@Background Pony #F9E3  
Eight episodes in and it’s still all the same, that’s 1/3 of the season already. What now?

@Itsthinking
 
 
Sorry for the double post but  
HOW DARE YOU IMPLY THE GREAT DEMON-MONGERS OF GREED ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THE HOLY PROGRAM!
 
HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT THEY AREN’T TAINTING EVERY LAST SECOND OF THE SHOW WITH THEIR FOUL CARESS OF BUSINESS AND GREED?!

@Masem  
BLASPHEMY!
 
HOW DARE YOU COMPARE THAT FILTHY CORPORATE DEMON-WHORE TO THE PERFECT GODDESS-EMPRESS FAUST!!
 
/blatantsarcasm

@Masem  
Is the role of a story editor important in every show, though? FiM obviously needs one, but I think the role only became super important post-2010 when cartoons started having a renewed importance on continuity.
 
People talk about how McCarthy can’t “stand up” to these dark figures who want to ruin the show, but I’ve heard differently. I’ve heard that not only does Hasbro only focus on the premieres and finales, but Hasbro Studios often fights to keep their productions as they were written. Plus, a lot of the stuff that people say they’re “afraid” to do are things that would be turned down by S&P, not Hasbro.

@Itsthinking  
Nowadays, yes. But that’s no different from Lauren holding the script bible in S1 and in her role of S2. (Which is what bugs me when the cult of Faust from /mlp/ decry that MCCarthy’s approach is bogus, when nearly any show done right (cartoon or not) is going to have someone with the playbook and using it all the time)

@Masem  
Apparently McCarthy is really what all of the scripts hinge on, she’s the one everyone reports to.

@Itsthinking  
Though, going by Lauren’s comments when she was the showrunner, no script went to production before passing by at least her, someone from Hasbro (for appropriateness), and perhaps Jayson or a few others. Yes, it’s a kids show, they’re not going to spend hours debating if a tiny detail goes off canon (because what’s left for us to find? :) but I do expect just double checking and tweaking to make sure that characters and larger world elements are at least aimed in the direction the show bible sets out. That allows the “who wants this”, first-time writer scenario to work as you describe.
 
And of course, we still have people that expect every episode ‘‘must’’ expand the world and mythology and where slice-of-life stories that reset everything at the end are lame. Yet, that’s the stable of a kids show going for syndication, and hence why if there are any wham episodes it will be really clear it is a wham episode throughout it.

@Background Pony #F9E3  
While many probably underestimate the amount of dedication she and the rest of the team put into the episodes, “YOU THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER? TRY!” is a terrible argument.

@Itsthinking  
I’d love to see her fan club at /mlp/ do better.

@Masem  
The thing is that the way the episodes are written is partially a “who wants this one” situation IIRC. They have to keep things open since writers aren’t expected to watch every single goddamn episode of the show and because the editing schedule is tight. It was probably more relaxed in S4, but they couldn’t rewrite an entire episode if the spin that one writer decided to take made no sense in the context of the rest of them.
 
I do not envy McCarthy’s job.

@Background Pony #F9E3  
Apply that to any other tv series, people would call it quits :V

@Itsthinking  
Yeah, I figure that if there’s any type of Wham episode, Meghan’s going to be in full control of it to make sure the wham result is the right result. In “Flight…” there could have been a wham (dealing with Scootaloo and flight) but they very carefully sidestepped it.

The good times are over.

@Background Pony #F9E3  
This

@Background Pony #B191  
Yes exactly. Five episodes.
 
out of TWENTY-SIX.
 
Would you fuckers calm down? We’ve barely started.

@Masem  
It also allows any one person on the writing team to have their ideas contributed to the continuity without major issue.

It avoids them having to retcon something if, say, being an orphan or flightless becomes a key point in a future episode. It maintains the status quo with only a few ripples.

@PonyPon  
If they had mentioned it all, they would not only have had nothing to work with later, but they would have been accused of pandering and/or playing their trump card too early. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
 
And it’s to the benefit of content producers to leave the audience in the blind for as long as possible. It ensures that people will keep talking about it and that any episode that covers a possible solution will be widely watched.

First episode I didn’t like. Daring Don’t was full of holes, but it was goofy and fun.
 
Flight to the Finish was vague and didn’t explain anything. Shit.

4chan has several display modes, btw. Most people leave it on the default.

@Itsthinking  
I know. You’re right.
 
But do they have to leave us blind while they’re at it?

omg… I’m agreeing with 4chan. what’s up with this season man.

@PonyPon  
People flipping shit isn’t good for the overall health of the show. They also don’t want to answer every question they pose, IIRC.

@Itsthinking  
I think that would be better than almost nothing.

Well whenever they try to do something definite, people flip shit.