Is it just me or does "Procrastination" feel more like a short than an episode? I know that a couple scenes were cut from it, making it have a slightly shorter runtime, but honestly it feels like a 7-minute episode. And frankly, I wish it was 7 minutes because this episode gives me too much anxiety lmao. It feels like one of those dreams where whatever goal you're trying to attain is just out of reach. That's not to say that this episode is bad by any means, it's actually quite good, but these are the vibes I get from it.
The episode starts off pretty well, with SpongeBob's infectious enthusiasm. I prefer when Bikini Bottomites aren't annoyed by SpongeBob, but I have to admit Nat's mocking of SpongeBob was hilarious so I'll let it slide.
"Procrastination" is definitely a relatable episode. Watching SpongeBob try and fail to start his essay is funny, but it is a bit repetitive and starts to grow anxiety-inducing and frustrating. Especially once SpongeBob starts hallucinating/dreaming. Though I will admit I love the bit with Patrick, that scene is hilarious and I definitely have parts of it saved for reaction meme purposes. But yeah especially once the house is lit on fire, I'm getting sucked into the anxiety over procrastination along with SpongeBob. And I mean that shows that the writers definitely have an understanding of what procrastination is, but man do I not want to feel that when watching SpongeBob haha.
The ending of the episode oscillates between pissing me off and making me laugh. Because on one hand, it's extremely frustrating for SpongeBob and the audience to have gone through all of that for nothing. But on the other hand, it achieves an affect similar to "Squid's Day Off", making all the effort going to waste be something to laugh at.
I really don't have much more to say about this episode beyond what I already have. It's a good, if both slow and fast episode, and it makes me feel anxious when I don't exactly want to. It's a good contender for my "Good" tier. Sometimes it feels like this episode is rather forgotten about, which I think is a shame. It may be two tiers below the cream of the crop, but very few episodes of this show deserve to be forgotten, in my eyes.
Episode Tier: Good
Episode Score: 7.6/10