235b. Plankton Paranoia

Squidwardiard

Frozen Cephalopod
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I think this episode is decent. What I learned from this episode is that deep down Mr. Krabs kind of enjoys the rivalry with Plankteron. He clearly misses it when he hasn't tried stealing the formula in a while. It's a little weird that Krabs loses his mind so fast though. The animation when Krabs goes crazy with hallucinations of Plankton looks kinda cool. I found the fact that Plankton threw Krabs a surprise Rivalry Anniversary Party to be pretty funny. It's also funny that they're civil enough to take their vacations at the same time. It was surprising seeing Krabs do something very kind at the end of the episode. He ended up getting himself hurt trying to save everyone from his "booby trapped" krabby patties. It almost seems out of character for him, haha! Overall, I think the episode is decent. Not a great episode imo, but decent enough. I like the plot and how the episode plays with the Krabs/Plankton rivalry.
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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“Plankton Paranoia” is an episode that I’m very, very surprised that the show didn’t do sooner. The closest we’ve gotten was “New Leaf”, and even then that episode was pretty different from this one in a lot of ways. The reason I say I’m surprised we didn’’t get this episode sooner is because, well, the plot seems like it would be easy to come up with. I mean, especially after what was established in “The Algae’s Always Greener” (that Plankton incessantly tries to steal the formula), Mr. Krabs being paranoid about Plankton making an attempt is logical. And we’ve seen Mr. Krabs go cuckoo, remember “Clams”? So yes, this is all very logical, and I’m already excited to rewatch.

Starting off with Mr. Krabs adopting some military aesthetics is a fitting choice, given [redacted because y’all aren’t the target audience for this commentary]. We get some slapstick with Squidward, though it doesn’t work well for me because black eyes and lost teeth are more…visceral forms of slapstick. SpongeBob’s assigned guard duty, because I guess the Krusty Krab is slow that day haha, but even he can’t keep up the enthusiasm for three hours straight. And Plankton doesn’t show up. I love this new piece of information we gather that Mr. Krabs and Plankton always take their trips together…to “keep an eye on each other”. Okay if you say so Mr. Krabs. I won’t say anything more than that. Honestly this whole episode is about Mr. Krabs’ obsession with Plankton (which, as we’ve seen time and time again, goes both ways), and it’s funny.

Mr. Krabs starts thinking of all sorts of crazy reasons why Plankton might not have shown up to the Krusty Krab that day, from the doors being jammed to customers being in the way to there being no incentive. Each reason is more nonsensical than the last, and I love how you can feel Mr. Krabs’ need to have Plankton as his foil. (This how lots of y’alls shonen rivals sound…all I’m saying is that it sounds like something that rhymes with hay. Nothing more.). Anyway, a false alarm sets Mr. Krabs into battle mode, locking down the Krusty Krab and gracing us with some fun visual gags. And we’re only 2 minutes in!

The time comes for SpongeBob and Squidward to head home for the day. I’ll ignore how SpongeBob is unusually pleased to leave here to appreciate their synchronized movements. I also really like the dynamic of SpongeBob and Squidward being one one side, and Mr. Krabs on the other. It worked in the aforementioned “Clams”, and it’s not a dynamic we typically see very often. Anyway, Mr. Krabs decides that he’s gonna stay in the restaurant all night to wait for Plankton (with a visual reference to “Clams”), and SpongeBob and Squidward sneak outta there. Again, Clancy Brown is showing off his vocal perfection in this episode, it goes hard. And I love how much of a presence Plankton is here, even though he hasn’t even show up yet.

The next day, we see the further deterioration of Mr. Krabs’ mental state, and the heightening of his paranoia. It gives us a bunch of great gags though, so I guess his mental state is a necessary sacrifice for our entertainment haha. Soon, Mr. Krabs starts banning people from the establishment for the most inane things. I love how SpongeBob’s the first one to put voice to Mr. Krabs’ strangeness here, and how unbothered Squidward is by it. It’s literally so funny. But what I really like is the reveal that SpongeBob and Squidward actually do have some sort of secret plans going on that they’re hiding from Mr. Krabs. Now, would they be working for Plankton like Mr. Krabs interprets it as? Oh for sure no, but I do like that there’s a little bit of guesswork here, because if they aren’t working for Plankton, then what are they doing?

That night, we see Mr. Krabs really start to go off the deep end. He’s startled by the smallest things, and seeing things that aren’t there. Well, I should change my language. Because real people are affected by paranoia and schizophrenia, and I shouldn’t be ableist in my language towards them. Anywho, I really like the visuals in this segment, the animation is utterly divine. Mr. Krabs spots SpongeBob and Squidward heading into the Chum Bucket, further fueling his paranoid thoughts. And it’s not just his employees either, he sees Sandy, Mrs. Puff, Pearl, and Patrick going in too. Oh and Old Man Jenkins. The perceived betrayal saddens him to no end.

Finally, we reach the climax of things. An obviously-scripted SpongeBob comes to fetch Mr. Krabs and bring him to the Chum Bucket. So, Mr. Krabs decides to cook up a bunch of patties with traps in them for “ransom”. His mentally unstable laughter keeps cracking me up. Finally, Plankton makes an appearance, standing on a “kidnapped” Squidward. Because, as it turns out, this was all an elaborate scheme for…a surprise party! A party for the anniversary of Plankton trying to steal the formula. Well, that’s cute! Also, the face Mr. Krabs makes when everyone jumps out is hilarious. And that’s saying something in an episode full of funny faces. Seems like alls well that ends well…at least until everyone starts trying to eat the booby-trapped patties. Mr. Krabs manages to stop everyone from doing so, but at the cost of himself, and so the party goers get quite the light show. And once the party ends, well, we couldn’t end without a true foiling of Plankton, now could we?

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score:
9.4/10
 
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