Pinned thread Season 4 Discussion

JoeyBoi

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(ignore this post, updated ratings are below)

Awful:
38. Squid Wood
37. All That Glitters
36. The Thing

Bad:
35. The Gift of Gum
34. Rule of Dumb
33. Wigstruck

Meh:
32. Once Bitten
31. Hocus Pocus
30. Good Neighbors
29. Whale of a Birthday
28. Driven to Tears
27. Ghost Host
26. Born to be Wild
25. Squidbob Tentaclepants
24. New Leaf
23. Best Day Ever
22. Funny Pants

Good:
21. Karate Island
20. Chimps Ahoy
19. Enemy In-Law
18. Squidtastic Voyage
17. That's no Lady
16. The Pink Purlioner
15. Mermaidman and Barnacleboy 6
14. Patrick Smartpants
13. Bummer Vacation

Great:
12. Best Frenemies
11. Shell of a Man
10. Krabs vs. Plankton
9. Skill Crane
8. Mrs. Puff, You're Fired
7. Selling Out
6. The Lost Mattress
5. Wishing You Well
4. Fear of a Krabby Patty
3. Krusty Towers
2. Dunces and Dragons
1. Have You Seen This Snail?

FINAL RATING: 8.2/10
I've always had a soft spot for season 4, so going over the bad episodes again kinda hurt me, but I still think this season is very good. I think some of the episodes would fit in to the classic seasons just fine.

(edit: changed some of my ratings around)
 
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Fear Of A Nerdy Patty

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This is the season that deserves favorable comparison to the Hillenburg era the most. I would go so far as to rank it as a classic. While it may not be masterpiece after masterpiece in a row which was often the case with season 1-3 (Krusty Towers/Mrs. Puff, You're Fired is easily a full 10 though), it still has a lot of great episodes I will always have fun revisiting. My favorite is the vastly underrated Enemy-In-Law, which is easily on par with the golden gems of earlier years.

A lot of people will disagree with this, but for me it's also the last season without any bad episodes. My least favorite is Squid Wood due to how horrible The Krusty Krab customers are towards Squidward for no real reason, and yet even that one I think is decent and has its moments. The times when characters act like exaggerated versions of themselves are actually really tame compared to later instances. That's why Good Neighbors doesn't bother me. As stupid and naive SpongeBob and Patrick are in it they still seem relatively oblivious and innocent. I never got the intentionally malicious vibe from it many others do. SpongeBob does become stalkery in Squid Wood, but at least the gags involving it are clever and inventive.

The animation has a very unique look to it throughout which many found offputting, but I actually think is kinda cool. The facial expressions range a lot from looking Hillenburg-esque to implementing a style of their own.

Finally, the infamous grossout humor that many think of when looking back at the Tibbitt era was practically absent here. The only notably "gross" parts I can think of are SpongeBob eating worms plus Mr. Krabs and Plankton being infected with something green. And it's definitely nowhere near as unpleasant as fungus.
 

OrbOfConfusion

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9-10 Great
7-8 Good
4-6 Meh
1-3 Bad




61a. Fear of a Krabby Patty Good 7.5/10
61b. Shell of a Man Good 8/10
62a. The Lost Mattress Great 9/10
62b. Krabs vs. Plankton Good 7/10
63. Have You Seen This Snail? Good 7/10
64a. Skill Crane Great 9/10
64b. Good Neighbors Good 7/10 (I don't really think Good Neighbors is bad)
65a. Selling Out
Good 8.5/10
65b. Funny Pants Meh 6.5/10
66. Dunces and Dragons Good 8/10
67a. Enemy In-Law Good 7.5/10
67b. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture Great 9/10
68a. Patrick SmartPants Good 8/10
68b. SquidBob TentaclePants Good 7.5/10
69a. Krusty Towers Good 7.5/10
69b. Mrs. Puff, You're Fired Good 8/10
70a. Chimps Ahoy Meh 6/10
70b. Ghost Host Good 7.5/10
71a. Whale of a Birthday Good 7/10
71b. Karate Island Good 7/10
72a. All That Glitters Meh 6/10
72b. Wishing You Well Great 9/10
73a. New Leaf Good 7/10
73b. Once Bitten Meh 5.5/10
74a. Bummer Vacation Great 10/10
74b. Wigstruck Good 7/10
75a. Squidtastic Voyage Great 9/10
75b. That's No Lady Good 7.5/10
76a. The Thing Meh 4.5/10
76b. Hocus Pocus Great 9/10
77a. Driven To Tears Good 8/10
77b. Rule of Dumb Meh 6.5/10
78a. Born to be Wild Good 7/10
78b. Best Frenemies Good 8/10
79a. The Pink Purloiner Good 8/10
79b. Squid Wood Meh 6/10
80a. Best Day Ever Meh 6.5/10
80b. The Gift of Gum Good 7/10

Good: 30

Meh: 8
Bad: 0


Season Score: 8.5/10

Final Thoughts: Season 4 is my personal favorite season. None of the episodes were bad and some of the mehs were close to good. (Funny Pants, Rule of Dumb, Best Day Ever)


Top 3:


Bummer Vacation
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture
Skill Crane



Bottom 3:

The Thing
Once Bitten
All That Glitters
 

CannedBread

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The most consistetly underrated season, I believe this to be on the same level as season 1.
 

Snails

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Good
Debatable
Atrocity

Fear Of A Krabby Patty
Shell Of A Man
The Lost Mattress
Krabs Vs Plankton

Have You Seen This Snail?
Skill Crane
Good Neighbors

Selling Out
Funny Pants
Dunces And Dragons
Enemy In-Law
The Motion Picture
Patrick SmartPants
SquidBob TentaclePants
Krusty Towers
Mrs. Puff, You're Fired
Chimps Ahoy
Ghost Host
Whale Of A Birthday
Karate Island
All That Glitters
Wishing You Well
New Leaf
Once Bitten
Bummer Vacation
Wigstruck
Squidtastic Voyage
That's No Lady
The Thing
Hocus Pocus
Driven To Tears
Rule Of Dumb
Born To Be Wild
Best Frenemies
The Pink Purloiner
Squid Wood
Best Day Ever
The Gift Of Gum

Bottom 5
5. Rule Of Dumb
4. Funny Pants
3. Squid Wood
2. Wigstruck
1. All That Glitters

Top 5
5. Hocus Pocus
4. Born To Be Wild
3. The Pink Purloiner
2. The Lost Mattress
1. Dunces And Dragons

Season 4: Great Season
 

JoeyBoi

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Bad (3)
38. Squid Wood
37. All That Glitters
Bad (4)
36. The Thing
35. Good Neighbors
34. Wigstruck
Average (5)
33. Ghost Host
32. Rule of Dumb
31. New Leaf
30. The Gift of Gum
29. Best Day Ever
28. Squidbob Tentaclepants
Average (6)
27. Whale of a Birthday
26. Once Bitten
25. Hocus Pocus
24. Funny Pants
23. Driven to Tears
22. Chimps Ahoy
Good (7)
21. That's No Lady
20. Skill Crane
19. Enemy-In Law
18. Bummer Vacation
17. Karate Island
16. Squidtastic Voyage
15. Mrs. Puff, You're Fired
14. The Lost Mattress
13. Shell of a Man
Good (8)
12. Selling Out
11. Patrick Smartpants
10. Best Frenemies
9. Krabs vs. Plankton
8. Born to be Wild
7. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture
Great (9)
6. Fear of a Krabby Patty
5. The Pink Purloiner
4. Wishing You Well
3. Have You Seen This Snail?
Perfect (10)
2. Krusty Towers
1. Dunces and Dragons

The Ratings:
Top-Tier: 6
Good: 15
Average: 12
Bad: 5
Bottom-Tier: 0

In terms of number rankings:
10/10: 2
9/10: 4
8/10: 6
7/10: 9
6/10: 6
5/10: 6
4/10: 3
3/10: 2
2/10: 0
1/10: 0

This season; while certainly weaker than seasons 1-3, is still a season I would consider "good". I have a lot of respect for this season, mostly for trying to still keep things fresh and mostly succeeding despite all of the crap happening behind the scenes. I will admit that is has become a bit overrated within the past few years, but overall I still think this is a very passable season. Average score is 6.60, making this a good season.
 
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Season 4-11

7 Years of Hospitality
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Wigstruck was really close to being mediocre and most of the mediocre episodes were super close to being good. All That Glitters is by far the worst and the best is really close between Krusty Towers and Bummer Vacation.
 

Random Guy

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download.png
  • S1 and S2 had 1 perfect episode, S3 had 3. S4 has 0, even the number of good episodes has been reduced. 24>23>20 to only 14.
  • With that said, Krusty Towers is the best episode of the season.
  • Shell of a Man is pretty underrated.
  • Best Day Ever is overrated and overhated at the same time. It's a pretty harmless episode.
  • Bummer Vacation has a funny twist involving Patrick.
  • I never particularly adored The Lost Mattress. Even if we erase Squid abuse, I think it's pretty uninspired.
  • I remember praising New Leaf in the past. I 100% regret that, Krabs is quite obnoxious and to be fair, it's also quite mediocre.
  • Enemy In-Law is so BORING. Karen is easily at her worst.
  • Have You Seen This Snail? tries so hard to be both funny and depressing, but it's only funny in its own depression. The story is all over the place.
  • I might save the endings of both Driven to Tears and Born to Be Wild.
  • The ending of The Thing is decent, too, but isn't sufficient to save the whole thing.
  • Good Neighbors is indeed bad, but I don't think it's among the worst SB material.
  • The only positive of Ghost Host is the unimpressed Spongebob meme. So BORING.
  • Rule of Dumb is basically like Driven to Tears without a passable ending. DID WE REALLY NEED A COUPLE OF PAT-PRICK EPISODES?
  • Squidward and Krabs save Wigstruck from being a total disaster.
  • Best Day Ever appears as the perfect scapegoat for its sister's faults, because The Gift of Gum is WAY WORSE. It's not particularly entertaining, observing everybody stuck in Patrick's terrible gift isn't that fun. The finale of a disappointing season.
  • All That Glitters sucks. Stupid idea, awful execution.
  • Squid Wood is even worse than I thought. Spongebob is simply dreadful here, as he keeps annoying Squidward FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. I mean, this Stalkbob isn't that different from Squid's Visit Stalkbob. Deserves the NO tier because it's IRREDEEMABLY NASTY.
  • All in all, definitely a downgrade from the first 3 seasons. Someone considers it underrated... I do believe the exact opposite, it's overrated. It's not that good.
 

SlipperytheTotodile

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View attachment 14389
  • S1 and S2 had 1 perfect episode, S3 had 3. S4 has 0, even the number of good episodes has been reduced. 24>23>20 to only 14.
  • With that said, Krusty Towers is the best episode of the season.
  • Shell of a Man is pretty underrated.
  • Best Day Ever is overrated and overhated at the same time. It's a pretty harmless episode.
  • Bummer Vacation has a funny twist involving Patrick.
  • I never particularly adored The Lost Mattress. Even if we erase Squid abuse, I think it's pretty uninspired.
  • I remember praising New Leaf in the past. I 100% regret that, Krabs is quite obnoxious and to be fair, it's also quite mediocre.
  • Enemy In-Law is so BORING. Karen is easily at her worst.
  • Have You Seen This Snail? tries so hard to be both funny and depressing, but it's only funny in its own depression. The story is all over the place.
  • I might save the endings of both Driven to Tears and Born to Be Wild.
  • The ending of The Thing is decent, too, but isn't sufficient to save the whole thing.
  • Good Neighbors is indeed bad, but I don't think it's among the worst SB material.
  • The only positive of Ghost Host is the unimpressed Spongebob meme. So BORING.
  • Rule of Dumb is basically like Driven to Tears without a passable ending. DID WE REALLY NEED A COUPLE OF PAT-PRICK EPISODES?
  • Squidward and Krabs save Wigstruck from being a total disaster.
  • Best Day Ever appears as the perfect scapegoat for its sister's faults, because The Gift of Gum is WAY WORSE. It's not particularly entertaining, observing everybody stuck in Patrick's terrible gift isn't that fun. The finale of a disappointing season.
  • All That Glitters sucks. Stupid idea, awful execution.
  • Squid Wood is even worse than I thought. Spongebob is simply dreadful here, as he keeps annoying Squidward FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. I mean, this Stalkbob isn't that different from Squid's Visit Stalkbob. Deserves the NO tier because it's IRREDEEMABLY NASTY.
  • All in all, definitely a downgrade from the first 3 seasons. Someone considers it underrated... I do believe the exact opposite, it's overrated. It's not that good.
YES FINALLY SOMEONE WHO ALSO HATES GHOST HOST!
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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Next on my list of opinions to revise is season 4!

Fear of a Krabby Patty: 9/10
Shell of a Man: 7/10
The Lost Mattress: 9/10
Krabs Vs. Plankton: 8/10
Have You Seen This Snail?: 8.8/10
Skill Crane: 8.5/10
Good Neighbors: 6.4/10
Selling Out: 7.6/10
Funny Pants: 5/10
Dunces and Dragons: 9/10
Enemy-in-Law: 8.5/10
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture: 7/10
Patrick SmartPants: 6.7/10
SquidBob Tentacle Pants: 6.7/10
Krusty Towers: 9/10
Mrs. Puff, You're Fired: 8.8/10
Chimps Ahoy: 6.5/10
Ghost Host: 8.8/10
Whale of a Birthday: 8/10
Karate Island: 8.7/10
All That Glitters: 5.6/10
Wishing You Well: 8.5/10
New Leaf: 9/10
Once Bitten: 9/10
Bummer Vacation: 5.8/10
Wigstruck: 6.5/10
Squidtastic Voyage: 7/10
That's No Lady: 7/10
The Thing: 2.5/10
Hocus Pocus: 5.4/10
Driven to Tears: 4.6/10
Rule of Dumb: 7/10
Born to be Wild: 7/10
Best Frenemies: 9.2/10
The Pink Purloiner: 7.6/10
Squid Wood: 8/10
Best Day Ever: 7.8/10
The Gift of Gum: 5.2/10

Top 5:
5. New Leaf
4. Once Bitten
3. The Lost Mattress
2. Fear of a Krabby Patty
1. Best Frenemies

Bottom 5:
5. All That Glitters
4. Hocus Pocus
3. Funny Pants
2. Driven to Tears
1. The Thing

Scoring:
Amazing: 6
Great: 10
Good: 9
Okay: 6
Mediocre: 4
Tolerable: 1
Bad: 0
Abysmal: 1

Additional Comments:
While I really like season 4, I do have to admit that this season was a drop in quality compared to the previous seasons. It's highs were very good, but its lows were very bad. I can't stand The Thing, for example, which is why it's been given the abysmal rating. Also, Driven to Tears annoys me greatly, which is why it's in the tolerable section.
 

SlipperytheTotodile

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UPDATED TIER LIST!
download - 2022-02-21T152827.475.png
  • Motion Picture is the best because of "Did somebody say Boom?"
  • Rule of Dumb is jerky patrick but its interesting
  • Good Neighbors is Squidward torture taken way too far
  • Fear of a Krabby Patty didnt impress me it had loud title card music and it was just annoying for excessive screaming
  • All that Glitters is terrible in which why its on the bottom tier only good quality was the ending
Best: Motion Picture
Worst: All that Glitters
 

coft

happy hopping moron
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Awful (0/5)
38. All That Glitters

Bad (1/5)
37. Squid Wood
36. Best Day Ever
35. The Thing


Average (2/5)
34. Rule of Dumb
33. Once Bitten
32. Whale of a Birthday
31. Good Neighbors
30. That’s No Lady
29. Hocus Pocus
28. SquidBob TentaclePants
27. Wigstruck


Good (3/5)
26. Funny Pants
25. Chimps Ahoy
24. Born to Be Wild
23. Bummer Vacation
22. Squidtastic Voyage
21. The Gift of Gum
20. Karate Island


Great (4/5)
19. Enemy In-Law
18. Krabs vs. Plankton
17. New Leaf
16. Driven to Tears
15. Best Frenemies
14. Dunces and Dragons
13. Shell of a Man
12. The Pink Purloiner
11. Patrick SmartPants
10. Mrs. Puff, You’re Fired
9. Ghost Host


Amazing (5/5)
8. The Lost Mattress
7. Selling Out
6. Wishing You Well
5. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture
4. Have You Seen This Snail?
3. Fear of a Krabby Patty
2. Skill Crane
1. Krusty Towers


Season 4 Score: 3.26 (Good)

Thoughts:
I‘ll be honest, I’m heavily nostalgic with Season 4, I grew up with mostly the first 4 seasons, but the DVDs of 4 I had were the most replayed. While I don’t think it lines up with the first 3 seasons, I still think 4 is a good batch of episodes, particularly the first half, the second has its highlights, but it has some real clunkers in there and a sleuth of middle of the road ones, I’d say this seasons indicates that the new crew could still make some good SpongeBob, but Season 5 is coming up.
 

SlipperytheTotodile

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Fear of a Krabby Patty: Bad
Shell of a Man: Delightful
The Lost Mattress: Okay
Krabs Vs. Plankton: Amazing!
Have you Seen This Snail: Awesome
Skill Crane: Okay
Good Neighbors: Stupid
Selling Out: Great
Funny Pants: Bad
Dunces and Dragons: Perfect
Enemy In-Law: Great
Motion Picture: Golden
Patrick SmartPants: Amazing!
SquidBob TentaclePants: Great
Krusty Towers: Amazing!
Mrs. Puff Youre Fired!: Bad
Chimps Ahoy: Great
Ghost Host: Meh
Whale of a Birthday: Great
Karate Island: Polite
All That Glitters: Terrible
Wishing you Well: Amazing!
New Leaf: Bad
Once Bitten: Great
Bummer Vacation: Amazing!
Wigstruck: (unpopular opinion coming) Amazing!
Squidtastic Voyage: Great
Thats No Lady: Great
The Thing: Great
Hocus Pocus: Okay
Driven to Tears: Okay
Rule of Dumb: Okay
Born to be Wild: Okay
Best Frenemies: Perfect
The Pink Purloiner: Okay
Squid Wood: Meh
Best Day Ever: Amazing!
The Gift of Gum: Great

Season 4 thought: Amazing season
 

GlitchyGoomba

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Alright let's get the ranks done real quick:
TERRIBLE
38. All That Glitters
37. Squid Wood
36. The Thing
BAD
35. Rule of Dumb
34. Good Neighbors
33. Wigstruck
MEDIOCRE
32. New Leaf
31. Ghost Host
30. Whale of A Birthday
ALRIGHT
29. The Gift of Gum
28. SquidBob TentaclePants
27. Best Day Ever
26. Hocus Pocus
DECENT
25. Funny Pants
24. Enemy In-Law
23. Born To Be Wild
22. Driven to Tears
21. Mrs. Puff, You're Fired
20. Once Bitten
19. Chimps Ahoy
GOOD
18. Have You Seen This Snail?
17. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture
16. Squidtastic Voyage
15. That's No Lady
14. Shell of a Man
13. Karate Island
12. Skill Crane
11. The Lost Mattress
GREAT
10. Bummer Vacation
9. Wishing you Well
8. The Pink Purloiner
7. Krusty Towers
6. Best Frenemies
GOLDEN
5. Patrick Smartpants
4. Selling Out
3. Krabs vs. Plankton
2. Fear of a Krabby Patty
PERFECT
1. Dunces and Dragons

Season 4 has found a resurgence of positive reception recently, and I believe it's fully deserving of it. It might not be as good as the pre-movie era, but the titles here are the most underrated in the entire show. This season sticks well to the Spongebob formula, but did change up a couple elements, some being for the better, some for the worse. Although it caused the quality to slip sometime in the middle of the run, there are some absolutely fantastic episodes to revisit, the main highlight of course being Dunces and Dragons. Overall I can say that this is a decent selection of episodes to watch casually if you're into Spongebob, and if it weren't for the second half, which is more average than anything, this probably would've been my favorite season of the show.
 
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