Rate Season 3

It's funny to watch people overreact to such tiny things.

OT: I'm hoping the season 3 finale can match the second season's. Doubtful, but possible.

 

It's been a pretty good season so far, even when they've made a few mistakes with such things as the scripting- I'm sure they'll finish the season off well.

Which reminds me, We've only got 3 episodes left!!


Also, love your title, Tempest!

 

Yeah M.A. Larson is my favorite writer on the show and all the episodes he's ever written for MLP have been awesome and full of comedy just like Gailbreak and Mean Isn't Your Color on LPS he also wrote those episodes of LPS although Corey Powell the writer of Sleepless in Ponyville was the co-writer of Mean Isn't Your Color but yeah as one of the best writers on both MLP and LPS we can expect great things from Mr. Larson's Season 3 MLP FiM finale episode. By the way on a completly unrelated sidenote Meghan Mccarthy used to be my favorite FiM writer until she quit writing on the show and is now Story Editor she's still doing a good job and is awesome though but sometimes when I look back or rewatch her old episodes some times I miss her being a writer. (sigh)

 

Episodes 1-2: Genuinely funny. Obviously, my one gripe would be the fact that Sombra was not given enough face time, but I'm not going to trash the whole episode just because one villain wasn't distinguishably original. The episode was at sometimes rushed, but not nearly as much as everyone's jaded interpretation. I thought it did pretty good with what little time it was given.

Too Many Pinkie Pies: Quite funny and surprisingly consistent to that of the stories built up inside the show (for instance: Rainbow Dash reading). And when I say funny, I do mean absurdly funny.

One Bad Apple: Should I just jot down a basic summary? No. I wrote of review of this episode and I will share it!

My TV doesn't pick up the HUB. What a terrible fate to be had, because that means I can't satisfy my obsessive pony desires (that's me making fun myself, you exploitative haters)! Well, on the upside I still get to see the episode on Youtube only forty minutes after the initial launch. And on the uppity up side, the episode I happened to watch today was complete and utter trash and I'm almost glad I missed it.

One Bad Apple is yet another episode dedicated to the Cutie Mark Crusaders or as I like to call them "adolescence on legs". Yet again we have them pull yet another one of their misguided escapades and end up learning the Mane Six's lessons for them. Which reminds me: Nobody sent a letter to Princess Celestia in this episode. How odd. Let's hope that this isn't a sign of the inevitable drought of ideas that is sure to be this show's demise.

All pessimism aside, let's get on with the plot. The episode begins with Applebloom frantically looking for something to wear for her reunion with her cousin, Bab Seed, trying desperately to make a good impression with her. I can already see where this is going; she's going to make a bad impression anyway! Applejack informs her young sister that they both have one thing in common. That being, that they both don't have their cutie marks! So Applebloom gets her friends to come with her.

Upon meeting her, we find out a few things about Bab Seed. For one thing, she has an undeniable Manhattan accent (Bugs Bunny nostalgia, anyone?), and the next being that she a wishy washy little jelly fish of a filly. Not soon after their engagement, the Cutie Mark Crusaders give her a tour of their adorable little clubhouse.

But a bad confrontation with Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon (I don't even...) ends up getting Bab to show her true colors, and so she joins the Distressful Duo, picking on the Cutie Mark Crusadors for being blank flanked. Even though clearly Bab Seed is blank flanked too. Maybe Tiara and Silverspoon only pick on the CMC because they just don't like them? I don't know. Plot hole is a plot hole.

Sweetie Belle urges that they tell Applejack, but instead they just decide revenge is a dish best served to shrews like Bab Seed. So they decide to build a float for the "Pointless Parade" that she couldn't possible resist to steal, rigging it with a booby trap sure to give the harpy what's coming to her.

"Look up 'embarrassed' in the dictionary, and her face will be there!" Says the evil, little Applebloom.

​

What I hate about this episode is just the whole situation. It's been done. Where? Try every other CMC episode ever made. The Cutie Mark Crusaders end up getting into a situation, they choose the unethical way to get out of said situation, and end up learning a very valuable lesson of why you should never choose the unethical way out of a situation. In this case, the obvious unethical solution is to get revenge. They soon find out that Bab Seed was only acting like a bully because she was getting bullied back home. So that makes THEM the bullies for getting revenge!

OK, that makes sense. So following that law, it's OK if I shoot up a school if a school that I went to got shot up before that, and the judge who decides to have me put away for the rest of my life is just a big jerk. It's one of the few cases where MLP delivers a twisted message without knowing it. It's only happened once before, but now it's time to add to the list.

Next, is the sing-a-long. I've made it clear that MLP sing-a-longs are hit or miss, but God, this one didn't only miss the bulls-eye, it didn't even hit the dart board. The song is soooooo lame and so uncannily similar to those Scooby Doo chase songs (I hate Scooby Doo so much). Jot this down to personal opinion (again), but seriously, I literally skipped it when I got halfway through.

And on top of that, I really was ticked off by how much they antagonized Diamond Tiara in this episode. I'm serious. They made her a pony Hitler. I like Diamond Tiara, if only because I find her harmlessly and comically evil. In this, she looks like she's headed towards being a ponykind dominatrix. But that's just nitpicking, I suppose.

Combine all that with how pitifully unfunny and heavily predictable this episode was, and you've got yourself the premise: always tell your elders when you're being bullied. And it certainly goes well to making those bullies quiver in their shoes.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't tell anyone when you're being bullied, you definitely should. But using it as a threat is a bad idea. "I'll tell on you!" is not going to scare your bully off, it'll only intimidate them. The beginning of the episode even makes this clear, as the CMC are too scared to tell Applejack, but by the ending, Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon are utterly horrified when Bab Seed says that she might tell their mothers on them.

At times I chuckled and the inexplicable A-Team reference is gold, but this episode is just really mediocre as compared to the episodes before it.

Magic Duel: Anticlimactic and often times very inconsistent. But still undeniably funny.

Sleepless in Ponyville: Oh, Hasbro, you don't have to keep kissing my butt to please me, you've already done quite enough. Not exactly that I'd mind if you kept doing it, because I quite appreciate seeing you bend so far backwards, you could kiss your heels. Especially when you're giving me things like the return of Trixie, Lyra/Bon Bon cameos, and countless references to pretty much everything on the planet. Now you're giving us Luna to love, once more. You guys really are the toast of the town (but would it kill to have a little Derpy Hooves cameo?).

When I found out that the newest addition to the Season 3 episode list of My Little Pony was yet another CMC episode, I just about fell out of my chair and landed on my cat (just about). To be fair though, the episode description was more revolved around Scootaloo, and there was no real proof that we would be featuring yet another plight to the obtaining of the Fillies' cutie marks, when we all know just what they're going to be getting. As if it hasn't been made obvious enough.

The plot of Sleepless in Ponyville is actually quite unique, and some may notice it to be strikingly similar to Sisterhooves Social, only with less drama, and more antagonizing on Rarity. And after a small disappointment from the last episode and the outright failure of the one before, I'm surprised just how well this one had managed to hold its own. Heck, not only did it hold its own, I would even go as far as to say that it's the best episode of the Season (for now).


The episode starts out with one of Scootaloo's impressive scooter rides, which is an awesome feature, seeing Scoots use her wings to build momentum and propel herself forward, which lets us know that the filly is advancing in her skill set. Even more impressive, is when Scootaloo makes a jump and ends up flying through the air. Rainbow Dash is present, and to Scootaloo's joy, she compliments her "nice move".

The young filly is quite excited, and at her clubhouse, she shares her experience with her friends, saying that this is the first step of Rainbow Dash becoming her virtual sister and mentor. Wanting to get to know Dash better, she decides to tag along with her friends on a Camping Trip that RD is going to be on with Applejack and (through some coaxing) Rarity along with their little sisters.

​

Scoots wants to impress Rainbow Dash, but when the group starts telling scary campfire stories and she gets affected the most through recurring nightmares, she must try with all her might to put on a brave face for Rainbow.

Just about everything in this episode is smart. Smart plot, smart dialogue, smart jokes, and most importantly, a smart message. Let's start with the story.

At first, the episode starts out much like any other generic CMC episode, but it soon branches out into a story line that's complex to a degree that is unique for a children's show. They could have taken an obvious route by doing that old slapstick story of someone trying desperately to impress another, only to end up merely embarrassing themselves. But what begins as similar to that, ends up being actually legitimate trials of trying to be "cool" or "accepted". We don't get any of that "I'm not crying, I've just got something in my eye" crap that's normally accustomed to episodes of this persuasion; we get Scootaloo making excuses for her fear that any intelligent human being would actually think of.

On top of that, people have seen me compliment this show for being able to expertly execute original signs and symptoms of fatigue. This episode was able to make original signs and symptoms of paranoia and classic fear. We have a few obvious gimmicks, such as the "comically yellow eyes in the darkness" or the "jumping over an owl hoot" gag, but other than that, the jumpiness, anxiety, and tire are all done in perfect accuracy to that of real life symptoms.

The jokes are very funny in this episode. Just like the story, it's a little spotty at times, but a lot of jokes that are normally unoriginal are literally crafted into witty and smart humor. I won't tell you how, but one such case is for the "are we there yet?" joke.

But what's by-far most impressive about this episode is the message (I don't think it's much of a spoiler, but if you don't want to hear, skip this passage until you've seen the episode, yourself), which is so sophisticated, even I learned something from it. The premise is: Scootaloo thinks that what is giving her nightmares are Rainbow Dash's stories. But, in reality, what scares her is the thought that Rainbow Dash will abandon her because she's not brave enough.

In my personal opinion, that's got to be the most original message in the history of this show. It's something that actually requires you to bend your mind and think critically. Unlike messages that are as simple as "say please and thank you", you are required to read right between the lines to actually understand its meaning.

What subtracted from my opinion of this episode, though, was how much of a jerk they made out of Rarity. We get it, not every pony is going to be a perfect paragon of their element, but I don't think Rarity's done ONE generous act in this entire Season. Just why does this show strive to antagonize her by making her have her little sister carry such an unnecessary amount of luggage, among other things? I get that Rarity's dynamic is that she's a drama queen, but why is this trait so heavily exaggerated to the point of complete aggravation?

And, I don't know if anybody's noticed this, but throughout the entire season, with the exception of Too Many Pinkie Pies, no one has written a friendship lesson to Princess Celestia in any of the episodes. I suspect that this is because the show is evolving past the lessons of friendship. My mind is drawn between whether this is to be recognized as good or bad. On one hand, the show will no longer be consistent to its title, on the other, that means we have MUCH more episodes for the road ahead. Being that the only con is just a nitpick, I think it's something to be welcomed.

Not everybody's favorite pony is Rarity, but I'm sure we all wouldn't mind if she could be a little more approachable. Other than that, this episode was just awesome.

Apple Family Reunion: Not that great in the field of comedy, but the gold was definitely in the sing-a-long. COUNTRY RULES!

Spike at Your Service: Two Applejack episodes in a row. Now will you stop whining about how she's a background character? The episode was funny as it gets, especially Rainbow Dash's scenes. On top of that, I really was fond of the plot.

 

I think season 3 has been great so far.

 

I've really enjoyed Season 3 so far. When the Crystal Empire aired, I stayed up all night in a livestream watching all the other episodes and chatting it up with other bronies. That means I witnessed the infamous Gak commercials.

Crystal Empire - A great start to season 3. Despite my disappointment with King Sombra not having a confrontation with the Mane 6, I really enjoyed all the comedic parts and the art style used. When the entire castle is taken over by dark crystals and the sky turned brown just looked badass. The songs were good, it was funny, and really enjoyable.

Too Many Pinkies - After watching this episode, I braced myself for the incoming memes. One of my favorites of Season 3.

One Bad Apple - Loved it loved it loved it. I first thought Babs was going to be a stallion, but I have to remember the show still has to cater to a young female audience. I still can't believe they made a reference to "Let's all go to the lobby". That song was amazing. You can tell I liked this episode if you look at my avatar. VEGGIE SALAD!

Magic Duel - The dark intro pumped me up for the rest of the episode. The Simpsons dome, the Star Wars references, and Lyra drinking in the background made this one of the best episodes of MLP ever. Still no signs of Derpy.

Sleepless in Ponyville - Holy %^$%, a Scootaloo episode! I enjoyed this episode, and it was great to see more Princess Luna. I was disappointed though, that they didn't make a Slenderman reference.

Wonderbolt Academy - Did anyone else hear a bit of Pokemon in the soundtrack? And when I saw Snowflake, I crapped my pants. I waited patiently for a "YEEAH!" and squeed when he finally said it.

Apple Family Reunion - Awesome episode. Too bad AJ's parents are dead. Throughout the episode I kept going, "Applejack, will you freaking sing already?" And when she did I was happy. And they gave Babs new lines, but nothing for Braeburn?

Spike at Your Service - My least favorite episode. I'm not a fan of Spike's episodes, but it's great to see more character development from him. It had it's funny moments, but it just felt like a filler episode. And I hope they never use CG again. It just didn't feel right when put together with the flash animation.

There will be episodes I don't like, but Season 3 is amazing. It's a shame that the last episode won't be a two parter, but it will most likely end on a cliffhanger for Season 4. Whatever they have planned for Twilight and her friends, it's bound to be epic.
But does this mean we have to even LONGER for Season 4?

 

I personally used to enjoy the letters to Celesta. While cheesy, they seemed quite sweet ta me.Season 1 will forever be my favourite season, I believe.
But this season, my favourite episodes likely go in an order like;

One bad Apple
Sleepless in ponyville
Too Many Pinkies
Wonderbolts academy
Apple Family Reunion
Magic Duel
Crystal Empire P1
Crystal Empire P2
Spike at your service

They've already made some toys of spike, but I'm still waiting on a brushable...

 

Kingdom of the Crystal Empire: 8/10

I got some good laughs out of some of the things, like the stairs, Shining Armor throwing Princess Cadance, and GAK GAK GAK. It was a good episode, Shining Armor and Cadance are amongst some of my favourite characters, so it was nice to see their return. Sombra looked a bit better than I thought he'd be for a badly designed OC, but he could have had more of a part rather than just be an environmental hazard, some more dialogue and scheming would have been nice, I mean Discord hardly left the sides of the ponies in his episodes. The song was nice and catchy, the crystal empire looked beautiful, not to mention the phenomenal looking ending. And some curious rumours sprouted up...

Too Many Pinkie Pies: 6/10

It wasn't bad but...there was a lot of repetition which made it uninteresting in places: > Pinkie gets clone > Clone clones self > Real Pinkie is sad and clones do random annoying stuff > Repetitive shots of Twilight exploding Pinkies

The humour was nice though.

One Bad Apple: 7/10

Probably the only Cutie Mark Crusaders episode I've whole-heartedly enjoyed, I still find Applebloom annoying, and the song was...catchy, but felt a bit shoe-horned in for the sake of it. However, the milkshake scene, the brilliant moral at the end, and the antics of the CMC were quite amusing.

Magic Duel: 9/10

I like small bits of fan service, but the reason I liked this episode is because Trixie and Twilight resolved their issues, that's what I've always wanted since Season 1, because to have the title "Friendship is Magic", then run a pony out of town?...

I also liked the movie references, nice subtle humour, that's my kind of thing.

Sleepless in Ponyville: 10/10

I loved this episode, they took a really undeveloped character and turned her into a great one. The relationship between Dashie and Scoots is very interesting, and I d'awwed at the ending, who wouldn't? Princess Luna as a dream walker was an interesting concept too.

Wonderbolt Academy: 3/10

Clearly trying to kiss the rear-end of Rainbow Dash and Wonderbolt fans, the writers lost their way. Continuity went out the window. Spitfire's voice and attitude changed, instead of wise and gentle Spitfire, she became loud and headstrong Spitfire. Snowflake/Roid Rage was shoehorned in, Pinkie's hysterical reactions were not funny, they were annoying, and I hate Lightning Dust. Oh, and the moral was flawed. Dash refused to be a Wonderbolt if it meant harming others to get there, that's a good message. But then Spitfire gives her a lead pony badge and suddenly everything's ok?...that's flawed, because that's saying you'll get what you want in life even if you don't keep at it. Also, what exactly has Dash gained from this training? And why did Rarity only get one line?



Apple Family Reunion: 5/10

Not great, not bad, the song lyrics needed a lot of work, they create This Day Aria then give us a pre-schoolers hoedown. Filly Applejack. Braeburn didn't overshadow her, good. Racist barn. Next.

Spike At Your Service: 4/10

This one was pretty bad...the humour was good in places, but Spike knows how to keep a library clean, why can't he do what AJ and Rarity ask? Also, it's a Spike episode. 4 of the only 13 episodes we get in this season are Spike and CMC episodes. That sucks. We need mane six. The build-up to the season 2 finale was immense because every episode showed the brilliance of the mane six. With all the continuity errors, (like where the hell did this dragon code magically appear from, I thought Spike learnt he didn't have to be like other dragons in the episode with Crackles?) it feels like we're just watching the deleted episodes of Season 2 with fan service shoved in. It's lazy for DHX Studios because they think they can give us any old crap now that we're hooked.

And where's the Rarity episode this season? Replaced by an episode of Spike looking after the uninteresting pets...hooray... [./sarcasm]

Season 3's going a bit downhill, I hope the finale's great or else I'll be disappointed.

 

I agree with the majority of what Poetic said.


I personally don't really remember all of what happened in each episode, or which episode it happened in - so I'll give my general opinion and weigh in on some viewpoints and such.


Generally speaking, I've liked season 3 so far, mostly because there were a lot of funny bits. However, like Poetic said: there was continuity issues, some stuff seemed a bit too corny or too generic, fanservice, Babs Seed's atrocious accent, the not-very-well done Spike and RBD eps, etc.

• The fan service was enjoyable, but I've always been of the opinion that it should be kept subtle. It's nice, but I think they're over doing it a tad. Just a tad.
  
  
• Applejack not only got her own episode and song, but she played a large role in the Spike episode. Now everyone can quit whining about that.
  
  
• Spike episode...blehh. It's not that I dislike Spike, it's just that his episodes always seem to get the short end of the stick in terms of writing. Maybe they give his episodes to the interns or something lawl
  
  
• The Wonderbolts episode had a half-baked ending and it felt very generic, almost cheap. Also...is she a wonderbolt now or what?
  
  
• The Trixie/Twilight back and forth dialogue was pretty corny.

I also find the plot hint they dropped in the first couple eps to be very interesting, as it alludes to a much larger and complex part of the plotline.

 

In my opinion, I found Poetic's reasoning to be rather unfair. His cons seem to be revolved around inconsistencies, repetition, and a rather bias peeve. Being a critic of some standards, I think he's just simply over-analyzing something that is and always will be a kid's show, not a rip-roaring, sophisticated television series for adults. 4/10 because of trivial inconsistencies at worst is an extremely and dogmatically arbitrary way to look at things, especially since he admitted that the episode was pretty funny. What are we gunning for then? Consistency or entertainment? They could turn Spike into a cat and I wouldn't care, as long as the episode was still funny. Granted, it's my opinion, but I'm just getting sort of tired of seeing people get wound up over inconsequential debates like "Pinkie Pie is doing something random again." Children's shows tend to be repetitive, because characterization is a running gag, in of itself.

I also find the argument over the mane six not getting enough face time to be ridiculous. We've already assessed the ponies' character traits. What would something like that be amping up to if we've already touched that base in the last to seasons. Isn't that sort of ironic coming from a guy who gets peeved over repetition and unoriginality? Maybe something new would be.... oh I don't know... welcomed? We've already had the mane six perform heroic tasks as a main plot server. I'm actually itching to see a plot that doesn't revolve around them.

And, Rarity being best pony, I agree, she's been antagonized to a pulpy puddle this season. It can't be helped, though. I won't let my bias block my view of an all around great Season.

 

Wonderbolts Academy is the only episode I felt any love for this season. It shows how far Dash has come in terms of being less aggressive and more forbearing with others since first meeting Twilight and building a problem around that.

In second place is Too Many Pinkie Pies which I felt worked as a pure comedy episode.

One Bad Apple has its moments for how it portrays bullies.

Magic Duel was kinda fun in some spots but the one thing I remember first and foremost is this being the episode where I was officially fed up with Fluttershy's, well, shyness becoming her sole personality traity most of the time.

Spike at your Serivce was kinda bland but nothing that I hated. I forgot most of this really quickly.

Crystal Empire Pt. 1 & 2 was disappointing. I like how straight up, demonically evil Sombra is but aside from that, these are two more eps I forgot about quickly.

Apple Family Reunion..... what is it with Applejack episodes and her holding the idiot ball? Come on, writers, she's smarter than this! She's cooler-headed than this! AJ losing all control over a family reunion is just.... dumb. Funny song thou.

Sleepless in Ponyville. It bored me, I didn't care about anything, the jokes made me groan. I rank this as one of the worst so far.


So I've been disappointed with the season so far. I don't know what happened but a lot of the eps feel bleh.

 

Really because I think that while all Season 3 episodes so far have had pretty great moments in them the only ok episodes were Apple Family Reunion and Spike At Your Service.

 

Lots of negativity and criticism for s3 I'm seeing so far... I'm not free of blame either, I found some things to rag on and nitpick too but c'mon, this is ponies, not broadway.



Anyway in my last post I pretty much listed stuff about s3 that I was unhappy about, and since then I thought of some stuff I really liked about s3, so I'm going to post it. Don't worry, I'll keep it short.


Magic Duel - While the back and forth dialogue between Twily and Trixie was pretty corny (almost cringe-worthy at times) the writing for the plot of that episode was pretty superb. When Zecora mentioned using the 6 or whatever, I assumed it was go time and Twi would bring out the Elements of Harmony. Instead she shows up with some other amulet. So after Twi starts showing off with it I'm thinking, "I bet that amulet is a fake and Twi just got way more awesome at magic under the tutlage of Yoda-Zecora." However, if that was the case, then Trixie would have prolly been even more humiliated and things would only have gotten worse. But no, they pulled the old slight of hand trick using her friends for help, a brilliant little piece of writing, that not only fixed the problem, but got Trixie to come over to the light. I thought that was pretty clever.

Wonderbolt Academy - A few people (myself included) bashed the episode for being...cliche and generic. And I still think it was, for the most part. However, someone mentioned that the moral of the story was lacking, that it teaches you to give up on your dreams, rather than pursue them with determination. I disagree. RBD is the element of loyalty, and even though it is her dream to become a Wonderbolt, she wasn't willing to become one if that meant abandoning her loyalty to her friends or putting others in danger. So I think the moral of the story worked quite well.



Overall, I would say this season has definitely been enjoyable, with the exception of a few discrepancies in continuity and a few moments that seemed to be either 'filler' type material or lazy writing similar to other "lesser" cartoons that use a lesser form of humor than what we've come to expect from this show. But hey, in the end, it's a cartoon. Cut it some slack.

That's it for now

 

To whom it may concern, I apologize if my post offended you, but I don't take back a word of what I said.

That is all.

 

1) Sleepless in Ponyville (This episode was pretty much perfect. Fantastic moral lesson, wonderful integration of Luna into the show's continuity, captivating dream sequences, a well-executed plot, and a focus on a character who is usually overlooked.)

2) Magic Duel (I kind of wish this had been a two-parter, but it's still a fun and action-packed episode. Loved seeing Trixie return. The Alicorn amulet was creepy and neat. Loved the Star Wars references. I also liked that Twilight had to outsmart Trixie. The only reason this isn't first is because I felt the ending was a bit rushed.)

3) The Crystal Empire parts one and two (TWO new songs (three, if you count the reprise at the end), an epic plot, good world-building (putting aside the show's everything-happened-a-thousand-years-ago syndrome), a lot of fun character moments, and surprisingly dark. My only complaints are that some of the ponies seemed completely useless this episode and that the villain wasn't terribly compelling.)

4) Wonderbolt Academy (Good moral lesson, fun plot, hilarious Pinkie Pie, and Lightning Dust was a fun character. Loved the Top Gun-ish feel of the episode.)

5) Too Many Pinkie Pies (A lot of fun with multiple memorable moments, almost exclusively from Pinkie Pie(s). This episode seemed very self-aware, from RD calling attention to Pinkie's defiance of basic physics to the G3 Pinkie Pie face and hoof-fingers. I still can't believe that the others weren't able to figure out which Pinkie Pie was VERY different from all of the identical clones. Also, the episode was a bit lacking in any sort of substance. Still a lot of fun, though.)

6. One Bad Apple (I like the focus on bullying and the addition of a new pony. The new song was cute. This episode didn't do much to impress me, though.)

7. Apple Family Reunion (Applejack gets a song! A ...bad... song. I liked seeing the various members of the Apple family, including the return of Babs Seed. Plot is basically Applejack acting like a bit of a dolt, not as bad as "Apple Buck Season" was, but still not great.)

8. Spike At Your Service (Horrendous plot. The little character moments kept it from being a stinker, though. And the Timber Wolves are really cool.)

Pretty strong season, overall. I'm definitely enjoying it more than most of season one.

Season two definitely raised the bar for how good the show could get. The finale, in particular, is just wonderful. I think people tend to forget how much of an improvement seasons two and three are in comparison to season one, which had quite a few mediocre episodes.

People are a lot more critical now that we've collectively progressed from "Oh my god, I'm actually enjoying My Little Pony" to "I expect consistent characterization and world-building, witty humor, epic fantasy plots, and engaging villains." This is a good thing, when kept in check. The writers will either rise to the challenge and make the show even better in season four or people will find that the quality of the series hit a ceiling somewhere in season two.