The Most Useless Episodes

@Gemstone  

Fair enough. I did say I didn’t consider it all that great of an episode. I just think, as it applies to Spike’s overall development, seeing him try to come up with some answer to the question of who he is and what it means to be a dragon in a society entirely dominated by ponies makes it not entirely useless.

Applejack episodes in S6.
 
“We need to show more of this character, but her development has already pretty much peaked… I know! Let’s blow holes into her personality, base episodes around flaws she’s never had before, and then have a background episode showing just how much of a piece of shit she used to be!”

@Poison Trail  
Didn’t a show staffer get pissed at the negative reception where the apple lies got?

Most useless episode?
 
I suppose it’s Dragon Quest, since all of Spike’s “I’m a dragon who lives among ponies, so what exactly am I?” initial conflict ended up being permanently sweeped under the rug for a “Lol I’m a pony” ending.

@Anonycat  
Yeah, Spike pretty much ended up back where he started in Ponyville, but the message that WHAT you are doesn’t define WHO you are is a strong one that not too many kids shows directly address.

I’m going to say Spike At Your Service, or Just For Sidekicks. Because if they didn’t do either of those, Magical Mystery Cure could have been the two-parter episode Larson wanted to do, thusly the story in the episode would have made more sense and Twilight’s title would have actually felt like it was earned.

@Mike  
Both could have been jossed for something else, in my opinion.

@Gemstone  
I agree.

One Bad Apple comes to mind, since Babs Seed was never utilized as the official fourth CMC member after that episode and got her cutie mark off screen, it was meaningless to make her one.

@thatguy  
Babs did show up in Apple Family Reunion, and her getting her Cutie Mark was what triggered Apple Bloom’s freak out dreams in Gloom and Bloom, so her introduction wasn’t totally wasted. But yeah, I wish she’d show up again. I loved her New York accent and having a CMC who was more aggressive would have been interesting. Oh well.

@Applejack007
 
 
@Gemstone
 
Simple Ways kind of rubbed me the wrong way with how Rarity acted.

@Gemstone  
@thatguy  
Unfortunately, Babs is twice as likely to reappear as herself. Try to figure that one out.

@Corrderio  
The episode would have worked better if Spike was portrayed as capable, the way he’s implied to be normally. That way, it would make more sense for Applejack to initially let him go through with the whole servitude thing, if he was genuinely useful, and she’d sooner or later grow very uncomfortable with the whole life-debt thing he had going on anyway.
 
Also, make it explicit that Spike’s “Noble Dragon Code” is something he came up with himself, after the events of Dragon Quest, and that it matters to Spike instead of to dragons in general. (I know, I know, the show shouldn’t have to spell everything out, but that part is just so weird…)

@Lurks-no-More  
This would have made the episode far more acceptable, and it wouldn’t have been hard to implement. Twilight could have explained that Spike created his Dragon Code after the Dragon Migration when AJ went to visit her. The thing that REALLY confused me was how Spike couldn’t do a simple Apple Pie considering that it’s been shown that Spike regularly bakes sweets for the Mane 6.

Everything from Luna Eclipsed to A Canterlot Wedding
 
In all seriousness, it depends on the person. A story-over-characters person like myself considers episodes that don’t build characterisation or move the narrative as ‘useless’.

@Ebalosus  
That doesn’t really leave a lot out since many episodes do feature character growth or world building in some way, especially in the first two seasons.

Applejack’s “Day” Off and The Cart Before the Ponies come to mind.

“Apple Family Reunion” - Forgettable.
 
“Power Ponies” - Might have seemed a little less useless if its superhero world were actually imaginative in any way. Alas.
 
“Simple Ways” - Because who even cares?
 
“Filli Vanilli” - Until the singing thing appears again, I have a hard time seeing this episode as anything other than a mildly amusing but utterly shameless rehash of previous Fluttershy episodes.
 
“Trade Ya!” - Actually kinda like this one, but it’s one of the more egregious examples of season 4 resting on its laurels and not moving anything forward. Not a clue what this contributes.
 
“Princess Spike” - Generic nothing of an episode.
 
“Scare Master” - Yet again the same old Fluttershy episode.
 
“Applejack’s ‘Day’ Off” - Yep.
 
“The Cart Before the Ponies” - Yep again.
 
“P.P.O.V.” - Some good jokes but just a total waste of a story.

PPOV at least gets the Rashomon plot down. Garfield and Friends did it and it lasted seven seasons before a pandering new theme song killed it…

@Thrond  

I would disagree with you if they actually had us learn about any other Apple family members. We literally got ONE new member of the Apple member introduced to us and the rest were just background characters for the story. So I can see where you’re coming from.
 

I think it had a nice lesson about not being useless just because others have things done. And the Power Ponies DID show up again in the Princess Dreams episode.
 

I hate this episode with a passion for the gigantic backward step in Rarity’s character, though I do admire the lesson it teaches. Not entirely useless, just really badly done.
 

I will give this episode credit for something that a lot of shows don’t care to teach: Someone doesn’t HAVE to perform if they aren’t comfortable in front of crowds. A lesson so many parents could learn.
 

I think this episode provides a nice bit of world building, showing a simple annual run-of-the-mill event for the ponies and a run-of-the-mill responsibility that the princesses have to take care of.
 

As with the above, it has a nice touch of world building with the main event being the summit of so many places in Equestria. Though just like the Equestria Games, they mucked it up by focusing everything on Spike rather than the event itself.
 

I can’t defend this one too much either. You have a point that it’s the same Shy arc as always, something that I have complained about too. Though like with Filli Vanilli, they at least took it in a different direction by having Fluttershy point out that just because she could join in, doesn’t mean she will since it made her uncomfortable.
 

I still haven’t gotten around to watching Season Six or Seven, so I can’t comment on these. Though I’m seeing AJ’s Day Off popping up a LOT in this thread. Like, as much as Spike at your Service. Is it really that bad?

@Gemstone  
Well, I actually like “Spike at Your Service,” but “Applejack’s Day Off” is pretty dull. It’s very sparse humour-wise, and its plot is uneventful. Admittedly I kinda like the moral.

@Thrond  
I don’t like Spike at your Service because of how incompetent they made Spike seem. Like I mentioned earlier, he’s repeatedly proven to be a really good cook, so how in the world did he screw up something as simple as Apple Pie as badly as he did? Though I admit the counting grass thing was kinda funny. I haven’t seen AJ’s Day Off yet, but the title makes me assume that it at least shows how much work AJ puts into Sweet Apple Acres when the other ponies try to take over for her.

@Gemstone  
More or less, yes. Unlike some, I don’t think anyone comes across as incompetent in “Applejack’s Day Off.” For “Spike At Your Service,” I think I just forgive the mostly bad plotting because I find it kinda funny and it has one scene I really like where AJ, Rainbow, and Rarity just speak casually about the situation, like friends would. That doesn’t happen enough.

@Thrond  
Now that you mention it, yeah, the show does need more casual conversation scenes. The only other time I can think of them doing that is when they’re talking about Gabby Gums during their spa visit.

I have no list of such, it’s more of a shifing title.
 
First held by it’s about time and then received by the Pony Flea Market episode in light of Tirek.