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Recap / Sponge Bob Square Pants S 6 E 5 The Splinter Slide Whistle Stooges

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The Splinter

Original air date: 6/2/2008 (produced in 2007)

The result of trying to get his spatula from the ceiling (It Makes Sense in Context) results in SpongeBob getting a splinter. It's not so bad at first, but when he tries to pull it off it turns into a ton of incredibly overdramatic trouble. And it just keeps getting worse when the splinter swells up to nauseous levels...

It’s a normal day at the Krusty Krab and SpongeBob is excited to spend another day at his favorite job. Things go south when, in his excitement, he winds up getting his spatula stuck in the ceiling. He stacks up a tower of crates full of dangerous and sharp objects (including swords) and wrenches the utensil out, nearly getting stabbed in the process. He’s saved when his spatula catches on a sword blade and he slides off with little hassle and no worse for wear. And then he slips on tartar sauce. He slides across the ground as his thumb is punctured by a stray piece of wood which gets lodged in. Being too weak to pull it out his hand becomes too sore to hold the spatula, so he ties it to his nose. Squidward finds out about SpongeBob's injury and decides to mess with him for cheap laughs, since he hates him with a passion. Fearing that he'll be sent home, SpongeBob decides to get medical help... too bad that "medical help" means Patrick. "Dr." Patrick gives SpongeBob a "garbage compress" to deal with the swelling and hammering it in to make sure but only makes it way worse. After "helping" he takes leave as his "shift" is over. When SpongeBob returns to the kitchen, it turns out Squidward squealed on him. Forced to show his wound, SpongeBob lifts up his thumb, now swollen several times as large, puke green, and leaking pus. Mr. Krabs, being made of stronger stuff than Squidward, pulls the splinter out with a burst of confetti... and a big spray of pus. Squidward learns that he could have left hours ago if he called worker’s comp and beats himself with the cash register. It turns out he did it in vain as his shift ended two minutes ago. The episode ends here.

The Splinter provides examples of (YMMV examples go here)...

  • An Aesop: It's important to tell a grownup something is wrong with you, even though it may have consequences.
  • Artistic License – Biology: When trying to get the splinter out, SpongeBob's skin rips off, exposing his skeleton underneath. Real sea sponges do not have skeletons, because they are invertebrates.
  • Body Horror: SpongeBob's thumb becomes noticeably disfigured as the episode goes on. It starts off only slightly red, but it becomes extremely swollen after Patrick forces the splinter deeper inside. After Patrick stupidly puts garbage on it, the thumb turns purple and starts spewing green pus, as if infected.
  • Bottle Episode: The entire episode is set at the Krusty Krab, mainly the kitchen.
  • Cartoon Throbbing: SpongeBob's splinter causes his thumb to turn red and swell up to multiple times the size.
  • Faint in Shock: Squidward collapses at the sight of the size of SpongeBob's swollen splinter.
  • Fingore: The close-up of SpongeBob getting a splinter in his thumb is rather detailed.
  • Forgot About His Powers: Sea sponges' body parts grow back if they fall off, something SpongeBob has casually demonstrated before. Had he just removed the arm with the splinter in it so a new one could grow in its place, the entire episode could have been avoided.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: You can actually see SpongeBob remove his spatula from the ceiling when he says "Boy, this thing is really stuck," but he doesn't realize it.
  • Gross-Up Close-Up: The close-ups of the splinter.
  • Human Popsicle: At one point, a caveman frozen in ice can be seen in the Krusty Krab's freezer.
  • Idiot Houdini: Patrick suffers no consequences for worsening SpongeBob's injury.
  • Insufferable Imbecile: Patrick thought that smashing the splinter further into SpongeBob's thumb and then putting garbage on his thumb would help stop it from swelling. When SpongeBob rightfully complains to Patrick about it, he thinks that SpongeBob doesn't want his help despite the fact that he was worsening the problem.
  • Jerkass Ball:
    • While Squidward was never exactly a saint, he's much crueler than usual. He ridicules SpongeBob over his injury and terrorizes him by claiming he would have to be sent home for it. Fortunately, he does get his comeuppance at the end of the episode.
    • Patrick not only acts callously toward SpongeBob's predicament but actually makes things worse before leaving. Unlike Squidward, he gets away with it.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Squidward gets himself injured with the cash register to receive his worker's comp, only to end up missing it since his shift was already over. It's definitely deserved since he was a massive jerk to SpongeBob throughout the episode.
  • Minor Injury Overreaction: So very much. Justified, as the splinter swells up to absurd lengths.
  • Mundane Solution: After Patrick spends the entire episode doing everything he could to make the problem worse, Mr. Krabs takes one look at the splinter, and just pulls it out.
  • Stripped to the Bone: Early on, SpongeBob attempts to pull the splinter out with his teeth... which somehow rips off all his skin.
  • Suddenly Shouting:
    Squidward: (smiling with a calm, relaxed voice) What's that? (pointing to the spatula tied to SpongeBob's nose)
    SpongeBob: What's what?
    Squidward: You know. (flicks the spatula)
    SpongeBob: Know what?
    Squidward: This.
    SpongeBob: What?
    Squidward: This thing here.
    SpongeBob: What thing where?
    Squidward: The spatula... (shouting angrily) TIED TO YOUR NOSE!

Slide Whistle Stooges

Original air date: 2/16/2009 (produced in 2007)

SpongeBob and Patrick love their slide whistles so much that they pester Squidward to join in on their fun, too!

The episode begins with SpongeBob and Patrick adding slide whistle sound effects to everything Squidward does, whether he likes it or not. Unable to stand it, he flees his house and the dim duo take chase thinking he’s finally playing with them. He snatches one of the whistles to give them a taste of their own medicine but it only makes them think he’s great at it. The terrible trio then go around town blowing their slide whistles but Squidward takes it too far; annoying various citizens and impersonating a baby for a quick joke (making the mother call him a "baby assaulter"). The citizens form an angry mob and chase after Squidward as he commandeers a gas truck. Not minding the road he smashes through the Chum Bucket (to Mr. Krabs’ delight), the Krusty Krab (to Krabs’ sorrow), and several buildings before plunging off a cliff after he misinterprets SpongeBob’s question of if he “wants to stop” (as in stop the truck). The truck goes up in a fireball and the crowd cheers at his demise; SpongeBob and Patrick play Fryderyk Chopin’s “Funeral March” mournfully on their slide whistles. Turns out that Squidward survived but now he has his whistle lodged in his throat and the hospital is unable to take it out. SpongeBob and Patrick finish the episode by messing around the hospital on their slide whistles.

Slide Whistle Stooges provides examples of (YMMV examples go here)...

  • And There Was Much Rejoicing: After Squidward drives off a cliff in the gasoline truck and explodes, the whole city, except SpongeBob and Patrick, break out in cheers and applause.
  • Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: When SpongeBob becomes concerned for Squidward's sanity, he asks Patrick, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?", and Patrick is actually thinking about sticking his hand in his belly button, and Patrick admits, "Probably not."
  • Black Comedy: When Squidward seemingly perishes in a fiery explosion, the crowd cheers at his death. Well, apart from SpongeBob and Patrick.
  • Butt-Monkey: Squidward.
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The episode ends with SpongeBob and Patrick laughing and providing slide whistle sound effects to make everyone else laugh.
  • Felony Misdemeanor: The people in Bikini Bottom treat Squidward's over-the-top annoyance as a thing that should be punishable by death.
  • Goo Goo Getup: At one point, Squidward dresses in a diaper and bonnet and acts like a baby as he plays with his slide whistle inside a baby carriage.
  • Impact Silhouette: While trying to escape from SpongeBob and Patrick, Squidward enters a cave and crashes through the back of it, leaving a hole in his likeness.
  • Jerkass Ball: Earlier in the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick seemed to be deliberately annoying Squidward with their slide whistles for their own amusement, even chasing after him when he tries to escape the noise.
  • Literal-Minded:
    SpongeBob: Patrick, do you think Squidward is taking this a little too far?
    Patrick: He's only a block away.
  • Retirony: The police fish mauled by the K9 unit.
  • Selective Enforcement: Bikini Bottom wants Squidward's blood after his hijinks with a slide whistle around town, while SpongeBob and Patrick's similar antics in a hospital are met with...uproarious laughter.
  • Spit Take: The truck driver does this when he hears Squidward's slide whistle.
  • Torches and Pitchforks: Squidward gets chased by an Angry Mob after he starts to take things a little too far.
  • Wolf Whistle: A woman is promising her boyfriend she won't do something anymore as they make up. When another guy walks past them, a hidden Squidward makes this sound with his slide whistle, causing the boyfriend to call his girlfriend a liar.

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