Trench Billies (Season 7, Episode 16a)
Original Airdate: January 29 2011*
Episode 273 in standard order, Episode 289 in airing order, Episode 285 in order of general release
*released on DVD November 16 2010, streamed on Facebook January 27 2011
Plot: SpongeBob and Patrick fall off a cliff into another hadal zone filled with country folk
Written by
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Title Card Music: Hillbilly Party
Whenever I think back on Trench Billies, it’s usually as an episode filled with stereotypes. I know the way they’re portraying hillbillies here is meant to be satirical, but when was the last time anyone crammed this many hillbilly clichés into their work? 1925? I was also a bit skeptical about their bizzare location, appearances and overall unintelligent nature, which is putting it lightly. These all band together to make an episode that slightly offends me. I’m not a country guy myself, and I know very few people who would fit into these stereotypes, but it’s still such an ugly episode that I had a hard time getting to the end.
The story starts with SpongeBob and Patrick staring at a jellyfish. It’s an attempt at making an opening slow and atmospheric, but when that tone relies on SpongeBob breathing heavily and the fact they’ve been watching it for 4 days, it sets this up to be one of the least fun episodes of the show, and that’s saying something. Once the jellyfish starts moving, they chase it, but end up bonking their noggins together pretty hard, in a joke that’s so bad they did it again later in the episode. They continue to chase the jellyfish, but rush off a cliff in their excitement and once again plummet to the bottom of the sea.
Instead of a topsy-turvy world or a gauntlet of monsters however, they land in an outhouse being used by a fish with pupil-less eyes. It seems creepy at first, but you get used to it as more deep sea fish are shown, conveniently in an environment that seems to be well-lit though. In order to save their butts from execution, because these hillbillies are murderers for some reason, SpongeBob and Patrick have to partake in certain challenges, including banjo-playing and yodelling. They manage to survive because Patrick’s somehow a fantastic banjo player, making his competitor explode, and them belching corn soda is seen as yodelling by the hillbillies. The only one they skip out on is wrestling, possibly due to their previous experience in Krusty Krushers, and show off their jellyfish headbutt which earns them praise. I know they’re supposed to survive, but why do the hillbillies see headbutting as proof of a country stereotype?
Once they pass all the tests, they seem to get along nicely with the hillbillies and are given novelty rotten teeth (it’s just as goofy as it sounds). However, when they try to leave, they’re stopped and told they have to take care of the Ma for the rest of their lives. Yeah, this is around the point where we’re supposed to learn they’re irredeemable villains, but why change that in less than a minute? Essentially, SpongeBob and Patrick make it back up to the surface with no explanation and alert Squidward and Mr Krabs of the hillbillies, who have followed them up to the surface and aren’t hurt or burned by the sunlight. Mr Krabs then asks if they’d like to order, which works as they sit down for a bite, but when Mr Krabs eyes Ma and loves how many Krabby Patties she’s eating, the hillbillies think he likes her as an attractive woman and get them hitched. Ignore how some characters refer to her as their grandmother, making the situation much creepier, and ignore how Mr Krabs didn’t do anything to deserve a bad ending for one, because my major problem with this ending is how it could’ve been its own episode entirely.
The comedy in this episode is focused on repeating a joke exactly once (it’s now or never, SpongeBob and Patrick headbutting, the yodelling contest), or just going overboard with it like the pitchfork being used as a sign of threat. Even if these were good jokes, and trust me when I say they’re not, this sort of repetition with a majority of them will quickly desensitise an audience to its sense of humour. Another form of comedy comes from how they ignore what would be considered polite or acceptable behaviour higher in the ocean, which makes them annoying as characters. In short, this is a rare instance where I’m against how an episode tells its jokes.
The only thing I can get used to with the animation here is the design of the hillbillies’ eyes. Given they’re somewhat based on hadal creatures like anglerfish that can’t detect sunlight, it makes sense they’d have those sorts of eyeballs with no pupils. However, the rest of the design aspects, as well as the deep sea world they inhabit, is just very ugly. I get that country folk are easy for us city slickers to make fun of, but this does its best to de-glamourise the country lifestyle. You also get some gross-out with the corn soda SpongeBob and Patrick belch out, with the corn chunks making it look like vomit. It’s just an episode that needs to take a bath.
As a character-driven episode, this fails to get me invested in any of them, whether they be mainstays or new creations. SpongeBob and Patrick are just as airheaded than ever, and it never really seems like they accomplish anything. They just have to get through every challenge they’re put up against without any hassle or challenge, and it makes them seem one-dimensional as heroes as a result. The hillbillies all form together to make one stereotype, with only two (the fat ones) standing out, Ma Anglerfish because she’s their supposed leader, and the fat banjo player due to him not even being able to speak fluently. The rest are just made to fill out background space, and Mr Krabs and Squidward’s contributions to the story are minimal and happen at the last minute, so they’re not given enough time to be fleshed out.
I don’t know what I was looking for in this episode, but it didn’t deliver anything good. Although it isn’t right to get offended over a SpongeBob episode, I’m surprised this isn’t a more controversial episode in the mainstream. It’s not just a really lame story with hideous animation and characters, it just seems downright disrespectful to a group of people. I’ve said it before with the French in Le Big Switch, and I’ll say it again here, this is a pretty racist depiction. This isn’t just the worst LOBB episode, it’ss among the worst of the entire series in terms of how little quality material is delivers. I know I say that a lot now, but this is an episode where its bad elements creep up on you.
Question of the Day: Are there any episodes that you find to just be offensive?
Join me tomorrow as the LOBB miniseries is finally sacraficed for more varied episode themes. Until then,
try to enjoy this music.
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