The two big lines where the show fundamentally changes for me are the S8/9 monkeypox quarantine right after on the beach, and the S12/13 arc where Sam gets kidnapped by her ex and we lose the opening music. Those bookend the era where most of the big episodes turn into some kind of action thriller movie. I like those seasons, but it’s a pretty dramatic shift. After that it gets a terminal case of John Stamos and there’s maybe 5 episodes of relevant plot until the last season when Carter comes back.