Oh boy. That’s really all I gotta say as I read the title of the episode for today...It seems I get 0 breaks when it comes to reviewing infamous episodes, because now I’m reviewing “Boating Buddies” one of the most notorious episodes in the entire show. Or perhaps just a step down from that. Either way, it’s got a rep. A bad one. And I’m a little excited to see if that rep holds up after I’ve rewatched the episode and given it some thought.
The first thing I’m going to talk about is how this episode shows SpongeBob in his absolute worst design ever (some pics of what I mean:
1,
2,
3). I cannot stand this weird rounded cheeks design, it just looks so weird? And y’all know me, I’m very lenient about things, I’m cool with a lot of stuff even if I don’t like it. But this…no. I can’t do it. SpongeBob just doesn’t look right! That weird cheek, plus his mouth always looks too small. It’s just really weird.
Now, to actually begin the episode properly, this initial scene is pretty good. I like seeing SpongeBob groom Gary in a bit of normal domesticity, and I love how Squidward deadpans to SpongeBob about sitting there motionless for 45 minutes. See I don’t actually mind SpongeBob being on his creepy stuff if it’s funny, as I’ve definitely said before. The interaction between SpongeBob and Squidward oscillates between kind of humorous to just a little awkward, kind of leaning more towards the ‘little bit funny’ side of things. That is, until Squidward starts running away from SpongeBob, which is abrupt, and also not even that entertaining, except for the part where SpongeBob runs all…cube-like, idk how to describe it but that was pretty funny to me. I also liked how once Squidward got in the boat, SpongeBob himself addressed a question we might’ve been asking about Squidward’s recumbent bike, that was a nice touch. I also like the little reference to “Boat Smarts” too. Once Squidward gets a ticket and is told to go to Boating School…well, we all know where the episode is going from here.
Yep, Squidward and SpongeBob are classmates. What could possibly go wrong? Well the first thing is that this scene is not very funny or even entertaining. As I’ve said, I don’t mind if SpongeBob is creepy, but they still need to make it amusing, and so far it isn’t in this scene in Boating School. Even the part where SpongeBob breathes creepily is nothing more than slightly off-putting (considering this is now approaching quite out of character for him. SpongeBob is a weird guy at times, but this is kind of pushing it? I don’t know…) The introductions segment is similarly dull, with the scene with that random guy who was speeding being awkward and going on too long. And I get that was the point of the joke, to be awkward, but I really don’t understand why we keep doing this because it rarely ever works well. Or maybe I just don’t like that kind of humor haha. Squidward’s little diagram and story is enjoyable, I’ll say that much, but then when SpongeBob’s turn arrives, that enjoyment goes down the drain again and the episode returns to being dull. And this dullness continues through the lunch scene until Squidward is in the bathroom and ends up thinking the huge muscular guy in the stall next to him in SpongeBob. Now that was funny
and amusing!
And then of course we get the next few minutes of the episode, the driving scene. This is the part of the episode I always remembered most clearly, which checks out considering this is easily the most interesting and entertaining part of “Boating Buddies”. The way the trio keeps crashing into stuff gives us a lot of neat visual gags. The part with the shrink ray was kinda long, but it was dramatic so I’ll give it that. And it gives a hilarious continuation of Squidward’s encounter with the muscular guy from earlier, so that was pretty good.
What is not pretty good is the last minute and a half of this episode, the exam. I can tell that we’re meant to feel upset for SpongeBob after Squidward yells at him, but like I don’t. And not because SpongeBob was horrible in this episode or anything, but because this isn’t even close to the worst thing Squidward has ever said to SpongeBob LMAO. And then the actual taking of the exam is just kind of boring because we just watch Squidward struggle and struggle the whole time without anything amusing or funny happening. And of course Squidward ends up having to ask SpongeBob for help, but as we’ve seen in episodes like “The Paper”, this doesn’t work. The part where the guy pulls out the tape recorder was pretty funny though, it was unexpected. Of course, we sit through all of this only for Squidward to fail the exam and learn that he’ll have to do everything over again next week. The episode ends with a pretty great belting scream from Rodger Bumpass, if I do say so myself, as Squidward’s misery reaches a crescendo.
So, including the design that I discussed earlier, I believe that “Boating Buddies” has 3 main issues: SpongeBob’s weird design, missed opportunities, and being boring and not funny. I’ll also talk about the whole “Squidward torture” thing in a minute, because it’s high time I clear some things up about that. And I’ve already been saying how boring and not funny this episode is, so I’ll just go ahead and spend some time on the second issue. “Boating Buddies” misses the huge opportunity to really do something with Squidward and Mrs. Puff. All we get is the part where Squidward says that SpongeBob is the bane of his existence, and Mrs. Puff says “yours too?” Like hello?? And the fact that Mrs. Puff has Squidward ride with SpongeBob after this makes me feel conflicted, because on one hand why would she pair them up if she knew Squidward hated SpongeBob, but on the other maybe she did so because then she would be able to commiserate with Squidward as they both experienced SpongeBob’s horrendous driving together, so I ain’t too bad about that. Amazing what a shift in perspective can do. But back to what I was saying, this was a huge missed opportunity to have these two characters interact in a legitimate way, and perhaps
that should’ve been what this episode was about…Squidward and Mrs. Puff bonding in their shared dislike of SpongeBob, and them doing something with that. Alas, we do not get that, and I am sad.
With all of that said, let me go ahead and talk about the source of this episode’s notoriety, the “Squidward Torture”. Here’s the thing about that…that is a concept that is almost a fiction to me. Squidward has
always been the butt-monkey of this show, that’s just how it has worked. Now of course, he typically brings things on himself, which I will admit did not happen in a balanced way in this episode, but the fact is that Squidward has always bore the brunt of slapstick and unfortunate situations happening to him. That’s just how this show works. And with that in mind, I really don’t have much of a problem with what happens to Squidward in this episode. The main problem is that the episode isn’t funny, but it’s not this way because of the stuff with Squidward. It’s not funny because there weren’t many jokes, and that’s it. Squidward’s predicament in this episode is not torturous to me because of its absurdity and precedent. So I really don’t have a problem with it, which is probably why I consider this episode to be overhated, and almost certainly disliked for the wrong reasons.
Episode Tier: Mediocre
Episode Score: 5.8/10
