201a. Sandy's Nutmare

This is another really strong entry for season 9, probably in the top 10 of the season so far.
 
I will continue to watch this episode over and over again just for the story sequence!
Moon Squidward: "What the?"
 
FINALLY saw this episode. It was pretty good, although noting really too special about it.

I'd say somewhere between 6.5 and 7 out of 10.

PS: 600th post!
 
I liked it...but definitely not the best one...I didn't really like that new character...and Sandy, come on she's the ''intelligent'' character of the show...she should have realized that what she's doing isn't fair and good for the tree..there were some good moments and quotes though...Like SB saying to Sandy ''Nut-mare'' or the ''Nut-butter'' segment was funny too.. :P Anyways, an 8/10 from moi :)
 
I think this is my fave S9 episode! Of course, I'm a little biased with Sandy episodes. I still love all of the recent S9 (and 10) episodes, and I'm totally looking forward to Goodbye Krusty Krab tomorrow.
 
I really like the role Sandy plays in this episode along with the direction the story went. Personally, it is one of my favorites of season 9b; let me explain why. First off, I felt it was a major improvement for Sandy's character. The writers were finally able to balance her having a tough side in the sense that she took part in a short karate battle, and a scientific side, which was demonstrated by her experiments on her tree. The only thing I didn't like about her character in this episode was the fact that she acted like an idiot with her two buffoon friends. Aside from that, another portion of the episode I enjoyed was the gags. They were all pretty fun, and I particularly enjoyed the scene where she tested out different fertilizers. This episode introduced a new character named the Shalmon who was... interesting to the say the least. I'd have to say what really won me over in this episode was the scenes involving the nutty butter. I'm a sucker for episode plots relating to food, and I think they did it in a very unique way. Overall, this episode is another example of how solid season 9b is, and I utterly enjoy it.
 
I'm not exactly sure what I thought about the overall premise of this episode: the plot was fairly interesting, but, then again, I thought it was just going to be Sandy having a nightmare about nuts, so it was better than I expected. However, the animation was amazing to look at: it's not as off-the-wall as Season 10 looks, so I prefer it. Bulletin Board was just a bit more interesting, but I enjoyed both.
 
The pacing was weird here. Parts of the episode moved too quickly, and others moved too slowly. The episode also wasn't that funny. Otherwise, it's a decent episode, and I like the new character. 6/10
 
To me the episode was just okay. Not much here was memorable, but not much was wrong here either. I can't find myself rewatching this one too much, but I think you should watch it at least once.

Ranking so far:
1. CopyBob DittoPants (A+)
2. What's Eating Patrick? (A+)
3. Larry's Gym (A+)
4. License to Milkshake (A)
5. Tutor Sauce (A)
6. Evil Spatula (A)
7. It Came From Goo Lagoon (A)
8. Patrick! The Game (A)
9. Pull Up a Barrel (A)
10. Eek, an Urchin! (A)
11. Sharks vs. Pods (A)
12. Lame and Fortune (B)
13. Bumper to Bumper (B)
14. Plankton's Pet (B)
15. Jailbreak! (B)
16. Lost in Bikini Bottom (B)
17. Patrick-Man! (B)
18. The Sewers of Bikini Bottom (B)
19. Goodbye, Krabby Patty? (B)
20. Yeti Krabs (B)
21. Sold! (B)
22. Extreme Spots (B)
23. Mall Girl Pearl (B)
24. Squid Plus One (B)
25. Safe Deposit Krabs (B)
26. Gary's New Toy (B)
27. Company Picnic (B)
28. Don't Look Now (C)
29. Squirrel Record (C)
30. Sandy's Nutmare (C)
31. The Executive Treatment (C)
32. Two Thumbs Down (C)
33. The Fish Bowl (C)
34. Seance Shmeance (C)
35. SpongeBob LongPants (C)
36. Sanctuary! (D)
37. Squid Defense (D)
38. Kenny the Cat (D)
39. Married to Money (E)
40. Squid Baby (E)
41. Little Yellow Book (F)
42. SpongeBob You're Fired (F)
 
I thought this one was good. The Shalmon was a semi-enjoyable yet not exactly memorable character. There weren't many jokes and the story wasn't that interesting but it had enough material to keep me at least amused.

Good episode (7/10)

1. What's Eating Patrick? (10)
2. The Sewers of Bikini Bottom (9)
3. Plankton's Pet (9)
4. Sold! (8)
5. Goodbye, Krabby Patty? (8)
6. Squid Plus One (8)
7. Sharks vs. Pods (8)
8. Pull up a Barrel (8)
9. It Came From Goo Lagoon (8)
10. Mall Girl Pearl (7)
11. Tutor Sauce (7)
12. Eek, an Urchin! (7)
13. Lame and Fortune (7)
14. Larry's Gym (7)
15. Jailbreak (7)
16. Copybob Dittopants (7)
17. Sandy's Nutmare (7)
18. License to Milkshake (6)
19. Patrick! the Game (6)
20. Lost in Bikini Bottom (6)
21. Extreme Spots (6)
22. The Executive Treatment (6)
23. Safe Deposit Krabs (6)
24. Squid Defense (6)
25. Gary's New Toy (6)
26. Bumper to Bumper (6)
27. Squirrel Record (5)
28. Séance Schméance (5)
29. Two Thumbs Down (5)
30. Patrick-Man! (5)
31. Married to Money (5)
32. Evil Spatula (5)
33. Company Picnic (5)
34. Kenny the Cat (5)
35. Sanctuary! (5)
36. Spongebob Longpants (4)
37. The Fish Bowl (4)
38. Yeti Krabs (4)
39. Don't Look Now (4)
40. Squid Baby (3)
41. Little Yellow Book (2)
42. 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. Sold! (8)
4. Goodbye, Krabby Patty? (8)
5. Squid Plus One (8)
6. Sharks vs. Pods (8)
7. Pull Up A Barrel (8)
8. Mall Girl Pearl (7)
9. Tutor Sauce (7)
10. Lame and Fortune (7)
11. Larry's Gym (7)
12. Copybob Dittopants (7)
13. Sandy's Nutmare (7)
14. Patrick! the Game (6)
15. Lost in Bikini Bottom (6)
16. The Executive Treatment (6)
17. Two Thumbs Down (5)
18. Married to Money (5)
19. Company Picnic (5)
20. Sanctuary! (5)
21. Spongebob Longpants (4)
22. The Fish Bowl (4)
 
“Sandy’s Nutmare” is another season 9 episode that I have not seen very much. In fact, I’ve probably seen it even less than “Lame and Fortune”. Again, there’s no reason for this, and it’s especially peculiar considering how much I like when episodes focus on Sandy, but these are simply the facts, meaning a rewatch was a must.

I like that the beginning of this episode is just Sandy, SpongeBob, and Patrick hanging out. When Sandy is included as part of the group, I love it. Now, this is still just with the two characters she interacts with most, but it’s better than nothing. The actual scene itself leaves much to be desired, though. It’s decently entertaining, I guess, but not funny. The scene leads into the plot of this episode, which is about Sandy’s tree dying. And one thing I like about this plot is that it takes something that we “take for granted” (AKA see all the time and don’t think much about), and makes a story out of it. In this case, it’s the main fixture of Sandy’s treedome.

Sandy decides to use science to help her tree out, and learns that it needs food, so she elects to make the best fertilizer she can. The bit with her testing out fertilizers is pretty fun to watch, but again, nothing is making me laugh. The fertilizer works, giving Sandy giant-sized acorns…too many acorns. Hence why this episode is called “Sandy’s Nutmare”, I suppose. Heck, even SpongeBob lampshades this, earning him a slap from Sandy. So, whatever is a squirrel to do with way too many acorns? Well, first she tries to simply store them. When that doesn’t work, she turns to SpongeBob, who decides to dump them in a faraway location…on somebody’s land…sounds like a very familiar story but we’re not even gonna go there today. Anyway, the shaman that SpongeBob comes across tells SpongeBob that instead of wasting the nuts, he should be making use of them…people should be eating them. Y’all know what this means right? Time to turn to capitalism! At this point, this is a running joke in my reviews. It’s one of those if I don’t laugh I’ll cry situations, so I’m gonna keep it up.

One issue that becomes apparent around this point in the episode is that there’s a pacing problem here. I mean…what was the point of the dumping scene? Instead of using a lowkey [redacted because I’m not doing this today] character archetype, Sandy or SpongeBob could’ve just come up with the idea of making food with the nuts themselves. Very unneeded, and it feels like it was only there to pad out the episode. The other problem is that not much of this episode is funny to me.

At least the episode has a message about the exploitation of nature. It’s an obvious message, one that becomes clear as soon as customers start lining up outside of Sandy’s treedome. Once again the entitlement of Bikini Bottomites annoys me, sorry but that will never be a plot point that works for me. And while the message of this episode is very important, because of its timeliness it does put a whole damper on my enjoyment of the episode, given that I start thinking existentially, and nobody enjoys that.

Anyway, let me get back to the episode. As easily predicted, Sandy’s tree is unable to keep up with the demand for nutty butter, no matter how much Sandy sciences it up. And then the shaman comes back, which only makes me think of my critique from earlier, especially once he starts his very unnecessary story. At least the episode knows that this is kinda boring haha.

Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.9/10
 
My favorite part is the story the shalmon tells my favorite part about it pretty good episode
  1. Goodbye, Krabby Patty? (14/10)
  2. Plankton's Pet (10/10)
  3. Patrick! The Game (10/10)
  4. Sharks Vs Pods (10/10)
  5. What's Eating Patrick? (10/10)
  6. Pull Up A Barrel (10/10)
  7. Mall Girl Pear (9.5/10)
  8. Lost In Bikini Bottom (9.5/10)
  9. Patrick-Man! (9.5/10)
  10. Sold! (9.5/10)
  11. Two Thumbs Down (9.5/10)
  12. Sandy's Nutmare (9.5/10_
  13. The Sewers Of Bikini Bottom (9.5/10)
  14. Safe Deposit Krabs (9.5/10)
  15. Evil Spatula (9/10)
  16. Tutor Sauce (9/10)
  17. Don't Look Now (9/10)
  18. Married To Money (9/10)
  19. SpongeBob Long Pants (9/10)
  20. Sanctuary! (8.5/10)
  21. Copybob Ditto pants (8.5/10)
  22. Seance Schmance (8.5/10)
  23. Squid Plus One (8.5/10)
  24. The Fish Bowl (8.5/10)
  25. It Came From Goo Lagoon (8.5/10)
  26. Bumper To Bumper (8.5/10)
  27. Eek, An Urchin! (7/10)
  28. License To Milkshake (6.5/10)
  29. Extreme Spots (6.5/10)
  30. Lame And Fortune (6.5/10)
  31. Jailbreak! (6.5/10)
  32. Gary's New Toy (6.5/10)
  33. Squirrel Record (6/10)
  34. Yeti Krabs (3.5/10)
  35. Squid Defense (3/10)
  36. Company Picnic (2/10)
  37. Kenny The Cat (1/10)
  38. Little Yellow Book (0.5/10)
  39. Squid Baby (0/10)
  40. SpongeBob You're Fired! (-99999999/10)
 
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