Season 2 Likes/Dislikes

[Mojo]

Others have mentioned these from time to time on Canterlot.com, but since there doesn't seem to be a complete UNIFIED topic started on this subject AS A WHOLE, I thought I'd take the time to create one.

So far in Season 2 of MLP FiM, what do you like about it? What do you dislike about it?

Here's my list:

Likes:

1. The two-part Premier with the voice of "Q" himself as Discord!

2. Seeing Twilight Sparkle go NUTS ("Lesson Zero")

3. The various NEW settings (Bowling Alley, Construction Site, Ponyville Hydroelectric Dam, etc.)

4. More character development for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell

5. More airtime (and lines) for GRANNY SMITH! YES!! (And for more scenes with Zecora too!)

6. Seeing the Mane 6 pets again (and for RD getting one too)

7. Seeing Rarity's parents!

8. LOTS more background ponies introduced!

9. The intro of Mare-Do-Well

10. The Halloween ep "Luna Eclipsed" (my fave so far this season)

Dislikes:

1. Lack of songs (though "May The Best Pet Win" is a GREAT ONE!)

2. Lack of character development for Scootaloo (she didn't have a major part in "Mare-Do-Well")

3. Aside from the Premier, all the other eps take place MOSTLY in Ponyville (I hope they all return to Appleoosa this season for at least ONE ep)

4. MORE LUNA! After all, she is supposed to be co-ruler of Equestria with her big sister

5. No speaking lines for Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo

6. The various animation errors (seem to be a lot more of them this season)

7. No sign (so far) of fan fave background ponies like Trixie, Hoity Toity, Photo Finish, Sapphire Shores, Madden, etc.

8. No eps focusing on Fluttershy yet. The others of the Mane 6 either had eps focused on them OR played MAJOR roles in them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, I know it's early in Season 2 (assuming it runs 26 eps like Season 1) so things could change rapidly. But so far, what are your likes/dislikes of the new Season?

[RarityDash]

Hmm, well, the highlights for me so far would be:

- Pretty much every line Rarity's delivered. From the "Tom" stuff in the two-parter to her over-dramatic silliness in Lesson Zero, to some of the more touching parts of Sisterhooves Social, she's just been brilliant for me this season.

- Dash episodes. Were either of them as good as Sonic Rainboom? No. Still, after so few episodes starring Rainbow Dash first season, it's a teat to get them now.

- The Pet Finding Song. One of my favorite songs ever. Can't stop listening to it.

- Luna. It was great to see her shine in an episode.

- Twilight in Lesson Zero. So hilarious and crazy. Loved it.

- Big Lebowski ponies in The Cutie Pox. Seriously a treat for me seeing ponified versions of characters from one of my all time favorite films.

- Derpy in every episode. It's fun seeing her around, sometimes hidden.

- That Twilight doesn't have to write the letter every time. I think it works better this way.

- Rarity's parents show up. It's cool seeing families established. I hope to see Dash and Fluttershy's family situation set as well.

And then the dislikes:

- Relative lack of new characters. Seriously, we've gotten so few new characters with speaking parts so far. There was Discord, who was dealt with at the end of his episodes and Pip in Luna's episode, Rarity's parents and really nothing else. Seeing as I skipped apping for several cast characters in the RP I was interested so I'd be able to get first crack at the characters introduced in season 2, this is really rather annoying to me. I hope we get someone as exciting as Gilda or Trixie soon.

- Speaking of which, I would like to see more season 1 characters return. A second Gilda episode would just make me smile.

- More monsters. Seriously, the lack of cool creatures so far disappoints. Season one offered massive dragons, a manticore, a hydra, the ursas, and so on. This season just hasn't really delivered on that front.

- No Applejack episodes. It's been since Fall Weather Friends that we've had what I could safely call an AJ focused episode. That was episode 13 of season 1. It just seems like the writers have decided to use her only ever as a supporting character, when I think she should be spotlighted as much as the other five.

- More Celestia appearances. She's one of my favorite characters. I'd love to see her show up more. If her and Luna could appear together, that would be the best ever.

- Rarity and Dash haven't shared much screen time. Yeah... gotta support my ship...

But most of the negatives here are just me wanting something. Even if I don't get all of it, I still really think the good far outweighs the bad and anticipate that when all is said and done the second season will be even better than the first.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Likes:

• Totally d'awesome moments like Rarity's revelation in Sisterhooves Social

• More Luna!

• Zecora being awesome

• Tabitha St. Germain (I like all the voice actors, but Tabitha really pushes it to the limit.)

• Dat song! It'll be hard to dethrone Winter Wrap-up or Flutterguy's Evil Enchantress, but Find a Pet comes close.

• Spike gets some time to shine, even if just for a bit.

Dislikes:

• Discorded Ponies and Twilight's "want it, need it," enchantment were rather dark for my tastes.

• Not much about the ponies' role as stewards of the world (weather factory, winter wrap up, etc.)

• Still no mention of Earth Pony magic.

• Not enough Luna! (I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more Luna)

• Want to see more of the characters doing everyday kinds of things, or alternatively, more adventures to far off places.

I could get worried about the direction the series is taking if I wanted to. Discord's episodes made me feel deeply uncomfortable after all... But the way I figure it, unless I get a spot on the writing staff, worrying about it isn't going to change anything, but being pessimistic might cause me to not appreciate something I might have otherwise enjoyed. So I'm just going to take the episodes one at a time.

[Angie Cakes]

mm, lesee here...

likes:

more Rarity X3 I always loved Rarity because I can relate to her a lot, but lots of people didn't like her before. now people are starting to see more worth in her

I've noticed that there seems to be slightly more male background ponies. also most (all?) of the new background ponies have more character to them. they're not all just recolours of the same base

we got to see Luna. actually this episode in general was great

a new song

zecora

discord episodes were great. I kinda consider them seperate from the rest of mlp though (same with nightmare moon eps)

derpy. I'm loveing the way they added derpy this season. she's harder to spot and when you do, it's the most amazing thing ever.

dislikes:

the humor seems to be a bit more blunt this season.

not enough "life in a day" episodes (same with adventure eps, but I think we'll get those soon)

I feel sort of like pinkie's character is starting to devolve. the humor she uses now is similar to the way she was at the begining of season 1.

not enough variety of specific pony episodes, but we'll get those soon for sure

not a huge fan of the slight changes to the overall look. the magic is very dark coloured and it looks less natural, the agravated facial expressions are all really creepy, also the facial expressions in the song were really strange looking towards the end.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

I've finally figured it out! As my hero, Twilight Sparkle would do, I went and systematically analyzed every aspect of the season 2 episodes to isolate qualities that it lacks in contrast to season 1.

The results were conclusive. The only thing that Season 2 lacks that Season 1 had is...

Twilight Sparkle in Every Episode

[Dessa]

I almost doesn't need to be mentioned that Luna was wonderful, or Discord. I didn't mind Pinkie early in ssn 1, and I've loved her appearances so far. Theoretically, decoupling Twi from the episode's moral was a great idea, but in practice I have mixed feelings about that. Cutie Pox was a great episode, with a number of awesome BG ponies.

My list of grievances is long, but I've spammed them everywhere, so I'll spare you this time.

[Kirby Krackle]

My biggest gripe is how Rainbow Dash turned into a parody of herself. Where's that gutsy little Pegasus, strong enough to roll with the boys, determined enough to shoot for the Wonderbolts, and stubborn enough to never leave her friends hanging? Now she's a narcissist or something. We ALL know that Rarity is the narcissist.

[teygrim]

hi hi

I've finally figured it out! As my hero, Twilight Sparkle would do, I went and systematically analyzed every aspect of the season 2 episodes to isolate qualities that it lacks in contrast to season 1.

The results were conclusive. The only thing that Season 2 lacks that Season 1 had is...

Twilight Sparkle in Every Episode

While that is technically true, I think that the lack of Twilight Sparkle is more of a symptom of the real problem. In Season 1, Twilight and Twilight only wrote the letters to Princess Celestia, which forced the writers to make the mane six interact. In order for the shows formula to work, Twilight had to know what her friends were up to whereas now each character can be dealt with in complete isolation from the rest of the cast (eg the last two Rainbow Dash episodes minus a couple of very superficial exchanges). Now that any one can write a letter to Celestia, the writers don't have to deal with friendship at all.

I remember some people saying that the change in the letter writing was a good thing because it allowed the writers more freedom, but I feel that it has only allowed the writers the freedom to write stories abouts individuals and cut the friendship out of the show. It's just easier to write about one character than two, three, four, five or six so it's inevitable that the writers would take the easy option when the show's formula no longer forces them to make the characters interact.

[Apolline Allura]

While that is technically true, I think that the lack of Twilight Sparkle is more of a symptom of the real problem. In Season 1, Twilight and Twilight only wrote the letters to Princess Celestia, which forced the writers to make the mane six interact. In order for the shows formula to work, Twilight had to know what her friends were up to whereas now each character can be dealt with in complete isolation from the rest of the cast (eg the last two Rainbow Dash episodes minus a couple of very superficial exchanges). Now that any one can write a letter to Celestia, the writers don't have to deal with friendship at all.

I remember some people saying that the change in the letter writing was a good thing because it allowed the writers more freedom, but I feel that it has only allowed the writers the freedom to write stories abouts individuals and cut the friendship out of the show. It's just easier to write about one character than two, three, four, five or six so it's inevitable that the writers would take the easy option when the show's formula no longer forces them to make the characters interact.

And for as much sense as that makes, we've all came up with Twilight. She was such a major component in the show that discarding her to the point of not even seeing her in an episode, let alone giving her three to four lines of dialouge is simply alien. While I do appreciate that she doen't have to be the glue holding the mane six together anymore, I can't deny the fact that she's been shortchanged for her time. Maybe it's the writers keeping her low profile to prevent people from deriding her as a sue, but either way, everyone who's been down from S1 through S2 has some degree of care for the little purple filly.

And in the name of redundancy most high, I post my likes and dislikes of the season as well

Likes!

- ALL of the insanity that was LESSON ZERO, as nothing will ever top it...

- ...save for Luna Eclipsed which included this gem that I often recite to myself before bursting into laughter:

Luna: TWILIGHT SPARKLE HAS SPOKEN OF THE SWEETNESS OF THY VOICE! WE ASK THOU TEACHEST US TO SPEAK AS THOU SPEAKEST!

Fluttershy (terrified): Okay...

Luna: SHALL OUR LESSONS BEGIN?

Fluttershy: Okay...

Luna: SHALL WE MIMIC THY VOICE?

Fluttershy: Okay....

Luna: HOW IS THIS?

Fluttershy: Perfectlessonover.

-Sisterhooves Social, a rather heartwarming, if not hilarious affair.

-DISCORD.

-Tank, the gangsta turtle.

-Mare Do Well, the pony version of Anon.

Dislikes....

-DISCORD BEING TAKEN AWAY.

-Less Twilight Sparkle.

-A bit of...squriming as far as Rainbow Dash's characterization.

[teygrim]

And for as much sense as that makes, we've all came up with Twilight. She was such a major component in the show that discarding her to the point of not even seeing her in an episode, let alone giving her three to four lines of dialouge is simply alien. While I do appreciate that she doen't have to be the glue holding the mane six together anymore, I can't deny the fact that she's been shortchanged for her time. Maybe it's the writers keeping her low profile to prevent people from deriding her as a sue, but either way, everyone who's been down from S1 through S2 has some degree of care for the little purple filly.

Don't get me wrong, I love Twilight and she is one of my favorite characters in the series, but I still think the difference between Season 1 and 2 is the switch between a friendship focus into an individual focus. In my view, we rarely ever see the characters interact as friends in this season. In the Discord episodes, all the characters had their personalities switched so, although the interaction in these episodes were fun, they weren't interactions between the characters we'd grown to love. Lesson Zero was probably the closest we've gotten to an episode about friendship this season, but Twilight and Rarity were so ridiculously exaggerated that they might as well have been different characters. These were the interactions between cartoon characters not the friends we know and love. In the luna episode all the characters interacted with Luna (which was fun) but not really each other; the Sisterhooves Social had a little but it's main focus was on family and not friendship; the Cutiepox (my favorite episode of the season) was all about Applebloom and her friends might as well have not been there for all she interacts with them; and both of the Rainbow Dash episodes were just Rainbow Dash with very little input from her friends.

So basically, my problem with this season is the lack of friendship. And although some of the individual character focused episodes are entertaining, that's not what this series was about. This is Friendship is Magic afterall, not Individuality is Magic.

[Air Marshal Star]

Ok for me it was what every pony above me had stated though I would love to see more AJ episodes i feel like i really do have a common connection with her cuse beleve it or not My family does Have a farm in a certain part of the world and I am the 2nd person in charge of it when I go theire

Dislikes umm no speaking lines for the muffin queen derpy and they said she was now a main pony now

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Dislikes umm no speaking lines for the muffin queen derpy and they said she was now a main pony now

They never claimed she would be a "main" pony. They purposely put her in as an Easter Egg for the older fans, but she isn't meant to necessarily have a speaking roll. In fact, I think the creators of the show, and even the fans, are grateful that she has no voice. Giving a voice to Derpy would set a standard for what she is supposed to sound like, and with that, if she were to be given personality, it could take away some of the speculations of the fandom. They planned to put Derpy in during the storyboarding stage rather than just have her randomly pop up, but that doesn't make her a main pony.

[Therainbowtroll]

Ill get my unplesentness out of the way first

Dislikes:

*Rarity's new attatude. She seems more stuck up in this season and MUCH more selfish

* Too many rainbow episodes. Two in a row is a BIT much....

* Rainbowdash got alot more rude and snobby in this season as well.

* Lack of songs.

* NO SCOOT EP! Shes my secound fav pony

* No talking roles for the durpster

Likes:

* The "find a pet" episode!

*Derpy easter eggs

* The songs that are in this season

* Twilight isent the "perfect" lil student anymore! I LOVED it when she went nuts. She got bumped up the list of my fav ponys to like 4th when she wasent even on my list

* Twilight acctully has a personality now

* WHEN SHE DANCED IN THE NEWEST EP! Omg she was soooo cute with her lil toung sticking out...She was trying so hard to dance It was sooo cute

* PARTY CANNON!

* "OH NO! MAH SISTERS SPEAKEN FANCY!!"

* Flutter*****

* More Zecora appreinces

* Hooity Tootie and Photo finish apprences

I might add if I can remeber more

[Legit101]

I don't like that the episodes seem to be focusing less on friendship values.

[Loopy Legend]

I will go with the following so far for season 2

Likes

- Apple Bloom and Sweete Bell character development (love watching the CMC grow).

- Episode 5 Sisterhoove Social which still stands as one of my favorite episodes to date of all the episodes.

- More Zecora episodes, I reckon they should include Zecora a lot more but.

- Introduction of new Tier 2 ponies like, Fancy Pants and Kingpin.

- A return of Pinkie Sense.

- Lore development has been good so far this season, with loads of new glimpse at the world of Equestia on hand, one stand out episode was the inside look at Canterlot from Sweet and Elite.

Dislikes

- Lack of Pinkie Pie episodes, so far to date the biggest role Pinkie Pie has had in any season 2 episode, is probably in Luna's episode as she is boss of the frightened kids. Pinkie Pie need to get an episode devoted to her, I mean even in season 1 she really only had 2 episodes based on her (few more if you include group episodes like the Griffon one), being the Pinkie Sense one, and the surprise party one.

- Lack of Scootaloo development at all, we aint really had any episode on her at all yet, I wouldn't count the walk down cutie mark memory lane as a Scootaloo episode either.

- Lack of good songs so far.

- I recon we should see the introduction of a new race, like with the zebras or griffons.

[Mojo]

- I recon we should see the introduction of a new race, like with the zebras or griffons.

I agree! Last season we met the buffalo tribe, why not have a race of deer that live in the woods or 'sea ponies'? Pipsqueak established the fact that there are pirates (at least in legend) so we can assume there has to be islands and possibly oceans in Equestria.

[Loopy Legend]

I agree! Last season we met the buffalo tribe, why not have a race of deer that live in the woods or 'sea ponies'? Pipsqueak established the fact that there are pirates (at least in legend) so we can assume there has to be islands and possibly oceans in Equestria.

How he Pip prove that?

[TheColtofPersonality]

I personally am holding off full judgement on season 2 until the end

[Mojo]

How he Pip prove that?

He couldn't DRESS like a pirate if there were no pirates (either real or in past lure) in Equestria. And even if they exist only in story form, how could seafaring tales be written WITHOUT the existance of a 'sea'?

[Hippo]

Something I've noticed about TV shows. When you become an avid fan of a TV show, you pretty much enjoy the episodes you have to catch up with more than the ones you have yet to see. Usually. I came into the fandom during "Dog and Pony Show", so everything after that I have 7 days or more each to critique and pull apart every episode. The extent of my conversation about the episode "Swarm of the Century" was "Ok, next episode."

I envy the fans that come later on during the series for their immediate and lengthy high of new ponies. I would not trade the experience however. 2011 has been a great year

[Dessa]

I came on right after Suited for Success, but my favorite episodes were Party of One and Cutie Mark Chronicles (well, and Suited for Success itself). I think there's some truth to what you're saying, and I'm always wary of the fact that how I'm reacting to season 2 has something to do with MY circumstances being different than last season, but it's just a part of the story.

Also, by now, 8-9 episodes into the season, we're back in the thick of it. The first few eps have a weird feeling in part because we had a whole SUMMER to sit on things.

When I do a season 2 rewatch marathon, I'm sure I'll feel differently about it all.

[Stormy]

-- Likes (so far)

* I like the more family establishment and family episodes, like with Rarity and Sweetie Belle, along with their parents.

* The Discord episode was one of my favorites, in my opinion. :]

-- Dislikes (so far)

* There really aren't enough songs! :[

* They ALL send letters to the princess. I hate that change,

* Like stated above, Twilight not in every episode proves that it's not about their friendship now, it's more of an individual view.

[teygrim]

Something I've noticed about TV shows. When you become an avid fan of a TV show, you pretty much enjoy the episodes you have to catch up with more than the ones you have yet to see. Usually. I came into the fandom during "Dog and Pony Show", so everything after that I have 7 days or more each to critique and pull apart every episode. The extent of my conversation about the episode "Swarm of the Century" was "Ok, next episode."

That definitely sounds like a reasonable explanation but I know that, for me, that is definitely not the case. I'm not disappointed with Season 2 episodes because I'm picking them apart, I'm picking them apart because I'm disappointed. While, it is true that I watched Season 1 over only a few days, after almost every episode I felt a very stong positive feeling (something between inspiration and joy). A lot of Season 2 episodes, on the other hand, just leave me with a feeling of emptiness (with the shining exception of Sweat and Elite). I can't choose how I feel about an episode, all I can do is try and understand why I feel the way I do. And so I pick the episodes apart, because I'm disappointed, and I want to know why.

[Dessa]

I pick stuff apart either way. I think I've picked apart my favorite episodes the MOST, actually. Some people don't like analyzing things because it ruins the mystery. I'm not like that at all.

[teygrim]

I pick stuff apart either way. I think I've picked apart my favorite episodes the MOST, actually. Some people don't like analyzing things because it ruins the mystery. I'm not like that at all.

I'm the same way; I wrote pages of analysis on Season 1, but I was talking more specifically about Season 2 in my reply. Anything that elicits a strong emotion (whether positive or negative) compels me to analyze it until I can figure out why it makes me feel the way I do.