128b. Stuck in the Wringer

Well, here we are. Before I start this review, I'd like to list the things I enjoy about this episode first.
-Squidward saying "Where'd you get it, the hardware store?"
-The bike rack joke
Now that we're done with that, I'm going to explain why this is the worst episode ever. First of all, the story. This is an episode that tests Spongebob and Patrick's friendship. It's played completely straight, and as such there's very little jokes. This works in episodes like Have You Seen This Snail?, but here it doesn't because the story is fundamentally broken. It feels like they wrote 2 or 3 separate episodes and stitched them together in the most obtuse way. How do they expect people to take it seriously when it doesn't even feel like they put much thought into the writing at all? Speaking of that, this is without a doubt the worst Patrick has been written in the entire show. His motivations to do the things he does to Spongebob require a psychology degree to understand, and overall it's just incredibly annoying to watch. I don't think it's the most poorly written episode overall, or even the most annoying, but I do think it's the one that misses the point of the characters the most, which I can't really excuse. I know the problems with this episode have been ranted about again and again, which is why I don't really want to explain every facet of it's awfulness, but I really wanted to explain why this episode personally insults me the most out of all of them. It's not likely I'll ever feel this way about an episode again.

Abysmal episode (1/10)

1. Growth Spout (7)
2. I ♥ Dancing (6)
3. Tentacle-Vision (5)
4. Stuck in the Wringer (1)
 
JoeyBoi said:
Well, here we are. Before I start this review, I'd like to list the things I enjoy about this episode first.
-Squidward saying "Where'd you get it, the hardware store?"
-The bike rack joke
Now that we're done with that, I'm going to explain why this is the worst episode ever. First of all, the story. This is an episode that tests Spongebob and Patrick's friendship. It's played completely straight, and as such there's very little jokes. This works in episodes like Have You Seen This Snail?, but here it doesn't because the story is fundamentally broken. It feels like they wrote 2 or 3 separate episodes and stitched them together in the most obtuse way. How do they expect people to take it seriously when it doesn't even feel like they put much thought into the writing at all? Speaking of that, this is without a doubt the worst Patrick has been written in the entire show. His motivations to do the things he does to Spongebob require a psychology degree to understand, and overall it's just incredibly annoying to watch. I don't think it's the most poorly written episode overall, or even the most annoying, but I do think it's the one that misses the point of the characters the most, which I can't really excuse. I know the problems with this episode have been ranted about again and again, which is why I don't really want to explain every facet of it's awfulness, but I really wanted to explain why this episode personally insults me the most out of all of them. It's not likely I'll ever feel this way about an episode again.

Abysmal episode (1/10)

1. Growth Spout (7)
2. I ♥ Dancing (6)
3. Tentacle-Vision (5)
4. Stuck in the Wringer (1)
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100% agreed with everything said in this very well-put review. I'm a psych major entering my 4th year and I still have no idea what Patrick's motivations are.
 
JoeyBoi said:
Well, here we are. Before I start this review, I'd like to list the things I enjoy about this episode first.
-Squidward saying "Where'd you get it, the hardware store?"
-The bike rack joke
Now that we're done with that, I'm going to explain why this is the worst episode ever. First of all, the story. This is an episode that tests Spongebob and Patrick's friendship. It's played completely straight, and as such there's very little jokes. This works in episodes like Have You Seen This Snail?, but here it doesn't because the story is fundamentally broken. It feels like they wrote 2 or 3 separate episodes and stitched them together in the most obtuse way. How do they expect people to take it seriously when it doesn't even feel like they put much thought into the writing at all? Speaking of that, this is without a doubt the worst Patrick has been written in the entire show. His motivations to do the things he does to Spongebob require a psychology degree to understand, and overall it's just incredibly annoying to watch. I don't think it's the most poorly written episode overall, or even the most annoying, but I do think it's the one that misses the point of the characters the most, which I can't really excuse. I know the problems with this episode have been ranted about again and again, which is why I don't really want to explain every facet of it's awfulness, but I really wanted to explain why this episode personally insults me the most out of all of them. It's not likely I'll ever feel this way about an episode again.

Abysmal episode (1/10)

1. Growth Spout (7)
2. I ♥ Dancing (6)
3. Tentacle-Vision (5)
4. Stuck in the Wringer (1)
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This was a great review


Hyped for your SITKWS review!
 
I see why people hate this episode yes i do. But personally i think its a guilty pleasure episode mainly for the hardware store joke. But its of course SPONGEBOB TORTURE! Why did i used to like this?

Rating: Mediocre Episode

Rankings:
I ❤ Dancing (Good)
Growth Spout (Okay)
Tentacle-Vision (Okay)
Stuck in the Wringer (Mediocre)
 
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SpongyMaterial said:
Oh, boy. This episode is quite funny. But, it annoyed me when Patrick used his "Forever Glue" on SpongeBob. And I was depressed when SpongeBob was scolded by the others. 8.5/10
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I agree, this episode had some hilarious moments. However, I also found it frustrating when Patrick used the "Forever Glue" on SpongeBob. It made me feel down when SpongeBob was scolded by the others. Overall, it was a mix of amusement and disappointment.
 
After joining twitter the only thing I had on my head was that one clip of the guy saying "NOOOO YOU CANNOT SAY THAT"
 
One of my personal least favorite episodes. It was one of those very frustrating episodes for me, like Waiting and A Pal for Gary.

What was even Patrick's motivation throughout this episode? To cause his best friend pain or what?? Keep in mind I haven't watched this one for like 5 years so that's also to be said, but I just don't get it.

The episode was basically 11 minutes of straight of Spongebob torture.

0.5/10
 
Hugs4Softie said:
One of my personal least favorite episodes. It was one of those very frustrating episodes for me, like Waiting and A Pal for Gary.

What was even Patrick's motivation throughout this episode? To cause his best friend pain or what?? Keep in mind I haven't watched this one for like 5 years so that's also to be said, but I just don't get it.

The episode was basically 11 minutes of straight of Spongebob torture.

0.5/10
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what even is your least favorite episode anyways
 
SlipperytheTotodile said:
I see why people hate this episode yes i do. But personally i think its a guilty pleasure episode mainly for the hardware store joke. But its of course SPONGEBOB TORTURE! Why did i used to like this?

Rating: Mediocre Episode

Rankings:
I ❤ Dancing (Good)
Growth Spout (Okay)
Tentacle-Vision (Okay)
Stuck in the Wringer (Mediocre)
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I officially now announce that this opinion is officially outdated

New review:
I (dolphin noise) hate this one. The hardware store joke was hilarious but it's just SpongeBob torture Patrick is awful (but also kinda funny here ngl) I hate the Bikini Bottomites as well. Seriously when Sandal tells SpongeBob that the wringer isn't his problem guess what he said:

"It's your heart"

No it was the wringer. I think this episode was such an awesome idea for an episode executed horribly. Such a wasted potential episode for me...

Final rating: 3/10 Bad
 
Pugs4Thugs said:

No. Just…no. This review is going to be extremely long, just telling you now. I have so much to say about this episode, so I put a few of the extra rants under spoiler tags at the end of the review. Before we even get started, this video is a TL;DR for everyone. Or perhaps this one. DragonBall fans, you might appreciate this one. All of these videos combined are how I feel about this episode. I wish I could carry myself with the eloquence of the second. But I am by nature a blunt person, so it’s easy for me to just put it simply: I hate “Stuck in the Wringer”. I will never watch it again. Let’s discuss, shall we?

I’m going to move through this episode chronologically so that you can see how my hatred builds as these 11 minutes progress. So let’s start at the beginning. Just when “Single Cell Anniversary” had rebuilt my trust in singing in this show, this episode begins with annoying singing. Now, this is nowhere near as bad as “Choir Boys”, thank god, but it’s not pleasant either. SpongeBob ends up dropping his soap and we get a slo-mo part which I felt was fully unnecessary. I love dramatics, as y’all should know more than well by now, but I don’t care much for slo-mo unless it’s done tastefully, and here it just feels unneeded. Also, this episode also starts with SpongeBob being completely naked, which is not something I care to see, if you remember my comments on “All That Glitters”. Episodes with SpongeBob being fully naked like this also retroactively make me go back and question episodes like “Hooky”, but I digress.

Before I continue on in tearing this episode a new one, there are a couple of credits I can give here. SpongeBob owning a wringer is actually very smart, given that he is a sponge. SpongeBob not slipping on the second bar of soap, but then slipping on a rubber duck was a nice subversion of expectations. As always, Tom Kenny is masterful on his deliveries. And there was actually one joke that made me nearly chuckle, which is when SpongeBob leaves his bathroom and falls down the stairs and is like “don’t worry my spirits are still high!” And…that’s about it I think. So don’t say I didn’t try to find enjoyment here.

By the time SpongeBob gets stuck in his wringer, the episode is more ‘meh’ than anything. The very beginning was irritating, but the set-up for everything else was decent. Unfortunately, the episode does not use the rest of its time to improve itself, or even maintain its tentative “Okay”-tier status. SpongeBob tries and fails to get out of the wringer, which is dull. Things start souring seriously once Patrick enters the picture. We watch Patrick play with the rubber duck for entirely too long and in an annoying manner, before SpongeBob does the reasonable thing of asking Patrick if he could help him out.

From here, the frustration begins. See, I don’t mind Patrick being an idiot as long as it doesn’t cause irritation. However, this episode blows “irritation” out of the park and moves straight to the level of infuriation. Patrick hears the word “stuck”, doesn’t let SpongeBob finish, and glues SpongeBob to his wringer with superglue. Why. Why. WHY?! Never before have we seen Patrick make a problem worse in such a direct, unsubtle, unfunny way. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Patrick making a problem worse, but if he’s going to do it, for the love of god make it entertaining. This was not that. This was not making a second paint bubble in “Wet Painters”. This was bad. And then when SpongeBob is still rightfully upset about his predicament, Patrick gives SpongeBob a pep talk?? Even though he caused the issue??? “Stuck in the Wringer”, you will never be “Help Wanted”. Try again. What’s funny is that we haven’t even gotten started yet with the real issues I have with this episode. This is all just the appetizer. This is why the review is so long, because nitpicking every little thing in this episode brings me such joy!

As we move to the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob starts going through some real torment. Now, I don’t mind slapstick. But this episode isn’t using slapstick because none of this is funny to me. Like please explain to me where the humor is in SpongeBob struggling to live his life? In 100 words or less please. This physical issue is nothing in comparison to the sheer rage I feel towards SpongeBob’s treatment emotionally as the episode moves along. As if my rant about the beginning of “Whatever Happened to SpongeBob?” wasn’t enough, this episode decides to take the worst page from that episode’s book by having Mr. Krabs be verbally nasty towards SpongeBob, and then kick him out. While it is in character for him, I don’t understand why he doesn’t offer to help SpongeBob get the damn wringer off?? Clearly he can’t get it off, or else he wouldn’t come to work wearing it. The fact that no one seems to notice this throughout the episode is extremely annoying. And once SpongeBob is kicked out, Patrick reappears, and my dread skyrockets, because even though we’ve only seen him for a minute in this episode, that minute was atrocious, so I really don’t want to see more of him. Unfortunately, I do not get my wish.

Remember how I said there was nothing entertaining about SpongeBob struggling to live his life? Well, the episode clearly didn’t get the memo, because we’re subject to yet another scene of this exact thing happening. And then another! The carnival scene has got to be in the top 10 of the worst SpongeBob scenes that I have ever seen. Scratch that, top 5. Maybe even top 3. It’s up there, is what I’m saying. I don’t even know how to articulate the immense fury I feel watching this scene. This scene contains everything I have hated thus far in the episode: SpongeBob being subject to physical hurt, SpongeBob struggling to do everything, SpongeBob being upset, Patrick having no sense of care, urgency, or how SpongeBob is feeling at all. Nothing about this scene is funny or even enjoyable. And eventually, SpongeBob reaches his breaking point. When it happens, I’m giving a standing ovation because of how cathartic SpongeBob yelling at Patrick is.

Somehow, the episode gets worse. Because I’m not even allowed to enjoy the satisfaction I get from SpongeBob yelling at Patrick. Because for some reason, someone thought it was a good idea to have all the attendees of the carnival yell at SpongeBob for how he treated Patrick. This right here is beyond a doubt the worst part of this episode. “Stuck in the Wringer” was for sure bad before, but this right here made the episode teeter into irredeemability, because SpongeBob gets not even a second of respite in this entire episode. His rightful anger is criticized by people who know nothing of his situation (it’s not even their business, why are they commenting on it??) in a highly unnecessary scene. If we wanted to go this route of SpongeBob being in the wrong, then just have him reflect on his own?? Having all of these Bikini Bottomites gang up on SpongeBob is extremely unpleasant, completely undeserved, and a death sentence for this episode’s prospects. Patrick’s reaction irritates me because it’s clear that we’re supposed to see SpongeBob in the wrong here (which is why he parrots Mr. Krabs’ words), and Patrick does not deserve to feel sorry for himself here considering that again, everything is his fault. Once the Bikini Bottomites start talking, so much visceral rage consumes me to the point where I want to go into the show and make all these fictional people get a taste of my fury.

The next day arrives, and at this point, my emotions are so spent that I just sit here bored and exhausted waiting for this episode to end. The “staring contest” does not help. And then we eventually see SpongeBob who is clearly very depressed, which unsettles me. But I’ll have a whole long rant about that down at the bottom so we move on. The episode actually surprises me, though, by having Patrick take responsibility! I’m shocked. I mean, I don’t think this apology was anywhere near good enough considering it was like 5 seconds, but it was something I suppose.

Finally, this accursed episode ends with tears turning out to be the solution to the forever glue problem, and finally SpongeBob gets out of the wringer like he should have at the very beginning. This tears solution to me shows that this episode took a lot of inspiration from “Wet Painters”, but failed to understand what made that episode good. As for the very end of the episode, we get an unfunny joke, along with a very irritating stinger ending given that SpongeBob and Patrick end up getting stuck in the wringer, making everything feel pointless. The only thing pleasing about the ending is the fact that it means this episode is finally over. Thank goodness.

There’s so much to be disappointed by with this episode. The most clear disappointment to me is how this episode completely obliterates the stellar start to season 7. The second disappointment is that it’s part of season 7, because 7 is my favorite number. The third disappointment was that this episode was deemed acceptable in any capacity. And unlike many of the episodes from season 6, I really don’t think this episode ever had potential. The plot, all the way down to its most base form of SpongeBob being stuck in his wringer, is not interesting. If Patrick had been cut entirely and they went a more “Blackened Sponge” route (with SpongeBob trying to go about his day, not necessarily the making up stuff part), then this episode would’ve at least been better for sure. But I don’t know if it would’ve been good. I like to be optimistic, though, so I feel like if humor was actually attempted we could’ve got something good.

I hate “Stuck in the Wringer”. Always have. There can be no doubt…this is my least favorite episode in the entire show. Yes, I hate “Stuck in the Wringer” more than “One Coarse Meal”, “Pet Sitter Pat”, and “A Pal For Gary”. More than the annoyingness of “Choir Boys” or the frustration of “The Thing”. There is nothing redeeming about this episode in any capacity. I almost wish I could invent a new tier for it because the ones I have don’t feel like enough. But I think giving it the one and only 0/10 should suffice, no?

Episode Tier: Abysmal
Episode Score: 0/10


Here's a couple of extra rants that I wanted to include separately.
Alright, so this rant is going to be about why I think this episode completely fails on a writing level, and in multiple ways. I’ll start with the small stuff. So firstly, the abrupt shift in POV between SpongeBob and Patrick at the ~8 minute mark makes no sense. We have been following SpongeBob for the entirety of this episode, why are we now following Patrick? But that’s just a tiny nitpick.

The next issue is that the writing in this episode is internally inconsistent. The writing in this episode is internally inconsistent. By that I mean that literally the things that happen in the episode are contradictory. This is an issue I found with the whole carnival scene. The reaction of the Bikini Bottomites makes no sense, because they crowded around SpongeBob and Patrick in the first place because they wanted to be entertained by their fight. So why is it that when the fight actually happens, they’re mad at SpongeBob?? That does not follow.

The last, and most significant, issue in the writing is related to the second one. SpongeBob being in the wrong in this episode is idiotic, and does not follow from the first half of the episode. There are multiple reasons for this. 1) Nothing SpongeBob said to Patrick was wrong. His delivery was harsh, perhaps, but I think it was more than deserved given we just watched Patrick put SpongeBob through physical torment not 30 seconds ago with the teacups, so he deserves to be this angry about it. Not to mention all of this is Patrick’s fault! So SpongeBob being in the wrong does not sit right from an emotional standpoint. 2) SpongeBob being in the wrong is not consistent. If we’re supposed to feel bad for SpongeBob in the scene with Mr. Krabs, then why would we not feel bad for him here? Equating SpongeBob to Mr. Krabs similarly doesn’t work, given that Mr. Krabs lost far less than SpongeBob did. Nothing has changed other than SpongeBob now being rightfully angry, and I don’t like how this episode gives the vibes that anger = bad or something like that. 3) The way the episode uses SpongeBob’s being in the wrong makes no sense. Because the Bikini Bottomites are never called out, we’re supposed to believe that what that one guy says is astute, that SpongeBob deserves what he’s gotten. But that makes no sense. SpongeBob did nothing wrong (by the episode’s own standards, no less!) when he got stuck in the first place! So how exactly can he deserve what he’s gotten when his yelling at Patrick is not what got him stuck?

Now, I think I can see what the goal was supposed to be here. It was supposed to be one of those episodes where the victim becomes a perpetrator by going too far, basically. But this episode did not pull this off with any kind of success, which is why I’d call it a failure from a writing standpoint.

So this (very short) rant will be about why putting SpongeBob through this kind of torture doesn’t work. I talked about this in my 2020 review of this episode, so this is going to be a very similar critique. See, the main reason why putting SpongeBob through this kind of stuff will never, ever be pleasant, is because of who SpongeBob is. He’s an innocent, child-like character. Watching him be slowly broken down like this is not an entertaining watch. It’s not pleasing. There’s a whole trope for things like this: Break the Cutie. Note how this is not a comedy trope. It is meant to be upsetting. This does not fit this show. Seeing SpongeBob by the end of the episode be extremely depressed is about as unpleasant as you can get.

The message about crying in this episode leaves a bad taste in my mouth...like there's nothing wrong with crying, and Patrick's whole rant about how "crying doesn't solve your problems" is stupid. People don't cry to solve their problems (unless it's being done in a manipulative way, I suppose). It's a natural emotional reaction to your situation. Sometimes people feel better when they cry. I'm aware I'm taking this way too seriously but I'm already annoyed at this episode so I was energized to write a rant.

The end of the episode seems to only further reiterate this dumb idea about crying because of how SpongeBob says crying solved his problems. This is a very weird and wrong message, not to mention it doesn’t even remotely fit this episode at all. I don’t think this should’ve been an episode with a lesson, but okay. And also, Patrick stopping SpongeBob from crying annoys me because again, this is all your fault, let SpongeBob cry if he wants to!
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you know what makes the ending worse? crying is salt water right? and spongebob live in the ocean which is SALT WATER so the forever glue SHOULD HAVE CAME OFF INSTANTLY
 
SpongebobMaster said:
you know what makes the ending worse? crying is salt water right? and spongebob live in the ocean which is SALT WATER so the forever glue SHOULD HAVE CAME OFF INSTANTLY
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that's exactly what I was thinking
 
SpongebobMaster said:
you know what makes the ending worse? crying is salt water right? and spongebob live in the ocean which is SALT WATER so the forever glue SHOULD HAVE CAME OFF INSTANTLY
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LMAO i didn't even think of that, that's actually hilarious.
 
0/10 - ::dolphin noise:: this episode

Patrick is an absolute idiot here and got SpongeBob stuck in his wringer. SpongeBob is 100 TIMES IN THE RIGHT HERE FOR SCOLDING PATRICK. Oh, and Patrick cries like a girl and the Bikini Bottomites scold SpongeBob. ::dolphin noise::. THIS. EPISODE.
 
Instrumental Mayonnaise said:
0/10 - ::dolphin noise:: this episode

Patrick is an absolute idiot here and got SpongeBob stuck in his wringer. SpongeBob is 100 TIMES IN THE RIGHT HERE FOR SCOLDING PATRICK. Oh, and Patrick cries like a girl and the Bikini Bottomites scold SpongeBob. ::dolphin noise::. THIS. EPISODE.
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The part where sandals scolds spongebob is one of the worst scenes in the show
 
Yesterday at private German,my friend asked me:Do you remember the spongebob episode where spongebob gets stuck in the wringer??I was like:Yeah yeah, worst episode.And then she said:Patrick was worst and spongebob couldn't eat that ice cream with a Cherry!!I was like:Yeah Yeah, Spongebob had right to yell at Patrick.0/10
 
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