surely, Pinkie would be seriously drunk... More drunk than she already is!

[An Old Head 4,816]

Whilst it is clearly called apple cider in the episode, I doubt it was actually originally portrayed as alcohol. I think they were referring to the non alcoholic apple cider. But, it is American, so I could be wrong. But surely, Pinkie would be seriously drunk... More drunk than she already is!

 

It wasn't alcoholic. We learned from the episode that a barrel of cider could be pressed within minutes, no alcohol involved (and nobody in their right mind would involve alcohol in a kid's show!) Real alcoholic cider ferments.

[Tank the tortoise 262]

Personally I think the most underrated episode is Magical Mystery Cure.  It is my third favorite episode in season 3, and my second favorite overall (Magic Duel is amazing and so is Sleepless in Ponyville, but I find MMC more enjoyable to watch repeatedly).

 

May the Best Pet Win is underrated?  News to me lol.

[FatPat 77]

I really loved Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.

 

The towns amusing obsession with cider, the rumor that it's alcholic, Flim and Flam being a montage to "The Music Man" along with their kickass song. Lot of crazy fun.

 

I also like that Applejack remembered her lesson from Applebuck Season and wasn't afriad to ask her friends for help. I also like that even though they won, Flim and Flam got driven out of town as a result of their cheap methods.

 

 

And for all you guys who wonder about why people don't like Mare-Do-Well, it's not Rainbow Dash that most people critisize, it's the other girls. Instead of doing something logical like having an intervention for Rainbow, they create this persona and repeatedly humiliate her in front of the public. Kind of a messed up way to "help" her.

[Stormwind 53]

The crystal empire is one of the most underrated episodes in my opinion. While it was the worst of the two part episodes it was still very good. I feel that the story was unique and truly suspenseful, i liked the concept, and king sombra was awesome. I dont get why a lot of people dismiss it as one of the worse episodes.

 

The other episode that stands out is Wonderbolts Academy. I dont see why people thought it was forgettable. I liked the story, i thought lighting dust was cool at first, and the lesson was good. It did have some mediocre parts, but as a whole the episode was good.

[pinkiefan1287 610]

If you ask me, Baby Cakes is one of the most underrated episodes.

 

People are mostly turned off by this episode because the Cake Twins being a pegasus and a unicorn is not explained well, people don't like how Pinkie is in unfamiliar area, and that the twins are over powered. But I like all of these reasons.

 

People should not just over think the twins being a pegasus and a unicorn. If you ask me it adds more to the pony world. True it's still odd, but they aren't going to go into full detail about it. This is all u need to know, If u are a earth pony and u have a pegasus or a unicorn in your family, then u might have a pegasus or a unicorn for a child. It would have been a wast not to have Pound Cake flying around or Pumpkin Cake using magic in this episode. They might as well made them earth ponies if they weren't going to do that. It also good to see Pinkie in a new area that does not involve her solving everything with a party or a song.

 

To me Baby Cakes is a great episode. 

Edited April 4, 2013 by pinkiefan1287

[Megas 27,593]

Put me on the list of people who think May the Best Pet Win is underrated, I still think it's one of the better portrayals of Dash in Season 2, and in the series overall.

 

I also agree that Baby Cakes is an underrated episode, I liked more than the other S2 Pinkie Pie episodes, with it giving her a more responsible role than the other ones.

 

Spike At Your Service, I don't think it's as bad as everyone else says, I mean sure, Spike is clumsier than usual, but there wasn't much weight on the episode, it was just dumb fun in the end. And it still did Spike more justice than Dragon Quest(which I will say is also isn't as bad as everyone says)

 

Wonderbolt Academy, mostly because I think most of the complaints are really dumb, and it doesn't help that they're actually pretty common

 

Griffin the Brush Off, mostly because I'm probably one of the only few people here who actually likes Gilda

 

In fact, I think most Charlotte Fullerton's episodes are pretty underrated, the only one that seems to get noticed is Dress for Success

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

INB4 Stellafera, since I imagine she has something to say on the subject

 

I have two.

 

I thought The Last Roundup was a genuinely enjoyable Applejack episode. Shame it only seems to get remembered for Derpy and controversy.

 

And I think Wonderbolt Academy could be the greatest Rainbow Dash episode of the series. I've seen some fairly ( in my opinion) unwarranted criticism of it, although this might just be because of who wrote it and Lightning Dust's puppy dog face.

[Zygen 6,066]

I honestly like practically every episode of the flipping show, so I don't know if I can name all the underrated ones really .

 

Heck I even like Mare Do Well a good bit, I liked it better before I watched a review on it, but I still think its solid.

 

I'm not sure about any others since i'm not terribly familer with the popularity overall of alot of episodes .

[Clarity 3,094]

All Applejack episodes. No one can remember Applebuck Season, where Applejack gets her first character development, or the Last Roundup, where they only remember the episode for Derpy. Applejack can be shunned to one side for all people care. Super Cider Squeezy is hated at because Applejack was apparently the pony doing the wrongdoing here. Apple Family Reunion was hardly looked at, as well, despite the emotion in it, and Spike at Your Service...yes, hated.

 

All Spike episodes. I don't really need to explain. His episodes are as underrated as he is himself.

 

Crystal Empire. Sure, King Sombra died really stupidly, but I still like the effects of the two-parters and Applejack played a great role here. ^^

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

Oh my, there's so many! But that's because a lot of Bronies have some high expectations due to the standards this amazing show has set. However, I can't say there's been a bad episode out of all 65. I've rewatched some of the ones I disliked (such as It's About Time which I previously hated) and I've warmed up to all of them. The ones that deserve more love are as follows:

 

- The Ticket Master. This was our first slice of life episode, and yet people disregard it completely. I think it was amazing.

- Dragonshy. It's one of my all-time favorites, and it deserves more attention because it just doesn't get enough.

- Look Before You Sleep. This was character interacting at its finest. Highly underrated.

- Fall Weather Friends, same as LBYS, but even better. This is an episode that proves FIM isn't just for girls.

- The Show Stoppers. This is the one episode where we really get the best insight into each Crusader's talents. And I found it hilarious. Seeing the CMCs dressed up like a hair metal band and pulling off an epic rock song (albeit a poorly sung one) was very cool.

- Over A Barrel. I see this episode mentioned quite often when discussing least favorite episodes. I have no idea why. The wild west theme, the Fluttershy tree joke, the fact that it's an adventurous Mane Six episode make this an awesome one in my opinion.

- The Best Night Ever. One of the best episodes period.

- The Cutie Pox. As far as Crusader episodes go, this is one of the best but it's always forgotten.

- The Mysterious Mare Do Well. Nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. Not even close.

- Secret of My Excess. Hands down one of the best Season 2 episodes, but people act like it doesn't exist. It's still the best Spike episode by leaps and bounds.

- Hearth's Warming Eve. I think this has to do with the bias against Merriwether Williams, but her episodes tend to get panned for inexplicable reasons. This is one of her better offerings.

- The Last Roundup. This episode is absolutely hilarious. I have a few issues with it, but honestly, there's so much win in this episode that I can't go into it in this one post. Easily one of the higher caliber episodes.

- The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. Other than the mediocre song, I enjoyed every minute of it.

- Dragon Quest. Just, Dragon Quest.

- Apple Family Reunion. It bored some people, but I was thoroughly entertained.

- Spike At Your Service. This is one of those episodes that I feel gets hate simply because it's a Spike episode. So Spike was portrayed as a doofus. It wouldn't be the first time, and it won't be the last. This was top notch cartoon humor.

- Magical Mystery Cure. Okay, I don't like Twilicorn, but I thought the whole thing was very well executed considering the time restrictions.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Sugar Cube