What episodes you think should have been 2 parters?

[Motion Spark 7,811]

I believe this idea was discussed before but not in real depth. What do you think about having 2 parters in between episodes, not just limited to season premieres and finales.

 

I've seen episodes that would've worked much better being 2 parters than just 1 and it frustrates me a little because it feels so rushed that I end up having a bittersweet taste in my mouth because the episode have so much potencial but it was rushed in pacing.

 

To me, the first one I'm obviously going to pick is 'Magical Mystery Cure', now, this episode was EPIC! from head to toe, but it's almost painful to see how such a great episode with so many changed could've been bottled into just 22 minutes.

I'm not even asking MMC to be a 2 parter finale, this episode should've been a MOVIE! I liked EQG, but fuck them, this episode should've been the movie. Can you imagine how much epicness would have been displayed on the movie theaters? And the big change of Twilight turning into an alicorn on a big screen, wow so much hype for that.

It would have been great to expand into how Twilight changed their friends cutie marks and would talk more about Starswhirl the Bearded. This episode had so much potential and it had a very serious conflict without the need of a proper villain.

 

The second one is 'Keep Calm and Flutter on', this is an episode with Fluttershy and Discord. Discord being reformed is not an easy task and the inclusion of the elements of Harmony within the episode was something worthy of 2 episodes! The moment when Discord asked Fluttershy to never use her element agaisnt him and she agreeing to do it, in fact, when he threw her the ice skates and the camera slowly zoomed in her face, with the combination of the bg music and her frustration expression I was honestly expecting a 'To be continued...' but it didn't happen, again an episode with so much potential but rushed at the end.

 

I think there's not many episodes I can think of ATM, but when I think of them I'll post them, now what are your episodes that you think could've been 2 parters?

[Megas 28,139]

Keep Calm and Flutter On definitely, that episode seemed to have way too much going for it to simply be put to 22 minutes

[Blue Moon 6,345]

"Magical Mystery Cure" is the only one I think needed to be a two-parter. The episode was really good, but it was stopped from being better due to the extremely fast pacing. If it has just been a two-parter, I'm sure this episode would have been amazing.

 

Another episode that might have been a bit better (or interesting, at least) would be "Power Ponies." This episode is fine on its own, but I remember seeing a lot of two-parters in old superhero cartoons I used to watch, so it might have been interesting to see this superhero-themed episode of MLP as a two-parter. With two episodes, they could have added a lot more content to this episode, and slow the kind-of fast pacing down.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Blue Moon

[SparklingSwirls 21,601]

I think Magical Mustery Cure is the big one. So much happened in this episode, and I think there was a bit too much going on. It would've been a lot better as a two parter with the first episode being about the cutie mark switch, and the second part focusing a little bit more on Twilight becoming an alicorn (I feel they could've explained some more here).

 

I could see Power Ponies being a two parter as well. Perhaps they could get their new powers in the first part, and then stop the villain in the second part.

[NavelColt 22,883]

More two-parters certainly would be nice, but there's a very fine line to draw. If there's three or more two-parters in any given season, it'll start to cut down on the overall unique episodes overall, which can also be disappointing. An episode made better through a two-parter is better than two 'eh' episodes, but, seeing as you can't know how good an episode will be until you see it, getting fewer overall is a gamble. I generally agree with KCaFO, though I personally didn't mind the 'rushed' ending quite as much as other people seemed to. Maybe it's Discord bias, or maybe I just don't nitpick to that extent xP

[ghostfacekiller39 23,879]

I think 2 tops.

 

MMC should've been one, as almost everyone here stated. It was way too rushed and was just a disappointing ending to a disappointing season (not speaking about Twilicorn, it just wasn't that good of an episode.)

 

Other than that, none other; I'm OK with Best Night ever being one because it feels like it wouldn't have worked as a 2 parter. Other than that, beginning and end and of seasons, like it has been being done, is good to me

 

Also, Dragon now. Rawrr.

[Orablanco Account 3,708]

From needing two-parters the most to least:

 

-Magical Mystery Cure (most definitely, on so many levels)

-Magic Duel, because it has the same problem as Doctor Who's "Nightmare in Silver": tons of good ideas, not enough time to fully develop most of them.

-Power Ponies, if only because I wanted more of this craziness

-Keep Calm and Flutter On (I say it could have worked with one episode, but whatever)

Edited January 10, 2014 by CITRUS KING46

[pinkiefan1287 610]

I think it would be a good idea to have more 2 parter episode in the middle of a season. Could be able to tell a story better and give more time to develop characters.

 

As for which episodes should have had 2 parters, I'm going to say no episode need a 2 parter. Even if some episodes were 2 parters I don't believe they would be better. MMC, MD, KCAFO, are alright episode that don't need 2 parters.

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

• Magical Mystery Cure should have been a two part episode. It's crazy that it wasn't, and the result of this is that it felt way too rushed.

Power Ponies-I don't know why, but I feel like they could've had more content with this episode, and made it into a two part episode.

 

[Shift 4,274]

Magical Mystery Cure, The Best Night Ever and Keep Calm n' Flutter On. They were *midly* rushed and needed more time to develop.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Shift

[Scootalove 10,692]

Magical Mystery Cure, Power Ponies, Keep Calm and Flutter On, also Magic Duel. I know it's not easy to develop time to give room to explain things without exposition but two parters usually do explain a lot depending on the episode.

[Dark Qiviut 22,606]

At least three episodes needed two parts:

1. Keep Calm and Flutter On. Here's the full explanation (from my review):
   

    

   The pace is TOO DAMN FAST and too unrealistic. From the get-go, the entire plot held its collective breath, but instead of giving it time to exhale and calm down, it was on the verge of passing out. Writing a great pace for storytelling is a lot like aerobic exercising. You start the pace nice and slowly, but not too slow to where you plod on the treadmill. Afterwards, you slowly build up your momentum and energy, and you start to lose some fat and build up that cardio. For a couple of minutes, you race and make your heart pump quickly. But instead of doing it for so long, you slow down, allow yourself to compose, and take a sip of water from the bottle or thermos beside you. By doing this method, you let the oxygen flow.
   
   However, the person doing the exercise routine, which is the pace in KCaFO, didn’t take any time for water and held his breath, then exhaled for a quarter of a second, and then suddenly held it for another minute, if not longer. This kept on going, and the plot never had time to breathe and calm down for a short amount of time.
   
   Because of the very quick pace, Discord’s redemption was developed inorganically. Here is a guy who’s been the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony for as long as King Big Bang created the Earth and the entire pony canon. He gave Celestia, Luna, and all of Equestria such hell, he was sealed as a stone statue for a millennia. When the seal broke, Discord never relented, creating such delicious havoc and would’ve beaten the Mane Six if Celestia didn’t send the friendship letters to Twilight Quitter. Then in a matter of around twelve hours, Discord went from a villain to a chaotically neutral antagonist? While the path and ideas to redeem Discord make sense, the poor pace gives it very little sense.
   
   Discord's redemption would've been much better if the plot was slowed down, altered, split into two parts (just like another episode that’ll come up soon), and have the duration of his redemption last for more than twelve hours. Instead of constant rapid and quick sequences to the point where the viewer can't fully grasp the actions and consequences during, slow down the pace and space out the chaos so the audience catched up.
   
   Have Fluttershy converse with the others and maybe have a scene where Discord can talk about his coldness and love to make lives hell. Maybe have him create some chaos, but then think otherwise and keep the magic chaotic but fun. He can still have his moments, but he’ll feel warmer to the others and vice-versa. The development of Discord's friendship with Fluttershy would feel more natural and not as compacted as a tall man squeezing inside an old Geo Metro three-door.

   
   The central flaw in that episode really hurt its objective quality.
   
   

   Maybe it's Discord bias, or maybe I just don't nitpick to that extent xP

   To claim the poor pace as a "nitpick" is ridiculous. If the central flaw was erased and the episode flowed well, then Discord's redemption would've been half as convincing. Expanding it into a 48-hour two-parter would've been an objectively better backbone and, thus, give both Antonio and Polsky the better ability to write a better KCaFO.
2. Magical Mystery Cure: Two gigantic ideas were cramped into one twenty-minute session, and you can tell how fast the episode was going simply by dumping the exposition and cramming all of the songs (many cut for time) to fit it all. The pace was the central flaw, because everything leading up to it went boom, boom, boom with no time to breathe or build up. I wrote a rough plan to rewrite it (as a two-parter) here.
3. Power Ponies: The entire episode is so poorly structured, I'm forced to take back my claim of this being a good Spike episode. You have a radically new environment with the Mane Six gaining completely different powers, all of whom got used to their new powers too quickly. When you have Spike's role contained in repetitive expositions every three minutes, you're telling your audience how sloppy the pace is. Then you have character progression, interaction, and development sacrificed for explosive action; characterization and fantasy violence don't coexist too well most of the time, and in self-contained episodes, they look worse. Making PoP a two-parter would've expanded Maretropolis, given Mane-iac better ability to develop, and give the three writers better capability to interact characterization, action, and the moral without sacrificing quality.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[NavelColt 22,883]

To claim the poor pace as a "nitpick" is ridiculous.

 

Just poking fun at how there are those like me who do not always see or agree with the 'glaring problems' that others do, or who just don't let such things bug them, Quivit :3 Don't need to go wall of text on me.

[Dark Qiviut 22,606]

Just meaning there are those who do not see the 'glaring problems' that others do, Quivit :3 Don't need to go wall of text on me.

Just because they don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Major quality flaws that can break the story become more and more obvious upon further viewings. Besides characterization, whether the pace is good or not tends to be one of the first, and KCaFO's and MMC's poor pacing was immediately noticeable.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

This might be predictable but Magical Mystery Cure. That way the pacing issue would've been solved.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

Just MMC and maybe Keep Calm & Flutter On. Especially the first one. The cutie mark swap was such a fascinating concept, but was treated little more as a plot point. One they didn't even do much with.

[Motion Spark 7,811]

 

 

-Magic Duel, because it has the same problem as Doctor Who's "Nightmare in Silver": tons of good ideas, not enough time to fully develop most of them.

oh my gosh yes! Magic Duel should have been a 2 parter as well, it would've worked so good in that way. MLP has this thing of taking it's time the first 15 minutes with the story and then rush everything at the end. This episode would have ended so cool with the feeling of Trixie finally 'conquering' Ponyville while Twilight was expeled into a 'to be continue...' 

[PoniesPlease 365]

Only on episode that wasn't already a two parter should have been one, and that's Magical Mystery Cure.

[Rainboom Dash 1,056]

Magical Mystery Cure and Keep Calm and Flutter On are of course episodes that should've been two-parters, and Magic Duel and Power Ponies could also have benefited.

[MLPFanatic34 3,241]

Magical Mystery Cure definitely should of been a two parter, as good a storyline as it was, it felt a little rushed in the whole cutie mark switch and then the spell that fixed it plus Twilight becoming a princess. Another episode I think should of been a two parter is Magic Duel where Trixie once again appears and wants revenge.