Spongebob Retrospect

An article by Brad    No Comments

I was just watching an older Spongebob episode- not “classic” old, but several years.  It was the Kelp Shake episode, and while in the middle of viewing all of these new mediocre SB episodes, it reminded me of what makes a good Spongebob episode good, and not just fair.

It’s a Plankton episode, but that’s okay.  I do like some of them.

Now what makes this episode good?

1. The difference, first off, is the interesting story- competition for Krabs from a mysterious restaurant.
2. The eventual twist to the normal story- Krabs and Plankton working together
3. The gags- they are literally non-stop.  The Kelp Shake restaurants reproducing on their own, the laser canon incinerating Plankton, thew slow, tense build-up as Krabs and Plankton attempt to analyze the drink anf finally taste it, the sudden growth of hair on everyone who drank the shake, the different plans to steal the formula of the shake.  The entire episode is visually entertaining.
4. The pace of the story- no wasted time, no wasted scenes, no real filler to bog it down
5. The ending.  This is where so many SB episodes eventually fail.  This is actually a quite adult ending theme-wise (though kids will enjoy it on their own level), and a theme we see so often in  literature.  Krabs and Plankton joined up to discover the secret of the Shakes, but in the end they realize that they can not truly exist, can not be whole or happy, unless they are mortal enemies, and they quickly return  to their natural state, with Plankton trying to steal the formula.  And Krabs gives him a head start.  Now, I’m not saying that every Spongebob needs such a thought provoking ending, like this episode, or the Rule of Dumb, which is actually a story of how power corrupts, but a good SB needs a decent ending.

Notice how the lack of Spongebob in this episode as a main character doesn’t hurt the episode.  SB has so many strong, interesting characters that you don’t need SB in every episode if you use the characters well.

If you watch this episode, and compare it to the newer episodes, you can easily appreciate how the older SB were written and constructed.  Though I have not posted a review for Tentacle Vision yet, the 7th new episode from the Bash, I will say that this episode, out of  all of the new ones, is so far the best because it follows the same concepts above: An interesting premise, continuous site gags, funny dialogue, and a good ending.

So let me know what you think

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