Home, at last.
Nature Pants
Original air date: 9/11/1999
SpongeBob decides to abandon his normal ways and live with the jellyfish. Needless to say, not only does living in the wild prove to be troublesome, but Patrick does not take this well.
"Nature Pants" contains examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: SpongeBob attempts to assimilate with the jellyfish, despite Sandy's warnings that they are in fact pretty unfriendly animals. SpongeBob himself should already know given how ugly his last attempt to bond with one went.
- All of the Other Reindeer: SpongeBob is unsurprisingly shunned and zapped out of Jellyfish Fields because he is clearly not a jellyfish.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: While Sandy is calling out SpongeBob's crazy idea of living with jellyfish, she describes them as "cold and mean and none too bright".
- Ax-Crazy: Patrick, of all people, goes crazy when SpongeBob refuses to come home. He even threatens to put SpongeBob in a jar and keep him in there. Forever.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Patrick in the scene below.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: On SpongeBob, after he goes and lives with the jellyfish.
- Benevolent Boss: Mr. Krabs. At the start, he actually had a legit reason to fire SpongeBob, but despite multiple offenses (he mentions it's the fourth time that week SpongeBob began neglecting his job), he talks with SpongeBob about it. He sincerely tries to make SpongeBob feel good about the life he has without being condescending. During the welcome home party, he gives SpongeBob a free Krabby Patty and immediately rehires him (or never fired him), despite SpongeBob walking out on the job. In short, this is one of the episodes where Mr. Krabs is at his most generous, to the point it's a bit jarring to know what he would become in later seasons.
- Big "NO!": After Patrick and Sandy's attempt to lure SpongeBob home with Krabby Patties doesn't work, Patrick gives one of these as Sandy drags him away.
- Break the Cutie: Patrick does not take SpongeBob leaving well.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Sandy gives SpongeBob a week for him to come to his senses, while Squidward gives him 11 minutes, which is the duration of the episode in question.
- Brick Joke: One of the indignities SpongeBob suffers in the wild is getting all itchy after being stung by sea urchins. At the end of the episode, everyone gives SpongeBob a Group Hug, only to get the sea urchin toxin on themselves and end up all itchy.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: SpongeBob willingly quits his job at the Krusty Krab and even throws his hat to the ground without a second thought. Not much later into the series, the mere thought of doing those things would horrify him.
- Epic Fail: Instead of using the fire extinguisher to put out the fire from the grill, SpongeBob simply throws it right at it.
- Foreshadowing: Mr. Krabs, Sandy, and Squidward all surmised SpongeBob would realize living with the jellyfish is a harsh and unbearable lifestyle and he'd crawl back to civilization sooner or later. He does.
- Grass is Greener: SpongeBob idealizes living among the jellyfish as what his life is meant to be like, and does everything in his power to leave his current life behind, but after getting stung by an entire hive of jellyfish and a run-in with poison sea urchins, he finally realizes that his old life was preferable.SpongeBob: What have I done? I had a great life and friends, and I gave all of that up!
- Group Hug: SpongeBob’s friends (with Squidward caught in the middle) give him a welcome back hug, even Gary slithers up Patrick’s back to join in. Except this spreads SpongeBob’s sea urchin rash to them, even Sandy through her spacesuit.
- Hulk Speak: Patrick devolves to doing this during his breakdown.Patrick: Patrick sad!
- I Call It "Vera": SpongeBob's jellyfish net is named "Ol' Reliable". Patrick winds up breaking it over his knee after tearfully giving up on catching SpongeBob, and SpongeBob acquires a new, metallic jellyfishing net dubbed Ol’ Reliable in a later season.
- If I Can't Have You…: Patrick when he decides to hunt down SpongeBob.Patrick: If I can't have you as a friend, I'm going to make you a trophy! I even picked out this nice jar for you. *Shows a jar labeled "SpongeBob-Friend"*
- Inelegant Blubbering: Patrick while SpongeBob is giving his stuff away and leaving. He is on the verge of losing his best friend after all.
- Ironic Echo Cut: "Even Squidward misses you." Cut to Squidward throwing himself a "Goodbye, SpongeBob" party.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Squidward references the episode's running time:Sandy: I give him a week.
Squidward: I give him eleven minutes. - My God, What Have I Done?: When SpongeBob realizes the error of abandoning his normal ways.SpongeBob: What have I done? I had a great life and friends, and I gave all of that up.
- My New Gift Is Lame: SpongeBob gives away his possessions to his friends before he leaves to be a jellyfish. The only thing he leaves Squidward is a (non-electric) can opener, to which he sarcastically remarks, "And I thought this friendship would never pay off." Patrick initially didn't do much better, getting a jar of mayonnaise and a stack of old phone books until SpongeBob also decided to give him "Ol' Reliable": his prized jellyfish net.
- Nature Lover: What drives SpongeBob to live with the jellyfish.
- Noodle Incident: "This is the fourth time this week I had to scrape you off of something."
- Offscreen Crash: Patrick causes this when he throws aside the pile of SpongeBob's old phone books.
- Ominous Music Box Tune: When Patrick declares that he's going to make SpongeBob a trophy.
- Please Put Some Clothes On: Squidward, when he gives SpongeBob his pants back at the end of the episode.
- Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: Patrick, in this scene:
- Scenery Censor: When SpongeBob takes off his pants, he's standing behind a bush. Scenery censors are used at multiple other points as well. Played with, as the episode shows at other times that there's nothing to actually censor.
- Sea Hurtchin: After SpongeBob gets zapped by jellyfish, he tries to call it a night by resting in a cave, all while bearing the cold with only a kelp blanket to barely cover him. All of a sudden, he gets a painfully itchy feeling, and it turns out that he's covered by poison sea urchins.
- Take This Job and Shove It: SpongeBob angrily quits his job at the Krusty Krab, throwing his hat onto the ground and storming out to start a new life.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: "Patrick sad!" and later, "Patrick itchy!"
- Yandere: A rare platonic example. Patrick completely loses his mind after SpongeBob refuses to come back to civilization, trying to cram his friend into a jar and keep him as a trophy.Patrick: You're gonna look good on my mantel! FRIENDS FOREVER, SPONGEBOB!!!
"Squidward, you need bed rest!"
Opposite Day
Original air date: 9/11/1999
Squidward tricks SpongeBob into believing it is opposite day, so he can try and move away from SpongeBob. Needless to say, this eventually backfires.
"Opposite Day" contains examples of:
- Bad Impressionists: Patrick's imitation of Squidward consists of nothing more than dancing in place and singing "I'm Squidward" ad infinitum. SpongeBob tries to teach Patrick how to properly imitate Squidward, only for him to go right back to singing and dancing, with SpongeBob following suit.
- Big "NEVER!":Squidward: (clinging to the real estate agent's leg) Please sell my house!
Real Estate Agent: (yanks her leg out of his grip) NEVER! - Big "NO!": Squidward screams one when he sees the realtor's boat parked outside his house.
- Bottle Episode: Most of the episode is set at SpongeBob's home lane.
- Butt-Monkey: Squidward, especially since he was trying really hard to sell his house in this episode.
- Celebration Miscalculation: The episode opens with SpongeBob and Patrick throwing Squidward a surprise birthday party. After they leave, Squidward yells: "It's not my BIRTHDAY!"
- Chased Off into the Sunset: In the ending, Squidward chases SpongeBob and Patrick with a bulldozer that he used earlier to clean up the mess they made at SpongeBob's house.
- Chicken Joke: SpongeBob tells Patrick the punchline of a chicken joke without the setup thanks to Patrick giving up as soon as SpongeBob gets his attention. This being Opposite Day, the two tell the joke backwards as well (while also talking backwards).Both: (laughter)
SpongeBob: To get to the opposite side!
Patrick: I give up!
SpongeBob: Hey, Patrick! - "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As the Opposite Day story didn't really make SpongeBob or Patrick any less annoying (especially since he didn't tell Patrick at all about how to behave on Opposite Day), Squidward regrets not making it "Go Jump off a Cliff" Day.
- Didn't Think This Through: Squidward apparently didn't expect SpongeBob to take celebrating Opposite Day so far. He also mentions earlier that everyone knows about Opposite Day, which is why SpongeBob doesn't explain to the realtor what is really happening. In addition, he forgot to tell Patrick about Opposite Day as well, who had no idea about it when visiting SpongeBob.
- Eating Pet Food: SpongeBob does this when he acts like Gary.
- Felony Misdemeanor: The realtor warns Squidward his home won't be sold if it is surrounded by "bad neighbors", like what happened with her last few ventures.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: As the realtor decides to leave and abandon Squidward to his two neighbors, this exchange happens:Squidward: WAAAAIIT!!!
Spongebob: Don't...
Patrick: Go!! - Happy Birthday to You!: SpongeBob and Patrick sing a made-up birthday song to Squidward, not knowing it's not his birthday:Happy happy birthday! Happy birthday cake!
Happy happy birthday! Pin the tail on the seahorse!
Happy happy birthday! Happy birthday Squidward! - Holiday Episode: SpongeBob and Patrick celebrate the made-up holiday Opposite Day.
- House Inspection: Squidward wants to move but is warned about having poor chances of selling his house if his neighbors are obnoxious. In order to keep SpongeBob out of the way, he tells him that it's "Opposite Day", assuming that will mean that SpongeBob will stay quiet and out of the way. Instead, he takes it to mean that he should act like Squidward and proceeds to do so when the realtor arrives.
- Insane Troll Logic: SpongeBob demolishes his house, which on Opposite Day is cleaning it. When Squidward repairs his house, not wanting the realtor to see such a mess, SpongeBob is so confused that he literally ties himself into knots trying to figure out why. He deduces that Squidward is being SpongeBob, which is the opposite of Squidward, and that he must become Squidward, the opposite of SpongeBob.SpongeBob: I don't get it. I made my house a mess, which was making it clean, which made Squidward clean my yard, but that really means he's messing it up. But the opposite of clean is filth, which means filth is clean. That means Squidward's really making my yard a wreck, but I'd normally wreck my own yard, which means Squidward is being the opposite of Squidward, which means he's SpongeBob!
- I Will Show You X!: When Patrick and SpongeBob tell Squidward, "Happy Opposite Day, Squidward! We hate you!", Squidward gets ticked off before suddenly smiling and calmly saying, "Let me show you how much I... HATE YOU!"
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: The Trope Namer:Patrick: Opposite Day? Hey, I've heard of that!
SpongeBob: You have?
Patrick: No! What is it? - Laser-Guided Karma:
- Squidward suffers this when SpongeBob and Patrick enjoying Opposite Day (the holiday he came up with in the first place) are what cause the realtor to cancel selling his house.
- Both SpongeBob and Patrick get this when they ruin the realtor's visit when they get chased by the bulldozer to parts unknown.
- No Name Given: The realtor is not named in the episode, nor is she named in the credits. She lampshades this by stating it might as well be Squidward seeing she's surrounded by "Squidwards".
- Ocular Gushers: Patrick sheds them when he thinks SpongeBob is ending his friendship with him.
- Oh, Crap!: Squidward when he sees the realtor's boat, and SpongeBob and Patrick when Squidward chases them with a bulldozer.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Played with. SpongeBob becomes very concerned about Squidward's wellbeing when he sees him suddenly acting silly and cheerfully, but Squidward was just acting in order to convince SpongeBob that it's Opposite Day.
- Opposite Day: Obviously.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Squidward begs this to the realtor complete with a Leg Cling to no avail.
- Rage Breaking Point: The real estate woman when she gets introduced to the "third" (the real) Squidward.Real Estate Agent: What kind of fool do you take me for? (points at Patrick) He's Squidward? (points at SpongeBob) He's Squidward?! (points at Squidward) YOU'RE SQUIDWARD?! I'M SQUIDWARD!!! Are there any other "Squidwards" I should know about?
Gary: (in Squidward voice with a pickle for a nose) Meow.
Real Estate Agent: I'm outta here.
Squidward: Ma'am, please! What about my house?!
Real Estate Agent: I wouldn't sell your house if you were the last "Squidward" on Earth! - Rewind Gag: Part of their "oppositing" montage has SpongeBob and Patrick briefly telling a joke backwards.When played forwards, their conversation is as follows:Both: (laughter)
SpongeBob: To get to the opposite side!
Patrick: I give up!
SpongeBob: Hey, Patrick! - Rule of Funny: Gary suddenly appearing as yet another "Squidward" at the end of the episode. At no point prior does he collaborate with SpongeBob or Patrick on this prank; he delivers the punchline to this sequence of events by simply being there.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Real Estate Agent, who's fed up with Squidward, SpongeBob, Patrick and Gary (pretending to be Squidward).
- Sdrawkcab Speech: One part of SpongeBob and Patrick's Opposite Day celebrations include telling a Chicken Joke backwards while talking backwards; this includes their laughter. Reversing the audio reveals that the joke is as follows:Both: (laughter)
SpongeBob: To get to the opposite side!
Patrick: I give up!
SpongeBob: Hey, Patrick! - Spanner in the Works: Squidward's plan to get SpongeBob to do nothing all day might have worked... if he had told Patrick about Opposite Day too.
- Status Quo Is God: With the realtor refusing to sell Squidward's house, he is to remain in Bikini Bottom between SpongeBob and Patrick to his dismay.
- Team Rocket Wins: Squidward eventually gets back at SpongeBob and Patrick by chasing after them by a bulldozer in the end.
- With a Foot on the Bus: The episode sets Squidward up to leave Bikini Bottom (and the show), but thanks to SpongeBob and Patrick's antics, the realtor cancels the move out of frustration.
