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SpongeBob SquarePants S 2 E 4 "Dying for Pie" / "Imitation Krabs"

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SpongeBob SquarePants S 2 E 4 "Dying for Pie" / "Imitation Krabs" Recap
Careful, Squiddy. You're handling an explosive there.

Dying for Pie

Original air date: 1/27/2001 (produced in 2000)

It's Employee Brotherhood Day at the Krusty Krab and Mr. Krabs has SpongeBob and Squidward exchange gifts. Since the gifts have to be homemade, Squidward buys a pie from a crew of pirates and tries to pass it off as his own cooking, but the pie turns out to be a bomb in disguise. When it appears that SpongeBob has eaten it, a guilty Squidward endeavors to make his last few hours before the bomb detonates as joyful as possible.


"Dying for Pie" contains examples of:

  • Affably Evil: The pirates are actually pretty polite to Squidward, even initially warning him against taking/eating the pies due to being bombs. The captain, however, is Faux Affably Evil, as he has no qualms over selling a powerful explosive to a person who thinks it’s just an ordinary pie, without telling them what will happen if someone eats it.
  • All for Nothing: Squidward spends the whole afternoon doing activities with SpongeBob so his last moments before the pie bomb hit his lower intestine would be happy, only to find out that SpongeBob never ate it in the first place. Ultimately, it did explode anyway.
  • Ambiguous Syntax: The second item on SpongeBob's list is to introduce Squidward to everyone in town wearing a salmon suit. Squidward asks "You're going to be wearing a salmon suit?" Cut to the two of them meeting with some passerby... and Squidward is the one wearing the salmon suit.
  • Angrish: Upon seeing that SpongeBob is still alive after sunset, Squidward starts spouting gibberish in disbelief:
    SpongeBob: Squidward, we already played "Babble Like an Idiot"!
  • Apocalypse How: Played for Laughs and on at least a city-scope scale. SpongeBob trips and accidentally throws the bomb pie into Squidward's face, causing Bikini Bottom to be caught in a nuclear explosion.
  • An Arm and a Leg: The pirate captain threatens his crew with this if they drop any of the pies.
    Captain: If you drop one single slice of me booty, I'll have... your booty!
  • Bait-and-Switch:
    • When the sun starts to set, SpongeBob announces he loves to count down the sunset and starts to do so, but then tells Squidward to do the rest.
      SpongeBob: Here it is, the SUNSET! I love to count it down! FIVE... you do the rest, buddy!
    • SpongeBob seems to explode after the sun sets, but it turns out that he was just blowing bomb-shaped bubbles.
  • Benevolent Boss: Mr. Krabs plays this role again, which isn't outside of the norm for the pre-movie seasons. He organizes the whole "Employee Brotherhood Day" schtick after noticing Squidward's rotten attitude towards SpongeBob and forces the former to find a gift for his fry cook when Squidward tries to leave. Then, when it seems that SpongeBob ate the explosive pie Squidward bought, Mr. Krabs gives him an appalled What the Hell, Hero? for seemingly dooming him to an early death, and he later cries at the thought that SpongeBob will be dead by sunset.
  • Beyond the Impossible: The fact that Squidward survives a nuclear explosion to the face, as he lets out a blunt "ouch."
  • Bizarre Belching: SpongeBob has accidentally swallowed a bomb, which will explode once it reaches the end of his digestive system. Near the end of the episode, SpongeBob burps, which he interprets as a sign that something has wrapped in his lower intestine. Fortunately, this turns out to be Fauxshadowing, since it's then revealed that the protagonist hadn't eaten the bomb to begin with.
  • Bowdlerise: All airings of "Dying for Pie" on YTV remove the title card for Canadian audiences. This is so children wouldn't see a reference to death in the episode's title. Despite this, the episode itself is left uncut.
  • Break the Cutie: SpongeBob is heartbroken when Squidward rejects his eyelash sweater, to the point where he cries him a new sweater.
  • Brutal Honesty: When SpongeBob doesn't explode after sunset, Squidward tells him point-blank that the pie he supposedly ate was a bomb.
  • Bumper Sticker: "Don't Ask Me About My Day".
  • Cardiovascular Love: SpongeBob's sweater for Squidward reads "I ♥ U". Squidward reads it as "I heart you".
  • Celestial Deadline: When SpongeBob is thought to eat the exploding pie, Mr. Krabs says he's only got until sunset before it drops into his lower intestine and that’s the time he is to explode.
  • Convenience Store Gift Shopping: Defied; when told he needs to exchange gifts with SpongeBob, Squidward says he’ll just “buy the little twerp a gumball” before Mr. Krabs reminds him that the rule is he has to make the gift himself.
  • Crappy Homemade Gift: SpongeBob makes Squidward a sweater for Employee Brotherhood Day. The hole for Squidward's head is way too big (SpongeBob says he used a watermelon for scale) and it's itchy because SpongeBob made the sweater out of his eyelash hair. Disgusted, Squidward throws the sweater back at SpongeBob, making the sponge cry... and he uses his tears to make a new sweater for Squidward.
  • Crashing Dreams: The episode opens with an Imagine Spot of Squidward on an island playing tropical music on a piano when he's interrupted by SpongeBob ringing a bell yelling "Order up, Squidward!", which resulted from his ringing alarm clock.
  • Disney Death: Once the sun sets, we hear an explosion behind the brick wall, and Squidward breaks down in tears, thinking SpongeBob finally died. Then another explosion occurs, and the wall falls down, revealing SpongeBob is still alive and well, making bomb bubbles which caused the explosions.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: When the first crumb of the pie goes off, Mr. Krabs initially thinks Squidward was trying to kill him over his "new age management".
  • Dream Intro: The first few seconds of the episode involve Squidward playing piano on a tropical island, until he gets woken up by his alarm.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Squidward drives a boatmobile to work in this episode, while later episodes usually show him take his bicycle or walk.
  • Eat the Bomb: The whole episode has Squidward and Mr. Krabs believe that SpongeBob did in fact eat an exploding pie, but in the end, it's revealed that SpongeBob never ate the pie at all, and just wanted to share with Squidward. However, he ends up tripping on a rock and throwing the pie in Squidward's face, causing the entire town to blow up.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Squidward hates SpongeBob, but he's not willing to kill him, and is horrified to learn that he has apparently made it so he will die after eating an explosive pie.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Upon entering Mr. Krabs' office, SpongeBob instantly took notice of the pie on his desk, ignoring the huge hole in the wall.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: It's only an Imagine Spot, but the scene where Squidward imagines SpongeBob literally exploding in the middle of serving a customer is chilling even for a children's program.
  • Five-Second Foreshadowing: In Squidward's Imagine Spot when SpongeBob explodes, chunks of his remains rain down around the customer; when the sun sets and an explosion occurs behind the brick wall, no sponge chunks rain down, giving away that SpongeBob is not dead.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: After the captain takes the money from Squidward he runs away smirking, knowing the pie is deadly.
  • Freudian Slip: Mr. Krabs does this when explaining SpongeBob's plight to Squidward:
    Mr. Krabs: I've seen this before. When that pie goes up to bat- I mean, hits his lower intestine... BOOM!
  • Glance at the Unburdened: Squidward and Mr. Krabs find out that the pie that the former bought for SpongeBob was actually a bomb. Believing he'd had already eaten it, the two look through a window to see SpongeBob happily cleaning the tables as Mr. Krabs warns that the bomb will go off at sunset, prompting Squidward to go make SpongeBob's last day meaningful without telling him of his impending doom.
  • Goofy Suit: One scene has SpongeBob introduce Squidward to everyone while the latter is wearing a salmon suit.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: While the aforementioned imagination sequence doesn't show SpongeBob exploding on-screen, we do see pieces of what used to be the sponge sprinkling all over the restaurant to give the impression that that's what happened.
  • Hair-Trigger Explosive: A bite of that pie falling on the ground is enough to blow up Mr. Krabs' office, which makes you wonder why it didn't explode when Squidward dropped it on Mr. Krabs' desk. During the ending scene, SpongeBob shows Squidward that he never ate the bomb pie, he was saving it in his pocket the whole time. He then trips, dropping the pie and causing a nuclear explosion that leaves Bikini Bottom in tatters.invoked
    Squidward: Ow.
  • Homemade Sweater from Hell: SpongeBob makes Squidward a sweater made from his own eyelashes. Later he makes another one from his own tears.
  • Honor Before Reason: It's implied that Mr. Krabs, being who he is, wanted his employees to make their gifts so they wouldn't spend away money, either.
  • Imagine Spotting: Upon hearing that the last thing on SpongeBob's list is watching the sunset, Squidward recalls Mr. Krabs saying that's when the bomb hits his lower intestine and kills him. His Imagine Spot doesn't go unnoticed.
    SpongeBob: Hey, it's Mr. Krabs! Hi, Mr. Krabs! (Thought Bubble!Mr. Krabs runs off crying like the real Mr. Krabs did) Okay! See ya later!
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Squidward once again expresses concern for SpongeBob as he waits in fear for the bomb to go off. When it doesn't go off, however, Squidward angrily berates SpongeBob for not exploding because of all the time he wasted doing things with him.
  • "Just Joking" Justification: The pirate captain pulls this on Squidward about his pies actually being bombs the moment he hears Squidward say he wanted to buy one of them. Squidward falls for it.
  • Karma Houdini: As far as we know, the pirates never got their comeuppance for tricking Squidward into thinking one of their bombs was an actual pie. At the very least, they conned him out of his money, and their trick could very easily have killed somebody.
  • Kick the Dog: SpongeBob makes an eyelash sweater for Squidward, who responds with angrily throwing the gift on his face, making him cry a new sweater.
  • Lame Rhyme Dodge:
    SpongeBob: Sunsets always remind me of bowls of fruit. What do they make you think of, Squidward?
    Squidward: (has an Imagine Spot of SpongeBob happily running and laughing then suddenly exploding) Explosions. I-I mean, uh... e-erosions.
  • Last Day to Live: Squidward is convinced SpongeBob ate the bomb pie, so he is tasked by Mr. Krabs to enjoy his "final hours" with him. When he doesn't explode after all, Squidward isn't too pleased about it.
  • Lethal Chef: The pirates qualify as this for simply selling pies that are actually bombs presumably made by the pirate crew.
  • Literal-Minded: Inverted when Squidward tells SpongeBob he was expecting him to explode, SpongeBob figurativley "explodes" in anger pretending to scold Gary for not finishing his dessert. Squidward then clarifies that he meant he was going to literally "explode into a million pieces."
  • Major Injury Underreaction:
    • Squidward literally gets caught in a nuclear explosion underwater and his only reaction is nothing more than a simple "Ouch".
    • Plus Mr. Krabs' reaction to almost being blown up basically amounts to asking Squidward "So, you tried to kill me over a little new age management, eh?"
  • Meatgrinder Surgery: SpongeBob "performs" open-heart surgery on Squidward by opening his chest cavity and poking his heart with his finger. This causes blood to come squirting out, though Squidward is alive and well in the next scene.
    Squidward: Are you sure you should be poking it like that?
    SpongeBob: Who's the doctor here?
  • Medium-Shift Gag: When the bomb finally goes off, it cuts to live-action Stock Footage of an underwater atomic explosion.
  • Mistaken for Dying: Squidward believes SpongeBob ate the bomb pie and tries to make the best of his "last day on Earth". He is not too happy when he finds out SpongeBob never ate the pie.
  • Mistaken for Murderer: Briefly, when the pie crumb destroys Mr. Krabs' office, he accuses Squidward of trying to off him over a little "new age management". Squidward immediately clears it up by saying he didn't know, only to be accused once more when it's thought that SpongeBob ate the bomb.
  • Mood Whiplash:
    • Squidward demonstrates a literal example of this trope. He goes from fear to guilt to tears to confusion and finally to annoyance when he believes SpongeBob exploded and died, only to find out he's still perfectly fine.
    • In a more straight example, the tearjerking scene where Squidward mourns SpongeBob after he seemingly explodes from the pie bomb, suddenly diminishes when there is another explosion, which causes the brick wall to fall and reveal SpongeBob is still alive, complete with happier music.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: When he thinks SpongeBob is going to die from eating the exploding pie, Squidward has this reaction.
  • Non Fatal Explosion: In the very end when the bomb pie hits Squidward.
  • Noodle Incident: Mr. Krabs has seen people die from eating exploding pies before. Eleven times, in fact. As has the doctor Squidward calls.
  • No Sympathy: Initially quite averted with Squidward, who is quite guilt-ridden to learn that SpongeBob will supposedly die at sunset because of him and willingly joins SpongeBob in a variety of ridiculous (and even dangerous) activities to make his last hours as meaningful as possible. However, when SpongeBob does not explode as expected, instead of being happy, Squidward is angry because his time was wasted.
  • Oblivious Guilt Slinging: As SpongeBob and Squidward are watching the sunset.
    SpongeBob: You know, if I were to die, right now, in some sort of fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend... well, that'd just be okay.
    Squidward: (tears up)
  • Oh, Crap!: Squidward and Mr. Krabs, after they think SpongeBob ate the pie.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While Mr. Krabs does show some shock at how much money Squidward spent on the pie bomb, he immediately brushes it aside to focus on the more pressing matter of there being a deadly weapon in his restaurant. Afterward, he never brings up the price again and focuses exclusively on SpongeBob.
  • Pie in the Face: Squidward gets an explosive pie in the face at the end of the episode.
  • A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Squidward buys his pie bomb from an anachronistic-dressed pirate crew (complete with their captain even speaking with a grizzled pirate accent), although they seem to be familiar with 21st century currency.
  • Reading Foreign Signs Out Loud: The German dub has a few of the characters' voice actors doing it. (For example, translating the Bumper Sticker from "Don't Ask Me About My Day" to "Frag Mich Nicht Wie's Mir Geht").
  • Ridiculously Potent Explosive: Played for Laughs. When the bomb disguised as a pie finally goes off at the end of the episode, the explosion is so great we see stock footage of an underwater A-bomb going off and the blast was large enough to destroy the entire city.
  • Riddle for the Ages: SpongeBob actually kept the pie yet it's still implied he ate something shortly after he found it and felt something odd coming from his stomach shortly before the reveal. What exactly were those will likely be never explained.
  • Scenery Gorn: Bikini Bottom and its surroundings are positively TOASTED after the bomb goes off.
  • Series Fauxnale: The episode's basic plot makes it look like this is gonna be the series finale, but then we find out that SpongeBob never ate the pie in the first place.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: It turns out SpongeBob never ate the bomb pie; he was saving it in his pocket, and he really ate a different pie offscreen which was completely non-fatal.
  • Shout-Out: Squidward's line "There’s gonna be love... SO MUCH! He's gonna drown in it! DROWN IN IT!", especially the way it's read, channels Ralph Kramden's famous outburst to his mother-in-law: "YOU are a blabbermouth! A BLABBERMOUTH!"
  • Simple Solution Won't Work: After thinking SpongeBob ate the pie, Squidward suggests calling a hospital to get it surgically extracted. Mr. Krabs tells him it won't work, because it'll have entered his lower intestine by the time they get him there, upon which he'll explode, and says that he's seen this scenario 11 times before. Squidward dials the hospital anyway, and the doctor tells him the exact same thing as Mr. Krabs, down to also having seen it 11 times.
  • Skewed Priorities: After Squidward explains to him about the exploding pie, the first thing Mr. Krabs comments on is the twenty-five dollars Squidward spent on the pie. Which is a pretty decent point, considering that's $42 in 2022 and the average pie that size should only cost about half that. Justified as well due to the fact that a BOMB costing only twenty-five bucks would also be pretty concerning.
  • Stock Audio Clip: SpongeBob's laughing as he checks the items off his list is used again after "exploding" for Squidward.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: This episode is filled with explosions.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: Squidward desperately tries calling the hospital for help, only to get the same response Mr. Krabs just told him on how that wouldn't work, and that the whole situation has already happened 11 times.
  • Tears of Remorse: Squidward sheds these when he thinks SpongeBob has exploded.
  • Three... Two... One...: Squidward hesitantly counts down the sunset to SpongeBob's request, when he believes his explosion is going to happen any second.
  • Too Dumb to Live:
    • SpongeBob, who completely looks past that Squidward just explained that the pie was a bomb and still suggests that they eat it anyway. He then trips over a pebble, accidentally sending the pie flying into Squidward's face, blowing up all of Bikini Bottom in the process.
    • Squidward as well, for knowingly buying a pie explicitly said to be a bomb by the pirates, and taking their word for it when they say that they were just kidding as they con him out of a fast buck, although Squidward probably didn't care enough to think twice and only wanted to get Mr. Krabs off his back.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: "Mr. Krabs, are you okay? I heard a-... Wooow! (approaches the hole in the wall) A pie!"
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
    • Mr. Krabs, who told Squidward he had to make a gift for SpongeBob.
    • Squidward also counts, as he believed the captain when the latter said they were kidding about the pies being bombs.
  • Watching the Sunset: SpongeBob's last thing to do is to watch the sunset with Squidward. While the former enjoys such, the latter panics as this is the time the pie drops into SpongeBob's lower intestine and will explode any second.
  • Weapon of Mass Destruction: The pie bomb Squidward buys is strong enough to level all of Bikini Bottom. Even just a crumb of it was able to obliterate the back of the Krusty Krab.
  • Wham Shot: A second explosion occurring behind the brick wall when Squidward is breaking down, which causes the wall to fall and reveal SpongeBob, still alive and well.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Mr. Krabs gives one to Squidward when it looked like SpongeBob has eaten the exploding pie.
    Mr. Krabs: You had to kill him. The boy cries you a sweater of tears... and you kill him. How are you gonna live with yourself?

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4af1d706_bc0b_47c6_af92_b2a5531cb0fe.png
"Until I know who the real Mr. Krabs is, nobody moves... nobody gets hurt!"

Imitation Krabs

Original air date: 1/27/2001 (produced in 2000)

Plankton uses a robotic duplicate of Mr. Krabs to try and steal the Krabby Patty formula, and SpongeBob believes it's the real thing.


"Imitation Krabs" contains examples of:

  • Air Quotes: Used by Squidward when he meets Robot Krabs.
    Squidward: You're not Mr. Krabs.
    Robot Krabs: Say, why don't you take the rest of the day off?
    Squidward: We-e-ell! Whatever you say, "Mr. Krabs".
  • Armor-Piercing Response: During a conversation regarding the most important rule of the Krusty Krab, Squidward off-handedly snarks that the rule is "why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?" Mr. Krabs counters with, "What is today but yesterday's tomorrow?" which shuts Squidward up.
  • Bait-and-Switch: Initially, it seems that SpongeBob's second Spot the Imposter question is, "How much does a Krabby Patty cost?" But when Mr. Krabs gives the answer, it turns out SpongeBob was pausing for dramatic effect, and the full question is, "How much does a Krabby Patty cost... on Wednesday?"
  • Behind a Stick: After getting the real Krabs out of the way, Plankton's robot Krabs emerges from behind the mast in front of the Krusty Krab.
  • Berserk Button: Asking for a day off, let alone saying the words "day off", is enough to send Mr. Krabs into a rage.
  • Big "SHUT UP!": SpongeBob eventually can't stand Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs' arguing during the episode's climax, and shuts them up with this and a vat of tartar sauce as a weapon.
    SpongeBob: QUIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!! (Both versions of Krabs turn to see him holding a hose of tartar sauce) Until I know who the real Mr. Krabs is, nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!
  • Big "WHAT?!": Plankton screams this after 6½ hours of random requests from SpongeBob before giving him the formula. Since he’s speaking through Robot Krabs, it comes out rather dull.
  • Bottle Episode: The entire episode is set at the Krusty Krab, and SpongeBob is wearing his hat almost the entire time.
  • Call-Back: Back in "Hooky", Mr. Krabs mentioned that nobody has taken a day off at the Krusty Krab since the Great Chum Famine of '59, which is supported by his violent reaction to Squidward taking the day off.
  • Contrived Coincidence:
    • Mr. Krabs just so happens to arrive back at the Krusty Krab, the penny he was after ending up right where SpongeBob and Imitation Krabs are right as the latter was going to take the formula SpongeBob was holding.
    • Plankton just so happened to have a self-destruct coin slot on the Mr. Krabs robot after having Mr. Krabs chase after a penny with SpongeBob taking said penny off of the floor and putting it into the coin slot, preventing Plankton from winning.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Mr. Krabs instructed SpongeBob to never actually speak the Krabby Patty formula.
  • Deus ex Machina: Nowhere was the self-destruct switch foreshadowed before it comes into play.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Plankton didn't count on SpongeBob using the coin-operated self-destruct system.
    Plankton: Coin-operated self-destruct? Not one of my better ideas. (runs off back to the Chum Bucket with the formula) HEEEEEELLLLLP!!!!! (the robot explodes, destroying the Chum Bucket and causing the giant fist to land on him) Ouch!
  • Dramatic Gasp: When Mr. Krabs walks in on SpongeBob about to give Robot Krabs the secret formula, everyone gasps, including the penny Krabs was chasing.
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: At the end of the episode, Mr. Krabs says, "That penny is coming out of your paycheck". He and SpongeBob then laugh before SpongeBob says, "Really?".
  • Exact Words: When Plankton disguised as a fish asks SpongeBob what the secret formula is, SpongeBob answers thusly:
    SpongeBob: The Krabby Patty formula is the sole property of the Krusty Krab and is only to be discussed in part or in whole with its creator, Mr. Krabs. Duplication of this formula is punishable by law. Restrictions apply, results may vary.
    • Later, after putting Robot Krabs through 6½ hours' worth of tests, SpongeBob still refuses to tell him the secret formula — because Mr. Krabs' rule is "never speak the formula", which is kept in a bottle that SpongeBob then presents to Robot Krabs.
  • Fireball Eyeballs: Robot Krabs gets them when SpongeBob refuses to tell him the secret formula.
  • Flaw Exploitation: Plankton keeps Mr. Krabs out of his hair for a while by using his own greed against him, getting him to chase after a rolling penny.
  • Funny Background Event: The opening pan of the Krusty Krab's interior shows the patrons enjoying their burgers in... creative ways. For example, one customer is sucking on it like a pacifier while another has removed the top bun and is licking the inside like an Oreo.
  • High-Pressure Emotion: Mr. Krabs quite literally blows off steam after he realizes "he" (in reality Plankton as Robot Krabs) gave Squidward a day off:
    Mr. Krabs: Day... OOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF?????!!!!!
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: "Coin-operated self-destruct. Not one of my better ideas..." note 
  • Humans Are Cthulhu: After SpongeBob blasts Mr. Krabs with tartar sauce and wheels him away, thinking he's the impostor, Hans (the human hand from the opening) is seen descending from the sky with a fork and trying to eat him.
  • I Take Offense to That Last One:
    Mr. Krabs: If I were a robot, which I'm not, at least I'm well put together, not some rusted-up, steam-driven pile of junk.
    Robot Krabs: Who are you calling steam-driven?
  • Inventional Wisdom: Even Plankton admits that equipping his robot with a coin-operated Self-Destruct Mechanism wasn't a good idea.
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: SpongeBob attempts to Spot the Imposter between Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs by metaphorically holding both of them at gunpoint with a hose full of tartar sauce while asking them trivia questions that he thinks only the real Mr. Krabs would know.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Squidward jokes that it's better to put things off until tomorrow. Mr. Krabs counters by pointing out that today is yesterday's tomorrow, and immediately puts him to work on inventory. Krabs may be a cheap, lousy boss, but he knows how to cut the crap.
  • Literal-Minded: SpongeBob does this when asked by Plankton in the fish robot what the secret formula is. It's left ambiguous whether he's being genuinely obtuse or whether he's twisting the wording on purpose.
    SpongeBob: The Krabby Patty formula is the sole property of the Krusty Krab and is only to be discussed in part or in whole with its creator, Mr. Krabs. Duplication of this formula is punishable by law. Restrictions apply, results may vary.
  • Look Behind You: When Plankton hears Mr. Krabs coming, he says to SpongeBob, "Look, a jellyfish!". SpongeBob whips out his net yelling "I got it! I got it!" and chases the nonexistent jellyfish while Plankton converts his robot into a toaster.
  • Machine Monotone: Robot Krabs has no inflections, even when Plankton is yelling inside.
  • Malicious Misnaming: Near the end when SpongeBob hands Robot Krabs the Krabby Patty formula, Plankton/Robot Krabs calls SpongeBob "SpongeDupe". Weirdly, SpongeBob doesn't correct him or even seem to notice.
  • Mistaken for an Imposter:
    • When a customer wonders what Krabby Patties are made of, SpongeBob assumes it's Plankton in disguise and rips his head off. It turns out that he was wearing a mask, but only because he's insecure about the fact that his real head is disproportionately small for his body.
      Customer: Everyone at the head enhancement clinic said nobody would notice! (runs away crying)
    • Mr. Krabs, himself, has this happen to him. Even while SpongeBob gives both him and the impostor a set of questions to answer, he quite clearly favours the fake, calling Mr. Krabs “Mr. Fake”, and even when Mr. Krabs answers a question, SpongeBob adds an extra bit so that the actual fake can answer, rubbing it in the real Krabs’ face when the actual fake answers correctly.
  • Motor Mouth:
    • SpongeBob giving Plankton the Krabby Patty disclaimer all in one breath.
    • SpongeBob's final question is so lengthy and delivered at such high speed that Mr. Krabs can't actually follow what was said, convincing SpongeBob he's the impostor.
      SpongeBob: If we're discussing the secret formula on the third Wednesday in January and it's not raining outside after we've gargled with vanilla pudding, what do we do?
      Mr. Krabs: That's an easy one! You just... just... let's see... if it's... uh... if it's January... with... with vanilla pudding... you... uh... pass? [gets blasted with tartar sauce]
  • My God, What Have I Done?: SpongeBob realizes his mistake when he finds out that Mr. Krabs wasn't a fake, apologizing to the latter for almost having him eaten by Hans.
  • Near-Villain Victory: If Plankton weren't so busy laughing himself silly when SpongeBob activated the self-destruct coin slot, odds are he would've finally stolen the secret formula. Alternatively, he would have succeeded if he hadn't installed a coin-operated Self-Destruct Mechanism in the first place.
  • Noodle Incident: "If we're discussing the secret formula on the third Wednesday in January and it's not raining outside, after we gargle with vanilla pudding, what do we do?"
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Both Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs when SpongeBob threatens them with tartar sauce.
    • Plankton when SpongeBob unwittingly inserts a penny into the self-destruct coin slot.
    • SpongeBob when he witnesses Robot Krabs run into the Chum Bucket and explode, after kicking out the real Mr. Krabs.
      SpongeBob: If that was Plankton... Uh-oh.
  • Only Sane Man: Played with—Squidward immediately figures out that Plankton's robot isn't Mr. Krabs. However, he goes along with it when Plankton gives him the rest of the day off.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: SpongeBob falls completely for Plankton's robot, despite being obviously made of metal and talking in Robo-Speak in Plankton's own voice. Squidward doesn't fall for it, but plays along anyway when "Mr. Krabs" gives him the day off.
  • Pinocchio Nose: A variant, every time Plankton/Robot Krabs says that he's Mr. Krabs, smoke puffs out from the robot's exhaust pipe.
  • Pun-Based Title: The episode title comes from "imitation crab", another word for crab sticks, an inexpensive Japanese crab meat substitute made from whitefish and flour.
  • Rage Breaking Point:
    • Plankton reaches his after at least six and a half hours of inane activities with SpongeBob, who still won't tell "Mr. Krabs" what the secret formula is:
      Plankton: (after a spaghetti and meatball dish with SpongeBob as an Italian chef, through Robot Krabs) Okay, now let's hear that formula.
      SpongeBob: Sorry, (takes off his chef mustache) no can do, Mr. Krabs.
      Plankton: (through Robot Krabs, whose eyes catch fire out of rage) WHAAAAAAATTTTT?! (we cut to him inside, mid-Villainous Breakdown) But we did EVERYTHING YOU SAID, I followed ALL THE RULES! I even ate 105 black licorice jellybeans through a STRAW! (through Robot Krabs) Now why can't you tell me the formula?!
    • Then shortly after Mr. Krabs busts in and confronts his robot double, SpongeBob snaps out of paranoia and rage and takes matters into his own hands, starting with a Big "SHUT UP!".
      SpongeBob: (holding both Krabses hostage with a vat of tartar sauce) QUIEEEEEET! Until I know who the real Mr. Krabs is, nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!
  • Real Time: When SpongeBob somehow activates Robot Krabs’ coin-operated self destruct, it states the robot will self-destruct in ten seconds. Indeed, exactly ten seconds elapse between that announcement and the time Robot Krabs explodes.
  • Robot Me: Plankton creates a robot double of Mr. Krabs to get the Krabby Patty formula.
  • Rocky Roll Call:
    Mr. Krabs: Plankton!
    Plankton: Krabs!
    Mr. Krabs: Plankton!
    Plankton: Krabs!
    SpongeBob: SpongeBob!
  • Rule of Funny: Why else would Plankton do something as stupid as put a coin-op self-destruct function on Robot Krabs, besides to ensure he doesn’t win in the end?
  • Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: After eating spaghetti, Robot Krabs says "Belch" rather than actually belching. Also, his Dramatic Gasp when Mr. Krabs appears is him just saying "Gasp".
  • Secret Handshake: SpongeBob has a long, elaborate one with Mr. Krabs. It takes over 6½ hours to do. He ends up leading the Robot Krabs through it step-by-step, defeating the entire purpose of a secret handshake.
  • Shout-Out:
    • When Plankton screams "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!", the Robot Krabs' eyes erupt in flames, very similar to Hades doing the same in Disney's Hercules.
    • SpongeBob's interrogation of Mr. Krabs and Robot Krabs is similar to the famous interrogation scene from The Thing (1982), complete with SpongeBob wielding a tartar sauce gun instead of a flamethrower.
  • Skyward Scream: When SpongeBob informs Mr. Krabs, who is wondering where Squidward is, that he gave Squidward the day off, Mr. Krabs' irises narrow to pinpricks, as he says, "Day..." and screams, "OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFF?!?!?"
  • Spot the Imposter: Parodied. SpongeBob gives the two Krabs a series of questions he thinks only the real Mr. Krabs would know. The first two are generic questions that anyone who's been to the Krusty Krab can answer and Robot Krabs answers them both. The third question is so complicated that the real Krabs can't answer it.
  • Throwing the Distraction: To get rid of Krabs, Plankton throws a penny and Krabs follows it as it rolls out the door. It later rolls back inside, leading Krabs to Plankton just as he's about to get the formula.
  • Title Drop: After SpongeBob blasts Mr. Krabs with tartar sauce, wheeling him out of the Krusty Krab, having been mistakenly convinced he's the impostor:
    SpongeBob: So long, Imitation Krabs! Bye-bye!
  • Too Dumb to Fool:
    • In the beginning, Plankton uses a robot disguise to bribe SpongeBob with $1,000,000 into revealing the formula. SpongeBob, being stupid as he is, misinterprets this as him asking what the formula represents, causing Plankton's scheme to fail.
    • Later, after 6½ hours of putting the Robot Krabs to the test, only to still refuse to tell, SpongeBob reveals that he was also following "your rules" to "never speak the formula."
  • Too Dumb to Live:
    • SpongeBob, as usual. He completely falls for Plankton's robot Krabs "disguise" every step of the way. Even worse during the Spot the Imposter part, where he's blatantly favouring the imitation Krabs to be the real one: When the real Krabs answers the second question correctly, SpongeBob adds another part to the question, as if to spite the “fake,” that the imitation Krabs answers before going right up to the real Krabs, noting it’s right and pointing the hose right at him, much like he did when the fake answered the first question. Then he gives a confusing third question possibly to stump the “fake,” as when the real Krabs failed to answer it, SpongeBob immediately kicks him out even though imitation Krabs hadn't even given an answer yet. To top it off, after he kicked out the real Krabs, he told the imitation Krabs that he "knew it all along" that he (the imitation) is the real Krabs. Fortunately, he realizes the truth when Robot Krabs rushes to the Chum Bucket with the formula before exploding.
    • Plankton also counts. He rushed all the way back to the Chum Bucket as the self-destruct sequence nears its end, blowing up his own restaurant. Even before that, putting an externally mounted, coin-operated Self-Destruct Mechanism on his robot, which he admits was a stupid idea.
  • Transforming Mecha: Plankton hits a button to transform Robot Krabs into a toaster before Mr. Krabs returns.
  • Turn the Other Cheek: Mr. Krabs forgives SpongeBob for his tests, being satisfied that the secret formula wasn't stolen. However, he does tell SpongeBob that the penny Plankton used is coming out of his paycheck, though SpongeBob is unsure if Mr. Krabs is joking or not.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: SpongeBob only seems to find it mildly strange that "Mr. Krabs" suddenly is wearing a metal suit, can fire beams out of his eyes, and has a microphone extend from his clothes. Of course, this is SpongeBob we're talking about.
  • Visual Pun: Among the absurd things that Plankton does to get the formula is cannonballing through a flaming hoop — he's literally jumping through hoops just to get the formula out of SpongeBob.

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If that was Plankton...

SpongeBob realizes his grave error at who he really gave the secret formula to.

How well does it match the trope?

4.92 (13 votes)

Example of:

Main / OhCrap

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