Now that’s what I call a simple plot! When a title can capture literally the entirety of the episode, you know it’s gotta be a simple plot with lots of shenanigans (and that somebody’s good at making titles). Yep, I’m talking about “Stuck on the Roof”. Even the
title card helps with ensuring that the point comes across. Speaking of the title card, I was thrown for a loop when
The Rake Hornpipe of all tracks was the title card score, because when I heard that, I was like “I don’t think I’ve ever heard this as a title card track before”, and lo and behold when I perused the
wiki, I found that I haven’t! “Stuck on the Roof” is the only episode to use this song as a title card track. Isn’t that fun?
We begin with SpongeBob jamming like it’s “Sharks vs. Pods”. Nah, but it’s real enjoyable to watch SpongeBob get his groove on while cooking. Kinda makes me think of myself and when I get that dancing bug. Just gotta dance while doing anything (walking, cooking, folding laundry, etc.). And the animation for this part is smooth and the visuals are interesting. The music is definitely different too, not the typical sound we hear from this show. And of course, things go sour pretty quickly once Squidward tries to get SpongeBob’s attention, and ends up burning on the grill while the patty gets sucked into the vent. Poor Squidward haha. Must say I did appreciate that look we got of Squidward’s ripped off face, it makes me wonder when the last time we had a gross-up was. I don’t think it was very long ago at all, but now I am wondering about it.
With the patty stuck in the chimney, SpongeBob is forced to go up to the roof and get it out. And sure, this is exciting for him at first, complete with puns and all, but it doesn’t take long for SpongeBob to get scared of coming down. Which happens after a hilariously dark joke of SpongeBob dropping the patty in front of everyone, causing a certain red substance (ketchup…what did you think it was?) to splatter over all the onlookers. SpongeBob’s fear is really well conveyed in this part, I loved the shots of his face and of the ground getting further and further away. Parts of that were very…artsy. I liked it! Mr. Krabs tries to persuade SpongeBob to come down, eventually resorting to just ordering him, but nothing works. And then Sandy suddenly appears (which I have no complaints about) and says she’ll get him down with her new invention, extendo boots. She does not. The boots rather hilariously malfunction and cause a bit of violence and chaos instead. And we get my favorite thing, random explosions, when Sandy accidentally kicks Squidward and he goes flying, so yay for me!
Next up, Patrick’s on the scene, and he’s confident he can get SpongeBob down, bouncing himself up there with an inflatable. Patrick very much doesn’t help, emphasizing the height of the building, and then trying to get SpongeBob to literally fall of the building with him. Well, at least your heart was in the right place Patrick (and that’s also why this sequence was funny. I know we’re way past this now, but seasons 6-8, take some notes! listen, I kinda miss being able to say things like that haha, let me be). As day turns to night, I truly cannot emphasize enough how much I really like the art in this episode. There’s so many creative shots in this one (like
this one), probably because of the limited location necessitating a change, but I don’t know, not sure if all episodes would’ve done this. SpongeBob looks in to what Squidward’s up to, assuming that Squidward is on a date (he is, just with himself), and assuming that Squidward is upset when no one shows up. So he elects to make a shadow puppet friend for Squidward, which has the kind of hilarious consequences you’d expect. This has never really been a problem in this show, but I like how I can predict what kind of jokes are going to happen, and
still find them funny and laugh.
SpongeBob decides to use to scrap boards and things to make himself a “bed” for the night. Yeah, he can extend his arms to the ground, but not his legs. Don’t worry, I’m trained in ignoring glaring plot holes at this point haha. Finally, night turns into day. So you guys remember how I was saying I haven’t seen any gorgeous backgrounds in a while? Well not only does this episode have all those neat shots, it also has a
very gorgeous one in this scene. And it continues for a while, meaning we get blessed with these gorgeous
yellows,
oranges, and
greens for more than just a second. Anyway, Mr. Krabs decides that if SpongeBob can’t come down from the roof, he’ll just bring the grill up to SpongeBob. And this lets SpongeBob make patties, but he can’t get them to Squidward to serve them…whatever is the little sponge to do? Give the patties parachutes, of course! But this has the problem of the patties being cold, so now all the customers are going up to the roof. You see where this might be going?
Yep, the Krusty Krab has rooftop seating! And Mr. Krabs hilariously roasts SpongeBob before he praises him for coming up with the roof idea. Oh Mr. Krabs, never change. And this idea lets Squidward have free rein of the inside of the Krusty Krab, a perhaps just reward after the hell he’s been put through all episode haha. And when a storm rolls through (with some funny jokes in there), SpongeBob has no choice but to get to building again, this time making an entire second Krusty Krab above the Krusty Krab. Seems like he can’t win for losing though, cuz now the customers are bored since they’re no longer outside. Of course, SpongeBob’s able to save the day by doing what ruined the day in the first place—dancing (I love the animation of Mr. Krabs dancing, it’s just so silly! Same with the animation of everyone walking out of the Krusty Krab at the end). And this has the unintended consequence of making the Krusty Krab sink, the original one. So now SpongeBob’s off the roof, but a certain someone is trapped inside the original Krusty Krab. Poor Squidward…it’s just too bad that he makes such a hilarious butt monkey!
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.2/10