Haven't you ever went to take a poop and it turns out that you have Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in your butt?
103a - Spongicus[]
Premiered on March 29, 2008.
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas and Richard Pursel.
Highlight: The Roman setting.
Plankton builds a coliseum and holds a gladiator show.
So, this episode sounds far better than what it actually is. I find this episode to be really boring and poorly executed.
I'll start by mentioning the good things this episode has, and one of them is that it makes a really good job at setting up a Roman atmosphere, just like DaD and PotW. It also has a nice variation of the usual "Plankton steals the formula" episode, because in this one, Plankton steals Krabs' customers instead, and he does it by using a coliseum as entertainment for the customers. However, this is done is a pretty mediocre way, and it is mediocre because this episode makes the usual mistake of taking half of it for anything to happen, and not that much ends up happening either. See, after Plankton destroys the Chum Bucket, we get one minute of Plankton talking to lure the people in, then there's also another full minute of Plankton repeating his plan to Karen, which is very unnecessary. It feels like when you're watching a movie with your friend and they tell a joke, so your friend laughs and taps you in your shoulder, just to repeat the joke to you right after. It's like "Yeah, I already heard that. No need to repeat": But wait, because there's still another minute of dialogue between SB and Krabs, and in the time Plankton takes to introduce Patrick and the lionfish, the episode keeps wasting time until we're already halfway through and Patrick has been introduced.
The episode could've been acceptable if it was entertaining during the second half and we got to see the fight between SB, Pat and the lionfish, but when the fight finally starts, even though the episode's almost over, the episode shows us Plankton trying to sell a chumstick to a gal and then forcing everyone to stay when they want to go. Okay, why would you show this here? Seriously, that's killing the pacing. Imagine watching Revenge of the Sith, when Obi-Wan and Anakin are fighting in Mustafar and then suddenly the movie cuts to Yoda and Palpatine playing cards and discussing Fyodor Dostoevsky's literature. Also, the fight itself is not really entertaining or anything. It's just them randomly running until they decide to throw away the sausages.
Really unexciting, boring and bad paced episode with a pretty great atmosphere, AKA style over substance.
Rating: Bad
103b - Suction Cup Symphony[]
Premiered on March 6, 2008.
Written by Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash and Richard Pursel.
Highlight: The symphony.
Squidward writes a symphony.
This episode is widely considered by the SBoomers who hate this season to be one of the best of S6 (except for PieGuy). However, I disagree. It's not a bad episode, but it's still not good because it has some problems that in my opinion bring it down.
The premise is basically that Squidward has to write a symphony. However, how do you make watching Squidward write a symphony entertaining? The episode tries to do it by basically not allowing the plot to move forward, and the fact that an episode has to try to not execute its plot in order to be interesting, is pretty bad. The way it doesn't execute its plot is basically by interrupting Squidward constantly with SB and Patrick. You may say that's how Squid Tortures work, but no, because episodes like Good Neighbors didn't have a plot aside from them annoying Squidward. However, as I've said, this episode has a plot, but because the plot isn't enough to make a full episode, they stop the plot by interrupting Squidward. However, one good thing about some of these jokes, specifically the ones related with Patrick and Dr. SpongeBob, and that is that they are related with the episode, because they end up being used in the symphony. They're also funny in my opinion, so it doesn't bother me that much, but they're still obviously interrupting the main plot.
The symphony is obviously the best part to no one's suprise. The symphony itself is obviously pretty well made, and how all the gags used before are combined into it while still sounding melodic is pretty great. The sequence itself is visually very amusing because it's like a 50s cartoon, and this 50's cartoon really succeeds with its visuals and not feeling repetitive while showing something the viewer has already seen, because it shows it combining with the melody and all the visual representation of it.
So, even with the good qualities this episode has, the bad pacing and constant interruption of the plot can't let me call this episode good.
Rating: Meh
104a - Not Normal[]
Premiered on March 4, 2008.
Written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas and Derek Iversen.
Highlight: The moral.
SpongeBob becomes "normal" at Squidward's insistence.
Well, I really like this episode but this shouldn't be surprising honestly, because pretty much everyone likes it. Well, it kind of should because I don't like Band Geeks or Pizza Delivery, but still.
Obviously, the strongest point of this episode is the plot and the moral coming from it. The episode starts in a kind of weird way, which is Squidward telling SB that he is not normal and apparently SB wants to be normal now. That's weird considering I'd expect literally any reacion from him except actually wanting to become normal, but I guess I'll pass it because that's only the setup. Once SB decides to become normal, he watches a guide to be normal which I honestly really enjoy. It is perfectly done and showcases marvelously what it wants to show, with the design of Mr. Normal and all the rest of normal people and their houses. It reminds me of Squidville, but with an specific purpose that serves the plot of the episode.
The rest of the episode shows us a slow transformation of SB into a normal guy, slowly looking more like the guy in the commercial as the episode advances. However, this ends up causing him problems because people stop liking him, which gives us a pretty good message that you shouldn't change yourself to fit what the rest tell you, an this is not only shown simply, but there's also some creative gags with this like the detail that the food starts to be entirely printed in paper when SB becomes completely normal. I thought that detail was very creative, and the moral it showcases is pretty great.
Another aspect I definitely find creative about the way the plot is handled, is that SB tries to get back to normal (or should I say weird, because the normal thing is when he's weird, so the normal is actually weird and what's actually weird is that he's normal), by doing stupid things he did when he was a normal (or weird, whatever the heck is correct) boi. It's also really enjoyable to see how he does them with Patrick and how he's willing to change back to normal (or weird) because he sees that it was actually not a good thing as it seemed to be. It reminds me of SmartPants, when Patrick, despite being a genius, decides to sacrifice everything to become an idiot again.
Pretty great episode with an amazing moral and a sweet heartwarming ending.
Rating: Good
104b - Gone[]
Premiered on March 5, 2008.
Written by Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash and Steven Banks.
Highlight: SpongeBob's imitations.
SpongeBob wakes up to find Bikini Bottom deserted.
Imagine thinking this episode bad becuz ending.
So, the concept of this episode is not really original. I mean, there's a million of movies or TV episodes about the main character being in a lonely world where everyone is gone. However, just because the plot isn't original, doesn't mean it's bad. I'm just pointing it out, because in fact, this is a considerably enjoyable episode in my opinion. I mean, it has some flaws, and one is mainly the fact that it has kind of a bland feeling throughout the entire episode, but that's not really the writers fault, because pretty much every episode where they're only able to use one character, without anyone to bounce off, is obviously gonna be atmospherically bland. Still, I really enjoy how the episode portrays SpongeBob's descent into madness in different phases, starting by making him imitate all the people in Bikini Bottom, and then creating imaginary friends out of inanimate objects, which is something that seems realistic, as many people that are trapped somewhere alone end up doing that.
The episode might take way too long to introduce its concept. I mean, they take way too much time to make SB realize there's nobody left in town, but once they show it, I think the episode becomes more entertaining. The imitations SB does are pretty amusing and fun to watch, and it also is that he decides to give a boating license to himself now that there's nobody left. I think that actually shows the positives of living in a world with nobody else. However, I think the episode should've started by showing SB doing all the cool stuff he can do now, but then realizing that living in a lonely world is really depressing, but the episode shows you the negatives right away. I think that wasn't a good choice.
SB's relationship with the boat is also pretty entertaining, as it starts normal but in a few minutes they're already trying to kill each other. Like wow, and I thought, I had bad luck with girls, but it's honestly amusing here because there's actually a progression that allows you to see how SB slowly becomes insane.
Not necessarily a pretty original concept, but it does well with what it haves and manages to be quite entertaining.
Rating: Good