087b. Breath of Fresh Squidward

kevin_emery

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I feel like I'm one of the few people who actually like this episode. I guess I'm a sucker for role reversal stories on TV shows, cuz I also love Patrick SmartPants, and Not Normal. I admit Breath of Fresh Squidward is the weakest of the 3, (with Not Normal being my favorite), but I still love this episode.
 

SlipperytheTotodile

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I feel like I'm one of the few people who actually like this episode. I guess I'm a sucker for role reversal stories on TV shows, cuz I also love Patrick SmartPants, and Not Normal. I admit Breath of Fresh Squidward is the weakest of the 3, (with Not Normal being my favorite), but I still love this episode.
I agree with this i like this one too
 

GlitchyGoomba

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I'm very split on how to feel about the episode. On one hand, I think this episode pulled off giving Spongebob a taste of his own medicine decently well, and gave Squidward quite a bit of success, but it comes at the cost of having a lack of good narrative and comedy. The first part of the episode consists of Spongebob and Patrick bothering Squidward in his house and Squidward trying to rid them out ONCE AGAIN. as soon as Squidward gets hit with the personality switch, the plot just kinda meanders, with Spongebob constantly being the butt of jokes. I wouldn't mind this if the episode didn't do it at a slow pace. My other issue with the episode is the scene which Spongebob snaps at Squidward for ruining his day, because it's done in the jerkiest tone that you'll ever hear from the little guy in his post-movie pitch, which got on my nerves, but what bothered me even more was that he successfully rids Squidward out of Patrick's party. Pretty much everytime Squidward yells at Spongebob, all we really get is Spongebob disobeying Squidward, not upset or taken aback from his outbursts. It just makes you feel worse for Squidward and hate Spongebob even more, especially when it feels like the episode wants us to pity Spongebob. But back on the positive side, I do think the episode has a couple okay gags, such as the play on words of the sign on the boy's bathroom that Spongebob.. apparently has in his kitchen? overall, this episode is a VERY mixed bag. It's also earned some of the most polarized reviews from certain critics. Some people consider it one of the best episodes of the whole show, some people hate it, but I think it's right in the middle.
 

SlipperytheTotodile

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I have to admit i actually liked this one quite a bit. This one was pretty fun. The jokes were nice and it was very fun. Plus the ending was just hilarious.

Rating: Great Episode

Rankings:
Roller Cowards (Perfect)
Friend or Foe (Perfect)
Spy Buddies (Amazing!)
Bucket Sweet Bucket (Great)
Krab a la Mode (Great)
Breath of Fresh Squidward (Great)
Rise and Shine (Great)
Boat Smarts (Meh)
Fungus Among Us (Meh)
Night Light (Alright)
The Original Fry Cook (Okay)
New Digs (Okay)
Good Ol' Whathisname (Bad)
To Love a Patty (Terrible)
Waiting (Terrible)
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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Fresh off the heels of an infamous episode, we've got yet another infamous episode in "Breath of Fresh Squidward"...how fun. It's really too bad that this episode is so infamous because the title card is Kalua Jubilee...although they made the song way too fast for my liking, so maybe that was a bad omen right there lol. It's also too bad because this episode could've actually been pretty good if they didn't constantly dunk on SpongeBob the entire time. But I'll get to that in a minute.

The beginning of this episode harkens back to “Opposite Day” with the birthday gag where SpongeBob and Patrick wake up in Squidward’s bed, and to “Squid Wood” with SpongeBob acting a bit creepy. And it’s funny. Squidward’s reaction makes the whole thing, but I also really like how unperturbed SpongeBob and Patrick are by showing up in Squidward’s house at 3:47 AM to watch the sunrise while he’s sleeping…probably because they do this every morning. The pics are even better. And I love how Squidward ends up ranting for 3 hours, which simultaneously completes the sunrise joke. Really, these couple minutes were a pretty good opening to the episode. Too bad it all goes downhill from here. Well, we get staved off from the bad for another minute as the whole part where Squidward ejects SpongeBob and Patrick from his yard was pretty amusing, and I like how they broke physics to fall back into Squidward’s yard. Given that we’ve already seen “Good Neighbors”, we know good and well that Squidward’s fence absolutely will not work. And then Squidward ends up shocking himself bad. I liked the visuals of Squidward being electrocuted at least, as horrible as that sounds. And at first, Squidward’s new personality ain’t so bad. The way even his voice seems different is great. The montage with SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick hanging out is cute, if a little bit dull, but nothing wrong with that.

Moving on, we start to see what this episode is really about. We open this section with a gorgeous background shot of SpongeBob’s house. Years ago, a certain cartoon reviewer who shall not be named said that SpongeBob gets his very own SpongeBob in this episode…as much as I disagree with sooooo much that reviewer says, they were right about that one, because now it’s Squidward who’s in SpongeBob’s house bright and early in the morning, super enthusiastic to the point that SpongeBob can’t even take it. And it becomes clear that this episode is supposed to be something of a role reversal, which I don’t have a problem with in theory. And SpongeBob’s growing discomfort was pretty amusing to watch (and not in a comeuppance type of way, it was just funny).

And then we get to the Krusty Krab. It really is fun to watch this role reversal between SpongeBob and Squidward. I love how SpongeBob decides to utilize Mr. Krabs against Squidward, that was peak TrollBob behavior and I love to see his return, you can tell with that smug look on SpongeBob’s face. And I love how people are creeped out by Squidward’s incessant happiness. And the free part was funny. Now, here’s where the first big problem of this episode shows itself. Personally, I think it would’ve been funnier, and better, if the episode kept down this “super happy Squidward = creepy” angle. And here’s why. First off it would’ve led to funnier jokes as people got more and more creeped out by Squidward. But also, as Squidward acts more and more like how SpongeBob has been acting specifically towards Squidward, SpongeBob will then realize “hey wait I’ve been treating Squidward like this” and then learn from his actions, in this episode at least. That would’ve been satisfying to watch, and again much funnier. What we get instead is just “The Original Fry Cook” mixed with “Employee of the Month” in a bad combo. Because we see all the completely unappealing parts of a jealous SpongeBob, and it’s not fun to watch. And even though SpongeBob is being a pompous jerk here, it isn’t fun to watch him lose either lol. So really it’s just a lose-lose situation that should’ve been avoided. I don’t think there will ever be a time where seeing SpongeBob lose and be the butt of the joke is my desired outcome.

And then things get worse because when Patrick enters the episode, you realize that wait a minute, if this episode is about a role reversal between Squidward and SpongeBob, then why was Patrick at the beginning of the episode??? Because we was part of the problem, he did the exact same thing SpongeBob did, and yet this episode sees it fitting to punish only SpongeBob for it? It’s unfair and unpleasant to watch once that realization has been made, and even without it I don’t know how many times I have to say I don’t like SpongeBob losing! And none of this is helped by the fact that Patrick is not a great friend here at all, completely ignoring SpongeBob when he is crying in front of him, and looking more like “Driven to Tears” Patrick than “The Pink Purloiner” Patrick. The scene at the party is just boring while also being hard to watch, at least until I start smiling ear to ear when SpongeBob blows up at Squidward. Yeah I know I’m supposed to feel bad for Squidward, but guess who doesn’t? Me that’s who, that yelling was definitely satisfying to me, I don’t know what to tell you. And every day I praise the lord that they didn’t pull a “Stuck in the Wringer” and have the partygoers get mad at SpongeBob for saying what needed to be said (hehe “stuck in the wringer” lashings). And anyway, SpongeBob decides he wants to apologize, so it’s fine lol.

The ending of this episode, with SpongeBob apologizing while Squidward is being electrocuted, is pretty amusing. I won’t call it quite funny but it was entertaining. And I like how everyone ends up electrocuted in the end, and how they all become Squidwards lol. It’s like “Opposite Day” but different. And also with Kalua Jubilee this time at a much more acceptable speed lol.

Man, I used to hate this episode. And even while rewatching I didn’t want to give it a chance at all. But now that I have given it another look, I’ve realized that this episode is actually good until the latter half of the bit in the Krusty Krab, and the party up until SpongeBob yells at Squidward. So that’s about 2-3 minutes that drags the whole episode down. If they did something like what I was suggesting, I think this episode would’ve been in at least “Good”, if not “Great” for sure. As it is, those few minutes really just sour me on the whole thing because it’s just that unpleasant to watch. So this episode tumbles all the way down into “Tolerable”. It tries to be a fun role reversal episode but fails, and also completely neglects Patrick’s role in everything which was odd. And the way SpongeBob was treated for part of this episode was just unbearable. But there were plenty of good and funny moments to help make things more bearable.

Episode Tier: Tolerable
Episode Score:
4.8/10
 

SpongebobMaster

Dollarbob enjoyer
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Its a bit overrated I liked the concept and a bit of the execution... spongebob got on my nerves...
  1. Friend or foe (10/10)
  2. Roller Cowards (10/10)
  3. Krabs à La Mode (10/10)
  4. Spy Buddies (10/10)
  5. Bucket Sweet Bucket (9.5/10)
  6. Rise And Shine (9/10)
  7. New Digs (8.5/10)
  8. Night Light (8.5/10)
  9. Breath Of Fresh Squidward
  10. The Original Fry Cook (4.5/10)
  11. Good Ol'Whatshisname (3.5/10)
  12. Boat Smarts (3/10)
  13. Waiting (1/10)
  14. Fungus Amongus (0.5/10)
  15. To love a patty (0/10)
 

Jovanaspongebobfan88

Imitation Krab
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Mar 22, 2024
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Damn I felt bad for spongebob in that Episode.He didn't deserve it, Spongebob had right to yell at Squidward.I Hated squidward in that Episode,Poor spongebob🙁.0/10
 
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