What Ever Happened to SpongeBob? (SpongeBob SquarePants)
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This page is dedicated to Ray Liotta (1954-2022) known for voicing Trevor, the leader of the Bubble Poppin Boys gang
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 "(looks at the chaos A Fistful of Ed is causing outside Nick Animation Studios) Me and my crewmates can milk you." - Steven Banks (probably)
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What Ever Happened to SpongeBob? (alternatively called WhoBob WhatPants?) is a Season 5 episode from SpongeBob SquarePants, it was aired on Nickelodeon Albania on June 21, 2008, while in the United States and Canada aired on October 13, 2008, on Nickelodeon and YTV.
Summary
After being called an Idiot Boy by all of his friends for his accidental troublemaking, SpongeBob runs away from home and hits his head, which causes him to lose his memory. He later comes across a town called New Kelp City.
Why It's an Idiot Boy
- For starters, this episode is infamous for being extremely cruel and mean spirited towards SpongeBob thanks to how everyone (especially Squidward) is cruel to him.
- The pacing is atrocious and lazy where it focuses more on SpongeBob's troubles and plenty of nonsensical filler.
- All SpongeBob wanted to do was have fun like usual, but his friends treat him VERY BADLY for not one, but two reasons:
- SpongeBob gets called "Idiot Boy" by his friends over simple mistakes, and accidental troublemaking for no apparent reason.
- He is forced to leave the Krusty Krab by Mr. Krabs after an accident that happened.
- In New Kelp City, SpongeBob was later beaten up by a gang, just because he blew bubbles. SpongeBob later blows bubbles to trick the gang so he can protect himself, and after getting rid of the gang, he becomes Mayor of New Kelp City. How do you become mayor over that?
- Granted, the gang (named the "Bubble-Popping Boys") terrified the residents of New Kelp City for their intimidating vendetta against bubbles (meaning it could have been a signal for the BPB to come and attack them), but the writing and sudden change in SpongeBob becoming mayor is sloppy and even unrealistic in a sense (see WIAIB #6).
- As for his friends, they act way too angry and harsh on SpongeBob after he unintentionally messed up some things they were either working on or just minding their own business.
- Gary: He accidentally broke Gary's shell, after trying to hug Gary.
- Patrick: He trips and falls on Patrick's cake that he made for his mom's birthday. Patrick later called him an "Idiot Boy" over the cake accident.
- Patrick calls SpongeBob "Idiot Boy." Remind you of anyone, Patrick?
- Squidward: While not a friend to SpongeBob and has not made anything, he was disturbed by SpongeBob because he was woken up by him.
- Sandy: He accidentally destroyed Sandy's robot, with some of the water coming loose from his water helmet.
- Mr. Krabs: He accidentally deep-fries Mr. Krab's money.
- He is the second place unlikable as he doesn't even go look for SpongeBob when was worried for him and just bribes Squidward and isn't seen until the end of the episode.
- Norton the Mailman: While not a known friend of SpongeBob, he gets distracted by SpongeBob after he said "Hi" to him, and he later gets injured by crashing into a truck. What is even funny about crashing into a truck while riding a bicycle?
- Out of the four members of SpongeBob's friends, Squidward is the most unlikable. He's rather happy that SpongeBob is gone and even said that if he knew SpongeBob was gone, he would've slammed the door even more on him. What's worse is that when Patrick and Sandy decide to find him, he purposely smashes the machine that can find him and doesn't even care until Krabs would give him jewelry.
- When SpongeBob Is crying after Mr. Krabs called him "Idiot boy", you would want to sympathize with him because of how sad the situation is.
- After SpongeBob is called "Idiot Boy" for his troublemaking by his friends and his boss Mr. Krabs, he later gets upset and moves out of Bikini Bottom, which is heartbreaking and depressing to watch. He later fell and tripped and went unconscious, losing his memories. Words can't describe the latter of losing his memories was done in a tasteless way.
- And when he saw that a hobo couple found his belongings, they renamed him "CheeseHead BrownPants" because of his physical appearance. (SpongeBob even called himself that so-called "given-name".)
- The way that SpongeBob's friends call him "Idiot Boy" feels very out of order, he first gets called that by Patrick, then Squidward, then Sandy, and finally Mr. Krabs, with the latter causing SpongeBob to break down in tears, out of SpongeBob's friends, Patrick should have been the last one to call him that since he is SpongeBob's best friend while Mr. Krabs is his boss.
- To be fair, Mr. Krabs is like a father figure to SpongeBob, so it makes sense to be hurt by someone that's like a father to you calling you an insult, rather than a friend. But even then, SpongeBob's chemistry with Patrick has been much more stronger and complex overall as his best friend.
- This episode has plenty of nonsensical moments. One example would be a scene where a gang of fish people is starting a riot at the Bikini Bottom for no reason, and the other one where all of the citizens of New Kelp City are being afraid of bubbles because the Bubble Popping Boys pop bubbles in fear. There is one more example of how nonsensical this episode also is below:
- Due to SpongeBob moving out of Bikini Bottom, this caused the Krusty Krab to lose their business due to SpongeBob not being there to cook.
- At the end of the episode, the bubbles are causing mayhem in New Kelp City somehow. Yet before, SpongeBob became Mayor of Kelp City for using bubbles.
- While Sandy and Patrick are unable to see him and they even begin to miss him. Squidward (obviously) is happy to have SpongeBob leave Bikini Bottom since he doesn't like him, which of course he is meant to not like SpongeBob, and yes it makes sense why, but that's done so just to make him act unlikable for the story's sake.
- Granted, Squidward can be unlikeable at times, and the show is hit or miss with its continuity at times. That doesn't mean he should act like a Jerk enough to not feel any empathy for how he yelled at SpongeBob right in his face earlier because of his mean-spiritedness.
- The episode has two plot holes:
- When SpongeBob tried to hug Gary. Gary for some reason is scared of him, despite taking care of Gary ever since the series first started.
- For some reason SpongeBob's parents aren’t involved in the situation of SpongeBob leaving Bikini Bottom and don’t work with his friends, which doesn’t make any sense because SpongeBob is their ONLY SON.
- What also doesn't make any sense is that they don't appear in the episode.
- The episode ends with Squidward throwing away his brain in the trash can. Whilst it is one funny comeuppance given to him, at the same time it's gross.
- The infamous and disturbing Morbid SpongeBob, as seen below.
- While Trevor (the leader of the Bubble Poppin Boys gang) is an interesting villain, he's pretty much shoehorned in the middle of the special for the sake of advancing the plot. He also gets little screentime, as he gets defeated in a few minutes.
- Sandy is supposed to be smart, so how could she not tell Spongebob had amnesi
- The Bikini Bottom's Townspeople are terrible as well. They cause a riot for not having Krabby Patties. In a way, they treat Krabby Patties like they are an addicting drug or the Second Coming of God. Luckily, Mr. Krabs kicked them out declaring that the restaurants closed until further notice.
- As for New Kelp City's Townspeople, they all act like a bunch of cowardly idiots who ARE AFRAID OF POPPING BUBBLES at the hands of the Bubble Poppin Boys gang, SERIOUSLY.
- It's also sort of a poorly written rip-off of "Escape from Cluster Prime" from My Life as a Teenage Robot. As it shares a few similarities to that episode:
- The main protagonist messes something up and everyone gets mad at them. Except in Cluster Prime, not everyone gets mad at Jenny. Her friends don't get mad at her.
- The main protagonist leaves their hometown because they feel like nothing but screw-ups.
- The main protagonist gets hit hard in the head. Except the difference is that, Jenny only loses her ability to contact Dr. Wakeman, while SpongeBob loses his memory.
- The main protagonist discovers an unknown city to them and start to enjoy it.
- The townspeople of both New Kelp City and Cluster Prime regard the protagonist as a hero.
- The protagonist's hometown goes into complete chaos, and beg for the protagonist's return. And their friends go lookingbfor them. Except in Cluster Prime, Jenny's mom actually tries to look for her unlike Spongebob's parents.
Redeeming Qualities
- Patrick, Sandy, and Mr. Krabs do redeem themselves in this episode and apologize to SpongeBob for calling him "Idiot Boy", although their apologies don't excuse them for the terrible things they have done to SpongeBob.
- In a rare moment, Patrick is smart enough to realize he upset his friend.
- The episode did have an interesting plot, although it was not handled well.
- Ray Liotta's guest role as Trevor was quite decent and fitting (a nice homage to Liotta's role as Henry Hill from Goodfellas), even if his role in the episode felt shoehorned. Unfortunately, he died recently.
- SpongeBob is likable here. It is really sad to see him be used as a punching bag, as he didn't do anything in the episode to deserve this torture.
- What's also interesting is that while SpongeBob himself is often loud and energetic, once he loses his memory, he becomes more soft-spoken and timid.
- The scene where SpongeBob saves New Kelp City from the Bubble Poppin' Boys is a heroic scene.
- Patrick's line: "I don't know. I've been knocking on his door for three hours. I need his hot sauce for my milkshake."
- The WhoBob WhatPants intro is somewhat a silly parody of the normal SpongeBob intro.
- Surprisingly-Good Ending: When SpongeBob got knocked out again, he remembers his Bikini Bottom memories and when he sees the news, he gets back to work on Krabby Patties.
- The Mailman gets distracted by SpongeBob after he said "Hi" to him, and he later gets injured by crashing into a truck is kinda funny.
Gallery
And to THINK Face Freeze! had disturbing faces...
Reception
- The episode has gotten average reviews, having a 6.3 Rating on IMDB. Aside from that, it was panned by Spongebob fans for its mean-spirited nature and the idea of a person leaving town and losing memories. It was also known as the least likable special for the series by some viewers.
- Ranked 3rd on the fan edition of MoBrosStudios worst SpongeBob episodes.
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