My Take on Season 4 So Far

[P51Mustang]

So guess what fillies and gentlecolts, it's time for a pointless rant by Wilgrove!

Season 4 So Far...

Let me first say that I am enjoying this season very much. The writing is definitely more solid than Season 3 and it had some great moments that I'm sure I'll reminiscence on when this season is over. However, that doesn't mean there isn't some bad among the good and I think it's only fair that we try to look at the progress of this season with an unbiased eye. I'll start off with the bad and end things on a good note.

The Bad:

The most glaring problem with this season so far is Princess Twilight Sparkle. Magical Mystery Cure, Equestria Girls, and the book My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell had us believing that going into Season 4, Twilight Sparkle would take on a different role. Aside from the Season 4 premier, this has yet to happen. I understand that the show writers wanted to keep the Mane Six's dynamic the same as much as possible, but you can't really do that when one of the mane six is an Alicorn. Aside from the season 3 finale, movie, book, season 4 premier, I haven't really noticed that Twilight Sparkle had wings. Now I'm not saying that Twilight Sparkle should sit in Canterlot's Castle all day long and do paperwork alongside Princess Celestia, but her role in the Mane Six should change to a more leadership position. So far, it seems like Twilight Sparkle's ascension was a ploy by Hasbro to sell more toys.

Princess Twilight Sparkle also presents another problem, the friendship letters, or now The Journal Entries. Aside from Flight To The Finish, these journal entries have fallen kind of flat. Even the lesson in Bats! was kind of...eh. Now I am about to suggest something that bronies would not want to hear. I think it's time to get rid of the letters/journal all together. I mean Twilight Sparkle is done, she is the master of Friendship, so there's really no need to shoehorn in a moral in every episode. Now if an episode has to have a moral, either use the CMC, who are still learning or try to work it into the episode itself. There's really no need to have a "journal writing" scene anymore. Above all, it's okay if an episode doesn't have a lesson, sometimes an episode can be just a fun episode.

Now let's talk about something that may be too early to talk about, seeing how we're seven episodes in, but this kinda ties in with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Where are the **** keys? Yes yes I know have patience, but we were promised by Meghan McCarthy herself that we would have a season long story arc. The way Season 4 ended, it set up the box with the six keyholes to be the season long story arc. How does this tie in Twilight Sparkle? Well, why does she need to be in every episode so far this season? Bats! could've easily been done by AJ and Fluttershy at first, the rest of the mane six joins in when Fluttershy turns into FlutterBat. There has been at least two episode where the entire Mane Six cast wasn't needed, Bats and Daring Don't. In episodes where the entire mane six cast isn't needed, they could be off camera researching the keys and then we'd have an episode catching us up to what's been happening off camera.

The final "negative" thing I have to say is that some of the episode have been a little out there. This is not really a negative thing as it is an observation. Now I understand that to keep a show fresh, you have to change things up and try new things. Which I think is great and I commend the writers for wanting to keep FiM as engaging and entertaining as possible. There has been plenty of times in Season 4 where it has obviously worked, and a few times where it didn't. YMMY on Daring Don't, but I think this is one of those instances where it worked out. The Royal Guards and the Mane Six can't respond to every threat to Equestria. Daring Do being real works in the magical world of Equestria because she can be one of the ponies that take care of minor threats. FlutterBat in Bats! also works because in the beginning of the episode, Applejack didn't really see the Vampire Fruit Bats as animals with their own needs and desires. She just saw them as a vermin that needs to be stamped out. Fluttershy turning into one of them forced AJ to look at the situation with a different prespective because she can't just see one of her friends as another vermin.

However in Power Ponies, the whole thing just....didn't work. I mean I appreciate the fact that they became Super Heroes in a comic book, ergo separating it from Equestria proper. However, the whole set-up in of itself just didn't really jive. Had this been set-up like Hearths Warming Eve or Read It and Weep, I think it could've panned out better. While the idea of enchantment comic books and other works of literature seems exciting, I just feel like the episode didn't really do much to actually integrate it into the world. I think they just wanted to write a super hero episode is this what we've gotten.

The Good

First off, I still stand by that the writing is better than it was in Season 3. Aside from Power Ponies, the pacing has been spot on and six of the seven episode have been really entertaining and engaging. I mean I do realize that this is My Little Pony, so I do keep my expectation in check with that fact. The animation has also vastly improved, not only in the character's faces, but also in the environment. The environment seems more alive and it seems more like an actual world that these ponies actually inhabit instead of just a stage for a play. Characters like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy still continue to show the most growth and development, with Applejack growing some more as well. Pinkie Pie antics are more integrated with the storyline instead of just random wackiness. I'm hoping that we'll see some growth from Rarity in Rarity Takes Manehatten and it seems like the writers are going back to the true and tried storyline, which is what's needed after the wackiness of Daring Don't, Power Ponies and Bats!.

Final thoughts:

All in all, I give this season a rating of 7/10 so far. It has some obvious problems that I hope will be addressed later on in the season, but those problems doesn't really detracts from the individual episodes. I'm still hoping that the promise of a season long story arc comes true, but if we don't see anything by Episode 25, I will rage.

That's a wrap people.

[elsporko]

I don't think any bronies really care about the lessons/journal entries. I think if anything that is Hasbro's thing they want to help target the show to kids. The writers don't really seem to care much about it but are towing the line.