217a. Spot Returns

[Jjs Goodman]

(No promo image available at this time)

Premieres: 

Saturday, June 24th @ 10:00am ET/PT

Encores:

Friday, June 30th @ 7:30pm ET/PT

Saturday, July 1st @ 5:00pm ET/PT

Plot:

When his pet amoeba Spot produces offspring, Plankton wants to use them for one of his evil plans.

Clips:

N/A

Welp, here we go. This will be the first episode to air from Season 11. Not sure how to feel about it admittedly. Glad to see Spot again after 4 years, but I am keeping my expectations for this middle of the road, as I'm not really sure how this will go.

Edited June 24, 2017 by jjsthekid

[WhoBibbles]

they better not screw this up  

Spot deserves a godly af return <3

[Hayden]

Sweet likeable Krabs/Patrick subplot that recurred well throughout the 11 minutes without feeling forced.

This was more about the amoeba gunk than Spot, but I guess by having Spongebob smoosh up a townful of puppies it led to a sequel that stood out from the story already told. At least Plankton cared about Karen's well-being even if he wasn't bonding with the babies. Not sure why he only tolerated them for her though.

Spongebob was kind of cute in amoeba shape. Liked how Plankton's plan happened as he was telling it and SB's quick thinking escape.

Kind of a run of the mill Plankton episode, but it doesn't ruin Spot's first appearance. That's what matters most.

[Jjs Goodman]

Pretty good. I wish Spot had more of a role since he kind of vanished after the first three minutes, but his babies made up for it. At least the rest of the episode was fine, and didn't feel like a blatant rehash of the original (hi Bubble Buddy Returns). There were a lot of pretty amusing and sweet moments. Plankton threatening people outside the Barg'N Mart to buy the puppies was lulz. The way SpongeBob transformed himself into an amoeba to train the puppies was pretty cute, and I liked how it came back into play to help release him from the cage. The Patrick and Krabs subplot was also pretty cute and amusing. The fact Spot has just been chilling in the Chum Bucket since Plankton's Pet means they could still bring Spot back whenever, which is cool. Although...if that is the explanation they were planning to use for the past 4 years on where he's been, it makes his absence in 9B a bit stranger now, but whatever, it's not a big deal. Overall, not as good as Plankton's Pet, though I wasn't expecting it to be. I think it managed to do its own thing creatively without trying to lazily cash in on the original.

Grade: A-

Edited June 25, 2017 by jjsthekid

[WhoBibbles]

Sort of worthy sequel to Plankton's Pet.

It didn't have enough Spot sadly but Spot's babies were so adorable enough that I can pass. Not only that. Unlike Bubble Buddy Returns, this had actual good gags. Wackiness of the characters were used well. It never felt too energetic. It knew when it needed to be so silly and the pacing was well-balanced. Plankton was so hilarious with yelling at scout girls to leave their spot (puns are good for your soul) and him threatening people to buy them. Despite how the plot moved was predictable, I really enjoyed how Plankton was explaining the plan, while Spot's pets were doing the plan. I was worried It'd go with explain the plan and then do the plan but they did both at the same time. Karen being so awww to Spot's babies was so cute and it was funny how she got cute overload lmao. Patrick still acting like a dog was a nice continuty and it didn't overstay it's welcome and It was pretty amusing. My biggest issue was lack of Spot, he should have been in this episode more and it didn't exactly reach emotional aspect of Plankton's Pet. Still I really enjoyed this and I'm glad Spot is still Plankton's pet with him being a dad/mom. Plus more SpongeBob/Plankton dynamic.

Grade: B+

[NegiSpongie]

I thought this was a pretty good episode, though the title should've been called "Son(s) of Spot" given that Spot was barely in it. But I did like the amoeba puppies just as well, especially after SpongeBob molded them into larger amoeba puppies. Karen's cuteness overload was pretty funny too. I liked the roles Plankton gave the puppies and him explaining the plan and the puppies were actually doing the plan, I had initially thought that he would explain it and then it be actually messed up. It was still an enjoyable episode.

[Cha]

pretty great, didn't even think of the formula being a plot device for this until plankton snuck it in of course.. but even that wasn't completely unbearable and it happened way towards the ending anyways. I liked the back and forth between plank and karen in the beginning, some funny dialogue there. A pretty solid episode I think anyways. And man it had a lot of previous references. Like Hayden said, the subplot didn't feel forced. Was pretty nice to just see Krabs and Patrick get along for a little bit.

[4EverGreen]

Pretty good episode, and it SHOWS that the writer did their research; Amoeba ARE technically gender-neutral, and when they get big enough, they create new amoeba. Totally WASN'T expecting it to turn into a Krabby Patty theft plot, and it was ACTUALLY one of the best ideas Plankton had in years!  I'm also glad that they brought back season ONE intelligence Spongebob, as he had to actually use his BRAIN in order to thwart Plankton's plan this time!  Could have used a little more Spot, but the story in this episode more than makes up for it. I'd give it a 10/10!

[McSponge]

Originally written: June 25th, 2017

Oh man, this is the best episode I've seen since The Whole Tooth! Spot Returns is a delightful treat. I was honestly surprised at how great this episode was. I expected it to be a hit or miss episode, like a lot of Season 10 episodes, but this episode pleasantly surprised me! The plot itself is creative, as I believe it does a great job at bringing back Spot, and actually making him useful. They don't taint his character either, he's the same old, sweet amoeba we all know and love from Plankton's Pet. The episode primarily focuses on Spot's puppies. That's right, Spot has kids! That was a surprising turn of events that I did NOT expect to see when I watched this episode. Excellent job on the writer's behalf. It was a refreshing way to use Spot. And it's not like he is "there to be there". No, he actually has an important role in this episode's plot.

Now, I feel like I must address this before I go forward. The episode shadows Bubble Buddy Returns, and I mean, it REALLY shadows it. The title itself is even pretty much the same thing (By severe coincidence). The plot focuses more on the returning character's offspring, rather than the original character itself. But, here's where the two episodes differ. I believe that this episode is less predictable, and more enjoyable than Bubble Buddy Returns.

How so? Well, for starters, Spot is actually essential to the plot. He gives birth to all these Amoeba puppies, which Plankton now has to figure out what he's going to do with them. Whereas, Bubble Buddy only appeared for nostalgia reasons. I feel like, if Bubble Buddy never appeared in Bubble Buddy Returns, the episode would practically the same, whereas this episode would've been much different in quality.

Anyway, I really like how the writers approached this episode. They managed to take the cute factor from Plankton's Pet, and mash it with comedy. Plankton's Pet had a nice, cute little story, but it wasn't funny. This episode manages to mix both of those together in a really marvelous way.

First of all, when Spot appears, we already get some funny jokes about how much bigger Spot has gotten since we last saw him. This sequence is entertaining, and is a great visual joke. It then sets up the plot when Karen informs Plankton that Spot is pregnant, and explains how (In a way that even taught ME something new). Plankton starts to panic, but too late, Spot already gave birth (Never thought I'd say that   ). Eventually, Karen shuts down due to a cute overload (Which was interesting to see her break down when seeing the small little amoebas). Oh yeah, we get to see Spot one last time before he's gone for the rest of the episode, this time, appearing as his normal, lovable self. The puppies start causing chaos, and Plankton is confused as to why they aren't behaving like Spot. This scene is interesting to watch, I don't know, visually, it's just entertaining.

Soon enough, Plankton mashes the amoeba babies together to create large amoeba puppies. I feel like this was done in a very creative way, and I really like how this scene played out. Plankton then tries to get rid of the puppies, and to my surprise it works! Well, it does for the time being. The puppies cause chaos at their new owners' homes, by destroying their houses, and stealing something, followed by them returning to the Chum Bucket. This was a nice plot point, as I honestly didn't expect them to straight up cause as much chaos as they did. Another twist I did not see coming!

They arrive at the Chum Bucket, and Plankton realizes how great they are at stealing things. I really like this transition from Plankton trying to figure out what to do with these puppies, and him making a plan to steal the formula. I think this was done in a nice, natural way, rather than coming off as forced. This plot point was actually pretty interesting. While generally, I'd be irritate by the writers turning the episode into a "Plankton steals the formula episode", I saw great potential with him using the puppies to steal the formula, and I think it was a good call on the writers to make use of these characters to produce a great, new "Plankton steals the formula episode". We haven't had an original variation of this type of episode since CopyBob DittoPants, so I was looking forward to this (After the mediocre "Plankton steals the formula" episodes in Season 10, as well as some hit or miss ones in Season 9, except for Married to Money, but that concept wasn't original).

Plankton can't train them, so whose he gonna call?

 

This photo is way bigger than I expected  

So Plankton calls SpongeBob (Of course), and SpongeBob helps him train the puppies. This scene was awesome, I'm not going to lie, I really love this scene. I thought it was very entertaining, didn't go too fast, but didn't drag on either. I thought this part was a great climax sequence, I really loved watching it. The writer and storyboard artist obviously had a lot of fun writing this part, and if they didn't, boy, they are talented! Surprisingly enough, Plankton himself reveals his plan to SpongeBob, rather than SpongeBob getting some sort of hint that this is an attempt to steal the formula. This was interesting, considering the fact that this has never been done before in an episode, so I was actually pleasantly surprised how this scene turned out.

Also, I really loved watching the puppies steal the formula. It was very entertaining, and well animated. Even though i could kind of tell they were stealing the formula, while Plankton was describing how they'd do so, I was a little skeptical thinking it was just Plankton's imagination, but no. The writer just moved things along, and got Plankton the formula. The way SpongeBob managed to escape was very creative, and the episode ended on a very satisfying note.

So, as you're aware, I obviously love this episode. This episode is by far the best episode I've witnessed so far this year. It'll be hard to top this one. I really love this episode, I really do. I think this episode was funny, it was creative, it gave Spot an actual role in the episode (Though he could've appeared more), and there were a lot of twists and turns I didn't expect.

You heard me, it's an Amazing Episode. After watching this, I was really excited about Season 11, because I have a really good feeling about it.

I give it a 10/10.

[WinterArcanine]

This is a great episode, and is almost in my top 10 of the season. Even though it's another formula plot, I feel like the premise of training Spot's kids to steal the formula was original and was pretty cool, and the episode was funny and wasn't too overly zany. 9/10.