Coming up next, we've got "Bucket Sweet Bucket"! This is an episode I have a very clear memory of. I wouldn't call it nostalgic but it's approaching that. I also think this episode is very underrated and forgotten, especially in light of the far more popular (not necessarily better, as I will make no claims to that, but definitely more popular) episode "Chum is Fum". Also, I’m pretty sure that I learned the word “pizzazz” from this episode…am I a SpongeBob SquarePants success story?
Now here we've got a properly Plankton-focused episode! Have we had one of those yet? And I’m meaning an episode that starts and ends with Plankton. I’m not sure if we have had that yet. I guess “Friend or Foe” can count, though that’s a jointly-focused episode. And even more importantly, is this the first time we’ve watched Plankton in a not-strictly villain capacity? At the beginning of this episode, he's not really villainous, that doesn't happen until a few minutes in. Because this episode is novel in this way, I'm immediately intrigued. And Plankton himself is really enjoyable here. He's on that master manipulator stuff when he convinces SpongeBob and Patrick to help. Speaking of that scene, I have many questions about the watermelon gag with Patrick. I didn’t find it to be very funny but it wasn’t something I didn’t enjoy, I’m perfectly neutral about it. But like, it was the kind of random comedy I typically like to see, so I do wonder why it didn’t quite work for me.
And then I love how Squidward suddenly enters the episode, with no warning. I like that he’s listening to the Kelpy G music from “The Thing”, that was a nice touch. And of course Squidward is a powerwalker, it all makes sense now. Anyway, Squidward’s offense on behalf of SpongeBob and Patrick’s exterior design skills is pretty funny, and I love how it gets Squidward involved in painting the Chum Bucket without Plankton even having to do anything. Squidward’s pretentiousness and ego do all the work for him, and it’s fun to watch. I love how he ends up painting the Chum Bucket to look like the inside of his house with all of his self-portraits. And then I liked how Plankton repainted it to a log cabin. Like dang, where did this artistic talent come from?? And I always love a good “everyone’s a critic” gag. SpongeBob’s enthusiasm to help Plankton is pretty fun to watch as well. I love how he ends up foiling Plankton’s plans to steal the formula by literally taking pipes from the Krusty Krab to help repair the Chum Bucket. And then moving on to later in the episode, the bit with the windows is legit hilarious. It reminds me a lot of the “weast” moment in “Arrgh!”, strangely enough. The way Plankton completely loses it is great.
The next part of the episode, with Plankton trying to steal the formula while SpongeBob and Patrick are basically stealing the Krusty Krab, is pretty entertaining. The intermittent “hup hup hup” sounds from SpongeBob and Patrick were good. And also, the sound design in this part is really good just like in “Spy Buddies”. Finally, once Plankton reaches the formula, I love his reaction to finally getting to it, that’s the kind of dramatics I love to see. Even better is when Plankton finds out that that isn’t the formula at all, but Mr. Krabs’ to-do list (which answers the question of where he was all episode, which was a really nicely built background question and bit of intrigue and mystery, in my opinion). And then I love how Plankton just breaks out of the safe to find that the Krusty Krab is gone…or not really, because now the Chum Bucket is the Krusty Krab.
And then we get the return of Mr. Krabs, whose absence was very loud in this episode. The “exposition” gag was really clever and funny, I loved that. Well jokes on you writers, I already figured it out so there. I love how Mr. Krabs just pushes the Krusty Krab back. And then the confrontation between Mr. Krabs and Plankton is great, I love how Plankton is just completely over it and throws himself out, literally. The ending of the episode is great as well, I love how Squidward gets his win by designing the Krusty Krab with the Chum Bucket parts, and Mr. Krabs wins too by upcharging to the nines. Great ending.
I quite like "Bucket Sweet Bucket". As I said earlier, this episode is pretty underrated and even forgotten, which is a shame. Other than a few dull moments and unfunny gags here and there, this episode is really good. A good contender for my "Great" tier I'd say.
Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.9/10