Late season 3's strange aura

MeterMarker

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I can't be the only one who feels this. Starting around I Had an Accident (though maybe as early as Party Pooper Pants) the show begins to feel more "empty" (can't think of a better word) and overall just a little off. Sponge Who Could Fly is the definitive episode for this.
 
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I agree with late Season 3 being weird. I actually really like this, with "I had an Accident" being one of my favorite episodes.
i think since season 3 was intended to be the final season, the writers wanted to go all out experimental with the final half of the season, which is also why the quality of episodes fluctuated so much during that time in my opinion.
I think this is probably true.

In general, early season 4 feels much emptier and off, with slightly different designs, different sound quality, and I think even different delivery from the voice actors. As much as some people hate it, I think season 5 was stylistically and tonally much closer to seasons 2 and 3 than 4 was.
 
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Season 4 was the "transitional season" after SpongeBob's post-movie soft-reboot
Thinking of season 4 onward as a reboot of sorts really works. Seasons 1-3 had some continuity, like sandy beginning hibernation in one episode and ending in another. I've also noticed season 2 has episodes dealing with fall and winter, while season 3 had episodes dealing with spring and summer, like we were watching a year in spongebob's life after season 1 fleshed things out. All of this disappeared starting with season 4.
 

Original Raw and Uncut

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I think it has something to do with most of the episodes from late Season 1 not being talked about as much as the early half...

Besides Hooky and MM&BB II, late season 1 has a lot of obscure episodes, The Paper, Fools in April, Valentine's Day, Neptune's Spatula, and Walking Small are the most obscure episodes in the season. Whenever an episode from late season 1 is on, it's like watching an old episode of one of your favorite shows that you've never seen before. Late season 1's animation quality is also a huge improvement over the early half, to the point where it looks like a cel animated version of season 2.
 

Sara SquarePants

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Thinking of season 4 onward as a reboot of sorts really works. Seasons 1-3 had some continuity, like sandy beginning hibernation in one episode and ending in another. I've also noticed season 2 has episodes dealing with fall and winter, while season 3 had episodes dealing with spring and summer, like we were watching a year in spongebob's life after season 1 fleshed things out. All of this disappeared starting with season 4.
Ooh I like your way of thinking

That is a nice theory about watching a year in SpongeBob's life with each season!

It's like every season represents one year in SpongeBob's life

But that would mean...SpongeBob SquarePants is 13 years old?!?

That can't be right...
 
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Fear Of A Nerdy Patty

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I don't think late season 3 is that weird nor a serious drop in quality. Missing Identity, Plankton's Army and SpongeBob Meets The Strangler are some of my favorite episodes of the series. I Had An Accident has the funniest ending ever.
 

Grass-Skirt-Chase

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Thinking of season 4 onward as a reboot of sorts really works. Seasons 1-3 had some continuity, like sandy beginning hibernation in one episode and ending in another. I've also noticed season 2 has episodes dealing with fall and winter, while season 3 had episodes dealing with spring and summer, like we were watching a year in spongebob's life after season 1 fleshed things out. All of this disappeared starting with season 4.
Holy crap... The seasons thing. I- This- Dude, this could become a theory. 😶
 

SpongeyMind

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I can't be the only one who feels this. Starting around I Had an Accident (though maybe as early as Party Pooper Pants) the show begins to feel more "empty" (can't think of a better word) and overall just a little off. Sponge Who Could Fly is the definitive episode for this.
Season 3 felt normal to me, it's just season 2 but with more confidence, But Late season 3 normal animation episodes just felt different but late season 3 markerbob felt like regular spongebob
 

Neon2500

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Bringing this back because I now absolutely notice this. Season 3 has an extremely “at home” type of feeling, like we know all the characters and the establishing work that was done in seasons 1 and 2 is no longer needed. Here are factors I think make season 3 feel unique:

1. The very small pool of writers, especially in the second half (mostly these episodes are just Kent Osborne, Merriwether Williams, Paul Tibbit and sometimes C.H. Greenblatt, Mark o’Hare and Kaz. You can feel these people’s chemistry in the writing.

2. This was probably the time SB’s workplace was most personal, informal and “fun”, because 1) the small writer pool as I mentioned and 2) as far as they knew they were just wrapping up a highly successful cartoon.

3. In general season 3 is the exact opposite of season 6 or 7 as while sometimes the characters act jerky to teach a lesson most of the time all the characters even Squidward are relatively positive and working together. (On a side note, I think seasons 9B and 10 tried to re-capture this feeling, but it was hard because of how much it changed)

4. This season was the sweet spot between the extremely nautical themes of seasons 1 and 2 and where it just became like a sort of “wacky”, aesthetically all over the place cartoon in season 4. The colors are light and welcoming in pretty much every scene from this season and it seems like Bikini Bottom was painted more as a cozy small town compared to other seasons.
 
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