Rise, rise from the dead!
Despite my mixed feelings over Season 3, I knew I'd have to give Season 4 a shot. I mean, it couldn't possibly be worse, right? So, with the S4 premiere airing mere hours ago (like 2), and me conveniently having a short day at work on my first day of break, I figured I'd check it out.
Spoilers incoming!
The Good:
- There will be an overarching plot for S4. Fantastic. My only concern is that it will make this other thing that I liked pointless...
- ... which is that the elements of harmony are gone. Deus ex Harmony was getting old. But if what's in that box is what I expect, we'll be right back there at the end of the season.
- The return of Discord was nice, after what happened in S3.
- The flashbacks were actually very good. The scene just after NMM struck Celestia was gorgeous, and reminds me of a scene from The Clone Wars in the fifth season with Obi Wan (that I won't spoil here... go watch the show!).
- Twilight can't fly well.
- Pinkie Pie was fantastic here. Her humorous moments were done perfectly; I laughed at a lot of them, and never felt that they were too much.
The Bad:
- Twilight being "sent home" by the other five. Seriously, this was not only a terrible idea, but it lasted for all of two minutes before everything was fine agian.
- Related to the first one; Applejack. Seriously, you started the whole send the princess home because Equestria needs a princess thing. WHAT HAPPENED TO CADANCE?!
- Deus ex Zecora! Did she just give Twilight some drugs? Repeatedly?
- No songs. Okay, I admit it. The songs in the S3 finale have grown on me. Especially Celestia's Ballad, which I absolutely love.
- Dialogue. This is actually a problem I have with the whole show. The constant "but but friendship but but together" crap drives me nuts. It always has, but I tolerated it. It just grates now. If this show is supposed to be more mature, can we get something a bit more realistic there, and a bit less likely to make me gag?
The Everything Else:
- Was Photo Finish always in the intro? I swear I saw her in there.
- You can stop casting magic by licking your hoof and touching your horn? What? (I'm talking about unicorns here, guys. Sheesh).
- The poses that Celestia and Luna have when they perform the Summer Sun celebration are so awkward. Celestia does a similar one in the S3 finale, and it's not natural. Ponies don't do that. Stop trying to make that a thing.
Overall:
Not bad. Having a season long arc is promising. The bad stuff can all be fixed; it's all writing related. I don't think it will be, though. I would rate this higher than the S3 premiere, but below S2's first two episodes.
