Next up, we've got "Chimps Ahoy"! This is yet another season 4 episode with very mixed reviews, and honestly reviews are mixed even within myself. My opinions on this episode have definitely jumped up down left and right. I thought it was great, I thought it was bad, I thought it was meh. Now though, I'd say I've settled on this episode being pretty decent. Let's talk about it.
The beginning of this episode makes me think of just how many episodes start with something getting mailed to Conch Street. Like this episode, "Idiot Box", "Chocolate With Nuts"...it's a decently common episode starter. Not to mention all the other times mail is a significant part of an episode. Very interesting. Anyway, the episode starts off pretty well with some good jokes, like Patrick mistaking SpongeBob's arm for the backscratcher, or especially when SpongeBob and Patrick attempt to go to Squidward's house, only for the squid himself to yell from inside, stopping them in their tracks. I think that joke is helped immensely by SpongeBob and Patrick not even missing a beat deciding to go to Sandy's house instead. Once the two get to Sandy's house, we see some wonderful dramatics with Sandy freaking out over her bosses coming, and I love how expressive the animation is here.
This episode is yet again a great example of adult woes being tackled in a kid-friendly manner. I mean the jist of the plot is that Sandy is freaking out because if she doesn't pass the inspection by her benefactors, her funding (which she assumedly uses for housing in Bikini Bottom, which implies the existence of taxes and/or mortgages lol. We already know taxes exist because of "Selling Out" tho) will be cut. As someone who has been doing scientific research on a university campus, this feels like the exact kind of niche woe I can relate to (although I don't get funded quite in the same way Sandy does). Anyway, Sandy's inventions in this segment are pretty cool, they're very creative. And I love SpongeBob and Patrick's determination to help their friend out. I love their brainstorming session and how Patrick keeps thinking of things that already exist, because honestly that's really how it goes sometimes. But also it's just a funny moment, especially as Patrick gets legitimately angry at having his ideas "stolen" from him. And the part where mirror SpongeBob talks is hilarious as well.
"Chimps Ahoy" takes a card from the deck of "Texas" with Sandy singing as she prepares to leave Bikini Bottom. It's a pretty alright, if completely forgotten, song, and I love the way Sandy is drawn here. I definitely have a reaction meme of her sitting on the bench with beady eyes saved on my phone as we speak. And just like "Texas", Sandy's song re-energize SpongeBob and Patrick, and once again I adore their determination to make sure Sandy can stay in Bikini Bottom forever. The little montage of SpongeBob and Patrick creating their invention is short, and I'm considering whether I think it should have been longer. It should have only if it wasn't completely a montage, and there were jokes all throughout. So it being short isn't a problem because that means things don't drag.
Moving on, we finally meet Sandy's bosses. They all have pretty fun designs, even if they don't exactly fit with the typical SpongeBob SquarePants art style. I also like their names, they're so fun! SpongeBob and Patrick's interactions with the 3 chimps are pretty good to see as well. I like how SpongeBob talks Sandy up, and Patrick's declaration that he "used to be dumb". And then of course we have probably the most memorable joke of the episode, which is Mr. Doctor Professor Patrick. You'd think Patrick being such a pedant like this would be annoying, but nah it just makes me laugh. And then all the jokes about SpongeBob being an unpaid intern, honestly so relatable.
I really love that the invention SpongeBob and Patrick end up creating is a callback to the very beginning of the episode, once again we love cohesive writing. I do wish the machine had a slightly better design though. It looks kinda bad, and not in the purposeful way it's meant to look bad. But that's okay, the design of the machine is not a very important element of this episode. The scene of the invention being tested is entertaining, especially once things start going wrong. I love how Lord Reginald talks back at the machine lol. And then Patrick saying the screaming means it's working is pretty funny.
Finally, Sandy re-enters the episode, and I love all the little snide comments the chimps have as they start leaving, especially the one about the "economic benefits of underwater treedomes". I also love how Patrick tries to pull his name crap and Sandy has absolutely none of it. And then once again we get another good callback, though this time it's a real Chekov's gun, with Sandy's nutcracker being used as a banana peeler, appealing to the chimps' senses and landing her a 20-year contract with even more money. Is that how research works in real life? Absolutely not, but go Sandy anyway! Honestly, these chimps are full of some great witty comments, like I love when Lord Reginald is like Sandy should put her talents towards making an "automatic poop-throwing machine". Like that's such a clever joke my goodness. And then the episode ends not quite on a stinger, but on a funny note with Patrick going into the dangerous machine like it's a ride, leaving us all with a good idea for what is to come.
I think "Chimps Ahoy" is a rather underrated episode, or at least it is for the people who rate it lowly. Again, this is an episode that has garnered some very mixed reviews, I can tell that just by looking at the responses above mine. But I quite like it. It's not the funniest of the show, but it's still a pretty funny episodes with some very clever jokes and great callbacks sprinkled in. It's a well-written episode too. And all of the characters bounce off each other really well here. My first thought when seeing that there were 3 chimps was that that was too many, and even though each chimp doesn't quite have a personality on their own, I think this episode does a good job at not making any of the chimps feel redundant. This episode even has some wholesome elements to it, with SpongeBob and Patrick working hard to keep Sandy in Bikini Bottom (not to mention Sandy recognizing their craziness as them doing just that). All together, I'd say this episode fits right into my "Great" tier. My gut keeps saying it should go in "Good", but I really have no good reasoning for why it should be anything lower than "Great".
Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8/10