The Second Half of Season 7 v.s. The Second Half of Seasons 1-6 (Episodes Only)

Well, another season has come and gone, and it's been quite a ride. I have to admit, this season has more than any other given me the most cause for concern about the show, and there were times I was worried it would be the first season in my book not to top the previous season. But was that actually the case? Well, before we find out, let's take a look at our episodes in the second half and how I'd rank them. Like always, this list is my personal opinion and is not official by any means.

13. Secrets and Pies
12. Fame and Misfortune
11. To Change A Changeling
10. Campfire Tales
9. Triple Threat
8. It Isn't The Mane Thing About You
7. Daring Done?
6. A Health of Information
5. Once Upon A Zepplin
4. Marks and Recreation
3. Uncommon Bond
2. Shadow Play Part 1
1. Shadow Play Part 2

And now for the episode comparisons. It's the same as last time, but since Season 3 never had a second half it cannot be compared. So Season 3's 1 point will stand, so Season 7 will obviously top that, but does it top any of the other seasons? Well, there's only one way to find out. And like with the episode rankings, this is my personal opinion so feel free to disagree.

Episode 14: Suited for Success v.s. The Last Roundup v.s. Filli Vanilli v.s. Canterlot Boutique v.s. Stranger Than Fanfiction v.s. Fame and Misfortune:
The winner is: Stranger Than Fanfiction. Outside of "Suited for Success" which is when the show and Rarity really started to take off, nothing could even come close to topping this unexpected masterpiece to start off the second half of Season 6. But you wanna know why it wins out over "Fame and Misfortune"? Because "Stranger Than Fanfiction" doesn't insult its fanbase by lumping everyone in with a few vocal critics and implying that all fans are as critical and ungrateful as the ones shown. "Stranger Than Fanfiction" displayed the fandom jabs properly, but also showed the kind of mature acceptance of criticism (agree to disagree but that doesn't mean your critics don't have a point) that the show has always been good at. Besides, this show does best when it sets its own trends to follow, instead of hopping on a bandwagon because everyone else is doing it (and I don't get how or why calling out your critics has become a trend but it needs to die, not one show that's done it has managed to get away with it).

Episode 15: Feeling Pinkie Keen v.s. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 v.s. Twilight Time v.s. Scare Master v.s. The Cart Before The Ponies v.s. Triple Threat:
The winner is (reluctantly): Twilight Time. "Triple Threat" had a chance to score a point here in one of the few episode areas lacking a strong or even decent contender to go up against, especially since most of these episodes are really weak. But "Triple Threat" disappointed, rather than continue the new standard of quality set for Spike focus episodes in Season 6, it opted to go back to the tired "Spike screws up" plot that not even the fanservice of him being called by the map could fix. "Twilight Time" may still suffer from contrivence to make the CMC fail at the worst possible moment, but it's really saying something when it's remembered for being the only TwilightxCMC episode and had "Twilight the teacher" which seems to have been dropped as of Season 7. It'd be nice to bring back her tutoring the CMC, there's plenty of good stories to go on from there.

Episode 16: Sonic Rainboom v.s. Read It and Weep v.s. It Ain't Easy Being Breezies v.s. Rarity Investigates! v.s. 28 Pranks Later v.s. Campfire Tales:
The winner is (no contest): Sonic Rainboom. Even "Rarity Investigates" has nothing on this episode that many fans rightfully argue is when the show first hit its stride, it became something of a right of passage for early fans and the fandom went nuts over it. It's funny though, it seems like I'm one of the only ones who still holds this episode in high regard nowadays. It looks like it's been more or less forgotten, and that's a real shame because it contains a lot of memorable moments. I mean come on My Little Dashie featured it for crying it out loud! Even assuming "Campfire Tales" had found a way to make the stories it wanted to tell fit into the run time, it would've been hard pressed to top "Sonic Rainboom".

Episode 17: Stare Master v.s. Hearts and Hooves Day v.s. Somepony to Watch Over Me v.s. Made in Manehattan v.s. The Times They Are A Changeling v.s. Daring Done?:
The winner is: Hearts and Hooves Day. "Daring Done?" may have marked the first sembelence of a return to quality for Season 7 after everything prior made it seem stuck in a rut from which it couldn't pull out of it, but it fell apart in the last third or so when Rainbow Dash was effortlessly captured by Caballeron and the whole "Leap of Fate" bit. But let's face it, "The Times They Are A Changeling" largely did so well because of its moral, and because it gave us our first (and to date only) Spike song. Otherwise, the episode would've just been a poorly tweaked version of the "Spike screws up" plot, even considering "Gauntlet of Fire" was a tough act to follow. So "Hearts and Hooves Day" returns to the spot it once held, it's a powerful message about love that still rings true to this day. I just don't approve of the writers teasing us with CheeriMac for so long, then suddenly tossing it in favor of SugarMac with no prior buildup. But that's more the fault of later episodes than this one, which touched off a pairing I don't think anyone had considered ever before, and ironically appears to have outlasted all the mane six pairings for Big Mac (it definitely marked the beginning of the end for FlutterMac).

Episode 18: The Show Stoppers v.s. A Friend in Deed v.s. Maud Pie v.s. Brotherhooves Social v.s Dungeons And Discords v.s. A Health of Information:
The winner is (in a close contest): Dungeons And Discords. Sure, it may not pack the emotional punch that "Brotherhooves Social" had towards the end, but it more than makes up for it in that it's still the only guys centered episode in the show to date. While Season 7 managed to continue the trend of strong stallion characters (Sunburst in particular really came into his own in the last three episodes), and had a secondary theme of family, the closest we got to a guys centered episode was Rumble and Thunderlane's sibling bond towards the end of "Marks And Recreation". "A Health of Information" was great from a character standpoint and even lore standpoint, but story wise there's a couple of holes that ultimately drag it down, namely the problem of Fluttershy being unconscious for three days. If Swamp Fever were really so severe, the tensions should be more serious than Twilight and Cattail having tried on their own all that time and not producing results, the three days bit ends up undermining the tension and stretches the suspension of disbelief beyond what's reasonable. Had it been three hours, or even just a day, it probably could've worked without having to scarifice anything. Five episodes in and there hasn't been a single victory for Season 7, that's a bit of a problem since it's only ahead of Season 4 for best season by two points at the moment.

Episode 19: A Dog and Pony Show v.s. Putting Your Hoof Down v.s. Trade Ya! v.s. Crusaders of the Lost Mark v.s. Buckball Season v.s. To Change A Changeling:
The winner is (no contest): Crusaders of the Lost Mark. In a lot of ways, an episode like this was sort of like lightning in a bottle, it's not something that can be easily recaptured. Maybe it didn't go about selling us on Diamond Tiara's redemption in the best way, and it does undermine the episode a little that the most we've seen of Diamond since, is a non-speaking cameo a the beginning of "It Isn't The Mane Thing About You" where she rolls her eyes at her father buying flowers for Mares Day (oh Filthy, why are you trying to make the relationship still work out? Spoiled obviously doesn't love you enough to appreciate your gifts, to say nothing of how she treats your daughter). But if the number of fics featuring Diamond Tiara since her redemption is any indication, the fandom has absolutely fallen in love with her as a result of this episode. And the Cutie Mark Crusaders are still going strong even two seasons after they've gotten their cutie marks. Speaking of which, don't expect an update to the rankings for them, not much has really changed for me on them and their ranks haven't expanded at all (it'd be nice if they did, it would be just the thing to spice up the dynamics). Don't even get me started on where "To Change A Changeling" went wrong, because I could go on and on, but it's amazing how you can go from the bad potrayal of Trixie in "All Bottled Up" to an even more insulting potrayal in "To Change A Changeling", that takes some very poor writing to achieve.

Episode 20: Green Isn't Your Color v.s. It's About Time v.s. For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils v.s. Hearth Breakers v.s. Viva Las Pegasus v.s. It Isn't The Mane Thing About You:
The winner is (in a close contest): For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils. In the end, it really only came down to that, or "Viva Las Pegasus", which surprised me in a good way with how much thought and effort was put into it. But "For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils" remains probably the best of the CMCxLuna dream episodes, and it helps that it carries the impressive sibling dynamic between Rarity and Sweetie Belle (think of it this way, "Sisterhooves Social" is the A New Hope, "For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils" is the The Empire Strikes Back, and "Forever Filly" is the Return of the Jedi, a solid triology of episodes). It seems like Sweetie Belle has become more and more like her big sister as the seasons progress, at least in regards to dramatic tendencies and outbursts. "It Isn't The Mane Thing About You" managed to do well enough with a very bare bones premise, but at the same time you can tell they had to pad out the story to get an episode, and I still think it would've worked better in the upcoming Equestria Girls Netflix shorts series, it just feels like the kind of plot you can't reasonably stretch out beyond a few minutes. Five episodes in and still not a single point for Season 7, is this where it gets taken over and knocked off its pedestal?

Episode 21: Over A Barrel v.s. Dragon Quest v.s. v.s. Leap of Faith v.s. The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows v.s. Every Little Thing She Does v.s. Once Upon A Zepplin:
The winner is: Once Upon A Zepplin. It's not an absolutely solid episode, and it's definitely still vulnerable next time around, but there's no denying this episode was a winner. It would've been easy to just shove a forgettable, poorly thought out episode out the day after the big movie, but they instead opted to have the first solo Twilight episode in over a year, and one sorely needed after "What About Discord?" (and to a lesser extent "No Second Prances") put her character in a bad light. Plus, we got to see Twilight's family more in depth, and although it was a shame that Andrew Francis and Tara Strong didn't reprise their roles from "The Crystalling Part 2", the new voice actors casted did a splendid job. But what put it over the top and gave it the victory, was how this episode handled the fandom. It could've gone the low road and just been another fandom call-out episode, but instead it decided to take the high road and while it would indulge in some meta humor, it would show respect for the fandom and an understanding that most of us are happy to support the show without going overboard one way or another. And the little bit from Twilight about Spike being family to her, was a sweet bonus.

Episode 22: A Bird in the Hoof v.s. Hurricane Fluttershy v.s. Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 v.s. What About Discord? v.s. P.P.O.V (Pony Point of View) v.s. Marks and Recreation:
The winner is: Hurricane Fluttershy. "Marks and Recreation" deserves credit for being the first serious challenger to "Hurricane Fluttershy", but it would've taken nothing short of a miracle to top what remains perhaps Fluttershy's best character outing and helped to put Rainbow Dash back into people's good books after she'd spent most of Season 2 being thoroughably unlikeable (thanks in no small part to her first two focus episodes, "Read It and Weep" deserves props for not dialing up Rainbow's bad traits as much). Interestingly, between "Hurricane Fluttershy" and "Marks and Recreation", we have two separate potrayals of Rumble with two different voices. Ashleigh Ball voiced him in "Hurricane Fluttershy" and Vincent Tong voiced him in "Marks and Recreation". While Vincent is a good singer and his performance does grow on you a little, I still can't get over the fact that Rumble's voice doesn't match his body, it's like a grown man trying to sound like a little kid (or rather a grown man trying to sound like a teenager in a kid's body). Ashleigh's one line was pretty cute and Rumble was at the age where you'd expect him to sound like a girl, it's part of why little boys in animation usually are voiced by women, it's easier than constantly recasting the role when the old voice actor hits puberty and their voice isn't as high pitched as it used to be. Still, I can't deny I love me some sassy Scootaloo (please let there be more of this in future episodes) and of course Thunderlane not only as a Wonderbolt but as a cool older brother.

Episode 23: The Cutie Mark Chronicles v.s. Ponyville Confidential v.s. Inspiration Manifestation v.s. The Hooffields and McColts v.s. Where The Apple Lies v.s. Secrets and Pies:
The winner is: The Cutie Mark Chronicles. It's amazing how in the span of a few seasons, the overall quality of the episode put out as number twenty three has declined. Never did I imagine that an episode worse than "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" would come along, but lo and behold "Secrets and Pies" dared to do the impossible and go even lower than that. So instead of talking about how "Secrets and Pies" quite frankly should've gotten the toss, let's talk about what a good episode looks like here. "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" was the first major exploration of the mane six's past, and the first to give us on-screen parents in the form of Night Light and Twilight Velvet, which are fandom ascended names (a lot of early fans took note of how Twilight's mom looked similar to G1 Twilight, Night Light came from a German pony exclusive to the toy line). I think it also marked the start of Twilight's adorkableness that she can't seem to go one episode without, but don't quote me on that.

Episode 24: Owl's Well That Ends Well v.s. MMMystery on the Friendship Express v.s. Equestria Games v.s. The Mane Attraction v.s. Top Bolt v.s. Uncommon Bond:
The winner is (in a close contest): The Mane Attraction. There's a lot of good episodes here, and some strong contenders, but in the end it boiled down to Amy Keating Roger's swan song "The Mane Attraction" or the mostly stand alone but partial tie in to the finale "Uncommon Bond" (which also provided more fuel for StarBurst). "Uncommon Bond" did phenomenal, and even marks a hopeful step in the right direction for Starlight's focus episodes since she seems to now respect ethical boundries (magical boundries is another question). But "The Mane Attraction" was yet another feels trip in a season chock full of them, and may remain the last time Applejack was a compelling character for a focus episode of hers, because it played to her strengths as a straight mare rather than exaggerate her flaws. Amy, it's probably too late to ask you to come back to the show, but I hope that wherever you've been employed for Disney (hopefully Milo Murphy's Law with Weird Al or the Duck Tales reboot), they're treating you well.

Episodes 25 and 26: Party of One and The Best Night Ever v.s. A Canterlot Wedding v.s. Twilight's Kingdom v.s. The Cutie Re-Mark v.s. To Where and Back Again v.s. Shadow Play:
The winner is: Shadow Play. It's ironic, the very thing that tripped up Season 7 at the start, ultimately was the same fate that befell Season 1, but at the very end. "Party of One" was such an unexpected hit, that "The Best Night Ever" ended up pailing in comparison and subsequently appeared as a lackluster conclusion to Season 1. Apparently, "Twilight's Kingdom" is really popular with the fandom, and I can see why, but it feels like it was sort of building backwards from the DBZ-esque fight between Twilight and Tirek, since Meghan McCarthy has always struggled to some extent with the larger cast in two parters and by "Twilight's Kingdom" her blueprint was being followed more or less to a t for them. "To Where and Back Again" and "Shadow Play" were the only contenders here though, and both have more or less the same strengths, weaknesses, and noteable claim to fame (a season finale without a song). But as I said earlier today "Shadow Play" was ultimately a better set-up for a stronger pay-off, and rather than try to escalate things like all two parters prior, it opted to dial things down a little while still introducing a new big bad. It just seems that the comics themselves can't exactly decide if they want to walk hand in hand with the show's continuity or not, because the ending of Legends of Magic #6 ended up being contradicted not only by the events of "Uncommon Bond" and "Shadow Play" but also by Legends of Magic #7 (which is trying to thread the needle for main series $52-#54 which quite frankly it shouldn't even bother with, the more they try to tie that to everything else, the more plot holes they open up for that arc in an arc that was already riddled with plot holes).

And so, here are the point tallies, adding in the points from the first half (the blog of that was conducted back in June and can be found here.): Season 1 - 2 points. Season 2 - 3 points. Season 3 - 1 point. Season 4 - 5 points. Season 5 - 4 points. Season 6 - 3 points. Season 7 - 7 points (And assuming I chose not to reward episodes #4 and #21 to Season 7, Season 7 would still have 6 points and Season 6 would have 5 points, if #17 hadn't switched to Season 2 then Seasons 6 and 7 would tie with 6 points each).

So it looks like the final standings are, Season 3 in dead last with only one point, Season 1 in second to last with just two points, Seasons 2 and 6 land in the middle with three points each, Season 5 takes third place with four points, Season 4 makes it up to second place with five points, and Season 7 pulls out a win with seven points! So, it was a little close, probably due to the bumpy start to the second half, but Season 7 was able to win the title of best season. Time will tell whether Season 8 can continue the trend of each season surpassing the previous one, at times I thought for sure Season 7 was going to be the first to defy that trend.

Anyway, be sure to come back tomorrow, when we'll look at all twenty six episodes of Season 7, and rank them from worst to best in regards to my personal opinion.

Comments

[superfun]

Here are my personal picks:

Suited for Success v.s. The Last Roundup v.s. Filli Vanilli v.s. Canterlot Boutique v.s. Stranger than Fanfiction v.s. Fame and Misfortune
Winner: Fame and Misfortune, by a landslide. Not only do I love how meta the episode is, but the comedy of the episode is amazing, and “Flawless” is one of the best songs of the series.

Feeling Pinkie Keen v.s. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 v.s. Twilight Time v.s. Scare Master v.s. The Cart Before The Ponies v.s. Triple Threat:
Winner: Triple Threat

Sonic Rainboom v.s. Read It And Weep v.s. It Ain't Easy Being Breezies v.s. Rarity Investigates v.s. 28 Pranks Later v.s. Campfire Tales
Winner: Campfire Tales

Stare Master v.s. Hearts And Hooves Day v.s. Somepony To Watch Over Me v.s. Made In Manehattan v.s. The Times They Are A Changeling v.s. Daring Done
Winner: The Times they Are a Changeling

The Show Stoppers v.s. A Friend In Deed v.s. Maud Pie v.s. Brotherhooves Social v.s. Dungeons and Discord v.s. A Health of Information
Winner: Brotherhooves Social

A Dog and Pony Show v.s. Putting Your Hoof Down v.s. Trade Ya! v.s. Crusaders Of The Lost Mark v.s. Buckball Season v.s. To Change a Changeling
Winner: CotLM

Green Isn't Your Color v.s. It's About Time v.s. For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils v.s. Hearthbreakers v.s. Viva Las Pegasus vs It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You
Winner: It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You

Over A Barrel v.s. Dragon Quest v.s. Leap Of Faith v.s. The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows v.s. Every Little Thing She Does vs Once Upon a Zeppelin
Winner: Every Little Thing She Does

A Bird In The Hoof v.s. Hurricane Fluttershy v.s. Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 v.s. What About Discord? v.s. P.P.O.V (Pony Point Of View) vs Marks and Recreation
Winner: Marks and Recreation

Cutie Mark Chronicles v.s. Ponyville Confidential v.s. Inspiration Manifestation v.s. The Hooffelds and McColts v.s. Where The Apple Lies vs Secrets and Pies
Winner: Secrets and Pies

Owl's Well That Ends Well v.s. MMMystery On The Friendship Express v.s. Equestria Games v.s. The Mane Attraction v.s. Top Bolt vs Uncommon Bond
Winner: Uncommon Bond

Party of One and Best Night Ever v.s. A Canterlot Wedding Parts 1 and 2 v.s. Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2 v.s. The Cutie Re-Mark Parts 1 and 2 v.s. To Where And Back Again Parts 1 and 2 vs Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2
Winner: Shadow Play 

So for me, the final score overall is:
1. Season 7, with 16 points.
2. Season 6, with 4 points.
3. Season 5, with 3 points.
4. Season 4, with 2 points.
5. Season 2 with 1 point.
Dead last: Seasons 3 and 1 with no points.