Apologies for the short delay everyone, school started back up this week and I was too tired to write a SpongeBob review everyday. Lord knows what I'm gonna do when it comes to the seasons with like 50 segments...but that's a future me problem. Right now, we've got another amazing episode that is not only in my top 5 for season 3, but in my top 5
SpongeBob SquarePants episodes of all time. That's right, today we're reviewing "Chocolate With Nuts"!
Before I get started, I want to talk about how this episode is extremely nostalgic for me for a lot of different reasons. For one thing, it's always been one of my favorites so it has been rewatched
a lot. Secondly, it introduces one of my favorite background characters, Tom. If you all remember my old username (or just click the old signature button in my signature), you might now understand where that name came from (speaking of my signature, you might notice a quote at the bottom of it...hmm, I wonder what episode that came from?). And, as additional Pugs trivia, the online name I used to go by (and still do in some circles), Ted, was also a mashup of my two favorite background characters. That aside, there's also one more reason why this episode is so nostalgic for me, and like a couple episodes before it, it's because it was heavily featured in not just one, but two YouTube Poops,
this one and
this one. YTPs are really quite hilarious when they aren't racist or homophobic, given that they're usually the go-to for some of the edgiest kids on the site.
Moving on to the real review, I can say with certainty that the beginning of the episode is probably the slowest and least great part of it, which is almost always a good thing for this show. And really, the only reason the beginning of this episode is slow is because it needs to set up the plot, like the reasoning behind SpongeBob and Patrick selling chocolate. And it does that well. I love the bit about the swimming pool inside a swimming pool, because that's exactly what rich people would do. Honestly, this part of the episode feels relatable to me because I, too, look at rich people's houses for fun, knowing I'll never make that kind of money in my life. I love that chocolate bars are the items SpongeBob and Patrick decide to sell, it feels very Girl Scout-esque.
As the episode transitions to what will be the bulk of it, SpongeBob and Patrick's escapades selling chocolate bars, we're treated to lots of great gags and funny moments. I love SpongeBob and Patrick's spin on being door-to-door salesmen, from their attitudes to the certain inflections the voice actors give them (I'm especially thinking of when SpongeBob says "can I interest you in some...chocolate?). Of course, their first go is (seemingly) a bust, when Tom goes berserk over some chocolate, which frankly, same. Man, now I want some chocolate.
And then we have the beginning of my favorite bit of the episode, which is the scammer. First off, kudos to Dee Bradley Baker for his great voicework here, because you can just feel the slimyness radiating off this guy whenever he pulls a fast one on SpongeBob and Patrick. The scammer is just way too funny in this episode, I love how unapologetically scummy he is, scamming the duo not once, not twice, but three different times. And I love how unexpected the last one is. Again, great writing in this episode, having the first two scams be back to back, and then putting the last one near the end to complete the rule of three while also making the audience kind of forget about the guy so they're surprised too. Speaking of recurring gags, I love that Tom keeps popping up every so often, keeping SpongeBob and Patrick (and the audience) on their toes.
I wasn't going to talk about this bit but I love it so much so I'm going to, but I love when Patrick takes the "make the customer feel special" thing a bit too far, which ends up creeping a prospective customer out. And even better, when he takes the focusing thing too far, which gives us some great visuals, and a hilarious scene-ender with "nice place you got here!"
This episode has a lot of absurd-turned-adult jokes in it, which I love, because they're examples of the dialogue humor I love to see. Firstly, we've got SpongeBob and Patrick at the diner, with the whole "let's get naked!" "no, let's save that for when we're selling real estate". And then later on we've got SpongeBob talking about how Barnacle Chips aren't delicious, and Patrick says "Not the way I use them!" Just the perfect amount of suggestion and vagueness, which really makes these jokes land and land well.
I also love how SpongeBob and Patrick turn into burgeoning capitalists in this episode by starting to lie about their product. With this episode and "Squid on Strike", I'm slowly becoming increasingly convinced that at least somebody on the
SpongeBob SquarePants team is, let's say, airing out some grievances. The whole montage of them telling increasingly outrageous lies is great, especially when it culminates with the return of our favorite scammer. SpongeBob and Patrick are too nice to be cutthroat businessmen.
And then of course, we have the amazing ending of the episode with Tom's reappearance and subsequent buying of all the chocolate. I love that he just has a giant pile of money haha. And then of course we get the ending stinger with Squidward finally getting to the Fancy restaurant, only to see that SpongeBob and Patrick bought it out to have a dinner date with the elderly mom and daughter. Man, this episode is packed full of recurring gags, from the mom and daughter, to Tom, to the scammer.
I really, really love "Chocolate With Nuts." It's hilarious, engaging, and quick-witted. As it is, it's probably my third favorite episode of all time, nestled just underneath "Can You Spare a Dime?" which itself is right under "Krusty Krab Training Video." It really says a lot about the quality of this season that my 3 favorite episodes of all time all originate from here. I don't think as I go on this portion of my list will change, but I like to keep my mind open. "Chocolate With Nuts" undoubtedly deserves to be in my "Amazing" tier.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.8/10
