228b. Grandmum's the Word

Let's flashback to several years ago. An episode by the name of Grandma's Secret Recipe premiered on the network. It remains one of the worst of several terrible episodes from SpongeBob's abysmal Seventh Season. However, many years later comes an episode trying to clear the bad name of Plankton's Grandmother, in an episode called Grandmum's the Word, and wow. I really don't know what to say about this episode.

Firstly, this was a really bold move on Mr. Lawrence's behalf. Many episodes in recent time are attempting to cash in on the nostalgia of fan favorites like Bubble Buddy (But that episode came out over 5 years ago! Man how time flies...), Bubble Bass, and even DoodleBob. But this is the first episode I've ever seen in which a despised character makes a comeback, and it worked out perfectly. I mean it, this episode didn't have to exist, but Lawrence had a vision of a story, an actual story that featured Plankton's Grandmother as a character. A genuinely golden story, expressed through one of my new favorites of this Season.

Grandmum's the Word has a very simplistic plot. Plankton lies to his Grandmother that he owns the Krusty Krab, to grant her wish that he'd own it by her 90th birthday. Sounds like a standard sitcom plot. But that's about the closet this episode gets to being a predictable storyline. First off, I absolutely love the whole "wish" element in Grandma's birthday. It is perfect motivation for Plankton, a great way to set up the plot. I think it was a rather genius way to give Plankton's plan a proper purpose to exist in the first place through this motivation. Anyway, the episode completely diverts from a predictable route by completely avoiding the "Liar revealed" trope. Heck, that trope isn't even used in this episode! The plan goes perfectly! Instead, the episode captures how the plan turns out, showcasing various interactions Grandma has with not only Plankton, but the Krusty Crew. And of course, this showcases a good majority of the episode's humor, which there is a lot of, I won't deny that.

Sprinkled throughout the episode are a lot of great little gags. The spa scene was a really funny way to kick off the episode, and I absolutely adored the transformation of the Krusty Krab into the Krusty Plankton, I was surprised by how many funny little visual gags were thrown into the decorations sequence. Kind of funny how this short little bit captures more humor than the grand decoration sequence in Truth or Square (A TV Movie meant to indirectly celebrate the show's 10th anniversary, mind you). The grand amount of mini jokes sprinkled throughout the episode is wonderful, but the absolute highlight is when Grandma falls for Squidward. That my friends, is the funniest scene I've seen since I watched the hilarious There's a Sponge in My Soup. When she falls for Squidward, it's absolutely priceless, especially her love stricken hallucination of the cephalopod. I will admit, there are a few flops here and there (Especially the gags with SpongeBob and the sign, I personally found those cheap excuses for slapstick). But for the most part, this is episode is filled to the brim with excellent comedy.

As for the characters, I must discuss Grandma of course. Plankton's Grandma was already established as a "No Nonsense" chick, revealed in the end of Grandma's Secret Recipe. But, given her small role in that episode, I consider this to be fantastic development of her character. For the first quarter of the episode, I'd say she's established as kind of your regular ol' Grandma. However, this completely changes once she's in the Krusty Krab. She becomes a slight control freak, pointing out flaws with Plankton's "employees". Now during these moments, I was afraid this episode would go down the line of having an execution akin to that of a standard sitcom episode. Needless to say, I was afraid the Grandma would try to help Plankton, by volunteering to take charge of the restaurant, resulting in the "Liar revealed" trope. Thankfully, this completely changes when she lays eyes on Squidward. Again, it was a genius move for her to fall in love with Squidward. It definitely strengthens her personality, giving her a more comedic edge. However, the climax is definitely where her character shines the most. The plot twist in the episode came completely out of nowhere, I think it was the perfectly route for this episode to go into. Grandma's intentions all along to steal the formula and rule the world for her 90th birthday was certainly a fantastic way to wrap up the episode. And yes, there was a way for this concept to have been botched, and I mean botched, severely. She could've struggled to keep her secret, and fail to capture the formula, resulting a "Liar Revealed" trope, causing Plankton to attempt to flee the scene with the formula and his grandma, essentially failing, ending the episode on a bitter note. Thank goodness, this easily generic ending is completely avoided, as Grandma gets away with the formula in a truly exciting fashion, making her character all the more enjoyable to watch. And of course, being just an old lady, she doesn't exactly fail, but we're given a fairly sweet ending, where she's defeated in her sleep.

All in all, I think the rest of the characters are perfect in this episode. I really mean that, Plankton, Karen, Krabs, Squidward, they're all great! I don't find any real flaws within their personalities, or how they behave in this episode.

All in all, I consider this an Amazing Episode. Truly one of my all time favorites this Season, barely a single element is botched in this episode, even the sign gags which annoyed me played a creative part in Plankton's explaining of his plan. All aspects in this episode are handled perfectly, I give it a 10/10.
 
Forget about this trash review,after re-watching this episode really grow up for me.Great episode for sure
 
Worst of the week IMHO

The episode was ok...until it got to the whole "Plankton's Grandma loves Squidward" thing

Seeing them feeding each other really killed the episode

This would have been more tolerable without that part!

Score: -000000/10
 
Honest Slug said:
Worst of the week IMHO

The episode was ok...until it got to the whole "Plankton's Grandma loves Squidward" thing

Seeing them feeding each other really killed the episode

This would have been more tolerable without that part!

Score: -000000/10
Click to expand...
I see you have taken inspiration from the godly Lumoshi. Otherwise you could't have made such a divine review

Only thing is, you have the wrong rating. It SHOULD be a depressed luigi/10
 
I actually didn't really like this episode. It's an improvement over Gramma's Secret Recipe, but not by much. I just didn't like how Plankton's grandma was portrayed here. Plus, when she starting liking Squidward, it was really creepy. Not the worst episode ever, but not a good one.

THE LIST:
1. Scavenger Pants (A+)
2. Teacher's Pests (A+)
3. The Legend Of Boo-Kini Bottom (A+)
4. Squid Noir (A)
5. Chatterbox Gary (A)
6. Man Ray Returns (A)
7. Spin The Bottle (A)
8. Larry The Floor Manager (A)
9. Drive Happy (A)
10. Stuck On The Roof (B)
11. There's A Sponge In My Soup (B)
12. Pat the Horse (B)
13. Spot Returns (B)
14. Fun-Sized Friends (B)
15. Cave Dwelling Sponge (B)
16. The Clam Whisperer (C)
17. No Pictures, Please (C)
18. Cuddle E. Hugs (C)
19. Old Man Patrick (C)
20. Krabby Patty Creature Feature (C)
21. Don't Feed the Clowns (C)
22. The Check-Up (D)
23. Grandmum's the Word (D)
 
A mixed bag. This episode plot isn't that interesting, but it's not downright boring. There are some jokes, but not enough to redeem the uninteresting plot.

Eh Episode (6/10)
 
It’s funny that I’m learning about memory in a class of mine right now, because my recollection of this episode just supremely suffered from some kind of interference. Namely, the fact that I remember the episode “Gramma’s Secret Recipe”. And because I kept thinking of that episode instead of this one, I could not for the life of me remember even a smidgen of the plot of this one. That is, until the episode got started, and then all the info started coming back to me.

Okay, let’s get this out of the way now. I don’t like plots like this. Y’all know I don’t like plots like this. Now, of course, there are exceptions. I quite liked “Squilliam Returns”, for example. And I found “Grandpappy the Pirate” alright. And okay maybe I also really enjoyed “Blackened Sponge”. But in general, I don’t really like the whole “trying to lie to someone in order to impress them even though everyone and their mom knows this won’t actually work for the entire episode” type of plot. Usually this show does them well, though, so that’s the only reason I don’t audibly groan the second I realize what kind of episode this is going to be lol. So, what’s this episode’s take on it like? Well, it's alright. I feel like the episode doesn't actually spend all that much time on the ruse itself, so I can ignore the plot I guess. But that doesn't mean I like this episode all that much. Nah, it's got other problems.

The beginning scene between Plankton and Karen is probably my favorite part of the episode. It’s just really nice to see them have this moment together, where there isn’t any sort of tension or rife, where they’re simply a loving married couple. And it shows that Plankton can be quite the romantic when he wants to be. And it getting interrupted by Plankton’s grandma calling is pretty funny. And although, like I’ve said, I don’t particularly care for these lying plots, I did think the little gag with Plankton’s thoughts was really funny too. Sadly, this does mean we reach the end of this nice scene between Karen and Plankton…how sad for me.

I suppose that the situation that Plankton finds himself in in this episode is pretty amusing, having to basically turn to his mortal enemy for help. Before we get to that point though, we get a decently entertaining sequence of SpongeBob advertising the Krusty Krab. This section is really just a nice showcase of the fluid animation more than anything with substance, but I’m okay with that. And it leads into a fun visual gag with Plankton moving the sign around to explain his plight to SpongeBob. I also really loved how the episode did not make us sit through the same story from Plankton again, but rather gave us a nice time card instead.

Plankton manages to convince Mr. Krabs to help him with his secret weapon—a giant puppy eye. I gotta say, I almost bust out laughing seeing that, so they did something right here, clearly. Anyway, the Krusty Krew gets to work making the Krusty Krab look like it’s owned by Plankton, complete with Mr. Krabs eating all the stuff he actually cares about LMAO. The Plankton-ized Krusty Krab has a neat design to it, I like that.

Finally, we move to the actual ruse. And I don’t mean that “finally” as a dig at all, I’m glad the episode didn’t consist almost entirely of the ruse, because it would’ve meant rushing the beginning, and spending more time than necessary on the part of the episode I would theoretically be disliking the most. And I mean, in this case, it’s not theoretical either. Not that this part of the episode is bad, it’s just my least favorite of the whole thing. Plankton revels in being the boss a little bit, which I’m surprised Mr. Krabs put up with that at all. Clearly it’s out of respect for their old friendship, at least that’s how I’m interpreting it. And then we get a whole…sequence…of Plankton’s grandma being infatuated with Squidward. Do I have the energy to go into this today? No. So I won’t. Let it be known that I find it uncomfortable for like 2-3 different reasons, especially with Squidward being forced to go along with it, and not anywhere in the vicinity of as funny as it was meant to be. Got it? Great.

Anyway, after this uncomfortable sequence continues to go on for entirely too long, Grandma Plankton makes to leave…only to say that she wants a picture of the formula. And after another appearance of the puppy dog eye, Mr. Krabs relents…only for Grandma Plankton to steal the formula herself! I guess it runs in the family. I would care more if I didn’t just have to sit through 2 or so minutes that made me uncomfortable. And in the end, it’s resolved quite easily, with Mr. Krabs getting the formula back after Grandma Plankton falls asleep.

“Grandmum’s the Word” was doing pretty good until it decided to make a series of uncomfortable jokes regarding Squidward and Grandma Plankton. They’re not the most uncomfortable jokes I’ve seen from this show (that dishonor probably goes to “Hooky” or “Someone’s in the Kitchen With Sandy”. Perhaps others, but I can’t recall at the moment), but to me this episode premiered way too recently for them to be included like this. Other than this, the episode was perfectly fine, balancing humor with other elements pretty well, although I wasn’t particularly enthused about the whole segment once the ruse began, but I’ve already made my stance on that clear. With the inclusion of those moments I simply did not vibe with, I’m going to have to bump this episode down to Okay. On all other counts, this episode would probably be in Good tier, but I can't let something like this slide.

Episode Tier: Okay
Episode Score: 6.5/10
 
I never got the hate.. the grandma loves squidward stuff was the funniest part tbh guys i dunno what you are talking about its also like a mix between grandpappy the pirate (which i love btw) and gramma's secret recipe i really like this one!
  1. The Legend of Boo-kini Bottom (15/10)
  2. Squid Noir (13.5/10)
  3. Krabby Patty Creature Feature (10/10)
  4. Scavenger Pants (10/10)
  5. Teacher's pests (10/10)
  6. Larry the floor manager (10/10)
  7. Grandmums The Word (10/10)
  8. Sanitation Insanity (10/10)
  9. Chatterbox Gary (10/10)
  10. No Pictures Please (9.5/10)
  11. Spot Returns (9/10)
  12. Drive Happy (9/10)
  13. Stuck on the roof (8.5/10)
  14. There's A Sponge In My Soup (8/10)
  15. Pat The Horse (8/10)
  16. Cave Dwelling Sponge (7.5/10)
  17. The Checkup (7.5/10)
  18. Cuddle E. Hugs (7/10)
  19. The Clam Whisperer (7/10)
  20. Don't Feed The Clowns (6.5/10)
  21. Spin The bottle (6/10)
  22. Fun-Sized Friends (5.5/10)
  23. Bunny Hunt (5/10)
  24. Man Ray Returns (4/10)
  25. Old Man Patrick (2/10)
 
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