I don’t believe it…a season 6 episode that actually has different characters interacting??? It’s a miracle! Yeah, you best believe that’s a trend I’ll be talking about in the upcoming season overview. But anyway, “Chum Bucket Supreme” shows Plankton and Patrick interacting, which we’ve seen a little bit of in “Bucket Sweet Bucket” and “Krabby Road”, but here it’s expanded on slightly. I actually mixed this episode up with "Chum Fricassee" at first, so I'd actually typed out this whole paragraph about Plankton and Squidward until I realized lol.
Speaking of interactions, I love the one we get between Karen and Plankton at the beginning of this episode. I will never cease to be amused by Karen’s constant roasting of Plankton. Never. And then I love the way Plankton pretends to eat the chum in his sales pitch to the two fish, like that was really funny. So this episode is starting off pretty great, which is always nice to see. And I also loved the visual gag with Plankton’s anger.
One thing I like about this episode is that it uses a kind of plot I really like, which is the Krusty Krab business practices type of plot, only this time, it’s using it for Plankton. To me, there’s two types of plots involving Plankton (usually, especially in this era). There’s the Plankton Plot, which is the prototypical trying to steal the formula type of episode. And then there’s this kind, which I suppose I’ll call the Chum Bucket business practices plot. “Spongicus” was an example of this. But I just find it very amusing to see the ways that Plankton (or Mr. Krabs in his version of the plot) try to drum up business and get customers, because it’s usually just a very fun episode. And this time, it looks like we’re going the advertisement route.
Honestly, Plankton’s first advertising campaign would definitely work on me. I’m kidding, but I do love how completely out of touch Plankton is with the way people regularly speak and think. We saw it in “Plankton’s Army”, and it’s nice to see the return of that bit of his characterization here. My question is, do kids know what “metabolic fuel” means? Like how deep does this joke go for them? Does it just seem like big words? I can’t remember what I thought when I was a kid, so I don’t know lol. This has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the episode, but I am curious.
Anyway, when Patrick enters the episode, things continue to be pretty funny. The bit with Patrick’s brain is great, and calls to mind the excellent joke from “Squilliam Returns”. From a character perspective, I really like how Patrick is a sharp contrast to Plankton, but in a different way than SpongeBob. SpongeBob is a foil to Plankton’s scheming and nefariousness. Patrick is a foil to Plankton’s brains. And I love how Patrick basically instructs Plankton in friendship, that part was really funny, and a great use of Patrick’s haughtiness. Seriously, these interactions between Patrick and Plankton are hysterical. And I love that SpongeBob isn’t even a part of this at all, which I think helps immensely, because that gives Patrick more room to be more than just a complete idiot (this isn’t a knock on how SpongeBob and Patrick interact either, but that is something I’ve noticed when it’s SpongeBob & Patrick as a unit interacting with some other character. It usually works fine, but it does have this one drawback). I love how Patrick ends up being an advertising genius for Plankton. “Chum is Fum” is so dumb, yet so…perfect.
Switching our focus over to the Krusty Krab for now, I absolutely love this entire scene. The treatment of absurdity with the utmost seriousness is a formula that almost never lets me down. I love how the Krusty Krab having these alerts is such a common gag, I would love to see a meta joke about that at some point. Maybe there will be one in the future, who knows. Anyway, I love how Mr. Krabs just gets the easy conveyor belt transition to his station, while SpongeBob has to go through this extreme contraption lol. It’s hilarious, and I love how it’s so clearly spoofing spy movies and stuff like that. Makes me think of “Spy Buddies”, which is a great comparison for an episode to have. Another thing I like about this part of the episode is that it’s like “Plankton’s Regular” done far, far better. Where in that episode, Mr. Krabs couldn’t let Plankton have one customer, in this episode Plankton presents an actual threat to Mr. Krabs’ business, and he also isn’t going after Plankton because of ego but rather actual profits. So his motivation is less horrible, and it doesn’t feel bad to root for him. Additionally, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs’ attempt to get the “formula” is much more entertaining.
Really, the part with Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob feels almost like a sidenote to this episode, as we return back to Plankton and Patrick, and Patrick only being able to write “Chum is Fum”. I mean…if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But this whole scene is funny and full of great comedic timing. And then later, the reveal that the slogan got changed to “Fum is Chum” is great. This really does feel like a commentary on something…. Anyway, I think it’s interesting that this episode is named after something that only appears in passing (Chum Bucket Supreme…a menu item). I would’ve thought they’d name it “Chum is Fum” LMAO.
And then we reach the end of the episode. Patrick resigning is great, and I liked the gag with him being burnt out. And I also thought that the resolution for this episode was done well, with some tight writing. I mean, that microphone has been set up for the last few minutes, and now it’s what brings everything back to the status quo. I also like that Plankton causes his own hilarious downfall. And then the very ending of the episode, with Patrick bringing his advertising “genius” to the Krusty Krab is great.
I feel like “Chum Bucket Supreme” is underrated, or at the very least it's one of those episodes no one talks about. But I feel like by definition most good episodes in seasons 5-8 are underrated, since people like to write all these seasons off as pretty bad. I suppose there are some exceptions to this though, like "Sand Castles in the Sand" or "Perfect Chemistry". But anyway, I really enjoyed watching "Chum Bucket Supreme". It was something a little different, and it was funny and interesting. A good fit for my "Amazing" tier.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.2/10
