>>109325683Metaphorically speaking, to me it’s like the first 3 seasons of spongebob were flying high, but then as soon as season 4 started it nosedived into a giant shit filled cesspit, sometimes bottoming out, sometimes gasping for air as the years go by but never ever flying as high as it did at the beginning. Season 4-5 can be imagined in this scenario as being during the initial dive down through the air from up on high, right before the inevitable collision with the shitpit. Those seasons may have been better than what came after, yes, but were unmistakably part of an incredibly fast decline in quality after the third season, resulting in them being mediocre at best. Anything more is just a result of nostalgia; after all they aired immediately after the first 3 seasons, so it’s only natural that it would get a bit confusing eventually as perceptions change
