Salty Sponge
Original air date: 1/27/2023 (produced in 2022)
When the Krusty Krab is being fumigated for sea urchins, Mr. Krabs assigns SpongeBob to a temporary fry cooking job at the Salty Spitoon, the toughest joint in Bikini Bottom.
"Salty Sponge" contains examples of:
- The Bus Came Back: The Salty Spitoon returns since Season 3's "No Weenies Allowed", including Reg and some of the thugs who went inside.
- Call-Back:
- SpongeBob informs Mr. Krabs that the Salty Spitoon is too tough for him. He is also careful to avoid stepping on some ice cubes that are on the floor; "No Weenies Allowed" revolved around SpongeBob jealously trying to prove he was tough enough for the establishment, only to be hospitalized after slipping on an ice cube just seconds after he walked inside.
- Mrs. Puff wears the mohawk and outfit from "Potato Puff" and is also called "Puff the Tough".
- After the Salty Spitoon becomes the Softy Spitoon, a portrait of Sandy making an adorable face after she finds SpongeBob is visible in the Artist's Corner.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mrs. Puff's leather jacket reads "Big Fat Meanie".
- SpongeBob once again has an abrasive side.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: After the Salty Spitoon is changed, its patrons sing a version of the theme song with the lyrics changed to describe the Softy Spitoon.
- Exact Words: Since the Krusty Krab is closed, Mr. Krabs got Squidward a job in the "entertainment industry". Rather than music or art or something Squidward likes, we cut to him working an embarrassing job as a circus clown.
- New Job Episode: The episode focuses on SpongeBob working at the Salty Spitoon.
- Never Trust a Trailer: Mrs. Puff is largely advertised in the promos for this episode, but only has a small role near the middle of the episode.
- Opening Shout-Out: The Softy Spitoon song incorporates the theme and visuals of the opening title theme.
- The Reveal: We finally get to see the inside of the Salty Spitoon.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Mrs. Puff finds SpongeBob in the Salty Spitoon, she immediately flees in terror.
- Self-Serving Memory: When SpongeBob recalls his old job, he sees Squidward enthusiastically greeting him and telling him he loves him.
- Shout-Out: Sally Spitoon wears an outfit identical to the one worn by Minnie Mouse. A chair that resembles the Froggy Chair from Animal Crossing also makes a cameo.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: SpongeBob does this when he sees the Employee of the Month wall, which contains photos of gravestones belonging to the previous fry cooks.
Karen for Spot
Original air date: 2/3/2023 (produced in 2022)
When Plankton goes out of town, he tasks Karen with looking after Spot, which turns out to be more of a challenge than anticipated.
"Karen for Spot" contains examples of:
- Babysitting Episode: The episode centers on Karen petsitting Spot.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Spot starts eating everything in the Chum Bucket, we see a time card with bites taken out of it around the edges, suggesting that he ate it, too.
- Continuity Nod: The robot chef from "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" can be seen.
- Extreme Omnivore: Karen ends up feeding Spot everything in the Chum Bucket until Spot literally eats them out of house and home.
- Fade to Black: How the episode ends when the growing half of Spot's body floats up and absorbs the sun, dissolving it until everything goes dark.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Even when Karen accidentally causes Spot to splatter everywhere, SpongeBob shows her that since Spot is an amoeba, he can just form himself back together. Gary plays with Spot by squashing him repeatedly.
- Idiot Ball: Karen is usually shown to be more responsible and capable than Plankton. For example, in "Spot Returns", she observes that Plankton has been overfeeding Spot and realizes that amoebas can reproduce asexually. Here, she acts like she has never interacted with Spot before, and thinks he runs on batteries and eats napkins.
- Inflating Body Gag: After Karen accidentally squashes Spot flat, she uses a bicycle pump to inflate him, which makes him grow like a balloon until he pops and splatters everywhere.
- Never My Fault: When Plankton complains to Karen about not following his instructions, Karen just blames him for not training Spot properly.
