Original air date: 11/10/2017
When his clarinet is stolen before he can play at an open-mic night, Squidward becomes a hard-boiled detective and searches Bikini Bottom for the true culprit behind the theft.
"Squid Noir" contains examples of:
- Brick Joke: SpongeBob gets increasingly irritated when he keeps losing his coins while flipping them into the air. After the case of the missing clarinet is solved, all of SpongeBob's coins end up landing on top of him in a pile.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Squidward.
- Dope Slap: After it's revealed near the end that the jellyfish stole Squidward's clarinet, SpongeBob makes a joke that "crime doesn't play". Patrick promptly nails him with a hard one.
- Foreshadowing: Jellyfish are seen flying by the Krusty Krab at the start of the episode where Squidward was playing. they stole it because they wanted to play it themselves.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Squidward and SpongeBob try to pull this trick off with Mr. Krabs, but due to a lack of communication it ends up becoming a case of "Good Cop/Good Cop".
- Noir Episode: The episode plays homage to many Film Noir tropes, with Squidward's investigation being Deliberately Monochrome with a constant downpour of rain.
- Running Gag: SpongeBob keeps losing the coins he flips off-screen.
- Shout-Out: Squidward and SpongeBob's accidental make-over of Mr. Krabs makes him look like how Barbara Stanwyck's character is introduced in Double Indemnity.
- Patrick tells Squidward he doesn't know who Jack is but wants some beans.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Squidward may not have been able to play at the venue he planned, but he did end up finding his clarinet and performing for a hive of jellyfish who legitimately enjoy his music.
Original air date: 11/9/2017
Irritated by SpongeBob and Patrick's constant interruptions, Squidward decides to send them on a pointless scavenger hunt to get some peace and quiet. However, the two prove to be better scavengers than Squidward gave them credit for.
"Scavenger Pants" contains examples of:
- All for Nothing: After several months of not finding Squidward’s presumed brother, SpongeBob and Patrick meet Mrs. Tentacles who reveals Squidward doesn’t have a brother and never had one, as one is enough. However, SpongeBob still refuses to return to Squidward until he has the brother he always wanted, so he arranges for Mrs. Tentacles to adopt them.
- Artistic License: In real life, it's impossible for Mrs. Tentacles to adopt SpongeBob and Patrick because a) they're legal adults, and b) they already have living biological parents and are under their care.
- Call-Back:
- SpongeBob and Patrick make their "surprised" faces from The Movie.
- Squidward plays "I Hate People" from "Spongebob's Place" on his clarinet.
- Comically Missing the Point: When he learns that Squidward never had a twin brother, Patrick is distraught because that makes him even harder to find.
- Determinator: SpongeBob and Patrick stop at nothing to find the things Squidward challenges them to find. They even spend several months trying to find Squidward’s “brother” before learning from Mrs. Tentacles that he never had one in the first place.
- "Eureka!" Moment: SpongeBob has this when he realizes he and Patrick can find Squidward's brother by asking Mrs. Tentacles to adopt them.
- Everyone Has Standards: After Mrs. Tentacles tells SpongeBob and Patrick she only had Squidward, rather than realize he tricked them, SpongeBob feels bad for Squidward for not having any siblings and gets the idea to arrange for Mrs. Tentacles to adopt them.
- Exact Words: Squidward first sends SpongeBob and Patrick out to find a "desert sandwich". The two eventually return with a "desert sand witch". It's played with, as Squidward refuses to accept their find, but the witch reveals she used to work at an evil deli and makes him an actual sandwich.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Squidward's final task for SpongeBob and Patrick is to find his long-lost twin brother. Upon learning that from Squidward's mother that he doesn't have a brother, the two arrange to have Mrs. Tentacles adopt them so they can be the brothers he never had. Squidward doesn't take this well.
- Literal Metaphor: SpongeBob has a brainstorm... as in, a storm cloud appears over his head as he gets an idea.
- Long-Lost Relative: Squidward's nonexistent long-lost brother, whom SpongeBob and Patrick spend over six months trying to find before consulting Mrs. Tentacles, who reveals Squidward is an only child. Not realizing the brother was fake, SpongeBob vows to give Squidward the brother he never thought he had by arranging for Mrs. Tentacles to adopt him and Patrick.
- Minimalist Cast: The only characters present are SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward, with a brief cameo by Gary and Mrs. Tentacles appearing near the end.
- Oh, Crap!: SpongeBob and Patrick make a familiar reaction as seen from The Movie upon seeing the Badlands.
- Riddle for the Ages: What became of SpongeBob's job at the Krusty Krab when he didn't come in for six whole months? Did Mr. Krabs give him a penalty? Or did someone else stand in?
- Shout-Out: SpongeBob finds out the badlands is 20,000 leagues away.
- Snap Back: SpongeBob and Patrick are not adopted after this episode, given that they already have biological living parents and that they're legal adults.
- Snipe Hunt: The whole scavenger hunt was just a way to get SpongeBob and Patrick out of Squiward's hair for a while, as he tasks them to find increasingly rare objects to find. One way or the other, the two manage to find exactly what Squidward asked for every single time.
- Stock Ness Monster: SpongeBob and Patrick travel to Loch Ness to find Nessie for Squidward. They manage to find him and bring him back to Bikini Bottom, where he displays an immense hatred of bagpipes.
- Tempting Fate: Squidward is ready to have his alone time...then SpongeBob and Patrick immediately return with what he asked for.
- The Unreveal: SpongeBob and Patrick successfully finding the things Squidward asks them for, they have also somehow survived the disasters planned for them by Squidward without any explanation of how it really happened due to cutting the next scene.
- Visual Pun:
- By the end of the episode, Squidward's mind literally explodes when he is shocked to find out that SpongeBob and Patrick had become his adopted brothers.
- When getting the idea Mrs. Tentacles should adopt them, SpongeBob has a literal brainstorm.
- Wild Take: Squidward tends to do such when SpongeBob and Patrick return, having successfully found what he asked for.
