Thoughts on Season 5 Episodes

Well, thanks to April Fools' Day and my FIMfic-aversary, I got a little sidetracked from these episode thoughts, and I got to do two more seasons before Season 9 on Saturday (I'm skipping Seasons 7 and 8 because I already made my thoughts on those episodes as they aired). So, after the infamous year-long hiatus after Season 4, Season 5 aired with much anticipation. Did I think it was worth the wait during that time?

Well... mostly.

The Cutie Map
~ This is quite honestly my favorite season premiere. I've mentioned that I've enjoyed it when cartoons had creepy moments, and this time was no different. My only complaint about this episode is that the beginning was too slow for my taste; otherwise, this just hits every right note for me, from the unnerving atmosphere, to the pacing, the conflict, plenty of the jokes, how they portrayed the cult... goosebumps, man.

I will admit, as cool as a villain as she was, Starlight Glimmer just didn't pique my curiosity as much as the four side characters that saved the day in the end. Granted, Night Glider was a bland, forgettable Rainbow Dash clone (no joke, the first time I watched this, when the Town Four were revealed with their cutie marks restored in one scene, I took one look at Night Glider and wondered, "Who are you?"), but the other three had their sticking out moments that got me unnecessarily invested in them. Party Favor remains my favorite of them, thanks to him basically sacrificing himself to protect his friends, and for his awesome balloon talent, and thus he's gotten his own little spotlight in a couple of my works.

Castle Sweet Castle
~ This is dumb and heartwarming at the same time. Dumb in that the Mane Five should know better when decorating Twilight's new castle, but heartwarming in that they're still trying to make sure that she'll be comfortable in the castle. Also, it's pretty sad that the library is the permanent loss of the show, and we fans just had to live with it.

Also, those pancakes looked yummy, and I'm not a big fan of pancakes. And that Bulk Biceps scene had me cracking up.

Bloom & Gloom
~ Okay, but what makes Babs' cutie mark funny to me is that her name is a nickname for Barbara--a name pretty dang close to "barber". As for the episode itself... it's all right. I like watching wacky dream shenanigans, and the lesson on a cutie mark representing who a pony is was nice.

Tanks for the Memories
~ I might have teared up a little bit. Yeesh, it somehow managed to convince me Tank was dying even though my brain was like, "He's just hibernating, just wait a few episodes until he's back". People get worked up about Rainbow not getting punished for sabotaging the weather factory, but I'm just over here like, "Well, she only sped up the process of winter, thus failing her goal, so I'm not all that hung up about it." *shrug*

But, whatever, I liked this episode.

Appleoosa's Most Wanted
~ I had this random daydream prior to the episode's airing that it was going to be an epic adventure that ended with Scootaloo earning her cutie mark, thus furthering a story arc started by Bloom and Gloom about the CMC earning their marks one by one and having to deal with the mixed feelings of one earning their marks before the rest but still trying to keep their vow about it not affecting their friendship.

But, I guess a story about a klutzy, depressed Clydesdale and the CMC having to help this poor idiot figure out his cutie mark is fine too...

I'm a little miffed that they did Braeburn dirty.

Make New Friends but Keep Discord
~ This episode is so beautifully hilarious. The sock puppet dimension gets me every time.

The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
~ This episode is fine, though I find it a little boring. However, looking at it in hindsight, I'm a little annoyed about how dirty they did the griffons. It couldn't have just been Gilda being a bad egg and other griffons being fine (like Gustave in the MMMMystery episode, and perhaps that one team in the Equestria Games), but then they went this route, and it rubs me the wrong way a little.

At least Gilda had her turnaround and one of the cutest flashbacks I've ever seen.

Slice of Life
~ An episode that I do admittedly find amusing, even though I don't really care for the background ponies. I remember watching this thing right after coming home from a town day fair, where I had just had a couple rounds in the dunk tank, so I was soaking wet, not even bothering to dry myself before watching for some reason.

Princess Spike
~ Idiotic side characters? And even our major characters are morons? Making the well-meaning Spike suddenly abuse his power halfway through the episode without proper build up? Convenient dragon allergy to dragon allergy trees to make things worse? Oh, goody, I just love being annoyed.

Party Pooped
~ We could have had less Yaks and more epic adventure with solidly-written Pinkie, because we spend half the episode with worst species just getting offended and breaking things over and over (in a blatant abuse of diplomatic immunity), and it gets so tedious that I want to scream. I would have much rather have watched more Pinkie on a party quest to learn more. Maybe with some Cheese Sandwich, too, probably suffering from laryngitis at the moment and can only communicate via accordion. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER EPISODE BUT NO WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE STUPID YAKS.

Amending Fences
~ Stop making me relate to Moondancer, episode. Don't remind me of how often I'm met with crickets when I put myself out there.

This episode honestly surprised me with how good this was. I wish we'd have Moondancer in a role again, I want to see how she's doing.

Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
~ A fun romp in dreamland is always something I welcome, and that sunflower scene cracks me up every time! And the final battle scene is fun to watch, though I do wish that the dream sequences were more creative, though (my dreams aren't all about drawing or writing--I get random stuff like tickling aliens while bouncing on a pogo chair to reach their ships, my sister infected with "Eye of the Tiger", or my brother doing the cha-cha to distract a unicorn llama).

However, the ending revealing that Luna created the Tantabus to punish herself really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Canterlot Boutique
~ Holy cow, Rarity made it! What follows is an all right episode, and I could just feel the burnout...

Scare Master
~ This is a better Nightmare Night episode than the last one, with just the right spooky atmosphere and all the great costumes, and that ending in the maze was epic. Fluttershy's paranoia was pretty annoying, though.

Rarity Investigates!
~ Is it weird that I thought that the culprit was Spitfire herself? I don't know why I didn't see Wind Rider coming when it was so obvious. But the ride was fun, especially Rarity, whose eye for detail made her a great detective.

Also, Shadow Spade better not be real; it was annoying when it happened with Daring Do.

Made in Manehattan
~ Snoozefest. Just a lot of nothing happening.

Brotherhooves Social
~ Big Mac in drag is both funnier and cringier than it should be. But that ending is so heartwarming!

Crusaders of the Lost Mark
~ I'm sorry, but this is probably the most overrated episode in the entire series.

The songs are better than Magical Mystery Cure, I'll give it that--the only one I hated was the election song, which was just all over the place. But, I'm having a hard time buying Diamond Tiara's sob story (and how much she "wants to be a better pony but doesn't know how") when it came out of nowhere, and the source of said sob story, Spoiled Rich, is just a convenient scapegoat and boring plot device just to make DT sympathetic for a quick, one-episode redemption that doesn't amount to anything. I was always convinced that it was just DT coming to the conclusion that she was better than everypony else on her own, and it was just her father being too busy to correct her that led to that.

I wouldn't mind the redemption if it was just about her being fed humble pie and realizing what she's doing wrong and how to be a real leader, instead of pulling the abuse card that Gravity Falls did a lot better. But, the existence of Spoiled Rich just bugs me! Yeah, sounds a little weird considering Mozzarella in my 'verse, but at least Ella's an actual character instead of some stupid caricature of snooty rich folks (Ella's not even that rich).

I'm also not a fan of the CMC's cutie marks. Putting aside that they're eyesores, when the novelty wore off and future episodes came... their new "helping others with cutie mark problems" thing got even more repetitive than when they were searching for their marks. Somehow, giving them what's essentially the same cutie mark with little variation and the same special talent made them just so boring. I'd much rather see them have different talents and how they deal with that, how they keep together despite their different callings, and what their individual episodes about exploring their talents would be like. But I guess you just had to keep the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' moniker and a similar schtick, huh?

So, yeah, not a big fan of this episode.

The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
~ This is a wacky one. I might have giggled quite a bit.

Hearthbreakers
~ Wrote this when the episode aired, still applies today.

What About Discord?
~ HOW DO YOU MAKE DISCORD BORING?!

The Hooffields and McColts
~ I find two hillbilly families fighting more entertaining than I should. Although the reason why the feud started was kind of stupid (seriously, there's plenty of land; build the house on one spot and plant the garden on another, it's not that hard).

The Mane Attraction
~ And another solid episode, with an Applejack striving to be supportive and honest but still as stubborn as ever. Though, I will admit, I find Coloratura as a character pretty dull. Sure, her little story arc in this episode is fine, but I don't find her very interesting. And I found her singing as a filly in that flashback kind of cringy--sounds too old, sounds too old!

I do find the "Razzle Dazzle" song hilarious, though, especially when watching those backup dancers. Not much of a fan of the "Just a Pony" song, though--feels too much like a generic "be yourself" kind of song that's trying too hard.

The Cutie Re-Mark
~ So, this episode started off as a lot of fun, seeing all these timelines and what would have happened had the Mane Six had not been there to stop X villain in X point in time. Although stopping the Rainboom should have led to the Nightmare Moon one, and all others have the question of how NM was taken care of before that villain came along, but seeing Sombra the invader was too cool for me to care until later. All these what-if scenarios, enough for me to wonder what kind of future would come about if Wayer Rune won.

However, several people have brought up the concern that apparently the Mane Six's friendship is the only friendship that really matters, since every bad future is one where they didn't meet and become friends, and I guess the Elements of Harmony just wouldn't stick well with other bearers, because destiny says only this generous pony is special enough for the Element of Generosity.

I frankly don't like the idea of only certain ponies being destined for certain outcomes; I preferred the idea that the Elements would latch onto anyone with the right spirit of (insert element here), the Mane Six just happened to be the ones to find them and fit the bill. It's kind of like how Spider-Man was supposed to be this random guy who just happened to be bit, and any attempt to make him "destined" for that is just stupid.

And then there's Starlight's backstory. Uuuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh...

So, her friend Sunburst earned his cutie mark and then was sent to magic school. I admit, I felt sorry for little filly Starlight, watching as her friend got excited over his cutie mark and celebrated with the neighbors, leaving her behind. But then, I looked at adult Starlight, and thought, "Hey, you're an adult; shouldn't you have gotten over it by now?" But, the story expected me to take her current pain seriously, as a serious motivation for creating an anti-cutie mark cult and ripping cutie marks off ponies' flanks. We might've had some recent hints from The Parent Map that suggest that her father might have coddled her and she didn't really grow up, but I just can't get over how stupid her reasoning shown in this episode was. Starlight went from a chilling, conniving cult leader to a big crybaby, and that's annoying.

I was fully expecting her redemption, but in this way? Eh... not to my liking, really.

I'm not a rabid Starlight hater, but this finale didn't paint her too positively for me, and I thought she was an utter drag in Season Six; it took me until Season Seven to warm up to her as a good guy.

---

So, while Season 5 was a fun ride, it still had a few sour notes that did not gel well with me, which ensured that it didn't match Season 4 for me. Still, I prefer to look on the bright side, with the idea of Season 6 bringing in something to ease all our doubts about Starlight, much like what was done for Discord and Sunset Shimmer. So, next time, I've got Season Six to share my thoughts on!

Comments

[Dashie04]

This is probably my favorite season.

I liked Crusaders of the Lost Mark, but it was probably for the songs, as I’m not picky when it comes to music.

‘Just a Pony’ is actually called ‘The Magic Inside’, and I liked it quite a bit. ‘The Spectacle’ is just too electronically altered, and as a rule of thumb, more snyths in a song =/= good (except for Imagine Dragons, who I love and don’t think have ever picked up an instrument).

The rest I can agree on, although I thought you forgot What About Discord, then I looked back. The episode is so forgettable, I even forgot your opinion on it. (No offense)

Not trying to make you like anything with these comments, just being clear. I just want to share my opinion as you do yours.

[PumpkinPie59]

Tanks for the Memories made Rainbow Dash my favorite mane six character despite not liking her for the longest time. It hit really close to home because I was moving at the time, and I thought I’d hardly ever be able to see the only friends I had (I only had two friends). I don’t see them at all now, and I have many many more friends, but I text one of them (now my best friend) all the time. A lot of people complain about the part where she cries, but it didn’t bother me because I was crying with her lol