"I've got to end this thing before it begins..."
No Free Rides
Original air date: 4/14/2001 (produced in 2000)
SpongeBob has failed yet another driving test, specifically the last one of the school year. Mrs. Puff, horrified at the thought of having him as a student for another year, decides to pass him via "extra credit". But can Mrs. Puff live with the consequences of her actions now that SpongeBob has a license?
"No Free Rides" contains examples of:
- 555: The start of the Spanish-speaking accident attorney billboard's phone number.
- Aerosol Spray Backfire: SpongeBob tries to pepper spray Mrs. Puff when she steals his boat, but sprays himself instead. While he's in pain, Mrs. Puff kicks him out of the boat.
- An Aesop: Taking shortcuts to avoid difficulties in teaching may lead to even greater problems.
- Armed with Pepper Spray: Parodied when SpongeBob attempts to pepper-spray Mrs. Puff in order to stop her from car-jacking his boatmobile, but accidentally ends up spraying himself.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: To try to lose SpongeBob, Mrs. Puff drives through giant clams, cheese graters and, worst of all, educational television.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- When Mrs. Puff jumps into SpongeBob's boat, she digs through her bag saying "I hope I still remember how to do this", making us think she's talking about hotwiring... then it's revealed she meant making balloon animals (which she can still do). She was able to start up the boat with a simple push of a button.
- After his accusations, SpongeBob is shocked to learn who Mrs. Puff is which terrifies her. He then reveals her to be... a boat jacker!
- Batty Lip Burbling: After SpongeBob finds out that the person trying to steal his new boatmobile was Mrs. Puff, the scene cuts to footage of him doing this against a swirling background.
- Bittersweet Ending: While Mrs. Puff is successful in stopping SpongeBob from destroying the city, she ends up getting arrested for ironically causing so much damage. On the bright side, SpongeBob is not too upset about having to give up his license, is more than willing to continue learning from her, and even tells her that she'll have an early parole, provided she gives free driving lessons.
- Captain Obvious: "Who are you and what are you doing in my boat?! And why are you wearing that ski mask?! BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT SKIING!"
- Chekhov's Gun: SpongeBob rides on his bicycle after his failed exam and later uses it to catch up to the boat jacker.
- Conveniently Timed Distraction: When SpongeBob catches Mrs. Puff, who's wearing a ski mask to conceal her face, stealing his boat, SpongeBob tries to pepper spray her but accidentally sprays himself. Mrs. Puff takes advantage of this by kicking him out of the boat, although it doesn't stop him from chasing her.
- Determinator: SpongeBob endures getting bitten by giant clams and shredded by cheese graters just to get his boat back. It's seemingly subverted when encountering educational television... until Mrs Puff makes the mistake of turning on the "radio".
- Didn't Think This Through: Mrs. Puff, sick and tired of having to go through SpongeBob's chaotic driving tests, comes up with a bogus extra credit test so she can just give him his driver's license and get him out of her classroom. It's only after she does so that it hits her that she has just given SpongeBob free reign to drive on public streets and wreak havoc there.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: You can see a half-eaten donut inside the police car next to a cup of coffee.
- Drives Like Crazy: As usual, SpongeBob.
- Easily Forgiven: At the end of the episode, SpongeBob doesn't seem to be angry at Mrs. Puff for attempting to steal his boat and crashing it. Granted, she is doing time in prison as a result for her actions, so it's not like she got off scot-free.
- Extremely Easy Exam: After yet another failed driving test, Mrs. Puff attempts to get rid of SpongeBob with an impossible-to-fail extra credit assignment: writing one sentence about what he learned in boating school, even giving him most of the words. Somehow, SpongeBob finds a way to bungle that.
- Eye Scream: SpongeBob tries to use pepper spray on Mrs. Puff, which doesn't end well because he had the nozzle turned the wrong way.
- Failed a Spot Check: Mrs. Puff somehow misses SpongeBob fast asleep in the driver's seat of the boatmobile during her midnight stakeout of his house. Leading her to unknowingly sit on him when she gets in the seat herself to hijack the car and take him along for the ride.
- Faux Horrific: "EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION?! OH NO!"
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Mrs. Puff doesn't notice who that car radio looks like even though the audience can.
- Fun with Acronyms: When Mrs. Puff turns on the radio, the call sign for the station is KRUD.
- Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: SpongeBob tries to pepper spray the car burglar, but had the can pointed at himself by mistake.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: "I never thought I'd have to use this pepper spray!" (sprays in his own eyes) "AAAHHH! Somebody help me! Somebody HEEELP me!"
- Imagine Spot: Mrs. Puff imagines SpongeBob destroying the town with his reckless driving.
- Irony:
- The boat accident at the end of the episode happened in front of a billboard for an accident attorney reading "Accidente? 555-1234".
- In addition, SpongeBob's parents complimenting Mrs. Puff for never taking "the easy way out."
- Laser-Guided Karma: Just seconds after SpongeBob "graduates", Mrs. Puff already realizes what trouble she's gotten herself into, not helped by SpongeBob getting a boat from his parents. Not to mention, Mrs. Puff hijacking the boat in a ski mask, not knowing that her student is sleeping in it lands her in prison.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Specifically, crashing into it!French Narrator: And if SpongeBob does not pass this one, it means (boat starts driving towards the camera, narrator's voice slowly rises) another whole year of BOATING SCHOOOOOL!!! (CRASH!) (the screen immediately goes to static, and we now see the narrator lying on the ground groaning) Ohhhhh...
SpongeBob: Wha happen?
Mrs. Puff: Oh, nothing, SpongeBob. You just struck another pedestrian. - Living Crashpad: Mrs. Puff tries to force SpongeBob's hand onto a paper to write, which leads to the desk breaking and both of them falling onto the ground, with Mrs. Puff on top of SpongeBob.
- Made of Indestructium: For some reason, when SpongeBob gets reduced to four sponge strands after going through a field of cheese graters, his arms remained intact.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Mrs. Puff asks this once she finally realizes it was a bad idea to give SpongeBob an unearned driver's license.
- Noodle Incident: Mrs. Puff says that after giving SpongeBob a driving license she'll have to move to another town with an assumed name, but then adds, "No. Not again."
- Nothing Is Funnier: When SpongeBob is hanging on the back of the boat which Mrs. Puff is trying to steal, he endures a gauntlet of giant clams, cheese graters and educational television. While we see him get reduced to pieces by clams and graters, we don't see what "educational television" does to him, and this makes the punchline that much funnier.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: After Mrs. Puff comes home to a surprise party held for her by SpongeBob and his parents, SpongeBob's dad admits he and his wife believed that SpongeBob would never get his license and thanks Mrs. Puff for never giving up on him or taking the easy way out — which is exactly what she did.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When the two cops watching SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff brawl see that their car is heading right for them.
- SpongeBob's reaction to whatever educational television does to him.
- Mrs. Puff when she passes SpongeBob, only to then realize she gave him a license to drive.
- Police Are Useless: The police do absolutely nothing about SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff's physical brawl with each other inside a dangerously fast spinning car but watch bored. At least not until their car is driving right towards them, and then they're screaming in terror.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The prison warden, according to SpongeBob, is a lenient woman who's willing to lighten Mrs. Puff's sentence in exchange for free driving lessons.
- Scream Discretion Shot: SpongeBob's plight at the hands of educational television happens entirely off-screen, with the only indication of what's happening being an "Oh, no!" followed by a scream.
- Suddenly Shouting: "And now back to KRUD, with all of your personal 'YOU-WON'T-GET-AWAY-WITH-STEALING-MY-CAR!' hits!"
- Take That!: Educational television is at one point compared to being taken apart by giant clams and cheese graters.
- Also somewhat doubles as Self-Deprecation.note
- Tear-Apart Tug-of-War: Mrs. Puff tries to get SpongeBob out of her class by giving him an "extra credit" assignment: a 10-word essay on what he learned in boating school. When SpongeBob finishes and then tries to make revisions, an impatient Mrs. Puff tries to take his paper, leading to them accidentally tearing it in half.Mrs. Puff: (reading the torn paper) "What I learned in boating school is..." Uh... Well, the rest doesn't matter! You pass! You pass!
- Tempting Fate: Mrs. Puff tries to convince herself it won't be a problem giving SpongeBob a license because he doesn't have a boat to drive. She later learns that his parents decided to give him one as a graduating gift.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: A pair of cops see Mrs. Puff's struggle with SpongeBob in the car and react with nothing but Dull Surprise. And then their car heads right for them.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mrs. Puff sets up the entire plot by hastily graduating SpongeBob from her class with an extra credit assignment.
- Vanity License Plate: SpongeBob's boat has a license plate of IM-RDY ("I'm ready").
- Worse with Context: After SpongeBob finishes his boating test.SpongeBob: Okay, Mrs. Puff. What's my final score?
Mrs. Puff: Six.
SpongeBob: Whoooo! And how many points do I need to pass?
Mrs. Puff: Six.
SpongeBob: Whooooo...
Mrs. Puff: ...hundred.
SpongeBob: Wha?
Mrs. Puff: Six hundred. You need six hundred to pass. You got six. - WPUN: When SpongeBob disguises himself as his car's stereo, he advertises the "radio station" playing as "KRUD."
Do you have what it takes to be a Jellyspotter?
I'm Your Biggest Fanatic
Original air date: 4/14/2001 (produced in 2000)
SpongeBob joins the Jellyspotters, an elite jellyfishing team, but their leader Kevin the Sea Cucumber isn't about to go easy on the new guy.
"I'm Your Biggest Fanatic" contains examples of:
- An Aesop: Patrick spells it out at the end of the episode: "hero worship is unhealthy."
- Animals Hate Him: Kevin is the only one who gets stung in this episode and King Jellyfish goes into an Unstoppable Rage when he sees the sea cucumber, implying that the whole species has it out for the guy.
- Attention Whore: Kevin qualifies as this. He admits he was only a jellyfisher for the fashion.
- Asshole Victim: Kevin is established to be a complete and utter Jerkass who only wants to see SpongeBob get repeatedly tortured, so seeing him get repeatedly stung by jellyfish always feels satisfying.
- The Bait: SpongeBob is tied up to be bait for a queen jellyfish.
- Beast with a Human Face: Big Lenny, who looks like a scowling mask on a jellyfish's body.
- Believing Their Own Lies: If you listen closely, you can hear one of the Jellyspotters say, "He caught one! Meep! In the club!", after SpongeBob passes the "rigorous test" of catching a jellyfish.
- Bittersweet Ending: SpongeBob manages to tame the King Jellyfish and the Jellyspotters turn on Kevin and recognize SpongeBob as the new leader, but he denies the membership because it's more about the jellyfish and not Kevin himself.
- Body Horror:
- At the Jellyfishing convention, SpongeBob and Patrick spot Dr. Manowar, who survived an encounter with "Big Lenny" and now has a huge sore on his cheek. Naturally, Patrick has to touch it.Dr. Manowar: And now it only hurts when you touch it. (Pat touches it) OWWW!!!!!!
Patrick: Touch.
Security Guard: Do I have to follow you all day?! - During SpongeBob's initiation, Kevin gets stung multiple times, until he's basically just one big mass of welts.
- When SpongeBob is crowned the new Jellyspotters leader, Kevin's now-former followers take the crown off of his head... and the crown turns out to be part of his body.
- At the Jellyfishing convention, SpongeBob and Patrick spot Dr. Manowar, who survived an encounter with "Big Lenny" and now has a huge sore on his cheek. Naturally, Patrick has to touch it.
- Bookends: The episode starts and ends at the jellyfish convention.
- Brick Joke: The Don't Touch It, You Idiot! gag gets one, when Patrick runs off after Jeffrey Jellyfish yelling "Wait, Jeffery, I have to touch you!", while being chased by the security guard. This one gets its own at the end when it's shown that Patrick has tied up Jeffrey in a wagon.
- Broken Pedestal: Kevin once SpongeBob finally sees him for the Jerkass he is.
- Broken Record: Happens as Kevin keeps denying SpongeBob a place in the Jellyspotters club. All the while Kevin gets stung every single time he gets asked.SpongeBob: Am I in the Jellyspotters now? (BZZZZZ) Now? (BZZZZZ) Now? (BZZZZZ) Now? (BZZZZZ)
- Bullying a Dragon: In some scenes, Kevin does things to provoke the jellyfish (ex. kicking a net full of them) into stinging him.
- The Chew Toy: Kevin is a good example, since he deserves whatever slapstick he gets for being such a jerk.
- Clothing Appendage: Kevin's "crown", which on real sea cucumbers are the tentacles surrounding the mouth. This is revealed when the other Jellyspotters "uncrown" him and give it to SpongeBob.SpongeBob: Wow! I didn't know this was a hat!
Kevin: [in pain, with a tear on top of his head] It wasn't! - Continuity Nod: SpongeBob and Patrick attend a jellyfishing convention again; unlike the last one which was annual, this one is biannual (happening twice yearly).
- Damned by Faint Praise: Done seemingly unintentionally by SpongeBob when he refers to Kevin as "the coolest jellyfish enthusiast ever", while the camera pans up over Kevin looking every inch the Stereotypical Nerd.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Patrick keeps trying to touch things at the jellyfishing convention, while a security guard keeps yelling "Don't touch!" at him.Security Guard: (after stopping Patrick a third time) Do I have you to follow you all day?!
- Early-Bird Cameo: Kevin appears on the various ads for his jellyfish sting ointment, which appear all over the convention, before his actual introduction.
- Everyone Has Standards: While the Jellyspotters tend to join Kevin in laughing at SpongeBob's misery, when he refuses to let SpongeBob in even after he saved them from the King Jellyfish, the Spotters immediately turned against him and name SpongeBob their new leader.
- Exact Words: When SpongeBob has jellyfish on his face, he says they tickle and Kevin says "Not for long" (meaning they were going to sting them), SpongeBob sneezes them off.
- Eye Scream: After SpongeBob attracts a bunch of jellyfish to his face, he sneezes, shooting them towards Kevin's eyes, which get stung accordingly.
- Fanboy: SpongeBob's crazy extreme fanboy obsession with Kevin is what kicks off the plot for this episode.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you count the jellyfish right after Kevin kicks them out of the net, there are indeed twenty of them.
- Funny Background Event: When Kevin shows SpongeBob his other fans in the cave, Fred (the fish known for his "My leg!" gag) can be seen with a broken leg.
- Goofy Suit: The poor guy in the Jeffrey the Jellyfish costume, who is eventually captured by Patrick.
- Gratuitous Latin: When King Jellyfish appears, Kevin refers to it as Cnidarianote rex. SpongeBob does translate saying it is a King Jellyfish immediately after.
- Groin Attack: The anchovies subject Kevin to a biologically accurate version after SpongeBob placates the King Jellyfish, ripping off his genitals (the peach-colored protrusion on top of his head) and giving them to SpongeBob to wear as a crown. Kevin is then seen afterwards paralyzed in agony.
- Hate Sink: Kevin's horribleness allows us to root more for SpongeBob, not to mention laugh even harder at his misery.
- The Hilarity of Hats: Subverted with Kevin's crown. The Jellyspotters put it on SpongeBob, and he says, "Hey, I didn't know this was a hat!" Cut to a scalped Kevin, in tears, saying, "It wasn't."
- Hypocritical Humor:
- Kevin wants to invite SpongeBob to go jellyfishing. One of the geeky anchovies' response?Anchovy Jellyspotter: No, Kevin, no. He's a geek.
- After SpongeBob's adventure with the Jellyspotters, Patrick delivers the episode's moral, "Hero worship is unhealthy", while carrying a tied up Jeffrey Jellyfish mascot away on a wagon.
- Kevin wants to invite SpongeBob to go jellyfishing. One of the geeky anchovies' response?
- Ill-Timed Sneeze: Kevin smears jelly on SpongeBob's face to get jellyfish to sting him. Instead, the jellyfish tickle his nose, causing him to sneeze the jellyfish onto Kevin's eyes, stinging them.
- I'm Your Biggest Fan: SpongeBob says it word for word to Kevin. Kevin exploits this by finding ways to humiliate SpongeBob by giving him tasks that guarantee SpongeBob getting stung by a jellyfish to become a Jellyspotter, (but said tactics backfire on Kevin instead). Even when he seems to successfully humiliate SpongeBob, a King Jellyfish immediately appears while the Jellyspotters are laughing at the poor sponge and chases everyone into a cave. This leads to SpongeBob saving the day while Kevin breaks down into a sniveling mess, exposing him as a fraud and humiliating him.
- Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: The Jellyspotters denounce Kevin by ripping off his Crown-Shaped Head and giving it to SpongeBob.
- I Want My Mommy!: While hiding in fear from the King Jellyfish, Kevin enters a Troubled Fetal Position and starts crying "HELP ME, MOMMY! HELP ME! I WANT MY BLANKIE! I WANT MY BLANKIE!" The anchovies proceed to mimic him, not knowing what else to do.
- Jerkass: Kevin is such a major one that it makes the abuse he goes through while attempting to cause SpongeBob harm all the more hilarious.
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: Kevin. His attempts to get SpongeBob stung by jellyfish cause Kevin himself to constantly get stung by said jellyfish.
- Large and in Charge: King Jellyfish is about ten times the size of a regular jellyfish.
- Laser-Guided Karma: All of Kevin's attempts to torment SpongeBob backfire horribly onto him, usually in the form of angry stinging jellyfish.
- Losing Horns: One of the Jellyspotters vocalizes "Wamp wamp waaah!" whenever Kevin gets humiliated by SpongeBob.Kevin: WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT?!
- Luminescent Blush: Seen on SpongeBob as Kevin and the Jellyspotters insult him.
- Miles Gloriosus: Kevin immediately becomes a snivelling, cowering wreck when faced with a genuine threat.
- Moving the Goalposts: Kevin's first challenge for SpongeBob is to catch a jellyfish, and a jellyfish just swims into SpongeBob's net. So Kevin asks for two jellyfish, and two jellyfish go into the net on cue. This keeps going for a while. It also qualifies as Laser-Guided Karma because the jellyfish sting Kevin once they're brought to him.
- Nerdgasm: SpongeBob is so gleefully shocked by Kevin offering to take him jellyfishing that he needs to be defibrillated just to answer.
- Noodle Incident:
- King Jellyfish apparently recognizes Kevin when it's revealed he was piloting a robot duplicate of his queen.
- Kevin later reveals that SpongeBob isn't the first "biggest fan" he has gotten, as a multitude of fans are seen at the bottom of a ravine Kevin was attempting to force SpongeBob into. One of them apparently broke his legs when he fell (evidently Fred, the guy who always gets his leg broken).
- Pain to the Ass: At one point during the montage of Kevin getting stung by jellyfish in various places, we see his huge, swollen butt.
- Product Placement: In-universe: billboards for Kevin's Sting Ointment are plastered all over the jellyfishing convention and one is seen out in Jellyfish Fields.
- Requisite Royal Regalia: King Jellyfish wears a crown and ermine cape.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: When the Jellyspotters are hiding in a cave and King Jellyfish is too big to get in, he doesn't just immediately give up. He dons football attire and attempts to cave them in by tackling the cave.
- Rule of Three: Patrick goes through the Don't Touch It, You Idiot! gag three times, first state-of-the-art jellyfish nets, then a movie harpoon prop, then the tender sore of a doctor who had been stung by Big Lenny.
- Running Gag:
- One of the Jellyspotters imitating Losing Horns whenever Kevin gets stung.
- Patrick wanting to touch everything at the jellyfishing convention, while a security guard tries to stop him.
- Kevin getting stung by the jellyfish that SpongeBob catches.
- Save the Villain: SpongeBob has to rescue Kevin and the Jellyspotters from King Jellyfish. Kevin isn't grateful, but the rest of the Jellyspotters are, and proceed to kick him out of the club and make SpongeBob the new leader (although he turned it down).
- Say My Name: When King Jellyfish discovers Kevin.King Jellyfish: KE-VIN!!
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Even though SpongeBob saved his life, Kevin still refuses to let him in because he didn't catch a Queen Jellyfish; the other Jellyspotters promptly turn on Kevin by ripping off his Crown-Shaped Head and giving it to SpongeBob, recognizing him as the new leader and thus granting him his official membership. But SpongeBob turned the membership down afterward, because it's not about Kevin, it's about jellyfish.
- Troubled Fetal Position: When trapped by King Jellyfish, Kevin slumps down into the fetal position and cries for his mommy. When SpongeBob asks the others what to do, they slump down and cry for their mommies as well.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Kevin still refuses to let SpongeBob join the Jellyspotters because he didn't catch a Queen Jellyfish, even after he saves them from the King Jellyfish. The Jellyspotters turn on Kevin for this and declare SpongeBob their new leader. Although SpongeBob turned the offer down, it's highly unlikely Kevin retained leadership as he lost the loyalty of his teammates.
- Visual Pun:
- Similarly to how SpongeBob is depicted as a kitchen sponge rather than an actual sea sponge, Kevin the sea cucumber is depicted as a Cucumis sativus rather than a typical sea cucumber (apart from the crownlike protrusion on his head).
- The "crown" on Kevin's head, in actual marine biology, is the reproductive organ of sea cucumbers. In other words, Kevin's a dickhead.
Wamp wamp waaah.
