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Note: This scorecard won't be updated anymore as I have a full scorecard of all the seasons, so check for newest episode ratings there instead

www.deviantart.com/ttlf/art/TT…

you wanna know what i thought would be cool? scorecarding a SpongeBob season as it comes out, I've never done it before and I want to give it a try because the schedule is so turbulent that we'll either have this season done this year or never. I don't know if I'll give this season a full proper description by the time it's done airing or leave the description as is, since it's a style I've never attempted before

either way, season 13's p good, really the only change I've noticed from it so far is the animation isnt as zany as it was in season 12 and is much closer to season 4's style than 9B could ever hope to be. Actually, it even has expressions and poses that look straight out of seasons 2-3, it has a lot more of a "classic" look to it and I hope this is the way post-sequel will be from here on out. Artistically, this season is the best post-sequel by far, but in terms of episodes? Well, it only got started and there have been a few hiccups, but the biggest fault S13 has so far is that it doesn't have any episodes I would hail as one of the best. We're all waiting for this season's "Stormy Weather", where the season goes from shaky to consistently brilliant... seems like the The Big Bad Bubble Bass and Sea Man Sponge Haters Club will do the trick.

Update on 5/15/2022: or maybe not, god wtf were these two latest episodes? The food truck ep (lord knows I can't spell this episode's name) has no reason to be watched over 20,000 Patties Under the Sea, it ends as soon as it starts, and did not take advantage of the fact it's set in Rock Bottom-- it was really bare in terms of substance, and the ending is pure nonsense. There's no stakes and thus there's no reason to watch this episode over 20,000 Patties Under the Sea, OR The Good Krabby Name. And you know what? Upturn Girls is a similar case. I wasn't a fan of the first Narwhal episode, but this one takes the problems I had with Food whatever Truck and amplifies them-- Pearl and Narlene literally go to one place in town, and it's set in the day. If they were going to hang, why not at night? Why not have them go to different locations and thus have different setups for different jokes? There's no variety here, and 99% of the jokes this episode tells miss. Save for a scene with the shark from Jolly Lodgers, I didn't enjoy this one at all.

Update on 5/28/2022: the latest pairing was pretty good, not consistently funny or anything but enjoyable enough. however, i think my opinion on Patrick the Mailman would be elevated if the episode didn't decide to stop at Kevin's house for a good few minutes, I've seen the trope of a character bothering another character until they finally accept something on this show before, and having it here didn't bring anything new and took away from the whole mail delivery plot. it was still fun otherwise

Update on 8/22/2022: i think i've figured out why season 13 strikes me as the weakest of the post-sequel seasons so far. There are two major reasons I can think of, both of which seem to be harming this season to the point where if it keeps on this track, it might not be a good season.

The first is that it's obvious, since the release of the third movie, that the SB crew have had to balance working on three shows, and A FOURTH MOVIE (A fourth movie was announced earlier this year, kill me), and I think we're beginning to see the effects of it rub off on the main series. You can tell that these latest episodes are being written by people that grew up watching the show and thus are cramming as many callbacks as possible into them. I don't mind that at all, really, but it's gotten to a point where callbacks are all episodes have to offer you and nothing more.

  On that note, season 13 has radically changed the way that SpongeBob formats its episodes-- most episodes' set-ups are ones that you won't even realize are setups until well halfway through an episode, to the point where I have trouble identifying if there's a conflict, if one exists in the first place. Something Narwhal This Way Comes and Captain Pipsqueak are two prime examples of that... what is the central conflict? Not every episode has to have one, but there needs to be some hook that the audience should latch onto to keep their interest. For that reason, both of those episodes were disappointments to me, because not much actually happens in them, and by the time something DOES happen, the episode resolves itself and is already over. It feels like the criticisms people throw towards S6-9A about episodes ending abruptly or solving themselves applies here more than ever, but I think it's worse here overall... since at least I can detect a plot progression in most episodes.

Season 13 doesn't really have plot progression, most episodes so far feel like sequences of events that just... happen, with something vague to tie them all together, or they're just a stream of gags-- plot cohesion isn't this season's bread and butter. I would be perfectly okay with this if the approach they took to this format was done akin to The Big Bad Bubble Bass and Sea-Man Sponge Haters Club, which is one of the best pairings to come out in recent memory, simply because those two introduce a narrative device (the storybook format from Patnocchio makes an exciting return) that strings together all the events in the former, and the latter has a theme that interconnects the three separate stories the characters tell. In other words, they have something to thread them together, where episodes like Upturn Girls, Captain Pipsqueak, A Place for Pets, Food Pbfft Truck, Something Narwhal This Way Comes, Plane to Sea, and even an episode I like such as Squidward's Sick Daze, don't. Maybe there are some people that are fine with this change in style, but it's not something I can say is working all too well besides Sea-Man Sponge Haters Club, that's actually one of my favorite episodes of the series, and gives me some hope that S13 can produce another winner whenever new episodes come about... but we know that's not going to happen for a while.

Update on 11/4/2022: Season 13's not a season I'd call good anymore. As it has progressed, more and more cracks have revealed themselves, and it might be the only season of the show I don't consider good other than 6. I'll make this quick: They need to stop milking nostalgia for eps from nearly 2 decades ago-- it's getting old. Post-sequel has had a lot of fan-service, but in the cases of 9B-12, there was a REASON for them to do so, they put up good arguments for why these characters should recur or get cameos or whatever, and I think it was done at its best in Mall Girl Pearl.

  At this point though, it's become overkill. Captain Pipsqueak is now my least favorite S13 episodes since it brought back so many characters only to do nothing with them, Food Pffbt Truck brought back Rock Bottom for no reason, and now, we have Nosferatu being a mainstay... or so it seems to be that way-- I know he's a character in Kamp Koral. When he reappeared in The Night Patty, it was pretty cool, and Squidferatu had so much promise. The visuals in it? I can say a lot about S13, but they're going to territories that no past season has gone, as the background work is so detailed and exquisite that you could mistake it for being from any other show out there. As for the story, it's... weak, once again continuing S13's trend of having episodes that don't ever define a conflict, shove one in at the last minute, only to then resolve themselves. I will admit, the visuals and some of the jokes in the episode (especially early on) did make it a bit better for me, but I felt underwhelmed altogether. Hard 5/10

Slappy Daze, on the other hand, was weird. It is one of the weirdest episodes of SB to exist-- it doesn't have a conflict, it stars a new character that I do like, but he works best when playing off of other characters instead of being by himself. I don't know, this one wasn't very interesting and is probably the most fillery episode of the series to exist.

Just so you know, we were meant to get that Binary Bottom special and a pairing on the 18th of November, but the latter got pulled, so we're only getting a special... and then nothing else. The schedule is so bad that Nickelodeon literally pulled the airing of new eps, like they don't want S13 to finish. S13 began airing in October 2020, and a little over 2 years later, we're not even halfway into the season. This is beyond pathetic.

Also, happy 23rd anniversary to SpongeBob SquarePants!

Description
Note: This scorecard won't be updated anymore as I have a full scorecard of all the seasons, so check for newest episode ratings there instead

www.deviantart.com/ttlf/art/TT…

you wanna know what i thought would be cool? scorecarding a SpongeBob season as it comes out, I've never done it before and I want to give it a try because the schedule is so turbulent that we'll either have this season done this year or never. I don't know if I'll give this season a full proper description by the time it's done airing or leave the description as is, since it's a style I've never attempted before

either way, season 13's p good, really the only change I've noticed from it so far is the animation isnt as zany as it was in season 12 and is much closer to season 4's style than 9B could ever hope to be. Actually, it even has expressions and poses that look straight out of seasons 2-3, it has a lot more of a "classic" look to it and I hope this is the way post-sequel will be from here on out. Artistically, this season is the best post-sequel by far, but in terms of episodes? Well, it only got started and there have been a few hiccups, but the biggest fault S13 has so far is that it doesn't have any episodes I would hail as one of the best. We're all waiting for this season's "Stormy Weather", where the season goes from shaky to consistently brilliant... seems like the The Big Bad Bubble Bass and Sea Man Sponge Haters Club will do the trick.

Update on 5/15/2022: or maybe not, god wtf were these two latest episodes? The food truck ep (lord knows I can't spell this episode's name) has no reason to be watched over 20,000 Patties Under the Sea, it ends as soon as it starts, and did not take advantage of the fact it's set in Rock Bottom-- it was really bare in terms of substance, and the ending is pure nonsense. There's no stakes and thus there's no reason to watch this episode over 20,000 Patties Under the Sea, OR The Good Krabby Name. And you know what? Upturn Girls is a similar case. I wasn't a fan of the first Narwhal episode, but this one takes the problems I had with Food whatever Truck and amplifies them-- Pearl and Narlene literally go to one place in town, and it's set in the day. If they were going to hang, why not at night? Why not have them go to different locations and thus have different setups for different jokes? There's no variety here, and 99% of the jokes this episode tells miss. Save for a scene with the shark from Jolly Lodgers, I didn't enjoy this one at all.

Update on 5/28/2022: the latest pairing was pretty good, not consistently funny or anything but enjoyable enough. however, i think my opinion on Patrick the Mailman would be elevated if the episode didn't decide to stop at Kevin's house for a good few minutes, I've seen the trope of a character bothering another character until they finally accept something on this show before, and having it here didn't bring anything new and took away from the whole mail delivery plot. it was still fun otherwise

Update on 8/22/2022: i think i've figured out why season 13 strikes me as the weakest of the post-sequel seasons so far. There are two major reasons I can think of, both of which seem to be harming this season to the point where if it keeps on this track, it might not be a good season.

The first is that it's obvious, since the release of the third movie, that the SB crew have had to balance working on three shows, and A FOURTH MOVIE (A fourth movie was announced earlier this year, kill me), and I think we're beginning to see the effects of it rub off on the main series. You can tell that these latest episodes are being written by people that grew up watching the show and thus are cramming as many callbacks as possible into them. I don't mind that at all, really, but it's gotten to a point where callbacks are all episodes have to offer you and nothing more.

  On that note, season 13 has radically changed the way that SpongeBob formats its episodes-- most episodes' set-ups are ones that you won't even realize are setups until well halfway through an episode, to the point where I have trouble identifying if there's a conflict, if one exists in the first place. Something Narwhal This Way Comes and Captain Pipsqueak are two prime examples of that... what is the central conflict? Not every episode has to have one, but there needs to be some hook that the audience should latch onto to keep their interest. For that reason, both of those episodes were disappointments to me, because not much actually happens in them, and by the time something DOES happen, the episode resolves itself and is already over. It feels like the criticisms people throw towards S6-9A about episodes ending abruptly or solving themselves applies here more than ever, but I think it's worse here overall... since at least I can detect a plot progression in most episodes.

Season 13 doesn't really have plot progression, most episodes so far feel like sequences of events that just... happen, with something vague to tie them all together, or they're just a stream of gags-- plot cohesion isn't this season's bread and butter. I would be perfectly okay with this if the approach they took to this format was done akin to The Big Bad Bubble Bass and Sea-Man Sponge Haters Club, which is one of the best pairings to come out in recent memory, simply because those two introduce a narrative device (the storybook format from Patnocchio makes an exciting return) that strings together all the events in the former, and the latter has a theme that interconnects the three separate stories the characters tell. In other words, they have something to thread them together, where episodes like Upturn Girls, Captain Pipsqueak, A Place for Pets, Food Pbfft Truck, Something Narwhal This Way Comes, Plane to Sea, and even an episode I like such as Squidward's Sick Daze, don't. Maybe there are some people that are fine with this change in style, but it's not something I can say is working all too well besides Sea-Man Sponge Haters Club, that's actually one of my favorite episodes of the series, and gives me some hope that S13 can produce another winner whenever new episodes come about... but we know that's not going to happen for a while.

Update on 11/4/2022: Season 13's not a season I'd call good anymore. As it has progressed, more and more cracks have revealed themselves, and it might be the only season of the show I don't consider good other than 6. I'll make this quick: They need to stop milking nostalgia for eps from nearly 2 decades ago-- it's getting old. Post-sequel has had a lot of fan-service, but in the cases of 9B-12, there was a REASON for them to do so, they put up good arguments for why these characters should recur or get cameos or whatever, and I think it was done at its best in Mall Girl Pearl.

  At this point though, it's become overkill. Captain Pipsqueak is now my least favorite S13 episodes since it brought back so many characters only to do nothing with them, Food Pffbt Truck brought back Rock Bottom for no reason, and now, we have Nosferatu being a mainstay... or so it seems to be that way-- I know he's a character in Kamp Koral. When he reappeared in The Night Patty, it was pretty cool, and Squidferatu had so much promise. The visuals in it? I can say a lot about S13, but they're going to territories that no past season has gone, as the background work is so detailed and exquisite that you could mistake it for being from any other show out there. As for the story, it's... weak, once again continuing S13's trend of having episodes that don't ever define a conflict, shove one in at the last minute, only to then resolve themselves. I will admit, the visuals and some of the jokes in the episode (especially early on) did make it a bit better for me, but I felt underwhelmed altogether. Hard 5/10

Slappy Daze, on the other hand, was weird. It is one of the weirdest episodes of SB to exist-- it doesn't have a conflict, it stars a new character that I do like, but he works best when playing off of other characters instead of being by himself. I don't know, this one wasn't very interesting and is probably the most fillery episode of the series to exist.

Just so you know, we were meant to get that Binary Bottom special and a pairing on the 18th of November, but the latter got pulled, so we're only getting a special... and then nothing else. The schedule is so bad that Nickelodeon literally pulled the airing of new eps, like they don't want S13 to finish. S13 began airing in October 2020, and a little over 2 years later, we're not even halfway into the season. This is beyond pathetic.

Also, happy 23rd anniversary to SpongeBob SquarePants!