Longest running Nickelodeon series sponge Bob Square Pants continues to entertain audiences of all ages for the third decade of its existence on the air. Many sponge fans believe that the first few seasons and the first movie are the peak, and all subsequent ones have not reached these heights and have remained mediocre. What’s so great about a long-running series like Spongebob lies in the fact that behind the huge number of episodes there are many real gems.
There are plenty of decent episodes in later eras that have a lot to offer. From visual treats to fun to surprisingly good writing, there’s definitely some quality juice left in this underwater pineapple.
1 “My leg!”
The background character Fish Fred constantly breaking his leg due to any chaos going on in Bikini Bottom has been a running joke on the show since the first season. In the appropriately titled season 11 episode “My Leg!” Fred asks SpongeBob to act as a bodyguard so he can stop breaking his leg every day. Of course, things don’t go according to plan and Fred still gets into all sorts of bad luck.
post-film Spongebob He had an amazing penchant for drawing attention to unexpected characters, so Fred got a whole episode of his own - a real treat. There is a twisted sweetness in his story too; by the end of the episode, we find out the funny reason why he keeps breaking his legs - so he can keep seeing the nurse who treats him every time.
2 “Imitative Madness”
Tom Kenny’s vocal performance as SpongeBob is one of the most iconic and beloved voice acting roles in animation history. The Season 10 episode “Mimic Madness” brilliantly showcases Kenny’s vocal prowess, and the story built around him is a lot of fun. SpongeBob can’t stop impersonating all of his friends, to the point where he forgot how to be himself, so he runs away and has a crisis of himself, only his best friends can help him break out.
Fans of Kenny’s voice acting have a lot to love here. SpongeBob can sing a really fantastic song and voice all the other characters with pretty fantastic voices, so it’s a teasing take on the “what if” series if Kenny would fill every role. “Mimic Madness” is a must-see for fans of great voice acting.
3 “Wild Friends”
In season 10’s Wild Friends, birthday girl Sandy and a French narrator team up to save all of her friends when a mysterious lunar phenomenon turns them into animals in the real world! As the French narrator describes the behavior of sponges, starfish, octopuses, crabs, whales, pufferfish and lobsters, Sandy uses her science skills and various Treedom inventions to surround them and bring them back to normal.
Spongebob creator Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biologist before becoming a world famous cartoon maker, so when his show touches on real science, it’s a treat. Seeing iconic characters like Squidward and Pearl act like real-life octopuses and whales is surreal and fun. As a bonus, the French Narrator and Patchy both appear in a fairly light episode, which gives Tom Kenny a well deserved chance to play with his other characters.
4 “Mine Mustard”
The Krusty Krab is out of mustard, and a fast food restaurant is nothing without seasoning! So, Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob, Squidward and Patrick to the mustard mines to get more. It’s a simple concept, but the plot of Season 11 of My Mustard is ripe for an extremely funny cartoon slapstick.
Some great visual gags (such as Patrick looking for mustard and only finding gems) and bits of slapstick give this episode some extra spice. The mustard mine underground subway scene is amusing and painfully understandable to anyone using public transportation. Classic trio shenanigans in a medium ripe for comic possibilities make this episode a real treat.
5 “Not OK”
What is still okay? In season six’s “Nermal”, SpongeBob tries to be “normal” by becoming round, monotonous, and a completely different sponge than the one everyone in Bikini Bottom is used to. This gentler SpongeBob makes everything he touches mundane - Krabby Patties lose their flavor, it becomes harder to party with his friends - and it’s up to Squidward and Patrick to restore their friend to his foolish, imperfect glory.
“Not Normal” is a fun exploration of what it means to love being yourself. Seeing SpongeBob so plain and simple in the wacky world of Bikini Bottom is truly surreal. The solution his friends came up with to help him get back to being himself is also delightfully surreal.
6 “Hen-party”
There are only a handful of named main female characters in Bikini Bottom, and they rarely, if ever, share a screen together. Season 11 “Girl’s Night” rectifies this tragedy by bringing together Sandy, Karen the Computer, and Mrs. Puff for their own episode. These buddies have a fun night playing pranks on all the guys in town.
Watching Mr. Krabs, Plankton, and SpongeBob flip the tables is a lot of fun; Mrs. Puff, tinkering with her most pushy boating student, is surprisingly cathartic. For a clear refreshing novelty, consisting in the fact that most girls in Spongebob The universe spends the episode together causing delicious mischief, this episode is unbeatable. If only Pearl wasn’t too young to join in on the fun…
7 “Virus Karen”
After the story about Plankton in Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, episodes involving an evil copepod and his computer wife began to appear much more often. One of the smartest and most experimental episodes featuring the odd couple is Season 11’s Karen Virus. Karen gets sick with a computer virus and loses control, and SpongeBob and Plankton have to shrink in her software to get the virus under control.
Inside Karen, her security system is a “perfect” version of her husband, as well as other Bikini Bottom characters. The visuals inside Karen are an unexpected hybrid of 2D-3D art styles, and there are references to earlier episodes and seasons handled in a refreshing and fun way. Virus Karen is a must for all fans of Plankton, Karen, or whenever the show tries to do something unexpected with its visual language.
8 “Salty Sponge”
Many after the movie episodes of the series often serve as sequels to earlier, beloved episodes from the first three seasons of the series. “Salty Sponge” Season 13 is a sequel to “No Sausages” Season 3 and follows SpongeBob, who takes a job as a cook at the Salty Spittoon. “Salty Sponge” finally lets viewers see what’s going on inside the coolest place in Bikini Bottom.
SpongeBob’s perky demeanor, contrasted with the rough and torn personalities on the inside, creates a riotous comedy. Even Mrs. Puff gets into the action at Spitoon, wearing a “Big Fat Meanie” jacket in a cute nod to the season 3 classic New Student Starfish. As for throwback episodes, this one is definitely worth checking out.
9 “Best Frenemies”
The rivalry between Mr. Krabs and Plankton is always fun to watch, but it’s even more fun to see former rivals reluctantly working together. In Season 4’s “Best Frenemies”, the Kelp Shake restaurant chain continues to open new locations around every corner, and something seems fishy. So instead of Plankton trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula from Mr. Krabs, rival restaurateurs team up to determine a new competition in town.
Spongebob diving into social commentary is a rare pleasure. The episode slightly pokes fun at the dominance of chains like Starbucks, with the show’s usual mix of slapstick and nautical nonsense. Best Frenemies is an overall very fun exploration of the dynamics of rivalry with friends, in which the series often excels.
10 “SpongeBob in Randomland”
Surrealist cartoonist and longtime Spongebob writer Kaz well known for his very quirky and fan-favorite episodes (such as the all-time classic “Chocolate Nuts” and “Nasty Patty”). an explosion of style and humor that is a must see for fans of his work.
What also makes this episode worth watching is the infamous deleted scene. In his original broadcast, Squidward opens the door to RandomLand to reveal a creepy head - it’s Squidward from the infamous Spongebob Squidward Suicide Creepypasta direct to Nickelodeon! (In reruns, it’s now Squidward as the creepy kid.) It’s rare for any series to acknowledge its place in the internet or fan lore, so when Spongebob does it, even if it has since been relegated to a deleted scene, it’s really special.
Source: Collider
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