SBC's Top 50 Worst Episodes Ever! (20 Years Edition)

[Klu]

The Day Without Tears butchered the idea I wanted to returb to the show since season 1, no less. Rivalry between Spongebob and Squidward. Idea of this episode doesn't sound too bad, but execution just falls flat. Jokes are either boring with no energy or creativy or they are annyoing. I don't like characterization of main leads either, Squidward seems overly malicious for no reason, going beyond being just competetive and SpongeBob himself was flandarized beyond belief in this particular ep. So yeah, not a fan.

The Card is just super awful. This episode is just pure frustration frim start to finish with terrible Patrick to boot. One of those "infamous" episodes that I am glad are still getting really negative reputation. It's not like this episode didn' had any potential either, on contrary, SpongeBob and Patrick are Mermaid Man nerds, so episode like that would've appeared sooner or later. But, again, execution... not much else to say since Slug's commentary is pretty self-explanatory on why this episode is dumpster fire.

[SpongeOddFan]

A Day Without Tears

While i still didn't like this episode. This first half is basically SB cried a lot is pretty annoying, and 2nd half was a bet to see if Squidward would win by making SB cry. I like the 2nd half more than 1st half. I might conisder this to be best  since this could be likable episode like OWM point it out, but to me, it's still bad.

The Card

Yeahh, this is yet another Patrick epsode that we all know why we hated him so much. There isn't that much to say this beside how annoying he is. Overall, nothing great about this episode IMO.

[WhoBibbles]

A Day Without Tears still being on the list hurts because after like 2 fucking awful minutes, I feel ok with this one. It was nothing fancy but I did enjoy the classic SpongeBob/Squidward rivalry and jokes like father/son tv series or the sunset and the ending felt priceless imo (TIL people actually feel bad for Squidward here, he is the one to make a bet!). So yea, I just don't mind this episode like some other folks do.

I also can't hate The Card. It's mediocre imo but also kind of relatable and i was a lil bit entertained by Patrick in first 4-5 mins. I usually hate this type of episodes where they completely dumb down Patrick but I didn't mind it here. Not at least last 2-3 mins and I thought the punchline of Patrick having all the cards worked out in the end. It's an ep i get the hatred but me personally don't have a strong feeling one way or another.

[So Sejima]

Agree with OWM and said so last year, ADWT ain't great but it being on the list whatsoever is completely absurd and the same goes for the Card which feels like the most undeserving random target that's popped up recently on discord. Don't get these, never will, would rather so many other terrible episodes instead.

[BeachBob95]

I really like the card because I like collecting. The tears episode was just soooo annoying and childish, which is why it made my list. It's not the worst, tho. The 43 joke was funny and I liked the bet.

[dmandagiraffe]

A Day without Tears is a tad bit overhated. Lots of people treat is as one of the most annoying episodes (and I can see where they're coming from), but I find it mostly meh. SpongeBob's crying isn't over the top annoying like in a few other episodes which I'm sure we'll get to. And hey, we get to see SB and Squidward hang out again! The Card is an episode I can't defend however. Patrick is as close to braindead as he can get in this episode and it's not even comedic at all. Not to mention that infamous line which confirms Patrick has always been aware of his harmful actions, though I give it a pass due to SpongeBob's severe lack of continuity. Episode still sucks, though. There's more wrong with it and I would have gone into detail if offered to do so.

In fact, The Card is the first episode so far to have an appearance on my bottom 25:

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[Steel Sponge]

44. The Play's the Thing: While I agree that isn't nowhere near being of the most memorable SB episodes, I disagree that this is worth any more contempt, so I respect this for landing lower on the list. I've just seen duller episodes and worse execution in its jokes. While I've at least remembered enjoying some bits from "The Play's the Thing," I find "Gullible Pants" to be a worse case, as I thought it was frustrating to watch all the way through.

42. A Day Without Tears: Surprised that this didn't reach #43. Jokes asides, yeah...I'm not going to hold back my thoughts on this. OWM's commentary is pretty much on-point. I actually think this is a genuinely good episode while it is by no means remarkable. ADWT is definitely a lot more than just an episode about SpongeBob crying if you move past the crying scenes. Sure, some scenes with SB's crying can still be annoying, but at the very least, they take up only a few minutes of the episode's length, and it isn't done solely to serve the purpose of the episode's jokes, but also to serve the story's purpose. Also, I've dealt with worse in terms of any scenes with SB's crying. I mean come on, lest we forget "All That Glitters?"

As for the rest of the episode itself, I've enjoyed quite a few of the episode's jokes, including those that center on Squidward attempting to make SpongeBob cry. I also thought the plot was interesting with SpongeBob and Squidward making a bet with each other. Has it been done before? Well, much like with any other SB episode, not every single plot is completely original. I can see the episode's similarities with "Funny Pants" but I wouldn't go around saying that the episode is a rip-off (Although, why would I? I've mentioned it several times before that I absolutely hate how the word "rip-off" has constantly been thrown around in any circle of the internet) of "Employee of the Month"/"Squeaky Boots"/"Dying for Pie"/etc. because it contains certain elements that were present in any other episode. Otherwise, that would just be comparing apples to oranges. My point is, despite that the episode has elements that seem like they were taken from past episodes, "A Day Without Tears" is still at least distinguishable.

If there's any problem that I do have with the episode, it's the out-of-place phone call conversation between SB and Patrick that was clearly there to completely fill up the episode's run time. Now why does no one ever talk about THAT? 

41. The Card: This episode, IMO, is just mediocre. There's not much else that I could add about this except that I've seen worse portrayals of Patrick's character. 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Steel Sponge

[Honest Slug]

A Day Without Tears is a really awful episode, I despise the the beginning of this episode and the rest is boring. If I could expand my list past 25 this would make it.

The Card is self-explanatory.

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[EmployeeAMillion]

Again, I understand their placing and why people may not hate The Card as much anymore, but I personally had it on my list.

[SI-LLY]

50. The Fish Bowl is a very odd episode, I honestly enjoy the conflict between SpongeBob and Patrick, yeah Patrick is a dick but idc, its fun and crazy, and I do not care about the ending because its just a gag and to the characters Squidward was annoying and deserves it, 9/10.

49. Pineapple Fever is another fun episode, I like how stupid the jokes are and how everyone goes crazy, though it drags on at some points, 8/10.

48. Gone, this one is hella surreal, I do wish the episode focused more on the fact SpongeBob is slowly going into a descent into madness, and yeah the ending exists but I do not mind it because I dunno, but I do see why to others it hurts the whole episode, 9/10.

41. The Card, this one actually sucks, but unlike what most others think, its SpongeBob who I dislike here, I get he cares about this card and hes a nice guy, but he could had just asked Patrick for it or something, but instead you get SpongeBob being annoying. Also, Patrick is harmless here, he just acts like Patrick, its pretty boring. Also lame premise. 4/10

I'll get to 47-42 eventually.

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by SI-LLY

[President Squidward]

The Play's The Thing: Was on my list last year, but I've found a few other eps I find worse. This is definitely top 30 though, just an awful, frustrating, boring episode that exists and goes nowhere besides mean-spiritness all around.

Pet Sitter Pat: I'm not sure what to feel about this ep. I used to love it, then hated it in recent years, then now feel indifferent to it. Guess it has some entertainment for me if I saw it. I'd probably be wrong with this one compared to my thoughts on Pineapple Fever and The Main Drain, though.

A Day Without Tears: it's okay... not worthy imo. but I guess I can understand people's frustrations towards it?

The Card: Enterbots have taken over sbc for real though, another alright ep I don't see as a worthy contender but understand I guess anyway, I should actually post the picks that are on here that DID make it to my list like everyone else is doing now.

 

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Edited May 16, 2019 by President Squidward

[Coffee_lover]

Gone is far from making my list,I’m agree that it’s absolutely aimless and ending was a copout.But atmosphere spot on for the first half and 1 or 2 little gags made me chuckle.Just a regular 4-3/10 eppy.

 

Squidward’s School for Grown Ups while barely,but made my list,what a obnoxious and unfunny episode along with a protagonist that I cannot appeal or fell sorry at all because how loud and forced he is.Glad that people like Honest Slug egged me to hate this episode,it is that bad.

 

I actually disagree with Googly Artiste the most so far.I don’t mind Patrick and it’s in general one of 5-6 Season 8 episodes that has jokes that are generally works,such as Critic himself. It’s don’t belong to Bottom 50 imo.

 

You Don’t Know Sponge is compete waste of time and has nothing valuable besides maybe 1 or 2 minor visual gags at the beginning.Not made my Bottom 25 but I’m glad that it made the list for the first time.

 

The Play’s The Thing...is definitely a thing,Bottom 50 for it is overkill but it’s not making episode less mediocre and forgettable.

 

I don’t care about Per Sitter Pat at all.There’s nothing funny about Patrick’s stupidity and so on,but it’s still tame compared to something like Patrick from Smoothe Jazz or Restarting Spongebob,plus Spongebob’s plot is cute.Not made my Bottom 25 nor 50.However 40s range is pretty fair to place it.

 

A Day Without Tears doesn’t belong to Bottom 50 either,maybe first half on annoying but I think that second half was actually pretty decent,if not fairly funny.Just a Middle-of-the-Road one.

 

The Card made my list easily.How you can screw Patrick this badly,all of the humor is painfully predictable and infuriating,not to mention ending makes zero sense and made half of the entire thing completely pointless.

 

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[SG19]

IMO, Chefbob is The Play's The Thing done right.

[4EverGreen]

"A Day Without Tears" probably could (and probably has) in the past, made my personal bottom 25 list, I just personally found worse episodes THIS year!  There are episodes where Spongebob crying is done okay, and others where it can be downright intolerable. Guess exactly WHERE on the bottom half that episode would fall!  I honestly like "The Card" as an episode, and as far as post-movie episodes go, I think it's one of the better ones, so I honestly don't understand how "The Card" managed to make the list!  Almost to the bottom 40, and no episode of mine has been picked yet! Maybe this year might end up being my personal best, in terms of the episodes I picked, and where they rank, in terms of how close I got each episode ranked! We'll just have to wait and see!  Enough said, for now!

[President Squidward]

2 hours ago, SI-LLY said:

50. The Fish Bowl is a very odd episode, I honestly enjoy the conflict between SpongeBob and Patrick, yeah Patrick is a dick but idc, its fun and crazy, and I do not care about the ending because its just a gag and to the characters Squidward was annoying and deserves it, 9/10.

49. Pineapple Fever is another fun episode, I like how stupid the jokes are and how everyone goes crazy, though it drags on at some points, 8/10.

48. Gone, this one is hella surreal, I do wish the episode focused more on the fact SpongeBob is slowly going into a descent into madness, and yeah the ending exists but I do not mind it because I dunno, but I do see why to others it hurts the whole episode, 9/10.

Squidward shouldn’t have been annoying at all though, so he doesn’t deserve what he’s got since he got hit with bad, out of character writing from writers who don’t know how to write Squidward correctly, so while he’s annoying as hell, it’s not like him so I feel sympathy of the poor writing he’s given.  

[OWM]

40. "Face freeze? I thought that was a myth!"

Face Freeze!, 105 points

8 out of 41 lists (Highest Rank #4 @Coffee_lover) (0)

Coffee: While this episode isn’t nearly my least favorite of all time, I always understood out of all "it’s not that bad" statements for any famous episodes the least. What people even see here to defend in the first place?Any other episodes,absolutely any,has even the minimalistic impact put into them,even something as soulless as House Sittin for Sandy,irritating as Choir Boys,or downright offensive like Stuck in the Wringer had it’s "background" with some noticeable qualities put into them,as much as they bad.But Face Freeze???This episode is absolutely nothing but a eye torture.While some people don’t minded faces that episode has,I still stand by it begin really irritating here.I don’t think that the fact that faces themselves has a new,different look and more detailed compared to former seasons is bad...but those particular expressions I’m just can’t handle.I really,really don’t like the style of middle-post movie’s designs,it’s not I’m want to say that I dislike people who drawn them,I think that Robert Cory is a very talented guy and I’m adore his works out of context or in shows where his edgy exaggeration have its fitting place(just looks at his works in Gravity Falls for example).But in context of Spongebob,they felt flat and unneeded,all of those over-detailed vines and tooth are just not something that belongs to this universe.I prefer animation style of recent seasons more because,while they are different indeed,they still has the positive and colorful vibe that made me love Spongebob in the first place.But into Face Freeze,all of those faces made my eyes burns during watching the whole thing,even Season 6’s episodes has some timing before throw some ugly looking face on the screen,here this caricature disaster goes with every single frame,not to mention the stiffness of Season 8’s animation didn’t helped with this situation in the slightest.

But okay, that’s was only problem of episode on the surface.Some people will say right now "well I’m don’t mind the faces and the rest episode was fine",but here’s one thing,that "rest" doesn’t exist and never existed.Say whatever you want about stuff like The Splinter,Fungus Among Us or To Love a Patty,as much as they suck and failed at begin entertaining with their gross-out attempts(even though I don’t dislike The Splinter that much),they has some actual conflict and development put into them,not to mention that despite them begin gross,they take some to time to breath out before distract you with some junk.Face Freeze,if you cut the faces,is an absolute dead air,technically,there’s was a conflict,but it’s nothing but a cheap-ass Hooky copy,instead of telling creative story with a good message,it’s nothing but a slideshow of caricature faces that doesn’t work for this show.Not to mention that all of those faces take tooooooooooooooooo much of a time that just throw out any substance,if you cut all of scenes that just stoped the whole thing to show another disgusting face,I’m doubt there’s going to me more than a 2 minutes in total,if not less.Characters doesn’t even have any actual reason or motivation for making all of those faces too,it’s just started with Spongebob and Patrick doing idiotic expressions,and it’s ended with that.Oh yeah,episode doesn’t have actual ending either,the whole thing just cut off from another idiotic faces force.Episodes that I mentioned above has at least some variations at humor,they aren’t funny for sure,but I still got something from them.Face Freeze...think that those disgusting expressions is enough to be a comedy genius and let this begin the only joke for 11 minutes,literally,there’s non a single other attempt at comedy that any different.

And that’s why I’m having it this high on my list:There’s absolutely nothing defendable or redeemable to pointing out.And I’m still fail to see how this episode isn’t "all that bad",and made a previous lists pretty low.There’s just nothing going for unless if you’re a fan of Robert Cory’s artwork,but even then I think you better just go to the google and find his concept arts on the internet,because actual episode thanks to the low budget of Season 8 made his designs looks much more stiff and lifeless.Even besides visuals begin painful,or at least just unnecessary,there’s basically no plot and an similar premise that been executed way better back in Season 1,the way episode attempted sense of humor is incredibly childish,even really dumped down actually.The characters feels completely off.And the highest definition of bore and blandness that can’t bring me to finish this garbage even more.I can’t see any positives for this one unless if something like "it’s not as cancerous as Squid Baby"counts as a plus. And yes people who unironically compare this episode to post sequel era should be evacuated from this planet,like what is your problem people.

39. "Now that you two have ruined the last good thing in my life... I think I'll go slam my head in the door. Repeatedly."

Cephalopod Lodge, 110 points

11 out of 41 lists (Highest Rank #3 @Patty Rose) (-4)

Melon: This episode is one I’m surprised doesn’t get farther into the list compared to other squid abuse episodes. This episode has some of the worst things that happen to Squidward without being entertaining enough to justify it. The episode involves Squidward losing the one thing he looked forward to in his life, because Spongebob and Patrick needed to stalk Squidward because “he seemed happy” and the lodge thinks it’s justified to kick someone out of their club because someone else followed them when they didn’t even know. Spongebob and Patrick don’t even take responsibility for it either; they refuse to blame themselves in the scene where they try to convince the guy to let Squidward back in the lodge. I also hate how Spongebob and Patrick’s idea of a way to make Squidward feel happy is stinging his tongue with a jellyfish. While I like the sockpuppet gag stuff, what happens after is one of the worst endings of the series; Spongebob and Patrick just have to go out of the sock puppet, which causes Squidward to get kicked out of the lodge again……. So Spongebob and Patrick sting Squidward’s tongue again…… The thing that annoys me about this ending is that they didn’t even need to do it. They could of easily ended the episode with Squidward getting back into the lodge and it would’ve helped the episode so much. Having him get kicked out again was completely unnecessary. While I do think “bad things happen to a character” is a bad reason to hate an episode if it still does entertaining stuff, the problem with this episode is that what happens to Squidward is really brutal; and while I wouldn’t care about that if the episode was entertaining, it really wasn’t besides the sockpuppet gag, and that isn’t enough to stop this from being a bad episode because of it.

[WhoBibbles]

Honestly I don't hate Face Freeze because I just happened to like some of the faces and it was nice seeing Mr. Krabs actually caring for SpongeBob and Patrick and trying to teach them a lesson. It's Hooky all over but I'm a sucker for this Krabs over cheap and greedy Krabs anytime. But I understand the hatred. To me, it was rather bland and I admit that some other faces were truly disturbing and annoying.

As for Cephalopod Lodge, I actually don't mind his one. I'm a sucker for secret cult premises and I enjoyed SpongeBob and Patrick desperately trying to make Squidward happy with their own club like chicken suits. I enjoyed puppet gag and I also got a bit laugh at jellyfish gag as well. However I do agree that ending was a slap in the face and it ruined what could have been an actual great episode. So I get why it's on this list.

[WinterArcanine]

Both of these episodes made my list. This is probably gonna be one of the very few times this happens.

Face Freeze, I honestly don’t know what’s even here to defend besides literally one joke “You need help”. The only thing to this episode is a very bland story and faces. Just faces. That’s it. And the faces are gross. This results in a rare instance where even I find an episode boring, and the episode is gross besides that anyway. The ending is also nonsensical... why do Mr Krabs and Squidward get it after one second?

I already commentated on Cephalopod Lodge, and I’m very glad it made the list. Hopefully Yours, Mine, and Mine makes it too.

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45. The Googly Artiste (#46)

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 3/25 6/50

 

[dmandagiraffe]

Face Freeze is one of those episodes that I didn't get the hate for the longest time until I rewatched it and saw just how empty the episode really was plot-wise. SpongeBob and Patrick both do some stupid thing, they're warned not to do it, they continue, yadda yadda we've seen this before. It's basically a sub-par Ditchin', which was already a sub-par Hooky. Face Freeze is blaaaaand. Cephalopod Lodge is basically "Hey! Squidward's actually showing positive emotion! Let's change that!" the episode. Squidward is not allowed to be happy, silly! He deserves to be kicked out of what gives him joy and get tortured by his acquaintances as a result! Jesus. I hate to use the term STP, but this is up there with some of the worst ones. We'll get to the others, I'm sure of it. Though FF is bland and somewhat worthy of hate, it didn't make my list. CL did, however...

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[RD Rockruff]

Face Freeze: Bad. This episode is such a nothing episode; literally the only thing they do for a good part of the episode is make disgusting faces, perhaps some of the worst from the entire show. My problem with this episode isn't even that it's apparently a ripoff of Hooky, it's that it's a disgusting, boring and outright meaningless episode. Admittedly the Krusty Krab scene near the end got some (forced) chuckles out of me due to how stiff it is but that brings me to another point as well; yep, it's another forced Krusty Krab appearance in Season 8. Also, the ending makes literally zero sense: as has been stated above, it's illogical that Spongebob's and Patrick's faces become stuck overnight but Mr. Krabs's and Squidward's are stuck after like a split-second of making them. This episode made my list, and while it's in the upper half of the list, that doesn't give it any excuses. 2/10

Cephalopod Lodge: Also bad. My main gripe with this one isn't even just with that it's yet another poorly-written "Squidward gets bad luck" plot, it's also that this one is painfully boring when it's not painful. It's just an unfunny episode all the way through, not helped by the ending, which kills all meaning of anything done before it because it's another example of an S6 staple; Spongebob and Patrick being too dumb to live. As much as I hate the term "Squidward torture porn" (in addition, I feel that those sorts of plots can be funny if pulled off correctly), that's perhaps one of the few ways to describe this utter mess of an episode. This one missed my list but it's definitely at least bottom 50. 3/10