Next up, we’ve got the next episode in this vacation anthology, “Walking the Plankton”! This is an episode that I mostly remember only because of that Flash game I mentioned two reviews ago lol, not because of anything that actually happens in the episode. Considering that I don’t remember a lot of season 8 (at least as well as I remember the rest of the show), I won’t necessarily call this a bad thing.
This episode starts off with a gorgeous, gorgeous background (go background painters go), and of course another slideshow as this is part of the anthology. The slideshow is pretty entertaining again, which is an improvement over the previous installment, and I like all the characters that are part of it. It makes me wonder what the backstory to this slideshow even is, like why did all these people agree to watch Plankton’s slideshow, at SpongeBob’s house no less. After an enjoyable little sequence of Plankton failing to show his slides, SpongeBob’s innovation saves the day. I like that this episode is kind of about Plankton and Karen taking a second honeymoon, even if Plankton’s second love of stealing the formula threatens to take precedence (not even threatens, it does take precedence which is the whole reason for them going on the vacation in the first place). And I like the idea of having a Krabs and Plankton episode taking place in a different location than usual, just so we can get some different shenanigans and scenery.
When the episode proper begins, I love the joke with the mailman, as that was hilarious, and a great joke for the older kids and adults, as I don’t think 7 year olds know what parole is lol. I’ve always loved that this show has never lost its touch with that older/adult humor being in nearly every episode. The plot moves along quite nicely with Mr. Krabs winning free tickets to a cruise, and I love how he brings SpongeBob along with him. It’s not quite in the wholesome way of “Kracked Krabs”, but I’ll accept this anyway! Especially after the ending of last episode lol.
As for the general plot of the episode, with Plankton trying not to alert Karen to the fact that he’s trying to steal the formula on their fabricated honeymoon…I’m not exactly a fan of plots like this, where one character tries to hide something from another for the entire episode, because of their foregone conclusions and the fact that it isn’t necessarily a pleasant thing to watch when not done expertly, but it’s done well enough here I suppose, especially since it isn’t a huge focus of the episode in the end. I of course would’ve liked it even more if Plankton was completely focused on having a nice vacation with Karen, and then maybe he notices Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob on the cruise and decides to take the opportunity. I think this is something that newer episodes do better, actually showing Plankton and Karen being a functional married couple.
Back to the episode, it’s pretty good and decent. We’ve got some funny jokes here and there, like Plankton getting run over, which hilariously makes him give up for a bit. And I like my favorite Steel Lick being used once again, so that’s a win. But there are a few things that don’t work as well, such as the scene in the sauna. In general, I do like the shenanigans of both SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs enjoying their vacation, and Plankton completely failing at his task (the part where he drops off the boat is quite dark considering the amount of people who go missing on cruises due to that exact, or very similar, scenarios). The land buffet part was also a really interesting bit of worldbuilding, which I always love to see.
And of course, only Mr. Krabs would find a way to make money on a vacation. SpongeBob bringing a portable grill is also so very him, and also brilliant. I also really like how since Mr. Krabs is on vacation, and has his guard down, he easily falls for Plankton’s disguise (at least until Plankton reveals himself). Both of them conning the other is great too. And then I love the attitude with which SpongeBob snatches away the patty, like that was just funny to me. And of course Plankton just crashes into Karen, which just about ends that whole charade. The end of the episode is great as well, with Karen just slicing everything up with the death laser, Mr. Krabs losing all his customers, and a reprise of the “if I wasn’t on parole” joke from earlier. Not to mention Plankton and Karen riding off in a lifeboat.
“Walking the Plankton” was a pretty good episode, and I really like how Karen had some focus here. Not quite enough for me to say that she really did a ton in this episode, but this was some major improvement compared to most of her previous showings. Eventually we’ll get to the kind of action “Girls Night Out” provides. Eventually. Anyway, other than that the episode is pretty enjoyable. It does use a plot structure I’m not quite a fan of, and it’s not consistently funny, but I still enjoy it a lot.
Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.3/10
