A SquarePants Family Vacation
Original air date: 11/11/2011 note
Patrick goes on vacation with SpongeBob's family to the Great Barrier Reef.
Contains examples of:
- Ascended Extra: This is the largest role SpongeBob's parents have had so far.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: SpongeBob and Patrick get chased by a giant fruit fly.
- Big "NO!": By Patrick after SpongeBob starts browsing the tourist trap, causing him to spend all his money there.
- Boring Vacation Slideshow: The episode, has a Framing Device of SpongeBob inviting his friends to something they'd all enjoy, only for it to turn out to be his vacation slides. They're all disappointed and want to leave, but he manages to keep them in for long enough to show them.
- Given Name Reveal: SpongeBob's mother's name is revealed to be Margaret.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: The episode ends with SpongeBob and Patrick going to sleep after the adventure they had.
- Growling Gut: When a loud growling sound is heard, SpongeBob assumes it's Patrick's stomach, only for Patrick to reveal that he had his stomach's vocal cords removed. When the growling sound is heard again, SpongeBob states that it's his own stomach.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: SpongeBob's flute playing soothes the giant fly enough for it to give them a ride.
- Road Trip Plot: The episode centers on Patrick going on a road trip to the Great Barrier Reef with SpongeBob and his family.
- Saw It in a Movie Once: When trying to escape the giant bug, Patrick comes up with an idea, saying he saw it in a movie once, and jumps off a cliff with SpongeBob. When SpongeBob asks what they do next, Patrick admits he doesn't know because he fell asleep during the next part of the movie.
- "Setting Off" Song/The Something Song: "The Road Song".
- Shout-Out:
- When the boat is sent flying into space, there is a cow jumping over the moon, which is an allusion to the nursery rhyme "The Cat and the Fiddle".
- Baytona and Basscar are parodies of Daytona and NASCAR.
- Trashy Tourist Trap: SpongeBob and Patrick stumble upon a random gift shop while lost, only to realize they've walked right into a tourist trap. While they try to escape, SpongeBob ends up getting sucked in and spends all his money on useless trinkets.
- Triumphant Reprise: "The Above The Road Song".
- The Unreveal: We never actually get to see the Great Barrier Reef.
- Vacation Episode: The first of the vacation themed episodes.
- Wasn't That Fun?: After falling off a cliff and sliding down a storm drain into a crater, Patrick shouts about how fun that was and wants to do it again, only to discover that he can't climb back up.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The episode begins with a prologue of SpongeBob inviting his friends over to see a slideshow of the events of the episode.
