Next up, we've got an episode that's perfect for this winter weather that we here in the Northern Hemisphere are facing, "Snowball Effect"! I like how the excuse for the snow in this episode is that a glacier has drifted over Bikini Bottom, it makes enough pseudoscientific sense to me!
We've got a nice appearance of Realistic Fish Head in this episode, which I'm surprised I've never commented on. I love Realistic Fish Head, I think it's hilarious that in this fully-animated show we have a cutout of a real tuna fish with a flapping mouth. And he's such a good reporter! Along with Perch Perkins, of course.
Moving on, I love seeing all the fun everyone has in the snow. Well, I guess not everyone has fun. Mrs. Puff simply blows off her car, covering poor Fred, and Plankton gets literally crushed under the snow. But that's payback in the latter case, given that Plankton was being a bit megalomaniacal haha. I'm glad that SpongeBob at least has fun though, because it's adorable to see his excitement. And Gary is so cute in his little hats. This episode intro is on the not so funny side, but it's okay because they weren't trying to be funny. I prefer to see a lack of trying when it comes to unfunny jokes, you know? But this intro is all about introducing the context of the episode, since we'll be spending almost the entirety of "Snowball Effect" in a snowball fight. So I don't mind that the episode takes its time here.
One thing I like about this episode is all the cozy imagery it provides. I know it's such a small thing, and has no real bearing on the episode, but the sheer coziness exuded by Squidward's first scene, and the last scene of the episode is just...amazing, and makes me want to bundle up and drink hot chocolate by the fire immediately. I mean, winter in general makes me want to do that, but you know what I mean. Everyone's winter outfits, well I guess just SpongeBob's and Squidward's, are cool too. I like when shows do stuff like that, let characters change up their outfits.
SpongeBob SquarePants does it so infrequently (the most common change-ups are the addition or subtraction of SpongeBob and Squidward's work hats, that's about it. I guess the karate gear SpongeBob and Sandy wear also make frequent enough appearances to count for something).
Poor Squidward is immediately roped into SpongeBob and Patrick's antics once he gets that lemon juice in his eye. And honestly, I relate. I too am startled by the loud conversations of my neighbors. Though I've never gotten lemon juice in my eye because of it. Either way, I feel him when he gets upset at the noise. This episode reminds me a lot of "Squidville" in that Squidward dismisses a game SpongeBob and Patrick are playing as childish, before getting in on it himself. You know, it also reminds me of "Idiot Box" and "The Paper" too, as Squidward starts embracing his childish side. Well, I guess he doesn't quite do that in "The Paper", but whatever.
SpongeBob and Patrick's snowball fight is entertaining to watch, from Patrick's failed attempts at making snowballs, to SpongeBob's declaration of war, to the slow mo shot of Patrick being pelted, and to my favorite part, which is Patrick banging on Squidward's door choking, before swallowing all the melted snow. The back and forth between Patrick and Squidward is pretty funny, as is the voice acting for Patrick in general. Things get even more entertaining once Squidward gets involved. It's a bit slow at first, when Squidward tries to get SpongeBob and Patrick to start their snowball fight again, but the whole playing pretend sequence is pretty funny. Once it's Squidward vs. SpongeBob and Patrick though, things get pretty good. You know you're acting pretty crazy when SpongeBob and Patrick think you're going too hard in a snowball fight. I love that Squidward ended up making a snowball with his clarinet in it, because it's funny and it raises so many questions, like where the h did he get his clarinet from???
I love how Squidward slowly gets more and more into the snowball fight, becoming increasingly paranoid. His whole military-speak about a simple snowball fight is hilarious, and I love the visuals of him making his fort, I don't know, they're just satisfying. I also really like the ending of the episode, with this tree appearing out of nowhere just to be Squidward's nemesis. I wonder what happened after the episode cut to black. How long did Squidward stay up in his fort? Hopefully he didn't get shot by a certain
bearded man...
I really like "Snowball Effect", it's such a fun episode that feels like 11-minutes of childhood. Not just because it's
SpongeBob SquarePants, but because of its featured topic of fun in the snow. I used to have snowball fights when I was a kid. Not so much now because I'm older and also because there's been less snowstorms...yeah not going to dwell on that. But anyway, this episode just feels very joyful and I like that. It's also a very funny episode, which of course earns it a lot of points with me. It has slow moments, but I find it to be largely pretty enjoyable, and I love all the effort and detail that went into the backgrounds in this episode, it's a very atmospheric episode, which y'all should know by now I love that. So "Snowball Effect" is yet another good edition to my "Amazing" tier.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9/10