110b. Grooming Gary

[Mr. Harrison]

I don't like how Gary gives a speech, felt very unnatural. I don't like it when Gary does more than just giving a meow every now and then.

 

[Pinhead Larry]

A mediocre episode, with little charm or humour and unnatural characterisation.

4.5/10

 

[SquiddlyPie]

I liked some parts of the episode (like the beggining, the grooming contest etc etc.) but this episode was overall bad, and when I first watched it, I didn't really remember me enjoying it, so I will go with that and give this a fair 5.5/10

 

[Baloo]

This is probably one of the episodes of the show I'm the most indifferent towards. There's not much about it that's bad, but nothing about it stands out.

5/10

 

[CakeCup]

While I like the idea of pet shows in cartoons, this episode felt like it dragged on for too long. It felt boring and there wasn't anything special here. It's pretty inoffensive and everything is just fine, SpongeBob is just fine, the jokes were just fine, and the plot was just fine. This is just a rehash of The Great Snail Race, but with less obvious Gary abuse and less funny jokes. I liked some parts like Patrick the dog (I thought he was cute), the floating guy, and Gary's speech (which makes sense since most pets don't want to be dressed like dolls or wear scratchy outfits). I don't like the Gary abuse here, but the ending made up for it. So overall, a meh-pisode with nothing out of the ordinary here. 5.5/10

 

[Honest Slug]

This is just a boring rehash of The Great Snail Race with nothing that stands out. Not horrible but I doubt I'll ever want to rewatch this.

5/10

 

[kingseye423]

I don't even remember this, but I watched it, and it's meh, but slightly meh. First time Gary Abuse was featured, and SpongeBob feeling bad about it at the end felt rushed. A redeeming factor, however, is Patrick's portrayal. At least he was kinda funny. 5.9/10

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

Boring, boring, and a little more boring. The episode has a great message, but it's swamped by the unoriginal and dull execution, with a lack of jokes, or anything remotely interesting. The Great Snail Race did this kind of plot much better, with much better results. I'd say this episode is just okay, with a 6.3/10.

 

[IAmAGoofyGoober2004]

Boring, this one really felt like it went on forever like The Splinter. It didn't have jokes to make up for it and just ended up as mediocre.

 

[jack_of_all_traids]

Wasn't too big on this episode. It's alright but it's nothing too special. I think this episode was pretty boring, and it could have been better had there been more jokes and a better conflict.

Ranking so far:
1. Patty Caper (A+)
2. Krabby Road (A)
3. Not Normal (A)
4. Suction Cup Symphony (A)
5. The Slumber Party (B)
6. A Life in a Day (B)
7. Gone (B)
8. No Nose Knows (B)
9. Slide Whistle Stooges (B)
10. House Fancy (C)
11. Giant Squidward (C)
12. Spongicus (C)
13. Plankton's Regular (C)
14. Nautical Novice (C)
15. Penny Foolish (D)
16. Grooming Gary (D)
17. The Krabby Kronicle (D)
18. Sun Bleached (D)
19. The Splinter (F)
20. Boating Buddies (F)

 

[D00d13B0bF1atpants]

So one of the things I never understood about this episode is; WHAT THE *Dolphin Chirp* is an Undercarriage Check; and Why does Gary Bite anyone who gives him an Undercarriage check in this episode?!

 

[Sara SquarePants]

An undercarriage check is where they put their hands (rather "fins") down into Gary's private area to see if he's good enough to be in the competition

I guess it's basically like a physical for snails

That's why Gary bit the judges

 

[JoeyBoi]

This one's pretty dull. It's basically just The Great Snail Race but without any funny jokes. I thought the moment where the snail put the glasses on his owner was kinda funny, but that's really all that stuck out to me about this episode. It's hard to actually come up with anything to say about this episode because of how dull it is.

Bad episode (4/10)

1. Not Normal (8)
2. The Slumber Party (7)
3. Krabby Road (7)
4. House Fancy (6)
5. Patty Caper (6)
6. A Life in a Day (6)
7. Spongicus (5)
8. Nautical Novice (5)
9. Plankton's Regular (5)
10. No Nose Knows (5)
11. Suction Cup Symphony (5)
12. Grooming Gary (4)
13. The Krabby Kronicle (4)
14. Sun Bleached (4)
15. Penny Foolish (4)
16. Gone (4)
17. Giant Squidward (4)
18. Slide Whistle Stooges (3)
19. The Splinter (3)
20. Boating Buddies (2)

 

[D00d13B0bF1atpants]

This Episode leaves me with One Burning Question. . .

WHAT IN THE HECK IS AN UNDERCARRIAGE TEST and Why Does Gary Bite whoever decides to give him one?

 

[SlipperytheTotodile]

I like this eppy it was god hirlarious. The "undercarriage" test scenes made laugh my butt off!

Rating: Great Episode

Rankings:
Suction Cup Symphony (Perfect)
Krabby Road (Amazing)
Boating Buddies (Great)
A Life in a Day (Great)
Grooming Gary (Great)
Nautical Novice (Great)
No Nose Knows (Good)
Slide Whistle Stooges (Good)
Not Normal (Good)
Gone (Good)
Spongicus (Good)
Giant Squidward (Okay)
Penny Foolish (Meh)
Plankton's Regular (Mediocre)
Patty Caper (Bad)
The Slumber Party (Bad)
House Fancy (Bad)
Sun Bleached (Bad)
The Krabby Kronicle (Terrible)
The Splinter (THE ULTRA MEGA SCUM OF THE EARTH!)

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

Boring, boring, and a little more boring. The episode has a great message, but it's swamped by the unoriginal and dull execution, with a lack of jokes, or anything remotely interesting. The Great Snail Race did this kind of plot much better, with much better results. I'd say this episode is just okay, with a 6.3/10.

Woah, a Pugs review from 2018 I don't completely disagree with? That's wild. I actually agree with this one, mostly (I actually didn't realize it til now but man I scored it almost the exact same this go around), but of course in true Pugs fashion, the review isn't stopping right here. Nah, I gotta get my long paragraphs in.

Honestly, with this episode being Gary focused, clearly I should just cancel the review and give this episode a 10/10...which is what I would do if this episode was actually good haha. See, “Grooming Gary” is especially disappointing because it’s an episode focused on my favorite character, yet it’s not very good. So that’s very saddening to my soul. And let’s talk about the biggest issues of this episode.

Issue #1: It’s not very funny. Other than the beginning of the episode, which I’ll talk about later, this episode just isn’t that funny. In fact, it starts getting boring at places. The only really funny thing for everything after the beginning of the episode is Gary’s utterly done expression. The pit with Patrick and the red rope was also pretty funny.

Issue #2: I don’t like the plot. My complaints here are very similar to what I felt during “The Great Snail Race”. I don’t like seeing Gary be the butt-monkey because it just feels even more cruel considering he’s a pet and can’t even talk back or anything. It also just feels unnecessary. And unfortunately, this is what comprises most of the episode. Additionally, I don’t like SpongeBob’s fixation on seeming fancier and better than the other pet owners, to the detriment of his own snail. Obviously, this is the entire plot of the episode, which means that I don’t like the plot, plain and simple. Seeing SpongeBob so completely and painfully oblivious to Gary’s needs is not as funny as I expected it was meant to be. In fact it’s not funny at all lol, and it’s just irritating. Feels like a precursor to a certain infamous episode…

Now, there are some good things in this episode. Namely in the first few minutes. Like I really like how much SpongeBob loves Gary, as shown in the very beginning of the episode (to the point where he has a whole shrine inside of him for the little snail). And the jokes in these first few minutes are actually good, even though there are few of them. Like when SpongeBob is searching for Gary and he walks across the TV screen and ends up in Squidward’s bathroom, and Squidward kicks him out, that got a good laugh out of me. Or when SpongeBob is checking Gary’s slime viscosity, that was fun. One thing I don’t like about this first part is that they have SpongeBob in his underwear for all of it…like why? At least it’s not as bad as “All That Glitters” where SpongeBob is literally naked the whole time.

When Gary eventually stages a coup, that’s at least amusing. I wouldn’t say anything is especially funny, but it does feel cathartic to see the pets rebel against their owners. And then when SpongeBob translates Gary’s speech, it is at least delivered with the appropriate dramatics. But by this point I’m just thinking about how I haven’t laughed in a few minutes. At least the ending of the episode helps with that, with the pretty random ending of Patrick reappearing in the episode to act as SpongeBob’s pet.

All in all, “Grooming Gary” is sadly a disappointment, as I have yet to see a Gary episode that I truly adore. But I think out of the ~4 Gary episodes (I'm counting "I Was A Teenage Gary", "The Great Snail Race", "Gary Takes A Bath", and this episode. There are others that could also be considered I suppose too, like "Once Bitten" or even "Fungus Among Us", but even if I do include those my point stands) so far, this one is probably the worst of them, because the humor is far and few in between, so it’s just kind of boring with a dash of unpleasantness.

Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.2/10

 

[meko1432]

very odd title choice tho lol

 

[SpongebobMaster]

The name is weird but aside from that this episode is a better version of the great snail race but its a 6.5 out of 10

 

[Squidwardiard]

The "pet riot" was interesting

 

[SpongebobMaster]

Better version of great snail race i actually liked a few things like angry gary (we need more of him) still a 6.5/10
1. Suction Cup Symphony (10/10)
2. Krabby Road (9.5/10)
3. Not Normal (9.5/10)
4. Krabby Kronicle (9/10)
5. House Fancy (9/10)
6. Patty Caper (9/10)
7. Life In A Day (8.5/10)
8. The Slumber Party (8.5/10)
9 No Nose Knows (8.5/10)
10. Spongicus (7.5/10)
11. Giant Squidward (7.5/10)
12. Gone (7/10)
13. Grooming Gary
14. Penny Foolish (6.5/10)
15. Sun Bleached (5.5/10)
16. Nautical Novice (4.5/10)
17. Plankton's Regular (1.5/10)
18. Slide Whistle Stooges (1.5/10)
19. Boating Buddies (1/10)
20. The Splinter (0/10)