I'll tell you why. One of the many reasons why I love this TV show is because of the writing and the talent of the writers to give us not only enjoyable moments, but also relatable stories which you connect with the characters. Most of my favourite episodes works like that perfectly. Call of the Cutie, Putting your hoof down, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Sleepless in Ponyville, Crusaders of the lost mark, Bloom & Gloom, Sisterhooves Social, Over a Barrel… And the writers usually put something new in these stories. Call of the Cutie was the first episode where we know what the purpose of the Cutie Mark is many years before it was mainstream, tiring and all over the place (Magical Mystery Cure, Cutie Map, Cutie Re-Mark). Sleepless in Ponyville was great not only because it's the first Scootaloo episode, but because it has a relatable conflict and we want to see her ok at the end of the story. Putting your hoof down was one of the very few episodes where I cried a bit because I want to see these characters ok. Party of One is incredible because it show to us one aspect of Pinkie Pie that we didn't expect to come back and it has really funny moments and a charming story.
In August I was on the MLP wikia and I read the plot of "28 pranks later". According to the website, "Rainbow Dash's pranking gets out of hand, so the other ponies decide to give her a taste of her own medicine."
Ok.
1. This trope about someone who pranks to everyone until he receives the biggest prank is something that I've seen a million times in movies, shorts and TV shows.
2. Whoever wrote this forgot one detail from the season 1, in Griffon the brush off, where Pinkie Pie said that even the most harmless prank and Rainbow Dash agreed.
3. I'm 100% sure that this episode is just a compendium of slapsticks and nothing else. I was curious and I saw some screencaps from the MLP wikia and it seems to be that, a compendium of slapsticks with no interesting story. I'm also pretty sure that Pinkie Pie could be incredibly obnoxious like she is since season 3.
4. If there's no Celestia episode, no episode with new locations, no episode with new ways to narrate a story (like Bloom & Gloom, for example), very few episodes with the Cutie Mark Crusadersas as the main characters, no episodes with new evil villains but they green-lighted this episode, I'm worried about what is going to be the future episodes about. I mean, what's the next step? Pinkie Pie eating the ground for 22 minutes because she thinks it's chocolate? Rarity making dreeses for houses because it's raining? Fluttershy desperately looking for ducks in the whole Ponyville because… she is cute? Lesson Zero with Starlight Glimmer as the main character?
Because of these four points, I was like "there's no way I'm going to enjoy this". Maybe the episode is funny, maybe it's good. It's a possibility. But this episode seems to be the easiest one to write in the entire show (it's basically the first point that I wrote). This kind of concept doesn't appeal to me. It's not what I'm looking for in this TV show. My favourite episodes didn't work like that.
I was talking about this with my older brother and explained to him why I don't want to see it.
"So, brother, because of this, I'm going to see the next episode, that one with the changeling apparently." "Oh man, that episode is great!" "Really?" "I think you're going to like that one." "Well, if you say so…" "However, I have to say this right now: Pinkie Pie is one of the main characters." "Oh, god… Well, I hope she's as charming as she was in the first seasons." "Hum, don't expect that." "Good lord…"
So, yeah, hopefully the changeling episode is good and creative.