#cat ranks ml s5

[purrincess-chat]

Hi Cat! May I ask you to rank S5 episodes aired so far? and what did you like the most about each of them?

Finally getting around to answering this now that s5 is officially over. Overall, I'd say s5 was definitely not as bad as people have made it out to be, and I'll share my full thoughts on it later and go over some of the notes I took upon rewatching, but I'd say this season on average was pretty mid? Adrinette hard carried a lot of episodes that otherwise were just okay. Again, I've said it a bunch, and I'll say it a bunch more times, ML's biggest problem is pacing. S5 is probably the most ambitious season of this show by far, and they crammed a shit ton into this one season that would have been more digestible if it were spread out I think.

But anywho, I'll discuss more later. For now, here is my episode rankings for season 5! The ratings are rough, and I will likely adjust them to be a bit more specific when I eventually do my complete episode ranking with all the other seasons, but for now these ratings correspond to how I relate just the s5 episodes to each other. None of them got a 10, and tbh most of these eps sit around 6-7/10, so ranking them was actually kind of hard because as I said, Adrinette hard carried some of these eps, and I just did not care for the other things going on in them. Okay, here we go:

Protection: 9.5/10

Anyone who knows me or is in any way familiar with me probably knows why this episode is here. The picnic will go down as one of Adrinette's iconic moments. The whole set-up was incredibly sweet, and I could stare at that scene for hours.

2. Emotion: 9/10

Outside of thinking that Felix should have come back sooner and that perhaps this should have been the mid-season conflict rather than the Kwami's Choice eps (I'll talk more about why in another post eventually), I really liked this episode. I love how much Marinette has grown. I enjoyed Felix being a lil gremlin man. Idk, I liked it.

3. Elation: 8.5/10

"Cat, but you always shit talk MC-"

Incorrect. I shit talk toxic stans. I'd be lying if I said seeing those two losers kiss didn't make me feel things. I also appreciated the realness of this ep on why they couldn't be together, and that Chat Noir/Adrien had enough respect for Marinette to realize that there was a power imbalance between them. It was very sexy of him.

4. Revolution: 8.5/10

This one honestly surprised me being this high, but so much shit happened in this episode. Like I needed to sit for a sec after watching it because it was a lot to process. While I was rewatching it, I had moments where I was like wait, is this a new episode? But then I'd remember, nope. It's still the same one where all this other shit happened. And weirdly, it didn't feel too rushed? A lot of episodes this season felt like they were moving a million miles a minute and rushing to get to the point, but I felt like for as much shit as went down in this episode, it flowed pretty well.

Also, I'm Adrinette trash so of course I'm gonna rank their first kiss high fucking sue me

Also, hardly anyone talked about the LadyNoir power up! Like hello???

5. Deflagration: 8/10

I know I just dunked on the Kwami's Choice arc, and I will probably do it again because these two episodes were HARD carried by Adrinette. I didn't care about Kitty Noire or Scarabella at all. Their fight was lame, why the fuck did they start talking like that, just, ugh-anyway. I felt like part 2 was the stronger of the two episodes, and not just because of the Ladrien crumb! (though the ladrien crumb was v nice) I enjoyed the Resistance swooping in to help. I enjoyed Marinette outsmarting Gabriel. I enjoyed Adrien ripping the earrings off his dad like how dare you touch her things, you crusty eggplant. I liked the Adrinette scene in the cafeteria. I dunno. I don't think giving up their Miraculous was really necessary, but I appreciated several of the moments in this episode.

6. Passion: 8/10

So, in prior seasons I came to really not care for Nathalie when she was simping for Gabriel, but I gained a lot more respect for her this season. I just kind of wish she'd been like that from the beginning. There to make sure Gabriel doesn't go too far, someone to love Adrien and carry out his and Emilie's wishes. I wouldn't have minded even if GabeNath happened as a result if they were able to talk Gabriel down from his madness and truly let Emilie go in the end. But alas, we didn't. I loved the Adrinette moment in this episode where Adrien just immediately tells her what's wrong. It was such a huge step for him as someone who usually just buries his feelings. And the kwami swap was much better this go round.

7. Jubilation: 7.5/10

My cat is sleeping on my notes, but I remember enjoying this episode. A thought that I had in regards to the fantasy that they saw is that the gift sees beyond the masks, even if they don't. Like, yes, of course they want a life together because they're soulmates. They just can't quite see the whole picture yet. Idk how to explain it, but anyway, it was a cute episode. The nightmare children need to be burned at the stake, but overall, it was nice.

8. Transmission: 7.5/10

Listen. I did not give a single fuck about the new heroes, and their battle was very anticlimactic and lame, but god dammit, the Adrinette in this episode! Adrien audibly recognizing he shouldn't have played with her feelings as Chat Noir. Him seeing his photos in her trash can and telling her he loves her! The motherfucking hand game! Nothing else happened in that ep. It was just them.

9. Determination: 7.5/10

I absolutely loved seeing Adrinette go all pink sparkles when he looked at Marinette, and how Kagami was like stop being a fucking wuss and ask her on a date. As much as I cannot with the statue scene, I loved that Adrien was just like lol yeahhh you kissed me, it was kind of awesome. Like baby boy XD I liked him being lowkey jealous and wanting to be more with Marinette and trying his damnedest to get closer to her when she was freaking out. His patience with her this season has been so sweet.

LN stans can roast me all they want, idc, but I have a lot of thoughts about her switching her affection to CN. Not to say that she doesn't genuinely have feelings for him because I think she definitely does deep down, but I have always seen her pursuit of him this season as a means to run away from her problems. (i.e. her feelings for Adrien) Because she never got over Adrien, and that much was obvious. And Alya even called her on her bullshit. Marinette was trying to force herself to stop loving Adrien by throwing herself at Chat Noir, and while her feelings for him might stem from a genuine place of love for him, she was trying to love him for the wrong reasons. Rather than it being a natural thing, it felt very much like she was only doing it because she thought it would be easier, and she was refusing to face and process what had happened as a result of her loving Adrien. I just wish that the reversal were handled differently. She can and absolutely does love Chat Noir, but in this context, it just felt a little cheap to me. Not as genuine because she was still clearly hung up on Adrien and avoiding that.

10. Multiplication: 7/10

We have reached 6-7/10 territory. A loooot of eps are in this range, so it was actually pretty difficult to rank. I went solely on vibes for this section. Any single scene that sticks out in my memory for each episode were the breaking points on these.

Idk why, but I liked this episode. I loved the scenes of Adrien trying to greet Marinette. I loved everyone getting progressively more bored with waiting for Monarch to show up again. It was cute.

11. Derision: 7/10

Do I think this backstory should have come way, way, way, WAY sooner? Yes. Like s1-s2 sooner. Did I still slurp up all of the Adrinette anyway? ...Well, I'm only human.

12. Evolution: 7/10

I actually skipped this episode in my rewatch to save time because I know it's solid. Bunny Cat was cute. Seeing Gabriel fucking wreck himself because he's an idiot was funny. Alix being the GOAT was fun. Yeah. It was a nice start to the season.

13. Pretension: 7/10

I'm not a Feligami hater like some people. I think it was a bit rushed, but I think that's more of an issue with ML's general struggle with pacing rather than a reflection on the viability of their relationship. I liked seeing how Felix has a softer side because he was always meant to be morally grey. Emotion talked about that a little bit. He had no dog in the fight between Gabriel and LB/CN. He has his own motives for doing what he does, and he's not a bad person, just has done some questionable things to get what he wants. And I think Kagami would be good for him. I loved her roasting him and kicking his ass (and he loved it too).

14. Confrontation: 6.5/10

As the pilot of the Lila downfall plane, you'd think this episode would rank higher, but like, listen. Was Marinette's plan very sneaky and big brained? Yes. Did I enjoy seeing them get caught? Yes. Did this shit need to happen way sooner? Yes! The fact that Alya said with her whole chest in the episode before, "You know we're always ready to believe you." When she fucking wasn't? Like, bitch, your bestie is LADYBUG. Perhaps if she doesn't like someone, recognize that it's for a good ass reason? And I hated how dismissive they were of Adrien when he tried to speak up in that scene too. My honest reaction to Lila being outed was just fucking finally. I rank this one lower as well because they cut a small moment that I wish they fucking hadn't where everyone apologizes to and hugs Marinette after they're exposed. Because they fucking gaslit her for months about this bitch, and she absolutely deserved that apology!

15. Collusion: 6/10

Ya know, I'm not much one to care about Andre. They really tried to paint him as a victim this season, and I just was not there for it. It's okay for him to just suck too. They're all rich, sucky people. It's okay to just say that.

A note I did make that I might talk about later is on the topic of Chloe and her alleged redemption that everyone is mad about and how Astruc just hates Chloe, and I'm not going to say he doesn't. I just think that overall what happened there is when they started planning out future seasons, it was more plot convenient for her to be mean than it was for them to put in the effort to redeem her fully. And looking at some of the other redemptions they've done in this show, we know they would have botched it anyway. They kept her mean because it served their purposes for making things happen. That's it.

16. Revelation: 6/10

For reasons mentioned above in Confrontation, I ranked this episode lower because I wanted to fucking strangle everyone. Everyone in that god damn class knows Chloe is a bitch and always will be. The fact that they all turned on Marinette, including fucking Alya who knows she's FUCKING LADYBUG just ugh. Honestly, when their future plans got fucked in the next episode, I was lowkey like GOOD. Suffer, dumbass bitches! It's what you get! But I'm also just really petty, and I wanted to see Lila finally get shut the fuck up.

17. Adoration: 6/10

This one was fine? Let's go lesbians, I guess. Idk, in comparison to the myriad of other shit going on in s5, this one just felt like filler. Gabriel is an asshole, what else is new? I kind of wish Marinette got a better confession, since, ya know, we've been waiting for it since s1. I wish it were a bigger moment and more heartfelt, but like, eh, I guess.

18. Intuition: 6/10

Seeing Gabriel fuck himself over was nice. Other than that, it was just okay. Get dunked on, you moldy cheeto dust of a human being.

19. Perfection: 6/10

"Cat, did you rank this episode this low because of Adrien's cringy-ass song?"

AND I'D DO IT AGAIN! And the fight was kinda boring. I love Kagami, and she deserved the love in the end, but like c'mon.

20. Illusion: 6/10

A big thing I noted from this episode that became kind of a recurring thing throughout s5 is the illusion of choice. I'll talk more about it in my s5 analysis, but I think that illusion of choice extends to Gabriel's wish too in the end. I did love Nathalie fucking bodying him the second Adrien walked away. It's what he deserves.

21. Destruction: 6/10

This one was fine, I guess. I wasn't super into the format of it being a flashback that Marinette was explaining to Alya at their sleepover after the fact? And that it kind of just glossed over them Cataclysming Monarch, since that was kind of an important thing for this season. ML made some weird choices for big moments throughout this season that kind of cheapened the impact, imo. Idk. Baby girl is smart and all that, we been knew.

22. Representation: 5.5/10

Adrien fighting his dad was the highlight of this episode. You go off, king. The play was incredibly info-dumpy, and I feel like this information should have been spread out more organically. Rather than hinting at all of this shit in s3-4, they should have just sprinkled in these details as actual confirmation back then rather than dumping it all in our laps now.

23. Reunion: 5/10

Listen, this episode wasn't bad, and Adrien being a horse girl is funny, but in the context of this season and compared to the other episodes, this one is honestly just filler. Like, it's cool lore, but feels a bit out of place in this season, especially because she didn't call on her past holders for advice on how to like, idk fight her villain, she called on her for love advice. Just felt very unserious in the context of this season.

24. Conformation: 5/10

This one was fine-ish? The whole finale is definitely the weakest finale we've had. And I've ranked Miracle Queen in my bottom 10, yall. This is saying something. I'll go ahead and continue in my next point because

25. Re-Creation: 4.5/10

Both of the finale eps were just... They happened? I feel like they were pulling at too many threads bringing in everyone the way they did. I feel like the perfect alliance thing was an okay choice? I kind of dislike that Adrien was just no where to be fucking seen for most of these episodes. I know a lot of people are upset that he doesn't know about his dad, and there was no reveal between him and Marinette. Which, no identity reveal, I can live with, but I feel like letting Gabriel make his wish was such a weird choice. I'll talk more about it later, but we've been following this show since s1 and rooting for Ladybug and Chat Noir, and they just let the villain get what he wanted? And you can argue that he didn't really get what he wanted because he died or whatever, but like he got the Miraculouses and made a wish. Stop being obtuse about it. Like what is the ultimate lesson here? What's the message? I'm willing to give s6 a chance, but my future with this show is going to depend on how they unpack some of the fallout of this finale.

And for those arguing over Emilie v Amelie in the ending scene, it was Emilie in the original script and storyboard, and her memorial statue is gone, meaning they no longer have to memorialize her because she's not dead, so unless they randomly decided to not bring her back last minute, that bitch is his mom. Also, they removed a scene where she and Adrien smile at each other, but I digress

26. Migration: 4/10

I'm not going to explain this one, but anyone that knows me, knows why this one is here, and why I didn't care about this episode.

Anywho, my biggest takeaways from this season were that it was a bit too ambitious at times, and I think in general it lacked a lot of the heart of ML. Big moments we've been waiting for fell flat because they got lost in the mess of them trying to cram storylines we should have been getting this whole time into one season. It's not a bad season, and I think it is definitely a step in the right direction. ML just needs to get better about pacing its story arcs so that it maximizes its time and doesn't have to rush through shit to get their point across.

[purrincess-chat]

Cat Ranks Every ML Episode For the Third Time (S1-S5)

 Why I keep doing this to myself, we may never know. But I think it’s fun to see how episodes hold up over time in my mind. Which ones lose their luster and which ones hold their own. Anyway, this is broken up into tiers because rating them is hard and makes things complicated. This list is about vibes, okay? And if you don’t like where I’ve ranked some of these episodes, too bad. Go make your own fucking list. This one is mine. 

S Tier aka “SUBLIME!”

The creams of the crop, the best of the best according to me, my all time favorites, chef’s kisses all around. I love all of these episodes. They hold special places in my heart. If I could only grab 10 (11?) episodes in a fire, these would be it. You get the idea. 

1.     Riposte

Over time, I have come to accept that the umbrella scene clouds my judgment in ranking Origins II so high year after year. Don’t get me wrong, Origins II is still in my top 5, but I’ve finally embraced the fact that Riposte is my favorite episode. It’s just top tier Ladrien, and Kagami was and is such a treat and a wonderful addition to the cast. If this episode is ever on, I will always stop what I’m doing to watch it. Just immaculate vibes.

2.     Protection

If you followed me at all during s5, you should have seen this coming. I talk about this episode a lot as my stand out of s5, and honestly, I will probably talk about it for a while longer yet. It’s like the opposite of Riposte in a way, but also in the best way. The entirety of the pajama picnic set-up was the absolute sweetest thing anyone has ever done for anyone ever, and you cannot convince me otherwise.

3.     Emotion

Honestly, this episode surprised me with how much it sticks out in my mind. Other than thinking we should have had this episode sooner (or just Felix’s return sooner), I can say that the episode itself is very good. We finally get to see Felix’s motives/intentions come out. We get the sweet Adrigaminette we always crave. Gabriel doesn’t exist for like five minutes. Marinette gives a heartfelt speech about Adrien. Honestly, this episode slaps, and I will not deny it.

4.     Origins II

Okay, okay, look how she has fallen from grace. I still have a lot of love for this episode, and the umbrella scene will forever be #1 in my heart. But I have finally allowed myself to see past my umbrella scene blinders and realize that the episode itself outside of that scene is fine. It’s just fine. Take out the umbrella scene, and I’d rank this episode in like the upper middle probably. But since the umbrella scene is there, she’s still top 5 for me.

5.     Gorizilla

This episode hits a sweet jackpot for me because it’s primarily Adrinette and Ladrien, and I don’t know if I will ever score this much again in this show. It has my favorite Ladrien moment of all time. Definitely a top 10 overall moment for this show for me.

6.     Simon Says

I feel like at this point you all should just know that if it has Adrinette or Ladrien, I’m going to love it. That’s just the rules. Also, Gabriel almost died in this episode, and what a blessing that would have been for all of us.

7.     Strike Back

Best season finale by far. By faaaaaar. Like if I had to rank the season finales, and I did, I’d put this one at the top.

8.     Chat Blanc

This one has moved up for me. If any of you recall the last two rankings I did a few years ago, this one sat in the teens, but I think as time has gone on, my initial intrigue for other episodes has diminished, but this one has stayed solid. I hope that post-reveal love square is doing alright in this universe. I hope they beat up Adrien’s dad and sent him to jail, then went home and made out in Gabriel’s stupid butterfly cave.

9.     Evillustrator

The OG MariChat. I’ve said before that I started this fandom primarily as a MariChat stan until I watched the umbrella scene, then Adrinette took over my life. Evillustrator was why. Nathaniel was just okay in this episode, he gives nice guy vibes, but Idk I enjoyed the MariChat interactions, and while they’ve certainly come a long way since then, I still appreciate the nostalgia of seeing their first interaction knowing how far they go down the line. This episode coupled with those memories knowing what I know now about them just makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

10.  Stormy Weather  

This is another one for the nostalgia books. Stormy Weather was baby’s first Miraculous episode. Does the nostalgia I hold cloud my judgment at ranking this one so high in compared to the other bangers underneath it? Yeah, probably. But I can’t bring myself to rank it lower. It’s still one of my favorite s1 episodes because I think it’s just a good introduction to the show. All of the dynamics are in peak form, and Stormy Weather is just peak akuma design imo. Sue me.

11.  Oblivio

Oblivio might be outside my top 10, but when I was originally ranking these again, I used a tier maker list, and Oblivio is the last one in S tier for me. I feel like it’s self-explanatory though. This episode was that bitch in s3 right next to Chat Blanc. I just couldn’t put it in A tier. 

Okay, so I think for most of the middle I’m gonna skip all of the preamble, but I might give a comment here or there about why certain episodes are where they are.

A Tier aka “We love to see them”

Overall, these episodes are great, and I love them. They’re not quite the crème de la crème, but they’re still good.

12.  Glaciator

It’s the LadyNoir cheek kiss for me.

13.  Elation

Self-explanatory. I don’t hate MariChat, guys! I like them!

14.  Revolution

This episode honestly surprised me, but tbh I really liked it. A lot of shit happened, and most of it was incredible.

15.  Mr. Pigeon 72

Having canon confirmation that Adrien had a crush on Marinette in this episode just makes it better.

16.  Dark Cupid

The KISS

17.  Despair Bear

Adrinette slow dancing uwu

18.  Glaciator 2

MariChat shenanigans and also LadyNoir communication. This episode set up a loooot of what we got in s5 from the love square

19.  Risk

Adrien confiding in Marinette got me weak

20.  Volpina

Honestly, this season finale gagged me when I first watched it, and the fandom was exploding with intrigue. No other finale has sparked so much discussion, fan theory, and excitement as this one.

21.  Kwamibuster

I’m a Marinette stan, what are you gonna do?

22.  Mayura

What do you mean Adrien wasn’t in love with Marinette until the end of s3???

23.  New York Special

Adrien and Marinette are two halves of a whole idiot, thanks for coming to my TedTalk

24.  Deflagration

LADRIEN CRUMB IN THIS ECONOMY??

25.  Time Tagger

Alix is my favorite classmate

26.  Gamer

The lucky charm!!!!!!

27.  Lady Wifi

Chat Noir closed the door like a gentleman

28.  Gang of Secrets

This episode revived my faith in this show

29.  The Collector

Started s2 strong

30.  Origins I

Where I’d likely rank Origins II as well if it weren’t for the umbrella scene. They’re good episodes.

31.  Heart Hunter

Honestly, this is here mostly because of the Adrigaminette. Actually, it’s entirely here because of them.

32.  Determination

He’s in love your honor

33.  Sandboy

I just think he’s neat, and everyone’s nightmares were hilarious

34.  Evolution

Again, I love Alix Kubdel, and watching Hawkmoth nearly kill his own ass out of greed and stupidity was amazing.

35.  Backwarder

I’m a Fu stan. I miss him.

B Tier aka “Always a good time”

I have less to say about these. They’re good, and I like them. They just don’t have the wow-factor to make them stand out in my brain. Or they have something about them that prevents me from ranking them higher.

36.  The Mime

37.  Frightningale

38.  Passion

39.  Gabriel Agreste

40.  Style Queen

41.  Transmission

I would have ranked this one higher if it weren’t for the B plot of this arc (aka Scarabella and Kitty Noire). If it was focused on the Adrinette, I would have shot this episode up way higher, but overall, this episode wasn’t as good as part 2 of this arc. The fight was boring, and them giving up their Miraculous still doesn’t make the most sense or even leave a lasting impact. It felt like filler bc they needed something to go around the Adrinette development.

42.  Startrain

43.  Kuro Neko

44.  Jubilation

45.  Prime Queen

46.  Christmaster

47.  Ikari Gozen

48.  Oni-Chan

49.  Felix

50.  Multiplication

51.  Furious Fu

52.  Catalyst

53.  Psychomedian

54.  Miraculer

55.  Timebreaker

56.  Copycat

57.  The Dark Owl

58.  Mr. Pigeon

59.  Sapotis

60.  Zombizou

61.  Syren

62.  Pretension

63.  Derision

64.  Ephemeral

65.  Animan

66.  Confrontation

67.  The Puppeteer

C Tier aka “These are fine”

These episodes likely have aspects that I really enjoy and aspects that I don’t particularly care for. In the end, the good and the bad end up balancing out, so these live here.

68.  Perfection

69.  Reverser

70.  Optigami

71.  Gamer 2.0

72.  Befana

73.  Troublemaker

74.  Revelation

75.  Party Crasher

76.  Collusion

77.  Ladybug

78.  Reflekta

79.  Lies

80.  Weredad

81.  Sentibubbler

82.  Illusion

83.  Intuition

84.  Anansi

85.  Darkblade

86.  The Bubbler

87.  The Pharaoh

88.  Kung Food

89.  Pixelator

90.  Rogercop

91.  Guitar Villain

92.  Princess Fragrance

93.  Gigantitan

94.  Antibug

If anyone remembers from my first ranking (and maybe second), this episode used to be in the bottom 10, but I’ve softened on it over time. The LadyNoir partnership in it is just too good, and Chloe has disappointed me in worse ways since this.

95.  Desperada

96.  The Puppeteer 2

97.  Representation

98.  Adoration

They really robbed Marinette of her confession moment. We’ve been waiting 4.5 seasons for that, and that’s what we got? Lowest Adrinette moment of the season tbh

99.  Robostus

100. Reflekdoll

101. Sole Crusher

102. Destruction

103.  Guiltrip

104.  Hack-san

105.  Rocketear

Tell Nino Adrien is Chat Noir! 

106.  Qilin

107.  Dearest Family

108.  Reunion

109. Horrificator

110. Penalteam

111. Silencer

D Tier for “Dumb”

Now we are getting into the territory of boring or just generally bad, or things that I don’t care about. These are episodes that I don’t have a desire to rewatch, and will likely always skip unless I’m just in a really particular mood.

112.  Conformation

113. Santa Claws

114.  Simpleman

115.  Truth

116.  Queen Banana

117.  Migration

118.  Malediktator

119.  Mega Leech

120.  Crocoduel

121.  Bakerix

E Tier aka “Awful”

We have reached the bottom 10. I have them in two tiers because some of these episodes are worse than others, or my reasons for hating them are worse than others.

122. Captain Hardrock

This episode isn’t so much about the episode itself, but more about the fandom reaction and pushback I received for daring to be indifferent to it when it came out. I will never forget Birthdaygate, you sons of bitches. I hope you enjoy your cringe lord campfire guitar boy in all of his mediocre glory. If it weren’t for the stans, I’d likely have put this one in the bottom middle somewhere. I was and still am indifferent to it. 

123. Frozer

Stemming from birthdaygate, I just didn’t care for this episode as a whole. The double-date, the pitting girls against each other for a boy, the contrived LadyNoir conflict. The ice powerup is cool, I guess.

124.  Animaestro

I still cannot believe that Thomas inserted himself into this universe with his whole confident chest just to bitch and complain about how underappreciated he feels while working on this show. Like, sir, get a therapist.

125.  Stormy Weather 2

Arguably, this episode isn’t terrible. It’s just not necessary imo. It’s just a clipshow recapping the previous 2.5 seasons of info, and for someone who has been following this show the whole time, it’s just redundant and doesn’t add much. It could have been redeemed if Adrien had rubbed his braincells together a little harder at the end, but alas, we left with net-zero development.

126.  Chameleon

I feel like anyone that knows me, knows my feelings about this episode by now. I mean, I wrote *checks AO3* 160,000 words across various fics because of this episode because everyone in it is struck dumb with an idiot ray, and I just could not. I’ve cooled off a lot on this episode, but not enough to rank it out of the bottom 10.

127.   Queen Wasp

So, while I enjoyed Style Queen and found Malediktator meh, Queen Wasp is the sour middle of this trio arc. I have many more thoughts on Chloe’s character throughout the show, and maybe I’ll talk about them more later, but they spent several episodes in s2 trying to make Chloe sympathetic, then this episode happened, and in some regards, you can still argue her mom sucks, and she’s just a young girl, blah, blah. However, I don’t see a reason why she got her Miraculous back after this. If it were up to me, I’d have brought in Zoe after this arc and made her the new bee as far back as s2 because Chloe did not deserve her moment in the s2 finale after this. And I was rooting for Queen Bee to happen back in s2. A lot of people were. But again, as I mentioned in my s5 episode ranking post, I think the writers just realized around this time that it was more plot convenient for Chloe to be mean. I think having her be a hero was just to sell merchandise, and maybe they did play around with the idea of redeeming her, but when they started thinking about where to take things, it served the plot better for her to be mean. So, that’s what they went with. Which is sad, because I do think they could have given her more potential, but I mean, we’ve all watched the episodes after this one. Choices were made.

F Tier aka “Why?”

These are episodes that make me irrationally angry when I think about them for too long.

128.  Miracle Queen

I will attempt to not be too wordy on these last 4, and especially this episode, I feel like I’ve voiced my opinion on it numerous times. If Queen Wasp bought the wood to make Chloe’s character coffin in s2, Miracle Queen was the finished product. And don’t get me started on Fu.

129.  Feast

In my other two rankings this episode used to be my least favorite because HOW COULD THEY DO MY BOY FU LIKE THAT? Honestly, I feel like his mistake was a plotline that they started, realized they didn’t have room to explore, so they just threw something together to cut it off. I think that’s also why they made Fu lose his memories in the s3 finale, then replaced him with a worse knock-off in s4 just to avoid elaborating on it all together. They knew what they did. People have (incorrect) opinions on Fu as a mentor to Marinette, but are we really gonna sit here and act like Su Han is a better one? Is anyone willing to tell me with their full chest that Su Han is a good character? Or a better character than Fu? You can’t. And if you think you can, you’re a liar. Idk, the LadyNoir shenanigans redeem this episode a little bit, but I have not forgiven them.

130. Re-Creation

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this finale. As an end to the Agreste arc, it doesn’t feel satisfying at all (to me). I think my feelings for this episode are going to have to marinate over the next season and see what they end up doing with it. What does Gabriel’s brave new world look like? What are the after-effects of his wish? I just think that overall, it’s a weird choice to let the villain get what he wants and paint it as a good thing. Because we’ve spent the whole show rooting for Ladybug and Chat Noir, the heroes, but in the end, you just let them lose? You let the bad guy make his wish? Just because it was about a main character’s mommy? Yall couldn’t think of any other alternative? Like idk, making Gabriel go to therapy and move the fuck on? Yall spent all this time on GabeNath in prior seasons, and even made a point to show that Adrien was fine with it. Then yall didn’t do anything with that? No?

I dunno. I’m not mad about Lilamoth bc we all saw that coming, and I don’t even know that I’m entirely mad at this episode. I honestly, don’t know how to feel about it. I do know that I would not have ended it that way, if it were me, and I stand by it not being a good ending. It maybe doesn’t infuriate me like s3 did, but overall, I just don’t think it wrapped up s5 and the Agreste plotline very well at all. And again, s6 maybe continue to tie up loose ends, or it may move on and pretend the ends aren’t loose at all. You never know with ML.

131.  Wishmaker

Okay, so this one has lost favor in retrospect given the follow-up in s5. I wasn’t as pissed at the time that this episode aired because I told myself to wait and see what happened. Well, we saw what happened, and BOY! Like, am I secretly pleased they wrote in a reason to write blue boy out of the show for a while, sure, but can we just revisit the fact that he LIED TO HER FACE about the biggest secret she has. The secret she dumped him over? She trusted him, and he turned around and LIED to her about it, then in s5 he doesn’t even get punished for it. “Oh, but he has to leave-” and who does that punish? His annoying stans? He went and traveled the world with his dad and ended up learning Mirakungfu, and Marinette wasn’t even mad at him for LYING TO HER FACE about blowing her BIGGEST FUCKING SECRET. Blue boy stans can miss me. I wasn’t sorry to see him leave, and he deserved way more pushback than he got. Glad to know lying is only bad when it’s a young girl looking for attention and not when your ex-boyfriend crosses your boundaries and then lies about it.

Anyway, I’m gonna leave it at that because I’m getting too heated. So, there you go to the 4 whole people who will read all of this. As always, if you disagree with the ranking, uhh spend 4 days making your own damn tier list. If you agree with my rankings and want to gush/vent about it, feel free to send me an ask. Additionally, if you’d like the reasoning behind any of the episodes I didn’t comment on or just want me to elaborate on, feel free to ask about those too. Or don’t. I dunno. Live your life.

[purrincess-chat]

Hey Cat! Did you like the new episode?

Okay, I finally watched both Revolution and Representation, and I can say off the bat, Revolution was the stronger of the two.

Obligatory spoiler warning if you're not caught up on ML.

An issue ML has always had is pacing, and I feel like Representation was very info-dumpy at times. Honestly some of that info should have been told in earlier seasons rather than all at once like that, plus it was a weird choice to go with the whole theater performance for that exposition imo, but eh.

Revolution was really good though in my opinion. I like how this season has been all about time or the lack there of. Gabriel is running out of time so he is taking bigger and bolder actions because he's getting desperate to accomplish his goal. On the other hand, Adrien and Marinette have been taking their relationship slow because they thought they had more time, but Gabriel's fuck up is becoming their problem too. There are a lot of moving parts this season for better and worse.

I loved seeing Adrien trying to communicate with Marinette but as always his father was in the way (indirectly this time through Chloe but still). I loved their kiss scene. You could say I'm a fan of big dramatic gut punching kisses like that as I've written one myself for them before. I love that Nathalie and Gorilla ship Adrinette (Gorilla tearing up after pulling them apart in the end that's adriens real dad yall!). Adrien trying to open the car door hurt my heart so much.

Then the whole Ladybug and Chat Noir growing up part. 💘 That was a top knuckle touch moment. I kind of wish it had come during a bigger battle like a season finale or some such, but it was still a touching moment with the citizens of Paris rising up to fight for them.

I also loved Marinette throwing Chloe's shit right back at her in the end. I know Chloe is young and deserves more redemption than Gabriel fucking lock my son in a padded cell because he won't break up with his girlfriend and I'm an adult psychopath Agreste, but at the same time, it's vindicating to see her lose everything. I've always thought that in order for Chloe to change she needed real consequences to her actions, and while I'm not holding my breath for a Chloe redemption, this is definitely going to do something to her for better or worse.

Representation was the weaker of the two imo. It just felt very disjointed and anticlimactic. I know it's setting up the finale, but it was kind of boring imo. The best part was Chat Noir fighting Gabriel and screaming his feelings at him. It's rare that Adrien gets to cutloose and speak his mind, especially to his father, so I did enjoy him telling his dad to get fucked. And how even when his whole world is falling apart, he still left his lady a cute voice-mail.

I am so OOOOOOO at the almost reveal. We could've had it alllllllllll. If he had stayed for 2 more seconds!! They were right there!! I hate them so much! I love them, but AHHHHH 😤

I did also like that Nino wore Marinette's crown the whole episode 😂 It wasn't much but it made me laugh.

Idk how I feel about Kagami and Felix knowing Marinette's identity, but I'm guessing since the finale is next and this is the end of the Agreste arc it likely won't matter much.

Idk. Overall, this season has been better than other ones as far as getting things moving and actually delving into the plot, which is interesting, but at the same time, I think they rushed a lot of things the past couple seasons. Again, pacing is a huge issue with this show, and I think if they just adjusted the sequence of events and spread some of the plot out more it would be a great show. I would have loved for Felix to be fleshed out more prior to Feligami happening. Senti theory should have been confirmed in s3, and we should have gotten that backstory back then. Or at least sprinkled throughout s4.

Curious for the finale. I'll be ranking the s5 episodes as well as adding them to my overall episode ranking after the finale airs and giving my final thoughts about the show as a whole up to this point. After that, I think I'm gonna take a bit of a break from ML. I'm going to visit my sister in a few weeks to see Taylor Swift (!!!) So, maybe I'll be back in August. I do also have a Zelink fic swirling around in my brain, so I might dive into that too. Idk I haven't written in like 6-7 months. I've been slow roasting some ideas though. I'm not completely abandoning ML, I promise! I will definitely stick around through at least mid s6 as far as keeping up with episodes, then depending on how s6 is going with the new writers will determine if I stay longer term. If I did drop off from watching canon tho, I'd likely still write fic for a while. I do love the kiddos and have lots of ideas left for them. You're not all rid of me yet.

Anyway, see you on the other side of the finale, lads. Godspeed.