111. SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One

[Jjs Goodman]

Discuss it here.

I thought it was alright, and that's good for Season 6, I guess. 8/10

[Wumbo]

Not the worst of Season 6 by a long mile, but for a special episode, it was sure boring. Not even Johnny Depp could save this one.

[JCM]

I liked that commercial where they talked about how big Kahuna's surfboard was. 7/10

[TJ]

It was great, maybe not as good as hyped.. but I enjoyed it.

[Young Nug]

Written By: Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, and Steven Banks

Never have I had such a relationship with an episode. I'm always at odds as to whether I love "Big One" for it's strong plot, solid storytelling, and fantastic animation and sequences, and for it's funny characters, but at the same time, I really hate how stupid the final two minutes of the episode are, and it's almost enough to turn me off from the episode entirely. Despite that, though, the episode actually feels like it would be more at home in Season 8 than Season 6, for a multitude of reasons.

Let's start off with what works. Big One has a lot of things going for it. It has a plot that manages to get all of the cast involved and give them equal screentime, with good transitions from one plot to the next. It has great animation (The scene where SpongeBob runs around the fire screaming "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SURF!!" is animated especially well), and it has a pretty good story as it's backbone, and there are a lot of memorable moments, particularly the scene where SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward surf to JKL's island to the tune of "Make A Beeline For the Treeline". The added focus on Sandy and Mr. Krabs/The Flying Dutchman was also done well.

Another good point for Big One is the visuals and the magic touch of our buddy, Aaron Springer. Springer at this point had deteriorated a bit in his writing. His habits for overlong sequences and pointless jokes grates on the nerves, and a lot of his episodes in Season 6 were flat out bad. At this point though, Aaron was the still the best storyteller on the show, being the one who moved stories along at a quick pace, sometimes too quick. However, with Springer's writing dip, his drawing skills took an upswing (or were featured in the show more, either one works). And in Big One, Springer goes all out. Funny faces and wacky expressions are galore here, and the College Dropout surfers are just the type of quirky Springer-esque characters that are hilarious and interesting at the same time. Springer's sketches on the rough direction were good enough that the storyboard artists left a lot of things unchanged, and it shows in the episode.

Despite the good things about Big One, around the second half of the episode, things start to take a dive. The visuals stay good, but as the three plot threads begin to intertwine, the plot gets a little wonky. If Sponge, Pat and Squid want to get home, they have to surf home on the "Big One", a huge wave. JKL specifically says one will not return. The friends round up Mr. Krabs as Sandy crash lands in Bikini Bottom. Soon, when it looks like Mr. Krabs is just about to die for his cash register, JKL comes out of nowhere, saves Mr. Krabs and lets himself get eaten by the wave. SpongeBob takes the surf lessons he learned from JKL and manages to get back to Bikini Bottom with his new skills. That's actually really good for a SpongeBob episode. That's poignant, it's logical, and above all, it's interesting. JKL said one wouldn't return, and he didn't return. Sad, and a little dark for a show like this, but it works really good, and the episode really could have ended with SB coming home to a party.

But of course, then things go stupid. SpongeBob and Co. come back to Bikini Bottom and are greeted to a party, which is nice and all. Then JKL returns. Out of absolutely nowhere. He gives Mr. Krabs his cash register and then they dance and then the episode ends. Seriously? You can't build up to a plot point like that the whole freaking episode and then just pretend it never happened. That's the glaring flaw in this episode, and it suffers because of it. The ending is rushed after a surprisingly good exposition and middle.

But, aside from that, Big One is really good, and that's saying something for a Season 6 Aaron Springer episode. It was also nice to see Paul Tibbitt writing again. The drawings in this one really make me wish Aaron Springer was still on the show, since his sketches aren't as obvious on Gravity Falls.

Big One gets a 9/10. If the ending wasn't so rushed, it could have been higher. But still, great for Season 6.

[Cha]

Written By: Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, and Steven Banks

Never have I had such a relationship with an episode. I'm always at odds as to whether I love "Big One" for it's strong plot, solid storytelling, and fantastic animation and sequences, and for it's funny characters, but at the same time, I really hate how stupid the final two minutes of the episode are, and it's almost enough to turn me off from the episode entirely. Despite that, though, the episode actually feels like it would be more at home in Season 8 than Season 6, for a multitude of reasons.

Let's start off with what works. Big One has a lot of things going for it. It has a plot that manages to get all of the cast involved and give them equal screentime, with good transitions from one plot to the next. It has great animation (The scene where SpongeBob runs around the fire screaming "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SURF!!" is animated especially well), and it has a pretty good story as it's backbone, and there are a lot of memorable moments, particularly the scene where SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward surf to JKL's island to the tune of "Make A Beeline For the Treeline". The added focus on Sandy and Mr. Krabs/The Flying Dutchman was also done well.

Another good point for Big One is the visuals and the magic touch of our buddy, Aaron Springer. Springer at this point had deteriorated a bit in his writing. His habits for overlong sequences and pointless jokes grates on the nerves, and a lot of his episodes in Season 6 were flat out bad. At this point though, Aaron was the still the best storyteller on the show, being the one who moved stories along at a quick pace, sometimes too quick. However, with Springer's writing dip, his drawing skills took an upswing (or were featured in the show more, either one works). And in Big One, Springer goes all out. Funny faces and wacky exp<b></b>ressions are galore here, and the College Dropout surfers are just the type of quirky Springer-esque characters that are hilarious and interesting at the same time. Springer's sketches on the rough direction were good enough that the storyboard artists left a lot of things unchanged, and it shows in the episode.

Despite the good things about Big One, around the second half of the episode, things start to take a dive. The visuals stay good, but as the three plot threads begin to intertwine, the plot gets a little wonky. If Sponge, Pat and Squid want to get home, they have to surf home on the "Big One", a huge wave. JKL specifically says one will not return. The friends round up Mr. Krabs as Sandy crash lands in Bikini Bottom. Soon, when it looks like Mr. Krabs is just about to die for his cash register, JKL comes out of nowhere, saves Mr. Krabs and lets himself get eaten by the wave. SpongeBob takes the surf lessons he learned from JKL and manages to get back to Bikini Bottom with his new skills. That's actually really good for a SpongeBob episode. That's poignant, it's logical, and above all, it's interesting. JKL said one wouldn't return, and he didn't return. Sad, and a little dark for a show like this, but it works really good, and the episode really could have ended with SB coming home to a party.

But of course, then things go stupid. SpongeBob and Co. come back to Bikini Bottom and are greeted to a party, which is nice and all. Then JKL returns. Out of absolutely nowhere. He gives Mr. Krabs his cash register and then they dance and then the episode ends. Seriously? You can't build up to a plot point like that the whole freaking episode and then just pretend it never happened. That's the glaring flaw in this episode, and it suffers because of it. The ending is rushed after a surprisingly good exposition and middle.

But, aside from that, Big One is really good, and that's saying something for a Season 6 Aaron Springer episode. It was also nice to see Paul Tibbitt writing again. The drawings in this one really make me wish Aaron Springer was still on the show, since his sketches aren't as obvious on Gravity Falls.

Big One gets a 9/10. If the ending wasn't so rushed, it could have been higher. But still, great for Season 6.

I agree with your opinions Aquatic. The first bit of the episode was pretty great itself. The surfers were memorable and pretty interesting. And just like you said, the visuals on this were just great. How did you feel on the actual subplots though? I felt like the Sandy one was unneeded. Personally I would have liked if Mr. Krabs should have been with Sandy.

[Young Nug]

The actual subplots themselves were not necessarily needed, per say, but they were actually really interesting and funny and served as a nice diversion from the main plot. Mr. Krabs and The Flying Dutchman were a hilarious pair.

"You just made me spill my milk!"

"Well, there's no use in cryin' over it!"

And while Sandy's plot felt a little pointless, it was still just nice to see her at all. I also liked how Sandy eventually resolved Mr. Krabs' dilemma and he became part of the main plot in the end.

[Cha]

At least she was interesting when everyone thought she was an alien too.

[NegiSpongie]

I really like this episode. I thought a lot of it was funny, especially the part with Davy Jones locker and the parts with JKL.

[D'oh!]

Amazing special with beautiful animation and great writing. I especially liked this close-up:

[4EverGreen]

I can't believe I forgot all about THAT screenshot!  The episode itself, I would give a 9.5 out of 10!  But that screenshot, I'd have to give a TWO out of ten, and THAT'S being generous!  Enough said! 

[Jelly Lelly]

Highlight: My Shoes Melted Off

$3 Per Patty! Sold!

[4EverGreen]

6 hours ago, Jelly Lelly said:

Highlight: My Shoes Melted Off

$3 Per Patty! Sold!

Hard to BELIEVE that $3 per patty can NOW be considered CHEAP! What is this WORLD coming to?! Rhetorical question, don't answer!