Next up, we've got "Le Big Switch" Now, this episode isn’t one I'd call forgettable, but it is one that I don’t find myself thinking about very often. So now I'm gonna do a whole lot of thinking about it by reviewing it!
I liked the beginning joke of this episode, where SpongeBob’s air kiss of love making Squidward choke, that was pretty funny, and therefore a good note for our episode to start on. The way SpongeBob hypes up the food is so funny to me especially once you think of The Krusty Krab as a burger place stand-in. [Tangent Alert] See, when I think of what the Krusty Krab is an expy of (yes I’m not using that word correctly, no I don’t care. I’m probably looking for the word allusion but I’m really not gonna change it haha), McDonald’s and Burger King are in there, sure, but I actually think of more…”upscale” burger places like Red Robin, for people familiar with that chain. [End Tangent] And I think this makes SpongeBob’s love for the job, and Squidward’s distaste, even funnier. But of course, all of this is meaningless as Mr. Krabs decides to revamp the restaurant into a fancy place, kinda like “Squilliam Returns” (no wonder Squidward is so happy lol). The chef exchange program is a neat idea to kickstart the plot too. Poor SpongeBob is thrown out like garbage (something I don’t really like seeing, but it goes well enough here that it doesn’t bother me), but it also leaves me with a lot of questions, like does SpongeBob get housing through this program? Is forcing him into this even legal (not that Mr. Krabs cares about legality)? Whatever, I need to stop overthinking SpongeBob SquarePants (but I don’t want to). Anyway, I love how Squidward’s like “I underestimated the power of public transportation” lol. Honestly I’m a public transportation stan. [Tangent Alert] I wish I could live in a walkable city like Bikini Bottom (you ever think about how we never see cars parked at the Krusty Krab, except for during the ending of this episode?). The city I live in for school is…okay…there’s some decent public transportation, leagues better than my hometown, but that’s not saying very much. [End Tangent]
Anyway, we meet the new chef, who’s a French a-hole, and then SpongeBob works at his new restaurant, Fancy! (as previously seen in “Chocolate With Nuts”), where we get a French Gordon Ramsay expy (I used it correctly this time so ha!). I love how SpongeBob can only make Krabby Patties. I think it makes sense that he’s not a great chef, but a great fry cook. And if I remember correctly, a similar issue arises for him in “SpongeBob You’re Fired”, so we love some continuity. Mr. Crustacean (as is the angry owner’s name, apparently) is hilarious, I love how unreasonably angry he is about everything. But of course, SpongeBob wins him over with his brilliant patty cooking skills. I love how this season has emphasized just how great SpongeBob is at making patties, and I’d like to think that we’re witnessing a “character arc” (even though those don’t exist) of SpongeBob’s patty improvements starting from “The Original Fry Cook”, because now he’s reaching the level of Jim Patties. And it’s always nice to see SpongeBob win when he’s cast aside, just like in “Patty Hype” (man I’m all over the episode references today!). The way Mr. Krabs and Squidward are struggling while SpongeBob is thriving is great to see. I guess I’ll also take the time to say that this episode is not particularly funny, though I love how unreasonably pretentious the exchange chef is, but it is very entertaining nonetheless.
And then I love how the exchange program apparently only lasts a day or something, and then SpongeBob takes all the Krabby Patties back when he leaves. I think it’s even funnier to think that this program only lasted a day because suddenly we cut to Mr. Krabs who is apparently bankrupt and is getting all of his stuff repossessed, even at his house lmao. Even Squidward is repossessed LMAO, that’s horrible. And I love how Mr. Krabs thinks he’s hallucinating SpongeBob’s voice as some weird manifestation of his conscience. Speaking of, I do like that Mr. Krabs is actually upset that he turned away SpongeBob and lost everything, it shows that he has some kind of morality, even though his focus is still on himself here. And then of course we turn back to the status quo, with Mr. Krabs being better off than before with all of his new rich clientele, and we get a good repeat of the gag from earlier with Squidward choking on love. A great ending to this episode!
"Le Big Switch" is a good episode, I'd say. It's not particularly funny in general, and most of its humor is in...retrospective hilarity more than anything, but this episode is still entertaining and never quite boring. That's why I'd say it's a good fit for my "Good" tier.
Episode Tier: Good
Episode Score: 7.6/10