Sunday 19 July 2015

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!

5 comments:

  1. I agree wholeheartedly with this save for the final entry. Who wants more Fluttershy when we could have a really great Pinkie Pie episode? We can even have one about Pinkie overcoming her fears. That's kinda like having a Fluttershy episode, but with the bonus of hilarious Pinkie Pie instead!

    You know, now that I think about it, they haven't done much with Fluttershy and Pinkie together. Maybe that could be a good episode. Might be nice to have Pinkie get anxious about something and for Fluttershy to be able to relate and help her through it.

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    1. I was going to say that that meant Fluttershy would have to try organising parties... but then I remembered that it didn't go so well for her in "Magical Mystery Cure".

      I'd certainly be up for am episode starring 'Shy and Pinkie, though it would be hard work for Andrea Libman!

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    2. What you need is a story about Fluttershy finding out how much she needs her other friends. Contrast her early life in Ponyville, when she was a recluse, with now. It'd basically be Party of One, but for Fluttershy.

      WELL SHIT, NOW I GET AN IDEA FOR SKEETER'S CONTEST :|

      (Kinda mean this to be a reply to Logan's comment but blogspot can't comments lol)

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    3. I think it might be more interesting from the point of view of someone like Angel. As her friendships with the ponies grows stronger, and the more responsibility she takes on, the less she needs him to be her companion, and the less time she has for him overall. That was a lot of commas. Anyway, I think that has to do something to a rabbit that was probably the center of her world before Twilight showed up.

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