Recap / SpongeBob SquarePants S 2 E 4 "Dying for Pie" / "Imitation Krabs"

Careful, Squiddy. You're handling an explosive there.

Dying for Pie

Original air date: 1/27/2001 (produced in 2000)

It's Employee Brotherhood Day at the Krusty Krab and Mr. Krabs has SpongeBob and Squidward exchange gifts. Since the gifts have to be homemade, Squidward buys a pie from a crew of pirates and tries to pass it off as his own cooking, but the pie turns out to be a bomb in disguise. When it appears that SpongeBob has eaten it, a guilty Squidward endeavors to make his last few hours before the bomb detonates as joyful as possible.

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"Dying for Pie" contains examples of:

• An Aesop: Don't always assume a product is safe even if the owner says it is. It could just be a scam for money.
  • Alternatively, homemade efforts, even if imperfect, come from the heart and are more genuine than attempts to deceive with store-bought items.
• Affably Evil: The pirates are actually pretty polite to Squidward, even initially warning him against taking/eating the pies due to being bombs. The captain, however, is Faux Affably Evil, as he has no qualms over selling a powerful explosive for twenty-five dollars despite knowing just how dangerous it is.
• All for Nothing: Squidward spends the whole afternoon doing activities with SpongeBob so his last moments before the pie bomb hit his lower intestine would be happy, only to find out that SpongeBob never ate it in the first place.
• Ambiguous Syntax: The second item on SpongeBob's list is to introduce Squidward to everyone in town wearing a salmon suit. Squidward asks "You're going to be wearing a salmon suit?" Cut to the two of them meeting with some passerby... and Squidward is the one wearing the salmon suit.
• Angrish: Upon seeing that SpongeBob is still alive after sunset, Squidward starts spouting gibberish in disbelief:
  SpongeBob: Squidward, we already played "Babble Like an Idiot"!
• An Arm and a Leg: The pirate captain threatens his crew with this if they drop any of the pies.
  Captain: If you drop one single slice of me booty, I'll have... your booty!
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • When the sun starts to set, SpongeBob announces he loves to count down the sunset and starts to do so, but then tells Squidward to do the rest.
    SpongeBob: Here it is, the SUNSET! I love to count it down! FIVE... you do the rest, buddy!
  • SpongeBob seems to explode after the sun sets, but it turns out that he was just blowing bomb-shaped bubbles.
• Benevolent Boss: Mr. Krabs plays this role again, which isn't outside of the norm for the pre-movie seasons. He organizes the whole "Employee Brotherhood Day" schtick after noticing Squidward's rotten attitude towards SpongeBob and forces the former to find a gift for his fry cook when Squidward tries to leave. Then, when it seems that SpongeBob ate the explosive pie Squidward bought, Mr. Krabs gives him an appalled What the Hell, Hero? for seemingly dooming him to an early death.
• Bizarre Belching: SpongeBob has accidentally swallowed a bomb, which will explode once it reaches the end of his digestive system. Near the end of the episode, SpongeBob burps, which he interprets as a sign that something has wrapped in his lower intestine. Fortunately, this turns out to be Fauxshadowing, since it's then revealed that the protagonist hadn't eaten the bomb to begin with.
• Bowdlerise: All airings of "Dying for Pie" on YTV remove the title card for Canadian audiences. This is so children wouldn't see a reference to death in the episode's title. Despite this, the episode itself is left uncut.
• Break the Cutie: SpongeBob is heartbroken when Squidward rejects his eyelash sweater, to the point where he cries him a new sweater.
• Brutal Honesty: When SpongeBob doesn't explode after sunset, Squidward tells him point-blank that the pie he supposedly ate was a bomb.
• Bumper Sticker: "Don't Ask Me About My Day".
• Cardiovascular Love: SpongeBob's sweater for Squidward reads "I ♥ U". Squidward reads it as "I heart you".
• Celestial Deadline: When SpongeBob is thought to eat the exploding pie, Mr. Krabs says he's only got until sunset before it drops into his lower intestine and that’s the time he is to explode.
• Convenience Store Gift Shopping: Defied; when told he needs to exchange gifts with SpongeBob, Squidward says he’ll just “buy the little twerp a gumball” before Mr. Krabs informs him that he has to make the gift himself.
• Crappy Homemade Gift: SpongeBob makes Squidward a sweater for Employee Brotherhood Day. The hole for Squidward's head is way too big (SpongeBob says he used a watermelon for scale) and it's itchy because SpongeBob made the sweater out of his eyelash hair. Disgusted, Squidward throws the sweater back at SpongeBob, making the sponge cry... and he uses his tears to make a new sweater for Squidward.
• Crashing Dreams: The episode opens with an Imagine Spot of Squidward on an island playing tropical music on a piano when he's interrupted by SpongeBob ringing a bell yelling "Order up, Squidward!", which resulted from his ringing alarm clock.
• Disney Death: Once the sun sets, we hear an explosion behind the brick wall, and Squidward breaks down in tears, thinking SpongeBob finally died. Then another explosion occurs, and the wall falls down, revealing SpongeBob is still alive and well, making bomb bubbles which caused the explosions.
• Disproportionate Retribution: When the first crumb of the pie goes off, Mr. Krabs initially thinks Squidward was trying to kill him over his "new age management".
• Eat the Bomb: The whole episode has Squidward and Mr. Krabs believe that SpongeBob did in fact eat an exploding pie, but in the end, it's revealed that SpongeBob never ate the pie at all, and just wanted to share with Squidward. However, he ends up tripping on a rock and throwing the pie in Squidward's face, causing the entire town to blow up.
• Everyone Has Standards: Squidward hates SpongeBob, but he's not willing to kill him, and is horrified to learn that he has apparently made it so he will die after eating an explosive pie.
• Failed a Spot Check: Upon entering Mr. Krabs' office, SpongeBob instantly took notice of the pie on his desk, ignoring the huge hole in the wall.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: It's only an Imagine Spot, but the scene where Squidward imagines SpongeBob literally exploding in the middle of serving a customer is chilling even for a children's program.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: In Squidward's Imagine Spot when SpongeBob explodes, chunks of his remains rain down around the customer; when the sun sets and an explosion occurs behind the brick wall, no sponge chunks rain down, giving away that SpongeBob is not dead.
• Freudian Slip: Mr. Krabs does this when explaining SpongeBob's plight to Squidward:
  Mr. Krabs: I've seen this before. When that pie goes up to bat- I mean, hits his lower intestine... BOOM!
• Gory Discretion Shot: While the aforementioned imagination sequence doesn't show SpongeBob exploding on-screen, we do see pieces of what used to be the sponge sprinkling all over the restaurant to give the impression that that's what happened.
• Hair-Trigger Explosive: A bite of that pie falling on the ground is enough to blow up Mr. Krabs' office, which makes you wonder why it didn't explode when Squidward dropped it on Mr. Krabs' desk. During the ending scene, SpongeBob shows Squidward that he never ate the bomb pie, he was saving it in his pocket the whole time. He then trips, dropping the pie and causing a nuclear explosion that leaves Bikini Bottom in tatters.invoked
  Squidward: Ow.
• Homemade Sweater from Hell: SpongeBob makes Squidward a sweater made from his own eyelashes. Later he makes another one from his own tears.
• Imagine Spotting: Upon hearing that the last thing on SpongeBob's list is watching the sunset, Squidward recalls Mr. Krabs saying that's when the bomb hits his lower intestine and kills him. His Imagine Spot doesn't go unnoticed.
  SpongeBob: Hey, it's Mr. Krabs! Hi, Mr. Krabs! (Thought Bubble!Mr. Krabs runs off crying like the real Mr. Krabs did) Okay! See ya later!
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Squidward once again expresses concern for SpongeBob as he waits in fear for the bomb to go off. When it doesn't go off, however, Squidward angrily berates SpongeBob for not exploding because of all the time he wasted doing things with him.
• "Just Joking" Justification: The pirate captain pulls this on Squidward about his pies actually being bombs the moment he hears Squidward say he wanted to buy one of them.
• Karma Houdini: As far as we know, the pirates never got their comeuppance for tricking Squidward into thinking one of their bombs was an actual pie. At the very least, they conned him out of his money, and their trick could very easily have killed somebody.
• Kick the Dog: SpongeBob makes an eyelash sweater for Squidward, who responds with angrily throwing the gift on his face, making him cry a new sweater.
• Lame Rhyme Dodge:
  SpongeBob: Sunsets always remind me of bowls of fruit. What do they make you think of, Squidward?
  Squidward: (has an Imagine Spot of SpongeBob happily running and laughing then suddenly exploding) Explosions. I-I mean, uh... e-erosions.
• Last Day to Live: Squidward is convinced SpongeBob ate the bomb pie, so he is tasked by Mr. Krabs to enjoy his "final hours" with him. When he doesn't explode after all, Squidward isn't too pleased about it.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Squidward literally gets caught in a nuclear explosion underwater and his only reaction is nothing more than a simple "Ouch". Plus Mr. Krabs' reaction to almost being blown up basically amounts to, "You seriously thought you were the first to try and kill me over a new management idea?"
• Meatgrinder Surgery: SpongeBob "performs" open-heart surgery on Squidward by opening his chest cavity and poking his heart with his finger. This causes blood to come squirting out, though Squidward is alive and well in the next scene.
  Squidward: Are you sure you should be poking it like that?
  SpongeBob: Who's the doctor here?
• Medium-Shift Gag: When the bomb finally goes off, it cuts to live-action Stock Footage of an underwater atomic explosion.
• Mistaken for Dying: Squidward believes SpongeBob ate the bomb pie and tries to make the best of his "last day on Earth". He is none too happy when he finds out SpongeBob never ate the pie.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Briefly, when the pie crumb destroys Mr. Krabs' office, he accuses Squidward of trying to off him over a little "new age management". Squidward immediately clears it up by saying he didn't know, only to be accused once more when it's thought that SpongeBob ate the bomb.
• Mood Whiplash: Squidward goes from fear to guilt to tears to confusion and finally to annoyance when he believes SpongeBob exploded and died, only to find out he's still perfectly fine.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When he thinks SpongeBob is going to die from eating the exploding pie, Squidward has this reaction.
• Non Fatal Explosion: In the very end when the bomb pie hits Squidward.
• Noodle Incident: Mr. Krabs has seen people die from eating exploding pies before. Eleven times, in fact. As has the doctor Squidward calls.
• No Sympathy: Initially quite averted with Squidward, who is quite guilt-ridden to learn that SpongeBob will supposedly die at sunset because of him and willingly joins SpongeBob in a variety of ridiculous (and even dangerous) activities to make his last hours as meaningful as possible. However, when SpongeBob does not explode as expected, instead of being happy, Squidward is angry because his time was wasted.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: As SpongeBob and Squidward are watching the sunset.
  SpongeBob: You know, if I were to die, right now, in some sort of fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend... well, that'd just be okay.
  Squidward: (tears up)
• Oh, Crap!: Squidward and Mr. Krabs, after they think SpongeBob ate the pie.
• Pie in the Face: Squidward gets an explosive pie in the face at the end of the episode.
• A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Squidward buys his pie bomb from an anachronistic-dressed pirate crew (complete with their captain even speaking with a grizzled pirate accent), although they seem to be familiar with 21st century currency.
• Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud: The German dub has a few of the characters' voice actors doing it. (For example, translating the Bumper Sticker from "Don't Ask Me About My Day" to "Frag Mich Nicht Wie's Mir Geht").
• Ridiculously Potent Explosive: Played for Laughs. When the bomb disguised as a pie finally goes off at the end of the episode, the explosion is so great we see stock footage of an underwater A-bomb going off and the blast was large enough to destroy the entire city.
• Scenery Gorn: Bikini Bottom and its surroundings are positively TOASTED after the bomb goes off.
• Series Fauxnale: The episode's basic plot makes it look like this is gonna be the series finale, but then we find out that SpongeBob never ate the pie in the first place.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: It turns out SpongeBob never ate the bomb pie; he was saving it in his pocket, and he really ate a different pie offscreen which was completely non-fatal.
• Shout-Out: Squidward's line "There’s gonna be love... SO MUCH! He's gonna drown in it! DROWN IN IT!", especially the way it's read, channels Ralph Kramden's famous outburst to his mother-in-law: "YOU are a blabbermouth! A BLABBERMOUTH!"
• Skewed Priorities: After Squidward explains to him about the exploding pie, the first thing Mr. Krabs comments on is the twenty-five dollars Squidward spent on the pie. Which is a pretty decent point, considering that's $42 in 2022 and the average pie that size should only cost about half that. Justified as well due to the fact that a BOMB costing only twenty-five bucks would also be pretty concerning.
• Stock Audio Clip: SpongeBob's laughing as he checks the items off his list is used again after "exploding" for Squidward.
• Stuff Blowing Up: This episode is filled with explosions.
• Tears of Remorse: Squidward sheds these when he thinks SpongeBob has exploded.
• Three... Two... One...: Squidward hesitantly counts down the sunset to SpongeBob's request, when he believes his explosion is going to happen any second.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • SpongeBob, who completely looks past that Squidward just explained that the pie was a bomb and still suggests that they eat it anyway. He then trips over a pebble, accidentally sending the pie flying into Squidward's face, blowing up all of Bikini Bottom in the process.
  • Squidward as well, for knowingly buying a pie explicitly said to be a bomb by the pirates, and taking their word for it when they say that they were just kidding as they con him out of a fast buck, although Squidward probably didn't care enough to think twice and only wanted to get Mr. Krabs off his back.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: "Mr. Krabs, are you okay? I heard a-... Wooow! (approaches the hole in the wall) A pie!"
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Mr. Krabs, who told Squidward he had to make a gift for SpongeBob.
  • Squidward also counts, as he believed the captain when the latter said they were kidding about the pies being bombs.
• Watching the Sunset: SpongeBob's last thing to do is to watch the sunset with Squidward. While the former enjoys such, the latter panics as this is the time the pie drops into SpongeBob's lower intestine and will explode any second.
• Weapon of Mass Destruction: The pie bomb Squidward buys is strong enough to level all of Bikini Bottom. Even just a crumb of it was able to obliterate the back of the Krusty Krab.
• Wham Shot: A second explosion occurring behind the brick wall when Squidward is breaking down, which causes the wall to fall and reveal SpongeBob, still alive and well.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Mr. Krabs gives one to Squidward when it looked like SpongeBob has eaten the exploding pie.
  Mr. Krabs: You had to kill him. The boy cries you a sweater of tears... and you kill him. How are you gonna live with yourself?

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"Until I know who the real Mr. Krabs is, nobody moves... nobody gets hurt!"

Imitation Krabs

Original air date: 1/27/2001 (produced in 2000)

Plankton uses a robotic duplicate of Mr. Krabs to try and steal the Krabby Patty formula, and SpongeBob believes it's the real thing.

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"Imitation Krabs" contains examples of:

• Accidental Truth: SpongeBob mistakes a customer who makes an innocent query about what's in Krabby Patties for Plankton in another disguise and rips off his head. Turns out, he was wearing a mask, but only because he's insecure about the fact that his real head is disproportionately small for his body.
  Customer: Everyone at the Head Enhancement Clinic said nobody would notice! (runs away crying)
• An Aesop: Don't be fooled by imposters.
• Air Quotes: Used by Squidward when he meets Robot Krabs.
  Squidward: You're not Mr. Krabs.
  Robot Krabs: Hey, why don't you take the rest of the day off?
  Squidward: We-e-ell! Whatever you say, "Mr. Krabs".
• Bait-and-Switch: Initially, it seems that SpongeBob's second Spot the Imposter question is, "How much does a Krabby Patty cost?" But when Mr. Krabs gives the answer, it turns out SpongeBob was pausing for dramatic effect, and the full question is, "How much does a Krabby Patty cost... on Wednesday?"
• Behind a Stick: After getting the real Krabs out of the way, Plankton's robot Krabs emerges from behind the mast in front of the Krusty Krab.
• Berserk Button: Asking for a day off, let alone saying the words "day off", is enough to send Mr. Krabs into a rage.
• Big "SHUT UP!": SpongeBob eventually can't stand Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs' arguing during the episode's climax, and shuts them up with this and a vat of tartar sauce as a weapon.
  SpongeBob: QUIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!! (Both versions of Krabs turn to see him holding a hose of tartar sauce) Until I know who the real Mr. Krabs is, nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!
• Big "WHAT?!": Plankton screams this after 6½ hours of random requests from SpongeBob before giving him the formula. Since he’s speaking through Robot Krabs, it comes out rather dull.
• Bottle Episode: The entire episode is set at the Krusty Krab, and SpongeBob is wearing his hat almost the entire time.
• Call-Back: Back in "Hooky", Mr. Krabs mentioned that nobody has taken a day off at the Krusty Krab since the Great Chum Famine of '59, which is supported by his violent reaction to Squidward taking the day off.
• Crazy-Prepared: Mr. Krabs instructed SpongeBob to never actually speak the Krabby Patty formula.
• Deus ex Machina: Nowhere was the self-destruct switch foreshadowed before it comes into play.
• Didn't Think This Through: Plankton didn't count on SpongeBob using the coin-operated self-destruct system.
  Plankton: Coin-operated self-destruct? Not one of my better ideas. (runs off back to the Chum Bucket with the formula) HEEEEEELLLLLP!!!!! (the robot explodes, destroying the Chum Bucket and causing the giant fist to land on him) Ouch!
• Dramatic Gasp: When Mr. Krabs walks in on SpongeBob about to give Robot Krabs the secret formula, everyone gasps, including the penny Krabs was chasing.
• Easily Forgiven: Mr. Krabs forgives SpongeBob for his tests, being satisfied that the secret formula was alright. However, he does tell SpongeBob that the penny Plankton used is coming out of his paycheck, though SpongeBob is unsure if Mr. Krabs is joking or not.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: At the end of the episode, Mr. Krabs says, "That penny is coming out of your paycheck". He and SpongeBob then laugh before SpongeBob says, "Really?".
• Fireball Eyeballs: Robot Krabs has them when SpongeBob refuses to tell him the secret formula.
• Flaw Exploitation: Plankton keeps Mr. Krabs out of his hair for a while by using his own greed against him, getting him to chase after a rolling penny.
• Funny Background Event: The opening pan of the Krusty Krab's interior shows the patrons enjoying their burgers in... creative ways. For example, one customer is sucking on it like a pacifier while another has removed the top bun and is licking the inside like an Oreo.
• High-Pressure Emotion: Mr. Krabs quite literally blows off steam after he realizes "he" (in reality Plankton as Robot Krabs) gave Squidward a day off:
  Mr. Krabs: Day... OOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF?????!!!!!
• Hoist by His Own Petard: "Coin-operated self-destruct. Not one of my better ideas..." ^note Doubly so, since Plankton was the one who threw the penny for Mr. Krabs to catch in the first place.
• Humans Are Cthulhu: One human tried eating Mr. Krabs with a fork.
• I Take Offense to That Last One:
  Mr. Krabs: If I were a robot, which I'm not, at least I'm well put together, not some rusted-up, steam-driven pile of junk.
  Robot Krabs: Who are you calling steam-driven?
• Inventional Wisdom: Even Plankton admits that equipping his robot with a coin-operated Self-Destruct Mechanism wasn't a good idea.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: SpongeBob attempts to Spot the Imposter between Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs by metaphorically holding both of them at gunpoint with a hose full of tartar sauce while asking them trivia questions that only the real Mr. Krabs would know.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Squidward jokes that it's better to put things off until tomorrow. Mr. Krabs counters by pointing out that today is yesterday's tomorrow, and immediately puts him to work on inventory. Krabs may be a cheap, lousy boss, but he knows how to cut the crap.
• Look Behind You: When Plankton hears Mr. Krabs coming, he says to SpongeBob, "Look, a jellyfish!". SpongeBob whips out his net yelling "I got it! I got it!" and chases the nonexistent jellyfish while Plankton converts his robot into a toaster.
• Machine Monotone: Robot Krabs has no inflections, even when Plankton yells.
• Malicious Misnaming: Near the end when SpongeBob hands Robot Krabs the Krabby Patty formula, Plankton/Robot Krabs calls SpongeBob "SpongeDupe".
• Mistaken for an Imposter: When a customer wonders what Krabby Patties are made of, SpongeBob assumes it's Plankton in disguise and rips his head off. Turns out he was just a regular guy wearing a prosthetic head.
• Motor Mouth: SpongeBob giving Plankton the Krabby Patty disclaimer all in one breath.
• My God, What Have I Done?: SpongeBob realizes his mistake when he finds out that Mr. Krabs wasn't a fake, apologizing to the latter for almost having him eaten by Hans.
• Near-Villain Victory: If Plankton weren't so busy laughing himself silly when SpongeBob activated the self-destruct coin slot, odds are he would've finally stolen the secret formula. Alternatively, he would have succeeded if he hadn't installed a coin-operated Self-Destruct Mechanism in the first place.
• Noodle Incident: "If we're discussing the secret formula on the third Wednesday in January and it's not raining outside, after we gargle with vanilla pudding, what do we do?"
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Both Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs when SpongeBob threatens them with tartar sauce.
  • Plankton when SpongeBob unwittingly inserts a penny into the self-destruct coin slot.
  • SpongeBob when he witnesses Robot Krabs run into the Chum Bucket and explode, after kicking out the real Mr. Krabs.
    SpongeBob: If that was Plankton... Uh-oh.
• Only Sane Man: Played with—Squidward immediately figures out that Plankton's robot isn't Mr. Krabs. However, he goes along with it when Plankton gives him the rest of the day off.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: SpongeBob falls completely for Plankton's robot, despite being obviously made of metal and talking in Robo Speak in Plankton's own voice. Squidward doesn't fall for it, but plays along anyway when "Mr. Krabs" gives him the day off.
• Pinocchio Nose: A variant, every time Plankton/Robot Krabs says that he's Mr. Krabs, smoke puffs out from the robot's exhaust pipe.
• Pun-Based Title: The episode title comes from "imitation crab", another word for crab sticks, an inexpensive Japanese crab meat substitute made from whitefish and flour.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Plankton reaches his after at least six and a half hours of inane activities with SpongeBob, who still won't tell "Mr. Krabs" what the secret formula is:
  Plankton: (after a spaghetti and meatball dish with SpongeBob as an Italian chef, through Robot Krabs) Okay, now let's hear that formula.
  SpongeBob: Sorry, (takes off his chef mustache) no can do, Mr. Krabs.
  Plankton: (through Robot Krabs, whose eyes catch fire out of rage) WHAAAAAAATTTTT?! (we cut to him inside, mid-Villainous Breakdown) But we did EVERYTHING YOU SAID, I followed ALL THE RULES! I even ate a hundred and five black licorice jellybeans through a (holds up a straw) STRAW! (through Robot Krabs) Now why can't you tell me the formula?!
  • Then shortly after Mr. Krabs busts in and confronts his robot double, SpongeBob snaps out of paranoia and rage and with a Big "SHUT UP!", takes matters into his own hands.
  SpongeBob: (holding both Krabses hostage with a vat of tartar sauce) QUIEEEEEET! Until I know who the real Mr. Krabs is, nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!
• Real Time: When SpongeBob somehow activates Robot Krabs’ coin-operated self destruct, it states the robot will self-destruct in ten seconds. Indeed, exactly ten seconds elapse between that announcement and the time Robot Krabs explodes.
• Robot Me: Plankton creates a robot double of Mr. Krabs to get the Krabby Patty formula.
• Rocky Roll Call:
  Mr. Krabs: Plankton!
  Plankton: Krabs!
  Mr. Krabs: Plankton!
  Plankton: Krabs!
  SpongeBob: SpongeBob!
• Rule of Funny: Why else would Plankton do something as stupid as put a coin-op self-destruct function on Robot Krabs?
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: After eating spaghetti, Robot Krabs says "Belch" rather than actually belching. Also, his Dramatic Gasp when Mr. Krabs appears is him just saying "Gasp".
• Secret Handshake: SpongeBob has a long, elaborate one with Mr. Krabs. It takes over 6½ hours to do. He ends up leading the Robot Krabs through it step-by-step, defeating the entire purpose of a secret handshake.
• Skyward Scream: When SpongeBob informs Mr. Krabs, who is wondering where Squidward is, that he gave Squidward the day off, Mr. Krabs' irises narrow to pinpricks, as he says, "Day..." and screams, "OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFF?!?!?"
• Spot the Imposter: SpongeBob gives the two Krabs a series of questions he thinks only the real Mr. Krabs would know. The first two are generic questions that anyone who's been to the Krusty Krab can answer and Robot Krabs answers them both. The third question is one that is so complicated even the real Krabs can't answer it.
• Throwing the Distraction: To get rid of Krabs, Plankton throws a penny and Krabs follows it as it rolls out the door. It later rolls back inside, leading Krabs to Plankton just as he's about to get the formula.
• Title Drop: "So long, Imitation Krabs! Bye-bye!"
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • SpongeBob as usual. He completely falls for Plankton's robot Krabs "disguise" every step of the way. Even worse during the Spot the Imposter part, where he's blatantly favouring the imitation Krabs to be the real one: When the real Krabs answers the second question correctly, SpongeBob asks another related question as if expecting the other Krabs (the imitation one) to answer it. Then he gives a confusing third question possibly to stump the real Krabs, as when he failed to answer it, SpongeBob immediately kicks him out even though imitation Krabs hadn't even given an answer yet. To top it off, after he kicked out the real Krabs, he told the imitation Krabs that he "knew it all along" that he (the imitation) is the real Krabs. Fortunately, he realizes the truth when Robot Krabs rushes to the Chum Bucket with the formula before exploding. You really have to wonder why Mr. Krabs didn't fire him by the end of the episode, though it could be a case of Easily Forgiven and decided a suitable punishment was taking something out of SpongeBob's paycheck for the penny he lost. Unlike other examples of SpongeBob brushing this off, he sounds notably nervous when Krab's statement sinks in.
  • Plankton also counts. He rushed all the way back to the Chum Bucket as the self-destruct sequence nears its end, blowing up his own restaurant. Even before that, putting an externally mounted, coin-operated Self-Destruct Mechanism on his robot, which he admits that was a stupid idea.
• Transforming Mecha: Plankton hits a button to transform Robot Krabs into a toaster before Mr. Krabs returns.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: SpongeBob only seems to find it mildly strange that "Mr. Krabs" suddenly is wearing a metal suit, can fire beams out of his eyes, and has a microphone extend from his clothes. Of course, this is SpongeBob we're talking about.

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