Going in to watch Drive Happy, I honestly wasn't quite sure what to expect. I didn't really have that general idea of what the plot was going to be, so I wasn't too sure whether or not this was going to be that good of an episode. In the end, I found myself fairly enjoying this episode. First, let's talk about the plot.
This episode's premise is surprisingly kind of original. A lot of Season 11 plotlines tend to recycle elements from older episodes, and in this one, I couldn't really think of any episode that this one is ripped off of. The most similar plotline to this episode is probably SpongeBob LongPants, given the self-driving boat's overall outlook on the tacky Krusty Krab. But even then, that episode greatly differs from this episode, heck, the closest thing this episode has to a different episode is probably SpongeBob's interaction with his boat in Gone. Essentially, this episode has the stereotypical self-driving car that eventually attempts to take over his owner's life. Well, metaphorically speaking in this episode's case, the boat's intention isn't necessarily to take over SpongeBob's life, it's to do whatever he wants, which results in roping SpongeBob in.
This episode's storyline isn't really that great, but it's definitely made for with the humor. I definitely found myself enjoying a lot of different gags in this episode. The boat gags at the beginning of the episode were visually, very funny, and there were a lot of great gags with the self-driving boat throughout the episode. There were even a few lines here and there that were funny, like Squidward's "I wasn't acting" line.
I don't really have much to say about this episode's plotline, nor it's humor. It seems to get the job done with presenting a solid story and a lot of funny jokes. It's not groundbreaking, but it's relatively harmless in that regard. However, I definitely have quite a lot of things to say about the characters in this episode.
SpongeBob is the perfect protagonist in this episode. He is, he really is. Even during Season 10 when characters began to flanderize once more, only this time with different personalities that the current team of writers have become accustomed to writing, SpongeBob has always managed to remain in character. One of the biggest problems with the flanderization during the Post-Movie era, was that SpongeBob was often severely mistreated (Particularly in episodes such as Boating Buddies, Squidwood, etc.), but now, I feel as though the writing team understands how SpongeBob should properly act in each episode, because I really haven't seen any major flaws with his character since Squid Baby.
Patrick, on the other hand has been regressed to the utmost stupidity in this episode, once again. Unlike The Clam Whisperer, where it was played up to no end just for the sake of comedy, Patrick is essentially a key character in the plot progression in this episode. I certainly don't enjoy his portrayal in this episode, there are definitely smarter and clever ways to have him mess around with the self-driving boat. The "Butt on button" line was especially obnoxious, delivering nothing more than goofy visuals. It's not even slapstick, it's just Patrick spazzing around while making goofy noises. He definitely is quite the nuisance in this episode.
Now before we move onto our main antagonist, I definitely want to get another character out of the way.
Squidward, oddly enough, is severely mistreated in this episode in one scene, yet seems to be perfectly in character his next scene. It's so odd, that "Erase from my memory" gag was terrible, completely out of his character, he would never to such stupidity. He would maybe smack his head against something, but that's the most he would probably do. This gag doesn't even come into play later on. Squidward says "Who's SpongeBob?" after erasing his memory, yet he's completely normal in his next scene. Why!? There was no point to this scene other than some kind of excuse to fill in time with a "funny" joke. The next scene he's in, he's perfectly normal. He even has a great one-liner, too. Okay, it's not that great, but by Post-Prequel standards, it's pretty good.
Now let's talk about our main antagonist. I found myself enjoying this character at first, but when he takes a complete turnaround in behavior once inside SpongeBob's house, he's nothing more than an arrogant scumbag. His personality is intended to be classy, and full of himself, but I didn't really enjoy how much of a jerk he essentially became so early on in the episode. I would've preferred if he had a slow progression, maybe have the interaction with Patrick be the essential breaking point of his character, with seeing the Krusty Krab being the final straw. But I simply don't feel any compassion for this guy when Patrick attacks him since he was already a big jerk to SpongeBob previously in the channel switching scene. I don't have a problem with him being a nuisance to SpongeBob (Parallel to Squidward being a nuisance to SpongeBob in Can You Spare a Dime?). In fact, a lot of this episode's gags stem from him in the earlier scenes, so I don't have a problem with him intruding SpongeBob's house. However, his personality in the channel switching scene feels too brass, his chipper personality the following morning doesn't even feel sincere. They definitely should've toned down his character early on, and have it snowball into the breaking straw. He wasn't that likable of an antagonist either.
Well McSponge, aren't antagonists supposed to be...you know, antagonists!?
Yes, but there is a way to make a completely evil character likable. Take Dennis for instance. I absolutely love watching him in the first movie, and he's out to murder our protagonists. I just don't care for the boat when he goes full antagonistic, he just comes across as a snobbish uptight control freak. There's nothing wrong with that type of character, but the execution how he acts certainly makes him an unlikable character (It IS possible to play off this type of character well, just look at Squilliam).
Overall, by the climax of this episode, I just wasn't that invested or interested in this episode. Still, I did find myself enjoying a good chunk of it, and there are still lots of funny jokes sprinkled throughout the episode. It's an Okay Episode. I give it a 6.5/10.
