196a. The Fish Bowl

[TheSpongeWhoCan'tFly]

Well, I finally saw the episode and I thought it was.... meh. It's not flat out horrible. But meh. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. Patrick was back to his season 7-8 self here as he was a jerk to SpongeBob (like with the ice cream thing). He was not likable imo. Also, as Honest Slug said, Squidward was too zany in the episode. Usually, Squidward is supposed to be grumpy. Maybe he could have been happy when he heard the truck but then see SpongeBob and be like "How do I get to the truck without seeing those freaks..." or something like that. The idea for the plot was alright and the animation is great as usual, but the characters kind of bring it down for me.
5.5/10 is my rating for now.

 

[Amphitrite]

I have to be honest here and say I really hated this episode. I'm glad season 9 finally got a week of new episodes like I was hoping, but this episode was not a great way to start the week off.

I liked the beginning when Sandy was on the bus trying to observe the residents and SpongeBob and Patrick acting "natural"... and that's about it. The rest of this episode was really lacking in funny jokes and humor, and didn't much substance, but that's not my main problem with the episode. My largest problem with the episode was Patrick. He was extremely unlikable in this episode, I could not believe it. He was acting like a huge jerk to SpongeBob by pushing him around, mixing up the sand, and eating his ice cream. Wow! This just feels like the unholy child of Rule of Dumb (a good episode) and Yours, Mine and Mine (my least favorite episode)! And all because he was told he was "in charge"? No, that doesn't work here.

Do you want to know why it worked in Rule of Dumb? Because SpongeBob told Patrick that a king can have whatever he wants, and then it went to his head due to him taking it too literally. In this episode? He acted like a jerk just because Sandy said he's "in charge". And apparently he thought that being "in charge" means being a bully to your best friend. And, no! Patrick feeling bad for himself does not save the episode or excuse what he did. And SpongeBob said that it's the experiment's fault. Um... no, No, NO! That was on Patrick. He chose to be a jerk. It does not work here.

And what's with Squidward in this episode? No, not his "torture" in this episode (come on, people. He wasn't "tortured" here), and he wasn't unlikable here, but why was he acting like a child in this episode over ice cream? That's not like Squidward at all. Was this just a poor build up to the episode's lame ending? I don't know what they were going for.

Overall, as much as I hate to say this, The Fish Bowl was a huge mess. Patrick was a jerk, Squidward was out of character, the humor was lost, and the ending was lame. And that's a darn shame because late-season 9 was doing so good, restored my love for Patrick with What's Eating Patrick, and then this episode comes along and ruins everything. Come on, writers. Please do't go back to making Patrick a jerk. I know you can do better than this.

The Fish Bowl gets a 2/10 from me. My least favorite episode of the post-sequel era so far, and my second least favorite of season 9 as a whole, behind Little Yellow Book.

 

[nortonstime]

I don't get the hate for this episode. I wouldn't call it bad, and it takes some surprising turns that I didn't expect. The only characterization I find questionable is Squidward's. Otherwise, I found the gags pretty clever. "Pavlovi" was one of those jokes that people would've gone crazy for pre-movie. I also loved Spongebob's "Patrick, you are making VERY POOR CHOICES!" and how Spongebob and Patrick would freeze up whenever they'd notice the cameras.

Now, I've been surprised by Squidward's character portrayal in recent season 9 eps, as I've voiced several times in the past. This episode seems to be continuing the trend of Squidward going off the rails without much prompting, which is bizarre when compared to earlier episodes. After all, Squidward's main default setting was snarky/serious/debbie downer/etc and he'd only be driven insane after being exposed to Spongebob's antics.

Here, everyone's actually minding their own business and it's Squidward who is suddenly a random fanatic for ice cream. He's supposed to be the one character with common sense, yet he's the zaniest character in this episode and makes even Spongebob and Patrick appear more reasonable. Wasn't this the same guy who immediately picked up on Robot Krabs not being Krabs? Why didn't he recognize Sandy in a moustache?

Even stranger is the ending, wherein he voluntarily checks out Spongebob's house and even has the gall to ask why they didn't leave any ice cream for him. It's not an entirely unwelcome change in character, as I actually found it heartwarming that in this era, Squidward (on some level) sees Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy as his friends, at least to the extent that he expects them to leave him some ice cream when they're having some. Maybe he's finally accepted that he's one of the gang? This is the same Squidward that willingly joined in on game night, had a good time at Plankton's picnic, but also went bonkers just from seeing 2 Spongebobs. He has also been reduced to clueless straight man in the endings of both Sharks vs Pods and Pick Up A Barrel. I get what the writers are going for: by making Squidward less depressed by focusing on his more manic side, but I do miss the snark and thinly-veiled fury.

Anyway, perhaps the biggest flaw in this episode is that for a Sandy episode, she seems to contribute very little. They should add some new dimensions to her character just like they are with the other mains, because all I still see is "Sandy the scientist."

 

[Hazmart]

Well, it's just an okay episode, I really enjoyed the animation and the expressions, and the jokes of the miner and Squidward, but yeah, the attitude of Patrick was bad.
7.5/10 (Okay)

 

[Ol Bold and Brash]

I kinda like this one, I didn't like how Patrick was a jerk here but it's not as bad as some other episodes, I liked some of the facial expressions and the Squidward scenes but this episode was alright

Grade: 7/10

Best Character: :Sandyx:

Best Line: EUREKA!

Best Moment: The Squidward scenes

 

[Poop]

Patrick was a bit of a jerk but he stopped being one at the end.The ice cream gags were gold. anywayil give it a 6.5/10 meh close to g00d

 

[SpongeyKid]

I thought this episode was pretty good and seemed like a fresh idea for SpongeBob. The ice cream gag also really worked well

 

[Nincompoop]

I just saw this episode the other day, it was decent. The focus on Sandy was nice, she needs more screen-time. One thing that seemed off was that she didn't seem to know much about scientific observation. I would think that, being a scientist, she would know better than to let SpongeBob and Patrick know they were being observed for a behavioral study, instead of having to learn that this would affect the results. Though I really shouldn't be commenting on that, the show is knowing for its rampant inconsistency.

The jokes were a bit flat, but I did like the Squidward gag. I'd give it a 7.5/10.

 

[SquiddlyPie]

I've watched it before but today it premiered in my country, Greece so I watched it for the second time and I really liked that episode, I thought Squidward being unlucky was funny in this episode, Sandy as the ice-cream man with the mustache was also funny, Patrick was more stupid though but I liked it and it wasn't boring in my opinion, I give this episode a 8/10.

 

[JerryTheSnail]

I like this one but it's one of the weaker of the half-season. I'm not sure why, I didn't mind Patrick's jerkiness because it was an important part of the story and he was clearly the antagonist, plus he admitted to being in the wrong. Although the "I blame science" line was pretty stupid. Decent episode, nothing special.

 

[toasterstrutel]

For sure one of the worst episodes of this season. Not funny, and Patrick and Sandy are really mean.

 

[Baloo]

I just watched this episode for the first time yesterday, and to be honest, I agree with everyone that this is pretty weak. It did have some okay moments, but I feel like Patrick's behavior in the second half of the episode (And the blaming science thing doesn't redeem it for me), being a little boring at times, and Squidward being a little too zany (I'm okay with him loving ice cream, but what doesn't work for me is how zany he is about it when Squidward isn't that type of character) keep it from being anything good.

4/10

 

[BenPaz: Act Zero]

It really fells like a bad Season 7 episode. It is to me the worst Season 9b episode for now. First of all, it wasn't that funny to me. It just felt boring. I felt like Squidward just didn't act like himself with the Ice Cream gags. Sandy manipulated them and it just doesn't feel right. I'm going to give this episode a...................


3/10

 

[Ol Bold and Brash]

2017 Edit: Please don't open this stupid spoiler of my past opinions

Spoiler

I don't get the hate for this episode at all I though Squidward's behavior was funny and Patrick was a jerk but I think it's redeemable at the end

 

[Honest Slug]

Your obsession with this episode is kinda creepy OBAB. :P

 

[Ol Bold and Brash]

DOUBLE EUREKA!

 

[Jack M Crazyfish]

I don't really hate it, it's just kind of annoying and bland, it doesn't have many funny jokes and Patrick was a jerk that's about it. I think why many people don't like it is because of Squidward being out of character, tbh it doesn't really bother me but I can see why it bothers other people.

 

[Baloo]

Isn't this the tenth+ time you've said something along the lines of "The Fishbowl is overhated."?

 

[MasiHosseini]

In my honest opinion it was just decent.

6/10

 

[Amphitrite]

Isn't this the tenth+ time you've said something along the lines of "The Fishbowl is overhated."?

Yes, but it's still a legit discussion, even if it's the 1,000,000th topic he made. At least it isn't spam.

As for my thoughts, is because this episode was very dull, little to nonexistent jokes, Patrick being a jerk, Squidward being out of character, and all that stuff. This is one of my least favorite episodes of season 9.