Pugs4Thugs
#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2016
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- Favorite Character
- Gary the Snail
For today’s second episode, we’ve got “Pet or Pests”. I don’t think this episode reaches the point of infamy or notoriety, but it definitely is not a…liked episode, if I recall correctly. And it’s understandable as to why that is. So let’s talk about it.
I don’t like SpongeBob’s vibes in the beginning of this episode. This is something that’s been happening a lot, and is very heavily connected to the design from him I can’t stand (also, why are other characters getting this weird design too? I’ve seen Patrick with it a few times now, and Mr. Krabs has it in this episode…like stop). It’s hard to describe the vibes I’m talking about. It’s like…a false delicateness? Like in this beginning scene he runs so weirdly, almost like it’s exaggerated ballet or something. It’s just very weird because his body should not be moving that way. But it also feels too slow. I really can’t describe it, I just don’t like it. Something similar happened in “Boating Buddies”, but it was a lot funnier there because it felt like it was supposed to be funny. Here it’s just weird and just feels like flourish.
The next issue I have with this episode is kind of related, as it is a design problem. I don’t like the design of the worm, and I’m sure it’s supposed to look ugly, but like…why? And then when the worm ends up giving birth, my god…why. It’s not as repulsive as something like “The Splinter”, but I mean it’s still not a pleasant sight.
Seems like I’m just doing a list of issues, because the third issue of the episode comes up once SpongeBob brings the worm home. Why is SpongeBob an idiot pet owner in this episode? I don’t like it. This is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand about these seasons (6-8 mostly) of this show, probably because it involves my fave Gary lol. But like, even at his worst in “Have You Seen This Snail?”, SpongeBob has never been idiotic with Gary. He knows how pets work. So why is he acting like he has no idea that snails and worms don’t like each other? And also it’s weird because we’ve seen SpongeBob treat Gary as far more of an equal, while in this episode he almost acts like Gary doesn’t have true sentience??? This is just a very odd character inconsistency for me that leads to some very bad interactions like this one. And then even worse, SpongeBob also just treats Gary…bad here. Like he makes him sleep in a closet to make way for this random worm, and I really don’t like that.
The last main issue I have with this episode is that there are quite a few moments lacking humor. Like the part with Mrs. Puff that is very similar to “Choir Boys”. It just went on too long and was not as funny as I’m sure it was supposed to be. In fact I didn’t really find it funny at all lol, but I at least can understand the thought process behind it.
Now, to switch gears a little bit, the episode does have some funny moments going for it. Like when Gary ends up attacking SpongeBob and Patrick just dips, that was actually hilarious. I needed that after being subjected to the issue that I just described. And then when Larry ends up wanting the worms for raw protein, that let out a startled chuckle from me, because that got dark real quick lol. Later, the part where Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob he’s 3 hours late, I love how we cut from SpongeBob screaming on our screen to him screaming on the phone, that was pretty funny. I also love how Mr. Krabs was just hiding out in a trash can. Well, it’s more likely that he has a money sense, and so he just teleports to wherever money is mentioned LMAO, but really either interpretation is funny to me so it doesn’t matter. And then the ending joke is cheesy, but I still like it.
Since it seems I’m committing to not being exactly chronological in this review, I’ll just say some other things I liked in this episode. I liked that Gary ended up defending his territory lol, because that’s my GOAT idk what to tell you. But also the fact that the worm ends up abandoning its babies makes…no sense at all, but okay. I also like that we get to see lots of different characters in this episode, since lately many of these episodes have been feeling small and isolated. And then the scene with SpongeBob rescuing the worm babies from being run over was pretty entertaining too.
“Pet or Pests” is…not as bad as I thought it might be. It’s not a good episode, but it’s really not horrible. Or at least, the last few minutes of it are pretty good, although the beginning is not good at all. Ugh, when episodes aren’t internally consistent like this, it’s so hard to rate them. Because what takes precedent? The good? The bad? The average of the two? Well in this case it’s the general feelings I have about the episode, which are slightly negative. The good stuff just doesn’t make up for the unpleasantness I had to deal with during the first few minutes, especially with everything involving Gary. So the episode’s set up is just not good basically. And then when SpongeBob is trying to get rid of the worm babies, that part isn’t exactly funny, just decently entertaining (except for the part with Mrs. Puff). It’s not until we get to Larry that the episode starts being actually good, and by that point it’s a bit too late. So that’s why this episode belongs in my “Mediocre” tier.
Episode Tier: Mediocre
Episode Score: 5.6/10
I don’t like SpongeBob’s vibes in the beginning of this episode. This is something that’s been happening a lot, and is very heavily connected to the design from him I can’t stand (also, why are other characters getting this weird design too? I’ve seen Patrick with it a few times now, and Mr. Krabs has it in this episode…like stop). It’s hard to describe the vibes I’m talking about. It’s like…a false delicateness? Like in this beginning scene he runs so weirdly, almost like it’s exaggerated ballet or something. It’s just very weird because his body should not be moving that way. But it also feels too slow. I really can’t describe it, I just don’t like it. Something similar happened in “Boating Buddies”, but it was a lot funnier there because it felt like it was supposed to be funny. Here it’s just weird and just feels like flourish.
The next issue I have with this episode is kind of related, as it is a design problem. I don’t like the design of the worm, and I’m sure it’s supposed to look ugly, but like…why? And then when the worm ends up giving birth, my god…why. It’s not as repulsive as something like “The Splinter”, but I mean it’s still not a pleasant sight.
Seems like I’m just doing a list of issues, because the third issue of the episode comes up once SpongeBob brings the worm home. Why is SpongeBob an idiot pet owner in this episode? I don’t like it. This is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand about these seasons (6-8 mostly) of this show, probably because it involves my fave Gary lol. But like, even at his worst in “Have You Seen This Snail?”, SpongeBob has never been idiotic with Gary. He knows how pets work. So why is he acting like he has no idea that snails and worms don’t like each other? And also it’s weird because we’ve seen SpongeBob treat Gary as far more of an equal, while in this episode he almost acts like Gary doesn’t have true sentience??? This is just a very odd character inconsistency for me that leads to some very bad interactions like this one. And then even worse, SpongeBob also just treats Gary…bad here. Like he makes him sleep in a closet to make way for this random worm, and I really don’t like that.
The last main issue I have with this episode is that there are quite a few moments lacking humor. Like the part with Mrs. Puff that is very similar to “Choir Boys”. It just went on too long and was not as funny as I’m sure it was supposed to be. In fact I didn’t really find it funny at all lol, but I at least can understand the thought process behind it.
Now, to switch gears a little bit, the episode does have some funny moments going for it. Like when Gary ends up attacking SpongeBob and Patrick just dips, that was actually hilarious. I needed that after being subjected to the issue that I just described. And then when Larry ends up wanting the worms for raw protein, that let out a startled chuckle from me, because that got dark real quick lol. Later, the part where Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob he’s 3 hours late, I love how we cut from SpongeBob screaming on our screen to him screaming on the phone, that was pretty funny. I also love how Mr. Krabs was just hiding out in a trash can. Well, it’s more likely that he has a money sense, and so he just teleports to wherever money is mentioned LMAO, but really either interpretation is funny to me so it doesn’t matter. And then the ending joke is cheesy, but I still like it.
Since it seems I’m committing to not being exactly chronological in this review, I’ll just say some other things I liked in this episode. I liked that Gary ended up defending his territory lol, because that’s my GOAT idk what to tell you. But also the fact that the worm ends up abandoning its babies makes…no sense at all, but okay. I also like that we get to see lots of different characters in this episode, since lately many of these episodes have been feeling small and isolated. And then the scene with SpongeBob rescuing the worm babies from being run over was pretty entertaining too.
“Pet or Pests” is…not as bad as I thought it might be. It’s not a good episode, but it’s really not horrible. Or at least, the last few minutes of it are pretty good, although the beginning is not good at all. Ugh, when episodes aren’t internally consistent like this, it’s so hard to rate them. Because what takes precedent? The good? The bad? The average of the two? Well in this case it’s the general feelings I have about the episode, which are slightly negative. The good stuff just doesn’t make up for the unpleasantness I had to deal with during the first few minutes, especially with everything involving Gary. So the episode’s set up is just not good basically. And then when SpongeBob is trying to get rid of the worm babies, that part isn’t exactly funny, just decently entertaining (except for the part with Mrs. Puff). It’s not until we get to Larry that the episode starts being actually good, and by that point it’s a bit too late. So that’s why this episode belongs in my “Mediocre” tier.
Episode Tier: Mediocre
Episode Score: 5.6/10
