277b. Plane to Sea

SecretBox

Bomb-Selling Pirate
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I'm not even going to try and sugarcoat it: This episode sucked. I'm not going to go too far by saying it's the worst episode ever or that it's even terrible because it's not. There were some moments I found funny like Squidward sprouting a finger out of his nose which was a funny visual and Patrick confusing the plane door for the restroom was funny until they overdid it, but this is just another one of those post-classic Annoy Squidward episodes like Squids on a Bus. The antics weren't funny in that episode and they certainly aren't all that funny here.

Not only that, but this episode signifies a problem I have with this season so far where a good amount of the newer episodes feel lacking in humor and there aren't many jokes here that aren't the standard SpongeBob and Patrick annoy the living hell out of Squidward for 11 minutes.
The biggest problem though which is the reason I'm even making this post is the ending.

The episode starts off promising enough and tricks you into thinking they're going to do something nice for Squidward by taking him onto a flight to the nice island, but nope. They were only taking him to see the island and not stay there. Not only does it feel like a rip-off to the twist from Good Ol' Whatshisname, but it just doesn't sit right with me. Would it really have been bad to give Squidward a nice moment? SpongeBob even acts surprised that he thinks he's visiting the island when there was no reason for him to believe otherwise. It makes no sense.

The twist just doesn't work, especially since it's been done before. I would've liked to see more of Bora Bora Bottom. It would've been more interesting over the episode we got. It's not the worst episode or anything. God knows there's been much worse, but it's a very disappointing episode with a weak payoff and doesn't give itself a reason to exist other than being another episode with the Annoy Squidward formula. 4/10
 

Season 4-11

7 Years of Hospitality
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Interesting... Throughout Season 13, usually I've hated the episodes, while everyone else seems to like them. But this time, everyone seems to hate it, and I actually thought it was alright.

The vibe this episode puts off is nice and I thought that quite a few parts of the episode were funny, such as the pilots talking in boring voices and not having much of a reaction to anything. And surprisingly, I didn't find SpongeBob and Patrick annoying in this episode (as far as annoying the audience goes). Sure, Patrick was dumb for the sake of being dumb, but it's not nearly as bad as plenty of other episodes, and I wasn't bothered by it too much.

But there's also a few faults with this episode. Once again, Squidward does nothing to deserve what SpongeBob & Patrick do to him. The worst thing Squidward did was ask if he could switch seats. Is that what deserved all this torment? And the ending was pretty much the exact same as the ending from Nautical Novice, but this time there's not a reason for it. SpongeBob can't have his boating license at the end of Nautical Novice, so it made sense for the crew to retcon the scene of him driving, while in this episode, there's no reason why Squidward has to lose in the end. If Squidward had won in the end, I could see it being a pretty good episode. But as it stands, the ending really just makes the whole episode seem pointless.

I'm split on this one. On the one hand, I think this is the funniest episode of the season so far, while on the other hand, there's a lot of the same problems that other Squidward torture episodes have. Make Squidward a jerk at the start of the episode, and the rest of it is fine. Have Squidward win in the end, and the rest of it is fine. But if Squidward doesn't do anything, he doesn't deserve what he gets.

I'll give it a 6.5 or a 7/10, which I think is pretty fair. The episode did get quite a few laughs out of me (probably the only real laughs I've had this entire season) and as I mentioned before, there are quite a few things I liked. But there's just a few things keeping this episode from being one I can call "Good".

Oh, and this is easily in my top 3 episodes for Season 13. We're off to a pretty rough start.
 
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Roland D. Plankton

Floating Shopping List
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Feels kinda like a Season 8 episode. There are multiple entertaining aspects of this. The ending twist/joke could've worked too but it was just too mean spirited.
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
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“Plane to Sea” is somewhat familiar to me. I know nothing about the episode but I remember the name and title card. So that’s fun. I do like the title card a lot actually, it stands out. I feel like that’s something that’s been happening a lot recently, having these nonstandard title cards. I can’t tell how I feel about it. On one hand, they’re all visually interesting and add some extra character. On the other, they don’t fit the established aesthetic of the show, and I kinda just want a simple title card again.

Not this episode beginning with a gorgeous background alert! That’s a good way for me to get interested immediately…they have my number now. I love how at this point, Squidward isn’t even fazed by SpongeBob and Patrick’s antics anymore. Decades of living next to neighbors like those would do that to you, I suppose. And it seems there’s no time of day unsuitable for SpongeBob and Patrick to bother their middle neighbor, as it’s clearly dawn and the two have decided to wedge themselves in Squidward’s mailbox. Huh. Now I’m being reminded of “Idiot Box”.

I love how unhinged SpongeBob and Patrick are in this episode. They, for no reason whatsoever, entered themselves and Squidward into a sweepstakes to win a trip to a tropical resort at Bora Bora Bottom. Sure, why not? And I love how Squidward, even though he’s upset by this, doesn’t even seem surprised. SpongeBob and Patrick being unhinged is one of their more entertaining flavors, especially when SpongeBob’s doing most of the legwork. And just one other thing about this scene—certain moments gave me…uh…flashbacks to another time. To another storyboarded time. To another…Mr. Springer time. Let’s not do this again please.

So now Squidward has to pretend to be SpongeBob and Patrick’s dad. Well, this isn’t much of an important plot point, and it’s more like SpongeBob and Patrick are pretending that Squidward is their dad while Squidward does not care to keep up the ruse. Also, explain this, SquidBob shippers. Ha, you can’t! I win again. Anyway, poor Squidward is stuck between SpongeBob and Patrick during the flight. Man, it’s just like living on Conch Street!

Most of the episode takes place on this plane ride. Which makes me realize we’ve never spent so much time on a plane in this show before. These plane seats have a lot more room than any plane I’ve ever been on. I’ll just pretend that the trio are in first class. SpongeBob and Patrick run around basically acting like children. It’s not annoying, but it is a little much. Things improve once we get to Patrick basically ejecting the flight attendants though. And it eventually builds up to my kind of chaos when the pilots end up being ejected too. Now I’m reminded of “Nautical Novice” lol. And I’m right to be reminded considering the punchline that the plane was on autopilot. Hm. I suppose some could call this a ripped-off joke. Not me tho, y’all stay safe.

“Plane to Sea” was pretty fun. I think my only complaint about this episode is that Squidward didn’t get any kind of win, like at all. It was a little mean-spirited to him. Not in a “Squidward torture” way, though, I would never go that far, but it was rather unsatisfying to see Squidward go through all of this and then have the one thing he wanted pulled out from under him at the very end. But it was morbidly funny, in a certain way, so I’m not even that upset about it. The other problem of this episode is that it’s kind of dull in the middle, but that doesn’t last for too long. Other than that, “Plane to Sea” was funny and enjoyable, other than SpongeBob and Patrick approaching a bit grating at times.

Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.6/10
 
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