My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

[Spark Of Spirit]

I am glad they went there since they brought Trixie back way back in season 3, yet we never found out what happened to Gilda. It was nice to see where she came from and what her friendship with Dash was originally like.

But the highlight of the episode was Pinkie. I always like it when they don't go too over the top with her craziness but keep her closer to how she is in her solo episodes. That's what she was like here and I really appreciated it.

[Pharass]

I am glad they went there since they brought Trixie back way back in season 3, yet we never found out what happened to Gilda. It was nice to see where she came from and what her friendship with Dash was originally like.

But the highlight of the episode was Pinkie. I always like it when they don't go too over the top with her craziness but keep her closer to how she is in her solo episodes. That's what she was like here and I really appreciated it.

Agreed on both accounts. I thought the episode did a good job at fleshing out Gilda's character beyond the two-dimensional jerk she was in her first episode.
Out of all the main characters, Pinkie is the one I'm most thorn on. There are times when I really like her and others where I just find her grating (A Friend in Deed to name one example). Fortunately, this episode belonged in the former category.

[Pharass]

Just saw the latest episode. Another great one, I really liked that they chose the show's 100th episode to focus on relatively minor characters; characters that do not appear often or are usually relegated to cameos.

[Nel_Annette]

I skipped the last 30 or so episodes I missed to see this one. Pretty good fanservice episode. Had this aired about three years back when I was waaaaay into the show, I might have had a minor heart attack.

[Pharass]

This has really been the season of fanservice (no, not that kind. obviously) hasn't it? Frankly, I'm all for a show bringing back rarely seen characters as long as its handled well and I think season 5 has done a pretty good job at it, so far. Anyway, I thought I'd share my opinion on the two latest episodes; Princess Spike and Party Pooped respectively.

Princess Spike:

I'll admit that I was biased against this episode the moment I read the title. You see, my tolerance for Spike is proportionally reversed to how big a role he plays in an episode, so episodes that focus on Spike do not tend to be among my favorites. Still, this one was decent; sleepy Twilight was amusing and I enjoyed seeing Fancy Pants again. That said, I really hope its the only Spike-episode we get this season.

Party Pooped:

This one, unfortunately, was not very good. Don't get me wrong, it had some bits I found funny, like the scene in the party-cave or the "wait, what?" look on Celestia's face when she learned that Twilight and the others almost caused an international incident. However, the portrayal of the yaks was frankly just embarrassing: Unreasonable, destructive foreigners who speak in broken English? Really show? That's what you're going with?
You know, sometimes I think this show should shy away from depicting other cultures outside of Equestria, because they tend to be painted with rather broad and simplistic strokes. Besides, we already got an episode on the theme of ponies teaching others about friendship in The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, so I'm not sure we needed another episode like that.

I must say, it gives me no pleasure to rag on a show I like, but sometimes its necessary.

[Mr. Big]

Pony returns with new episode today.

Anyway, it was good. As someone who's been getting some traction with his cartooning career, I related to Rarity here. There are animation producers like Sassy Saddles, a management type who markets a piece of creative work and gets large orders without considering how much the artist can handle, despite never having lifted a hand (or a hoof) on a creative project.

The minute Sassy Saddles said she helped manage all the big fashion designers in Canterlot, I figured it was because she kept getting fired for her management style. It was worse than that; she apparently RUINED those other businesses, if her "oh no, not another failed boutique" line is any indication.

[Pharass]

My thoughts on the latest episodes:

Canterlot Boutique was...OK, I guess. To be honest, I spent most of the time waiting for Rarity to tell Sassy off. Yeah, I realize that Sassy was hired to take care of the business aspect of the store, leaving her boss to focus on the more creative side of things, but surely, Rarity would still have some say in how her own business should be run?
On the other hand, I don't really have a problem with Rarity letting Sassy stay on. After all, she learnt her lesson and MLP has always been pretty big on redemption. Besides, Rarity is the element of generosity so that action was in-character for her.

The minute Sassy Saddles said she helped manage all the big fashion designers in Canterlot, I figured it was because she kept getting fired for her management style. It was worse than that; she apparently RUINED those other businesses, if her "oh no, not another failed boutique" line is any indication.

That's what I figured as well and if so, shouldn't she have figured out that her management style wasn't working by the time Rarity hired her? Wouldn't it also mean that unlike Rarity, none of Sassy's previous employers stood up to her in time?

Don't really have anything else about this episode. Oh, yes, I quite liked the song and I'm glad that we finally got an episode focused on my favorite character this season.

Rarity Investigates on the other hand, I really liked. I've always had a soft spot for mystery-stories and I really enjoyed how this one embraced the traits of the genre, complete with the screen occasionally turning black-and-white and Rarity narrating stuff like a pony-Philip Marlowe ("Here we go again, you are not equine to-night, Rarity". Ok, that line wasn't in the episode, I just couldn't resist throwing in a reference to one of the best mystery-novels ever written in there somewhere).
I also liked seeing Rainbow Dash and Rarity interact with each other outside of the main group. From what I can recall, that has never happened before.

Finally, was Wind Rider's design supposed to be based on someone famous? Visually,I thought he had a very classic Hollywood leading man look, to him.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Two Rarity episodes in a row was nice. She was about due. The second one especially was great with all the noir jokes.

[Mr. Big]

Two Rarity episodes in a row was nice. She was about due. The second one especially was great with all the noir jokes.

It's gonna be three in a row. The upcoming episode is also about Rarity (paired with Applejack)

[Spark Of Spirit]

Two Rarity episodes in a row was nice. She was about due. The second one especially was great with all the noir jokes.

It's gonna be three in a row. The upcoming episode is also about Rarity (paired with Applejack)

Best season confirmed.

[Pharass]

The latest episode has apparently stirred up a bit of controversy on certain parts of the Internet, who accuse it of being transphobic, due to the fact that Big Mac spends most of the episode pretending to be a girl. What did I think of the episode? Honestly, I thought it was pretty good, it did a good job fleshing out Big Mac's character beyond the typical stoic, silent guy that he usually is and the final scene with him and Applebloom was really heartwarming.
Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's about as transphobic as a Bugs Bunny cartoon. People need to grow up.

I thought it was a good one. We don't get much focus on Big Mac so it was nice, especially to see his relationship with Apple Bloom.

[Pharass]

It's about as transphobic as a Bugs Bunny cartoon. People need to grow up.

I thought it was a good one. We don't get much focus on Big Mac so it was nice, especially to see his relationship with Apple Bloom.

Personally, I'm in complete agreement with you, Spark.
Anyway, what I really came here to talk about is the latest episode: Crusaders of the Lost Mark. I won't go into details for those who haven't seen it yet, but this episode was great; easily one of the best episodes I've seen, not just of this season, but the show as a whole.

[Mr. Big]

Fittingly, the latest episode aired on the fifth anniversary of the show's debut. And man, did they pick a hell of an episode to air on the anniversary.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I had to admit, I didn't see that ending coming. Partially because I was told they were never going to succeed back in season one. It's nice to see all their effort finally rewarded after so long.

It's been a great season so far, honestly.