Episode reviews and star ratings.

My star rating system.
1~5 I hated it, it was terribly written or it did something that I can’t morally agree with.
2~5 I didn’t like it, it was poorly written or just boring.
3~5 I liked it, it was well written and entertaining but overall average quality.
4~5 I really liked it, it was well written and entertaining and did something unique that made it memorable or special to me.
5~5 I loved it, it was favorite worthy. (NOTE: favorites are made purely by my discretion and are not guaranteed based the number rating.)
6~5 The best of the best, the absolute top quality, “must watch” episodes.
1-2-3-4-5-6~5 An episode with multiple ratings is one which contains multiple stories-lines; I never thought I'd need this rating for the show but then episode one hundred happened.

Initial impressions after one viewing:
6~5 (Princess Twilight Sparkle part1 and 2) 11/23/2013
5~5 (Castle Mane-nia) 11/30/2013
2~5 (Daring Don’t) 12/7/2013
6~5 (Flight to the Finish) 12/14/2013
5~5 (Power Ponies) 12/21/2013
6~5 (Bats!) 12/28/2013
5~5 (Rarity Takes Manehattan) 1/4/2014
5~5 (Pinkie Apple Pie) 1/11/2014
4~5 (Rainbow Falls) 1/18/2014
3~5 (Three’s a Crowd) 1/25/2014
4~5 (Pinkie Pride) 2/1/2014
6~5 (Simple Ways) 2/8/2014
4~5 (Filli Vanilli) 2/15/2014
3~5 (Twilight Time) 2/22/2014
4~5 (It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies) 3/1/2014
4~5 (Somepony to Watch Over Me) 3/8/2014
5~5 (Maud Pie) 3/15/2014
6~5 (For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils) 3/22/2014
3~5 (Leap of Faith) 3/29/2014
4~5 (Testing, Testing, 1,2,3) 4/5/2014
4~5 (Trade Ya) 4/19/2014
4~5 (Inspiration Manifestation) 4/26/2014
3~5 (Equestria Games) 5/3/2014
5~5 (Twilight’s Kingdom) 5/10/2014

Some explanations of the ratings:
S4E1&2 6~5 (Princess Twilight Sparkle part1 and 2) 11/23/2013
~ episodes watched and star rating given on 11/23/2013 | review written on 3/27/2014 I have not seen these episodes more than once at the time of this review.

I was floored by the quality of these two episodes; although I did hold slight reservation about the inclusion of Discord, the problem being that they accused him without explaining who he is to the audience (that made me feel like if this was your first time watching the show then you wouldn’t know who Discord is or why he’s being blamed) but that was a really minor detail and it was at least partially explained.

Ultimately I ignored the slight flaw and gave it the six star rating that I truly believe it earned; it did make me cry after all.

S4E3 5~5 (Castle Mane-nia) 11/30/2013
~ episode watched and star rating given on 11/30/2013 | review written on 3/27/2014 I have not seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

I enjoyed it a lot; lots of great comedy and world-building plus the interesting addition of the journal.

S4E4 2~5 (Daring Don’t) 12/7/2013
~ episode watched and star rating given on 12/7/2013 | review written on 3/27/2014 I have not seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

1) It was too violent. Daring gets attacked and beaten to the point of apparently breaking a leg, and that cat gets a black eye… I think this is the only episode that has characters being injured by fighting and I personally feel like it went too far.

2) It used broken logic. Daring’s broken logic is that she doesn’t want to trust others with her secrets but she writes and publishes her secrets for everyone to read. This is proven in the episode when Rainbow and Twilight puzzle out what’s going on with Daring based only on what they’ve learned from the books that she published about herself. So, to me, her point of not trusting partners to keep her secrets is defeated by her own actions… honestly if it were a fan fiction I’d be telling the author to consider re-writing it.

3) It degraded the mane characters from heroines to bystanders. As they just stand there and watch Daring get beaten up without so much as a thought to help her, although they do try to redeem themselves later…

S4E5 6~5 (Flight to the Finish) 12/14/2013
~ episode watched and star rating given on 12/18/2013 | review written on 3/29/2014 I have not seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

This is THE episode I’d been waiting for, everything about it was fantastic!

The most important aspects of this episode were the handling of the character’s feeling and how they treated each other, and I think they nailed it! On top of that was what might be my favorite song of the season, the season’s not over yet but I can hardly even remember any of the other song so far (I’m really bad at remembering song lyrics.) and this one is way up my list.

S4E6 5~5 (Power Ponies) 12/21/2013
~ episode watched and star rating given on 12/23/2013 | I need to re-watch this…

S4E7 6~5 (Bats!) 12/28/2013
~ episode watched and star rating given on 1/1/2014 | I need to re-watch this…

S4E8 5~5 (Rarity Takes Manehattan) 1/4/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 1/8/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have not seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

I struggled to rate this one; I thought to give it either a six, a five, or a two star rating…

The good:
1) Rarity (my favorite character) is at her best with what I love seeing from her; great personality (generous, kind and helpful to her friends and others around her), and good drama (her career is important to her and every little thing is a ‘make or break’ situation).
2) The comedy is strong with character’s subtle expressions and personalities’.
3) The story is solid and enjoyable.

The bad:
1) Rarity is amazingly generous to her friends and they’re all jerks to her in return.

She gives them an all expense paid five-star vacation to the most metropolitan, and expensive, city in Equestria and they ditch her by not showing up to the one thing they made the trip for!

(For comparison think about the episode ‘Over a Barrel’ where Applejack gets a private luxury sleeper-car on the train for a tree while leaving her friends to a low grade passenger car, then she intends to have them haul that tree across town for her while giving them nothing, and they all happily do it.)

2) The excuse they gave Rarity was pathetic and clearly a lie.

There was no reason for them to have missed the fashion show, they claim that they “overslept” but Rarity was literally rushing out the door telling them that the competition would start in a half an hour and they were all right there fully awake in the middle of the day, her ‘best friends’ just ignore and abandon her so they can run off to watch an ‘impossible to get into’ play that Rarity had managed to get them tickets for!

3) Then when Rarity sees that her friends didn’t care enough to even show up to watch her she decides that if it’s not important to them then she shouldn’t be there herself so she leaves, and forfeits, the fashion show that she spent months working on.

(For comparison think about the episode ‘Sonic Rainboom’ where Rarity and all her friends do everything they can to show up and support Rainbow Dash in the Best Young Fliers competition, Rarity especially because she becomes a guinea pig for untested body-altering magic that nearly killed her just to be there for Rainbow’s sake; and even up to the last second she was encouraging Rainbow.)

4) Lastly Rarity had to pull strings and call in favors to get her ‘friends’ tickets to a sold-out musical play; when they didn’t get to see that show they blamed Rarity and then demanded she try even harder to get new tickets for them!

Ultimately my opinion of this episode is: everything about Rarity is perfect while everything else in the episode is messed up… and as for the song I remember liking it but I don’t actually remember it (almost at all, though I am writing this review over ten weeks after I watched the episode…)

S4E9 5~5 (Pinkie Apple Pie) 1/11/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 1/15/2014 | I need to re-watch this…

S4E10 4~5 (Rainbow Falls) 1/18/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 1/22/2014 | I have seen this episodes again but couldn’t think of anything to say…

S4E12 3~5 (Three’s a Crowd) 1/25/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 1/25/2014 | review written on 3/29/2014 I have seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

I didn’t like this episode as much as I hoped I’d like it.

It was plenty funny and the song was good but I felt like it near completely missed it’s own premise; I thought it’d be about Twilight taking care of Discord while he’s sick but that didn’t happen, I thought it’d be about Discord bothering Twilight and interrupting her day but that didn’t happen, I thought it’d be about Twilight and Cadance spending the day together but that didn’t happen either, or at least none of these things took precedence in the story and we didn’t get to see most of it. For what did happen it was funny and entertaining but not what I was expecting or wanting.

S4E11 4~5 (Pinkie Pride) 2/1/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 2/1/2014 | I need to re-watch this to properly review it, but I probably won’t review it anyway…

S4E13 6~5 (Simple Ways) 2/8/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 2/8/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

Loved it, loved it, loved it!

The voice acting was brilliant and a true testament to why I now (since first watching MLP:FiM) consider Tabitha St. the best voice artist ever! The acting, the drama, the accent, the accent on top of an accent, and the emotional range within multiple accents was unbelievable good!

Voice acting aside the episode itself was still remarkable, especially the storyteller’s handling of Applejack and her opinions of the whole love triangle; and I can’t forget Spike that all was too good, just too good! They really handled the relationships brilliantly in this episode and with the fact that they usually never deal with the ‘love lives’ of characters makes it even better.

Really I have nothing bad to say about this episode.

S4E14 4~5 (Filli Vanilli) 2/15/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 2/15/2014 | review written on 4/24/2014 I have seen this episodes more than once at the time of this review.

I feel like I should be able to write a nice long review for this episode… but I can’t, I’ve tried several times to think about what to say and I just come up blank.

Hmm… the Pony Tones music group seems like a nice interesting bit of world-building and character expansion but it feels fake, like it was only tossed into the episode for the storyline to work. I feel like it will never be re-tread upon, not even a passing mention of it… that could change but that’s what it feels like to me based on the way it’s presented in the episode… which also includes the fact that it’s not mentioned in any other episodes.

Zipper-wheel (Which is probably spelled wrong.) was adorable, kudos to the Voice Actress, but only served to fill a roll of ‘undeniable cute character needed’, it feels like they could have just as easily used Twist or Sweetie Belle or anyone else for the scene.

The songs were good but not as catchy or memorable, to me, as they were trying to be; although it’s already noted that I don’t remember any songs very well unless I’ve listened to them dozens of times anyway…

…Overall I did enjoy this episode and it did intrigue me the first time I saw it, notice the four star rating, but I can’t say that it had a lasting impact on me, the only part I can really say was remarkable was Fluttershy’s confession that all the applause, praise, and positive attention she got did make her feel bad; somehow that did feel real to me and was something I felt was interesting about Fluttershy as a character.

S4E15 3~5 (Twilight Time) 2/22/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 2/26/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

It’s average… although it has good comedy and I liked seeing the Crusaders progress in trying to gain talents an such, it was just decent.

S4E16 4~5 (It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies) 3/1/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 3/5/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

I love the world-building; an interesting new race of creatures, a new language, and a bit of historic importance of the Pegasus Ponies, however the episode wasn’t really a standout for me, it was just decent and little more.

I did enjoy the ‘tough love’ moral but I’d figured Fluttershy should already know that… but it is basically what it needs to be, I guess.

I did not like Twilight having a magic ‘Deus Ex’ solution… but I guess it was important that they helped the Breezies travel instead of just shoving them out the ‘door’, and it did kind of fit.

S4E17 4~5 (Somepony to Watch Over Me) 3/8/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 3/12/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

This episode did a lot more than I expected; I thought it would all stay in Ponyville, and for that it would’ve been a decent three star rating, but since it moved on to an interesting new location with a new mythic creature I had to bump the rating up a point.

S4E18 5~5 (Maud Pie) 3/15/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 3/19/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

I loved this character portrayal! I don’t feel like this is a standout episode, so no six star, but I loved it; I loved it for the character of Maud, I loved it for the character interactions between everyone, and I loved it for the relationship between Pinkie and Maud! I believed the relationship and even got emotional over it, yes it made me cry, the fact that Maud made keepsakes of Pinkie’s gifts over the year was really touching.

Although despite how much I enjoyed the episode I don’t think I could give it a six star rating because it’s not one where I could say ‘this is a must watch’ for anyone else. (Then again what do I know I have no internet so I don’t what anyone else thought of this episode… maybe I should give it a six star, they are my ratings after all, but these are initial impressions…)

S4E20 6~5 (For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils) 3/22/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 3/26/2014 | review written on 3/28/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Ok, I might be really overstating this score but I do have reasons…

I’ve had a long standing theory that all unicorns with green magic are evil, including Sweetie Belle, and through many episodes this theory has held true, the fact that Princess Luna showed up and basically told Sweetie Belle ’You’re turning evil.’ made me give it a six star rating.

Otherwise the episode continues the trend of ‘Rarity is amazing and unbelievably generous and gets hated for her efforts, but she continues to love her friends and family anyway.’ …I don’t like that, it’s making me dislike every character that isn’t Rarity.

Also of note was Sapphire Shores, I loved that; I’d been wanting to see her back for a while so that was good to see and she seems to consider Rarity a friend too so that was even better.

Another good thing to note was that I actually did care about Sweetie Belle’s plight. Despite Sweetie Belle being an evil little diva, like always, she still had valid complaints and I’m not really trusting that Luna showed her the future so much as she just tried to ‘scare her straight’. All in all I think it was really well handled both for story-telling and as a good and relatable moral for kids… or anyone really.

Ultimately I loved everything about this episode; the story, the pacing, the drama, and the moral, it all makes it a no-brainer for a recommendation so I gave it a six star rating.

S4E21 3~5 (Leap of Faith) 3/29/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/2/2014 | review written on 4/2/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Fun; not very much else.

S4E22 4~5 (Testing, Testing, 1,2,3) 4/5/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/9/2014 | review written on 4/9/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Wow.

Okay, rapping Pinkie Pie… well that happened.

Tara Strong did a additional voice, that hasn’t happened before in this show has it?

I was weary of this episode’s premise but they pulled it off quite nicely; reaffirming that Rainbow Dash isn’t stupid, and giving tons of history about the Wonderbolts, overall it was a very enjoyable episode.

_NOTICE S4E22 6~5 (Testing, Testing, 1,2,3) 4/5/2014 re-watched and re-rated to six star on 4/19/2014 _
This review, below, written on 4/24/2014

I re-watched this episode and have gained much more respect for it: also I want to make it clear that I saw this episode “blind” (Meaning that I wasn’t spoiled on anything that was in the episode beyond the title and short synopsis, that is to say I didn’t know about the song beforehand.) I later found out that song scene was posted online before the episode aired and I feel bad for everyone whom was spoiled, it was excellent to be surprised by the show that much.

However it’s not the song that made me reconsider my rating for this episode, but rather the Everfree Network review of this episode.

Everfree Network raised an a great point about this episode’s storyline and how it’s normally portrayed in media; in most TV shows, The Simpsons, Hey Arnold, Daria, Sym-Bionic Titan, Spectacular Spider-Man, etc. etc. the story has always been ‘make a “stupid” character have to study for a really important test, then have a “smart” character tutor them until they eventually squeak by with a C- grade.’

MLP:FiM actually handled the story and it’s characters with respect by acknowledging that different people learn in different ways and so they gave up on the whole “You’re not trying hard enough!” and “You’re not taking this seriously!” and ‘blame the “stupid” character for everything.’ mentality that goes into so many other shows that write this storyline.

But it’s not just cool that they did something different, I feel like it’s important that they fully represented that fact that alternate study methods, like these can work:
‘learn by watching’ (Fluttershy),
‘learn by doing’ (Applejack),
‘learn by emerging/reenacting’ (Rarity),
‘learn by memory/mimetic’ (Pinkie),
‘learn by osmosis/passively’ (Rainbiow).

Also I take this somewhat personally too, because I never had good grades in school and yet I was the one who always got blamed for it, usually with “You’re not trying hard enough!”. I actually got kicked out of school for “being too stupid” and when left on my own I found watching educational TV, History channel, Discovery, Travel channel, etc. to be both very entraining and I wound up learning a lot from them, stuff that I would never have learned with school’s “read and write only” method.

So all in all this episode speaks to me on a personal level and I can easily say that it’s a must watch for anyone -- ANYONE -- …I would love to shove this episode in congress’ face and force them to permanently change all school’s teaching methods… but don’t get me wrong, I do believe there is room for learning through books as well but I really feel like schools should put forth the effort to figure out which kids learn in which ways and provide them with a more individualized lesson plan.

(Wow what a rant, sorry…)

S4E19 4~5 (Trade Ya) 4/19/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/19/2014 | I have seen this episode more than once, but couldn’t think of anything to say…

S4E23 4~5 (Inspiration Manifestation) 4/26/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/30/2014 | review written on 4/30/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

My viewing conditions were less than idea, with lag and such, I didn’t get to watch the episode all at once; but still it was a fun episode and it reminded me of several fan fictions throughout.

This episode further proves/perpetuates that green eyed unicorns are evil. I also really liked the scene with Twilight all confused.

S4E24 3~5 (Equestria Games) 5/3/2014
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/9/2014 | review written on 5/10/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

This episode was good at telling the story it was trying to tell, but I wanted it show more of the Games themselves…

S4E25&26 5~5 (Twilight’s Kingdom) 5/10/2014
~ episodes watched and star rating given on 5/10/2014 | review written on 5/10/2014 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

I watched this near completely spoiler free; I knew the title and saw the first second of that commercial they played before the episode started, but that was all and it was muted, so no real spoilers from that!

I am not disappointed in the episode but I do think it was a little too easy to predict; I had figured that Twilight’s key would come from Discord way back in Three’s a Crowd and as for the things they “didn’t see coming, I really didn’t” they need to watch more TV…

I loved everything about Discord in this episode, everything! He was played exactly the way I expected and I loved everything he did and said!

Again nothing wrong with the episode and it was really cool/strange/interesting/“I didn’t see that coming” with the villain.

It did fool me once when Rarity asked Twilight about her key, when they thought Twilight already had hers but just hadn’t realized it, I thought it might turn out to be the Alicorn Amulet from Trixie.

…I actually didn’t really like the big fight scene, it reminded me too much of Avatar all flash and no substance.

The re-inclusion of being banished to Hell/Tartarus was pretty dang jaw dropping.

I can see this is disjointed and I’m not giving a very good review, but these aren’t meant to be reviews I’m just throwing down ideas and impressions and now I’m going to re-watch this episode.

Extra: So it appears that the bees did not survive… it got me to thinking about how often we see those bee, they’ve been there since season one and have been in many episodes, they were even named by Granny Smith and beloved by Fluttershy. It’s actually kind of sad…

On April 27/28/29/2014 I’ve re-watched the series’ season one, two, and three through marathon viewing all episodes on DVD, these ratings are my impressions immediately following each episode.

Season one
Five 6~5
Nine 5~5
Five 4~5
Seven 3~5
Zero 2~5
Zero 1~5

5~5 (Friendship Is Magic parts one and two)
4~5 (The Ticket Master)
3~5 Applebuck Season)
4~5 (Griffon The Brush-Off)
5~5 (Boast Busters)
5~5 (Dragonshy)
5~5 (Look Before You Sleep)
4~5 (Bridle Gossip)
3~5 (Swarm Of The Century)
5~5 (Winter Wrap Up)
4~5 (Call Of The Cutie)
3~5 (Fall Weather Friends)
6~5 (Suited For Success)
4~5 (Feeling Pinkie Keen)
5~5 (Sonic Rainboom)
6~5 (Stare Master)
5~5 (The Show Stoppers)
6~5 (A Dog And Pony Show)
3~5 (Green Isn’t Your Color)
3~5 (Over A Barrel)
3~5 (A Bird In The Hoof)
5~5 (The Cutie Mark Chronicles)
3~5 (Owl’s Well That Ends Well)
6~5 (Party Of One)
6~5 (The Best Night Ever)

Season two
Thirteen 6~5
Eight 5~5
Three 4~5
Two 3~5
One 2~5
Zero 1~5

6~5 (The Return of Harmony parts one & two)
6~5 (Lesson Zero)
6~5 (Luna Eclipsed)
6~5 (Sisterhooves Social)
4~5 (Cutie Pox)
5~5 (May The Best Pet Win!)
5~5 (The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well)
6~5 (Sweet And Elite)
6~5 (Secret Of My Excess)
5~5 (Family Appreciation Day)
5~5 (Baby Cakes)
6~5 (Hearth’s Warming Eve)

before re-write 6~5, (The Last Roundup)
after rewrite 5~5 (The Last Roundup) Yes I’m counting it as a re-write, and yes I believe it deserves a lower rating but it‘s still a really good episode.

3~5 (The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000)
5~5 (Read It And Weep)
4~5 (Hearts And Hooves Day)
6~5 (A Friend In Deed)
2~5 (Putting Your Hoof Down)
5~5 (It’s About Time)
5~5 (Dragon Quest)
6~5 (Hurricane Fluttershy)
3~5 (Ponyville Confidential)
4~5 (MMMystery On The Friendship Express)
6~5 (A Canterlot Wedding parts one & two)

Season three
Zero 6~5
Five 5~5
Three 4~5
Five 3~5
Zero 2~5
Zero 1~5

5~5 (The Crystal Empire parts one & two)
4~5 (Too Many Pinkie Pies)
4~5 (Babs Seed)
3~5 (Magic Duel)
5~5 (Sleepless in Ponyville)
5~5 (Wonderbolts Academy)
3~5 (Spike at your service)
4~5 (Apple Family Reunion)
3~5 (Keep Calm and Flutter On)
3~5 (Just for Sidekicks)
3~5 (The Games Ponies Play)
5~5 (Magical Mystery Cure)

Equestria Girls Movie 5~5

Season four
Six 6~5
Seven 5~5
Eight 4~5
Four 3~5
One 2~5
Zero 1~5

6~5 (Princess Twilight Sparkle parts one and two) 11/23/2013
5~5 (Castle Mane-nia) 11/30/2013
2~5 (Daring Don’t) 12/7/2013
6~5 (Flight to the Finish) 12/14/2013
5~5 (Power Ponies) 12/21/2013
6~5 (Bats!) 12/28/2013
5~5 (Rarity Takes Manehattan) 1/4/2014
5~5 (Pinkie Apple Pie) 1/11/2014
4~5 (Rainbow Falls) 1/18/2014
3~5 (Three’s a Crowd) 1/25/2014
4~5 (Pinkie Pride) 2/1/2014
6~5 (Simple Ways) 2/8/2014
4~5 (Filli Vanilli) 2/15/2014
3~5 (Twilight Time) 2/22/2014
4~5 (It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies) 3/1/2014
4~5 (Somepony to Watch Over Me) 3/8/2014
5~5 (Maud Pie) 3/15/2014
6~5 (For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils) 3/22/2014
3~5 (Leap of Faith) 3/29/2014
4~5 (Testing, Testing, 1,2,3) 4/5/2014
4~5 (Trade Ya) 4/19/2014
4~5 (Inspiration Manifestation) 4/26/2014
3~5 (Equestria Games) 5/3/2014
5~5 (Twilight’s Kingdom parts one and two) 5/10/2014

Equestria Girls Rainbow Rocks 5~5 10/4/2014
~ movie watched and star rating given on 10/4/2014 | review written on 10/8/2014 I have not seen this movie more than once at the time of this review.

Honestly I was kind of confused when I watched this because I had seen some preview videos online and at first I just kept thinking; this scene was spoiled, this scene was also spoiled, this scene was spoiled too, on and on... but by the time the movie was half over I kept thinking; wait where was that scene, or that scene, or that other one?

Well turns out, according to Derpy Hooves News, that some of those early videos were just ads to get people interested in the movie and although the first ten or so minutes had been spoiled for me most of the movie was still fresh... so I can't complain; actually as movies go it was a surprise and a relief that the previews were almost exclusively from early on in the movie, however the fact that I kept anticipating scenes that never happened kind of annoyed and distracted me the whole time I was watching it.

But anyway, putting all that aside I still really enjoyed the movie; though I do think it had some flaws, such as Spike's lengthy off screen adventure, that should have been at least one scene, in fact I feel like Spike was kind of downplayed for a lot this movie...
Spike was one of the best things about the first EQG movie but they seemed to have traded him off for Sunset Shimmer this time around, and while the story-telling is still solid it seems like Sunset was nearly stealing some of what should have been Spike's lines...

Music played a big role in this movie but as I've noted before I'm terrible at remembering/caring about music... it's not that I disliked any of the songs it's just that none of them stuck in my mind, which didn't happen with the first movie either until I re-watched it a few times so that could still happen once I get the DVD.

Ultimately I enjoyed the movie quite a bit and am glad to see the EQG world setting again, and that sequel bait... yeah I'm happy with it.

~ extra thoughts added on 11/8/2014
So now that I've gotten the DVD I've been pretty obsessed with this movie; I've re-watched it about four times now, and the audio commentary once, and I still just want to watch it again and again! I have also watched those bonus shorts several times especially "Perfect day for fun" and "Music to my ears".

The odd thing is that I've also been just skipping around the movie to re-watch the songs, it's funny because that's something I'd always meant to do with my MLP DVDs but I never have before. It seems I just love the songs too much especially "Shine like rainbows" and "Under our spell".

I want to give this a 6~5 star rating but I'm not too sure I should right now, it's a great movie and I'm sort of fawning over it right now but I don't know if I'd call it one of the best movies I've ever seen... so hmm... Now I want to re-watch the first EG movie and maybe re-rate it, I don't think I even re-watched it when I slapped that 5~5 star rating on it up there…

Season five
six 6~5
six 5~5
seven 4~5
six 3~5
zero 2~5
zero 1~5
one 1-2-3-4-5-6~5

S5E1 & 2 4~5 (Cutie Map parts 1 & 2 [name from DirctTV]) (Cutie Markless parts 1 & 2 [Name from Zap2it]) (The Cutie Map parts 1 & 2 [as titled in the episode) 4/4/2015
S5E3 3~5 (Castle Sweet Castle) 4/11/2015
S5E4 4~5 (Bloom and Gloom) 4/18/2015
S5E5 3~5 (Tanks for the Memories) 4/25/2015
S5E6 3~5 (Appleoosa’s Most Wanted) 5/2/2015
S5E7 3~5 (Make New Friends But Keep Discord) 5/16/2015
S5E8 6~5 (The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone) 5/23/2015
S5E9 2-3-4-5~5 (Slice of Life) 6/13/2015
S5E10 3~5 (Princess Spike) 6/20/2015
S5E11 4~5 (Party Pooped) 6/27/2015
S5E12 5~5 (Amending Fences) 7/4/2015
S5E13 5~5 (Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep) 7/11/2015
S5E14 5~5 (Canterlot Boutique) 9/12/2015
S5E16 6~5 (Rarity Investigates!) 9/19/2015 [From Derpy Hooves News: Spazz’s note: It is likely that Scare Master is episode 515, as iTunes usually releases episodes in production order, as opposed to the order they air on television, which is usually what causes these “leaks”. Canterlot Boutique was episode 514 and Rarity Investigates! was coded as 516.]

S5E17 6~5 (Made in Manehattan) 9/26/2015
S5E18 5~5 (Brotherhooves Social) 10/3/2015
S5E19 6~5 (Crusaders of the Lost Mark) 10/10/2015
S5E20 5~5 (The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows) 10/17/2015
S5E21 6~5 (Hearthbreakers) 10/24/2015
S5E15 6~5 (Scare-Master) 10/31/2015
S5E22 4~5 (What About Discord?) 11/7/2015
S5E23 3~5 (The Hooffields and McColts) 11/14/2015
S5E24 5~5 (The Mane Attraction) 11/21/2015
S5E25 & 26 4~5 (The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2) 11/28/2015

S5E1 & 2 4~5 (Cutie Map parts 1 & 2 [name from DirectV]) (Cutie Markless parts 1 & 2 [Name from Zap2it]) (The Cutie Map parts 1 & 2 [as titled in the episode) 4/4/2015
~ episodes watched and star rating given on 4/4/2015 | review written on 4/4/2015 I have not seen these episodes more than once at the time of this review.

Pretty good and interesting, a lot of this one was spoiled with commercials, previews, an' such, and I didn't really like the first episode; it is good, and well made, and had some moments that made me laugh but... that's par from this show for me.... So I can't really call it a standout episode, but that's mostly the first episode, the second part picked up really well.

The show went the direction I wanted to see it go with its story but it was still mostly the ending that I liked, I considered a 5~5 rating but it's a little 'too little too late' for that... I just don't think this one stands on par with the other two-parters; none of it felt "epic" or emotional, except for the humor, Although there was plenty I liked about it I just don't feel like it's great.

The song is forgettable and there's more of the characters just standing around while someone's in danger, like in Daring Don't, but those are really my only complaints. It's not that these episodes were bad or that they did something wrong, they just seemed to be lacking something and I think my opinion is low because of all the spoilers… I mean I practically saw the whole first episode before it aired.

Some of the more interesting things I noticed were:

Rainbow never lost her loyal resolve (and "Ponies of the east", I think there was another one but I can't remember right now...)

Pinkie's unhappiness making her intellect show through.

Letting the 'bad guy' get away, this isn't Trixie, this character did some bad stuff! I know and respect why they let her go; it was the same reason as Trixie but they've seen how leaving the 'bad guys' to figure it out for themselves has failed in the past and they've also seen how helping the 'bad guys' has worked out too, so shouldn't they have learned what not to do by now?

...So after thinking it over I think that it just feels weak that the Alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle and heroes of equestria are dealing with some uppity mare with control issues... Twilight vs Trixie in Magic Duel was a more epic episode than this one (and I don't even think that highly of that episode...)

S5E3 3~5 (Castle Sweet Castle) 4/11/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/11/2015 | review written on 4/11/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

A good episode with plenty to like but not really outstanding. I tried to watch this on a live-stream online... it lagged out both of the songs, I think I'll be waiting for YouTube for the rest of the episodes which I can't watch on TV from now on.

I'll definitely have to re-watch this one for a better impression.

~ extra thoughts added on 4/15/2015
So now that I've watched the episode again, and without lag this time, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion; it's a good 3~5 star rating but I actually did like it quite a bit even though it gets an average rating from me it's a nice slice of life episode and I enjoy those a lot, I'm not fawning over it now but it will probably turn out to be one of my favorites later on as other slice of life episodes have.

S5E4 4~5 (Bloom and Gloom) 4/18/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/18/2015 | review written on 4/18/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Nice episode, I kind of love how they threw all the fan fiction clichés in a blender and destroyed them all, even the old 'get kicked out of the family' one! Yeah very good story and pretty emotional, with great character all around.

At this point I both think that it was Starlight Glimmer, and I still think the Crusaders should get their cutie marks this season.

As for waiting on YouTube, well it was annoying to have to wait and I saw a few spoilers because of it, but the lack of lag and the immensely better picture quality is worth it, I'll just need to try harder to avoid spoilers.

S5E5 3~5 (Tanks for the Memories) 4/25/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/25/2015 | review written on 4/27/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

It was a good episode but not all that great; after thinking it over for a few days I think it kind of falls short... I feel like it was melodramatic more than anything and I didn't sympathize with Rainbow. I also feel like the whole 'five stages of grief'' thing was kind of forced and not really the way Rainbow would have acted, she would have done some of those things but not all of them... I don't think it was really out of character but it did feel more forced than natural.

I think if it had been a more permanent situation (not just a few months) I would have cared more; like if it were a season three episode where Spike has to return Peewee to its family and say goodbye permanently, that could have been emotional and would have fit better seeing Spike go through the 'five stages of grief''. At least I think it would have fit better... anyway all in all I did like the episode.

Also it felt like a Littlest Pet Shop episode...

S5E6 3~5 (Appleoosa’s Most Wanted) 5/2/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/2/2015 | review written on 5/2/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Well... it's hard to rate this one, I liked it... kind of, it was interesting and fun but I didn't really like a lot of the things it did; putting a forest in Appleoosa, making a pony's cutie mark degrade them, and having very little communication (understanding) between characters.

I have to point out Pinkie in The Return of Harmony part two with her moral about being laughed at as opposed to laughing with someone. I just don't agree with how this episode seems to sweep that away and say it's ok to be laughed at, it didn't look like Troubleshoes was enjoying any of it. If anything he just looked defeated, like he would take any praise he could get even if it was rooted in negativity.

Yeah I didn't like the moral, or the character interaction, or the whole laughing at someone else's misfortune; but I did like the character of Trubleshoes and the idea of misinterpreting a cutie mark then re-thinking your life's decisions, that's an important and good moral for everyone but I think they could have handled it better... though I can't think of an example like last episode.

S5E7 3~5 (Make New Friends But Keep Discord) 5/16/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/16/2015 | review written on 5/16/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Ok I'm not sure what to make of that episode...

I understand the storyline, about Discord still learning about friendship and having more than one friend but didn't he already consider Twilight and Fluttershy both his friends?

It feels like I've already seen this storyline in a dozen other shows, and I know they do make common cliché storylines in this show sometimes but they usually don't feel like clichés as much as this one did; I'd say it's ranks about the same as Dragon Quest for feeling like a cliché but I didn't have as much fun watching it.

S5E8 6~5 (The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone) 5/23/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/23/2015 | review written on 5/23/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

This episode had everything it needed!

Everything this episode did was done excellently, and it went a long way to cover a lot of things; the history of Griffons and world building of that, the comedy from Pinkie was top notch, the serious drama from both the danger Rainbow Dash was in and the social problems with Gilda and other Griffons as well as between Gilda and Dash.

This episode had a near perfect blend of comedy, fun, and story. It serves as a reminder why Amy Keating Rogers is my favorite writer on the show and the best writer for Pinkie!

I'm really glad to finally have a six star episode this season, I was starting to lose faith in it but not anymore.

S5E9 2-3-4-5~5 (Slice of Life) 6/13/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 6/13/2015 | review written on 6/13/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

10:47AM
Yeah, so when does the Ice King say "How do you like my fan-fiction?"?

I'm not sure I can accept this without something like that happening...

11:03AM
I'm going to address each part separately here.
___1 bad 2~5
Lyra and Bon-Bon: It reminds me of Ponies Protecting Ponies by Venates, I didn't like it when I read the fan fiction and I don't like it in the show either.

Also went kind of heavy on the whole friendship thing, like they were trying to tell people 'They are just friends and nothing more!'; to dissuade certain things, I'm sure, but it's ok I'm not upset over it I just think it felt awkward.

___2 bad 2~5
Doctor: I don't really like science fiction to begin with, and I'm not a big fan of Doctor Who either so I didn't really care either way about those shout outs, and I didn't like the direction they took the with the character. I think he should be his own character not some knock-off of a crossover.

___3 not what I wanted but good 3~5
Roseluck: Roseluck is one of my favorite background characters but it looks like they just cheapened her and the other two of the flower trio by overdramatizing them... it's kind of like how they treat Rarity sometimes.

I rate it a 3~5 because I'm glad to see them and they weren't really that far out-of-character anyway so it's more on the plus side with a gripe than on the bad side.

___4 good 3~5
Bright Eyes: I guess they're calling her "Muffins" now and that's ok, I'm glad they had her recur so much as they did, it felt like she was anchoring the episode more than anyone else... but that just made it feel a little odd when they focused on anyone else, except for Cranky and Matilda. I think I would have liked the episode more if it had only focused on those three...

___5 really good 4~5
Cranky and Matilda: This was the only part I could believe (accept as canon) and to me, it was the best part for the story, while most everything in the episode felt like pandering this wedding felt more like world building so I really enjoyed it.

Also these two had the most funny parts of the episode.

___6 good 3~5
Octavia and Vinyl: That was a great piece of music, it was like something I'd expect out of a Zelda game, on top of that they took the characters in good directions that I'm fine with.

___7 I didn't like it 2~5
Bowling alley: I don't know..., I don't know that movie, it wasn't funny to me and it didn't add anything but a fruitless distraction to waste time, but maybe I consider it a waste of time because I didn't think it was funny as the two major references were lost on me.

___8 great 5~5
Lee Tockar: Lee really did a great job here, all three of his scenes were hilarious and added to the moral of the episode really well.

___9 ?!?! 4~5
WHY WAS THERE A CHANGELING!?

___
So there are my thoughts. That was some episode, a lot going on and some bold choices for character development; I'm not pleased with all of those choices but it doesn't matter because I don't dislike any of them either.

I think my 'problem' with this episode is that it is a sort of tribute to fans' crazy theories for each of these characters and I don't really think of a "definitive" view for any character, I like the leeway of different fans being able to have different views on each character and things like this episode take away more than they add; but on the other hand I do appreciate that they are fleshing out the background characters more and more as time goes on, and I'd like to see something like this done again someday.

Overall I liked it.

S5E10 3~5 (Princess Spike) 6/20/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 6/20/2015 | review written on 6/20/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Not much to say here... it was an ok episode, it didn't do anything wrong but didn't do anything incredible either.

I don't disagree with the episode's theme or moral, even though we've seen it before I don't think it's out of place.

S5E11 4~5 (Party Pooped) 6/27/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 6/27/2015 | review written on 6/27/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

10:42AM
Am I watching the Internet?

When did they befriend these Yaks? Why did they agree to travel to Ponyville? I think those are the answers...

10:49AM
Yeah I'm pretty sure it's the Internet.

After episode:
A Million Things to Do: The Episode; also I can't remember where but that party planning room was from some other fan fiction too.

Quite a fun episode despite the obvious outcome. I like the Yak characters and the whole theme of the episode, which highlights this season's theme, I'm glad they're handling the show this way now-a-days.

~ Extra thoughts added on 6/30/2015 I have seen this episode more than once at the time of this edit.
This episode was fairly reminiscent of the Wander Over Yonder episode "The Troll", it seemed to me that it was a bit of a jab at the 'haters' who badmouth everything even when those things are really well made, by nitpicking one little detail.

To clarify I love how the show is actually using friendship to solve major crises now, as I've always preferred the 'slice of life' style over the 'adventure' style and I think combining them is working out really well.

S5E12 5~5 (Amending Fences) 7/4/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 7/4/2015 | review written on 7/4/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

That was all the 'warm fuzzies' I wanted it to be.

Minuette was best pony this episode and I'm glad that Spike was consistently there and not ignored. Though why was Minuette's magic yellow when she has blue eyes?

I loved all the continuity and character that this episode had.

I've seen the 'book trail lure' in fan art before...

Overall this was a very 'feel good' episode that I highly enjoyed.

So Starlight Glimmer appears briefly; I've been fully convinced that she will be the villain in the season finally since Bloom and Gloom, so this is just more evidence for that. I also fully expect her to have a major influence over the next episode...

S5E13 5~5 (Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep) 7/11/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 7/11/2015 | review written on 7/11/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

10:38AM
So Luna allowed the Tantabus to feed on her nightmares, for eons, knowing that it was getting stronger because of it? ~American Godzilla~ or Luna is still evil and wants it to happen...

After episode:
Ok so it wasn't "for eons" just a year or so.

I'm glad that Luna admitted that she was the one that made the Tantabus, hopefully people will stop with all the claims that "Luna got possessed by Nightmare Moon", this really is her mistake and it always has been. (I don't like when people try to shove the blame on some non-existent "Nightmare creature" just so Luna doesn't feel bad.)

Luna having to deal with her mistakes and her guilt made for a pretty strong story and it's one that the show has needed to have for a awhile, but now... it feels a little overdone for this season; Appleoosa’s Most Wanted, The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, Amending Fences, and now Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep make four episodes in the first half of season five that deal with past guilt.

Ahhh Real Monsters, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Catdog... lots of Nickelodeon in there.

Maneless ponies.
___
I really thought it'd be Starlight Glimmer making the nightmares in this episode... I'm still expecting her to be the season finale villain and that episodes like these, where the mane six rely on other ponies, will be the most important ones.
___
Ok, I’ve now seen the Comic-Con teaser animatic of the return of Starlight Glimmer, and while she is arrogant she doesn’t seem to be as in control as I thought… maybe she is still doing something evil off-screen or maybe not. I do still believe the townships, and other friends, will be important to her eventual undoing; that's my theory anyway.
___
~ A mid season break, speculating about the season finale. 7/13/2015
I think I just figured out Starlight Glimmer's plan... As Meghan McCarthy said "If you're really good at magic then you can do things with the map. Dun dun dun!" (Or something like that...) and now after seeing the Comic-con teaser with Starlight in the map room I'm thinking that she is going to channel her magic through the map to remove Cutie Marks from everypony in Equestria.

S5E14 5~5 (Canterlot Boutique) 9/12/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 9/12/2015 | review written on 9/12/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Yet another episode whose enjoyment was hindered by a lagging internet connection... although I really enjoyed this one's overall story-line, and that it stayed as a slice-of-life story (it didn't vilify anyone).

I'm giving it a five star rating but I'm not sure if it deserves that... maybe if I'd been able to see it uninterrupted at once... there's nothing I disliked about it and many things I did like about it but I not gushing over it because of the lag.

S5E16 6~5 (Rarity Investigates!) 9/19/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 9/19/2015 | review written on 9/19/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Excellent! I'm so glad they didn't do a Maltese Falcon rip-off like everyone else does; just another great example of why MLP:FiM is so good, by doing a cliché, monochrome crime noir in this case, differently.

Already bringing Sassy Saddles and the Canterlot Carousel back was good and all of Rarity's clothes and personas were fun. I was smiling and laughing throughout most of this episode!

Plenty of "horse gal-paling around", I love it!

Loved that smooth jazz in the credits.

S5E15 6~5 (Scare-Master) 10/31/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 9/24/2015 | review written on 9/24/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

An episode made out of one of my favorite scenes in the show, how Fluttershy spends Nightmare Night, yes please!

I especially liked how the episode wrapped up with Fluttershy's statement about the holiday, and scary 'grim-dark' content as a whole, because I fully agree with that statement.

The little details add up: the costumes were fun, Applejack has a braided tail, the crayon drawings, and the anime stuff were nice touches; but I really loved Fluttershy's bunker.

More "horse gal-paling around", just another major reason why I love this show.

S5E17 6~5 (Made in Manehattan) 9/26/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 9/26/2015 | review written on 9/26/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

30 seconds in: Yes! I didn't think they were actually building on that; with Twilight being 'bored'.

More, yes! I'm loving the way they're handling this. So many great character moments and expressions.

After episode: I pretty well loved how this episode went, many things that I personally liked, so I'm giving this a 6~5 star rating, not because I think it's the best made episode but because it's one of my favorites (I still kind of regret not giving Maud Pie a six star...).

Nice twang song in the credits.

5~5 Equestria Girls: Friendship Games 9/26/2015
~ Movie watched on star rating given on 9/26/2015 | review written on 9/26/2015 I have not seen this movie more than once at the time of this review.

Schoolyard grade villain, with an unrealistic reaction to magic... but overall a good story with plenty of fun moments.

The songs fit really well and were all good, I'll have to re-watch it a bunch to really know what I think about them though... that seems to always apply for me.

The villain song sounded like Ursula, from The Little Mermaid.

I feel like that was uncut... no TV edits, I was worried about that, but of course I won't know until I get the DVD.

TV doesn't compare to the movie theater... too bad, but I'm glad I got to watch it on its premiere.

Thinking about it, they did a really good job handling the characters considering how many characters the story was juggling (over 30).

So on second viewing I'm seeing at least three spots that might be TV edits; Twilight cutting in line for the bus, Pinkie and friends seeing the Games' grounds, and Twilight's archery shots. ...The song "Dance Magic" on the soundtrack, possibly cut from the gym scene with Pinkie and Vinyl Scratch?

The worst bakers in Equestria --- the movie... I didn't like it as a fan fiction, I still don't like it now.

S5E18 5~5 (Brotherhooves Social) 10/3/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 10/4/2015 | review written on 10/4/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

An excellent and long overdue character portrayal, but I can't really call it overdue since it took time for them to feel this way. I'm heavily reminded of We Apples, Three and B.B.B.F.F.B.R. and I'm loving it; it's just so sweet and well handled, the show went a little more comedic than I expected but not too far.

S5E19 6~5 (Crusaders of the Lost Mark) 10/10/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 10/10/2015 | review written on 10/10/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

I've been saying it since season one: "The Crusaders should get the their Cutie Marks in season five and no later, it'd be a real shame if they drag it out any longer than that." (that’s not an actual quote, but it’s been my sentiment)

I had reasoned that they should have more episodes to crusade for the Cutie Marks and episodes to expand on each character individually, then have a few half-hearted crusades, then finally when they are content to go without worrying about it is when they should get them.

This is the exact progress I'd been hoping for since I joined the fandom and it lined up with my four year old prediction of season five too! But ego aside; I'm in tears over this episode, very happy tears!

The songs are all a blur, as usual for the first viewing I don't really remember them, or even care that I don't remember them. I remember that there were a lot of them, and that the audio on the video I watched was kind of quiet, I turned it way up but that didn't help much.

That conflict was kind of a tease, it was barely there and then resolved so quick... I don't really know if it was all that good but I don't care. The conclusion of the episode was fantastic!

I've stopped reading the synopses so no spoilers for me at all, beyond the episode titles, from here to the end of the season; I'm glad I had no idea what this one was about.

Total rip-off of Raiders of the Cutie Mark.

S5E20 5~5 (The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows) 10/17/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 10/17/2015 | review written on 10/17/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

10:32AM
Hmm... really? I'm, kind of suspicious of that claim, but I guess they're set on changing things this season; so there it is.
10:41AM
Pinkie's antics are adorable, as usual. Very fun episode so far.
10:50AM
This episode it just trolls, JUST TROLLS, that's all it is! ...it's so good... We'll see if it's true next then...

After episode: Pinkie's episodes are just so good, so good!

This episode might not hold up on re-watches but for now I think it was incredible; hilarious in every way, extra tidbits for those paying attention, and plenty of Pinkie's adorable antics throughout.

S5E21 6~5 (Hearthbreakers) 10/24/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 10/24/2015 | review written on 10/24/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

THE QUADE! All of it, that's all it was! The Quade! No, really, that's all I can think.

So... this episode threw in a lot of new things and changed a lot of old things; I don't really like that but I'll have to admit that the old things ranged from loosely defined to not defined at all... so it's passable, I guess.

Quade out of five

S5E22 4~5 (What About Discord?) 11/7/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 11/7/2015 | review written on 11/7/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

A good and funny episode; and it continues Discord teaching Twilight lessons about friendship, which I've always liked. Many good gags and references too.

...Once more Starlight...

S5E23 3~5 (The Hooffields and McColts) 11/14/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 11/14/2015 | review written on 11/14/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

I don't have much to say about this one, I was worried about it but it turned out fine.

S5E24 5~5 (The Mane Attraction) 11/21/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 11/21/2015 | review written on 11/21/2015 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Rara, bird feathered ponies, the Equestrian national anthem, and more filly Applejack. Amy Keating Rogers sure did have fun with her 'farewell' episodes; and I love it!

Rara's design reminds me of Sonata.

This was a strong episode for both the moral and the writing; and it proves again that they can set an entire episode on Sweet Apple Acres without going anywhere and still make it work.

I didn't like the callout to "Pinkie's rockin' ponypalooza party" ...I didn't like the book and would be happier if the show ignored those books outright...

Also Spike doesn't exist... once again.

S5E25 & 26 4~5 (The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2) 11/28/2015
~ episode watched and star rating given on 11/28/2015 | review written on 11/28/2015 I have not seen these episodes more than once at the time of this review.

(after episode 25)
Well she tried, she failed; now she's just going to keep re-trying and failing again and again until she realizes how important the Mane Six are, and that she can't have the world her way.

(after episode 26)
Well I guess she wasn't seeing the results...

Zecora had the best part.

My old prediction was wrong, but I don't really care.

That last future should have been windigos.

It almost felt like fan-pandering with the way they spent time explaining each future, even though they didn't need to stay in them for more than one second... 'Let's walk away from that map so that we can walk back to the map!'

I would have liked to see Twilight ask Discord "Any tips for dealing with a time traveling foe?" but I guess they couldn't get De Lancie in for a recording or something.

Disappointing to not see Sunset or the book. It would have been kind of cool to see one future where Twilight did succeed in stopping Starlight and Rainbow did perform the Rainboom, but then see that things were different enough for Sunset to have taken over.

The last future: The Brightest Timeline.

Ultimately I didn't really like these episodes too much because: it was the same storyline as Moon Dancer.

A unicorn with one friend, both study magic, then magic/cutie mark/destiny/moving away results in separating the two friends; But Starlight goes super-villain for no good reason, I consider her a 'super-villain' by the two-part opener alone. It's just not handled as well as it was in Amending Fences, not by a longshot.

Season six
zero 6~5
two 5~5
one 4~5
six 3~5
zero 2~5
one 1~5

S6E1&2 3~5 (The Crystalling) 3/26/2016
S6E3 5~5 (The Gift of the Maud Pie) 4/2/2016
S6E4 3~5 (On Your Marks) 4/9/2016
S6E5 5~5 (Gauntlet of Fire) 4/16/2016
S6E6 1~5 (No Second Prances) 4/30/2016
S6E7 3~5 (Newbie Dash) 5/7/2016
S6E8 3~5 (A Hearth's Warming Tail) 5/14/2016
S6E9 4~5 (The Saddle Row Review) 5/21/2016
S6E10 3~5 (Applejack's "Day" Off) 5/28/2016
S6E11
S6E12
S6E13
S6E14
S6E15
S6E16
S6E17
S6E18
S6E19
S6E20
S6E21
S6E22
S6E23
S6E24
S6E25&26

S6E1&2 3~5 (The Crystalling) 3/26/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 3/26/2016 | review written on 3/26/2016 I have not seen these episodes more than once at the time of this review.

After the first episode:
Hmmm that end credits song... did they just play that off as a joke?

Shining Armor is still the best, male, pony.

At 10:40AM
Yeah, it looks like they're playing this whole two parter off as a big joke... hrrmmm...

10:47 AM
Almost drama? It's really hard for me to tell if this is supposed to be taken as seriously as I think it should... They're really understating the reactions and having odd, comical, sounds and sight gags; maybe I'm just too tired.

After the second episode.
Uh, what was that flying at the end?

Well I don't know what to think of that one, it's wasn't bad by any means but it wasn't a standout ether. It would be a four out of five at best but... I think I'm going to just give it a three.

___Later after thinking it over (but not re-watching it)
One of the big problems I see in this episode comes from a sort of disconnect between the two parts, part one introduced many major problems but then it all just stopped by the second episode... well maybe not everything but it seemed that the end resolve with Sunburst having an answer to each problem the baby started was unnecessary by that time as the problems had stopped anyway.

What I mean is the way Shining Armor and Cadence were tried for the entire first episode and then, with no rest, they are perfectly awake for the entire second episode and then Sunburst resolved it with a magic to help them sleep (and why couldn't Luna do/think of that?); or how the baby just stopped causing more problems after the book.

___
Now a note about Starlight Glimmer and why this episode gets a 3 instead of a 4 star rating from me.

Her role as a powerful magic user whom lost their friendships, turned villain, then was defeated and re-formed to good, to learn about friendship... it's just been done too much in this show; Nightmare Moon, Trixie, Discord, Sunset Shimmer, Moon Dancer, ...I could even toss in Gilda, Diamond Tiara, and even Twilight Sparkle for the whole 're-formed from previous life-style to learn about friendship' part.

It's been done plenty of times in this show and I feel like it's been done better every other time; I'm not completely against re-forming Starlight it's just not very interesting to me, although I do think it was the stronger half of the story from these two episodes but that's not saying much considering the other half was just an average 'decent for it's comedy and animation' par level for this show.

S6E3 5~5 (The Gift of the Maud Pie) 4/2/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/2/2016 | review written on 4/2/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Excellent comedy and a good moral, plenty of new location scenes and ponies, as well as Rarity expanding her business again.

Maud sure does make for a great character, at least I love this comedy style with her, and yet again the dynamic of her relationship with Pinkie and Pinkie's friends is extremely enjoyable!

The whole 'Gift of the Magi' story might be a cliché but it was handled well enough that I have no complaints.

Nepheline syenite, pink and grey rocks.

S6E4 3~5 (On Your Marks) 4/9/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/9/2016 | review written on 4/9/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Pretty good episode, it was fun and had a solid story with good storytelling, but it wasn't too great.

I like the further expansion of Ponyville, instead of just relying on the main characters, similar to Cutie Pox and I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out the new direction for the Cutie Mark Crusaders post cutie marks.

The song was ok but like most I'll probably forget it soon, but that's just me...

S6E5 5~5 (Gauntlet of Fire) 4/16/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/16/2016 | review written on 4/16/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

A five star Spike episode! It really was good for the adventure style aspect and worldbuilding, along with good characters and a solid story.

I think the episode suffered a little from the limited cast; where were all of the adult dragons and why weren't there more younger ones? If this is supposed to be so important as choosing a king I'd think there would/should be more dragons than this... I think there were more dragons in the Dragon Quest episode. It's just something that bothers me about some episodes, like Make New Friends But Keep Discord, where they have a grand scale story event with a small scale cast... it makes it feel less important than they say.

Doesn't hold a candle to Ragnarok, but there is potential...

S6E6 1~5 (No Second Prances) 4/30/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 4/30/2016 | review written on 4/30/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

...

I don't think I ever want to watch that episode again.

Minor complaints would be things like: Trixie didn't speak in the third person, Trixie's horn wasn't shaped correctly in the animation, Twilight didn't feel very in-character, Spike doesn't exist again...

Bigger complaints would be: this episode wasn't funny or interesting to me...

The biggest complaint... Trixie committed suicide! WHAT!?

There was no fun in this episode and the moral seemed... odd, maybe important to some degree but I don't think it was done very well.

S6E7 3~5 (Newbie Dash) 5/7/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/7/2016 | review written on 5/7/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Seeing Rainbow's mane fall on the far side of her neck made it look longer than usual...

The lag from my internet interrupting the video several times probably lowered my enjoyment of this one...

Some of this episode felt a little 'school grade' with its dialogue...

S6E8 3~5 (A Hearth's Warming Tail) 5/14/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/14/2016 | review written on 5/14/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

Just after the opening, as I try to let the video load, I can't help but think that this Hearth's Warming is much too soon in the timeline.

(At first commercial break)
So... how the Grinch stole the Christmas Carol?

(after episode)
Well it was pretty good but since it relied heavily on songs and this is me... it's just ok.

I've never liked when people liken Hearth's Warming and Christmas together as the same thing, but it was done pretty well in this episode. Though I'd still prefer to think of it as a take on Thanksgiving like it was in the last two episodes about it...

S6E9 4~5 (The Saddle Row Review) 5/21/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/21/2016 | review written on 5/21/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

The real end theme song!

"gesundheit", "car horn" the errors...

A very interesting style for this episode, another low-key slice of life too, I liked it.

Spike doesn't exist, again.

In this episode Rainbow Dash's dialogue felt like Knuckles from Sonic Boom...

S6E10 3~5 (Applejack's "Day" Off) 5/28/2016
~ episode watched and star rating given on 5/28/2016 | review written on 5/28/2016 I have not seen this episode more than once at the time of this review.

I don't know what to say about that one, I don't think I got the moral...

It was good though, very cute. It's one of those slice of life episodes that I expect I will enjoy more and more, the more I watch it.