SpongeBob SquarePants (Post-Sequel Era, 2015-Present)

The post-sequel era of ***SpongeBob SquarePants*** refers to the second half of Season 9 after the second movie onwards. This is also know as the ***Renaissance*** Era of SpongeBob SquarePants by a number of fans.

## Why This Era Rocks

1. Brings back the charm of the classic era after the show's dark age during Seasons 6-8, with some aspects being a bit different.
2. While Stephen Hillenburg had remained executive producer throughout Seasons 4-9a, he was more actively involved in during this era and remained as such until his death in November 2018.
3. Along with Hillenburg, other crew members from the classic era return, like Sherm Cohen and Kaz.
4. The writing and storylines are a massive improvement over that of Seasons 6-8.
5. The animation has improved tremendously.
	* The updated character designs are also nice to look at.
6. The voice acting is still great.
7. This era has tons of creativity put into it, such as by using episode concepts that haven't been done before (some that you wouldn't even expect in SpongeBob).
8. Hilarious, clever and self-aware humor, just like in the first five seasons.
9. Characters that got flanderized during Seasons 6-8 have had their original personalities restored in this era (along with the first half of Season 9).
10. Has tons of good/great episodes like in the first five seasons, such as:
	* "Mimic Madness"
	* "My Leg!"
	* "Karen's Virus"
	* "Bulletin Board"
	* "Feral Friends"
	* "Doodle Dimension"
	* "Trident Trouble"
	* "Unreal Estate"
	* "What's Eating Patrick?"
	* "The Krusty Slammer"
	* "The Getaway"
	* "Lost in Bikini Bottom"
	* "Moving Bubble Bass"
	* "FarmerBob"
	* "SpongeBob LongPants"
	* "Larry's Gym"
	* "Patrick's Coupon"
	* "Pull Up a Barrell"
	* "Plankton Paranoia"
	* "Sold!"
	* "Spot Returns"
	* "ChefBob"
	* "Mustard O' Mine"
	* "Patrick! The Game"
	* "Krusty Koncessionaries"
	* "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?"
	* "Bottle Burglars"
	* "Krusty Kleaners"
	* "Sandy's Nutty Nieces"
	* "High Sea Diving"
	* "SpongeBob in Randomland"
	* "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout"
	* "Goons on the Moon"
	* "The Ballad of Filthy Muck"
	* "Senior Discount"
	* "Old Man Patrick"
	* "Mermaid Pants"
	* "Squid Noir"
	* "Patnocchio"
	* "The Incredible Shrinking Sponge"
	* ''Man Ray Returns"
	* "Plankton Gets the Boot"
	* "CopyBob DittoPants"
	* "Mind the Gap"
	* "Tutor Sauce"
	* "Burst Your Bubble"
	* "The Goofy Newbie"
	* "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom"
	* "Mall Girl Pearl"
	* "Gary's Got Legs"
	* "Scavenger Pants"
	* "Biddy Sitting"
	* "Gary & Spot"
	* "Sharks vs. Pods"
	* "Krusty Katering"
	* "SpongeBob's Place"
	* "Swamp Mates"
	* "Broken Alarm"
	* "Code Yellow"
	* "Dream Hoppers"
	* "Call the Cops"
	* "Dirty Bubble Returns"
	* "Pineapple RV"
	* "Life Insurance"
	* "Spin the Bottle"
	* "Fun-Sized Friends"
	* "The Krusty Bucket"
	* "Handemonium"
11. The new HD opening (which debuted in a rerun of "Eek! An Urchin" and made its true debut in "Lame and Fortune") is great and manages to capture the style of the classic theme song, complete with the use of SpongeBob's classic design.
12. The title and time cards are well done.
13. Return of some classic characters who were absent for years, such as Bubble Bass.
14. Some great songs, such as "Who Am I?", "Kung Fu Rock" and "My Leg is in Love".
15. Gives minor character major roles in certain episodes.
	* Bubble Bass has a major role in "Moving Bubble Bass".
	* Fred has a major role in "My Leg!".
	* Mary's mother has a major role in "Biddy Sitting".
16. Has lots of references and continuity to the classic era.
	* A picture of SpongeBob and Patrick on their badges in "FarmerBob" is the same as SpongeBob and Patrick's poses in "Mid-Life Crustacean".
	* Mr. Krabs' first dollar from "Wet Painters" appears in "Bottle Burglars".
	* The "Squidward Smells" graffiti from "Sailor Mouth" appears in "Mall Girl Pearl" and "The Nitwitting"
	* In "Scavenger Pants", when SpongeBob and Patrick see the Badlands, they make the same surprised faces that they make in the first movie.
	* Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Party Boat from the first movie returns in "Patnocchio" and "The Goofy Newbie".
	* The Tattletale Strangler from "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler" and Dennis from the first movie appeared on posters in "Call the Cops".
	* Rock Bottom and the angler fish from "Rock Bottom" return in "Out of the Picture".
	* Some flashbacks from classic episodes, such as "Plankton!", "Welcome to the Chum Bucket", "The Algae's Always Greener", "F.U.N." and "Plankton's Army" are shown in "Karen's Virus"
17. This era relies on anything to be entertaining, such as modernism, pop culture references, realism, slapstick, meta-references, and even the charm from the classic era.
18. Some songs from the first three seasons return like Honolulu March and Old Hilo March.

## Bad Qualities

1. Despite being a huge improvement over Seasons 6-8, the first half of Season 9 (while decent) isn't the best nor is it perfect.
2. There are some occasional bad episodes, such as:
	* "Ink Lemonade" (the worst episode of this era so far)
	* "The Fish Bowl"
	* "House Worming"
	* "Cuddle E. Hugs"
	* "Out of the Picture" (depending on your view)
	* "Sanctuary!" (depending on your view)
	* "Sportz?" (depending on your view)
	* "The Nitwitting"
	* "Squirrel Jelly"
	* "Don’t Wake Patrick"
	* "SpongeBob's Bad Habit"
	* "Jolly Lodgers"
	* "Whirly Brains" (depending on your view)
3. While the characters have been improved from Seasons 6-8 and are more in line with their personalities from the classic era, their flanderization can still be common at times.
	* SpongeBob can still be annoying from time to time even to the times when he can just be a complete idiot. However, it's more of a hidden depth rather than his defining trait, unlike Seasons 6-8.
	* Patrick can get too stupid in certain episodes. But like SpongeBob, it's more of a hidden depth.
	* Mr. Krabs still hasn't fully recovered from his flanderization that started around Season 6. Even so, he is still more likable than in Seasons 6-8.
4. The animation from Season 11 onwards, while great for the most part, has some hiccups:
	* the animation can get overly wacky and a bit too fast paced at times.
	* the brighter colors can be over-stimulating to some viewers.
	* the exaggerated facial expressions on the characters can come off as annoying, jarring and distracting to viewers.
5. While great, the voice acting can get loud and obnoxious at times.
6. Like in the classic era, there are some adult jokes implemented at times, though not as much as the classic era.
7. There is still some gross-out humor in some episodes.
8. Some moments can be disturbing or frightening to younger audience like the hallucinating scenes from "Plankton Paranoia" and the Squidward red mist reference jumpscare from "Spongebob in Randomland", which was actually removed as of 2020.