144b. Karate Star

SpongeBronyPH

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Episode: Karate Star (S7-E144-B)

I LOVE THIS EPISODE!!! I mostly like the falling action scene, where Patrick's karate hand goes out of control, destroying the whole Barg n Mart. That scene make me laugh so hard!!! But there's one problem, the storyboard artists forgot to put Sandy Cheeks in this karate-based episode..

Sandy: Why did you not put me in this karate-based episode? -_-
Final Score = 8/10
 

Klu

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Recently I was giving myself a really hard task - finding some good episodes from season 6 to 8 without the obvious choices here and there.
I was really surprised to find out that this episode is actually really good. When I first watched it I hated it with passion, now I don't really understand why.
Episode doesn't have any padding, Patrick is really likable, especially by season 7 standards, there is no gross out whatsoever and humor really funny.
And it's a KARATE episode, concept that for some reason not really utilized in the show that often. (I really want to see a karate episode with animation style of season 10 and 11, btw)
SO, yeah, really solid episode. 8/10.
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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Another unnecessary and boring episode. This episode is nothing if you take away the morbid joke about the baby. It's just Patrick being a destructive idiot that has a change of heart but then it turns out their's a second destructive idiot. The episode just bores me the whole time, and nothing is funny, including the baby joke. 3/10.
 
Joined
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I like this one, but yeah, I feel like Patrick's antics get a bit out of hand. It's got some funny jokes, in fact I found Patrick almost chopping up a baby to be hilarious, but I feel like not enough was done with this episode to warrant me giving it a higher ranking.

Ranking so far:
1. That Sinking Feeling (A+)
2. The Inside Job (A+)
3. The Great Patty Caper (A)
4. The Bad Guy Club for Villains (A)
5. Squidward in Clarinetland (A)
6. Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle (B)
7. Growth Spout (B)
8. The Curse of Bikini Bottom (B)
9. Greasy Buffoons (B)
10. A Day Without Tears (B)
11. I Heart Dancing (B)
12. SpongeBob's Last Stand (B)
13. Karate Star (B)
14. Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful (B)
15. The Monster Who Came to Bikini Bottom (B)
16. Kracked Krabs (C)
17. Gary in Love (C)
18. The Cent of Money (C)
19. Model Sponge (C)
20. The Curse of the Hex (C)
21. Sponge-Cano! (D)
22. Back to the Past (D)
23. The Play's the Thing (D)
24. Tentacle-Vision (D)
25. The Main Drain (D)
26. Gramma's Secret Recipe (D)
27. Summer Job (E)
28. Rodeo Daze (E)
29. Trenchbillies (E)
30. Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy (F)
31. Stuck in the Wringer (F)
32. Yours, Mine and Mine (F-)
33. A Pal for Gary (F-)
34. One Coarse Meal (F-)
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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Apr 23, 2016
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Oh boy, here we go. “Karate Star” is definitely not infamous or notorious, but it surely isn’t liked. And I mean…I think I know why. And by I think, I mean I’m 100% sure I know why. It’s because Patrick is a jerk in this episode, full-stop. And y’all should know by now I hate when this happens. This was an episode I hadn’t seen for many years before rewatching, so let’s see if this critique still holds water. (Spoiler alert: it does)

I’m going to be honest, I already don’t like the plot of this episode. Karate is a Sandy and SpongeBob activity only. It only works when it involves their characters, and that’s just a fact. I’m also annoyed because they already have been inserting Patrick into plots that don’t involve him (see: many season 6 episodes), so why are they doing this? I’m also extremely unenthused that in an episode about karate, Sandy is nowhere to be found. So I’m already upset, and this does not bode well for the episode.

At least the beginning of this episode is cute. SpongeBob using his karate skills for the mundane task of chopping up some pineapple is cute, and reminds me of “Karate Choppers”. And also, it’s a SpongeBob-Gary moment, so of course I’m going to love it. Though of course the moment is ruined by the whole playing out of a bad joke, and then SpongeBob laughing for too long. So thanks for that, episode. And it takes about a minute for this episode to start showing us Patrick being a jerkwad. Well, firstly, it makes us sit through a rather boring and unfunny moment of Patrick not realziing that SpongeBob is choking at first, though this doesn’t last too long thank god. Patrick punches SpongeBob into a wall, since he doesn’t really know that SpongeBob’s choking, just that he’s “not right”. This ends up saving SpongeBob’s life…as we will be reminded of in a second. Because yeah, it takes about 30 seconds for Patrick to go from savior to annoying jerkwad. I’m sorry, but you saving your best friend’s life should not be something you expect to be owed for. Like this is a ridiculous plot point, and this first minute or two of the episode should’ve been rewritten (maybe then we could’ve actually included Sandy!). I understand that this was supposed to be a humorous moment, but it simply didn’t work for me.

Moving on, we get SpongeBob teaching Patrick how to do karate. At least we get to see a different move than a simple karate chop for once. Though I don’t see how this inverted whirlpool maneuver is a “basic move” (I’m assuming it’s because SpongeBob actually just wanted a reason not to teach Patrick, given his attitude right before this, but this is all conjecture…and probably wrong since the next move actually is easy). See, I’m nitpicking like this because this actual segment of the episode is a drag, and this is all I can do to entertain myself, since the episode isn’t doing it for me.

Speaking of not doing it for me, the pacing of this episode is all off. Firstly, I don’t know why they only went with 2 moves to decide Patrick is unteachable, instead of the far more predictable (and sometimes predictable is good, because predictable works) 3 moves. It kind of throws things off, and makes this teaching portion feel rushed. And it causes us to spend too much time with Patrick going chop-crazy. Because as it turns out, Patrick has a perfect chop. One thing I do like about this episode is that SpongeBob doesn’t get jealous of Patrick or anything like that, because I was definitely concerned once Patrick started chopping things like a knife to butter.

Instead, the episode has Patrick completely forget about the responsibility part of his agreement with SpongeBob. And here’s where my pacing issues pop up again. Instead of Patrick slowly getting more and more irresponsible and chaotic, he goes straight to trying to chop a stroller with a baby in it. You know, chopping a baby in half. What? On one hand, it works because it elicits shock in the audience, and it subverts expectations of an actual build up. On the other hand, can we just have some normal pacing please? Because why on Earth is Patrick trying to chop a baby. This joke gets a startled laugh out of me. I don’t hate it, it’s just very out of place for this show, I think. But if there were more jokes like this, I wouldn’t hate it.

The episode returns to regular pacing once Patrick starts chopping up everything, and this part of the episode is boring. And guess why? If you guessed because it’s just Patrick, and I’ve said many times that Patrick does not work in isolation, then you’d be correct! The bit at the Krusty Krab was probably the best of this, but it wasn’t great either. Eventually, things improve immensely once the lifeguard fish comes in and is perfectly dramatic, just the way I like it. I also loved the return of SpongeBob’s unicycle here. And then all of a sudden, Patrick’s hand has a mind of its own, which is certainly a direction for this episode to go in. I’m not sure I’d call it the best direction, but it is a direction. I think an episode about Patrick simply learning responsibility is fine, no need to add this. And frankly, this part of the episode bores me like so much of the rest.

It’s not until Patrick finds a Sponge-O, and thinks that it’s SpongeBob, that the episode begins to actually entertain me again, because this part was pretty funny. Especially once we get the double subversion that Patrick did actually get SpongeBob crushed. And I very much appreciate that unlike another episode (”Stuck in the Wringer” lashings, yay!), Patrick actually regrets his actions very clearly here. I know this should be the bare minimum, but listen I’d be saying this even if it was season 1. I like wholesome stuff. And this little ending bit, with Patrick regrowing his arm (and his chopping hand growing a body) reminds me of a couple things. Firstly, it reminds me of the end of “Spy Buddies”. Secondly, it reminds me of this sick (in a good way, to those possibly unfamiliar with the terminology LMAO) SpongeBob horror comic from a while back. I think about this comic from time to time, it was such an interesting time, being there as it uploaded.

I can’t tell exactly what the biggest problem of “Karate-Star” is. Maybe it’s that it’s boring for so much of it. Maybe it’s that the pacing is off. Maybe it’s that Patrick is a jerk for certain parts of it. Well, I don’t think it’s the last one actually, but I think a combination of the first two is our answer here. This episode is just a weird watch. With the off-pacing and the boring moments, I can’t help but think about how much better this episode could’ve been with a restructured plot, and that’s disappointing. And with that extra little sprinkle of jerk Patrick here, I have to put this episode in “Mediocre”, even if Patrick does somewhat redeem himself by the end of the episode. Kind of.

Episode Tier: Mediocre
Episode Score:
5.7/10
 

SlipperytheTotodile

The Pokemon Enthusiast
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I have to state i like this one. Its funny and rather cool.

Rating: Good Episode

Rankings:
Squidward in ClarinetLand (Amazing)
Back to the Past (Superior)
The Curse of Bikini Bottom (Superior)
That Sinking Feeling (Great)
The Inside Job (Great)
The Main Drain (Good)
The Monster Who Came to Bikini Bottom (Good)
I ❤️ Dancing (Good)
A Day Without Tears (Good)
Kracked Krabs (Good)
Karate Star (Good)
The Bad Guy Club for Villains (Good)
Greasy Buffoons (Good)
The Cent of Money (Okay)
Growth Spout (Okay)
Tentacle-Vision (Okay)
Gary in Love (Okay)
Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful (Alright)
Gramma's Secret Recipe (Alright)
The Play's the Thing (Meh)
Model Sponge (Meh)
SpongeBob's Last Stand (Meh)
One Coarse Meal (Meh)
The Great Patty Caper (Meh)
Summer Job (Mediocre)
Sponge-Cano! (Mediocre)
Stuck in the Wringer (Mediocre)
Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle (Bad)
Rodeo Daze (Awful)
The Curse of the Hex (Awful)
Trenchbillies (Terrible)
Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy (Despicable)
Yours, Mine and Mine (Despicable)
A Pal for Gary (Despicable)
 
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