User blog comment:Magma MK-II/Patrick Star: The Discussion/@comment-27818776-20150328162101/@comment-1705775-20150328171511

that and a mix of the show becoming darker for no reason other than I think they want to revive Ren and Stimpy-ish comedy to be "edgey".. didn't really work in the 90s but they are determined if anything to bring it back.

Patrick has suffered the worst of the "let's turn previously flawed but likeable guys into remorseless sociopaths" treatment while Squidward has become so abused it's hard for the viewer to see him as anything but a victim, even when he's been established as an antagonist for a while (not a true villain but certainly nastier than Patrick, now Patrick surpasses Squidward by miles).