EmployeeAMillion
Season 12 Time!
Teacher’s Pests (Season 11, Episode 7b)
Original Airdate: October 21 2017
Episode 424 in standard order, Episode 420 blazeit in airing order
Plot: Mr Krabs and Plankton are sentenced to Boating School due to their road rage
Written by Ben Gruber
This was an episode I remember hating on my first viewing. It wasn’t the most frustrating episode of all time or anything, but by the time I watched it, I was sick and tired of the Boating School genre’s clichés, particularly when they were made with no thought or passion in the Post-Movie era. Not to mention, I’m not a fan of Mr Krabs when he’s super cartoony, which he is here. I’ve learned that cartoony characterization can work in some special cases however, but this isn’t one of them. I appreciate the effort, but even after a second viewing, this didn’t leave me with much enjoyment. A little, but not much.
The story starts with Mr Krabs shaving in his boat, seeming to ignore a rule of boating that is to pay full attention to the road. He’s then run over by Plankton’s tank, and the two get into a race on the road out of anger. This instigates what I thought to be my main problem with the episode- how immature Krabs and Plankton were. Sure they’re rivals, but making them act like school bullies to each other is stretching it, to the point that I hardly respect them as business owners. Thankfully, business isn’t really brought up in this episode, so it wouldn’t be an issue to a newcomer. Eventually, their road rage culminates in them causing massive disruption to the traffic and numerous car crashes, and a flabbergasted police officer gives them tickets to go to Boating School, in a scene that reminds me why this episode isn’t bad- it’s funny.
Before their first class even begins, the two end up breaking most of the desks, because Plankton keeps teasing Mr Krabs over having the best one. At the very least, Mrs Puff comes into to bring them down to Earth, when she brings out her brass knuckles. I think the Krabs X Puff stuff is cute, but it’s equally satisfying when Mrs Puff is putting Krabs in his place, with that place being a school desk. Puff then puts on a boat safety video for them to watch, which is essentially a modern day remake of Boat Smarts- SpongeBob’s the worst driver in the world, but Puff let him on the road for a day just because. Despite that, I like SpongeBob getting to class by jumping out of the video, asI wasn’t expecting it, and it shows just how much of a nut job he is behind the wheel.
After all this establishing of what the episode’s going to be like, we actually start going somewhere. Mr Krabs and Plankton continue to act like jerks, with Mrs Puff getting ticked off at them, and SpongeBob just wanting everyone to get along. The first thing he shows Krabs and Plankton in the classroom is the Good Noodle chart, returning from New Student Starfish. They take advantage of Mrs Puff’s sticker generosity, and start handing her fruit, which then escalates into them overfeeding her. It culminates in Plankton growing a tree inside her, which she breaks off as a bat to beat them senseless. I think this scene’s rather funny, with all the character interactions being fine and the jokes holding it together. I don’t know about Mrs Puff beating her students, no matter how old they are, but she’s got a criminal history anyway.
Krabs and Plankton continue to fight behind Mrs Puff’s back, and SpongeBob tries to call them out on it, before all their weapons fall out of their pockets, in a scene that just about sums the episode up. After this, boating practice finally begins, with SpongeBob having a genuine chance of succeeding, but Krabs and Plankton constantly crashing the boats. It’s a bit annoying, but honestly not that bad seeing the two eventually bond over how wreckless they are. They dare each other to drive up the school’s lighthouse, but end up in a fatal car accident that ends the episode on a lower note than it needs to. They end up getting surgery that results in Plankton, Mr Krabs and SpongeBob all being sewn to the same body, which is up there with SquidBob TentaclePants in being a bad way to close things out. Unlike SquidBob, this episode’s a constant rollercoaster through good and bad scenes, leaving it hard for me to pin down how I feel about the story.
Many of the jokes that work, I’ve already covered in the story. It’s good knowing that they’re integrated into the plot so smoothly, but it doesn’t work quite as well when they’re annoying jokes, which some of these are. Now to go straight onto the animation, where there are more things totake note of. The boating instructional video is what I expected, slightly grainy and faded, but it’s cool when SpongeBob bursts out of it in full colour. I also really like the colours in the “fruit for stickers” scene, with all the different colours of stars, and the sheer variety of fruit Krabs and Planktton forcefeed Mrs Puff. Where did they even get it? Who knows? Another neat little thing I noticed was in the scene with all their weaponry, one of the things that drops is a rubber ducky, for no other purpose than to be funny, which I admire. One last thing, there’s a live action nuclear explosion when the boats explode, and although not the same one we’ve been used to seeing since Dying for Pie, it’s still funny, and I’m fine with them shaking things up.
If you thought my opinions on the story were mixed, the characters are like this 50/50 mix of ones I love and hate. Starting with the bad ones, to get them out of the way, Mr Krabs and Plankton are simply inconsistent. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re just rude, but it doesn’t hide the fact they’re too childish to take seriously. It’s saying something when SpongeBob and Mrs Puff are simultaneously more relatable. SpongeBob hasn’t got his most profound outing in Teacher’s Pests, but I can tell he’s just trying to be a good driver and not cause much trouble for the others. With Mrs Puff, I find her building anger towards her new students to be funny, and refreshing that she’s got new enemies that aren’t yellow and square, even if one of them is her boyfriend.
Yeah, this is overall a messy episode. It’s not tonally confused or anything of the sort, but I can’t get over its distracting flaws. I like the idea behind the story, but the execution falls over due to how unlikeable half the cast is. In some ways, it can make up for that with good animation and jokes that keep me invested, but there’s only so much madness I can take from Ben Gruber’s episodes. Not to diss the guy, especially if he ever reads this, but his work can get a bit too wild and chaotic, even for SpongeBob. Episodes like this, Krusty Katering and Out of the Picture have their strengths, namely in joke delivery, and I think that’s where he could expand upon, while keeping the characters in-check.
Final Verdict: Average 5/10 (a mixed bag)
Lost and Found < Teacher’s Pests < Krusty Katering
Question of the Day: Who is your favourite Post-Sequel SpongeBob writer?
Tomorrow’s garbage-themed episode thankfully as garbage as the last time SpongeBob and Squidward had to clean up the streets.
:sbthumbs:
Original Airdate: October 21 2017
Episode 424 in standard order, Episode 420 blazeit in airing order
Plot: Mr Krabs and Plankton are sentenced to Boating School due to their road rage
Written by Ben Gruber
This was an episode I remember hating on my first viewing. It wasn’t the most frustrating episode of all time or anything, but by the time I watched it, I was sick and tired of the Boating School genre’s clichés, particularly when they were made with no thought or passion in the Post-Movie era. Not to mention, I’m not a fan of Mr Krabs when he’s super cartoony, which he is here. I’ve learned that cartoony characterization can work in some special cases however, but this isn’t one of them. I appreciate the effort, but even after a second viewing, this didn’t leave me with much enjoyment. A little, but not much.
The story starts with Mr Krabs shaving in his boat, seeming to ignore a rule of boating that is to pay full attention to the road. He’s then run over by Plankton’s tank, and the two get into a race on the road out of anger. This instigates what I thought to be my main problem with the episode- how immature Krabs and Plankton were. Sure they’re rivals, but making them act like school bullies to each other is stretching it, to the point that I hardly respect them as business owners. Thankfully, business isn’t really brought up in this episode, so it wouldn’t be an issue to a newcomer. Eventually, their road rage culminates in them causing massive disruption to the traffic and numerous car crashes, and a flabbergasted police officer gives them tickets to go to Boating School, in a scene that reminds me why this episode isn’t bad- it’s funny.
Before their first class even begins, the two end up breaking most of the desks, because Plankton keeps teasing Mr Krabs over having the best one. At the very least, Mrs Puff comes into to bring them down to Earth, when she brings out her brass knuckles. I think the Krabs X Puff stuff is cute, but it’s equally satisfying when Mrs Puff is putting Krabs in his place, with that place being a school desk. Puff then puts on a boat safety video for them to watch, which is essentially a modern day remake of Boat Smarts- SpongeBob’s the worst driver in the world, but Puff let him on the road for a day just because. Despite that, I like SpongeBob getting to class by jumping out of the video, asI wasn’t expecting it, and it shows just how much of a nut job he is behind the wheel.
After all this establishing of what the episode’s going to be like, we actually start going somewhere. Mr Krabs and Plankton continue to act like jerks, with Mrs Puff getting ticked off at them, and SpongeBob just wanting everyone to get along. The first thing he shows Krabs and Plankton in the classroom is the Good Noodle chart, returning from New Student Starfish. They take advantage of Mrs Puff’s sticker generosity, and start handing her fruit, which then escalates into them overfeeding her. It culminates in Plankton growing a tree inside her, which she breaks off as a bat to beat them senseless. I think this scene’s rather funny, with all the character interactions being fine and the jokes holding it together. I don’t know about Mrs Puff beating her students, no matter how old they are, but she’s got a criminal history anyway.
Krabs and Plankton continue to fight behind Mrs Puff’s back, and SpongeBob tries to call them out on it, before all their weapons fall out of their pockets, in a scene that just about sums the episode up. After this, boating practice finally begins, with SpongeBob having a genuine chance of succeeding, but Krabs and Plankton constantly crashing the boats. It’s a bit annoying, but honestly not that bad seeing the two eventually bond over how wreckless they are. They dare each other to drive up the school’s lighthouse, but end up in a fatal car accident that ends the episode on a lower note than it needs to. They end up getting surgery that results in Plankton, Mr Krabs and SpongeBob all being sewn to the same body, which is up there with SquidBob TentaclePants in being a bad way to close things out. Unlike SquidBob, this episode’s a constant rollercoaster through good and bad scenes, leaving it hard for me to pin down how I feel about the story.
Many of the jokes that work, I’ve already covered in the story. It’s good knowing that they’re integrated into the plot so smoothly, but it doesn’t work quite as well when they’re annoying jokes, which some of these are. Now to go straight onto the animation, where there are more things totake note of. The boating instructional video is what I expected, slightly grainy and faded, but it’s cool when SpongeBob bursts out of it in full colour. I also really like the colours in the “fruit for stickers” scene, with all the different colours of stars, and the sheer variety of fruit Krabs and Planktton forcefeed Mrs Puff. Where did they even get it? Who knows? Another neat little thing I noticed was in the scene with all their weaponry, one of the things that drops is a rubber ducky, for no other purpose than to be funny, which I admire. One last thing, there’s a live action nuclear explosion when the boats explode, and although not the same one we’ve been used to seeing since Dying for Pie, it’s still funny, and I’m fine with them shaking things up.
If you thought my opinions on the story were mixed, the characters are like this 50/50 mix of ones I love and hate. Starting with the bad ones, to get them out of the way, Mr Krabs and Plankton are simply inconsistent. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re just rude, but it doesn’t hide the fact they’re too childish to take seriously. It’s saying something when SpongeBob and Mrs Puff are simultaneously more relatable. SpongeBob hasn’t got his most profound outing in Teacher’s Pests, but I can tell he’s just trying to be a good driver and not cause much trouble for the others. With Mrs Puff, I find her building anger towards her new students to be funny, and refreshing that she’s got new enemies that aren’t yellow and square, even if one of them is her boyfriend.
Yeah, this is overall a messy episode. It’s not tonally confused or anything of the sort, but I can’t get over its distracting flaws. I like the idea behind the story, but the execution falls over due to how unlikeable half the cast is. In some ways, it can make up for that with good animation and jokes that keep me invested, but there’s only so much madness I can take from Ben Gruber’s episodes. Not to diss the guy, especially if he ever reads this, but his work can get a bit too wild and chaotic, even for SpongeBob. Episodes like this, Krusty Katering and Out of the Picture have their strengths, namely in joke delivery, and I think that’s where he could expand upon, while keeping the characters in-check.
Final Verdict: Average 5/10 (a mixed bag)
Lost and Found < Teacher’s Pests < Krusty Katering
Question of the Day: Who is your favourite Post-Sequel SpongeBob writer?
Tomorrow’s garbage-themed episode thankfully as garbage as the last time SpongeBob and Squidward had to clean up the streets.
:sbthumbs: