ICan't Take It (iCarly)

"iCan't Take It"
The notion that Nickelodeon condones the glamorization of abusive relationships is a serious concern.
Series: iCarly (2007) Part of Season: 4 Episode Number: 3 Air Date: September 17, 2011 Writer: Dan Schneider Arthur Gradstein Director: Adam Weissman Previous episode: iDate Sam & Freddie Next episode: iLoveYou

"Look, having Sam in your life is like owning a wild chimp. Sure, she is unpredictable, she can go berserk and chew your foot off. But if you keep her clean and well fed, she's adorable and cool and tons of fun."

— Carly telling Sam and Freddie that they have to stay together.

iCan't Take It is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of iCarly.

iSummary

After discovering Sam and Freddie's relationship through Gibby, who has become the target of Sam's bullying, they conspire to end Sam and Freddie's relationship, leaving Carly caught in the middle.

iPlot

When Sam and Carly discuss how Sam's relationship with Freddie is working out, Freddie presents the newest fake iCarly movie trailer, The Adventures of Super Bra. Much to Carly's dismay, Freddie has edited Carly out of the fake trailer and focuses on Sam. Sam is seen to abuse Gibby, since she has stopped picking on Freddie because they're dating.

Sam and Freddie are going to a movie together, and are just going down the stairs of Bushwell Plaza when Mrs. Benson arrives. Freddie pushes Sam back into Carly's apartment and makes Spencer lie to Mrs. Benson about their romance. Spencer comes up with the story that he sent Freddie out to get yeast because he's starting a bread business in the apartment.

Gibby, now the subject of abuse from Sam, concocts a plan to split up Freddie and Sam. He enters the elevator in Bushwell Plaza, waits for Mrs. Benson to arrive and then stops the elevator when she enters it. He shows her pictures on his PearPad of Sam and Freddie acting like a couple. Mrs. Benson screams, and as the scene ends, she and Gibby start forming a plan.

Later, while Carly and Sam are at Glitter Gloss, Mrs. Benson attempts to bribe Freddie into breaking up with Sam by giving him 100 grams of palladium worth $100,000. However, to Mrs. Benson's disapproval, Freddie denies the offer.

Sam and Freddie then go on another movie date only to come back to the studio late and miss a webcast of iCarly. There it is revealed to Sam and Freddie that Gibby was the one that outed their romance to Mrs. Benson, next Sam becomes furious and beats up Gibby so badly that he dislocates a breast bone and loses a clump of hair, and kicked Spencer in the groin.

Angered that Sam and Freddie missed iCarly and at the prodding of Mrs. Benson and Gibby, Carly lets it slip that Sam was the one that sabotaged Freddie's application to New Electronics Research and Development (N.E.R.D.) Camp. They devise a plan to tell Freddie that Sam messed with his application in hopes it will split them.

During the next iCarly rehearsal when Sam and Freddie show up three minutes early, Carly and Gibby set their plan into motion and aid Mrs. Benson. Mrs. Benson hands Freddie his (N.E.R.D.) Camp application, and Carly runs downstairs, telling Spencer that she felt guilty. Freddie sees his answers are different from what he put, and figures out it was Sam who changed all his answers. She tries to explain it was four months ago, before they began dating, but he is too hurt to say anything other than it was a dream of his and that it could have helped him get into any college he wanted. Sam apologizes, but Freddie does not respond to that.

Carly is watching this from downstairs with Spencer on the computer from the iCarly cam. Feeling guilty, she runs back upstairs, telling Freddie he cannot break up with Sam like that. Mrs. Benson tries to attack Carly from saving Sam and Freddie's relationship. Gibby restrains her and tells her he is no longer on her side because he doesn't want to interfere with young love, and he escorts Mrs. Benson out of the studio, despite the fact he was the one who told her. Sam and Freddie stand there awkwardly until Carly pushes them together until they kiss. The two kiss and hug as they make up. and Gibby sings a love song for everyone to celebrate Sam and Freddie not breaking up. Spencer is seen downstairs eating yeast and crying as he is watching from the home computer.

iWhy We Can't Take This Anymore

1. Addressing the elephant in the room, it's not just a harsh episode of Freddie being tortured; it's the absolute worst one, surpassing even "iMeet Fred" in terms of the severity of torture.
   • Also, this episode is basically iCarly's answer to the Family Guy episode "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q", which is another episode with a similar premise.
2. It grossly misuses the concept of an abusive relationship in the worst possible way, trivializing it and treating it as comedic.
3. This episode suggests that the writers recognized Sam and Freddie's relationship as a poor concept and chose to portray it in a highly disparaging manner.
   • It is made even worse that both Nathan Kress and Jenette McCurdy both heavily objected this and the way their characters were portrayed in this episode.
4. Most of the characters in this episode are unlikable:
   • In this episode, Sam is undeniably at her worst, sabotaging Freddie's application simply because he was unaware of the time and directing her aggression towards Gibby solely because she's dating Freddie.
     • Additionally, she is depicted as being justified, despite behaving like a malevolent, conceited sociopath who relentlessly persecutes her adversary without showing any regret for her actions. Compounding the issue is the fact that she does not receive any significant retribution for her behavior.
     • She is portrayed as even more unlikable than in previous seasons; while her disdain towards Freddie was often for comedic effect, it has never been taken to this extent.
   • Sam and Freddie are portrayed as equally, if not more, disagreeable than in "iDate Sam and Freddie", as they exclude Carly from their shared activities.
   • Carly is equally unlikable, consistently minimizing the situation and justifying Sam's actions, while persuading Freddie to remain with her in spite of her detrimental behavior.
     • Moreover, she conceals Freddie's falsified application from both Freddie and his mother, declining to defend herself and Sam at the crucial moment.
   • Although Gibby is endearing throughout most of the episode, the conclusion where he abruptly supports Sam and Freddie's relationship and opposes Mrs. Benson's efforts to separate them is quite dubious and seems contrived, providing yet another pretext to rationalize Sam and Freddie's unhealthy relationship. Additionally, it appears that Gibby no longer objects to Sam's continued mistreatment of him, despite having protested against it earlier in the episode.
   • Not only that, they (except for Gibby) never got punished for these actions, make these a karma houdini.
5. The infamous scene where Sam attacks Gibby after finding out that he was the one that told Mrs. Benson about their relationship.
6. The episode attempts to depict Gibby and Mrs. Benson as misguided for wanting to separate Sam and Freddie, yet their concerns are warranted considering the unhealthy dynamics of the relationship and Sam's aggressive behavior.
7. Abysmal ending: Carly forces Sam and Freddie to kiss and ultimately leaves the two together, as Spencer cries.
8. It promotes two harmful and incorrect morals: firstly, that remaining in an abusive relationship is acceptable if one is willing to please the abuser and ignore their faults, and secondly, that intervening in an abusive relationship is inappropriate.
9. Overall, this episode highlights the flaws in the concept of the Seddie arc.

Redeeming Qualities

1. There are a few funny scenes in this episode.
2. In this episode, Spencer, Mrs. Benson, and Gibby (until the episode's conclusion) are depicted as likable.
   • Freddie is at least bearable, and it's understandable to feel sympathy for someone in an abusive relationship, even if he is not the most endearing character in the episode.
   • While
3. The next episode would at least set up a mutual break-up between the two.
4. As is to be expected in an iCarly episode, the acting is still great.

Reception

"iCan't Take It" was universally panned by fans, audiences, critics and viewers, and is widely considered the worst episode of iCarly along with "iMeet Fred". It received a 7.2/10 on IMDb. It was also featured on a PIEGUYRULZ video who extensively criticized this episode for its portrayal of domestic violence.

Similar to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode One Coarse Meal or the Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends episode “Everyone Knows It’s Bendy”, much of the cast and crew confessed to hating this episode as well. For one thing, Nathan Kress himself bluntly stated in a 2017 interview that he did not support the Seddie paring, for the exact same reasons most sensible people wouldn’t support it. Second and foremost, Jennette McCurdy, the actor of Sam, openly hated this episode and the pairing, let alone her own character, noting that Sam was a terrible role model for children.

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