Re-Evaluating my opinions on SpongeBob Season 1-8

SpongeBronyPH

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TrenchBillies is a meh episode to me.

EmployeeAMillion said:
Question of the Day: Are there any episodes that you find to just be offensive?
For me? That will be Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy and Squid Baby. :patboo: These are the most offensive episodes EVER!
 

Depressed Luigi

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Personally, I really hate Trenchbillies, I think it's in the bottom 10 of the whole series. Glad to see you agree (well, idk if you have it in bottom 10, but you said it's among the worst in the series so good enough)

QOTD: Squid Baby is really offensive
 

EmployeeAMillion

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Sponge-Cano! (Season 7, Episode 16b)
Original Airdate: January 28 2011*
Episode 274 in standard order, Episode 288 in airing order, Episode 286 in order of general release
*released on DVD November 16 2010
Plot: An active volcano threatens Bikini Bottom, and the only way to stop it’s a sacrafice
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas and Dereki Iversen

[titlecard]142B[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Prehistoric Feeling

We’ve finally reached the end of Legends of Bikini Bottom (not to be confused with the 2017 Halloween special of a similar name), and I have to say, this was a bumpy ride. There were some moments that reminded me the second half of Season 7 saw the show on the rise, while there were others where I thought the show was as monotonous and immature as ever. Needless to say, I’m happy for the occasional bright spots this miniseries had, but it’s a shame this last segment, Sponge-Cano!, had to end it on a sour note. Let’s see just how disastrous this final bow was for LOBB.

The episode’s lesson hits you in the nuts once it begins. Basically, Squidward and SpongeBob are doing their usual morning shtick- Squidward’s painting, while SpongeBob’s having a good time for no reason. With the help of some armpit-farting monsters in his trash can (who despite being the most bizzare characters in the whole miniseries, never appear again), he sings a song about how grateful he is for everything he’s got and how Squidward should follow his example, but since Squidward wants to be extra-cynical today, he views SpongeBob as annoying and ensues slapstick upon himself. It quickly sets up that Squidward’s attitude here will be the same as in Good Neighbours, where every time he did something wrong, he got severely punished for it, only making him angrier, which just isn’t funny when it’s the whole point of an episode.

Squidward’s bad attitude continues to build as he goes to work, as he yells at all the customers for the tiniest inconveniences. I know Squidward’s supposed to be the part in all of us that’s too beaten down by life to be happy, but with him being the one beating down on everybody around him without much of a reason, then he just seems like a jerk. It’s a shame because I can see him slowly building up this intolerance towards the Krustomers over the course of the day, but he’s moaning about everything they make hard or dirty from the get-go. As if the day couldn’t get any worse, the nevery-before-seen Mount Bikini Bottom erupts, putting the entire city in danger, which is a good reason why cartoon characters shouldn’t ask rhetorically if things can get any worse.

With everyone in town heading to the movie theatre turned volcano shelter, we get a few jokes with the Mayor that don’t leave much of an impact, and can boil down to “he doesn’t know what to do”. Eventually, a crazy dolphin enters the scene and says they have to make a sacrafice of the most miserable person in Bikini Bottom, which is clearly Squidward. While yes, Squidward has been an unco-operative jerk up until this point, it’s a little hard to route for the town when they’re planning on killing Squidward for reasons that are just as petty.

Then we get the worst aspect to this episode, where Squidward is almost burnt in the volcano, but convinces SpongeBob that he’ll change his ways, prompting the sponge to save him. Due to a pipe leak at home, the tiki house lands in the volcano, and Squidward reveals he was lying about changing and still doesn’t want to be a nice person. Remember when Squidward was allowed to learn a lesson about kindness back in episodes like Pizza Delivery and Fools in April? This ending annoys me because it seems like they were too scared to make Squidward learn anything, even if just for the last minute of the story.

To be fair, there are a few things in this episode that I found funny. Most of the stuff concerning the background fish towards the end, although pretty off-base as a society, is funny for the same reason as in Giant Squidward. If you just see them as a big angry mob, which is easier to do with background characters than with main characters, it isn’t too bad. However, there I jokes I think failed miserably, like just how strange the dolphin witch doctor is. I understand that he’s meant to be funny, and that’s what makes his ubrupt debut and maniacal laughter much harder to stomach. Plus I’m not a fan of Mr Krabs losing his faith in society and going feral the moment is starts raining, because it’s just another reason for him to be placed in a villainous light.

Once again, there are a few things about the animation that I like, namely the lava effects and the colour used in the final act. It all makes the situation feel more threatening and intense. Unfortunately, the cons outweigh the pros, and in this episode’s case, many of the cons relate to gross-out. Although a bit creative, the monsters in SpongeBob’s trash can aren’t nice to look at and don’t add much. SpongeBob could’ve much more easily trained sea creatures to provide the music for his song. Additionally, when Mr Krabs goes berserk, he has a few gross moments like his claws becoming big, meaty arms. However, something that isn’t gross but still annoying for me is the crazy dolphin. Removing Sponge Out of Water from thought, I’m disapointed this was the first time SpongeBob had a dolphin character, because he just seems far too crazy for me to take as one of the ocean’s cutest mammals.

Speaking of who the dolphin is as a character, he doesn’t supply much other than exposition about how the Bikini Bottomites should react to the volcano, but he doesn’t even do that properly. I’ve already criticised Squidward’s behaviour and lack of arc enough, and I’ve given my thoughts on how the Bikini Bottomites were handled, but how about SpongeBob and Mr Krabs? SpongeBob’s the only character written alright here for a change, but Mr Krabs isn’t fleshed out enough to be likeable. Also, for an apocalyptic town hall meeting, they could’ve at least added a couple more main characters to the background like Patrick and Sandy, even if the latter would require remembering her name to put in the script.

I hate when I have to say Squidward was being too much of a jerk, because his role in the show’s always to get the short end of the stick, but when his anger is this immature and lacks funny justification, that’s when it harms the quality of an episode. I’m not saying this would’ve been any good regardless, but it seems outright bad due to just how little the story team cared to place any development or realism into the characters. It’s a pretty fitting way to end the Legends of Bikini Bottom.
6. Trench Billies (2/10)
5. The Main Drain (3/10)
4. Sponge-Cano! (4/10)
3. The Monster Who Came to Bikini Bottom (4/10)
2. The Curse of the Hex (5/10)
1. Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle (7/10)

This balances out to a 4.17/10, making this a BAD Miniseries, so I hope SpongeBob’s Runaway Roadtrip is a lot better.

Question of the Day: Would you lie about being a good person to save your life?

Tomorrow’s episode was the only Season 7 episode I rated a 9/10, and although I can’t promise anything, I hope it at least remains good. Until then, why is this a song?
:sbthumbs:
 

SpongeBronyPH

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Sponge-Cano is the WORST of the LOBB miniseries. :squidugh: :patboo: Squidward's cruelty has crossed the line this time!

EmployeeAMillion said:
Question of the Day: Would you lie about being a good person to save your life?
NO!
 

EmployeeAMillion

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The Great Patty Caper (Season 7, Episode 17)
Original Airdate: November 11 2010
Episode 275 in standard order, Episode 280 in airing order
Plot: SpongeBob’s tasked with getting the secret formula from a secure vault via train, with Plankton and Patrick in tow (guess which one’s the greater threat)
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Steven Banks and Dani Michaeli

[titlecard]143[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Salty Squid Jig

Out of all the Season 6-7 specials, this seems to have been the only one that left a positive impression on me. In fact, the startling revelation they could still pull off 22 minute stories single-handedly earned this episode a 9/10! While I wouldn’t hand this rating out like candy today, it speaks volumes about how I was still willing to give Season 7 a chance when it did something good. Now my thoughts on it have become a bit more mixed. It’s definitely around that Ugh zone where I remember it being a lot better, but that doesn’t mean it completely stinks upon more recent viewings.

The story starts with the Krusty Krab running out of patties, and SpongeBob making a big deal out of it as per usual. Mr Krabs manages to calm him down, and gets him to help with making a new batch of Krabby Patty mix. For the first time in the show’s history, we’re given a few hints as to what the secret formula contains- flour and barnacle shavings, but the duo can’t remember if the next ingredient is sea salt or turmeric. It’s rather exciting to see them list a few ingredients, potential or otherwise, without making that big a deal out of it, in polar contrast to Truth or Square. The opportunity to list off more of the formula is cut short however when they discover Plankton trying to take it from the safe via rocket, but he’s quickly thwarted. If I were him, I’d have just taken it out of the bottle and read it by now in these sorts of close shaves.

Realising the formula’s no longer safe in the Krusty Krab, Mr Krabs takes the initiative to store it away in a secure vault halfway across the world, without even reading it to make sure he and SpongeBob had the right ingredients in an admittedly funny realization gag. Knowing the fate of the Krusty Krab rests in the now far away formula, SpongeBob promises he’ll retrieve it. It’s a shame he’s going to have a pretty hard time though, considering he’s bringing Patrick along and is planning on going by train to this far-off vault. Before they head off however, Mr Krabs hands SpongeBob the key to its safe, introducing the audience to a symbol of SpongeBob’s competence- if he can keep the key safe, he’s a good employee. If not, well, we’ve got 22 minutes to fill, we can sneak in some Agatha Christie parodies.

Unbeknownst to them, Plankton’s sneaking aboard, even if he has a rough landing a couple times. They’re introduced to the train’s bellboy and their fellow passengers, a few of which don’t look like the friendliest folk. SpongeBob tries to gloat about the key again, but find it missing from his pocket, providing them with a mystery. But what will be the twistery? Yeah, this episode has a couple names, including Mystery With a Twistery and Plankton Chugs Along, but they stuck with the one that sounds almost exactly like a previous episode name for some baffling reason. I’m not fine with any of these names personally, as the following few minutes are the only time a real mystery is a part of the episode.

Intermixed somewhere in this turmoil is a scene of the Krusty Krab descending into chaos, as the Krustomers are fed up with waiting and Squidward wants SpongeBob to be back as soon as possible. First thing wrong with this scene, why didn’t Mr Krabs just close the restaurant for a couple days? I’m sure that wouldn’t be too hard, and it’d save the Krustomers from getting angry. Second, if I hear a crowd chant “We want Krabby Patties!” one more time, I’m going to celebrate Go Jump Off a Cliff Day the next chance I get. I’m just glad this is the only really pointless detour in this story, which for a special this far into the show’s lifespan, is quite an achievement.

Back at the now-halted train, SpongeBob tries to emulate the accusation scene in mystery stories by pointing to the people he thinks are the guiltiest, but ends up solving crimes he didn’t know were happening. For instance, the lady and the baby she’s carrying around are really 3 evil triplets stealing diamonds, which despite their gross appearances, is a decent payoff that makes a bit of sense. However, it turns out Patrick was using the key to clean his teeth all along, and while this may lead to some The Card flashbacks for more sensitive fans, I see it as an unpredictable explanation that takes advantage of Patrick as a character, so it works well as a mystery.

While SpongeBob, Patrick and Plankton are later stowed away in a tight place, Plankton kicks the other two out the window and steals the key, which is his own words, was too easy. This results in a pretty long chase scene that takes up the entirety of the third act, where SpongeBob and Patrick try to get back on the train and retrieve the key. You get a couple awesome/funny moments, like SpongeBob turning into a paraglider to float down to the train from a cliff, and the emergency helpline for the train being destroyed by the train. However, Patrick only being used as a tool for bad luck isn’t funny the third or fourth time he screws something up. Sure him breaking the brakes is a funny play on words, but they should’ve quit the joke while they were ahead.

They manage to stop the head of the train before it destroys an old folks’ home (which seems to be a mark of property damage in this show),
[titlecard]45B[/titlecard]
and turn around to get back to the vault that the formula’s contained within. Unfortunately, they’re too late, as both Plankton and Mr Krabs are already there. Although we get some flavoured dialogue coming from them, it seems like an abrupt ending to quite an awesome third act, what with everyone conveniently meeting up in one place and a joke about Mr Krabs having to pay for the train crashing into the vault. It all seems like an odd way to end the special, but it gets even more odd when we go 75 years into the future and see SpongeBob telling this story to his grandson. I like the idea of SpongeBob telling a daft story like this to his offspring, especially as a quick joke where you don’t need to question much about his future, and it at least sends the special out on a good note.

Every once in a while, you’ll get a joke that doesn’t work, like Patrick making the situation with the head of the train worse just by existing, or SpongeBob’s constant mistaking of a bellboy for a butler, both of which weren’t very funny to begin with, but outstay their welcome. I’m glad to say I laughed at most of the jokes however, like SpongeBob and Mr Krabs trying to remember the mnemonic for the secret formula, their slow and painfully realistic acknowledgement that the formula is now far away when they get back to work on the ingredients, the old people playing cards with one of them trying to cheat, this episode’s filled with some rather amusing gags. It’s always good to see a special where it seems they had dozens of jokes to tell, as opposed to the others where they can barely fill a standard episode. Basically, it’s mostly good stuff here.

This is another unfortunate case of a special not offering much. Sure the designs for some of the buildings are nice, but my own major highlights are one positive and one negative. To get the negative out of the way, the triplets are rather gross before you know who exactly they are, and I don’t find the stinky diaper to be a mature joke at all. For its brief appearance and how little it contributes, it’s far from being Rock-a-Bye Bivalve levels of funny. The on positive I can give to the episode is the design of the train. Sure it isn’t breathtaking, but the vintage aesthetics make it look pleasing, and tie into the ending joke of this all taking place years ago.

Characterization in this episode is pretty standard as far as SpongeBob goes, but that isn’t really a bad thing. SpongeBob himself has the responsibility of keeping the key safe, sure, but they never treat it as an arc for him or anything, the key’s percieved as a macguffin for most of the story. Patrick is a little subpar in terms of being comic relief, but the only real damage he does is in a chase scene where he doesn’t need to add much tension. The feud between Mr Krabs and Plankton in the climax is pretty fun, and it feels like a reward for sitting through so many mediocre side characters.

Again, I feel like I should stress it wasn’t the characters that made this episode worthwhile, it was the story and jokes that ultimately made this the best SpongeBob special since Friend or Foe. I feel like a heist story was a good fit and a logical step forward as far as Plankton plots went, and the comedy can occasionally give me something I’ll remember fondly. Don’t get me wrong, it has its downsides, like how uninteresting the characters are and how you can’t seperate this from your standard episode excluding running time, but as far as SpongeBob specials for the previous 3 years go, this felt like a breath of fresh air in comparison.

Final rating: Average 6/10 (flawed but not that bad)
Chum Bucket Supreme < The Great Patty Caper < A Life in A Day

Question of the Day: Do you want Krabby Patties?

Join me tomorrow for an episode that should stay buried in obscurity. Until then, play me out Thomas.
:sbthumbs:
 

SquareSpongePantsBob

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I was surprised by The Great Patty Caper. I was expecting another The Clash of Triton, but it was actually a pretty entertaining humorous episode. 6.25/10 for me. I don't get the name thing either, I guess this one was greater than Patty Caper?

QotD-What do we want?
Krabby Patties!
Why do we want them?
To spend money!
We want Krabby Patties!
We want Krabby Patties!
We want Krabby Patties!
 

EmployeeAMillion

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That Sinking Feeling (Season 7, Episode 18a)
Original Airdate: July 8 2010
Episode 276 in standard order, Episode 268 in airing order
Plot: SpongeBob and Patrick play underground, but their digging causes serious erosion
Written by Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash and Mr Lawrence

[titlecard]144A[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Cream Pie

Talk about sinking to new lows. I was rather surprised when PieGuyRulz called this his least favourite episode of Season 7. I’d never heard anything about it, and could barely remember it a while after my initial viewing roughly 2 years ago. All I knew was it was a mix between the standard STP and Chum Caverns with its subterranean setting. That could spell out good news if this was a creative episode that took full advantage of its theme, but it’s a privilege to have that in an episode at this point, not a right. Let’s see what made him think this was worse than A Pal for Gary and One Coarse Meal.

It all starts with SpongeBob and Patrick running up and down their street to each others’ houses. They might be playing tag or some other schoolyard game, but it’s never given context. Given they have to run across Squidward’s yard, he quickly gets annoyed and yells at them for being immature, drawing a line around his house and keeping the two from crossing that line. Oh the humanity, SpongeBob and Patrick are seperated forever. Never mind they can just walk behind the houses that seem to have a conveniently large backspace, their only attempt at going around is by the road, which just happens to storm with cars the second SpongeBob tries to cross it.

In their attempt to find a new way to play together, they decide to get out their digging equipment and play underground. While the first couple seconds of this new setting are fine, with a couple visual gags being thrown your way, it inevitably gets tiresome seeing SpongeBob and Patrick shovelling dirt and laughing for no reason other than “they’re happy”. Heck, the biggest problem I have with the story is the following question- if they needed to play, why didn’t they just leave Conch Street? I bet Squidward wouldn’t mind them playing at the beach or the park, as long as they didn’t unintentionally cause him more misery.

Despite them being several dozen feet underground, Squidward can still hear their laughter, as if he’s magnetised to it, but goes over to their houses and finds they’re gone, but by stomping out of rage, his house sinks down into the underground caves and he discovers where they are and what they’ve been doing. Now enraged with their bad behaviour, he forces them to put his house back, despite that being way out of their league. It’s like asking for a broken egg to be restored intact. Needless to say, they mess up their order completely. A petty chase ensues, with the mining becoming so wide and destructive that each and every building in Bikini Bottom is now sucked underground. It’s a clear-cut case of a story ending before a new, better one can start, and the potential in every Bikini Bottomite mining being squandered reminds me of how little actually goes on in the story it got.

I’m not going to say all the comedy here is awful, but when it gets low, it can really fall flat. If the whole problem of SpongeBob and Patrick being unable to know they can walk behind their houses was meant to be funny, then this episode didn’t do a good job of selling it as humour. That’s just a small sample, but most of the episode is based around character-driven jokes, despite them being horribly exaggerated here. The funniest this episode gets is with its side characters, namely Gary chilling on the pineapple’s roof, and Plankton being happy about the Krusty Krab sinking before the Chum Bucket follows suit. It might just be because they’re not onscreen long enough to become annoying, but in small gags, the side characters delivered a few funny things.

Like I said before, the one thing the animation has going for it, mining, can get tiresome pretty quickly. Although I’m glad they continue the push boundaries for how cartoony the episode can get, and I like the ominous yet comforting dark blue glow of the caves, it’s not wrapped in a good enough stories for the two elements to go hand-in-hand. That’s really all I can say about the episode’s animation, and even then, the underground vibe was done equally as good in much better episodes like Wishing You Well and even Chum Caverns. It’s a shame because it’s the closest thing I can think of to a real pro with this episode, when story and comedy fail to grab my attention for the most part.

The main characters here feel insultingly one-dimension. A good way to tell this is with SpongeBob and Patrick. Tell me, what makes them different from each other? When they’re acting together as a hivemind of idiocy, you know you’re not getting anything unique or memorable out of them for a couple minutes. Instead, you’re getting mutations of their happy glands that are far too easily entertained. As for Squidward, although I can relate to him in having to be the voice of reason here, even he’s unlikeable for his usual reasons- making too big of a deal out of inconveniences. It just isn’t a good performance by any of them, and it makes the episode literallt feel a tier below Good Neighbours due too just how little’s really happening. There’s no progression in any of them, they’re just being annoying for 11 minutes.

In the end, I can see why PieGuy ranks this episode so low. Although it’s not the worst Season 7 has to offer, it stinks when I have to cherish the things it does right as much as I did. Between a nonsensical story that goes nowhere and has a downer ending, characters that are all acting loud and unreasonable, and a gimmick that gets tiring very easily, it’s one of those bad episodes that doesn’t even have the right to be controversial. It’s just an annoying STP, but at least the bad stuff won’t leave a massive imprint.

Final Rating: Bad 3/10 (barely anything has merit to it)
The Cent of Money < That Sinking Feeling < To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants

Question of the Day: If you could hear SpongeBob and Patrick’s laughter but couldn’t find the source, how quickly would you submit yourself to a hospital?

Get ready for an out of control episode. Until then, this episode itself made a Dig Dug joke, so I have to one-up it.
:sbthumbs:
 

RDSP

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Actually, admittedly... I personally find That Sinking Feeling a bit overhated. It's not one of the better episodes from Season 7 (THAT'd be a difficult search) but I also wouldn't place it within my bottom 5 from the season.

QotD: Probably rather quickly
 

EmployeeAMillion

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Karate Star (Season 7, Episode 18b)
Original Airdate: July 9 2010
Episode 277 in standard order, Episode 269 in airing order
Plot: SpongeBob teaches Patrick karate, and he learns how to slice with his hand too well
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas and Derek Iversen

[titlecard]144B[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Retro Cool 03 095 D (apprently someone got paid for composing a license plate)

This episode is really telling of Sandy’s place in the show at this point. This is an entire episode about karate and she doesn’t even get mentioned. I’m still bummed out at how many stories filled with potential she missed out on in this era, considering this just seems like another excuse for a zany Patrick episode without a zen centre. Although yes, you can crack the episode and find what it’s trying to say, it still isn’t a very good karate episode, with or without Sandy. Although this isn’t that bad of an episode, I’m going to need some serious inner peace to get through its worst aspects.

It opens with SpongeBob making a pineapple meal in the shape of Gary, using his karate skills to slice it. While Gary isn’t that impressed with it, as always because he’s hard to please now for some reason, it attracts those peasky sea flies that pop up now because the writers need a visual way of telling us if food’s old. One of the flies goes in SpongeBob’s mouth and he begins choking on it, with Patrick arriving for some food in the nick of time to save him. Karate expert, everyone. Can easily slice karate without a problem, yet his throat can’t handle a fly that shouldn’t even be underwater in the first place.

SpongeBob thanks Patrick for saving him, and tells him he can do anything in return, to which Patrick says he wants to learn karate. Much like in Overbooked, I think this is a case where Patrick’s grumpier side is justified, considering this is probably something he’s seen SpongeBob do for the past 11 years and considered awesome. It leads into my favourite part of the episode, where SpongeBob begins teaching Patrick karate and he quickly messes up a couple moves, like some backwards tornado twirl. This results in SpongeBob wanting to leave his friend unteachable, and Patrick angrily cutting cinder block in half. Knowing that there’s some strength in him after all, SpongeBob compliments Patrick on the finest slice he’s ever seen, which forces me to believe more and more that this takes place before Tea at the Treedome. He’s good at slicing and all, but it’s what he plans to slice, like a baby, that scares SpongeBob. He tries to remind Patrick that “with power comes responsibility”, but ironically, the moral of Rule of Dumb leads into Rule of Dumb 2.0.

We get a couple scenes where Patrick’s abusing his karate chop for no good reason. Sure he’s impulsive, and he’s taking advantage of a skill that he has, but they could’ve done it in a way that provided less misery for the people and places around him, like the Krusty Krab, ice cream parlour and the arcade which is a much more glowing interpretation than in The Cent of Money. They soon justify his turn to villainy by making a couple jokes of his hand now having a mind of its own, which doesn’t excuse just how annoying the previous scenes were, but leads to an ending that tries to be interesting. Essentially, Patrick rips his hand off, and lets a new one pop up in its place due to his regenerative abilities, but the hand grows into a new, evil Patrick, which is where the episode ends. Once again, I’m happy they added a sea fact, but they should lock this new Patrick away before he completely destroys the city instead of shrugging it off.

To the episode’s credit, I found there to be various funny gags. Easily the most controversial joke to come out of it is when Patrick’s about to karate chop a baby. Before the less amusing moments where Patrick feels like a jerk, this could’ve been seen as his limit. It’s not as quick or clever as a similar baby-threatening scene in Rock-a-Bye Bivalve, but it’s an okay gag regardless. Even if the story wears out its welcome, and the quality of its crazier tone in the climax is debatable, I like the physical comedy with Patrick trying to keep his hand from going nuts chopping. It’s presented well as a struggle between his impulse to abuse his first real ability and his conscience telling him to be safe around. The rest of the comedy is either non-existent, or stuff I could do without.

Now onto the episode’s use of animation, and this has a couple hidden gems. Its use of colours is very nice, from Patrick’s blue (newbie) karate gear contrasting with SpongeBob’s red (sophisticated) gear, to the various flavours of ice cream Patrick orders towering as high as the screen can go. It’s not all great however, as there are a few little bothersome gross-out moments, like SpongeBob swallowing a fly and the lollipop in Patrick’s pocket which has clearly expired. Plus Barg-‘N-Mart’s comeback seems to be rather underwhelming, especially the cheap joke about the big TVs where they resize two similar shots. It may have its colourful moments, but there are a few things that break my illusion.

It’s hard for me to believe, but at their most competently written, the characters are the best part of the episode. SpongeBob genuinely seems to have some maturity here, considering they didn’t use Sandy as the wise mentor, and it’s satisfying to see him try his best to teach Patrick martial arts, and even moreso when he sees all the destruction his friend’s causing and goes to talk some sense into him, which after stuff like A Pal for Gary is just relieving to see. Patrick’s a mixed bag, as sure he seems nice at times and it’s cool to see him want to be good at something, it takes a while for them to reveal it’s his hand that’s causing all the trouble, and that makes him an unlikeable throughout the middle of the episode. Mr Krabs only has one line about the damage coming out of SpongeBob’s paycheck, but it’s enough to land him on the negative side sadly.

When I see Karate Star, I’m actually watching two simultaneous episodes. One is a good way to have Patrick introduced to the art of karate, and has him learn a lesson in responsibility, with bonuss points coming from SpongeBob of all characters teaching it. The other is a bad episode where Patrick abuses some new power he has and the ending becomes overly zany in an attempt to make you forget its boring or downright mean moments. The two cancel each other out and leave a sweet-and-sour taste in my mouth, hitting me in two different ways with a blue foam glove.

Final Verdict: Average 5/10 (a mixed bag)
Toy Store of Doom < Karate Star < The Curse of the Hex

Question of the Day: Do you like or hate this episode?

Join me tomorrow for another episode that should stay buried for the ages.
:sbthumbs:
I’ve said this before, but I’ve already written my reviews for the entirety of Season 7, so I’ll speed things up by posting 2 a day.
 

RDSP

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QotD: Eh, I'm in the middle about it. There are things I like and don't like throughout the episode.
 

Klu

Moby Dollar
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QotD: It's one of mine personal favorites from this season. I know, it's flawed, but this episode still entertains me (not to mention, I'm sucker for karate episodes).
 

EmployeeAMillion

Season 12 Time!
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Buried in Time (Season 7, Episode 19a)
Original Airdate: September 18 2010
Episode 278 in standard order, Episode 274 in airing order
Plot: SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward get stuck in a time capsule, while Plankton’s trying to get in
Written by Nate Cash, Sean Charmtaz and Mr Lawrence

[titlecard]145A[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Clownfish Capers

Remember that scene in Wishing You Well, where Squidward’s trapped in the well with SpongeBob and Patrick and they pester him for a while? While I found it to be hilarious, I can see why some would criticise it for being the most annoying aspect of the episode. Now imagine that scene but stretched out into an entire episode. This is an episode I gave a modest 6.5/10 to, but the more I tried to remember this episode, the more I realised there wasn’t much merit to it. I’m gonna say it, this episode can be an outright bad one at times due to just how boring and unproductive it is.

One day when the Krusty Krab runs out of tartar sauce, SpongeBob analyses the giant tub in which he uses for retrieving it, and realises it’s over 50 years old (it expired May 1 1960, 39 years before he came in). Wanting to find a way to preserve it for future generations to cherish, the Krusty Krew comes up with the idea of using it as a time capsule. Pretty odd they’d use something this old and possibly toxic for preservation of various items, but what they, this seems like an okay setup. Heck, the 50 year time is probably a reference to Nickelodeon’s own time capsule which it buried in 1992, which we’re now 24 years away from unearthing. It’s just a shame that the rest of the episode is so lame.

During the quality testing scene, Squidward says his 278th flat “whatever” and is rather picky over which items to preserve. SpongeBob’s on the opposite end of the spectrum, considering every piece of junk they deliver, whether it be a toaster or a plate Squidward’s wiped himself with, to be a work of art that should be cherished for generations. Given how time capsules are meant to house objects or technology that would be reflective of a time period, and I don’t see a toaster being a particularly early 2010s item, I see Squidward as being in the right, but he’s far too harsh for me to relate to.

The last item to be reviewed is Patrick’s rock, but Squidward rejects it, throws it away, but it lands on the piece of wood they all happen to be standing on and it launches them into the time capsule, unable to be saved for the next 50 years. Even Squidward doesn’t seem bothered by the fact they’ll be dead before the 50 hour mark due to a lack of food, water and air, but I like the first prediction of what Bikini Bottom would look like in 2060 from SpongeBob, due to everything being chrome and the slick joke about his height and his delight at the invention of drinking fountains for short people. However, the other predictions aren’t as funny. Patrick just thinks of a few suburban streets and Squidward thinks future octopi in wiener uniforms will cherish his art.

In a desperate attempt to make things more interesting, a Plankton subplot’s added when he discovers Mr Krabs has put a copy of the secret formula in the capsule, and he tries to drill into it from underground. This causes some shaving cream to spill onto the face of Patrick, SpongeBob and an unconcious Squidward, and the latter somehow mistakes the soft, bubble cream for a full hairy beard he’d developed over 50 years and escapes. It’s just an ending that doesn’t seem very satisfying, even thought Plankton’s got the formula. All he has to do is poop it out now, which pardon my pun, is a pretty cruddy way to end an episode. What was the point of the toaster or lamp being added? Why wasn’t there any real exploration of the junk they’d play with? It all just felt like a waste of time with an ending that was too easy.

As with any episode, this episode has some jokes that kept me a little entertained. I’ve already said I liked SpongeBob’s prediction of future civilization for two reasons, but I also like Squidward criticising a lady’s choice of putting a lamp in the time capsule with seething sarcasm, and the lady fires right back at him. It’s good to see a background character get a nice, memorable joke just like in the old days. However, this episode’s juvenile moments are just awful. Squidward wiping himself with a plate and SpongeBob getting some satisfaction from holding it is something I never needed to see, neither is Plankton on the potty. I also really hate the joke of Mr Krabs opening the time capsule to throw the formula in and not seeing his employees. He doesn’t have his eyes closed or anything to distract him, he just sees three people that are going to be lost forever and doesn’t bat an eye.

With the animation, you’d expect considering this is about various objects that hold some significance, it’d be like Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle. This isn’t the case, as you’ve only got one small, secluded pile on top that the characters lie on, and the only two things they play with are a Twister parody called “Pretzel Pals” and shaving cream. Heck, you’d think some of the useless junk like the toaster and lamp would hold some significance, but they’re only at the beginning of the episode for some filler jokes. Again, the most praise I can give this episode is remembering that everything is chrome in the future.

The characters make a lot of decisions that wouldn’t make sense within their frames of mind, and I think that’s the episode’s biggest downfall? Why would Squidward think some white stuff on his chin is a beard (aside from being hit in the head), and why would Mr Krabs put the secret formula in the time capsule? Even if he thought Plankton would never be able to dig to get it, why would he want the world of 2060 to get their fins on it? Furthermore, when a character does makes a sensical choice, it’s often a sign of their exaggerations, like SpongeBob adoring a plate Squidward’s just wiped his butt on. I hate to keep bringing that up, but it’s just disgusting!

In conclusion, this is a pretty underhated episode in my opinion. Between the characters behaving like vehicles for jokes rather than real personalities, and it doesn’t help that the jokes are hit-or-miss. Besides that, the story’s very uninteresting, with the beginning being awkward, the middle boring and the ending too easy of a resolution. In a year where the crew had to write 50 episodes, I feel as though this is one of the production blocks with the least effort put into it, and that’s saying something. It’s not the worst, but it’s one where I don’t see it as much of a hot topic, or something that notable during its production.

Final rating: 4/10 Bad (not worth your time)
Yours Mine and Mine < Buried in Time < Grooming Gary

Question of the Day: What would you put in a time capsule that’d startle or confuse future civilizations? I’d put in a 2007 iPhone.

Tomorrow has an episode that’s taped together surprisingly well by earwax.
:sbthumbs:
 
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