Squidward is my best friend in the world!
Naughty Nautical Neighbors[]
Oh my goodness. They did it. They finally did it. They made an episode so terrible that some people have actually given up the show after it and thought that this was the point when the show started to go downhill. Oh wait. It's Naughty Nautical Neighbors. Not Good Neighbors. Oh, okay then, nevermind.
In all seriousness, though, this episode is just a classic. Without even saying anything about its humor, its pacing, its tone, its writing, everyone will know that this episode is the most classic type of "Squidward torture" in the whole show. And by Squidward torture, I don't really mean anything negative here like people mostly do. In fact, I wouldn't even call this episode a Squidward torture episode at all. Because unlike so many abysmal Squidward torture episodes later in the show (and even one episode earlier), this one actually manages to make his torment really WORK. And let me just say, it might be one of the absolute best examples of this trope in the whole series. While Reef Blower and Bubblestand did a lot to really set this trope up, this was the episode which really executed it the best out of all of these. And it was the one which served as an inspiration for some upcoming episodes which had a similar concept about Squidward getting his comeuppance about something he received. And while this inspiration can be for better and for worse, the fact that this particular episode worked is something I cannot deny. Out of all of those episodes I have reviewed so far, out of literally everything I have ever had to write a blog post about, this one easily has the best structure. Like, no matter what Bubblestand, Help Wanted and even Plankton! managed to accomplish, in terms of pacing and structure, this episode managed to beat all of them. In fact, I would say that with a very few examples, this episode probably has the best structure IN THE WHOLE SEASON. While Bubblestand managed to create a really interesting formula which inspired a lot of later episodes, this one also created one, but one that didn't just inspire a lot of later episodes, but almost ALL OF THEM. I wasn't kidding when I said that this was possibly the classic "Squidward getting his comeuppance" episode. Because this really was one of the absolute best examples of doing this trope. But why exactly? Why did this episode work so well? Well, this is what we will find out today.
You don't really have to look to deeply into why this episode works so well. It literally manages to establish that in the FIRST FEW SECONDS in the episode. Now, I have already praised a lot of beginnings in Season 1 for really managing to build up the whole plot of the episode very well and not wasting any time with it nor being too rushed for us to not really feel the plot. But this one. OH MY GOODNESS, THIS ONE IS JUST PERFECTION. With the exception of episodes like Ripped Pants and maybe Plankton!, this beginning manages to outtake literally every single other beginning in the season so far, and even the beginnings of those episodes aren't that much better than the beginning of this, but instead, kind of tied with it. This beginning manages to establish the episode's plot, tone, characters, humor and emotions at the SAME TIME in not only a few minutes as the previous episodes did, but literally even IN A FEW SECONDS. This episode starts with SpongeBob and Patrick blowing bubbles and whispering words into them, so when the bubble pops, they can hear what the other person said. Right from the start, this beginning does an astounding job at showing SpongeBob and Patrick as best friends. They are perfectly in character from what we have seen from them before, but it does still manage to expand their personalities even further and adding some new traits to their fun-loving, gullible selves. Even someone who hasn't seen any sort of episodes before this will perfectly understand their relationship by the first few seconds alone. It also really sets up the whole plot very well when Squidward joins them, who has very understandable reasons for being annoyed by the two, but the episode still shows that he went too far and did do something bad, which is just an amazing characterization for him, wihout dragging on for too long or without being too rushed, similarly to what other beginnings do. And if these weren't enough already, it is full of some very jokes which perfectly establish what the humor of this episode will be like, and it even sets up the whole more heartwarming, but still goofy tone of the episode perfectly by SpongeBob and Patrick's zany bubble blowing antics, but also showing them as two really great friends who have perfectly understandable reasons for their rivalry, so we can truly feel that. This beginning alone manages to show what the ENTIRE episode will be like without making ANYTHING predictable, and an achievement like this is something truly admirable. Season 1 had some very amazing beginnings before this. But this just takes all of them into whole new level. Wow.
And this was just only the beginning. As the episode goes on, the pacing and the structure becomes somehow EVEN BETTER. After SpongeBob and Patrick decide to not be friends anymore, which, like I said, is perfectly understandable from their part considering from what they know happened, but also manages to show why Squidward, while being understandably annoyed by the two, still went too far, and deserves some kind of comeuppabce for that. After he starts laughing at the two boys, he starts choking on a fork in an actually really funny way. They really went all out with their visuals for that one, and thanks to how zany and exaggerated it is, it just really works. This is what I wish Season 11 was like. Having visual gags where the more exaggerated style of the animation makes the humor very funny but not taking it too far to the point when it just becomes boring. This particular visual gag works because of how unexpectedly exaggerated and wacky the animation is and how we don't really see the rest of the episode like this. The visual gags in Season 11 don't work because even though they follow a similar formula to that, the animation is basically so exaggerated and wacky for the whole episode that it is just not that surprising to see a gag like that, unlike in Season 1, where the animation is so calm most of the time. It is hard to tell which moments are supposed to be really funny in Season 11, because all of the moments are exaggerated like this, so it just doesn't work. This is like having a very funny running gag which really works at first, but then dragging it for the whole episode without adding any variation to it (this is not really a jab against My Leg! by the way as I really love that episode, but more on that later). So after this very funny gag, Patrick saves Squidward's life so they become best friends. This part of the structure makes the whole episode really worth it. It perfectly shows that Squidward is also someone who can be grateful and kind, but due to the fact that Patrick is very stupid and that he gets angrier easily, it just cannot work, so it is understandable why Squidward is annoyed by him but Patrick is not unlikeable in the episode, either. SpongeBob's case is very similar to it, but instead of him being very stupid, he is just mostly very gullible and just a bit dumb in the episode, so he is also likeable but what Squidward does is also very understandable. And before you say that stupid and dumb are the same thing, The Camping Episode will prove you otherwise, and arguing with that masterpiece is against the law, so you cannot possibly criticize that. These parts also really tie in the rest of the story as well and also manage to show why it's important for SpongeBob and Patrick to become friends again perfectly. This episode really nails that, and it also becomes very emotional and heartwarming in some places, but without forgetting about the show's regular tone and style.
And then, we get my favourite part of the episode besides the beginning. After Squidward becomey very annoyed by the two, therefore kinda getting his comeuppance, he decides to help them become friends again. This is possibly the part where the epoisode becomes absolutely genius. Because of what we have previously seen, we do perfectly understand why this is an important thing for both of them, so we can really connect to the episode in an emotional way. But what Squidward does is what makes it very EXCELLENT. On the one hand, he actually becomes very helpful and decides to help SpongeBob and Patrick, which shows that even though he is very unlikeable, he still has a heart and some good traits and he is not just a giant jerk whose only purpose is to make fun of the two in every way imaginable. But on the other hand, you can also argue that he is only doing that because he wants the two away from him as much as possible, so it still fits into his main character and doesn't feel to kind and too out of character for him, so the scene in the end where his back becomes hurt again still does not feel like it is torturing him for no reason, because even though he became more helpful, he still didn't really do it for them, but only for himself. And the scenes when they do become friends again are actually very funny with the whole "Hey, Squidward!" gag, which really works because of how much it goes on but still not overstaying its welcome and very emotional at the same time, allowing us to sympathise with basically all three characters and connecting to the episode so well. But that's the whole episode in general. It is very funny with a lot of great gags, has an excellent structure which ties everything so organically, has some extremel great characetrization and becomes very emotional when it needs to but doesn't forget about the show it is in. Admittedly, while this episode is funny, it is a bit lighter in the humor department, and I wasn't a fan of some things, like them burping up the bubbles which just felt very gross to me, so this is not a perfect episode or even a semi-perfect one, but this is still an absolutely fantastic episode, and very close to the levels of something like Ripped Pants or Help Wanted. Because those episodes were considerably funnier, they are still better than this, but this is still an episode which deserves as much praise as it can get.
Rating: Fantastic (18/20)
Boating School[]
Hmm, something about that first word in the title is oddly familiar. Like, I don't know why, but something makes me feel that there is another episode which had a title with the same first word. Oh well, nevermind. Must have been a fanfiction or something.
So this episode is.... pretty alright. Now don't get me wrong here, this is not a bad episode by any means and it is not even close to that, but if we pretend that Jellyfishing never existed, this is easily the weakest episode I have reviewed so far. And this is basically thanks to one thing: the pacing. The pacing in this episode does not feel like it belongs to this season at all. Before I started to review this season in detail like this, I thought that the pacing of the episodes was weaker than in the episodes of the other seasons thanks to this season really feeling like it has to find its footing. But as I actually started reviewing episodes, I realised that the pacing in them is actually very good and even somewhat fascinating. But the pacing of this episode is what I exactly thought the pacing of most Season 1 episodes is before I started reviewing it. EVERTYHING IN THIS EPISODE FREAKING DRAGS ON FOREVER. I would really want to praise the beginning for introducing Mrs. Puff very well but not having way too much filler in it, so we can focus on the ther stuff, too. BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE IT IS FILLER. At first, it really seems like that this episode will work just as well as the others. It does a very great job at showing that SpongeBob is not a very good driver because he can get very stressed sometimes, and demonstrating Mrs. Puff's whole character and how she reacts to that. But then, it just starts to go on and on without stopping, and it becomes very annoying after a while. They clearly established their goals and what they are like in these whole driving scenarios very well in the beginning, we don't need this to go on and on forever. But that is not even the biggest problem of the episode. The biggest problem is when SpongeBob arrives home and decides what to do. Now, I understand what they tried to do there. They tried to show why he is so down because of the boating test and what he has to do to pass it. But those scenes just drag on for so long and I could have been fine with them if they cut out some of the parts there. But because they didn't, I just couldn't wait those scenes to be over, and that was not a good sign at all. This episode also feels a lot weaker in terms of jokes than any of the previous ones. It does have some funny gags like the "My leg!" gag, which is literally introduced in this episode or the "Floor it!" part, which is just very great for the reactions of the characetrs. But as a whole, this episode feels less funny than anything we have seen before, even episodes like Reef Blower and Jellyfishing, and I am a bit bothered by that personally because how much more it could have been.
What really saves this episode however, is two things: the scenes when SpongeBob has the antenna under his hat and the characterizations. During the actual scenes when SpongeBob decides to actually pass the test, the episode actually starts to have very good pacing and it starts to be very clever. It is really great how it shows that he couldn't do it alone even in the final test, but thanks to Patrick's help, he actually can. I just love how it still shows SpongeBob as someone who is afraid of the driving test and not cocky because he knows that he will pass by that. But as the episode progresses, it actually does shoe SpongeBob being successful at what he is doing, and it just really works. It is actually one of the rare examples when the storytelling actually does work with a monage because it is not trying to tell a more complicated story like Dying for Pie or Squidville, so one little montage does not feel like it undercuts the whole episode, and it even helps the episode itself because it perfectly shows how much SpongeBob is succeeding and how he and Mrs. Puff feel about that. The time of the montage is also perfect, not wasting any sort of valuable time on it but not being rushed, either, wo I can see that the episode corrected its most major mistake with the whole dragging out parts. But when the scene where he realises he is cheating occurs, the episode becomes flatout genius. It happens kinda out of nowhere, yes, but it is still something that the episode did somewhat built up before, and as a very clever twist, which still fits into the previous events, it works perfectly. It also does an outstanding job at showing that even though SpongeBob and Patrick did cheat, they still feel remorse for their actions, so they are not out of character in the slightest. And this is where we arrive to my second point: the characterization. The characterization of all of the characters works so well. I already said in the beginning that Mrs. Puff's introduction really worked here. The episode perfectly managed to show who she is and what her relationship with SpongeBob is like. But that is only her character. The characters of SpongeBob and Patrick are just as, if not even more amazing. Their personalities get expanded amazingly, and it is such a blast to see. In this episode, we truly see that despite his fun loving and innocent nature, SpongeBob can still be very stressed sometimes and he can still do things which go a little too far just to achieve his goal. Patrick is similar, he is actually a lot smarter in this episode than before, but because they actually do manage to connect that into his main personality and they do also show him and his ususl self, just like SpongeBob, his characterization works splendidly. And this is what saves this whole episode. While the pacing and the humor are indeed weaker, some really smar writing, some great characterization and a very good way of introducing a new character still makes this episode good. The weakest good episode so far, but still good nonetheless.
Rating: Good (14/20)