Okay let me come right out and say it, I’ve always liked “That Sinking Feeling”. Is this an unpopular opinion? Yeah probably, but I stand by it after rewatching the episode.
I’m always a sucker for a good trio plot. "Trio" here referring to SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward of course. And that’s exactly what this episode is all about, using the formula we established all the way back in “Bubblestand”. It’s a formula for a reason, it simply works. And that’s how it is here, it simply works. This beginning bit of the episode is probably the weakest part of the whole thing for me, as watching SpongeBob and Patrick run around laughing doesn’t quite get me as annoyed as Squidward, but it isn’t exactly entertaining. Truthfully, the most entertaining thing about this sequence is that its the source of a pretty funny
meme haha. But in all seriousness, this is just a pretty cool shot. SpongeBob and Patrick smiling in the brightness, showing their carefree and happy nature, while Squidward is shrouded in darkness, presumably having a frown on his face. This is their characters to a T. Okay, I’m done over-analyzing now.
This episode doesn’t really get moving until SpongeBob and Patrick decide to use digging as their solution, though there are some really fun moments like the road, or the mailbox explosion (y’all know I love my random explosions, and they’ve been sorely missing). From there, things get really good, which is where my like of the episode stems from. Digging a tunnel between their houses is actually a decent idea, not gonna lie. But when Slide Whistle Stooges starts playing, you know something crazy gonna happen. And…it doesn’t quite happen yet, though SpongeBob and Patrick of course don’t make the tunnels easy to traverse.
How Squidward is able to hear SpongeBob and Patrick when they’re that far underground, I don’t know, but it does lead to the beginning of the great chaos we’ll be seeing later. Poor Squidward, you’d love noise-cancelling headphones. I love how this part, with those
bells in the background, feels almost like “Squidward in Clarinetland”. Which makes sense considering it uses the same track, but I also mean with the whole SpongeBob laughing bit too. One thing I like about this moment is that we get to see a bunch of nice backgrounds in SpongeBob and Patrick’s houses as Squidward finds them completely empty. This is a win for me, the SpongeBob background aficionado. Speaking of wins, I also get a Gary cameo, and Squidward referring to Gary by name. Gary main character status achieved once more!
We get a hint of chaos as SpongeBob and Patrick cause Squidward’s house to sink, which of course alerts him of their location. And this part is absolutely hilarious, Squidward’s reaction has got me rolling on the floor legitimately. And SpongeBob and Patrick’s utter lack of being fazed is always a treat. I will say, though, even though I love Slide Whistle Stooges as a track a lot, I’m not a huge fan of it being used so much in this episode. Like
Clownfish Capers could’ve been put in there too? Even
Twelfth Street Rag coulda done it.
Hawaiian Misadventures B? Honestly choices abound. Be serious. But this is a nitpick, so we move on.
The episode slows down a bit again until we get the second wave of chaos, with Squidward chasing SpongeBob and Patrick, causing them to end up sinking all of their houses, as well as Bikini Bottom as a whole. I also love that this is one of those rare moments where SpongeBob and Patrick can actually tell that Squidward is mad at them. Them being oblivious is funny, but it’s also nice to have these moments every so often too. And Squidward has that look of crazy in his eyes, I wouldn’t wanna mess with him neither. He has that “To Save A Squirrel” type look.
I honestly love the ending to this episode, where every Bikini Bottom resident is now apparently in the
Fallout universe LMAO. But also, at the beginning of this last scene there’s an absolutely gorgeous
shot of the underground Conch Street…this episode is such a visual treat for me!
“That Sinking Feeling” is an episode that’s hard for me to place in a tier. Because the beginning of the episode is a bit weak, and even after the greatness begins there’s another weak moment or two that brings things down. But then the rest of the episode is absolutely fantastic. So what do I do? Well, by definition, having all of these weak moments should preclude this episode from reaching my Amazing tier, meaning that it’ll be a great contender for Great. Though, of course, I’ll make it as close to Amazing as possible.
Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.9/10