Ranking The Writers of Season 7 · 3:38am Nov 13th, 2017
Season 7 saw a lot of new writers enter the fold, and very few veteran writers come back. Normally, this tends to lead to seasonal rot in animated shows, particularly in cases where the new writers don't bother to watch what's already out there first. But this show managed to defy that trend, as Season 7 topped Season 6 by a clear margin (though it was by no means a landslide). But how much of that was because of the new writers? And which of the new writers were among the best (or among the worst)? Well, that's what you're about to find out. As always, this list is the result of my personal opinion, and I mean no disrespect to any of these writers as individuals. Bad people can make good art and vice versa.
Not counting "Fame and Misfortune" (it's a Larson script, but we don't know who touched it and tweaked it), we had a total of eight new writers this season, the most the show's ever had (despite having the same total number of writers as Season 6)!
13. Josh Hamilton (Episodes written: Parental Glideance, Triple Threat, Secrets and Pies)
Reason: You know, for someone who wrote for Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'd expect Hamilton to be right at home with another kids show. But alas, it seems that whatever skills he may have had there (assuming he wrote good episodes there, maybe he was only responsible for the episodes fans tend to skip) didn't translate to here. He's just gotten worse and worse with each new episode. "Parental Glideance" wasted our time on redundant scenes we didn't need, instead of scenes that could've been used to give Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles sympathy, so when Rainbow Dash blows up on them we're supposed to understand why the episode says she's in the wrong. "Triple Threat" had potential, but once the map called Spike it just devolved into another Spike screws up plot that I thought for sure we'd seen the last of after "Princess Spike" back in Season 5. And "Secrets and Pies" managed to do the impossible for me, and eclipse "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" as my new worst episode. It's like a very poor man's mix of "Party of One" and "MMMystery on the Friendship Express", and the idea for it should've just been discarded or left to the Equestria Girls shorts series where you could get away with this sort of bare bones plot.
12. Kevin Lappin (Episodes written: Honest Apple, To Change a Changeling, Uncommon Bond (Collab with Josh Haber)
Reason: Between David Rapp and this guy, I think it's safe to say that live action writers DON'T work for this show, so they shouldn't even be looking to recruit them! Kevin's two solo episodes were appalling, full of badly written characters and attempts to justify bad writing decisions like Applejack judging a fashion contest or Thorax not turning against his brother even when he's shown to be a toxic influence on the new hive. I sincerely believe that Josh Haber is the sole reason "Uncommon Bond" didn't suck, he stepped in and held Kevin Lappin in check. Had Kevin written the episode alone, I'm all but certain it would've sucked and sucked hard. But at least unlike Josh Hamilton, someone's willing to hold this guy accountable and keep him from screwing up.
11. Barry Safchik and Michael Platt (Episodes written: Campfire Tales)
Reason: Speaking of live action writers that don't belong on the show, Barry and Michael didn't seem like they really tried with their only episode. I get that they had to squeeze in what was basically a promotion of the Legends of Magic comics so they could tie into the finale, but they really could've made more of an effort to at least have the stories flow well instead of being riddled with plot holes and questionable choices. Barring that, the least they could've done was have there be more of an actual story, rather than just a poor man's take on "Sleepless in Ponyville" but without the heart. I'll give them a little bit of a pass, since they got stuck with a throwaway episode that probably would've worked better had it taken the approach of "Daring Done?" and "A Health of Information" and worked each legend into a separate episode without making it the only subject of focus.
10. Sammie Crowley and Whitney Wetta (Episodes written: A Flurry of Emotions, A Health of Information)
Reason: Kind of funny how these two writers from The Loud House, got episodes with titles that both start with "A". Their first attempt was among the more overrated episodes of Season 7, "A Flurry of Emotions", which for the most part was void of any real conflict until the last couple of minutes, which it then hastily resolved with a questionable resolution and moral. They improved to an extent with "A Health of Information", but there's still problems with the stakes and tension not always matching the seriousness of Swamp Fever, most noticeably in the three day period in which Fluttershy is unconscious. Those mistakes were enough to hold back what was otherwise a really good character driven episode. Sammie and Whitney probably deserve another chance, but they need someone who can teach them how to improve on things like pacing and conflict.
9. Nicole Dubac (Episodes written: Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2 (Collab with Josh Haber for writing, Haber credited with story))
Reason: Since her debut in the show was a collab for a story she wasn't part of (Haber penned the story alone, Nicole just helped him with certain parts), it's hard to say for sure what sort of impression she leaves here. All we have to go on is her work on the Ponyville Mysteries chapter books, and so far there's only been the one (which mostly got attention for shedding light on Scootaloo's family situation, rather than the story itself) Riddle of the Rusty Horseshoe. But she's going to taking over as Executive Producer next season, and supposedly she'll be co-editing with Josh Haber in the Story Editor's position, so we're likely going to see just how good (or bad) she is on her own next season. She's ahead of everyone else, because at least she shows signs of promise, and we know for sure she's coming back. Many of these new writers are questionable (Sammie and Whitney in particular, I don't forsee coming back since The Loud House is still ongoing).
8. G. (Gillian) M. Berrow (Episodes written: Fluttershy Leans In, Daring Done?)
Reason: While she continues to primarily be a writer for the tie in chapter books (though it seems her series could be getting replaced by the Ponyville Mysteries series, as I haven't heard of a Berrow book being released since Trixie and the Razzle Dazzle Ruse), Berrow showed off or at least tried to show off her writing chops this season. But "Fluttershy Leans In" wasn't anything special, it was probably the only Season 7 episode that no one had any strong feelings for one way or another. "Daring Done?" was an improvement, helped by the fact that Berrow had written a couple of Daring Do chapter books (before the short lived series was canned), but the last third act saw things fall apart. Berrow is still lacking a solid episode in the show tied to her name, but after Trixie and the Razzle Dazzle Ruse left me worried that Berrow was losing her touch, her episodes this season helped to assure me that's not the case.
7. Nick Confalone (Episodes written: Rock Solid Friendship)
Reason: It's easy to forget that Nick Confalone was a writer this season, because he only wrote one episode this season and that was it. He went back to his apparent strong suit in Pinkie Pie focus episodes, but at times there was cause for concern with how Pinkie Pie was potrayed. Sure, it wasn't a bad performance, in fact you could argue that it was "A Friend in Deed" done better. But did anyone want to see the return of Pinkie Pie's questionable behavior and intrusiveness from that episode? Nick showed that Pinkie isn't the only character he's good with though, as he became the first of the veteran writers after the premiere to pick up reformed Starlight Glimmer and use her. And he also made Maud Pie shine.
6. Becky Wangberg (Episodes written: Hard to Say Anything)
Reason: Considering her previous writing credits are for Nick shows that no one particularly cares for anymore (The Fairly Odd Parents is on its death bed, and Bunsen is a Beast crossing over with it just chased away anyone who might have otherwise been interested in seeing it. Besides, Butch Hartman has to be kidding himself if he thinks Nick won't screw with this show after they've screwed over all his other shows. If it an't the Sponge, Nick doesn't seem willing to treat whatever gets dropped into its lap with respect, not even the good stuff), Becky could've easily bombed, like Lewis and Songco did when they debuted back in Season 5. But perhaps because she had experience working with Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco, Becky was able to avoid the same pitfalls in her debut that they fell victim to. I'm not entirely sure how much of SugarMac is her fault, I suspect the blame lays more with Hasbro and DHX for reasons (I guess it might be for the sake of toys, but wouldn't Cheerilee's toy get a boost if paired up with Big Macintosh's?)/
5. Brittany Jo Flores (Episodes written: Once Upon a Zepplin)
Reason: Remember how when I did the review for "Once Upon a Zepplin", I couldn't dig up any writing information on Brittany? Well, now I have, and it turns out that she only previously wrote for Skylanders Academy, which I hear Josh Haber has also written for. But like Jennifer Skelly a season ago, Brittany is more or less a writer who got plucked from the depths of obscurity, and wrote a solid (if still somewhat flawed) episode. For her writing debut on the show, Brittany didn't do anything majorly wrong, and that's saying something considering what "Once Upon a Zepplin" could have been. At the same time, however, there are some things she could've done better, such as cutting out the repeated Shining Armor air sick jokes that weren't really funny to begin with. I'm not sure whether she had a say in Iron Will being the villain of the episode or not, but if she did that's a case of not doing the research. All the same, that's really all I can fault her for.
4. May Chan (Episodes written: Not Asking for Trouble, Marks and Recreation)
Reason: May Chan got off to an even worse start than Josh Hamilton, despite both of them having similar writing credentials. But whereas Josh got worse and worse with each new episode he was given, May didn't stay in the doldrums for long and improved greatly with "Marks and Recreation". I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the fact that when she wrote that episode, she had the luck of working with Josh Haber in addition to Lewis and Songco, but after "Not Asking for Trouble" and its confusing ending, I don't think anyone would've guessed that May Chan would be the writer to improve the most significantly this season (as far as new writers go anyway).
3. Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco (Episodes written: Celestial Advice, All Bottle Up, A Royal Problem, The Perfect Pear)
Reason: While they might have been absolutely terrible as story editors in the long run, Lewis and Songco seemed to really hit their writing stride this year! After all, two of Season 7's biggest hits bore their name, and a lot of Top Ten Episode lists for Season 7 include their other episodes this season as well. But although "A Royal Problem" was pretty good in spite of its flaws (if I really wanted to I could rip it apart, the more you look at it the less it make sense) and "The Perfect Pear" was indeed perfect, I feel like those highs disguise a few problems that could've easily dragged down Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco this season. "Celestial Advice" only really stood out because of the Celestia bits, because otherwise you really can't call it much of a premiere. And ooh boy, not only does "All Bottled Up" really have no ties to "Celestial Advice" for a back to back premiere, but it's amazing how unlikeable you can make a character in the span of an episode. In fact, Trixie was so bad and dragged down the A plot so much, you kind of forget there was a somewhat enjoyable B plot with the mane six (albeit on a throwaway song). All in all, they did get better as writers this season, but that wasn't really made clear until the end of the first half of Season 7.
2. Josh Haber (Episodes written: It Isn't the Mane Thing About You, Uncommon Bond (Collab with Kevin Lappin), Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2 (Collab with Nicole Dubac, credited solo for story))
Reason: Josh Haber's been getting a lot of flack since the end of Season 5 for the reformation of Starlight Glimmer, but now I think it's safe to say that in terms of both writing and editing he's effectively proven all the neigh sayers wrong. "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You" gave him a chance to finally write an episode based on his favorite pony, and he proved that unlike last season, he can write her well and give her good appearances in other writers episodes. I don't think it's any coincidence that his return to the story editor's chair marked the first signs of improvement in the second half of the season, or that with his name next to Kevin Lappin's "Uncommon Bond" didn't suck (in fact it did quite the opposite). And then of course there's "Shadow Play", which seems to be the first finale since "Twilight's Kingdom" that everyone can agree was outstanding. But there's one writer (or I should say writers) who surpassed Haber in terms of writing mastery this season.
1. Michael P. Fox and Will Fox (Episodes written: Forever Filly, Discordant Harmony)
Reason: The Fox Brothers got treated very poorly last season, only getting Josh Haber when he was stuck on his determination to have Rarity in every episode no matter what, and then getting paired up with two writers who having only worked with Michael Vogel, were ill prepared to help the struggling brothers. Thankfully, when given the chance to write on their own, Michael P. and Will showed that they can do really well. "Forever Filly" was for the longest time, the high point of Season 7's first half (only finally being demoted from that position by "The Perfect Pear"). And "Discordant Harmony" demonstrated that the Fox brothers could extend their good writing skills to characters they'd never even worked with before, such as Fluttershy and Discord. "Discordant Harmony" helped to build momentum for "The Perfect Pear", when it could've easily been just a throwaway Fluttercord plot with little substance. "Forever Filly" also had the possibility of bombing, as it could've had Rarity be ignorant of Sweetie Belle's feelings all together, or made Sweetie Belle ungrateful for the time she got to spend with her big sister. But instead, we got an episode that treated both sides as sympathetic and relatable for "Forever Filly", and an outstandingly sweet (and at times hilarious) episode for "Discordant Harmony". So I have no trouble saying that Michael P. and Will Fox more than earned the top spot this time around.
And there you have it. Come back tomorrow, when we'll update the show's Wall of Shame to accomodate for the failures of Season 7.
I can't really rank all of the writers of the season, but I'd put Josh Hamilton over the Fox brothers for this season.
I found Josh's episodes just better than the Fox brothers'.
I came back, but I'm not a veteran writer.
Ya know, with all these Top X blogs, I'm crossing my fingers for a Top 10 Scenes from Season 7 or somethin'
"And "Secrets and Pies" managed to do the impossible for me, and eclipse "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" as my new worst episode."
I know we already talked about this in your Ranking The Episodes of FiM From Worst to Best, Version 7 blog, but I think another reason why you dislike Secrets and Pies more than The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 is similar to why, in terms of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes, Mr. Enter ranked SpongeBob, You're Fired higher than One Course Meal in his Top 11 Worst Episodes Reviewed (Year 1) list:
"Alright, so why is a stupid ratings trap worse than an episode that tries to use a realistic suicide for comedy? Through sheer lack of quality. Despite the atrocity that One Course Meal was, it told a story. I mean, it was one of the worst, most insulting, most mean-spirited stories I've ever seen in my life, but it was still a story."