It's better to be a responsible adult who sometimes indulges in juvenile things than to be a Manchild. Before he puts on the macho façade, SpongeBob doesn't act any less immature than he usually is around Grandma and is still responsible enough to get to work on time. Patrick, meanwhile, acts exactly like a ridiculously immature jerk under Grandma's affection and looks ridiculous as a result.
It doesn't hurt to be a little discreet with your affection in certain settings. True, SpongeBob didn't deserve to be bullied by all of the Krusty Krab patrons and Squidward should have known to give SpongeBob some privacy when he was saying goodbye to his grandmother, but Grandma still doesn't see anything wrong with giving her adult grandson a "kissy kissy" in front of other people who may not want to see it, including his co-workers and his best friend.
Is Grandma respecting SpongeBob's wishes to be treated more like an adult by giving him boring gifts and denying him cookies while treating Patrick like a baby, or is she humoring him until he realizes that there's nothing wrong with accepting her grandmotherly affection as an adult?
Does Grandma not realize that giving her grandson a kiss in public would potentially embarrass him until SpongeBob pointed it out to her, or does she not actually think there's anything wrong with it and is only respecting his wishes not to tell anyone about kissing him in private at the end?
"And then you get behind her, and I'll push!" "Patrick, we didn't say that."
As mentioned below, SpongeBob's incredibly sad tantrum is immediately made funny when he starts spewing out tears like a lawn sprinkler.
The fact that Squidward and the rest of the Krusty Krab patrons actually went to the trouble of following SpongeBob to his Grandma's house just to keep laughing at him through the window is too absurd to find cruel.
This was one of the first episodes to indulge in Comedic Sociopathy, in this case Squidward and the miscellaneous citizens of Bikini Bottom teasing SpongeBob to his face, then following him to Grandma's house just to tease him some more for fun, all while receiving no karma for their actions. Here, it's clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but later episodes overuse the joke of the nameless bit players all being sadistic jerks until it's too mean to be funny.
SpongeBob learns that he can sometimes do "childish" things and still be a hardworking adult. Later seasons however, have him becoming stereotypically whiny, immature, inconsiderate and irresponsible with no moderation or balance whatsoever. One episode even features him playing with baby toys in an obnoxious manner.
Funny Moments: SpongeBob coming back to Grandma's house with eyes that could rival a Margret Keane painting. Of course, once he goes on his rant about wanting to be a baby again, it stops being funny... until he starts crying like a lawn sprinkler, at which point it's immediately funny again, punctuated by Grandma SquarePants's priceless reactions.
Harsher in Hindsight: Squidward's cruel mocking of SpongeBob for being coddled by his grandmother becomes this after seeing how his own grandmother treats him in "Chum Fricassee".
Grandma SquarePants reminding SpongeBob that he doesn't need to act like a baby to get her love.
The sincere way she tells him to take it easy during his crying spell.
Grandma giving SpongeBob a cookie and his fake sideburns as a small way of showing that she respects him as an adult and as the grandson she loves. As she tells him, he can have fun and still be an adult.
"Now, you must acquire a taste for free form jazz." explanationOne of Patrick's stated criteria for being an adult, followed by a moment of him and SpongeBob posing thoughtfully while free form jazz plays. There have been many edits of this scene with "free form jazz" changed to some other kind of music.
The episode was well-known in the early days of YouTube for being subject to a vulgar and off-color dub done by a user named greenday12688. Many of the one-liners have been used in YouTube Poop videos.
Narm Charm: SpongeBob's harangue about how he doesn't want to be an adult anymore, listing off all of the fun "baby" things he wished he could still do before collapsing on the floor, kicking and screaming as he bawls his eyes out. Silly, yes. But at the same time, the acting by Tom Kennymakes it sound so genuine and the simple desire of wanting to continue bonding with his Grandma can be very relatable that it’s impossible not to feel the heartstrings tugged for the sponge.
Never Live It Down: Squidward's relentless and cruel teasing of SpongeBob. Believe it or not, some have said that, after seeing the way he’s portrayed here, they completely understand why his treatment has become disproportionately unfair in later seasons.
SpongeBob getting sadistically teased by Squidward and the Krusty Krab patrons for having a kissy mark on his forehead, especially the shot of them cornering him while pointing and laughing like schoolyard bullies. And while it's clearly meant as a joke, his line before he runs home sobbing carries some unsettling implications.
SpongeBob: I have been publicly humiliated for the last time!
SpongeBob's Little "No" when Grandma gives Patrick his sweater with love in every stitch. The way he whines "Don't I get a present too, Grandma?" is the first sign that he's starting to crack.
SpongeBob's "Growing Up Sucks" rant. What adult hasn't felt that way at least once?
Squidville:
Alternative Character Interpretation: Was the police officer who confronted Squidward just being condescending when he told him there was nothing forcing him to stay there? Or was he subtly trying to convince Squidward to leave so he wouldn't cause any more trouble in Tentacle Acres?
Aluminum Christmas Trees: In the early 2010s, the canned bread scene went viral online after people who grew up with SpongeBob discovered that it was an actual product — it's stored that way to preserve it for as long as possible in the event of an emergency. Before then, the bit was widely assumed to be just one of the episode's many riffs on rigid suburban conformity.
While Squidward getting his house destroyed by SpongeBob and Patrick is just another act of Squidward suffering from their well-intentioned buffoonery, the fact that this episode comes right after one where he actually does something wrong makes it feel all the more deserving.
Funny Moments: "Is this the final straw? Do you want to move so far away that you could brag about it?"
Hilarious in Hindsight: Squidward being fascinated by finally getting to try canned bread at Squidville became this when the western social media learned about Japanese canned bread in the 2010s.
The gag where Patrick interrupts the Tentacle Acres commercial and says "I hate this channel" has become a series of YouTube videos, with the commercial replaced with a different clip.
An edit of the canned bread instead reading canned coochie; which was based off an old stand-up bit from the late Bernie Mac. Another edit has Squidward holding a hot dog instead, proclaiming it to be a "glizzy".
Online, Squidville itself is sometimes referred to as a "Squidward Ethnostate" due to the fact that the only kind allowed inside are people of Squidward's octopus species and how the guards display Fantastic Racism towards Spongebob and Patrick.
Older Than They Think: Social media in the West discovered that Japan made canned bread in the 2010s and has since been known to be another one of Japan's exotic oddities, though it's also been a thing in America for a while (most notably, B&M — a company best known for canned beans — makes canned bread). Canned bread is meant as an emergency food, so it probably isn't very well known in American unless you have to make emergency kits (as a carb source, you would likely opt for something else more common like nonperishable instant pasta). Japan making canned bread may have to do with being a high risk area for earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as sweet bread being a common snack/treat in Asian countries.
from the late Bernie Mac. Another edit has Squidward holding a hot dog instead, proclaiming it to be a "glizzy".