Yeah I agree /mlp/ sucks

Hey, the Total Drama fans don’t like anything either. At least /mlp/ calls Fluttershy cute!

@bchandler2  
Thx

@Jonny Manz  
@Whatsapokemon
 
These are good analysis.

@Whatsapokemon  
MLP is a slice of life show by and large. Filler episodes don’t exist in a show like that.

Anyone else agree that the ‘op is a duck’ tag is INCREDIBLY rude.

@Whatsapokemon  
Yep, the first season had a bit of a continuing storyline, albeit a low-stakes one, in the whole Gala thing. Season 2 didn’t really have anything like that - I guess that’s what happens when the premiere is produced during season 1’s production run, and then the rest of the season features Faust gradually stepping back more and more.
 
Season 3 was a bit of a transition season, with McCarthy taking over for Faust as showrunner. It also featured the first attempt at a higher stakes continuing storyline, although it wasn’t pulled off all that well, as Starswirl’s spellbook only features in the premiere and finale. However, the finale (which I absolutely love, despite its notable flaws) did demonstrate the willingness, going forward, of them being willing to change up the status quo in major ways - which is something I’m a big fan of.
 
Then season 4 came and it was the first season with a well-executed season long storyline, which is something I’d kind of been desiring since day one. I felt that it was the first season that truly lived up to the potential the show had. As a result, since then, I’ve preferred McCarthy’s vision for the show to Faust’s.
 
Season 5 was probably the peak of the show, in terms of quality (not to diss later seasons or anything). It had my favorite premiere (so much more cerebral and mysterious than the others), my favorite finale (just relentlessly dark and intense), and some of my favorite overall episodes (Amending Fences, Crusaders of the Lost Mark). It also introduced a pony who would become one of my most absolute favorite characters in Starlight Glimmer. Even if the season long story arc wasn’t quite as strong as the previous season, it was alright because everything else was so great. Larson did an admirable job filling in for McCarthy in the first half of the season.
 
Season 6 was a bit of a transition again, because we were going from McCarthy to Haber, since the former was busy writing for the movie, as well as working as Head of Storytelling for Hasbro (or something like that). Storyline was a bit lower stakes, again, but I loved it considering it was the redemption of Starlight Glimmer.
 
Season 7, an attempt was made at pulling off a season long story arc, a la season 4, but it wasn’t pulled off very well, with the Pillars being introduced haphazardly throughout the season, and then just suddenly appearing in the finale. The Lady Writers did an admirable job, filling in for most of the season for Haber.
 
I love season 8, personally, and it’s mainly due to the Young Six. They’re the reason I love the premiere and finale so much, and some of the strongest episodes were the ones featuring them (What Lies Beneath especially). I just wish there had been more of them. I also really loved Autumn Blaze and the Kirin, for what it’s worth.
 
Season 9, I didn’t quite enjoy as much as previous seasons, even if it did have the best executed storyline since season 4 and all that, mainly because I couldn’t stop thinking about how this was it, this was the end, there wasn’t going to be anymore after this, and so it was profoundly bittersweet for me. I did still love it, though, even if I felt the Young Six got a little shortchanged. I did like how dark the premiere was, and the finale was pretty great and intense (and surprisingly violent). And I don’t care what anyone else says, I will always consider the epilogue perfect, and the perfect way to end the series.
 
So yeah, I agree with you, later seasons are very strong and have some of the best episodes.

Do you really expect anything more out of people?

@Whatsapokemon  
We’re fans of the characters and the original themes of the show. Once Faust was removed the direction of writing went counter to everything it once upheld. I believe it was Miller or somesuch who said that it was “a little girl’s show,” which of course was not the intent of Faust. Bemoaning the ruination of something good doesn’t mean you have an imaginary “perfect” conception of it, it means you can see the direction of writing quality.  
You’re always welcome to come to /mlp/ or /mlpol/ if you’d like.

Just because you hate something now, doesn’t mean you couldn’t have been a fan of it earlier. IE Pokémon and Star Wars  
are good examples. A lot of older fans dislike what producers have to those franchises, but they are still fans.

@Background Pony #3DCC  
I spend as much time on /mlp/ as I do here, and I can say Gallus’s comment is spot-on. 4chan calls itself “the internet hate machine” for a reason.

If you don’t like Fallout 76, you aren’t a real Fallout fan.
 
Always with le eebil 4chan bogeyman. You ever spend anytime there at all, or is this all information you got secondhand?

I feel like there were episodes about generalizing large groups

@Jonny Manz  
Epilogue was nice, if quite rushed (good lord Smolder’s older design was lazy as sin), but the finale in context felt really “eh.” Especially given that the whole blame for the thing lies on Discord given that beforehand two of them were in prison (altho apparently therapists don’t even exist in Equestria given how they treat Cozy) and the other was so deranged that she was more of a danger to herself than to anyone else.
 
Cozy especially feels like they just designed a villain to be a kid just for the sake of subverting things without bothering to actually develop her. We don’t even have an inkling on any origin whatsoever given we know for a fact that kids are not born evil.

It’s a good point for a lot of things, not only ponies.
 
It’s okay be critic, but often I see people that simply love to make sh*tstorms about everything.

@Backgroundpony
 
Sorry, I guess, I’ll try to type in a more simple way for you.
 
I wasn’t the one who originally said there were filler episodes, that was Soundtea. Like you, I don’t agree with the idea that they’re the same as “filler episodes” in other series, but if the complaint is made that later seasons had too many “filler episodes” then the same thing must be said for earlier seasons too.

@Whatsapokemon  
Stumbled over your pretentious words catalog?
 
Filler episodes do not exist in MLP:FiM because there is Nothing they have to fill from a scource material Point of view (being the scource itself).
 
selfcontained episodes are common in slice of live Shows.

@soundtea
 
I mean, the entire first seasons were almost entirely basically filler eps. Having overarching stories within a season didn’t really become common until later on, and the most developed of the stories was the Grogar/Cozy Glow/Sombra/Chrysalis/Tirek one in season 9.
 
I do wish they’d concentrated more on the young 6, but that’s a thing which was probably hamstrung by planned toylines more than anything.
 
I still think that’s all consistent with what I said though, later seasons improved upon the first few seasons, and people remember those early seasons in a way which is probably more idealised and higher quality than what they actually were.

fan is short for fanatics
 
If they were not fans they would have moved on the moment they stopped liking it.

@soundtea  
I can see that (especially the Y6 being underused), but then, What Lies Beneath is one of my favorite episodes of the series, and I honestly thought the finale was pretty great (and frankly, that the epilogue was perfect), so I suppose I can’t be too mad.

@soundtea  
Agreed, this is exactly my take on everything.
 
The one exception to the later seasons in my mind is “The Best Gift Ever.” Now that was a bomb-ass special.

@Whatsapokemon  
To be honest, I noticed a pretty apparent downward trend in overall quality after 7. Even new elements tended to get sorely underutilized in favor of total filler eps (note a real lack of individual or duo focus eps for the Young Six). And then you have how sorely underdeveloped Cozy is, and the cobbled together feel of the finale. There’s still some standout eps in 8 and 9, but its kind of marred by the general trend of things.

But Derpibooru likes everything.
 
They’re not “real” fans.
 
Not that you aren’t right about some of them, but you see the problem with generalized sweeping statements you apply to an entire group of people.

It’s easy to get when you’re not desperate to oversimplify people.

@Whatsapokemon  
That’s a very good explanation, tbh.