241a. Squirrel Jelly

[Jjs Goodman]

Premieres: 

Sunday, November 18th @ 11:00am ET/PT

Encores:

Sunday, November 18th @ 2:00pm ET/PT

Plot:

SpongeBob and Patrick have their peaceful day of jellyfishing disturbed by Sandy's competitive nature.

Clips:

N/A

This will be another extended episode like "Feral Friends", "Back to the Past" and "Shanghaied", meaning it is 16 minutes long instead of 11.

Edited November 18, 2018 by jjsthekid

[SpongeOddFan]

how the hell are they going to stretch this to 16 minutes?

[hippythehippo]

I can't believe they have stooped this low. You might be asking "how can you hate something that hasn't even aired yet", but look at this.

Harmless enough right? Well look at this.

I can't believe the show has stooped so low as too try and copy title cards from genius episodes to try and be like them. Season 10 had the best title cards in the series, and garbage wacky season 11 tries to ruin it. This episode isn't even worth watching anymore, I give it a 

[4EverGreen]

On 11/16/2018 at 7:28 PM, hippythehippo said:

I can't believe they have stooped this low. You might be asking "how can you hate something that hasn't even aired yet", but look at this.

Harmless enough right? Well look at this.

I can't believe the show has stooped so low as too try and copy title cards from genius episodes to try and be like them. Season 10 had the best title cards in the series, and garbage wacky season 11 tries to ruin it. This episode isn't even worth watching anymore, I give it a 

Oh, look. Hippy the Hippo is over-reacting to an episode that hasn't even AIRED yet!  It MUST be a day that ends with a "Y"!  By the way, I'm being SARCASTIC!!!! Why don't you try judging the episode AFTER you've ACTUALLY seen it? Than you can actually give it an HONEST judging!

[So Sejima]

7 hours ago, 4EverGreen said:

Oh, look. Hippy the Hippo is over-reacting to an episode that hasn't even AIRED yet!  It MUST be a day that ends with a "Y"!  By the way, I'm being SARCASTIC!!!! Why don't you try judging the episode AFTER you've ACTUALLY seen it? Than you can actually give it an HONEST judging!

Why don't you try judging what episodes are top 10 worthy by more than if they have a naked male character or not?

[Jjs Goodman]

I thought this episode was painfully...mediocre. This did not need to be 16 minutes at all. This honestly could've perfectly been 11 minutes had they cut out a lot of the padding in the first half of the episode. The episode dragged so badly because of that. Basically the first half is Sandy being over-competitive which we got the point of fast. There were some nice action scenes, but the whole Sandy trying to best SpongeBob and Patrick at jellyfishing segments went on way too long for my liking, and they did not vary them up in any interesting way. Actually, here's an idea: Why didn't they just start the episode off in Jellyfish Fields to begin with??? They easily could've set up Sandy's over-competitive flaw there. There was literally no need for the Goo Lagoon stuff in the beginning. If that stuff had been cut out, a lot of pacing problems would've been helped. The whole Goo Lagoon stuff felt disconnected outside of Larry's random reappearance near the end. But whatever. I did like the ending parts with Sandy becoming a pacifist and her anime-esque battle against the giant jellyfish, but by then it was too little too late, and it just made me wish we had gotten to that part of the episode a lot sooner. The ending part of the episode saved this from being any lower than C from me, but this still honestly felt like a waste of time. I appreciate them for doing something different with Sandy involved in a jellyfishing episode, but the execution was not particularly interesting unfortunately.

Grade: C

Edited November 18, 2018 by jjsthekid

[Klu]

This... special? Is the most forgettable special since "It came from Goo-Lagoon" from s9a. It wasn't terrible or anything, just kind of boring to watch even with bombastic visuals. There was a lot of padding and unnecessary scenes. I liked how they explored Sandy's flaws this episode and how she realized them and tried to get better as a person, but... yeah, until, like, last 6 minutes(?) of the episode, entire thing dragged and dragged HARD.

I really liked the ending with that random anime-esque battle sequence, it saved episode for me a bit, but this episode just baffles me at how unnecessary 16 minute run-time for it was. 

6/10 and I'm being generous here. At least "Goons" looks fun. 

[Goobz]

I agree with the 3/5 rating, Sandy was stressing me out. The writing on Sandy was so out of character it was unbelievable, but overall this episode was just painfully average. The first 10 minutes were really just pointless filler akin to Sportz? and the last 6 minutes were pretty epic, but that doesn't save the episode. Final rating is a low tier meh.

[RD Rockruff]

Uhh... this episode was... not good lol. Sandy felt very out of character, the first half of the episode was repetitive, some of the writing felt Ink Lemonade quality and overall I didn't care for a lot of what was going on. The second half of the episode was... cool I guess? I mean, Sandy fighting the jellyfish was interesting and all but honestly, this episode didn't really hold my attention. I'll be nice and give this one a slightly higher rating (mainly due to the fight sequence) but don't be surprised if I drop this down upon rewatch.

5/10 (MEH episode)

[hippythehippo]

Pretty much what jjs said. This episode drags on for the first 9 or 10 minutes with mediocre slapstick and the same joke that Sandy is overcompetitive over and over again. It feels odd that this one had to be the 16 minute ep when there were so many better candidates in the season (Squid Noir, Doodle Dimension, Karens Virus, etc), and we discussed on discord that it might be so they could make The String a short? I don't know if it was worth it, since the episode felt padded for the most part. The Buddhist/anime fight felt very off to me, almost like the end fight in Karate Island. It was there I guess. I wish that if they did have to go with Sandy being aggresive, that they made her see the errors of her ways in a more softer light, rather than having to legit fight jellyfish. Other than that, this isn't really that bad, there are much worse specials in the series, but this one feels forgettable and uninteresting for me. I wish they had a different plot for the ep if it really had to be 16 minutes.

5/10

 

This episode gets worse every time I think about it. I don't think I really enjoyed anything in this episode at all. Even the fight scene felt lazy. The chainsaw jellyfish were maybe kinda funny, but the rest is boring and padded out. Debating 2 or 3/10.

[SpongeOddFan]

Everything jjs said above sounds about right. I felt like they could've at least cut it down to 11 minutes. Honestly, I find this episode to be very mixed episode with Sandy being over-competitive in first half of this episode, BUT the other halk of this episode saved me from being disappointed cause I really like anime-esque battle at the end.

But yeah, very mixed episode IMO.

Final Grade: C+

[Matt0417]

Okay, I can see why people are already pretty mixed on this episode, but I thought it was fine enough. First off, there's tons of great things to notice in the visuals. Post-sequel is known for being visually stunning, I know, but this episode, like Karen's Virus, gives alot of details to backgrounds. The burnt down Jellyfish Fields and Sandy's Buddhism shenanigans all have some pretty cool eye candy. I also should mention this episode has alot of stakes, at least in the second half.

As for jokes? This is the thing that makes this episode just good instead of great. I liked some of them, like the dribble scene, but there's not that much good dialogue here. That's pretty much my only real problem though.

7.5/10

[WhoBibbles]

I felt conflicted on this because I actually liked the concept here. Sandy in jellyfishing field competing against SpongeBob and Patrick is actually terrific. And I liked the story here mostly for making Sandy realize she has been over-competitive and agrresive. Yeah, it's over the top here but It has been a part of Sandy from beginning. And I liked more rational and calm Sandy. There are a lot to like here such as the epic anime style fight or it's just SANDY IS THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST, PROTECTOR OF KUN LUN, SWORN ENEMY OF THE HAND and animation was spectacular here. Unfortunately the episode suffered from sone repetitiveness over Sandy catching jellyfishes and SpongeBob/Patrick getting hurt and pacing was so messy that it dragged the whole episode. Biggest issue here was that it could have been much better as a 11 minute episode. Like how Goo Lagoon stuff was so unnecessary and it was all same Sandy is so extreme jokes. Comedy here was so overdone with these and there weren't enough good and different jokes to balance it out. Plus Sandy getting back to her old agrresive side was a bit lame. I could have done it better as Sandy being pissed off at the jellyfish but later not minding that. 

So yeah, the episode does really great stuff and I don't thik it's as forgettable as people say but it just doesn't come together well with bad pacing and same jokes over abd over.

Grade: B-

[Coffee_lover]

After finishing this episode I have only one solid question:Hiw the fuck Karen’s Virus is only 11 minutes episode when Vincent(Or someone else)say that there a lot of ideas and material that been cut out from episode because there no place for it,and then give this episode 16 minutes while it’s can perfectly feets as a regular short.Just how that happens???

 

Begin said,this episode suck,not Ink Lemonade or Doodle Dimension tier of badness,but god it’s so lame.Like pretty much everyone said,episode is simply full of filler,most of the scenes goes too long than they should or don’t even needed to be there,which is proof that it’s not 16 minutes special worthy at all!Heck,if cut all unnecessary stuff of episode,it’s maybe not gonna be ever 11 minutes long,which is saying a lot about how cheap and uncreative it is.

 

Unfortunately,Squirrel Jelly has more flaws than just begin boring.My main problem with episode is that Sandy written really bad,sure,episode has a point about she beggin unlikable for plot point and solving of conflict,but in this case I don’t like her at all because how poorly written she was.She simply don’t have any reason to be jerk as she was in this episode,yes,she like extreme stuff,but it’s not as randomly and complete ignorance for your nature and friends,and I would forgive this point easily,if it’s wouldn’t take so long until Sandy finally get that she is not very right,it’s just annoying and lazy way to make your protagonist like Sandy in SJ.Then,I really don’t wanna be a PieGuyLulz here,but episode felt not really fresh,the first half is simply Jellyfish Hunter except it’s has Sandy instead of Mrs Krabs and full of nothingness.And the second half is kind of reminds me of second half of Feral Friends...I’II guess,but this one is probably a nitpicking.What is NOT nitpicking is the fact,that episode is really unfunny,it’s not even trying to be,I’m smiled at Pat the Horse callback,and that part where Patrick randomly give one Jellyfish some money,mayyyyyyyyyybe that fighting scene in treedom is mildly amusing,but that’s really it,the rest of the jokes is simply mediocre and bland,just as episode itself.

 

Again,This.Episode.Is.A.Waste.I really feel myself asleep when I watched this """"""Special"""""",and I guess we all can see why. It’s boring,secondary,full of poor jokes and unlikable protagonist.I think it’s wouldn’t that disliking worthy if it’s been just a normal episode.But as a special,it’s a mess.As much as I love to joking about The String,even unironically that short has much more potential to be a special than this thing had.I hope that Goons on the Moons ended up enjoyable,even though it looks quite wired,at least it’s looking as something special worthy.

 

Rating:

Edited November 18, 2018 by Coffee_lover

[Coffee_lover]

I can’t believe that my rating for a  S11 episode is 100% simular to Lumoshi’s 

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by Coffee_lover

[4EverGreen]

First off, in response to Trash Boat, there are a good number of episodes of "Spongebob Squarepants" that I like, which DON'T have any naked male characters in them whatsoever, such as "F.U.N.", "Band Geeks", and "Spongebob Meets the Strangler," just to name a few!  Second, I thought this episode was a pretty interesting concept. The beginning really didn't bother me that much. It's just really interesting to see how the writers of "Spongebob Squarepants" are making Sandy more interesting, by actually giving her flaws to her as an individual. While Sandy has always been competitive, I feel that this is the first time in this series where it's actually treated like a flaw. While the battle at the end with jellyfish, who combined together to form a GIANT jellyfish, certainly shows that while it's definitely okay to be competitive when you're fighting for something or for someone you like, maybe EASE off a bit when you're just trying to jellyfish!  It certainly was interesting to see Sandy TEMPORARILY become a Zen Buddhist, and I really loved the Anime-esque battle at the end, that was pretty cool!  Overall, I'd give this episode an 8/10, just because I feel that the beginning could've been tightened up a bit, or they could've extended the battle against the Giant Jellyfish! 

[BeachBob95]

4 hours ago, 4EverGreen said:

First off, in response to Trash Boat, there are a good number of episodes of "Spongebob Squarepants" that I like, which DON'T have any naked male characters in them whatsoever, such as "F.U.N.", "Band Geeks", and "Spongebob Meets the Strangler," just to name a few!  Second, I thought this episode was a pretty interesting concept. The beginning really didn't bother me that much. It's just really interesting to see how the writers of "Spongebob Squarepants" are making Sandy more interesting, by actually giving her flaws to her as an individual. While Sandy has always been competitive, I feel that this is the first time in this series where it's actually treated like a flaw. While the battle at the end with jellyfish, who combined together to form a GIANT jellyfish, certainly shows that while it's definitely okay to be competitive when you're fighting for something or for someone you like, maybe EASE off a bit when you're just trying to jellyfish!  It certainly was interesting to see Sandy TEMPORARILY become a Zen Buddhist, and I really loved the Anime-esque battle at the end, that was pretty cool!  Overall, I'd give this episode an 8/10, just because I feel that the beginning could've been tightened up a bit, or they could've extended the battle against the Giant Jellyfish! 

I think Sandy's competitiveness and aggressiveness were demonstrated as early as MuscleBob BuffPants (the part with the working out at the treedome), Texas and in particular Prehibernation Week.

[So Sejima]

Since people have been waiting for me to do this, I'm gonna post my live thoughts on my first watch here so this review is going to be different than my usual ones

Spoiler

Not even 15 seconds into the episode and I already hate the coloring of the basketball court, that's an ugly orange 

The opening gag with Patrick dribbling and saying "dribble" over and over is painful. It does an effective job of making Sandy rightfully annoyed, but you can have characters be justly annoyed without annoying the audience  , see any Squidward episode in pre movie.

Why Sandy made her own ball out of barnacles and jumping over Pat and SB instead of just.....stealing the ball he was dribbling since she has no trouble running him over is a mystery

Oh god SB and Pat are just gonna be painfully slow at everything here, that's not funny, that's padding, in a 16 minute episode this is gonna be painful

Good job with that property damage Sandy. I get she's supposed to be "extra" but it's not like the visuals with her and the cart are anything amazing so what's the justification with literally anything in this scene?

The airhorn at the end of the scene is giving me Ink flashbacks for the love of god I don't trust this season with any loud megaphones/airhorns/etc. don't let this be a running gag

Tf are Krabs and Squidward doing at Goo Lagoon for? Larry could've done that with Sb and Pat just fine, and adding them into Sandy's bragfest is just pointless, and it's dickish that she's strangling Squidward with her tail because "Lol ecks dee Squidward pain fun-e!!!!"

....I get that the contrast between her saying they're "delicate" is supposed to be the joke, but the tone of her voice as she says it royally pisses me off

......So like, was any of this Goo Lagoon shit even necessary? The ep is about jellyfishing right? You can just set Sandy up as competitive at Jellyfish Fields 

Oh haha the joke is that Patrick wants to do the same thing as SpongeBob but didn't say so because joke. It doesn't seem like padding but every needless exaggeration like that in a 16 minute episode stings

You tryna convince me that Sandy can beat up all those people at Goo Lagoon and nobody questions it except for SB making one fucking comment about her being excessive that only Patrick hears and does nothing about? FOH with that shit

Needless dicking around with shapeshifting like the Patrick horse head, yawn

Goddamn the jellyfish going back in between their nets is dragging too. I'm not even five minutes into this. The jellyfish tagging the one on the bench was slightly cool, I'll give it that, but not even 5 minutes into this and there's so much that's just slogging. I get that it's the point but that doesn't mean it's good at all, the writers aren't learning this at all with any of this episode whatsoever so far

....i'm sorry did they just imply that Sandy is a hunter?

Sandy being petty enough to try and capture the jellyfish for herself and not even giving anyone else the chance to capture stuff, then getting pissy over Patrick catching just one is a horrible character moment. Especially the line "releasing them from their freedom." Coupled with the joke about having a jellyfish on her fucking wall earlier, I'm concerned if the writers think she's an actual psychopath

GODFUCKINGDAMMIT THEY'RE DOING THE AIRHORN AGAIN IT IS GONNA BE A SHITTY RUNNING GAG FUCK THIS GODDAMN SEASON AND IT'S LACKING OF BASIC KNOWLEDGE ON FUCKING VOLUME SETTINGS

Sandy getting bored with jellyfishing being simple and wanting to do more is actually a novel concept. Shame she's been such a fucking bitch about it

The jellybuzzsaw thing was actually good....until they went and poked Patrick's eyes out from the inside

Patrick's feet screaming actually made me laugh, credit where it's due  

Sandy wrangling up the muscle jellyfish is somewhat neat

Burnt jellyfish fields look cool, Sandy was a bit excessive as usual but in this case I can excuse it

STOP WITH THE AIRHORNS PLEASE

Why the fuck does Larry only show up to JellyFish Fields to chastise Sandy? They purposefully had them at Goo Lagoon earlier, did they not do so there because Sandy didn't realize shit yet? If that's the case why didn't she recognize any of this shit earlier when everyone was brutally injured?

The zen imagery is an interesting take, doesn't make sense how she's able to do it so easily though but I guess because SB's a comedy that's the point? Feels slightly lazy though

Banging on the door only to just end up opening it later so they can show off the jellyfish, bad pacing direction. Show the mega jellyfish chasing them from the start and have them fiddle with the door before opening it quickly, no need to focus that much on them not opening the door.

The zen shit was getting cliche and they dragged it out when it obviously wasn't working. Did like the sitar vs electric guitar and the jellyfish taking time to pick apart the one flower gags but everything else left no impact

The fight was alright but talk about an underwhelming ending when it's just random zen bs saving the day, feels like a bit of a copout

What is this episode and its fascination with Patrick's ass or his pants?

They go "that's our Sandy" but the karma she faced for all that stuff wasn't really bad aside from a few stingings which is minor compared to the injuries everyone else got so it doesn't come across well to me.

I know SB is a comedy and I likely ended up nitpicking a lot due to the format of this review but this episode is definitely bad. Some parts really piss me off but a certain amount of this I'm indifferent to. I'm not sure exactly where I'd rank this but I'm thinking for now at least near the bottom 50 range, wouldn't be surprised if it angers me enough on rewatch to put bottom 25. For now I'd give it like a 2-3/10 and for the sake of this poll I'll say 1/5

[NegiSpongie]

This was a pretty good episode. It was nice to see Sandy's extreme nature again. I liked seeing her jellyfishing with SpongeBob and Patrick, but he competitiveness kinda got annoying after a while. I did like the part where Sandy fed the jellyfish some steroid fish food. Her trying to be more peaceful was a tad dull, but the action sequences were good.

[Aquatic Konquest]

It's not the worst 16 minutes of anything I've ever seen in my life by any means, but this episode only really tells me that the show does not know what to do with Sandy as a character; the episode really just ends up stretching out her competitiveness, as well as providing us with a filler beginning that, if removed, would have absolutely no impact on the plot of the episode itself. The Goo Lagoon scene is dumb since there's no actual pay-off to it given later in the episode; everything starts at Jellyfish Fields and culminates at the Treedome. The battle at the end of the episode works well I suppose and the idea of Sandy jellyfishing is a good use of the character, but it's really only used to accentuate her competitive nature in the episode so the actual potential behind such a concept is never fully realized.

The episode all-in-all is just...okay, I guess.