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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

"Breath of Fresh Squidward" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 5. In this episode, Squidward's personality changes after his security fence electrocutes him.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

The episode starts off with Squidward sleeping, but then he hears SpongeBob and Patrick's voices talking about their dip with no chips to use it for. He wakes up to see them in his bedroom. Squidward angrily questions why they are at Squidward's house to watch the sunrise with him. After Squidward finds out that they have snuck into his room every morning at approximately 3:47 to celebrate holidays like Easter, Valentine's Day, and the Fourth of July, it is told that his brain has a nasty storm raging whenever Squidward sees SpongeBob. His happy gland is forced to find shelter in his mind's recesses, but he gets the flu and has to stay in bed due to no recess deep enough, until the two leave.

Breath of Fresh Squidward 075

The 'new Squidward'.

Three hours later, Squidward installs an electric fence around his house to prevent SpongeBob and Patrick from intruding. He tricks them into picnicking on a wooden catapult, which he uses to fling them outside the fence. To Squidward's surprise, the two land back inside and ask to be catapulted again, resulting in Squidward refusing and then ordering them out. As he opens the activated fence's door, he is electrocuted, clearing the storm over his brain. After SpongeBob unsuccessfully attempts to rouse Squidward and decides to go to the petting zoo with Patrick instead, Squidward awakens and asks if he could go with the two to see the seahorses and scallops, to which the surprised duo agree to.

Squidward continues to express happiness and perform kind gestures for SpongeBob the next morning, such as waking SpongeBob up for work as his alarm clock, turning the pages on his newspaper, flossing his teeth for him and walking to work with him.

At the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob is surprised to see Squidward enter the kitchen, saying that he wanted to help SpongeBob work. SpongeBob promptly rejects this and Squidward is called out front by Mr. Krabs. He asks Susie is she wants tartar sauce, gives her a free hat and then asks everybody if they want free refills. This shocks Mr. Krabs, who hates people giving other people grub and refills for free, and either calls cheap food and verbal abuse or back into the kitchen with SpongeBob he goes. Squidward returns to the kitchen, even making a fresh batch of Krabby Patties, but SpongeBob arrogantly rejects them, calling them "no good" and telling him being a fry cook takes "years of practice" and that he would "never be up to it." He is stopped by Mr. Krabs when trying to throw them away, and is told they look fine to him despite SpongeBob's protest. SpongeBob becomes angry when he finds out Squidward has become a fry cook. Squidward expresses his desire to be Employee of the Month, with SpongeBob already being one a gazillion times, but the latter corrects him, saying a gazillion and six times and telling him to "keep dreaming."

Breath of Fresh Squidward 140

Krabby Patty with dimples.

Mr. Krabs then barges in to show SpongeBob a patty with a smiley face and dimples made out of ketchup and ask him about it. SpongeBob says that Squidward made it, expecting Mr. Krabs to be upset at Squidward. However, Mr. Krabs loves the little ketchup dimples Squidward made so much and makes him the new Employee of the Month, much to SpongeBob's shock and horror. Patrick then arrives with a scrumptious chocolate cake with light blue and white frosting for the award winner, which SpongeBob reluctantly and sadly erases his name on the cake and replaces it with Squidward's.

Later, a party is thrown at Patrick's house to celebrate Squidward being the Employee of the Month. SpongeBob becomes enraged after seeing Squidward pogo-dancing with Patrick and yells at him, hurting Squidward emotionally and kicking him out of the party. Squidward cries and sadly walks out of the rock and attempts to enter his house again, but is electrocuted again upon touching the doorknob.

SpongeBob comes to Squidward to apologize for his behavior to him, and the sponge slaps the cephalopod's hand - wanting to meet him "all the way," and let bygones be bygones. Unfortunately, this leads to SpongeBob getting electrocuted. Patrick joins them in getting electrocuted, saying "he wants to dance funny too." The generator explodes and Squidward returns to normal. However, SpongeBob and Patrick's eyes and voices change to look and sound like Squidward's, picking up the same attitude. They get into an argument with him, as the episode ends.

Production[]

During a tour of Rough Draft Korea for students of Yongsan International School of Seoul in 2016, various SpongeBob color background books were discovered for many episode segments. One of the books found was created for "Breath of Fresh Squidward."[3]

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A picture of various SpongeBob color background books, going as far back as episode #507, "Best Day Ever." Near the bottom, the spine for "Breath" can be seen.

Deleted scenes[]

These are the storyboards of deleted scenes of this episode. They all can be found on the episode's animatic on Bikini Bottom Adventures DVD release.

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Kailua Jubilee - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
  Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob and Patrick in Squidward's room]
  Comic Walk - Sidney Torch [Squidward furious]
  Toy Piano - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Storm clouds in Squidward's brain]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Three hours later]
  William Tell - Overture - Gioacchino A. Rossini [Sunrise]
  Steel Licks 40 - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward putting up electric fence]
  Bell Tree Gliss - Nicolas Carr ["...fencewarming party."]
  Wooden Bear - Gil Flat, Tony Tape, Florian Voelxen [SpongeBob and Patrick catapulted out]
  Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward electrocuted]
  Parting of the Clouds Sting - Nicolas Carr [Rainbow in Squidward's brain]
  FlexTone Sting - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob and Patrick leave]
  Tomfoolery - David Snell [Squidward wants to go to the petting zoo]
  Cherish the Love - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [Montage of SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward together]
  Solo Steel 3 - Jeremy Wakefield [The next morning]
  Boy Scout - Harold Smart [Squidward helping SpongeBob with things]
  The Krusty Krab Jig - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [At the Krusty Krab]
  Spring Cleaning [#5] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["How are we today? Everything a-okay here?"]
  Steel Licks 1 - Jeremy Wakefield [Little kid crying]
  Dramatic Impact (3) - Ivor Slaney ["Free?!"]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [Squidward in the kitchen]
  Steel Licks 2 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob's eyes fall out]
  Comic Walk - Sidney Torch [Squidward sees SpongeBob's Employee of the Month awards]
  Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield ["A smiley face with dimples?"]
  Drama Link (D) - Hubert Clifford ["Aah! Dimples?!"]
  Blaze of Brass (d) - Cecil Milner [Squidward is the new Employee of the Month]
  Seaweed 1 - Steve Belfer [Patrick enters]
  For He's a Jolly Good Fellow - Harry Bluestone [Everyone cheers for Squidward]
  Blue Tide - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob crying]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene]
  Saxaboogie - Harry Bluestone [Party at Patrick's house]
  Fates [#61.03] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob chews out Squidward]
  Saxaboogie - Harry Bluestone [Squidward leaves Patrick's house]
  Hooka - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob apologizes to Squidward, who lets bygones be bygones]
  You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Faintly plays when Squidward reverts back to his normal self.]
  Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob gets electrocuted with Squidward]
  Kailua Jubilee - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release[]

Reception[]

  • "Breath of Fresh Squidward" was ranked #30 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia[]

General[]

Breath of Fresh Squidward hoodie
  • This episode was released on the Bikini Bottom Adventures DVD, released on June 5, 2007, over a month before it aired on television.
  • In 2020, Nickelodeon released a hoodie that has the pictures of the photo booth from this episode as the left side of sleeve, and with images of "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout" on the front and the back.
  • Fourth of July is an American holiday, so Bikini Bottom celebrates American history.
  • This is the first episode to use the track "Blue Tide."
  • A scene involving Incidental 47 talking to Susie was cut. This part was retained on the animatic on Bikini Bottom Adventures DVD release.
  • This episode reveals there is an employee bathroom in the Krusty Krab kitchen.
  • The bathroom for boys is spelled "Buoys." This is a pun on the flotation devices.
  • In "Employee of the Month," Squidward competes with SpongeBob to win the coveted title. However, it is unknown who won in that episode. This time, he earns it without even trying.
    • In that episode and "The Original Fry Cook," the employee of the month wall is located in the dining area at the Krusty Krab. However, in this episode it is located in the Krusty Krab kitchen.
    • When Squidward makes the Krabby Patty with dimples, he becomes employee of the month on the spot.
  • Patrick's Employee of the Month cake is entirely fixed after SpongeBob replaces his own name on the cake with Squidward's. An icing drawing of SpongeBob is still on the cake even though he was not the winner of the award.
  • The aforementioned deleted scene with the mother talking to the daughter was long rumored to be in the original airing, however, with the original airing found, this is pretty much false.
  • SpongeBob shows some audacity in bossing Squidward around in someone else's home (Patrick's). In telling Squidward he was not allowed to pogo with Patrick, he was more or less telling Patrick what he could and could not do in his own home.
    • The guests do not seem to be disgusted with SpongeBob's outburst at Squidward, as the party continues after Squidward leaves.
  • In the Croatian dub, this episode's title is "Veseli Marko," which translates to "Happy Squidward."
  • In the French dub, the 14th of July is mentioned instead of the 4th of July, as the 14th of July is the French National Day.
  • In the German dub, the episode's title is "Ein ganz neuer Tintenfisch" which translates to "A Brand New Squid."
  • SpongeBob's Employee of the Month Award photographs use his classic season 1 design, despite this being a season 5 episode.
  • The scene where SpongeBob makes a smiley-face Krabby Patty and talks to it in a romantic way is a reference to its sister episode, "To Love a Patty."
    • The aforementioned sister episode plays the soundtrack "Spring Cleaning [#5]," which is also heard again in this episode.
  • This is the last episode to be copyrighted in 2006.
  • In the Malay dub of this episode, Patrick is a lot harsher. Instead of saying "Uh, new glasses?" he says "Uh, his head is big?". And later, instead of saying "He's probably happy about his new glasses," he says "Maybe he's happy because his nose is getting bigger."
  • This episode is listed as "Breath of Fresh Squid" in the UK.
Friendiversary 022

Cultural references[]

  • The title is a pun on the saying, "a breath of fresh air," which means that after several bad events, a good one finally happens, which fits the episode's plotline.

Errors[]

Breath of Fresh Squidward 132

The frying grill error; SpongeBob also having five fingers rather than four.

  • When SpongeBob starts to explain how Squidward's brain works, his pants are missing.
  • In the scene where both SpongeBob and Squidward are making Krabby Patties on the grill, there are two grills in the kitchen instead of the one.
    • In the same scene, SpongeBob has five fingers instead of four.
Breath of Fresh Squidward 134

The 44 Employee of the Month awards.

  • Because there are 44 awards, it should be August or September, not February.
Breath of Fresh Squidward 152

Tears aren't coming out from SpongeBob's eyes.

Bandicam 2022-08-03 21-15-06-150

The incorrect writers are listed.

  • When SpongeBob cries after Squidward becomes Employee of the Month, tears aren't coming out from his eyes.
  • During the party scene, the bottom-most stripe on his party hat changes colors from red to white.
  • When Squidward gets shocked, the gate's door is open, but when Squidward sadly goes home, the door is closed.
  • There is a plothole; after the fence initially shocks Squidward, altering his personality, it blows a gasket and the security system breaks down. This would logically mean that Squidward could not possibly have been shocked back to normal at the end.
  • At the ending, when SpongeBob and Patrick are electrocuted to become as cranky and grumpy as Squidward, their eyes and SpongeBob's nose adapt to Squidward's face, but when Squidward becomes the new Squidward, his face does not change the shape of them.
  • When Squidward growls, his eyelids are miscolored.
  • SpongeBob drew a smiley face with mustard, but when Mr. Krabs shows SpongeBob the smiley face he drew on the Krabby Patty, the mouth on smiley face is drawn with ketchup.
  • When Patrick changes SpongeBob's name to Squidward on the cake he does not change the drawing from SpongeBob to Squidward.
  • In the Welsh dub, Luke Brookshier, Tom King, and Steven Banks are all listed as writers of this episode, even though none of them wrote this episode.
    • Brookshier and King are also erroneously listed as storyboard directors.[4]


Videos[]

Nickelodeon_Split_Screen_Credits_(July_27,_2007)

Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (July 27, 2007)

Nickelodeon_Split_Screen_Credits_(August_3,_2007)

Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (August 3, 2007)

References[]

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