Steel Sponge Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 (edited) Allow me to explain what this is for: This is will be a collection of countdown lists pertaining to the episodes and seasons for....well, SpongeBob SquarePants. Yeah, yeah, I've created and abandoned topics similar to this one, but this time, I'm going to make real darn sure I keep this thread active. I'm doing this for a select few reasons: -SpongeBob is close to approaching its goal of airing 400 individual segments. I may have miscounted, but I have determined that 397 individual segments have aired so far. -After a lifelong tradition of "I Was a Teenage Gary" being my all-time worst SpongeBob episode, the episode, in question, has no longer stuck with me as my absolute worst as another episode took its place. Feel free to guess what that is, but I'll give you some clues on what it's not: -A Pal for Gary (Yes, even the "default worst episode" of SpongeBob is not my new contender.) -Krusty Katering -SquidBob TentaclePants And the lists will be separated into the follow categories: Top 25 Worst SpongeBob Episodes Top 25 Best SpongeBob Episodes 10 Underrated SpongeBob Episodes 10 Overrated SpongeBob Episodes 10 Seasons Ranked (From worst to best.) TRIGGER WARNING: My worst list contains some pre-movie episodes. Anyways, I'll start writing these lists once I have given myself the free time and mood to write them. Edited June 23, 2017 by Steel Sponge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpongeOddFan Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 This is interesting. I'll keep reading this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4EverGreen Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 This sounds like it will be an interesting read! I'll be sure to check it out when it's ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Sponge Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) June 3, 2017. That was the day SpongeBob aired its 400th/401st segment....that is if my counting is accurate. For this occasion, not only have I made up my mind about my top/bottom 25, I have ranked every single last segment of SpongeBob - a total of 401. Also, keep in mind that I didn't include any episodes that aired after Unreal Estate / Code Yellow, since I wanted to keep it as a top 400 list. Whatever my #401 might be (my newest, absolute worst episode), it's very deserving of that ranking. The first pair of lists that I'm going to start with are the list of episodes that I find underrated and overrated, not counting the ones that appear in my top/bottom 25. Before I get to the controversial part, I'm going to start with: Steel's Top 10 Underrated SpongeBob Episodes Spoiler 10. Penny Foolish Now, these underrated episodes in particular are not usually the ones I know most viewers tend to hate. The majority of the episodes that appear on the list are what I consider rare, underrated gems. The episodes that I don't feel get as much recognition. Penny Foolish lands on a different spectrum, and it's indeed the one episode I like a lot, while people consider it one of Season 6's notoriously bad episodes. The biggest criticism that the episode gets is because of the main premise: Mr. Krabs trying to get a penny from SpongeBob. Critics would whine "It's just a penny!" That's because IT IS just a penny, but don't forget this: Mr. Krabs loves money, so he'll even fall for one measly penny. Let's flashback to Season 5 episode, Friend or Foe, when Mr. Krabs first becomes obsessed with money. He grew up poor and he found a penny lying around at the pier. Flashback to Season 3, Born Again Krabs, where Mr. Krabs almost tears off a customer's arm for a penny. And flashback to Season 2, Imitation Krabs, where Plankton lures Mr. Krabs away from the restaurant with what he exactly claims it is: an ordinary penny. Now flash forward to Penny Foolish where Mr. Krabs tries to do all that he can in order for SpongeBob to give him the penny he found lying around. It's the type of plot that couldn't work, but it managed to work pretty well. What made Penny Foolish stand out was the antics that Mr. K goes through just for a penny. It's ridiculous, yet amusing to watch because of Mr. K's personality. And yeah, the ending was pretty drab with SpongeBob revealed that he picked up a piece of dried up pre-chewed gum, before it's revealed to be a $500 bill, in which SpongeBob instantly discards. It feels justified since SpongeBob is a naive fellow, but that didn't really change my mind about the episode. Overall, it's an example of an episode that I feel most critics have underestimated. Spoiler 9. The Inmates of Summer And now, we're moving onto the real underrated gems. For those who enjoyed Mrs. Puff, You're Fired, I can assure that you might've enjoyed this episode as well, and I just so happened to have ranked The Inmates of Summer above the aforementioned episode. The prison warden was such a glorious tribute to R. Lee Ermey's character from Full Metal Jacket, and he was what made the episode. The concept of the episode in which SpongeBob and Patrick take a boat to prison camp was also fairly interesting. Their sheer utter fascination with Inferno Island got a little annoying after a while, but gladly, the episode got somewhere else with SpongeBob writing a play for the camp. In short, the episode was pleasant and entertaining to watch. Spoiler 8. Once Bitten One Bitten is a pretty unusual pick and I also have attained an unusual charm from its narrative. My main reason for my liking is that I feel Once Bitten plays like a lighthearted parody of the zombie apocalypse genre. The mass-hysteria that the characters embrace is pretty funny to watch, as well as the "zombie" scenes. Aside from all that, that feel also gives Once Bitten an interesting premise. In addition, it has an interesting plot with Gary's aggressive behavior, which caused the Mad Snail Disease paranoia. Spoiler 7. Karen 2.0 So, who remembers Komputer Overload? If none of you do, neither do I, but Karen 2.0 is basically that episode but with a pulse. Karen 2.0 is a very interesting episode that has most of its focus towards Karen. The highlight of this episode is how it establishes the relationship between Karen and Plankton, with the whole theme of how the two are irreplaceable. Giving her some vulnerability, likewise with Plankton, also benefited with making Karen an interesting character. The same can be said for Karen 2, and the fight between her and the original Karen really compensates for the character. Spoiler 6. House Fancy And here's yet another example of an episode that I feel some critics have underestimated these days, and you can thank the honest to goodness, overhyped, infamous...fingernail monologue. (yes I'm talking about the toenail scene) It was at least a very entertaining episode. We finally have the return of Squilliam, and after all the trouble Squidward goes through in trying to remodel his house, he gets what he wants in the end, even if the ending felt like a bit of a cop-out. I'd also like to give some credit to the scenery porn that was Squilliam's fancy house. Even if the toenail scene still exists, the Squid abuse isn't at least too harsh. Spoiler 5. Jellyfish Hunter Jellyfish Hunter is the type of classic SpongeBob episode that I feel doesn't get as much attention. It has its variety of memorable, funny gags, but it also has a subtle message against corporate labor...I mean, that's what I think they're going for. The episode develops Mr. Krabs' character into giving him a villainous role that's actually very surprising. I really like the idea of how Mr. Krabs would go so far in making a profit out of Krabby Patties with jellyfish jelly. And of course, it has a nice ending where Mr. Krabs gets what's coming for him, all the jellyfish come flocking back to Jellyfish Fields, and the uncatchable No Name, a.k.a. Friend, returns its friendship with SpongeBob. Spoiler 4. Chimps Ahoy Oh hey, it's that one episode where my signature Chemist SpongeBob look came from. I swear, I don't enjoy this episode out of personal bias, there's a lot of good elements in this episode. First of all, it has a genuinely charming storyline in which SpongeBob and Patrick try to impress Sandy's beneficiaries with an invention of their own, due to Sandy's burnout, so that Sandy won't have to leave Bikini Bottom and her friends behind. The chimpanzees themselves also serve some memorable moments, but especially Reginald. It also has a pretty good near-end twist with the nutcracker robot being capable of peeling bananas, and like it would, the episode has a joyful ending. Nothing much to say here, except that the episode doesn't get so much attention, making it an underrated, somewhat forgotten gem. Spoiler 3. Gramma's Secret Recipe Now, here is the sole excellent episode of Season 7, IMO. This segment is yet another formula stealing plot, and it involves Plankton posing as SpongeBob's grandma to get him to hand deliver the formula to him since no one would refuse a sweet old lady, and because of how kind SpongeBob is, he ends up spending time with him. It's a silly premise, but again, it works in due to the episode's humor. It's got some great gags, like SpongeBob showing Plankton his photo album, and the two brief scenes of Plankton knitting and drinking the tea SB made him. The episode was a nice way to express SpongeBob's character, but for the most part, It was very amusing to watch some of Plankton's antics in the episode. It was also amusing to watch some scenes with Plankton's grandma. In fact, the first scene was very pleasant for watching Plankton being so modest with his grandma. Spoiler 2. Selling Out After a few viewings of this episode, I've come into terms with appreciating this episode a little more than I should. After awhile, my thoughts have stagnated, but I still appreciated the episode, but after thinking on it more, I've come into terms, once again, that this is one of my favorite SpongeBob episodes. It has an interesting concept with Mr. Krabs selling the Krusty Krab and retiring for a huge chunk of money, but what made it more interesting was the narrative. While the whole "being retired is boring" bit fell a little too short, the episode still caught my attention when it came to the main focus of all the changes that were being made to what was once Mr. Krabs' business. It made SB and Squidward's newest manager, Carl, feel like such a legitimately creepy character by changing Squidward's attitude, changing the way Krabby Patties are made, and of course, "human resources." The episode also gives the audience the opportunity to root for Mr. Krabs, because as the main plot goes on, it shows how much Mr. Krabs cares for his restaurant and his employees. So yeah, it's a very underrated episode, and just when you think I'm done with Season 4, I have yet another one of those episodes as my number one... Spoiler 1. Whale of a Birthday Some people will tell me otherwise that the episode isn't really good, but I still stand by my opinion. Whale of a Birthday is still one of my favorite SpongeBob episodes and it has made pretty close to my top 25 at #28. So, what is it about the episode that makes me enjoy it? For certain, it has a lot of funny gags, like the scene with SpongeBob checking out Billy Fishkins, the one scene with Pearl and the seahorse, and of course, Squidward singing to Boys Who Cry. While Mr. Krabs' character isn't very likeable and rather predictable, even his cheap antics work fairly well. For example, I liked that banner gag alongside Squidward's 4-Ply song. At the very least, the ending's very good with SpongeBob giving Pearl all the things she wanted, and that she returns her thanks to her dad. Mr. Krabs also gets a bit of karma when SpongeBob spends too much on his credit card than Mr. K imagined. And that is it for my favorite, underrated SpongeBob episodes. Now I have to take care of my top 10 overrated episoes, and I'm definitely going to expect to see some arguments on this thread at that point. Edited June 23, 2017 by Steel Sponge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoBibbles Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 IMO the problem with Penny Foolish and not those episodes you mentioned is that thoese jokes in other episodes are used once. Pretty much the entire plot of Penny Foolish is Mr. Krabs wanting to get a freaking penny that he's willing to lose money to get that and that got old quickly. There are some so bad so good moments here and there but the entire episode was pretty annoying and boring. I honestly don't dislike Grandma's Secret Recipe but it was just bland in my eyes. Rest episodes you mentioned are pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Sponge Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 Now it's time for the next part of these lists, and it's going to be one of two that's going to get the most attention. Of course, I’m talking about the top ten “overrated” SpongeBob episodes. Now before there’s some sort of dispute about the term, I am very much aware of what defines “overrated.” By overrated, I mean there are some SpongeBob episodes that I don’t appreciate as highly as most people would. It’s not the same as saying that I hate these episodes. The episodes that appear on my list are just episodes that are overrated in my eyes. Steel’s Top 10 Overrated SpongeBob Episodes Spoiler 10. Rock Bottom It’s hard to appreciate a fairly enjoyable episode as much as I should, because it has its flaws in some bits of the humor. I can take the antics that SpongeBob goes through to try and take the bus back to Bikini Bottom, but yet there’s one pitfall I’ve had with this segment: the bus. After a few times you see the joke with the bus suddenly appearing and then instantly turning back when SpongeBob notices it, the joke already gets old and predictable. On top of that, if that bus only exists as a gag to get SpongeBob’s goat, then why exactly does the bus act as such? …Eh, you know, that’s something I can just give a shrug on. At the end of the day, the episode’s plot does move forward with the bit with SpongeBob and the guy who took his glove-shaped balloon, and it’s a decent episode about surviving in unknown territory and it has a distinct moral about getting help from unknown folks, but….you know, would’ve been better without the repetitive bus gag. Spoiler 9. Krabby Road Now for something unusual: a post-movie episode, but on top of that, it’s a post-movie episode that’s well respected, and my feelings on this one are just “meh.” The main issue I have with the episode that it feels a little too fixated on the whole formula stealing plot. It has a nice concept with Plankton trying to get on SB’s good side by forming a band with him, Patrick, and Squidward, but the episode has a few missed opportunities. I feel the episode is better off being a musical episode than a simple formula episode, and the whole bit with Plankton attempting to steal the formula, while the Patty Stealers were starting their gig, felt pretty rushed, considering that he gets caught in under a minute from when that scene takes place. Even before then the plot focused on Plankton trying to get SpongeBob to sing the secret formula, uncensored, and yet Plankton just goes with the original routine of taking the formula from the safe. That aside, it’s like I’ve said, the episode should’ve focused a little more on the rock band concept. Spoiler 8. Nature Pants I just can’t seem to get behind the overall premise of the episode. SpongeBob has a daydream about flying with the jellyfish, and that’s when he decides that he wants to be like the jellyfish and roam around naked in the wild, but in the process, he leaves his job and friends out of his life. It’s an alright episode, but it has a pretty typical “the grass is always greener on the other side” storyline, but I’ve seen it done better one season later with “Squidville.” I can give this episode some credit for the scene with Patrick trying to “make SpongeBob a trophy,” it’s amusing to see Patrick lose his sanity, and then there’s the heartwarming ending. Otherwise, the episode doesn’t leave me with anything more to compliment. Spoiler 7. Employee of the Month Sorry guys, I don’t think this episode has aged well into its time. My main issue with the episode is what pretty much leads up to the premise: SpongeBob reminds Squidward that Mr. Krabs is going to name another employee of the month, Squidward doesn’t want to keep guessing that SpongeBob will earn the title like he already did 26 months ago, so he tells him that he might win the title this time. SpongeBob gets suspicious and decides to sabotage Squidward by making sure he never shows up for work to get the award, before things eventually result into SB and Squidward sabotaging each other from getting the award. I just find it pretty off-putting to see SpongeBob acting all stubborn because he doesn’t want to lose the streak that he’s held for 2 years straight. The ending also only leaves me with the question of who even gets named employee of the month, but then again, it feels like the point that the episode is trying to make across is that the employee of the month award isn’t something to risk your life for. Likewise with Rock Bottom, what made up for the flaws that I’ve had with the episode are the antics that SB and Squidward commit to. It’s an okay episode, overall. Spoiler 6. Squeaky Boots Hey, does SpongeBob’s crying or laughing annoy you so much? I hope you still like the sound of the world’s greatest frycook squeaking his boots until you just want to cover your ears. I mean, I get it: the main point of the episode is that Mr. Krabs wants to get rid of the boots because of the annoying squeaking sounds, but he knows it makes SpongeBob so happy because he told him that the boots were made for the “world’s greatest frycook.” The squeaks are still annoying to sit through. It’s definitely not as bad as Slide Whistle Stooges, but it’s hard to get behind that, IMO. The trippy sequence and the references to “Tell-Tale Heart” was the definite highlight of the episode. Spoiler 5. Hooky Oh boy, 4th Season 1 episode in a row. Now, what is it about Hooky that doesn’t satisfy me all that much? The end pretty much reminds me of the end of Pranks A Lot, which I will actually discuss pretty soon, and it gives me the iffy feeling that I would have to root for Mr. Krabs, because it’s hard to watch the humiliation SpongeBob goes through. So yeah, as the plot goes, Mr. Krabs warns SpongeBob about the hooks and he promises that he won’t go near them. Then Patrick tells SpongeBob to come with him to the carnival, which turns out to be the fishing hole with all the hooks. Patrick then shows SpongeBob how the hooks aren’t so dangerous if you know when to get off, and the moment Mr. Krabs realizes that SpongeBob has played hooky (very subtle episode title, I’d say), and catches him and Patrick playing with the hooks before warning them a second time about the dangers of getting hooked. And during the climax, SpongeBob’s temptation to play with the hooks gets the best of him and he gets hooked. I’ll give the episode credit for showing how much Mr. Krabs cares for SpongeBob, but I’m also one-sided on his character for how he and Squidward basically humiliate him in front of Pearl and her friends just to teach him a lesson. Also, I’d like to know how Patrick ended up being dropped off by a bus while in a can of tuna. I could just give a shrug on that, but that’s beside the point. It’s an okay episode, but I felt it should’ve been better. Spoiler 4. SpongeGuard on Duty I know what you’re all thinking. There are a lot of episodes that have a similar storyline to this. Squilliam Returns, MuscleBob BuffPants, Grandpappy the Pirate, Professor Squidward, Shell of a Man, whatever else I’ve missed that has that “Liar Revealed” narrative, this episode is one of them. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I feel that the episode has handled this type of storyline very well. Suffice to say, the episode hasn’t aged very well for me. As you guys can tell, the “Liar Revealed” narrative is one of my least favorite clichés in general. To be fair, SGoD isn’t too bad since the worst kind of narrative would include some mope/dope moments. And before you guys convince me that SpongeBob didn’t technically fib that he is a legitimate lifeguard, I know he actually holds the truth than lie about it. Why I find the episode’s storyline problematic is because of what made Larry see SpongeBob as a lifeguard: he had white stuff on his nose from vanilla ice cream, which came from the flying ice cream truck. Yep, he didn’t have to ask SpongeBob about his experience as lifeguard, if you got sunscreen on your nose, you’re apparently a lifeguard. As the episode continues on, it’s revealed that SpongeBob can’t swim and he goes paranoid enough about the safety of the beachgoers that he condemns Goo Lagoon. I mean, I understand that SpongeBob is the type of character who gets easily worked up, but when you have the one moment where SpongeBob tries to reassure the beachgoers that he knows what he’s doing with his job, you know when the Liar Revealed cliché is going to kick in soon enough with SB’s attempts to save Patrick from drowning. The one scene with Patrick inadvertently breaking the boat SB borrowed to try and save Patrick, I could only help but keep a straight face, even if it was justified. Other than the fact that the storyline hasn’t impressed me much as it used to, the episode at least had some good jokes, with the whole shark/sea monster gag, and the one scene with Patrick’s flat stomach. (“Put that thing away! There are, like, children here!”) Spoiler 3. Pranks A Lot Don’t worry folks, I’ve softened up on this episode, yet I still have some problems with it. I’m confused as to whether or not I should root for SpongeBob and Patrick in a situation where they prank the entire town….and whether or not I should root for Mr. Krabs and that I should still feel the same at the end where he pranks SB and Patrick by exposing them naked in front of the restaurant for most of the town to see. I liked SB and Patrick’s antics and I also enjoyed the scene with Mr. Krabs facing the ghosts. Now, I can understand that the end with the prank would seem like it was planned by the town than Mr. Krabs alone, but the end was pretty off-putting for me, especially since it was the very last episode of Season 3. I’ve had a similar relationship with Hooky, so granted it’s been difficult for this episode to grow on me more. Spoiler 2. As Seen on TV *prepares to dodge incoming bullets from people dissatisfied with me finding this episode overrated.* Well, at least I can say that I don’t hate this episode. Yeah, my thoughts on this segment have also softened for a while now, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll ever have to consider this as one of my favorite episodes, because I still have some problems with the episode. First all, let me just say that the start of the episode is great, but for the rest of the way, when SpongeBob lets his fame go over his head, that’s where I felt things went downhill. The way SpongeBob continuously glosses over how people saw him in the commercial and thinks people want to see his “glorious” acting skills, it’s become so gimmicky to me that it annoyed me. Even the customers that appear in the middle even annoyed me for how they constantly try to remind SpongeBob that they want their food, but I also can’t help but share their frustration when it comes to these couple lines: “Finally!” “That’s what we’ve been waiting for!” So yeah, I like how it started, but I wasn’t impressed with the rest of the storyline. The striped sweater song was a highlight from the middle part. Right now, I hope you’re all fine with what I have to say about an episode that’s considered a classic, but not for me. To say the least, I find it to be a better episode than its partner: Can You Spare a D- *gets mauled by sea bear* Spoiler 1. Squidtastic Voyage Well, apparently saying something negative about a highly praised episode of SpongeBob can trigger a sea bear attack. Let’s worry about that episode later and focus on my #1, which is a Season 4 episode. This is pretty tame for my #1 choice, but Squidtastic Voyage also happens to be one of the more highly appreciated Season 4 episodes. I can at least say that I like the concept with the narrative of going inside of someone’s body, which they haven’t done before. However, there’s just one thing that gets me off and prevents me from liking the episode any more: Patrick. I’m not going to lie, I thought Patrick was an unfunny jerk in the episode, and some situations that happen in the episode stem from his stupidity, and it was to the point where was annoying me. Who shrunk the submarine (along with SpongeBob and his own self) without Sandy’s watch? Patrick. Who resized the submarine at the end of the episode, while still inside Squidward? Patrick. Who almost caused the control panel to malfunction? Patrick. The episode even gives us a moment where Patrick says something smart, and I still can’t help but feel like Patrick is acting like such a sass man. It’s seriously why most of his jokes just don’t work for me. Then, of course, there’s the ending, and not even a cheap joke about the toilet being backed up can save it for me. That should be all that I have to say about this episode, and in addition, this it for my first pair of lists. Next time, I talk about top 25 episodes that I absolutely hate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatBack Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Good to hear that someone else likes Whale of a Birthday and dislikes Squidtastic Voyage (although claiming it's overrated is a tad much, it isn't despised but I don't imagine anyone holding this episode on par with, say, Fear of a Krabby Patty or Krusty Towers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Sponge Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Just a solid reminder to everyone that this isn't dead. I haven't updated this practically because I have other projects in the way, but it's also because I've had to reshuffle my top 400, including my bottom 25 and part of my top 25. Hopefully, I will return to this in a month. That's when I'll get my bottom 25 episode list out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Sponge Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Steel’s Bottom 25 SpongeBob Episodes (#25-#11) I’ve been promising you guys this for a long time. These are not the worst of the worst, but these are 25 episodes of SpongeBob that I couldn’t stand. It should already be too obvious to point out, but this is my opinion alone. My list is a mix of episodes that are mostly well-despised, with some that are well-loved, and a good chunk that I feel is under the radar. After letting down that dispute from the thread for SBC’s Top 50 episodes easy, I’ll generously add that my list is open for criticism. I did a top 20 countdown list before in 2012, but please take it for granted because my opinions have changed a lot since and back then I was trying to be like the Nostalgia Critic, just like anyone else at that time. This list will be condensed to two separate parts so I can save myself some time to make a well-thought, organized rant on my new #1. Anyways, let’s start with the first candidate, scraping at the very bottom of the list… Spoiler 25. Blackened Sponge This wasn’t on my old list, but it could’ve been if I stretched it to 25 choices. However, even after having re-evaluated my list and stretching the list to a bottom 25, this couldn’t escape. So, what is it about the episode that I couldn’t stand, and why haven’t my thoughts softened on it? For starters, there is the very detailed black eye that SpongeBob bears for most of the episode’s duration. Looking at it was an absolute eyesore and for most of the episode, I couldn’t help but focus so much on it. As for the episode’s plot…it’s a tedious plot that results into a Liar Revealed type of plot…but with a twist in which Jack M. Crazyfish turns out to be real near the end. The more that SpongeBob spends the episode inflating his ego, fabricating a story about how he got a black eye which involves walloping Jack M. Crazyfish (and involves something as mundane as actually getting it swollen from a wrench), the more annoyed I felt towards the episode. I also have mixed feelings about how the episode ends with SpongeBob now having two black eyes and losing a rock-paper-scissors match against Crazyfish. SpongeBob does deserve some karma for making up a story about him and, but the episode ends on an abrupt note and in a way that you would somewhat expect from a Liar Revealed plot. From what I believe, “The Blackened Sponge” is considered to be one of the better S5 episodes and if you actually like this episode, that’s fine, but this just doesn’t really work for me. However, having this episode on my list is not as controversial as…. Spoiler 24. Can You Spare a Dime? This episode...is going to hurt a lot of folks just seeing it on my list. I understand why people love this episode so much, I really do. Sad for me to say, I couldn’t stand this episode since I first saw it. My thoughts have softened a bit towards the episode, and while I’ve tried a few times, I still can’t change my mind about tanking “Can You Spare My Dime?” from my bottom 25. I could say that the mean-spirited tone gets me off about the episode, but some will argue that it’s supposed to be mean-spirited. So, what do I have to say about the episode, then? Well, I can say that there’s something about the episode that brings me down from a personal standpoint, but I also thought there were some story elements that made my skin crawl. First of all, I just want to say that SpongeBob’s breaking point is very well justified in the episode. I could do without SpongeBob choking Mr. Krabs for one moment while trying to convince him to hire Squidward back, but I can’t deny that the show deserved a moment where SpongeBob comes to the point where he has to stop being nice and naïve. Even if I can come into terms with that character-defining moment, why is it that I still can’t stand this episode? First off, there’s the plot element that coordinate the events that eventually take place: Mr. Krabs’ first dime. It’s understandable how Mr. Krabs would refuse to rehire Squidward because he thinks he stole his first dime, and it’s a ridiculous plot element as the episode intends for it to be, but it was never foreshadowed that Mr. Krabs first dime looked larger, heavier, and was in his pants the whole time. And after the conflict gets resolved, the episode ends with Mr. Krabs accusing Squidward for putting the dime in his pants. Call it justified if you will, but to me, that only goes to show how unlikable Mr. Krabs was for most of the episode. Even if the mean-spirited tone of the episode is meant to be seen as warranted, the atmosphere of the episode still brings me down. Because of it, I can’t seem to find most of the jokes to be all that funny. While the football playing king in space line and narrator gag got a kick out of me, I find it hard to get a laugh out of SpongeBob’s increasingly condescending tone of voice with Squidward during the scene where he snaps. Nor did I get a laugh out of any particular line from Mr. Krabs like “What have the children ever done for me?” and “Well, the way I see it, there are three possibilities…,” in other words, the atmosphere of the episode overshadows the humor for me. It gets its message straight that it’s a pretty cruel world to live in without a job and you can’t just expect anyone to serve happiness to you on a silver platter, but when it delivers a depressing moment where SpongeBob finds Squidward begging for money, having lost everything, and being forced to eat his paintings, before then developing into a heartwarming moment where SpongeBob lets Squidward stay at his home, before then developing into the part of the storyline where Squidward takes advantage of SpongeBob’s kindness, I don’t know what to feel about the episode at that point, except the impression that I get from the episode’s atmosphere. Sometimes, watching this episode, I feel like I’m visualizing myself having a family dinner with a friend whose parents won’t stop fighting verbally while the arguing also involves their child. It’s an unusual way to explain my thoughts towards the episode like that, but if I were to put it in a simpler way, “Can You Spare a Dime?” is a bitter episode that only leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Spoiler 23. Smoothe Jazz in Bikini Bottom For those who are disappointed to see that I didn’t rank this episode on my bottom 25 this year or that “Ink Lemonade” missed the cutoff for my lists, then you’ll be happy enough to see this episode being bumped into my slightly improved bottom 25. I still haven’t found myself the time to rewatch this episode, but even if I just look back on it through the SpongeBob Wiki to evaluate my thoughts on the episode in retrospect, I don’t see any reason to defend it. From the distracting typo on ‘Smoothe,’ to the unwarranted torture Squidward goes through, and through Patrick just randomly showing up during some moments just to stir trouble goes to show how much of an unfunny disaster that this episode ended up being. Spoiler 22. Gullible Pants Usually, if I were to hate a SpongeBob episode, it would really have to make my skin crawl in some way. The episode frustrates me for how excruciatingly dull and uninspired it is. A lot of the episode just felt like it was phoned in if not more-so than “Choir Boys” (Which appears on my list just after GP.), ranging from the plot and the humor. “The Play’s the Thing” wasn’t one of the most memorable episodes of SB, but its moments weren’t at least as awkward in comedic timing as the moments for this episode. What am I supposed to get from SpongeBob dancing like a goofball? What am I supposed to get from SpongeBob serving food with his feet? The humor in this episode feels so nonexistent that it makes the episode frustrating to sit through. Spoiler 21. Choir Boys This episode, on the other hand, feels like someone had a good idea for an episode but didn’t know how the plot should be written, so the writer just had to phone a lot of things in. There were a good chunk of moments from this episode that felt like they were written in just to fill in the time, namely the coughing and long note gags. What makes matters worse is that Squidward goes through whatever troubles because SpongeBob spends almost the whole episode trying to get through to Squidward so that he could have someone to play with. I’ve seen some calling it ‘evil’ in SpongeBob’s part, but it was just misguided in its attempt to make the Squid torture scenes funny, just like a lot of other post-movie episodes of that type. Spoiler 20. Pat No Pay Season 5 was filled to the brim with pointless and unfunny 3-7 minute short segments, (with “The Donut of Shame” being a hidden gem), but of all episodes of that type, this one really takes the cake for being the biggest waste of time for me. I’ll admit that I ranked this a little too high. It’s too short to hate, but it still has its fair amount of problems. Patrick’s stupidity was painfully unfunny throughout the episode and for the most part, the plot for the episode just feels incredibly dumb. Patrick needs food, Mr. Krabs gives him food, but uh-oh, Patrick doesn’t actually have any money, so Mr. Krabs puts him into a couple of jobs that he screws up before giving him the job to put trash bags in chutes, but afterwards, Mr. Krabs requests SpongeBob to put a bag of money in his safe, which then brings me to one part of the episode that really annoyed me… Mr. Krabs’ safe was right behind him, but then again, it’s easy to assume that he had to make room for another safe that’s close to the room with the garbage chute, but still thinking on the scene where Mr. Krabs, in his office with SpongeBob, tells SB to put a bag of money in his safe, which can be clearly seen in the exact room he’s in, you’d think a simple spot check could make for a preventable shortcoming like the end of the episode, and spoiler alert, it sucked. Mr. Krabs’ money gets shredded and Patrick delivers the final line of the 3-minute short, asking if he could have more food, which is probably unlikely since Krabs told him that he’ll never have another Krabby Patty if he screws up the third job. It’s a lose-lose episode, and a poorly written one at that. Spoiler 19. What Ever Happened to SpongeBob? I’ve had a feeling talking about this episode beyond Jjs’ own commentary was going to be difficult, because he was very much on-point about the episode’s problems. This special took a while to sour on me before I came to the realization that I never really liked this special. Then I realized that I do have some more interesting things to say about it. The best way to start with my analysis is with the episode’s conflicts. SpongeBob decides to run away from Bikini Bottom after his friends get angry with him and call him “Idiot Boy.” SpongeBob then falls off a cliff and gets hit in the head with his bindle, making him lose his memory. I can see the characters getting mad at SpongeBob understandably so, but then you have Squidward’s character, who spends most of the episode acting completely unsympathetic about him leaving Bikini Bottom. Sure, he has a variety of reasons to play an antagonistic role in the special, like how Mrs. Puff would technically have her reasons for wanting SpongeBob dead in “Demolition Doofus,” but likewise in that particular episode, that character trait of Squidward’s in the special feels painfully exaggerated. I’m not even done talking about the characterizations for the episode. I appreciate that Patrick, Sandy, and Mr. Krabs feel guilty about the way that they snapped at SpongeBob, but there is one issue that persists throughout the special: they never actually directly apologized to SpongeBob and SB somehow easily forgives them after he gets his memory back. By the time SpongeBob gets hit in the head with the jewel encrusted egg, you’d expect him to recognize his friends and recall that the last time when he saw them, they scolded him, but that’s left in the dust. It’s also easy to assume that Mr. Krabs was only motivated to get SpongeBob back because oh no, without SpongeBob as frycook, that means no customers! While I’m still on the topic of SpongeBob, amnesiac SpongeBob in particular, half of the time, he seems to know about a lot of things despite that he feels that he can’t remember a thing. He still knows how to blow bubbles and he someone manages to get hired as a builder for a brief moment. However, the characterization doesn’t compare to the pacing, because the pacing in this special is worse. SpongeBob gets amnesia, and then ends up in the rural New Kelp City. He tries to apply for a job to no avail, but then he gets a job as a builder, but then he gets fired momentarily after using bubbles. SpongeBob then continues walking around the city, then the Bubble Poppin’ Boys appear to try and put SpongeBob in his place, then SpongeBob runs the gang out of town and the very moment after, the mayor to make SpongeBob the new mayor of NKC. Later, SpongeBob is found by his friends, they try to convince him to come back before carrying him away from the city. Then SB’s friends try to convince him to work back at the grill to no avail, but then Squidward trips with his jewel encrusted egg in his tentacles, hitting SpongeBob in the head. However, SpongeBob is still convinced that he needs to stay as mayor in NKC, but then a news report suddenly pops up that the city is doomed in due to the disappearance of Mayor CheeseHead and apparently, bubbles are now seen as dangerous again, prompting for SpongeBob to stay in Bikini Bottom. If it’s not plain enough to see, there are some scenes from the special that I thought were condensed. In other words, this special feels like it could’ve been made to be longer and it would’ve been better if it was longer. When you have a concept for a special where SpongeBob decides to leave Bikini Bottom because he feels that his friends don’t like him anymore, it could’ve worked so well. When I first heard about this, I was pretty hyped and I believe I was first convinced not to expect too much from 22-minute SpongeBob episodes (or longer) when my first impression on this episode was just “meh.” In addition, it’s crazy for me to say this, but I have to give Atlantis Squarepantis some credit for having some interesting world-building on Atlantis. Besides how the city is afraid or hostile towards bubbles, there’s not much else about New Kelp City to know about except that it’s a generalized, undersea version of New York City. While the presence of the Bubble Poppin’ Boys felt wasted, the episode had something to be redeemed for in Ray Liotta’s guest appearance. To sum up my thoughts on the episode in short, “What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?” botches its concept and world-building in due to its pacing and structural problems. Spoiler 18. Yours, Mine, and Mine I have not seen this episode in quite a while, but I remembered very well that it would be infuriating to sit through upon rewatch. Remember the part of the plot from “Waiting” where SpongeBob and Patrick cry over a “broken” toy before Squidward resolves the issue? The episode follows a similar plot, but extended to a larger amount of time. The best way for me to describe the episode is simply like this: petty – extremely petty. Most of the episode’s plot is just spent on SpongeBob and Patrick fighting over a Kiddy Meal toy while trying to teach us a good moral about sharing…which gets botched by the episode’s ending quote from Patrick after he takes the money from SpongeBob’s wallet to pay for a second toy: “Have you learned nothing about sharing?” Spoiler 17. Home Sweet Rubble I was thinking about doing a fake-out by putting “Home Sweet Pineapple” on my list again, but I already gave you guys a look at what my bottom 25 looked like, so there’s no use in hiding the fact that I couldn’t stand this episode that sits under the radar. I’m still not so much of a fan of the original episode, but “Home Sweet Rubble” is an inferior retooling of the former’s story elements. It’s not exactly the same episode, but watching “Home Sweet Rubble” is how it feels to eat off-brand cereal. It’s bland, it feels way too familiar, and it barely does anything to mask itself as something different. I’ve seen people comparing two episodes together for having similar plot elements (i.e. “Pet Sitter Pat” and “A Pal for Gary,” and “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Sandy” and “Imitation Krabs”), but even if I try, I can’t distinguish “Home Sweet Rubble” from “Home Sweet Pineapple.” HSP involved nematodes sucking away SpongeBob’s pineapple home while HSR involved SpongeBob’s house rotting, however both involve SB’s house being destroyed. In HSP, after SB’s house was gone, he and Patrick attempt to rebuild it to unfortunate results. In HSR, SpongeBob has his friends trying to repair his wilting pineapple home…which, of course, ends to doomed results. Both episodes also involved a MacGuffin. HSP had a “pebble” while HSR had the “snail food” can. What cements my distaste towards “Home Sweet Rubble” is how it ends: SpongeBob is left with no other choice than to feed Gary, but really, his pet snail was trying to get him to open the newly furnished pineapple inside the can, making the conflict of the episode so easily resolved. “Home Sweet Pineapple” at least had a well-written and heartfelt resolution with the pebble turning out to be a seed that regrows SpongeBob’s pineapple, taking place in the moment where SpongeBob had to say goodbye to Patrick and Squidward. That resolution in HSR was just there, and the underlying fact that SpongeBob could just open a new pineapple home from a can, if he ever loses his home, feels like a kick in the shin to those who thought the scene from HSP very well represented SpongeBob’s love for his pineapple home. Spoiler 16. Slide Whistle Stooges This episode is literally 11 minutes of slide whistle noises in-between the writing that doesn’t really do much to save it. The slide whistle sounds are irritating to listen to, the writing is subpar, (“Baby assaulter!” “Assault your own baby!”) and the plot in general is flat out tedious. I’ve already said my piece on this episode during the Bottom 50 countdown, so I’m cutting my commentary for it short, but still, “Slide Whistle Stooges” is such a pointless and charmless episode all the way through. Spoiler 15. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV Yep, my most hated episode from the MM&BB catalogue of episodes is not “Shuffleboarding” (but it’s still a close second), but it’s this episode from Season 3. So yeah, when I said that “Shuffleboarding” was the weakest MM&BB episode bar none, I was actually hiding the truth that I still hated this particular episode more. Despite being the “Wumbo” episode, there’s more that meets the eye…and honestly, I don’t think it’s all so pleasant (sorry Wumbo, and just about everyone else on here that liked this episode). This episode revolves around Mermaid Man accidentally leaving his belt behind at the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob’s curiosity and his devotion to Mermaid Man get the best of him as he wears it. The belt has the power to shrink people and objects and later on, it’s eventually revealed that it can only shrink. Because SpongeBob doesn’t want anyone to tell Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy that he used the belt without the permission of the two elderly superheroes, as it would completely destroy his reputation as a fan club member, SpongeBob ends up shrinking almost all citizens of Bikini Bottom and putting them in a jar…including the two superheroes that Squidward begged for him to go seek for help. Because Mermaid Man doesn’t know if there is a solution to the ‘small’ problem, the citizens start attacking SpongeBob before he resorts to shrinking all of Bikini Bottom to settle the size proportion issues. I know what you’re all thinking right now, but no, I don’t hate this because “OH, IT’S A LIAR REVEALED PLOT, AND YOU JUST DON’T LIKE THEM, SOOO…” However, looking back on this episode, it pretty much has shades of that particular plot type. Even if it’s safe for me to call it as such, I wouldn’t consider this as one of the worst examples of the ‘Liar Revealed plot.’ The problems I have from this episode stem from my own thoughts on certain aspects. It would really pain for me to say this, but…I don’t find this episode to be all that funny. The beginning with Barnacle Boy disputing with Squidward over a senior citizen superhero’s discount gets a kick out of me looking back on it, even if it was somewhat uncalled for. I also liked the joke with SpongeBob breaking through the wall from the kitchen when he hears that MM&BB are in the Krusty Krab. Then there’s some of the rest of the jokes: SpongeBob trying to fix the belt, only to end up mutilating Squidward? Not funny, and also painful to watch. Squidward saying “I wonder if a fall from this height could be enough to kill me.?” Not funny. The Bikini Bottomites beating SpongeBob to a pulp for the mess he created (including MM&BB, after Mermaid Man forgives SpongeBob after admitting his mistake)? Not funny. Even if I don’t want to admit it, I grew out of the “Wumbo” joke, but don’t think I’m saying that it’s the worst joke from the episode. On some days, I can lighten up to the episode for that “Wumbo” joke. While the humor barely does me any favors, neither does the storyline. The plot forms a problem that stays unresolved at the end of the episode, resulting into it ending in an abrupt note. Or how about that one plot thread whereas SpongeBob doesn’t want the superheroes to find out that he used MM’s belt without returning it or asking for consent by shrinking almost everyone in Bikini Bottom...while also even shrinking the two superheroes? When and how they ended up getting shrunk and inside SB’s jar was never really explained. Or how about the fact that one other plot element for SpongeBob is that he gets so worked up about the thought of Mermaid Man finding out about him using the belt? He’s easily forgiven near the end…that is until all the shrunken citizens in Bikini Bottom create another conflict by attacking SpongeBob when Mermaid Man doesn’t a know of a solution to the problem that SB made? It’s good that the episode didn’t take an easy route, but that scene didn’t make any matters help. I’m pretty sure most of you guys are upset now that I admit it that I hate this episode personally more than “Shuffleboarding,” but if I were to speak from a universal standpoint, I wouldn’t say that this episode is worse than “Shuffleboarding.” In other words, this is a pre-movie episode with some underlying problems and it’s just not my cup of tea. Spoiler 14. Sleepy Time Two pre-movie episodes in a row, that’s quite the charm, huh? Once again, this is an episode that I’ve disliked during my youth, and it still stuck with me as one of my least favorite episodes of SpongeBob. You’ve got a cool enough concept for an episode with SpongeBob being stuck in his dream-like state and now having the ability to enter anyone else’s dreams. The episode has some legitimate thrills and humorous moments, but the usual buzzkill tone of the episode makes me lose enjoyment of it as it continues on until the episode just ends with all of SpongeBob’s friends scolding him for ruining their dreams, even while he didn’t actually ruin all of them, in the case for Patrick, Gary, and Pearl’s dreams. And I’m sorry, but I can’t say that I can consider the end to be good because of how the episode ends with SpongeBob’s friends telling him off for something that just feels so…mundane. While I’m going to be on the topic of the plot element of SpongeBob ruining peoples’ dreams, it gets tiring pretty fast (well, except for the case of Plankton’s dream, which was a nightmare in SpongeBob’s eyes). I’ll even admit that there was one particular joke that I didn’t enjoy, whereas SpongeBob pretended to be Squidward’s clarinet in the latter’s dream. It’s an episode with a good concept but it’s still predictable in the sense where some bits can be quite frustrating, and of course, there’s still that ending that I wish didn’t end on a gruff note. Spoiler 13. Driven to Tears “Driven to Tears,” like its partner episode “Rule of Dumb,” is the type of episode where a character’s jerkish behavior is for the story and for laughs. “Driven to Tears” doesn’t get as bad of a reputation as “Rule of Dumb,” and yet I think it’s the worst segment between the two. The episode centers on SpongeBob failing his driving test once again. Patrick decides to take it himself and manages to get his license AND a free boatmobile for being the one millionth individual to pass the test, ultimately putting SB and Patrick’s friendship to the test as tensions begin to rise. Even if it’s intended for the purpose of the story, the episode has the gimmick where Patrick constantly shoves his boatmobile and his license in his face while SpongeBob becomes more and more condescending towards it. It’s understandable and it even has that one moment where Patrick literally shoves his license in SpongeBob’s face, but the plot still feels so tedious to me. Neither SB, nor Patrick was likeable over the course of the episode. What really annoys me about the episode is, after we learn that Patrick got a perfect score in Mrs. Puff’s driving test, later on we learn that he apparently doesn’t know some of the basics like stopping at a red light and knowing what the gas gauge means. Sure, the episode gives us an endearing moment between SpongeBob and Patrick after SB spends 90 days in jail for pleading guilty for accusations against Patrick for littering his torn up driver’s license, but the conflict lasts for quite a while to the point where I felt like it was resolved a little too easily. Like how I’ve justified disliking MM&BB IV, the jokes for this episode do not work for me at all. From Patrick’s gloating, to the joke with Patrick checking to see if the horn works, to the couple jokes on Patrick being orphaned, they just don’t get a kick out me. In addition, I feel the conflict overrides the episode’s humor. I can try and appreciate episodes where SpongeBob and Patrick’s friendship are put to the test, but this just another episode of that type that I can’t really tolerate, due to its tedious storyline and characterization. Spoiler 12. SpongeBob, You’re Fired! Oh man….this episode. My first impressions on this special was that I thought it was a good enough episode that shows that SpongeBob can do something more than just turn any object into a Krabby Patty, shows four restaurants that somewhat have competition with the Krusty Krab, and shows a side of Mr. Krabs and Squidward when they realize that they can’t give up on SpongeBob or replace him. When I noticed and understood the heavy, negative reception that the special received, my thoughts on “SpongeBob, You’re Fired!” have since soured significantly. I’ll admit that I oversaw this plot element upon my first impression, but Mr. Krabs firing SpongeBob so that he can save a nickel was an AWFUL way to bring about the episode’s main conflict with SpongeBob being fired and overall, a cheap move. We then get a long sequence, a sequence in particular that we all only remember for being so dull, with Patrick showing SpongeBob the life of being unemployed. SpongeBob, on the other hand, just NEVER takes off that lifeless, distressed frown on his face until his spirits are lifted back up and he tries to find a new job in four different restaurants, all conveniently next to each other. This is where another one of the episode’s problems take place: the plot element with SpongeBob turning the food into Krabby Patties, before getting fired and saying that he’s sorry he let Mr. Krabs down- yeah, this happens all four times in a row, it got predictable and tiring fast. Even while the episode tries to redeem itself by having SpongeBob being able to make high-quality snail food by hand, that plot element gets immediately tossed out when the four restaurant managers that fired SpongeBob before rehire him, telling him that their customers liked his food mix-ups, before the scene results into the four guys fighting over SpongeBob until the Killer Krabby Patty (Squidward in disguise) suddenly springs into action to save him and escort him back to the Krusty Krab so that Mr. Krabs can tell SpongeBob that he wants to rehire him because the Krusty Krab is a wreck without him, dohoho. Oh, and did I mention that another one of the special’s issues is its pacing? I’ve criticized the pacing for “Whatever Happened to SpongeBob?” before, but reading this paragraph alone can tell you that I thought the pacing for this episode was worse. All in all, “SpongeBob, You’re Fired!” is the type of episode that feels as if it’s just the former post-movie writers finishing what they’ve started since somewhere in Season 5 where they picked up their signature mean-spirited storylines, exaggerated character traits, and poorly timed/conceived jokes. “SpongeBob, You’re Fired!” is absolutely no exception to those three traits and I couldn’t believe that I didn’t see them right through upon my first viewing. To sum up my thoughts on the special, it’s a hollow shell of an episode that’s unnecessarily stretched into 22 minutes. Spoiler 11. Waiting This episode is so bad, that it pretty much cemented the quality of most 3-7 minute short episodes from Season 5. It’s an understatement to say that “Waiting” is the most infamous case. The episode starts fine enough with SpongeBob sending 100 box tops in the mail so that he can receive a special prize for it. Then there’s the central part of the episode where SpongeBob decides to kill the time by just…waiting beside his mailbox because…he doesn’t want to miss the mailman. Petty, but the plot only gets worse from there when SpongeBob starts to act like a jerk when he thinks Sandy, Gary, and even his best friend Patrick are wasting his time. Sandy asks if SpongeBob wants to do some karate with her, he responds by flipping her over. Gary wants SpongeBob to feed him, he of course responds by lashing out at him for wasting his time. Some time later, Patrick comes back to see SpongeBob again, who promptly yells at him. Just when you think SpongeBob could deserve some comeuppance, Patrick tells him that he missed his birthday party (which took place not long after the past two events took place. The episode never tells us how long SpongeBob was waiting by the mailbox, exactly, considering that it had no time cards). Patrick got SpongeBob a slice of cake and a present, but he ends up eating it while trying to find a fork for him…and of course, the present turned out to be a fork. …Great job for trying to make Patrick’s stupidity back there, now excuse while I let out that suppressed anger. Anyways, after SpongeBob breaks down into tears because he realized that he wasted his own time waiting for the mailman, the mailman eventually does arrive to give SB the toy that he ordered. Spoiler alert: what follows afterwards isn’t better. After Patrick plays with it for one moment, SpongeBob thinks that it broke and lashes out at Patrick once again before he and Pat both break into tears until Squidward fixes the issue for them (and stops the episode from getting any worse). The fact that the mailman showed up after SpongeBob yells at Sandy, Gary, and Patrick, and SB’s apparent birthday party, you can only come to the conclusion that the episode’s “conflict” could’ve been easily prevented if SpongeBob knew the outcome. Anyways, for an episode that spans up to 7 minutes, this is a really bad and pointless episode that’s filled to the brim with unfunny jokes, petty conflicts, and irritating noises, all to result into a bad storyline overall. However, it is too short to put it on such a pedestal, which is why it’s only below my bottom 10. That wraps up my first 15 choices for my bottom 25. Because I have a lot to say for some of my biggest choices, I have to separate the countdown into two parts. The last half of it will come sooner than later, so don’t worry, it won’t be out after too long. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Sponge Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 Barely in time to celebrate the month of SpongeBob’s 20th anniversary, here’s the final portion of my bottom 25 countdown: Steel’s Bottom 25 SpongeBob Episodes (#10-#1) Spoiler 10. Krusty Katering Why is it that of all S10 episodes that I would consider the worst, this one is considered as one of the best among other critics? Lest we forget why we’ve all slammed on seasons 9-10 of the Fairly OddParents? We hated those particular seasons of FOP for a slew of reasons, and one of those reasons was because the pacing for most of its episodes felt like it was bouncing all over the walls. Episodes such of the like were trying so hard to keep the attention of the viewers to the point where the episodes would become absolutely infuriating to sit through. Grabbing the attention of the viewers is integral to making a fast-paced cartoon, as is to any other form of entertainment. To keep your audience invested, you need to keep them entertained, but in order to really make a piece of work stand out, you need a clear direction and solid pacing structure. In other words, you need to put attentiveness and patience in balance. If you don’t and let either one of them hold too much weight on the scale, you’ll lose the attention of the viewer either way. With too much patience and not enough thrills, your viewers will become bored to death and lose interest. If your episode’s pacing has the consistency of someone jangling keys in front of your face, your viewers will lose focus on the plot that you’re trying to establish. With all’s said and done, why did I have to bring FOP into the discussion of a SpongeBob episode? For those of you who haven’t noticed, I talked of my experience with one particular S10 episode of FOP and contrasted it with SpongeBob’s style of pacing. From there, I went on to assert that SpongeBob never had an episode where it felt as chaotic and incoherent as the FOP episode in question. No more than two months after I saw that one FOP episode…I would end up being wrong. If it’s not already telling, my main problem with “Krusty Katering” is that it was just all over the place. The episode has a basic setup with Mr. Krabs starting a catering service, in part of one of his schemes to quickly rake in the dough, but there were just so many things going on over the course of the plot. You have a subplot with Mr. Krabs trying to run and hide from a kid who really wants his birthday cake, then you have SpongeBob and Squidward’s respective subplots in which they try to cater and entertain the high-class folk, and because Patrick is in this episode as well, of course he’s going to have his own subplot where his stupidity causes disaster for the fancy party. Look, I know SpongeBob has always had its moments where the series can be “excessively wacky,” even after this episode aired. “Krusty Katering” isn’t even the worst episode of the post-sequel era, (While I despised “Ink Lemonade” more, it missed the original cutoff for my respective lists, so don’t expect it to show up on this countdown) but no other episode I have ever seen of the series had an episode with pacing that’s comparable to that of this episode’s pacing. There were barely any moments where the episode would shut up and give itself at least some breathing room. There was always some sort of noise being filtered throughout the episode. The episode even begins with a chaotic children’s birthday party. Lastly, while some of us have been arguing about SB’s current direction, where certain episodes are being deemed “excessively wacky,” “Krusty Katering” is the very episode that I will cite as an example of what I believed influenced that trend in the show’s writing. It is that bad and I will continue to stand by my claim. Spoiler 9. Breath of Fresh Squidward So, this is quite a hot take that I have to share with you people. “To Love a Patty” is not on my personal bottom 25, while I find “Breath of Fresh Squidward” to be the worst partner episode as, therefore, this episode is on my list. In fact, “Breath of Fresh Squidward” has apparently evolved to become considered as one of S5’s greats as far as I’m concerned. Before I can actually explain myself for this fairly controversial choice, let me say it first that this episode, much like some others I’ve talked about, has stuck around at the bottom of my rankings mostly because I felt very unsatisfied with the ending. Now hear me out on this: the problems that I have with this episode extend to more than just how it ended. “Breath of Fresh Squidward” had a plot setup that I felt really could’ve led up to something really good. Why the episode still hasn’t aged better for me and why I find it frustrating to watch is because for such a good idea, it just didn’t work at all. For what people have said of the episode that it at least gives SpongeBob and Squidward an establishing character moment by switching around their personalities, I beg to differ. So, this is where I bring up my main point: the episode doesn’t do its job in establishing its characters beyond their main personality traits. Rather the episode just screws up the concept of making SpongeBob and Squidward the exact opposite of what they generally are. The episode revolves around Squidward suddenly becoming tremendously nice after getting shocked by his own electric fence, and while the point can be made that he acts a lot like SpongeBob from the result, he actually feels more like he’s just not himself. Squidward didn’t display any other kind of personality besides that he was excessively happy about everyone and everything. SpongeBob even acts unlike himself, but not in the sense where he began to act just like Squidward either. SpongeBob himself was just really bratty during the latter half of the episode. And I know SpongeBob had his reasons to act the way that he did, as some viewers have pointed out that this episode felt like SpongeBob getting a taste of his own medicine after all the times that he has unintentionally ruined Squidward’s life, as the nicer version of his neighbor is overshadowing him and is earning the love and respect from the Bikini Bottom citizens as much as SB usually would. Even if this episode does give Squidward his moment to be very happy for once, the episode ends up killing that moment near the end… What really made this episode so frustrating for me is the thought that I get after the end the episode where SpongeBob, a character who is a normally very selfless person, who is really happy when his friends are happy, and is oblivious to the fact that he ends up annoying Squidward almost every time when he’s just trying to make his goal of making his neighbor happy, wouldn’t let Squidward have his happy moment. Although this is because of the plot point where the nicer Squidward inadvertently takes over SpongeBob’s own life, this impression that I get doesn’t come over to me until the climax of the episode where SpongeBob snaps at Squidward for something as mundane as pogo stick dancing with his best friend, Patrick, making Squidward cry and leave his own employee of the month party. Even in an episode where it supposedly gives Squidward his happy moment, we still can’t help but feel bad for him. Think about that for a moment. Oh yeah, and SpongeBob does come to the realization that he acted so harsh towards Squidward and comes over to his house to try and apologize, but that moment was even botched because of how forced it was. That very realization happens directly after SpongeBob yells at Squidward and by the time he was going to try and offer Squidward his apology, he is shown to be already under the influence of the electric fence’s shock. On top of that, the episode doesn’t seem to establish that SpongeBob has a lesson of his own to learn from all of this, which only makes matters worse. Then, of course, there’s the ending where SpongeBob and Patrick end up getting chaining themselves to Squidward’s electrocution, breaking the electric fence in the process. While Squidward is back to his usual self, SpongeBob and Patrick…well, remember one argument that I’ve made where the episode contradicts the idea of SpongeBob and Squidward’s personalities being rearranged? After sustaining the electrical shock, SpongeBob and Patrick start acting EXACTLY like Squidward, quarrel with the said character, and the episode just ends right there. “To Love a Patty,” I completely understand why the episode was and still is filled with so much vitriol, but what differentiates it from “Breath of Fresh Squidward” is that it had a plot that most of us knew wasn’t going to lead up to something genuinely great. “Breath of Fresh Squidward” had a plot that could’ve worked so well, including the opportunity to make that plot stand out and it failed to do so. Other than that, one other gripe I’ve had with the episode was the jokes, or the lack thereof. Even while the episode had its jokes, mot a single one from the episode made me laugh. The happy gland story was probably closest to being one of the episodes’ funny moments, yet it was still a hard sell because it was lumped in with the rest of the typical “SpongeBob and Patrick annoy Squidward” gags. Spoiler 8. Sun Bleached Most of you guys should already know how I feel about this episode, so I’m just going to let my commentary from last year’s Top 50 worst SpongeBob episodes countdown speak for itself while I can’t find anything else to say of the episode beyond that: Quote Steel: I've made it clear so many times as to why I dislike the episode: the moral is two-faced - it had to teach the audience that too much exposure to UV rays is a bad thing by dropping that message like an anvil, but it also glorifies the fondness of having a perfect tan. Craig Mammalton is close to being one of the worst one off characters. He was clinically designed to be such an uptight character, but I could've done without the particular scene with him throwing a child in a dumpster filled with light-skinned fish because he didn't have the proper tan all the way (Also the line "Tyler, how could you!?"). Then there's the mean-spirited tone of the episode, the way that most of the characters are so judgmental about SpongeBob and Patrick being light-skinned (and later SpongeBob being sun bleached) make the whole idea about getting the most proper tan seem like the coolest thing ever. It's also weird to see Squidward making fun of SpongeBob for being too sun bleached to go to the party since he's clearly not going to it and doesn't have a tan himself. Then there's the conflict in which SpongeBob gets sun bleached from the result of the 30 seconds of when Patrick forgets to turn off the tanning bed in his rock as he's suddenly wearing headphones on his head before hitching a ride with a group of lady fish. Besides one of the worst 30 seconds I've seen from any episode, the end is also a big shark jumper, in which 'sun bleached' turns out to be the ultimate tan. ...You know, because a skin tone that's very distant from the preferred skin tones is the ultimate tan. The soda commercial bit saves the episode from being any lower on my list, but it's not enough to be saved from being one of the most frustrating segments I've watched. Spoiler 7. Goo Goo Gas There are some times where I can’t help but find it amusing whenever I have an opinion that’s totally distant from what most people generally think. Sometimes though, it can also be frustrating. Anyone who has been around during tv.com’s early days should be aware of how critical most people were of S5 (and S4 to an extent). Yet, compared to how the rest of S5’s episodes fared, no matter the fact that I’ve truly hated this particular episode and tried to justify my reasons towards it, almost every other review on tv.com treated “Goo Goo Gas” like it was apparently an untouchable relic, a massive saving grace from SB’s decline if you will. My review of the episode was so controversial that it had a little over 30 thumbs down votes over as few as three or four thumbs up votes. This was pretty much my earliest instance of dealing with what kids these days would call “dislike bombing.” While I don’t despise this episode so much as I once have, I still don’t understand the past or current love for “Goo Goo Gas.” First of all, let me just say that I don’t hate babies. The infant versions of the SpongeBob characters are really adorable, yes, but beyond that, what is so very special about this episode? Perhaps it’s one of the most thoughtfully written plots for SpongeBob during the post-movie era, but this kind of plot has been done before, albeit in other animated shows. Even while the episode has its plot, most of it is spent on Plankton trying to perfect his experiment to launch his scheme, which gives me the kind of vibe where the episode is either filling up the time or just taking so long to begin. It isn’t until near the end where the main attraction starts with Plankton turning everyone in the Krusty Krab into babies and giving himself the perfect opportunity to simply steal away the secret formula. If you know me very well, I used to be very critical of SpongeBob episodes if I found the ending to be very unsatisfying and of course, I’m still no fan of it. Plankton’s opportunity to steal the formula doesn’t succeed as he ends up being outmatched by the baby SpongeBob characters and eventually gets touched by his own gas. The episode just ends with Plankton being reduced to the size of an amoeba while everyone in the Krusty Krab are still babies. The episode ended so abruptly with an unusual situation where none of the characters win. The episode had no real resolution and it really frustrated me at the time it was as far as in my bottom three. If there’s anything about the episode that I know some people are willing to defend, it’s the humor. There are indeed quite a lot of jokes to keep viewers invested in the episode in spite of the plot’s slow pace. I’ll admit that some of the episode’s jokes have some clever wit, but the rest of the episode’s humor is filled with jokes of the more juvenile type like some of the fart jokes, as part of the episode’s title, and the gags with the baby SB characters playing around with Plankton. I’ll admit it, the episode’s placement mostly stemmed from the ending and the sentiment where, for a massively disliked season during my early days on tv.com, I’ve hated an episode from said season that almost everyone really liked. Keep in mind though, besides the first thing, I do think the episode has its other, serious flaws. Because of its fair share of juvenile humor, I couldn’t keep myself invested in the episode and throughout I was mostly waiting for Plankton’s scheme to completely unfold. Say what you will that for what amounts of filler that the episode did have and it was at least enjoyable, I personally didn’t enjoy it myself. Spoiler 6. The Sponge Who Could Fly You’ve heard no wrong. This is actually a special episode of SpongeBob that I was disappointed with since I first saw it. So, where do I start in dissecting my hatred of this episode? Well, how about I actually start with the one main positive that I have, which takes place where the special exactly begins? Because I addressed this numerous times, it should come off to the surprise of almost no one. The one positive that I’m talking about is, of course, the Patchy subplot. While it is generally agreed that he is the worst part of any SB special where he has his own appearance, I will go around defending his segments because I thought his comedy was really on-point. I enjoyed his segments all the way through, from his dialogue humor with Potty, to his treasure hunting quest, to his overreaction of the fake lost episode, and to the end where he gets tangled up in the cassette tape’s plastic film while a mariachi band is playing in the background. Enough of the positives for now, let’s move right along to the negatives I have had with the named lost episode itself. After all the excitement that I’ve garnered from the Patchy segments, “The Sponge Who Could Fly” just didn’t feel like a thrilling special to me as I thought it should. I could at least say that I found a few of its jokes to be funny, like any scene with Old Man Jenkins, but the rest of them fail to get a kick out of me. The episode’s humor starts with SpongeBob’s attempts to fly, and because I knew the outcome for each joke (but not the punchline) they fell pretty flat for me. Then the rest of the episode’s jokes would revolve around the citizens’ humdrum favors that they need SpongeBob to do, drying up the humor in the process. While I’m on the topic of the other characters, that brings me to my next point, which are the very topical problems that I’ve had with the special. First of all, the conflicts were very, VERY petty. The episode’s first act ends with SpongeBob landing in a truck of mud and feathers after getting mobbed by Bikini Bottomites because they thought his attempts to try and fulfill his dream of flying with the jellyfish was more important than their unfulfilled dreams. Then there’s the episode’s main conflict with SpongeBob getting increasingly frustrated by the demands of each Bikini Bottom citizen for emergencies that aren’t even emergencies, something in which SpongeBob even acknowledges a few times in-universe. I know this is because SpongeBob’s inflatable pants has given him the reputation as a flying man who helps people and this is probably because the show’s creative team was scrambling to form a feasible conflict, but the problems don’t end there. My second major problem with the episode is how everyone except Patrick is a straight-up A-hole to SpongeBob. They start off cracking jokes about SpongeBob’s desire to fly and after warming up to him, seeing that he is now able to fly and has helped them for genuine problems, they decide to take advantage of his good deeds and demand help from him, just so they could have him do things that they could normally do. Finally, when SpongeBob focuses back on his goal of flying with the jellyfish and tries to hide from the citizens, they go as far as trying to kill him when he appears to be running away from their requests. What makes this problem so infuriating is that the episode tries little to nothing in justifying their actions. The Bikini Bottomites do grief for destroying SpongeBob’s inflatable pants, yet they show absolutely no care for SpongeBob being knocked unconscious, by part of one of the episode’s jokes. They learn absolutely nothing from their actions and you’d think that they should and that the episode has a moral to provide from that. Surely, you could say that it has a “don’t take advantage of people who are willing to help you” kind of moral, but that wouldn’t be a moral to learn from the episode unless you told someone otherwise. Eventually, SpongeBob does have the chance to be able to fly with the jellyfish, but without his inflatable pants. That’s where the episode’s actual moral does kick in and tell us that all you need in accomplishing your goals is friendship. I don’t think it’s a bad message by any means. It still is a clichéd one. Finally, to end my commentary on the special, there’s the music in which most people have said is the weakest part of the episode. I can see the few songs having annoyed some people, but if you ask me, I can’t really take them seriously. They are very whimsy and grandiose, but they feel deliberately so. Even if they are still considered as one of the episode’s problems, the songs are at least brief and not as consistent as the problems that I’ve had with the special. Anyways, through all I’ve said of the special, the lost episode is definitely not something I would consider as a treasure. Besides, maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way, right? …Let’s move onto my bottom five… Spoiler 5. All That Glitters Once again, I’ve expressed my hatred of this episode numerous times before and I have nothing else to say besides what I’ve already said about the episode after sharing my commentary on it during last year’s Top 50 worst SpongeBob episodes countdown: Quote Steel: For the longest time, "All That Glitters" has been in my bottom 5 and it stuck there. The issues that the episode has already starts once the episode itself begins with the order of a 'Monster Krabby Patty.' Just with one attempt to flip it, SpongeBob's spatula breaks and breaks into tears. "A Day Without Tears" gets easily written off because it's an episode centered around the fact that SpongeBob cries so much, but even more-so, SB's crying in that episode is bearable compared to the scenes in this episode where he not only cries, but after 10 seconds, you're under the impression that his crying is being played on loop. Oh, but there are some background changes and different characters appearing in those backgrounds, but that doesn't make the scene as funny as it suggests. The slow-paced and repetitive humor is only then replicated, but in a different matter whereas SpongeBob tries to buy Le Spatula. Of course, SB didn't ask how much the spatula costs, so we get some scenes with the same "Now?" "No" conversation, until SpongeBob gets the spatula after having to sell his clothes. But those scenes only turn out to be a waste as, two minutes into SpongeBob getting the fancy spatula, it turns out the state-of-the-art cooking utensil is not only a sentient device, but it refuses to cook low-rate foods. Afterwards, Le Spatula just leaves SpongeBob only, not before punching him in the face. We never see Le Spatula again, and he won't be missed, at all. After that dreadful moment, SpongeBob returns to the hospital to find out that Spat is not completely broken, but has gotten better. However, Spat feels that SpongeBob replaced it, soooo we then have another crying scene from SB. It's brief, but still pretty annoying. BUT WAIT, when SpongeBob returns to the restaurant, Spat appears to have forgiven SB and is willing to serve with him again. The moral is that some things precious to you are irreplaceable...but I can't seem to ignore the fact that Spat just suddenly and easily forgave SB for trying to replace him. In fact, the moral feels more like it might've been "if you see spatulas miraculously coming to life, then it's time you see a doctor." Overall, "All That Glitters" is a very worthless episode with visible problems that happen just when the episode already starts. The episode's conflicts are either very petty or somehow resolved so easily. Some of the scenes are clearly there to fill in the time, preferably the scenes with SpongeBob crying about his broken spatula, and the scenes where he tries to sell all that he has for Le Spatula. There's also the montage of SpongeBob reminiscing about the good times he's had with Spat, but that's pretty much the episode saving grace. Le Spatula was also a pointless, apparent one-time character. Le Spatula would even serve very little to the plot and amount to little screen-time if SpongeBob knew how much it costed, or knew what the spatula is intended to be used for before he paid for it. In other words, "All That Glitters" ended up being an absolute waste of my time. Spoiler 4. A Pal for Gary Honestly, what I can say about this episode unlike literally everyone else hasn’t? Everyone and their mothers have talked about why this episode is so terrible and because of that, it’s become a chore to talk about why “A Pal for Gary” is so hated. Regardless, most fans continue to collectively agree that this is one of SB’s worst offerings and it’s easy to understand why it gets its reputation. While the first half of the episode seems fine enough, showing that SpongeBob cares deeply for his snail, thinking he’s very lonely without someone to hang around with, it all falls apart in the latter half. The way the episode then writes SpongeBob’s character to be so dumb to recognize that Gary is being tortured by his “new friend” Puffy Fluffy while deflecting all the blame towards the former just felt like an outright insult to his characterization. The debacle between Gary and Puffy Fluffy is mostly played for laughs and as a result, a lot of the jokes in the episode come off as painfully unfunny. “Gary! …You put Fluffy down right now!” is commonly cited as one of the worst moments ever in the series as it so simply dignifies why the episode is so poorly written. While this isn’t my choice for the absolute worst episode of SpongeBob, it is rightfully so treated as the epitome of how bad SpongeBob can be for a variety of reasons. Spoiler 3. SquidBob TentaclePants For such a long time, this episode has been sitting under the radar. That may be because the general consensus for this episode is just “meh.” Meanwhile, I was, and still am, one of the only few people who have seriously despised this segment. I’ve actually despised it since it first aired. Even when I read from its small summary from Nick.com’s schedule, I was expecting that I was not going to like it at all. Right now, some of you are thinking that I’m sugarcoating my thoughts on an episode based on my first impressions of it, but I have my reasons for letting this stick around in my bottom five for so long. First of all, I found the episode’s plot to be incredibly predictable. I easily assumed that SpongeBob and Squidward’s DNA would combine if Sandy’s transporter were to suddenly malfunction. It was easy to predict that Squidward and SpongeBob’s life while spliced together would lead to miserable results, with Mr. Krabs kicking them out of the restaurant until they are separated. Then it was very apparent that Sandy would suddenly arrive inside the concert hall with the molecular separator ray just as soon as SquidBob finished their performance. THEN, of course, I eventually predicted that the episode would come right into an unsatisfying conclusion after Squidward’s attempt to continue playing the clarinet completely flushes his once happy moment into the toilet and attempts to reverse the effects from Sandy’s molecular separator ray. While I’m still on the topic of the ending, yes, that was what really killed the episode for me. It was just unfunny, disturbing, and unsatisfying all at once for me. If it means so much to explain why it’s such a big deal to me, my #2 will explain it, but before I can get to that, let’s go over my last reasoning towards hating the episode. This episode had a serious lack of jokes and even while it had its jokes, not a single one got me laughing. With all that out of the way, let’s move on to the next episode on my worst list and I’ve got quite a story to tell for it… Spoiler 2. I Was a Teenage Gary The man. The myth. The legend. The…controversial. For the longest time, “I Was a Teenage Gary” has been my most hated episode of SpongeBob, but since finding my new proper absolute worst, I’ve developed a bit of a change of heart. Yet, for a very peculiar reason, this episode still warrants such a high spot on my list. Why is that though? I can’t possibly justify hating this episode so much based on just a small handful of flaws. While we’re on the topic of the episode’s noticeable flaws, I have disliked it for the scenes between Squidward and the SpongeBob snail getting annoying and repetitive, the fairly lazy way that the episode resolves the main issue of Gary being all sick, as acknowledged by Squidward, “he just needed water?,” and then of course, there’s the icing on top: the ending. No other episode has brought my feelings down towards it for its ending than this episode has ever done. However, that still brings me to question why exactly did I find it so bad that it made “I Was a Teenage Gary” my most hated episode SB for so long. While I’ve actually disliked this episode ever since I first saw it around 2000 or 2001, it wasn’t until early 2004 that I’ve vowed to never seeing this episode again. The last time my eyes caught it was technically during the 24/7 Best Day Ever marathon all the way back in 2006 and it has been 13 years since I’ve last saw this episode willingly since. The fact that I remember all these details so very well speaks some lengths. I’ve even spoke of some of these details during my old bottom 20 countdown back in 2012. I’ve been very vague about it for all these years, but now I’m not holding myself back. The main reason as to why I’ve hated this episode so much comes from a story during my own past life. If I was still as young as I was, I would recall this as a very traumatizing moment in my life, but as the years went by, this particular moment felt more like an embarrassing one. Regardless of how I feel about this past life experience, it has still affected my opinion on “I Was a Teenage Gary” in such an extreme way… The story starts somewhere between January and April of 2004. I don’t remember when exactly it happened, but I could vaguely remember that it was at the time that I’ve just had the Complete First Season DVD of SpongeBob since Christmas of 2003 and for not too long. I was around 8 or 9 at the time. I was accompanied by a friend who was 5 at the time (he would turn 6 later in the year); 3-4 years younger than me. We’ve first known each other since we were very young as he lived just across the street from my old house. Despite our age differences, we were still great friends. That was primarily because we already had something that we’ve bonded over: our love for the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon. Anyways, one time that I’ve visited his house, I’ve had the Season 1 DVDs with me. One episode that really caught his attention was an episode titled, what else, “I Was a Teenage Gary.” I don’t recall if we had watched any other SB episodes from the DVD beforehand, but still, this is where the story beings to really fold. My friend had actually also expressed liking the episode himself. I wasn’t actually very hesitant to play the episode. I wasn’t going to enjoy the episode myself, but if letting him see it again really meant that I would be making my friend happy, I had to let it play. We both watched the episode like normal. Most of the way through, I was holding back the feelings that I’ve previously had towards the episode from the first few times I’ve witnessed it. After the episode ended, I just let all my feelings out. I broke down. I don’t recall if I was actually crying, but I was very much freaking out. While my friend didn’t know that I was going to end up acting so upset towards the episode’s ending where SpongeBob and Squidward stayed as snails presumably forever, he acted pretty calmly. Shortly after that experience, I was sent back home. I don’t know if it was because my mother came to get me, or because she heard that I couldn’t compose myself, but yeah, I was back home and the story doesn’t stop there. As I came back home, my mother instantly noticed that I was feeling distressed. So that was when I recollected my experience with the SB episode and I described every single detail that I’ve known about it to her, especially the ending. At that moment, I still had that feeling like I was freaking out, but after a while, I’ve fizzled out. However, from that moment on, IWaTG had still haunted me. I had no nightmares regarding the episode, but I was afraid of re-experiencing it. And I kid you not, I’ve gotten PTSD from the image of the SpongeBob snail and every once in a while that my eyes would see the SpongeBob snail, I would either freak out internally or externally. That was when I solemnly vowed to avoid watching the episode for the rest of my life…but eventually, I’ve decided that I was going to break that promise at one point. Yep, when I have the time and mood to, I am going to take the courage to watch IWaTG after so long. I’m no longer afraid to find myself watching the episode again and I’d like to tell of just how I would feel watching it in my current time and age where I can just simply own up from that one past experience. So there you have it. That was the very traumatizing/embarrassing experience where my hatred of the episode stemmed from that I was willing to share with you folks. What made it feel so embarrassing to me in retrospect was the thought that I wasn’t able to handle myself towards a particular episode as maturely as my friend did who, as I’ve mentioned before, was only 5 at the time. It was also one of the moments where I ponder that I may have been on the autism spectrum very early in my life (it wouldn’t be until 2012 that I would be diagnosed with Asperger’s). After all’s said and done, a couple of questions still remain. Firstly, how does the ending of a SpongeBob episode matter so much to me? Well, when SpongeBob started out in Season 1, it always had its adult appeal, but it was also a very wholesome series. Plenty of episodes of the show’s early days were structured to have a nice little ending. I’ve been accustomed to that formula from SpongeBob, but then there are episodes like IWaTG that have had ended on such an unsatisfying note that just bothered me. IWaTG felt a lot less like a setup for a SpongeBob episode and rather a setup for an episode of…say the Twilight Zone. Lastly, while some of you could probably find the answer to it while some of you are still wondering why, there’s one question about my thoughts on the episode: Why is “I Was a Teenage Gary” no longer my #1 most hated episode of the series? One thing’s for sure, it’s not because the sudden backlash the episode has been receiving recently had eclipsed me from hating it any more (that, however, is a topic for another time). I’ve been finding myself some genuine respect towards the episode. While this episode scared me into avoiding it for most of my life, there are few things that this episode has accomplished. First of all, it managed to be a lot scarier than its partner episode. Second of all, while I felt that it didn’t feel like a SpongeBob episode, I thought the episode itself was pretty imaginative for what it was and it touched on different grounds from SpongeBob S1’s usual brand of storytelling. If I can see myself defending IWaTG for some particular elements, then I can’t see myself placing it on a pedestal for any longer. My most hated episode of SpongeBob has to be one where I can’t think of anything good to say for, and that’s exactly what I’m going to be talking about for the next and final episode on my worst list and likewise with my commentary for this episode, it is definitely going to be a long piece. Oh yeah, and to those who hate IWaTG for being awkward, uncomfortable, all over the place, or whatever, please elaborate further on that. Otherwise, you’re not doing a good job at picking the episode apart and creating an excuse that’s arguably as good as mine. Spoiler 1. Stuck in the Wringer Before I could actually start expressing my thoughts on the episode and explain why it’s my new most hated episode of SB, I thought I’d talk about my first impressions of the episode. Suffice to say, I was a little too gentle on the episode in due to the fact that it aired during Nickelodeon’s 10th anniversary celebration for the series and I’m pretty sure most other people on tv.com who had reviewed the episode had the same mindset. As time passed on, when I would then hear voices saying that this episode is actually one of the series’ worst, I began to come to a realization that I didn’t think would completely get to me until 2017 where I decided that this is hands down the worst that SpongeBob could get. My feelings on this episode got worse the more that I thought about it and I feel ashamed how almost all of the episode’s problems somehow missed my radar. I was fourteen and didn’t know a lot better than to hate SB episodes only because a certain character was so mean to SpongeBob and/or if I found an ending to be very unsatisfying. The crazy thing is, however, “Stuck in the Wringer” had some of the problems that my younger self would have detested and I would’ve then instantly made it one of my most hated episodes for them, and yet I didn’t loathe it upon my first viewing of the episode. It took time for me to realize how horrible this episode was, and while I did, I came to a very prominent kind of realization. If I wasn’t so big of a fan of SpongeBob, or if I was a lot more mature then, OR if it wasn’t for the whole 10th anniversary celebration principle, this episode could’ve been my breaking point that might’ve prevented me from trying to keep up with the series any longer. It is THAT bad of an episode and I didn’t come to that conclusion because Jjs could lose the bet and give us a face reveal, so that I could try to convince people to stop hating “Truth or Square” so much, or for any other dumb reason. Digging deeper into this episode, the very main reason as to why “Stuck in the Wringer” became my most hated episode is because I seriously cannot find any moment from the episode that I could find to be redeemable. So, without further ado, let’s actually start tearing this episode a new one. I have broken down all the problems I’ve had with “Stuck in the Wringer” into five main separate points to back up my claim, with my first point being… #1: The characterizations are awful: This issue is very much the most obvious and primary when regarding the episode. It’s common knowledge that Patrick is dumb, but his stupidity in this episode was absolutely irritating to sit through. While I understand that Patrick spends most of the episode trying to make up to SpongeBob and trying to cheer him up, that doesn’t excuse the fact that the events correlating to the episode have mainly been his fault. He was the one who made SpongeBob more stuck inside the wringer with the forever glue and because he has been consistently trying to help SpongeBob, he is the main reason as to why SpongeBob has been suffering throughout as he only made matters worse for him by taking him to a carnival and getting him hurt. What makes Patrick so frustrating in the episode is that he doesn’t ever realize his actions and feel guilty about the way he has treated SpongeBob until SB snaps at him. And just when you’d think that the episode could then focus on Patrick trying to make an apology for SpongeBob, the episode instead wastes its own time by making him focus on forgetting about SpongeBob, having a “staring match” and such. The fact that he first appears in the episode being more concerned about his rubber duck than SpongeBob being stuck in the wringer is a glaring sign of how very poorly it has tried to justify his stupidity and his friendship with SpongeBob. SpongeBob’s character isn’t particularly great either. While there were a lot of moments where I’ve felt really bad for him, I just stopped feeling like rooting for him immediately after his out-of-character moment where he yells at Patrick. Even if he had his reasons, there’s something that just didn’t feel right about it. On top of that, the episode actually acknowledges it in-universe in the form of the Bikini Bottom citizens simply telling SpongeBob that there’s something seriously wrong with his heart. Even those characters I can’t see myself defending because the particular moment that involves them just felt so uncalled for. The only character that I felt was done right was Squidward and yet he only spends a small amount of time in the episode just to be the short end of the stick as he is usually written to be. #2: The poor execution of the plot: SpongeBob is primarily a comedic cartoon, but I know it can also manage to embrace serious plotlines very well. “Stuck in the Wringer,” is a solid example of an episode that balances its comedy and its serious tones very poorly, however. It’s not that the episode ends up becoming incredibly dull. It’s just that that the episode gets very hard to sit through most of the time. The episode starts off with something suddenly happening that causes SpongeBob to get himself stuck in the wringer, then Patrick shows up to make things worse by using the forever glue. Predictably so, the next scene takes place at the Krusty Krab to show us SpongeBob being incapable of performing his job because of the wringer, getting kicked out of the restaurant by Mr. Krabs afterwards until his problem is fixed. From that point on, the rest of the episode just becomes depressing to watch. The episode establishes more on how miserable SpongeBob is with the wringer stuck to him, as he’s unable to process foods easily and after Patrick tries to get him to lighten up with a day at the carnival, the complications with the wringer end up getting SpongeBob hurt. Once the episode gets to its ending, it results into a cop-out where SpongeBob and Patrick’s tears dissolve the glue and get SB unstuck, but then that resolution gets ricocheted as the episode ends with the pair now having the wringer stuck to them both before Patrick delivers the final line: “Hey, should I get the glue?” #3: The lack of jokes as well as the episode’s existing jokes themselves being very unfunny: Did I ever mention that the episode’s jokes are also terrible? It should be already telling that I didn’t like the episode’s attempts at humor, but let’s talk about it anyways. First of all, most of the episode’s jokes rely on physical comedy that’s really painful to watch a lot of the time. Even when it comes to moments where the episode tells different kinds of jokes, not a single one still gets a kick out of me, including the whole joke on SpongeBob feeling like a sad bike rack. Second, because the episode tries to aim towards a serious tone with its storyline, there’s a considerate lack of jokes as well. #4: The lack of moral values: At the end of the episode, SpongeBob breaks the fourth wall to say that crying does solve anyone’s problems after all and I’m torn on whether or not this is tongue in cheek or if it’s actually meant to be taken seriously. Whatever message it’s supposed to have, it’s a rather insulting and unrealistic one. If it’s self-aware, the message still isn’t good, on top of being plainly unfunny. Ignoring the episode’s supposed moral, it still addresses yet another one of the episode’s problems, in which it doesn’t supply any useful morals, nor is the episode itself moral. You could combine my words on this argument with what I’ve said for my first reasoning, but I’d also add that the episode’s final line from Patrick gives us a clear indication that neither SpongeBob nor Patrick have learned something important from the whole debacle. #5: The episode contains a feature that I’ve disliked from each other episodes in my bottom 25: This last reasoning is a sentimental one, but it still rings true to my thoughts on the episode. What do I mean by this, though? While analyzing this episode, I came to an unusual realization that further warrants my opinion otherwise. The episode shares at least one thing in common with (almost) every other episode appearing on my worst list, ranging from the grossly detailed black eye (Blackened Sponge; #25), having a generally unpleasant tone (Can You Spare a Dime?; #24), Patrick causing some of the episode’s conflicts (Smoothe Jazz in Bikini Bottom; #23), the general lack of jokes (Gullible Pants; #22), poor joke execution (Choir Boys; #21), Patrick’s insufferable stupidity (Pat No Pay; #20), flat out mean-spiritedness (Whatever Happened to SpongeBob? and Sun Bleached; #19, #8), the botched moral (Yours, Mine, and Mine; #18), the cop-out ending (Home Sweet Rubble; #17), lines like “Hey, should I get the glue?” or “Your body isn’t the problem. It’s your heart.” that almost give “Baby assaulter!” a run for its money (Slide Whistle Stooges; #16), the less than amusing injuries towards SpongeBob (Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV; #15), the matters between SpongeBob and Patrick that make feel like questioning their friendship (Driven to Tears; #13) SpongeBob’s brief, depressed descent (SpongeBob, You’re Fired!; #12), SpongeBob’s outburst that ends up being a little too harsh for his character (Waiting; #11), unfunny physical humor (Krusty Katering; #10), unfunny character abuse (Ink Lemonade, #9 on my new list) character establishment that only ends up ruining the characters (Breath of Fresh Squidward; #9), the pettiness from the Bikini Bottom citizens (The Sponge Who Could Fly; #6), an infamous crying scene (All That Glitters; #5), lack of good understanding of the series’ charm (A Pal for Gary; #4), unfunny scenes that involves SpongeBob struggling to work in the Krusty Krab (SquidBob TentaclePants; #3), and an ending that fails to save face for my own standards. (Goo Goo Gas and I Was a Teenage Gary; #7, #2) Yeah, that is a lot of vitriol that I have for “Stuck in the Wringer,” but that goes to show how much I’m willing defend my stance on it being my most hated episode of the series. tl;dr: If I could sum up my thoughts on “Stuck in the Wringer” through one basic point, it’s this: the episode, to me, felt like it forgot almost every little bit of charm that the series originally had, forgot how to be funny, and forgot to make the characters stand out. There is little to nothing that I can defend on the episode and my massive commentary proves as so. That wraps up my bottom 25 countdown. I will start unveiling my top 25 probably after the end of SBC’s top 50 best SB episodes countdown this year. I haven’t actually ever made a completed review of my favorite SpongeBob episodes and it will be about time that I do just that. No matter how many terrible episodes that the series may have, my top 25 will prove otherwise why SpongeBob SquarePants is one of my favorite animated shows even after 20 years. Dishonorable mentions: -SpongeHenge (my #26; my #27 if you include “Ink Lemonade”) -The Googly Artiste -Shuffleboarding -The Slumber Party -Squidward’s School for Grown-Ups -Squid’s Visit -Squid Baby -The Splinter -Good Ol’ Whatshisname -Squidtastic Voyage (yep, my thoughts on this one have worsened) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now