Best Frenemies

Template:Episode/78b

Characters

• Eugene H. Krabs
• Squidward Tentacles
• Wobbles
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Gus
• Harold (red fish)
• Peterson Nat Tucker
• Nazz-Mimi
• Tom
• Dennis (citizen)
• Paco
• Shubie
• Medley Fishbowl
• Abigail Marge
• Dale
• Ivy (gray)
• Jimmy Gus
• Henry-Bart
• Mable
• Old Man Jenkins
• Frank (lifeguard)
• Sandals
• Scooter
• Clay
• Harold Bill Reginald Scott
• Pearl Krabs
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• Miss Rechid
• Norma Rechid
• Fred
• Debbie Rechid
• Frank (red shirt)
• Frankie Billy
• Sheldon (fish)
• Monroe Timmy
• Janitor
• Guard worm
• Security system voice ^(debut)
• Lloyd-Rich
• Kelpshake cashier ^(debut)
• Susie Rechid
• Dave
• Harv
• Tyler
• Gorilla
• Archie
• Buddy
• Charlie
• John
• Frank (muscular goldfish)
• Mevis
• Sadie
• Taylor Fishbowl
• Tina Fran
• Edna
• Karen Plankton
• HAZMAT Unit ^(debut)

Synopsis

The episode starts off like a normal day at the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs happily is doing paperwork, but becomes confused as to why his profits are down. He goes out into the restaurant to see Squidward making a sale, minus the price of a drink. After Squidward points out lack of sales on drinks, Mr. Krabs questions this. Mr. Krabs then sees everyone is drinking from bizarre-looking bottles filled with a green liquid akin to the color of seaweed, including SpongeBob. SpongeBob tells Mr. Krabs about the drink called the "Kelp Shake," which angers Mr. Krabs so much as that he bans all outside drinks from the restaurant. This, however, backfires when the customers leave without paying for their food or drinks. Mr. Krabs goes to investigate and it turns out Squidward is following the trend too.

File:Best Frenemies 064.jpg

Enemies begrudgingly working together

While Mr. Krabs is uncertain if Plankton is behind these new drinks, he goes to the Chum Bucket to investigate anyway. After accusing him of creating the phenomenon, Plankton tells Mr. Krabs he has no idea what is going on because he has been relaxing the entire day. Worried the new Kelp Shakes may run the two's respective establishments out of business, they decide to work together and try to steal a Kelp Shake to discover what it is made of. They go to a Kelpshake stand and use multiple attempts, mostly involving Plankton's minuscule size to find out, but they all fail. The next day, Plankton angrily tells Mr. Krabs that he is giving up their escapade since he is the only one on the front lines. He and Mr. Krabs, who is also enraged, lament and argue over their failures, with Plankton calling Mr. Krabs a fat gorilla before SpongeBob suggests the two simply buy one, something that worries Mr. Krabs. With Plankton's motivation, Mr. Krabs reluctantly buys a Kelp Shake and goes to the Chum Bucket to analyze what is made of.

File:Best Frenemies 114.jpg

Karen starts analyzing, but Plankton gets impatient and interrupts the progress of the analyzer. They find out that the drink has two ingredients, the primary one being kelp juice. The two drink the shake and find it to be delicious, but ignore Karen, who tries warning them about the other ingredient in the drink. After going out to buy some more shakes, SpongeBob is seen running towards Mr. Krabs and Plankton, wailing and crying, as he is covered in green kelp fuzz all over his body, even growing over his clothes or outright disintegrating them. He also tells them that they are shutting down the Kelpshake Restaurants and runs away.

Then they go out and see that all Kelpshake restaurants are shut down because their shakes contained a toxic and dangerous ingredient. Then Mr. Krabs and Plankton grow the kelp fuzz all over their body. Amongst the fuss Plankton decides to go back to stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula. Instead of attempting to stop him, Mr. Krabs gives him a Krabby Patty and they chase each other around just for the fun of it.

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ The Girl I Left Behind Me - Brian Peters [title card]

 ‣ Steel Licks (b) - Jeremy Wakefield ["Profits... are... down."]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band ["Would you like a drink with that order?"]
 ‣ Parting of the Clouds - Nicolas Carr [shot of kelpshake]
 ‣ Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Kelpshake?"]
 ‣ Dingles Regatta - Brian Peters [everyone drinking kelpshakes]
 ‣ Steel Licks (a) - Jeremy Wakefield [Everyone leaves]
 ‣ Steel Licks - Jeremy Wakefield ["I'd better get to the bottom of this."]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney [kelpshake store]
 ‣ Lonely Heart's Club (a) - David Bell, Otto Sieben [Pearl drinking a kelpshake]
 ‣ Goofy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Aha! I knew you were behind this!"]
 ‣ Lonely Heart's Club (a) - David Bell, Otto Sieben ["Wait a minute!"]
 ‣ King Kong Coming - Gregor F. Narholz [kelpshake stores multiplying]
 ‣ Panther Prowl - David Farnon ["You sure this is gonna work?"]
 ‣ City Heat - Gerhard Trede [Krabs pretending to sneeze/Krabs and Plankton leave the kelpshake store]
 ‣ Hercule Poirot - Gerhard Trede [mechanical arm]
 ‣ Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["What about SpongeBob?"]
 ‣ Towerstreet 17 [#33] - Gerhard Narholz ["Mr. Krabs, I'm a little confused."]
 ‣ Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob leaves]
 ‣ City Heat - Gerhard Trede [Krabs and Plankton on the roof]
 ‣ Towerstreet 17 [#6] - Gerhard Narholz [Krabs and Plankton trying to get a kelpshake]
 ‣ Keel Row - Brian Peters ["All these convoluted plans are getting us nowhere."]
 ‣ Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Krabs buys a kelpshake]
 ‣ Like Strange - Kenny Graham ["I can't believe we did it!"]
 ‣ Lonely Stranger - Laurie Johnson [Plankton's lab]
 ‣ Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["Kelp juice."]
 ‣ Wooden Bear - Gil Flat, Tony Tape, Florian Voelxen [Karen warns them not to drink the kelpshake]
 ‣ Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield ["Aw, phooey."]
 ‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran ["What's happening to me?!"]
 ‣ Footsteps of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [SpongeBob covered in algae]
 ‣ Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Huh?"]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (d) - Ronald Hanmer [Krabs screams]
 ‣ Twelfth Street Rag - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Season 4 Volume 2, The Third & Fourth Seasons, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, Complete Fourth Season, and First 100 Episodes DVDs.

Trivia

General

• Although this episode was made in 2006 and aired in Germany that year, it did not premiere in the USA until March 31, 2007.
• This episode aired in Germany on Saturday, November 18, 2006, before it aired in the United States.
• This episode was released on the Season 4 Volume 2 DVD box set, before it aired on TV in the USA.
• This episode aired in Latin America on Wednesday, March 28, 2007, before it aired in the USA.
• This episode premiered on the same day as the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.
  • This is the fourth episode (along with the sister episode "Born to Be Wild") to premiere on the same day as the Kids' Choice Awards. The first was "Help Wanted"/"Reef Blower"/"Tea at the Treedome" in 1999, the second was "Krabby Land"/"The Camping Episode" in 2004, and the third was "Krusty Towers"/"Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" in 2006.
• The title is a mixture of "Best Friends" and "Enemies," making it "Frenemies."

File:The Galley Grub.jpg

Kelp Shakes on the Galley Grub menu in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V."

• Kelp Shakes have actually appeared in the series before; the Krusty Krab has had them on stock according to the Galley Grub menu in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V."
• The Kelp Shakes buildings divide like bacteria and seem contagious.
• The "Well, good luck with that" quote SpongeBob says is reused from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
• The security system which warns Mr. Krabs and Plankton says "You have three seconds before spontaneous combustion!" and then pulls out a laser, but in real life, spontaneous combustion means something that suddenly bursts into flames.
• This is the second episode where Mr. Krabs and Plankton become friends. The first is "New Leaf."
• This is the second appearance of a guard worm. The first is "The Lost Mattress."
• This is the second appearance of the Chum Bucket analyzer. The first is "Plankton!"
• The German title for this episode is "Beste Fr-einde," which translates to "Best F(r)iends."
• The Greek title for this episode is "Φικοσέικ," which translates to "Kelp-Shake."

Cultural references

• Kelp Shake stands are a parody of Starbucks coffee chains, which have a reputation of suddenly popping up in large numbers all over the place.

File:Best Frenemies 110.jpg

Plankton's abnormal hair growth

• Plankton's abnormal hair growth makes him have a head-hairstyle similar to Albert Einstein. Since Plankton has an interest in science, this hairstyle that he has developed is rather suitable.

Errors

• When the guy who says "Wow, what a steal" orders food, he just walks away without taking any of the food he ordered.
• When SpongeBob sucks the Kelp Shake for the first time, the straw is outside his mouth.
• During the part where Mr. Krabs sneezes, an employee sign reads "Employes Only." It is missing the third "e." Also, the sign is purple, but when Plankton lands, the sign is yellow and "employee" is spelled correctly.
• When the security system says "You have three seconds before spontaneous combustion!" as a warning to Mr. Krabs and Plankton, more than four seconds pass overtime before Plankton is electrocuted by a laser.
• There are three Kelp Shakes next to the Krusty Krab, two on the left and one on the right, but when SpongeBob talks to Mr. Krabs and Plankton inside the restaurant, two of Kelp Shakes on the left outside are gone.
• After Mr. Krabs says "Hey, get back here you little booger, hahahahahahahaha!," Plankton suddenly disappears out of the screen, rather than gradually disappear, like in other episodes.
• Normally, Plankton's mouth is red, but in this episode, it is purple.

Running gags

• Plankton getting hurt every time he and Mr. Krabs infiltrate the Kelp Shakes restaurant.