Ah, “Bulletin Board”…I don’t have much to say about you because just like your sister, I haven’t seen you very much at all either.
This episode doesn’t know the meaning of stalling, because we jump right into the plot we’ve been promised basically immediately. Well, we do after a hilarious set up between Mr. Krabs and an old lady. This episode proves once again that SpongeBob is really the heart behind the Krusty Krab business operations, because he comes up with yet another great idea for this restaurant. And I really like the idea in this episode, because it makes Bikini Bottom feel like a legitimate community. Just like in “Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm”, the Krusty Krab is portrayed as a community space. I like that.
Things take a turn once the bulletin board gets its first negative note about the Krusty Krab. And the tensions between private and public reveal themselves here, as Mr. Krabs wants to take the note down, but the public nature of the bulletin board threatens such censorship. Technically, Mr. Krabs would be allowed to do so since it is a privately owned bulletin board lol. But anyway, the note is obviously from Patrick, given that it uses Patrick canonical handwriting, and it is signed by “PStar7”. Of course, we learn later that Patrick wasn’t trying to complain at all, but it was interpreted as such. Which is another thing that supports what I’m about to say in the next paragraph.
The episode takes another turn as the bulletin board starts basically turning into the internet, where negativity thrives in anonymity. And once that comparison becomes clear, I have to say that this episode is extremely clever. I mean, I’ve talked about this before—this show tries not to date itself by adding modern technology. So why would it reference any one social media site (this is definitely Reddit, by the way), when it could just SpongeBob-ify things and make it fit perfectly into the environment of the show? Now we don’t have to question the existence of the Internet or social media in SpongeBob SquarePants. Very clever indeed. Anyway, as the episode goes on, the parallels to the real Internet become more and more clear. And just like the actual internet, I become very annoyed with the masses haha. But in a good way, this time. Patrick becoming a bulletin celebrity is also very par for the course. Great analogies abound.
Once the board gets to be too much, the Krew decides to hold a stakeout to determine the identity of PStar7. And this stakeout is very entertaining. Not to mention, it ends in some fun chaos as Mr. Krabs immediately goes on the attack, destroying the board for good. I love how the episode ends so randomly too, with Mr. Krabs making everyone come with him to a knitting circle so he can calm down.
“Bulletin Board” also sees the return of Bubble Bass as a supporting character, something we haven’t seen in a very, very long time. But I’m excited for when he’ll start being prominent in some of these newer episodes, because he’s a very enjoyable character. Not to mention he sounds exactly like a Redditor or, god forbid, a 4chan user.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.2/10
