"Single-Celled Defense" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 14. In this episode, sick of being stepped on, Plankton learns self-defense from Sandy.
Characters[]
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Sheldon J. Plankton
- Karen Plankton
- Sandy Cheeks
- Eugene H. Krabs
- Bubble Bass
- Squidward Tentacles (cameo)
- Incidentals
- Fred
- Incidental 2
- Tom
- Incidental 7
- Incidental 14
- Incidental 16
- Incidental 20
- Carol
- Charlie
- Incidental 27
- Crowd
- Incidental 36
- Scooter
- Incidental 40
- Incidental 41
- Incidental 42
- Incidental 45
- Incidental 46
- Incidental 47
- Incidental 49
- Billy
- Old Man Walker
- Incidental 96
- Incidental 97 (alternate colors)
- Incidental 101
- Incidental 106
- Incidental 118C
- Sandals
- Reg (cameo)
- Security ninjas (single appearance)
This list is incomplete, but you can help Encyclopedia SpongeBobia by expanding it.
Synopsis[]
Plankton leaves to go shopping, only to get stopped on immediately after. While walking through Bikini Bottom, a dealer calls for Plankton from an alley. The two work out a deal together, in which Plankton obtains a laser-powered weapon from him, but he is then stepped on by the dealer. Plankton, now at the Krusty Krab, prepares to go for the formula, but is soon stepped on by Bubble Bass. Plankton later returns to the Chum Bucket, upset about repeatedly being stepped on. Karen takes him to a dance club to cheer him up, but he gets stepped on there multiple times.
Plankton using his laser helmet on Fred.
Back at the Chum Bucket, Plankton builds a foot deterrent to nullify the effect of him being stepped on, as well as giving him the opportunity to use his laser helmet. After several tests, eventually ending up with a successful one, he heads through downtown Bikini Bottom again to utilize his laser helmet. It works successfully on Fred, but Sandy, sensing Plankton's danger, dodges his attacks and scolds him. Plankton asks Sandy about the defense she used, and she tells him that it was karate, and offers him self-defense training at her treedome.
Plankton learning self-defense from Sandy.
Sandy first tests Plankton's level of self-defense by attacking him with shoes of various strength. She decides that he needs basic training, so she tests Plankton with multiple types of shoes for him to attack, dodge, or build his strength. Following the basic training, Sandy gives Plankton a sparring partner, that being SpongeBob, who is wearing foam boots. After being stepped on by SpongeBob, Plankton is about to give up, but Sandy demonstrates to him that an opponent's momentum can be used against them. Plankton successfully uses this technique on Sandy, throwing her down. Sandy declares Plankton successful, but also warns him that the technique should only be used defensively. Plankton pretends to heed her advice, but leaves for his own purposes anyways.
Plankton first tests his learned abilities on Bubble Bass, and after succeeding in an attack on him, Plankton proceeds to the Krusty Krab. He tests attacks on some of the customers, with the rest of them screaming in fright. Squidward activates an alarm, alerting security ninjas to approach Plankton. The ninjas attempt shoe-related attacks on Plankton, but he manages to dodge them all and throws them down. Plankton then threatens Mr. Krabs for the formula, but he reveals to him that he lacks feet, resulting in Plankton no longer being a threat to him.
At the hospital, Plankton walks out injured, with him having to wait between six and eight weeks before he can attack the Krusty Krab again. He is stepped on yet again as Sandy wheelchairs SpongeBob out of the hospital; him also having to wait six to eight weeks before he can work at the Krusty Krab due to his own injuries.
Production[]
This episode was confirmed on May 1, 2023.[2]
Music[]
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• Hawaiian Misadventures B - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card.]
• What Is It - Nicolas Carr [Plankton gets stepped on.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 11E - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton gets wiped on a rock.]
• Psst Overhere 2 - Nicolas Carr [Plankton meets with his weapons dealer.]
• Lopey Sailor's Jig with Bones - Nicolas Carr, Michael Bolger [At the Krusty Krab.]
• Humorous Conversation Full Mix - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Bubble Bass steps on Plankton.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 40A - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton returns to the Chum Bucket.]
• Disco Furnace - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [Plankton and Karen at a dance club.]
• Lap Steel-spce_01 - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
• The Fruitcake Vendor 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton building a foot deterrent.]
‣ Bridge 3 - Remastered - Wilfred Burns [Fred whistling.]
‣ Brown Threat- Remastered - Alan Owen [Plankton tests his laser helmet.]
• Karate Action 1 - Nicolas Carr [Sandy dodging Plankton's laser.]
‣ Bridge 3 - Remastered - Wilfred Burns [Sandy scolds Plankton.]
• A Kabuki Moment - Nicolas Carr [Sandy offers Plankton self defense training.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 21C - Jeremy Wakefield ["Anything to stop the stomping."]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 22A - Jeremy Wakefield [Laser shoots Fred's other foot.]
• Another Kabuki Moment - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
• No More Talk Only Do - Nicolas Carr [Plankton in a karate gi.]
• Sandys Zen Garden NC_2 - Nicolas Carr ["We must first gauge your current level of self defense."]
• Jive Sucker Funk #4A - Nicolas Carr ["Think fast!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Now I know why they call it a sneaker."]
• Karate Action 2 - Nicolas Carr [Sandy attacks Plankton with a flip-flop.]
• Spatula Sepuku - Nicolas Carr [Plankton needs basic training.]
• Impress Me - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
• Jive Sucker Funk #2 - Nicolas Carr [Training montage.]
• Sandys Zen Garden - Nicolas Carr ["Now that you've mastered the basics..."]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 37A - Jeremy Wakefield [Sandy makes SpongeBob Plankton's partner.]
• Impress Me - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob is wearing foam sparring boots.]
• In A Karate Mood 3 - Nicolas Carr [Plankton and SpongeBob sparring.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12E - Jeremy Wakefield ["That was pretty good, Plankton."]
• Am I Worthy Sensei - Nicolas Carr ["But in karate, your greatest weakness may also be your greatest strength."]
• Crouching Squirrel Leaping Jellyfish - Nicolas Carr [Sandy demonstrates on SpongeBob.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12D - Jeremy Wakefield ["I would bow to you, if I could."]
• The Secret of Karate - Nicolas Carr ["Visualize the technique!"]
• Sandys Zen Garden - Nicolas Carr [Plankton focuses.]
• Jive Sucker Funk #1 - Nicolas Carr [Plankton throws Sandy down.]
• The Secret of Karate - Nicolas Carr [Sandy congratulates Plankton.]
• The Blacker Belt - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob asks for a ride to the hospital.]
‣ Fraidy Cat - Fredric Bayco [Plankton does a move on Bubble Bass.]
‣ Code "Dead End" - Gregor F. Narholz ["I feel so... powerful!"]
‣ Subversion - Ralph Dollimore [Plankton attacks Krusty Krab customers with his moves.]
• Ninja Fish Attack 3 - Nicolas Carr [Plankton fights the Security Ninjas.]
‣ Eight Dramatic Bridges - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer ["Knock knock!"]
• The Soft One - Nicolas Carr [Plankton explains how he defeated the ninjas.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19A - Jeremy Wakefield [Mr. Krabs laughs.]
• Galley Cooks Shanty 2 - Nicolas Carr, Michael Bolger [Mr. Krabs reveals he doesn't have feet.]
• Bikini Bottom Bound - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]
Reception[]
- This episode ranked #2 on the official SpongeBob Instagram's ranking of 10 episodes from season 14.[3]
Trivia[]
General[]
- On Nickelodeon, this episode was originally going to premiere at 5:00 PM, but it was moved to 4:00 PM.
Simulcasting. By the time Nickelodeon had started the episode, Nicktoons was already airing it.
- This episode's premiere, alongside the other three in its premiere week, were simulcasted on Nicktoons.[4] Due to Nicktoons' spacings of commercial breaks, the episode effectively debuted on that network first.
- This episode was mistakenly listed as part of season 13 on Zap2it.[5]
- This error also occurred for the Comcast/Xfinity airings. This was later corrected by the time it aired on Nicktoons.
- The latter mistakenly listed this episode as the 27th episode of season 13.
- This episode was paired up with a rerun of "Sandy, Help Us!" during the original airing.[6]
- This episode was originally going to be called "Single Celled Defense" before having a hyphen added.
- Plankton was previously shown to know karate in "C.H.U.M.S," but in this episode, he needs to learn it from Sandy.
- The fourth wall is broken when Plankton gets attacked by Sandy, and his laser helmet disintegrates a flower cloud.
- This is the second episode where Plankton and Sandy team up together. The first is "Perfect Chemistry."
- This is the third episode where a character learns a form of karate, the first being "Karate Star" with SpongeBob teaching Patrick how to karate chop, and the second being the similarity titled "Squid Defense," where Squidward learned karate from Sandy to protect himself.
- Additionally, this episode and "Squid Defense" have the student abusing their new karate abilities for Plankton and Squidward respectively.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub, this is the first episode in the main series where Mexican voice actor Olin Garcés is the voice of Mr. Krabs, following the death of Luis Pérez Pons in October 2023. This is because the dubbing team in Venezuela couldn't find a voice who could match with Pérez Pons' voice. So Etcétera Group (the dubbing studio from the LAS dub from the series) collaborated with Mexican studio Doblaje Audio Traducción S.A. de C.V. to make a casting audition for a new voice for Mr. Krabs from Mexico with Garcés being chosen.
- At Comic Con 2024, Carolyn Lawrence and Doug Lawrence did a live-reading of scenes from this episode.[7]
Episode references[]
- While dancing with Karen, Plankton is in his Ray Ray alter-ego from "Grandmum's the Word" and "Lockdown for Love."
- Sandy tells Plankton to only use his karate abilities self-defense, similarly to how she advised Squidward in "Squid Defense."
- The animation of the background characters dancing was reused from Stuck on the Roof.
- The Flower Shop from "Love That Squid" and "Call the Cops," complete with the shattered glass from Squidward's break-in, appears as Fred is walking.
Errors[]
The Chum Bucket and the path leading to it are missing.
- When Plankton enters the Krusty Krab restaurant while waving the gun, the Chum Bucket and its path are missing across the street.
- This also happens when Plankton enters the Krusty Krab the second time.
SpongeBob's mouth is missing for a frame.
- When SpongeBob says, "Only six to eight weeks before I can work at the Krusty Krab again," his mouth disappears for a frame.
Videos[]
Names in other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| German | Plankton lernt Karate | Plankton Learns Karate |
References[]
- ^ https://cartoonlounge.de/tv-programm/channels.php?id=17&hl=en&time_zone=CET&date=2024-04-03
- ^ SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS SEASON 14 - Discord
- ^ SpongeBob on Instagram - "Classics in the making"
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants - Nicktoons G.L.O.B.E. Archives
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Series Overview - Zap2it
- ^ Nickstory - November 2, 2023
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Anniversary | Comic Con 2024 Full Panel (Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke)