215a. Feral Friends

[Depressed Luigi]

I'm just going to say that this episode raised season 10 from a bad season to a mediocre season. May sound like faint praise, but I'm shocked. I really love this episode. I think it's even better than Mermaid Pants. My previous best season 10 episode.

I don't think I would've ever came up with a concept like this, but it just works so well. This is definitely a Sandy episode and while Sandy never struck me as a highlight in the SpongeBob cast this episode proves her worth as a goofy interpenetration of an action hero in a devastated Bikini Bottom. Unlike a lot of season 10 episodes everything flowed so naturally, the jokes never felt forced. Compare the Neptune's Sun twist to the crazy ending of Krusty Katering. Both are nonsensical endings but the difference in craft is obvious. The wackiness is much less... patronizing. It actually has a proper ending before the comedic twist, and the comedic twist isn't full of loud children yelling about cake, food flying everywhere, and Patrick being season 10 Patrick, it's too much. In Feral Friends It's just a funny idea of a joke that comes with the right dosage of crazy animation to ham it up. The episode's got fantastic animation, but it never goes overboard and in fact elevates the episode's many great action and comedic setpieces. This and Dunces and Dragons prove you can really make a great adventure even in SpongeBob of all things.

Quite interesting how the episode was a bit educational too. I already know most of this but the inclusion was clever and funny to the point where it doesn't feel like the episode's being dumbed down to teach you something a la SpongeBob's Last Stand.

Live action was solid as well. Patchy was decent for the most part. Probably the weakest aspect of the episode and certainly not up to par with his seasons 2-3 + Friend or Foe appearances. But the jokes were charming and THANK GOD IT WASN'T AS HORRIBLE AND ABOMINABLE AS TRUTH OR SQUARE I MEAN SERIOUSLY IT ISN'T THAT HARD TO AIM A SHOT CORRECTLY WHY WAS IT LIKE 20 MINUTES LONG WHY AM I WATCHING PATCHY KIDNAP ROBIN WILLIAMS WHAT IS THE STORLYLINE HOW DID ANYONE APPROVE THIS!!!

...Sorry for my tangent. I'm just glad Patchy's stuff here has well-crafted cheapness, good jokes, pretty brief, and has an awesome appearance by the french narrator.

This episode's really got everything I want from a SpongeBob episode, it isn't perfect but close enough. This might be my favorite post-sequel episode now. Who would've thought.

9/10

A post-9B episode that Honest Slug likes?

Who are you and what did you do to the real Honest Slug?

 

[D00d13B0bF1atpants]

I Loved this episode as well; I Liked seeing the Primal version of the Spongebob Cast; especially since they were Animated, yet resembled their Real Life Counterparts; I Wonder what Primal Gary would've looked like

 

[Sara SquarePants]

Even I, a post-movie SpongeBob hater thought this episode was creative and unique

Not just for SpongeBob SquarePants but ANY cartoon

Season 10 was the last good quality season of SBSP

It took a complete nosedive in Season 11

 

[mandythescientist17]

Even I, a post-movie SpongeBob hater thought this episode was creative and unique

Not just for SpongeBob SquarePants but ANY cartoon

Season 10 was the last good quality season of SBSP

It took a complete nosedive in Season 11

I think somebody's forgotten about Seasons 6-8.

 

[Honest Slug]

It took a complete nosedive in Season 11

Season 10 is literally just season 11.

 

[Master WhoBruh]

I think somebody's forgotten about Seasons 6-8.

well he did say he was a post movie hater

 

[Lightning McStorm]

I really loved this episode

9/10

 

[Miru]

This episode had a lot of missed potential in my eyes. What about Plankton, Gary, and Karen? Not to mention the likes of Bubble Bass. A big missed gag opportunity was to have each of the jellyfish turn into mundane, real jellyfish after Sandy bounces off them. Why weren't the jellyfish affected? I honestly think this should have been a special. But the concept is a really novel and likable one, a nice and Halloween-suited idea. The French Narrator's involvement was a great highlight, especially with the real animal facts. Also, the ending is fairly confusing unless you've read the Vincent Waller tweet that Potty really is a puppet and not a living parrot. 6/10

 

[Birds858]

Weird episode, though, it’s give some interesting backstory about Bikini Bottom and i liked the plot and the return of Patchy.

9/10

 

[FinnDinner]

I've seen a little bit of it, and from what I've seen it's actually really cool. I love the idea of it, I love the whole story of it, and I just like it. Seems like one of the episodes of Post-Sequal you should watch.

 

[jack_of_all_traids]

A very interesting episode. And I really enjoyed it. Not the best episode this season, but it's interesting, and in a good way. I like this episode. It was also very refreshing to see the return of Patchy. I don't think he's appeared since Truth or Square.

Ranking so far:
1. Unreal Estate (A+)
2. Plankton Gets the Boot (A+)
3. Mimic Madness (A)
4. Burst Your Bubble (A)
5. Mermaid Pants (A)
6. Feral Friends (A)
7. SpongeBob's Place (A)
8. Plankton Retires (B)
9. Lost and Found (B)
10. The Incredible Shrinking Sponge (B)
11. Out of the Picture (B)
12. Life Insurance (B)
13. The Getaway (B)
14. Code Yellow (B)
15. Trident Trouble (C)
16. Whirlybrains (C)
17. House Worming (C)
18. Sportz? (C)
19. Krusty Katering (C)
20. Patrick's Coupon (D)
21. Snooze You Lose (D)

 

[D00d13B0bF1atpants]

I Loved this episode; We Finally get to see The French Narrator; We get to see the Wild Animal Forms of the Bikini Bottomites(who are THANKFULLY animated and NOT Live-action cutouts or Stick puppets, otherwise, I wouldn't have liked it so much)

 

[MimicMadness]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, that would explain it! I thought there was something weird about Potty's voice.

Huh..................

 

[SlipperytheTotodile]

OLD REVIEW NEW ONE BELOW!

I like this episode the whole episode is very eduactional (idk why i just like eduactional episodes) XD

10/10 Amazing!

 

[SlipperytheTotodile]

This is a pretty fun and funny and educational episode! Making this one almost a winner! Its not as good but i actually do like it alot!

Rating: Amazing!

Rankings:
Burst your Bubble (Golden)
The Getaway (Perfect)
Trident Trouble (Perfect)
Code Yellow (Perfect)
Plankton Retires (Perfect)
Feral Friends (Amazing!)
Mermaid Pants (Amazing!)
Mimic Madness (Superb)
Out of the Picture (Tolerant)
The Incredible Shrinking Sponge (Great)
Sportz? (Great)
Whirly Brains (Good)
Patrick's Coupon (Good)
Plankton Gets the Boot (High Okay)
SpongeBob's Place (Flat)
Krusty Katering (Dull)
House Worming (Meh)
Life Insurance (Sucky)
Unreal Estate (Bad)
Lost and Found (Stupid)

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

Ah, here we are at the other very highly-rated episode of season 10, “Feral Friends”! This one may not be as popular as “Mimic Madness”, but it’s for sure up there, there’s no doubt about it in my mind. And I think this is very justified, for a number of reasons. For a few similar reasons to “Mimic Madness”, now that I think about it. “Feral Friends” is also a longer than usual episode, being 16 minutes long, which definitely becomes clear upon rewatching it.

The first, and probably most important, thing that I love about this episode are the characters. And I mean this in every sense. Not only are all the characters in this episode just very well-written, but the usage of characters here is some of the best I’ve seen in this show, period. This episode is the epitome of “ensemble cast”. Heck, we even get some secondary character action in this one too with Larry (at this point, I feel like Larry could qualify as main haha). Y’all know I love when this episode flexes its large cast, so in that regard, this episode did not disappoint. Even Patchy and Potty are in this one, and we haven’t seen him in a hot second. Even the French Narrator is here, as an actual character! Which is, by the way, super duper cool. I love how Sandy is apparently friends with him. Makes sense if he’s some guy studying the ocean too.

Speaking of Sandy, that’s the other big character thing I love in this episode—it’s about her! Because she’s a land critter and thus unaffected by Neptune’s moon, she’s the only non-feral one left, which means it’s up to her to save everyone, and she plays the role very, very well. I’ve been asking for some Sandy-focused episodes since “Tea at the Treedome”, you guys have gotta know how happy I am to see the call be answered so very effectively here. I’m smiling just thinking about it.

As for other aspects of this episode, such as the plot or the humor, well those are great too! I’m impressed on the humor aspect, given that my favorite kind of humor, dialogue humor, has to be pushed to the wayside considering that Sandy, for much of the episode, is the only person who can talk. I think this episode is for sure carried a lot by its animation and visuals, and there’s lots of visual gags to be seen. And there’s still some dialogue humor here and there, mostly at the beginning of the episode. As for the plot, this episode of course stands out amazingly, because the show hasn’t really done a plot like this before. And it’s inherently interesting to me. I think the only thing I don’t like here is the ending where everyone is naked. Why is it always this plot point that makes things weird? Though I think nudity is something that’s always going to be weird to deal with when it comes to anthropomorphized characters. I think this episode treats it mostly fine though.

You know, one last thing I love about “Feral Friends” is that it calls back to the show’s roots. Honestly, it feels like a tribute. I’m sure, given that everyone on this forum is likely a step above just a casual fan, that we all know the story behind SpongeBob SquarePants’ creation, Steven Hillenburg’s previous profession, and “The Intertidal Zone”. I mean come on man, this is probably one of the most educational episodes of this show, and it’s all about marine life. If this episode had premiered even a little more than a year later, I would’ve been convinced that this was meant to be a tribute to Steven Hillenburg, no doubt about it. But it was very ahead of its time, and I think that makes me happier, because I still think this is a tribute, just a tribute to the living. A tribute the living could actually see.

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.4/10

 

[zerocool]

Masterpiece. 10/10.

 

[SpongebobMaster]

This episode confirms the nuclear theory and I love that

1. Mimic Madness (19/10)
2. Feral Friends(12/10)
3. Lost and Found (11/10)
4. Unreal Estate (10/10)
5. Spongebob's Place (10/10)
6. Sportz? (10/10)
7. Out Of The Picture (10/10)
8. Code Yellow (9.5/10)
9. Krusty Katering (9.5/10)
10. Mermaidpants (9.5/10)
11. Life insurance (9/10)
12. Bust your bubble (9/10)
13. Patrick's Coupon (9/10)
14. Trident Trouble (9/10)
15. Plankton Retires (8.5/10)
16. The Getaway (8/10)
17. Whirly Brains (8/10)
18. The Incredible Shrinking Sponge (5.5/10)
19. Snooze You Lose (5/10)
20. House Worming (3.5/10)
21. Plankton Gets The Boot (3/10)