Nature Pants:
- Alternative Character Interpretation: Why did Squidward join in with the "welcome home" surprise party? We're shown earlier in the episode that he didn't appear to miss SpongeBob at all. Was it simply because he knew he'd come back eventually (as implied by his previous "I'll give him eleven minutes" line)? Was it because after SpongeBob was gone long enough he actually did start to miss him and is simply denying it (as supported by the later episode "Squidville")? Was it simply because the others dragged him into it (as suggested by how apathetic he comes off as being)?
- Applicability: SpongeBob deciding to abandon his old life on the spot and live among the jellyfish because he feels it'll make him happy can be read as a metaphor for someone converting to a religion in order to make themselves happy without taking into consideration the nuances of said religion. In particular, his decision could be seen as analogous to surface-level Buddhism, wherein someone immediately decides to forgo their wealthy possessions without understanding why Buddhists don't need material possessions to be happy, especially when considering this line.SpongeBob: I'm gonna prove that I don't need all this stuff to be happy! Maybe someday, you'll wise up and join me.
- Memetic Mutation:
- SpongeBob floating from his grill during his Imagine Spot at the start has been edited to have him emit a heavenly glow
◊ to indicate someone feeling the sensation of "ascending", often set to "Wolves" by Kanye West. - "I miss you! [Insert name] misses you! Even [Insert another name] misses you!" (insert Gilligan Cut to something denying this)
- The screenshot of Patrick◊ attempting to catch SpongeBob has spawned many memes on social media. It is immediately preceded by SpongeBob catching his breath, which spawned its own memes.
- SpongeBob solemnly opening his house door is often used in memes related to people who feel unhappy with their lives.
- SpongeBob floating from his grill during his Imagine Spot at the start has been edited to have him emit a heavenly glow
- Nightmare Fuel: Patrick trying to capture SpongeBob as a trophy, complete with a jar labeled "SpongeBob-Friend," is downright psychologically horrifying. The disturbing background music makes it worse.
- Tear Jerker:
- When Patrick finally gives up though, it turns to this, saying "I hope you're happy" in the most heartbroken voice and even breaking the jellyfishing net Spongebob left to him.
- SpongeBob finally realizing he was foolish to give up the life he had on a whim. Thankfully, it quickly becomes a heartwarming moment when SpongeBob is greeted by a "Welcome Home" surprise party. Even Squidward is there!
- The Woobie: Patrick really doesn't take SpongeBob leaving well, spending the whole episode either crying or on the verge of tears until he comes back. Even when he tries to catch SpongeBob, you still can't help but feel for him, helped by him being right to get his friend out of nature.
Opposite Day:
- Franchise Original Sin: This is the first of what would become a Running Gag in the infamous Seasonal Rot era of Patrick and Spongebob breaking into Squidward's house when he's sleeping. Here it's more sympathetic because it was a one-time instance as Spongebob and Patrick apparently actually thought it was Squidward's birthday and were trying to give him someone to celebrate with, and they leave of their own volition once it's over. Squidward also didn't tell them until after the celebration that it wasn't his birthday. Later seasons would have the duo breaking into his house on a regular basis and not getting the hint no matter how many times he would yell at them to leave, literally throw them out, or set up very obvious security systems to keep them out. This stalker-ish level behavior infuriated many fans to no end especially as Squidward was condemned vehemently by the narrative for not being okay with it.
- Memetic Mutation:
- Patrick's "I'm Squidward" dance became this in tandem with a video of SpongeBob scenes set to Soulja Boy's "Crank That", thanks to the dance timing itself really well to the song.
- An extremely low-quality clip of the video, bit-crushed to the point where the visuals and audio are almost impossible to make out (and are noticeably out-of-sync to boot) has become a meme in its own right, to the point that many don't realise the original video exists.
- An extremely low-quality clip of the video
- "GET AWAY FROM HER!"Explanation
- "He's Squidward! He's Squidward! You're Squidward?! I'm Squidward! Are there any other Squidwards that I should know about?!" Cue a cut to Gary meowing in Squidward's voice, wearing a pickle as a nose. It's popular to take screenshots of this scene and replace "Squidward" with any character name or title that a series has multiples of (a popular example being Xehanort).
- Patrick's "I'm Squidward" dance became this in tandem with a video
- One-Scene Wonder: The Real Estate Agent doesn't even have a name, yet thanks to the aforementioned Squidward rant, she's forever immortalized by that one meme.
