Come on SpongeBob in A Pal for Gary was worse than The Cent of Money. Mr. Krabs at least had motivation for what he did, SpongeBob turns into a jerk for zero reason, never learns his lesson, nearly makes Gary die, and ugh... it's such a betrayal of SpongeBob's character on so many levels.
Also I don't think The Great Snail Race is a Gary "torture" (God I hate that term) episode. SpongeBob actually learned that he pushed Gary too far and actually got his brain working for a change, it's actually a pretty powerful and funny episode that just looks a lot worse after train-wrecks like A Pal for Gary and Pet Sitter Pat. Kinda like Club SpongeBob.