This is how I feel about G5 so far: it's too boring to hold my attention, and even though I disliked Pony Life, G5 is just so bland and boring that the only way I can tolerate consuming any sort of G5 content is through its version of Pony Life. The main cast all come across as pale imitations of G4 characters, and the only one I can consistently care about is Pipp because even though I would normally find a terminally online e-celeb instagram wh||orse|| annoying, Pipp is objectively the cutest of the mane five (Izzy is very hit-or-miss, the rest are just plain dull). Also I enjoy the 2d animation of Tell Your Tale as opposed to the tryhard 3d Filly Funtasia-wannabe style of Make Your Mark. And TYT doesn't take itself too seriously, as opposed to MYM's self-importantness. For these reasons it is a far better spiritual successor to Friendship is Magic than MYM ever was. But even then, the Mane Five fall short of being able to hold the show all by themselves without there being some kind of antagonist to cockblock them. Therefore, Opaline's scenery-chewing and Posey's casual bigotry are absolutely necessary to maintain the viewer's interest lest it wander like the mind of someone trying to type an image description at two in the morning when you know you have work tomorrow. And speaking of work, you can't run a show like this when three characters are doing all of the heavy lifting to keep it interesting.

In other words, when the parody of the thing supercedes the thing itself in quality and workmanship, you know you've utterly failed.