User:TiredandFeathered/Season 4 rankings
Welp, recently I got around to watching all of season 4, as after seeing a rerun of "Have You Seen This Snail?" on Nicktoons (an amazing episode), it kind of inspired me to rewatch the whole season. And since I rated and ranked all the episodes, I've decided to post them here.
Ranks
| Episode no. | Prod. | Title | Airdate | Writers | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61a | 5574-401 | "Fear of a Krabby Patty" | May 6, 2005 | C.H. Greenblatt Paul Tibbitt |
8.5/10 | 10 |
| 61b | 5574-402 | "Shell of a Man" | May 6, 2005 | Mike Bell Paul Tibbitt Vincent Waller |
7/10 | 32 |
| 62a | 5574-406 | "The Lost Mattress" | May 13, 2005 | Mike Bell Tim Hill |
9/10 | 4 |
| 62b | 5574-403 | "Krabs vs. Plankton" | May 13, 2005 | Tim Hill Mike Mitchell Vincent Waller |
8/10 | 25 |
| 63 | 5574-404
5574-405 |
"Have You Seen This Snail?" | November 11, 2005 | Aaron Springer Paul Tibbitt |
9/10 | 2 |
| 64a | 5574-407 | "Skill Crane" | May 20, 2005 | Kyle McCulloch Aaron Springer Vincent Waller |
9.5/10 | 1 |
| 64b | 5574-408 | "Good Neighbors" | May 20, 2005 | Mike Bell Aaron Springer |
8/10 | 11 |
| 65a | 5574-409 | "Selling Out" | September 23, 2005 | Zeus Cervas Erik Wiese Tim Hill |
8.5/10 | 6 |
| 65b | 5574-410 | "Funny Pants" | September 30, 2005 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
8/10 | 12 |
| 66 | 5574-412
5574-413 |
"Dunces and Dragons" | February 20, 2006 | Zeus Cervas Erik Wiese Tim Hill |
8/10 | 19 |
| 67a | 5574-414 | "Enemy In-Law" | October 14, 2005 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Tim Hill |
7.5/10 | 26 |
| 67b | 5574-411 | "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" | October 7, 2005 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Paul Tibbitt |
8.5/10 | 8 |
| 68a | 5574-415 | "Patrick SmartPants" | October 21, 2005 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Tim Hill |
8/10 | 20 |
| 68b | 5574-416 | "SquidBob TentaclePants" | November 14, 2005 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Steven Banks |
7/10 | 31 |
| 69a | 5574-417 | "Krusty Towers" | April 1, 2006 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
9/10 | 3 |
| 69b | 5574-418 | "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" | April 1, 2006 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Tim Hill |
8/10 | 14 |
| 70a | 5574-426 | "Chimps Ahoy" | May 5, 2006 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
7.5/10 | 27 |
| 70b | 5574-419 | "Ghost Host" | May 5, 2006 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Tim Hill |
8/10 | 13 |
| 71a | 5574-423 | "Whale of a Birthday" | May 12, 2006 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Paul Tibbitt |
6.5/10 | 36 |
| 71b | 5574-421 | "Karate Island" | May 12, 2006 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Steven Banks |
7.5/10 | 29 |
| 72a | 5574-422 | "All That Glitters" | June 2, 2006 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Steven Banks |
7/10 | 34 |
| 72b | 5574-420 | "Wishing You Well" | June 2, 2006 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
7.5/10 | 30 |
| 73a | 5574-425 | "New Leaf" | September 22, 2006 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Steven Banks |
8/10 | 24 |
| 73b | 5574-424 | "Once Bitten" | September 22, 2006 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Steven Banks |
9/10 | 5 |
| 74a | 5574-427 | "Bummer Vacation" | October 13, 2006 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Dani Michaeli |
7/10 | 33 |
| 74b | 5574-428 | "Wigstruck" | November 17, 2006 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Dani Michaeli |
7.5/10 | 28 |
| 75a | 5574-431 | "Squidtastic Voyage" | October 6, 2006 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Dani Michaeli |
8/10 | 17 |
| 75b | 5574-430 | "That's No Lady" | November 25, 2006 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Steven Banks |
8/10 | 21 |
| 76a | 5574-429 | "The Thing" | January 15, 2007 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Steven Banks |
6/10 | 37 |
| 76b | 5574-432 | "Hocus Pocus" | January 15, 2007 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Steven Banks |
8/10 | 15 |
| 77a | 5574-434 | "Driven to Tears" | February 19, 2007 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
8/10 | 23 |
| 77b | 5574-433 | "Rule of Dumb" | February 19, 2007 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Dani Michaeli |
8/10 | 16 |
| 78a | 5574-437 | "Born to Be Wild" | March 31, 2007 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
8.5/10 | 7 |
| 78b | 5574-436 | "Best Frenemies" | March 31, 2007 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Dani Michaeli |
8/10 | 18 |
| 79a | 5574-440 | "The Pink Purloiner" | February 19, 2007 | Luke Brookshier Tom King Steven Banks |
8/10 | 22 |
| 79b | 5574-438 | "Squid Wood" | July 24, 2007 | Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell Dani Michaeli |
8.5/10 | 9 |
| 80a | 151-507 | "Best Day Ever" | November 10, 2006 | Nate Cash Tuck Tucker Steven Banks |
5/10 | 38 |
| 80b | 5574-439 | "The Gift of Gum" | February 19, 2007 | Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese Dani Michaeli |
7/10 | 35 |
Final season rating: 7.8/10
Writer/board artist-wise ranks
I actually thought it would be interesting to rank episodes based on writers and their styles, since following the later episodes of season 13 and the board-driven episodes of The Patrick Star Show, I've become pretty interested in different SpongeBob units of production, and sometimes how that correlates to how an episode turns out.
Batch #1 (eps. 61-64)
These episodes were the first to be written following the movie, and as such, have a ton of different and inconsistent writing and storyboarding teams (whereas later on episodes seem to be split into three different production sectors.) They were also all completed around November 2004-ish (according to a news article) and delivered in early 2005. I'll just consider all of these episodes one batch.
| Episode no. | Prod. | Title | Airdate | Writers | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61a | 5574-401 | "Fear of a Krabby Patty" | May 6, 2005 | C.H. Greenblatt Paul Tibbitt |
8.5/10 | 5 |
| 61b | 5574-402 | "Shell of a Man" | May 6, 2005 | Mike Bell Paul Tibbitt Vincent Waller |
7/10 | 7 |
| 62a | 5574-406 | "The Lost Mattress" | May 13, 2005 | Mike Bell Tim Hill |
9/10 | 3 |
| 62b | 5574-403 | "Krabs vs. Plankton" | May 13, 2005 | Tim Hill Mike Mitchell Vincent Waller |
8/10 | 5 |
| 63 | 5574-404
5574-405 |
"Have You Seen This Snail?" | November 11, 2005 | Aaron Springer Paul Tibbitt |
9/10 | 2 |
| 64a | 5574-407 | "Skill Crane" | May 20, 2005 | Kyle McCulloch Aaron Springer Vincent Waller |
9.5/10 | 1 |
| 64b | 5574-408 | "Good Neighbors" | May 20, 2005 | Mike Bell Aaron Springer |
8/10 | 6 |
This set of episodes is a great return to the show, as each of these episodes were mostly pretty funny in their own right. Writing-wise, "Skill Crane" is the best of this era, along with the season, and honestly one of the best in the show, taking a simple plot and making it really enjoyable and well-written with Squidward's skill crane follies coming at the cost of his delusion. In terms of comedy, "Lost Mattress" and "Good Neighbors" were both top-tier hilarity escapades starring Sponge, Pat and Squid. Art-wise, every episode looks great (although "Shell of a Man" has some weird bits that look like a bootleg season three one, don't know why) drawing influence from the storyboard artists' own style and the first movie, and combining it to look like the best 4:3 season. The best looking is probably "Fear," C.H. Greenblatt's style is fantastic and very unique from the rest of the series.
Zeus Cervas and Erik Wiese
| Episode no. | Prod. | Title | Airdate | Written alongside... | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65a | 5574-409 | "Selling Out" | September 23, 2005 | Tim Hill | 8.5/10 | 1 |
| 66 | 5574-412
5574-413 |
"Dunces and Dragons" | February 20, 2006 | Tim Hill | 8/10 | 5 |
| 68b | 5574-416 | "SquidBob TentaclePants" | November 14, 2005 | Steven Banks | 7/10 | 7 |
| 70b | 5574-419 | "Ghost Host" | May 5, 2006 | Tim Hill | 8/10 | 2 |
| 72a | 5574-422 | "All That Glitters" | June 2, 2006 | Steven Banks | 7/10 | 8 |
| 73a | 5574-425 | "New Leaf" | September 22, 2006 | Steven Banks | 8/10 | 6 |
| 76a | 5574-429 | "The Thing" | January 15, 2007 | Steven Banks | 6/10 | 10 |
| 77b | 5574-433 | "Rule of Dumb" | February 19, 2007 | Dani Michaeli | 8/10 | 3 |
| 78b | 5574-436 | "Best Frenemies" | March 31, 2007 | Dani Michaeli | 8/10 | 4 |
| 80b | 5574-439 | "The Gift of Gum" | February 19, 2007 | Dani Michaeli | 7/10 | 9 |
Before his infamous pairing with Casey Alexander, (which I don't really have a gist on yet) Cervas was paired with Erik Wiese, and they made banger episodes together. Their episodes are probably what I would call the best written of season 4 - "Selling Out" has some great characterization on Mr. Krabs, "Dunces and Dragons" is a really fun medieval special, "New Leaf" and "Best Frenemies" are extremely neat-to-see Krabs and Plankton team-ups, with the former having fantastic build-up. "Ghost Host" and "Rule of Dumb" are also pretty funny episodes, with Dutchman's slacking and Patrick's jerkiness having great comedic bits: "Life's not fair, buddy!" Also the boarding of their episodes are great and I love the way SpongeBob is drawn as well as the angular designs, although that is probably more due to Wiese, since with "Kenny the Cat" I kinda recognize how he draws Bob now. The only weak spot of this duo (besides some good and nothing else outings) is "The Thing": it's got some funny bits near the beginning and end with great Conch Street gang dynamics but the whole thing with Squidward as SB and P's pet ain't all too funny and it felt kinda miserable with him being unwantedly dragged around. You could say the same thing about "Good Neighbors," but at least that episode got more and more manic: "THE SECURITY SYSTEM TAKES CONTROL OF SQUIDWARD'S HOUSE..." On another critical note, "All That Glitters" is just a fairly solid one, but some of the drawn-out gags like SpongeBob's crying or piggy-bank murdering sequence are not exactly a great sign for the future, even if, to an extent they are pretty funny.
Luke Brookshier and Tom King
| Episode no. | Prod. | Title | Airdate | Written alongside... | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65b | 5574-410 | "Funny Pants" | September 30, 2005 | Steven Banks | 8/10 | 3 |
| 67a | 5574-414 | "Enemy In-Law" | October 14, 2005 | Tim Hill | 7.5/10 | 7 |
| 69a | 5574-417 | "Krusty Towers" | April 1, 2006 | Steven Banks | 9/10 | 1 |
| 70a | 5574-426 | "Chimps Ahoy" | May 5, 2006 | Steven Banks | 7.5/10 | 8 |
| 71a | 5574-423 | "Whale of a Birthday" | May 12, 2006 | Paul Tibbitt | 6.5/10 | 11 |
| 72b | 5574-420 | "Wishing You Well" | June 2, 2006 | Steven Banks | 7.5/10 | 10 |
| 74b | 5574-428 | "Wigstruck" | November 17, 2006 | Dani Michaeli | 7.5/10 | 9 |
| 75a | 5574-431 | "Squidtastic Voyage" | October 6, 2006 | Dani Michaeli | 8/10 | 4 |
| 77a | 5574-434 | "Driven to Tears" | February 19, 2007 | Steven Banks | 8/10 | 6 |
| 78a | 5574-437 | "Born to Be Wild" | March 31, 2007 | Steven Banks | 8.5/10 | 2 |
| 79a | 5574-440 | "The Pink Purloiner" | February 19, 2007 | Steven Banks | 8/10 | 5 |
Brookshier and King are honestly writers I don't think about all too much, I'm honestly surprised that certain episodes like "Wigstruck" and "Wishing You Well" were written by them instead of Casey/Chris or Zeus/Erik due to the way they look or are written. But when I checked their credits, I was kinda surprised how many episodes they wrote, to a point where I feel as if they wrote the meat and bones of season 4 (when in reality they did about as many episodes as the others.) Their best episode is probably "Krusty Towers," a premise that throws the Krusty Krew and Patrick into story-tall hotel setting, where Patrick's constant need, Mr. Krabs' cheap attitude and Squid's urge to fight back are a springboard for great comedic writing. Other highlights are "Born to Be Wild," which features some fantastic fourth-wall breaks, alongside some really funny dialogue: "I... I don't wanna talk about it." "Wigstruck" is a fun romp with SpongeBob's wig-filled follies frustrating the town. "Squidtastic Voyage" is a really well-written, well-paced, gag-filled and underrated SpongeBob-themed take on a stock TV plot. And "The Pink Purloiner" is a really fun deception story. The weakest of their work is "Whale of a Birthday," where Mr. Krabs is somewhat uncharacteristically portrayed as a really bad dad (I think it's inconsistent with the show in general, but I didn't like it all here) - but at the same time Pearl comes off as selfish with her blatant, self-centered needs. Elsewhere, SpongeBob's mall escapades have great atmosphere but don't have anything to them. The best gags for this one are easily Boys Who Cry and Squiddy's "4-Ply" beat. I feel as if "Mall Girl Pearl" did a way better job of a Pearl-themed mall-adjacent episode, and "Upturn Girls" (despite being slightly worse) took much greater advantage of its setting.
Casey Alexander and Chris Mitchell
| Episode no. | Prod. | Title | Airdate | Written alongside... | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67b | 5574-411 | "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" | October 7, 2005 | Paul Tibbitt | 8.5/10 | 2 |
| 68a | 5574-415 | "Patrick SmartPants" | October 21, 2005 | Tim Hill | 8/10 | 6 |
| 69b | 5574-418 | "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" | April 1, 2006 | Tim Hill | 8/10 | 4 |
| 71b | 5574-421 | "Karate Island" | May 12, 2006 | Steven Banks | 7.5/10 | 8 |
| 73b | 5574-424 | "Once Bitten" | September 22, 2006 | Steven Banks | 9/10 | 1 |
| 74a | 5574-427 | "Bummer Vacation" | October 13, 2006 | Dani Michaeli | 7/10 | 9 |
| 75b | 5574-430 | "That's No Lady" | November 25, 2006 | Steven Banks | 8/10 | 7 |
| 76b | 5574-432 | "Hocus Pocus" | January 15, 2007 | Steven Banks | 8/10 | 5 |
| 79b | 5574-438 | "Squid Wood" | July 24, 2007 | Dani Michaeli | 8.5/10 | 3 |
On the opposite side of the spectrum with Zeus Cervas and Erik Wiese, we have Casey Alexander and Chris Mitchell. Funnily enough, while Cervas and Wiese had probably been working on the show since at the latest 1999 or 2000, Alexander and Mitchell are sort of newbies (well, as new as 18-20 years ago is). And while I think Cervas and Wiese's episodes have the best writing, Alexander and Mitchell have by far, the funniest episodes. Admittedly, that's a bit of a discredit to Luke Brookshier and Tom King, they also did tons of funny segments, but I think these guys are kind of masters at doing comedic plots. Their episodes usually take a simple, often kind of stupid premise, and squeeze all the humorous potential out if it that they can. Some of of their best are "Once Bitten," which takes the simple idea of a snail splinter and turns into an insane and hilarious zombie plot. "Squid Wood" is just stupid fun, turning SpongeBob's "Mini-Squid" puppet into a town sensation, with everyone's support for the shrunken Squiddy wrecking that of the original's being classic SpongeBob comedy. Other highlights include the sixth "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" installment, a fun take on a movie plot, and "That's No Lady," where everyone's desperate need to win Patrick's love stealing the show. Their worst, a which is something I know a lot of people will definitely not agree with me for, is "Bummer Vacation," a pretty solid episode with some good gags but outside of that I couldn't really care much else for it.
Nate Cash and Tuck Tucker (R.I.P.)
| Episode no. | Prod. | Title | Airdate | Written alongside... | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80a | 151-507 | "Best Day Ever" | November 10, 2006 | Steven Banks | 5/10 | N/A |
Now I think this is unfair to talk about since the only thing they wrote for this season isn't even a season 4 episode really (it got moved to this season from the next) and this episode was probably made out of necessity considering how it turned out, but it is still "technically" from this set of episodes, so oh well. I also won't talk about their writing style either, this is only one episode and not really a good judgement of their work. This'll just a judgement of "Best Day Ever" by itself.
Anyway, onto "Best Day Ever." What do I think of it? Well, it is an episode I can't call bad, there's nothing necessarily bad about it. But it is really, really, really not good. The first issue is obvious padding, and I think that's due to the song the episode was based on. If I was to estimate how much time it takes out, probably a good 4 minutes, and don't get me wrong, it's a really good song, and the music work is easily the best part of the episode. But it takes away from the meat and bones of the episode, as a lot of the gag work feels so rushed as a result: Mr. Krabs, Sandy's, and Patrick's interactions with SpongeBob are so short and Patrick's specifically feels like something you'd see in a comic strip. Although, the nematodes returning and SpongeBob clinging onto Sandy's walls were pretty neat short sequences. The final bit is SpongeBob vs. the bouncer, which is just a really unfunny skit padded out for way too long. SpongeBob missing Squidward's concert and the final singing of the titular tune is great, but even then I noticed some reused animation. Overall, it just feels like an episode that I don't really think was given enough time in the oven, and really should've just been left it with the rest of season 5.
Final ranking
- There's no art style score, I like them all and due to similarities and inconsistencies between each of them, it'd be hard to give them scores.
- Nate Cash and Tuck Tucker aren't listed since they technically joined next season.
| Writers | Episodes | Average episode score | Writing-wise rank | Artstyle-wise rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batch #1 writers (C.H. Greenblatt, Paul Tibbitt, Mike Bell, Vincent Waller, Tim Hill, Mike Mitchell, Aaron Springer, Kyle McCulloch) | 7 | 8.4/10 | 1 | 1 |
| Zeus Carvas Erik Wiese |
10 | 7.6/10 | 4 | 2 |
| Luke Brookshier Tom King |
12 | 7.9/10 | 3 | 3 (TIE) |
| Casey Alexander Chris Mitchell |
9 | 8/10 | 2 | 3 (TIE) |
Honestly, I am kinda surprised by the turn out with Wiese/Cervas rank as I called them the best writers (math doesn't lie), but considering the episode counts, as well a lot of their 7/10 episodes and "The Thing," it makes sense. Ranking without math would probably be Batch #1, a tie between Cervas/Wiese for writing and Alexander/Mitchell for comedy, and Brookshier/King in fourth.
Final verdict
Well, after hours of typing, my final thoughts on season 4 is that it's a great season. Sure it's got its blunders and a reasonable handful of nothing special episodes, and maybe that same feeling you'd get when watching the first three seasons isn't there, but it's definitely worth a watch, you might've missed out on some of the laughs found here that weren't found before or after.