Line #41 Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS4E3HaveYouSeenThisSnail


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32b4f967_e905_409c_ac35_ab9738303e5b.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TearJerker ♪ Gary, now I know, I was wrong\
3	I messed up, and now you're gone ♪]]'']]
4
5	'''Have You Seen This Snail?'''
6
7	'''Original air date:''' 11/11/2005 ''(produced in 2004)''
8
9	When [=SpongeBob=] forgets to feed Gary after becoming obsessed with his new paddleball, Gary runs away and is adopted by a kindly old lady. Once [=SpongeBob=] realizes that Gary's gone, he and Patrick search Bikini Bottom high and low to make amends.
10	----
11	!!"Have You Seen This Snail?" contains examples of:
12	* AccidentalMisnaming: Granny calls Gary "Miss Tuffsy". While this seems like an AdoptiveNameChange at first, she's apparently mistaking him for a previous snail of hers, since she later calls another snail by the same name.
13	* AnAesop:
14	** Take care of your family (including your pets) first before creating free time for yourself.
15	** Don't get so obsessed with something that you neglect to care for yourself, your family, and your pets.
16	** Even if your usually loving parents are busy with something, they still love you.
17	* AmbiguousSituation:
18	** It's unclear whether Granny is [[FatteningTheVictim fattening up her snails to eat them]] or if she accidentally [[DeathByGluttony overfeeds them until they die]] due to her senility.
19	** What happened to the ''real'' Miss Tuffsy? Did she successfully escape like Granny implied, was she overfed to death and Granny was too senile to realize, or does Granny purposefully call all snails "Miss Tuffsy" before she eats them?
20	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
21	-->'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' So, let's get this straight, Gary. You ''don't'' want me to defeat the Dirty Bubble! You know, Dirty Bubble, terror of the Seven Seas, archnemesis of my favorite TV superheroes, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy... and apparently, uh... renowned paddleball champion.
22	* BaitAndSwitch: Gary spots a plate of nachos in the alley and is about to eat them when he sees some scary-looking alley snails, one of whom hisses, "Look who came to dinner!" Gary runs off thinking the alley snails are going to eat him, but then another one says, "I guess he didn't like nachos," and the three alley snails groan in disappointment.
23	* BaitAndSwitchComment:
24	** First, when Gary prepares to run away, but stops short when [=SpongeBob=] realizes something. Or so he thinks...
25	--->'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' Hey... I got one! Dirty Bubble, say your prayers!
26	** Then when Patrick goes to check on [=SpongeBob=]:
27	--->'''Patrick:''' ''(knocks on [=SpongeBob=]'s door; seems to notice the bag of snail food at his feet)'' That's strange... Usually, I knock on the door with ''this'' hand.
28	** Then when he finds [=SpongeBob=] in a TroubledFetalPosition:
29	--->'''Patrick:''' [=SpongeBob=], what happened?! ...This picture is crooked!
30	** After [=SpongeBob=] tells him that he took the Dirty Bubble Challenge:
31	--->'''Patrick:''' YOU ''WHAT''?! ''(bursts into tears)''\
32	'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' Why are ''you'' crying, Patrick?\
33	'''Patrick:''' Because... many years ago, ''I'' took that challenge!\
34	'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' Really?\
35	'''Patrick:''' Uh-huh!\
36	'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' Well, what happened?\
37	'''Patrick:''' I won. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking But then, I lost the trophy they sent me.]]
38	** Then later:
39	--->''' Patrick:''' Did you say "Gary"? [=SpongeBob=], I just remembered! Earlier today at the craft store, I ''saw''... THESE HUGE CHUNKS OF BALSA WOOD! They were AWESOME!\
40	'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' Gary ''LOVED'' BALSA WOOD...!!!
41	* BaitAndSwitchCompassion: Patrick sees the disheveled [=SpongeBob=] lying down on the ground because he's exhausted from having spent a long time playing paddle ball. Patrick exclaims [=SpongeBob=]'s name in supposed concern before running over to a framed picture, saying that the picture isn't straight.
42	* BathtubScene: Squidward is taking a bath in one scene, with [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick barging in to look for Gary.
43	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Gary plans to find a new master who'll remember to feed him every now and then. He gets taken in by Granny, who feeds him and takes good care of him, only to later find a closet full of cracked, empty snail shells inside her house, revealing that Granny overfeeds her pets until it ultimately kills them, either accidentally due to her own senility, or deliberately in order to fatten them up and then eat them.
44	* BindleStick: Gary takes one when he runs away from home.
45	* BreakingOldTrends: This is the first double-length episode to not include a FramingDevice hosted by Patchy the Pirate.
46	* BrickJoke: On his way home, Gary runs into one of the alley snails he encountered earlier, who says, "Hey! You're that guy that doesn't like nachos!"
47	* CasualDangerDialogue: Even when Gary opens the closet and finds dozens of cracked, empty snail shells, Granny doesn't raise her voice over Gary finding something he shouldn't have, instead sounding more sinister in her inflection.
48	* ChronicPetKiller: Granny has had many snails before Gary, their busted shells gathered in an empty room in her house.
49	* ClapperGag: Granny turns off her lights at one point in this way.
50	* CobwebOfDisuse:
51	** Gary has gone so long without being fed that his food dish contains cobwebs and even a spider's egg sac.
52	** When [=SpongeBob=] forgets to feed Gary, the bag of snail food on his doorstep gets dusty and covered with cobwebs over time.
53	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Patrick does this quite a few times.
54	** He notices Gary's food bag at the door but just thinks he knocked with the wrong hand
55	** He gets to [=SpongeBob=] being a nervous wreck, but is only concerned about a crooked picture.
56	** When [=SpongeBob=] has his MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, Patrick takes it literally.
57	** He notices Gary with Granny but doesn't pick him up or inform [=SpongeBob=].
58	*** And when [=SpongeBob=] mentions Gary, Patrick is reminded of when he saw... [[BaitAndSwitch these huge chunks of balsa wood]].
59	* CrazyCatLady: Granny is the underwater equivalent.
60	* DeathByGluttony: One interpretation of Granny's closet full of busted snail shells is that she accidentally overfed her pets until it killed them due to her senility.
61	* DramaticIrony: [=SpongeBob=] remembers to feed Gary right when Gary is in the middle of an empty desert foraging for food.
62	* EatingPetFood: Patrick eats Gary's favorite treats, and shakes his tummy to try and get him to come back.
63	* EitherOrTitle: Nickelodeon promoted this special as "Where's Gary?".
64	* ExplodingCloset: When Gary tries to escape, he opens a door that turns out to be Granny's closet, and the shells of all of her previously-owned pet snails come exploding out.
65	* FaceOfAThug: The three snails in the alleyway seem like punks who were ready to rough Gary up for touching their nachos, but based on what they say after Gary flees, they were likely willing to share their nachos with him.
66	-->'''Thug Snail:''' Look who came to dinner!\
67	''(Gary runs away)''\
68	'''Green Snail:''' Guess he didn't like nachos...
69	* FatteningTheVictim: Another interpretation of Granny's closet full of busted snail shells is that Granny fattens up her pet snails before eating them and Gary is just her latest victim.
70	* FauxAffablyEvil: Granny at first appears to be a sweet old lady who gives Gary the food he needs, but is later revealed to be a ChronicPetKiller.
71	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
72	** After finding Gary, Granny notes that he's "lighter than she remembers". She proceeds to continuously feed him until he's well overweight and literally bursting out of his shell.
73	** At one point, Gary is looking around Granny's living room and a photo of her surrounded by multiple snails can be seen. Noticeably, those snails are all nowhere to be seen in the present day...
74	* GaveUpTooSoon: The alley snails which corner Gary actually wanted to have nachos with him, but Gary understandably [[HelpMistakenForAttack runs away]]. Gary could have had food there and not had to go through Granny's trials.
75	* HeKnowsTooMuch: Upon seeing that Gary discovered her closet of empty snail shells, Granny turns hostile and threatens to do to him what she did to her other snails.
76	* HypocriticalHumor: [=SpongeBob=] complains that Gary (or pets in general) doesn't understand what he's saying about beating the Dirty Bubble Challenge. But he himself doesn't interpret Gary's meows as a plea for food.
77	* LudicrousPrecision: The Dirty Bubble Challenge requires one to hit a paddleball 29,998,559,671,349 times in a row.
78	* MadnessMantra: "[[GoshDangItToHeck Darn it... darn it... darn it...]]"
79	* MissedHimByThatMuch: [=SpongeBob=] and Gary keep missing each other, usually because [=SpongeBob=] is preoccupied with putting up posters. Perhaps the most frustrating time is at the craft store where Patrick notices there is a sale on scented pine cones and goes inside to get some. He sees Gary and Granny are there and asks where the pine cones are, but she tells him she bought the last of the pine cones. Patrick then leaves, oblivious to the fact that he found Gary (despite ''casually greeting the snail'') and not mentioning it to [=SpongeBob=].
80	-->'''Patrick:''' Hey, Gary.
81	* MistakenForCheating: A random female fish spies the accidental "Lisa, Will You Marry Me?" message and for some reason, thinks her boyfriend/husband was responsible for it and slaps him.
82	* MoodWhiplash: The heartbreaking "Gary, Come Home" musical number ends with Patrick screwing up the skywriting, changing the message to "Lisa, Will You Marry Me?".
83	-->'''Female fish:''' Who is this "Lisa" person?!\
84	'''Male fish:''' Wha?\
85	''[[MistakenForCheating (the female fish slaps him)]]''
86	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [=SpongeBob=] realizes that he messed up big time after he reads Gary's DearJohnLetter. "Dear Neptune, what have I done?", indeed.
87	* NeverTrustATrailer: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q1Mah4t2D0&t=4s A YTV promo]] has an edited clip from the episode where Squidward is screaming as [=SpongeBob=] is digging in his bathtub. In the episode proper, Squidward only screams when [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick barge into his bathroom.
88	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Focusing so much on the "Dirty Bubble Challenge" causes [=SpongeBob=] to forget feeding Gary, who runs away.
89	* NoSympathy: Doubling as a JerkassBall, Mr. Krabs is completely ignorant of [=SpongeBob=]'s depression over losing Gary, instead focusing on the tears [=SpongeBob=] is dripping onto the Krabby Patties, and completely uninterested in [=SpongeBob=] explaining his problem.
90	* NothingIsScarier: It's never made clear if Granny overfeeds her snails with the intent of eating them, or if she accidentally does so until it ultimately kills them due to her senility. Both possibilities are equally harrowing.
91	* NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou: [=SpongeBob=]'s initial reaction once Gary rejoins him.
92	-->'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' Gary, your purring is making it hard to forget you... ''Gary!'' Oh, Gary!
93	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [=SpongeBob=] normally takes his job at the Krusty Krab very seriously, but because he's so depressed over losing Gary, he shows up fifteen minutes late and leaves in the middle of his shift.
94	* OhCrap:
95	** [=SpongeBob=] can't find Gary and begins to feel dread when he asks Patrick just how long he had been taking the Dirty Bubble Challenge. He goes into full panic mode when he gets his answer: about a week, maybe ten days.
96	** Gary gets a massive one when he finds a closet full of empty snail shells... presumably the same snails seen in the photograph with Granny, who is menacing Gary from down the hall with yet another batch of desserts.
97	--->'''Snails in photograph:''' ''RUUUUUUN!!!''
98	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: The green alley snail which Gary hides with.
99	-->'''Green Snail:''' Hey! You're that guy that doesn't like nachos!
100	* OverlyLongScream: [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick barge into Squidward's house while he is taking a bath, making him scream continuously.
101	* ParentalNeglect: [=SpongeBob=] forgets to take care of Gary because he's been obsessed with his new paddleball.
102	* PushedAtTheMonster: When Gary hides from Granny in an alleyway and reencounters the green snail from earlier, he uses him as a SacrificialLamb and pushes him to Granny, getting her off of Gary's tail for good.
103	* TheRunaway: Out of hunger, Gary runs away when he gets the feeling [=SpongeBob=] doesn't want to feed him anymore.
104	* SadTimesMontage: [=SpongeBob=] has one set to "[[GriefSong Gary's Song]]".
105	* ScatterbrainedSenior: Granny doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between snails, and takes in Gary in the first place because she mistakes him for her snail, Miss Tuffsy. When Gary finds an alley snail that looks ''nothing like him'' as a replacement, Granny doesn't notice and mistakes the alley snail for Miss Tuffsy as well.
106	* ShoutOut:
107	** The old lady (via one interpretation) is only feeding Gary so he can get overstuffed just so he can be eaten himself... doesn't this sound very much like the witch from "Literature/HanselAndGretel"?
108	** The painting of the old lady surrounded by numerous snails (which are nowhere to be seen in the house throughout the whole episode) and a scene where Gary discovers a room filled with broken snail shells are a clear shout-out to the Literature/{{Bluebeard}} fairy tale.
109	** "[[Franchise/StarTrek Set phasers on fun]], Miss Tuffsy."
110	* SpecialGuest: Creator/AmyPoehler as Granny.
111	* StorefrontTelevisionDisplay: During the song "Gary Come Home", [=SpongeBob=] appears on multiple televisions in a storefront and calls for Gary.
112	* SuddenAnatomy:
113	** Gary grows arms when he prepares to eat, only to realize that his bowl is empty.
114	** Gary has eyelashes in a few shots. Most notably when Grandma is taking care of him.
115	* TropeyComeHome: [=SpongeBob=] goes all out in his attempts to find Gary. By the episode's end, practically all of Bikini Bottom is covered with [=SpongeBob=]'s apology posters.
116	* TroubledFetalPosition: Patrick finds [=SpongeBob=] in this position after the latter takes the Dirty Bubble Challenge.
117	* UnableToCry: Near the end of the episode, Patrick tries to get [=SpongeBob=] to let it out some more, after days of failed searches, but he laments that he can't cry anymore and that he's out of tears. It's subverted a second later when Patrick tells him that he saw some huge chunks of balsa wood at the arts and crafts store, prompting [=SpongeBob=] to turn on the OcularGushers again because Gary really loved balsa wood.
118	* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Granny is one of the darkest antagonists in an otherwise light-hearted comedy. Depending on your interpretation, she either accidentally fattens her snails up [[DeathByGluttony until they die]] due to her own senility, or she is deliberately doing it to eat them.
119	* WakingNonSequitur: When [=SpongeBob=] wakes up Patrick by throwing art supplies at his feet.
120	-->'''Patrick:''' Aah, [[MistakenForApocalypse it's the Apocalypse]]! Office products falling from the sky!
121	* WhamShot: The scene of Gary opening the closet and discovering the broken shells of Granny's past (now-deceased) snails, revealing that she overfeeds her snails, either accidentally due to her own senility or purposefully to fatten them up and eat them.
122	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [=SpongeBob=] completely forgets about the Dirty Bubble Challenge after he realizes Gary left home. Justified in this case, as a pet going missing would definitely be more important than a game.
123	* YouAreNumberSix: Based on how she refers to the green snail from the alleyway as Miss Tuffsy as she does with Gary, it appears that Granny refers to all of the snails she raises as Miss Tuffsy as an indicator in her head that she's going to later eat them or because she's too senile to notice any difference between multiple snails.

Context Recap / SpongeBobSquarePantsS4E3HaveYouSeenThisSnail