Thursday, August 9, 2012

Season One

Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna...

My odyssey is now complete. Now I am the master.

I actually really enjoy this series. I'm sure writing this helped foster that enjoyment, as it guarantees I spend way more time on an episode than the 22~ minute episode length.  Unfortunately I'm too old and jaded to get a lot of laughs out of it, but it serves it's role as entertainment well. Offering brief journeys into a world of magic and wonder, monsters and mayhem, friendship and malice. =]

 I'm going to do a series overall post after this, so without further ado, here's my lists for Season 1.


 My top 5 characters, in no particular order:
Trixie
She's a unicorn. She's adept at magic. She was the victim of the Ponyville Screwjob. She is the Great and Powerful Trixie! She may have just been putting on an act, and got exposed when she couldn't beat an Ursa Minor, let alone the Ursa Major she claimed, but she still proved her skills where it mattered: trouncing and humiliating all of her hecklers. She hogtied the lasso expert Applejack, turned the beautiful Rarity's mane into a nasty mess, and nauseated and electrocuted the braggart Rainbow Dash. The only one that escaped her ire was Spike. Also, instead of just fleeing into the night, she boldy strode up to Twilight Sparkle. talked trash, then vanished in a cloud of smoke. Awesome.

Applejack
Applejack really shined in this season. She went above and beyond the call of duty, saving the lives of her friends on several occasions, as well as rescuing Ponyville itself. Showed leadership, humility (mostly), and had some furious rivalries with her friends. 

Twilight Sparkle
Twilight had some heartbreaking moments in Season 2 (Big Brother Best Friend Forever etc.) but she was truly tugging at my heart strings in this season.  From screwing up on Winter Wrap Up Day to "I'm sorry. Please, please don't hate me." in Boast Busters, Twilight really made me feel for her. In addition, she was mostly the same old Twilight I know and love from Season 2: Smart, magical, brave, caring, adorable.

 Rainbow Dash
This was a tough call. On one hand, Rainbow had a lot of douchebag moments in this season. On the other, she kicked a dragon in the face, declined a captain's position in the Shadowbolts to help her friends, won a best flyer competition, saved her heroes and Rarity, saved her friends' lives at least once, had a leadership position for Winter Wrap Up Day, was the 'tie that binds' her friends destinies together thanks to her sonic rainboom as a filly, stood up for the buffalo's rights, won the Iron Pony competition, helped lay out the foundation for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and realized her new friends are better than her old, 'cool' friend(s), among other things. The good outweighs the bad in my view, but the bad was very, very, bad. *ahem* Trixie hating, cheating/playing dirty, etc. Enough to make me have second thoughts of including her.

Cutie Mark Crusaders
From their crazy talent show performance to their heartwarming foundation story where they rallied against Diamond Tiara's pettiness, the Crusaders were in top form this season. They made their own theme song and won an award for it, made cloaks with their own logo, and learned a lot about who they are, and  more about who they aren't. Their own special talents might be right in front of their noses, but they still dream for something bigger, better, flashier, like mountain climbing or creature catching.


The top 5 was pretty hard to choose for, except the shoe-ins Trixie and Twilight. Rarity, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy were strong contenders.


My top 10 episodes, in no particular order:

*As with Season 2, there was only one really 'bad' episode this season. Boast Busters. "Do what? It's on your top 10!" Indeed it is, but only because I really liked Trixie. The episode itself was similar to May the Best Pet Win, where a plot element (in this case Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash hating on Trixie for no real reason) just tarnished the thing. Trixie's over the top antics, "The Great and Powerful Trixie can do anything you can do, better!" were the only saving grace. If she hadn't been as charismatic, this episode would definitely be Best Pet tier.
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