Well, it’s the start of a new month, and y’all know what that means—new season to review! And we’ve got a fun time ahead of us, because this month I’m reviewing season 6, which is one of the most disliked (if not the most disliked) seasons that this show has to offer, with infamous episodes all over the place, and middling episode quality (according to others). Just looking at the episode list, there’s some real juicy stuff in here, and I already know I’ve got some unpopular opinions on a couple of these, so this will be fun. I’m also excited for this season because like I’ve been saying these last couple months, I like to revisit these infamous episodes to see if they’re
really as bad as they seem. And what do you know, with the beginning of season 6 we’re thrown right into one of them with “House Fancy”!
The way this episode begins brings to mind “Good Neighbors” which…probably isn’t a good thing lol. If you remember, I put that episode in my “Tolerable” tier, and even if you didn’t remember that, that episode has quite the reputation. Right up there with this episode, actually. But see where that episode and this episode differ is that this episode has a reputation because of one scene and basically nothing else, while that episode (while it does have a standout scene I suppose) is more infamous because of multiple reasons and scenes. Anyway, it’s cute to watch Squidward get all ready for his favorite TV program, because that’s very me-core. Literally that’s me preparing to rewatching this episode for the review. I’ve got snacks and everything. And the intro to House Fancy is just hilarious to me, I love all the kinda bad 3D animation, and the tune in the background is very pleasant to listen to. Of course Squidward can’t enjoy his show for long, as we get the entrance of one Squilliam Fancyson! Man, it’s been a while since we’ve seen him. And honestly Squilliam is hilarious to me because he’s the one who’s obsessed with Squidward, not the other way around (and you can especially see this in the Perch Perkins YouTube
series that’s been going on for a couple months now). Like he called Squidward telling him about House Fancy and then is like “oh I gotta go” like bro
you called! Anyway, I thought that the shot of the teacup falling on the floor was really nice, a good tension-filled shot that’s the epitome of symbolic shots lol. And then I love all of Squidward’s reactions to what he’s seeing on TV, they’re pretty funny, and the tour of Squilliam’s home is really fun to watch.
That’s one thing about this episode I like, I love how it’s just basically an HGTV parody (even though that channel is mostly about finding homes or fixing them up or whatever). As an HGTV fan I appreciate that. And also as an avid rich people house looker I appreciate this a lot too. But anyway, Squilliam’s house is perfectly gaudy and pretentious. And I love how weird Nicky is, it’s great. I also like the recurring “hello” bit. It’s not super funny on its own but the repetition really helps it out here.
And then of course we move to the next part of the episode, which is Squidward talking out the side of his neck about his house being fancier than Squilliam’s, before of course having to actually make his house fancy. Honestly, Squidward’s house is pretty nice…just not fancy. And then I honestly love SpongeBob’s absolutely random appearance in this episode, spying on Squidward for no reason. The dialogue between the two of them was great. Yeah we’re leaning fully into SpongeBob being creepy but I’ve never
not liked that characterization…he’s always been a weird little dude. From here, we get SpongeBob doing an impression of “Wet Painters” but he’s a lot less careful here than he was in that episode. Where some might see this as evidence of “flanderization” or whatever, I see it as making perfect sense because Squidward did not instill the fear of God in SpongeBob before doing this so…(i’m kind of halfway joking…maybe). Squidward’s reaction to the mess SpongeBob makes is hilarious though, like that dialogue was actually perfect. Honestly, Squidward is fantastic in this episode, a real standout.
It is here that we move onto the infamous toenail scene. This is the scene that drags this episode down into the trenches for people. And all I have to say to that is…are y’all serious? I respect other people’s opinions, I truly do, but my god the way some people act about this scene makes me think I’m about to get something like “The Splinter” or the gross-up in “Whatever Happened to SpongeBob” or even something like what we saw in “To Love A Patty” (which also, now that I’m thinking about it, how come those gross-ups are always complained about, but never the one in “Nasty Patty”?? smells like favoritism). See, when I sit here and watch this scene, yeah the toenail ripping off is painful, but it doesn’t really feel that gross to me? People really oversell how graphic the scene is. Also, it literally lasts like...20 seconds. And the scene is still plenty enjoyable to me. Maybe I just like Squidward’s screaming I don’t know. But most importantly, SpongeBob is not being malicious here, so like there’s really no frustration for me to have watching this scene, and there’s no disgust either. With You’re Nice playing in the background it actually makes the scene somewhat humorous.
From there, we get some chaos as the vacuum SpongeBob brings down starts going crazy, vacuuming everything. And then surprise Patrick appearance! I love how he just goes there to take a dump lmao, and the way he’s like “no questions” is hilarious. And then I love how dramatic the literal
toilet ends up being, that was super funny. I like how this episode really builds up all the stressful things Squidward has to deal with, it’s a great interplay of tension and humor that of course just has to end in my favorite thing, which is stuff randomly blowing up. And what I really love is that after all of these trials and tribulations, Squidward wins in the end, with his artfully blown up house being crowned the most fancy of them all. It’s super satisfying to see him win not only over Squilliam, but also over all the chaos that befell him in the last 2 hours.
I’m not even gonna leave y’all in suspense—I like “House Fancy”. This is a good episode! And the hate’s gotta go. Because other than the toenail scene, please tell me a real and legitimate complaint about this episode. The only one I can think of is that it’s not especially funny, which I agree with. That’s why this episode is in my “Great” tier (which means that season 6 is the first season to not start with an Amazing-tier episode). But seriously, what is there to actually
hate here? I’m curious.
Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.7/10