Ah, “Snooze You Lose”—our first forgettable episode in a while. Well, “House Worming” was on the forgettable side. But even though I know that this episode isn’t “Don’t Wake Patrick”, I always think this one is that episode instead. Either that or I think it’s “I Heart Dancing”. Or “Slimy Dancing”. Man those episodes are similar. No but seriously, I feel like this episode should be more memorable considering J. K. Simmons guest stars in it, but alas.
“Snooze You Lose” begins with Squidward very relatably being unable to get to sleep. I feel you buddy. My only recourse is turning on jazz and hoping for the best. And of course, SpongeBob and Patrick don’t help things, having a burping contest at SpongeBob’s house. Though, SpongeBob does end up giving Squidward some seemingly useful advice…after teleporting inside his house of course. I like how Squidward can’t even be bothered to scream about SpongeBob doing that. The first real funny moment of the episode comes when Patrick downs a whole soda bottle and is about to burp, and he’s like “tell my parents I love them” LMAO. After walking for a while, Squidward ends up going to SpongeBob’s house instead of his own. I’m interested to see what shenanigans this will lead to, because I’m hoping that these minutes of set-up will go somewhere. So far, I’m feeling quite neutral about the episode, as other than one or two moments, I haven’t been too amused yet. But so far we’re doing better than “House Worming”, so that’s a plus.
Everyone falling asleep on SpongeBob was wholesome and cute, so that’s another plus right there. And things start getting into motion once morning comes, and SpongeBob and Patrick are unable to wake Squidward up for his audition. The bit with Patrick freaking out about waking up not in his house was pretty funny, I’ll say. SpongeBob and Patrick’s attempts to wake Squidward up are…less amusing than that bit, but they’re not boring, so I’m mostly pleased. The part where they create a Squidward clone in a lab was hilarious, though. That’s the kinda randomness I like to see from this show.
This episode is very hilariously disturbing, which a type of humor that requires skill. And I think this episode’s got that skillful touch, because I wasn’t grossed out by anything here. SpongeBob and Patrick climbing inside of Squidward to control him is just funny and bizarre to me, not nasty or cringey. And I love how everyone who comes across the controlled Squidward finds him very disturbing, it’s just too funny. And don’t think I forgot about the random explosion, because I didn’t. Y’all know that’s one of my favorite running gags in this show. And I love how the bus driver ain’t even fooled. That bus driver is one of my favorite background characters…he’s been around for so long now, and is always funny.
Finally, SpongeBob, Patrick, and the sleeping Squidward make it to the audition, which is where we meet J. K. Simmons’ character, the judge. You know what, I’m not shocked at all that that’s the character he’s playing. Like usual, he’s great. As SpongeBob and Patrick manage to actually start wowing the judge, Squidward wakes up and quickly becomes privy to what’s going on. SpongeBob and Patrick fighting back against the awake Squidward was actually unexpected, but it was entertaining, so that’s a nice surprise. And of course, once Squidward, ah, expels SpongeBob and Patrick, his clarinet playing quite literally breaks buildings, leaving him on a bus home with a clarinet around his head. Hey, at least his clone plays a mean building!
“Snooze You Lose” was a perfectly serviceable episode. I think that’s the best way I can describe it. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It was decently enjoyable, but not an episode I would particularly seek out. But I wouldn’t avoid rewatching it either. It’s simply Good.
Episode Tier: Good
Episode Score: 7/10
