“Bubble Buddy Returns” who? I only know “Bubbletown” as the “Bubble Buddy” sequel. I kid, I still enjoyed that episode even if it was a poor return of the character in question.
Speaking of references to older episodes…don’t think I don’t recognize that voice. You think I can’t recognize the voice of the narrator in my favorite episode of all time, “Krusty Krab Training Video”? Please. The direction this episode takes is very interesting, being like an informative documentary-type video rather than a typical SpongeBob SquarePants adventure. I also like how SpongeBob being in this city has no explanation, he just simply appears there. I like to think he’s visiting Bubble Buddy.
Now that I think about it, this episode can be compared to “Doodle Dimension”, all the way down to the title (Bubbletown describes a place where Bubble Buddy lives; Doodle Dimension describes a place where DoodleBob lives). But this episode definitely takes a leg up, as Bubbletown is an actually interesting place to watch, where the doodle dimension is a literal void. This episode also has the return of Bubble Buddy be a very scaled-down affair, but the difference is that this episode acknowledges that SpongeBob knows Bubble Buddy. We already know what “Doodle Dimension” did.
SpongeBob realizes he can help the citizens of Bubbletown by blowing bubbles. And it seems like these people are like the Bikini Bottomites, because they start asking SpongeBob for a lot of things real quickly. But he delivers, with a fun old west theme to it too. But good things don’t last, as soon SpongeBob starts causing chaos, first by literally murdering some bubble puppies (well this got dark real fast), then by slipping and popping a whole bunch of stuff, including bubble people. Man this is dark.
At the end of the chaos, SpongeBob’s very upset. Honestly, I love how Bubble Buddy only somewhat cares about what just happened LMAO. Then the bubble police come, and arrest SpongeBob. I love the commitment to the bit. SpongeBob calls Mr. Krabs from jail, and then the episode proceeds to surprise me as we cut to the Krusty Krab. I thought the call was just going to be a gag, but it actually turned out to be a plot point, as the call, in the form of a bubble, makes it to the Krusty Krab, where Mr. Krabs is already raising H because SpongeBob’s not there. He doesn’t even listen to the whole call though lol.
But he doesn’t need to, because we cut back to SpongeBob in jail, and Mr. Krabs is there, breaking him out (along with other prisoners, including the Dirty Bubble). With those claws of his, he’s probably a dangerous criminal lol. And I thought that Mr. Krabs wouldn’t take what SpongeBob said seriously, but there he is, calling this a prison break. And when a guard tries to stop them from leaving, Mr. Krabs is taking no prisoners LMAO. Something about this scene is just making me laugh. Never mess with Mr. Krabs’ money. Mr. Krabs then commits mass murder LMAO, which shocks SpongeBob. Luckily, Bubble Buddy has a solution—industrial size bottle of bubbles. So Bubbletown is built anew, with the addition of a Bubble Krusty Krab. A franchise location that ain’t long for this world once Mr. Krabs finds out there’s no exchange rate from bubble money to Bikini Bottom money. lol, the crab was pretty good in this one.
“Bubbletown” was a fun little episode that I think handled the return of a fan-favorite character better than “Doodle Dimension” did. Now, I’m not sure about the promo, but I don’t think the return of Bubble Buddy was the entire point of this episode like DoodleBob’s was in “Doodle Dimension”. And that’s not to say I would’ve minded had that been the main point, but I think it allowed this episode to do more things that made it enjoyable.
Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8.5/10
