Not really. Not at all, actually. It has some of the best episodes the show has ever seen.

Just like all the time and as it has always been, so many in the fandom are just never too satisfy, call episodes "bad" just because they don't go into the direction they want them to go, because it doesn't even think about episodes and judges them on impulse and gut feeling or simply by jumping to conclusions.....



















Off the top of my head, I can immediately name these episodes as incredible and give a short reason why:





School Daze (Introduction of a new potential manecast, that can bring the necessary fresh into the show by taking over from the Mane Six and by being more than ponies even (worldbuilding!), a new location and scenario that brings more depth into the show with all the different facets of school life, PLUS, the added bonus of the opportunity to do that better than EQG did, a serious depiction of rascism and xenophobia, calling it out as that and having what might be one of the most important morals with that, overall one of the most mature and serious episodes of the entire show)





The Maud Couple (Plenty of character development for a secondary character, introducing another new character with potential and a very unique personality, having Starlight grow even more as a character of the show)





Fake It 'Til You Make It (Only episode I would call "bordering on boring", because we've seen so much of Fluttershy and know everything about her, so that she just isn't as interesting to watch anymore, but it still has an incredibly great moral and lesson about how clothes and the image they give you don't make you better and how you shouldn't rely on clothes to "be someone")



Grannies Gone Wild (Admittedly missed opportunity for a Friendship School and Student Six episode, but bringing back a location we've only seen once so far and having a kind of mature humor that the show never had so far, plus the moral about how you shouldn't underestimate old people and not think they aren't capable just because they're old)





Surf and/or Turf (Should be obvious..... Tons of worldbuilding by bringing Mount Aris back into the show, showing how the hippogriffs have rebuilt their home, mature topic about how a divorce weighs on a child and what problems it brings for children. Should be a no-brainer here.)



Horse Play (The long awaited Celestia episode, showing more sides of her, plus we found out how long exactly it is since Celestia first raised the sun, which is incredibly important for determining the timeline, and we even got some infos about Celestia's past that we didn't know yet)





The Parent Map (Fresh air by having Sunburst and Starlight as the mane characters, getting to know their parents, learning more about Starlight's past, once more a mature lesson about relationship with your parents)



Non-Compete Clause (Finally more spotlight for the Student Six and them teaching their teachers a lesson, rather than the other way around, showing that even teachers aren't perfect and can still make mistakes, which is an incredibly important moral, as it shows that even people with authority aren't necessarily better than those without)





The Break Up Break Down (More about the relationship between Big Mac and Sugar Belle, deepening it, very deep episode about difficulties in a romantic relationship, the interesting sideplot about Sweetie Belle's secret admirer, showing how her and Applebloom and Scootaloo have grown and matured (even though their animation models haven't been updated, the writing brings out how they've become older), bringing more romance into the show and making it more varied that way)





Molt Down (Another no-brainer..... Tons of character development for Spike, showing how he grows up, combined with a ton of continuity to several past episodes and seasons, and a meaningful role for Smolder in which she perfectly contributes to the plot)





Marks for Effort (A new and interesting direction for Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in the show, the introduction of a new, very deep and mysterious character with Cozy Glow and the underlying implication of a villain who is still a foal..... (even though I stand by it that she isn't evil))



The Mean 6 (The return of Chrysalis, showing how it went down for her after she lost her hive, one of the darkest and most serious episodes yet, one of the most tense episodes of the show that lets you cling to the edge of your seat while you wonder if and when the clones and Chrysalis will encounter the real Mane Six, the implication that the Tree of Harmony has been corrupted by the clones and turned evil at the end, the mysterious wood that is left off the clones and that Chrysalis fled at the end, all the obvious build-up for future events)





A Matter of Principals (More character development for Starlight and Discord both, more Student Six screentime and character development for them too, plus more worldbuilding with the arcane detectors they used and the famous heroes from the past and their magical artifacts)





The Hearth's Warming Club (Another Hearth's Warming episode, which is always nice to see, finally a full-on Student Six episode again, one that delves really deeply into their relationship and their personalities, the reveal of Gallus being an orphan, combined with all the information about the various' creatures cultures and traditions during the time of Hearth's Warming Eve)





Friendship University (The return of Chancellor Neighsay with a subtle revenge on Twilight, the return of Flim and Flam as antagonists that never change and show that not everyone becomes reformed (just like Chrysalis), Starswirl the Bearded's return into the show, a huge challenge for Twilight when her idol is used against her and ends up disappointed of her, character development for Starswirl that directly builds on what we saw in the Season 7 Finale)





The End in Friend (Arguably the least interesting episode of the season, as, like the rest of the Mane Six, Rainbow Dash and Rarity just aren't interesting as characters for the show anymore, but with some interesting new worldbuilding, that mysterious secret passage in Twilight's school that makes you wonder what it's for, plus, the conflict makes sense for them as it was someone else (Gallus) who set that thought into their head if their friendship really works in the end, a realistic depiction of friendship that shows that even friends can still have fights and differences even after years)





Yakity-Sax (Despite a Pinkie Pie episode, a long overdue step of character development for her, with her slowly learning to not freak out every time her friends don't give her attention, plus an interesting moral about tolerance and that you shouldn't impede other's happiness just because you don't like what they do, combined with a bit more yak culture and worldbuilding for them)





Road to Friendship (Kind of the same lesson as "The End in Friend", just more interesting because it's about Starlight and Trixie, showing that even very good and close friends can have trouble with each other, a very natural conflict between them, a nice moral about how expectations that weren't fulfilled can lead to disappointment and fights, plus, so much more character development for Trixie as we learn how she feels during her long and lonely travels across Equestria, and seeing Somnambula again, which brings fresh air in regards to locations)





The Washouts (The next no-brainer..... Long overdue Scootaloo & Rainbow Dash episode, dealing with Scootaloo's flightlessness and how that makes life hard for her, Lightning Dust's return, Lightning Dust still being a reckless jerk which again leaves the show with another much-needed antagonist that will probably never get reformed, one of the most mature and tragic episodes of the entire show)





A Rockhoof and a Hard Place (Seeing Rockhoof and the rest of the Pillars, finding out what they (and Stygian) do now and how they have adapted to living in modern Equestria, mature lesson about finding a purpose in your life and suicide implications which adds another more serious note to the show)





What Lies Beneath (Another Student Six episode that lets their roles in the show grow even more, a deep dive into their personalities and minds, tons of character development for them, the Tree of Harmony and his growing abilities, his slightly ominous appearance which makes you wonder more what the clones did with it, the mystery around Cozy Glow deepening.....)

















Oh, now I listed ALL the episodes, whoopsie..... It's all a matter of the perspective you look at the episodes from. Theren't any bad episodes in this show. It's just that this fandom is always negative and decides that an episode is bad before it has even gotten behind the plot, yet alone understood it and the meaning of it.

