Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Sponge Bob Square Pants S 4 E 13 New Leaf Once Bitten

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/489b9f14_378f_456d_9de8_5dbd732d727d.png
"Life is good, Krabs!"

New Leaf

Original air date: 9/22/2006note 

Plankton declares a truce and converts the Chum Bucket into a gift shop, but Mr. Krabs thinks it's yet another plot to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula.


"New Leaf" contains examples of:

  • An Aesop:
    • Might apply as Broken Aesop. If someone turns over a new leaf, it's normal and okay to be suspicious and wary, but you should let them be if they don't seem to be trying anything funny.
    • Alternatively, given the ending of the episode, be suspicious of those who have a track record of being good at con-artistry.
  • All for Nothing: Plankton finally befriends Krabs and gets the formula, all according to plan. It turns out to be a "Gotcha" letter. Krabs was always aware that Plankton's change was a big lie, making the latter's efforts pointless.
  • Batman Gambit: A double decker example. Plankton’s plan to get the formula involves him pretending to close the Chum Bucket so that Mr. Krabs will befriend him and offer him the formula as a gesture of their new friendship. Mr. Krabs responds by pretending to get close to Plankton eventually entrusting him with “The formula” (in reality, just a piece of paper that reads “Gotcha -Krabs <3”).
  • Cobweb of Disuse: "Criminy, Plankton, you ever hear of spring cleaning?!"
  • Continuity Nod: When Mr. Krabs throws the snowglobe into a closet containing Plankton's other "hair-brained schemes", the Robot Krabs from "Imitation Krabs" can be seen.
  • A Day in the Limelight: For Mr. Krabs and Plankton.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Planton seems to nonverbally do it to himself after Mr. Krabs appears to have dropped the formula after his rampage at the Chumporium. After seeing "Formula" at the top of the rolled-up paper, he forces himself to look away with a slap to his own face. After that, he calls for Mr. Krabs – who is sure that his suspicions were true – only to throw the crumpled paper at his face.
  • Get Out!: After Mr. Krabs destroys the Chumporium and teases Plankton with the formula, Plankton tells him to "GEEEEEEEEEET OOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTT!!!"
  • Good-Times Montage: Of Plankton and Mr. Krabs at the carnival.
  • Literal-Minded: When Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob and Squidward to keep their eyes peeled, SpongeBob literally peels his eyes.
    Mr. Krabs: Now that's an employee who follows orders.
  • The Mole: Plankton in the ending. Then it turns out that Mr. Krabs never gave him the real formula.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Mr. Krabs walks away in shame after he realizes that Plankton was telling the truth about him reforming.
  • Oh, Crap!: Plankton when doing the trust exercise with Mr. Krabs.
  • Out-Gambitted: Mr. Krabs knew Plankton would steal the formula any time, so he replaced the formula with a "GOTCHA!" note to fool him.
  • Properly Paranoid: Mr. Krabs turns out to be completely correct in guessing Plankton never actually wanted a truce and was tricking him into handing over the formula.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Plankton telling Krabs that his stubborn disbelief of Plankton reforming is his own problem is what finally pushes Krabs over the edge that he destroys his shop. This just leads to Plankton reaching this as well, with the aforementioned Get Out! entry above.
  • Shaking the Rump: When Mr. Krabs threatens to fire Squidward if he doesn't dance, Squidward shakes his buttocks.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: SpongeBob is not seen again for the rest of the episode after the shot of him using the DJ system. Same with Squidward.
  • Subverted Suspicion Aesop: Turns out, Mr. Krabs' suspicions about Plankton were true; he only opened the Chumporium to trick Krabs into giving him the formula. Fortunately, he out gambits Plankton with one of his own.
  • Take That!: Plankton joyously proclaims how his diabolical and extremely complicated plan worked, and then notes how he should have become a politician.
  • Title Drop: When Plankton opens the Chumporium, Mr. Krabs quips he's "turned over a new leaf".

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300d641a_21b7_401d_831a_0288ad042c51.png
It's only a matter of time before he becomes a zombie.

Once Bitten

Original air date: 9/29/2006

Gary starts biting everyone in town, and everyone believes he has "Mad Snail Disease".


"Once Bitten" contains examples of:

  • An Aesop:
    • Don't believe everything you hear, especially if they are rumors and/or unsourced.
    • If you get bitten by an animal and you don't know what to do or what may happen, seek out medical attention from a reliable source such as an emergency contact number or a doctor.
    • You're not a real expert (especially not a medical expert) if you haven't received proper education for it.
  • Animals Hate Him: This episode shows that Gary clearly doesn't like Squidward.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: A concerned Squidward, after having just been bitten by Gary, asks SpongeBob whether Gary had all of his shots. The shots he lists are, in order, "rabies, snailpox, soft shell dance, bagitis, lumpy bump trump, and teen angst."
  • Butt Biter: The episode ends with Gary biting Mr. Krabs in the butt for no particular reason.
  • Decoy Protagonist: The beginning of the episode makes you think Squidward will be the focal character, but once he has been “infected”, it shifts the focus to SpongeBob searching for Gary while also trying to survive the incoming Zombie Apocalypse.
  • The End... Or Is It?: Even though Gary is exonerated of spreading a disease and it turns out the zombie apocalypse was never real, Gary then bites Mr. Krabs for some reason.
  • Episode of the Dead: Parodied in that there are no actual zombies, just people that think they have turned into zombies.
  • Everything's Deader with Zombies: The made-up "Mad Snail Disease" eventually turns its victims into flesh-craving zombies. Granted, "real" zombies don't appear at all, but the rampant mass hysteria causes those who got bitten by Gary to act like man-eating undead, complete with moaning and shuffling.
  • Foreshadowing: Perch Perkins claims to have ticklish ribs despite not being bitten. This is meant to show how the supposed symptoms of Mad Snail Disease are just common ailments, but another fish immediately assumes it means the disease has become airborne.
  • Fun with Acronyms: Dr. Gill Gilliam is described as an "S.D.E. and S.E.", or "Snail Disease Expert and Snail Expert".
  • Gross-Up Close-Up: Squidward's "severely" untrimmed toenails.
  • Idiot Houdini: Considering that Patrick pretty much started the hysteria of "Mad Snail Disease" in Bikini Bottom, including the brief panic at the Krusty Krab in the episode’s climax, you’d think he would at least get called out for it.
  • Literal-Minded:
    SpongeBob: Come on Patrick, would a zombie have a picture of his best buddy in his wallet? (shows a photo of himself and Patrick)
    Patrick: Perhaps not. But, I've got my eye on you!
    Old Man Walker: If you could pull out your eye and put it on him, wouldn't that make... YOU a zombie, too?!
  • Mistaken for Disease: Gary goes rabid and starts biting anyone he comes across. The result is that nearly everyone in Bikini Bottom contracts "Mad Snail Disease" where they turn into zombies, triggering a Zombie Apocalypse. However, once an actual doctor takes a look at Gary, he concludes that the so-called "disease" doesn't actually exist, and that the reason everyone is going all zombie-like is simply because of mass paranoia out of being bitten. As for Gary himself, he just has a really large thorn embedded in his tail.
  • Mistaken for Undead: Everyone thinks they are going to turn into zombies, and SpongeBob thinks that they have turned into zombies when they start acting like them. Patrick mistakes SpongeBob for a zombie, too.
  • Pun-Based Title: The episode title is a pun on the idiom, "Once bitten, twice shy".
  • Rampage from a Nail: Gary is unruly and goes around biting people. Turns out it was from a piece of Squidward's makeshift security fence, almost making this example a parody, as the thorn was the size of a tree.
  • Something Itis: The reason Gary viciously bit everyone was because he was under a severe case of "Grouchy Snail-itis" thanks to having one of the posts from Squidward's fence stuck in his tail.
  • Storefront Television Display: Perch Perkins is seen on multiple televisions in a storefront, screaming and running around in circles after he realizes that he has ticklish ribs despite not having been bitten, and thinks "Mad Snail Disease" is spreading through the air.
  • Sudden Anatomy: Both Squidward and a random Bikini Bottomite are shown to have "severely" (actually, only moderately) untrimmed toenails.
  • Technically-Living Zombie: All the people who were bitten by Gary and believed the story of the "Mad Snail Disease" began acting like cannibalistic, undead creeps, but this is all due to mass hysteria and fear.
  • Truth in Television: Mistaking common ailments for the symptoms of something more serious has happened all throughout history.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: The people who got bitten by Gary eventually become man-eating zombies that threaten to take over the whole city, except they really didn't and were simply acting crazy out of sheer hysteria.
  • Zombie Gait: The "infected" Bikini Bottomites walk like this.

Top