Coming up next, we coincidentally have another episode with 'black' in the name in "Blackened Sponge". And just like "BlackJack", this episode is super underrated. I feel like this is an oft-forgotten episode just based on vibes alone, but I also remember this episode very well so it’s hard for me to tell. This episode more subtly toes the child-adult SpongeBob line, I’d say, because SpongeBob is acting like a child but not the most…obvious child-like behavior. But he’s trying to seem tough and cool and is lying through his teeth to do that using a fantastical story just like a child would. But obviously he’s doing all of this at work, so…adult. I love when the line is played with like this, it’s very fun and demonstrates this show’s unique side.
This episode starts out decently enough, the dream is…fine. I don’t have much to say about it. It’s not super funny but it’s not trying to be (for the most part), and SpongeBob’s dream design is weird. I will say that the whole “is not” “is to” part is funnier than it should be lmao, so I’ll give credit where credit is due. And then when SpongeBob gets up, I’m sure that somewhere someone is out there complaining about how stilted and slow and methodical the morning routine is, with SpongeBob trying to get the toothpaste lid off, then walking back to his room and getting a wrench, but I kind of like it. It functions as a good build up for what we’re about to see, which is SpongeBob getting a black eye because of the combined efforts of a toothpaste cap and wrench (which is inherently funny to me). Not everything has to be go-go-go all the time, and sometimes I worry that I give off that impression when reviewing. Sure, I like an episode with nonstop gags, but I can appreciate a slow build too. It just needs to be done correctly, and so far this episode has not made me be like “this isn’t working”.
As for the black eye itself, it is definitely uncomfortable to look at, but characters react appropriately to it which helps a lot, and also hey, that's how black eyes are in real life too. So I can’t hate too much. I’ve never gotten a black eye and I have absolutely no plans to because that sounds painful as H. Now of course, I’m not a fan of SpongeBob crying over his black eye, that was doing a little too much and it was grating. But at least SpongeBob recognizes that his situation is embarrassing, and that’s why he starts lying. I love how defensive Patrick gets over SpongeBob too, that was sweet.
Once SpongeBob starts embellishing his story, it’s really fun to see how far he keeps stretching his story, adding new, crazier details with each retelling. I like to compare the stories in the end. And also, the retold stories are really fun to listen to, especially as they get more and more absurd. I love how SpongeBob gets more and more convinced of his badassery (and more and more egotistical) as he continues to lie. Like with Patrick, he asked about the black eye, while all Sandy did was offer some remedies for it, and SpongeBob started telling the story unprompted. The way SpongeBob walks into the Krusty Krab, strutting his “stuff”, is hilarious. And it is here that I am reminded of “As Seen On TV”, except I think this episode kind of does it better (oh boy, is that an unpopular opinion?). I just think SpongeBob’s conceit makes more sense here, and is far more endearing than “As Seen On TV”. I love how he gets on the intercom and starts talking s*** too, that’s just too funny, especially Tom Kenny’s delivery on “I’m talking to you grandma!” And SpongeBob’s thesaurus talk is great, and I love all the interruptions in his story, they’re really funny. The fact that no one really seems to buy into SpongeBob's BS (except Patrick) just makes the whole thing even funnier to me, because the only person SpongeBob is fooling is himself.
And then of course, we have the moment when Jack M. Crazyfish himself shows up at the restaurant! The way SpongeBob says “he’s real” has always stood out in my mind, and Tom Kenny gets a 100/10 on that delivery lmao. Also, ~Pugs Educational Moment~, but this episode touches on something that’s actually real, which is that all the people and faces you see in your dreams are real, because your brain cannot make up new faces! Yes, even when the people in your dreams are unfamiliar to you, it could just be facial information stored by your brain by someone off the street or something. So isn’t that cool? That means that SpongeBob perhaps saw Jack M. Crazyfish somewhere before, and his brain made him in SpongeBob’s dreams, even if SpongeBob wasn’t consciously aware of the guy’s existence. Okay, that was your ~Pugs Educational Moment~ of this review, let’s get back to it. I love how SpongeBob immediately s***s his pants when Jack M. Crazyfish shows up, and confesses to everything in a very entertaining manner, by recreating the accident. And then I love how the guy ends up being very similar to his dream self, cheating at rock paper scissors, which ends the episode quite nicely.
"Blackened Sponge" is a hilarious, hilarious episode that only has a couple minor issues here and there with very uncomfortable shots of the black eye, and SpongeBob's crying being grating. Other than that, I've got no issue with this episode whatsoever, and I think it's very underrated. Or at the very least, it lacks recognition. Maybe that's the phrase I keep searching for.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.1/10
