Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. This right here..."Can You Spare A Dime?"...2nd favorite episode in the entire show. Yeah, it's that serious. Who's ready for me to be not at all concise? ("well Pugs, you write 5-paragraph reviews of episodes you don't even care about-"
shut up lmao). Sorry for the weirdness, this episode just gets me very energized because I love this episode soooooo much, and I can't wait to talk about it.
This episode begins with a gorgeous shot of the Krusty Krab, the likes of "Pizza Delivery" and "Graveyard Shift". I like how everyone is counting different things as the Krusty Krab closes for the night, and this counting is a good character establishing moment for each of these characters. Mr. Krabs is counting money because he's frugal and money-focused, Squidward is counting his suctions because he's bored and hates his job, and SpongeBob is counting strokes of the mop because he's a hard worker (and finds joy in his job and the small things in general). Okay tangent time, but one thing I like about
SpongeBob SquarePants is because of its episodic nature, you can start anywhere in the show and be fine. But there are definitely some episodes that are better to start with than others, you know? And I'd say this is one of them because of how it establishes some key character traits of Squidward, SpongeBob, and Mr. Krabs in about 30 seconds.
Moving on, this episode gets to the plot very quickly, with Mr. Krabs being unable to find his dime and blaming Squidward. And Squidward quits his job at the Krusty Krab just as quickly. I love how SpongeBob leaps into action to save the hat, it's consistent with what we saw in "Squid on Strike", and I also love that he runs after Squidward and tries to get him to come back. This scene is hilarious, especially once SpongeBob pulls that "we're like brothers,
only closer" line, because of how random that visual is. And SpongeBob is also absolutely adorable with his "what could be better than serving up smiles" line and subsequent face. That's also one of my favorite quotes in the whole show, so that's fun. And Squidward's next line is great as well, because I feel that in my bones. Also, the visuals of Squidward's ambitions are hilarious, especially him as a football player. That inspired this
edit that I lowkey watch at least once a month.
Anyway, this episode proves that
SpongeBob SquarePants is a master at humorous editing, because the abrupt cut to Squidward becoming unhoused and begging for change is just brilliant when being juxtaposed with his belief that the world is his oyster. I love that SpongeBob continues to show him compassion during this difficult time, because the sponge is just so full of love and care. He even lets Squidward stay with him, to absolutely humorous results. But before I get there, I also wanted to say that I love that even after coming across Squidward who's covered in dirt and living in a box, he still believes that Squidward had the capacity to achieve his dreams, so I thought that was pretty cute.
But anyway, SpongeBob is a very good host, and you can kind of tell what's about to happen once he gives Squidward breakfast in bed. This episode is like "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" done far, far better, because Squidward's change is more gradual and unambiguous and simply funnier, because in the end it's SpongeBob who gets fed up. The montage of SpongeBob taking care of Squidward is great and has some funny moments such as when SpongeBob spins his own face, and SpongeBob's ending successful face is so adorable I can't.
We get a cameo (or not even a cameo, he's somewhat a supporting character) of my fav Gary in this episode, and this is when "Can You Spare a Dime?" takes a turn. SpongeBob is forced to go up and down the stairs to serve Squidward's needs, and I thought the voices paired with the shot of SpongeBob's pineapple was pretty clever, and I bet it was a great way to save time and possibly even money on animation lol. I love how as Squidward gets worse and worse even the narrator gets in on the pure sass that Gary exudes in this sequence. The new narrator part is so funny and gets me laughing every time.
We see SpongeBob getting increasingly tired of Squidward, and I love the shot of SpongeBob going down the hallway with Squidward's lemonade. Like it feels very...purposefully done that the hallway is so long, and it feels like SpongeBob is traversing something very long to get to Squidward, like this is a trial and tribulation, hard labor, something harrowing. It's very clever, I'd say. Anyway, this is where my favorite sequence of the episode begins, and from here to the end of the episode, "Can You Spare a Dime" is just absolute amazingness.
SpongeBob is so fed up of Squidward, and passive aggressiveness seeps through his every pore. Once again, Tom Kenny does a great job voicing SpongeBob and his frustration here. I love how SpongeBob first tries to bluntly yet subtly tell Squidward what he wants him to do, like with the soup, or the TV. But of course, Squidward's become too much of a jerk to heed those signs. The delivery on "I get someone with a JOB to DO that JOB" is just immaculate and gets me rolling every time. The visuals are also just so, so good. Like SpongeBob is completely over it and we the audience are with him. I told y'all at some point that I love when SpongeBob is completely over it, it leads to some of the funniest moments in the series, and this is one of them. And "Can You Spare a Dime" doesn't let up at all, because when Squidward challenges SpongeBob once more, and SpongeBob screams and essentially goes Super Saiyan, he barges into Mr. Krabs office with black air force energy and starts throwing dimes at him just to get him to hire Squidward back. And when Mr. Krabs denies him, we get one of my absolute favorite moments in the entire show (and my previous profile picture), SpongeBob literally choking Mr. Krabs out while he yells at him. It's hilarious, and the delivery is some of the best there is.
I love that SpongeBob immediately pacifies on seeing the ancient dime, and I love that he wins with Mr. Krabs hiring Squidward back. Of course, we all know the poor guy doesn't win for long, because Mr. Krabs and Squidward get into it at the end of the episode, and SpongeBob silently puts the maid costume back on, leaving for a humorous ending.
So yeah, if somehow wasn't already obvious, I love love love this episode. Definitely in my amazing tier. Definitely at the high end of my amazing tier. However, it isn't a 10/10, because it isn't my favorite episode of the show. If my rating scale worked differently, this episode would be a 10/10, but nah, my favorite episode of the show is the only 10/10, and everything else must be below that. But this episode is simply perfect, I have no issues with it. It honestly feels longer than 11 minutes, and not in a bad way. They just managed to pack so much into this episode and it all works perfectly.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.9/10
