I have been waiting for a while now to review this one, and I’m so happy it’s finally here, because “Patty Caper” is an episode that I’ve always loved, just like “Spy Buddies”! And the two have quite a few similarities as well, which is just another plus for me.
First off, the entire atmosphere of this episode is just so, so good, with the detective, mystery-solving feel. And I really love how the mystery in this episode is crafted. There are actually some legitimate moments of foreshadowing here, which is super cool to see. Those elements are
very subtle, and so the mystery of this episode may not be exactly one that someone can solve using only the information provided in the episode, but it
is one that you can solve if you know the characters in this show, I’ll say that much. And even then, the mystery aspect of this episode keeps it engaging and fresh, as many episodes don’t usually go down a route like this (that’s one of the reasons why I love “Squid Noir” so much). But anyway, the detective-movie feel of this episode really just aids it so much, with the interrogations and the lighting and the varying explanation flashbacks, and then of course with the final reveal.
I love the beginning of this episode, with tension being expertly undercut with humor, such as SpongeBob being unable to find a chair. And I really love how dramatic this whole situation is made out to be, with the secret ingredient, the entire delivery being so grave and serious, and the entire restaurant going on lockdown. And then when SpongeBob finds out that the secret ingredient is gone, I love how dramatic he is about it, and the cut out to the restaurant just makes it super funny.
From here, we move into the investigative section of the episode, with various characters becoming possible prime suspects. The inclusion of Patrick is unexpected, but he helps provide some humor in these tense times, so I like it!
- This first part with Plankton is great, and I love the the way Patrick pulls out a whole weapon to scare Plankton into talking lol. Plankton’s alibi makes perfect sense, and is pretty funny, and this is a good preview of the kinds of scenes we’ll be seeing as the episode progresses.
- The next culprit is Sandy, which is already a win because Sandy is underutilized. This section is similarly hilarious, and I love how Sandy completely demolishes SpongeBob’s whole case in about 5 seconds. SpongeBob’s embellished idea of events is fun to watch too, because of how absurd it is (and how absurd they continue to be throughout the episode).
- Next up is Gary, which hey, another instant win! This part, like the previous ones, is just too funny, especially once SpongeBob gets started up with his crazy stories again. And I love how SpongeBob realizes the unrealistic thing about his story is the fact that he pulled up his sock. I also like how this story serves to make it as clear as possible to the audience that the culprit won’t be any of the people SpongeBob suspects, because we watched the entire delivery scene, and none of these details were present. And then Patrick’s sketch of Squidward is just so funny to me because what did Gary say to get Patrick to draw that?
- Moving on, we’ve got Squidward, and SpongeBob and Patrick breaking into Squidward’s house is hilarious. I like how this section fully disrupts the entire timeline of this story, with apparently the delivery happening possible days ago. Who cares, this is SpongeBob, things don’t have to make sense!
Finally, SpongeBob is forced to return to Mr. Krabs empty-handed. I love how in retrospect, Mr. Krabs is definitely panicking about all the clues SpongeBob was able to put together, so he immediately shifts the blame to SpongeBob in a scene that reminds me of “The Smoking Peanut”. Of course, we then get the reveal that the thief was Mr. Krabs all along, who just wanted to skimp out on paying a $1.99 delivery fee. The ending of this episode is great, with Mr. Krabs being forced to give away patties for free, which of course is torture for the guy. Well, you know what they say…play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I suppose I should address the fact that Mr. Krabs is both a jerkwad and stupid here, but like the thing is I really don’t care LMAO. We already know Mr. Krabs is cheap and makes some really bad decisions when it comes to SpongeBob sometimes, this is nothing new.
I really, really like “Patty Caper”. It’s such a fun episode with a great structure and atmosphere, and it’s simply hilarious. It’s one of those episodes that you shouldn’t think too much about, which can be a good thing sometimes, and it is here. I suppose I like it ever so slightly less than “Spy Buddies”, mostly because the ending of that episode is just top tier, but that doesn’t make this episode any less amazing.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.5/10