Next up, we've got a real classic episode, "SpongeBob Meets The Strangler"! I
really like this episode, because SpongeBob is simply excellent here. You've seen me talk about elements of this for the past 3 seasons, the persona of his I like to call "TrollBob", but this episode really takes the cake when it comes to this side of SpongeBob. And I'll talk about it. But not quite yet.
This episode starts off really well with the clocking in gag. I love the whole freeze-frame aspect of it. I will say I'm definitely a SpongeBob when it comes to clocking in. I will absolutely be earning those extra few cents by clocking in 2 minutes early, thank you very much. SpongeBob being so enthusiastic about his job is something I'll never get tired of, even if it does remind me of the banes of capitalism. Yeah yeah I'm getting off my soapbox you can put the tomatoes down. But I said what I said. The police bit is funny enough, and I love the endless handcuffing lol. I also like that it's Squidward who recognizes the Strangler. I guess he's a very well-read guy? See, it's throwaway lines like these that always make me put my overthinking cap on and want to ask a million questions about the world of Bikini Bottom. Anyway, I love how Squidward gets the heck out of dodge, like no thank you Mr. Strangler.
The cops in this episode are also extremely unhelpful...just like real life! Sorry, sorry, I really couldn't help myself on that one, it was
right there. But anyway, yeah they're jerks to just leave SpongeBob like that when it's obvious a wanted criminal is about to be after him, but I mean SpongeBob handles the situation without their help anyway so. And yes, I am saying he handles the situation. As in, purposefully manages it. We'll get to that later. The montage of SpongeBob trying to find someone to help him is full of some great visual gags, like Larry turning into a lobster on a plate lol. This sequence reminds me of "Your Shoe's Untied", with SpongeBob not able to find anyone to help him.
This episode also does a great job at building (comedic) tension. Like the moment when SpongeBob says he's gotta get out of town, and the Strangler is there reading the newspaper, and even though it's obvious who he is, the timing is still perfect when he puts the paper down and is side-by-side with his wanted poster. This part of the episode is also the beginning of what we'll be seeing for the remainder of these 11 minutes, with the Strangler getting close to strangling SpongeBob but being stopped at the last moment. This episode is macabre in some ways, considering the entire plot is SpongeBob being almost-killed by a maniac lol. And like that is clearly what the Strangler wants to do, given his concern over "too many witnesses".
Moving on, I love the whole back and forth between SpongeBob and the Strangler as SpongeBob hires him as his bodyguard. The atmosphere in the part where they both laugh evily is great, and I love how the lights just suddenly turn back on at the end of that. And the errands bit is funny too, with SpongeBob being way too indecisive to pick out some paper towels, and him somehow not recognizing that his pants are his pants, all with the Strangler seething in the background.
Then we finally get to SpongeBob's pineapple, where we hear a couple other Freudian slips (back to this in a moment), and then get into the utter hilariousness that is SpongeBob losing his key. The Strangler gets angrier and angrier, and then we get into the really funny moment, which is when SpongeBob's cleats (which why is he even wearing those lol) get stuck in the Strangler's eyes, and the guy just runs around screaming for hours. And then of course we get the reveal that there was a spare key under the mat the whole time, and the Strangler comes
this close to losing it, complete with some great visuals.
After this, finally, the Stranger and SpongeBob alone. Tension is rising and building and then...surprise party! Yep, that clocking in gag from earlier came back around for this joke, which I love that they called back to that. I love how many people showed up too. And then of course, just because the Strangler can't have anything in this episode, we get another surprise party lol. I love how utterly defeated the Strangler is by this point, can't a guy just strangle someone in peace? It's kinda very wholesome that all these people were down for not one, but two parties though. I also love the animations of everyone dancing at the party, especially Squidward.
And then of course, we've got the ending of the episode, where we get a very "The Smoking Peanut"-esque gag about Patrick thinking he's the Strangler, and the Strangler finally having had enough of this entire day, revealing his identity to SpongeBob. The running party gag returns once more, and then we get a hilarious role reversal between SpongeBob and the Stranger as the Strangler shouts that
he is the one being chased by a maniac. We get a pretty funny chase scene between the two of them that ends with the Strangler in jail, completely fed up with everything, and SpongeBob in shock that his bodyguard was the Strangler. Poor sponge, they were really making a connection, you know? And then the ending stinger of the episode is great, with Patrick in jail too. I like to think that right after the episode cuts to black, the Strangler just loses every little bit of sanity he has left lol.
And that's it, right? Haha, nope! This review isn't done just yet. Remember that line I told you we'd come back to? The one with SpongeBob's own Freudian slip? Yeah, let's talk about it. If you don't remember the line, let me remind you. SpongeBob, after praising his bodyguard and helping him come up with he right word to use, says "don't mention it,
Strangler. I mean bodyguard."
Yeah, that's right. This is the real reason why I love this episode so much, why this is peak TrollBob. Because our boy knew who the Strangler was the
entire time. And once you realize that, the you see the entire episode differently. Or at least I did. Let me run it back to a few jokes and clues so you can see what I mean.
- First off, when SpongeBob first meets the Strangler in disguise, his suggestions about what the Strangler could be disguised as first sound idiotic and just examples of SpongeBob being a fool, but with this new perspective in mind, he's really just trolling the Strangler and making him let his guard down. This is probably the least clear piece of evidence, but that's fine, because there's a lot more.
- Throughout the Strangler's many Freudian slips, SpongeBob hardly even bats an eyelash. He doesn't even care when the Strangler picks him up and calls him tattletale. Why? Because he already knows who the Strangler is.
- During SpongeBob's errands, he takes a very long time to do simple tasks even after he said he'd be quick. Again, this could easily be a joke about SpongeBob being a bit foolish and too indecisive and not self-aware, but it could also just be him annoying the Strangler as much as possible.
- The scene where SpongeBob and the Strangler are locked out of the pineapple of course has the damning Freudian slip, but it also has SpongeBob pretending not to know where his key is (because why would he not just use the spare key he was aware of the entire time) just to rile up the Strangler. Additionally, he wears cleats for no reason which coincidentally ends up with those cleats in the Strangler's eyes...for 6 hours. Yeah, that was on purpose.
- At first, the two surprise parties might seem like some wholesome activities for the people of Bikini Bottom, but if you remember SpongeBob asks how everyone knew about his perfect attendance and his birthday, and Patrick says it was "on the invitations he sent them." So these parties weren't surprise parties at all! Which means that SpongeBob purposefully brought his "bodyguard" to his home, knowing that they wouldn't be alone, and knowing these parties would frustrate the guy to no end.
- Lastly, we have the entire chase scene between SpongeBob and the Strangler. On one hand, this is just SpongeBob being completely oblivious to both the fact that the Strangler is the Strangler, and his distress. On the other, it's SpongeBob sealing the deal on landing the Strangler in jail while also taking his sanity with him.
And here we come to my theory. See, I told you I'd get back to this. If you remember, earlier I said that SpongeBob handled the situations when the cops did not. And this is what I mean. SpongeBob didn't troll the Strangler just to troll him, he did it to get the exact outcome he got at the end, with the Strangler in jail and leaving him alone. Even one of the cops says that SpongeBob put the Strangler behind bars. With all of this evidence, I'm convinced this is exactly what happened. Remind me not to mess with SpongeBob, he can use his foolishness as a weapon.
"SpongeBob Meets The Strangler" is a really good episode that has clever, witty, multi-layered writing and jokes. It's really impressive how this episode has many different interpretations, and they all work. If you couldn't already tell with my paragraphs upon paragraphs of praise, this episode is easily in my "Amazing" tier. I would not be surprised if it ends up making the Top 5. It's just so brilliant.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.4/10