SpongeBob You're Fired
Original air date: 11/11/2013 (produced in 2012)
To save a nickel, Mr. Krabs fires SpongeBob. However, SpongeBob is unable to handle unemployment, so he tries out at new fast food joints.
"SpongeBob You're Fired" contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: The book adaptation leaves out a few moments, such as Mr. Krabs saying Squidward has seniority, SpongeBob being given a can, pink slip, and axe, SpongeBob Crying a River, SpongeBob telling Gary the bad news, Patrick crying with him, and Patrick was absent during the scene SpongeBob made homemade Snail-Po for Gary.
- Aesop Amnesia: Apparently, Mr. Krabs has forgotten all the other times the Krusty Krab fell apart without SpongeBob.
- Autocannibalism: After he wakes up from his nap against Patrick's rock, SpongeBob breaks a chunk off of his head and eats it.
- Bathroom Control: At the end of the episode, Mr. Krabs has installed a pay toilet which the customer has to pay a nickel to get in. An old man, who is about to use it, searches for a nickel in his wallet while crossing his legs.
- Beard of Sorrow: Showing how depressed SpongeBob is after getting fired, he grows a 5 o'clock shadow, along with a messy shirt and a loose tie.
- Big Ball of Violence: All the managers of the separate restaurants duke it out over Spongebob.
- Break the Cutie: SpongeBob does not take getting fired well, at all.
- Continuity Nod:
- We see a Freeze-Frame Bonus of a patty with pickles tucked in, similar to the competition with Neptune in a much earlier episode. Also, Snail-Po, the snail food company is mentioned again.
- This was not the first time Patrick's head was sentient.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Had Mr. Krabs simply decided to fire Squidward instead of Spongebob, or even forgo the extra nickel, the entire episode, or at least most of it, would've most likely never happened.
- Crying a River: SpongeBob is so upset over being fired that he cries for a minute, literally flooding the Krusty Krab with his tears.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: As the four mascots fight over SpongeBob, Squidward comes in as the killer patty and beats them with little to no effort. Mr. Weiner surrenders after seeing the others get beat to avoid getting hurt himself, only to get hit by a bus afterward.
- Cutting Corners: Mr. Krabs fires SpongeBob solely to save a nickel on his salary. After re-hiring him, Krabs installs a nickel toll at the restroom.
- Dragged into Drag: When SpongeBob cleans up the Krusty Krab, he puts Squidward in a sparkly pink dress. The latter is not phased at all by this.Squidward: Hmm. (examines dress) Not exactly my color.
- Eating Pet Food: Patrick eats SpongeBob's homemade Snail-Po and finds it delicious.
- Epic Fail: Mr Krabs declares that he's going to man the grill and shows the spatula to prove he's the four-time Golden Spatula winner. Then his spatula catches fire.Squidward: I can smell the grease fires already.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The episode ends with SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs sharing a laugh with each other after Old Man Walker is unable to pay to use the new pay toilet.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Squidward may hate SpongeBob, but he hates the smell of burning Krabby Patties even more; he even personally begs to have SpongeBob back as the fry chef.
- Sandy, having no qualms about feeding freeloaders lethal waste, doesn’t give any to SpongeBob, encouraging him to look for another job instead.
- Firing Day: The episode deals with SpongeBob being fired from the Krusty Krab to save a nickel; Squidward does not get fired due to having seniority. SpongeBob then tries to get a new job at other restaurants, but is fired from each one of them. In the end, he is rehired after Mr. Krabs realizes the Krusty Krab is falling apart without him.
- Flowery Insults: SpongeBob rather descriptively insults Pizza Pete after getting fired from the Pizza Piehole.SpongeBob: Oh, like I needed his dumb job, anyway. I hope his pepperoni falls off...
- Gross-Up Close-Up: Of SpongeBob's face when Sandy tells him he looks awful.
- Here We Go Again!: After the person in the Krabby Patty costume scares away all the other costumed restaurant owners when they tried to carry SpongeBob off, the Krabby Patty starts carrying off SpongeBob, who says this afterwards.
- Heroic BSoD: SpongeBob going through a severe depression after getting fired. He gets out of it once Sandy recognizes him at her experiement and talks him into looking for a new job.
- Ill-Fated Flowerbed: Once again, Squidward's begonias end up stomped by Patrick and SpongeBob.
- Irony: One day after getting fired from the job he loves, the coffee mug SpongeBob was holding has "best day ever" on it.
- Is It Something You Eat?:SpongeBob: Oh, Patrick, the most horrible thing happened today. I got f-f-f-f-f-f...
Patrick: Free french fries?
SpongeBob: F-f-f-f-f-f...
Patrick: Fried frittatas?
SpongeBob: F-f-f-f-f-f...
Patrick: Frothy frappé?
SpongeBob: F-f-f...
Patrick: I can't think of any more food that starts with the letter C, SpongeBob.
SpongeBob: It's not food, Patrick. I got...fired. - Jerkass:
- The mascots who (save for the Taco Man) fire SpongeBob without even testing if his food is good enough for their customers. Then, when they recognize SpongeBob's talents, they resort to kidnapping and never apologize for their actions.
- Mr. Krabs himself, for firing SpongeBob over five cents. He also shows no remorse when SpongeBob cries over being fired. He gets Laser-Guided Karma when the Krusty Krab falls to shambles in an instant.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Of all the people SpongeBob got fired by, Señor Taco was the only one who at least gave the food a try. He fired SpongeBob because the "burrito patty" he made exploded everywhere (including into people's faces) when a customer bit into it. Still, he attempts to kidnap SpongeBob just like the other mascots.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite the fact that he hates SpongeBob and was happy that he was fired, Squidward admits that he hates the smell of burnt Krabby Patties more, and personally wants SpongeBob back as the fry cook.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For firing SpongeBob for a petty reason, the Krusty Krab goes downhill and Mr. Krabs loses customers.
- Lethal Chef: Mr. Krabs, arguably moreso than Squidward.
- Like a Son to Me:Mr. Krabs: You know I love you like a son. But you can't argue with a nickel!
- Literal Metaphor: When Krabs fires SpongeBob, he gives him an actual pink slip, an axe and a can.
- Multiple Head Case: Patrick briefly grows a mini-face over his forehead from eating bio-waste. When SpongeBob opts out of "fun-employment", the mini-Patrick mocks him which prompts the real Patrick to punch it and encourage SpongeBob to follow his heart.
- New Job Episode: Poor Spongebob wasn't taking his firing very well. He goes to new jobs, and ends up getting fired from each one.
- NEET: Patrick, who encourages SpongeBob to enjoy unemployment, or as he puts it, "fun-employment".
- Nice Guy: Patrick, contrary to many of his other appearances in this time period. He tries his best to make SpongeBob happy again after he was fired, and is completely supportive of SpongeBob finding a new job after "fun-employment" fails to bring him any happiness.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By firing SpongeBob, aka the only employee who knows how Krabby Patties are made, Mr. Krabs immediately loses business and the Krusty Krab falls apart in seconds.
- Not Again: In the German dub, Squidward's half-asleep remark of "Oh, again." after SpongeBob knocks his hat off implies that this keeps happening.
- Ocular Gushers: After getting fired, SpongeBob's tears flood the Krusty Krab, and Squidward uses a cranking hole maker to make a hole in the floor to drain the tears.
- One-Note Cook: Zig-zagged. All SpongeBob knows how to cook is Krabby Patties, which gets him fired from all the other restaurants, until they find out how delicious Krabby Patties are and fight over SpongeBob. However, when SpongeBob is able to make homemade snail food for Gary (and apparently really good snail food at that) without accidentally making a Krabby Patty, but this is never brought up again afterwards.
- Out of Focus: Noodleman gets the least amount of screen time, and the interior of Wet Noodle is never shown.
- Overly Long Gag:
- SpongeBob cries for about a full minute after Mr. Krabs fires him. As this happens, the tears affect customers in the background.
- Then, SpongeBob continually attempts to cling to Patrick's rock, to no avail.
- Earlier, the joke of Squidward sleeping at the till while SpongeBob works in the kitchen. He only wakes up when his hat is knocked off, and a little later when SpongeBob slams the kitchen door open.
- Prone to Tears: Along with "All That Glitters" and "A Day without Tears", SpongeBob cries a lot in this episode.
- Removing the Crucial Teammate: It's not long after Krabs fires SpongeBob to save a nickel that he discovers SB is the only employee who can cook Krabby Patties well (Krabs tries, but let's just say it was a huge mistake) and the Krusty Krab nearly keels over.
- The Scrooge: All mentions of "saving a nickel" in this page are not a usage of slang — the whole plot happens because Krabs wishes to save five cents.
- Series Continuity Error:
- In this episode, SpongeBob doesn't seem to know what a hot dog is, but back in "Krusty Dogs" he makes hot dogs perfectly.
- Mr Krabs says he can't let SpongeBob work for free because it's illegal, and he'd lose his vendor's licence. This hasn't stopped Krabs from doing illegal things before, such as paying his employees with fake money, making them work 24 hours a day, firing them for striking, and underpaying them in general. In "Big Pink Loser" it was noted that when SpongeBob first started at the Krusty Krab, he had to pay Mr. Krabs.
- Status Quo Is God: Unsurprisingly, SpongeBob gets his job back.
- Take a Third Option: Mr. Krabs was faced with the decision to pay the extra nickel or fire someone to save money. He chose the latter by firing SpongeBob, but faces the terrible consequences that followed when the Krusty Krab went downhill. After re-hiring him, Mr. Krabs decides to take a third option and installs a pay toilet to make up for the extra nickel.
- Took a Level in Badass: Squidward. He was dressed in a Krabby Patty costume and beats the tar out of competing fry cooks before carrying SpongeBob off.
- Ultimate Job Security: The reason SpongeBob is fired despite being a better employee than Squidward is because Squidward has "seniority".
- Visual Pun: Mr. Krabs gives SpongeBob a list of items that are also used as euphemisms for being fired: a can, a pink slip (shirt), and an ax.
- Wingding Eyes: SpongeBob's eyes have little Krabby Patties in them after reading the order Squidward gives him at the beginning.
- Wrong-Name Outburst: SpongeBob tries out new jobs after getting fired from the Krusty Krab, but he gets fired every time. When that happens, he impulsively shouts, "But I've given you the best years of my life, Mr. Krabs!"
