Now here’s an episode I remember premiering quite clearly. Mostly because of the promo. But also I remember this episode because visually, it’s very different from many other episodes, particularly with those 3D backgrounds.
Before I get started, I gotta say it: this show has a bad habit involving Karen in particular: it will make her seem like a featured character of the episode, and then write her out so we’re not actually following her character at all. This happens all the time. “Karen 2.0”, “Gramma’s Secret Recipe”, “Single Cell Anniversary”…these are just a few examples. And “Karen’s Virus” is now on that list…kind of. This episode definitely does way better than those other entries, since she is the star of the B-plot, but her being delirious for the entirety of it means that we don’t really get to see
her, you know what I mean? It’s kinda annoying how this show refuses to do much substantial with her (at least, that is until we get to “Girls Night Out”, which is approaching quickly).
I know a Jean-Jacques Perry track when I hear it, and
One Zero Zero is a wonderful techno sounding track. But now getting into the episode properly, I like this little beginning scene we get of Karen hanging out with a friend, it’s nice to see her be up to something that isn’t exclusively related to Plankton or the Chum Bucket. But this scene ends quickly, and soon Plankton’s demanding Karen’s time and energy…but now she’s sick. So somebody’s gotta get that virus outta her. It’s a suicide mission, and of course Plankton ain’t romantic enough to pull that off, so he’s gonna recruit the resident idiot—SpongeBob! I liked this little joke about the Chum Bucket’s health rating lol. I also think that Karen’s deliriousness is funny.
So now SpongeBob’s been sent into Karen’s uh…actually where has he been sent? Her hard drive? Main frame? I don’t even know. Anyway, this is where we get all these neat little backgrounds, I love the environment in this one. Also SpongeBob is absolutely hilarious in this part, refusing to respond to Plankton’s insults. I love SpongeBob. SpongeBob makes his way around Karen’s harddrive, eventually meeting her Ideal Plankton, who’s ripped and the perfect man. We also see her versions of Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and then SpongeBob. The SpongeBob’s fighting each other was amusing too, and the “eenie meenie miney mo” part was great too. Eventually, Ideal Plankton ends up falling into an abyss, which leads to the most memorable joke of the episode, when SpongeBob’s like “No!” and he’s like “What do you mean no?”. That was a good one. There’s lots of good ones in this episode.
As for Karen and Plankton, Karen’s delirious and she breaks out of the Chum Bucket, because she’s hungry and wants a Krabby Patty. Again, her delusional antics are amusing. In her search for a patty, she destroys the whole Krusty Krab, and flirts with the cash register. I can’t believe it…sapphics in SpongeBob??? Yeah I know, let me have this. That part was hilarious regardless. Then, Karen goes on a joy ride. It’s fun seeing her have literally no cares in the world.
SpongeBob enters Karen’s memory banks, ready to make one last push to save her. I love that we got to see clips of old episodes in here. We didn’t focus on any of them of course, but I like that the footage was there. SpongeBob realizes that the virus is simply hungry, and so he comes up with a solution—give the virus a Krabby Patty and let him feast forever. And so they day is saved, thanks to SpongeBob SquarePants! (love a good
Powerpuff Girls reference, how did I do?)
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9/10
