SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Face Freeze!/Glove World R.I.P.)

SpongeBob and Patrick are amusing themselves by making silly faces, when Mr. Krabs warns them that if they keep making faces like that, their faces will freeze that way forever. Wanting to test this theory, they dare each other to hold their goofy faces for as long as possible. As a result, their faces really do freeze that way. Afraid to show his frozen face to Krabs, SpongeBob and Patrick visit Sandy to see if she can fix their faces. She massages their faces to relax the muscles, but that doesn’t work as planned. It just looks like their faces melted. So, SpongeBob must go to work with his face looking like a pancake and he does his best to hide it from Mr. Krabs. Unfortunately Mr. Krabs eventually sees his face, as well as Patrick’s, and he gets angry. Angry enough to make a face that looks like the one that greets you when you go to Hell. And his face freezes that way because of reasons. Then Squidward sees everyone’s frozen faces and laughs so hard that his face freezes too. Um, wasn’t it established earlier that you need to make the face for a long time in order for it to freeze that way? Or at least longer than two seconds? If it takes this short a time for faces to freeze, why aren’t people’s faces freezing all the time?

Well, it’s obvious where the inspiration for this episode came from. As kids, we all heard from adults that if we keep making faces they’ll freeze that way. Well, I didn’t, because I didn’t really make faces as a kid. And even if I did I don’t think my parents would have told me that, I think they would have just told me to stop. But still, I know it’s apparently a common thing for kids to hear. It’s a pretty good idea, I guess. It reminds me of episodes like Sailor Mouth or Hooky, where Mr. Krabs warns SpongeBob against doing something stupid and then he does the stupid thing anyway, so he has to be scared out of doing it. It’s nice to see another episode like this, mostly because it’s nice to see Krabs acting paternal again.

A lot of people find this episode disturbing and scary because of the faces. I don’t. I joked about being scared by Krabs’ face at the end, but I really wasn’t. I don’t think these faces are scary, I think they’re ugly. They’re just… not pleasant to look at. I guess that’s the idea, but it does cut back the episode’s replay value a lot. It’s hard for me to want to watch something that I don’t like looking at. And it is possible to have “ugly” imagery that’s still enjoyable to look at, but I just don’t really like looking at most of the images in Face Freeze!. They’re a little too Ren-and-Stimpy-esque, and I’ve never liked the Ren and Stimpy aesthetic to begin with.

Still, I am glad I saw the episode at least once, there were a couple of things that made it worthwhile. It might even be worth watching a couple more times. Some of the dialogue was funny (Sandy in particular had some great lines) and I like how Mr. Krabs sort of goes back to his father-figure persona again, it’s nice to see.

Rating: 6.5/10

This title card made it seem like the episode was going to be much less light-hearted than it was.

SpongeBob and Patrick are saddened to find out that Glove World is going to be closed down because it’s outrageously unsafe, so they decide to spend one last day at the park, all the while wondering why they would close it down. Eventually they realize how unsafe it is, and they decide that they should save the park by fixing all of its problems. They are successful and soon Glove World is good as new. Just kidding, they fail spectacularly, as one would expect. So now the only way to save Glove World is to chain themselves to the gate so that it can’t be demolished. Hell yeah, fight the power! Anyway, the guy who owns Glove World tells them that the reason Glove World is closing is because they’re opening Glove Universe, a bigger and better theme park. Oops.

I don’t like this episode. I know it’s a pretty well-liked episode among fans, but I didn’t enjoy it. Sorry. Not that I hate it, far from it, but I definitely don’t think it’s one of the better post-movie episodes, or even one of the better Season 8 episodes, like most people seem to.

I just didn’t find it that funny. I can barely remember any jokes from the episode and the ones I can remember were annoying gags. The story seemed kind of all over the place, and I guess I couldn’t help being a bit disappointed because the title card made it seem like it was going to be at least a little dark. Or maybe not “dark” per se, but not as silly and light-hearted as this.

I did like the sort of bittersweet ending, though. I’m big on nostalgia, so I know I’d be upset if one of my favorite places to go was being closed down. This episode is pretty relatable in that sense, and I like that the ending isn’t a cheesy one that has them saving Glove World. It just closes, which is sad, but the opening of Glove Universe at least eases the pain a bit. Though I wonder why they had to build an entire new theme park. Could they not have used that money to repair and improve Glove World?

Anyway, aside from the ending and the relatable plot, I didn’t enjoy this one much. It’s not bad, just not my kind of episode.

Rating: 5.5/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Karen 2.0/Inspongeiac)

Okay, so it starts with Karen making dinner for Plankton, and he gets mad at her when it’s not what he asked for. lol gender roles. Karen tells him that her memory is full, which is why she forgot what he wanted, and Plankton tells her that he’ll soon have her memory problem solved. It turns out he’s making himself a new computer wife that he calls Karen 2, she has the latest software and more memory. And more curves. Seriously, this computer is probably hotter than I am. But that’s not what’s important here, what’s important is that Plankton is replacing his wife for a newer model without a second thought. Poor Karen! Plankton, you’re an asshole. Anyway, Karen is understandably upset and she begins attacking Plankton with her laser. Karen 2 shuts her down before she can hurt Plankton, and they dump Karen in a box on the side of the road. Ouch. She’s found by Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob and, thinking they just got a free computer, they take her back to the Krusty Krab and boot her up. Karen immediately starts crying about Plankton dumping her. SpongeBob is worried that this is a scheme and that Karen’s loyalties still lie with Plankton, but Karen angrily declares that she never wants to see Plankton again, which is apparently enough to convince SpongeBob and Krabs, so they give her a job at the Krusty Krab. The next day at work, Karen obviously still isn’t over Plankton, and of course Plankton chooses that day to break into the Krusty Krab with Karen 2. Plankton is hurt to see Karen working at the Krusty Krab, and Karen and Karen 2 begin to argue when they see each  other, culminating in a fight between them. During the fight, Karen 2 accidentally runs over Plankton. Karen is horrified while Karen 2 doesn’t seem to care, which infuriates Karen enough that she destroys Karen 2 with one punch. Karen makes sure Plankton is okay and Plankton realizes how wrong he was to replace her. Then Karen’s power runs out for some reason, so Plankton repairs her by using one of Karen 2’s parts, and he and Karen return to the Chum Bucket, happily reunited.

I was initially excited to see a Karen episode, as I’m always happy to see more Karen, but the more I heard about it the more skeptical I became. Specifically, I was skeptical of the plot itself. I tend to get nervous when shows portray female characters fighting, especially when that fight is over a male, because it so often becomes a big sexist mess of LOL WIMMINS ARE CRAZY AMIRITE. And I know that Karen is a computer, but she’s a sentient, personified computer who is deliberately depicted as female, so I think I’m justified in being concerned about gender roles and misogyny regarding her.

However, this really wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I always dislike saying that because it makes me think of that scene in Avatar where Toph is defending Zuko by saying that he could have turned out a lot worse considering his messed up family, to which Katara sarcastically replies that they should give him a medal, the “not as much of a jerk as you could have been” award. I love that quote because it touches on something that I think a lot of people forget. “Not as bad as it could have been” is not the same thing as “good”. But on the other hand, when you’re expecting something bad and you get “not as bad as it could have been”, you can’t help feeling more optimistic about the thing in question. Considering how a plot like this in most shows would make me want to tear my hair out and this one didn’t, it’s kind of hard for me to not feel positive about this episode.

The fight between Karen and Karen 2 is the scene that I’m mostly referring to when I say it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I mean, at least they weren’t fighting in mud or jello or something, right? The fight is short too, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t entertaining. I liked the computer-related insults they were throwing at each other, and I like to think that when they actually started fighting it was more about who’s technology was better and less about Plankton, it makes it easier for me to stomach. Although Karen does call Karen 2 a home-wrecker, and Karen 2 calls her a sorry excuse for a housewife so, um, not sure what to do with that. The beginning made me rather uncomfortable too, but I think that’s mostly because of how callous it is.

About that ending. I found it a bit contrived that Plankton had a change of heart so suddenly. I mean, he was perfectly fine with dismantling Karen and leaving her in a box on the side of the road earlier, what made him change his mind? Did seeing her work with his enemies make him jealous, so he realized how much he loves her? Did seeing how she still loved him and was still willing to defend him after everything he put her through make him realize that he could never really replace her? Why did he change his mind so suddenly? I know that the reason it seemed so sudden is just the time limit, but it actually made me think that this episode might have made a good special. It would have been interesting to see how Plankton was getting along with Karen 2, maybe they could have shown how he was more compatible with the original Karen, so his change of heart at the end would make more sense. I also find it a bit strange that Karen forgot her anger toward Plankton so quickly. I guess he makes up for what he did by repairing her, but that was afterwards. Considering how callously he dumped her it’s a little weird to see her suddenly forget all of that when she saw him hurt. Also, wasn’t she perfectly willing to vaporize him with a laser before? I guess that was the heat of the moment. Whatever, I don’t even care that much because the ending is still really sweet. I don’t know what it is about Plankton/Karen, but somehow they always manage to make me melt, and I don’t even like romance.

To wrap up this confusing review, I liked this episode despite the fact that it made me slightly uncomfortable now and then. I thought it was funny and interesting, there weren’t as many “lol wimmins” jokes as I was expecting, and the ending, though flawed, is really heartwarming. Besides, I think this episode has earned a Not As Uncomfortable As It Could Have Been award.

Rating: 7.5/10

Creepy title card. I like it.

SpongeBob is at work and Mr. Krabs gets mad at him for using too much mustard on the Krabby Patties, as well as other stupid, trivial mistakes. He asks SpongeBob if he’s been getting enough sleep and SpongeBob tells him that he went to bed a few minutes later than usual the night before, so Krabs think that SpongeBob is an insomniac and he sends SpongeBob home to get some sleep. Unfortunately SpongeBob has a really hard time getting to sleep (even after Patrick’s “help”), which leads to a weird scene where he begins hallucinating from the lack of sleep. When he finally makes it to work the next day, he’s in worse shape than ever, and tries to sleep in a barrel of mustard. Krabs pulls him out and asks what’s wrong with him, and SpongeBob confesses that he couldn’t beat his insomnia. He starts to cry and Krabs discovers that he cries exactly the right amount of mustard that he wants on the Patties. Kay.

This episode is an interesting idea, but I wish the beginning wasn’t so contrived. It was really strange for Mr. Krabs to care so much about how SpongeBob cooks the Patties, and the whole sequence felt like a forced plot point to drive the episode forward.

Oh, and Mr. Krabs. God damn it, man, I was starting to like you again! Okay, so it’s only one episode, but I really didn’t like how heartless and crazy he was being in this episode. I can see him being paranoid about how much mustard SpongeBob is using, that’s actually pretty in character, but would he really care about how SpongeBob flips the patties? Or about him going to bed two minutes later than usual?

Well, at least this episode does have an interesting plot, even if it is extremely forced in some parts. The scene where Patrick tries to help SpongeBob get to sleep and fails miserably is pretty funny, but I did find it tiresome after a while (pun not intended). I liked SpongeBob’s weird dream sequence because, well, I like weird dream sequences. It’s an okay episode, I guess. It could have been better, but it’s passable.

Rating: 6/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Free Samples/Home Sweet Rubble)

Plankton gives away free samples to attract customers to the Chum Bucket, but the samples make everyone sick and cause everyone to hate him and his restaurant. More than they already do, that is. So, Plankton comes up with a new plan: give away free samples of chum disguised as Krabby Patties to ruin Mr. Krabs’ business. That… that’s bloody brilliant. That’s the best plan Plankton has ever come up with. And this is the same guy who tried to ruin Krabs’ restaurant by turning it into a fucking ice rink. Anyway, the plan works and everyone hates Krabs and the Krusty Krab, though he and SpongeBob are unsure why. SpongeBob suggests that they give away free samples to attract customers again, but of course it doesn’t work, thanks to Plankton. Then SpongeBob decides to sell the Patties as a new recipe even though they’re just regular Krabby Patties. What the fuck, that’s brilliant too. God, I love it when characters are smart and do smart things please make this happen more often writers of anything ever. The “new” Patties are a success and Krabs’ business is saved.

I really like that this is a Plankton episode that has him trying to ruin the Krusty Krab in a new way, and like I said, it’s actually a really smart plan. I mean, Plankton has always been a genius, but he also has always been really incompetent and rather idiotic for someone so smart, if that makes sense. He so often overlooks the obvious and makes everything more complicated than it needs to be. I guess that’s partly what we love about him, but it’s pretty cool to see a plan of his that makes sense and is sly and subtle. SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs never even find out that Plankton was behind everything, which is also interesting.

Beyond that, there isn’t that much to say about this episode. It’s pretty unique for a Plankton episode and it’s a little funny sometimes, but I also found it a bit dull, and it doesn’t stand out that much from other episodes.

Rating: 6/10

SpongeBob’s home is rotting and falling apart, so he calls his friends for help. Patrick, Sandy and Mr. Krabs all show up willing to help. Squidward shows up not willing to help, but they make him help anyway by tying his limbs around the house to hold it together. Are we sure that Squidward isn’t Mr. Fantastic? Anyway, Patrick, Sandy and Mr. Krabs all offer to help rebuild SpongeBob’s house, but they don’t listen to his input and basically build it the way they would want their homes to be. The result is a hot mess. Also, they somehow forgot to untie Squidward and when he starts to unravel the whole thing falls apart. Gary hands SpongeBob a can and SpongeBob thinks he wants to be fed since he had forgotten to feed Gary that morning. It’s actually a can of fully-furnished pineapple. SpongeBob opens the can and just like that he has a new house exactly like his old one. Still a better resolution than Dear Vikings.

Judging by this episode’s title, I was sort of expecting it to be a rip-off of Home Sweet Pineapple. Luckily that’s not what it was, though I do wish this episode had a different title, I’m afraid I’m going to confuse it with Home Sweet Pineapple now. I found it pretty funny that SpongeBob says in this episode “Well, it’s no home sweet pineapple, but I guess it could be worse.” I see what you did there, writers.

Actually, SpongeBob’s quote is a good description of how I feel about this episode. It’s no Home Sweet Pineapple, but it could be worse. I wish I liked Home Sweet Rubble more than I do, as I really like a lot of aspects of it, but something holds it back from being a great episode for me. I can’t place my finger on what that something is, though.

I like the fact that this is a group episode and the idea of everyone working together. The jokes were mostly hit-and-miss for me, I think I’m one of few people who didn’t like the office joke with Patrick. I thought it dragged too much and it felt really out of place not just in the episode but in the show in general. I don’t know, it seemed more like the kind of joke that Family Guy would do, not SpongeBob. It just didn’t seem to fit.

Seeing SpongeBob’s house fall apart was kind of heartbreaking for some reason. I’ve gotten attached to his pineapple house, but it’s not like we’ve never seen it or other staple settings of the show destroyed and it never bothered me before. Maybe it’s because when settings get destroyed on this show it’s usually in such a quick, silly way, but here we see his house fall apart slowly, so it’s more poignant to me. It’s more than seeing it fall apart, really, we see it rotting. It’s almost hard to watch. I actually don’t mean any of this in a bad way, I think it’s interesting that I can get this emotional over a pineapple house of all things.

I don’t know why I don’t like this episode more than I do. Objectively I think it’s a really good episode, but for some reason I don’t like it as much as I feel I should, and I can’t figure out why that is.

Rating: 6/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (Are You Happy Now?/Planet of the Jellyfish)

Haha, oh boy. This episode.

Okay, so it begins with SpongeBob looking through a book and giggling. Squidward asks him what he’s giggling about and he tells Squidward that the book is full of his happiest memories. He asks Squidward what his happiest memory is, and Squidward says he doesn’t have one. SpongeBob is saddened to hear this, and though he tries to act like he doesn’t care, it quickly becomes apparent that Squidward is extremely depressed to realize he can’t think of any happy memories. SpongeBob offers to help him find one and Squidward accepts. SpongeBob keeps trying to create a happy memory for Squidward and the attempts all end in failure. Eventually Squidward gives up on finding a happy memory, falling into a deep depression and not leaving his house for weeks. Here’s where we get the ~controversial~ suicide jokes. There’s one where it looks like Squidward is going to stick his head in the oven but he’s actually just taking some brownies out of it, and there’s another one where it looks like he’s going to hang himself but he’s actually just hanging a birdcage. Anyway, SpongeBob wants to cheer Squidward up, so he kidnaps him (he tried to contact Squidward and all of his attempts were rejected) and brings him to the Krusty Krab, where he has prepared a surprise party for him. Except no one he invited could make it, so he filled the restaurant with paper mache copies of himself. Oh, SpongeBob, honey, what were you thinking? Squidward goes bonkers upon seeing the copies, yells at SpongeBob that he doesn’t want a happiest memory, and destroys the copies. And then he declares that this is his happiest memory. What.

So, this is one of few episodes past Season 4 that I watched before starting this project. Months before, in fact. I came across it on YouTube and the title caught my interest, as did the thumbnail, which just so happened to be the scene where Squidward is preparing a noose – sorry, I mean hanging a birdcage. Though at the time I still had the belief that all episodes after the movie were crap, I couldn’t help being curious. A SpongeBob character hanging himself, with a title like “Are You Happy Now?”? What the hell? I had to watch it. And boy did I hate it. I thought it had to be the worst episode ever. Now that I’ve seen episodes like Gone I can only laugh at how naive I was, but I’ve harbored a dislike for this episode for a really long time, even though it has decreased significantly over time.

Watching it again now, I don’t hate it. At all. I kind of like it. Sort of. Maybe. I don’t know. What is it even.

It’s funny how polarizing this episode is, and people’s like or dislike for the episode seems to be mostly hinged on the suicide jokes, which I’ll get to later. Here’s the thing about this episode: it’s really depressing. Probably the most depressing episode of the show. Here’s the thing about me: I LOVE DEPRESSING SHIT. I’m not kidding. I eat that stuff up. 98% of my favorite books are dark, grim, horrifying sobfests where tons of people die and there are no truly happy endings. I didn’t like the ending of Deathly Hallows because I thought it was too happy. I swear I’m not a sadist, it’s just that when it comes to fiction I prefer stuff that makes me want to curl into a ball and cry forever because it feels like all happiness has been destroyed. I swear I’m normal.

To be clear, I like depressing stories that are actually intended to be depressing. If something that’s supposed to be making me feel happy is making me feel sad, that doesn’t work. That’s why I have such a complicated relationship with One Coarse Meal (which is often compared to this episode given the similar themes). It could so easily have been my favorite episode ever, but the weirdly not-dark tone matched with the really dark subject matter ended up just seeming tasteless. Not that dark stories can’t be humorous, but the tone should always match. One Coarse Meal was strange because it should have been a dark episode, but it’s kind of not. It’s weirdly… normal. Just another SpongeBob episode with a twist. I think the normalcy of it is what stopped me from liking it. If you’re going to use dark themes in your stories, go right ahead, I’ll love you for it. But treat them like something dark.

There’s also an issue of whether or not dark topics are even appropriate for SpongeBob, which is intended for children and generally has a light, happy tone, which is sort of why it’s attracted such a large audience. People don’t like seeing something so depressing in a show that’s supposed to make them feel happy. I don’t have a problem with it personally. Yes, SpongeBob should be a happy show and despite my tendency to gravitate towards darker themes and tones I can appreciate happy things. But I think the occasional dark episode, even in something as “innocent” (that word is in quotations for a reason) as SpongeBob, is fine. It makes me appreciate the show more, in fact. It’s like how Futurama has a lot of episodes that are really sombre even though it’s a comedy. I love their more sombre episodes, and I’m not against SpongeBob having sombre episodes too. Besides, it’s not exactly new territory for this show. Pre-movie had episodes that were really morbid as well. Of course there is a slight difference because Futurama is an adult show and SpongeBob is for children, and either way there should be a line drawn somewhere, but that line is really blurry because it depends so much on context, execution and framing, and also on people’s personal tastes.

I’ve already written so much and I haven’t even talked much about Are You Happy Now?. What I appreciate about this episode when not watching it through everything-post-movie-sucks goggles is that its tone is very consistent and appropriate. It has bits of humor here and there, but they don’t really distract from the tone. I really like that. Then there’s those suicide jokes which… I don’t even know how to talk about these. Are suicide jokes insensitive? Yes, but let’s be real, we all make them. How many times have you said things like “kill me now” when talking about something you dislike? How many times have you said things like “I’d rather shoot myself than do that”? One time in high school, I told my friend I would rather jump out the window (we were on the top floor) than stay in class. My point is, that while our intention is not to make fun of suicide, which is something that really should not be made fun of, we do all make jokes about it. When we say these things, we don’t think of them as jokes about suicide, just ways of expressing dislike and annoyance, but technically we are joking about wanting to kill ourselves. Nobody sees it this way because of how innocent and trivial the context is, though. Obviously my friend didn’t honestly think I was going to jump out the window to get out of class, she knew I was being hyperbolic and didn’t take my words literally. But if I talked to her about my struggles with depression and then started saying things that connote suicide, she wouldn’t take that as a joke and I probably wouldn’t mean it as a joke, because why would I joke about that in that context? Context is everything. Not just when it comes to jokes about suicide, but jokes about any dark or sensitive topic.

I think that’s why people are bothered by the suicide jokes in this episode. Because really, this show has had jokes that allude to suicide before, and most of them involved Squidward, interestingly. Remember Band Geeks, when he nearly got impaled by some drumsticks and said “Too bad that didn’t kill me”? Or Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV when he wondered if a fall from a certain height would be enough to kill him? Those lines make you laugh, don’t they? They make me laugh too. Because we’re not actually worried about Squidward, we know it’s sarcasm and hyperbole to express his annoyance. I bet most people didn’t even think of them as jokes about suicide. In Are You Happy Now?, the suicide jokes stand out a lot more, not only because they’re a lot more explicit, but because of the context. Squidward is extremely depressed in this episode. For all we know, he could have been contemplating suicide, so it’s a lot more disturbing when we see jokes about it. The jokes don’t bother me as much as they once did, perhaps because I’ve now realized why they bothered me to begin with, and I’m able to see that it was really just the context that bothered me, not the subject itself (I feel similarly about One Coarse Meal now, for the record). I guess what I’m trying to say is that I totally get why people dislike these jokes, but I can’t bring myself to be too bothered by them anymore.

As a side note, I know some people thought these jokes were funny, and that’s fine. I don’t think less of them for laughing. Humor is subjective, especially this kind of humor. What’s funny to me could be offensive to someone else and vice versa. I’m positive that I’ve laughed at jokes that other people would be offended by, so it would be hypocritical of me to judge someone for laughing at these jokes. Everything I’ve said about humor so far is entirely subjective. It’s not fact, it’s just my opinion, and this whole what’s-okay-to-laugh-at-and-what-isn’t discussion is really complex and I can’t cover everything, so please don’t jump down my throat.

So far I’ve been very unclear about what my actual feelings for this episode are, but here’s something that I can express very clearly: I don’t like the ending. I don’t think anybody liked the ending of this episode, but I think I dislike it for a slightly different reason than everyone else. I think most people wanted this episode to have a Band Geeks-esque ending, where something wonderful happens for Squidward that he can call his happiest memory. That would have been nice, but I think I would have preferred something more subtle and bittersweet, like if Squidward didn’t necessarily receive a happy memory but found something worthwhile about his life anyway, or if he realized that it’s not too late for him to find some form of happiness. I didn’t like that his happiest memory at the end of the episode was destroying a bunch of SpongeBob statues in a fit a madness. It implies that Squidward completely hates SpongeBob which is really not true and is probably the one thing that I’ll never be able to just “get used to” about post-movie because his deep-down affection for SpongeBob was like my favorite thing in pre-movie and I can’t stand the fact that it’s gone uuuuuuuugh. So yeah. That bothered me. But I was also bothered by the party SpongeBob set up for Squidward. SpongeBob is naive about a lot of things, especially when it comes to his relationships with other characters, but he’s not an idiot. He knows Squidward. He knows what Squidward likes and what his passions are. I highly doubt he would think that Squidward’s perfect party would be one with a bunch of paper mache statues of himself. The ending makes SpongeBob seem oblivious to the interests of his friends, which is simply not true. It’s especially weird since his attempts at finding Squidward a happy memory earlier in the episode were good ones that actually did match Squidward’s interests, but SpongeBob really dropped the ball in the ending.

Oh, and I guess I should say something about that “He’s so handsome!” line that people always complain about. I really don’t have much of an issue with that line, to be honest. It’s a random and stupid line to end the episode with, yes, but I don’t care much about the implications of it. It is odd that so many post-movie quotes seem to imply that SpongeBob has a crush on Squidward and I do wonder why the writers would suddenly go that direction (if that is there intention, I’m not sure if it is), but I don’t give a shit about the sexualities of these characters and neither should you. Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to think that it’s an issue with sexuality that makes people dislike this line, it’s probably just because SpongeBob was never intended to have a crush on Squidward and people don’t like the change to their dynamic. Well, again, I can’t take much issue with this fact because firstly SpongeBob having a crush on Squidward is the least of my worries when it comes to the change in their dynamic and secondly, whether or not SpongeBob had a crush on Squidward in pre-movie is probably up to interpretation, just like whether or not he has a crush on Sandy is up to interpretation. (I bet the SquidBob shippers were thrilled about the “He’s so handsome!” line.)

I should say something about the characters in this episode too. I’ve been complaining a lot lately about how Squidward comes off as legitimately depressed rather than just curmudgeonly in a lot of post-movie episode, so it’s kind of funny that I don’t have much of a problem with an episode that centers around him being depressed. Somehow it fits in this episode, probably because his depression, for the most part, isn’t being played for laughs and is instead used to get us to sympathize with him. It’s successful. One line that hit me really hard was at the end of the episode, when Squidward said he doesn’t want a happiest memory. That line has always stood out to me. Squidward has fallen so deep into his depression that he doesn’t even want to be brought out of it. That’s… I don’t know what that is. I can’t even tell if the line was supposed to be a joke or not, but it deeply disturbs me, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether or not I decide to view that line as a joke. SpongeBob was extremely sweet in this episode, I loved how earnestly he was trying to help Squidward… minus the ending, that is, but I already talked about that. Gary is also in the second half a lot and he was really cute. That’s it. That’s all I can say about Gary.

Okay, so this post is over 2000 words and I’m not even done reviewing the first episode of the pair yet, so let’s wrap this up.

This is a really loaded episode. I knew when I started this project that when I got to this episode I would have a lot to say about it, but I didn’t expect to say this much. There’s just so much to talk about with this episode, so many discussions that can be opened up. I even managed to talk about shipping, for crying out loud. I kind of like this episode for that fact alone. It’s interesting. There’s a lot to talk about and I like talking about it.

This episode is depressing, controversial, and borders on insensitive (for some it crosses the line entirely), and that’s what I like about it. It’s fascinating, even if I’m not sure if I can call it “good”. I’m not even sure if “like” is the right word to describe my feelings toward it. I don’t even know what to rate it.

What is this episode even.

Rating: 8/10

SpongeBob and Patrick are jellyfishing, unaware that a giant jellyfish monster in creating miniature jellyfish that kidnap people in gelatin cocoons and make zombie-like clones of them that are devoid of emotion or personality. What the shit. This is awesome. The monster clones Patrick, and Zombie-Patrick insists on giving a mini monster jellyfish to everyone in Bikini Bottom. By the next day, most of the town has been replaced with a zombie clone, SpongeBob being one of the few that hasn’t been turned. At first he’s oblivious to what has happened to the town, but soon begins to suspect something. He discovers the gelatin cocoons with the real Bikini Bottomites in them in the freezer of the Krusty Krab, as well as the original monster/alien/whatever. Frightened, SpongeBob tries to escape from the zombified Bikini Bottomites, who are trying to turn him into a clone. Or they’re trying to devour him. I don’t know, either way it’s awesome. While running from the clones, he’s kidnapped by Sandy, who hasn’t been turned yet. Sandy thinks he’s one of the clones and wants to question him, but after testing him she realizes that he’s not a clone. The two of them come up with a plan to defeat the clones (SpongeBob realizes that mayonnaise is there weakness as they all seemed to have an aversion to it at the Krusty Krab) and exit Sandy’s treedome disguised as clones. They make it to the Krusty Krab and their disguises are found out, but they manage to spray all of the clones with mayonnaise which looks really dirty, or maybe I’m just too perverted. It’s probably the latter. Oh yeah, and when they get sprayed with the mayo they explode and the real person they were cloned from is freed from their cocoons. Eventually, Sandy and SpongeBob make their way to the giant jellyfish monster and defeat it, saving the town.

Oh my God, why is this not a special?! That’s really the only complaint I have about this episode. It’s too short. And this story really feels like it could be expanded into twenty-two minutes easily. It’s fine as an eleven minute episode too, a lot happens but it’s paced really well so it doesn’t feel too jam-packed. But it also feels rushed thanks to the time limit. I wish it could have spent more time with each scene.

I also find it odd that we never found out where the giant jellyfish monster came from. It’s just there. I think we can assume it’s an alien, but why would aliens try to take over Bikini Bottom of all places? They know that there are humans above water, right? You’d think that would be their priority. I’m over-thinking this, aren’t I?

I love how the jellyfish clones looked, though. Those eyes, man. They look so creepy, especially Mr. Krabs.

But as creepy as they look, I also think they look weirdly cute? Look, I wasn’t kidding when I said I have a weird definition of cute. Also I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to see Plankton as a clone. Just imagine how cute that would have looked! Please tell me there’s fan art of this.

Since I practically wrote a novel on Are You Happy Now?, I want to keep this review short. Conveniently there isn’t that much I have to say about this episode anyway. I really loved it, though. It’s exciting, it’s creepy, it’s a great throwback to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and while it’s not heavy on humor because the focus is mostly its (awesome) story, the few jokes it does have are really funny. The only thing that could have improved it is if it had been longer.

Rating: 9.5/10