Season 1-7 Pros and Cons

Heyo. Imma list things I liked and disliked about each season, rank them from favorite to least favorite, and give a score.

Note on my scores: Above a 5 is positive. I like every season. I score harsher than most people so the fact that most of these scores are so high is a big deal and is why this is my favorite show of all time. It's the only show where I give more than one season above a 9.

Warning: Weird taste ahead

Season 1

Pros:
- Introduced me to the characters I love and the setting I like. Twilight became my favorite pony in Winter Wrap Up and still is today.
- The down to earth, quaint, humble, gently paced, natural, pleasant feeling I get from Friendship is Magic is something I can't quite get anywhere else, and that feeling is strongest in season 1.
- The consistency of tone (Party of One aside) makes the entire season have a good vibe, so that the episodes improve each other despite low continuity. In other words, I find season 1 more "more than the sum of its parts" than any other season. Even the episodes I dislike have a good aftertaste.
- The Best Night Ever is my favorite episode of the series and one of my very favorite episodes of television. My first viewing of Winter Wrap Up was a virtually perfect experience and a good memory.
- I also loved Look Before You Sleep and Suited For Success.
- I appreciated that the mane six weren't all super best friends right after the premiere. Rarity and Applejack don't get along at first and Rainbow Dash has to warm up to Pinkie Pie.
- High rewatchability. I find myself enjoying several episodes more and more over time.
- A show about little ponies, good!? Whaaaaaaaaat!?

Cons:
- Has more episodes I find annoying or tedious than most other seasons. Half of my top 10 least favorite episodes are season 1.
- I found the Cutie Mark Crusaders annoying this season on first viewing.

Rank: 1st favorite season
Score: 9.5/10

Season 2

Pros:
- Good consistency
- My favorite two parters. The Return of Harmony and A Canterlot Wedding are two of my favorite MLP episodes.
- The season was just slightly more dark and mature than season 1, without losing the sweet, innocent feel. The Return of Harmony was more adventure heavy than any previous episode and A Canterlot Wedding had a fight scene I really enjoyed.
- Sisterhooves Social and The Cutie Pox proved I could enjoy a CMC episode about just one Crusader. Then, not only did Ponyville Confidential prove that I could enjoy an episode about all the CMC, but it was my favorite season 2 episode.
- Discord is my favorite non mane six character, and The Return of Harmony is still my favorite appearance by him.
- A Canterlot Wedding might be my pick for most rewatchable episode ever.

Cons:
- Twilight and Fluttershy are my two favorite ponies, and I disliked both Twilight and both Fluttershy episodes this season (yes, I'm very weird). Lesson Zero is the only episode to make me mad, and temporarily dropped Twilight from her position as my favorite pony (very very weird, I'm sorry).
- Luna Eclipsed is one of the only episodes where the story confused me. I wouldn't grow to like Luna until Sleepless in Ponyville.

Rank: 4th favorite season (funny enough since for years it was my 1st favorite season, I find seasons 1 and 3 more rewatchable and season 7 more consistent)
Score: 9/10

Season 3

Pros:
- Wonderful consistency! I only don't like one episode (Spike at Your Service) and I'm merely neutral towards it.
- Magical Mystery Cure is my 2nd favorite Pony episode and one of my very favorite episodes of television. It was also an important game changer for the series, saying goodbye to what came before and opening up new doors.
- I find Rainbow Dash more likable in Sleepless in Ponyville and Wonderbolts Academy than any other episodes. I also grew to like Luna in Sleepless in Ponyville. On top of all that, Scootaloo went from my least favorite to my favorite Crusader in Sleepless in Ponyville.
- Magic Duel, Keep Calm and Flutter On, and Magical Mystery Cure are some of the more rewatchable episodes for me.
- The first (and maybe only) season that made me tear up for multiple episodes: Sleepless in Ponyville and Magical Mystery Cure.

Cons:
- Half length
- The first season where multiple episodes, Just For Sidekicks and Games Ponies Play, have a "filler" feel

Rank: 2nd favorite season
Score: 9.5/10

Season 4

Pros:
- My favorite songs of any season! Pinkie the Party Planner is my favorite MLP song in general, and the songs this season have lots of variety. Nothing else in the show feels like Bats or Glass of Water or Apples to the Core or Rappin History, etc.
- Pinkie Pride is one of my favorite MLP episodes. I also loved Rarity Takes Manehattan, Filli Vanilli, and Twilight's Kingdom.
- Rarity became my 3rd favorite Pony this season and stayed there, partly due to Rarity Takes Manehattan.
- Filli Vanilli was the Fluttershy episode I had wanted since episode one.
- Twilight's Kingdom was an epic, plot heavy episode unlike what we had seen before, and kept the show's logic from falling apart.
- None of my top 10 least favorite episodes are season 4
- Daring season! Season 4 was not content to let the show get stale, was more varied than seasons 1-3. It still had heart and some down to earth episodes, but now we had crazy stuff like the fights in Daring Don't or the comic book world in Power Ponies. Still the only season with lots of exciting action.

Cons:
- Pinkie became more consistently screechy and annoying this season (and honestly never really recovered imo). Once my 3rd favorite pony, Pinkie is now 5th, and the reasons why start this season. Twilight got more mopey and wimpy and boring this season (and recovered somewhat later, Movie aside). These weren't developments I was fond of.
- More inconsistent season than 2, 3, 5, or 7. Episodes all over the place in enjoyment level.
- This season had a lot of blunt, unnatural, forced, "for the audience" dialogue/explosition, a problem I don't have at all with seasons 1-3 or 7, and not as much with 5. I think if there's one issue with the series I would remove, it would be this, as it hurts rewatchability.
- The show's sudden transition into being darker and weirder early this season was a bit jarring. Princess Twilight Sparkle is the only two parter I don't like, and also maybe the only episode I dislike visually.

Rank: Tied with season 5 for 5th favorite season
Score: 8.5/10

Season 5

Pros:
- For whatever reason, I expected season 4 to be the last great season, so 5 was a pleasant surprise.
- This season really seemed to want to combine everything good about the first four seasons in terms of tone and genre. It wasn't as dark and weird as season 4, but still had shades of that.
- Very good consistency in the first two thirds
- The Crusaders got their cutie marks! In an episode I enjoyed! And I like the marks themselves too (in terms of meaning, visually I don't care)! And Diamond Tiara being redeemed well is just the cherry on top. The Crusaders getting their marks also makes me find the early Crusaders episodes more bearable in retrospect. They were ultimately on the right path and I like them.
- I loved Crusaders of the Lost Mark, Party Pooped, Castle Sweet Castle, and Bloom and Gloom.
- The show actually starts treating Twilight like a princess after pausing for a season, and Fluttershy's assertiveness begins shining through in side character roles. Sweetie Belle developing magic was a nice touch.
- Only disliked a few episodes, and even then, didn't dislike them that much.
- Good rewatchability, like most seasons.

Cons:
- A handful of episodes towards the end of the season left me feeling apathetic, which made me less excited about the prospect of a season 6.
- The first season to not have any of my top ten favorite episodes, a trend which would follow in seasons 6 and 7. I also didn't give any episodes above a 9/10, a trend which would continue in season 6 but not 7.
- I found this the cheesiest season, especially when it came to the endings of Amending Fences and The Mane Attraction (sorry, sorry, sorry!).

Rank: Tied with season 4 for my 5th favorite season
Score: 8.5/10

Season 6

Pros:
- I loved To Where and Back Again Part 1 and 28 Pranks Later.
- The episodes I like have good rewatchability.
- Transitions the CMC into their new role fine.
- Starlight Glimmer has a nice little arc.
- Begins expanding the show to include more regular side characters.
- The first season to fully commit to assertive Fluttershy.

Cons:
- That blunt, unnatural, forced, "for the audience" dialogue/explosition I mentioned in season 4 is even worse here. It's like they just forgot how to write in seasons 4 and 6 only to relearn in seasons 5 and 7. Odd. Must be the staff shifting about.
- A real mixed bag of episodes. Half of this season I'll never need to rewatch. And it doesn't have season 1's tone or high points or "fresh, new pleasant surprise" feel to make up for it. For the first time, I actually considered no longer watching new episodes partway through the season, though thankfully I kept going.
- Lots of filler, and not only that, but some of the non-filler ideas I really liked, such as Rainbow finally becoming a wonderbolt, or Starlight and Trixie becoming friends, were attached to episodes with execution I didn't like.
- I didn't like any of the songs.

Rank: 7th favorite season (with a pretty big gap between this and any other season)
Score: 7/10 (which isn't bad, but certainly not the kind of score that makes for one of my favorite all time shows)

Season 7

Pros:
- After the end stretch of season 5 and all of season 6 left me a bit apathetic, season 7 gave me back my interest in new episodes. I'm more excited for season 8 than I was for seasons 5, 6, or 7, and that's incredible. Comebacks like this are rare.
- Impressive consistency! Not many episodes I disliked, and only one in my top 15 least favorite episodes.
- After the Crusaders got their marks, I wondered what was left for the show to do. Luckily, season 7 had good ideas. A Celestia and Luna episode, an Applejack's parents episode, a Starswirl the Bearded episode, this is stuff I want to see.
- Shadow Play ties a lot of the show's logic together real nice. Now we know what's up with the Elements of Harmony and Tree of Harmony!
- Fluttershy Leans In was my favorite episode since Pinkie Pride, and the first episode I gave above a 9/10 since Pinkie Pride. Considering they found another angle for her development in A Health of Information, this is my favorite season for Fluttershy as a character. Rarity has way less of a chance of nudging into 2nd place now!
- I also loved Discordant Harmony, the Discord and Fluttershy episode I'd wanted since Keep Calm and Flutter On
- We're Not Flawless was the first song I loved since You'll Play Your Part.
- Humor's not one of the things I generally watch this show for, yet I found this season really funny.

Cons:
- Only one episode in my top 20 favorites
- I went into season 7 apathetic and the first thee episodes didn't help. I seriously almost stopped watching after A Flurry of Emotions, which I found the most filler episode since Princess Spike. Thank goodness I didn't stop!

Rank: 3rd favorite season
Score: 9/10

I fucking love this show. It was one of my top 10 favorite shows of all time by the end of season 1, top 5 by the end of season 4, and it was when I saw Parental Glideance for the first time that I decided that it was my favorite show of all time.