Steven Universe Reviews: Season 1 (Bubble Buddies/Serious Steven)

Clearly I’m doing a great job with getting these out more quickly.

This episode is our first introduction to Connie, this little cutie:

Seriously, she is so adorable. And Steven has a huge crush on her, which is also pretty adorable. After a bad attempt at trying to impress her, Steven runs into the house embarrassed. The Gems realize that Steven has a crush and Pearl and Amethyst are all for setting up a playdate (Pearl says they need to find out what Connie’s favorite tea is, bless Pearl) but Garnet says Steven should just talk to Connie. Steven takes a bracelet out of the fridge (we’ll find out why later) and then goes over to where Connie is. As he approaches her, the cliffs behind her start to crumble. He jumps to rescue her and his gem activates, creating a pink bubble shield around them. Unfortunately, Steven doesn’t know how to deactivate the bubble, nor does he want to ask the Gems for help, so he and Connie try to find another way of breaking it.

After hitting the bubble with a chair and shooting a harpoon at it doesn’t work, Steven comes up with a new idea. He takes Connie to the amusement park, thinking that something there can pop the bubble.

• Steven: Yeah! Tons of horrible accidents happen here everyday! There’s gotta be something to break this bubble. We just gotta find the right ride. Yeah, the kiddy coaster! Alright, we just roll down this ramp as the carts are coming at us, and the crash will break us free!
• Connie: What happens after the bubble pops?
• Steven: We’ll be free!

Steven, NO

Right, so the two of them end up being launched into the middle of the ocean. And while trying to roll themselves back to shore, they fall into a trench created by a sea monster. Connie finally snaps at Steven that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and that she’s probably going to die without ever having made a single friend. Aw, Connie! As Connie cries Steven pulls out the glowing bracelet from before. He says that he saw her drop it at a parade one day and that he’d been waiting for an opportunity to return it to her. He even kept it in the fridge so it would last longer. This whole scene is really cute, if you can ignore the nonsensical transition of Connie crying about dying to saying “It’s okay, I’m having fun!” Just then the bubble pops and Steven and Connie immediately swim back to shore. They’re attacked once again by the sea monster, which is attracted to the bracelet, but they manage to defeat it. When the Gems show up, Connie tells them how incredible Steven was.

So, something I find notable about this show in general but haven’t had a chance to mention yet. The animation is pretty… muted? For the backgrounds and colors in particular. I mean, if you actually look at the way the backgrounds are drawn in this show, they tend to not be very detailed.

They almost look like they’re unfinished, and even the colors tend to be sort of faded and muted, at least compared to Adventure Time, where everything about the animation was vibrant and colorful and in-your-face. I’m not saying this is a bad thing for Steven Universe, though. Quite the opposite, I find the backgrounds quite pretty, and the fact that they’re more subtle pulls your focus to the characters, who are more vibrantly animated.

Anyway, on to Bubble Buddies. Which unfortunately has a name very similar to a SpongeBob episode and that may get confusing. Connie, as mentioned earlier, is adorable, and she seems like she’ll make a good friendly foil to Steven. She’s calmer and more logical than he is, and she’s already being set up as the voice of reason when she’s with him.

Connie is cute, Steven is cute, the bracelet scene is cute, the whole episode is cute.

Rating: 7.5/10

The episode begins with Steven in Funland, the amusement park. The teacups ride has apparently had an accident, with the teacups having flown out of position with riders still in them. The episode then moves forward to two weeks later. Odd. Steven is with the Gems on a mission, apparently a very serious one. They come to their destination, an upside down pyramid, and head inside. Steven finds a strange, smaller pyramid and touches it, causing it to flip over, and causing everyone inside to gravitate towards a hole in the ceiling. They fall into a room with many doors, and Pearl suggests they split up. Pearl wants to stay with Steven, but Garnet insists on taking him with her while Pearl and Amethyst go together.

Each of the rooms has a dangerous trap in them, and it quickly becomes apparent that Steven is in over his head. Garnet does most of the work while Steven is in constant need of saving. In one room, Steven has a flashback to his time at Funland, where Steven had gotten sick on the teacup ride and fallen out, breaking the lever of the ride and thus accidentally destroying it. In the present, the Gems find themselves in the same room they started in. Pearl says that she and Amethyst have tried multiple doors, but they all end up leading back here. At this point Steven, who is obviously terrified, has a breakdown and says “You were all right about me. I wanted to do this so bad, but now I feel like I’m gonna throw up. This is just like the teacups!” While the Gems reassure him that he’s doing fine, Steven realizes that this is like the teacups ride, with all of the rooms spinning around so they always end up in the same place. Garnet breaks through the floor and they all fall into a large mechanism that causes the temple’s rooms to rotate. Garnet throws Steven at the center and he removes the gem controlling it, which causes the temple to explode. Once freed, the Gems compliment Steven on his ingenuity.

So, Steven obviously isn’t as experienced or as skilled as Pearl, Garnet or Amethyst, hence why Pearl didn’t want to take him along at all and also why Garnet spent most of this episode making sure he didn’t die. It doesn’t help that Steven is still immature and a kid. I mean, Amethyst acts pretty childish, but at least she is an adult (technically? I’m assuming?) and she’s powerful and has control over her abilities. Steven doesn’t have any of that. What he does have is ingenuity. He mind works differently from the Gems, and that’s usually what ends up saving him in past episodes as well as this one. He just needs to learn to actually use his abilities.

This episode got me thinking about Steven’s relationship with each of the Gems. They all have very different approaches in how they deal with him. Pearl is constantly anxious and worried when it comes to Steven, always wanting to protect him from everything and not really trusting him. Amethyst likes playing and having fun with Steven, but doesn’t seem to take him very seriously and can be irresponsible where he’s involved. Garnet seems to be more supportive of Steven, but she also seems very detached from… well, everything. The three of them together kind of balance each other out, but being with only one of them for too long could end up being disastrous.

This is a really enjoyable episode. The temple is an interesting place, it’s pretty exciting, and we get to see Garnet being both a total bad ass and an absolutely adorable mom to Steven.

Rating: 8.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (BMO Lost/Princess Potluck)

In this episode, BMO gets lost. It happens when xe’s snatched up by an eagle and taken back to its nest, and when xe manages to escape the nest xe realizes that xe’s miles from the Tree Fort. BMO meets a Bubble who is also lost and BMO suggests they go to the Tree Fort together, so that afterwards Finn and Jake can help Bubble find its way home. That’s basically the episode. BMO and Bubble head to the Tree Fort, there’s a part where they find a baby and take it with them but then the baby’s mother find it again, then they reach the Tree Fort. Bubble proposes to BMO and BMO accepts, but then Jake shows up and pops Bubble. When BMO starts to cry, Finn and Jake think xe’s joking and laugh. That’s… kind of messed up? Then BMO hears Bubble’s voice, and Bubble says that it has simply become air, so it’s all around BMO all the time no matter where xe goes. That sounds creepy to me but it makes BMO happy. And that’s pretty much it.

Well. That was a thing.

I really like BMO, xe’s adorable, but episodes about BMO just don’t do anything for me. I guess because I don’t feel like BMO has enough of a character, or the one xe does have isn’t one that can carry an episode. BMO is like Lumpy Space Princess, best in small doses or as part of a group of characters we already know.

There wasn’t a whole lot that I enjoyed about the episode, but there wasn’t anything I hated either. I just don’t have a lot to say about it. Not a whole lot happens, the ending is… something. I can’t decide if it’s more sad or funny, but either way it was the most memorable part of the episode for me. Um…

Yeah, I don’t know what to tell ya, BMO is cute, but that’s not enough to make an episode for me. I’m sorry this review is so short and I haven’t really said much, but all I can say about this one is… that was a thing.

Rating: 5/10

The episode begins with Finn and Jake heading over to Princess Bubblegum’s potluck (Jake is wearing makeup, which I love – Jake gives no fucks about gender roles and it’s glorious… though Finn was right to say he looks like a target). For some reason Bubblegum’s potluck is nearby the Ice Kingdom, and Finn and Jake seem to be the only people there who aren’t princesses. Meanwhile, Ice King is in his castle, doing weird stuff because he’s Ice King. When he realizes that Bubblegum is throwing some kind of party that he wasn’t invited to, he’s upset and decides he’ll do whatever he can to ruin it. Bubblegum thinks she’s going to throw a party and not invite him?! He, like, invented her, you know what I mean?

Anyway, the first thing he does is catch a bunch of rabbits and cats. He ties lemons to the cats and feeds lasagna to the rabbits. I don’t get it. Then he releases the cats into the party, saying that the “sour pusses” will ruin the party. Sour pusses… because they’re cats… and they have lemons tied to them… I get it now. That doesn’t work, because the cats don’t actually do anything except walk around looking cute, and the party was missing lemons to put in drinks anyway. So then Ice King tries to release his “party poopers”, which are the rabbits. They’re party poopers because.. you know. That doesn’t work either because, well, the rabbits did what they were supposed to before Ice King had a chance to let them go. Let’s give Ice King some credit, though, this was pretty creative. Stupid, but creative.

The next thing he tries is to dress Gunter up like a princess and send him to the party undercover, where he can throw punch on the guests and ruin everything. There’s a bit where Ice King thinks Gunter looks attractive as a princess and fantasizes about marrying her, so Gunter has to pull out a taser in defense. So I guess if we need a reminder that Ice King is a creep, there’s that. Gunter goes to the party and he doesn’t throw punch on anyone. Instead he dances with the princesses. Ice King falls to the floor and cries. Maybe they should call him Drama King, amirite? (I’m sorry I know that was terrible.)

Then Ice King tries calling the Banana Guards with a noise complaint. The Banana Guards hang up on him. So Ice King tries throwing his own party to make the princesses jealous but they don’t even notice him. Finally, Ice King decides to just attack the party and hurl ice bolts at the guests. The princesses take refuge while Finn fights Ice King. Once Ice King is held down, they question why he’s attacking the party. He says it’s because he wasn’t invited, but Bubblegum tells him she did invite him (???? why would she do that?), she sent his invite in the mail, which Ice King didn’t check. So the party resumes, this time with Ice King.

This one I enjoyed more than BMO Lost. It sort of feels more like something that would be in Season 1, somehow. It’s really energized and weird and it feels like so much happens yet when you look back on it, not much actually happened. And, of course, it’s primarily driven by comedy.

Ice King’s comedy is usually this weird mix between funny and uncomfortable so I end up kind of laughing but also kind of squirming (which seems to be the intention but sometimes it’s hard to tell), like that joke with Gunter pulling out the taser on him. That was funny, but it’s also a bit uncomfortable. Other jokes in the episode were kind of hit or miss. Some just fell flat, some were funny at first but suffered from being dragged out a bit too long (the joke with Ice King calling the Banana Guards). Still, for the most part I did enjoy the comedy in this episode. It’s not a hilarious episode, but it was funny enough for me, and either way I really enjoyed watching it.

Rating: 7.5/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom/Bubble Buddy Returns)

Mr. Krabs spots a giant bean growing in Sandy’s treedome and is curious about it, so he asks for a tour of her treedome. During the tour, Sandy tells him that she enlarged the bean with some growth serum, and Mr. Krabs wants to use the serum on a Krabby Patty to make an unlimited supply. He calls SpongeBob and asks him to bring a Patty, and with Sandy’s guidance they pour a few drops of the serum onto the Patty. Nothing appears to happen, so while Sandy goes to the little squirrel’s room (her words, not mine, gotta love puns) Krabs pours the whole bottle on the patty. It still doesn’t seem to work, but on their way back to the Krusty Krab the Patty starts to grow. It keeps growing in the restaurant, eventually consuming it and then going on to consume the rest of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob and Patrick run to Sandy’s house, thinking that she must have a solution, and of course she does. She tells SpongeBob that her artificial intelligence cube told her her he needs to “make direct contact” with the Krabby Patty, which basically means he needs to absorb it. Yeah… we’ll get to that cube. Anyway, SpongeBob absorbs the Patty and Bikini Bottom is saved. But… would the Patty just keep growing inside him? Or was it done growing by the time he absorbed it? Whatever.

This episode reminds me a lot of Whelk Attack. It’s another parody of old, cheesy monster movies, specifically The Blob in this case. This one is weaker than Whelk Attack, though. The story isn’t put together as well, and it’s perhaps a bit too similar to Whelk Attack, particularly the second half. But I do want more episodes like this, where some sort of epidemic comes to Bikini Bottom, so I do appreciate this episode for that fact.

I was rather pleased at the beginning of this episode, when it seemed like this was going to be a Sandy-Krabs episode, which we’ve never seen before. Unfortunately that got forgotten pretty quickly and the episode returns to the usual dynamics. In fact, Krab just disappeared during the second half, which I found odd. Since he was the cause of the giant Krabby Patty, I kind of thought he would be more involved in the solution. Okay, fine, he didn’t just disappear for no reason, he got consumed by the Patty, but I still found it strange that he wasn’t at least mentioned in the second half. We see him again at the very end, but it doesn’t amount to anything. Am I the only one who finds it weird that Krabs isn’t more involved in the story?

And Sandy’s cube thing. Just… what. What was the point? When Sandy showed Krabs the cube at the beginning of the episode, I thought it was just a throwaway joke and forgot about it until it was brought up again. She describes it as a Rubik’s Cube that can solve itself, it sounded like a joke. Turns out it was a plot point, but… why? Couldn’t the characters have figured out what to do without the cube? Sandy figures things out all the time. Why add in the cube? It’s really baffling.

Anyway, this episode does have a few funny and entertaining bits, and I liked the idea, but it’s too weirdly put-together and it comes off as somewhat of a poor man’s Whelk Attack.

Rating: 6/10

SpongeBob gets a letter from Bubble Buddy (yes, that Bubble Buddy) asking him if he can watch Bubble Buddy’s son, Shiny, for the day. Well, “ask” isn’t the right word, as it implies that SpongeBob had a choice. Bubble Buddy sends the letter to SpongeBob’s house with Shiny, so it’s not like SpongeBob can say no. It doesn’t matter anyway because SpongeBob is perfectly happy to watch Shiny, but personally I’d be pissed if someone ambushed me into watching their kid. Anyway, SpongeBob needs to keep Shiny away from sharp/pointy objects that could potentially pop him, but Shiny keeps wandering off to dangerous areas and ruining people’s day (like father like son?). And people wonder why I don’t like kids. Anyway, that’s basically the whole episode. Shiny wanders off, SpongeBob rescues him and scolds him, rinse and repeat until Bubble Buddy shows up at the end to pick up Shiny.

So, this is the first episode to directly reference a previous episode and can be considered a “sequel” of sorts to said episode. The closest thing we’ve ever had to this before was Prehibernation Week and Survival of the Idiots, which are sort of related but not directly. Bubble Buddy Returns actually is directly related to a previous episode (it even references the fact that Bubble Buddy owes Mr. Krabs money!), though why it’s called “Bubble Buddy Returns” when it mostly features his son is beyond me. Bubble Buddy is only in the episode for, like, two minutes total.

I was really skeptical about this episode at first. Not because I thought it would ruin a “classic” or anything like that (I don’t even like the original Bubble Buddy episode that much, honestly), but because the idea of a direct sequel to an episode was off-putting for me. This show has never had continuity (besides small, indirect references to other episodes that would probably fly over the casual fan’s head) and I actually like that. It gives the writers more freedom, and it’s a lot easier to pretend episodes that I don’t like don’t exist when they don’t have any lasting effect on the show or characters. It’s also nice for newcomers to the show. They don’t have to start from the beginning of the show to understand what’s going on. I like that each episode is its own separate entity.

So, I had reservations about this episode the moment I saw the title of it. I didn’t like the idea of a direct sequel to an episode, I kept wondering what it meant for the show, whether there was some weird timeline to it after all. Now that I think about it, I have wished for one-time characters to reappear before (though Bubble Buddy would not have been one of choices), which would require some reference to previous episodes, and Friend or Foe actually did provide some continuity to the show. Krabs and Plankton’s relationship had been hinted about before then, so it wasn’t exactly a new addition, just expanding on something that was already there, but still, that episode did have a lasting effect on the Krabs-Plankton dynamic, it wasn’t just a one-shot thing. So, I suppose a little bit of continuity is okay to an extent, but I still wouldn’t want a concrete timeline to the show. This episode actually doesn’t do much for continuity anyway. It’s a sequel, sure, but it could also exist on its own. You wouldn’t need to watch the original episode to understand this one.

All that being said, good God this episode is boring. It was easy to forget my hang-ups about direct sequels to episodes when the sequel in question was putting me to sleep. It’s way too repetitive, the only interesting thing to happen in the episode was the ending when SpongeBob accidentally popped Shiny. Is it bad that I was kind of relieved when he got popped? It probably is.

I just thought of something. If Bubble Buddy has a son… does that mean Bubble Buddy has had sex? How can bubbles have sex anyway? Can they… can they pop each other when they put it in? Ugh, why am I thinking about bubble sex this much?! I’m too dirty-minded for my own good.  Shiny was probably the result of bubble-blowing, just like Bubble Buddy was. Though that also raises some questions. Was Bubble Buddy “born” when SpongeBob blew him? Oh dear, I shouldn’t use the word “blow” or participles of it when I’ve just been talking about bubble sex. I don’t even know where I’m going with this anymore. Never mind.

To sum up, I’m still on the fence about direct sequels to episodes, and this episode is a bore. Luckily I’m not a big fan of the original episode, so I’m not too disappointed by this one.

Rating: 2.5/10

SpongeBob Reviews: Season 8 (The Way of the Sponge/Bubble Troubles)

SpongeBob goes to visit Sandy and sees a… something in her Treedome. That thing is “Fuzzy Acorns”, Sandy’s Karate sensei who has come to test her abilities and see whether or not she is worthy of the “blacker” belt, which is apparently a rank above the black belt that she already has. What kind of animal is Fuzzy Acorns supposed to be? I can’t figure it out and I can’t find the information anywhere. Eh, it doesn’t matter I guess. SpongeBob wants to earn a belt too, so Fuzzy (who came up with such a cute name like that for a bad ass Karate master, Hagrid?) puts him through a series of tests, all of which SpongeBob fails. Unimpressed, Fuzzy schedules a fight between Sandy and SpongeBob to take place the next day. SpongeBob spends the rest of the day and night training, and the next day is too exhausted to fight. Sandy beats him easily, and Fuzzy tells SpongeBob he isn’t worthy of a Karate belt. To make matters worse, he takes Sandy’s black belt as well for wasting his time with an unworthy student. Dejected, SpongeBob leaves to go to work, and Sandy berates Fuzzy for being so mean to SpongeBob.  Fuzzy dismisses her words and says that he’s hungry. Sandy takes him to the Krusty Krab, hoping that he’ll be impressed with SpongeBob’s skills there. After watching SpongeBob prepare and serve food like some kind of ninja chef (I know it sounds silly but I really don’t know how else to describe it, also it is pretty silly), Fuzzy starts to think that he may have judged SpongeBob too quickly. He tries to attack SpongeBob to see him in action, and SpongeBob unknowingly defeats him through sheer luck. Fuzzy decides that SpongeBob does deserve a black belt after all, and that Sandy deserves her blacker belt.

For some reason Fuzzy’s (that name still sounds far too cute) voice really bothered me. Every time he opened his mouth to say something, it took me out of the episode. I think it’s because the voice didn’t seem to match how the character was designed or his personality, or maybe the voice actor just isn’t that good. Whatever it was, it was really distracting.  I don’t even dislike Fuzzy as a character, I actually think he’s one of the better one-time characters that we’ve seen post-movie, and perhaps pre-movie as well, but his voice was so off-putting. I’m probably the only one who feels this way, though.

Getting past his voice, I do think Fuzzy is a fairly good character. He’s not great, but he serves his purpose well. He’s dignified and imposing but can also get in some moments of humor that don’t feel forced. His arrogance and bullying nature make him hard to like as a person, but easy to like as a character since he’s supposed to be antagonistic (yes, there is a big difference between liking someone as a character and liking someone as a person). What I find kind of cool about Fuzzy is that he actually learns his lesson at the end of the episode and apologizes for his behavior. I can’t think of any other one-time antagonists on the show who have done this, usually they’re pretty one-note (though admittedly in an entertaining way) and don’t really learn anything in the end, Fuzzy actually has something resembling a character arc, and once again it doesn’t feel forced. Hm, the more I think about it, Fuzzy is a pretty great one-time character. I actually could see him appearing in more episodes, unlike most one-time characters. Too bad about that voice.

I also really loved Sandy in this episode. I will never understand why so many people in this fandom hate Sandy. Next to SpongeBob, I think she’s the most likable character on the show, as well as one of the best overall. This episode demonstrates why she’s so likable. She’s extremely kind and she believes in SpongeBob so much, despite all of his failures. She encourages him and stands up for him when Fuzzy treats him badly. I also like that she was hesitant to fight SpongeBob when she saw how exhausted SpongeBob was. I mean, it only lasts a second because she’s under pressure from Fuzzy (and it would disrupt the pace of the episode if they dwelled on this too much), but I liked that they slipped that line in. It shows that she cares about her friend’s well-being and values fair play.

SpongeBob was pretty good too, though there isn’t as much to say about him. You definitely feel for him when he’s denied his Karate belt and his tenacity is admirable, but besides that he’s just kind of there. Funny, since I think he is supposed to be the focus of the episode, but since Fuzzy is the one with the arc the focus shifts to him.

The humor is the weakest part of the episode, but it’s not even that weak. None of the jokes are really worth writing home about, but they are amusing and I got a giggle here and there. I especially liked that bit of meta humor where Sandy is monologue-ing her plan to bringing Fuzzy to the Krusty Krab and Fuzzy asks her who she’s talking to.

If it’s not clear yet, I loved this episode. I thought it was pretty fantastic. It’s entertaining, it’s well-paced, it’s a decent story with really good execution, and the character were great.

Rating: 8.5/10

That title card looks very much like a scene from Pre-hibernation Week.

The first three minutes of this episode are dull and drag for way too long. Plus there’s a weird part with a bonsai tree that makes me pretty certain Squidward is taking drugs. All you need to know is that SpongeBob and Patrick get bored of blowing regular bubbles and instead start blowing hot sauce bubbles. They go to visit Sandy and find her fixing the oxygen tank connected to her treedome. Apparently she’s running low on oxygen. SpongeBob blows some hot sauce bubbles at the tank and as we all know hot sauce is equivalent to acid in the world of cartoons, so the oxygen tank melts. Sandy only has a few minutes of oxygen left in her suit, so she must go to the surface in her submarine and replenish her air supply. SpongeBob opens the door of the submarine and water rushes in. Nice going, genius. The lack of oxygen is making Sandy woozy, so she tells SpongeBob that he has to drive the submarine to the surface for her. Um, have you seen SpongeBob drive? Actually, SpongeBob drives it quite well until Sandy, who is basically drunk from the lack of oxygen, grabs the wheel from SpongeBob and crashes the submarine into the Krusty Krab. Now the gang must find air for Sandy (who has removed her helmet and smashed it on the ground) before she dies. They give her some air bubbles and have Pearl, who technically is also an air-breather, share her air with Sandy. However, SpongeBob knows he has to get Sandy more air from the surface, so using an oxygen tank (seriously?) as a jetpack, he reaches the surface, blows a bubble full of air, and brings it back down to Sandy’s treedome.

The beginning of this episode really does drag for too long. It shouldn’t take three minutes to tell me that SpongeBob and Patrick are blowing hot sauce bubbles.

Things do start to pick up once they get to Sandy’s house, though. I was a little disappointed that the episode didn’t take place on the surface as I had expected it to, but it was amusing nonetheless. Weird, but amusing. The methods they found of giving Sandy air were actually pretty creative, and I liked how they acknowledged that Pearl is actually a mammal and needs to breathe air too. Kind of a random, trivial thing to like, I know, but I just like it when they acknowledge little facts like that. It makes me wonder what side Pearl would have been on if she’d been part of the land vs water debate in Pressure. Also, I kind of want to see an episode where Sandy and Pearl bond over being air-breathers now. What.

Seeing Sandy drunk from the lack of air was actually pretty funny and weirdly adorable (I don’t know I have a weird definition of adorable okay), and it’s rare that we see her in a vulnerable position like this, so it was kind of refreshing. I mean, I love my tough, bad ass, heroic Sandy, but I also like to see something different now and then, and Sandy in a vulnerable position is different. She spends so much time saving everyone else, it’s nice to see them return the favor for once.

Patrick was also really funny in this episode. It feels weird to say that since my last review included a rant on how Patrick isn’t as funny as he used to be and I definitely still stand by that rant. But… he was funny in this one. I hope this isn’t just a fluke.

The story-telling and pacing are a bit shaky, but I thought it was a fairly entertaining episode. It’s really strange, but also fun and an interesting idea for an episode.

Rating: 7/10

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 7 (SpongeBob’s Last Stand/Back to the Past/The Bad Guy Club for Villains)

Ooh, I love the dark look of this title card. It gets the point across nicely, with the small, lonely patch of grass surrounded by concrete that appears to be slowly creeping onto the grass, while the sky in the background is a dull, brownish-grey with only a streak of bright blue on the horizon. Even the title itself sounds ominous.

Right, I’m not here to review the title card, though to be honest I think the title card is more interesting than the episode and kind of would like to review it. Okay, so, SpongeBob’s Last Stand is an Earth Day Special, and we all know what that means: some overly-preachy environmental message that we’ve all heard a thousand times in movies like Ferngully and Pocahontas. Yeah, Earth Day Specials are usually lame. Was this one lame? Well, um, not really but kind of-ish? Let’s start at the beginning.

SpongeBob and Patrick are jellyfishing, and they find out that a highway will be built through Jellyfish Fields. SpongeBob wants to stop this from happening because it will destroy the jellyfishes habitat and blah blah blah. You get the idea. SpongeBob tries to get more people to help, but no one but him and Patrick are willing. So, why didn’t they ask Sandy? I’ve sure she would have wanted to help. He tells Mr. Krabs about the new highway, and the two find out that the highway will go directly over the Krusty Krab and straight to the Chum Bucket. Yep, turns out Plankton is behind everything. So now we have to save the Krusty Krab, too? Whatever. SpongeBob and Krabs go to confront Plankton on this, but Plankton tells them that he doesn’t give a barnacle. Those are his exact words. Oh, you can bet I’ll be quoting that from now on. Krabs is ready to give up, but SpongeBob isn’t. He and Patrick protest the new highway to no avail. When it comes time for the highway to be built, SpongeBob tries to put himself in the way of the construction, but even that does nothing as Plankton is happy to run him over. With their home destroyed, the jellyfish overrun Bikini Bottom. Because of this, everyone in Bikini Bottom (OH, THERE YOU ARE, SANDY) helps get rid of the highway, thus saving Jellyfish Fields. And the Krusty Krab.

Okay, so, I’m not saying that the environment isn’t important or that kids shouldn’t be getting environmental messages like this, but do they have to get them this often? And do they always have to be presented in such a preachy way? Granted, SpongeBob’s Last Stand isn’t as preachy as most environmental episodes of other shows are, but it’s still pretty preachy. Or maybe I’m just tired of seeing morals like this because I’ve seen it done in tons of movies and shows already, so it’s very possible my irritation is just a bias.

The songs in this episode are awful. Actually, the first song they sing is okay, it’s not very memorable but it’s kind of fun. That “Give Jellyfish Fields a Chance” song, though? Awful. It’s obviously a parody of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”, which, as a Lennon fan, I love the idea of. But all Give Jellyfish Fields a Chance is is a string of random words with a chorus that goes “All we are saying is give Jellyfish Fields a Chance”. Literally, it’s just a bunch of random, unrelated words in the verses and then that chorus. You think I’m kidding or exaggerating? I’m not. That’s what it is. Look it up and see for yourself.

The jokes in this episodes ranged from laugh-out-loud funny to facepalm-worthy. I laughed more than I facepalmed, though, so that’s a good thing. I also liked some of the darker imagery that was used, like when the Krusty Krab is desolate and empty after the highway was built, and when Bikini Bottom is overrun by jellyfish.

Overall, I’d say this episode is slightly below average, but it’s still watchable.

Rating: 4.5/10

After helping out Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, SpongeBob and Patrick are shown their room full of memorabilia, which includes their time machine. Even though they were told not to touch it, Patrick touches it, launching the four of them back in time. There, we see a younger and fitter Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy fighting Manray who apparently doesn’t age because he always looks the same. Or maybe he’s just in really good shape. What’s his secret? Anyway, Patrick freaks out and drags SpongeBob back to the time machine, leaving Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stuck in the past. That’s when Barnacle Boy has his best line ever: “Why haven’t we had those two classified as villains yet?” 10/10 I cried. SpongeBob and Patrick go back to the present, but it’s an alternate timeline where Manray has taken over Bikini Bottom and forced everyone to be his slaves (Squilliam makes a small appearance that literally lasts ten seconds and I still had a mini fangirl meltdown my God what is wrong with me?). SpongeBob goes to the Krusty Krab to find out if he still has a job in this alternate timeline, and there he finds Barnacle Boy working as a cashier. Well, I always did think he and Squidward were similar. They even look similar! Oh, and Mermaid Man is working as a fry cook. SpongeBob convinces MM and BB to go back in time again and defeat Manray. They do so, and in classic time-travel confusion, a bunch of different SpongeBobs and Patrick keep showing up to stop Manray. While Manray is confused, the younger Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are able to place him under arrest, saving the future.

I love time-travel and all of its weird rules and paradoxes, so when I found out what the plot of this episode was, I was really excited. It turned out pretty good, though not quite as good as I was hoping. Most of the jokes got a giggle out of me, but I would have liked to have spent more time in the alternate timeline where Manray has taken over Bikini Bottom. I think it had more potential and I would have liked to see it explored more. They probably could have stretched this one out a few more minutes and made it a special (it’s already pretty long for just a regular episode anyway), which would have allowed for more time to explore the alternate timeline.

I liked how cold and dark everything (including the inside of the Krusty Krab) looked in the alternate timeline. Did I ever mention that I love when this show uses darker animation/imagery? Because I do. When it’s done right, that is. Anyway, I liked the look of the Manray’s Bikini Bottom, and even the citizens looked appropriately downtrodden and tired. Everything in the alternate timeline had an cold, grim, unsettling feeling, it was really interesting, and it just makes me wish we’d gotten to spend more time in it.

Overall, this is a decent episode, but I don’t think it quite reached its full potential.

Rating: 6.5/10

SpongeBob and Patrick watch a tape of “the lost episode” of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The episode is basically just what’s on the tape. A bunch of villains, which includes Manray and the Dirty Bubble (like I’m going to bother listing the rest), are meeting secretly. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy suspect that they’re up to no good, so they crash the meeting along with the Ponderer, Miss Appear, The Elastic Wasteband, and Professor Magma. Wait, what? Professor Magma? It’s Captain Magma, damn it! And where’s the Quickster? And why do their costumes look nothing like they do in Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V? Am I seriously geeking-out over super heroes in a cartoon? Yes. Yes I am. Anyway, a fight ensues ending with the villains being caught. Apparently they were only having a book club meeting, so MM and BB can’t imprison them. That’s it.

This is kind of a neat idea for an episode. It’s different, at least. I can’t say I laughed at much, but it did keep me entertained and the fight was kind of cool. I also like the old-fashioned art style that was used for the lost episode, that was a nice touch.

I liked seeing some of the Super Acquaintances from Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V (either it or part III are my favorite MM and BB episodes), that was a nice reference and I appreciated it. But, I’m sorry, I must bring this up again: why is Captain Magma called Professor Magma instead, why do they all look nothing like they did in MM and BB V and where is the Quickster? I know it’s a nitpick, but  it bugged me a lot.

Oh well, this is still a pretty fun episode, but I probably wouldn’t revisit it. Although I would like to join the villains’ book club.

Rating: 6/10