[SIZE=10.5pt]Well, here we are. The first Post-Prequel Squid Abuse episode.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Oh boy, a majority of the fandom (At least the chunk of it present on this site) consider Ink Lemonade as the worst episode of Season 11. Some even dare to call it one of the worst episodes of the series. Well...aw man, this is gonna kill me...it wasn't that bad. Ink Lemonade is certainly no good episode, heck if it was it wouldn't be trashed more than Sportz? and The Clam Whisperer combined. But it's my job to rate an episode honestly, and here's my honest take on it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]So let's talk about the episode's plot. The concept of Ink Lemonade alone is kind of nifty (Sheesh, way to feel like an old geezer), the aspect of Squidward's ability to ink is an interesting nautical idea to delve into. I mean, we've seen the more nautical side of the characters explored before, SpongeBob’s absorption, Patrick’s regeneration, Krabs’ shell, Plankton’s size, so it really makes perfect sense to develop an episode centering around Squidward’s ability to ink. The only problem is, Kaz took this idea of making an episode revolving around the inking of a Squid/Octopus, and made it into one of laziest crafted stories of recent time. While yes, Ink Lemonade’s story line isn’t as ridiculous as Pat the Horse, nor is it as lame or uneventful as Old Man Patrick and Sanitation Insanity, Ink Lemonade has an overall well conceived premise, but has a severely mishandled execution.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I don’t personally don’t care for the constant gags of Squidward getting the literal ink spewed out of him, but I can’t deny there are some fairly amusing visual gags throughout the episode. If there’s one major pro with this episode, it’d have to be that this is an episode far from boring. Whether an episode is really good or really bad, I usually enjoy watching it more than watching a severely boring episode (Fun-Sized Friends or Drive Happy, anyone?). It’s hard to say it but, this episode actually has quite a handful of funny little visual gags. The fact that Patrick built a giant tent around Squidward’s house to spook him, I found the slightly twisted interior of that tent to be fairly amusing, and there are even some pretty funny facial expressions among those who have consumed the Ink (Particularly SpongeBob). Overall, this episode isn’t half-bad with humor. Is Patrick’s motivations warranted? Eh…kind of…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Look, Pat’s torment at the very least is out of a desire to sell more lemonade. Goodness, this story was handled way better in Jellyfish Hunter. While yes, Patrick is indeed being insufferable to Squidward, I’d much rather have a relatively reasonable excuse for Patrick’s actions, rather than have him act just out of pure ignorance (Most notably in such episodes as Restraining Sponge, Pet Sitter Pat, even as recently as Sanitation Insanity). It’s just insufferable when Patrick acts out of pure stupidity, and that’s absent in this episode, yes he’s a fool for using Squidward for personal gain, but I just don’t see that much of a fuss over how this episode handles this improper motivation. Yes, Patrick was out of line for doing such a thing, but the abusive gags aren’t nearly as painful as all the other havoc Squid’s gone through before. Heck, these gags are a walk in the park compared to…[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]I won’t deny a good majority of these gags are your standard, forgettable, cheap Season 11 visuals (This time with the slapstick kicked up a notch). I don’t know, but the burning hatred for this episode just isn’t in me. Fun-Sized Friends, oooh, that episode is terrible, The Clam Whisperer, awful, awful episode, Old Man Patrick, so, so boring, but this? Yeah, it’s not a good episode, but it’s certainly not a boring one, nor an entirely unfunny one.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]How was this episode’s plot executed poorly, what exactly makes this a bad episode? Well, for one this story was already done in Jellyfish Hunter, Squidward is unnecessarily harmed for the sake of laughs, the ending was just a bad way to finish the episode, and Patrick had zero comeuppance. But what keeps this from being Clam Whisperer-level bad? Well, the characters aren’t that annoying. Patrick is obviously made out to be an anti-hero, he’s stooping very low for the sake of making a profit, but he’s not entirely annoying. Yes, he’s quite annoying at the start of the episode, but Kaz seemed to really reel him in once the plot really got moving along. Squidward doesn’t seemed as phased as you’d imagine towards the ending, heck, he’s willing to sell his ink. And I think that’s what differs this episode from your standard Squid abuse episode, yes none of this is Squidward’s fault, but Squidward this time seemed accepting of the unnecessary torment towards the ending, and yes the ending played up a cheap laugh with the unfunny vomit gag, but Squid’s odd acceptance (Kind of out of character, if you ask me), just mellowed out the ending from being your standard insult onto injury.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]That being said, I honestly just consider Ink Lemonade to be a lower than average episode. It’s not fully obnoxious to really get on my nerves, it’s just a standard Season 11 episode that’s a little worse than most episodes are. I don’t know, maybe I’ll get riled up once I read into other people’s opinions, but this episode is nowhere near being the worst of the series (I’ve got a good chunk of Seasons 6-8 that can take up that argument), nor do I consider it the worst in this Season (Like The Horrendous Clam Whisperer, the Terrible Cave Dwelling Sponge, the Awful Fun-Sized Friends, and the Intensely Boring Old Man Patrick). It’s a Bad Episode, I give it a 4.2/10[/SIZE]