(title card not available yet)
================================== Bumper To Bumper ===========================================
Season 9
Writer(s): Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, (Mr.) Doug Lawrence
Production Code ~ 182b
Rating ~ ★★★ (6.5/10)
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My new review format, guys! How do you like it!
So, when I first caught word of this "episode", I had suspicions that it'd be a "boating school" centered episode. I.. also predicted the "infamous"
Casey Alexander & Zeus Cervas would write for it. Looks like my predictions were both correct. But it's not just a boating school episode..
It's a boating school episode with a marathon right next to it! Nickelodeon aired a "Biggest Boating Blunders" marathon with essentially most or all of the
show's "boating school" themed episodes in it with the big ratings-trap being this episode. I didn't expect much from this episode at this point. Why? I have
never really enjoyed boating school episodes. There are some good ones ("No Free Rides", "Boating School"), but all of them have Mrs. Puff (or the female Squidward)
being tortured to no end by, you guessed it, SpongeBob. They do have some good comedy in them sometimes.. "key word - sometimes". Demolition Doofus, anyone?
The incessant Flanderization of Mrs. Puff in that episode was an absolute trainwreck (minus the Huff scene, which I actually loved).
But we're not talking about Demolition Doofus.. we're talking about Bumper To Bumper!
My psychic Jedi skills were with me this episode, since I was able to predict the plot format quite well (SpongeBob fails driving test, Mrs. Puff comes up with idea to have
SpongeBob pass, epicly fails). The main plot goes like this - SpongeBob fails this driving test yet again, so good ol' Poppy Puff comes up with an idea - SpongeBob is "scared"
of the boating school course, so she decides to have him put on an actual road. By "actual road", I mean "bumpy deathtrap that nobody would dare drive on". SpongeBob is
actually quite calm and drives well thanks to a mantra "There is ONLY the road". However, he gets so involved in it that he drives OFF the road and onto a actual highway.
(During this mantra, I HAVE to point out that SpongeBob gets SO involved in it that he actually goes on a major pot trip of sorts. It's comedic and I chuckled at it but it's
so out of place I don't know what to make of it.)
The major climax scene of this episode involves - you guessed it - a police chase scene. I'd say this is one of my favorite parts of the episode, if it wasn't for it's major predictability.
The only boating school episode I can think of where the major climax is NOT a police chase is "No Free Rides". However, it is still a action-packed chase scene and I will say that
the animation was really fun to watch.
The ending.. takes away a LOT from the episode. Previously mentioned in the episode is that Mrs. Puff is on parole and cannot leave the county line - it's a majorly ignored plot device.
Later, in this "ending, the episode pulls a big Chekhov's Gun. Even though SpongeBob earns his license, the policeman catches them and explains fiercely that Puff crossed the county
line, so therefore, the test is null. He rips apart SpongeBob's license without any sense of remorse whatsoever. Unlike the fish from "Nautical Nonsense", who has SOME remorse for
SpongeBob and gives him his sea legs, this police officer has no sense of remorse whatsoever. I know, I shouldn't be touching on something so small from a child-aimed cartoon,
but this cruel policeman just hurt me inside so much. Then again, all Bikini Bottom citizens are gluttonous greedy jerks, anyway, so..
Mrs. Puff goes to jail, threatens SpongeBob (I'll get you, SpongeBob! I'll get you!) and then the episode ends on that note. The ending had little to no remorse for both Puff & SpongeBob
whatsoever. That terrible ending took off an ENTIRE STAR from my rating. I'd put it down as one of the worst endings in SpongeBob history (Stuck To The Wringer is up there too).
As for the comedy, this one was pretty stale. I chuckled when SpongeBob was on the television screen and Mrs. Puff muted his dialogue, and at the incredibly out of place "acid trip".
The "Going Bananas 3 in 3D!" thing was pretty stale. It was your typical "It's in 3D, but when something comes out of the screen and it's real, they think it's in 3D!" joke. Nothing else
really memorable comedy wise from this episode, however I'll never know what to make of the "acid trip".
A fun fact here to point out (As other people have pointed out) is that this is the first "boating school" episode that Mr. (Doug) Lawrence has written since No Free Rides. That episode
has come out a LOT of times here, has it? :p
So, shortened up, Bumper To Bumper's a bit of a mixed bag. Your typical mean spirited boating school episode with some typical comedy thrown in there. It wasn't terrible, though.
I loved seeing Mrs. Puff's house and the boating school course from "Boating School" again. Actually, the "mantra" segment was really similar to Boating School since it was SpongeBob
driving calmly and safely in a dangerous driving course. (Minus the antenna hat.) It wasn't terrible, but it's nothing special, either.
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