Bad things about your favorite episode

[Crapplejack 136]

So we did "Say good things about bad things" now let's say bad things about our favorite episodes, shall we?

My favorite episode is It's about time and the only thing I did not like as I did for the rest of the episode was the lesson, but screw that, Solid Sparkle and Cerberus win

Edited July 25, 2013 by Dark Moonlight

[Moonlight 7,288]

Favorite Episode: Sweet and Elite.

 

Problems: The fact that Rarity chose being known over her best friend's Birthday party. Switching back and forth from the two parties instead of just being honest. And maybe some other things.

[~StatesTheOblivious~ 1,795]

Aww, man I can't decide between "Lesson Zero" and "Secret of my Excess"... Damn...

 

Okay, "Lesson Zero". I didn't like how quick that whole thing was over. It's one of the episodes that could have been like 30 minutes long... Twilight's breakdown was simply over too soon.

 

Okay, I'll go for "Secret of my Excess", too...

 

It's merely indirect. The lack of effect it had on future episodes until now. When Spike said "I've always sort of had a cru-" and she put her hoof on his mouth, with tears in her eyes, I was like "She knows it. She. Knows. It! YUS!" I thought this would actually come up again in season three, but as we all know... It will most likely never develop beyond that point.

 

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

Favorite episode: Return of Harmony

 

Problems:

1. It was aired as part of Season 2 when it has more in common in terms of visuals with Season 1 i.e. same opening and the magical auras.

 

2. Discord lost due to his own stupidity as much as anything else.

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

Pinkie Pie in Wonderbolt Academy. That is the "bad thing" from my point of view.

Pinkie pie's behavior during the whole episode, overreacting in every single thing she does, isn't fun at all. I find her quite annoying at the current state.
This really concerns me. I liked her better before, when she was funny and strange but also clever and balanced. The Pinkie pie from the first seasons... I miss her.

[. eris . 1,661]

Return of Harmony - I didn't like how Discord basically handed the weapons for his own destruction over to the Mane Six. Love him as a villain though, and seeing the Discorded ponies was hilarious. ^^

[GrimCW 658]

Everything up until Pinkie whipped out Vinyl and some beats got put down... ahh that ain't true.. not sure i have a fave episode tbh...

[Broseph 215]

The only bad things I really have to say about Hurricane Fluttershy are nitpicks at best.

Like, why doesn't Spitfire help out when the Pegasi are clearly having trouble getting the water to Cloudsdale?

And even though I really like Rainbow Dash in this episode, she still has the tendency to do the whole "Hey, I'm the best flyer ever" Schtick.

[DaReaper 1,945]

My favorite episode "Sleepless in Ponyville" problem with it is mostly the way rarity treats her sister in ot making her pull that big ass wagon

[NavelColt 22,882]

Problems:

1. It was aired as part of Season 2 when it has more in common in terms of visuals with Season 1 i.e. same opening and the magical auras.

 

This is actually what was originally going to happen, too. RoH was originally the season 1 finale, which is why it has the same opening and whatnot. It got bumped last minute.

 

Anywho, agree with all that, as ROH is my second fave episode(s). As for my first though,

 

Favorite episode: Sleepless in Ponyville

 

Problems:

1. Umm...sorry, I really can't think of anything xD;

[LunaUmbra 108]

Magic Duel: Hmmm, lets see.... Ah, I know. I didn't like how Trixie kept that cloak when she came back to Ponyville. I felt her old outfit would've been more appropriate. Yeah, can't much else myself.

[Carolina 212]

My favorite episode is "Lesson Zero" (very closely followed by "Party of One,") but as much as I love it, I have to say it's a pretty problematic portrayal of someone with an anxiety disorder (or at least someone/somepony who displays symptoms.) As I said in my thesis about mental illness in comedy (that's right! I actually discussed MLP for my Master's thesis!):

 

As with Finding Nemo’s Marlin or The 40-Year-Old-Virgin’s Andy, one could argue that Twilight simply displays a neurotic personality, since no actual diagnoses are given on screen.  Indeed, because the show has multiple writers, the ponies’ personalities fluctuate fairly significantly from episode to episode. However, while I was initially inclined to believe Twilight was merely a standard example of the typically neurotic/nerdy character archetype so commonly cast in children’s TV shows, I changed my mind after viewing the second season episode “Lesson Zero,” in which she is shown to exhibit multiple characteristics of both Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD, all of which are played for laughs.

 

 

As children’s entertainment, both Finding Nemo and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic tend to exaggerate aspects of mental illness.  While Finding Nemo depicts its characters sympathetically, only gently poking fun at Marlin and the others upon occasion, the writers of “Lesson Zero” appear to go out of their way to make Twilight Sparkle appear ridiculous.  Not only does she come across as silly, but also, as her appearance changes over the course of the episode (her eyes become wide and unfocused, her mane increasingly messy, her ears twitchy and her teeth grinding together), she actually becomes frightening in the same vein as Dr. Caligari, Norman Bates, or any of the multitude of horror movie stalkers.  This is especially evident when she approaches a trio of terrified children announcing “HI GIRLS!”

 

And:

 

While I certainly applaud My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for its role in changing gender norms through the Brony Community, I am also fairly disappointed about the way the show chooses to depict mental illness.  Given that the program’s primary audience is 3-8-year-old girls, it is unfortunate that someone with an Anxiety Disorder would be shown as both silly and dangerous, especially since the series generally promotes a sense of tolerance and acceptance.

 

Yay for overthinking things! That's kind of a Film/Television student's job though. It was still a very fun/funny episode. :shrug

Edited July 25, 2013 by Carolina

[Cwanky 17,602]

This will be plenty interesting I'm sure. 

 

The Last Roundup:

 

1. Well this is where I'm gonna get a lotta potential hate but, it probably woulda been better off if the Derpy scene had been removed altogether and placed in a different episode. Yes this was her largest speaking role (as of yet) and it was amusing, but the episode was around Applejack. Instead of actually focusing on the main theme of the episode a lot of bronies unfortunately just end up obsessing over the grey pegasus who inexplicably at times is more a celebrity than an actual Mane 6 character  .

 

2. I would have loved to seen at least some scenes of Applejack performing at the Equestrian Competition Rodeo. Sure we get a nice preview at the beginning but that's about it. It would have been great to actually see her perform there.

 

3. For being an Applejack episode, Applejack really got far less screen time than the rest of the Mane 6. and Derpy

[Megas 27,765]

Sleepless in Ponyville: Rarity, even though she was funny, wasn't exactly at her best, and the episode shows that Rainbow Dash and Rarity aren't exactly Sister material

Edited July 25, 2013 by Megas75

[Jammo 986]

Canterlot Wedding. Amazing two-parter.. But the one thing that feels like A cop out, though a forgivable one seeing as how it's a show for little girls, is the whole Chrysalis is "defeated by the power of love". It's very cliche in a show that's very good at subverting cliches. I also had the impression that love makes Changelings stronger, so shouldn't the love death wave supercharge her? It's a fantasy universe yeah, but in the last moments of Chrysalis little takeover I started to notice holes and contradictions. If the episode wasn't so amazing otherwise I'd dwell on these problems. But it's still my favorite ep.

[Crapplejack 136]

Canterlot Wedding. Amazing two-parter..

 

Man... Why?

 

 

 

But the one thing that feels like A cop out, though a forgivable one seeing as how it's a show for little girls, is the whole Chrysalis is "defeated by the power of love". It's very cliche in a show that's very good at subverting cliches. I also had the impressgion that love makes Changelings stronger, so shouldn't the love death wave supercharge her? It's a fantasy universe yeah, but in the last moments of Chrysalis little takeover I started to notice holes and contradictions. If the episode wasn't so amazing otherwise I'd dwell on these problems. But it's still my favorite ep.

 

That doesn't bug me at all. Chrysalis wasn't defeated by the power of love, she was defeated by her own idiotness or perahps by the writers' bad writing.

What really makes me hate that 2-parter so much, though, is everything else, besides the songs I can't say I liked anything else in that episode.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Dark Moonlight

[Anadu Kune 668]

Lets see I cant really choose just one. There are quite a few I really love. Ill pick two I havn't really discussed as much.

Cutie Mark Chronicles

 

Theres one huge nagging problem in this episode for me. That entrance exam Twilight had to take makes no sense. It had already been established that baby dragons were a rare sight among ponies by this point. It has been even further established now that this is the case. This leaves one giant question for me. Why in the world did Celestia make hatching an egg of a species they know almost nothing about and entrance exam? Shouldn't this be a final exam in demonstrating amazing knowledge in magic? It seems highly unlikely that another student had ever completed this before as it seems all but stated that Spike is the only dragon baby living among ponies. So What is no one in this school? Are there dozens of baby dragons we dont know about? 


Sonic Rainboom

Why was Rarity allowed to compete in the young fliers competition? Wouldn't having artificial/magically created wings be automatic grounds for disqualification. Isn't the point of the competition for young pegasi to show their talent? To quote Pinkie Pie  It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles! competition. Rarity isn't a pegasus she doesn't have a flying style. Flying isnt a talent for her, but a temporary gift. So why in the world was she not disqualified? There's no way they didn't know she wasn't a pegasus. Her wings in no way looked natural. 

 

[Ihei 713]

Magical Mystery Cure: That Spike was absolutely no help whatsoever. What a idiot.

 

Suited For Success: The Mane 6 were so picky and hard on Rarity..

[Scootalove 10,689]

Sleepless in Ponyville

Bad: Rarity was treating her sister like a servant while, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were trying to connect with each other to no avail until we did see them connect later in the episode.

[Fallen 3]

May the best pet win

 

As usual Rainbow Dash has to pull the whole "can't settle for less because I'm the best" attitude" (RD is my favorite pony) I mean come is Dash would chill with the arrogance she would be more likeable and William Tell Overture moment FTW!

[Esk 201]

Things that I'd mention about another one of my favorite episodes (Return of Harmony) has already been said, so I'll choose another.

 

Hurricane Fluttershy:

 

1.) One of the things I adore about this episode is that it perfectly balances all of the things that made FiM great in the first place and makes them work together in harmony (Heh.) to present a heartwarming and motivating story with fantastic characterization, world building, and a solid moral as the cherry on top. However, a little bit more focus on Rainbow Dash would've been fantastic. At certain moments in the episode, it's pretty vague what Rainbow Dash really thinks about Fluttershy's confidence. (Dash knew Fluttershy could fly fast, but never understood why she was overwhelmed by such perfomance anxiety if she was clearly capable of doing so. Only time the tables have been turned in the slightest was during Sonic Rainboom, but Rainbow got over her performance anxiety after that episode, and it was never brought up again. Fluttershy, at least in this point in the series, hasn't.) Wouldn't it be fascinating if the writers went along with the idea of Rainbow secretly admiring Fluttershy and her humble courage when she rises to the occasion and helps out her friends. In fact, it could possibly explain why Rainbow stood up for Fluttershy that one time during flight camp in The Cutie Mark Chronicles; Rainbow saw potential in Fluttershy through some event in flight camp, and wished Fluttershy could get over her general anxieties so she could fulfill that potential.

 

2.) I didn't realize this problem until Antony C pointed it out in his review of the episode, and it didn't really bother me when I first saw it, but it still counts: when all the pegasi are working together to create the tornado, Spitfire shows up to witness it on the chance that that the Ponyville pegasi actually break the tornado speed record. But when several pegasi turn up sick, it prevents the team from reaching their goal, or even making it at all, despite everyone else going at their best speed. However, for the sake of the episode, the contribution that saved them had to come from Fluttershy herself, with her understanding her contributions are important and will save the team once she conquers her demons. However, Spitfire is just standing there the whole time, not contributing anything, while Fluttershy's efforts are all that are needed to make it, despite one of the strongest fliers in all of Equestria didn't bother? If the pegasi wanted to get the job done, Spitfire should have joined the tornado and helped them out, and then Fluttershy's contributions could be the finishing touch, since every pegasus would be inside except for her. Spitfire doesn't know Fluttershy, and the contest for the record was off; at this point, what was more important was getting the minimal speed they needed. But as it currently stands, if Spitfire went in before Fluttershy came in, she could have been the contribution that they needed to get minimal speed instead of Fluttershy. To quote Antony C, "Spitfire's lack of intervention undermines the resolution to Fluttershy's story arc!"

[hawkflame 3,310]

Return of Harmony:  Parts 1 and 2

 

Rarity;s discording was too simple and not as threatening or elaborate as some of the others.  It lacked menace. 

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

The Crystal Empire. Although the plot was really good, I think they could've included the crystal ponies before the episode in which they all featured. So, if not for the complete random appearance of the crystal ponies, it'd be a really good episode.