"Look, it's the Haunted Mattress!"
Scaredy Pants
Original air date: 10/28/1999
It's Halloween in Bikini Bottom, and SpongeBob wants to be the one who scares people for a change, so he goes as the scariest spectre in all the sea: the Flying Dutchman! But his plan backfires when the real Dutchman appears.
"Scaredy Pants" contains examples of:
- Accidental Truth: Through Exact Words in a form of foreshadowing.Patrick: There's a whole party just full of people down at the Krusty Krab! ...And the Flying Dutchman is gonna show up uninvited.
- Ash Face: Everyone gains one when the Flying Dutchman zaps them.
- Bedsheet Ghost: The extent of SpongeBob's Flying Dutchman costume is this and wooden clogs. People keep mistaking him for a haunted mattress due to his square shape. Upon becoming round, he gets demoted to "sleeping bag".
- Berserk Button: The real Flying Dutchman hates being impersonated and considers SpongeBob's costume the worst one yet, and the last straw. Though he does casually explain how someone like him just isn't scary in general.
- Body Horror: SpongeBob has Patrick shave down his head until it's round enough to make a perfect ghost. It's later revealed that he's been shaved down all the way to his brain. SpongeBob takes it all in stride, though, and reassures everyone that it'll grow right back.
- Butt-Monkey: Because it's Halloween, everyone (minus Patrick) makes fun of SpongeBob for being scared.
- Compressed Vice: In this episode, SpongeBob becomes incredibly cowardly, to the point of being horrified by Patrick in nose glasses. Perhaps it's just the season?
- Delayed Reaction: Both from Patrick:
- As he lowers SpongeBob down into the Krusty Krab, a jellyfish comes up behind Patrick and stings him in the butt, and it takes Patrick a few seconds to react before running around screaming in pain.
- After realizing that it was SpongeBob's brain instead of a pink hat, Patrick runs off like everyone else. Patrick was the one who shaved SpongeBob down to his brain, and even after SpongeBob explains to him that it's his brain, Patrick says "Ohhh..." in understanding before showing any fear.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Given Sandy's limitations for a costume idea, she goes with a pet goldfish in a bowl. Squidward is visibly uncomfortable since most of the partygoers are fish themselves.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Inadvertently so, since SpongeBob himself wasn't fazed by his brain being exposed, but doing so allowed him to beat the Flying Dutchman at his own game and scare him.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Sandy going as a pet goldfish in a bowl to Squidward's discomfort parallels people who do blackface.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The opening scenes in the Krusty Krab alone stand in stark contrast to how the character dynamics change in later episodes and seasons. SpongeBob actually becomes angry with Squidward's teasing when he usually assumes Squidward thinks he's his best friend out of naïveté, and he also gets annoyed with Mr. Krabs, who he usually displays Undying Loyalty to and quickly forgives him for any mistreatment.
- There's also the spider wearing a snorkel and facemask, while later episodes would have spiders in Bikini Bottom who didn't wear any swimming/diving equipment.
- Faux Horrific: One of the things that scares SpongeBob so badly? A kid in a cowboy costume.
- Female Gaze: Before he gets stung, the camera shows the audience a nice shot of Patrick's butt
. - Flying Dutchman: Making his grand debut.
- Furry Confusion: Squidward's reaction to Sandy's costume.Squidward: What are you supposed to be?
Sandy: Why, I'm a pet goldfish in a bowl!
Squidward: (beat) I don't get it. - Halloween Episode: The first of the series, and the only one for 12 years.
- Horrifying the Horror: The Flying Dutchman screams and flees in terror after unmasking SpongeBob and seeing his exposed brain.
- Implausible Deniability: When everyone realizes the "ghost" is SpongeBob due to his pants sticking out upside down, Patrick says, "I am not SpongeBob! Those are my street clothes!"
- Jerkass: The jellyfish who stings Patrick in the butt rubs his hands together, showing he was intentionally screwing with Patrick.
- Jerkass Ball: Everyone who teased SpongeBob for being scared.
- Kids Are Cruel: A group of kids dressed in their Halloween costumes were amongst the people who tease SpongeBob for being scared. Heck, the ones that dub him the "Haunted Mattress" actually refuse to take his candy, feeling that the laugh they got at his expense was treat enough.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Everyone who made fun of SpongeBob for being scared of Halloween were terrorized when they saw SpongeBob's brain.
- Major Injury Underreaction: SpongeBob apparently doesn't know that Patrick cut off so much of his head that his brain is visible. Once it is pointed out to him, he is the only one that doesn't freak out about it. Though this is justified since SpongeBob says it will grow back, and he has demonstrated throughout the series to have a Healing Factor.
- Malicious Misnaming: SpongeBob being called "Scaredy Pants" and the "Haunted Mattress".
- Not-So-Innocent Whistle: After the Flying Dutchman says how much he detests people who dress like him and mock his name, Squidward (who is dressed as the Flying Dutchman) quickly removes his beard and hat and whistles nonchalantly.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Patrick has absolutely no idea what his "costume" (a set of Groucho glasses) is.
- Real After All: It’s implied the townsfolk believed the Flying Dutchman to be just a myth until he personally lays siege to the Krusty Krab.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: SpongeBob's girly scream is heard a lot in this episode.
- Sham Supernatural: SpongeBob attempts to scare a party of Bikini Bottomites by impersonating the Flying Dutchman, which fails so spectacularly that it even draws the real Flying Dutchman's ire.
- Special Guest: The Ghastly Ones who perform the end credits song "SpongeBob ScaredyPants".
- Worth It: Laughing at SpongeBob's square ghost costume is enough for the kids.SpongeBob: Okay, okay, here's your candy...
Witch: No, please. That was enough of a treat. Thank you! - Yank the Dog's Chain: It seems like SpongeBob's proper ghost costume might impress the kids who laughed at him earlier, but...Mummy: Wasn't that the Haunted Mattress?
Pumpkin: I guess he's been demoted to a Haunted Sleeping Bag!
(all the kids laugh)
It must be heavy weathering through all that snail plasma.
I Was a Teenage Gary
Original air date: 10/28/1999
Squidward agrees to take care of Gary while SpongeBob is away at the Annual Jellyfish Convention in Ukulele Bottom, but he forgets and SpongeBob returns to find poor Gary sick. But then things take a turn for the scary when SpongeBob gets injected with snail plasma meant for Gary, and that night undergoes a strange transformation...
"I Was a Teenage Gary" contains examples of:
- Berserk Board Barricade: Squidward does this to his window to keep snailified SpongeBob out. He just squeezes through a knothole.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Patrick is awakened by Gary and transformed Squidward and SpongeBob singing "Blow the Man Down" at night on the fence and tosses a shoe at Squidward.Patrick: Will you clam up?!
- Bottle Episode: The entire episode takes place at Conch Street, mostly inside SpongeBob's house.
- Cat Concerto: The episode ends with Gary and the snailified SpongeBob and Squidward meowing to the tune of "Blow the Man Down" on a fence. Patrick yells at them to keep quiet and tosses a boot at them, hitting Squidward.
- Cobweb of Disuse: Gary has cobwebs stuck to his shell when Squidward forgets to feed him.
- Comically Inept Healing: The veterinarian hired to nurse Gary back to health hands SpongeBob the snail plasma to inject himself, and when SpongeBob lampshades how the vet's supposed to inject it, he leaves, saying that he's too squeamish.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: After SpongeBob returns home, Squidward (knowing how sick Gary is) prepares to hurriedly leave. But once SpongeBob sees Gary and cries out for Squidward, he reluctantly stays behind to help SpongeBob call a doctor. He has a similar moment later when he prepares to leave SpongeBob to inject the snail plasma himself, agreeing to do so after Gary begins coughing and SpongeBob gets worried.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Squidward sums up this trope during the episode's climax: "None of this would be happening if I only fed the snail!"
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: In a roundabout way. The song that Gary, SpongeBob, and Squidward "sing" at the end of the episode is "Blow the Man Down", which is what the theme song of the show is based off of.
- Downer Ending: To a degree. SpongeBob and Squidward are stuck as snails after the episode ends. However, they're all happily meowing to the tune of Blow the Man Down.
- Drugs Causing Slow-Motion: A variation. Squidward accidentally injects SpongeBob with snail plasma that was meant to be administered to Gary, causing him to slowly transform into a snail. One of the effects is that SpongeBob's walking speed is exponentially slowed down to match Gary's.SpongeBob: Gary, you're getting a looot faaasteeer.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: This episode has the first instance of a time card. It is not read out loud by the narrator.
- Eating Pet Food: One of the first side effects of SpongeBob's snail plasma injection.
- Eye Pop: SpongeBob's eyes pop out as he starts to transform into a snail.
- Failed a Spot Check: Patrick doesn’t notice that his friends are now snails when he throws the shoe.
- Final Speech: SpongeBob's last words before he finally succumbs to the snail plasma, speech turning into meows.SpongeBob: I take it back, Gary! Something is wrong with meeeee—ow!
- Five-Second Foreshadowing:
- The second the bus leaves, Squidward happily dances and runs back to his house. He then comes out with a beach chair to tan outside and it seems like he completely forgot about Gary, as he’s just thinking about how great it will be without his neighbors nearby. The next scene cuts to three days later, and it turns out Squidward didn’t move a muscle for three days and Gary is now weak and feeble.
- Happens again near the end of the episode. If you look closely after the complete destruction in Squidward's house, there's a picture of Squidward with a clarinet on his nose. As soon as Squidward rises from the rubble, the snail syringe is now on his nose, and Squidward knows exactly what that means.
- Foreshadowing:
- The doctor's odd diagnosis of Gary definitely being a snail and that snail plasma is the cure hints at what it actually does and what will happen to SpongeBob after his accidental injection.
- In addition to SpongeBob saying he feels funny after his injection, he uncontrollably eats Gary’s snail food, meows out of nowhere, and finally loses his speed before his physical transformation.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Squidward claims to have "the memory of an elephant" before misremembering Gary's name as "Fred".
- Impact Silhouette: Patrick leaves a star-shaped hole in SpongeBob's wall and in the bus when it arrives.
- Karma Houdini: At least as far as we know, the doctor gets away with refusing to inject the snail plasma into Gary himself. That also makes him responsible for SpongeBob and Squidward transforming into snails.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Because he neglected SpongeBob's snail during the three days the snail's owner was away, Squidward gets a dose of this when he is pursued by the snailified SpongeBob (who he injected with the snail plasma) and becomes affected by the snail plasma himself.
- One could count the shoe thrown by Patrick hitting him as an extra dose of karma if they really loathed Squidward's neglect.
- Luminescent Blush: After Patrick wildly swings around his jellyfish net and accidentally breaks something of SpongeBob's off-screen, he blushes in embarrassment and tries to pass it off by changing the conversation.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The snail plasma injection causes SpongeBob to turn into a snail-sea sponge hybrid. Ditto for Squidward.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Squidward says this almost word-for-word whilst hiding from the SpongeBob transformed snail.
- Never My Fault: Zigzagged. Squidward is horrified when he sees what accidentally injecting SpongeBob caused, only for him to take out the snail plasma and blame it specifically for his current dilemma (he could also be referring to himself alongside it). When he's hiding in the closet, however, Squidward concedes that none of this would've happened had he just cared for Gary properly instead of using the weekend to tan.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Twofold for Squidward. He neglected Gary the whole time SpongeBob was away, causing them to call a veterinarian who recommended snail plasma, which SpongeBob was too squeamish to give Gary, making Squidward try to use it and accidentally injected his neighbor with instead. It turns out that Gary was only dehydrated. Lampshaded by Squidward himself when SpongeSnail comes into his home.
- No Ending: The episode ends with SpongeBob and eventually Squidward turned into snails, with no explanation how they got back to normal.
- Some airings actually leave out Patrick throwing the shoe for unknown reasons.
- Noodle Implements: It's never explained why SpongeBob keeps leaving his undergarments on Squidward's front lawn.
- Oblivious to Hatred: The only reason Squidward agrees to take care of Gary is because he wanted SpongeBob and Patrick gone for three days, but they don't realize this. Patrick thought Squidward would want to participate in a jellyfishing convention at the latter’s house, which was ultimately what made Squidward agree to watch Gary.
- Oh, Crap!: Happens many times.
- Patrick, at the beginning after breaking SpongeBob’s vase.
- Squidward, when he realizes he forgot to take care of Gary for three days, right before the bus arrives to drop off SpongeBob and Patrick.
- SpongeBob has this feeling after being injected with the snail plasma, with Squidward wrongly predicting he’ll be fine.
- Gary has this reaction at one point when he watches SpongeBob transform into a snail.
- Squidward again, after he is injected with the snail plasma through his nose.Squidward: Uh-oh...
- One-Word Vocabulary: When SpongeBob and Squidward turn into snails, they lose the ability to say anything other than "meow".
- Overly Long Gag: The squeamish SpongeBob repeatedly pulls Gary away and shouts "WAIT!" whenever Squidward tries to inject him with snail plasma.
- Painful Transformation: SpongeBob has one as he slowly transforms into a sponge-snail hybrid due to the snail plasma injection.
- Plot Hole: The snail plasma ends up in Squidward's nose, even though it shattered from Squidward throwing it beforehand.
- Properly Paranoid: After getting injected with snail plasma, SpongeBob worries that something will happen to him, but Squidward tells him he'll be fine. Turns out SpongeBob was right.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": The doctor does this when SpongeBob asks if he’s going to inject the snail plasma into Gary, then says he’s too squeamish.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- When SpongeBob arrives back home from the Jellyfish Convention, he finds Squidward who tells him he's been taking care of Gary. Squidward tries to flee the scene before SpongeBob finds Gary in a helpless condition, but SpongeBob tells him to come back.
- When SpongeBob asks the doctor if he will inject the snail plasma into Gary, the doctor states he's too squeamish and abruptly leaves.
- Squidward also tries to leave once again after the doctor leaves, but SpongeBob stops him since he's also too squeamish. Squidward then begrudgingly agrees to inject the snail plasma.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: It turns out Gary was only dehydrated and needed water.Squidward: He just needed water?!
- Shout-Out: The title is one to I Was a Teenage Werewolf.
- Small Role, Big Impact: The Purple Doctorfish appears midway through the episode to give SpongeBob the snail plasma (which turns SpongeBob and Squidward into snails after being injected with it), but doesn't appear again for the rest of the episode.
- Super-Persistent Predator: A non-malicious example. After being transformed into a snail, SpongeBob goes over to Squidward's house, causing Squidward to freak out and start boarding up his door and windows. With the malleability of his new snail body, SpongeBob squeezes through a hole in a board on the window, slides himself underneath the door of the closet where Squidward's hiding, and continues to chase him all around the house.
- Tempting Fate: After going through the ordeal of Gary being sick, Squidward comments "I hope I never see another snail again". Sure enough, ten seconds later, he encounters the transformed SpongeBob.
- There Was a Door: When the bus for the convention arrives to pick them up, an overly excited Patrick smashes through the wall in SpongeBob's house, right next to the open door. And then through the bus itself.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When Squidward digs himself out of the damage done to his house, he notices the snail plasma injected in his nose and says “Uh-oh,” knowing what will happen to him after seeing what happened to SpongeBob.
- Time Skip: After SpongeBob leaves for the convention, Squidward gets ready to relax... then it jumps to three days later when SpongeBob is coming home and Squidward neglected Gary the whole time.
- Too Dumb to Live: Even though SpongeBob said he felt uncomfortable after being injected with the snail plasma, Squidward takes the snail plasma to his house for some reason. The snail plasma ends up in Squidward’s nose after some havoc when the now snail-form SpongeBob breaks into Squidward’s house.
- Transformation Discretion Shot: While SpongeBob's transformation into a snail is entirely on-camera, Squidward's transformation into a snail occurs offscreen; he's last seen accidentally injecting himself with the snail plasma, before appearing fully transformed singing on the fence alongside SpongeBob. There was an urban legend that the transformation actually happened on screen in the original airing, but this has since been debunked.
- Transformation Horror: Parodied when the snail plasma turns SpongeBob into a snail. Currently provides the page quote:SpongeBob: I take it back, Gary! Something is wrong with meeeee—ow!
- The Un-Reveal: We never actually get to see the Jellyfish Convention nor Ukulele Bottom.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Squidward, who agreed to take care of Gary while SpongeBob was away, but accidentally forgot until literally the last minute.
