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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

"Lockdown for Love" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 13. In this episode, when Plankton ruins a date with Karen, she puts the Chum Bucket on lockdown until he proves his affection.

Characters[]

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Synopsis[]

Lockdown for Love 049

The lockdown begins.

The episode starts with Plankton and Karen on a date on a heart-shaped hot-air balloon that flies out of the Chum Bucket. Karen cherishes this date as one to remember. To continue to impress Karen, Plankton dresses up as Ray Ray. Just as Plankton and Karen are about to kiss, Plankton notices Mr. Krabs driving away in his boat, leaving the Krabby Patty formula behind. Plankton interrupts his kiss with Karen as he drops down to steal the formula. However, his hands go right through the formula, unable to touch it. The formula soon disappears, as it is revealed that he was under a simulation at the Chum Bucket run by Karen.

Karen gets angry at Plankton for always interrupting their dates. Plankton tries to explain himself, attempting to get the formula for both of them, but Karen places the Chum Bucket on lockdown unless Plankton can prove his romance towards her without interruptions. On the next date, Plankton cooks up stew for Karen. He soon peeks at the Krusty Krab, seeing Mr. Krabs drive away without the formula again. Plankton tries to unscrew a window to go after the formula, but Karen soon notices him, with Plankton explaining that he was finishing up the stew and throws the screw into the pot.

Looking outside, Plankton notices Patrick running by the Krusty Krab. Plankton uses a microphone to get his attention, attempting to make him grab the formula. Patrick eventually does grab the formula, but Plankton soon notices he is gone. Patrick ends up randomly appearing in the Chum Bucket, having brought in the wrong bottle. Plankton, again looking outside, notices the formula roll towards the Chum Bucket while Larry, SpongeBob, and a few others exercise. Karen asks Plankton about her dinner, as he replies that it is almost ready. Plankton then gets the idea of disguising Patrick as Ray Ray, sawing Patrick to his size and shape and placing a microphone in his tooth.

Patrick, as Ray Ray, gives Karen her dinner. Meanwhile, Plankton uses a lighter to reveal a way out the Chum Bucket. Patrick bites Karen's wheels, while Plankton gets him to massage them. Soon after, Mr. Krabs notices the formula is gone, so he makes his way towards the Krusty Krab. He goes crazy at the Krusty Krab trying to look for it, before realizing it might be with Plankton. He tries to enter the Chum Bucket, as Plankton continues to light his way out. Karen notices the noise, but Plankton manages to distract her again. Plankton finally lights his way out as he tries to get the formula into the Chum Bucket, but he can't fit the bottle through the hole. Mr. Krabs notices Plankton, attempting to grab it from him.

Lockdown for Love 190

Karen scolds Plankton for ruining another date.

Karen compliments Plankton, saying that she was so impressed with the date that she has uploaded the formula inside her. Plankton decides to let go of the formula as he goes towards Karen. Just as Karen is about to reveal the formula, Plankton anxiously asks for it, angering her. Plankton and Patrick argue over them both being Ray Ray as Karen deletes her copy of the formula. Plankton and Karen go on another date on a hot-air balloon, with Plankton chained to his seat and the table and Patrick horribly playing the violin. Plankton groans as the episode ends.

Production[]

On January 24, 2021, Dave Cunningham said in an interview with the The Art of SpongeBob Discord server that he and Sherm Cohen supervised a few episodes prior to moving on to an at-the-time unannounced spin-off (The Patrick Star Show).[5] This episode was one of them, as it was directed by Cohen and was scripted and storyboarded prior to that series' announcement, which was in August 2020.

Nickelodeon did an animatics class with Estrella Capin on Twitch on May 26, 2021 and it shared various things about the production of this episode:[1]

  • The production code was #325-1302.
  • The "TEMP" storyboards were completed on October 24, 2019, and the revised ones were completed on February 21, 2020.[1]

This episode's board draft script was completed on October 30, 2019.

April "Pinkie" Davis posted a storyboard panel from this episode on February 9, 2020.[6]

This episode was completed alongside "A Place for Pets" on September 25, 2020, and confirmed on September 30 during the aforementioned year by The Futon Critic.[7] On the same day, Vincent Waller would confirm that the episode was directed by Sherm Cohen,[4] outlined by Doug Lawrence, and "finished" (written and storyboarded) by John Trabbic,[3] making the episode storyboard-driven. He also confirmed the episode's plot, calling it "a deep exploration into the depth and breadth of Plankton's love for his computer wife Karen."[8]

On October 11, 2020, Waller confirmed that SpongeBob was in the episode.[9]

Script[]

  • Written by John Trabbic.

Edited scenes[]

  • Patrick didn't originally play violin poorly at the end for Plankton and Karen's "date."

Art[]

Prop design[]

  • Designed by Aaron Painter.[10]

Storyboards[]

Workprint[]

[12]

Production notes[]

Aaron Painter:

  • Painter designed props for this episode while working on Kamp Koral. "Having grown up watching SpongeBob I feel incredibly honored to get to work on the show."[10]

Dylan Bozic:

  • Bozic that it "was a lotta fun getting to work off of John Trabbic's fantastic boards".[13]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Pe'i Tau'eva B - Kapono Beamer [Title card.]
  Ladies In Waiting No.1 - Cyril Watters [Plankton and Karen having a date on an air balloon.]
  Esta Noche B - Hans Ehrlinger [Plankton dressed as Ray Ray.]
  Ahoy Landlubbers - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Krabs gets in his boat to go home.]
  Esta Noche B - Hans Ehrlinger [Plankton sees the secret formula on the floor.]
  Droopy - Arthur Wilkinson ["Hold that thought, baby. I-I forgot something down here. I'll be right back!"]
  Dramatic Cue (E) - Ronald Hanmer [Plankton launches from the air balloon to take the secret formula.]
  A Series of Unfortunate Circumstances - Nicolas Carr [Plankton can't grab the secret formula / Plankton looking everywhere for the secret formula / "A projector?"]
  The Donut Dilema - Nicolas Carr [Karen scolds Plankton for failing again on their date.]
  My Sweetheart - Walter Noack ["But babycakes! I left to go get the Krabby Patty secret formula. For me and you. You know, for us."]
  Chase To The Finish - Alan Wynn [Karen lockdowns the Chum Bucket.]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Karen throws Plankton away.]
  Light-Hearted Links (1-6) - Eric Spear [Plankton making the dinner for Karen while he sees Krabs getting on his boat to go home.]
  Six Comedy-Mysterioso Links 5 - Ronald Hanmer [Plankton sees the secret formula on the floor and tries to escape from the Chum Bucket.]
  Light-Hearted Links (1-6) - Eric Spear ["Just adding the finishing touches."]
  Sliding 2 - Hans Ehrlinger, Roy Etzel ["Slow it down, you maniac!"]
  Slip 'n Slide - Stephen Bulla, Jeff Kidwell [Plankton orders Patrick to grab the secret formula bottle.]
  New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr [Patrick and the secret formula are gone.]
  Slip 'n Slide - Stephen Bulla, Jeff Kidwell [Patrick shows up inside the Chum Bucket without the secret formula.]
  Goodnight Gary - Nicolas Carr [“A thin piece of glass is all that stands between me and what I want most in the world. Why is life so unfair?!”]
  Hide and Seek - Arthur Wilkinson ["Oh, honey, is dinner almost ready? I'm famished!"]
  Got It - Nicolas Carr ["Idea!"]
  Slippery Sid - Roger Roger [Plankton slices Patrick to his own size.]
  Pick Up A Beat - Nicolas Carr [Plankton gouges out one of Patrick's eyes.]
  Slippery Sid - Roger Roger [Plankton dresses Patrick as Ray Ray.]
  Esta Noche B - Hans Ehrlinger ["Ray Ray" serves dinner to Karen.]
  Sneaky Panther Pants - Nicolas Carr [Plankton starts making a hole in Chum Bucket's wall.]
  A Short Fishy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton massaging Karen's wheels.]
  Ahoy Landlubbers - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Krabs driving his boat on his way home.]
  Death Trap [#25] - Gregor F. Narholz [Krabs notices the secret formula is not on his boat.]
  Frantic Pursuit - Barry Tattenhall [Krabs returns to the Krusty Krab and starts looking for his formula.]
  Six Comedy-Mysterioso Links 1 - Ronald Hanmer ["Plankton... I know you have me formula! So just hand it over!"]
  Lazybones - Xavier Edmunds, Zoltan Biscotti [Karen hears knocks on the door.]
  Comedy Chase Sequence - Paul Andrew Williams ["The formula is finally mine!"]
  New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr [Krabs sees Plankton trying to get the secret formula into the Chum Bucket.]
  Comedy Chase Sequence - Paul Andrew Williams [Krabs and Plankton pulling from the formula.]
  Charming Waltz - Cedric Palmer [Karen tells "Ray Ray" she synthesized the secret formula.]
  Slide Whistle Stooges No Whistle - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton lets Krabs go with the secret formula.]
  Happy Jose - Ulrich Wenzel [Plankton dresses again as Ray Ray.]
  Jackpot Fanfare - Nicolas Carr [Karen about to reveal the secret formula to "Ray Ray."]
  The Fruitcake Vendor 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Karen gets angry at Plankton and deletes the secret formula.]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Transition to the next scene.]
  Ladies In Waiting No.1 - Cyril Watters [Plankton and Karen having another date on an air balloon.]
  Patrick's Psychotic Serenade - Nicolas Carr [Patrick playing the violin badly on the air balloon.]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19D - Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick singing badly.]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19E - Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]

Release[]

Trivia[]

General[]

  • This episode uses the exact same bubble transition sound effect from season 9. Starting with "Under the Small Top," a different sound is used, which is now currently in use in future episodes.
  • This episode is one of the rare times after the second half of season 9 where a episode was storyboard driven, as it was originally outlined by Doug Lawrence, a previous outline writer, and written and storyboard directed by John Trabbic.[2][3]
  • This is John Trabbic's last episode he storyboards for SpongeBob, as he went to work on and create a show for Nickelodeon called Middlemost Post, though he did storyboard two more episodes for Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, those being "Cabin of Curiosities" and "Hard Time Out."
  • This episode and "A Place for Pets" preceded the series premiere of the Nickelodeon game show Unleashed. Because of this, there were countdown screen-bugs at the left corner on the Nick logo for both episodes.
  • This episode was leaked on Amazon Prime Video in Canada on October 16, 2020 before airing in the United States.
  • This is the first episode to be originally produced for season 13.
DSCF6772
Spectrum Listings - Ep268a-b
  • Most TV guides and some streaming services list this episode as a season 12 episode, despite it being in season 13.
    • This is likely because its sister episode was originally going to be a season 12 episode,[14] as seen by its production code (#325-1252.)
  • This episode marks SpongeBob's smallest cameo, beating "Mall Girl Pearl" and "Shell Games," appearing only for 5 seconds, due to the episode focusing on Plankton and Karen. He is only heard panting and breathing, making this the third episode where SpongeBob only has non-verbal dialogue after "Reef Blower" (he says "You!," but it is inaudibly subtitled) and "Whale Watching" (has no dialogue aside from laughing).
  • Plankton's outfit includes a wig. However, it is loosely implied in "Krabby Road" that he can grow hair, so the reason he still uses a wig is unclear.

Episode references[]

Cultural references[]

  • When Karen experiences an error while counting the number of times Plankton failed on his date simulation, her screen shows "Y2K." That is the name of a computer bug that occurred on January 1, 2000, due to a formatting error in several computer programs that used two-digit year formats instead of four-digit.

Errors[]

Lockdown for Love 047

Missing eyebrow.

  • When Plankton does his puppy eyes, his eyebrow is missing.
  • When Larry and his gang are jogging, the path to the Chum Bucket is gone.
  • When Plankton is trying to get the formula through the hole, he could have rotated the bottle facing forward so it could fit through easier.
  • Before Plankton pops into popcorn, his eye is white for a second.
PlanktonWhiteEye

Plankton's eye is white.


Videos[]

References[]

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