My Little Pony Season 7 (Up until like episode 11) · 3:18am May 26th, 2017

I thought I had too many stories going at once. I was popping along doing seven stories. I'd hop between them making a little headway every day. Then I finally finished one. I came back to my story pit and found out that instead of six I now have eleven. How the heck did this happen? Are they breeding? Why are they doing this to me? Am I going to have to neuter them or something?

I already spent last night chatting with the cops and had the 911 operator laughing at a joke using my name. It's okay though everybody went home happy once all was said and done. I don't know maybe I just need to drill a hole in my head. Stop my mind from producing so much and nothing at the same time.

Anyway, here are my thoughts episode by episode of the new season of the show. I don't know what it's going to be worth in the long run. I guest posterity is important. I don't know.

Episode 1: Celestial Advice

Synopsis: Twilight Sparkle gets trolled by Discord at an award ceremony for Starlight Glimmer and her friends. Twilight then has to figure out what she's going to do with Starlight and asks her mentor Celestia for advice.

Opinion: Pretty good episode. Thank God we didn't get another half-hearted villain. Seriously. I'm kind of tired of some try hard jackass showing up only to be defeated in two to four episodes and never really accomplishing anything. You know you're scraping the bottom of the barrel when a baby is the most threatening thing you can come up with to start a season and then you have to resort to a recycled villain who would be a threat if she had any brains and just kept her activities on the down low.

As far as the episode goes some of the fantasy stuff was funny, especially the one involving the changelings (something that should be explored). That said why did Luna have a hard time getting the award over Thorax's (who is also a changeling) head? Just say, "Bro shrink that head! I can't get it over your bug pincers."

Episode 2: All Bottled Up

Synopsis: Trixie ticks off Starlight by being Trixie. Starlight literally bottles her rage up. Shenanigans ensue.

Opinion: Good episode. The moral worked well and honestly it was fun watching this duo interact. I could have done without the main group's side story. It really didn't add anything other than something to the run time. It also raises the question as to, "If Trixie is so bad at magic why did she try that super dangerous stunt in the previous season?" The world may never know.

Episode 3: A Flurry of Emotions

Synopsis: Twilight is going to do some PR work by showing up at a hospital to read to some sick kids. Then there's a knock at the door. Shining Armor and Cadence ditch their kid on Twilight so they can go to an art exhibit that kind of blows. Twilight learns a lesson about taking on too much at one time.

Opinion: Mediocre. There's some cute stuff in here but, seriously we've been through this a couple of times. I would have really preferred an episode where Shining Armor and Cadence ditch the kid on his parents. There could have been some nice character building here but instead we kind of got more of the same. Also, I think that this would have been a more appropriate reaction considering that the royal couple just show up out of nowhere.

Episode 4: Rock Solid Friendship

Synopsis: Maud graduates from college and wants to move to new digs. Pinkie Pie wants her to go to Ponyville and promises to help her make friends. Maud has to make the ultimate choice. Career, friends, or finding some combination of the two that keeps her somewhat near by but not so much that she's in a ton of episodes.

Opinion: Another good episode that features Pinkie Pie at probably her most desperate to make things happen. The Maud continues with her deadpan humor. However, what really made the episode for me was the honesty of Starlight Glimmer who flat out tells Pinkie that she needed to more or less chill out. At the end of the year this will probably be one of the better regarded episodes.

Episode 5: Fluttershy Leans In

Synopsis: Fluttershy flaps her gums to all of her friends and now the local vet is swamped with a bunch of deadbeat animals that need "time to recover" but seem like they are able to get around and do their thing just fine. So, Fluttershy decides she wants to make an animal sanctuary/recovery park (her apparent dream).

Opinion: Didn't really enjoy this one. This one raises a lot of questions. While animals are Fluttershy's thing since when did she want to actually construct a sanctuary? It's never been discussed. How does the vet get paid for her medical services? Where are all these species coming from and why aren't they eating one another (the last one is because it's a kids show)? Why the random pony from the feud episode? These and other questions came to mind as I watched the episode.

The pacing is also weird and at times it felt more slap dash than other episodes this year. There was one real positive about this episode which was the idea of following and working toward one's dream. However, there needed to be more set up over the previous seasons to make it feel genuine and meaningful.

Episode 6: Forever Filly

Synopsis: Rarity misses her sister and somewhat goes through a midlife crisis. So she makes plans to do all the things that Sweetie Bell (now presumably a preteen) used to like to do when she was four. Meanwhile the Cutie Mark Crusaders sans Sweetie Belle are trying to figure out just what's wrong with Zipporwhill's dog and why he doesn't want to do stuff with her anymore.

Opinion: Mediocre. The episode and premise weren't bad. Those kind of things happen when you have one parent who works a lot and isn't up on what their kids are into at the time. This is another one of those episodes that had the parental characters been developed more would have made more sense. In fact, the entire issue could have been resolved had Rarity simply said, "Sweetie Belle I took the day off and I want to spend it with you. What would you like to do today?"

And you know... it might have been funny to see Rarity try to figure out how to help the CMC and things not quite go as plan. You know, stuff involving mud and sticks and other dog related things. Just saying.

Episode 7: Parental Glideance

Synopsis: Semi-pro Rainbow Dash stalker Scootaloo is doing a class report on (who else) Rainbow Dash. She meets Dash's parents in the process who are ... very... very... passionate fans of Rainbow Dash as well and learn from Scootaloo that RD is a Wonderbolt. Stuff gets real.

Opinion: Mediocre. I have much less of an issue with RD's parents than Fluttershy's. They're kind and they seem more than capable of taking care of themselves. In fact I didn't question that they were her parents (I still can't foresee even booze helping Fluttershy's parents breed). I do however question their sanity when it comes to their daughter (They saved an old diaper she wore. That's nuts).

RD's parents are insane and Rainbow Dash isn't wrong for calling them out on their behavior. What she says in that episode needed to be said just as the eventual apology (which both sides needed to give to the one another) needed to happen. The problem is that in the episode it's pretty much a one sided affair and Rainbow Dash is somehow completely wrong.

However, like I said before unlike with Fluttershy's parents I can see how she's their daughter. That much attention, support, and being told that you're awesome would make anyone an egomaniac.

Episode 8: Hard to Say Anything

Synopsis: Big Macintosh has the hots for a baker in the former collectivist compound of Our Town. The CMC do what they can to help him win her heart but he faces stiff competition in the form of Feathered Bangs.

Opinion: Good episode. I laughed at the shenanigans and the weird singing competition to try to woo the girl. Eventually we get to a happy ending but it was a strong episode for Mac and the CMC and it's nice to know that at least some of these ponies are dating out there.

Episode 9: Honest Apple

Synopsis: Rarity goes temporarily insane and makes Applejack a judge for a fashion show. Expect honest answers and harsh criticism.

Opinion: Above average. With one exception this episode is kind of forgettable. I mean, as far as the plot goes it's exactly what you would expect out of the show. It didn't do anything that ticked me off (Though I will note that Inky Rose was the clear winner of the fashion show regardless of what the outcome actually was). What sets it apart though is the fact that Rarity shreds on a guitar at one point. I won't forget that moment even if I forget everything else about the episode in question.

Episode 10: A Royal Problem

Synopsis: Starlight Glimmer gets summoned by the map. She has to go to Canterlot where she must resolve an issue among royalty.

Opinion: Easily a contender for best episode of the season The plot points themselves are familiar. That said, the pacing quite good. The episode never feels like it drags nor does it feel like it has to rush to its conclusion. There are some truly funny moments and the introduction of a potentially new evil alter ego. It would be interesting if it ever got loose.

Episode 11: Not Asking For Trouble

Synopsis: Pinkie Pie is off on the road to Yakyakistan. There she encounters the world's most dangerous and devious foe... snow.

Opinion: Mediocre. I'm not a fan of the Yaks. Prince Rutherford is kind of an idiot and a liar in this episode (though to be fair he has a couple nice moments too). It would be nice if there were other towns that we could visit in his "country" too if only so we could know they exist. The pacing of the episode is a bit skewed too in that it moves along fairly leisurely then it becomes a race to the finish.

On the plus side though Pinkie Pie is well written in this episode. She's inquisitive, bubbly, yet has common sense and does her best to find a work around that won't offend the Yaks. If it wasn't for how she was portrayed in this episode I probably wouldn't have liked it very much.