Squiditis
Original air date: 4/11/2012 (produced in 2011)
Squidward fakes being sick so he can skip work and relax at home, but SpongeBob thinks he actually has the disease.
Squiditis contains examples of:
- Breather Episode: Sure this episode is light and comedic, but it's the sister episode that takes a slightly darker path.
- Brick Joke: When SpongeBob tries to comfort Squidward at home, he shows him a romantic comedy movie. At the end of the episode, when Mr. Krabs gets sick, SpongeBob pulls out a romantic comedy tape.
- From Bad to Worse: SpongeBob sticks his legs in the deep fryer in an attempt to cure Squid's Disease. He screams in pain, then tries to cool it off with cucumbers, but instead grabs pickles, which make the pain worse.
- Oh, Crap!: SpongeBob when he begins to assume he caught Squidward's illness.SpongeBob: I've contracted...Squid's Disease!
- Playing Sick: Squidward does this in an attempt to get sent home from work early.
- Punctuated Pounding: SpongeBob punctuates "Mis-ter-Krabs!" to the rhythm as he knocks on Mr. Krabs' office door
- Rule of Three: The symptoms of “Squid’s Disease” are a scratchy throat, itchy eyes, and a dry mouth.
- Sick Episode: Subverted. While SpongeBob thinks he has Squidward's "Squid's Disease," nobody is actually sick during the episode.
- Something Itis: Averted; the episode is titled "Squiditis" but the actual disease is called "Squid's Disease".
- Spit Take: Squidward does one when he finds out that SpongeBob is sent home because he really is sick.
- Title Drop: Surprisingly averted. The disease in the episode is called Squid's Disease, not Squiditis.
Demolition Doofus
Original air date: 7/21/2012 (produced in 2011)
After SpongeBob injures Mrs. Puff to the point of being unable to puff again, she enrolls him in a demolition derby in the hopes of getting him killed, but instead he becomes a racing superstar thanks to his bad driving.
Demolition Doofus contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: In the book release, after the boat crashes into the school in the end and Mrs. Puff regains her puff, SpongeBob asks her how much extra credit he got.
- Alliterative Title: Demolition Doofus
- An Aesop:
- Show respect for someone when they're not feeling well.
- Don't try to get rid of someone just because they cause trouble for you from time to time.
- Berserk Button: SpongeBob found out too late making fun of Mrs. Puff's disabilities was a very bad idea.
- Black Comedy: The injured hospital patients attacking themselves in the hall, but Mrs. Puff's vision of SpongeBob being clobbered by thugs and dying takes this beyond levels.
- Bowdlerize: The book adaptation has Mrs. Puff's antagonism toned down a little, most notable instead of wanting him dead from the demolition derby, she just enters him in hopes he'll get so scared that he won't drive anymore.
- Bullying the Disabled: When Mrs. Puff learns that her inflation sac has been destroyed because of SpongeBob's actions, SpongeBob, oblivious to her condition, comments that she should be called "Mrs. Pop". To say Mrs. Puff isn't amused is putting it lightly. Shortly after, SpongeBob states Mrs. Puff looks better deflated, causing the doctor to inject an anesthetic in him.
- Chekhov's Skill: SpongeBob's bad driving. It protects him from getting hurt because it makes him a completely impossible target to anyone, even Mrs. Puff.
- Continuity Nod:
- This wasn't the first time Mrs. Puff was completely deflated.
- Mrs. Puff once again thinks of a way to get SpongeBob to leave and covers it up as extra credit.
- Crazy-Prepared: The doctor keeps multiple anesthetics in his pockets in case he needs someone to "relax."
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Mrs. Puff completely forgot SpongeBob is a sea sponge, which are invertebrates, as the first opponent that gets knocked out is slingshot back against his soft body.
- It also didn't occur to her that since he Drives Like Crazy, he's an impossible target for the other contestants.
- She also forgot that usually very few people get killed in a demolition derby.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Even though SpongeBob's joke towards Mrs. Puff was uncalled for, so is trying to outright murder him in return.
- The Dog Bites Back: Subverted. Mrs. Puff tries to get rid of SpongeBob because of what he did, but being an invertebrate, he's too squishy to crush to death.
- Drives Like Crazy: SpongeBob's weakness as usual, but it proves to be useful in the demolition derby as it causes him to become completely impossible to strike and obliterates the entire competition and ends up winning.
- Dude, Not Funny!: After Mrs. Puff learns she's going to be permanently disabled, SpongeBob tries to lighten the mood by telling her, "From now on, I guess we'll have to call you Mrs. Pop." Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Puff does not take this well, and he is forced to apologize when being strangled by the nose.
- Evil Cripple: Never being able to puff again + wanting SpongeBob dead = this.
- Eye Cam: Done by Mrs. Puff as she wakes up in the hospital after her accident.
- Eye Scream: SpongeBob causes dirt from the track to fly into the face of one of the contestants, blinding him.
- Foregone Conclusion: As Ax-Crazy Mrs. Puff is, SpongeBob cannot be killed and Mrs. Puff must regain her puff, because they both make it to The Movie.
- Foreshadowing:
- SpongeBob briefly giggling and feeling ticklish when Mrs. Puff strangles him by the nose forcing him to apologize for bullying her condition foreshadows his Nigh-Invulnerability as an invertebrate once he enters the derby.
- While Mrs. Puff was still in the hospital, she briefly inflated when she sneezed, which shows it was still possible for her to inflate even though the doctor pointed out her “inflation sack” popped. At the end of the episode, she gets her puff back after crashing into SpongeBob, well, at least until the boating school collapses on the two.
- Freudian Slip:Mrs. Puff: I could finally be rid of SpongeBob... forever! Ha ha! And I mean that in the worst possible way! (Evil Laugh)
SpongeBob: What's so funny?
Mrs. Puff: (stops laughing) I... just thought of a way that you could earn extra credit.
SpongeBob: Hooray! - Gray-and-Gray Morality: While SpongeBob injuring Mrs. Puff was an accident, he cracks a joke about her condition. On the other end, Mrs. Puff is hardly any better, since she enters him in the demolition derby specifically hoping he'll be killed, and takes matters into her own hands by trying to kill him herself when that fails.
- "I Can't Look!" Gesture: When the derby is about to start, Mrs. Puff covers her eyes and says "I can't look". However, since she talked SpongeBob into it with the intention of getting him killed, she quickly changes her mind, uncovers her eyes and says "Wait... yes I can!" That was but mere moments before SpongeBob defeats the first opponent with his Nigh-Invulnerability.
- If You Won't, I Will: Mrs. Puff when SpongeBob ends up winning the derby:Mrs. Puff: If you want someone demolished, I guess you have to demolish them yourself!
- Imagine Spot: Mrs. Puff imagines SpongeBob getting smashed from all sides by thugs in cars and replaced with a gravestone. This does not appear in the book release, thankfully.
- Innocently Insensitive: SpongeBob tries to lighten the mood by cracking a joke at Mrs. Puff's inability to puff. But being his foolish self, he fails to read the room and ends up driving his teacher to homicidal rage.
- Instant Gravestone: Mrs. Puff's Imagine Spot has shows SpongeBob being surrounded by thugs in boats and getting clobbered; when they clear up, all that remains of SpongeBob is his grave.
- Irony: SpongeBob was entered in the derby so he can be murdered by the racers, yet his bad driving causes the other racers to be eliminated instead.
- Jerkass Ball: Happens to both SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff themselves. On one hand, Puff tries to murder SpongeBob, but he miraculously survives. On the other hand, SpongeBob also cracks a joke about Mrs. Puff's condition.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Both SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff get theirs (the former for making fun of the latter, the latter for trying to murder the former) when the Boating School collapses on them.
- Earlier, SpongeBob gets a good punishment for cracking a joke about Mrs. Puff's condition and saying she looks better that way when the doctor injects him with an anesthetic.
- Laughing Mad: Mrs. Puff does this a few times during her plan to get SpongeBob killed.
- Lean and Mean: The boating accident leaves Mrs. Puff deflated and thin, and she's unnaturally sadistic towards SpongeBob for causing this.
- Minimalist Cast: SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff are the only main characters present, with a brief appearance from Squidward in the beginning. The absence of Patrick also gives a hint toward Mrs. Puff's Evil Cripple.
- Mondegreen Gag: When Mrs. Puff shouts, "Why are you still alive?!", SpongeBob misinterprets this as "Put it in drive".
- Murder Is the Best Solution: What Mrs. Puff wanted to do to SpongeBob as payback for him insulting her. Unsurprisingly, he keeps succeeding.
- Near-Death Experience: SpongeBob was almost killed in the demolition derby, but survives thanks to being an invertebrate and his bad driving eliminating the other contestants.
- Never My Fault: SpongeBob acts like it wasn't his fault Mrs. Puff lost her puff.SpongeBob: Sheesh, I don't know what she's so upset about!
- Never Say "Die": Played entirely straight.
- Mrs. Puff's idea is obviously to murder and kill SpongeBob (as shown in her vision), but she only refers to such vaguely throughout the episode. Nor does she ever say "die" or "kill". This was thankfully not in the book.
- After hearing "risking their lives for our amusement", Mrs. Puff expresses "finally being rid of SpongeBob forever...in the worst possible way."
- When Mrs. Puff is livid when SpongeBob keeps winning, she yells out, "Why are you still alive?!"
- Mrs. Puff's ultimatum when he ends up winning the derby: "If you want someone demolished, I guess you have to demolish them yourself!"
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: As the derby progresses, Mrs. Puff's idea to get SpongeBob murdered by the drivers goes downhill, as his bad driving causes the other drivers to crash instead.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: The fact that SpongeBob is an invertebrate combined with his bad driving makes him completely invulnerable in the derby, meaning he's too squishy to crush to death and too fast for any single opponent. He even outruns Mrs. Puff.
- Nominal Hero: SpongeBob. The reason he ends up winning the demolition derby is because of his bad driving making him impossible to strike, and also because he's an invertebrate which is too squishy and can easily regenerate.
- No Name Given: Of the five other contestants in the derby, four are named, but the last isn’t.
- No Sympathy: SpongeBob doesn’t care about Mrs. Puff losing her inflation. In fact, he even stated she looks better deflated.
- Ocular Gushers: Mrs. Puff sheds them at one point as SpongeBob is surviving in the derby.
- Oh, Crap!: When Mrs. Puff enters the derby as "The Huff" last minute, SpongeBob is undeniably scared as he tries to avoid her.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Mrs. Puff screams, "Why...are you still...ALIVE?!" as she sees SpongeBob has not gotten hurt one bit.
- Rage Breaking Point: SpongeBob surviving in the derby long enough to be considered the winner is enough to push Mrs. Puff's sanity over the limit that she enters the derby to take him out herself.
- Revenge: Over eight seasons of being maimed by SpongeBob, imprisoned because of SpongeBob, and never being able to get away from SpongeBob, no matter what she does, have finally driven Mrs. Puff over the edge, and after he laughs about crippling her, Mrs. Puff decides she wants him dead, and she becomes more furious when he survives in the demolition derby thanks to his bad driving making him a near-impossible target. This was thankfully toned down in the book release in which Mrs. Puff instead tries to trick SpongeBob into getting injured to the point he'll never want to drive again.
- Rule of Three: SpongeBob flaws at his parallel parking three times in a row, the third causing Mrs. Puff to puff so big that she winds up lifting the boat off the ground before eventually popping and going flat.
- Shown Their Work: The driving technique SpongeBob flaws at before causing Mrs. Puff to lose her puff is parallel parking. Said procedure is the very first obstacle most drivers face on their road tests, since they can't start the driving part unless they show they can park properly.
- Spanner in the Works: SpongeBob and his bad driving, which obliterate the competition resulting in Mrs. Puff's scheme ruined.
- Status Quo Is God: Mrs. Puff gets her inflation back at the end.
- Temporarily a Villain: Mrs. Puff. Except in the book adaptation, thankfully.
- Tempting Fate: When the boat starts floating while Mrs. Puff is puffed up, SpongeBob says another crash, and Mrs. Puff would pop. Then Mrs. Puff happens to pierce right into the top of a lighthouse tower, causing her to deflate.
- Throwing Off the Disability: Mrs. Puff, who was thought to never puff again, magically regains her puff.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: One of few "dark" episodes in the series, mostly around the point Mrs. Puff wants SpongeBob murdered in the derby and is furious when he doesn't get hurt.
- Unstoppable Rage: SpongeBob not getting killed in the demolition derby and instead becoming the champion makes Mrs. Puff unleash hers, as she tries to murder SpongeBob herself by chasing him down with a giant monster truck.
- Unknown Rival: Throughout the entire episode, SpongeBob literally has no idea Mrs. Puff was trying to kill him.Mrs. Puff: CURSE YOU, SPONGEBOB!
SpongeBob: What's that, Mrs. Puff? - Wingding Eyes: When Mrs. Puff is intimidated by SpongeBob making fun of her, her eyes inflate into miniature versions of him and explode.
- Why Won't You Die?: As SpongeBob is avoiding the other contestants at the derby by sheer luck, Mrs. Puff snarls, "Why are you still...ALIVE!?" (SpongeBob misinterprets this as "put it in drive"). This scene was not in the book.
