72b. Wishing You Well

meko1432

Happiest Sponge Alive
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
2,259
Likes
1,862
Location
Mermalair
Next up, we've got "Wishing You Well". This episode a clear improvement to its sister episode, that's for darn sure. I don't feel like doing much meandering today, so let's just get right into this episode, shall we?

So I like the beginning of this episode a lot. Mr. Krabs is being insanely cheap (not even cheap, just greedy), with his search for coins in payphones. Things get funny real quick with the scene between him and Martha. I love how she just hits Mr. Krabs in the face with her purse, go Martha go! This scene not only has that slapstick, but also has a clever joke in Mr. Krabs' retort about retirement money. And the episode also establishes its main idea very quickly with this scene, as Mr. Krabs bears witness to a wishing well. His dramatics about the money are as always amusing. I love how Mr. Krabs is like "wow this is a great scam", because that's definitely a...new way of looking at wishing wells. But now that makes me wonder how much money is thrown into wishing wells anyway. I mean like people usually don't go to the same ones multiple times right? And also they're usually just fountains at malls or something lmao, at least in my experience. I feel like much less money is earned from those things than you'd think. But whatever, this is SpongeBob SquarePants, I shouldn't question it!

Moving on, we've got a fun scene at the Krusty Krab, with a line that I quote and/or reference in some capacity so, so, so, so often with Squidward's "I'm not rushing perfection, I'm rushing you". That line is glorious. And then of course we have some great...irony? I don't know what to call it. With Squidward saying that at least he's not digging ditches, and then Mr. Krabs immediately assigning him and SpongeBob to dig the well. So that was pretty funny.

SpongeBob in this episode is adorable and perfect, I love how much of a believer in the magic he is. It makes me happy. And it makes perfect sense that he'd believe in the magic so strongly, it's SpongeBob after all. His endless optimism and whimsy is just so endearing, and that's why I love the little square dude so much. I also think that interaction between his ceaseless wonder and Squidward's staunch cynicism (as well as the little sprinkling of interactions with Mr. Krabs' greed) really drives this episode to a good place. The banter between SpongeBob, Squidward, and to a lesser extent Mr. Krabs is really enjoyable the times it pops up throughout the episode. You know, now that I'm thinking about it, this episode is very similar to "Krabby Land", except with more Squidward and less Mr. Krabs. Huh, interesting. Anyway, I also love SpongeBob's song which serves as a reminder of his character and a montage. It also has some nice visuals and visual gags in there as well.

Seeing everyone's wishes in this episode is also cool. If this was a season 1 episode, I'd talk about how each person's wish and way of presenting it shows a lot about their characters. That's still true even with this being a season 4 episode, but I feel like now that we're this far into the show, I don't really put as much emphasis on characteristic demonstrations. Is that a disservice? I don't know. I mostly talk about things in terms of how in-character they are, which is nearly the same thing. This has nothing to do with the review, it was just a tangent.

The next part of the episode introduces a new player: Patrick. Patrick is...just alright this episode. His entrance into the plot is fine I suppose, relying on his stupidity getting him inside the well. And this first little bit with him doesn't really make me laugh much. Like the "tag, you're it" thing was just kind of annoying more than anything. I do like SpongeBob's song reprise though. Things get better once Squidward comes around, since he'll be able to join in on the dynamic, but part of me does feel like this episode could've been strengthened by writing Patrick out of the plot entirely, and just adjusting some elements to get Squidward involved earlier. The other part of me is just fine with the plot the way it is. The banter between SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick is very fun anyway, including the famous "claustrophobic" bit. This episode also includes the rarer kind of dynamic between Patrick and Squidward where the dislike seems mutual, and that's always a treat to watch (when done correctly and fleetingly).

Once everyone is out of the well, I love seeing the magic work it's, well, magic. Squidward getting hit by a bus, granting his wish, is pretty funny, and I love that we get to see Sandy, Mrs. Puff, and even Plankton getting what they wished for. And then of course we have the great ending, with SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs, and Mr Krabs being cynical and greedy. The back and forth between them about whether magic is real is great, and then I love how it all ends, with Mr. Krabs wishing to be steamed and served with a slice of butter. This ending is hilariously morbid as Mr. Krabs is basically like "oh sh!t" and gets eaten alive lol. I also love the touch of the "The End" bib.

"Wishing You Well" is a fun episode, but it does have a few moments of nothing much happening, funny or otherwise. Other than that, there's some great interactions and dynamics here, as well as much-appreciated cameos of much of the main cast. There's nothing in this episode that I dislike either. So with all of that said, this episode fits nicely into my "Amazing" tier, because those moments I mentioned earlier are really not all that noticeable, which means my enjoyment of the episode isn't too much affected.

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.2/10
the opening scene looked very pre-movie
 
Back
Top