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290b. Gary's Playhouse

Very blah episode. I get what they were going for but I was hoping they would theme it around Gary’s Playhouse and its design and whatnot. But no. Waste of potential imo. The shtick with the mains obsessing over how cute it all is isn’t funny. I don’t think I laughed once. I think it was kind of neat how they referenced Help Wanted and how Gary was just “yeah I’m done with this” but overall this was quite unremarkable as far as episodes go.

4/10
 
It was decent. Gary episodes can be hit or miss and this one was pretty good. Wasn't expecting a Help Wanted reenactment in this episode but it was cool. Also how many times has season 13 referenced the theme song at this point? 7/10
 
On my first watch I enjoyed it despite it having no conflict, many of the things in the episode were amusing to see, even the help wanted reference (I'm usually not a fan of references). On my second watch it was pretty boring as having basically nothing in the episodes besides animals acting like the characters. The episode is still solid but it's very far from the best of the season imo
 
Replying so I can watch this thread when Pugs4Thugs reviews it
 
I can’t believe it…are we finally getting a Gary episode in season 13? I have been waiting for so long…my patience is finally being rewarded. Or at least, it better be rewarded. This is not the time to return to the trend of Gary-focused episodes being disappointing, because I’ll be mad.

The opening scene of this episode is cute, I like how Gary is all set up in SpongeBob’s living room. Except I have one question…why is the wall just plain white? I was trying to figure out if this actually was SpongeBob’s living room or not because of that very important detail of his walls being blue being completely ignored. That was very weird. Anyway, I think it’s cute that SpongeBob made Gary a whole playhouse (and the mortgage joke was funny and a good example of this show’s ability to balance multiple kinds and levels of humor). It was just quite sparse. But I believe that Gary will make it sparkle. We then cut to evening, as evidenced by this gorgeous background alert (that’s present throughout this entire scene, yippee!). It seems Gary loves his playhouse a bit too much, or maybe he’s finally just rejoicing in having complete privacy, because he refuses to leave for the night and then slams the door in SpongeBob’s face, covering it with a whole bunch of locks. A little rude, but my Gary can do no wrong so. Though at this point, I am rather concerned that we’re going to turn this into a “Gary’s New Toy” reject.

As we cut to the nighttime, I’m wondering if this episode will take more of a “Squidward in Clarinetland”. I know I’ve gotta stop trying to compare episodes so early like this, but I mean once you’ve seen literally over 500 episodes of this show, other episodes are going to come to mind with ease. Anyway, during this scene, both SpongeBob and Squidward are disturbed by the noise Gary is making while renovating his playhouse. And although SpongeBob tries to explain who’s making the noise, because it’s so loud, Squidward at first thinks it’s somehow Larry. It’s hilarious to me how Squidward immediately gets to work with complaining to Larry. This scene is really funny, and I love how it makes use of the similarities between Gary and Larry’s names. It’s also neat to get a look at Larry’s house for once.

The next morning, we see the addition that Gary’s added onto the playhouse, and from the outside it looks very similar to the pineapple. Turns out, that extends to the inside too. This is really wholesome to me lol, that Gary would remake SpongeBob’s house like this. And SpongeBob thinks so too. Gary even is revealed to be acting and dressing like SpongeBob too. Adorable. Truly. I wonder where the episode is gonna go from here though, because we’ve already had something like “Gary’s Got Legs”, so I don’t think it will be a replacing kind of story.

Though it does seem like the replicas of Conch Street go further than just SpongeBob’s pineapple, because we have a random sea urchin pretending to be Squidward, and a slug pretending to be Patrick. Squidward’s utter offense (at first) at this is hilarious, and then even he finds it adorable. You know, I’m really glad they had Squidward also find this to be cute, it’s nice to see him not be a grump. It’s also funny and nice to see him act just like SpongeBob for a change, dying of cuteness. Patrick pulls right up after this, and joins in on the gushing.

I was scared for a moment that the episode would then be about all the “people” watching the “pets” pretend to be them, but luckily that was not the case, as we transition to a scene where Gary and his pals act out a kind of scene we’ve seen many times before—SpongeBob and Patrick pretending to be Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, and annoying Squidward in the process. It’s always nice to check back in on the MM and BB legacy. And then it turns out that SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward are watching the pets, but they’re all acting like soccer parents. They even go so far as to refer to the animals as their kids. Well then, that’s not something I was ever expecting to see.

The next day, we learn that apparently SpongeBob and Squidward completely skipped out on work yesterday to watch the creatures. Now that’s funny. It’s kind of funny that Mr. Krabs can fully just pull up to their houses like this…this is what happens when you don’t have a work-life separation. The cutaway to Mr. Krabs’ trials and tribulations the previous day is also entertaining. And because Mr. Krabs shows up, a new animal doppelganger shows up, this time a sea bunny pretending to be Mr. Krabs. Well, I don’t exactly feel good about sea bunnies considering “Bunny Hunt”, but I’ll take it. Mr. Krabs isn’t immune to the cuteness charms of his little doppelganger either, and so now he’s sat on the bleachers too. I think I might have an idea as to where this episode is going, but I’m interested to see if that plays out.

This reference to “Help Wanted” is actually fantastic. I love that the nematodes represent anchovies. And the look of the mini Krusty Krab is great. Actually, I think at this point I should call this a remake of “Help Wanted”, since it’s a very abridged and animal-ified version of the pilot. God I love this. And then everyone acknowledging that the events of what the animals are recreating actually happened???? SpongeBob SquarePants? Acknowledging continuity beyond a referential gag??? Someone pinch me I must be dreaming. Gary seems to have quite enough of the pretense, and so he literally bulldozes everything. I guess he couldn’t handle the pressure. Is this us living vicariously through Gary to get SpongeBob going apes*** for once? Anyway, I’m choosing to believe that the gag at the end with there being two Patricks is a reference to “Spy Buddies” because I can.

“Gary’s Playhouse” was a pretty fun episode. It definitely did not go in the direction that I was expecting, but I’m glad, because I think that this direction was better than anything I was thinking. I think that the plot was rather anticlmactic, but sometimes we don’t need an episode with conflict or anything, sometimes it’s nice to have chilltimes like this episode offers. It’s a very good rerun episode, kind of like how people describe the middle seasons.

Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.8/10
 
Finally?! a 10/10 Gary episode since like season 4?

  1. Dopey Dick (15/10)
  2. Friendiversary (11/10)
  3. Gary's Playhouse (10.5/10)
  4. Salty Sponge (10/10)
  5. Delivery To Monster Island (10/10)
  6. Welcome To Binary Bottom (10/10)
  7. The Flower Pot (10/10)
  8. Spatula Of The Heavens (10/10)
  9. C.H.U.M.S (9.5/10)
  10. Ma And Pa's Big Hurrah (9.5/10)
  11. SpongeBob on parade (9.5/10)
  12. Yellow Pavement (9.5/10)
  13. Patrick The Mailman (9.5/10)
  14. Karen For Spot (9.5/10)
  15. Say Aww! (9.5/10)
  16. Mandatory Music (9/10)
  17. Goofy Scoopers (9/10)
  18. Food PBFFT! Truck (8.5/10)
  19. Abandon Twits (8.5/10)
  20. A Place For Pets (8/10)
  21. Hot Crossed Nuts (8/10)
  22. Sir Urchin And Snail Fail (8/10)
  23. Squidferatu (8/10)
  24. Big Bad Bubble Bass (8/10)
  25. Under The Small Top (8/10)
  26. Plankton And The Beanstalk (8/10)
  27. Squidward's Sick Daze (7.5/10)
  28. Sea Man Sponge Haters Club (7.5/10)
  29. Ain't That The Tooth (7.5/10)
  30. Spongebob's Road To Christmas (7.5/10)
  31. Walhalla (7.5/10)
  32. You're Going To Pay Phone (7.5/10)
  33. Arbor Day Dissarray (7/10)
  34. Potato Puff (7/10)
  35. Pat The Dog (6.5/10)
  36. Ride Patrick Ride (6.5/10)
  37. My Friend Patty (6.5/10)
  38. Skin Wrinkle in time (6.5/10)
  39. Captain Pipsqueak (5.5/10)
  40. Lockdown For Love (5.5/10)
  41. Slappy Daze (5.5/10)
  42. Plane To Sea (3.5/10)
  43. There Will Be Grease (3/10)
  44. Upturn Girls (3/10)
  45. FUN-Believable (1/10)
  46. Something Narwhal This Way Comes (0/10)
 
TiredandFeathered said:
nice wholesome episode, with some pretty funny jokes too. 8/10
Click to expand...
Same as Spatula of the Heavens, it got way worse, although I've actually seen this ep twice since it aired. Although it's probably objectively worse, I still enjoyed it more than SOTH, so 6/10 (don't have the heart to give it a 5.5 honestly)
 
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