With “Sponge-Cano!”, we reach the last of this little Legends of Bikini Bottom anthology. How sad, I liked these! Some may call it a “ratings trap” (that’s an early 2010s term if I’ve ever heard one), but I don’t care, it was fun! Everyone needs to start having fun again, because it’s getting rather depressing.
This episode begins with Squidward clearly waking up on the wrong side of the bed. It was cool to see his portrait painting process, though. And thankfully, SpongeBob’s song here is not super annoying to listen to, especially once it gets going with a backing track and everything. I love when SpongeBob’s just a little ball of sunshine like this, so this is about 10 wins for me. And honestly SpongeBob’s song is very inspirational haha (even if in parts of the episode he espouses some toxic positivity talking points...I mean in this episode it’s totally justified since Squidward brings his misery upon himself, but y’all know what I mean). And at the end of the song we get Chekov’s plumbing, as we will be returning to that later.
Once Squidward storms into the Krusty Krab, we get more proof of him being a miserable grump. And we get SpongeBob being a little weirdo which is hilarious to me so that’s a win. Squidward here is really what it’s like to work service when you’re in a bad mood…every single thing gets to you and you want to take the place you work at and shoot it into outer space. At least…that’s been my experience throughout the years. That doesn’t make Squidward any less of a jerkwad. He’s gotta work on his customer service mask. At least his ranting is pretty entertaining, although the only legitimate complaint he makes is the trash on the table, and maybe the fingers thing since the Krusty Krab has a part of the door that isn’t glass.
And then Mount Bikini Bottom starts erupting, causing a bunch of lava to get into the Krusty Krab. If this was real life, they’d all be dead for sure. Luckily, it’s a cartoon so I just get a bunch of funny moments instead. And I love how Mr. Krabs pulls what we’ll later be seeing in Sponge Out of Water with his fearmongering and doomsaying. It’s hilarious. He always seems ready for some anarchy. The part with the volcano shelter/town hall is great. Firstly, it reminds me of the SpongeBob Musical, and secondly, I love how this incidental is getting all up in the mayor’s face. You go man!
Suddenly, Ancient Warrior comes onto the scene (yeah, that’s what they’re called). This guy is simply fun. And now that I think about it, I feel like the second movie (and the musical) borrowed a lot from this episode. I mean the collapse of civilization, random dolphin guy that helps them out with advanced knowledge…I mean I’m just saying. Anyway, I love how he comes in and just starts talking sacrifices. And of course Harold is out for blood, and doesn’t even let the warrior finish LMAO. Honestly Harold is so funny to me, he’s always starting stuff. Gold medal in instigating fr (if y’all know what I’m referencing with that, congrats you have taste). Anyway, I really like how Squidward clearly brought this on himself in this episode (in a hilarious fashion). So no one better be saying anything about Squid torture or nothing. And I also like that this episode used miserable in a “you’re annoying and complain about everything way”, not a “depressed” way, or that would’ve made this episode turn sour very quickly.
I love that SpongeBob tries to sacrifice himself in Squidward’s stead. The townspeople are idiots for accepting that sacrifice, by the way. And then Squidward’s words bite him in the butt one more time as SpongeBob honors his request for him not to help Squidward. It’s just like “The Paper”! Or “Boating Buddies” lol. And then we get a pretty wholesome moment where Squidward says that he is grateful for the life he’s living. Now is this real, or just an act? I choose to say it’s real. I mean, episodes like “Graveyard Shift” show that Squidward does care for SpongeBob deep down, so it can’t be a stretch to say he’s grateful for his life.
Chekov’s piping does its stuff as Squidward’s house gets launched straight into the volcano. And it turns out, that’s just what the volcano needed all along…the most miserable person’s house. If y’all just let the warrior finish, smh. Additionally, I love this moment because it uses one of my favorite tracks in the whole show,
Traveling Along. It’s only been used like 4 times, which is a shame. But god is it good. And it’s such a great ending song, I mean come on man. I need this track used more, is what I’m saying. And speaking of endings, the ending of this episode is great as well, with Squidward staying at SpongeBob’s place, back to being a miserable grump.
To the surprise of no one, I really liked “Sponge-Cano!”. Maybe it’s just recency bias, but this might be the best episode in the whole group, because of its humorous moments, lovable a-hole townspeople (for once), hilarious Mr. Krabs, and good track usage. There’s a lot for me to love here.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.3/10
Note: Final ranking of these legends episodes: Sponge-Cano! > Curse of the Hex > The Main Drain > The Monster Who Came to Bikini Bottom > Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle > Trenchbillies