YMMV / SpongeBob SquarePants S3 E15 "The Great Snail Race" / "Mid-Life Crustacean"

The Great Snail Race:

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Did the race staff move Rocky over to the finish line to get the race over with, or was Rocky really a sentient character?
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: To date, Snellie has never appeared in the show since. Her only other appearances are in the book version of this episode and the Nintendo DS version of SpongeBob SquarePants: Truth or Square.
• The Woobie: Gary. SpongeBob works him nearly to death and he doesn't get a break until he literally crashes and burns.

Mid-Life Crustacean:

• Alternative Character Interpretation: SpongeBob and Patrick stealing panties from Mr. Krabs' mother. Is this an innocent prank with them being unaware of the implications, or do they like older women? While the first is in-character, "Chocolate with Nuts" does end with them dating old women as the punchline.
• Angst? What Angst?: Mr. Krabs doesn't get much time to comment on the fact that his own fry cook has been breaking into his mother's house many times to raid her lingerie. In the real world, he'd almost surely have been fired or worse, arrested.
• Common Knowledge: Many take the scene of Mr. Krabs eating the Krabby Patty and saying "So that's what I taste like" out of context as proof that Krabby Patties are made out of crab meat. However, if you watch the scene in context, the point was that the patty was old and dried out like Mr. Krabs was. He wasn't commenting on the sandwich's actual ingredients, but on its age.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Not only do SpongeBob and Patrick panty raid in secret, they've been doing it at the house of Mama Krabs.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: When Mr. Krabs lambastes SpongeBob and Patrick for their lame idea of fun, one of the things he calls them is "babies", to which they respond with "Not babies!" and suck their thumbs while crying. A later episode would have SpongeBob and Patrick play with baby toys without a hint of irony.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Are you feeling it now Mr. Krabs?"^ExplanationThis repeated quote that appears throughout the episode's montage sequence became popular to quote among fans in reference to not only the show, but also anything related to crabs in general, usually for Black Comedy appeal.
    • "Art thou feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?"^ExplanationAnother version of the quote only with a Dungeons & Dragons setting. The scene is often used as another template for fan artists to draw their favorite characters in.
  • "I guess you're gonna miss the panty raid."^ExplanationThis instance of Demographically Inappropriate Humour immediately caught on with older fans due to how blatant it was, leading it to become popular to both quote and parody (right down to the creation of a Twitter account that exists solely for that joke).
  • "That's okay, you can keep it."^ExplanationThe child politely declining Mr. Krabs' offer to play with him and his friends which is often used as a reaction to shows or media that are being promoted but aren't as appealing to the internet audience.
• Squick: The fact that SpongeBob and Patrick have been raiding Mrs. Krabs' drawers, who's not only much older than them, but also the mother of SpongeBob's own boss!
• Unintentional Period Piece: SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs playing a copyright-friendly version of Dungeons & Dragons is meant to highlight how dorky SpongeBob and Patrick ultimately are, dating this episode to the late-90s or 2000s when D&D was seen as a game that only nerds play, as it would undergo positive reevaluation as of The New '10s.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Who would have thought a kids' show would have a panty raid in it? Nickelodeon seems to have begun to think so at one point, which prompted them to remove the episode from rotation and streaming services.

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