Overall Thoughts on Season 1 · 10:33am Oct 21st, 2021
Man, I haven't done one of these in forever. *checks date* Yep, since 2019.
Since I'm doing another season review, I thought what better way to get back into this groove than to start with the very first one. I'll be going over every episode, giving each of them a very brief review + a rating out of 10, and then an overall rating for the entire season.
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1. Friendship is Magic
Here's well it all started. I get nostalgic just thinking about it. (To think I was 12 when I started watching this show.)
I remember back in the show's heyday, conventional wisdom seemed to be that the season 1 premiere was the worst two-parter in the series. Not that it was bad, just not anywhere near the level of what came afterwards. And you can see why. This definitely feels like the most "little kid" of the two-parters, with some pretty awkward and forced stuff happening, like how Twilight became best friends with the others over a 10-minute trial run through the forest, or how Luna/Nightmare Moon gets redeemed cuz she got shot by a rainbow laser. This is hardly the episode that will convince people to check out the series, and that famous opening song isn't going to help on first viewing either.
Still, it was good. Twilight is an amazing protagonist, and the other 5 had nice introductions. In fact, most of the good is in the first episode. Second episode is pretty rushed, and Nightmare Moon just wasn't that great of a villain.
6.5/10
2. The Ticket Master
I actually don't have much to say on this episode. Normally I'd be annoyed with how immature the characters acted, but then I have to remind myself this is season 1, which is before any of them had any character development.
This episode was... okay. It set up the finale, which is cool. The plot is very sparse, but it has some funny moments.
6/10
3. Applebuck Season
A very solid episode. I like how Applejack keeps screwing up in different ways, which kept things from getting repetitive. Humour is good, but this is where we start to notice a bad trend in season 1, namely how Twilight has to be shoehorned into every episode for the sake of writing a letter to Celestia. Thankfully season 2 fixed that problem.
7.5/10
4. Griffon the Brush-Off
I ended up liking this episode a lot more on second viewing. For the bad: Gilda is not only an annoying character here, but her out-dated-90s-slang dialogue made me cringe at almost every line. For the good: humour was great, and Pinkie was very well written. The way the episode concludes is nice, but I wasn't too sold on the moral.
7/10
5. Boast Busters
This is one of those extremely iconic episodes, mostly because it introduces Trixie, a very iconic character herself. I liked Trixie, she had a very dominating and memorable personality, and I liked the explanation of Twilight's cutie mark. I also really liked the third act. But everything else, especially with how Twilight's friends acted (seriously, how is RD accusing Trixie of being a show-off?) made no sense whatsoever. This is gonna be controversial, but...
5/10
6. Dragonshy
I find it ironic how Fluttershy is my least favourite of the Mane 6—and I generally don't like Fluttershy episodes—because the first Fluttershy-centric episode of the series is in my opinion the first truly great episode. I really enjoyed the little adventure they go on, the trek up the mountain had some really cool action, and the way Fluttershy confronts the dragon was a great character-defining moment. Everything was just really memorable and well done.
10/10
7. Look Before You Sleep
First truly bad episode of the series. Most of it was cringe in the extreme, in that classic yo-this-shit-is-for-little-girls kind of way. Applejack and Rarity acted like absolute morons. And why would Twilight want a slumber party, to the point of ignoring her friends who were clearly at each other's throats? Most things happened in the episode with no rhyme or reason.
At the same time, this episode was strangely comfy. I dunno. Must have been the rainy weather.
3/10
8. Bridle Gossip
I genuinely don't know what to make of this episode. Zecora is a great character. I love her dialogue. But the fact that the ponies feared her made little sense. I liked that Twilight was the voice of reason... for a while. Kinda devolved in the end when she lost all credibility by believing in those so-called curses. I liked Apple Bloom at first, but then she leaves her sister for dead in the fucking woods?! Nah, that ain't my vibe.
I dunno. This episode was weird. Moral was great, though.
5/10
9. Swarm of the Century
This was great. Everyone was in-character and tried to solve the issue in their own way, and the whole premise of the parasites destroying Ponyville, while a thinly-veiled excuse for rampant destruction, led to some very funny moments, like how Twilight suggested recreating Ponyville before Celestia arrived. Not much else to say.
9.5/10
10. Winter Wrap Up
I'm sorry, but the power of nostalgia has overcome my rational facilities. That song was FIRE!
10/10
11. Call of the Cutie
Here we are, another iconic episode (like most this season, anyway). This is the introduction of the CMC and our first formal explanation of how cutie marks work. I liked how the whole thing builds up to its moral, which I found to be pretty unique. Everything from the dynamic between the characters to the end was very solid. I have a few nitpicks but they're not worth bringing up.
9/10
12. Fall Weather Friends
I enjoyed this episode a lot. Competition between AJ and RD is as classic as it can get, plus I really liked the banter between Spike and Pinkie. They make for a great duo. Twilight was pretty lame, though. Was not impressed with her in the slightest. Celestia showing up at the end was kinda random.
But I have to bring this up: am I the only one who thinks the whole concept of the ponies controlling the seasons is really dumb? Controlling the weather, sure, I can get behind that. But controlling when the leaves fall off the trees? There's just too many trees in the world for that to be even remotely feasible, least of all with some hoof race.
8/10
13. Suited for Success
This episode is one of 7,291,384,892 reasons why Rarity is best pony. She just has the most lit ass episodes in the whole series. Well ok, Twilight has the higher highs, but Rarity is the most consistent. The way the story addresses the contrast between what Rarity thinks is good for fashion vs what her friends think was great. Really goes to show how sometimes you need to let the experts speak. Song was fantastic, too. Can't think of any flaws with this one.
10/10
14. Feeling Pinkie Keen
This episode was great... until the last 2 minutes. Twilight being the super skeptical, scientifically-minded unicorn we know her to be? Perfect, makes sense. Twilight suddenly flip-flopping her position to, "Well it doesn't make sense but who cares lmao?" Nah, that's not her.
Which is a shame, because there are many good things in this episode. The famous Pinkie sense, the humour, the intense action in the third act, and so on. But Twilight's flip in the end makes zero sense, to the point where it's a detriment to the story.
This is either a 2/10 or a 9/10, depending on your preferences. So I'll average it out.
5.5/10
15. Sonic Rainboom
This is the first episode that makes you realize this show is something special. Rainbow gets some much needed depth to her character, we get to see Cloudsdale, everything that happened made sense, and the climax with the sonic rainboom itself was amazing. Everything in this episode ties up together very well, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
10/10
16. Stare Master
The CMC are insufferable in the extreme here. Their shouting isn't cute or funny, it's obnoxious. Twilight getting petrified at random came out of nowhere, plus I wonder how that whole thing works. The characters were relatively in-character, but I was annoyed for the most part. Fluttershy was okay but I'm not going to be giving her points for babysitting. Her "stare" power was pretty interesting and funny, I'll give it that.
3/10
17. The Shower Stoppers
Easily the worst episode in the season. The characters were constantly ignoring the most blindingly obvious things, like how they were trying out different talents that clearly weren't suited to them, while not trying out the ones which clearly were. The third act made me want to kill myself.
FUCK this episode was bad. In all the wrong ways.
1/10
18. A Dog and Pony Show
This episode has great writing across the board. It shows a new side to Rarity, namely how she isn't just some frilly princess who can't handle herself in tough situations, and all the scenarios that played out between all the characters was very entertaining. This was also a very contained story that largely took place in one geographical location, which really worked in its favour. Humour was solid, pacing was solid, great all around. No complaints.
10/10
19. Green Isn't Your Colo(u)r
This was a good episode. I really liked how Rarity and Fluttershy reached the conclusion on their own, plus the whole jealousy plot between them was pretty well done, but I personally didn't find it all that interesting. I really didn't like how awkwardly Twilight was shoehorned in here. The whole thing with her keeping secret that Spike has a crush on Rarity, or how Pinkie kept popping up at random, didn't make much sense. Still, good episode overall.
7/10
20. Over a Barrel
Very fun episode with a great premise. It was a good idea to show both sides of what amounted to a territorial dispute, and how both of them had good reasons for doing what they were doing. Pinkie on the other hand kinda sucked. I wasn't impressed at all with her little musical towards the end. And the way the story wrapped up was really contrived. Nevertheless fun episode, cool new characters, and a good plot.
8.5/10
21. A Bird in the Hoof
Plain bad episode. Why would Fluttershy steal the Princess's motherfucking pet of all things?! Does she have a death wish? I really hated all the gross-out humour, and how the bird/phoenix (forgot its name, don't care) seemingly had a change of character upon its transformation at the end, going from some borderline mentally ill freak of nature to some super regal and normal-acting phoenix. Didn't make much sense. But I did appreciate how Twilight was written, like how she was freaking over over her friend stealing Celestia's pet. That scene with the guards made me laugh.
3/10
22. The Cutie Mark Chronicles
Can't think of any flaws with this one, other than how contrived it is that RD's sonic rainboom just so happened to make all of her friends obtain their cutie marks at the same time. Otherwise, everything was excellent. Everyone had cool backstories, and the way they all hug and show affection in the end was awesome. This episode really showed the Mane 6 in a whole new light, especially in relation to one another. So... yeah. Not sure what else to say. Great stuff.
10/10
23. Owl's Well That Ends Well
God this episode was dumb. I get what it was going for, like how you shouldn't be a jealous prick when your friend starts hanging out with someone else, but this really missed the mark. First of all, that "who" joke is not funny. It was never funny. It will never be funny. Second, Spike's friends are completely oblivious to his very evident negative behaviour, and the way they all fawn over that owl was weird. Spike running away from home was also dumb. Like, why? Just because Twilight has a new pet? Okay.
2/10
24. Party of One
Very entertaining episode. It's weird that Pinkie forgot her own birthday, but whatever. Her descent into madness was great from start to finish, with that iconic shot of her eyes drifting apart standing out. However, the plot was a little predictable (come on, we all knew her friends weren't actually being malicious towards her), and like I said, it's implausible that Pinkie would forget her own birthday. The way it ended was nice, though.
I really want to like this episode more than I do, especially because of that scene with Pinkie talking to herself (and all those dark ass fanfics which it spawned), but it's far from perfect. It's hard to say.
8/10
25. The Best Night Ever
Probably my favourite episode in the season. I don't really have any complaints aside from some very strenuous nitpicks. Everyone had a great little side-story going on, it all made sense and matched their characters, the whole song was great, and I loved the Grand Galloping Gala event itself. I also loved how everything came together in the end. This was indeed a very fitting ending to the first season.
10/10
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So how would I rate this season in comparison to all the other ones?
Season 1 is my third favourite season, second being 2 and the first is 4. Season 1 had some definite low points, but they were surprisingly few, and it was made up with a good amount of banger episodes. Overall it was great, and for a first season they hit their stride pretty early on. I'm glad things only got better in the second season.
Overall I'd rate season 1 an 8/10. It was a great start to a shockingly successful cartoon.
On a slightly unrelated note, I like to separate this show between the first half (1–4) and the second half (6–9), with seasons 5 acting as a sort of bridge season in the middle. I really do think that the general spirit of season 1 was held strong up until season 4, and that started to falter in season 5 as they hired new writers who clearly weren't as passionate about this series as the old ones. From season 6 onwards I lost a lot of interest in the series, with the odd good episode here or there. Which is a shame, it really is.
I enjoyed reading this, thank you!