102b. Nautical Novice

A boring episode, with a real cop out ending. It wasn't really funny, and Mrs Puff and Spongebob were annoying.

4/10
 
The episode was just okay to me. It didn't do anything that good, but I didn't think it did anything that bad. Sure, the ending is a little stupid, but due to the show's episodic nature I highly doubt Spongebob is going to get his license anyway, so it didn't really bother me that much. With or without the ending, it would still be meh.

6/10
 
Not boring for me, I really liked it...finally, SpongeBob got something...even if it is...''Sea Legs'' :) He was happy with that too, and I was happy either :) SpongeBob -pretending- (yet we don't know if that fish lied ;) ) was so so good to be real, but how could he drive a ship like that and not a little boat :P SpongeBob logic, that I love!!! Everything else, like SpongeBob showing off his nautical knowledge and Mrs.Puff be like ''What the, how does he know!!??'' was pretty much funny for me, I laughed at the scene that SpongeBob was saying stuff about a ship to the kids and Mrs.Puff was sitting on a bench, bored , and watching SpongeBob talk, her face expression was funny and made me laugh....Pretty much I liked it, 9/10
 
There was some nice humor and action but as a whole this episode didn't interest me much and the ending is one of the worst. I feel like that maybe if there was more of built-up conflict or more going on in general this episode could've been more engaging, because as is it isn't funny enough to fulfill a simple story.

5.5/10
 
The episode is just meh to me. It's not very memorable or mind boggling, but I like where the story is going. 6.9/10
 
Not a bad Mrs. Puff episode, nice scenery, I just wish the ending didn't happen, I wanted to see SpongeBob actually have some success from his good knowledge on boating, which is a shame. I like a few aspects of this episode, and I think it is a little underrated.
 
This episode was close to being a solid good one from a very dreadful season, but the ending ultimately ruined it for me. Had all the action and effort SpongeBob put in to make sure he passed had actually paid off with some satisfying conclusion, this could've worked, but instead some caveat came and he just basically got flunked. It's a very bad ending to the episode, and it definitely hinders it.

Without the ending, I probably would've given this a 7.5 or an 8, but with it, the score drops dramatically to a 5.5/10. It's definitely far from the worst in this season, but it's a shame that they let a good action episode ultimately trip up at the end.
 
I actually really like this episode, it was funny and SpongeBob driving the boat is actually one of the most memorable moments of the show to me. Though, the ending was disappointing. I understand there'll practically be no more boating school episodes if the ending was different, but come on, a better ending could've been written.
 
That ending didn't have to happen, he didn't have to get his license or anything, it just could've been something really nice to end the episode, it makes the action feel very unsatisfying. The tug boat doesn't even make any sense, it feels like they kind of went out of their way to ruin it.
 
There were a few funny jokes, and it's a somewhat relatable plot, but the ending just kills this episode for me.

Ranking so far:
1. Krabby Road (A)
2. House Fancy (C)
3. Nautical Novice (C)
3. Penny Foolish (D)
 
It's a fine episode. There weren't many jokes, but the plot is good enough, and I like the climax at the end. I would like it better though if the ending wasn't such a let-down. Seriously, that's gotta be one of the lamest endings to any episode. The rest of the episode is fine enough, but that ending really is such a killjoy.

Average episode (5/10)

1. House Fancy (6)
2. Krabby Road (6)
3. Nautical Novice (5)
4. Penny Foolish (4)
 
Oh it's the episode where Mrs. Puff sits in SpongeBob's lap...
 
This episode had the potential to, at the very least, be decent. I didn't care for Spongebob repeatedly interrupting Ms. Puff as he explains all the structures inside the museum boat, but honestly that would've been the only problem of the episode. I really enjoyed the big climax of the episode, in which Spongebob tries theoretical methods of slowing down the boat after accidentally putting it in drive. It contains the best jokes, and the most action, which kept me the most entertained. The straw that broke the camel's back is the ending that takes place right after the climax, stating that Spongebob actually didn't stop the boat on his own, and that the license he received from "stopping the boat" would be revoked. The ending ruins what otherwise could've been a really sweet moment between Ms. Puff and Spongebob, and served as proof that Spongebob is not completely useless when it comes to boating. But I guess since Spongebob can apparently never possess a license of any kind on this show, I guess that gives the writers the excuse to add in a dumb resolution instead of a happy ending.
 
I kinda liked this episode. It had some fun moments and the plot is pretty interesting.

Rating: Great Episode

Rankings:
Krabby Road (Amazing)
Nautical Novice (Great)
Penny Foolish (Meh)
House Fancy (Bad)
 
Would you all consider "Nautical Novice" to be infamous? It’s a disliked episode, but I’m not sure if it reaches the level of infamy. I guess the ending of this episode is more infamous than anything, kinda similar to how the toenail scene is the infamous part of "House Fancy". All I know is that I remember not being a big fan of this episode in the past. Of course, for this review I rewatched it, and so I suppose the big question now is have my opinions changed? I'd say they have, but not terribly so. So let's discuss.

Fun little fact I noticed while prepping for the last few reviews, but this episode and its sister episode “Penny Foolish” use the same title card music, Drunken Sailor. Also, “Penny Foolish” ended with Drunken Sailor, so it’s kinda funny watching the two episodes back-to-back, like I did (a similar thing also happens between "Not Normal" and "Gone" with the track Cream Pie). Unfortunately, that’s the only real similarity between these two episodes, as I like one a whole lot more than the other…and you’ve already seen the one I like. I will say that "Nautical Novice" is interesting because, being a Boating School episode, it really leans more into the childish aspect of SpongeBob. But also I feel like it does this to the same effect as “Procrastination” or “New Student Starfish”, with the class going on a field trip and them clearly learning more about boats and boating than just how to drive them (because we definitely do not learn anything about car maintenance in driving school, that’s for sure).

SpongeBob’s plan to learn enough about boating to impress Mrs. Puff and get a license on the spot is…nonsensical at best, and not in a good way. That’s one thing I already don’t like about this episode, that the plot doesn’t really fit with what we’ve already established. SpongeBob needing to pass his boating exam to get his license is a core plot point of the show, not one that should be altered, so it’s kind of weird for SpongeBob to even think this would work. But since it’s only SpongeBob who thinks this way, the episode gets a pass here. I love how utterly exhausted Mrs. Puff is by SpongeBob, calling to the heavens to give her strength in these trying times. I also like that we get to see SpongeBob’s library again, because it’s been a while. Unfortunately from here we get about a minute or so of dullness as SpongeBob reads the book and we cut to the next morning, and SpongeBob ends up having to chase after the bus. At least the bus chase was decently entertaining, though it wasn’t long enough. And then from here we see SpongeBob be quite knowledgeable on all things boating. On one hand, it’s kinda cute and satisfying to see him know so much about boating, given his enthusiasm and how hard he’s been working to get his license. But on the other hand, his know-it-all attitude gets quite grating at points, especially as the episode goes on.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a SpongeBob SquarePants episode without just a little bit of chaos, so we see SpongeBob going into the main control room of the huge boat, and accidentally starting the thing. This then leads to a pretty entertaining sequence of the boat going out of control, especially once SpongeBob starts showing off that knowledge he got from that tome of a book. Really, at this point the episode just becomes Fast & Furious for boats, complete with crazy maneuvers. Great, now I’m thinking about the Polar Drift Express video…just when I finally banished it from my mind lmao. But anyway, characters performing some crazy maneuver (especially when it’s dangerous or has never been attempted before) is a trope I’ve always adored, as niche as it is.

And then of course we have the ending of the episode, which obviously was necessary to reestablish the status quo, but still kind of made the rest of the episode feel a bit pointless? But I don’t know, I’m not as frustrated by it as I used to be. It’s honestly a fun little brick joke given that this exact situation was referenced earlier in the episode. And I love how SpongeBob going back into the boat was a clear danger for both Mrs. Puff and the driver, which ends the episode on an alright note.

My opinion of this episode used to be a lot worse, that’s for sure. But see what’s interesting about “Nautical Novice” is that the episode doesn’t actually get interesting until the part where the boat starts moving, which is like 7 minutes in…so before that the episode is quite dull and hardly worth watching. The last 4 minutes do help things a lot though, pulling this episode from the depths of “Mediocre” to a low “Okay”.

Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.3/10
 
this episode was okay for the most part I think there are a few good jokes that make this not as bad I remember it being but the ending still sucks but its kind of okay now
  1. Krabby Road (10/10)
  2. House Fancy (9/10)
  3. Penny Foolish (6.5/10)
  4. Nautical Noive (5/10)
 
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Solid episode. 6.5/10.
 
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