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MLP:FiM Seasons 4-6 Review: Oops all Peak
a week ago
General
Season 4
We have entered the peak zone. As it turns out I had seen about half of this season before dropping the show, I just completely forgot about it. At the time I think I came to the conclusion that the show had jumped the shark, which is fair because there are some wacky episodes this season, but I see now that it was all in good fun. Besides, the show doesn’t literally jump the shark until next season ;)
But yeah there’s just a lot of great episodes here. There’s a throughline of the mysterious mystery box, oh and the Equestria Games. Twilight’s dealing with being an alicorn/ princess really adds some spice after 3 seasons. Great one offs and concept episodes. You can’t -not- bring up the season finale and yeah it’s pretty fucking awesome. If I wasn’t sold on Princess Twilight in the first place, then it would still be worth it for all the craziness that went down in that finale. I never thought they’d go straight up Dragon Ball Pony, but there you go. So yeah, easily one of the top seasons. I get it now.
Also Maud’s here now. She rocks.
Fave Eps
- Twilight’s Kingdom 1 & 2 – The season opener gets some flak, I think, for being boring or random, but I loved it. A fun start for Princess Twilight and I loved the extra background for the Sisters. Cool kinda mystery too.
- Castle Mane-ia – This is just some really fun Scooby Doo/ haunted house shenanigans.
- Simple Ways – Oh no a Rarity/ Applejack role reversal episode. Rarity’s ‘country’ accent in this episode literally killed me. I died. The Earth Pony racism was pretty hilarious too, especially since Applejack is completely disinterested in this snob asshole unicorn.
Least Fave Eps
- It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies – Shortlist for worst episodes of the show, I’m calling it now. Annoying critters, Fluttershy episode, stupid conflict. Ugh, stop.
- Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 – The concept of this episode is alright, I just find it kind of boring. It’s also dumb how everyone is trying to force RD to learn their way with no one, not even Twilight for a while, thinking “She clearly has ADHD and needs to learn her own way.”
- Twilight Time – Meh CMC episode, silly conflict.
Season 5
Tentatively my favorite season! I’m not sure why, S4 seems to have an edge in better episodes, but idk there’s something to this one that I prefer. The Cutie Map is a contrived way to force characters into an “away mission” but I like what it does for world-building and for showing rare character pairings. Later on it finally gives us Rarity+Pinkie and Applejack+F-shy episodes. Oh, I also love the finale. Sucker for what-if dark futures, especially when the continuity is so good.
A few episodes this season were weirdly affecting for me. ‘Slice of Life,’ the infamous 100th episode, for obvious reason, but also ‘Amending Fences,’ ‘Do Princesses Dream?,’ and ‘Crusaders of the Lost Mark.’ Just really solid character stuff, y’know?
I guess we have to bring up Starlight Glimmer now. I completely understand why people hate her, but I’m sorry I kinda like her. We’ll get into it next season since she’s more prominent there. I will say though that along with Diamond Tiara I like the throughline of Forgiveness this season.
Fave Eps
- Slice of Life – Obviously. Of course. It’s just so fun, indulgent, and also wholesome. It was really big of the show to go as far as throwing their unlikely fandom this much of a bone. Derpy speaks! With a proper voice this time, Lyra and Bon Bon are BEST FRIENDS (and that’s all guys, really), A shark is well and truly jumped. As a brony from like day one this episode makes me feel warm inside.
- Crusaders of the Lost Mark – I guess people grump about D. Tiara suddenly getting sympathy, but I thought it was really fitting for her to be the one who helps the CMC find their marks. I hear she doesn’t get much screen time after this which is a shame because this episode made me feel for her. Good songs, good wrap up for the CMC’s. I do like the idea of the crusaders’ shared marks, but I don’t love the way they look. It’s whatever, great episode.
- Amending Fences – Twilight revisiting her nerdy-shut-in days wasn’t on my BINGO card, but it makes so much sense in hindsight. With the added angle of Moondancer basically having turned into then-Twilight. This one felt really real-life relatable.
Least Fave Eps
- Princess Spike – Oh good, another episode where Spike is full of himself and being a douche. This one was actually kind of funny, but not enough to counterbalance the usual Spike shenanigans.
- What About Discord? – Fun concept, but ended up feeling like a nothing episode.
- The Hooffields and McColts – Eh, just a boring Map episode.
Season 6
There’s a lot of highs in this season, but the lows are lower than in the last two seasons. You can almost split it in half with the first being mostly great, and the second having some gnarly ones. Least favorite Season opener probably, with Flurry Heart. It just felt weird, anti-climactic despite all the crazy stuff going on. Finale was mostly awesome tho, except for the very end where the Changelings just… suddenly don’t need to steal love anymore.
I -think- there was a writing shake-up with this season and if so you definitely feel it. Not all the time, but when things get out of character it’s worse than before. The new writers do lead to some unusual episodes though that shake things up in a good way.
Starlight. I like her. She’s got this playful, wry attitude. She feels like a more “grounded or relatable” character now that the Mane 6 have learned a zillion friendship lessons and saved the world a few times. I do wish Starlight had more one-on-one time with the other Mane 6, BUT, I also like that she gets to make her own friends. Pairing her with fan-favorite Trixie is a good trick, but it also works so well. Both redeemed villains with a flair for magic, both with a witty, sarcastic air. Very cute. The Redeemed Rejects squad in the finale was fun too.
So, a more uneven season, but I still overall enjoyed it a lot. Bonus Discord Quote I found really funny: “I ruined your night and you don’t even think I’m cool?”
Fave Eps
- The Where and Back Again 1&2 – Yes it’s contrived that every hero and alicorn got taken out, but whatever it opens up some good fun for the reject crew. I like the Changelings too, though again, the fact they can just decide to not go hungry is way dumb and out of nowhere.
- The Gift of Maud Pie – I’m beginning to think every Maud episode is a banger. And Rarity’s hanging out for this one. Good shit.
- No Second Prances – Ok, I now understand why people like Trixie so much. Starlight bumping into the one other infamous unicorn in town just works so good. Bonus for Trixie’s hilarious alternate titles. Also the sadistic glee she gets from rubbing in how much closer to Starlight she is than Twilight. Very on brand.
Least Fave Eps
- Flutter Brutter – Ugh, of course Fluttershy has a hipster family.
- The Crystalling – Weird pacing for an opener. Weird motivations with Sunburst and Starlight. Eh, Flurry Heart is cute.
- Dungeons and Discords – Eh, lame. I should like DnD episodes, but they always end up feeling tryhard.
Assorted Random Thoughts
- I really like that there are different races/ species showing up more. Dragons, gryphons, yaks, changelings. Do they all worship Celestia too or do they have their own living deities?
- I love the Luna's dream therapy episodes. The Scoot one's probably best, but it's just interesting dream imagery and such.
- Gauntlet of Fire might be a new favorite Spike episode, probably because it's almost more about that new cutie Ember.
- Maud Pie is so awesome, I forgot her somehow. In a world of loud, colorful ponies she is truly punk rock.
- Applejack's "Day" Off was so wack. No way Applejack has such ridiculous, inefficient work habits.
We have entered the peak zone. As it turns out I had seen about half of this season before dropping the show, I just completely forgot about it. At the time I think I came to the conclusion that the show had jumped the shark, which is fair because there are some wacky episodes this season, but I see now that it was all in good fun. Besides, the show doesn’t literally jump the shark until next season ;)
But yeah there’s just a lot of great episodes here. There’s a throughline of the mysterious mystery box, oh and the Equestria Games. Twilight’s dealing with being an alicorn/ princess really adds some spice after 3 seasons. Great one offs and concept episodes. You can’t -not- bring up the season finale and yeah it’s pretty fucking awesome. If I wasn’t sold on Princess Twilight in the first place, then it would still be worth it for all the craziness that went down in that finale. I never thought they’d go straight up Dragon Ball Pony, but there you go. So yeah, easily one of the top seasons. I get it now.
Also Maud’s here now. She rocks.
Fave Eps
- Twilight’s Kingdom 1 & 2 – The season opener gets some flak, I think, for being boring or random, but I loved it. A fun start for Princess Twilight and I loved the extra background for the Sisters. Cool kinda mystery too.
- Castle Mane-ia – This is just some really fun Scooby Doo/ haunted house shenanigans.
- Simple Ways – Oh no a Rarity/ Applejack role reversal episode. Rarity’s ‘country’ accent in this episode literally killed me. I died. The Earth Pony racism was pretty hilarious too, especially since Applejack is completely disinterested in this snob asshole unicorn.
Least Fave Eps
- It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies – Shortlist for worst episodes of the show, I’m calling it now. Annoying critters, Fluttershy episode, stupid conflict. Ugh, stop.
- Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 – The concept of this episode is alright, I just find it kind of boring. It’s also dumb how everyone is trying to force RD to learn their way with no one, not even Twilight for a while, thinking “She clearly has ADHD and needs to learn her own way.”
- Twilight Time – Meh CMC episode, silly conflict.
Season 5
Tentatively my favorite season! I’m not sure why, S4 seems to have an edge in better episodes, but idk there’s something to this one that I prefer. The Cutie Map is a contrived way to force characters into an “away mission” but I like what it does for world-building and for showing rare character pairings. Later on it finally gives us Rarity+Pinkie and Applejack+F-shy episodes. Oh, I also love the finale. Sucker for what-if dark futures, especially when the continuity is so good.
A few episodes this season were weirdly affecting for me. ‘Slice of Life,’ the infamous 100th episode, for obvious reason, but also ‘Amending Fences,’ ‘Do Princesses Dream?,’ and ‘Crusaders of the Lost Mark.’ Just really solid character stuff, y’know?
I guess we have to bring up Starlight Glimmer now. I completely understand why people hate her, but I’m sorry I kinda like her. We’ll get into it next season since she’s more prominent there. I will say though that along with Diamond Tiara I like the throughline of Forgiveness this season.
Fave Eps
- Slice of Life – Obviously. Of course. It’s just so fun, indulgent, and also wholesome. It was really big of the show to go as far as throwing their unlikely fandom this much of a bone. Derpy speaks! With a proper voice this time, Lyra and Bon Bon are BEST FRIENDS (and that’s all guys, really), A shark is well and truly jumped. As a brony from like day one this episode makes me feel warm inside.
- Crusaders of the Lost Mark – I guess people grump about D. Tiara suddenly getting sympathy, but I thought it was really fitting for her to be the one who helps the CMC find their marks. I hear she doesn’t get much screen time after this which is a shame because this episode made me feel for her. Good songs, good wrap up for the CMC’s. I do like the idea of the crusaders’ shared marks, but I don’t love the way they look. It’s whatever, great episode.
- Amending Fences – Twilight revisiting her nerdy-shut-in days wasn’t on my BINGO card, but it makes so much sense in hindsight. With the added angle of Moondancer basically having turned into then-Twilight. This one felt really real-life relatable.
Least Fave Eps
- Princess Spike – Oh good, another episode where Spike is full of himself and being a douche. This one was actually kind of funny, but not enough to counterbalance the usual Spike shenanigans.
- What About Discord? – Fun concept, but ended up feeling like a nothing episode.
- The Hooffields and McColts – Eh, just a boring Map episode.
Season 6
There’s a lot of highs in this season, but the lows are lower than in the last two seasons. You can almost split it in half with the first being mostly great, and the second having some gnarly ones. Least favorite Season opener probably, with Flurry Heart. It just felt weird, anti-climactic despite all the crazy stuff going on. Finale was mostly awesome tho, except for the very end where the Changelings just… suddenly don’t need to steal love anymore.
I -think- there was a writing shake-up with this season and if so you definitely feel it. Not all the time, but when things get out of character it’s worse than before. The new writers do lead to some unusual episodes though that shake things up in a good way.
Starlight. I like her. She’s got this playful, wry attitude. She feels like a more “grounded or relatable” character now that the Mane 6 have learned a zillion friendship lessons and saved the world a few times. I do wish Starlight had more one-on-one time with the other Mane 6, BUT, I also like that she gets to make her own friends. Pairing her with fan-favorite Trixie is a good trick, but it also works so well. Both redeemed villains with a flair for magic, both with a witty, sarcastic air. Very cute. The Redeemed Rejects squad in the finale was fun too.
So, a more uneven season, but I still overall enjoyed it a lot. Bonus Discord Quote I found really funny: “I ruined your night and you don’t even think I’m cool?”
Fave Eps
- The Where and Back Again 1&2 – Yes it’s contrived that every hero and alicorn got taken out, but whatever it opens up some good fun for the reject crew. I like the Changelings too, though again, the fact they can just decide to not go hungry is way dumb and out of nowhere.
- The Gift of Maud Pie – I’m beginning to think every Maud episode is a banger. And Rarity’s hanging out for this one. Good shit.
- No Second Prances – Ok, I now understand why people like Trixie so much. Starlight bumping into the one other infamous unicorn in town just works so good. Bonus for Trixie’s hilarious alternate titles. Also the sadistic glee she gets from rubbing in how much closer to Starlight she is than Twilight. Very on brand.
Least Fave Eps
- Flutter Brutter – Ugh, of course Fluttershy has a hipster family.
- The Crystalling – Weird pacing for an opener. Weird motivations with Sunburst and Starlight. Eh, Flurry Heart is cute.
- Dungeons and Discords – Eh, lame. I should like DnD episodes, but they always end up feeling tryhard.
Assorted Random Thoughts
- I really like that there are different races/ species showing up more. Dragons, gryphons, yaks, changelings. Do they all worship Celestia too or do they have their own living deities?
- I love the Luna's dream therapy episodes. The Scoot one's probably best, but it's just interesting dream imagery and such.
- Gauntlet of Fire might be a new favorite Spike episode, probably because it's almost more about that new cutie Ember.
- Maud Pie is so awesome, I forgot her somehow. In a world of loud, colorful ponies she is truly punk rock.
- Applejack's "Day" Off was so wack. No way Applejack has such ridiculous, inefficient work habits.
I won't say much about the last three seasons tbh I have barely seen much of 7 or 9, but I am interested to hear what you think of the changes they bring in season 8
She's got this wonderful cynical edge that is just fun to watch clash with the happy-go-lucky main group.
Btw, don't forget that Movie that happens between S7 and S8, the Holiday Special (Best Gift Ever) between S8 and S9 and the other Special (Rainbow Roadtrip) that aired half-way through S9.