*Sigh*
Why, My Leg!? Why!? You could've been one of the best of the Season, but one slip up has kept you from being what could've been a great episode!
So let's get into discussion on the recent fanservice known as My Leg! My Leg! is essentially the Fred Rechid fanfiction we've always wanted, there's romance, comedy, breaking of fibula, everything one could ask for! I really like and admire the idea of building onto this background character who has been in the show for years. Yes, there have been other episodes simply centered around additional characters such as Grandmum's the Word and Doodle Dimension, but this episode is different. Fred has been breaking his leg since Season 1, and I think it was a perfect idea to finally give him the spotlight he deserves. Was it as fantastic as one could envision? No, his role in Jellyfish Hunter still remains his very best, but this certainly isn't that bad.
The concept of the episode is relatively simple. SpongeBob decides to keep Fred from breaking his leg, since Fred is constantly doing so, it's as simple as that. The episode should rely on a slew of innovating and clever spins on ways Fred could break his leg, like Tutor Sauce did with SpongeBob crashing his boat. Unfortunately, the imagination doesn't branch off too far in this episode, the gags are decent in this episode, but they aren't hilarious. The thing is, this could've been a really good episode, heck maybe a great episode if it weren't for one thing, and one thing only...
"MY LEG!!!"
Good gravy, this is one of the most obnoxious running gags in Season 11,
every single time someone says "My Leg", they scream it at the top of their lungs! I get it, it's to poke fun at how Fred has always screamed "My Leg!", but the beauty of the Running Gag was how subtle it was, yet the writers always found a way to stuff it in the background as a little Easter Egg. I understand satirizing Fred's screaming, but overrusing it like it's a desperate Season 11 attempt for laughs (The Clam Whisperer, anyone?) just takes this satire too far to the point where its just done unironically. I wouldn't really take off points for such an insignificant part of the episode, but it's such a prominent gag, it takes up I'd say a good quarter or so of this episode's dialogue. A good majority of the episode's humor derives not really much of a clever twist on the gag, but rather just the "comedy" of screaming it (With a wacky face).
However, this episode isn't entirely flawless with humor. The beginning of this episode was hilarious, the montage was fantastic (Even starting off with a callback to the original My Leg! gag from Boating School). Also, as predictable as it was to have the nurse be this humongous, monstrous woman, I honestly found her to be a pretty funny character. I guess that's in part of her hilarious voice actor...and seeing her put Patrick through the wringer after watching Ink Lemonade...
The actual gags in which SpongeBob tries to protect Fred's leg were decent, they weren't as terribly lazy as the gags were in such episodes as Sanitation Insanity and Bunny Hunt, but there was still lots of room for improvement.
So, I think Mr. Lawrence properly executed this plot, there's definitely room for improvement, but I wouldn't say this is a bad execution by any means. So the plot generally relies on these gags for a good chunk of the episode, and surprisingly we get an actual story about halfway through the episode. The story is actually pretty compelling (For this Season's story writing anyway). Fred is in love with a nurse, I think that was a fantastic addition to the plot, a way to give this episode some sort of genuine purpose to tell a story, rather than simply relying on the billions of times people scream "MY LEG!"
Also, there is one part of this episode I have to essentially praise, but also criticize at the same time. The robot subplot. Ugh...this goes NOWHERE! I don't really mind that it goes nowhere, it was a fairly boring and uninteresting subplot, but I gotta tell you, Mr. Lawrence definitely did a great job wrapping it up with brevity. But here's the part I gotta praise. While yes I think the bringing up of using a robot's leg to replace his own does give a sense of suspense while Fred exits the hospital (Though I think the ridiculous shouting of "My Leg!" seems to overshadow that aspect), I think there's more subtlety to this episode than meets the eye. Fred simply brushes off losing his leg like it's no deal ("Oh, it's only MY LEG"), and while this at first glance contradicts his previously established worries of his leg's pain during the setup, it definitely makes sense. Fred reveals later in the episode that he misses the hospital because he's in love with the nurse, which may seem to come out of nowhere, but it kind of makes sense when connecting Fred's blissful nature towards breaking his leg. He doesn't worry because he's in the love with the nurse, that slow and subtle character development may be one of the best parts of the episode!
And the highlight of the episode HAS to be the song. Oh my, what a fantastic ending, I haven't felt this satisfied at an episode's ending since Squid Noir, this episode has a really phenomenal ending. After a spew of several lame gags (The episode does kind of slow down around the time Fred tries to intentionally breaks his leg, I didn't care for the ambulance gags that much), we finally are given the proper conclusion to this episode. A highly overlooked and underrated part of Fred's character is his musical abilities, and I think incorporating them to express Fred's love for the nurse was a fantastic way to wrap up the episode! This episode might not have been perfect, far from it actually. But that wrap up song was just wonderful, a really sweet and hilarious ending (Yes, that final "My Leg!" was warranted, more so than any other that popped up in casual conversation, especially when SpongeBob does it).
I just kind of wished they toned down Fred's character though, this was the episode he could've really shined, an average Joe who just isn't as lucky as others, constantly breaking his leg, but had developed a love out of this misfortune. Had 3/4's of the "My Leg's!" were cut, we could've had a phenomenal tribute to one of the series' best background characters. Overall, I'd say My Leg! is a
Good Episode. I give it a 7.8/10