The Best Episodes Ever, For Now: Top 5 Ranking Thread

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

Bison, actually.

Buffalo, as the ones in Africa that we see the Lions eat in nature documentaries.

[Paperback WriterStarry-eyed an’ laughing as I recall when we were caughtTrapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended]

If I did a top 10 or top 15, "Cutie Mark Chronicles," "Family Appreciation Day," and "Read It and Weep" would all have made the cut. I love those episodes.

Even the episodes I don't like so much are at least fun to watch, though. I still like "Mare do Well" (which most people hate) just because I'm a big Batman fan and I get a kick out of Batmare. Also the scene with Dash trying to open the jar of peanut butter is hilarious.

[MasterOfKnees]

Bison, actually.

Buffalo, as the ones in Africa that we see the Lions eat in nature documentaries.

And here I thought I knew anything about animals, silly me

Actually, I knew that... I just have a tendency to call Bisons for Buffalos when writing in English, don't ask about it...

If I did a top 10 or top 15, "Cutie Mark Chronicles," "Family Appreciation Day," and "Read It and Weep" would all have made the cut. I love those episodes.

Even the episodes I don't like so much are at least fun to watch, though. I still like "Mare do Well" (which most people hate) just because I'm a big Batman fan and I get a kick out of Batmare. Also the scene with Dash trying to open the jar of peanut butter is hilarious.

I think the same, I'd watch pretty much any episode if I randomly came by it on the TV. I'm still not quite the big fan of episodes like Family Appreciation Day, Hearts and Hooves Day and The Show Stoppers, but that's mostly because Sweetie Belle is the only one I really fancy from the CMC, and that's only because of Sisterhooves Social. But as I said, I would watch any episode were I to randomly find it on the TV.

I think that Mare Do Well gets a little too much hate too, but that's probably because I'm such a big Rainbow fanatic . Still, I think that there are a few points in there that are quite funny, like mowing the lawn, or how she feels 100% confident after holding that little crack in the wall. The scene where she is all alone is also quite good, showing a little doubt from Rainbow Dash makes her seem less 1 dimensional. Still, I can't help but feel that the whole hero thing doesn't really fit into this show. The moral is quite good though, but I'm fairly certain that was part of the moral in Boast Busters too.

Also, I just switched around Lesson Zero and Fall Weather Friends in my actual rating post, because Fall Weather Friends is simply amazing.

[GummyThe best and most developed character]

5. It's About Time
4. Green Isn't Your Color
3. Lesson Zero
2. Hurricane Fluttershy
1. Mysterious Ma--no, actually Party of One

[Paperback WriterStarry-eyed an’ laughing as I recall when we were caughtTrapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended]

I think that Mare Do Well gets a little too much hate too, but that's probably because I'm such a big Rainbow fanatic . Still, I think that there are a few points in there that are quite funny, like mowing the lawn, or how she feels 100% confident after holding that little crack in the wall. The scene where she is all alone is also quite good, showing a little doubt from Rainbow Dash makes her seem less 1 dimensional. Still, I can't help but feel that the whole hero thing doesn't really fit into this show. The moral is quite good though, but I'm fairly certain that was part of the moral in Boast Busters too.

Also, I just switched around Lesson Zero and Fall Weather Friends in my actual rating post, because Fall Weather Friends is simply amazing.

I like Dash's little solo moment in "Mare Do Well" because it's a nice call-back to "Sonic Rainboom," where we find out that Dash is more insecure than she likes to let on (which also bleeds into "Read It and Weep"). I agree that it is a little weird to have the super-hero thing in Ponyville, where it's not unprecedented to have Cerberus or an Ursa Minor burst into the middle of town, and the mane 6 might as well be the cast of Sailor Moon whenever they use the Elements of Harmony anyway. It's a little... overkill, maybe? But as a one-off thing it was okay, and there's quite a few comedy bits that redeem it, like the ones you mentioned (mowing the lawn, pulling her hoof away from the dam to pat herself on the back with predictably disastrous consequences).

Also, I forgot about "Fall Weather Friends," which is a shame. That's a great episode, with a lot of good moments for Dash and Applejack, and things like Pinkie's bizarre commentary over the race ("If you eat too much fudge then you can't budge and you get a pudge." Spike just stares for a moment).

[CorpusCavernosumThe bear and the unicorn fair]

5. A Friend in Deed
4. Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
3. Putting Your Hoof Down
2. Hurricane Fluttershy
1. Sisterhooves Social

[Solus]

5. (1point) Cutie Mark Chronicles - Something about this episode just struck a chord for me, the way they were able to tell such interesting back stories for each of the characters in such a quick and condensed format, and tie them all together. Not to mention adorable filly versions of the mane cast.

4. (2points) Hurricane Fluttershy - A very solid episode from start to finish, great interactions between RD and Fluttershy, a stunning training montage sequence with some of my favorite background music in the show, and a suitably epic conclusion that didn't feel overdone.

3. (3points) Winter Wrap Up - Besides containing one of the catchiest songs in existence, this episode just feels like one of the best uses of the entire mane cast, with screen time given to everyone, excellent humor, and great writing. Plus I relate to Twilight quite a bit in this episode.

2. (4points) Canterlot Wedding - Amazing music, amazing visual and action sequences, amazing villian and character design, and a story with real conflict told as well as could be expected given constraints of a 45-minute air time. I can only hope the next season ends on such a high note.

1. (5points) Green Isn't Your Color - Still gotta say this is my favorite. Fluttershy has never been so adorable, and this episode contains a whole score of lines and scenes that had me roaring with laughter. This is my #1 purely because I smile throughout the whole damn thing every time I see it, and that's why I watch MLP in the first place.

[MasterOfKnees]

Bison, actually.

Buffalo, as the ones in Africa that we see the Lions eat in nature documentaries.

Just coming back to this, Braeburn and co. actuslly calls them buffalos in the episode ("Did you say buffalo?" - Braeburn), so I blame the ponies.

[Deffon]

They are also called buffalo in an old Simpsons episode, (the singing hobo episode, I think).

[Headless Horse]

And casual pop culture dating back decades including cowboy songs about being given a home where such creatures roam.

Calling them buffalo might not be strictly accurate, but it's nothing new.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

They were even called "Buffalo" by the actual settlers way back when because, up until then, the African Buffalo was the only sort of that creature the White people were familiar with.

Many of the Native American tribes had their own words for the Bison, the best of which were from one of my local tribes, the Lakota People, was "Tatanka." (Tuh-TAWN-kuh).

:braeburn: "Did you say...Tatanka?" Sounds a lot more powerful, doesn't it?

[HyliusWhat? Heroes are cool too.]

(Tuh-TAWN-kuh)

I'm sorry but I just tried to say this and my southern drawl made me sound like I said "Tonka". I am now imagining the entire episode with a herd of Tonka trucks.

[Frosthawkwhat is this. what is this SHIT]

I am now imagining the entire episode with a herd of Tonka trucks.

Well if you ask me that's pretty powerful too.

[RagnarThe fact that there is quite definitely nothing at all out there, yet it is visiting anyway, is of some distress to those who care about such things.]

If I accidentally built a town between a bunch of bulldozers and their ancestral migration pattern thing, I think I'd just get the hell out of the way when they came through.

[PloboWhat'cha want me to do with this? Go pranking?I threw it on the ground!]

1. Sweet and Elite. The part with switching parties, Twilight dancing, party cannon etc. is just too brilliant. Oh and also the song.
2. Canterlot Wedding. Its Disney style and the fact it's 40 minutes long with This Day Aria and other songs makes it perfect.
3. Sisterhooves Social. Being focused on Rarity (yes, she's my favorite, how did you guess?) and also thanks to the Friendship is Witchcraft episode makes it one of my favorites.
4... this is getting hard. Probably May the Best Pet Win. But I can't actually defend this choice - most of the episodes are as good as this one and I can't actually order them anymore.
5., as a honorable mention, would be A Dog and Pony Show. I watched it so many times before season 2 just for that one, particular scene, I lost count after around three days.

[Paperback WriterStarry-eyed an’ laughing as I recall when we were caughtTrapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended]

I like "Sweet and Elite" a lot, partly for the song (Rarity gets the best songs ) and partly because it has one of my favorite third acts in the entire show. The way the mane 6 completely ruin the garden party by being themselves is funny, but Twilight's dancing always makes me laugh really hard. One of the rare moments when Twi gets to steal the scene, instead of having it stolen from her by a character like Rarity, Dash, or Pinkie.

[MasterOfKnees]

I like "Sweet and Elite" a lot, partly for the song (Rarity gets the best songs ) and partly because it has one of my favorite third acts in the entire show. The way the mane 6 completely ruin the garden party by being themselves is funny, but Twilight's dancing always makes me laugh really hard. One of the rare moments when Twi gets to steal the scene, instead of having it stolen from her by a character like Rarity, Dash, or Pinkie.

''How come y'all aren't doing any gardening? This is a garden party, isn't it?'' kinda stole it for me, but that may be because I was happy to see Applejack finally have a humorous moment again. But yeah, the scene as a whole is priceless.

Also Plobo, cheers for having 'May the Best Pet Win!' on there!

[shotgunbadgerBeing pressed into labor is fun, as long as the work is peppy!]

Sweet and Elite had a lot of great moments, it was a good example of how a show focused on one character can also have a lot of humor from the others.

[cheerilee1980]

1. Canterlot Wedding
2. Hearts and Hooves Day
3. Sisterhooves Social
4. Over a Barrel
5. Party of One

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

Sweet and Elite had a lot of great moments, it was a good example of how a show focused on one character can also have a lot of humor from the others.

A lot of amazing moments.






Especially the balloon thing. Damn.

[brakelessA pegasus will fly long and hard for a bit of gilded brass.]

I can't decide whether you should live or die...



S&E was pretty great.

[Mechanical ApeThank you Sweetio!But your cutie mark is in another castle!]

Let's not forget that S&E gave us this:



And this:



Damn, that was a solid episode. Should I have just given in and made it my #5? Had an all-Rarity favorites list? Would that have been too much of a good thing?

[MordjaLYRA is the cool pony who likes to hang out. You can find most of the cool ponies with her. LYRA can just chill and do whatever and totally relax. "Take it easy" is the LYRA motto, for example, that's how laid back she is.]

S&E was nearly in my top 5, but I felt I needed another season 1 episode in there.

It really is a great character episode though, and completely hilarious.

[PloboWhat'cha want me to do with this? Go pranking?I threw it on the ground!]

You can never have enough Rarity.

[Frith]

1. Hurricane Fluttershy - Touching story and actually useful lesson for all age-groups. Fluttershy's problem and solution to it was handled realistically and FS and RS were great together. Add to this worldbuilding, great backround music and some awesome scenes like that educational film and you get the best episode of whole series.

2. Canterlot wedding - This episode had totally different tone compared to other episodes and it felt more like a disney movie. Shining armor and Cadance were portrayed nicely and Chrysalis was just badass villain. Songs were also great, especially This Day Aria.

3. Sisterhooves Social - Most touching episode in the show. SB's and Rarity's relationship gives us realistic picture on what kind of problems siblings with big age difference may have and AJ's and AB's relationship gave us a great contrast. The race sequence was great before i knew the twist but even greater when i knew it. The episode also gave SB chance to shine and Claire Corlett did great job.

4. Putting your hoof down - I can identify with Fluttershy's problems in this episode. Fluttershy's assertiviness-problem was portrayed over-the-top but it works in this episode. Iron Will is great one-time character and Rarity and Pinkie were excellent duo in humorous way.

5. Green isn't your colour - The first episode i ever saw. episode hasn't really any high points, but pace was perfect and episode was flawless. Fluttershy and Rarity were great and so was Photo Finish.

Honorable mentions: Sweet & Elite, Suited For success, Winter Wrap Up, Sonic Rainboom and Party of One.

[Pocketis she just gonna go booty booty]

Just coming back to this, Braeburn and co. actuslly calls them buffalos in the episode ("Did you say buffalo?" - Braeburn), so I blame the ponies.

People in the Old West used to call Native Americans "Indians" despite having nothing to do with India, so it's serendipitously apropos.

[Scuderia FerrarityWhy?Because Twilight Sparkle. That's why.-- Twilight Sparkle]

IIRC it was Columbus that had misidentified them as such. He was looking for a better route to India for the spice trade.

Totally off topic but - a Penzey's Spices store is pretty mind blowing, even in this modern age.
http://www.penzeys.com/images/D12.pdf

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

People in the Old West used to call Native Americans "Indians" despite having nothing to do with India, so it's serendipitously apropos.

Fun fact, many universities still use the term "American Indian" in an actually scholarly fashion. As opposed to the wider "Native American", the "American Indian" designation specifically excludes the Mexican, and Great Northern tribes, like the Inuit, for example.

I had asked because we still have an "Indian Studies" department at my university, and I had asked the dean (All my anthropology classes were in that building) if that was just an outdated non-PC term, and she explained the difference. They only dealt with American Indian issues.

[haywireInteresting posts? I'm sure I have those.]

For me, going from best to worst, it's Ticket Master, Sweet and Elite, Suited for Success, Party of One, and Griffon the Brush Off.

Ticket Master is the first episode I watched. Out of all of the episodes, I think it does the best job of representing the main six, it has a little bit of everything in it, and it completely settles the best pony debate. I like Sweet and Elite and Suited for Success for the same reasons. Rarity is an interesting character with great dialogue, both episodes have the best songs in them, and the pony outfits in both are just fantastic.

Not much to say about Party of One other than that it has a lot of good moments in it.

As for Griffon the Brush Off, I like it because Gilda is a nice foil for the main cast/rad as hell.

[BartonFink]

Haywire two of those episodes haven't been voted for yet you are pretty original in your choices!

[anniieEVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A VHS INTO THE SLOT. ITS APPLEBUCK SEASON AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I START DOING THE MOVES ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, APPLEJACK.]

_-~-* actual best ep list *-~-_

1.Applebucks Season
2.Sisterhoofs Social
3.Luna Eclipted
4.Party Of 1
5.GIYC

[Yolostar]

I don't think I can put enough thought into making a top 5 list. Can I just do a top 1? Cause Suited for Success is the best episode imo.

[kidcoelacanthalicorn twilight is fucking garbage]

Party of One is still the best episode, it never lets up on excellence. After that it gets kind of blurry, but I would say Sisterhooves and Last Roundup are in the top 3, and any CMC episode to round it out. How's that for a vague non-commital response!!

[weedgoku]

I was agonising over my choices and in the end they turned out to be the quintessential Ponygoon favs

5. Stare Master - Involves some of my favourite characters, and is one of the cutest episodes.

4. Suited for Success - In my opinion the best introductory episode because each of the main 6 have their moments, it's funny and it has my favourite song. The fashion show at the end is also a wonderful piece of animation and the music is really fitting.

3. Ponyville Confidential - I thought this episode was the funniest.

2. A Canterlot Wedding - What can I say, it lived up to the hype and the 3 songs were all amazing.

1. Hurricane Fluttershy - I just really like Fluttershy and Rainbow's relationship dynamic. In the beginning Rainbow's exasperated at Fluttershy for holding the team back (Dragonshy), then in Sonic Rainboom she feels she can be honest only with Fluttershy, and by season 2 they're close friends who do a lot more together (e.g. May The Best Pet Win, and the cold open of Dragon Quest). The episode itself also strikes a lovely balance between humour and sappy sincerity.

[numsOic]

the quintessential Ponygoon favs

5. Stare Master

This one hasn't been mentioned before. A fair number of people think it's a mediocre to bad episode; hardly a "Ponygoon favorite".

Me? I think it's pretty good. No, Barton, I still refuse to rank my 5 favorite episodes. *flips the bird, skates out*

me irl

[Highbrow DashAJ, Rarity! What's happening?]

1. Sisterhooves social
2. Sweet and Elite
3. The rest

[MalleusMy name is Mike and I do not like ponies.]

5. Feeling Pinkie Keen
4. Over A Barrel
3. Luna Eclipsed
2. Winter Wrap Up
1. Griffon the Brush-Off

I don't really have interesting reasons for why I think these are the best episodes, I just really like them a lot.

[Lazy]

5. Feeling Pinkie Keen
4. Over A Barrel
3. Luna Eclipsed
2. Winter Wrap Up
1. Griffon the Brush-Off

I don't really have interesting reasons for why I think these are the best episodes, I just really like them a lot.

I think you are the first person I have seen who puts Griffon the Brush-Off as their fav.
(Gilda rules)

[MalleusMy name is Mike and I do not like ponies.]

I think you are the first person I have seen who puts Griffon the Brush-Off as their fav.
(Gilda rules)

I agree, but she isn't even the reason why I love that episode so much. I just really like Pinkie and Rainbow's interaction in it. It's just hella awesome to see them pranking, but I really do like characters that you love to hate and Gilda does that perfectly.

[Headless Horse]

I do wish they'd prank more. It was such a simple time in their relationship and in

Lauren indicated that she got pushback from Hasbro on the pranking thing because it was antisocial or something, so they could only get away with the one episode. Nowadays they could probably go nuts, but the backdrop is a lot more complicated now...