Next up, we've got "Hocus Pocus"! This episode is very...unremarkable and quite forgettable. The only reason I remember this episode, other than the zone of my brain dedicated entirely to
SpongeBob SquarePants (I'm vibrating in my seat trying not to explain what was wrong about what I just said...brains don't have zones like that ahhhhh I'm trying not to go on a tangent), is because of the Squidward "turning" into ice cream thing. And as it turns out, that's the majority of this episode, so that works nicely for me.
Okay, so, what's the issue with this episode? My answer: it's just
boring.
The beginning of this episode begins perfectly fine. Nothing very funny, but I liked the bit with SpongeBob and the popcorn, and the extreme amount of popcorn was visually interesting. And my boy Gary was in there so you know I was a fan of that. I also thought the fact that there was a show called "Bikini Bottom Car Wash" was interesting and a nice little bit of worldbuilding. However, from here things start getting...bland. The commercial is just...fine. I did like the "platitudinous" bit. This is why researchers find more vocab words in this show lol. And the mail box part was a nice little visual gag.
See, here's how you know this episode is dull and had so little...zest put into it. The "4 to 6 weeks later" title card is literally probably the worst title card I've seen in this show. Definitely the worst at this point, but I can't think of any bad ones after this, so it could definitely be one of the worst in the show. Like just
look at this thing. Where's the effort? Where's the visual interest? And that's just what this episode feels like.
SpongeBob getting the magic kit is done with no zeal. His banter with Squidward can hardly be called that because there's no cleverness, no wit, no energy. It's just boring. I did like that face Squidward made when he's forced to take part in SpongeBob's magic activities. But I feel as tired as Squidward at this point, and we're only a couple minutes into this episode. That's not good. Now we do get a bit of energy once Squidward gets the heck out of dodge, I liked his desperation to get out of there, and then later with Tom and his son with a great representation of what it's like to deal with little kids sometimes.
And then the real plot finally gets kickstarted with SpongeBob believing he turned Squidward into ice cream, and...it's boring. It's still boring. It's still so freaking
boring. SpongeBob trying to change Squidward back is painfully uninteresting. And then the montage of SpongeBob spending time with ice cream Squidward...YAWN. And then of course the inevitable happens with the ice cream beginning to melt, and SpongeBob panicking and running it straight to the freezer. But even these dramatics feel uninspired. Thankfully, Patrick enters the episode at this point, and things start looking upwards for this episode. The part where he starts to lick the Squidward ice cream is preceded by a bit of a boring interaction, but once we get to the licking we
finally see some energized and actually entertaining dramatics on the part of SpongeBob. I don't know what took so long, but I'm glad we're finally here. Honestly, this scene feels like a far less frustrating (considering it's not frustrating at all) version of what happens in "Wet Painters" with the dollar bill. Now of course in every other aspect that episode is superior, but I still think this is an apt comparison. I especially liked once SpongeBob starts freaking out for real, like this is what I've been waiting for!
From here, SpongeBob and Patrick seek out Mister Magic, which is probably what SpongeBob should have done in the first place, but I don't really have an issue with SpongeBob making a dumb decision like that. But anyway, this scene looks like it's gonna be entertaining...til it isn't. Like I just feel like the entire reveal that everything was a sham could've been done with far more zest and humor. As it is, the reveal was just far too casual and dull, like nearly everything else in this episode. Unremarkable. Now I will say that the ending of this scene is pretty decent, with SpongeBob doing my favorite thing getting upset and scolding the businessman, and I liked how it ended with SpongeBob and Patrick having security called on them. But that nice bit of entertainment is not enough to save this episode. I will say that from here, the episode ends nicely, particularly once Squidward returns. I thought it was funny (in the loosest sense of the word) that Squidward returned just to immediately run away again. And then SpongeBob turning Patrick into mayonnaise was nice.
I think you all have gathered how I feel about "Hocus Pocus" now. Boring, uninspired, dull. This episode could have been so much more. The plot was not that entertaining in itself, but with some real attempts at jokes and better visual gags, this episode could've at least been in my "Good" tier, if not higher depending on the quality of said jokes. I also think that even though Squidward and Patrick were in this episode, neither did much of any import, other than a decent joke from Patrick. Squidward's role is more understandable given this episode's plot, but Patrick's is not. All in all, this episode is just an uninteresting venture, one that I don't care enough to rewatch purposefully, but if it's already on the TV or something I won't turn away. It's good background noise, something an episode of
SpongeBob SquarePants should never be, at least if it wants to be anywhere near my top 4 tiers. That's why this episode is going into "Mediocre". It just barely makes it out of (barely) "Tolerable" because it doesn't actually make me feel anything, so I can't justify putting it down there with episodes that make me feel annoyed or worse. But it similarly barely has any enjoyable aspects.
Episode Tier: Mediocre
Episode Score: 5/10
