Heading into this episode, my first thought is that I’m about to watch “Treats!” again. And that is not a good thing. But I can only hope that this episode doesn't continue the trend of Gary-focused episodes disappointing me immensely.
This episode starts off with another
gorgeous background alert. Those are the best kinds of alerts, honestly. SpongeBob is just like me, trying to fix everything instead of trying to buy anything new. I love how this show really does not care about being accurate about Gary being a dog or cat, instead just combining the traits of both of them. This episode also begins the trend we see across any pet-focused episode of Patrick acting like an animal, at least in my eyes, as he comes to the pet store so he can eat the food there lol.
After perhaps a bit too long at the pet store, Gary finds the toy of his dreams—a red ball. Gary soon grows very addicted to the red ball, to the point that he seems to prefer it over SpongeBob himself. And this is where the similarity to “Treats!” comes in, and lemme tell you now, I don’t care much for this stuff either. However, it definitely is more enjoyable in some parts. Like I love how Gary’s obsession gets more and more creepy, to the point where he starts painting himself to look like the thing. Pretty funny. Also I love how apparently SpongeBob has credit cards lol. And I do like SpongeBob’s dramatics about leaving Gary and his ball, though come on man, you own this house, kick them out! Gary’s lack of care makes it funnier.
Doesn’t take long for Gary to realize his mistake, though, when he’s hungry and SpongeBob isn’t there to feed him. When Gary tries to get away from the ball, and ends up having to burn it in a fire, this part is decently entertaining. Kinda quick, though. And I did find the apology between SpongeBob and Gary to be pretty wholesome, and I loved the callback to the wallet joke. The ending of the episode is also rather abrupt, but I kind of like it that way. Doesn’t help with the whole unfinished feel of this enterprise, though.
I know, short, short review. But seriously, what can I say? "Gary's New Toy" is yet another episode with a simple plot, which is fine, but it’s also executed in a not very great way, so there isn’t much for me to say without me just harping on the episode unnecessarily.
Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.8/10
