Ranking Pre Movie SpongeBob Part Two

Ranking Pre Movie SpongeBob (Part Two)

79. Culture Shock (8/10)

This is the first episode to be fully set at the Krusty Krab and it's all about setting up a talent show, with Squidward serving as host (and performer). As it's an early episode, the plot revolves around the Krusty Krab financially struggling to keep customers coming to the restaurant. You'll see a bunch of supporting characters in this one, including the second appearance of Plankton and SpongeBob's parents. Though, Sandy literally came out of nowhere in that one scene where she is impressed with Gary's meowing poetry (and she doesn't appear again afterwards). Patrick didn't show up much in this one either outside of a couple times and his only line was laughing at nepotism. The rest of the episode showcases a difference between SpongeBob and Squidward's talent. One showcases his talents through genuine love, while the other showcases his talents in an egotistical way, causing him to be booed off. While this was a good episode to watch, you can tell how much of a narcissist Squidward was throughout it. He seems more concerned about his dancing skills than to watch other people's talents. Fortunately, SpongeBob saved the day by mopping the floor.

78. As Seen on TV (8/10)

The episode starts off rather slow if I'm being honest. The one thing I do like is that Krabs still owns a pet worm (which last appeared on Sandy's Rocket), but we don't see it again after this episode. The episode starts to pick up during the commercial which is as cheesy as you can get with Squidward and Pearl doing acting roles, in which SpongeBob made a big fuss about all because he made a brief appearance twice. Then an old man went up to him and said "he saw him on a commercial" despite the fact that it was a commercial for a cereal brand. Due to this, it causes SpongeBob to let fame get to his head. It's a rather entertaining episode as you get SpongeBob focusing on show business as opposed to being a fry cook. The striped sweater song is easily the highlight of it, since he is doing this while not helping the customers' hunger whatsoever. The episode ends on a satisfying note where he realizes his true calling isn't entertaining the customers, but rather feeding them.

77. I’m Your Biggest Fanatic (8/10)

Many fans assumed the episode was set during the events of I Was a Teenage Gary because SpongeBob and Patrick were getting ready to go to a jellyfishing convention. As for the plot itself, being a big fan of someone is a good thing, but as this episode proves it, looking up to a celebrity doesn't mean much if he or she is a major jerk. Kevin falls under that category and of course, he has a stereotypical bully name. Lots of cartoon characters with that name are assholes for some reason. But what made this episode work is that SpongeBob is very unaware of his actions until the very end and the anchovies stopped being on Kevin's side once SpongeBob saved the day. All of his attempts to impress Kevin were cool to watch as it means repeatedly harming the sea cucumber. But despite his small role, all of Patrick's scenes were just one of the biggest highlights because he just doesn't care about the rules and resorts to touching everything he sees. And although he's right about "hero worship", he spent the whole day obsessing a person in a jellyfish customer.

76. Pressure (8/10)

All of Sandy's appearances during this season so far have a couple things: either some sort of winter arc or being the butt of the jokes. Pressure falls under the latter where it continues the racist aspects of Squirrel Jokes, except it's a competition between land and sea creatures. It handled this prejudice story slightly worse as the sea creatures (SpongeBob and gang) were being a bit too snobby towards Sandy. I don't think they ever apologized for almost making her drown to prove a point. Other than that, it's a fun story, although some viewers will also take notice this land vs sea creatures competition can also equal to another cliched "boys vs girls" trope that a lot of the old cartoons did. (But it was never addressed in the actual episode, so that's a plus) The biggest highlight of the episode is the final few minutes where they all go to land for real. And the SpongeBob crew members will try to remind you that because every single on land sequences will always be done in live action.

75. Bubblestand (8/10)

This is considered the official premiere of the show, and if you don’t count Help Wanted as the first episode, it’s a pretty good start. It established the three main characters very well. SpongeBob is a cheerful sponge who loves to blow bubbles. Patrick is a lovable goofy guy who lives in a rock. And Squidward is the grumpy neighbor who plays a clarinet. As you can see, it’s a very peaceful episode where there’s moments of silence. It’s the definite season 1 episode as no other episode feels this calm. Even though there are a few loud scenes, they can feel odd considering its chill vibes. The only reason this isn’t a perfect episode because like with most season 1 episode, the pacing can feel a little off, but as I mentioned, I go easy on it because of its calm tone. Its plot is as simple as it go and it’s the perfect introduction to SpongeBob outside of the first episode.

74. Hooky (8/10)

The second to last episode of season 1, I was actually enjoying it a lot until the very end. So in this episode, the hooks have invaded Bikini Bottom and Mr Krabs is warning everyone about them but they don’t believe him. He tells SpongeBob a tale about how the hooks came to be and it comes with a consequence. Patrick thinks it’s a carnival. Even though it’s one of the final episodes of the season, you can slowly see Patrick devolving from a goofy starfish to an oblivious starfish who is unaware of the situation. But it works here because he tried to convince SpongeBob to have fun while he slacks off, and in the end, he got what deserved. So does the sponge himself, but personally, I always feel like his punishment was too much for me to handle. Trying to reduce him to a naked mess especially in front of Pearl and her friends feels wrong. And it turns out Squidward can make a good fisherman as he tricked SpongeBob into getting stuck with a hook. All in all, pretty good episode ruined by a mean spirited ending that takes karma too far.

73. Doing Time (8/10)

Mrs. Puff gets her own episode, and while I enjoyed it a lot for giving her more personality besides being the boating school teacher, it can be rather confusing. (No Free Rides did it better without making it one big dream sequence.) After yet another crazy attempt of getting his driving license, SpongeBob accidentally spills all the fruit punch at a retirement house and it led to Mrs. Puff getting arrested. We all know in almost all the boating school during the first 9 seasons, this is going to be a running gag, but here it’s being explored as a full episode as Mrs. Puff actually enjoys being stuck in jail as it’s just as an excuse for her to enjoy not being around SpongeBob. I find myself liking SpongeBob and Patrick’s parts more as it gave us more classic moments especially the bank robbing scene, the rock disguises, and Patrick liking chili. And there’s a character in this episode named Donna and its easy to guess her sexual orientation due to having a deep voice. The biggest downfall of the episode is how it ended. It’s so confusing, you don’t know whether the whole event of the episode is real or not. There’s a dream within a dream. Yeah, the All Just a Dream trope can affect an episode’s quality a bit.

72. My Pretty Seahorse (8/10)

It's springtime at Bikini Bottom and SpongeBob waters his flowers until he finds out that a seahorse (he named her Mystery) keeps eating them. They have fun together, but things go south when Mystery keeps eating things. So Mr. Krabs tells a story of how he let go of something precious (which was his money) and convinces SpongeBob to let go of Mystery. All is well until she ate Krabs' money. Another good season 3 episode and it revolves around SpongeBob getting a new animal as a buddy. Plenty of humorous moments and most of them of course came from Patrick, who didn't show up that much (like putting his sweater away under the sand, simply walking away from SpongeBob after being called a stupid animal, and that final scene). Oh, and a scene where Scooter and Squidward both get their butts kicked by Mystery for no reason. But my personal favorite joke has to be the running gag where someone gets teary eyed and there's onions in front of them. On a behind the scenes note, this is the first animated episode written by Kent Osborne and he's off to a good start before he move on to work on different shows over the years.

71. Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm (8/10)

The season 2 finale focused on Sandy's toughness and it ends on a pretty good note for her character arc after a season of being used as mockery and hibernation. A giant worm is eating everything at Bikini Bottom and only Sandy can stop it while Patrick suggests pushing Bikini Bottom somewhere else. SpongeBob spends the whole episode being a little annoying since he’s constantly worrying about Sandy potentially being in danger and this time he become a gloating guy when it turns out he was right. I do like that chase scene as it showcased SpongeBob and Sandy finally working together after constant arguments. Also, I forgot to point this out, but the CGI in that scene looks very amateurish that it looks like it came out a PS2 game. As abrupt as that ending was, it was kinda funny to see the worm landing on the Bikini Bottomites and he simply let out an “ouch” sound.

70. Hall Monitor (8/10)

The second episode that has to do with boating School in some capacity (SpongeBob serving as Hall monitor from Mrs. Puff's school). However, he takes too much advantage of his duty and turns the downtown area into a mess. It’s a funny episode where Patrick once again consume most of its comedic moments. Every thing he does in this episode is just a riot, especially screaming at the wanted maniac post. There’s a really perfect visual gag where the sky literally turns dark. It could’ve been a bit higher but there’s one major flaw: SpongeBob’s actions of turning the downtown into a mess is good and all, but eventually as the episode went on, he becomes oblivious to what damage he has caused. And the episode ends pretty much what you expect: Mrs Puff in jail, her first time in the series and it’s pretty much going to be a recurring joke.

69. Prehibernation Week (8/10)

The very first episode of season 2 to primarily focused on Sandy, it kickstarted her little story arc where she plans to do these extreme sports before she go on a deep slumber for the winter (subtle foreshadowing for her next big role). SpongeBob is reluctant to do them because he thinks they're dangerous, yet Sandy keeps pushing him to get involved and he repeatedly gets hurt. All of this bothers him so much that he decided to hide from her and it causes Sandy to lose her mind and destroy downtown Bikini Bottom after a failed attempt to "find" SpongeBob. Despite all the torture Sponge went through, this was a pretty good installment for him and Sandy. SpongeBob has every right to avoid doing extreme sports after what Sandy put him through. But at the same time, the search party is my favorite scene as it showcases the cluelessness and apathy of the Bikini Bottomites. After spending at Patrick's rock for a little while, Squidward decided to be a snitch and let SpongeBob on the loose, reuniting with Sandy. It ends on a good note for her as hibernation just started.

68. Karate Choppers (8/10)

SpongeBob and Sandy were already established karate choppers during their first meeting. About 20 episodes later, there would be an episode where they engage in karate. This would get in the way of SpongeBob’s job and Mr. Krabs would threatened to terminate him if he continues to do it. It happened anyways due to Sandy interfering and SpongeBob being the workaholic he is, doesn’t take it very well. Mr. Krabs keeps promising to him to stop doing karate, but then he finds out they are still doing it at the gym and this gives him an idea. The episode ends with Sandy actually getting a job at the Krusty Krab where she and SpongeBob are using their karate skills to make the Krabby Patty. Cue to a funny one liner from Squidward where he hates everybody. People will mention that this episode is one big metaphor to sex because of SpongeBob and Sandy taking their obsession of karate to a whole new level. (Of course it's a kids show, but it's pretty much played out like an addiction) It's full of really funny moments, but it can feel a bit repetitive in the beginning with how it's played out. Also, it seems like SpongeBob and Sandy were equally good at karate, but afterwards, Sandy had the advantage due to being physically stronger. The show won't have another karate themed episode until another three seasons.

67. New Student Starfish (8/10)

SpongeBob invites Patrick to the boating school so Patrick won't feel left out. But it turns out being a classmate is more than what SpongeBob wished for. After messing around at class, Patrick drew a picture of Mrs. Puff and she pinned the blame on SpongeBob, causing her to remove a star noodle. After an argument in the locker room, they are forced to have detention after the end of the class. When they see the egg is frozen, they saved the day. Very good episode, and it provided plenty of quotable moments, especially the “funnier than 24” line. And of course, it is yet another feud episode between SpongeBob and Patrick, something that happens almost every season. Here, it was handled decently and after spending in dentition hating each other, they set their difference aside and become friends again. On another note, this won’t be the last time Patrick has some involvement with the boating school, and it will also tear apart his friendship with SpongeBob.

66. Squid’s Day Off (8/10)

As the second episode of season 2, it still had some growing pains for the crew to get used to the then new art style. The episode is about Squidward getting put in charge of the Krusty Krab after Mr. Krabs gets injured. However, Squidward being Squidward decided to give the duties to SpongeBob to do some errands (which is being lazy) and he slowly goes crazy when he thinks SpongeBob might mess up as a boss. It's a pretty good episode with some fine comedic moments. Squidward is portrayed as this paranoid person who fears SpongeBob will screw up being in charge of the Krusty Krab and while it's mostly played for laughs, they execute it perfectly. Every passing visit leads to Squid losing his mind until he believes Sponge's behind on everything (including a toilet and a pair of corals that sounds like his laugh). He goes crazy and while he convinces SpongeBob he is done with his errands, SpongeBob points out to Squidward the whole episode could've been avoided if they forgot to close the Krusty Krab. Given it was Sunday where no one was there, the writers will try to make this consistent where it functions like Chik-fil-a: closed for no reason other than maybe religious reasons. My personal favorite moment is where Squidward imagines SpongeBob and Patrick as bigger idiots than they already are.

65. Tea at the Treedome (8/10)

Three segments in, and the show decided to introduced a main character who comes from Texas and is a squirrel who is obsessed with karate and science. The writers did a great job introducing a character who be part of the main character and they established her personality perfectly: beating up a clam. That character’s name is Sandy Cheeks, the first female character on the show to appear on the show. Season 1 went heavy with having SpongeBob and Sandy’s interactions and it made some of the fans ship them. This episode makes it very obvious that SpongeBob wanted to impress Sandy due to their different lifestyles. But after taking advices from Patrick, he soon finds out that breathing air is harder than it looks: Sandy lives in a dome with a big tree and it functions like you’re out of water, which gave SpongeBob so much trouble. While there are some good moments out of it (like “I NEEEEEED IT!”, it can be a little hard to watch SpongeBob slowly dehydrate over time and it didn’t took until the very last scene for Sandy to notice this big problem for her visitors: a water helmet is the solution if they want to keep visiting her.

64. Jellyfish Jam (8/10)

For a season 1 episode, it doesn’t really feel atmospheric, but rather it’s an episode that is heavy on sound. And the main plot point is the jellyfish loves jamming out to music that sounds an awful lot like Get Ready For This, which came out a few years earlier at this came out. SpongeBob invited one jellyfish to his house to dance to rave music, but it turns out that jellyfish is too attached to the music so literally overnight, it attracted more jellyfish to crash in at SpongeBob’s house. According to Squidward, the rave has been going on for 18 hours. He tried to balance out the noise by playing clarinet. So in Bubblestand, he actually played it very well, but it was this episode that established Squidward being a mediocre clarinet player (that Plankton already pointed out in his debut episode). And since then, it’s a running gag that every time this happens, the characters will cringe in fear at the sound of the instrument. The show don’t have continuity but his clarinet got broken during the house rave party but the next time we see it, it will be repaired. The episode ends with some of the most interesting visuals and music up to that point. I forgot to point out that this is the first time in the show to use CGI animation (SpongeBob’s pineapple bouncing + that and a brief shot at the end of the song animated digitally).

63. The Secret Box (8/10)

Another episode with a limited location and set of characters. SpongeBob and Patrick are the only ones to speak to each other (outside of one scene with Gary, who somehow learns how to say other words besides meow). The entire episode is all about SpongeBob’s desperate attempts of knowing what’s inside Patrick’s secret box. The dialogue mostly consisted of conversations between SpongeBob and Patrick and how they keep their secrets. It can be a bit boring at times (especially the scene where SpongeBob tries to not make so much noise at Patrick’s rock, and yet it didn’t wake him up but him speaking did). Patrick was this close to calling off their friendship over a box, but in the end, what was inside it was just a piece of string. Little did SpongeBob know, it was actually an embarrassing picture of him at the Christmas party. And don't forget about the best moment: Squidward's Easter Island house is alive, something that will be a recurring gag in the show.

62. Rock-a-Bye Bivalve (8/10)

This is the episode that made headlines for the wrong reasons: SpongeBob and Patrick raised a baby clam together, and the always sensitive conservative parents assumed they were raising it like the normal gay parents. The writers did a great job not trying to be subtle about it, yet it didn't stop the moral guardians from making a big fuss. What this episode succeeded at is how its plot showcased the differences of SpongeBob and Patrick raising the baby clam whose name is Junior. SpongeBob is portrayed as the mother who is the babysitter and functions like a traditional housewife, while Patrick is your typical bumbling father who is lazy and useless. Patrick's way of work is just him watching TV and the twist surrounding that his workplace was just being neglectful was funny. This of course leads to the two of them fighting like a married couple until they find out that Junior has been learning to fly this time, making their parenting a success (sort of). Very entertaining episode, it's a great way to scare all those sensitive Christians if they want to see the best representation of same sex couples in animation.

61. Scaredy Pants (8/10)

It's a Halloween episode and the plot is all about SpongeBob being repeatedly called a scaredy pants because he’s easily scared of everything. So he decided to out scare everyone by dressing up as a ghost (better known as The Flying Dutchman, in which almost everyone in town wants to dress up as him), but nothing seems to work until the very end. Very good Halloween episode that is also the first holiday themed episode. As you can tell, this episode only airs during October. It showcased SpongeBob’s tendency to get scared very easily and they executed perfectly on the idea as he tried to get his revenge by being a ghost. People will say the Bikini Bottom residents are being jerks for their actions but let’s be honest, they have always been horrible towards SpongeBob even during the classic seasons. They just rarely get punished but here they actually do and it’s not as frequent as it would become in later episodes. Besides its scary theme, it’s notable for the first physical appearance of the Flying Dutchman, who is of course voiced by a man who celebrates his birthday every Halloween and his ghastly sounding voice sure fits the casting. He’s the highlight of the episode, who show up in town because he was getting tired of being mocked by everyone who decided to dress up as him. In the end, it was SpongeBob that end up being the scary one.

60. The Smoking Peanut (8/10)

One day at the zoo, SpongeBob and Patrick were trying to take a picture of a clam (whose name is a SeaWorld reference), but after throwing a peanut to her, she has a rampage. Honestly, while it starts off a bit slow (and even Patrick acknowledges the slow beginning as he wanted some entertainment), the rest of the episode is really exciting. At first, the plot wants the viewers believe that SpongeBob and Patrick were criminals and are somehow responsible for everything they went wrong at the zoo. While the police did end up arresting Patrick (which he takes no part of this as the peanut incident was SpongeBob’s doing), SpongeBob spent most of the episode being worried about this crime. It played out like a mystery and the writers’ execution on it was just outstanding. By the final scene, it seems to be the biggest culprit for the event of the episode was Mr. Krabs being greedy. At that point in the series’ run, it was clear that he’s not the nice father figure he was known for in the first season, so be expecting more antagonistic roles and he does get his just desserts for his actions.

59. Pranks a Lot (8/10)

Ah yes, the very last episode ever of the original run. It focused on SpongeBob and Patrick trying to find an item to fool everyone in Bikini Bottom. After rejecting a few of them, they found the perfect item: an invisible spray. However, the clerk warned them about the fact that it strains clothes, so in order to play with it, they must be completely naked. During a fight, they accidentally made their clothes disappear, so they accidentally get caught being mocked by the residents. This gives SpongeBob an idea: being invisible means they can become ghosts and scare the whole city. They succeeded but they only need Mr. Krabs left to scare. They almost outsmart until they stopped being ghosts (the water turned them visible again). After explaining what happened, Mr. Krabs has no hard feelings with the duo until the episode ends with them being publicly humiliated. What a hell of a way to end the show, am I right? Good episode, but I’m sure glad that wasn’t the final episode of the actual series. SpongeBob and Patrick got their punishment, but it doesn’t scream series finale to anyone. Even SpongeBob getting promoted to assistant manager is more a finale feel than this. It’s very funny (although not as funny as its sister episode), don’t get me wrong, but it would be sad if the show ended this way. On another note, I did like that subtle Ghostbusters reference in one scene. Also I noticed that due to Sandy’s reduced screentime in season 3, this is the only time we see her treedome during the season.

58. Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy (8/10)

SpongeBob and Patrick are dressed up as their favorite superheroes and want to meet them, but they find out they’re retired as they currently live in a retirement home. They find never ways to come out of retirement but to no avail. It’s not until painting their invisible boat that caused them to fight back after being pushed to the limit. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy can still fight at their age but it seems like their only allies are their fellow senior citizens. What can I say? While it’s not their best episode as there’s a few episodes that are clearly better, it’s a good introduction to two superhero characters voiced by two recurring guest stars who always delivered funny line reads. They are sadly no longer with us, but the episode at the time stood out as it served as a reunion of their 60s navy comedy. Due to early installment weirdness (or most likely because this was their first encounter with each other), MM & BB are noticeably rude to Sponge and Pat as opposed to their next appearances. While MM has a fear of evil which still pops up in later episodes, he’s just as rude to the duo as Barnacle Boy is normally is (and even after this episode, BB still has his grumpy sidekick personality). Both of them can’t stand the two of them so much that coming out of retirement was the only way to get rid of them. At the end, they are back saving the day and they get a new series as well. Which have me thinking: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy basically lives in a reality show.

57. Boating School (8/10)

Another early episode where it introduced another important character. But it was a character who existence only to be because of meddling executives. SpongeBob is supposed to be an adult, but at the network’s request, in order for the target audience to see him as this childish adult character, they have send him to boating school run by a pufferfish simply named Mrs. Puff. The episode established that SpongeBob is a horrible driver and he has failed the test 38 times. Her first line established her character perfectly: she finds SpongeBob unpleasant and as the show goes on, his very existence is enough to traumatize her. I always consider her the female Squidward because they both don’t like him. For this episode only, Patrick is smarter than usual who helps SpongeBob conquers his fear of failing the boating test. But things start to go south when Mrs. Puff finds out SpongeBob is cheating from Patrick. I don’t mind these boating school episodes but you can tell how most of them are going to end. SpongeBob getting over his fear of driving and then something affects the plot that getting a drivers license is pretty much pointless. And Mrs Puff goes to jail (in this episode’s case, she went to the hospital).

56. Rock Bottom (8/10)

One day in Glove World, SpongeBob and Patrick take a bus. But they did not realize they were leaving Bikini Bottom. They got themselves in a pickle as they arrived down to a dark place called Rock Bottom. Patrick somehow found a way to go home while SpongeBob is stuck trying to find a bus. However, he keeps failing. Lots of viewers will call this a frustrating episode because of how many times SpongeBob has missed the bus. I got a theory why this episode happened: in the beginning, he repeatedly hit the bus driver with the glove balloon and he actually he didn’t paid for the ride. Because of that, the bus driver purposely tried to avoid SpongeBob as much as possible. It can get repetitive seeing him to miss the bus, but it’s a relatable experience for those who have missed a bus before. As this is season 1, it’s more focused on the struggles of trying to home as opposed to being a funny episode. I do like the touch of Rock Bottomites being only to communicate by blowing a raspberry in their sentence. After many failed attempts (including trying to consult the guy in charge of the bus station), SpongeBob finally got home by his own balloon after an angler fish tied the thing after finding it (when he shows up earlier in the episode, I always thought he stole it). What made the ending stand out from the rest of the show is that it actually ended with a bubble transition (and Patrick still hasn’t gotten off the bus yet).

55. Squirrel Jokes (8/10)

It’s comedy night at the Krusty Krab, and Mr. Krabs introduced a well known comedian and have the audience throw pies at him. SpongeBob, the respected fry cook, signed up to start off his comedy career. He has no standup experience, so he starts off on an awkward note. Cue crickets from the audience until he starts to joke about Sandy (specifically her species). This wins over the crowd that the next night, he tries doing other type of jokes after a serious talk from Sandy that they want to hear more offensive jokes. Sandy is rightfully offended and throughout the episode, she is harassed for being a squirrel. So she decides to get back at SpongeBob by being a dumb hillbilly. This is an interesting episode to discuss because it’s revolved around racism. SpongeBob wasn’t trying to offend his land squirrel friend, but the audience think otherwise who turned her into a laughingstock in town. The show always does a job at tackling serious topics that they still feel relevant over 20 years later. I’ll be honest with you, I’d rather listen to SpongeBob’s standup comedy than whatever the hell MAGA’s attempts at telling jokes. It’s rooted in bigotry, but it’s not as painfully unfunny as pronoun jokes. The ending had a good moral that it’s okay to laugh at everyone as long as you’re not being too offensive. The episode ends as SpongeBob tried joking about Patrick…

54. Missing Identity (8/10)

This episode’s plot is told through flashbacks. One stormy night at the diner, SpongeBob recalls how he lost his name tag. He didn’t noticed his missing tag until someone points it out to him and for a few times he (and Patrick) had a panic attack. The whole episode is basically SpongeBob trying to retract his steps on where he lost it. Patrick doesn’t help much but laugh at SpongeBob’s pain, but in the end he was the one that found the name tag. So, this is a flashback episode that has a high replay value. The name tag is a plot device that only exists for this episode (no other episode has acknowledged the Krusty Krab employees wearing one), but it’s very easy to know when SpongeBob lost it. I don’t have a good eye contact, but as he points it out, his shirt was backwards the whole time which means he prepared his day in a clumsy manner. It’s very complicated, but it still made by being a well written episode with plenty of funny sequences. Personally the highlight had to be SpongeBob trying out snail food and he got disgusted at it. The way the episode ends is hilarious - the woman at the diner isn’t named Betty (it’s the name of another woman who left her tag).

53. Your Shoe's Untied (8/10)

Patrick shows SpongeBob his new shoes even though he only uses them for his hands. SpongeBob tries to teach him how to tie shoes, but he doesn’t learn how. Throughout the episode, SpongeBob takes desperate measure on how to tie a shoe from the town but all of them are either shoeless or simply useless. The Flying Dutchman shows up and he showcase SpongeBob the wonders of laces, but even after all that, he’s just a ghost that doesn’t have legs. In the end, it’s Gary that solved the problems. It’s the start of season 2, and you can tell the animators at Rough Draft and Burbank were trying to adjust to the newly digitally animated style after only one season in cels. Even the backgrounds feel a bit off and there’s a couple frames where the characters are too off-model (like Squidward looking at the grill). Early season 2 was just the growing pains as they still look very much season 1, but with brighter colors. They would adjusted to this very quickly as the season goes on. For the sake of this episode, they retconned SpongeBob’s skills of typing his shoes since he actually done it in Rock Bottom (which was a few episodes earlier). So I’ll try to make a huge confession: I’m on the same boat as SpongeBob in this episode - I am horrible at tying shoelaces, let alone making a knot in general. It’s very relatable for those struggles at making bunny ears and that’s why I stick with lace less shoes. I really liked that little cameo with Painty the Pirate (for one second you thought the theme song was about to play). The Flying Dutchman’s appearance is a bit random since he doesn’t really solve SpongeBob’s dilemma, but it’s a good scene regardless. It ends on a really great and educational note - it can teach viewers on to tie your shows. It’s performed by Ween, a band that Hillenburg admired (their song Ocean Man would be used in the first movie credits).

52. Employee of the Month (8/10)

A normal day at the Krusty Krab turned into a competition between the two only employees, who are both neighbors. After getting tricked by Krabs that Squidward might show up on the employee of the month wall, SpongeBob takes it personally and decides to outsmart Squidward so he can continue his streak. However, Squidward repeatedly tells SpongeBob that the award is just a scam and after being bothered by it, he decides to win one himself. It gets out of hand by the end of the episode as there’s no declared winner. Honestly, this is a fun episode, but I can’t help but noticed how out of character the SpongeBob and Squidward dynamics are. You rarely see the two act so competitive. It’s also unusual to see SpongeBob feel threatened and constantly angry at Squidward since he’s always joyful around him. Squidward is out of character by the sense that he actually gives a crap about his job. Of course, he never wins employee of the month because he’s a very apathetic cashier and doesn’t have the best customer service, but when SpongeBob keeps reminding him about his winning streak, that’s when he decides to take the award seriously. For the next few minutes, we are treated a bunch of Looney Tunes-esque gags where they outsmart each other. They call truce but then forget about it as they tried rushing down the Krusty Krab. The episode ends on a sour note since we all know that no one wins.

51. Pickles (9/10)

One day at the Krusty Krab, Bubble Bass made a very detailed order and tricked SpongeBob thinking he forgot about the pickles. This causes him to lose focus on making a Krabby Patty. Mr. Krabs let him have the day off from work in order to think again. However, the Krusty Krabs starts to suffer without SpongeBob’s presence as Squidward is not a good cook, so Mr. Krabs try to get SpongeBob back. This episode is story and character driven so the jokes take a backseat as you tried to feel sympathy for SpongeBob’s failure of delivering a simple order. Bubble Bass is introduced perfectly and the writers wanted to make him a recurring character by being SpongeBob’s rival, but sadly they never did much with the guy. He was barely in any episodes during the first 9 seasons until they decided to have him be a part of the supporting cast as of the 10th season. He’s a love to hate character and I don’t mind him, but you can tell during his first scene, all the writers could think of was how out of shape he was (and in his final moments where he run away, clearly wheezing). This is one of Mr. Krabs’ best roles as he’s portrayed as the father figure who tried helping SpongeBob get his mojo back. The episode starts off fine, but as soon as he tried to get SpongeBob focused again, these final few minutes feel like an actual western showdown where SpongeBob try to make sure he deliver the order correctly. And the plot twist was executed perfectly as it’s turned out Bubble Bass was just a big fat troll who was messing with SpongeBob and hid so many things. The episode ends with Squidward getting booed because he’s both rude to customers and is a terrible fry cook.

50. Suds (9/10)

After leaving the fridge open all night, SpongeBob gets a case of the cold (or in this case, the suds). After calling Sandy, Patrick tries to warn him about the doctor and try to be a doctor to fix the problem himself. But he keeps making things worse and SpongeBob have become a ball. Sandy found out about what Patrick been doing and decided to take SpongeBob to the doctor, but they both fought over him. One treatment at the doctor and SpongeBob's back to normal. Patrick decided to get himself one, but apparently it's different. Not season 1's finest, but it's very memorable mostly for the fact that Patrick faked being a doctor. His attempts to fix SpongeBob after coming up with a conspiracy theory about the doctor is just funny. This is one of the first time Sandy interacted with Patrick and you can tell Sandy doesn't have the patience to deal with his stupidity. So when you see them interact with each other, that will be their chemistry. The ending is worth it for giving SpongeBob a happy ending and Patrick some karma for making SpongeBob's health worse.

49. I Had an Accident (9/10)

SpongeBob breaks his behind during a ski trip at Sand Mountain so the doctor orders him to stay at him house at all. But Patrick and Sandy want SpongeBob to go outside for a change, and their attempts to convince him keep failing until something crazy happens in the last few minutes. This does actually make SpongeBob go outside but he gets caught into the action. It's what you expect for a late pre-movie episode - it's on drugs. It had a very wacky premise and the longer it went on, the crazier it got. As I mentioned in the Suds section, Sandy doesn't get along with Patrick as much as SpongeBob and she spent most of the episode dealing with Patrick's stupidity (in one scene, she simply punched him). All of their attempts to try to get SpongeBob to go outside were funny. In fact, it didn't take until something was wrong with the second Patrick with the gorilla suit for him to notice what was wrong. This is where the episode got more bizarre and they decided to end on the most random note ever with the a family watching the whole thing and they just turned it off. Worth noting that Squidward appears in this episode, but they were all brief cameos (most of them are just amusing).

48. Krab Borg (9/10)

SpongeBob watches a movie about robots and the next day he thinks Mr. Krabs is a robot. Squidward was convinced at first, but he believes every word SpongeBob said. After repeatedly stalling Krabs and describing all the “symptoms” of his robotic self, they try to interrogate him by breaking his properties. It's such a ridiculous plot, I can't help but enjoy it. The whole robot thing is just funny from beginning to end and it's very quotable. There was one scene where Squidward's father was mentioned and we certainly will see this character many years from now (but that's for another story). Squidward ends up believing every single word SpongeBob and this is one of those times where he is willing to team up with him just to hurt Krabs. This is one of their best teamups because of how much they believe in the whole robot thing and it took until the final couple minutes for Krabs to snap. The destruction of Krabs' properties does feel mean on paper, but it's worth it for how he reacts. However, the episode starts to lose its stream in the homestretch and it ends in an almost similar manner as Squid on Strike.

47. Band Geeks (9/10)

After a phone call from Squilliam, he asks Squidward to cover for his band. So Squidward invites the whole town and chaos ensues. After a failed attempt to get along for 4 days, they practiced hard so that they have a good performance at the Bubble Bowl (an obvious parody of the Super Bowl halftime show, and it even featured stock footage of an audience watching a college football game back in the 80s). For anyone reading this review, you may be wondering why one of the most beloved cartoon episodes of all time is not listed in my top 10 favorites. I think people overrate this episode too much. Don't get me wrong, I understand the hype. You have the whole town involved with the plot and it does make for the best episode ever. But it had its weak spots, like the day three scene (Plankton blowing the harmonica and that just dragged on). The scene where they badly played their instruments can be a little bit on the loud side for my liking. And while I get that the final scene is iconic, there's better scenes out there. But other than that, I do enjoy the episode a lot, it's just not my favorite of all time. Patrick, of course, provides some of the most quotable lines of the episode where he really thinks mayonnaise is an instrumental and he pushes Sandy's buttons by kicking her, which leads to an ass kicking. My favorite scene of the entire episode outside of those humorous moments is the one where SpongeBob has a realization of what the band has done after letting Squidward's hopes down and make a pep talk, which sets up the happy ending. You don't see that type of ending for Squidward very often, so cherish it as much as you can if you watch anything from the post-movie seasons.

46. Squidville (9/10)

After SpongeBob and Patrick destroyed Squidward’s home by messing around with the reef blower, Squidward decided it’s time to move out of the neighborhood, so he move in to a place where octopi are the only species residing. He enjoys living at Tentacle Acres at first until he realizes how repetitive his daily routine have gotten over the next few days so he tries to spice things up. He causes a ruckus at the town while angering his fellow octopi. It's a really fun episode that showcases how much Squidward need SpongeBob and Patrick in his life, no matter how much they drive him crazy. I like seeing the reef blower from the season 1 episode of the same name again (it even plays the same track during the second half of that episode), as it gave me S1 vibes. "I hate this channel" should be quoted more often if you see anyone puts a crappy channel on tv (like cable news networks). Tentacle Acres feels like a metaphor for a conservative city cause the guards are racist towards anyone who don't share a species with the residents and they have a tendency to start a riot if someone question their way of living. Squidward ends up being dissatisfied with the how the city is, so he ends up moving back to his original home. All this while he never noticed SpongeBob and Patrick being there.

45. Mid Life Crustacean (9/10)

Mr. Krabs is starting to feel old during his normal routine. So, SpongeBob and Patrick gives him a night out so he can feel young again. It doesn’t go well with Krabs and after some advice from Patrick, he accidentally sneak in at his own mom’s house. A night out went wrong as he’s grounded. Ah yes, here we are - the episode got unfairly banned. I wonder which scene caused someone to make a big fuss about it that it warranted a ban. Because if it was that panty scene, I didn't see what's so wrong about it other than the fact that it was accidental on Krabs' part. It's not like it encouraged children to be perverts and do the same thing. A shame it's gotten the Stark Raving Dad treatment cause the actual episode is full of great moments. It takes advantage of an aging character's arc and has him join his younger friends for the ride. It's just a bunch of nonsensical youthful adventures. The funniest part is SpongeBob and Patrick yelling so loud they woke Squidward up. And not let's forget Patrick riding on top of a fish. But "Can you feel it, Mr. Krabs" is such a classic scene. It's close to being flawless, but the episode kinda starts to lose its stream in the final act, and it just ends abruptly with Krabs being grounded.

44. Patty Hype (9/10)

During a period where the Krusty Krab is struggling to receive customers, SpongeBob has an idea. He suggests the Krusty Krab could serve Krabby Patties in different colors. However, Mr. Krabs and Squidward laughed at the idea, so SpongeBob decides to open his own restaurant. With the help of Patrick, they serve it to one customer and all of a sudden, it’s a success. When Mr. Krabs wants to see for himself, he takes over but angry customers come to bite him in the butt. Very good episode with such an interesting plot. So, this episode opens similarly to Culture Shock where the Krusty Krab are struggling to find customers. Instead of attracting a talent show, Mr. Krabs tried to attempt many ways of the Bikini Bottomites to notice his restaurants, but they all failed. And that's where SpongeBob's idea comes into play. The part where Krabs and Squidward mocked him making a colorful patty was on the mean side. They really thought SpongeBob making his own patty is a bad idea. He ends up proving them wrong by making profits out of them. Honestly, even if these patties didn't end any side effects, I would've loved to eat them. Maybe that's why the Burger King SpongeBob meal reminds me of a Pretty Patty because the bread is yellow. The whole thing Krabs taking over the Pretty Patties business feels sudden, but the ending makes it worth it as he gets his karma after exploiting the customers and after he mocked SpongeBob's idea. So when the writers know when Krabs goes too far, he will get what's coming for him.

43. Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy II (9/10)

SpongeBob wins a conch signal during a Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy themed contest. He use it to alert his favorite superhero, but he abuses the power that it gets taken away from him. To cheer him up, the duo send the day with SpongeBob. While they are trying to ditch SpongeBob, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy encounter their enemy the Dirty Bubble. I consider this installment of Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy an improvement over their first appearance. Mermaid Man is slightly more likable here, although Barnacle Boy is still portrayed as the grumpy sidekick who is annoyed with the guy that admires him. I feel like the comedy lands much better here than the first one (the contest getting SpongeBob's name wrong, all the ridiculous requests to help MM & BB, the Atomic Flounder, the Batman parody song sung in the style of Jingle Bells), and they set a percussor for the iconic second season. It's not perfect though - the climax is resolved a little too quickly and MM & BB did ditch SpongeBob during their time together because they were getting tired of him. Oh, and this is the last episode animated in cels. They sure ended the first season on a high note. If it ended with Hooky, it'd be too mean spirited to end it with that considering how the episode ended.

42. Opposite Day (9/10)

After a fake happy birthday surprise, Squidward is fed up with SpongeBob and Patrick’s shenanigans, so it’s time for him to move out of the neighborhood. After a phone call with the realtor, Squidward declares its Opposite Day and tricks SpongeBob about it. SpongeBob and Patrick milks it for all their worth while the realtor comes in. But it ends up being too much for her once she sees there’s a bunch of people named “Squidward.” Opposite Day seems to be a very mixed episode. People either find it unfunny or they think it's one of the funniest episodes of the first season. I fall under the latter. Season 1's comedy isn't the strongest, but this episode is where it shined for the majority of the time. Almost every scene here lands - from the fake birthday surprise, the montage of doing the opposite, SpongeBob and Patrick imitating Squidward, and that realtor losing her minds over the many "Squidwards" (with a really great performance from Sirena Irwin). My only flaw is the whole scene of SpongeBob destroying his home. It felt a bit contrived and I noticed Squidward wasn't following the Opposite Day rules when he called SpongeBob the worst neighbor ever. And it's kinda hard to tell if he was really playing the charades if this was all an attempt to move out. The episode ends too quickly, but it's still amusing. I'd ranked this episode my 10th favorite episode of the season. It is that unfunny. Oops, I mean funny.

41. The Fry Cook Games (9/10)

It’s the 21st annual Fry Cook Games. After doubting SpongeBob’s fry cooking talents, Patrick signs up at the Chum Bucket to become one himself. And thus, we have another SpongeBob vs. Patrick episode on our hands. It makes for another classic episode, although it's not exactly perfect. The comedy is on point, but the writing could've been better in some spots. The feud between SpongeBob and Patrick came out of nowhere (as much as I find their arguments about their skin colors hilarious) and it only happens because Patrick hasn't seen much of SpongeBob's cooking to believe if he's worthy of competing in the games. I also think Patrick joining the Chum Bucket was so abrupt. Of course, it only took him 5 minutes to join, and was Plankton even at the restaurant when Patrick applied? And I felt like the episode could've easily been a half hour special, if you ask me. There was this montage before the wrestling stuff that only lasted a few seconds that the writers wished they could've done more to explore the other Fry Cook Games activities. Other than the writing issues, the humorous moments make the episode worth it as it's a great parody of the Olympics Games, but food themed. And you know the food lover in me would've felt hungry participating in these type of games.

40. One Krabs Trab (9/10)

During a yard sale, SpongeBob buys a number one hat from Mr. Krabs. After a few rich people notified him about how expensive it is, Mr. Krabs tries to steal it himself, but he met up with the dead skeletons at the graveyard. After taking it back, the sale was a failure as SpongeBob is already wearing another hat. A really funny episode season 3 had to offer. It's full of great lines and memorable scenes like the garage sale scene, "Am I a pretty girl?", Krabs haunting SpongeBob with a shopping item list, "what a baby," and the graveyard scene (which is the highlight, especially with Krabs killing all the dead bodies). I'm not a fan of how the episode ended though - all of that slaying at the graveyard was all for naught. On another note, I really hate how people use that digging scene to criticize Nickelodeon for trying to milk the SpongeBob franchise. It's just so disrespectful to Hillenburg. It's a short review, I got nothing else to say about this episode. But come back for part 3 as I rank 39 more episodes of pre-movie era.