ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: What makes a good episode?

HELLOOO and welcome to Cultures Compendium of Reviews! As always, I am Culture Shock. Your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond. Today marks a small milestone for this blog. 6 months ago today I started it as a way to give back to the brony fandom. Like with all things my small brainchild is on the slow path to something greater. For today, I wanted to step away from my norm to give my readers something a little different.

Before we start that I wanna remind everybody of the rules here. Firstly, all content within this blog is expressly the opinion of its author. It does not, nor should it ever, reflect the overall opinion of the fandom. Lastly, if any of you notice any mistakes, be it typos or otherwise, don't hesitate to let me know. With that said, let's begin. Shall we?

What makes an episode great? A question tv viewer often ponders. There are infinite possible answers to this question. Most of which revolve around fanservice. Today I'm gonna give you my list of the top 5 elements of a great episode. Note, they will not be in any specific order. I'll also be including a brief summary of why I picked it.

Here they are:

1. A catchy opening / ending-
Like with all tv shows an episode usually opens and ends with an amazing soundtrack to get viewers pumped for what lies ahead. Admittedly, sometimes these songs do tend to get stale after the first few seasons. However that doesn't make them any less memorable for fans of all ages.

2. An engaging plot-
No joke. A plot is a crucial piece to ANY episode. It's the difference a gem and a lump of suspicious coal. Mainly it's there to help set the mood for the viewers at home which is what makes it so important.

3. Strong dialogue / character interaction-
Another crucial point to keep in mind. Especially when introducing characters. It gives viewers a brief of who the character is and how they tie into the story.

4. Memorable lessons / morals-
Most episodes these days always finds a way to hide a special little life lesson or moral in the plot. Its mostly a way to help viewers relate to what's going on and maybe even pass along wisdom for younger viewers.

5. Last but not least... Explosive action scenes / juicy drama-
Now this is what really keeps viewers focused. Its when shows fit in those over the top and high budget fight scenes or those scandalous and emotional dramatic moments that really draws in ratings.

ALRIGHT! This concludes my top five list. Thanks to all of you who have been keeping up with me so far. I look forward to even more fun in the months to come. This has been Culture Shock, your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond, saying KEEP CALM AND BRONY ON! PEACE!