252a. Mind the Gap

ssj4gogita4

ssj4gogita4

Squidward Tortellini
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Discuss once this airs on 9/14
 
I really liked this episode. It was a cool episode. SpongeBob sounded cool. 8.5/10
 
Besides SpongeBob's cool voice and 1 or 2 of the visual gags, this episode was quite boring and unmemorable.

Mediocre Episode (4.5/10)
 
I liked it alot, its prob just me but it felt kinda like a Season 1 ep with how simple and one place it seemed.
 
I thought the episode was pretty solid. 8/10.
 
It wasn’t amazing or anything, but there were many things that I liked about this episode. For one, the unfamiliar whistle from the gap in SpongeBob’s teeth was just so adorable. I’d never given it thought that perhaps his gapped buck teeth would do more than just jut out and make his teeth marks look silly. I hoped that they’d expand upon this whistle in further episodes, but being well aquatinted with the show’s bad continuity, I suspected this would be a one-time occurrence. I can confirm this as if right now because I went ahead and watched leaked episodes, none of which had an apparent whistling from SpongeBob. Maybe it’ll be a gag that is used as a sort of reference every once in a while. There are a very many instances throughout the show where a change in character or to character is made for solely that episode, and is brought up very rarely if at all.

Anyways (and sorry for the extensive run-on paragraph), I genuinely liked how the fixing of SpongeBob’s teeth changed his voice. I absolutely loved the transition in demeanor when his teeth went back to normal multiple times. I laughed out loud so hard when SpongeBob said, “This one goes out to all the... LAAAAAAADIES!” 🤣 Another moment that I found comical was when SpongeBob spun around all cleaned up and nice and said, “Baby, I was born ready.” Or, maybe he said “Daddy”. I don’t know, but it was funny. Oh, also I found the constant use of the word “Daddio” to be both repetitive and hilarious.

On another note, I found the way closeups are done in recent episodes to be less... in your face. There’s like an odd lacking of “bawng!” sound effects (y’know, those sounds that give close-ups that extra oomph) and the photos just kinda appear. Also, the close-ups looked less hand-painted and more digitized, which I’m somewhat frowning upon. SpongeBob may not retain its original animation style but it sure as heck better maintain its original art style. But I digress...

Mind the Gap was an episode I had been dying to see, and I must admit, it didn’t disappoint.
 
I liked spongebobs new voice but the liar reveal trope is my pet peeve and this episode has that trope 5/10
 
It really seems like a running theme with season 12 is shaking up the show fundamentals. This time, we’re shaking up character design, namely SpongeBob’s iconic front teeth. Much like Timmy Turner from The Fairly Odd Parents, I feel like SpongeBob’s teeth are not something I even notice anymore. I notice them enough to notice when a change has been made to them, like in this episode, but they’re not something I consciously recognize by now. I’ve habituated to them, to borrow a term from psychology. All of this is to say that in some ways, this episode shakes me to my core lol. But I do think that this is inherently an interesting plot.

The beginning of this episode harkens back to darker times…when far too many episodes relied on annoying noises for entertainment (curse you “Choir Boys”). And no, SpongeBob’s whistling is not annoying at all, quite the opposite in fact. But I’m reminded of these times by Squidward’s reaction, because it makes me think of how this episode shows how much the show has learned since then—make annoying sounds annoying in-universe only, not out-of-universe. I’m glad we’ve finally reached this point. Anyway, I really like how this beginning scene looks, the animation is so fluid here. I also like how we get to Squidward scheming immediately. A lot of times we spend some time with Squidward coming up with the idea for his deception, but this episode just jumps right into it, and I can appreciate the haste.

Squidward tricks SpongeBob into thinking that his gap between his teeth is dangerous, and (after some brief, entertaining shenanigans) he “helps” him by pushing his two front teeth together into a certified bucktooth. This has the unintended consequence of giving SpongeBob quite the smooth voice. Honestly Tom Kenny really went off here because this does not sound like him at all to me. The range is impeccable. SpongeBob goes from whistling to full on singing as now he’s got the perfect jazz voice (apparently). I also love how his whole demeanor changes, it’s almost like we’re seeing a different character, which in a way we kind of are lol.

The patrons of Bikini Bottom fall in love with SpongeBob’s coolness, and Squidward starts thinking like Mr. Krabs the way he wants to capitalize on SpongeBob. Now this episode makes me want to go to a jazz club. That’s something I want to do sometime—I wanna go to a jazz club real bad. Anyway, Squidward invites SpongeBob to a jazz club, and after Squidward makes a fool of himself, SpongeBob comes in with quite the chilling entrance. Literally. The way Squidward acts so embarrassingly in this episode is both the same yet so different than he usually is. It’s funny to me. And so now Squidward becomes cool by association. Though not cool enough to pull of the clarinet, not in his wildest dreams. Now that’s a character trait that will always be funny. The way the club owner tricks Squidward into muffling his clarinet is great. Better than fully kicking him out, because at least Squidward thinks he gets a win here.

As SpongeBob sings, his teeth get undone, and Squidward has to do a rush job. I love the clear transition back to SpongeBob that we get. Because it really does feel like SpongeBob and CoolBob are two completely different characters. It’s crazy. Squidward takes SpongeBob out, and brings him back the next day after fixing his teeth again. Squidward’s desperation is funny to me. The way he’s fully thrown out the club is great too. And so he comes charging back into the place with a vengeance, cuz if he can’t be cool, then neither can SpongeBob. The close up of his face here is fantastic, by the way. In the end, Squidward’s attempts to break SpongeBob’s teeth don’t do the job, but SpongeBob’s own clumsiness does. I love that everyone ends up loving SpongeBob’s whistling too, because it’s great!

“Mind The Gap” is a pretty fun episode. I’m realizing now that SpongeBob and Squidward are the only main characters in this one, other than a cameo from Patrick. And I think that’s for the best. It keeps this episode focused.

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.3/10
 
This is another episode that's censored in the UK. Over here, Squidward successfully pushes Spongebob's 2 front teeth together (it somehow works, I know it's a cartoon lol) and they just randomly come apart at the end (instead of Squidward drilling his teeth together and the nail in his teeth coming loose at the end). Though I feel like I remember seeing Spongebob feeling the gap between his front teeth when Squidward failed to push them together? Idk lol
They also cut the bit where Spongebob drinks pink bubble mixture right before he starts singing- in the UK, pink musical notes just randomly come out of his mouth but it worked I guess. I don't know it if the episode would be uncensored on DVD?

It's showcased in this video:

This country seems to censor & cut stuff a lot these days- I'm noticing them cutting scenes all the time. I've even seen them censor out swear words out of shows at 1am, hours past the watershed.
 
Last edited:
Emma the Mermaid said:
This is another episode that's censored in the UK. Over here, Squidward successfully pushes Spongebob's 2 front teeth together (it somehow works, I know it's a cartoon lol) and they just randomly come apart at the end (instead of Squidward drilling his teeth together and the nail in his teeth coming loose at the end). Though I feel like I remember seeing Spongebob feeling the gap between his front teeth when Squidward failed to push them together? Idk lol
They also cut the bit where Spongebob drinks pink bubble mixture right before he starts singing- in the UK, pink musical notes just randomly come out of his mouth but it worked I guess. I don't know it if the episode would be uncensored on DVD?

It's showcased in this video:

This country seems to censor & cut stuff a lot these days- I'm noticing them cutting scenes all the time. I've even seen them censor out swear words out of shows at 1am, hours past the watershed.
Click to expand...

These are very interesting censors, I wonder what the reasoning behind them even is? Because I don't see either of those things as very brutal or suggestive imagery, like I'm sure they're thinking.
 
Pugs4Thugs said:
These are very interesting censors, I wonder what the reasoning behind them even is? Because I don't see either of those things as very brutal or suggestive imagery, like I'm sure they're thinking.
Click to expand...
It's probably so that children that see this episode won't try to drill holes in their teeth or drink bubble solution, since that would be very, very bad. But then again, there's been much more dangerous and stupid things in SpongeBob, so I don't quite know why these specific scenes are censored from the episode.
 
uhhh I dunno what to say about this
  1. Karen's Baby (15/10)
  2. Gary's Got Legs (11/10)
  3. The Krusty Bucket (10/10)
  4. Broken Alarm (9/10)
  5. Gary & Spot (8/10)
  6. Mind The Gap (8/10)
  7. Swamp Mates (8/10)
  8. Plankton's Old Chum (8/10)
  9. Insecurity Guards (8/10)
  10. Senior Discount (8/10)
  11. The Krusty Slammer (8/10)
  12. Stormy Weather (8/10)
  13. One Trick Sponge (8/10)
  14. Shell Games (7/10)
  15. King Plankton (7/10)
  16. Sandy's Nutty Nieces (6.5/10)
  17. Farmerbob (6.5/10)
  18. Pineapple RV (3.5/10)
  19. The Ballad Of Filthy Muck (3/10)
  20. Squid's On A Bus (1.5/10)
  21. The Nitwitting (1/10)
 
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