Scroll down the episode list for this fourth season on IMDb, I will admit that memories of the problems with the third season were in my mind as I noted the times that Muscle Man seemed to be the first word in the plot summary, or at very least merited a mention in the few sentences against each title. The overuse of this very limited character was part of the reason I felt too many episodes in the previous season were weaker than they should have been. Although he is used as a plot device or narrative focus more often than I would like, this season seems to manage it better, and produces more even and consistent episodes.
There are a couple of extended episodes in there which I enjoyed a lot, including a big sci-fi action opening for the season, a Halloween special, and a very enjoyable festive episode. All of these are fairly representative of the majority of the season doing what it does well, which is to produce decent little character moments or situational narratives, but introduce a fantasy element into it which takes it far beyond the norm even though everyone just goes with it. More tellingly, the tone of delivery is so matter-of-factly that it manages to sell it as something to enjoy, and it really never becomes silly for the sake of it. Okay there is a certain amount of repetition in the structure of the episodes at times, but I think this is more an issue with me watching all 30+ of them in the space of a few weeks, as opposed to over 10 months as they originally screened.
The animation remains of high quality, while the voice work remains strong, but it is the imagination in the writing that I like, with silly but not "stupid" narratives allowing total flights of fancy, but yet still working as contained and often connected narratives. It is an acquired taste perhaps, but when it works then I enjoy it the vast majority of the time – and in the case of the fourth season it not only worked but worked more consistently across the whole run.
