Who's Afraid of Mr. Snippers?/A Fish called Sandy

This episode brought back fond memories of the golden era of seasons 1-3. While I wouldn't call it a perfect episode I gave it a 10 out of 10 simply because it brought hope to me again , not about having a flawless plot or story. What matters to me is that this episode finally revived the core elements that made classic SpongeBob so watchable. It feels refreshingly different from modern SpongeBob and, in many key ways, reminiscent of the classic series we all know and love , like :

Pacing Done Right

One of the standout improvements is the pacing. This episode returns to the natural, well-timed flow of actions, jokes, and dialogue that defined the early seasons. In contrast, modern SpongeBob often feels like a disjointed mix of short, over-the-top gags and rapid actions with little context. It's as if the modern show tries too hard to be funny, resulting in a rushed, clip-like structure that can feel soulless. This episode, however, gets the timing just right.

The return of the good old Art Style

The art style is another welcome change. Modern SpongeBob has become overly saturated, with exaggerated and unnecessary facial expressions popping up every few seconds, which I find distracting and annoying. This episode tones down those excesses, making the visuals more pleasant and aligned with the classic aesthetic we love

Characters and Sound That Feel Familiar

The characters' personalities also bring back the golden era vibe . In recent seasons, they've faded, but here, they feel authentic and true to their original selves. On top of that, the background sound is a highlight calm, relaxing, and infused with that iconic underwater ambiance in the intro especially , complete with iconic music like "Aloha" . Modern SpongeBob, by comparison, leans on excessive, noisy, and often random soundtracks that feel out of place , it has lost the charm and the identity of the underwater world , and started feeling more like a normal cartoon .

When you put these elements together : pacing, art style, character integrity, etc... it's easy to see why classic SpongeBob is so beloved, you don't even have to try too hard to make it work , it's inherently good . Modern SpongeBob, on the other hand, often feels like a soulless production, seemingly aimed at like 5 year olds , just like Patrick Star Show ( which I interpreted after watching a bit from it) . Sometimes the new seasons don't even feel like the same show anymore ...

This was a simple episode , with a simple plot , but felt so special compared to modern episodes for bringing back most of these core elements , which again makes the show enjoyable without even trying . I don't wanna praise the episode specifically , rather I want to praise the comeback to the old golden style .

Message to Nickelodeon

This is a message to Nickelodeon: despite the spinoffs and the changes to the series, please strive to bring back more episodes like this one, it doesn't have to be for a young audience only , I was like 10 years old when I enjoyed the old seasons , just like adults did , because that Spongebob was ageless . As Spongebob fans, that's what we truly want .

As everybody has said online, the second segment is definitely one of the best episodes of the series in a long while-and I am really grateful that we finally get to see another glance at the classic designs and storytelling once more...

However, I do believe that this style of episode needs to be relaxed and not be super frequent in the future. There are a LOT of callbacks to older episodes in this, and I don't want the show to be just a vision of what it once was, I think the show needs to evolve and try new things instead of relying on previous conventions for it to be good.

Writing wise though? I would definitely not mind the show going back to being more simpler and having relaxed animation choices like this. Not specifically the classic designs but something simple so that the wacky moments and gross out parts aren't so frequent and hit harder when they do occur. I like the wackier side of this show, but I also do miss when there was a bit of groundedness to the plot of each episode in the classic era, which AFCS reflects perfectly.

SpongeBob has always been experimental, and this is the kind of experimental I like because it still manages to tell a charming one-off story about Sandy wanting to experience the sea in a completely different and new way. If anything I'm honestly surprised this episode was not explored in its early run, it definitely could've co-existed with the old seasons.

Whoever wrote this episode, animated this episode, PLEASE COME BACK AND STAY! This episode not only looked good visually, but was also ACTUALLY. WATCHABLE, kids should be watching this instead of the previous episodes of Spongebob being an insane maniac every single frame!

The episode was enjoyable with a simple story that was executed greatly! Spongebob is such a likable character in this episode acting like a true friend instead of a mental patient. Spongebob is not the only character who is better in this episode, Patrick also has his good moments and Sandy is also very likable.

Clearly they can continue the show and be able to write a good episode, please, we need more like this, not temporary, not for celebration, but permanently.

Who's Afraid of Mr. Snippers?

The return of the two megalomaniacs. Squidward and Plankton are a fantastic duo we rarely see. Egos collide and it shows as well as how their creative minds work well together. Karen really worked as the director and peacekeeper between Plankton and Squidward and SpongeBob nails it as Mr. Snippers. It's a HUGE step-up from "The Play's the Thing" as there's no bad food, no infliction of pain, no psychological breakdown, and it's a great play worth watching. Only downside was that the bickering can get a little repetitive but that's it

9.5/10

A Fish Called Sandy

Flawless, smooth, intelligent, nostalgic! "A Fish Called Sandy" is everything from the Golden Era of SpongeBob and more. Sandy experiences the wonders of the ocean and is given gills thanks to her latest science experiment and we get callbacks in the style of season 1. From SpongeBob playing with a piece of paper to him warning Sandy to avoid the hooks in order to prevent another "NudityPants" incident. Speaking of season 1 gold, we get something that we've all missed from SpongeBob during the Dark Era: his intelligence. After Sandy's experiment goes awry and she turns into a Dunkleosteus-esq predator, SpongeBob displays his intelligence by figuring out that Sandy has the antidote at her treedome just by seeing Sandy raid Gary's pudding stash. They even remember that they have to turn Fred back to normal at the end of the episode. It's a must watch episode that would make Stephen Hillenberg proud. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy some pudding.

10/10.

Spongebob's Modern episode a fish called sandy definitely brings back all of our childhood using season 1 designs and references. Including Nature Pants, and Hooky. This is definitely a great nostalgic and somewhat kinda emotional childhood a bit. But this is hyped for a comeback. Though the fisherman scene they've could've used an old vintage digital camera they've used in the 90s. But the rest is nostalgic and brilliantly epic and awesome. Which is why I love this episode, it brings back all the memories we've used to have back in our days. We've really need nostalgic episodes like this to make our childhood better again.