Another season with a lineup of fantastic episodes, and surprisingly, a lesser amount of terrible ones, Season 7 has to be Friendship Is Magic's 2nd best season of the overall series - just right behind the near flawless Season 4. I haven't had much hope for it seeing how less than half decent Seasons 5 and 6 turned out to be, but as the saying truly goes for a lot of shows, better luck next year (or mostly in this case - next season). It's really hard for me to say a lot bad things about the season, but it HAS had its own fair share of sloppy installments. I apologize for posting this a little TOO late after I posted my Worst Episodes of the season (or just the weakest of them all), but with that put aside, it's time to celebrate the season's very best it has to offer. Without further delay, let's start off with the worst, and rather decent installments - just so I can get to the very best. If you prefer to read the full worst to best, be sure to check all three parts in the links below.
Everfail was already a huge flop upon release on Netflix. So how do you fix it all up no matter how much shorter you have to make it? Hard to Say Anything, that's what! Now I know it's... well, hard for some of you to say anything good about this underrated gem what with Feather Bangs and his personality, and that it tries way too hard to be something reminiscent of Season 2's Hearts and Hooves Day, but the way I see it, it's a classic that anypony can get a good laugh out of, and does a much better job at its storyline than the worst possible thing to ever come out of the entire franchise. As awesome as it is however, that music battle song (where Big Mac and Feather Bangs both tried to win Sugar Belle's affection) is atrocious, and doesn't work unlike how Pinkie and Cheese's goof off (in Pinkie Pride) did. And while the SugarMac shipping is one I don't mind, my only message I have to give to the writers and crew of FIM is to leave the romantic shippings to US fans ONLY!
Anyways, it's always a good laugh when characters like Big Mac and Feather Bangs try to win Sugar Belle's affection, not to mention the Crusaders shine as wonderful as they always do (albeit their immature selves in Stare Master, and their less-than-tolerable portrayals in Just for Sidekicks and Make New Friends but Keep Discord). I could go on about it again, but I'll just let my review do all the talking...
Look up some of the most adorable episodes of animated TV shows, and A Flurry of Emotions would mostly likely be Friendship Is Magic's main representation of said factor. I've been an uncle since right after I turned 6, and I'm generally not that fond of niece/nephew episodes of kids' shows, but I'll admit Emotions is... pretty darn cute. If there's anything else the episode itself, not to mention Sammie Crowley and Whitey Wetta themselves should be proud of, it's that this is basically another Baby Cakes- but one that's rather fixed up and admirably great. Flurry Heart's character hasn't really interested me much ever since Season 6's premiere, but while Shining Armor and Cadance's part was well done, if a little nonsensical compared to Twilight and Flurry's, every primary character throughout (including Spike) have done pretty good.
Throw in the fact that it helps Twilight to walk away from her overrated and sloppy characterization in Season 6, and another solid moral, and you have yourself a strong start for two such writers who wrote greatly even for Fluttershy in A Health of Information. Speaking of...
Ironic that both of Crowley and Wetta's episodes come together to start this third part off, right? And you all know Fluttershy's my personal favorite of the Mane Six, right? Then you know how much I love episodes centered around her (even if some are obviously better than others). Her development remains untouched and well distinguished for her own sake, Zecora gets another chance to shine after It Isn't the Mane Thing About You, Twilight develops nicely, and Mage Meadowbrook is introduced after the other old pillars in Campfire Tales and Daring Done?. Those nasty flash bees that Fluttershy and Meadowbrook take on (in their own separate time periods) are pretty interesting creatures considering the fact that their not like regular bees and have honey that can literally heal a certain disease or two, and Cattail - whom Twilight and Fluttershy meet in the amazon's a good character to include into the plot.
In fact, some brony on Facebook came up with it, but isn't it a potential theory that Applejack's parents could've died by that same Swamp Fever disease that could've taken over Zecora?
If you honestly want an episode that you can rewatch constantly no matter when you look back on Season 7, look no further than yet another gripping storyteller after Season 2's Hearth's Warming Eve; Campfire Tales. I mean Applejack's, Rarity's, and Rainbow Dash's stories they all tell to their sisters (albeit Scootloo being LIKE RD's filly sister) are all very interesting that you just can't get enough of them.
Applejack's tale of Rockhoof? Very epic, clever, and memorable to say the least. Rarity's of Mistmane? Somewhat emotional by the very end of it, but still pretty darn awesome when you come to know it. And Rainbow Dash's of Flash Magnus? My personal favorite of the three for Flash taking on all those dragons just to save an innocent life. (And isn't it also an observation that Ember's father Lord Torch was shown in it?) All of this is the end result of a simply magnificent chapter that, as I said, you just can't get enough of. And it may be just me, but epic episodes with so much backstory, let alone adventurous ones, seem to fascinate me the most in rewatching them - two-parters OR normal lengthers. Why do I not rank it any higher? While I absolutely love all of those tales, they were pretty short, but hey, the trio only had 22 minutes within an episode to explain those stories. And you know what else? There are just a few others that fascinated me more just slightly. Even if Campfire Tales was more fascinating by my standards in terms of a story concept than the next entry...
How many characters can honestly say they've learn from their mistakes in characterization & writing, and boosted themselves to great lengths in Season 7? Well for any reformed villains, Starlight can definitely say "Hey! I boosted myself to great lengths during Season 7." And not only that, but this could very well be her new best episode that stands above even her stellar start to her villainous character that is The Cutie Map. Even for those of you die hard Starlight haters, if you've ignored or panned Problem immediately just for Starlight alone, you should look on the brightside of things for it; it's the Freaky Friday of MLP episodes, AND it's Celestia's second episode where she shines as character in the spotlight after the premiere.
Now while Starlight's a rather average character, I'll admit she was pretty likable here in Season 7 than she ever could've been in Season 6. And Celestia and Starlight aren't the only ones who've done so well here - Luna wasn't half bad when she was doing her reverse part of her sister. That Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon dream sequence between Starlight and the two sisters is so epic, that it's one of Season 7's most memorable moments (and even one of the best of the series). So now that Starlight and Spike got their own Cutie Map episodes where they solve a friendship problem across Equestria, I'm waiting with bated breath for Friendship Is Magic to give Discord one. (I mean he DOES have yet to earn his throne in Twilight's castle, doesn't he?)
Speaking of episodes where characters get to shine in the spotlight, I had quite a hard time deciding whether to rank Problem or Advice higher since both share the same writers, but for being a surprisingly awesome normal-length premiere, along with the start of Celestia and Starlight's potential for the season, some interesting flashbacks Twilight imagined of Starlight in the future, strong characterization from even the minor characters, and of course, Discord's top notch humor, I went with Celestial Advice. Besides, do you always need to make the finale or premiere a two-parter to earn greater reception? The answer to that is 'not always'. And episodes like this always goes to show that sometimes a gripping storyline and solid moral can earn all the praise it can possibly get even if it doesn't include either my favorite character of the franchise, action-packed moments, or even guest stars for newer characters...
No, no, no! I was kidding when I said that; episodes with either my favorite character of the franchise, action-packed scenes, or guest stars (or all of the above) are just THAT much better than others. Like Gillian M. Berrow's installments in the season, Discordant Harmony was the Fox brothers' delicious main course that stands just above their appetizer that was a sequel to Sisterhooves Social; Forever Filly that is. And that's not only based on how Discord remains his usual sane self, but also how Fluttershy has once again developed more and more after how terrible she and the spirit of chaos himself were handled just before Season 5 ended. If I could honestly name the season's funniest episode, my first obvious pick would be Discordant Harmony. And I really don't wanna brag, but while he was only a bright spot in the average, but poorly timed To Where and Back Again, along with Dungeons & Discords not being quite favorable enough for my standards (for reasons I could recap all day), and What About Discord? being- well, his only case of assassination on his character so far (and let's hope something like that never ever happens again), his episodes always seem to come out as the best of the best... and not just for the fact that he's my all time favorite character of the franchise.
And for a theory, who honestly would've thought that Discord HAS to be chaotic at least in the slightest to survive? It's kinda like American Dad!'s alien character Roger who has to be insensitive at least at some points just so he won't get poisoned (or worse). So even every little small thing within it from Discord's adorable Fluttershy costume, his adorable fingers who eat Fluttershy's cucumber sandwiches at their tea party in the prologue, to his hysterical impression of that salespony at the tea shop, and even the way he remodels his own house as best as possible for his bestest friend, all adds up to one of Season 7's best. And the most interesting thing about it? This is the first episode that Discord plays a major role in without every single Mane Six character appearing (whereas only Andrea Libman's characters' made appearances here)... just like when Season 6's On Your Marks was the first episode to have none of them at all (even if one was only mentioned).
As if the underrated Daring Don't wasn't awesome enough, we get an ever greater sequel that follows up to all the elements that made every previous Daring Do episode that you had have come to love good via Daring Done?. I mean Dr. Caballeron returns as an awesome villain who literally gets revenge on Rainbow Dash, there's the backstory of Somnambula the Pegasus, that giant Sphinx Somnambula faces is so cool, the desert environment Daring Do, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie travel to looks like something reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Gerudo Town, and inserting a solid moral and storyline into the mix, you have another delicious main course by a writer like Berrow after the underrated Fluttershy Leans In. Even if others find it generic and boring, for my liking, Daring Done? could very well be THE best PinkieDash collab episode of all time too... Now let's just look past their worst episode that is the 2nd worst of the season.
I've moaned about MOST OF Josh Haber's writing countless times throughout Seasons 5 and 6, but as with the Fox Brothers, and ever since It Isn't the Mane Thing About You, it just goes to show that sometimes you can have much better luck in some sequel seasons. And in Haber's case, this season's incredible finale undoubtedly solidified that. What makes Shadow Play unbelievably amazing however is how much it actually follows up to some of the previous installments in the season - particularly those of Campfire Tales, Daring Done?, and A Health of Information. And it's unexpected that those legends from older tales that the Mane Six have learned about, mostly those told of in Campfire Tales technically, were actually real. Another thing that boosts up its greatness? The Pony of Shadows finally shows up for an appearance after we've waited for up to three seasons straight... ever since Haber's FIRST installment in the series that is Season 4's Castle Mane-ia.
While Star Swirl may have disappointed some people when he was finally introduced physically (and not JUST in a book-like art style) what with his harsh persona, I kinda gotta admire him as a character since he was one who has been anticipated to make a physical appearance in pony - and not just in hand-drawn tales as other characters throughout the series have described him. And while Stygian the Pony of Shadows hasn't received quite enough screentime or development that he deserved unlike say Tirek or Chrysalis, Josh Haber and (now) Nicole Dubuc sprinkle just the right complexity and heart a two-parter like this one deserves. Forget The CutieRe-Mark and To Where andBack Again, make more finales like this one awesome from now on, Haber!
I don't care how predictable you thought this entry was going to be. The Perfect Pear stands just slightly above the epic finale as the very best episode of Season 7. Besides the fact that we're finally introduced to the Apple siblings' long deceased parents, and that it's portrayed as William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in Pear Butter and Bright Mac's love story, we all know the big reason why it earns high honors from pretty much anypony, right? Felicia Day and (especially) William Shatner make guest star roles for Applejack's mother Pear Butter and her father Grand Pear. (Even if Bill Newton as Bright Mac isn't much of highlight) To sum its plot up best if I compared it to other installments of the show and not episodes of other TV shows, or movies, The Perfect Pear is a combination of Family Appreciation Day and Amending Fences, and that it has its two biggest stars portraying the Apples' former rivalry side of the family that are the Pears.
I might have ranked it lower where it would most likely just start off my Top Five if not for two new guest stars, but either way, it's a heartwarming tale that'll get you all choked up. If it doesn't, then I doubt anything else in the series will. I mean who needs stereotypical yaks that nobody even cares about or a story that rips off Season 2's MMMystery on the Friendship Express for all the wrong reasons, not to mention a plot that depicts us fans as absolute idiots when you have a gripping backstory that'll surely touch your heart and finally introduce you to characters the fandom has been dying to get more out of? Heck, this alone gives Applejack more and more mojo for her character, as well as the rest of her family that make appearances here. Alongside Pinkie Pride, The Mane Attraction, and Stranger Than Fan Fiction throughout the past three seasons, which are also masterpieces, Pear is so incredible, that it's easily worthy to crack anypony's Top Ten Overall Best.
All that said, with flawless performances by Day and Shatner as two sympathetic characters, top notch pacing in its sentimental storyline, a beautiful song sung by Day's character that it practically breaks your heart, a stellar moral teaching you to let go of grudges, and just a new and clever idea for a plot and characters especially, The Perfect Pear comes out as the best of Season 7, and still worthy to remain amongst even MY Top Ten Overall Best of Friendship Is Magic.
Do you agree with my list? What were your favorite episodes of Season 7?
