Applebuse. Is. A. Thing.

Fair enough, and thanks for showing us how you think this season is shaping up compared to the last one (I mean that sincerely).
 
As for how they measure up (again, this is my opinion, and anyone is free to differ):
 
The Return of Harmony (Parts 1 & 2) – Must See  
Lesson Zero – Must See (Caveat: Mixes up how the moral is delivered)  
Luna Eclipsed – Watchable  
Sisterhooves Social – Passable  
The Cutie Pox – Watchable  
May the Best Pet Win! – Passable  
The Mysterious Mare Do Well – Skip it
 
The Crystal Empire (Parts 1 & 2) – Must See  
Too Many Pinkie Pies – Watchable  
One Bad Apple – Watchable  
Magic Duel – Must See  
Sleepless in Ponyville – Watchable  
Wonderbolts Academy – Must See (here’s why )  
Apple Family Reunion – Passable
 
The point I’m trying to make (which isn’t meant to invalidate yours; yours is perfectly valid), is that to me, season 2 seemed to faff about more, and the show was struggling to find direction.

“Sleepless in Ponyville” I might rank 1 higher, but “The Crystal Empire” I might rank one lower, so the season total is still the same. I guess my point is that I thought Season 2 was much more enjoyable than Season 3 until I actually went back and looked at each episode.

It’s not the most scientific system, since a little over half the episodes ended up a 3.
 
The Return of Harmony (Parts 1 & 2) - 5  
Lesson Zero - 1  
Luna Eclipsed - 4  
Sisterhooves Social - 3  
The Cutie Pox - 3  
May the Best Pet Win! - 3  
The Mysterious Mare Do Well - 3
 
The Crystal Empire (Parts 1 & 2) - 4  
Too Many Pinkie Pies - 3  
One Bad Apple - 3  
Magic Duel - 3  
Sleepless in Ponyville - 4  
Wonderbolts Academy - 2  
Apple Family Reunion - 3

@FloydPinkerton
 
Would you mind sharing those episode ratings? I’m curious to see how you reached the score for both.
 
As for me personally, I don’t assign metric values to things like episodes, as it doesn’t really speak of the strengths and weaknesses of said episodes.
 
I use a modified SF Debris inspired rating for non-trek shows, those ratings being:
 
Must see: Self explanatory.  
Watchable: Fun to watch, but doesn’t represent the best of what the show can be.  
Passable: Middle of the road, you-wont-miss-anything-if-you-don’t-watch-it episode.  
Skip it: It may appeal to you, but it may not be worth your time to watch it.  
Avoid: This is for episodes that are simply bad and/or annoying and/or embarrassing to watch.
 
As with SF Debris, if I am to state how I would personally rate an episode using the above rating system, it would be my personal opinion.

@Ebalosus: After you made that comment I consolidated my episode ratings so I have everything on a scale of 1-5. Amazingly, the first 7 episodes of Seasons 2 and 3 both come to exactly 3.14.

Most of this season so far isn’t particularly good or bad. The episodes are in the middle of the road.

To me, this season is still on a hot streak from the get-go. Remember that this time last season was MMDW (for better or worse)

This mas made after The Show Stoppers. So that is the episode it is talking about.

Nothing beats Sleepless for me. It’s going to take a lot.

But…but I like every episode that isn’t the first two…why, applejack, why?

Maybe the artist had no particular episode in mind. Maybe they just wanted to watch bronies argue.

I don’t know what any of you are talking about. There haven’t been any bad episodes this season. They have all been consistent so far.

MLP what happened?  
you were cool, now your episodes are bad  
S3 just lacks something that S1 and a small part of S2 had

Nope. No episode of Ponies is awful. They are all amazing..
 
Well, except for the one with spike and owlilicious, …. and the one with King Sumbraro,

This could be refer to any CMC episode, really.

*hit

I agree A.J., Luna Eclipsed was truly awful, but you should not hid Apple Bloom. Hit Pinkie and Dash instead.

Yeah, it could refer to Call of the Cutie, which was considered “bad” back in the Season 1 days.

@ Miss Shy: Wonderbolt Academy was awesome! You take it back!

Note that this is probably an old image not even about this episode.
 
BG uploader just left it untagged.

Hey, at least it wasn’t Wonderbolt Academy.

yeah, take it out on your little sister.

Well, the episode was “meh”, but it wasn’t as bad as The Show Stoppers, which truly did suck.