Unpopular opinion time

@Ring Team  
Well What Lies Beneath was supposed to be a serious episode that focused on developing the Student 6 and putting them to the test for much much later in the season and the final one so that’s why the comedy felt lacking. The tests were a bit weird for some of them but I think the Tree did a good job at it, which btw I still have to question why it had no qualms in trapping them beneath the school for I think forever if they failed the tests.

@Myoozik  
Well, it’s way of thinking can be a bit odd… but I think it was probably bluffing.

@Kiryu-Chan
 
Yeah, I agree the Cutie Re-Mark has some seriously troubling implications. And it’s pretty disappointing how much Starlight really downgraded from being such a methodical villain in the premiere. I prefer it to To Where and Back Again and Twilight’s Kingdom, though.
 
@Myoozik
 
Nope, totally disagree.
 
I’ve mentioned this before but MMMystery on the Friendship was practically instrumental towards my choosing of AJ as my favorite pony. First time I watched it, I was more or less considering it a litmus test to prove AJ’s dependability, as I was convinced by that point that AJ was trustworthy and dependable and would never outright screw Pinkie over like that. And I was right! And soon AJ was my best pony.
 
I was immensely disappointed later on when I learned that her innocence was nothing more than a cutting room floor decision, and that she was indeed going to have screwed Pinkie over just like Flutters, Rarity, and Dash. Still grateful it didn’t happen though.

@Latecomer  
To me, an unnecessary episode in MLP is that one where the story doesn’t feel like a step foward in the world-building or any character development.
 
Yakity-Sax is a pretty easy example of an episode that shouldn’t have existed. Not only because the premise is lame, but because we also already got many many episodes where Pinkie Pie is written as an excuse to annoy or to scream.

Character development’s good and all but going overboard with it in a show that’s primarily slice of life is a mistake. Sometimes you just wanna chill with the characters as they are.

Sometimes character development can be discovering new layers to a character rather then linear development.
 
I don’t think Trixie (My fave) progressed as person much at all. Many of her flaws and eccentricity remained from beginning to end. She did however discover courage and compassion she didn’t know she had, or perhaps we didn’t see before because her flaws are much more noticeable.

@Ring Team  
I’ll second that one. But it’s pretty certain that Rockhoof and a Hard Place was important for the Pillars, especially the titular one.
 
And rather than judging an episode’s necessity, I prefer to judge it on if it feels like a waste of time. I mean, the Season 5 finale is an absolutely vital keystone of Starlight’s arc, and yet look how disliked it is.

@Kiryu-Chan
 
Oh I totally agree with how watchable it is, as I found when rewatching it. There wasn’t episodes where I was like “Ok, I know this one’s coming up, so I’ll take a break after a good episode before tackling it” type thing, like I feel with most seasons, though season 1 has that for me to a lesser extent with Call of the Cutie and Owls Well That Ends Well.
 
@Myoozik
 
See here
 
@Spinny  
@Kiryu-Chan  
@Latecomer
 
Though I haven’t gotten to rewatching season 6 yet, I too remember being pretty cool towards 28 Pranks Later myself, as the entire episode felt like a shaggy dog story that wasted my time. That being said, I still remember being able to get through it without cringing or getting annoyed at the main characters, thus provisionally consider 28 Pranks Later the better episode.
 
@Ring Team  
@GenericArchangel
 
I agree that season 5 is a great season, and some of my favourites are (besides the opener) Bloom and Gloom _{(reminds me of one of my favourite Stargate Universe episodes)}, Amending Fences _{(Minuette and dénouement for S1E1)}, and Crusaders of the Lost Mark _{(great songs and dénouement for the CMC)}.
 
@Latecomer
 
Though I agree there’s a sound concept and good ideas in The Cutie Re-Mark, its’ execution leaves a lot to be desired. I think it’ll be a while before we see the “The The Cutie Re-Mark is actually underappreciated and here’s why…” posts or comments come up a lot, even if we’ve more-or-less accepted the outcome (glimglam).

@Ebalosus  

 
These 3 episodes from the season 5 are actually my favourites from that season! And one of them, Crusaders of the Lost Mark, is one of my Top 5 favourite episodes!

@Latecomer  
I believe that, but it still leaves you wondering.
 
@Spinny  
Yeah on the other hand, her being innocent was another show of her Element and if she was one of the culprits, it would’ve went against her Element and reflected poorly on her, especially since it she was originally gonna lie about it and play the denial card.
 
@Ebalosus  
Huh, I didn’t realize I already asked that question before, but alright I get you. I’ve always enjoyed it from the first viewing.

@Myoozik  
Really, MMMMMystery (sorry if I miscounted the Ms) is an episode that’s only at it’s best the first time you watch it. (Well, you could say that about a lot of mystery stories, but in the end the resolution was clearly a case of “well, someone has to be the culprit.”)

Is that the one where Pinkie Pie is a detective? That one was one of the 3 episodes I didn’t like about the season 2 (being the other two A Friend in Deed and Hurricane Fluttershy).

@Ring Team  
…really? What’s wrong with Hurricane Fluttershy?

@Latecomer  
The ending. I don’t think a happy ending really fits here. It’s a pity, because I really love all the build-up. However, the happy ending was too indulgent to me, even for MLP standards. I also don’t understand how Fluttershy went back to Cloudsdale after establishing in Cutie Mark Chronicles that she couldn’t fly that high (that flashback scene).
 
I can’t complain too much, because I still have other great episodes from season 2. One of my 3 or 4 favourite episodes in the show is Putting your hoof down, with a very interesting, realistic, destructive and emotional premise with Fluttershy as the main character. It has another happy ending, but I think it’s more satisfying and more adjusted to the “scope” of the story.

,

@Ring Team  

You’re saying it doesn’t make sense that in Season 2 she could fly as high as Cloudsdale because of a Season 1 flashback scene in which she couldn’t when she was a filly/teenager, even though she flew there on her own wingpower episodes before in Sonic Rainboom?

@Ring Team  
Well, it’s not like Fluttershy suddenly became an amazing flyer, or they beat the record. But her little effort made just enough of a difference.
 
And what do you mean, went back to Clousdsdale? We only saw it flashbacks.

@Latecomer  
You can say that to many works of mystery where it’s enjoyable the first time but on repeated readings or watching, it really loses that sense of suspense knowing who the culprit is or how the mystery was solved. This one isn’t any different, but it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of it for me.
 
@Ring Team  
The Season 2 Premiere would like to have a word with you then.

Considering how late I got into the fandom it’s interesting to see all the varying opinions on episodes and seasons. I pretty much binged the whole series and outside of my feelings on Pinkie I’m mostly positive to neutral on everything.

@Myoozik  
Yeah, but it adds an extra layer when the culprits are familiar characters you thought better of, acting for rather flimsy motivation.

@Latecomer  

 
“Flutter Brutter” opens with Fluttershy visiting her family in Cloudsdale.

I forgot about Fluttershy visiting Cloudsdale in Sonic Rainboom. My bad. xD
 
I’m not a fan of Hurricane Fluttershy, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad episode. I think it’s average, but it has cool things, like all the build-up. I just wish the ending was a bit more satisfying.
 
I think the first bad episodes I’ve watched in the show were A Friend in Deed and Too Many Pinkie Pies. Both episodes have shown a direction where Pinkie Pie would be quickly flanderized.

@DoctorWTF  
Yeah, but what has that got to do with Hurricane Fluttershy?

@Brass Beau  
I mostly try to stay neutral, but I’d rather focus and talk about the stuff that I like than the ones I don’t.
 
@Latecomer  
Think about it this way, if the other chefs would’ve been the culprits from the starting gate, the mystery and suspense of the episode would’ve been vastly underwhelming because it would’ve been obvious and taken off any sort of immersion from the story. The point of a work of mystery is not only in the name, but to throw off your reader/viewer so they won’t get too suspicious as to the conclusion and catch on to what’s going on.
 
And if we’re going by the context of the episode, the cake was seen as incredibly delicious based off of Pinkie’s description so it makes sense why some of the mane 6 would backstab her for one bite. It can happen to anyone if they’re sat in front of some delicious looking food and explicitly told not to eat it, the temptation is far too strong.

@Myoozik  
Exactly. There wasn’t really an obvious way to write it better narratively - but that still doesn’t make it feel right. It’s actually a bit similar to everyone becoming teachers in Season 8 - simultaneously the only reasonable narrative choice if you’re going to do the plot at all without sidelining the leads in favour of OCs and kind of implausible and OOC.