Now that the hiatus is upon us, how would you rate S6 so far? I would say it’s hit and miss. On one hand, I liked Gauntlet of Fire, Hearth’s Warming Tail, and Saddle Row Review. I think Saddle Row Review is one of the best episodes of the show. On the other hand, I didn’t like Newbie Dash, Applejack’s Day Off, or On Your Marks. One thing I will say positive about the season are the great new characters. Sunburst, Princess Ember, and Plaid Stripes are all great. Another positive is the characterization of Spike. He finally had an episode that the majority of fans agree is good, and he’s been excellent in supporting roles, like The Crystalling and Hearth’s Warming Tail. Best of all, he isn’t the butt monkey he was in past seasons, save for Newbie Dash. I especially liked his friendship with Starlight in the premiere. However, I can’t believe how hard the season has dropped the ball with the "Explore Equestria" theme. So far, we’ve mostly been seeing locations we’ve already seen numerous times. The only relatively new location was the dragon lands. I felt this was also a problem with the map in S5. You have an entire map of Equestria, with lots of new locations to explore, but you don’t use it. Another problem is the unbalanced number of episodes a character gets. There’s been too much Rarity and Starlight for my liking. On the topic of Starlight, I don’t like how they keep bringing up Starlight’s past every time she appears. It was funny the first time, but now it’s just annoying. Say what you want about Discord’s reformation, at least they didn’t feel the need to constantly bring up his past actions. Overall, while there have been good episodes, it’s not up to par with previous seasons. It’s pretty obvious that the show is suffering from the veteran writers leaving (Larson, McCarthy, AKR). What do you think of S6 so far? What do you like about it, and what don’t you?
I feel like the new writers have injected some new life into the series. Not to say that previous seasons were bad (far from it), but there's an interesting energy to this season that I wasn't expecting. I wasn't a huge fan on Newbie Dash and Flutter Brutter, while Applejack's Day Off got by on cute moments, but three out of the twelve episodes shown is a pretty good sign that this is going well. The Saddle Row Review has been my absolute favorite thus far, as it tapped into a style a humor I haven't seen since Parks and Rec and The Office, and Hearth's Warming Eve works for it fun take on A Christmas Carol and great songs. I hope the second half of the season is just as good as what has come before.
I disagree, with few exceptions the series has come along nicely this past twelve episodes. And the veteran writers leaving does not hurt anything. Being not up to par is relative for every viewer and except for Applejack's Day Off I haven't felt disappointed with the characterization of anyone in this season. Also Explore Equestria does not have to mean literally exploring equestria, to explore equestria could also be as simple as exploring new facets of the characters, just because they said there would be more exploring doesn't have to mean it was new locations and stuff. We've gotten to see a genuine odd couple with Rarity and Pinkie which works great as their interactivity as a pair hasn't been explored before. And Fluttershy revealed her family to the audience, which isn't that bad. I love what we've seen so far and look forward to the rest of the season. Let it prove to be just as impressive as past seasons have been. And I certainly hope the season finale will have a great tie in to the next EG film or the theatrical one. Who knows.
I think it's decent. There are some episodes I quite enjoyed, some that fell totally flat. I liked Gauntlet of Fire, The Saddle Row Review, Spice Up Your Life, and A Hearth's Warming Tale, while other Gift of the Maud Pie and Flutter Brutter were average, so I can say I'm enjoying Season 6 so far. The abundance of Rarity for S5 and 6 is quite nice after getting shafted so often in previous seasons (As well as being forced into a rut of simply being another character's foil), so I'm not complaining. As for Starlight, I still like her, and her past wasn't brought up in Hearth's Warming Tale, so...Fingers crossed? Aside from a little fatigue in the stories they're writing (Did we really need episodes focusing on Gift of the Magi and A Christmas Carol?), I haven't had any issues.
Unfortunately I slept through most of the season (DAMN MY INSOMNIA!) so I have to wait for the reruns.
