YMMV / SpongeBob SquarePants S1 E10 "Culture Shock / F.U.N."

Culture Shock:

• Franchise Original Sin: The Season 5 Episode "To Love a Patty" infamously includes a scene where SpongeBob outright ''murders'' a bunch of innocent clams just for trying to eat his Krabby Patty, which he treated as sentient. Many fans found this an Out-of-Character Moment, especially considering he once took care of a baby clam in "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve". However, this episode features SpongeBob having a mouth full of clams and suggests an event where customers come in with a mouth full of clams in exchange for a free drink, even though he has a pet clam (named Shelley) in the background of several season 1 episodes. It was more accepted here, as it's only a brief gag and Shelley was never, and never has been, directly mentioned in the show.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Squidward Live.^Explanation Squidward's bizarre interpretive dance during his segment in the talent show, which quickly became a popular subject for remixes.
  • The crowd cheering for SpongeBob and going silent for Squidward.^Explanation A two-image set of this moment, which became a popular exploitable used to convey mass enthusiasm for one thing and mass apathy for a second, oftentimes related thing.

F.U.N.:

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Plankton's entire friendship with SpongeBob all part of his front, or did he actually come close to turning a new leaf before ultimately changing his mind? Plankton seemed to have forgotten the plan until Karen, who formed it in the first place, reminded him of it, instead speaking of his time having fun with the yellow sponge, but when seemingly given the chance to be forgiven after being caught and called out, he forgoes that for a chance to take away the Krabby Patty he stole.
  • Did Bubble Bass actually know that Plankton was there? With Plankton's tiny size and the theater's dark lighting, Bubble Bass may genuinely not have seen him, and assumed that the seat was unoccupied and SpongeBob's "friend" was imaginary.
• Funny Moments:
  • Plankton's version of the F.U.N. Song.
  • SpongeBob ripping off a completely unnecessary costume of himself before going into action.
  • "And maybe scallops will fly out of me pants!"
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • At the movies, SpongeBob offhandedly mentions to Plankton, "I sure do like sequels, Plankton!" It would take over ten years before his own movie got a follow-up.
  • Here, SpongeBob performs an innocent, lighthearted song that uses "F.U.N." as an acronym. Roughly a decade later, TechN9ne would make a song using the acronym "F.U.N.," but in his version, it means... something very different.
• Jerkass Woobie: This is the first episode to show a more sympathetic side of Plankton. The guy's just upset that his fast food place isn't getting attention, and he clearly takes it hard, but in the end, he concludes that, "being evil is just too much fun."

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