EmployeeAMillion
Season 12 Time!
The Inside Job (Season 7, Episode 3b)
Original Airdate: July 19 2009
Episode 249 in standard order, Episode 247 in airing order
Plot: Plankton enters SpongeBob’s head and attempts to read his mind
Written by Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash and Mr Lawrence
[titlecard]129B[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Secret Agent SquarePants
Say, haven’t I seen this before? The idea of Plankton being inside SpongeBob’s head and doing something with his brain was already done in his very first appearance, Plankton!. We’ve also seen him going inside SpongeBob’s brain since in Sponge Out of Water, and the the more Fantastic Voyage-like elements have been played with before in SquidTastic Voyage. You’re not getting anything new here, but let’s just hope they can teach an old dog new tricks. After all, it was clear SpongeBob was being made for a new generation of kids by this point, reruns of the old episodes notwithstanding. Let’s dive in until we’re all pink and sticky.
For what feels like the hundredth time, the episode starts with Plankton moping about his failure to win the Krabby Patty formula to Karen, especially after a father and his son come into the Chum Bucket, not to eat the food, but because they’re on a tour of the grossest places in Bikini Bottom. This is actually a good joke, as the posh clothes they’re wearing makes it seem like they’re dropping by after school. Karen gives Plankton the idea to wear a double-sided plunger contraption that can read minds, and to use it on Mr Krabs to attain the formula. This start is alright, even if it’s a bit on the slow side.
She shoots and aims Plankton at Mr Krabs, who seems to be standing outside without moving a muscle. After a few close calls with Squidward and Patrick, it’s revealed Mr Krabs is actually a cardboard cutout SpongeBob’s holding, which is a rather funny way of explaining how convenient it is Mr Krabs is just standing here, while also providing the inconvenience of Plankton getting inside SpongeBob’s head. The next little portion of the episode involves him plugging his contraption into different parts of SpongeBob’s body, like his eyes and ears, only for SpongeBob to lose his cool with not being able to see and/or hear. For such a new concept, it makes me wish the whole episode was just this, with Plankton plugging himself into different parts.
Unfortunately, the episode goes in a different direction after just two organs, as he goes right into SpongeBob’s brain, which it turns out is a pink, sludgy replica of his pineapple house. He learns from a secret file cabinet that the secret formula is located in the heart, but once he gains access to it, he morphs into a tiny SpongeBob clone and adopts his worldview, refusing to reveal the formula to Karen as that would be “stealing”. Things get even worse when he flies out and then gets stuck to Patrick’s head, and becomes a tiny Patrick clone instead. It’s unfortunate, that the episode had to end on this note, as it doesn’t make any sense. He’s not in contact with Patrick’s heart, or even inside him, he just turns into him by sheer accident.
Like I said, the episode has some good jokes. I already mentioned the two I like the most, the “highlights” if you will, of a father taking his son to see the Chum Bucket because it’s a dump, and of SpongeBob trying to position a cardboard Mr Krabs. However, there are a few more jokes than that, like the fact that Plankton essentially turns into SpongeBob after too much exposure to his heart, which could be a callback to how Mr Lawrence auditioned for the role back in 1996. I also enjoy the idea of SpongeBob’s eyes being unplugged turning him blind, and then his ears turning him deaf, as well as the shenanigans that ensue with Mr Krabs in the latter case, though their execution here doesn’t go above the standard call of being a joke.
Oh boy, when it comes to the animation in this episode’s there’s plenty of gross-out. First of all, the excessive veins, from inside SpongeBob to on Plankton’s eyes whenever his mind-reading gets too intense, this is an episode they wanted to make with some level of bodily realism. However, I find this to be excusable, because I can’t pretend stuff like Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy IV and SquidTastic Voyage wasn’t made to be squeamish either. You also get the grossness of the Chum Bucket at the beginning, which I’m a little more critical of. Sure it’s poorly run, but they’ve never dwelled on it being gross like this before. At the same time however, I wouldn’t expect it to be very clean.
Now onto characters. Plankton is your standard Plankton, just trying to get the Krabby Patty secret formula through any means possible, even if it means traversing someone’s body and pumping information from their heart. SpongeBob’s somewhat funny here, taking his random body problems with ease and then fear, while remaining oblivious of Plankton, even when he flies out right under his nose. As for negative characters, Mr Krabs and Squidward don’t have much of a purpose other than to make the Krusty Krab look more alive, while Patrick and his part to play in further changing Plankton is useless. Plankton was already not going to spill the beans in his SpongeBob form, how would killing his entire brain and leaving him a blithering dope further the story?
I don’t know if it’s because I’m 6 episodes in and am desperate to say something positive, but I can finally say that I enjoyed a Season 7 episode. Sure it’s messy and gross, but I find there to be some creative moments and a few jokes that, while not hilarious, work as jokes. I guess part of this can be attributed to it feeling like an extension of Plankton!, and in some ways a prelude to later “inside SpongeBob’s brain” jokes such as in Sponge Out of Water. Even then, I’d much rather watch those than this, but at the same time, I’d much rather watch this than any else in the season so far.
Question of the Day: If you were to try and read someone’s brain, who would you choose and why?
Tomorrow’s episode is one that’s pretty greased up. Until then, here’s that music that plays whenever something “spooky” is happening.
:sbthumbs:
Original Airdate: July 19 2009
Episode 249 in standard order, Episode 247 in airing order
Plot: Plankton enters SpongeBob’s head and attempts to read his mind
Written by Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash and Mr Lawrence
[titlecard]129B[/titlecard]
Title Card Music: Secret Agent SquarePants
Say, haven’t I seen this before? The idea of Plankton being inside SpongeBob’s head and doing something with his brain was already done in his very first appearance, Plankton!. We’ve also seen him going inside SpongeBob’s brain since in Sponge Out of Water, and the the more Fantastic Voyage-like elements have been played with before in SquidTastic Voyage. You’re not getting anything new here, but let’s just hope they can teach an old dog new tricks. After all, it was clear SpongeBob was being made for a new generation of kids by this point, reruns of the old episodes notwithstanding. Let’s dive in until we’re all pink and sticky.
For what feels like the hundredth time, the episode starts with Plankton moping about his failure to win the Krabby Patty formula to Karen, especially after a father and his son come into the Chum Bucket, not to eat the food, but because they’re on a tour of the grossest places in Bikini Bottom. This is actually a good joke, as the posh clothes they’re wearing makes it seem like they’re dropping by after school. Karen gives Plankton the idea to wear a double-sided plunger contraption that can read minds, and to use it on Mr Krabs to attain the formula. This start is alright, even if it’s a bit on the slow side.
She shoots and aims Plankton at Mr Krabs, who seems to be standing outside without moving a muscle. After a few close calls with Squidward and Patrick, it’s revealed Mr Krabs is actually a cardboard cutout SpongeBob’s holding, which is a rather funny way of explaining how convenient it is Mr Krabs is just standing here, while also providing the inconvenience of Plankton getting inside SpongeBob’s head. The next little portion of the episode involves him plugging his contraption into different parts of SpongeBob’s body, like his eyes and ears, only for SpongeBob to lose his cool with not being able to see and/or hear. For such a new concept, it makes me wish the whole episode was just this, with Plankton plugging himself into different parts.
Unfortunately, the episode goes in a different direction after just two organs, as he goes right into SpongeBob’s brain, which it turns out is a pink, sludgy replica of his pineapple house. He learns from a secret file cabinet that the secret formula is located in the heart, but once he gains access to it, he morphs into a tiny SpongeBob clone and adopts his worldview, refusing to reveal the formula to Karen as that would be “stealing”. Things get even worse when he flies out and then gets stuck to Patrick’s head, and becomes a tiny Patrick clone instead. It’s unfortunate, that the episode had to end on this note, as it doesn’t make any sense. He’s not in contact with Patrick’s heart, or even inside him, he just turns into him by sheer accident.
Like I said, the episode has some good jokes. I already mentioned the two I like the most, the “highlights” if you will, of a father taking his son to see the Chum Bucket because it’s a dump, and of SpongeBob trying to position a cardboard Mr Krabs. However, there are a few more jokes than that, like the fact that Plankton essentially turns into SpongeBob after too much exposure to his heart, which could be a callback to how Mr Lawrence auditioned for the role back in 1996. I also enjoy the idea of SpongeBob’s eyes being unplugged turning him blind, and then his ears turning him deaf, as well as the shenanigans that ensue with Mr Krabs in the latter case, though their execution here doesn’t go above the standard call of being a joke.
Oh boy, when it comes to the animation in this episode’s there’s plenty of gross-out. First of all, the excessive veins, from inside SpongeBob to on Plankton’s eyes whenever his mind-reading gets too intense, this is an episode they wanted to make with some level of bodily realism. However, I find this to be excusable, because I can’t pretend stuff like Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy IV and SquidTastic Voyage wasn’t made to be squeamish either. You also get the grossness of the Chum Bucket at the beginning, which I’m a little more critical of. Sure it’s poorly run, but they’ve never dwelled on it being gross like this before. At the same time however, I wouldn’t expect it to be very clean.
Now onto characters. Plankton is your standard Plankton, just trying to get the Krabby Patty secret formula through any means possible, even if it means traversing someone’s body and pumping information from their heart. SpongeBob’s somewhat funny here, taking his random body problems with ease and then fear, while remaining oblivious of Plankton, even when he flies out right under his nose. As for negative characters, Mr Krabs and Squidward don’t have much of a purpose other than to make the Krusty Krab look more alive, while Patrick and his part to play in further changing Plankton is useless. Plankton was already not going to spill the beans in his SpongeBob form, how would killing his entire brain and leaving him a blithering dope further the story?
I don’t know if it’s because I’m 6 episodes in and am desperate to say something positive, but I can finally say that I enjoyed a Season 7 episode. Sure it’s messy and gross, but I find there to be some creative moments and a few jokes that, while not hilarious, work as jokes. I guess part of this can be attributed to it feeling like an extension of Plankton!, and in some ways a prelude to later “inside SpongeBob’s brain” jokes such as in Sponge Out of Water. Even then, I’d much rather watch those than this, but at the same time, I’d much rather watch this than any else in the season so far.
Question of the Day: If you were to try and read someone’s brain, who would you choose and why?
Tomorrow’s episode is one that’s pretty greased up. Until then, here’s that music that plays whenever something “spooky” is happening.
:sbthumbs: