Ranking the Mid Season Finales (From Worst to Best)

With the exception of Season 3 (which was a half season) every season has run on for 26 episodes that can be said to be divided into two halves of 13 episodes a piece. At the least since Season 5 it's become a trend to split the season into those halves, and that means the first half is a finale unto itself, a finale that has to tide fans over while the hiatus is ongoing. But we'll also be considering those midway points from seasons that didn't need to break up the run time so heavily (and often did so with better advertising and promotion).

That means we've got 7 mid season finales to consider, so which ones were the best and which ones were the worst? Which ones worked as a good bookend for the first half of their season and which ones didn't? The same disclaimers as all previous lists applies.

7. Fall Weather Friends (Season 1, Episode 13)
Why it's on the bottom: I don't hate this episode or anything, it's a fun, enjoyable grudge match type of story. But if it had been all that we'd gotten out of the show for weeks or months it most certainly wouldn't have been the best stopping point. We're considering how these episodes function as mid season finales, and this episode really doesn't bookend anything. It's fine as it is, capeable of standing on its own. But considering it's sandwiched between the obvious pilot for the CMC spin-off that was scrapped, and the show's breakout episode, it definitely doesn't feel grand enough.

6. Simple Ways (Season 4, Episode 13)
Why it's not on the bottom: This episode is a comedic laugh-riot, a hilarious ride from start to finish. But although it managed to come out on Valentine's Day of all days, and even considering how rocky "Filli Vanilli" started off the second half of Season 4, this episode most definitely would not have been strong enough to tide fans over for a lengthy hiatus, and thankfully it didn't have to. "Pinkie Pride" most definitely would've been a stronger mid season finale if they had to hold on and wait through a hiatus before airing more episodes.

5. The Mean Six (Season 8, Episode 13)
Why it's in the bottom three: Considering this was the very first thing to be teased about Season 8 (the opening sequence of it was shown at a convention months before it aired), it's not hard to imagine it may have originally been planned as the big Season 8 premiere. It really feels like this episode was going to be something much bigger and bolder, but then they just forgot about it and came back to it at the last minute. It doesn't help that this episode was one of the ones to be leaked in whole but without background audio, so any intended impact it might have had was dimmed.

4. Hearth's Warming Eve/Baby Cakes (Season 2, Episode 13 in production order/11 in airdate and Season 2, Episode 12 in production order/13 in airdate)
Why they're in the middle: "Hearth's Warming Eve" got bumped up so that it could air in time for the Christmas hiatus of 2011, and thus "Baby Cakes" took the spot that was meant for that episode. "Baby Cakes" doesn't exactly constitute anything that really warrants a mid season finale label to it, aside from the revelation that Mr. and Mrs. Cake had kids and getting a bit of lore about how baby ponies function, not much happens. However, considering "Hearth's Warming Eve" was the show's first attempt to fill in some of the gaps in the lore (though it did so to decidedly underwhelming and confusing results), it's not hard to imagine it could've served as a decent mid season finale. With some epicifying it could've worked.

3. Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? (Season 5, Episode 13)
Why it's in the top three: This is where the concept of a mid season finale was born, and I think I know why. Under the Hub the show could really on a steady stream of viewers and reliable marketing (even if most cable packages didn't include it unless you bought the most expensive ones). Under the Hub's management the show could reliably run from the Fall through the Winter and into Spring. Come the Discovery Family years though, not only did the show have to cope with a reduced advertising budget and lack of promotion, but its schedule was also upended due to what were likely contract negotiations when Discovery took back control. The show tried in its fifth season to run through the Summer, but in doing so the viewership declined considerably (not helped by Discovery Family's terrible advertising), so it was necessary to take a break during the heart of Summer and come back once school started up again. So they needed something good to lure fans and viewers in for the first half's conclusion. In that regard this episode does sort of succeed, Princess Luna's presence alone justified giving this episode the placement it did in the season's episode order. But it does have its fair share of problems, especially towards the end when all it takes is one conservation for Luna to forgive herself and the issue to resolve itself.

2. The Perfect Pear (Season 7, Episode 13)
Why it's not on the top: While there's not really many episodes that could've fit into the first part end slot for Season 7 (owing in large part to the lack of direction and incredibly inconsistent quality of writing), if you were coming into this episode after seeing a few of the most important episodes of Season 7 up to this point (namely the ones focused on Starlight) this one wouldn't really tie into them. The Apple parents are something fans had definitely been clamoring for for years, and it was great to finally see them in all their glory (even if we didn't get to see them as actual parents, and I'm kind of hoping we do). Ultimately though, I kind of think "A Royal Problem" could've been the mid season finale for Season 7, if no for other reason than because it's Starlight focused and would've been a bookend to her character after she was freed from being Twilight's student at the start of the season.

1. Spice Up Your Life (Season 6, Episode 13 in production order/12 in airdate)
Why it's on the top: I consider this to be the solo crown holder for Season 6, since while it wasn't the thirteenth episode of the season to air it was the last to air before a major hiatus, and we also knew going into it that it was originally meant to be the thirteenth episode, but due to the work schedules of Meghan McCarthy and Josh Haber the season's ninth episode was being bumped to the second half. Ultimately, the thing that puts this over the top is one detail that gets brought up at the beginning of the episode. This was our first map mission since Starlight had joined the cast, and they offered up what amounted to the only true explanation they could give as to why her appearances had been so sparse and infrequent, she'd been helping Twilight figure out to get the map working again. It made sense to go back to familiar ground for the first map mission in almost half a season, and while I'm still not comfortable with Rarity preaching conformity to bad standards, Pinkie Pie's performance easily carries whenever Rarity stumbles. So for all those reasons, I'm putting this episode in the top spot.

And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll rank the Mid Season Premieres (basically the fourteenth episode of each season to air, not counting Season 3 for obvious reasons).

Comments

[superfun]

I'd put Mean Six and Perfect Pear on top, but I otherwise agree