170a. Free Samples

This is a nice, fresh take on a Plankton episode. I really got a kick out of how this episode unfolded and the humor, if I did have complaints it's that it drags at a number of points.

7.5/10
 
This is yet another season 8 episode that I have very neutral feelings toward. It's pretty forgettable and there wasn't much I cared for, but otherwise, there was nothing I disliked.

6/10
 
Pretty good episode, but the bottommites are soo stupid.

7/10
 
I thought this episode was kind of boring, there was nothing really notable about it. I did get a kick out of monkey Squidward but that was about it. 6/10

Something dawned on me about that scene where Patrick is eating the chum, however. Chum is essentially chopped up fish parts...sea stars are known to eat fish as a part of their diet, so naturally Patrick wouldn't get sick and would actually like it. Of course maybe it's just because Patrick eats everything and anything and this just so happens to make sense with the facts of his species :rofl2:
 
I guess this episode was pretty good. Although with a name like this, a lot of episodes could come to mind. There are a couple of funny jokes, and the plot is fine enough, so it's passable.

Ranking so far:
1. The Hot Shot (A+)
2. Frozen Face-Off (A+)
3. Drive Thru (A)
4. Planet of the Jellyfish (A)
5. Ghoul Fools (A)
6. The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom (A)
7. Mooncation (A)
8. Mermaid Man Begins (B)
9. Mr. Krabs Takes a Vacation (B)
10. Plankton's Good Eye (B)
11. Walking the Plankton (B)
12. The Way of the Sponge (B)
13. A Friendly Game (B)
14. Free Samples (B)
15. Sentimental Sponge (C)
16. Bubble Troubles (C)
17. A SquarePants Family Vacation (C)
18. Accidents Will Happen (C)
19. Fiasco! (C)
20. House Sittin' For Sandy (C)
21. Sweet and Sour Squid (C)
22. Barnacle Face (C)
23. Squidward's School for Grown-Ups (C)
24. The Googly Artiste (D)
25. The Other Patty (D)
26. Bubble Buddy Returns (D)
27. Patrick's Staycation (D)
28. Oral Report (E)
29. Restraining SpongeBob (E)
30. Pet Sitter Pat (F-)
31. Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom (F-)
32. Are You Happy Now? (F-)
 
I think it was a good episode. 7/10.
 
Squidward with his tentacles almost squishing his eyeballs was pretty much the only scene i practically laughed at. Other than that this was a pretty boring episode with not much humor. Therefore this one was okay.

Rating: Mediocre Episode

Rankings:
Mermaid Man Begins (Perfect)
The Hot Shot (Perfect)
Planet of the Jellyfish (Amazing)
Restraining SpongeBob (Great)
Oral Report (Great)
A Friendly Game (Great)
Accidents Will Happen (Great)
Sentimental Sponge (Good)
Frozen Face Off (Good)
Sweet and Sour Squid (Good)
Mooncation (Good)
The Way of the Sponge (Good)
Plankton's Good Eye (Good)
Are You Happy Now? (Okay)
The Googly Artiste (Okay)
Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom (Okay)
Patrick's Staycation (Okay)
Ghoul Fools (Okay)
Drive Thru (Alright)
Pet Sitter Pat (Alright)
The Other Patty (Meh)
Free Samples (Mediocre)
Squidward's School for Grown-ups (Mediocre)
The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom (Mediocre)
Bubble Troubles (Bad)
Barnacle Face (Bad)
Walking the Plankton (Bad)
A SquarePants Family Vacation (Inferior)
House Sittin For Sandy (Inferior)
Bubble Buddy Returns (Ridiculous)
Fiasco! (Terrible)
 
Ah, another episode about the competition between Plankton and Mr. Krabs. Sounds pretty harmless to me! These types of episodes typically turn out at least decent, so coming into this rewatch I’m not really worried at all. Honestly the most I’m worried about is that I forgot so much of "Free Samples", which as we know can sometimes be a bad sign.

This episode has made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen free samples lol, which has also made me sad, probably because I associate free samples with my childhood. But anyway, Plankton’s idea to give out free samples of chum isn’t actually a bad one, because I would absolutely try all sorts of stuff as long as it’s free. Though, given the reputation that chum has in this show, perhaps this isn’t the best idea. This beginning scene with Karen is also pretty amusing in general, I always like seeing Karen roast the pants off Plankton, what can I say? And then when Plankton’s plan starts taking off, Nat is so relatable (”I’m so glad I left my house today!”).

It doesn’t take very long for everyone to realize that Plankton’s samples are absolutely disgusting, literally harming their very being. And also somehow Patrick is able to eat all the chum without getting sick, which is a good…moment? I wouldn’t call it a gag. Plankton then gets the idea to pretend that he’s handing out free Krabby Patties in order to tarnish the Krusty Krab name, and this is both a good and bad idea. Good in that the Bikini Bottomites are stupid enough to believe this (they almost weren’t though), and bad in that it can be easily proven that Plankton is not handing out Krabby Patties, nor does he even work at the Krusty Krab lol. I love how he just has a Krusty Krab employee hat on hand though, and in his size too! He looks so funny with it on.

The Bikini Bottomites are, as always, stupid as h*ll, so they fall for Plankton’s scheme, getting angry at the Krusty Krab, and by extension SpongeBob. I loved the bit with Mr. Krabs trying to change the price, that was pretty funny. And SpongeBob manages to come up with the actual good idea of handing out free Krabby Patties, for real this time. Mr. Krabs’ dramatics over this are, as always, very amusing, and I’m shocked he even went along with this. I guess for once he isn’t being so short-sighted. SpongeBob being “it’s for your own good, Eugene” got me laughing real hard, I think Tom Kenny’s delivery was just perfect there. Also, some of the expressions on Mr. Krabs in this scene (and at the end of this episode) really feel like precursors to the type of expressiveness we’ll be seeing at the halfway point through season 9. Oh I’m so excited for that! And then Squidward surprisingly being stuffed in the free Krabby Patties wagon thing was very unexpected, and also hilarious.

It’s always nice when SpongeBob saves the day through actual ingenuity, and he does so again here. We again get lots of fun expressiveness in this part of the episode as everyone starts eating the “new” Krabby Patties. And when Mr. Krabs spots the giant pile of cash SpongeBob’s sitting in…like I said before, season 9B+ vibes. I also kind of like that Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob never even found out what happened to make everyone hate Krabby Patties lol. It makes Plankton’s plot feel even more like a failure.

“Free Samples” was a pretty good episode. I just don’t exactly like when the plot relies on Bikini Bottomites being really stupid, like they are here. I also don’t think the bit with the “new” patties had enough chaos to warrant using Greenhorn Rag, but that’s a very, very minor critique. Really, it’s a nitpick. But other than that, I really liked what I saw.

Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.6/10
 
ok so I'm going to blow your mind the premise of this episode is brilian: people like samples but then then they hate the samples but then they love them
  1. Frozen Face Off (10/10)
  2. Ghoul Fools (10/10)
  3. Planet Of The Jellyfish (10/10)
  4. The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom (10/10)
  5. A Squarepants Family Vacation (10/10)
  6. Mooncation (10/10)
  7. Mermaid Man Begins (10/10)
  8. The Hot Shot (10/10)
  9. Are You Happy Now? (9.5/10)
  10. Oral Report (9.5/10)
  11. Drive Thru (9.5/10)
  12. Plankton's Good Eye (9/10)
  13. A Friendly Game (8.5/10)
  14. The Way Of The Sponge (8/10)
  15. Walking The Plankton (8/10)
  16. Squidward's School For Grown Ups (8/10)
  17. Sweet And Sour Squid (7.5/10)
  18. Sentimental Sponge (7/10)
  19. Accidents Will Happen (6.5/10)
  20. The Other Patty (6/10)
  21. Free Samples (5.5/10)
  22. Bubble Troubles (4.5/10)
  23. Fiasco! (4/10)
  24. Barnacle Face (3.5/10)
  25. Mr Krabs Takes A Vacation (3.5/10)
  26. Bubble Buddy Returns (3/10)
  27. Restraining Spongebob (2/10)
  28. The Googly Artiste (1.5/10)
  29. Patrick's Staycation (1.5/10)
  30. Smoothe Jazz At Bikini Bottom (1/10)
  31. House Sittin For Sandy (1/10)
  32. Pet Sitter Pat (0/10)
 
All right episode. The plot is really poor and cheap, kind of semblematic of the late season 8 episodes I watched. The episode is empty and dry with the humor like other season 8 cartoons. But I will say, this episode honestly had its fair bit of good moments, mainly involving the wild faces and the whole Krabby Samples sequence. I'd give it a 5/10
 
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