197b. Two Thumbs Down

Haven't been on the forums in a while! I'm posting here wondering if any UK viewers saw a scene where SpongeBob shows his injured thumbs to Sandy, them having nails driven through them. If not, this might be an undocumented deleted/censored scene, because I don't see anything about it on other sites.
 
This episode is really boring. This plot has already been done before in other episodes, and honestly I'm just tired of seeing it. I will say that I do like the thumb wars, and the song was pretty good, but other than that this episode has nothing going for it. I will say that there are some entertaining moments, but those aren't much and they don't really stand out. This episode gets two thumbs... to the side.

Meh episode (5/10)

1. What's Eating Patrick? (10)
2. The Sewers of Bikini Bottom (9)
3. Plankton's Pet (9)
4. Squid Plus One (8)
5. Pull up a Barrel (8)
6. It Came From Goo Lagoon (8)
7. Mall Girl Pearl (7)
8. Tutor Sauce (7)
9. Eek, an Urchin! (7)
10. Larry's Gym (7)
11. Jailbreak (7)
12. License to Milkshake (6)
13. Patrick! the Game (6)
14. Lost in Bikini Bottom (6)
15. Extreme Spots (6)
16. The Executive Treatment (6)
17. Safe Deposit Krabs (6)
18. Squid Defense (6)
19. Gary's New Toy (6)
20. Bumper to Bumper (6)
21. Squirrel Record (5)
22. Séance Schméance (5)
23. Two Thumbs Down (5)
24. Patrick-Man! (5)
25. Married to Money (5)
26. Evil Spatula (5)
27. Company Picnic (5)
28. Kenny the Cat (5)
29. Sanctuary! (5)
30. Spongebob Longpants (4)
31. The Fish Bowl (4)
32. Yeti Krabs (4)
33. Don't Look Now (4)
34. Squid Baby (3)
35. Little Yellow Book (2)
36. Spongebob, You're Fired! (2)

As for the standalone 9b rating:

1. What's Eating Patrick? (10)
2. The Sewers of Bikini Bottom (9)
3. Squid Plus One (8)
4. Pull Up A Barrel (8)
5. Mall Girl Pearl (7)
6. Tutor Sauce (7)
7. Larry's Gym (7)
8. Patrick! the Game (6)
9. Lost in Bikini Bottom (6)
10. The Executive Treatment (6)
11. Two Thumbs Down (5)
12. Married to Money (5)
13. Company Picnic (5)
14. Sanctuary! (5)
15. Spongebob Longpants (4)
16. The Fish Bowl (4)
 
“Two Thumbs Down” is another fun little episode. And it reminds me a lot of “Funny Pants” and “Face Freeze”, probably because they have somewhat similar plots. But there’s nothing wrong with that. The plot of this episode is the kind of silliness that I love to see from time to time, and this episode knows it. It does not take itself seriously at all, not even when it’s being dramatic. Because even when it plays up the drama, you can tell it does so facetiously. Though, every time I see this episode, I’m reminded of the time I was super tired in high school, and when I meant to wave “good morning” to someone, I gave them a thumbs up instead. They didn’t say anything, thank God, but that moment is seared into my mind, only resurfacing when I’m reminded of thumbs up as a gesture.

SpongeBob giving everyone around town and in the Krusty Krab thumbs ups is really wholesome. I, too, would like that stamp of approval from the little yellow guy. I think that would heal me, genuinely. Even Squidward being a little bit touched by the gesture is super sweet. I just love all of this first half of the episode. It’s not super funny, but it’s super cute, which is fine by me! And of course, SpongeBob starts taking things a bit too far, giving everyone a thumbs up. I suppose in theory I agree with Sandy, that he does it too much, but in practice, I like seeing SpongeBob give everyone a thumbs up. It’s wholesome! Though I did think it was hilarious how SpongeBob’s thumbs slowly start creeping people out.

Of course, after SpongeBob says the famous last words “what could go wrong?”, everything does, in fact, go wrong, and both of his thumbs (somehow) break. The sequence of them breaking is pretty entertaining, with all the live action parts. And then it’s done with the perfect amount of drama, which, as always, I love. Also, one little thing about the part where SpongeBob is in the hospital, but this episode shows Clancy Brown’s range, as he voiced the doctor, who, of course, doesn’t really sound like Mr. Krabs at all. He does sound like a certain Avatar: The Last Airbender character, though. Or, perhaps, a DC one?

Now when was the last time a normal episode had a musical number? I don’t know, and don’t tell me. Two Thumbs Down (the song) is really good, legitimately, and it fits this episode perfectly. I love both the visuals (gorgeous background alert, by the way) and the lyrics, and the sound of it all. And I don’t know, it just makes me nostalgic. Not that the song itself is, but the existence of a random musical number just makes me feel nostalgic.

SpongeBob’s drama about this entire thing carries the episode immensely, and I love it. Like when Sandy comes over and SpongeBob’s just sitting in the dark, talking weird, I have to laugh. And then when SpongeBob decides to train his thumbs back to health, I’m cheering him on. Love a good earned win, especially after a super fun thumb war. And y’all know I can’t resist an everybody laughs ending, well…I guess this episode isn’t quite that, but close enough.

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9/10
 
SpongebobMaster said:
This episode is really good.... IS THAT A GEOMETRY DASH REFERENCE?!
Click to expand...
  1. Plankton's Pet (10/10)
  2. Patrick! The Game (10/10)
  3. What's Eating Patrick? (10/10)
  4. Pull Up A Barrel (10/10)
  5. Mall Girl Pear (9.5/10)
  6. Lost In Bikini Bottom (9.5/10)
  7. Patrick-Man! (9.5/10)
  8. Two Thumbs Down (9.5/10)
  9. The Sewers Of Bikini Botoom (9.5/10)
  10. Safe Deposit Krabs (9.5/10)
  11. Evil Spatula (9/10)
  12. Tutor Sauce (9/10)
  13. Don't Look Now (9/10)
  14. Married To Money (9/10)
  15. SpongeBob Long Pants (9/10)
  16. Sanctuary! (8.5/10)
  17. Seance Schmance (8.5/10)
  18. Squid Plus One (8.5/10)
  19. The Fish Bowl (8.5/10)
  20. It Came From Goo Lagoon (8.5/10)
  21. Bumper To Bumper (8.5/10)
  22. Eek, An Urchin! (7/10)
  23. License To Milkshake (6.5/10)
  24. Extreme Spots (6.5/10)
  25. Jailbreak! (6.5/10)
  26. Gary's New Toy (6.5/10)
  27. Squirrel Record (6/10)
  28. Yeti Krabs (3.5/10)
  29. Squid Defense (3/10)
  30. Company Picnic (2/10)
  31. Kenny The Cat (1/10)
  32. Little Yellow Book (0.5/10)
  33. Squid Baby (0/10)
  34. SpongeBob You're Fired! (-99999999/10)
 
SpongeBob breaks his thumbs from giving too much thumbs up.

A simple plot yet stupid plot compared to other season 9b episodes. For some reason, I prefer this episode over Mall Girl Pearl. Maybe because Mall Girl Pearl was, in my opinion, wasted potential while this episode never really had any potential. I don't care for the thumb song either. The best parts are SpongeBob and Patrick's thumbwar at the end and Sandy's conversation on how doing something special too much causes it to lose meaning and its specialness.

7.5/10
 
I think this episode tends to be somewhat underrated these days.

I can see how the plot irks similarities to Funny Pants, A Day Without Tears and Face Freeze! but I do think this one goes in a different enough direction especially with the training sequences which did lead to some chuckle-worthy jokes on it's own. There were other things I got good chuckles out of, the song was great and the climax was actually exciting for me.

9.5/10
 
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