243b. The Ballad of Filthy Muck

CheeseCrocker

Bomb-Selling Pirate
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Jun 22, 2019
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NEW OPINION:

This episode is boring. The plot moves so slowly I snore through this. Not even the twist can save this one.

Rating: Bad
 

spongie33

Sad Squidward Expert
Staff
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I don't like this episode. It's not as bad as it's sister episode but I still don't like it. 5/10.
 

Snails

Floating Shopping List
Joined
Jun 28, 2021
Messages
121
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Location
New York City
So far in this season
FarmerBob (8.9/10)
Gary & Spot (3.5/10)
The Nitwitting (0.0/10)
The Ballad Of Filthy Muck (0.2/10)
 

Season 4-11

7 Years of Hospitality
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Nov 20, 2015
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Another pretty gross episode. I didn't really care for the song and I was disgusted for a majority of the episode. However the twist was pretty clever, and I laughed way too hard at the tiny Mr. Krabs.

2.5/10

The tiny Mr. Krabs automatically brings this up half a point because it's the best joke in Season 12
 

SlipperytheTotodile

The Pokemon Enthusiast
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Is this the wrong time to say that i actually kinda like this episode?

Rating: Good Episode

Rankings:
Gary & Spot (Great)
The Ballad of Filthy Muck (Good)
FarmerBob (Good)
The Nitwitting (Despicable)
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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The name of this episode always reminds me of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which was a film released on Netflix the year before this episode aired. I don’t think the title being similar was purposeful at all, just a neat coincidence (maybe they’re both referencing something, how would I know?). This episode has nothing else to do with that movie anyway. Nah, this one in a way feels like it could’ve been an alternative plot considered for “The Battle of Bikini Bottom”. Well…not really I guess, but it does use the same “Patrick is filthy” plotline (and it has the inclusion of Patrick’s stink being legitimately impressive). (Also funny is how Patrick gets kicked out of the Krusty Krab in somewhat similar shots between these two episodes too).

First thing I gotta say about this episode, I love the track Bali Ha’i. Can the show pretty please use it again? It’s wonderful. While we’re on artistic choices, I’ve got to say that this episode does a really great job at visualizing stink and people’s reactions to it. It’s not repetitive (like “Something Smells”, although the repetition in that episode was not a problem for me. But I suppose that having this episode incorporate more kinds of gags and visuals helps to differentiate the two more than they already are), and it keeps the episode fresh (lol, funny considering the episode’s topic) and interesting. I like that.

As for the plot of this episode, this is one of those ones that can kinda be split up into two parts. Man, it’s been a while since I’ve described an episode like that, hasn’t it? I miss the way I used to write reviews, I need to bring that back. Anyway, the first part of the episode is Patrick’s stinky self going about his business, and the second part is when SpongeBob is dealing with an unrecognizably nasty Patrick. Something about the episode structure is interesting to me. I guess that for an episode like this, you’d kinda expect Patrick to get dirtier and dirtier until he reaches that stage of being covered in garbage, but in this episode there’s just two stages. This isn’t a critique at all, in fact I’m perfectly fine with how “The Ballad of Filthy Muck” chose to tell its story. I just think it’s interesting, and I like to try and figure things out.

And of course, this episode is simply funny. You’d expect an episode like this to rely solely on visual gags, which of course there ain’t nothing wrong with that, but “The Ballad of Filthy Muck” picks its humor from a variety of places. Visual gags are a big part of it, mostly in those reactions I talked about earlier, or the visualizations of the stink, but there’s more too. Like when Mr. Krabs is trying to find the source of the stink, that joke in the bathroom, that was pretty good. Speaking of this scene with Mr. Krabs, when Mr. Krabs kicks Patrick out, the shot here reminds me of something (and not the scene I mentioned earlier; and yes I know that this shot of someone getting kicked out of the Krusty Krab is used fairly often, but I kept feeling like this shot mirrored another one in a relatively recent episode rather closely. Eventually I found the episode, it was “No Pictures Please”.). Anyway, back to the humor. There’s the whole part with SpongeBob being dramatic which was pretty funny, and that was followed by the insanely outta pocket moment of the two people outside the Krusty Krab. Y’all know the one. I also really liked the bit with the angry mob running into the boat wash and having their torches put out.

Like “The Battle for Bikini Bottom”, Patrick is proud of his stink, and after getting kicked out of the Krusty Krab, he proclaims it’s not going anywhere. And so he starts getting really dirty, swimming in sewer water, jumping into dumpsters, the works. He seemingly ends his nasty day at the dump, and the next morning, we see a vaguely-Patrick shaped being covered in garbage exit the dump. And we get a Rube cameo, so that’s a win. The part with Old Man Jenkins is great too. They’ve really done a great job at making his character just really good these last few seasons (starting after they finalized which incidental was Old Man Jenkins LMAO).

SpongeBob takes it upon himself to help Patrick, and so he finds him at the dump. Though SpongeBob just ends up going under “Filthy Muck’s” wing, getting just as nasty. So that was an unexpected direction. SpongeBob and Filthy Muck take advantage of all the places they go to emptying in their wake. You know, it’s in this exact moment, that I can see how the show has changed and evolved over time. Think of how slow “Something Smells” was during the very similar scene at the snack bar. It was quieter and had a different vibe (and a lot of that was because the point of the scene was different, but this is still an apt comparison). I think over time, the show has changed to become more energetic and vibrant. Very interesting to think about.

Anyway, this whole bit ends with a gorgeous background alert, so instant win. It also ends with an angry mob accosting SpongeBob and “Filthy Muck”. I really liked how for once we had the angry mob be pretty reasonable lol. SpongeBob being able to convince them to let him stay because he’s “Bikini Bottom’s favorite fry cook” feels like the moment I’ve been waiting for, because Bikini Bottomites really seem to hate the guy that makes their favorite food too often for my liking haha. SpongeBob tries to clean Patrick up so that he doesn’t get run out of town, but nothing works (which…ew). Then he convinces everyone to help him, which ends up makign him disappear.

Because as it turns out, “Filthy Muck” wasn’t Patrick at all! But rather, I guess, the spirit of the dump or something lol. It was quite unclear. The real Patrick had actually been at home getting clean cuz he wanted to be able to go to the Krusty Krab again. He’s got his priorities straight.

I really liked “The Ballad of Filthy Muck”. It’s simply a good, solid episode. It’s a very scaled-back affair relative to other episodes around this time, I feel. And I think that vibe worked well here. The visuals were also just really good in this one, as was the comedy. The comedy took on the scaled-back vibe of the rest of the episode, just being very strong and consistent and understated in a lot of places. That’s something I can vibe with. I think seasons need both understated and over-the-top episodes, it helps to keep the balance.

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score:
9.2/10

[Also, I couldn't fit this anywhere on account of me pre-writing these reviews, but dang y'all really don't like this one??? I didn't realize this episode was so disliked.]
 
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