Re-Evaluating my opinions on SpongeBob Season 1-8

Klu

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I don't hate Truth or Square, but it is still bad episode. When the tie-in product (video-game) way funnier and more true to the show's spirit, not to mention with a great and epic climax, there is something wrong with the source material.

QOTD: I want tv-movie. Yes, I said that. I just think that current crew working on the show can do something with the format. You know, with creativity and fluid animation that's now prevalent in the show right now. We don't need parody of clip shows, just make a fun adventure in style of Dunces and Drugons, but in normal SpongeBob setting.
 

EmployeeAMillion

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Pineapple Fever (Season 6, Episode 25a)
Original Airdate: June 2 2009
Episode 241 in standard order, Episode 232 in airing order, Episode 233 in general release order
Plot: SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward experience cabin fever during an intense storm
Written by Aaron Springer and Derek Iversen

[titlecard]125A[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Clownfish Capers

After the true majesty that was yesterday’s episode, I thought this one would be incredibly easy to review. Unfortunately, this is yet another episode that’s considered pretty bad by most fans. It’s just an STP that’s mostly set inside SpongeBob’s house during a rainy day. That doesn’t sound too bad, but a couple chief complaints include just how dumb all the characters are and how slow the comedy is. These are both things you can see throughout Season 6, but this is one of the most infamous cases of it. Are the rumours true, is this episode in need of an ice pack?

The episode opens one morning with SpongeBob preparing to go jellyfishing, by grabbing his net and a new special pair of glasses which look wrong on him. Before he and Patrick, who’s using a double net today, can go however, they check the weather and are frightened by the TV calling for a storm. While preparing for the oncoming weather, they end up getting Squidward roped in when he pulls out a some skin with his tweezers out of shock from the two hammering wood so loudly. People will often say that once Squidward comes into the mix and more of the burden falls on him, the episode gets a lot worse, but before he came in I didn’t think the episode was going to be good, as the problems present with it are noticeable from the very beginning.

Realising he now has no choice but to spend the rest of the day with them, Squidward bites and stays with SpongeBob and Patrick, despite their idea of fun being very boring and obnoxious. They play some games, including Tic-Tac-Toe, yet Squidward is the only one who seems to know the rules without an official strategy guide. Before that, he and Patrick have to play Rock Paper Scissors to see who gets to place the first symbol, but they keep getting paper due to them having a very limited way of showing their fingers. Finally, Patrick ages almost to death trying to place the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, which is Squidward’s breaking point as he tries to stay away from the two from then on out.

He starts by drawing a border outside SpongeBob’s room, secluding himself to it for the rest of the day while SpongeBob and Patrick try not to bother him. However, he instantly gets hungry and tries to escape, only for SpongeBob to hold him back and ask for identification. Squidward gets fed up with SpongeBob and tries to steal all his food from the kitchen, and whatever plot there was derails into the trio jumping around like primates. It reminds me of Ugh, but with even less coherency. Eventually, they reflect on how awful they’ve been acting, and the storm dies down. Squidward tries to go home, only to endure one last piece of pain as the house is now caught in a typhoon. In short, this was a very slow and tedious story, like the process of tweezing your eyebrows converted into a SpongeBob episode.

On a positive note, there are a few things that I find funny here, sure as Squidward complaining about SpongeBob turning off the lights so they can use a candle, and SpongeBob later pulling an advanced Tic-Tac-Toe guide, but the good stuff is outweighed by the several times they try really hard to make the characters seem inhuman. This isn’t even counting the climax, much of it is just slow and repetitive. Take for instance SpongeBob’s list of things they can do, where he repeats the same things over and over again to pad the episode out. It’s another case of an episode that focuses on cringe comedy, which falls flat due to it never being the show’s forte, even during a period like this.

In terms of animation, there are various aspects I feel the episode just gets wrong. SpongeBob’s new jellyfishing glasses seem big and creepy when he wears them, but at least they’re not in the episode after the very beginning. I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I find Squidward pulling out skin with his tweezers to be even more disturbing than getting his toenail ripped off in House Fancy. You know a show’s really gone downhil when you’re comparing two similar scenes of a character getting realistically hurt, but at least the former example had the decency to try and be funny in the moment. There’s also more of your standard gross-out, such as Patrick aging rapidly Squidward eating snail food, and him and SpongeBob making nasty faces while fighting over a sandwich.

All the characters here feel rather dumbed down. SpongeBob in particular sometimes looks a dead fish, with him clearly not looking a specific way, which is to say nothing of him lacking any sort of respect for his guest and the “game” he wants to play when dressed as a police officer. Patrick is once again hit with jokes that only prove that he’s dumb and nothing else. All this does is make the crew want to push the boundaries, which is what they’ll do for 2 1/2 seasons following this. Squidward starts off somewhat as the voice of reason, unable to tolerate any of the shenanigans, but he’s soon hit with cabin fever and goes nuts. Basically, they didn’t need an Ugh callback to make us feel like all the characters were primitive mongrels.

We’re in the homestretch of Season 6, so I should expect the episodes not being as good, and this episode didn’t fail to meet those expectations. I’m all for a story taking its time, but when that build-up is nothing but board games and drinking hot cocoa, and the payoff is every character going insane, that’s when everything about it feels inconsequential. The standard things that hold Season 6 back from being good, like the gross-out and flat characters, have gotten pretty old now and have had some high points and low points. All I can say is that I’m glad there’s only two episodes to go before, oh wait, the next season is 7.

Question of the Day: Do you prefer board games or tic-tac-toe?

Tomorrow I’ll cover perhaps one of the wierdest Krabs VS Plankton episodes. Until then, obvious joke hinted at yesterday is obvious.
:sbthumbs:
 

EmployeeAMillion

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Chum Caverns (Season 6, Episode 25b)
Original Airdate: July 18 2009
Episode 242 in standard order, Episode 237 in airing order, Episode 238 in general release order
Plot: After a mining operation gone wrong, Plankton uses underground scenery to attract customers
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas and Richard Pursel

[titlecard]125B[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: SpongeBob Theme Song 2

As a season’s ending, it’s easy to overlook a couple episodes on the basis that they’re either not good, bad or interesting enough. This is one of those episodes not many people like to talk about, but not because it’s particularly bad. The only thing I really remember about it is the cave-dwellers and their horrible shrieks, but other than that, I saw it as fine. As tomorrow I have to put up with yet another special, I just hope today’s episode turns around in my mind and leaves the 11 minute format in Season 6 on a high note.

The story doesn’t take too long to get going. Mr Krabs is managing the Krusty Krab in various ways, such as chaining his customers to the cash register (bad thing) and increasing SpongeBob’s workload by giving him an extra spatula (good thing). He then trips over his secret compartment where he keeps the Krabby Patty formula, which this time is under the floorboards. Plankton, spying on him via his now-standard giant telescope, and devising a plan to sneak a drill contraption underground. It’s rather odd he doesn’t just try to sneak in and nab it now that he’s discovered its location, but we need a reason for him to go underground.

He and Karen use a drilling vehicle, which he manages to operate by peddling, but they come across a boulder that impedes their journey. Despite Karen’s hesitation, Plankton drills around it, not by drilling above it or to either side, but by going below it (taking Truth or Square into account, I feel like they’re starting to forget the series isn’t set on a 2D plane), only to fall into a seemingly beautiful cavern. It’s well designed and all, but I don’t see how it’s tear-worthy. The cavern seems to be the domain of some wild cave-dweeling creatures who only speak in shrieks, which are pretty horrible characters. Plankton decides since the caverns are nice-looking and he’s got some new slaves, he could start a side-venture underground.

A while later, we see that he’s managed to pack some business because the new “chum caverns” are such a nice place to visit. The customers literally use the same argument from Chum Bucket Supreme, that although the food is awful, they can’t help but wolf it down because it’s advertised so well. This is made even worse by SpongeBob and Patrick being customers. Although we don’t see SpongeBob eat any chum, we see Patrick eat it rather disgustingly. I understand having SpongeBob falls victim to Plankton’s plans gives Mr Krabs all the more reason to try and win his customers back, but it’s still lore derailment at its worst.

In a sort of competition to see who can outdig the other, Mr Krabs comes with drill of his own and they end up outdoing themselves. They trouble they get into, falling into a very deep pit and losing their drills in a pile of falling rocks, isn’t a pretty sight. In the moment, they both cry their minds out and care for one another in a way we barely see. They really seem to make up after all their hatred towards each other, but in a fashion much more forced than in New Leaf, SpongeBob saves them and Plankton changes his mind on the spot. He manages to successfully drill back to the surface, only for the Krusty Krab to fall underground due to the poor support it has and trap many of the people in the caverns. That’s how the episode ends, with most of te characters trapped. It’s not a good way to end the story, but that doesn’t hide the fact that the rest of it is passable.

The same thing can be said about the comedy it throws. Although there are parts I really don’t think work, like Patrick gobbling down chum and getting it in SpongeBob’s eyes, special mention goes to the underground creatures and the noise they make. If it was meant to be a joke, I don’t think it’s a very good one. At the same time, there’s a neat visual here and there, like Mr Krabs and Plankton growing beards over the course of 15 minutes, and I like Karen’s comment about Plankton being between a rock and a hard place. I can’t really think of many good jokes you can do with digging and caverns, but that’s just me.

This may sound odd, but I think the animation in this episode is lacking in effort, with the gross-out in the form of chum just looking like generic chunks of meat (say what you will about Season 6’s gross-out, but at least it shows they were still putting time and attention into the art direction). As for the design of the caverns themselves, I don’t see what’s so great about them. We’ve seen similar, albeit smaller caves before in episodes like I’m Your Biggest Fanatic and To Save a Squirrel, so I don’t understand what the big fuss is about. This may come from me having experience with visiting underground caverns, where they’ll put in coloured lights to make the structures seem more impressive, and that’s something Plankton forgot to install when making the chum caverns.

The characters are what you’ve come to expect at this point. Plankton finds a new marketing gimmick and drives away Mr Krabs’ customers for the second time this season (the last fraction of the season no less), and he remains diabolical and mischevious until the end, minus the totally legit part where he and Krabs make up. SpongeBob’s relatively thrilled by the caverns, but I wouldn’t say he well and truly feels like a funny character. Karen’s got a sarcastic remark up her chip at all times, Krabs shows envy towards Plankton’s one shot at success, the gang’s all here, but it isn’t a particularly memorable outing for any of them.

Squeezed between 3 infamous episodes at the end of an infamous season, it’s no wonder this seems like an episode not many focus their attention on, and rewatching it, I understand more than ever. Although it’s got some funny gags and a pretty original idea for a Krabs VS Plankton episode, I don’t think the annoying newcomers, how much focus it puts on standard animation, and my pet peeve of Plankton getting business, make this episode any better than average. I don’t have the heart to call it bad, because the negative stuff doesn’t really annoy or bore me. It’s in the top half of the season for sure, but that’s not really a compliment.

Question of the Day: Have you ever visited any underground caverns?

Prepare for an epic battle to close out the season, or at least that’s what Nickelodeon said. Until then, never stop digging.
:sbthumbs:
 

Klu

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QOTD: Unfortunately, no, I haven't.

As for episode, some last episodes Pineapple Fever included are overlapped with season 7 for me, probably because of my country's screwed up schedule. (seriously, breaks between airing seasons and some episode were really long)
Episode was fine, I guess, and I agree that it's not very gross, If anything, chum here looks kinda tasty even. (yeah, I'm a strange person, not gonna lie)

I have to say, one thing that this episode did better than Chum Bucket Supreme is Mr.Krabs competion with Plankton. Instead of just crying over his lack of customers and money, he tried to copy Plankton's new gimmick and actually compete.
I'd watch how Mr.Krabs and SpongeBob tried to make slogans for Krusty Krabs but failing in Chum Bucket Supreme.
 

SpongeBronyPH

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I hate Pineapple Fever. :patboo:
QOTD (yesterday): I like both board games and tic-tac-toe.

I love Chum Caverns. :sbyes:
QOTD (today): Not yet.
 

EmployeeAMillion

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As for episode, some last episodes Pineapple Fever included are overlapped with season 7 for me, probably because of my country's screwed up schedule. (seriously, breaks between airing seasons and some episode were really long)
I keep hearing that episode guides used to call Season 6 and 7 20 episodes long, because Nick hadn’t fully announced they’d be 26 episodes or something. I could see how Sand Castles in the Sand-The Clash of Triton used to be mistaken for Season 7 episodes.

The Clash of Triton (Season 6, Episode 26)
Original Airdate: July 5 2010*
Episode 243 in standard order, Episode 265 in airing order
*produced in 2009
Plot: SpongeBob frees Prince Triton from his exile as a 5,000th birthday present for King Neptune
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Aaron Springer, Steven Banks and Paul Tibbitt

[titlecard]126[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Tagliatelle

Here we finally are, the last episode of Season 6. It’s been quite a ride, but all crazy rides eventually have to end. This is notable for being the first season to end on a special, not counting Best Day Ever in Season 4’s 20th episode, a finale that’s only been done once since with Season 8’s Hello Bikini Bottom!. It’s just a shame that this episode has everything about the season down to a tee- gross-out, long pauses in comedy, and overzealous advertising. At least it has some King Neptune lore, which is welcome since this is his first major appearance in the show in nearly a decade. Even then, is it enough to lift this episode out of the gutter?

The episode starts in Atlantis, where Neptune is sitting in bed, depressed and watching daytime drama on an HDTV (which the show had no right to rub in for another 2 years). His wife Amphitrite comes in to cheer him up and get him prepared for his 5,000th birthday, but he’s still saddened by the fact that his son, Triton, is not allowed to attend. This scene, despite being rather mediocre on the comedy side, at least does a good job explaining that Neptune misses Triton, setting this part of his character up for a while until he explains why.

On that same morning at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob decides to spend the day not using his hands due to a holiday he probably read about on Twitter. As such, he delivers patties using his nose and answers the phone with his foot just for the occasion. However, this plot point is cut short before it can be useful when Mr Krabs orders him to make Krabby Patties for King Neptune. He gets into a bit of an argument with Amphitrite on the phone, who he isn’t convinced by until she comes down to zap him. Let it be known this is the first part of the episode to feature SpongeBob and he doesn’t do much outside of briefly celebrate this random holiday.

The Krusty Krew gets to work setting up Neptune’s birthday party, which is at a burger joint because why not, when a mother and son come across, with the mother in particular eager to see Neptune eat. I’ve always found the pink fish model to be rather cute, and it’s nice seeing her get her own scene talking to Mr Krabs about what the Krusty Krab can do, which is later revealed to be paying customers admission to sit outside and see King Neptune eat. We’re then shown the festivities, which is just Neptune, Amphitrite and some unnamed Hammer Horror rejects about to indulge in 5,000 Krabby Patties. However, celebrations are cut short when SpongeBob foolishly asks where Triton is over and over again, making Neptune upset again.

In order to explain why Triton isn’t showing up to the party, Neptune shows a 16mm film strip, which he took care to name the width of the strip used, which only manages to paint him in a horrible, tyranical light, which is the episode’s first major blunder. Essentially, the reason hee banished Triton is because he started to take an interest in fish culture instead of wanting to destroy it like his father, and even make a cure for all diseases as a teenager. This was the final straw for Neptune, who then took him to a prison island to be trapped in a shrinking cage for 10,000 years. Although Triton is made out to be a totally bogus hippie, this just makes Neptune look like a terrible ruler who loves to cause misery to his subjects. That’s not a king’s job! A mayor’s maybe, but not a king!

Seeing how much Triton’s absence upsets Neptune, and because the documentary I recently watched says he sees the best in everyone, SpongeBob heads over to the prison island to meet up with Triton and free him behind Neptune’s back. He’s able to get there by a flying bus, which is a blatantly contrived way to get there considering this could hold some of the most dangerous creatures imaginable, and upon finding Triton, he just spends a good while talking to him. It’s not interesting, impactful, or something that takes the story in a direction, with the only thing being explained is how Triton hates his father, which was established in the flashback.

After some exposition is spewed, SpongeBob tries to unlock Triton’s cage, but as it turns out, the lock is a sliding puzzle (you know, the one where there are 8 or 9 pieces and you have arrange them to look like the right picture), but gets stumped. He enlists the help of Patrick, who also manages to get to the island with no trouble and manages to meet up with SpongeBob and Triton as if the episode were poorly written or something. Fortunately, Patrick’s able to complete the puzzle by tearing off the stickers and placing them in the correct order, but I think it would’ve been more interesting if he were a savant with these types of puzzles, instead of doing a Patrick-ish thing.

Upon release, Triton zaps himself a car and drives the new trio back to Bikini Bottom, though he kicks SpongeBob and Patrick out to do his own thing. That thing is to lock everyone at the Krusty Krab in a cage as punishment for punishing him, followed very soon by him flying into the sky and taking his aggression out on Bikini Bottom, signing his name across the town with lasers and causing chaos in doing so. Knowing they’ve unleashed an evil force, SpongeBob and Patrick head into the Krusty Krab and free everyone from the cage, which also has a sliding puzzle on it for Patrick to cheat his way out of. I guess it’s just a joke that all Atlantian locks are sliding puzzles.

Once freed, Neptune chases Triton until they’re both in the sky, where he can see the destruction caused below in Bikini Bottom. Upon noticing how keeping Triton locked up has made him bitter and resentful towards fish just like himself, he congratulates him and calls the destroyed city the best birthday present he could ask for. The episode ends with some major hypocrisy on Bikini Bottom’s heart, as although they’re alright with Neptune and Triton bonding over their pain and sufferring, they chase down SpongeBob and Patrick for instigating this whole mess. It’s overall a story that can be a little fun at times, but is far too messy and contrived to be worthy of the royal tailfin.

As for the comedy in this episode, it can be described in much the same way, it’s funny only if you turn your brain off. There are some pretty funny things like a random comment about there being two prison islands- an actual prison and a golf course, and Patrick trying not to make a sound when he and SpongeBob sneak into the Krusty Krab, only for the loudest, longest possible sound to play when he lifts the grill up. Heck, we even get references to the Movie with the two planning have triple goober berry sundaes after the ordeal is over. There are things that don’t work however, like how long it takes for Neptune’s flashback to begin, which really stalls the first time we see Triton, and how evil they make him in said flashback and the episode’s end just because. Given this is written by the biggest wiritng team for an episode at this point, with five each contributing to the script, I feel like some jokes that could’ve been funny or memorable were added and rejected sporadically during the writing process.

As for the animation, it’s once again hit-or-miss leaning more towards the miss. For the hits, we have a return to the show’s initial depiction of Atlantis, which a classic regal air to it that allows for a nice new place to open the episode. I also think the design of Triton isn’t that bad. Sure he’s an annoying character, but for a hippie mermaid, they did the best they could. Onto the misses, that goes to a gross-out moment of SpongeBob putting his face really close to Triton and breathing horribly at him (rather good role model for kids, being a sponge who hasn’t drunken water in days), and the odd designs of Neptune’s party guests, who I’d previously described as Hammer Horror rejects.

The characterization in this episode lacks heart or substance, which takes away from some aspects of the story that are meant to be impactful. SpongeBob seems to care somewhat about Neptune’s happiness, and has a couple heroic stances where he could seem like a good guy, but that moment never comes. His major point in the story is freeing Triton, which comes as a result of his naïveté. Neptune could’ve been sympathetic if they didn’t make him a villain halfway through. I get how Gods back in the day were supposed to be fearsome, but this was 2009, and they could’ve updated the depiction of Neptune to be somewhat more likeable. His wife Amphitrite doesn’t fare much better either, given how the only character she seems to care about is her husband.

Now for the newcoming character who might never appear in the series again, Prince Triton. He’s really the worst part of the episode from a writing standpoint. The whole idea behind him is to turn a Roman god into an angsty modern teen, at least 1960s modern, which I’m sure mythologists aren’t going to like. There’s also how he takes revenge upon his father by destroying stuff, despite knowing that’d make him feel better and more godlike. The little annoyances that I have with his arc, motivations and personality drag the episode down, because I’ll be reminded he takes up a quarter of the title.

This is the first time I really didn’t like a season finale, and that can be chalked up to it being yet another disappointing special that tells the viewer what’s happening instead of showing them. I think even people who don’t know or understand why the Post-Movie seasons are hated would have a hard time watching this episode, because it just seems like a fitting conclusion for Season 6. Between some flat, awkward animation, a very hypocritical story that takes 11 minutes to get started and much of the comedy being absent, The Clash of Triton is a clash of story elements that don’t combine well.

Question of the Day: What is your least favourite episode of Season 6?

Join me tomorrow as I finally conclude Season 6. Will it be the first BAD season, or does it escape with an AVERAGE? Think about that while admiring this misleading commercial.
:sbthumbs:
 

Depressed Luigi

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Clash of Trition is my least favorite special for sure. Atlantis Squarepantis and Truth or Square are amazing IMO, and Spongebob You're Fired is overhated

QOTD: Defitenly Pet or Pests
 

Night-Waker

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QOTD: Clash of Triton tbh. That episode just feels like 22 minutes of wasted potential. I know in some countries, the episode is called by its original name, Neptune's Birthday, and honestly they should've kept that title instead because it's a lot more fitting.
 

Honest Slug

Ink Lemonade hurts me.
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QOTD: Truth or Square it's garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage.
 

EmployeeAMillion

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Season 6 Final Thoughts and Statistics
Much like how I felt at the end of Season 5, my thoughts on 6 are clouded by a worn-out feeling. I fully understand how Post-Movie SpongeBob became so infamous after watching these episodes a couple more times. You’d think there’d be tons to talk about, but as I’ve said plenty of times, the main problems I had with Season 4 and 5 were accentuated. These problems include one-dimensional characters, pointless specials, and the replacement of wit and charisma with gross-out and shock humour. In all fairness however, I think the more frequent use of gross-out makes any episode in this season recognisable. It’s almost like a signature that every episode leaves just so you know the time period it comes from, and when you see a bodily fluid or super-wrinkly face 47 times, you’re eventually going to get used to it.
However, many episodes would use these poor elements to unbearable degrees. Well over half the season is held back by scenes of abuse or cartoon violence that’s hard to believe comes from a show that was once laid-back and feel-good.
As you’ll see down below, a majority of the episodes are ones I’d consider bad follow the same sorts of patterns- Squidward tries to have a normal day, SpongeBob (and occasionally Patrick) mess it up for him. Many consider this the season of the STP (Squidward Temper Plotline), and a point where the format started to become wildly repetitive and unfunny. I have a theory that the reason they put so much focus on abusing Squidward around this time is because the crew themselves felt like they were being misused and abused by the SpongeBob brand, so they projected their troubles with it into the episodes. It makes sense, but I don’t think any of the writers from a decade ago would want to outright say they hated working on the show. After all, where would the select few Not Normals and No Hat for Pats have come from?

Now to talk about the state of animation on TV as a whole around 2008 and 2009. Nickelodeon had The Mighty B!, which was pretty much like SpongeBob if you wanted a human, suburban variation, and Fanboy and ChumChum, which was the sort of thing you’d hate your parents to see you watching an ad for. This was also around the time they started airing shows based on DreamWorks movies, like The Penguins of Madagascar (even though it’s set before they go to Madagascar), which if you like the Madagascar movies, you may find some enjoyment out of.
Overall a pretty mediocre time period for Nickelodeon, but not as bad as Cartoon Network, which was moving into a live-action only phase that didn’t last long. As for me around this time, my attention was mostly focused on Phineas and Ferb on Disney Channel. It was written mostly by former SpongeBob writers and it shows, especially compared to Season 6 which I have to call an AVERAGE Season. Make no mistake, the season was littered with terrible episodes, but the good parts of the season are too good to ignore.

The final score I gave the season was 4.74/10 (223/470) or 4.63/10 (241/520) when the specials are recorded by length. As you can see, the last two took a toll on the season’s rating, but it’s still not below a 4.5. Remember, 4.74 is closer to 5 (an average score) than it is to 4 (a bad score), and although this would clearly be a failing mark in any other case, this is my rating system and I don’t actively look for a reason for the show to be bad. Bad episodes just come to knock the score down, and boy did they ever this time around.

The Spongy Scale says…
Scummy: 4
Bad: 21
Average: 13
Good: 8
Spongy: 1
…that Bad was both the modal and median rating. If it weren’t for the higher-rated episodes, this would definitely be a bad season.

The Numeric Scale says…
1: 0
2: 4
3: 7
4: 14
5: 7
6: 6
7: 6
8: 2
9: 1
10: 0
…the same thing as Bad with the 4 rating, with nearly a third of the season scoring 4/10s. This also reveals there wasn’t a single 10/10 episode, this being the first season to lack one, and only one 9/10.

Now finally how I’d rank the episodes from worst to best.

2/10 (Scummy)
47. Boating Buddies
46. Pet or Pests
45. Choir Boys
44. The Splinter

3/10 (Bad)
43. The Card
42. Truth or Square
41. To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants
40. Pineapple Fever
39. Slide Whistle Stooges
38. Gone
37. Squid’s Visit

4/10 (Bad)
36. Suction Cup Symphony
35. The Krabby Kronicle
34. Professor Squidward
33. Penny Foolish
32. Sun Bleached
31. Shell Shocked
30. Dear Vikings
29. The Clash of Triton
28. Cephalopod Lodge
27. No Nose Knows
26. Gullible Pants
25. Nautical Novice
24. Shuffle-Boarding
23. Grooming Gary

5/10 (Average)
22. Plankton's Regular
21. Toy Store of Doom
20. House Fancy
19. Giant Squidward
18. Chum Caverns
17. Krusty Krushers
16. SpongeBob VS The Big One

6/10 (Average)
15. Grandpappy the Pirate
14. Spongicus
13. Porous Pockets
12. Chum Bucket Supreme
11. A Life in A Day
10. Komputer Overload

7/10 (Good)
9. Patty Caper
8. Ditchin’
7. Single Cell Anniversary
6. Overbooked
5. Krabby Road
4. Sand Castles in the Sand

8/10 (Good)
3. The Slumber Party
2. No Hat for Pat

9/10 (Spongy)
1. Not Normal

Notice how if you take away the bottom 8-10, you’re not getting much of a season that’s horrendous. I think that has to do with this season being a case of quantity over quality, as it was the first season of the show to feature 26 episodes as opposed to the old 20. I can’t blame the writers for putting out some pretty forgettable, if not terrible episodes to meet studio demand. While later seasons would adopt 26 episodes as the standard, with only one deviation so far in the form of Season 10, this feels like they only had enough jokes and content to fill a 20 episode season. I know I’m lying to my own face when I say this, but I want Season 7 to be better than this.

Until the next time I turn the telly on however, farewell Season 6, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=udVJj9t1GxI' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>you weren’t bad technically, but you were mostly bad.
:sbthumbs:
 

Klu

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Welp, while I don't like season 7 at all, I think that season 6 is much-much worse. Though I can say that in season 6 we have more genuinely good episodes somehow.
(Not Normal, No hat for Pat, the Slumber Party, Chum Bucket Supreme, Single Cell Anniversary, Sand Castles in the Sand and Overbooked vs. Back to The Past, the Bad Guy Club for villains, Perfect Chemistry, The Abrasive Side and Earworm)
 

SpongeBronyPH

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Oh dear me! Season 7 is the darkest of them all. Brace myself for A Pal for Gary, SITKWS, Yours, Mine and Mine, and One Coarse Meal!
 

Depressed Luigi

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Even if you don't hate Season 6, You have to admit, those stats look AWFUL.
Yeah, but that's his opinion. So if someone doesn't hate Season 6, than they wouldn't have these stats. Truth or Square's one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, i'm not going to start hating it just because one person said it sucked in a review that I strongly disagreed with.
 

Klu

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Wintermelon43 said:
Yeah, but that's his opinion. So if someone doesn't hate Season 6, than they wouldn't have these stats. Truth or Square's one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, i'm not going to start hating it just because one person said it sucked in a review that I strongly disagreed with.
I really wanna know what's you found really funny in the episode. Personally I don't think it's that awful, but it was boring for me even during the first watch.
 

Depressed Luigi

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I really wanna know what's you thought was really funny in the episodes. Personally I don't think it's that awful, but it was boring even during the first watch.
I really wanna know what's you found really funny in the episode. Personally I don't think it's that awful, but it was boring even during the first watch.
Many things. Some of the flashbacks (even the wedding one, I don't give a crap about Spandy), alternate title cards, Mr Krab's camera crew watching everyone (espicially when they were right behind them), that guy finding Mr Krabs Wallet, and mentioning it right in front of Mr Krabs, Spongebob bringing the customers back with that song (plus muitiple clips during that and Squidward's "Oh no he's not going to sing....", Sandy thinking that Squidward took the walkie talkie and Patrick thinking Sandy was in there, etc. and most of the Patchy scenes are so bad they're funny. When I make a review for this episode, I'll probably mention even more, but I'm just naming some off the top of my head.

And along with the jokes, I also liked the flashbacks, the patchy scene with him in the whale, great visuals and muititple differant and/or interesting visual styles, which also creates good atmosphere, the two great songs (We've Got Scurvy sucks though), the plot, the characters (All the main characters except Sandy and Gary are here a lot, and all are great and perfectly in character), and I don't think the Spongebob scenes really have many flaws, in fact the only one I can think of is the gross-out scene. Everything else is great about the Spongebob scenes, and people heavily exaggerate how bad the Patchy scenes are (Which I don't even take too much into consideration when I rank an episode unless they're really good [for a Patchy scene]).
 

TheGreatServer

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Wintermelon43 said:
Yeah, but that's his opinion. So if someone doesn't hate Season 6, than they wouldn't have these stats. Truth or Square's one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, i'm not going to start hating it just because one person said it sucked in a review that I strongly disagreed with.I
I know, i'm not saying i don't respect his opinion, I'm just pointing out that it's interesting how he called it average even though those stats look like something that would come from a very BAD season.

And i actually like Season 6 a little bit.
 

Depressed Luigi

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I know, i'm not saying i don't respect his opinion, I'm just pointing out that it's interesting how he called it average even though those stats look like something that would come from a very BAD season.

And i actually like Season 6 a little bit.
Oh, I see what you're saying
 
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