An episode a day

[Rares]

I can't agree with this enough. Early-AJ was a much more sympathetic and realistic portrayal of her, imho.

I think if you want to talk about directions of characters, Applejack unfortunately I think was stuck as one of the ones most writers have no idea what to actually do to make her look good. Early episodes of course make her look more like a hardworking, albeit stubborn, pony, I feel like recent episodes just put emphasis on "stubborn". Applejack's Day Off, Carts Before the Ponies, Honest Apple, all really lousy episodes that end up putting a really bad light on her one way or the other.

So the question is, why did she act like that when she was acting way different when Gilda was being a meanie earlier.

I'm a bit confused, I'm not sure what you mean? Like you said, she just wanted to try to do what she could to make Gilda feel welcomed, the implication is there but it seemed like she was just trying to make her feel welcome and was genuinely confused at being accused. Can you elaborate?

[Gentian]

S1E05: Griffon the Brush Off

The first few minutes are just so good to watch, I love hearing Pinkie laugh, I like how nopony gets mad about a few pranks, everybody is having a good time, very comfy.
When Gilda appearsm, I get kind of uncomfortable. Maybe because I don't really like her, maybe because I don't like how she disrupts that good mood, Probably both.

This is why I've never liked Griffons. I too noticed how Gilda changed the mood of wherever she went from a pleasant, happy pony place, to some juvenile little shit's wanna-be proving ground. On my first run through the series I was thrilled that they seemed to totally dump the griffons right after this episode. Since then, I've come to appreciate what they've done with the griffons, what with Griffonstone, but while that was a good episode, it made them look even worse. I mean, they abandoned RD to her death, because they couldn't be asked to even lower a rope to save her life without being paid?

At least there's Gabby; she's nice. But she's an honorary pony.

I think if you want to talk about directions of characters, Applejack unfortunately I think was stuck as one of the ones most writers have no idea what to actually do to make her look good. Early episodes of course make her look more like a hardworking, albeit stubborn, pony, I feel like recent episodes just put emphasis on "stubborn". Applejack's Day Off, Carts Before the Ponies, Honest Apple, all really lousy episodes that end up putting a really bad light on her one way or the other.

Yeah. It seems the writers have fallen into their own stereotypes for AJ. They write her as a dumb hick with an over-the-top Texan accent, and seem content to leave her that way. It's too bad; AJ isn't one of my favorite ponies, but she's a lot better than that.

[Cruuuubs]

I'm a bit confused, I'm not sure what you mean? Like you said, she just wanted to try to do what she could to make Gilda feel welcomed, the implication is there but it seemed like she was just trying to make her feel welcome and was genuinely confused at being accused. Can you elaborate?

She was looking legimately frightened when Gilda threw her out of the sky earlier, and she spent a good junk of the day grumbling about her or watching her doing mean stuff.
When G is grabbing her at her throat at the party and says "I'm watching you like a griffon", she's reacting rather sassy saying "why? can't you watch me like a hawk?", which always throws me a bit off considering her previous attitude towards Gilda. Like, is that how you react when you're convinced that someone is a bully and he is trying to intimidate you like that? Idk.

I guess it makes sense to say she just tried to be as positive and well-meaning as possible, but then you have to ask why she had this "shit happens" attitude regarding the pranks, when they were clearly pissing Gilda off.

Another thing is that Fluttershy never really got some kind of redemption although G made her cry and she was voicing her concerns about that party not being a good idea, she's just getting pushed to the side pretty much.

The conclusion of that ep is just not that satisfying to me in those regards I guess.

[Cruuuubs]

S1E06: Boast Busters

This one's okay, again not one of my favourites, but very enjoyable. Gives some insight about the nature of unicorn magic I guess, Trixie's nice, Twilight's a cute.
Not really much to say.
9/15 Ursa Majors that actually were Ursa Minors

[Cruuuubs]

S1E07: Dragonshy

I really like this one, nice little adventure, gives some great characterisation to Flutters.
That scene where they all try their own way of dealing with the dragon is hilarious.
this face right here

cracks me up every time

It's also really nice how they all had their little scenes that showed their characters a bit. RDs the most straightforward and a little impatient, Flutters is nervous as heck all the time but redeems herself in the end when her friends are in danger, Twilight takes the leadership role, AJ is down to earth and just helps whenever she can, Pinks is just kinda maintaining the positive spirit I guess, giving out some motivation to Flutters, but Rarity had the best little moments here imo.


12/15 dang ponies eating all of my scarfs

[Cruuuubs]

S1E08: Look Before You Sleep

That's a good one for sure, the interaction between AJ and Rarity are gold, lotsa cute scenes, and in general a really fun episode to watch. Had me laughing a few times, I always enjoy it.
Just gonna borrow a bit of what Rares wrote about it
Rari is incredibly memorable, and her lines are incredibly quotable. "It. Is. On." and "OOOOoooooOooOOO" are some of my favorite moments in the series. Plus a sleepover! Who doesn't love a good sleepover?
with the addition that I would also apply this statement to AJ.


12/15 muddy hooves

[Cruuuubs]

S1E09: Bridle Gossip

Everything about this is hilarious, so many funny scenes, climaxing in Flutterguy singing Evil Enchantress (at least for me).
First appearance of Zecora, I always liked the concept of her speaking in rhymes, it's always kinda smooth to hear it.
First appearance of a CMC, and Apple Bloom is great here.
It deals with kind of overdone themes, but it's well done, it doesn't feel forced.

Also I can't believe I never noticed how the "curses" are causing a major trait of each of the m6 to flip. Like, I never thought about it like this, but it should probably be obvious:
Rarity's fashion sense, RD's flying abilities, Pinkie's joy in talking (too) much, Fluttershy's softness, Twilight's magic and AJ's strength.

Yea but all in all, that tongue from Pinkie is enough to put it into double digits for me to be honest, that's so fun to watch.

Again 12/15, but this time it's 12 of those performances of "Evil Enchantress".

[Gentian]

S1E09: Bridle Gossip

Everything about this is hilarious, so many funny scenes, climaxing in Flutterguy singing Evil Enchantress (at least for me).
First appearance of Zecora, I always liked the concept of her speaking in rhymes, it's always kinda smooth to hear it.
First appearance of a CMC, and Apple Bloom is great here.
It deals with kind of overdone themes, but it's well done, it doesn't feel forced.

Also I can't believe I never noticed how the "curses" are causing a major trait of each of the m6 to flip. Like, I never thought about it like this, but it should probably be obvious:
Rarity's fashion sense, RD's flying abilities, Pinkie's joy in talking (too) much, Fluttershy's softness, Twilight's magic and AJ's strength.

Yea but all in all, that tongue from Pinkie is enough to put it into double digits for me to be honest, that's so fun to watch.

Again 12/15, but this time it's 12 of those performances of "Evil Enchantress".

Cruuuubs, I noticed that you're rating the episodes X out of 15, is there a reason for that?

[Cruuuubs]

Cruuuubs, I noticed that you're rating the episodes X out of 15, is there a reason for that?

Do you mean why I'm rating them in general, or why I'm using a "X out of 15" format?
I rate them because I just feel like it really, and I'm doing the 15 because I'm used to that I think. Though I feel like there's not too much sense behind it, really, since I basically like every episode, so the vast majority will end up at 8+ anyway...
But it's fun I guess.





S1E10: The Swarm of the Century


First thing that comes to mind: how are they not always scared of losing all of their food to those hardcore locust-things, they're freaking terrifying.
What I found interesting is how each of the m6 handles the "morning after" with those things differently, and it's funny how Rarity uses them as some kind of workers, hue.
Pinkie is actually great in this ep, knowing what to do from the start, but not telling the others what the heck she's doing because you gotta maintain the action-curve I guess. But it's cute.
The ending is funny, everypony bows down to Celestia, and Pinkie is just like, "don't interrupt me, I gotta do some shit"


10/15 Trombones

[Gentian]

Cruuuubs, I noticed that you're rating the episodes X out of 15, is there a reason for that?

Do you mean why I'm rating them in general, or why I'm using a "X out of 15" format?

Yeah, I meant the X/15 format specifically. In the USA it's mostly done X/10. I thought maybe you were making a joke at first, but they've all been X/15, so I've started to get curious.