Not really. He's also been unlikeable in episodes before that, so almost every main character had at least one unlikeable appearance. SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Squidward and Sandy are examples. I don't care about Pearl, Larry, Karen and Mrs. Puff much, but they also had some unlikeable moments, especially Mrs. Puff in Demolition Doofus.
Anyways, it is not as bad as many people think, but I don't like that much either. They could have made Patrick less jerkish here, but it wasn't as bad as in episodes like Yours, Mine and Mine. He was a jerk in this one too, but he somehow apologized. I kinda agree with Squidward being different here. I was surprised to see him being obsessed with ice cream, because he never seemed to be that type of guy to like ice cream in my opinion. This brings me vibes of Squidward's School for Grown-Ups, where Squidward actually liked food similar to coral or something like that? I don't know how to explain it. I also don't like how SpongeBob and Patrick were standing still during the cameras at the first time before the real experiment started. Remember Tentacle-Vision? They were in camera and didn't stand still. Instead, they were playing around and having fun. Even Patrick used a recorder in MM & BB 6: The Motion Picture. I think this episode could've been better if it weren't for these issues, but it's far from atrocious/abysmal. It's tolerable to watch, but not something I really enjoyed. Speaking of bad episodes, I think this is the most tolerable bad or meh episode. I would call it either a bad or even a meh episode. Patrick's jerkiness was kinda over the top, but I wasn't very angry with it. I liked the idea here, but did Sandy already realize how sea creatures behave throughout the series? She already knew how many people in Bikini Bottom behave, but at the same time, she's never really spoken about psychology that much. The best part was definitely Sandy with Gary. Yes, Gary being probably the only character without any unlikeable moments.
EDIT: I think I was kinda harsh on this episode. This episode is just rather mediocre now. I kinda changed my opinion and don't think it is as bad as I thought. There were some really interesting parts and Patrick didn't bother me as much as some of you guys, but it is still very obnoxious. I don't think his appearance in this episode is even that close to his appearances in Seasons 7 & 8 (he was okay in Season 6, even with veru bad appearances like in The Card, but also good ones like in Porous Pockets). It's far from those appearances. Squidward loving ice cream was still very weird and I don't get it. It is lazily done, but the concept of the episode in general was actually interesting, when Sandy tried to figure out the behavior of SpongeBob and Patrick, even if she already knew that, but at the same time it is very strange and not interestingly enough for the episode to be that good. The episode was kinda dull as well, but at least it has some redeeming qualities to make it up and I believe it was just meh/average overall. It's a little bit overhated, I guess? Yes, I guess it is.
