Growth Spout:
Pearl is dealing with incessant growing pains, which makes her extremely hungry. But no matter how much food Mr. Krabs "gets" her, nothing seems to help.
This was an enjoyable segment. Mr. Krabs's cheapness showing through is to be expected, but I like how genuinely worried he is about his daughter's health. I like the scene where Mrs. Puff defends herself after he tries to steal what he thinks are peanuts but are actually... birdlike animals? I have no idea what they're supposed to be.
The lie that he tells the cops once they suspect he's up to something is hilarious. Cop scenes in this show can be very annoying, but this is one of the few times where the cops make me laugh. Of course he's Santa Claus, he's carrying a big sack around after all.
Krabs even steals from Squidward's house, who turns out to have some really fancy food. And when that's not enough, he also steals from SpongeBob. I find it adorable that instead of acknowledging he broke into his house he thinks his boss invited himself to a slumber party. Squidward calling the police results in a pretty funny punchline as well, with Mr. Krabs giving one of his gold teeth as a trade. The characters even call out how weird it is that he had a gold tooth all of a sudden.
SpongeBob finds a solution to Pearl's eating problem when he says he can make a Krabby Patty with a secret ingredient that cures her completely. What's the ingredient though, you ask? It's love. The fact that the explanation is so nonsensical followed by the awkward reaction really cracks me up.
There were some surreal visual gags I liked too, such as an uneaten cracker going "What am I, chopped liver?" only for a jar of chopped liver to reply "No, I am." Not to mention Squidward's house saying "Oh well, I needed to lose some weight anyway." Given this is not the first time it's had a life of its own I'm convinced there's something strange going on with his house.
Pearl's characterization is admittedly one-note, but since she was never one of my favorites I didn't see this as a major issue.
Stuck In The Wringer:
SpongeBob gets stuck in the wringer and has a most unlucky day.
This much-despised story is the reason this episode has such a low rating. And I can easily see why. But even though it's plagued with issues I actually believe it had potential.
The jokes in the first half are actually not too bad. Patrick giving a patriotic speech with a large Krabby Patty flag appearing in the background is amusing. I chuckled at The Krusty Krab customer getting hurt first in his foot, then back and face. My favorite gag though is a kid nonchalantly using SpongeBob as a bike rack.
Yet, even the first half still has a problem which makes the episode go downhill later on: Patrick making SpongeBob even more stuck with Forever Glue. He says he's stuck, so Pat helps him by... making him even more stuck? That's so dumb it doesn't even make sense.
The montage at the carnival with Patrick failing miserably to cheer his friend up wasn't entertaining either. You just feel bad for the guy not being able to do anything. Then of course there is the most infamous part of all: SpongeBob lashing out at Patrick for his carelessness, but getting the blame instead. It's clear we are supposed to feel sorry for *Patrick* despite the fact that this is all his fault. One of them says to SpongeBob he deserved to get stuck since he has no heart, which is total bullshi't. I really don't understand what they were thinking here.
Finally, we reach Patrick first ignoring SpongeBob but deciding to check on him anyway after he feels guilty. Despite the fact that the plot is a sad mess at this point I still thought SpongeBob staring at the TV static, then with a weak chuckle saying "I love that part." when it gets turned off was funny. The fake moral lesson once he gets freed is also so dumb it works. People take that part a little too seriously, in my opinion.
But instead of giving us a sigh of relief since SpongeBob's finally out of the wringer, they decide to get him stuck AGAIN with Patrick joining him this time. Then he asks if he should get the glue. So he's not only dumb, but he has the memory of a goldfish too?
It seems like this one was trying to go for frustration humor, but there's a difference between frustrating in a silly, comedic way and frustrating to the point where you annoy the audience. And the emotional conflict it attempts is a failure since it sides with the wrong character.
In general, I don't consider Stuck In The Wringer bottom 10 material, but I can see why someone would. Its worst moments are probably enough for most to call the whole affair a disaster. Growth Spout however is solid and does well with a simple premise, so just stick with that one.
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