Confession: I haven't watched this episode in a very long time. Definitely on the order of years. I would've rewatched it for the sake of this review, but unfortunately life had other plans so I'm writing this with the help of the little memory I have of this episode and the SpongeBob Wiki.
Ah..."Party Pooper Pants". So, we're all on the same page about how I hate being frustrated when watching SpongeBob SquarePants, right? Yeah? Good. So I think you can assume what my feelings are about this episode then. And if not, then perhaps my confession above should seal the deal. Yeah, this episode is not in my big leagues. It's right smack in the middle of mediocre-ville. Let's discuss.
"Party Pooper Pants" begins decently well. It's definitely odd that this episode (with it being simply about a house party) is a special, given it could've easily been an 11-minute episode, but that doesn't really become a complaint until later. In this first segment though (not Act 1, just the first few minutes), it works fine with me. I enjoy both the Patchy and SpongeBob segments in these first few minutes. The joke with Patchy's letter is hilarious. See, physics does apply in SpongeBob SquarePants! Kind of. I like SpongeBob's enthusiasm about inviting the whole town, I think it's cute. And he seems to be the loveable weirdo in town anyway, so watching I expect this to turn out fine, right? Well...
This first section of the episode also leads to a bit of foreboding, as the whole "record" exchange leaves...a lot to be desired in terms of entertainment and humor quality. It's repetitive and boring, and unnecessary. And this, again, is probably why this episode should've just been the normal 11 minutes, because when things get repetitive in the very beginning of the episode, then that doesn't bode well for the rest of the episode at all. Though I will say that the bit right after the repetitiveness, with the photo of Lou before and currently, was pretty funny. And Lou's other done-ness with SpongeBob is great. There really are a bunch of funny little jokes in this episode all over the place, like the bit with SpongeBob's kindergarten classmate (that definitely got a good laugh out of me).
But the foreboding comes back once we see SpongeBob ultra-organizing this party to hell and back. Because we already know what's about to happen. I know SpongeBob is sticking to this organizing because he think this is what makes a party a success, but that doesn't change the fact that SpongeBob is a little bit insufferable (in-universe at least, I don't find myself all that annoyed with him) for part of this episode. And that leads us to the next part of the episode, which is the party. And God, is it boring at first. I know the whole bit with Patrick (and the thing with the conversation cards) is supposed to be dull and awkward, but that doesn't stop it being from, guess what, dull and awkward. Like my finger is hovering over the fast-forward button. All this extra time the special has, and this is what it does with it? A shame. I do like the cable and wire cutters gag though, that was pretty funny. Love when the troll side of SpongeBob comes out. But of course, another side of SpongeBob comes out this episode too...
Maybe it's just me, but SpongeBob feels...out of character in this episode. Like since when has he been this high-strung? A few episodes ago, he dealt with Squidward's crap for months before flipping out. Why is it that people failing to follow a schedule in this episode sets him off??? But whatever, this is just a minor issue compared to what is to come, which is the hell that is the rest of the episode after SpongeBob goes to get the newspaper.
First off, I cannot believe the audacity of these people to lock SpongeBob out of his own house. So my anger already starts pretty high once we find out (or deduce) that little tidbit. Like if they hated the party, just leave for goodness' sake. And then we get some of the most frustrating stuff so far with SpongeBob trying to get inside his house, to the point where he is almost arrested for breaking and entering, even though that's clearly his freaking house omg, and then he literally gets arrested because the police were upset they weren't invited...literally not even funny...
The episode ends on a lighter note at least, where it turns out everyone enjoyed the party, but it really just feels like "Gone" with the way that everyone had fun once SpongeBob was gone, and let's just say that rubs me the wrong way. It's just...unpleasant. And while at least in this episode SpongeBob brought this on himself, that doesn't mean this was a satisfying watch at all because it absolutely wasn't. Probably because of the naivete SpongeBob shows here about how to throw a party, which makes him sympathetic, at least to me, so watching him struggle the entire episode was not fun at all.
I really don't have much to say about the Patchy segments, so I'll just say I enjoyed them well enough and leave it at that. Hey, at least this episode had Underwater Sun, which is one of my favorite SpongeBob songs! So that's a plus.
"Party Pooper Pants" is a very frustrating episode that had a decent beginning, with some pretty funny jokes throughout. There's a reason I haven't watched this episode in years. I am sad that I always miss out on the really good jokes, but the exasperation I feel just trumps everything, causing me to avoid allowing this episode on my screen. That's why this episode is in my "Mediocre" tier. It has huge problems, ones that really ruin the whole experience for me, which is why it's below "Okay". But it also has some really good moments that help to at least somewhat tip the scales up, which is why it's higher than "Bad".
Episode Tier: Mediocre
Episode Score: 5.3/10