207b. House Worming

[Jjs Goodman]

(No promo image available at this time) 

Premieres: 

Saturday, February 25th @ 10:15am ET/PT

Encores:

Saturday, February 25th @ 4:15pm ET/PT

Sunday, February 26th @ 11:45am ET/PT

Plot:

When worms move in to SpongeBob's holes, he has to hide his disgusting new friends from everyone else.

Clips:

N/A

Richard Pursel will be making a one-time return to write this episode. Not really impressed by the plot so far, but maybe it'll be better than it lets on (hopefully).

Edited February 25, 2017 by Pat Monahan

[FAS]

When I saw the plot and who was gonna be writing I was worried. Knowing Richard Pursel's writing record, this wouldn't sound too good. But since this current era has been so kind to most people, he actually turn over in a new leaf, I suppose. Yes, it was actually better than Pets or Pests. Much better, in fact...I mean Gary still hate worms like he did in that episode. Instead of recycling that episode, the plot for this episode combine Pets or Pests, Earworm, and Jellyfish Jam. I think with the writers rehasing the plots, they're trying to make the episode feel different from the original source, and this I can approve. Of course, knowing Pursel's writing on the show, it's still not that perfect, but it is unusually good of an episode attached to his name since he;s one of the worst writers on the show. There is some gross moments but it wasn't as much as the certain season 6 episode I mentioned. There is some funny moments like Squidward in general (his reactions to SpongeBob giving him the worms and the worms invading his house and telling SpongeBob he needs a hug), Plankton's appearance, and the short. Speaking of which, it felt like the episode ran short, so they kinda pulled an Uncle Grandpa, so they did a short (Unlike UG, it's actually related to the plot, so you could say it was an epilogue). Overall, the episode was much better than I excepted. I thought it was gonna be bad, but Richard Pursel proved me wrong. 8/10

[WhoBibbles]

This wasn't as good as Mimic Madness but nevertheless, it was so much better than I thought it would be. The premise sounded way too much like Pets or Pests and this was written by Richard Pursel who wrote that crappy episode. Now I don't think this was one of his better works in this show. There are some gems of his in season 5 and there were a few episodes he wrote in season 6-8 I loved. That being said, this is his first solo episode and I thought it was well-done. The worms didn't look disgusting at all. They were ugly but in a tolerable way, so it was easy to watch them for sure. The comedy was still there. I loved reactions of characters made when they saw those worms. Plankton's cameo was definitely thhe highlight of the episode. It still involved his goal was the secret formula but it was used in a rather interesting way and it was so funny. It was funny how the worms managed to stop living in SpongeBob because of his annoying laugh. I like when the show makes fun of SpongeBob's laugh for sure. And that short at the end was so clever man. Not only it gave us the main worm's sad backstory, it was a Looney Tunes parody and it was so amusing. I usually prefer this show to not parody stuff but this parody was so well-done. Overall, this was such a nice episode from Pursel.

 

Grade: B+

[Young Nug]

As this forum's resident writers guy, the past two years of this show have been cool for me because I've finally been able to actually analyze writers down to a science rather than just kinda assuming a lot of facets about their styles based on some stuff we know about production. Through these last seasons, we've seen a fair share of writers show their true colors, ranging from the fantastic to the mediocre, but nothing truly bad. The show has risen to a quality where even the worst episode of the season's (Fish Bowl) biggest offense is being just boring, as opposed to the offenses of some of this show's worst outings. However, even back in the day where the writing was nowhere near these standards, I always had a soft spot for the writers for some reason. Casey and Zeus have always been overhated in my opinion, especially since Mr. Enter and that Pie Guy crap on them relentlessly. They've written a lot of garbage, but they still together penned Friend or Foe, which is in my personal top 10. Aaron Springer has also written a LOT of trash too, but he's the man responsible for Have You Seen This Snail (my personal favorite episode... ever), Dying For Pie, Krusty Krab Training Video, and even later greaters like Treats. However, as much as I've tried to conceal it, one writer I've always had trouble defending has been Richard Pursel. 

Over his 4 or so years on the show, I friggin tried, too. But for me, this man just never got it. Ren and Stimpy is a landmark show for animation, whatever - it's a gross show, it adheres to the style of a man who's cartoons aren't really for kids, and at times aren't really even for anybody, and regardless, it's a style that only belongs to John K. cartoons. Richard Pursel tried to bring those sensibilities (and a strange infatuation with Gary) to a show that had long abandoned most of it's Ren and Stimpy influence years ago, and it... Well. You tell me if it worked. Fungus Among Us. A Pal For Gary. Pet or Pests. Pet Sitter Pat. Growth Spout. Boating Buddies (kinda). All of his creative endeavors haven't been awful - Patty Gadget is a spirited adrenaline shot to the show, one of the only segments of that "3 episodes in one" phase in Season 5 that was ever truly great. Pest of the West is a wonderful conclusion to the once a season time episode trilogy. Home Sweet Rubble, Bucket Sweet Bucket, hell, Single Cell Anniversary is fantastic, and Mermaid Man Begins is probably one of the best episodes of Season 8. But it's just that his absolute worst episodes are so godAWFUL that it's hard to look at him outside of his failures. And at his worst, Pursel turns out some very poor work and turns all of the lovable characters on their heads into something far worse. SpongeBob toes the line between a funny optimist and a creepy, aggravating, stalker, Patrick becomes a smug plot device, Squidward gets tormented deeply, and Mr. Krabs is... Weird. A random focus on Gary and some absolutely disgusting elements roll up into what makes for very not good episodes. So when he departed at the end of Season 8, I wasn't too sad about it. And when I heard about his return for Season 10, already a season looking strange on the horizon, I wasn't thrilled.

What I am now, is surprised. I used to admire the storyboard director style, but after the success of Season 9B, I'm starting to think it may be antiquated. It pairs two directors with a plot from a writer that has a different view on the show than the directors. Mr. Lawrence's offbeat Rocko-esque style was always muddled by Casey and Zeus. Sometimes it worked in a strange way, like I Heart Dancing. But Lawrence's episodes were always bolstered by Luke and Marc. Dani Michaeli, for as strange as his plots were at times, seemed to do his best (and sometimes, his worst) when Aaron Springer helmed his episodes. And Derek Iversen... I dunno, Ghoul Fools was pretty good. Pursel's plots always had a Ren and Stimpy vibe, but he never had anyone to ever execute that. The closest he ever came was with Aaron Springer, but even when that worked (like with the hilarious (imo) Boating Buddies) it felt like a betrayal of the core values of the show. But with the script format, we get to see Pursel write an episode truly as himself, and now in tandem with a show that has reverted back to it's kinetic roots in Ren and Stimpy.

And it didn't suck.

It wasn't fantastic by any means, but the fact that it even turned out halfway decent is a testament to what this show is - or rather, has become. Pursel is a better writer than I have given him credit before. His plots are still focused on things that are kinda gross and strange (this is the 3rd plot about random foriegn invaders to SpongeBob's home or body and it's getting creepy, man), but now, the show is now less detailed, no longer has Robertryan to push the gross things to their grossest extent, and is in a place where the show is much more lively. A lot of jokes work here, the music that plays while the worms party inside SpongeBob is hilarious, and when SpongeBob opens his body up and sees, among other things, a worm doing the worm, it's genuinely funny. Plankton's cameo was great. And the random, totally Spumco segment at the end showing how Prickles got to where he was at the start of the episode was perfect context done in a creative and funny way. House Worming is no masterpiece, but it works, a million times better than I thought it would. Ya done good Pursel, ya done good. 

7.5/10.

i lowkey wouldn't even mind seeing Prickles again tbh

[NegiSpongie]

This episode was a lot better than I thought it would be. It's actually my favorite over Mimic Madness. The worms were a lot more tolerable than they were in Pest Or Pets and I didn't expect them to leave SpongeBob by getting annoyed with his laugh. I was a bit confused by the Prickles short at the end, but I guess it was interesting to see what happened that made him take up residence in SpongeBob in the first place.

I never thought I'd hear Squidward say, "SpongeBob, I need a hug!" it was hilarious.

Edited March 2, 2017 by NegiSpongie

[WhoBibbles]

On 28.02.2017 at 2:15 AM, Bada Bing Nuggets said:

Casey and Zeus have always been overhated in my opinion, especially since Mr. Enter and that Pie Guy crap on them relentlessly.

excuse me, WHAT? It's so not true man. Pieguy didn't crap on them at all. He did bash their episodes but not the writers themselves. His Truth or Square review with Mr. Enter was awful but still he didn't bash the writers.

Mr. Enter, however, I can't defend. Even though he did apologized, his apology was half ass to Casey and he didn't even apologize to Zeus at all. Just awful person.

[4EverGreen]

"I Need a Hug!" THAT; might be my most favorite quote of season 10 so far! Also, who would've thought that Richard Pursel had the ability to NOT suck when writing a "Spongebob Squarepants" episode?! Also, a pretty good epilogue ending at the end there, that was actually a PROLOGUE to the episode segment, and it ended up working very well! Maybe we'll get to see Prickles the Worm again. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Cha]

I guess worms finally buried sb by getting revenge

Not bad, got like two highlights in the ep and one of them being Plankton. The short at the end was a change of pace I guess.

[Jelly Lelly]

Highlight: The short

Lowlight: Spongebob going crazy due to the worms treating him like a house. It's a sponge, treat him less like an actual house.

5/10 Bad