Present Perfect vs. Season 5 · 11:51pm Mar 25th, 2016
What do you mean season six starts this week? I haven’t rewatched season five yet! Oh well, I’ll just parcel it out over the rest of the week, watch a few episodes a day, it’ll be fine.
What do you mean it’s Wednesday night and season six starts in three days and I haven’t watched any of season five yet? @_@ DROP EVERYTHING WATCH PONI
I DID IT IN TWO DAYS @_@; BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, RIGHT?
This year, I’m doing something a little less rigorous than usual: just a short writeup of each episode followed by its best and worst moments. Last year’s “positive things only” helped in my rewatch of that season, but season five overall was a positive experience, so I don’t think it’ll be necessary. Oh, and I’m writing in airing order, but posting in order from worst to best. Onward! (Silly names in curly braces!)
What About Discord? {Make Discord but Keep Friends}
Boy, the audience hasn't been this firmly entrenched in Twilight's POV since early season two. And that's unfortunate, since there are few things less fun to base a story around than the audience being left out of an inside joke. This is like the opposite of The One Where Pinkie Knows, and yet, not any better for it. It's an entire episode about not being funny. But, well, I mean, the Bob Ross segment is pretty good. Yeah. That one bit. Oh yeah, and there was a Smooze cameo. Yup. How the fuck does this exist in the same season as Make Friends but Keep Discord?
Best moment: What's in Zecora's cauldron.
Worst moment: "I'm the Princess of Friendship, I don't get jealous."
Party Pooped {The Poop One}
A society of perfectionists with anger-management issues is about the dumbest idea that’s ever come out of this show. This is not Baby Cakes, where Pinkie is in over her head because baby ponies are Satan. It’s Pinkie unable to stand against the unrelenting tide of a terrible running gag, and everyone in this episode is an idiot. Cherry Jubilee was about the worst previous-season character cameo ever, and yet the biggest disappointment was somehow Pinkie never making it to Yakyakistan. And the quesadilla thing isn’t funny. :| The whole thing is a mishmash of setpieces held together with a super-boring quest. I really legitimately hate this episode.
Best moment: “So, um… Do we... walk back up the slide, or… or what?”
Worst moment: Any scene with a yak in it.
Princess Spike {Oh Spike, why you so Spike?}
It’s funny how much I never really think of Twilight as one of the “cute” ones, yet this episode and Castle Sweet Castle teach us that, when she’s half-asleep, Twilight is most adorablest pony. Anyway, I really hope the fandom learns that Spike will never get a good episode. Left to his own devices, the only thing the writers have him do is screw everything up. He’s a far better support character, let’s just stop beating ourselves up over this. All that aside, the main problem with this is there’s a lot of negative space in the plot. Montages, things happening that don’t affect anything, more montages. All that’s really notable is all the cool pony designs (hi, Katie Cook and Andy Price!) Well, and the dragon-sneeze trees are a pretty stupid idea, all things considered, brought into existence entirely so Spike could fuck everything up in the most catastrophic way possible. (It’s all Cadence’s fault anyway.)
Best moment: The Whinnyapolis delegate, aka Fargo pony.
Worst moment: That realization that Spike had another terrible episode and it was all his own fault.
Tanks for the Memories {3tnks5mmrs}
Conceptually, I love the fuck out of this episode. Death and the (debatable) five stages of grief portrayed through the lens of a tortoise going into hibernation? It’s fucking brilliant, is what it is. Unofrtunately, it’s also one of Rainbow Dash’s worst episodes ever, her Lesson Zero, which I think I summed up best in this post: “Rainbow Dash is a tremendous cock to all of Equestria because she’s stupid and a gigantic fucking baby.” And it’s sad, because “I’ll Fly”, for all that it’s about Rainbow Dash being wrong-headed and dumb, is a really great song. This episode has one of the best faces ever. That “Who’s on First” routine is great! “Applejack cries on the inside” is one of the best jokes ever. And I don’t even care that much about the “domestic terrorism” angle: that’s just the icing on a Bad Decisions cake. But watching Dash do all this stupid shit is cringe-inducing and kind of tedious. Really, the worst part is how much Dash endangers Tank’s life because she’s too stupid and selfish to listen to her friends (I didn’t realize how “shades of Bats” this was until a rewatch). There just isn’t enough to redeem the episode overall beyond the two or three enormous, glaring mistakes it makes.
Best moment: Pinkie walking through the wall. Even when I know it’s coming, it’s hysterical.
Worst moment: The fucking crying scene.
The Hooffields and McColts {23 Skiddoo!}
Speaking of dumb things to write episodes about. It's nice Twilight gets an end to her "not being called by the map" thing, but this is like Heartbreakers, only more offensive. Seriously, it's another episode about someone acting superior to others. Twilight can't be skiddly-bopty-boo enough to undo just how annoying she is in this one. Thank goodness Fluttershy's here to be cute and useless, right? I hate the horrible hillbilly stereotypes, I hate how telegraphed the reasons why they should be working together are, and I continue to hate Twilight being full of herself. She's just a huge, self-centered idiot through the whole thing, and that's not really something you should ever describe Twilight fucking Sparkle as outside of badfic. Where it's funny.
Best moment: The Furry Friends Book Club.
Worst moment: Everything after that part.
Slice of Life {My Little Drug-Fueled Nightmare, aka Thanks, M. A. Larson}
Given that this is less an episode than a mishmash of random shit, I’m going to more or less go back to the old “list of positive and negative things” format. (Actual best and worst moment underlined.) Overall, it’s pretty stupid, but I really can’t evaluate it as an episode because it isn’t one. I’m just repeating myself! At least it gave me a reason to like canon Doctor Hooves. And what’s with that fucking changeling?
Best moments: “I told you we should’ve eloped!” Return of the Foal Free Press. Pretty much everything Doctor Whooves does, with one exception[1]. The Flower Trio fainting at everything. BEST FRIENDS. “The benches we’ve sat on.” Steven Magnet. GUMMY. Celestia and Luna bickering. Donkey wedding! Locking the mane six out of the wedding hall. Squeak Biceps.
Worst moments: “Muffin?” Vinyl Scratch, just, everything she does. The fact that Doctor Whooves’ backstory — specifically, the bowling thing — was never really resolved. Fucking Octavia. The Bugbear: I don’t care if it was a pun, it was stupid. Amethyst Star’s arc never getting resolved, or even really existing. FUCKING VINYL AND OCTAVIA. Fucking Twilicane. That fucking screen-grab of the writers in horse masks. [1]“Allons-y!”
Hearthbreakers {EVERYTHINGbreakers}
I think Nick Confalone is not in the "good writers" bin. <.< Y'know what's great about this episode? Pinkie's family, especially the way she interacts with Limestone (aka "new best pony") in the opening sequence. You've got Hilariously Amish, Tsundere Tsuperstar, Uber-Fluttershy and Maud. What's not to like? Y'know what's not great about this episode? The Apple Family. They all suck. Well, except for Apple Bloom. But Applejack is a gratuitous heretic, Granny's not helping much, and Big Mac has to go and commit incest, not to mention set the fandom on fire. Why. I don't know how they could have done this sort of story better, but they definitely could have. Like, how can AJ just not understand that it's possible to do things differently? She's just so stupid. I've never actually hated her before, but I do now. :| So I end up with an episode that's equal parts funny and cringe, and I don't think I've ever been more torn. I just really hate episodes about the ponies continually making things worse for themselves.
Best moment: Limestone! :D
Worst moment: Applejack. >:|
Brotherhooves Social {Butterhope Toastal}
There's pretty much no way to discuss this episode without making people mad. I enjoyed it the first time I saw it; I kind of can't watch it now. There's a lot to be said for letting Big Mac come out of his shell, but however you look at it, this episode was misaimed and overall a bad idea. I mean, I can even grouse about how neat it was to see that Just for Sidekicks-style "happens at the same time" continuity with Made in Manehattan, yet at the same time there's almost nothing this version of the Sisterhooves Social shares in common with the original besides the race at the end. For every step forward, this episode takes at least one step back.
Best moment: The monologue at the end does a lot to assuage five seasons of "Big Mac doesn't get to talk" jokes. It's one of the most honest, heartfelt moments this show has produced.
Worst moment: Big Mac finally gets his own episode and it ends up being this episode.
Made in Manehattan {Madehattin'}
I assume the writers had season three’s Rarity-drought on their minds when they gave us three episodes in a row starring her. It’s just a shame she had to wear out her welcome with the third. And, I mean, it’s not so bad that she and AJ are trying to help everyone’s waifu with a theater revival, just that… There’s so very little here. Drumming up support and fixing a stage aren’t exactly prime entertainment. The play itself is godawful, dry and overacted, likely in a poor attempt at comedy. Talk about negative space. And Applejack is horribly wasted; I really wish they’d been less “fish out of water” (not to mention “suddenly clumsy”) and more “reluctant returner”. Instead, the whole thing is just dull and unmemorable, sliding inexorably to a poorly-wrought, overdone moral.
Best moment: Charlie Brown pony walking past the kissingadvice booth. :D
Worst moment: Twilight being bored and not getting to go on map adventures is the worst arc ever. Why can’t she just go sightsee? :|
Bloom and Gloom {Blerp 'n Glerp}
Five words that tank a story quicker than anything else: “It was all a dream.” The big problem with this episode is that nothing that happens really matters. There were few letdowns bigger than finding out that creepy shadow was just Apple Bloom’s subconscious. And even with foreknowledge of Crusaders of the Lost Mark, this episode isn’t particularly necessary. I suppose I can blame fanfiction, but all the scenarios she dreams are pretty obvious. (Though at least Scootaloo’s nightmare was really funny.) Where foreknowledge comes in handy is actually with Do Princesses Dream; Luna’s particular advice to Apple Bloom has a lot more weight to it. But that comparison also points out how pedestrian the dream imagery in this episode is. The worst I can really say about this one is that I had a hard time remembering it existed as the season continued.
Best moment: Apple Bloom scaring the egg out of the chicken.
Worst moment: Realizing that Sweetie and Scootaloo got considerably better Luna-helps-with-nightmares episodes.
The Mane Attraction {Lena? Who the Fuck Is Lena?}
I still don't like this one, and I can put the blame squarely on Countess Coloratura. The easiest way to explain is to compare her to Moondancer. (This is gonna be long, I've been saving it up for a while.) In both of their episodes, they're introduced as old friends who've grown apart from the mane cast. Of course, Moondancer starts with a bit of an advantage, having been mentioned back in episode one; it's exciting to finally get to meet her after all this time! But even were that not the case, Coloratura still starts at a disadvantage, thanks to the immediate worfing of Sapphire Shores, the previous biggest pop star in Equestria. As the episode moves into extolling again and again why Coloratura is the best, she starts to feel like a bad OC, what with having been friends with one of the mane cast, not to mention her horrendously overdesigned cutie mark. But these are reasons why I dislike her, not reasons why she's a bad character.
The first thing that makes Moondancer work is her similarity to Twilight. Yes, she's comedically a palette-swap, but this similarity makes it easy to believe they were friends, and, more specifically, that they mattered to each other. Rara, on the other hand, couldn't be more Applejack's opposite. And while it's not impossible for opposites to attract (in a friendship kind of way), it nevertheless makes it harder to understand why they clicked as kids. Rara wanted to make it big in Manehattan. AJ, already with her cutie mark in the flashback, had been to Manehattan and left; what made them like each other? It certainly doesn't help that we're basically just told "yup, they were friends". Telling is a big problem in this episode; compare to Moondancer, who we can see from visual cues isn't quite as fine as she lets on. Her wardrobe is shabby, her home is in disrepair, she obviously doesn't take care of herself, and it's because she doesn't value herself. That, too, makes her more likable (to me, anyway); Coloratura got what she wanted. She's at the top of the music food chain. Why does she care about an old friend? Well, because despite Svengallop's bad influence — and don't act like she doesn't buy into the "I'm Countess Coloratura" hype herself — she's a nice and good pony inside, friendship, the end.
Basically what I'm saying is Rara is Cadence 2.0 and I hate her. :| The only value she has to me is as ship bait for AJ. And the only value I find in this episode is the good music and oh-so-clever-look-at-me musical character arc laid by "The Spectacle" and "The Magic Inside". Emmy-nominated "The Magic Inside". This one's really just okay.
Best moment: The Spectacle.
Worst moment: ALL THE FANDOM HYPE
Castle Sweet Castle {Grassle p. smazl}
It’s funny how easy it is to compare this to Castle Mane-ia, another fairly boring post-premiere episode about a castle. This one’s a little better, but it’s got the problem of being a four-minute joke spread out to twenty minutes, held together by nonstop continuity nods, with a problem invented whole-cloth (I’m referring to Twilight’s friends’ sudden inability to work together) and a solution that I can’t help feel is a little morbid. It does have some great moments, though, most notably in the spa scene, and the song is decent, if similar to “Ballad of the Crystal Faire”. Overall, it’s a fairly forgettable, if inoffensive episode. The only thing really notable is Twilight getting to deal with the loss of the library.
Best moment: “I’m pancake!” And Bulk Biceps. I can’t choose. D:
Worst moment: The part where the rest of the mane cast start fighting because they’re all dumb and bad at being friends.
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows {The One Where THEY TOTALLY DID IT YOU GUYS}
...Why does Rarity keep calling Pinkie "Miss Pie"? Seriously, go rewatch the first few scenes of this episode and The Cutie Map. Why did that keep happening this season? c.c Ahem. Anyway, I hate to say it, but Game Master Berrow's sole departure from kid novels into the actual show ended up as a pretty nothing episode. Yes, it sets up a pretty major change that we'll be seeing the denouement of, well, tomorrow, and there are some good visual gags ("Gotta bounce!", the wacky waving arm pony), but… I mean, it's silly to say it's because we know the secret from the beginning. Even a kid would have figured it out if Pinkie hadn't said it for our benefit. And yet it all kind of feels like a non-issue, twenty minutes of waiting until Pinkie can stop freaking out. And I kind of appreciate the inverse-Green Isn't Your Color/Party of One thing going on, but that's not enough to carry an episode. And the constant fakeouts sure don't help! At least it's a good bit funnier than a lot of the other "nothing" episodes in S5.
Best moment: "Is it Albert?" followed by the fucking Groucho pony. I can't.
Worst moment: The scavenger hunt.
Canterlot Boutique {Boutique, Boutique, Boutique, Boutique, Rockin' Everywhere}
I’m always up for episodes about Rarity doing fashion stuff. Her getting a second boutique in Canterlot was one of those “big steps forward” you never would have expected back in seasons one and two. And yet, I’ve always found this episode a little lackluster. I think I appreciate it more now, but if there’s one thing I can point to, it would be the song. “Art of the Dress” has always been one of my all-time favorite songs, a really strong moment for Rarity visually, and a lot of her songs tend to sound like it. And after “Generosity” and “Manehattan”, the fourth time around is just far too watered-down. The other thing I would point to is Sassy Saddles, a thoroughly annoying character who is, nevertheless, a rather interesting character. She’s an antagonist, yes, but one chasing a dream she’s failed again and again, and who, more importantly, is given a second chance by the end of the episode. That’s new. (The moment when you should realize that Sassy Saddles is not only taking over Rarity’s boutique, but that her ideas are bad, is when Fashion Plate immediately gets the play on words behind “Reign in Stain” and Sassy insists that the name is obtuse and unappealing.) It hardly makes this the best episode this season, but as I said, I have new appreciation for Rarity’s latest high-society outing.
Best moment: Fashion Plate.
Worst moment: “Bust my buttons!” I just hate her stupid catchphrases. D:
10) Appleoosa’s Most Wanted {AAAAAAAPLOOOOOOOO--}
Part of the fun of season five was revisiting old places, as well as getting to see new ones. The writers remembering Appleoosa exists was welcome, for all that I really hate the episode that introduced it. Part of the problem of season five is that a lot of its setup was really never obvious until afterward; compare this to the keys in season four, where we didn’t know what was going on at first, but pieced things together as the season progressed. But no one was expecting the CMCs to get their cutie marks, and certainly not in what they did, so a lot of these episodes just seem like strange amounts of pointless faffing. But if there’s a reason I like this episode, it’s Troubleshoes. He’s got a decently tragic backstory — it bothers me how much I identify with loser characters, but there you go — and he’s such a lovable sadsack, every bit as good as the bad luck character from G1. And for all that, at the time, it’s impossible to figure out why the CMCs care so much about figuring out this guy’s cutie mark, this is a pretty fun episode. Plus, I love the mob scene ponies.
Best moment: Everything that Troubleshoes says.
Worst moment: Where the fuck did all those trees come from?
9) The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone {Griffon the Sequel}
You know what this one makes me think of? Hearth’s Warming Eve and Family Appreciation Day, two other episodes with tons or world-building that were otherwise just okay. This one’s, eh, maybe better than either of those; I have a feeling my general disdain for it stems from a lack of liking/caring about Gilda. Honestly, the best thing about it is that they forwent recovering the Idol of Boreas. I mean, that’s such a classic kind of Thing, but ignoring it sends a message that griffons are second-class citizens who don’t deserve magical macguffins to create friendship it was really a crutch, a false banner under which the griffon kingdom united. Leaving them a will and a way to create friendship the way it’s meant to be means that they’ll eventually have a much sturdier foundation in the future. Plus, the Arimaspi’s a really cool monster. Guess I like this one a little better now!
Best moment: BABY GILDA
Worst moment: Seriously, why didn’t Twilight just go with them?
8) Scare Master {Scaring Is Caring}
Y'know, the first time I saw this, I hated it. But that honestly just comes down to "I hate Flutterbat". And, watching it again, I find that this is actually a good look into Fluttershy's psyche that isn't completely ruined by fan-pandering at the end. The moral is a great message for Fluttershy. Not to mention she's adorable as hell: Trying and failing to scare her friends? Her super-cute hiding place with built in peanut butter sandwiches? Fantastic. Plus all of her friends are super-supportive throughout the entire thing (not to mention she's really focused on trying not to ruin their fun). And all the (non-recycled) costumes are great, especially Rarity's. All in all, it's really fun, and if Flutterbat couldn't ruin Do Princesses Dream, it won't ruin this one, either.
Best moment: Derpy. It's Derpy all the way.
Worst moment: Granny Smith. Why the fuck is she confused about Fluttershy running away? She knows damn well the mare never goes out on Nightmare Night!
7) Make New Friends but Keep Discord {Keep Calm and Discord On}
The best Discord episode since the one that introduced him showed us you actually can make a good episode centering around him, something I thought impossible at the time. (It also proved that Maud can be entertaining.) Discord was fucking amazing in this, and not even all the best visual gags center around him! (Naked Rarity, anyone?) Petulance fits him well, and it keeps him entertaining all the way through, even when he’s not the center of attention. And then there’s the Smooze: nothing like I would have wanted, everything I didn’t know I needed. (Plus, it’s, y’know, nice to see Celestia again.) This is just one of the show’s all-time funniest episodes, and it uses an otherwise fairly irritating character to phenomenal ends. I just really hate Tree Hugger. :|
Best moment: That fucking puppet.
Worst moment: Any time goddamn Tree Friend opens her mouth, especially her “sonic bliss”.
6) The Cutie Map {Mootie Crap}
Hot damn. After the doldrums of seasons three and four — even after season four’s explosive finale — this was the episode I needed to restore flagging faith in the show. It’s quite honestly the best two-parter in the show’s whole run, never feeling stretched or rushed as they tend to. All the parts of the story fit together and build off each other in pure technical perfection. And in something I haven’t been able to say since Party of One, it really subverts what you’d expect from a cartoon, even one that’s been running for as long as MLPFiM. The mane cast going to a dystopian town run by a conniving dictator? Subjected to psychological torture and brainwashing? The entire conflict being one of ideologies? Magnificent. And that song! It really plays up how creepy and wrong everything is, not to mention being catchy as all heck. This is absolute best of the show’s season premieres to date, and it really set expectations for season five.
Best moment: Our Town, specifically the line “You can’t have a nightmare if you never dream.”
Worst moment: Never getting to see Spike and Big Mac’s hoofball day.
5) Rarity Investigates! {RARIDASH SHIPPERS REJOICE}
Having essentially a sequel to the previous episode is such a bizarre thing for the show to do, but I can’t argue with the results! And for all that it’s very odd for Rarity to take such strong inspiration, nay, direction from a fictional character (this is more in Rainbow’s wheelhouse, for one), I can’t argue with the results of that, either! And it also fits in with Rarity getting some traction on her dream to give more traction to Rainbow’s dream. So just from the first few moments, this episode is pretty great. It gets even better when you realize it’s a RariDash vehicle, and they’ve pretty much never had a particularly friendly moment, to say nothing of an entire episode! The noir stylings are inspired, and fit Rarity perfectly. Also, it ends up being a far better-executed mystery than, say, MMMystery on the Friendship Express, especially since the whole thing is solved via Rarity paying attention to fussy details. This is one of the most solid episodes of the whole show, there’s no minute of it that isn’t just awesome in one way or another. (Also, it definitely restored Spitfire to my good graces after season four.)
Best moment: Rarity narrating out loud. XD
Worst moment: Rarity sexing up that delivery pony.
4) Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? {Moon Runner}
Amending Fences is such a hard act to follow up; this was the perfect episode to try with, though. Luna nearly dooming Equestria thanks to out-of-control somnolent self-flagellation? That’s dark. That’s deep. That’s — again — not the kind of thing you expect from a fucking cartoon. The fact that the day has to be won by learning to forgive oneself: it’s not an easy thing to depict, but this does it beautifully. And on top of that, you get Luna being a dreamwalking badass and that huge shared dream setpiece which, I should add, honestly invalidates the need for the mess that is Slice of Life. I mean, this has tons of fan service all by itself, from Derpy’s fucking weird voice to Princess Big Mac. But whatever. The point is, this is a powerful, emotional episode of the sort rarely seen in this show, and it’s amazing. There sure are a lot of episodes in this season about Twilight being sleepy.
Best moment: All of Ponyville teaming up to save the day.
Worst moment: Rainbow Dash’s nightmare.
3) Crusaders of the Lost Mark {At Least Their Faces Didn't Melt Off}
Wow. Who knew that season five would wrap up one of the longest-running character arcs in the show? And the best part was how out-of-nowhere it was. Sure, this episode makes a splash by being a musical, but between Pipsqueak running for class president and Diamond Tiara's (admittedly rushed) redemption arc, it didn't seem like there was time for anything else. And yet AKR pulled out all the stops in her last outing with the show, giving us a really epic finale for the CMCs. (Before, y'know, they keep on having episodes in season six. <.<) Three great songs, Diamond and Silver Spoon being totally amazing (so many faces!); heck, even the CMCs giving two shits about their biggest enemy before "The Pony I Want to Be" shows a lot of growth for them. This episode may have similar problems to the other musicals, but it's still such a crazy thing. I can barely believe it exists.
Best moment: Yeah, no, watching them finally get their marks was amazing. It brings tears to my eyes, it's so goddamn satisfying.
Worst moment: The Light of Your Cutie Mark.
2) The Cutie Re-Mark {Apocalypse Now}
Twilight's Kingdom was pretty fucking epic, no lie; it was a hard act to follow, as season enders go. And with season five's opening centered around regular-ol'-unicorn Starlight Glimmer, the chances of another knock-down, drag-out fight were pretty low. Thankfully, the writers eschewed narrative power creep and pulled out something that was no less epic, though if I'm being perfectly honest, all I really think about when recalling this episode is the wasteland future. There's so much more to it than that, of course. The action's not huge, but the stakes are literally everything. All the dystopian futures are amazing. And Starlight Glimmer is a fantastic villain, she's so fucking evil. Of course, that might be this episode's downfall; I didn't want her to be reformed, and I sure as hell didn't want to see her singing kumbayah and becoming part of the mane cast. It might have also been easier to swallow if the wasteland had actually convinced her (though her denying what's right in front of her eyes is perfectly in her character!) So ultimately, not quite as narratively perfect as the premiere, but considerably more epic nevertheless.
Best moment: CELESTIA TRAPPED IN THE MOON :D
Worst moment: No, but how is a post-apocalyptic wasteland less convincing than a friendship speech?
1) Amending Fences {Twilight Sparkle, Alpha Nerd}
This episode taught me the reason why I watch this show: the characters. It’s absolutely the pinnacle of what I think can be done in an episode, and I’ll be mightily impressed if the show ever tops this one. Saying, “Hey, how come Twilight is the Princess of Friendship when she abandoned her original friends?” is one thing, the kind of discrepancy you expect fanfic writers to pick up on. Actually going back to the very first episode of the show to rectify that oversight is quite another. And that they got such a phenomenal story out of it just blows my mind. What makes this episode work is Moondancer: she’s a magic mirror through which we can see Twilight as she could have been had Celestia not stepped in and made her make friends. For all that she’s a palette-swap of Twilight, she isn’t just Twilight: she’s got terrible eyebrows that intervening year-plus of bitterness and self-doubt weighing her down. And Twilight is the reason why. Dealing with that is one of the greatest challenges we’ve ever seen in the show. That’s why I can definitely say this is my favorite episode ever. It’s funny how this episode gets started with Spike being a dick to Twilight. <.<
Best moment: Minuette. Just, Minuette.
Worst moment: The moment you realize this didn’t actually happen.
Wow. So I find myself liking the good episodes more, the bad episodes less, and the boring episodes boring. :B Overall, I think season 5 is just a smidge less amazing than I initially thought (because I didn't just focus on the positives?), but it still reached amazing new heights without also reaching horrible new lows. A lot of very middling episodes, but the good ones were all really good. So, time for stats! First the season's songs, best to worst:
The Magic Inside
The Pony I Want to Be
We'll Make Our Mark
I’ll Fly
The Spectacle
Our Town
Make This Castle a Home
The Vote
Friends Are Always There for You
Equestria, the Land I Love
Rules of Rarity
The Light of Your Cutie Mark
Hush Now, Little Sister
Sisterhood
Dream Flower Song
Now, top ten songs overall!
1) I've Got to Find a Way
2) Art of the Dress
3) The Flim Flam Brothers Song
4) The Goof-Off
5) The Magic Inside
6) Becoming Popular
7) Celestia's Ballad
8) The Pony I Want to Be
9) Raise This Barn
10) We'll Make Our Mark
Top ten episodes overall! This was really hard, because the last time I did it was season 3, and I don't think Magic Duel ranks that highly with me anymore! c.c;
1) Amending Fences
2) Party of One
3) Hurricane Fluttershy
4) The Last Roundup
5) Cutie Mark Chronicles
6) The Cutie Re-Mark
7) Twilight's Kingdom
8) Crusaders of the Lost Mark
9) Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
10) Sleepless in Ponyville
And lastly, muh bottom five, again updated from season 3. :B
5) Owl's Well That Ends Well
4) Over a Barrel
3) Lesson Zero
2) The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well
1) Bats!
God, I hope there's never a worse episode. That's it, then! All hail our new infant alicorn overlord!
I will never not love the yaks. In fact, I'm currently playing a Dwaven Barbarian named Prince Rutherford in a friend's D&D game, and I haven't gotten tired of SMASHing everything which does not live up to my lofty-yet-arbitrary standards yet!
That aside, it looks like our top episodes are mostly the same, with the notable exception of Cutie Re-Mark.
u wot m8
come at me bro
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw11243-Triggered.gif
But yeah, this is otherwise a pretty good roundup. 100% agreed that Season 5 saved the show from Season 4. I am even willing to overlook Princess Diapercorn as we wind up for the new season.
Aw what!? But I thought they were hilarious!
I have a tad bit of a demented sense of humor. Can you tell?
I considered compiling a list of disagreements, but this is purely subjective. I see no reason to play Rock 'Em-Sock 'Em Opinions with you just because I enjoy anything that doesn't actively offend my sensibilities.
In any case, thank you for hunkering down and cranking this out.
Note to self: Vinyl Scratch and Present Perfect must never be put in the same room.
Your Yakkity-Yak episode review: Word for word, I could not agree with you more. What a terrible episode, I simply could not believe they actually made it. Although I would add one very important thing to your review, and it was the ridiculousness of the violence. The yaks went all Hulk on the ponies repeatedly with impunity. And then they had the hubris to actually declare war on Equestria?!!
Well, there is only one thing to say about that.
orig04.deviantart.net/4a80/f/2015/188/8/e/mlp_comic__party_pooped_alternate_ending_by_didj-d90du4l.jpg
Also this from Silver Quill.
3826912
TOO LATE
3826951 Fair point.
Amending Fences feels even more powerful knowing that it was M.A. Larson's last involvement with the show. Both AKR and Larson tried their very best to end things with a bang and both succeeded spectacularly (sure, then AKR unexpectedly got to write The Mane Attraction as well, but she wrote Lost Mark intending for it to be her final episode).
I find myself pretty much in agreement with a few exceptions that are mostly matters of personal taste. But there is one place where you are demonstrably, objectively wrong!
The best moment of The Cutie Re-Mark was Starlight Glimmer wrecking yet another future by calmly and reasonably dealing with a bullying situation. Flabbergasted Twilight is second only to Half-Asleep Twilight for adorbs. ;)
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Yeah, the "turn Twilight into the bad guy" scene is fantastic. It shows how fucking smart and diabolical Starlight can be!
...I'm gonna hate her being a good guy. :(
I will defend until death that Slice of Life is a cohesive and well executed episode. I really think that people miss the forest for the trees by focusing so much on the references =P. Then again I'm the guy that would rank S3 about S2 and S1, and that actually likes Spike at Your Service, so what do I know?
Also, I knew exactly what gif you were linking to in Amending Fences before clicking the link.
The correct word is "adorkable".
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Yeah, she would have made a fantastic recurring antagonist! Here's hoping for a relapse.
I was going to make a joke about you viewing the season as really good while complaining loudly about 1/2 to 2/3 of the episodes, but that's just me being facetious. Hopefully that dumb incest crack is the same from you.
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I think the best example of a reformed villain I can think of at the moment is (and I can't believe I'm using this show as a positive example) Vegeta from Dragonball Z, who never stopped being an asshole and a problem even when he qualifies as a good guy. MLP can't really do that, but it can have traces of bad attitude persist and maybe come in handy or serve as the object of a lesson once in a while. Heck, they're already sort of doing that with Discord.
ITT: PP is (subjectively) dumb and wrong.
And also (non-subjectively) dead to me.
3826951 Actually, out of curiosity, is there any interpretation of Vinyl Scratch you might theoretically NOT try to set on fire?
(I solemnly swear that I am up to no good)
Hahahahaha
Well I like your top ten episodes of all time alot, but wait, you put Amending Fences above Party of One!? 'o'
...yeah that sounds about right. xp
But your list of worst episodes is so not align with me at all. Tanks for the Memories it's clearly the worst episode to ever come out of MLP in my opinion. I don't even consider it canon. I believe it's that bad.
~Leonzilla
3826875 Yeah, I loved the crying scene, but I'm sick, I suppose. I even backed up the episode to watch that part again before going on to the rest because I lost it when I saw Rainbow Dash with turtle slippers, and Tank with little Rainbow Dash slippers.
Yes, as much as this is my favorite cartoon, every season pretty clearly follows a bell-curve pattern in quality. How can you not think What about discord or made in manehattan are just the worst episodes of the series? And there were a lot of almost-good episodes here too. How about giving rara's manager a reason to be evil instead of just being mean for literally no gain or benefit?
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pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw616_130502603785.gif
AFKJSFKDLJAGSHJLASDFHJAKSGHALKJSG
I WILL FIGHT YOU ALL
3827390
BLAARRGHKAGHKAJFDSKAJSFKAJ
I WILL FIGHT YOU TOO
JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT
EVEN THOUGH WE AGREE
ITT: horizon reduced to incoherent nerd rage
3827083
You're also the kind of person who uses "adorkable". <.< Highly suspect
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It's just in the context of the episode, sheesh, calm down :V
3827279
wait a bit and you might find out :V
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Despite what I might claim in my season 3 blog, PoO has been my favorite episode for four years. It's time to accept that maybe, just maybe there are things that have been done better in later seasons. It's still super-amazing though.
Wait, you didn't watch any of season 5 until now?
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No, I didn't rewatch it. For a review blog? These things are important. :B
You do realize that even if the Apples and Pies are related (which is never confirmed on-screen), the relationship is distant enough that a Marble/Mac relationship literally cannot be even slightly incestuous?
Other than that, an excellent summation of the episode.
Because Twilight has a severe case of OCPD and a fetish for following rules to the letter.
Yes.
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The problem stems from the fact that these two people would never have interacted with each other if not for the suggestion that they might be related, and Pinkie furthermore spends the whole episode talking about how much they're related. It becomes a question not of whether they're actually related, but that there's so much focus on that possible relationship that it looks like incest, distant relative or otherwise.
The best.
Now I want to write a story where the carousel boutique actually has legs in the ground and it rises up and starts twerking.