Oh *dolphin noise* me, here we go. I'm
so getting pithforked for this.
Today I’m covering what is probably the most infamous and notorious episode of this entire show. Well, along with “A Pal For Gary”, that is. I mean, this episode has literally inspired a (bad)
creepypasta, so that’s gotta mean something. I love how the title card of this episode is literally dark and foreboding, almost like it knew it was gonna be attached to a pretty infamous one (though it’s funny because it had
Another Best Day Ever as its title card track, like that does not go with it at all LMAO. That’s also the first usage of that amazing track, fun fact). Just like many of the other infamous episodes of this show, I had not seen this episode in many years, so rewatching it was a treat. So let’s just get into it, shall we?
The episode begins solidly with Mr. Krabs bathing in money. I think his obsession with money, when it’s done to this degree, is inherently funny, so I enjoy this. And I like how this episode moves into the action right away with SpongeBob smelling high grade explosives, and Plankton coming straight in with said explosives. And this action sequence is actually really fun! I’m not getting notorious episode vibes quite yet. And also, there’s this very understated gag in this beginning part of the episode where characters keep smelling random stuff and SpongeBob points out what they’re smelling. I think it’s pretty good.
Anyway, at least this episode has Pearl in it, for better or worse, because we haven’t seen her in a while. I just wish she played more of an actual role in this episode than what we end up getting. I also think it doesn’t make sense for Plankton not to have any awareness of Pearl, but I do think it makes sense for him to be scared as she is a whale, and he is a zooplankton. The weirdest thing about this is the fact that this episode, at its core, is about Plankton being scared that Pearl will literally eat him…like that’s weird considering that vore is a thing. God I just threw up writing that sentence, forgive me. And the fact that Mr. Krabs ends up egging on this fear is weird. And not because he’s scaring Plankton, but because he’s using the image of HIS DAUGHTER to scare Plankton. And I can't tell what's worse—him dressing up as Pearl later in the episode, or when he initially exploits Plankton's fear and just about outright says Pearl will eat him. It's weird. It's just weird.
Let’s get back to the episode. I love how Pearl extorts Mr. Krabs for money, like you go girl. And I like how Mr. Krabs acknowledges that she gets this behavior from him. See Pearl haters, you can shut up now! Sidenote, but I'll never understand people who hate Pearl but love Mr. Krabs...anyway. The whole Wacky Bucks part is hilarious, because of course Mr. Krabs pays SpongeBob with Monopoly money LMAO. And I like how the episode acknowledges how weird Mr. Krabs is being when he asks to borrow one of Pearl’s dresses. Like I really cannot articulate the weirdness here. But like just think about it. Imagine your own parent using your image to scare someone. Is that not weird. Especially if they start dressing up like you to scare someone. I don’t really think this weirdness makes the episode a bad one, but I do think that it’s a weirdness that’s not really entertaining…just there.
The flashback to Plankton’s family getting ate up by a whale is actually pretty funny, especially because they just used that stock image of a whale. And I love how Karen totally shuts Plankton down. Yeah, I can see how some people might get mad at her lack of empathy, but put it this way, up to this point Plankton has seen no threat from Pearl…at all. It makes no sense for him to be scared of her now. Now, of course, as the episode goes on, and Mr. Krabs starts terrorizing Plankton, then the story will change. But at this point Karen’s hard attitude doesn’t bother me at all.
I also think that this episode had a neat idea with having Pearl and Plankton interact. Except…the episode doesn’t actually have them interact at all. Yeah, see, because the plot of this episode is what it is, all the potential we could have from this interaction is completely squandered. We could have had like 10 more interesting things than this. But this is what we got. What a drag. And this episode uses a trope I abhor, Cassandra Truth. When Karen doesn’t see Pearl in the lab, it’s predictable and feels like a waste of my time to be honest. And it’s frustrating because we know that “Pearl” is just going to continue to terrorize Plankton.
Then we get a timecard that reveals that Mr. Krabs does this for 16 days in a row. Now, allow me to, perhaps, play the devil’s advocate here. Because if you think about it, Plankton is just as persistent as Mr. Krabs with trying to steal the formula, correct? With his attempts that are typically explosive, or at least terrorize the Krusty Krew (just in a different way). So you could argue that what Mr. Krabs does here is justified, at least to some degree. HOWEVER, if the episode wanted to go that route (which I think it should’ve), then it should’ve thrown in something similar to “The Algae’s Always Greener” and had Plankton thoroughly terrorize the Krew during the beginning of the episode so this feels at least slightly justified, if taken way too far. But I digress. The fact is Mr. Krabs terrorizes Plankton so much that he can’t sleep, can’t breathe, can’t move. And Mr. Krabs laughs at Plankton’s misery. Now, I don’t really have the same kind of vehement reaction towards this as others do, like I’m not utterly offended on Plankton’s behalf, but even I have to say that this is really mean-spirited for no reason.
I think the comedy of this episode is very underrated. Like Plankton’s look after 16 days of paranoia is just kinda funny to me because of how exaggerated it is. But I mean it’s also horrible that Plankton was driven to this point. Or when Plankton has his nightmare about Pearl, I love how his family is just somehow in her stomach too lol, complete with the banjo music cue and all (which speaking of, I love that this episode is consistent with “Plankton’s Army” when it comes to Plankton’s family being very country). Also, the nightmare was just fun, it just was.
And then we get this episode’s most infamous scene: Plankton trying to end his life by getting run over. And of course the episode never outright says it, but with Plankton being like “what’s the point of going on” and laying in the street “forlornly” to get run over, I think anyone older than like…10 can see what Plankton’s trying to do. And maybe I’m going to hell, but I thought Mr. Lawrence’s delivery on “that’s it I’m done” was kinda funny. This scene was not nearly as horrible as I remember it being, which is a trend for this episode as a whole. But I’ll get to that later. One thing that I’ve always liked about this episode was how SpongeBob was the only one with a moral backbone here, talking to Plankton and telling him Mr. Krabs’ secret fear to give him the ammo to fight back. I know the episode plays it like SpongeBob was just innocently saying this stuff, but I refuse to believe that, this was completely on purpose, and I love it. And seeing Mr. Krabs get scared is very cathartic. As for the ending of the episode, I’m of two minds. On one hand, I would’ve preferred that SpongeBob stayed out of the conflict altogether after feeding Plankton that information, so the ending kind of upsets me a little. On the other hand though, SpongeBob is being peak TrollBob here, playing both sides and coming out on top. I love this for him. I just think it would’ve been better if SpongeBob left Mr. Krabs to get scared by the mime. That would’ve been a 10/10 ending for sure. At least we did get a little gag with it, which makes it a…7/10 ending. Maybe 8.
I really do think the worst part of this episode is the fact that Mr. Krabs quite literally does not care at all about what he’s doing to Plankton. He's almost completely morally unjustifiable in this episode (I think he really crosses the line with the suicide part, but I mean he's definitely toeing it up to that point). And like I said before, it doesn’t make me feel bad or mad or anything, but it’s still unpleasant. Like, I don’t feel even a fraction of the kind of emotions I felt while watching "Stuck in the Wringer", but I can still see that this is just a bad story beat.
I’m just gonna go ahead and say it. “One Coarse Meal” is nowhere near the worst episode of this show. Worst appearance of Mr. Krabs? Perhaps. But worst episode of the show? Oh absolutely not. This episode is pretty funny in a lot of places, and it’s one of SpongeBob’s best character appearances in one of these Krabs vs. Plankton type episodes. It’s also a pretty enjoyable watch, even the parts where Mr. Krabs is terrorizing Plankton. Honestly, this episode could even be in my “Good” tier, if it weren’t for the ending. I think Mr. Krabs could’ve gotten more punishment here, as he is legitimately horrible and mean-spirited in this episode (but I’m still entertained by it), and the fact that he didn’t makes this episode fall right into my “Okay” tier. I honestly think that the only reason this episode is hated so much is because it goes to that dark level of suicide. And I understand why people hate that so much, I really do, but it just isn’t that much of a problem for me. I don’t think suicide is funny, let’s not put words in my mouth, but sometimes I watch this show and all I see is a cartoon with no bearing on real life, especially because what it shows here is quite tame compared to some “suicide jokes” out there. And honestly, I don’t think the show necessarily plays suicide for laughs here? Especially because it tries to act like that’s not what Plankton is doing. But I can understand both sides of the argument. I just really think this episode is harmless compared to the real garbage of this season. Commence the pitchforks and torches, I’m ready for y’all.
Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.5/10