InSPONGEiac (SpongeBob SquarePants)

InSPONGEiac is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from the eighth season.

"InSPONGEiac"
"What if I don't get to sleep at all? [in his thoughts] Ohhh, Mr. Krabs was right! I am an insomniac!" — SpongeBob
Series: SpongeBob SquarePants Part of Season: 8 Episode Number: 171b Air Date: April 9, 2012 Writer: Casey Alexander Zeus Cervas Doug Lawrence Director: Casey Alexander Zeus Cervas Previous episode: Karen 2.0 Free Samples (Airing order) Next episode: Face Freeze! Treats! (Airing order)

Plot

Mr. Krabs gets mad at SpongeBob for putting too much mustard on the Krabby Patty due to the latter not getting enough sleep and sends him away from the Krusty Krab, hoping that the sponge will fall asleep well for the next day.

Why It Can't Get Enough Sleep

1. The premise is very generic, unfair, contrived and idiotic: SpongeBob cannot complete his work shift because he is too tired, and so he goes home to rest, only it doesn't go the right way.
   • Since when on Earth was it established that SpongeBob is too tired to work his shift?
2. Very misleading title: The episode suggests that the plot revolves around SpongeBob experiencing "Insomnia." However, upon closer examination of the plot, it becomes apparent that SpongeBob doesn't truly suffer from "Insomnia," which is a sleep disorder characterized by persistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep. Instead, he struggles to sleep for just one night, a problem triggered by the stress Mr. Krabs inflicts by mocking SpongeBob for his lack of sleep.
3. In this episode, Mr. Krabs is portrayed as not only obnoxious but also foolishly unreasonable. He considers sending SpongeBob home for being 'tired,' simply because he added a bit too much mustard—an extra 1%—to a Krabby Patty. His overreaction is highlighted by his absurd claim that such an act could lead to bankruptcy, which he calculates to happen in 411 years.
4. Much like some previous episodes, it's infamous for being a very cruel SpongeBob torture episode.
   1. This episode inflicts unnecessary phnishment for the poor lad, such as his guilt-tripping courtesy of good ol' Mr. Krabs. He also suffers through to the end, not too different from other torture episodes usually featuring his grouchy neighbor.
5. Various filler scenes like the scene where SpongeBob tries to sleep while drinking milk or Patrick's annoying song "Get Up, Be Active".
6. Similar to another infamous episode, SpongeBob tries to ask Patrick for help to be able to fight insomnia, only instead of helping him, Patrick makes his situation worse.
   • Regarding Patrick, he appears to be quite ineffective and extremely irritating, consistently doing the opposite of what SpongeBob intends, seemingly for the sake of what is perceived as an attempt at ironic humor.
     • Patrick reads a bedtime story to SpongeBob, which at first seems to work, only for him to say exciting things, this is because the book that Patrick is reading is called "The Land of Perpetual Excitement", the plot of which has to do with waking up.
     • After this, Patrick then sings a lullaby to SpongeBob, which turns out to be a loop of the phrases "get up", "be active" and "don't lie down".
     • Finally, Patrick advises SpongeBob on a particular medicine that perhaps will help him sleep, only the medicine turns out to be coffee, which leads SpongeBob to go crazy and run outside.
       • While it's nice that Patrick is not being an unlikable jerk like he was the first time SpongeBob needed help from him, what is not nice is that he is just too stupid and useless to even bother helping SpongeBob out with his insomnia problem.
7. The SpongeBob nightmare sequence is highly disturbing and edgy, especially for the scene where a large Mr. Krabs chase after SpongeBob with eyes as sauce dispensers.
8. After SpongeBob's nightmare is over, we discover that he has been sleeping in Gary's litter box all this time, which is very gross.
   • On that subject, this scene in particular leads to a plot hole: Was the first half of the episode just a dream all along?
9. Horrible ending: A weary SpongeBob arrives at the Krusty Krab, still covered in Gary's litter, and stumbles into the kitchen, accidentally falling into the mustard barrel. Mr. Krabs rescues him and inquires about his state, prompting SpongeBob to admit that he's been struggling with insomnia. As he begins to weep, his tears inadvertently season the Krabby Patties with the perfect amount of mustard. The episode concludes with SpongeBob's continued tears, egged on by Mr. Krabs' encouragement, while Squidward finds amusement in the situation, declaring it the best workday ever, despite the evident cruelty and distastefulness of the scene.
10. Wasted potential of an interesting episode: The idea of an episode that centers around insomnia was a good idea on paper, also because the middle of the episode focus on SpongeBob and Patrick, it would have come up with some creative gags and even some helpful tips on how to get rid of Insomnia, but instead, the episode does a terrible job of teaching children how to combat insomnia.
    • Fun fact: This episode was going to have Mr. Krabs deal with insomnia, which would have been a much better idea of an episode, but the plot was changed to have SpongeBob deal with it for no apparent reason and was rewritten. This is what happens when Nickelodeon forces Executive meddling to do the job.
11. Even if a fair amount of mustard has been poured on the patties, it would still be contaminated because it came from inside SpongeBob's battered, dirtied and tired body alone, due to them coming out of his eyes. The only saving grace to this is the show's cartoonic nature and the fact that the Krusty Krab still is extremely popular.
    • Speaking of which, SpongeBob crying mustard is gross.
12. Neither Mr. Krabs nor Patrick of that matter get punished for their actions against poor SpongeBob.
13. The title card is extremely creepy and disturbing to look at since it shows a close-up of SpongeBob's eyes being tired.
    • Speaking of which, there is another closeup of SpongeBob's tired eyes later in the episode that is much more disturbing for everyone no thanks to the extra detail. It was also reused from the episode "Night Light" just zoomed in.
14. Squidward had no purpose to the story in this episode. He was there in the end just to be happy to see SpongeBob cry out mustard.
15. Bad Moral: The moral suggests that guilt-tripping someone to achieve your ends is acceptable, as depicted by Mr. Krabs when he guilt-trips Spongebob about the importance of sleep, and later, when he causes Spongebob to weep mustard.

Redeeming Qualities

1. While the ending is cruel, seeing Squidward laugh at SpongeBob in the ending can be satisfying when you consider all the times he's been tortured by him.
2. Even though Patrick's character is flanderized in this episode, he appears much more agreeable than usual and can be quite amusing at times.
   • Patrick singing "Get up, be active" is also funny, depending on your point of view.
3. The episode had a good premise on fighting insomnia. Unfortunately, as mentioned before in #12 of the "WIS" segment, it was poorly executed.
4. The title pun between "Sponge" and "Insomniac" is pretty decent.
5. Some jokes worked like when Patrick bit SpongeBob because he thought he was a sponge cake, SpongeBob said "Oh yuck!".
6. SpongeBob stands out as one of the few likable characters in this episode.

Reception

Although it has a positive 7.0 / 10 rating on IMDb (due to its sister episode, Karen 2.0, which was well-received), this episode was heavily panned by Spongebob fans, critics, and internet reviewers due to how this episode insults people who also have Insomnia, the huge amount of unfair torturer SpongeBob goes though, Mr, Krabs being at his worst with his greed, Patrick being very pointless and not helping out SpongeBob and the cruel unfair ending.

PIEGUYRULZ, however thinks this episode is good, and this episode is QMBWVCMOUNTAIN's favorite episode of the entire series.

Trivia

• When Patrick confuses SpongeBob for a sponge cake and bites his arm, SpongeBob exclaims "Oh, yuck!" as he withdraws his arm. However, this was misheard by some as "Oh, f**k!", leading to the phrase becoming a popular meme in 2021.
• The episode was initially intended to focus on Mr. Krabs suffering from insomnia and experiencing a nightmare where he becomes a gigantic sauce dispenser monster. However, this concept was abandoned because it was considered too frightening for children. The scene in which an enlarged Mr. Krabs, with sauce dispensers for eyes, chases SpongeBob might be a nod to the episode's original storyline.

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