"BlackJack" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 5. In this episode, SpongeBob thinks his cousin BlackJack has kidnapped his parents.
Characters
- Gary the Snail
- Mr. Postman (mentioned)
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Daydream SpongeBob
- BlackJack (debut)
- Daydream BlackJack
- Fish in pictures
- Harold SquarePants
- Daydream Harold
- Margaret SquarePants
- Daydream Margaret
- Daydream Perch Perkins
- Grandma SquarePants
- Captain Blue SquarePants (debut)
- French Narrator
- Clam (mentioned)
- BlackJack's guard worm (debut)
- Fumigators (mentioned)
- Krill (mentioned)
- Jellyfish (mentioned)
Synopsis
In the beginning of the episode, SpongeBob receives a "ransom" note from his cousin BlackJack, saying that he has been released from prison, has paid SpongeBob's parents a "visit," and has challenged him to a wrestling match for their safety. When he arrives at their house, it is wrapped with police tape, and all of the furniture is covered in plastic, which leads SpongeBob to believe a crime was committed at his parents' house. He finds another note from BlackJack, this time saying he's going to pay SpongeBob's Grandma a visit. SpongeBob arrives at Grandma SquarePants' house, and she says BlackJack recently called her, and left a message for SpongeBob, saying he has some "loose ends to tie up." This results in SpongeBob thinking BlackJack tied up his parents.
SpongeBob seeks help from his uncle, Captain Blue SquarePants, a retired police captain. But because of listening to various loud sounds, instead of helping SpongeBob save his parents from BlackJack, he makes SpongeBob partake in manual labor, including lawn mowing, building a fence, trimming a coral tree, and much more. When SpongeBob finishes, SpongeBob stops the music and tells the situation. Captain Blue refuses to help, saying that if he was in Spongebob's place, he will just go home and tells him that he's not cut out this type of work but he does drive him to BlackJack's house, which is ironically (and literally) right next door. SpongeBob stands in front of BlackJack's front door for a moment regretting his decision (and remembering what his uncle said), when he hears mother scream from inside the house. SpongeBob instantly runs into BlackJack's house, and into the basement. SpongeBob goes in to confront his foe and save his parents, but it is revealed that his parents were never in any danger, and that they are holding a party for BlackJack to celebrate his release.
BlackJack
They explain to SpongeBob that BlackJack has renounced his "criminal" ways of littering, and that their house was closed off due to a krill infestation. BlackJack then enters the room, still intent on beating up SpongeBob, but SpongeBob is now prepared to stand up for himself. As BlackJack charges at SpongeBob, it is revealed that BlackJack is no bigger than SpongeBob's foot, and that he cannot do any harm whatsoever, as the episode ends.
Running gags
- SpongeBob asking Uncle Captain Blue for help, and he is putting SpongeBob to work.
- SpongeBob imagines himself being beaten by BlackJack.
- Flashback to a younger SpongeBob with a bowtie and blue hat on. He gets his body thrown to a wall, courtesy of BlackJack's brutality.
- BlackJack as a giant and SpongeBob is small.
- SpongeBob knocking on the door and BlackJack grabbing him through the door and using him as dental floss. He screams.
Production
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ K-55 - The Woodies [title card]
• Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr [letter for SpongeBob]
‣ Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob reads it]
‣ Chill Out - The Surfdusters [flashback to Cousin Blackjack beating up SpongeBob]
‣ Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford ["Oh, no, that was years ago, Gary!"]
‣ Gruesome - The Surfdusters [SpongeBob imagines Blackjack as a giant]
‣ Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob screams]
‣ Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco [SpongeBob packing clothes]
‣ Where Danger Lurks - Ronald Hanmer ["What happened to my parents' house?"]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [furniture covered in plastic]
‣ Happy Tune - Dieter Reith [SpongeBob's parents watching TV]
• Entrapped - Nicolas Carr [Blackjack enters]
‣ Abject Terror - Paul Lewis [parents scared]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [another note from Blackjack]
‣ Unpreventable - Gregor F. Narholz ["He's gonna get Grandma too!"]
• Thinking Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Grandma?"]
‣ Spindlelegs - Cedric King-Palmer [Grandma baking cookies]
‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [SpongeBob imagines his parents being tortured by Blackjack]
• Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob goes to Uncle Captain Blue]
• 12th Street Rag - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob mowing the lawn/SpongeBob building a fence/SpongeBob cutting off some coral, painting the house, and fixing the boat]
‣ When Daylight Shines/Captain Lenoe's - The Folk Players [much, much, much later...]
‣ Against the Law (b) - Wilfred William Burns [SpongeBob explains the situation to his uncle]
‣ Six Powerful Cues (f) - Wilfred William Burns [SpongeBob taken to Blackjack's house]
‣ Old Creepy Feeling - John Scott ["Lock the door behind you, kid."]
‣ Stealth by Night - Jack Coles [SpongeBob goes up to the front door]
‣ Gruesome - The Surfdusters [SpongeBob imagines Blackjack using him as dental floss]
‣ Stealth by Night - Jack Coles ["Uncle Captain Blue was right."]
‣ Tales from the Swamp (a) - Ron Goodwin [SpongeBob's mom screaming]
• Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [celebrating Blackjack's release from prison]
‣ Chill Out - The Surfdusters [Blackjack appears]
• Tentically Speaking - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]
*"K-55" is only heard in all current DVD releases. Former Nickelodeon broadcasts also retained the soundtrack. "Secret Agent 00 SquarePants" by Nicolas Carr is heard in all American television broadcasts and streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ and iTunes.
Release
- This episode is available on the To Love a Patty, Season 5 Volume 2, First 100 Episodes, Kids Double Pack: Volume 6, Holidays with SpongeBob 3-DVD Gift Set, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 8, Complete Fifth Season, From the Beginning, Pt.2, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The Inmates of Summer, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Easter with SpongeBob, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.
Reception
- Currently retired critic Mina Rhodes of the DVD Verdict called the episode in a review of To Love a Patty, "one of the weakest in the entire series."[1]
Trivia
General
- This episode was originally going to be titled "In Search of Ma and Pa Sponge."[2]
- Since mid-2009, the Nickelodeon USA broadcast of this episode uses the soundtrack "Secret Agent 00 SquarePants" as the title card cue instead of "K-55," possibly due to copyright issues. This is also true for all Nicktoons USA and Nick@Nite broadcasts, as well as all streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ and iTunes. The current DVD releases still use "K-55," however.[3][4]
- The return address on the envelope that has been covered by saliva can be made out as "BlackJack, 133 Coral Rd or Bd, Bikini Bottom."
- On the envelope, SpongeBob's house is just referred to as "The Pineapple, Bikini Bottom," instead of 124 Conch St.
- When SpongeBob has a flashback to when he was a kid, he is shown wearing a bow tie.
"BlackJack" (left) and "Grandma's Kisses" (right).
- The bowl on Grandma's counter is the same as the one in "Grandma's Kisses" but with a different, clearer shape.
- After SpongeBob says, "Cleaning up the mess?," his face deflates just like Squidward's face does at the end of "Squid's Day Off."
- 346 minutes equals 5 hours and 46 minutes which means that SpongeBob spent almost six hours mowing the lawn at Uncle Captain Blue's house.
- The door knocker on BlackJack's house has a hand attached to it with a bone sticking out. This resembles SpongeBob's hand.
- SpongeBob's father's first name is revealed to be Harold.
- John DiMaggio guest starred as BlackJack.
- This episode features more appearances of SpongeBob's relatives than any other episodes, with a total of five characters.
- This is the second appearance of SpongeBob's grandmother, who first appears in "Grandma's Kisses."
- This means that she took six years to return as a character.
- This is the third episode to have a title card that only has light around the text. The first and second were "Squirrel Jokes" and "Funny Pants," respectively.
- This is the fourth time SpongeBob got split himself in half just like on "Texas," "Procrastination," and "I Had an Accident."
- Like most of episodes in season 5 and first half of season 6, in the Bahasa Indonesia dub, the scene where SpongeBob entering his parents' house was skipped to the daydream scene due to the time constraints.
Cultural references
- BlackJack is a reference to the gambling card game of the same name.
Errors
- Because of the soundtrack substitution mentioned above, when SpongeBob says, "Hmm" when about to read the letter, the line echoes with 2 recordings of the line overlapping each other. This error is only present in all American television broadcasts and streaming releases.[5]
- When SpongeBob is at his parents' house, there is an image above the couch, that shows a sun on some rocks in goo. In SpongeBob's idea of what happened, the image shows dark rocks, like it is night.
- In SpongeBob's idea of what happened to his parents, it shows that it is daytime, but when BlackJack comes in, it is night.
- In SpongeBob's idea of what happened to his parents, the stripe on Harold's hat is lighter than normal.
- When SpongeBob is running to work on Uncle Captain Blue's car, the purple paint is still there from when he was painting Uncle Captain Blue's wall but when he is done fixing Uncle Captain Blue's car, the paint isn't there anymore.
- When SpongeBob builds the fence, he builds it all around Captain Blue SquarePants' house, but when he drives SpongeBob to BlackJack's house, the fence has an opening.
- When Uncle Captain Blue drives SpongeBob to BlackJack's house (who lives next door), the fence SpongeBob built earlier in the episode is brown, instead of white. BlackJack's house is not seen when he builds the fence however.
- When Uncle Captain Blue drives SpongeBob to BlackJack's house, the grass around Uncle Captain Blue's house is replaced with sand.
His belt is missing.
- When SpongeBob says, "You haven't changed a bit," his belt is missing.
Videos
References
- ^ Rhodes, Mina (2008-02-06). Review - Spongebob Squarepants: To Love A Patty. DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved on 2019-07-15.
- ^ https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/102076-Blackjack
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIn8VI86WS0
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbmZbF2ymA
- ^ https://youtu.be/WX5aCGTyBoo