SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Barnacle Face/Pet Sitter Pat)

Pearl has a barnacle (which is basically like underwater acne) on her face right before a school dance and SpongeBob must help her get rid of it.  Most of the episode shows SpongeBob using various methods to get the barnacle off her face and failing. In the end, they cover her face with diamonds from Mr. Krabs’ safe to hide the barnacle.

Oh goody, a Pearl episode. We all know how much I love those, amirite?

Jokes aside, I actually didn’t mind Pearl too much in this episode. The odd thing is, even though this is considered a Pearl episode, it doesn’t center around her that much. It’s mostly centered around SpongeBob, Pearl is really more of a plot-device than anything. She’s easy to ignore here. Plus, her usual whining is toned down a lot in this episode, especially considering the premise. The one time where she does get really angry at Mr. Krabs is justified, so I can’t consider it whining.

Like Drive Thru, this episode has a similar structure to most pre-movie episodes. It’s not really a “traditional” story, but rather a simple scenario that the writers squeeze as many jokes out of as possible. Barnacle Face isn’t as funny as Drive Thru (or most pre-movie episodes for that matter), but it does have its moments. It’s not as gross as I was expecting, there’s only one gross-out gag and it’s not that bad. Really, it’s not a very memorable episode. It kept my interest while I was watching it and I enjoyed it, but it faded from memory pretty quickly afterward.

Rating: 6.5/10

SpongeBob gets an invitation for his grandmother’s birthday and needs to find someone to take care of Gary while he’s gone for the day. Because it’s not like he ever leaves Gary home alone when he goes to work? Whatever. He gets Patrick to do it and gives him a list of everything he needs to do for Gary. Of course Patrick doesn’t follow the list, and when he does he screws it up. So that’s basically the episode. Patrick does something wrong and Gary gets screwed over, and it’s punctuated with occasional scenes of SpongeBob nervously calling Patrick to hear how things are going.

Sigh. I really don’t want to review this episode.

It’s not even that it’s horrible. I didn’t like it, but it’s not one of those episodes that’s so awful I can rant about it. It’s just kind of… bleh.

Patrick’s stupidity and apathy toward taking good care of his friend’s home and pet got on my nerves, there is some Gary Abuse that’s not as bad as it could have been but still annoying, the jokes didn’t do much for me, and it’s not a very good idea for an episode to begin with because Patrick and Gary can’t exactly carry an episode on their own. They’re both too limited. At least SpongeBob is there to help them out, but he’s not in it enough for it to really work.

Rating: 2.5/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Ghoul Fools/Mermaid Man Begins/Plankton’s Good Eye)

Well, the Runaway Roadtrip miniseries is over, and now we have a Halloween special with a cool-looking title card.

It begins with SpongeBob and Patrick finding an old ghostly ship. Thinking it’s one of those fake haunted house attractions made for kids on Halloween, they decide to go explore it. Of course it’s not fake, it’s real, and the owner of the ship, a ghostly pirate named Lord Poltergeist, isn’t happy to find trespassers on his ship. He tells SpongeBob and Patrick that the reason his ship has landed in Bikini Bottom is because of a broken gasket. He offers them a doubloon if they find him a replacement gasket, and to give them incentive to return, he takes their souls. That’s pretty fucking metal. Anyway, SpongeBob and Patrick run to the Krusty Krab where Mr. Krabs, Squidward and Sandy are and tell them what happened. Mr. Krabs is interested in getting the doubloon, so he steals a gasket from some random fish’s car to give to Lord Poltergeist, saying that once they get there they can overpower the ghosts and steal their gold. Sandy offers to help with her device that detects and catches monsters, and Squidward tags along too because of reasons. They head back to the ship and Krabs finds a chest full of gold doubloons. He starts putting them in bags, when Lord Poltergeist appears from out of the chest. SpongeBob gives him the replacement gasket and LP explains that he never actually had their souls, when he spots Krabs, Squidward and Patrick trying to make off with his gold. He stops them and takes them into “The Void”, which shows each of them visions of torment. That’s when Sandy goes all Ghostbusters on LP and sucks Krabs, Squidward and Patrick out of The Void with her device. Once out of The Void, they discover that the gold actually belongs to the Flying Dutchman. Apparently LP used to be part of his crew and stole the Dutchman’s gold years ago. SpongeBob reports the theft to the Dutchman and the Dutchman attacks LP’s ship. And I guess he kills everyone because the episode ends with all of them in The Void, working at the Krusty Krab. So, I guess the Krusty Krab = Hell? I don’t know.

I can’t decide if I think this episode has too much going on or not enough.

This episode doesn’t seem to have a focus. The Great Patty Caper and Frozen Face-Off had a lot happening in them too, in fact I think there was more going on in those episodes than in Ghoul Fools, but they still had a focus and never lost sight of that focus. Everything fit together and felt like it was part of a larger story. The events in Ghoul Fools felt oddly disconnected from each other. It didn’t feel like one story, it felt like a bunch of smaller stories that vaguely related to each other. Each of the stories felt like they could have been an episode on their own. SpongeBob and Patrick trying to get their souls back could have been its own episode. The Void could have been an episode on its own (which I probably would have loved). The ending with the Flying Dutchman attacking his old crew members could have been an episode on its own. If they’d separated the stories and gave this episode more of a Treehouse of Horror-like structure, it could have worked, but they presented it as one story, and it just doesn’t feel like one story, at least not to me. Yet even with all this stuff happening, this episode felt really slow, especially the first half of it. It picks up during the second half, but it still felt a bit slow. Even the chase scene at the end didn’t excite me. Everything about this episode felt lethargic to me.

I would be happy about this being a group episode, but really Sandy and Squidward had no reason to be in the episode at all. Okay, I guess Sandy’s purpose was to save everyone from The Void, so basically she’s a plot-device. Squidward had no purpose whatsoever. He could have been cut from the episode entirely and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Eh, at least he had one or two funny lines.

Actually, the entire episode is pretty funny. At least that’s something good I can say about it. Also, the animation is particularly nice to look at in this episode, it’s smooth and the colors really pop. My only problem with this episode is the story, but unfortunately it’s a big problem. It’s too slow and plot-points feel too disconnected. I just can’t get into it.

Rating: 5.5/10

SpongeBob and Patrick are getting ready to watch a special episode of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy which is supposed to tell the story of their origin. Unfortunately a storm hits and none of the TV’s in Bikini Bottom are working, so they go to see Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, hoping to hear the origin story from them. Mermaid Man Barnacle Boy argue about the origin for a bit when the power comes back on and we see their origin story according to their show, and it’s… well, take a look:

Yeah.

This is easily my favorite Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episode to come out of post-movie (so far). An episode focusing on their origin is a great idea, and most importantly it’s hilarious. So much of this episode had me laughing, and the origin story shown on TV at the end is especially funny. I love how they go through basically every super hero origin cliche ever only to have burnt popcorn be the thing that gives them powers. It’s completely ridiculous in all of the right ways. (As a side note, I also like that the title of the episode references Batman Begins.)

Seeing the human world above water in animation felt really surreal. Before now anything from above water was live-action, and I’ve always liked that, it made it feel like underwater and the surface were separate worlds. It makes sense for them to animate it for this episode, since an origin story that ridiculous would have been difficult to pull off in live-action, but it still felt really odd to me.

I thought having Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy’s original names be the same as their voice actors (Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway respectively) was a nice idea, but it also reveals an inconsistency since Mermaid Man called Barnacle Boy “Kyle” in a past episode. Oh well, I’m pretty sure only hardcore fans would pick up on it, and I kind of prefer the name Tim for him anyway, I like the idea of them being named after their voice actors.

Speaking of their voice actors, this was the last Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episode to air before Ernest Bornine’s death in 2012. There are still a couple more episodes with his voice work in them that were made before his death but aired after it, but Mermaid Man Begins is technically his “last episode”. Knowing that makes this episode feel really sad somehow, and this picture doesn’t help:

If that picture doesn’t break you heart then you probably aren’t human. But you might be dancer.

At least Ernest Borgnine’s last episode was a good one. Rest in peace, good sir.

Rating: 9.5/10

Karen tells Plankton that his lack of depth perception due to having only one eye is holding him back, so Plankton begins working on an experiment that will give him a second eye. After a few failed attempts, he and Karen figure out that to grow a second eye, he needs DNA from someone who already has two eyes. So, Plankton collects some DNA from SpongeBob and uses that to make himself a second eye successfully. Now with perfect depth perception, Plankton is ready to make another attempt at stealing the formula. However, this new eye seems to have a strange effect Plankton. It makes him nicer. Suddenly, being evil is a much more difficult task. Plankton tries to fight the effects of the new eye and eventually resorts to trying to get rid of it, but the eye can’t be gotten rid of. He returns home to find that SpongeBob has planned a surprise party for him to celebrate his new kinder attitude. At the party, everyone gives Plankton a group hug, and they squeeze him so hard that his second eye pops out. Ew. With nothing to keep him from his evil ways anymore, Plankton chases everyone out of the Chum Bucket with lasers.

The beginning of this episode where Plankton is hiding in a pickle jar on Mr. Krabs’ desk made my heart flutter because my mom once said that Plankton looks like a dill pickle and I thought that was an adorable description and since then I may have referred to him as “my little dill pickle” in my head. An obsessed fangirl, me? Don’t be silly.

Anyway, this is the best Plankton episode in a while, mainly because it at least has some creativity.  Though the formula is technically Plankton’s motivation in this episode, it’s not given that much focus. The focus is on a kind of reverse Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde scenario, where instead of an evil personality taking over someone good and ruining their life, a good personality takes over someone evil and ruins their life. Weird idea, but in a good way. And it’s not just another episode where Plankton pretends to be nice, he actually is nice. And he hates it. It makes for some really funny moments when he tries so hard to be mean but keeps accidentally being nice.

This episode also marks the return of Bubble Bass, who we haven’t seen since Season 1. I only bring this up because it’s apparently a big deal for a lot of people, but I honestly don’t care that much. I guess it’s cool to see him again, but it’s not like I was particularly attached to him. I’d rather see other one-time antagonists like Flatts or Kevin the sea cucumber make a return. Besides, calling this Bubble Bass’ “return” seems a bit generous. He only has a very minor role, and I doubt we’ll be seeing him again after this anyway.

Back on topic, I really liked this episode. I’m glad to see that the writers still have some creativity when it comes to Plankton episodes.

Rating: 8/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Mooncation/Mr. Krabs Takes a Vacation)

The episodes starts the same way the other episodes did. Sort of. SpongeBob and Patrick go over to Sandy’s house and see two secret agents leaving with her vacation slides. Then Sandy rushes SpongeBob and Patrick into her house and tells them that she had secretly made copies of her slides that she then shows to them. We never find out why her slides were taken away, where those secret agents came from and how they even found out about her slides. It just happens.

Anyway, the flashback begins with Sandy preparing to leave on her vacation to the moon. SpongeBob decides to get her a cake as a parting gift, but when he returns to the rocket Sandy is already launching. He climbs on board just as the ship takes off, so Sandy has no choice but to bring SpongeBob along with her. When they get to the moon, Sandy shows SpongeBob how to board in the moon craters. Being the klutz that he is, SpongeBob crashes into the fuel tank and causes a leak. So, he and Sandy rush back into the rocket and try to return home before their fuel runs out. They make it back into Earth’s atmosphere, but the ship goes into a steep dive. Sandy exits the rocket, saying she’s going to “grab this bull by the horns”. Basically, she lassos the nose of the rocket to pull it out of its dive. The weird thing is, this actually seems logical compared to most of the stuff that happens on this show. They make it back to Bikini Bottom and SpongeBob apologizes for ruining Sandy’s vacation. Sandy tells him there’s no need to apologize because he made her vacation exciting, and that she plans on taking him to Mars with her next.

This is kind of a strange episode for me because I think it’s pretty weak in terms of structure, writing and pacing, but there was also a lot that I liked about it.

As I’ve mentioned before, how the writers use their time is really important because the average episode is only eleven minutes long. The main problem with Season 7 was that the pacing of most episodes was totally out of balance. They took too much time setting up their main plot and then by the time they got to it there were only a few minutes left. So the episode ended up being mostly build-up and then the plot was crammed into the last couple of minutes. Mooncation suffers from the same problem. It isn’t until three minutes into the episode that Sandy and SpongeBob are in the rocket, and then they only get to the moon six minutes into the episode. They stay on the moon for about two minutes, and then the rest of the episode is about them getting back home. Call me crazy, but when an episode is entitled Mooncation, I expect most of it to take place on the moon. Spending time on the journey to and from the moon is perfectly fine, but I couldn’t help feeling cheated about the fact that they’re only on the moon for two minutes. What a wasted opportunity. It’s rare enough that we get an episode outside Bikini Bottom, but an episode on the moon? How many chances like that do we get? Not many, and I would have liked it if the writers had taken advantage of this setting more.

The beginning of this episode could easily have been shortened, most of it feels like filler anyway (plus that Big-Lipped Alligator Moment with the secret agents…). The journey to and from the moon could probably have been shortened a bit too, which would have allowed for more time on the moon. It always disappoints me to see what could be a cool, creative episode be brought down by poor execution or structure.

That being said, there is a lot that I really like about this episode. Like this face from Sandy:

It makes me laugh every time.

But seriously, there’s a lot to like in this episode. For one thing, it feels like forever since we’ve had an episode with just SpongeBob and Sandy. I’ve missed seeing episodes with these two, I’ve always enjoyed their dynamic and it’s been a while since we’ve had an episode that really displays it. Most episodes involving Sandy lately have only had her in in them briefly, or they’ve been group episodes. The one recent Sandy episode that did neither of these things was Perfect Chemistry, but that was focused on Sandy and Plankton, not Sandy and SpongeBob. I love group episodes and I love seeing writers experiment with character dynamics the way they did in Perfect Chemistry, but it is nice to see an episode that’s simply about Sandy and SpongeBob again. Their interactions are always a lot of fun and full of cuteness, even if you’re not a Spandy shipper. There’s something so endearing about how SpongeBob always seems in awe of Sandy and how determined he is to impress her, and I like how Sandy is clearly aware of what a klutzy weirdo SpongeBob is, but she loves him anyway and does her best to include him in her stunts. Though there were a couple of moments in Mooncation where Sandy seemed a bit inconsiderate of SpongeBob’s feelings in a way that’s rather unlike her (like when she ate his cake and then only commented on how it could have used more nuts), their chemistry in this episode was mostly spot-on. I’m glad to see that the writers seem to understand the SpongeBob-Sandy dynamic and can actually portray it well, unlike the SpongeBob-Squidward dynamic which they clearly don’t understand (I don’t think I’ll ever stop being bitter about that).

Sandy herself was really fun to watch in this episode too. I like how this episode made use of her scientist persona, her thrill-seeker persona, and her Texas cowgirl persona. Sandy has always been one of the most versatile characters on the show because of how many facets there are to her character, and it’s cool to see an episode that makes good use of a lot of them at once.

The visuals in this episode were really interesting. I liked the way the animation for the moon and space looked. It had a nice look and the different animation suits the fact that it’s a different location from underwater, kind of like how any scene taking place above water uses live-action. Plus, space in general is a really pretty, mysterious and interesting setting that I enjoy looking at. Even the title card is nice.

Mooncation also has a great climax. The episode jumps to the climax a bit too quickly, but the climax itself is paced pretty well and it’s actually really exciting.

This review is getting way too long, so time to wrap this up. Mooncation isn’t the best-written episode, but there is a lot to like about it. It’s one of the more popular post-movie episodes and I can definitely see why. It’s just a shitload of fun. I wouldn’t call it one of my favorites even for post-movie, but it’s definitely worth watching at least a few more times.

Rating: 7.5

You’d think they could have come up with a more creative name for the episode.

Again it starts with vacation slides, this time belonging to Mr. Krabs. For his vacation, he took SpongeBob and Pearl to The Mint, where all of the money is made. Well, he took SpongeBob to The Mint, at least. Pearl decided she would rather go through the rubble of the demolished Teenage Boy Museum next to The Mint. Why does Bikini Bottom have a teenage boy museum? That’s kind of creepy. It sounds like something that perverted old man from Family Guy would go to. Anyway, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs go to The Mint and take a tour of the factory and that’s pretty much most of the episode. Not much really happens, they just take a tour and Krabs is a little too into it. Toward the end of the episode The Mint is robbed, but Krabs gets rid of the burglars and he and SpongeBob are rewarded with bills that have their face printed on them. Then Pearl steals them to buy shoes.

It’s kind of funny to me to think that when I first started these reviews, I thought Mr. Krabs was one of the better post-movie characters. The changes that were made to his character weren’t as pronounced yet and he was one of few characters that was able to make me laugh consistently. Around Season 6 that started to change, and now I think that of all of the main characters, he’s probably the one that got the worst downgrade. All of his likable qualities have been stripped from him, and lately he hasn’t been funny enough to make up for it. I’ve started to kind of dread Mr. Krabs-centered episodes because I keep thinking that Krabs couldn’t possibly get worse and then he keep getting worse.

So I wasn’t terribly excited to watch this episode, but I was pleasantly surprised. This episode was actually really funny. The dialogue and especially the visuals had me laughing throughout most of it. Even Pearl was kind of funny. And Krabs wasn’t completely unlikable here. In fact, Mr. Krabs has been pretty good so far in Season 8. Maybe I shouldn’t speak too soon since I’m not even halfway through the season yet, but I can’t help feeling hopeful, especially now that we’ve had an episode where he’s in the spotlight that’s actually good. Could it be that Krabs is improving?

Anyway, besides the humor and the hope it gives me about Krabs’ character, this episode isn’t amazing. It moves rather slowly and the pacing is kind of jumpy. The humor is really its saving grace, and even that feels like it wouldn’t have very good replay value. Still, it’s a pretty good episode and I feel like it’s a sign of good things to come for Krabs.

Rating: 7.5/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (A SquarePants Family Vacation/Patrick’s Staycation/Walking the Plankton)

So, this special is apparently the start of another ratings trap miniseries. Well, I wasn’t exactly fond of the Legends of Bikini Bottom miniseries, but let’s see how this one goes.

It begins with SpongeBob inviting over all of his friends for a party, lying to each of them about what they’ll be doing. He tells Mr. Krabs he’s having a “free money” party, he tells Squidward he’s having a latte-drinking contest (God, Squidward’s such a hipster), he tells Plankton he’s having a party to plot the downfall of the Krusty Krab, and so on. They all show up and it turns out all SpongeBob wants to do is show them his vacation slides. Sneaky. So, SpongeBob starts to show the slides, and the rest of the episode is basically a flashback of what the vacation was like. SpongeBob and Patrick are going to the Great Barrier Reef with SpongeBob’s parents. The first half of the story is basically about the road trip. Then they get into an accident and they need to get their car fixed at a service station. While waiting, SpongeBob and Patrick try to entertain themselves at a nearby playground and wind up lost in some kind of forest. From there the episode doesn’t have much of a narrative. They just try to survive and find a way out of the forest while encountering weird obstacles.

I guess this episode was trying  to be an action-packed adventure sort of like Frozen Face-Off, but it didn’t work out as well this time around. This one was a little boring. Part of why I liked Frozen Face-Off so much was because it had so many characters involved in it and it was fun seeing how each of them responded to the obstacles they were faced with. This episode centers mostly on SpongeBob and Patrick, a dynamic that I’m not particularly fond of. I don’t mind it, but I think that both characters do better when paired with someone who can contrast them. That, or trio episodes with Squidward or Sandy work well. When it’s just SpongeBob and Patrick, I tend to get bored quickly, though there are of course exceptions.

Anyway, the episode did have a few things going for it. For one thing, I liked that the place they were vacationing to is a place that actually exists: the Great Barrier Reef. We didn’t actually get to see the Great Barrier Reef, but still, I thought it was kind of cool since until now the only reference the show gave to a place that actually exists was the fact that Sandy is from Texas. Some of the visuals in the episode were pretty cool too, like the design of the forest. It almost looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland. Where were these visuals in Squidward in Clarinetland, the actual Alice-in-Wonderland-inspired episode?

I’d call this episode average. It has a few interesting aspects to it, but not enough to pull it out of the “meh” category.

Rating: 5.5/10

This episodes starts with Patrick showing SpongeBob his vacation slides, and the rest of the episode is a flashback to Patrick’s vacation. Is every episode in this miniseries going to start this way? That would be pretty clever. So anyway, Patrick is exhausted from doing nothing all the time, so SpongeBob suggests that he take a vacation… where he can do more nothing. Eh, Patrick logic, I guess. Anyway, Patrick can’t afford a vacation because of the whole unemployed thing, so he takes a “staycation” instead. Basically, he and SpongeBob pretend his rock is a hotel, and SpongeBob caters to Patrick’s every whim. Patrick turns out to be really demanding and SpongeBob has a hard time keeping up. So Patrick goes over to Squidward’s house, mistaking it for another hotel. When SpongeBob later shows up at Squidward’s house looking for Patrick, he finds Squidward trying to get Patrick out of his house. SpongeBob decides to go along with Patrick’s idea of Squidward’s house being a hotel and continues catering to Patrick anyway. Squidward is hesitant at first, but then he joins in and has SpongeBob cater to him too. At the end of the day SpongeBob is exhausted and he goes home. And Patrick is there too, apparently under the impression that SpongeBob’s house is a hotel too. I don’t even… right, Patrick logic. So, SpongeBob goes to Mr. Krabs’ house to sleep and Krabs isn’t at all surprised to find him there. Apparently it’s a regular occurrence for SpongeBob to sleep at his house because Patrick is in his bed. I think the bed intruder song should be Patrick’s new theme.

All this episode did was remind me of other episodes. At first, I was reminded by I’m With Stupid (ew), since both episodes involve SpongeBob and Patrick making a plan and then Patrick forgetting what the actual point of that plan was. Then I was reminded of Krusty Towers, because of the hotel theme and a few of the demands Patrick made were just like the ones that Squidward made in Krusty Towers, like wanting to rearrange his room only to put it back the way it originally was. The end reminded me of New Digs, but I’m not entirely sure why. I guess it’s just the fact that characters are switching living spaces.

I felt a little bad for SpongeBob in this episode since he wasn’t treated very well, but given the set-up it could have been a lot worse. The pacing is rather jumpy and the story doesn’t seem very focused, but again, it could have been worse. Really, there isn’t much I can say about this episode. The whole time I was watching it, all I could think of were other episodes.

Rating: 3.5/10

Whoever came up with the punny title of this episode has all of my respect.

The episode once again starts with someone showing the other characters vacation slides. This time, it’s Plankton. So I guess every episode is going to start this way. Cool. Anyway, the flashback begins with Plankton sending Mr. Krabs some free tickets for him and a guest (who of course is SpongeBob) to take a cruise. Plankton is hoping that with the Krusty Krab empty (because apparently Squidward doesn’t exist or something), the formula will be easier to steal. The problem is, Mr. Krabs takes the formula with him on the cruise. So, Plankton resorts to Plan B, which is to go on the cruise himself and get the formula there. To do this, he tells Karen that they’re going on a second honeymoon. Karen is suspicious that this is just another scheme and wants no part in it, so Plankton adjusts her “vacation settings”, which I guess is supposed to make her more excited about the vacation but it seems more like it’s making her act drunk. After that weirdness, we get to the cruise. Plankton puts Karen into sleep mode and goes after the formula. What follows is basically a montage of Plankton’s failed attempts until finally one of his attempts works. Unfortunately for him, Karen shows up to stop his shenanigans and is upset that her second honeymoon has been ruined. So she splits the ship in half with her laser. Totally a reasonable reaction, amirite?

Holy crap, this episode is a hot mess. Like, this episode is just really weird. Not in a cool, trippy way like Squidward in Clarinetland, more in a way that makes me wonder if the writers were drunk had their vacation settings too high while they were making this one.

I’m starting to see what people mean when they say they’re tired of Plankton episodes. I’m not tired of them yet, but I am getting bored with episodes that revolve around him stealing the formula. I know that’s Plankton’s shtick, but the writers have used different ideas for Plankton episodes in the past and those usually turned out good. I wish they would do more stuff like that again, lately the only Plankton episodes have been formula episodes. Those are fine, but we need more variety or they’ll get old. And if they are going to do formula episodes, they could at do at least do it in a creative way, like Single Cell Anniversary, Goo Goo Gas and  The Great Patty Caper did. This episode wasn’t all that creative. The only difference was the location, besides that it was basically your standard Plankton-steals-the-formula episode. I was hoping this episode would just focus on Plankton and Karen having a second honeymoon. That would have been nice. I love Plankaren episodes like Single Cell Anniversary and Komputer Overload, and it’s been a while since we’ve had one. Is it really so much to ask?

Getting past that, this is just a really weird episode in a way I’m not sure how to put into words. Everything about it was just weird. The jokes were weird (but at least a few were smile-worthy). The pacing was weird. The ending was weird. Karen was weird. Oh yeah, let’s talk about Karen…

So, you remember when I said that Karen was the best post-movie character along with Plankton, and that she was the only character who actually improved in post-movie? I still think that, but this wasn’t a great episode for her. I know her out-of-character-ness is due to the fact that her settings were being changed, but it was still strange to see her acting so… eccentric, to say the least. Besides, I was a little uncomfortable with the fact that Plankton is apparently able to change Karen’s settings to alter her frame of mind and make her more submissive to his wishes. I know, I know, Karen is a computer, but she’s a self-aware computer with her own independent personality, emotions and thoughts. She has a character and is basically a person for all intents and purposes. Though she does have other setting and abilities that can be used to Plankton’s advantage, they never altered her frame of mind, and it’s been shown that if Karen doesn’t want to comply to Plankton’s wishes, she won’t. She at least still had a choice in the matter. This time, Karen doesn’t have a choice. Her personality and thoughts are altered to suit Plankton, which doesn’t seem right to me. I know I’m probably reading too much into it, and I’m sure the writers didn’t mean any harm and that it was just a throwaway joke, but I think this is one those cases like I’m With Stupid where they need to be careful with how easily certain things can be misconstrued. For the record, I’m also rubbed the wrong by way by scenes where Plankton just shuts Karen off when he’s annoyed with her. Again, I know it’s just a joke, but there are some really uncomfortable implications behind it.

So yeah, I can’t say I liked this episode much. It’s all-over-the-place and weird in the wrong way, but I suppose it did at least keep my interest, even if it was only because of how weird it was.

Rating: 4/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Sweet and Sour Squid/The Googly Artiste)

Plankton realizes for the first time that Squidward could be the key to getting the formula, so he tries to befriend him. Squidward isn’t falling for any of his tricks, though, and keeps rejecting his offer of friendship. Plankton is frustrated, but then SpongeBob tells him about Squidward’s love of music. So, Plankton tells Squidward that he’d love to hear him play clarinet, and Squidward falls for this. Plankton listens to Squidward play wearing a set of earplugs and tells Squidward that his playing wonderful, obviously trying to butter Squidward up so he can get the formula out of him. However, when he asks Squidward about the formula, Squidward claims that he has no idea what it is because he never cooks the patties himself. This response angers Plankton and he insists that Squidward must know something, but Squidward is now too wrapped up in his clarinet-playing to listen to Plankton. Plankton’s earplugs fall out and the sound of Squidward clarinet is unbearable, so Plankton steals it and runs off. Squidward gives chase (as does SpongeBob) and the episode ends with Plankton being arrested for disturbing the peace in Bikini Bottom (the cops thought the bad clarinet-playing was coming from him).

Okay, so, as you all know, Squidward and Plankton have always been my two favorite characters on the show. Unfortunately the two have never had much interaction. The very few scenes where they did interact only lasted a few seconds. Usually when characters don’t interact much, there’s a reason for it. Like, Sandy has no reason to hang out around Boating School, so obviously we’re not going to see her and Mrs. Puff interact much. However, Squidward and Plankton do have a reason to interact, which is why I find it strange that we almost never see it. Plankton wants the Krabby Patty formula, and guess what? Squidward works at the Krusty Krab. There are plenty of episodes where Plankton uses SpongeBob to get the formula, you’d think he would have tried to manipulate Squidward in a similar way. To be fair, Squidward is only the cashier, not the cook, and he’s not as naive as SpongeBob is, but still, it’s surprising that Squidward and Plankton have had hardly any scenes together throughout eight seasons and a movie.

Anyway, I’ve always wanted an episode that centered on the two of them, and when I found out that such an episode existed, I got really excited. I’ve been looking forward to watching this episode for months. I thought it was going to be amazing.

Now that I’ve finally seen it… um, it’s pretty good. I guess. I don’t know.

I have to admit, I’m really underwhelmed. And kind of disappointed.

I shouldn’t be disappointed, though, because this episode is good. I mean, I can’t think of anything inherently wrong with it. There’s nothing outstanding about it, but there aren’t any serious flaws with it either. My disappointment only stems from the fact that I had such high expectations and the episode simply didn’t meet them.

The jokes in this episode were decent, I especially liked that little montage of Plankton trying to get Squidward to talk to him and Squidward continuously slamming the door in his face. There’s a musical number in the middle of the episode that’s also decent. Everyone was in character, so far Season 8 has been pretty good with that. The story is paced fairly well and though the idea of Plankton befriending someone to get the formula has been used already in F.U.N and New Leaf, the fact that this is the first episode where Plankton and Squidward share a storyline makes it unique. But, as mentioned before, that’s where my disappointment stems from. Never mind the fact that Squidward and Plankton are my favorites, they’re two of the wittiest characters on the show. I was hoping for a lot more humor, a lot more entertainment, and a lot more cleverness out of an episode starring both of them. The episode isn’t devoid of those qualities, but I was expecting more. I try not to let my expectations affect my feelings toward an episode too much, but I just can’t help it this time. I’ve been wanting an episode like this one for years and I built up the idea of it in my head so much that the episode couldn’t compete. If my expectations hadn’t been so high, I probably would have liked this a lot more.

This review is confusing. My opinion of this episode confuses even myself. I like it, I really do, but I can’t help being disappointed because it’s not amazing like I was hoping it would be. If Squidward and Plankton have more episodes together in the future (which I hope they do), I’ll try not to let my expectations get too high.

Rating: 7/10

Squidward is waiting for some important art critic to visit and check out his work. Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Patrick are outside making crafts. Yeah, you can guess where this is going right away. The art critic comes, in unimpressed with Squidward’s art, and instead takes interest in something Patrick has made: a rock with googly eyes glued to it. Everyone in Bikini Bottom loves them, but they eventually get tired of them, so Patrick has to do something new to keep them interested. His new idea is to glue googly eyes on Krabby Patties. Mr Krabs doesn’t like the fact that Patrick is using his food to make more money than he does, and then, um, I’m not exactly sure what happens. It’s a little confusing, but I think they come to some sort of agreement on selling Patrick’s “art”.

From what I can tell, this is a fairly popular episode. I don’t get it. I thought this was rather bad, honestly.

Maybe this is one of those situations like Tunnel of Glove, where it had too many personal pet peeves of mine in it for me to really enjoy it but I could see why other people liked it. The Googly Artiste has a lot of pet peeves of mine in it too, but the difference between it and Tunnel of Glove is that I honestly can’t see why people like The Googly Artiste. I’m sorry, I just can’t. I know, I know, everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect that, but that doesn’t mean I’ll understand their opinion.

Okay, moving on to why I didn’t like this episode. First of all, it centers mostly on Patrick. Y’all know about my complicated relationship with Patrick, and even getting away from that I don’t like Patrick-centered episodes to begin with. Patrick has a hard time carrying an episode on his own. He doesn’t have the depth, versatility or charisma to pull it off. He’s best when he’s sharing the spotlight with at least one other character. This episode does have other characters in it, but they play relatively minor roles. Patrick is the main focus of the episode, and it simply doesn’t work, at least not for me. The only Patrick-centered episode I’ve seen so far that I think actually works is No Nose Knows, but that one was a bit different since the focus wasn’t how stupid the writers could make Patrick, it was on Patrick experiencing something new to him that the rest of us take for granted. The episode had a strong enough idea to work with so the episode is easier for Patrick to carry. The Googly Artiste didn’t have much of a focus, it was kind of all over the place, and the lack of focus doesn’t do Patrick any favors because he can’t carry an episode without some kind of support. Despite how most of my reviews make it sound, I do like Patrick, but I’m not sure if the writers have a good handle on how to use him.

Another thing I dislike about this episode is that it’s rather mean-spirited toward Squidward. Yeah, character abuse is something I’ve gone on and on about so I’m not going to bother doing so again. Besides, the fact that I’m eating calamari while writing this makes me feel like a hypocrite.

All that being said, there were two jokes in this episode that I thought were pretty funny. The one about Squidward having a gambling problem got a laugh out of me, and there’s one part where a fish is buying art from Patrick and I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be a reference to a drug dealing. You know, for kids!

Rating: 3/10