Demolition Doofus (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Demolition Doofus (SpongeBob SquarePants)
The infamous episode where the relationship of the mentor and pupil is at its worst.
Series: SpongeBob SquarePants Part of Season: 8 Episode Number: 173b Air Date: July 21, 2012 Writer: Luke Brookshier Marc Ceccarelli Derek Iversen Previous episode: Squiditis Next episode: Treats!

"Demolition Doofus" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season eight.

Plot

Mrs. Puff finally finds a use for SpongeBob's reckless driving and enters him in the Demolition Derby.

Why It Should Be Demolished

1. It's just another generic plot related to Mrs. Puff’s Boating School where SpongeBob fails to pass his driving test and Mrs. Puff gets injured and hospitalized as a result.
2. SpongeBob is a complete moron and his Seasons 6b & 7 flanderization has returned, evident when:
   • He immediately started crashing into cars instead of being slightly careful and relent when Mrs. Puff tells him to stop, causing Mrs. Puff to inflate larger and larger until they get airborne and crash into the school's lighthouse.
   • He also makes insensitive remarks about the fact that he crippled Mrs. Puff for life, even going as far as him stating that she looks better in her current state, going so far as to even say that everyone should now call her "Mrs. Pop", which is basically the equivalent of calling a crippled person with a broken leg demeaning names such as "Peg-Leg". That is a borderline terrible message to children saying that it's funny to mock disabled people.
3. Mrs. Puff is also out-of-character in this episode and completely at her worst, as she is portrayed as a cold-blooded psychopath who straight-up tries to murder SpongeBob rather than being the paranoid but patient teacher she has always been. While she has every right to be angry at SpongeBob for his actions, she should be smart and mature enough to acknowledge that seeking revenge and murder is not the answer. Not even Squidward, despite having a huge dislike towards SpongeBob throughout the entire show and suffering lots of unnecessary torture from SpongeBob even by Seasons 6-8 standards, would take his hatred towards SpongeBob that far!
4. On that note, it is unclear as to who the viewer should root for: it is hard to root for Mrs. Puff, due to her attempts to murder SpongeBob; it is also hard to root for SpongeBob as well, as he is completely oblivious to the fact that he crippled Mrs. Puff for life.
   • Despite this, the episode overall basically forces it's viewers to roof for SpongeBob at all times, but fails spectacularly due to the lack of proper characterization in both SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff as a reason to do this.
5. It is also a blatant rehash of "Ball of Revenge", an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog, even though that episode aired ten years earlier and that episode was not any better.
6. Mrs. Puff putting SpongeBob into a Demolition Derby to get him killed feels very inappropriate for a kids show.
7. Unfunny and cruel attempts at humor.
8. Predictable plot where SpongeBob wins each time by doing almost nothing wrong.
9. The infamous scene where Mrs. Puff enters the derby using a large truck and gives SpongeBob chase in a desperate attempt to kill him. She is also hitting innocent civilians as if she is playing Carmageddon. SpongeBob, at this point, is shown to be driving flawlessly due to what can only be described as a plot contrivance.
10. Stupid ending: Mrs. Puff and SpongeBob both crash into the Boating School and Mrs. Puff somehow randomly regains her puff. They then get injured by the school, which the tower collapses and crushes them, and the episode ends there. How do you call that an ending?
11. Neither SpongeBob nor Mrs. Puff get any comeuppance for their respective unjustified actions, unlike in most other episodes focused around Mrs. Puff's Boating School where Mrs. Puff always gets arrested for no discernible reason, even though here, she does not get punished for her heartless deeds.
12. Mrs. Puff's infamous quote: "Why are you still ALIVE!?" This proves that she wants SpongeBob dead, even though SpongeBob is no better than Mrs. Puff. And to think Mrs. Puff wouldn't get any more heartless....

Redeeming Qualities

1. Decent animation and voice acting.
2. The Demolition Derby was spot-on and is arguably the best part of the episode.
3. There are a couple of funny moments here and there.
   • Depending on your view, The "Mrs. Pop" joke is funny.
4. The beginning of the episode with SpongeBob on a unicycle is one of the few good things about the start of the episode, but it's also entertaining, too.
5. Although SpongeBob is unlikeable, him bringing flowers to Mrs. Puff at the hospital was nice.

Reception

• Reception has been negative toward this episode, with criticism mostly targeted at its dark tone, its subject matter of murder, and the massive flanderization of Mrs. Puff into a murderous psychopath. It has a 4.7/10 rating on IMDB.
• The Mysterious Mr. Enter ranked this episode as #5 on his Top 10 WORST Episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants list and compared the episode's premise to a creepypasta.

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