Season 1 had fantastic character moments, amazing songs, and lots of great little times when the story would just stop and let the characters do their thing, which led to many meme-worthy lines from Pinkie. It had amazing episodes, and mediocre episodes, but notably all the “worst” of season 1 still had plenty going for them and added great moments and lore. Also, every song was wonderful. All of them.
7.25/10
Season 2 was fantastic all around, in character and scope. Everything from season 1 was taken up a notch, to amazing effect. This season had the only two 10/10 ratings I’ve given for the show. As before, even the “worse” episodes have great moments and still no episodes are actually bad. Every song was fantastic, exactly on par with season 1 (BBBFF was the only song I didn’t like).
8/10
Season 3 was a huge step down for me. I actually enjoyed the Crystal Empire quite a bit, but all the songs felt a bit phoned in. Then the season realy got going and I knew something was wrong. The series’ first bad episodes came into being, with little to no redeeming qualities. Every song felt soulless, I only enjoyed one and it was in spite of it not being well composed. Even worse than the bad episodes, not a single episode this season really wowed me, the very best episodes a mere 8/10. Moreover, the whole season seemed to have a very unenthused feel behind it, like the writers simply weren’t trying as hard now that they had a loyal fanbase. As a whole, most of it was harmless, but this show had always surprised and amazed me in the past, and that stopped in season 3.
6/10
Season 4 was awful from the very beginning. For the first time, the premiere was simply not enjoyable. After that, clear problems began to show in the writing. Where before it was excusable, characters would now be wildly mischaracterized simply for the story. Each character had at least one episode dedicated to stomping on any love felt for them. Entire plot elements existed solely for fanservice, with silly references and Wilhelm screams abound even more than in Season 3. The very best of the season got even lower scores, while over HALF the episodes were completely unenjoyable. As last season, still no effort or soul in either the episodes or the songs. The occasional pleasant episode was a rarity, and most simply felt like a waste of time. And while I’m aware the animation became fancier, I’ve never once cared about animation in this show, and I would argue that season 1’s flat colors looked better anyway. This is an entire season I wish never existed.
4/10
So far, season 5 is proving to be no better than season 4.