Top Five Weakest Writers of FiM, Version 3 · 4:21pm Oct 31st, 2018
This list was due for an update after Season 8, and rest assured the same will happen to the Top Five Best Writers tomorrow. Here's the second version, from a season ago. Let's see what changed. And as always, I mean no disrespect to anyone at Hasbro or DHX. Also, before we begin, I should mention that I'll be leaving out Besty McGowen and Teddy Antonio since they left no impression one way or the other and therefore I don't think it's fair to say they're good or bad respectively. If you want, you can consider them dishonorable mentions.
5. Kevin Lappin (Episodes written: Honest Apple, To Change a Changeling, Uncommon Bond (Collab with Josh Haber))
Why he moved down: Kevin almost didn't make the list this time around, largely because other writers joined the list at higher positions. Maybe there's still hope for Kevin if a guy like David Rapp could write "The Parent Map" which turned out to be a decent endeavor on his part. But all the same, Kevin is among those live action writers that just wasn't suited to this show.
4. Neal Dusedau (Episodes written: Princess Spike (Story by Jim Miller and Jayson Thiesen), What About Discord?, Applejack's "Day" Off (Collabed with Michael P. and Will Fox for story))
Why he moved down: Neal is only moving down because others are moving up or being added to the list at higher positions. I don't like to sound like a broken record but Neal's track record has been very underwhelming and disappointing, full of unfunny jokes or scenes that go on for too long or accomplish nothing.
3. Josh Hamilton (Episodes written: Parental Glideance, Triple Threat, Secrets and Pies, Fake It 'Til You Make It)
Why he moved down: You know it must be quite a list when Josh Hamilton is getting bumped off the top spot on my weakest writers list. It's not that he really improved in Season 8, because "Fake It 'Til You Make It" is hardly an improvement from "Secrets and Pies" and I'd honestly have been more surprised if Hamilton had managed to do worse than that (when you've already hit rock bottom it's kind of hard to go any lower). But in the grand scheme of things, "Fake It 'Til You Make It" is harmless. The kind of bad episode you're not likely to dwell upon for long. Which is more than can be said for the top two spots here.
2. Nicole Dubac (Episodes written: Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2 (Collabed with Josh Haber for story) School Daze Parts 1 and 2 (Collab with Michael Vogel), Marks for Effort, A Matter of Principals, School Raze Part 1)
Why she's not number one: If not for the two parters she collabed with Haber and Vogel for, Nicole Dubac probably would've cracked the top spot because oh boy did she prove to be a terrible solo writer! "Marks for Effort" spent most of the episode wandering about with no direction, and then when a climax was thrown in it saw Twilight sink to a new low by accusing the CMC without proof and never apologize to their faces for it. "A Matter of Principals" was another Discord's an a-hole episode that for some reason thought he was the one owed an apology. And I still don't know what the heck went on behind the scenes for "School Raze" that caused the writing to change hands between parts 1 and 2 or whether Nicole had other plans for the finale that Haber discarded when he took over. Sadly, she also seems to have stopped the "Ponyville Mysteries" chapter books that she and Michael Vogel collabed on together, and as far as I know they haven't gone on to other book writing endeavors since.
1. Kim Beyer-Johnson (Episodes written: Non Compete-Clause)
Why she's on the top: Maybe it's a little unfair to pick on a writer who only wrote one episode, but you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And that first impression can make or break your writing career for whatever show you're drafted for. And in Kim's case, her first impression was an absolutely terrible one. Watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash argue and feud for almost the entire episode wasn't funny, and watching the student six suffer because of it also wasn't funny (especially not when Yona almost drowned and her professors did NOTHING!). In fact, the student six are the only thing that kept "Non Compete-Clause" from becoming my new worst episode of the show, and they were just along for the ride. Pointing out that our two protagonists are supposed to be above all of this didn't make it funny either, it just made them look like pale imitations of their characters. So ultimately, Kim takes the number one spot.
And there you have it. Come back tomorrow when we'll look at the Top Five Best Writers of FiM, and then I'm thinking I'll update my mane eight ranking after "The Best Gift Ever".
I don't think you should put Kim at number 1 just because of one bad episode. Dragonshy wasn't particularly good or entertaining, and it was Meghan McCarthy's first episode; and M.A. Larson's first episode was Swarm of the Century, which was EXTREMELY cliche and not that good either. And they're both some of the most beloved writers on the show.
4961366 If Kim does redeem herself (assuming she comes back) then she won't be on the list at number one next time. David Rapp actually shot up from the bottom positions because "The Parent Map" turned out to be unexpectedly good on his part and suggests that maybe he's improving ever so slightly. Kim didn't get that same benefit.
4961376
The Parent Map is good? Okay then...
4961377 Good, not great. Definitely not among the best episodes of the show. But in a season where the bad outshined the good, any sembelence of good quality really stood out.
4961382
I feel like it's average for the season, but sure.
I personally really enjoyed "Uncommon Bond" (and "What about Discord" wasn't that bad) and I liked seeing the writers explore Rainbow and Applwjack's competitive side again, something we haven't seen since season four's "Castle Mane-ia." Come on, let's face it: these two are always going to have a rivalry between them. That's qwhat makes them so entertaining as characters, because they're constantly trying to one-up each other.
4965330 Except in this case even the episode admits their competitveness is something they should have evolved past. Especially when it directly puts the students lives in danger!
4965456 Still, it's fun to see it back here. The episode acts like them being competitive is a bad thing when it really can't be helped and that's where a lot of their chemistry and the episode's comedy comes from.
Regarding Yona almost drowning thing, I think the reason why they didn't do anything is because they knew their students could handle it, much like how Celestia was in the first couple of seasons. After all, they have a hippogriff and a changeling with them. Why would they need to do anything when those two could easily solve the problem? And it didn't really seem that Yona was in any real danger since the water only appeared to be ankle-deep, not that deep at all.
4965492 She couldn't swim! It doesn't how deep or shallow the water was, the fact that she went underwater after her lifejacket was ripped off was not only not funny but it made Applejack and Rainbow Dash look bad for failing to do anything about it! The entire episode seemed to think things would automatically be funny if they just put them in there, but you can't expect us to find things funny if you don't put effort into being funny. And when you admit your characters should be beyond the behavior they display, you know your story's in trouble.
4965505 There were actually a lot of funny bits in that episode, though.
4965564 Aside from the "Field Trip" part and Pinkie Pie mentioning how literally anyone was more qualified to teach teamwork, there really weren't in my book. The comedy was supposed to come from Applejack and Rainbow Dash's competiveness, but it went from insufferable to boring when they started competing over who could compromise more.
4965718
I found plenty to laugh about in this episode:
"Fluttershy getting her picture taken
*Gallus smelling Yona and her reaction
*Yona smashing the shed
*Silverstream happily yelling out how much she loves field trips
*Rainbow Dash and Applejack complimenting each other, much to the frustration of the students
*Gallus suggesting that they leave Applejack and Dash hanging
*Ocellus accidentally scaring Gallus
*Applejack and Dash getting into another argument at the end of the episode
What on Earth convinced you that the comedy was supposed to come from Dash and Applejack competing iwth each other? That's never been played for comedy.