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SBC's Top 50 Best Episodes Ever 2015 Edition!


Wumbo

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36. "Yep, this is great. They might as well rename this town 'Squidward's Paradise'. Or perhaps... too much paradise."

 

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Squidville, 69 points

 

(6 of 26 lists. 1 #1 vote - Omair)

 

SpongeBob and Patrick get their new reef blowers and then start blowing and sucking things up with them, eventually sucking up Squidward's windows and door. When Squidward demands them to give the windows and door back, they shoot them at Squidward's house, destroying it. Squidward tells SpongeBob and Patrick that "This is the final straw. I am going to move so far away that I will be able to brag about it. I would rather tear out my brain stem, carry it to the middle of the nearest four-way intersection, and skip rope with it than go on living where I do now." Just then, his TV falls beside him amidst the rubble of his house, playing an commercial for "Tentacle Acres," a private community created exclusively for octopuses, and, ironically, the guy advertising says exactly the same things Squidward said, only as questions. As Squidward watches, Patrick changes the screen to static, saying he "hates this channel." Squidward moves there, where he finds that the residents all look, sound and act similar to him, even living in houses identical to his, much to his delight, not even eyeing a rock or pineapple in sight. Before Squidward can go to sleep, eager to start his new life afresh, SpongeBob and Patrick call Squidward in an attempt to get him to return home, but Squidward refuses, and he therefore abruptly hangs up on them after saying that there is no possible way he is returning home, being among his own kind.

 
Squidward begins his first day at Tentacle Acres by going biking, and finds that all the other octopi are riding their bikes as well. He then goes grocery shopping, and is impressed by the local food market, which even carries "canned bread." He then sees an Interpretive Dance Academy, where he dances in a group with others who share his style of dancing. At the end of the day, he sees a clarinet-playing trio performing in the park, which he joins. On Squidward's second day at Tentacle Acres, he rinses-lathers-and-repeats the process he did on the first day around. However, as the days succeed another, Squidward keeps performing the same routine from morning (starting from bike riding, to canned bread purchases, to the dance academy lessons, to the clarinet trio) to night. Again and again, Squidward keeps repeating the same process, and because there's nothing new about it, the smile he once had begins to lose its shape and Squidward starts to get to used to doing what he does every day. As the days continue, Squidward is starting to look horribly bored with his ideal life and eventually, that boredom leads to depression. Finally, Squidward realizes one day, while playing with the trio, that his dream life wasn't everything he had hoped it to be, and Squidward stops playing before he finishes. Squidward feels much worse off than he did when he left SpongeBob and Patrick.
 
While sitting on a park bench, lamenting this, Squidward hears a reef blower, hoping SpongeBob is there, but is crushed when Squidward finds out that is not to be (it seems that at this point, Squidward is hoping to see someone not of his species, even if it has to be the person he hates). The squid then leaves the reef blower unattended, with a sign that says "Back Whenever," and Squidward starts playing with it (in the same manner that SpongeBob and Patrick did in the beginning of the episode), irritating and scaring his neighbors out of their wits in the process. They eventually become fed up with his behavior, and form an angry mob and chase him as they are now on the warpath against Squidward. Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Patrick come to Tentacle Acres to apologize to Squidward and try to force him to return home. The surveillance guards tell them that their kind isn't welcome here and refuses to open the gate for them. However, Patrick's bad breath travels through the intercom into the room where the guards are, knocking them out and causing them to fall over onto the button that opens the gate. They enter the village, and see Squidward cornered by the angry mob, who show him "A well thought-out and organized list of complaints," and are demanding him to leave, and Squidward agrees. SpongeBob and Patrick are unable to identify him among the crowd of near-identical squids, with SpongeBob saying that "Any one of these Squidwards could be the real Squidward!" Squidward then uses the reef blower to launch himself out of the village, and SpongeBob says "Well, we know one thing: it sure isn't that guy!"

 

4EverGreen: This is quite possibly the ONE time in the cartoon series history that focuses mainly on Squidward alone, that involves very little Spongebob and Patrick interaction. Not being able to take any more of their shenanigans, Squidward decides to get SO far away from them, he will be left ALONE from them for the rest of his life! Squidward gets his answer in Tentacle Acres, a place FULL of Octopi (despite his name, Squidward IS an octopus) just like HIM!!!! It also has EVERYTHING Squidward could want in a town; a dance academy, people riding on their bikes, a clarinet trio (a quartet with Squidward) and a health food store that sells CANNED bread! And the weather is ALWAYS sunny and perfect!...Day, after day, after day, after day, AFTER SEVERAL EXACT same days...Squidward finds out the hard way that it IS possible to have too much of a good and perfect thing! Very ironic then, that when Squidward finds a source of trouble (a reef blower) that it would be SQUIDWARD who ends up being the Tentacle Acres equivalent of Spongebob and Patrick! Ironically, at the same time Squidward is causing havoc, Spongebob and Patrick finally FIND Tentacle Acres and even bring a cake to apologize to him. But Squidward is surrounded by a bunch of octopi who have grievances with him! Squidward than precedes to complain on how LUDICROUS it is that there is a town that has so many stuck-up, tightwad people living together in one place! When it's pointed out that Squidward doesn't HAVE to live there, Squidward actually takes the suggestion SERIOUSLY and decides to leave! Spongebob and Patrick SEE Squidward leaving, but because of what the two have come to expect from Squidward, they don't think it's him. I think this episode is very similar to "The Algae's Always Greener," in the fact that both episodes show that things aren't ALWAYS better on the other side. I think that's why this episode gets such high praise from me.

 

Wumbo: When I started out making my list, I had around 75 possible candidates. They eventually got whittled down into 40, which thereafter got whittled down into 25. If I had a Top 26 list, this would have made it, as it was the last episode to be cut. Man, what a great concept this is. Squidward moves into kind of this Stepford Wivesy town where he does the exact same thing every day, and - no surprise - he gets bored! I love the montage of him progressively getting more and more depressed; that has definitely stuck with me over the years. It's such a poignant piece of work by the writers and animators alike. Also, a town full of Squidwards is just an idea ripe for comedy. I talked about Squidward's sarcasm in Jellyfish Jam, and here we have a town full of sarcasm. The "turkey sandwich" guy gets me every time. If I had any sort of wish for this episode, it might have been that we got a little more of the townsfolk in it, but then again maybe that would take away from what makes this episode so great, which is that it's Squidward's personal journey. A new location, new characters, and a new outlook for Squidward definitely makes this one a winner.

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35. "I'm ugly and I'm proud!"

 

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Something Smells, 70 points

 

(5 of 26 lists. Highest Ranking: #6, Steel)

 

SpongeBob is asleep in his bed, then wakes up and realizes that it is Sunday, and therefore decides to have an ice cream "sundae" for breakfast. However, he sees he has no normal ingredients (ice cream, hot fudge etc.), so he creates a "sundae" made from onions, ketchup & peanuts from a nearly dead peanut plant he had been growing in his window. The sundae gives SpongeBob halitosis, which he does not realize. After breakfast, SpongeBob begins his Sunday to-do list that consists of saying "hi" to everyone in town. Everyone in town is disgusted by the smell of SpongeBob's breath, and avoids him. He is very confused by this, and asks Patrick if he notices anything wrong with him. Patrick, not having a nose, is unaffected by his foul breath (though his eyes get cracked after the scent hits him). He suggests that maybe everybody hates his laugh, and after a long and very irritating chuckle; SpongeBob flatly asks his friend if he's kidding. Patrick then comes to the conclusion that SpongeBob is ugly, and then does a "Reflection Test." SpongeBob is shocked by this, and isolates himself in his home.

 
Later, Patrick visits SpongeBob, who has now become a hermit. Patrick tells SpongeBob "The Ugly Barnacle" story, somewhat thinking it would help (which, of course, it didn't).
 
Patrick then attempts to teach him to be proud of his ugliness. It works, and SpongeBob's confidence grows, so they go to The Reef at night.
 
When they go in and sit down, all the fish still avoid SpongeBob. Angered that no one has the nerve to face SpongeBob's so-called ugliness, Patrick goes into a maniacal rage and forces the other viewers to look at SpongeBob. They all panic and run out of the theater, due to SpongeBob's breath. Patrick eventually gets hungry, so they go to get a snack, but no one is at the counter, so SpongeBob gives Patrick some of his sundae. Then Patrick goes to the bathroom.
 
When a guy runs away from Patrick in the bathroom, he thinks he has caught the "ugly" from SpongeBob. SpongeBob smells Patrick's extremely foul breath, and comes to the realization that they are not ugly, and simply have bad breath from the sundae. Afterwards, the two begin to run around shouting "We stink!" melting down The Reef with their corrosive stench. In the last scene, SpongeBob & Patrick run into Squidward, who is looking at wigs in a window display, and SpongeBob said, "Guess what, Squidward?" and they said "We stink!" Squidward looks confused as SpongeBob and Patrick run away laughing.

 

MMM: I think there's a simplicity to this episode that really makes it work. Spongebob doesn't need a plot that has all sorts of twists and turns to it. it can take something really simple, and make it really swing, this episode being one of the best episode in the show's entire history of this. Simple plots in the show also work perfectly with lots of humor, another thing this episode shines in, Specifically, the characterization of Spongebob and Patrick itself and their voice delivery is done great. Moments such as "LOOK AT IT" and even background characters get their times to shine, such as the famous Fred scene. Also, the timing is absolutely incredible in this episode. I can't even describe it. Just watch it. It's one of my favorites, for it's simple plot, yet great delivery, characters, timing and humor.

 

Wumbo: Man, this was a mainstay on my top 25 list for quite some time, but it's gone now. Still love the episode, lots of great moments from the classic "Ugly Barnacle" story to the movie theater scene, and I am happy to see it here. But I guess my tastes have just changed and while I do still love this episode, it's not one of my all-time favourites anymore. Maybe a ridiculous concept like this needed a tad more humour spread out over the episode, and not just big bursts at certain moments? Oh well. Classic episode, one of the first I remember watching, and it definitely does not stink.

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Squidville- As evident from thisbeing #1 for me, I LOVE this episode <33333 I also think it's a great metaphor for life and how everyone living the same, "perfect" archetypical lifestyle would be boring and that different goals= good thing! (Take a hint, desi culture <.< )

SOmething Smells- UB is one of those quotes that has lots all of its hilarity--however, the context manages to save it as Patrick's straight face always get a giggle. This episode is definitely more loved by casual watchers than hardcore watchers who hav seen this episode many a time.

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No surprise that "Squidville" made my list (since I gave commentary for it) and I'm pretty sure "Something Smells" made my list as well. I don't know why, but there's just something about the way Patrick tells his story to Spongebob. Patrick: "It's called The Ugly Barnacle. Once there was an ugly barnacle. He was SO ugly that everyone died! The END!!!!" :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: That could either be really, REALLY funny, or really, really DARK depending on how you look at it! :excl: Can't wait to see the rest of the list! B)

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38. Club Spongebob

This episode is a nice little episode for me. Squidward and Spongebob & Patrick get stuck in a forest and we get a funnier version of the episode where Spongebob and Patrick get stranded in a cave. Squidward's reactions are quite funny and I liked the conch gag.

Favorite moment: The end joke where they appear to be saved but the savior calls the conch and it tells them to do nothing. After this squidward gives up and says " All praise the magic conch " in a exasperated tone. This is a good episode.

37. Jellyfish Jam

Without the famous Electro Music that I actually have on my running playlist, I doubt this episode makes the list because it's what draws attention. It's still is arguably top 50 and the ending is interesting because it's one of the few where Gary saves the day. Also Spongebob getting tired of the Jellyfish and them rebelling is pretty funny. It's a good episode.

Favorite moment: " Spongebob is the only person I know who could have fun with a jellyfish for 4 hours. "And so on....

36. Squidville

I liked this episode a lot as a kid and though it's probably fallen in respect to others I still like it. The Patrick TV gag is a classic. Squidward getting tired of paradise and turning into Spongebob was genius. A very well crafted episode that can afford to be relatively light on laughs. This is a good episode.

Favorite moment: Squidward turning into a delinquent and using a leaf blower for Chaos.

35. Something Smells

When I first started making this list I thought it had a case for my top 5. Evidently there were a few other ones that overtook it on my list as mine ended up at top 15. We all know the ugly barnacle story which is funny no matter how many times you see it but there are lots of other funnier ones forgotten.

Such as

The "Deaughhh" Fish

Giant piles of bubble gum

I'm ugly and I'm proud!

Spongebob playing the organ whole wearing Groucho Marx glasses

Hey squidward we stink!

Spongebob jumping on a dudes car's windshield and asking the guy if he's ugly who screams my eyes and crashes.

LOOK AT IT!!!!

This is a great episode. The first one on the list and this is just gangbusters on laughs consistently. I probably should have put it top 10 in retrospect but man there are so many good ones it's hard to drop one. Let's just say this is the first on my great tier.

Favorite moment: The whole bathroom scene, when Patrick is believing he's ugly.

Spoiler

Patrick: [says It In Shock] Oh… OH!! I CAUGHT THE UGLY!!! [spongeBob walks in]

SpongeBob: Patrick, is everything OK in here? [he hears Patrick sobbing. He opens a stall door and sees Patrick sitting on the toilet with a bag over his head] What are you doing in there, Patrick?

Patrick: Wouldn't you like to know?

SpongeBob: And why is that bag on your head?

Patrick: Why? Oh, no reason. Except you gave me the ugly! [he whips the bag off. SpongeBob recoils and gasps. Patrick walks out] What am I gonna do? I can't go out looking like this!

SpongeBob: Just remember what we talked about. There's power in pride.

Patrick: That may be fine for you, but I was one of the beautiful people. Now look at me! [his breath reaches SpongeBob and he holds his nose in disgust] I'm almost as ugly as you! I always thought if I was as ugly as that guy, I don't know what I'd do.

SpongeBob: Patrick...?

Patrick: What's my mom gonna say?

SpongeBob: [plugging his nose] Patrick??

Patrick: Oh my gosh, if my sister finds out, wait, I don't have a sister, if the bank, I mean it's one thing if you have bad shoes, or even bad hair, but… [spongeBob screams at Patrick]

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Squidville looks like it's an appropriate spot for me.

 

Something Smells only at #35? What's next? Giant piles of bubblegum?

 

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Oh, that's rich.

Classic reference :P, but I still find it to be a little high.

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34. "You're right Plankton, I'm sorry. Sorry you have to hang out with Rag Boy!"

 

Friend_or_Foe_38.png

 

Friend or Foe, 72 points

 

(5 of 26 lists. Highest Ranking: #7, katniss)

 

After yet another attack on the Krusty Krab by Plankton, SpongeBob asks Mr. Krabs why they hate each other so much. Mr. Krabs tells his side of the story, in a series of flashbacks:

 
Mr. Krabs and Plankton were best friends from birth, and did everything together. Both were outcasts, Plankton being a nerd and Mr. Krabs (ironically) being extremely poor. One day, Mr. Krabs finds a penny at the carnival, his first exposure to money, which he spends on a balloon for Plankton. Later, they get enough money to buy a burger from Stinky's Burgers, which, despite having horrible food and literally being located in a dump, is very popular among the local children due to being the only place in town to get a burger. Mr. Stinky refuses to serve them, saying that freaks like them are bad for business, and tells them to "wait" at the back of the building. There, they witness Stinky retiring, having made millions from the stand. Plankton and Mr. Krabs decide to go into the burger business themselves, and create their own burger, but no one wants to try it. When Stinky's is closed by the local health department, the two open "Plabs Burgers" on his former site, which the children are now forced to eat at, despite it being even worse than Stinky's.
 
Plankton says that they are now ruling the stomachs of the children, and soon will be ruling their brains. Mr. Krabs argues that it should be about satisfying the customers, rather than power. Soon, they get into an argument, and Mr. Krabs is ejected into a dump pile and tells Plankton that he will one day regret this.
 
Plankton comes in and disagrees with Mr. Krabs' story and tells SpongeBob his own version. His story is the same as Mr. Krabs', except that their roles during the fight at the end are reversed, with Mr. Krabs wanting to rule the money of the children.
 
Plankton and Mr. Krabs begin arguing about the story, until Karen arrives and tells the real story:
 
The restaurant initially has no customers, and Old Man Jenkins is the first to try one of their burgers. Upon taking a bite, he smiles, falls to the ground, and a newspaper appears saying he died. Mr. Krabs and Plankton become angry and accuse each other of tainting the patty. They begin fighting over the recipe, eventually tearing it in two, with Plankton getting the bottom half, which says "...and a pinch of chum." Their friendship over, Plankton storms out to pursue his own career in food. However, during the struggle, a shelf was knocked down, dumping various ingredients into the patty batter, creating the Krabby Patty recipe, which Krabs is left with. The two go their separate ways, each trying to open their own establishment. Mr. Krabs' "Krabby Patty" is great, while Plankton's Chum Burger is horrible.
 
After hearing the story, Plankton and Mr. Krabs begin to make up and apologize, until Plankton takes the formula from his pocket. SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs start chasing Karen and Plankton in circles as the episode ends.

 

Nuggets: As many of you have probably heard, I'm generally of the opinion that Friend or Foe is the last true "classic" episode of the show. That's not to say that we didn't get some great episodes after this one, or even after Season 5, but I feel that Friend or Foe is the last episode that can accurately be judged on a Pre-Movie scale. I had it in my list at number 10, and it's one of two Post-Movie episodes that made the top ten for me, which says a lot, even for a Post-Movie apologist such as myself. Even though Season 5 as a whole is generally "yeah let's not talk about it" level, it, in many ways, is the final vestige of classic SpongeBob. It's the last time we get to hear a lot of old APM tracks, it's the last Season before the animation became dead and mechanical for a little while, it's the last Season before the show basically rebooted itself into that constantly improving Season 6-9a incarnation. Season 5 has some of the last little touches that the first three seasons had before they all shriveled up and died, and while the writing may have been uneven, a lot of other stuff kind of endears it to me. Friend or Foe, however, is different in just what it means to me as an episode.  
 
Season 4 is an exercise in meshed style. Take a lot of clever plotting and witty writing, and merge it with a chaotic and kinetic visual style, and you have the best part of Pre-Movie and the best parts of Post-Movie married together for a good half of a season. There are certain episodes of the show that strike that key balance for me: Fear of A Krabby Patty, Lost Mattress, Wishing You Well, Krusty Towers, Ghoul Fools, and namely, this one, because Friend or Foe, above all else, is ambitious.
 
My biggest quarrel with modern Sponge is that it is simply flat as a show. It's a comedy with some cool characters, a great setting, that's it. Sometimes that's all you need (that description is literally "Friends") but SpongeBob used to also have emotional resonance, and that's pretty dead now. In early years, getting an emotionally charged story with a modicum of humor wasn't just okay, it was expected. Think Nature Pants (an episode I actually quite enjoy). A good latter day episode can succeed now if it's simply funny. Friend or Foe, however, has all the elements of a great SpongeBob episode, in both eras, and had potential to hint at a third, deeper era, if richard pursel hadn't joined the writing staff two episodes later the show had not gone another direction.
 
Just think about it. This is a whole special almost entirely devoid of SpongeBob, focusing on the lore of two characters: Krabs and Plankton, which has been the background element of many an episode. Not only is that plot solid as hell, it is also TOLD well, with the flashbacks giving Mr. Krabs' character some damn validation that makes so much sense it hurts, and it's funny, too. The angle with unreliable narrators in Krabs and Plankton is also a really smart decision on the writers' parts, and is different and threw me for a loop. 
 
More on what I said about that third era, though. Friend or Foe and some other episodes before it were pushing the boundaries of where SpongeBob could go. Where's Gary is a very somber episode about regret that throws SpongeBob's very optimism into question. Patrick SmartPants, regardless of how the episode itself turned out, raised some very real questions about what it means to be yourself and self-love, and many of these themes were addressed throughout the rest of the season- but mostly as undercurrents for the comedy, which is always the main focus. Friend or Foe still puts the deep stuff in the background, but every conclusion you can draw about Mr. Krabs and Plankton's relationship from that point on is depressing and kind of sad to think about, and that's why Friend or Foe made my top 10 - because it made me think after providing a great flashback story. Friend or Foe is an attempt to deepen a show. It is, in essence, up there with the backstory episodes that have become hallmarks of much of quality animated television, in the ranks of The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker and Holly Jolly Secrets. However, for as good as Friend or Foe was, it still makes me sad. Adventure Time took what it was given in HJS and ran with it (and still hasn't stopped). For a while, Fairly OddParents took that Denzel Crocker backstory, weaved it into Abra-Catastrophe, and until the show became a cheap parody of itself afterwards, made it resonate and stick in a deep way.
 
Friend or Foe represents a stylistic choice, an opportunity to deepen the show, that it never really took. Every animated kids show has the option to take the route to actually become something smarter, that everyone can enjoy, that pinnacle episode that can serve as a guiding light for what can become an entirely new show: AT took it with Nightosphere and HJS. FOP took it for a bit with Secret Origin, Abra-Catastrophe and Channel Chasers. Hell, you could argue that Danny Phantom took the route for half a season with Ultimate Enemy, that Avatar took it with The Storm. But, Friend or Foe is the opening of the route that SpongeBob never took, and to this day, still hasn't. And that is where most of my problems with the show in it's current incarnation lie. Because man, Friend or Foe was so good. Man.
 
Friend or Foe represents a truly classic height that SpongeBob would never really reach again on the same level. Last classic episode. Tim Hill is truly a God.<3

 

Wumbo: Friend or Foe has always been one of the highlights of the disappointing 5th season. It really does add depth to both rivals, ESPECIALLY Mr. Krabs, whose backstory is downright heartbreaking. There's also a lot of good humour in this episode. The Old Man Jenkins thing is just pure black comedy, and it's executed perfectly. The story is told in an interesting way. We've had a  flashback story before, but never from more than one perspective, and it really helps both characters to find their place in the story and keeps things moving.

 

"Wow, Wumbo! That sounds like a great episode! So it must have made your list, right?" Well... no. And while I can spend time mulling over other great episodes that didn't make my list and why, this one I can blame on one specific thing:

 

Patchy_the_pirate_1.jpg

 

...get lost, Patchy.

 

I've always considered myself a Patchy apologist of sorts. Never truly understanding the hatred, I thought that he always added humour to already-funny episodes. But this one? Good God, I did not need to see the Patchy/Potty friendship in conjunction with the Plankton/Krabs friendship. And it didn't have to be that way! If Patchy's subplot had been funny, or endearing, or anything, I would have been fine with it. But when you have to constantly interrupt such a great story to show us some doofus in a pirate costume flipping burgers and there's a gorilla and OH THE HIJINKS.... yeah, Patchy really ruined this one for me. I theorize that if he was absent from the special, it would have made my list. Not even kidding. So, I'm glad it made the list so I can talk about it, but it also didn't make my list for a stupid, stupid choice that could have been altered or avoided.

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