I gotta say, the writers of “Trident Trouble” were smart. They wanted their generally not memorable episode to be remembered, so they pulled a “SpongeBob vs. The Patty Gadget” and added a writing gimmick to the episode to make it more memorable. And it worked! I remember that Greek chorus very well. The rest of the episode, though? Well honestly I just feel like it’s like “Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV”. But with its own spin on things, of course.
Yeah, so as I was saying, the Greek Chorus was a fun little gimmick in this episode. And their inclusion makes sense, considering that this episode features King Neptune (well, makes sense until we realize we’re mixing up Roman and Greek myths, but everyone knows that Neptune is just a mix of both so it doesn’t matter). Anyway, while the Greek Chorus is a fun gimmick, I feel like this episode doesn’t use them to their fullest potential. And as such, they aren’t as funny as I would’ve hoped them to be. But they’re still enjoyable at least, so this doesn’t diminish my amusement too much.
Moving on, we get to the actual plot of this episode, which is a little switcharoo between SpongeBob and King Neptune. King Neptune gets SpongeBob’s trusty spatula, and SpongeBob gets the all-powerful trident. And of course, SpongeBob walks to the Krusty Krab none the wiser, ready to serve all the ravenous customers. Why the Krusty Krab even opened before SpongeBob got there, I don’t know. Probably to allow for the plot to happen LMAO. Anyway, SpongeBob contunues to be extremely oblivious during this scene at the Krusty Krab. I can’t say I was ever a fan of obliviousness, but I guess if it’s funny then I don’t mind. Unfortunately SpongeBob’s obliviousness isn’t really a source of comedy.
Eventually, SpongeBob at least realizes his “spatula” is magic, and decides to use it to help people, as is very in-character for SpongeBob to do. But of course, this completely backfires. I just wish the ways it backfired were funnier, because none of these bits are making me laugh very much. And I’m not sure why. I guess the jokes just aren’t landing for me personally. But at least they’re decently amusing I suppose.
The episode reaches its most entertaining when King Neptune finds SpongeBob and manages to get the Trident from him after a short action scene. Probably because 1) SpongeBob and King Neptune together is actually somewhat interesting, and 2) because of that little action scene haha. I also choose to think that when King Neptune was like “your spatula is just as powerful as my trident”, that was a reference to “Neptune’s Spatula”. I really think we need more King Neptune and SpongeBob interactions, if he’s gonna be a somewhat recurring character.
“Trident Trouble” just didn’t really do it for me. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but there’s nothing particularly right either. I just think there’s a lot of missed potential in this episode, and that disappoints me because it could’ve been a lot more interesting. I can see why people like this one, though. It just wasn’t the one for me.
Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.8/10
