Driven to Tears

Template:Episode/77a

Characters

• French Narrator
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Mrs. Puff
• Abigail (light blue fish)
• Gus
• Clay
• Dale
• Dave
• Gale Rechid
• Dennis (citizen)
• Frankie Billy
• Jimmy Gus
• Wobbles
• Miss Shell
• Monroe Timmy
• Nat Peterson
• Ivy (gray)
• Sylvester
• DMV award giver ^(debut)
• Norma Rechid
• Fred
• Tom
• Gary the Snail
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Harold SquarePants
• Margaret SquarePants
• Officer John Slugfish
• Charlie
• Harold Bill Reginald Scott
• Harold (red fish)
• Nancy Suzy Fish ^(green)
• Evelyn
• Mother and child on poster
• Judge Sardine ^(debut)
• Bikini Bottom prison guard

Synopsis

The narrator starts off the episode by stating "It is a very special day in Bikini Bottom." The camera then shows SpongeBob and Patrick heading down to Mrs. Puff's Boating School. Once, they arrive at the entrance, Patrick says he brought SpongeBob's special learning cards that has everything he needs to pass the boating school test. However, Patrick then eats the cards and claims learning tastes good. Even though SpongeBob needed those learning cards, Patrick convinces SpongeBob that he is a winner and does not need them. SpongeBob then claims he is a winner and takes his boating school driving test.

File:Driven to Tears 13.jpg

The New Bass Blaster 3000

Unfortunately after one minute and thirty-seven seconds, SpongeBob fails the driving test for the 58th time. Patrick decides to take the test himself and passes with a perfect score, much to SpongeBob's surprise and jealousy.

They go to receive Patrick's license, but while his picture is being taken, an announcer comes out to reveal that he is the one millionth person to pass the test and that he has won a brand new hot red boatmobile, the new Bass Blaster 3000.

SpongeBob and Patrick drive home in Patrick's new boatmobile while he talks about how fun driving is, much to SpongeBob's disappointment. That night, Patrick is heard working on his boatmobile and comes to SpongeBob's door at 4 AM. SpongeBob tries to get some sleep, but is woken up the next minute by his alarm clock.

SpongeBob, now very tired, tries to walk to work, but eventually gets a ride from Patrick, who rubs his license in SpongeBob's face and brags even more. When SpongeBob gets to work, he finds out that Mr. Krabs has chosen him to run the Krusty Krab's drive-thru and meets Patrick and his boat again.

File:Driven to Tears 35.jpg

Patrick in a racing outfit.

At closing time, Patrick drives up, now wearing a racing outfit, claiming that he must keep up his image as an "expert driver." While driving around, Patrick rubs his license in SpongeBob's face even more, even stopping to talk to SpongeBob's parents about it and embarrass SpongeBob. Patrick then starts driving above the speed limit and runs 3 red lights.

SpongeBob finally snaps after Patrick calls himself a "driving genius" and literally rubs his license in his face and he tears up the license and throws it out the window. This gets the attention of the police and causes the police to chase after SpongeBob and Patrick, who eventually drive off of a cliff into the Bikini Bottom Jail yard.

Patrick is trialed and found guilty of littering. However, SpongeBob admits the truth and gets put in prison for 90 days. When SpongeBob is released, he gives Patrick a new license plate for his boatmobile, but Patrick reveals that he threw out the boatmobile because it stopped working when it got to "e" which he thought meant "end," which really meant "empty" as in out of gas. The episode ends with SpongeBob and Patrick pretending to play boats with SpongeBob riding on Patrick.

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • Wahini Wobble - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card.]
 ‣ The Achterhoek Dances - Jan Rap [SpongeBob goes to boating school.]
 ‣ Astronauts March - Sam Spence ["58 is your lucky number."]
 • Steel Licks 1 - Jeremy Wakefield [One minute, 37 seconds later]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill ["Let's just go home, Patrick."]
 ‣ Romantic Ending [#31] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["No, Patrick, I've been training for years."]
 ‣ Horlepiep - Jan Rap [Patrick takes the boating test.]
 • Solo Steel - Jeremy Wakefield ["I shouldn't have let him do it. What kind of friend am I?"]
 ‣ Marching to Honolulu - Kapono Beamer ["I've gotta get my picture taken for my new license!"]
 ‣ Star Prizes (a) - Tony Kinsey [Patrick wins a new boatmobile.]
 ‣ La Cucaracha - ? [horn]
 • Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick drives around his house.]
 ‣ Wooden Bear - Gil Flat, Tony Tape, Florian Voelxen [Patrick works on his boatmobile at night.]
 ‣ Tomfoolery - David Snell [Patrick drives SpongeBob to work.]
 ‣ The Orkney Rope Waltz - Brian Peters [Patrick orders from the drive-thru.]
 ‣ La Cucaracha - ? ["The horn still works!"]
 • Steel Licks 3 - Jeremy Wakefield [The Krusty Krab closes for the day.]
 • Steel Licks 7 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Well, since I'm now an expert driver, I have to keep up my image."]
 • Wahini Wobble - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Boy, driving is so easy."]
 ‣ Andy Anorak - Chris Marshall [SpongeBob's parents appear.]
 ‣ Trafficscape - Eric Winstone ["Let's see what this baby can do!"]
 • Gator - Steve Belfer ["It is my civic duty to report that the driver of this vehicle is speeding."]
 ‣ Screw on the Loose - Tony Lowry [Patrick runs three red lights.]
 • Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob tears up Patrick's license.]
 ‣ Police Car - Sam Spence [Cops chase SpongeBob and Patrick]
 ‣ People's Court - Alan Stanley Tew [Patrick gets sentenced to prison.]
 ‣ O Makalapua (b) - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob admits he is the litterbug.]
 ‣ People's Court - Alan Stanley Tew [SpongeBob gets locked up.]
 ‣ Great Moments - Gregor F. Narholz [one debt to society later...]
 • Wahini Wobble - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The ending.]

Release

• This episode is available on the Season 4 Volume 2, First 100 Episodes, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 6, Complete Fourth Season, Patrick's Day, From the Beginning, Pt.2, SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants, The Third & Fourth Seasons, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Trivia

General

• This episode was released on the Season 4 Volume 2 DVD box set before it aired on TV in the USA.
• This is one of the episodes that aired during the "Patrick for President" marathon.
• The title is a play on words; it is using "driven" in this context to refer to being lead to do something, but also uses the word as a pun on the driving theme of the episode.
• This episode proves once again that Patrick knows the rules of the road. The other being "Boating School."
• The Bass Blaster 3000 boat Patrick won in this episode is also a boat that can be driven in the SpongeBob video game SpongeBob's Boating Bash.
• According to Patrick's driver license, he weighs two ounces.
• Patrick's driver's license would have expired exactly the same day as his identification card from "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III." The card can be seen clearly in The SpongeBob SquarePants Experience: A Deep Dive into the World of Bikini Bottom.
• This episode shows that SpongeBob's parents are frustrated with him not getting his driver's license.

• The "PALS 4 EVER" license plate looks similar to the "IM-RDY" license plate in "No Free Rides."
• This episode marks the first time a drive-thru is open in the Krusty Krab.
• This is the second episode to show Patrick in Mrs. Puff's class. The first is "New Student Starfish."
• This is the second episode where the police call SpongeBob a "tattletale." The first is "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler."
• This is the second time SpongeBob fights with someone in a boatmobile. The first is "No Free Rides."
• This is the second episode where SpongeBob says that Patrick is innocent. The first is "The Smoking Peanut."
• This is the third episode where SpongeBob gets arrested, only this time as a convicted felon. The first is "Life of Crime" and the second is "Party Pooper Pants."
• In Brazil, the title for this episode is called "License for Patrick."
• The German title of this episode is "Eine Träne im Schlagloch," which translates to "A Tear in the Pothole," a pun on a German saying.
• In the Russian dub of this episode, Harold (SpongeBob's dad) sounds a lot like SpongeBob's Russian voice actor.
• In the Greek dub, this episode is called "Το δίπλωμα," which means "the diploma," another Greek word.
• In the Welsh dub, this episode is called "Gyrru'n Wallgo," which means "Driven Mad."
• The title of the episode could refer to the 1980 song Driven to Tears by The Police.

Cultural references

• The name of this episode is a reference to The Police song of the same name, from the album Zenyatta Mondatta.
• When the announcer said that Bass Blaster 3000 is the ultimate boating machine, it's the allusion to BMW when it is called an ultimate driving machine.
• The announcer for Patrick's new car says, "Women will want you. And men will want to be you." This is a quote from Austin Powers.
• Patrick's horn plays the song "La Cucaracha."

Errors

• When Patrick blows his horn the second time, the horn sounds completely different.
• When a second close-up of Patrick's license is shown after he tells Mr. and Mrs. SquarePants about it, his red glove is not on him anymore.
• The traffic light turned red after green, which skipped the yellow light.
• When Patrick blinks right before he and SpongeBob say, "It's the police!," his eyelids are pink instead of purple.
• SpongeBob says he threw Patrick's license out the window. However, the vehicle did not have any windows.
• When Patrick tells SpongeBob his boat's needle was on "E," SpongeBob's pants have a darker shade of brown.
• Throughout the episode, the car slopes forward more and more.