The Algae's Always Greener

Template:Episode/41a

Characters

• Peterson Nat Tucker
  • Alternate-Universe Peterson Nat Tucker ^(debut)
• Frank
• Old Man Walker
• Squidward Tentacles
  • Alternate-Universe Squidward Tentacles ^(debut)
• Sheldon J. Plankton
  • Mr. Plankton ^(debut)
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Fred
• Shrimp ^(debut)
• Karen Plankton
• Pearl Krabs ^(mentioned)
• Fredrick and E.M.I.L.P. ^{(mentioned as "parents")}
• Jellyfish ^{(cameo on computer screen)}
• Dolphin ^{(cameo on computer screen)}
• Mermaid ^{(cameo on computer screen)}
• King Neptune ^(mentioned)
• Pearl Plankton ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Sheldon the Fish ^(debut)
• Tina Fran
• Alternate-Universe Fred ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Anchovy ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Tom ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe SpongeBob SquarePants
• Plankton's cousin ^(mentioned)
• Alternate-Universe Abigail Marge ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe John ^(debut)
• Krabs ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Harold Bill Reginald Scott ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Sadie ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Dave ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Charlie ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Gus ^(debut)
• Alternate-Universe Henry-Bart ^(debut)

Synopsis

After failing to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula once again, Plankton decides that he is tired of eating holographic meatloaf. Believing Mr. Krabs to be much better off, he longs to switch lives with him. Karen points out the machine he conveniently has to do just that and suggests he uses it. Plankton takes her advice and later finds himself waking up in Mr. Krabs' office. Now wearing Mr. Krabs' outfit, Plankton looks at a name plate reading "Mr. Plankton" and realizes that he has successfully entered a universe where he is, in fact, successful. His first act is to have Alternate-Universe SpongeBob SquarePants, now his employee, present him with two Krabby Patties for "bun inspection."

"The patties... The wealth... The notoriety!"

As Mr. Plankton drools over the Krabby Patties and celebrates his newfound power and wealth, Alternate-Universe SpongeBob suddenly pops back in for his weekly performance review. Mr. Plankton tells him that he's fine the way he is, but Alternate-Universe SpongeBob persists and demands that something be found wrong with him. Plankton dismissively remarks that Alternate-Universe SpongeBob used a little too much sauce,

”Ugh... ugh... ugh... ugh...”

but rather than placating him, this critique sends Alternate-Universe SpongeBob spiraling into despair (despite the fact that he wanted to be criticized). Mr. Plankton resorts to promoting Alternate-Universe SpongeBob to "co-cashier," much to the disdain of the former's other new employee, Alternate-Universe Squidward J. Q. Tentacles. He enters Plankton's office to complain and winds up as Alternate-Universe SpongeBob's fry-cooking replacement.

Before Mr. Plankton can get back to his Krabby Patties, his new daughter, Pearl Plankton, arrives, asking for an advance on her allowance. He gives her a dollar, which she finds unacceptably paltry. As she sobs, a customer comes to complain about Alternate-Universe Squidward's horrific attempt at cooking while Alternate-Universe SpongeBob dissolves over a slightly mistaken order. Mr. Plankton begs for all the complaining to stop, which does in the face of a siren going off.

The siren, as Alternate-Universe SpongeBob and the others explain, is a warning for an imminent threat to the Krabby Patty formula, a threat that turns out to be Alternate-Universe Mr. Krabs.

GOOD GRIEF HE'S NAKED

Having taken over Plankton's life, he is now simply known as "Krabs," out to steal the formula, and, much like Plankton used to be, completely naked. Alternate-Universe SpongeBob fights Krabs off with a clothes-shooting cannon and finally manages to clap him in an underwired bra. Krabs relinquishes his stolen patty to a baffled Mr. Plankton as everyone at the Alternate-Universe Krusty Krab gives a shrill "victory screech."

Krabs vows to Mr. Plankton that one day he will manage to steal a Krabby Patty, even if he has to return day after day after day to do it. A persistence that makes Mr. Plankton realize how intolerable living Krabs's life is for him. Plankton then shrieks, unable to stand this new life and its problems any longer, and presses a button to send himself home. Plankton is transported directly in front of his holographic meatloaf, which he has a newfound appetite for and scoops up eating it eagerly.

Production

Art

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Hawaiian Islands - Harold Geller, Desmond Champ [title card]

 ‣ Like Strange - Kenny Graham [Plankton in ketchup bottle]
 ‣ High Speed Action - Laurie Johnson [alarm goes off]
 ‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (b) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["So, it was just another failed Krabby Patty theft attempt..."]
 ‣ High Speed Action - Laurie Johnson ["Curse you, Mr. Krabs!"]
 ‣ Wooden Bear - Gil Flat, Tony Tape, Florian Voelxen [holographic meatloaf]
 ‣ The Creature (b) - Gregor F. Narholz [life switcher]
 ‣ The Creature (a) - Gregor F. Narholz [Plankton screaming/Plankton continues screaming]
 ‣ Lonely Stranger - Laurie Johnson [Plankton in Krabs' office]
 ‣ Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["Two deluxe Krabby Patties!"]
 ‣ Tripping Upstairs - Brian Peters [SpongeBob brings patties to customer/"I made them in the off chance that you'd decide to instigate some bun inspection today, Mr. Plankton, sir!"]
 ‣ Romance in Paris - Ib Glindemann ["All mine! It's finally all mine!"]
 ‣ Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["SpongeBob?"]
 ‣ Bashful Eyes - Kapono Beamer [performance review]
 ‣ Romance in Paris - Ib Glindemann [Plankton kisses the patty]
 ‣ Torn Apart - Mike Sunderland ["There's got to be something I need to improve on!"]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill [SpongeBob's upset]
 ‣ Glissando (a) - Skaila Kanga, Richard Myhill ["A PRO- A PROMO- A PROMOTION?!"]
 ‣ The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White [SpongeBob standing next to Squidward]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (d) - Ronald Hanmer ["Co-cashier?!"]
 ‣ Cocktail Lounge - Dick Stephen Walter ["So, have you two known each other long?"]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (a) - Richard Myhill [Squidward in the kitchen]
 ‣ Rococo Rondo - Tedeusz Rozycki [Pearl appears]
 ‣ Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["One dollar? You hate me!"]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (b) - Ronald Hanmer [Pearl crying]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (a) - Ronald Hanmer [shot of rotten Krabby Patty]
 ‣ Fates [#61.03] - Gregor F. Narholz ["I tried, Mr. Plankton. I really did."]
 ‣ The Creature (a) - Gregor F. Narholz ["No, sir... he's back."]
 ‣ Sword Fight - Sam Fonteyn [Krabs revealed]
 ‣ Finger of Suspicion 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Krabs saying he'll be back/"And the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day..."]
 ‣ Cocktail Lounge - Dick Stephen Walter [ending]

Release

• The episode is available on the Sea Stories, Complete 3rd Season, 10 Happiest Moments, The Third & Fourth Seasons, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, First 100 Episodes, and Complete Third Season DVDs.

Trivia

General

• Although this episode aired on March 22, 2002, it was made in 2001 according to the credits.
• Paul Tibbitt has stated this is his favorite episode.
• This episode premiered in Canada on June 21, 2002.
• When Mr. Plankton's eye turns into a Krabby Patty, it is the same Krabby Patty from the "Krusty Krab Training Video."
• This is the second time a season starts in production order way later than other episodes in the season.
• To date, this is the only episode of the series where the main universe SpongeBob SquarePants does not appear. However, his alternate-universe counterpart does.
  • If not counting this counterpart, this would be the first and only episode of the series where SpongeBob does not appear.
  • As of this episode, every character on the show has been absent for at least one episode.
• The Dutch title of this episode is "Hoe het is om meneer Krabs te zijn" meaning "How is it to be, Mr. Krabs?"
• Alternate SpongeBob says "Soiled it!" 21 times and Alternate Mr. Krabs says "And the next day" 16 times.
• Plankton is suddenly seen wearing Mr. Krabs clothes, because he has experienced the success of the life-switch. The same way is with the nude Arch-enemy Krabs, because Plankton never wears clothes.
• The face that SpongeBob makes when Plankton says he uses too much sauce has become a popular YouTube meme for its bizarre nature.
  • The "Oh my goodness! SQUIDWARD!" quote, the victory screech, SpongeBob's quote when he exclaims "SOILED IT!" have also become internet memes.
  • SpongeBob will later make a similar face in "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve."
  • The holographic meatloaf quotes also became memes.
  • Mr. Krabs launching Plankton while calling out to him, "SO LONG SHRIMP!" has become a popular internet joke.
  • The scene where Squidward tells Plankton that he must have coral wedges in his frontal lobe if he thinks Squidward is going to hear SpongeBob talk all day has also become a popular Internet joke.
• SpongeBob would do the victory screech in the video games Battle for Bikini Bottom,The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie video game and Winter Spin & Win.
• This is the first of four episodes transcribed as a comic into the SpongeBob SquarePants/Tokyopop book Krusty Krab Adventures. The other three were "Culture Shock," "Pizza Delivery," and "Pickles".
• This is not the only episode to show an alternate-universe. Alternate-Universe SpongeBob has appeared in mirrors in five other episodes, including "Something Smells," "Squid's Day Off," "Wet Painters," "Chimps Ahoy," and "Ghost Host." An Alternate-Universe Squidward and Patrick have also appeared in episodes.
• This episode's title card is similar to the title cards for the episodes "The Thing" and "Hide and Then What Happens?"
• This is another instance in which Squidward's Krabby Patty cooking skills are shown to be subpar, a previous instance was in "Hooky."
• This episode's plot is somewhat similar to the "Spy Buddies" plot, as Mr. Krabs and Plankton swap places for the day.
• This episode marks the first time Plankton hides inside something on Old Man Jenkins' tray. He does this again in "Krabs à la Mode," where he hides inside Old Man Jenkins' drink.
• This episode premiered two years after "Texas" and "Walking Small" premiered.
• This episode reveals that "Plankton" is Plankton's last name, not his first name.
• This is one of the few episodes where Plankton actually succeeds in one of his evil plans, though he quickly decides to abandon it once he realizes that living Mr. Krabs' life would be too difficult for him.
• In the Croatian dub, the episode name is "Kod Drugoga je Uvijek Bolje" or "It's always better at the other one."

Cultural references

• The title "The Algae's Always Greener" is a pun of the saying "the grass is always greener (on the other side of the hill)," which refers to the way we tend to look at other people's lives and other things that we don't have in general, only to find that they are not as good as we thought. In fact, said other person's life may turn out to be worse than ours.
• When Plankton says "Rolling stones gather no algae.," it is a parody of the saying "Rolling pebbles gather no moss."
• When SpongeBob is shooting Krabs with the clothes cannon, he references a rule common in the restaurant business: "no shirt, no shoes, no service."
• When SpongeBob says "Knick-knack, the Patty's back!," it is most likely a reference to "knick-knack paddywhack" in the song "This Old Man."
• The "Clams" magazine in Mr. Plankton's office is a parody on "Times" magazine.

Errors

• When Plankton is sitting at his kitchen table and he has a can of soda on the table, between frames, the can shifts to the edge of the table right before he picks it up.
• When Plankton says, "I thought I told you to go away, cretin!" Closed captions misspelled the insult as "Cretan." Plus, it was capitalized.
• When Plankton says, "I'm in the Krusty Krab," Tom walks by the window. When Plankton says, "The Krusty Krab is mine!," Tom walks by the window again.
• When Plankton is kicked out, the pathway to the Krusty Krab is gone and the pathway to the Chum Bucket is shorter than usual.
• When Krabs is leaving the Krusty Krab, some of the frames of his walk contain the legs of Mr. Krabs' pants.
• When SpongeBob gives Plankton the phone, his belt lock is red instead of yellow.
• When SpongeBob is doing the "victory screech", both the cannon and cashier's spot are missing.
  • However, it is most likely SpongeBob had the cannon hidden and didn't take the cashier place back up.
• When Plankton walks over to turn find the off button his eye turns white for a second.
• When Squidward says "I'd like my view to be a little less yellow, if you know what I mean," Squidward does not close his mouth.
• When Plankton says, "I hope you like gray!," Squidward has 2 legs instead of 4.
• When the close-up of the picture of Pearl and Plankton is shown, Pearl has no red lipstick.