MLP Season 5 Rewatch Thoughts

Season 5 may not be as godlike as Season 4, but it still stands on its own as an amazing season. Despite it happening every time, this season surprised me by surpassing what I remembered of it. 

The Cutie Map - Creepy in a good way, especially the song. Pinkie’s great here, her being so suspicious of everyone is hilarious. The chase scene at the end with the ponies of the town helping the Mane 6 who helped them is really cool and entertaining (along with the music). Starlight’s kinda underwhelming compared to most previous villains though. I don’t think she’s horrible like some people think, but she pales in comparison to the likes of Discord, Tirek, and Adagio who absolutely steal the spotlight whenever they’re on screen. She does have a creepiness factor that’s unique from other villains, but it’s just not as effective and memorable as the quirks of other villains. And it’s a bit hard to describe, but the general dialogue feels a tad bit awkward at times, like the beginning where it feels really hard like the writers are trying to introduce the characters’ archetypal personality traits to the viewers like they don’t already know them, and Starlight's “QUIET!” (which is her best moment in the episode btw) to Twilight’s preaching is somewhat warranted. Really solid overall, but one of the weakest two-parters. 8.5/10

Castle Sweet Castle - This episode reminded me that MLP is REALLY good at making tasty looking food. I want those pancakes badly (don’t take that out of context). The Golden Oak Library stuff at the end is really sweet. And “You did such a good job of preserving the integrity of the original design” is an absolutely amazing line. A decent portion of the episode is pretty standard affair though, holding the episode back from being truly exceptional. 8/10

Bloom & Gloom - Sadly the finale to the Luna CMC Dream Trilogy wasn’t nearly as good as its predecessors, but it’s still quite fun and I appreciate the lesson about the path you take in life not changing who you are. 8/10

Tank for the Memories - Really emotional and heartwarming episode that beautifully demonstrates how the loss of a loved one can affect you. The crying scene is just a liiiiiiiiiiittle too long. Otherwise bravo Larson. 9.5/10

Appleoosa’s Most Wanted - Quite funny, and Troubleshoes is cool. 8/10

Make New Friends But Keep Discord - An extremely funny episode with a great lesson about the fact that having different friends for different things doesn’t warrant jealousy, and shows us a glimpse of Discord’s home, which is awesome. 9.5/10

The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone - Lore implemented well. I love Gilda’s arc. King Guto x Pinkie is best ship. 9/10

Slice of Life - The episode is significantly less entertaining now that the memes about the background ponies aren’t relevant anymore, but it’s still pretty damn hilarious in non-referential ways, like how no one in Ponyville cares about monsters attacking anymore, Bon Bon's secretly a covert op (which is even funnier when you know the context that the reason for that is to explain the reason for her having two names), a CHANGELING is just attending and no one’s doing anything, and Gummy’s inner monologue…Oh boy that’s one of the best moments of the season. 9/10

Princess Spike - Always great to see Cadance, and Tired Twilight is my spirit animal. 8/10

Party Pooped - The comedy here is top notch. Twilight Twilighting/being afraid of Quesadillas and “It’s what I do when I’m not nervous, AHAHAHAHA!” Make the episode. Pinkie’s party planning cave is great too. 8.5/10

Amending Fences - This episode. This. Episode. I’m not gonna try to keep up the suspense. It’s an absolute masterpiece. Easily among the top 5 best episodes so far, and honestly, a contender for number 1. I actually cried when Moon Dancer pulled out Spike’s gift photo. Not just teared up a little. Tears were literally flowing down my face. The episode is so real and sweet and sends a vital lesson about how mistakes from your past can haunt you and how important it is to recognize when you’ve made mistakes and learn from/make up for them. Plus, Moon Dancer's much more sympathetic than most reformed villains in mlp cause she didn't go evil because she lost a friend. Her response was much more grounded and didn't harm the ponies around her. Similarly, Twilight's atonement works as well as it does largely due to the lower stakes and level of her wrongdoing. 10/10

Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? - Man, I have such mixed feelings on this episode. On one hand, it’s incredibly entertaining and the dream battle is one of my favourite scenes in the show. It’s just so frenetic and creative and ramps up until it reaches the…resolution scene, and you can tell the animators had an absolute blast with it. But on the other hand, the way Luna’s clear depression is treated is so rushed and inaccurate. If it weren’t for that, the episode could be a 9.5, but because of the awful moral about how to treat depression, I can’t even really say it’s ok. I don’t COMPLETELY agree with all the criticisms of the episode, like how it’s not acceptable for Luna to create the Tantabus because it’s dangerous. She explicitly stated in the episode that she didn’t think it’d ever be able to escape into others’ dreams, let alone the real world. That was just a side effect. She probably just created it, then realized too late the danger it held, and couldn’t erase it because obviously she still felt guilt. The problem with the episode was how people responded to Luna, not Luna herself. 3/10, and it would be lower if the rest of the episode wasn’t a blast

Canterlot Boutique - Why are Rarity episodes always so good? Such a colorful episode and Sassy is very entertaining. The lesson about the weaknesses of mass production is delivered quite well too. 9/10

Rarity Investigates! - The atmosphere and comedy are absolutely at their peak in this episode. It does such a good job parodying the mystery genre and making what would be an otherwise serious story incredibly silly in the best way possible. 9.5/10

Made in Manehattan - Twilight at the start of the episode is such an absolute mood and I love it. I loved Coco a lot too. She’s kind of like Fluttershy and Rarity combined, and considering they’re my 2nd/3rd favourites of the Mane 6, that’s high praise. The highs of the episode are incredibly sweet and cozy, but there are unfortunately some duller parts in the middle and it takes a little too long for the main conflict to get started. 8/10

Brotherhooves Social - Big Mac’s cross dressing is handled really well, allowing for hilarious shenanigans without coming off as offensive. And the scene at the end is just as amazing as everyone says. 9/10

Crusaders of the Lost Mark - Probably predictable, but I absolutely love this episode. The songs tell the story amazingly (and are just amazing in general, The Vote is a really underrated gem, one of the show’s best ‘duets’) and make the jam-packed plot not feel that rushed (similar to Magical Mystery Cure, but better executed). The animation is incredible, especially in ‘The Pony I Want To Be,” which has some of the best visual transitions I’ve seen in MLP history. Speaking of, Diamond’s story is told in a very touching and sympathetic way even if it is most certainly rushed (the fact that Diamond was in a vulnerable spot does help make it more believable, but still, she went from someone that would willingly use a classmate’s disability as a tactic to make her lose spirit to a completely forgiven hero in the span of 10 minutes). Then of course, there’s the fact that the CMC finally got their Cutie Marks, which combined with the following song, is one of, if not the greatest emotional high in the entire series. Viewed with an objective lens, there are flaws in the writing, but in terms of an experience, this episode is basically pitch perfect. And it’s a phenomenal enough experience that I don’t even care if Diamond’s story is rushed, or if the episode is overstuffed, or if the lyrics to some of the songs aren’t the most interesting, or if the decision to give the CMC the same Cutie Marks allowed the writers to basically use the same episode concepts moving forward, which was a mediocre idea at worst. IT’S A 10/10 REGARDLESS!

The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows - Simple, but insanely over the top and entertaining. 9/10

Hearthbreakers - Meeting the Pie family is great, I love Limestone and Marble a lot. As usual with Nick Confalone episodes, the comedy and character interactions are super enjoyable. The lesson’s sweet too. Just a really feel-good Christmas episode all around. 8.5/10

Scare Master - Fluttershy taking the initiative for once is incredibly refreshing (something that’ll become a trend cause Fluttershy significantly improved in the second half of the show, but it’s still not long after It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies, so new for now), and what seems to be contrary to popular opinion, I really appreciate the lesson about not needing to be a part of every activity your friends do if you’re not comfortable with it. What’s important is the willingness to step out of your comfort zone and try out new things, even if they don’t always end up being things you like. And Rarity’s costume is gorgeous. Not to say the other Mane 6’s aren’t great too, Fluttershy in a simple black cloak is a much better look than I’d have expected. And speaking of looks, that shot where Fluttershy was walking towards Twilight’s castle is one of my favourites in the show. 9/10

What About Discord? - I feel like this episode is overhated, at least in comparison to episodes that actually deserve scathing criticism. Twilight continues to be the greatest nerd ever with her Booksortcation. Some of the inside joke moments are genuinely funny. And while Discord was a jerk about it, he did technically teach Twilight a good lesson about accepting your less than perfect traits. To be honest, I actually think Discord was trying to be a good friend in his weird Discordy way, like in Twilight’s Kingdom (at first). And Rarity holding Twilight’s chin is great shipping fuel. 6/10 

The Hooffields and McColts - Twilight was so happy to finally be on a map mission, which was delightful. Her and Fluttershy bounce off each other so well and have so much chemistry that I lowkey ship them. The feud conflict was fun and engaging. And I loved the message that fighting doesn’t just hurt the involved parties, but bystanders too. 8.5/10
 
The Mane Attraction - Rara is such a memorable and sweet character. Svengallop is a very solid villain. The lesson about the importance of realizing when someone is a toxic influence and cutting them out of your life is awesome (it’s a bit similar to Gilda’s debut episode, but different because in that situation Gilda was being toxic to others, while here the problem was Svengallop taking advantage of Rara in order to do that). The last 2 songs are very emotional and heartwarming (The Magic Inside does basically repeat the same sentiment in every line, but it’s more what the song represents and how charged Rara’s emotions are that really sell the emotional impact of the song), and the very end of the episode almost had me tearing up a bit at how nice it was. I really wish Rara had come back, but even if this was all we got of her, I’m more than satisfied. 9.5/10

The Cutie Re-Mark - The alternate timelines are super fun and carry the episode entertainment wise. If the episode was just that, it might be a masterpiece, but we gotta talk about the elephant in the room: Starlight’s redemption. Everyone and their mother has said that her backstory is very weak, and I unfortunately don’t have a positive spin on that. What I will say is that even though the reason she became a villain is weak, it does sorta help her redemption feel more believable. Because her reasoning for becoming a villain was so weak, it makes sense that it’d be easy to get through to her by making her see things another way. My issue is more with the fact that she got off easy considering she brainwashed a town of innocent ponies for years (even if she was trying to make them happy, she was still making their lives worse), and that’s without taking into account the fact that she almost (accidently) destroyed Equestria. But I don’t think the questionable ending is enough to ruin what’s otherwise an extremely engaging and creative dive into what could’ve happened if the villains weren’t defeated in their debut episodes. Plus, the execution is good enough to make the ending palatable when you’re just casually watching and not trying to think hard about it. 9.5/10

Friendship Games - Friendship Games is better than Rainbow Rocks. There, I said it. Human Twilight is an amazing new character with a believable arc into villainy then reformation, Sunset is amazing like last time, the music (both the songs and BGM) is so hype, especially Unleash the Magic, which is my second favourite song in the show (and one of my favourite songs ever), the comedy is pretty top notch, Cinch is quite an imposing villain and it was soooo satisfying seeing her almost snap, the Humane 5 all had great moments to shine, the Shadowbolts were pretty fun and memorable, the exploration of this world's magic was pretty fascinating, the games themselves were really cool, and the third act. OH BOY the third act. Already mentioned how Unleash the Magic is a masterful song, but in terms of how it serves the story, it's also excellent. It does a great job of conveying how everyone was pressuring Twilight and how she felt as she started to succumb and built up to the moment she opened the device so well. Midnight Sparkle was voiced amazingly well, and she was so entertaining for the few minutes she was on screen. And Daydream Shimmer's appearance symbolizing the end of Sunset's redemption arc felt so earned and glorious. It's funny. I was watching Friendship Games with a friend a while ago and seeing her jaw drop at the sight of Daydream gave me flashbacks to how I reacted all those years ago. Their short battle ending with Spike snapping Twilight out of it was awesome, and their white void interaction was so touching. 10/10

Season 5 was an incredible season all in all, having a pretty insane number of really amazing episodes (8 with both 9.5s and 10s taken into account, and 10 if you consider the Cutie Re-Mark/Friendship Games as 2 episodes each due to their greater length). Though to balance that out, it does have the worst episode in the series so far, and is the only season so far to have 2 episodes I wouldn’t consider “good.” Still, I can’t deny that the positives absolutely outweigh the negatives, and I think Season 5>Season 1/3. It’s even pretty close to Season 2 imo, though marginally worse. And in terms of animation, this might be the best season yet, though Season 4 is very close. My favourite episode is probably Amending Fences due to how mature, real, and emotional it is, along with being the least flawed. And my least favourite episode is probably What About Discord. Despite being far "better" than Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep, it's also much less entertaining. Considering I rated Season 2 a 9.5-10 and Season 3 a 9-9.5 (probably a 9.5 now that I’ve had time to stew on it), it should be pretty obvious what Season 5 gets. An 8/10 obviously. Naturally, it’s a 9.5/10. A super amazing season, bringing the 9.5+ counter up to 4, and from what I’ve seen of Season 6 so far, looks like that counter’s gonna be at 5 pretty soon. Huh. No wonder MLP’s been my favourite show for so long.