At the halfway point: how S5 stacks up so far

At the mid-season break, it's time for me to take a look at how S5 has done so far. I think it's been a pretty good season, with the potential to be a great one. There have been a few misses (sadly, and almost inevitably, including The Spike Episode) but a lot of things have come off. "Amending Fences", in particular, looks like going down as an all-time classic. In the next rank, we have the season opener and "Magic Sheep", but there are also quite a few more episodes that fall into the "good but not amazing" category.

What would I like to see from the rest of the season? I'll try to avoid any obvious spoilers from that leaked list of titles, given that it's been accurate so far. But S5 could be heading for greatness if it included:

• A Celestia episode. This is perhaps the single biggest omission of the series as a whole up to this point. Luna has now had two and even Cadance has had several substantial roles. What has Celestia had? Not much – and in S5, almost nothing. This needs to change.
• More songs. Not counting the instrumental number in "Slice of Life", we've now gone eight episodes without a song, the longest dry spell in the show's history. Please don't let all the others be crammed into a musical episode and the season finale; give us at least a few conventional songs, please.
• A conclusion to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' central storyline. I'm with the majority who believe that this is being stretched to its limit now, and that giving the fillies their cutie marks is bordering on being overdue. They should be strong enough characters to manage without that thread now.
• A satisfying resolution to the Starlight Glimmer plotline. Starlight has the potential to be the most interesting villain in the series' history, but that will of course depend on what the writers do with her. Her "Amending Fences" cameo should be a good sign, as long as it did have significance.
• A really good Fluttershy episode that didn't revolve around her facing down her fears. They managed that way back in S1 with "A Bird in the Hoof", so there's no reason it can't happen again – especially with the interesting smaller roles that 'Shy has been playing this time around.

There are probably more things that could be added to that list, but they're the first few that come to mind. When we all reassemble after Friendship Games, I'll be hoping that most or all of them have also come to the minds of the people who actually make the show!